Chapter 8: Pet Names
Harry let out a low whistle and shifted his grip on Ron's arm to make it more secure. They stood in the grand entrance hall having just watched Rita Skeeter vanish into the library, surely ready to grill Hermione to within an inch of her life.
"I… don't have words for what I just witnessed," Draco said, still staring at the library door, aghast.
"She just offered herself up as a sacrifice, mate," Harry said, turning to look at Draco, "for you."
Draco nodded slowly, "that does seem to be the case, doesn't it?"
He swallowed. His stomach was suddenly in knots again. To say he was flabbergasted by that utterly undeserved gesture of kindness on the part of Hermione Granger would be the understatement of many centuries to come.
"Why'd she do that, Malfoy? Is- is there... er- something going on between the two of you?"
"Honestly Potter, if you had asked me that mere hours ago I would have laughed in your face, but now I'm not sure I know anything at all."
Ron grunted and flung his right leg out, aiming at nothing in particular and moaned something incoherent. They both looked down, suddenly reminded of the fact that they were meant to be escorting an incredibly drunk Ron out of this very civilized party.
At that moment, a shock of fiery red hair came flying around the corner.
"Oh have we come to this point, then?" Ginny shouted in her brother's general direction. She had her hands on her hips and approached them with determination, though not taking her eyes off Ron.
Glancing up at her husband briefly, she muttered, "Hello my love."
"Darling," he responded with a routine nod, as if this thing with Ron were a regular occurrence. Rita had implied as much.
"How are you Malfoy?" Ginny asked, looking up at him. Draco started.
"Been better, you?" Draco replied with a note of confusion in his voice at being addressed kindly by Ginny. He couldn't remember ever being addressed by her at all. Then again, when you got to know one half of a couple, you tended to be known by both, even if unbeknownst to you.
She cocked her head to the side smirking and said, "same."
They all looked down at the mess of a man at their feet.
"What d'you reckon? Aparate him up to his room and seal him in?" Harry asked mildly.
"Hardly a plan!" Ginny exclaimed, "What if he needs the loo and decides to ruin Appoline's silk sheets instead?"
Harry grimaced, "Fair point, wife."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Must you have settled on that pet name? I feel you can be more creative, Harry Potter. Please don't give me reason to feel I've made the wrong choice of husband."
"I'll work on it, Ginnybeans," he grinned.
She turned to Draco, conspiratorially, "You know, I didn't think it could actually get worse."
"Ah, he's not all bad, Weaslette. Give him some time, he'll mature like a fine wine," Draco said, looking proudly over at his friend.
"Weaselette, eh? Are you playing now too, Malfoy? I don't think you really want to get into any games with me," she was smiling but her eyes looked severe. Ginny seemed to have the ability to look angry but glad in the same moment, it must have been why people often called her "fierce" by way of compliment.
"You're right, actually. I am quite terrified of your hexing skills. I shall henceforth abstain from all pet name games."
Harry looked between the two of them, grinning.
"That reminds me! I owe you a nice bat bogey, Malfoy."
"For?" he asked incredulously.
"For leaving the country without so much as a farewell owl to this poor sod," she motioned to Harry, "he wouldn't eat for weeks! Where on earth have you been?"
"Is that true, Potter? You love me that much?" Malfoy asked with a tone of ironic longing.
"Desperately, as I'm sure you know," he replied, as a different voice sounded from within the foyer.
"Couldn't possibly love him like I do, though."
Blaise had just appeared behind Draco, his tie un-loosened and a half-drunk fire whiskey in his hand.
"Blaise Zabini, as I live and breathe," Ginny said with disdain.
"Mrs. Potter," he inclined his head, "Mr. Potter," he said, repeating the motion. "And what do we have here?" he asked, looking down at Ron. "The aftermath of that raucous display earlier, no doubt?"
"Yes and Harry and I were still helping the Delacours upstairs when the fight began. We weren't there to run interference, so now we're a bit stuck with him I'm afraid."
Blaise cleared his throat. "Well look," he said, un-loosening his tie further and taking the last swig of firewhiskey, "why don't Draco and I escort him back to my estate. We can set him up in a guest room and have my elves take care of him should he wake up. That way you all don't need to miss your party, and we can duck out early. I'm quite sure Draco here was planning to slip away soonish anyway, not keen to be noticed by anyone of consequence, are you Draco?"
Draco made no reply or reaction to this. He was not interested in being dressed down by Blaise in public.
Ginny eyed Blaise warily. "I don't know if I can look my mother in the eye later on tonight when her youngest son has disappeared and I've willingly handed him over to two former enemies, whom he no doubt regards as current enemies."
"Enemy is a strong word, I hardly knew Weasley well enough to be called such a name," Blaise replied easily, "Besides, Draco was cleared of all charges, you all bloody testified for him, and I've been charged with nothing but being a pure blood elitist arse, which was the smallest crime on his list and I happen to be well past it by now with many regrets for my words and actions. I would imagine it took a lot more to forgive my friend here than it would take to forgive me," he said, motioning to Draco. "It seems you have indeed forgiven him, and I reckon that that was a pretty big chasm to leap. I'm like a... a brook or a small shallow river compared him!"
Draco shook his head, looking tired. "This is my favorite conversation so far this evening," he drawled.
"Really?!" Blaise asked, surprised.
"No," Malfoy retorted.
Ginny was still looking unsure. Draco thought her skepticism was likely due to the casual manner in which Blaise delivered his argument vs the content of what he was saying. Blaise spoke of his regrets without an ounce of it in his voice. It seemed a well-rehearsed political speech versus an authentic sentiment.
"Tell you what, gorgeous," Blaise said, "allow me to take care of this poor sod as a penance for my many misgivings. Draco can help too, since you seem to trust him at least. I'm sure he could always use a bit more penance."
"Two years in Azkaban followed by a self-induced three year seclusion in some unidentified country isn't enough?" Ginny asked.
"Unidentified? You're standing in it! His family vineyard is just a stones throw from here. Didn't he tell you, Potter?" He turned to Harry. "I assume you still," he made air quotes, "'correspond?'"
Harry shot an irritated glare over at Draco, while Draco shot a similar look toward Blaise.
"How," Draco asked, "how do you turn literally everything into some sort of innuendo, truly your mind must be a veritable Wonderland of filth."
Re-alerting everyone to his presence, Ron shouted, "two bacon sandwiches, Mum!" and slumped back against Harry's leg. Blaise looked over at Ginny and raised his eyebrows imploringly.
"Oh alright," she said, "but this doesn't absolve all of your sins in one go."
"Darling, if I have to spend my lifetime making it up to you, I will," and he kissed her hand before turning to Harry, patting him on the cheek and saying, "farewell precious Potty." Harry scowled at him.
Draco turned to Harry, "I'll owl you in the morning Potter, we have things to discuss."
"I will believe the owl when I see the owl, Malfoy." Harry stated, and gave a small grin.
Then Draco and Blaise scooped Ron up by the arms and turned on the spot.
—
After levitating a slobbering Ron into a guest bed and briefing the elves on his need for hangover potions as well as containment, should he awaken, Draco and Blaise retired to the sitting room for a drink.
"Single or double? How many have you had already? I don't need two slobbering men in my house."
"Double. I've had none," Draco replied.
"None?! What've you been doing this whole time? I didn't see you anywhere when I was doing the rounds."
"Yea, I was in the library."
Blaise put down the firewhiskey bottle mid-pour and turned to his friend, incredulous. "THE LIBRARY?! THE LIBRARY, DRACO? Okay I am literally speechless. You are the biggest nerd in the known Universe. Open bar party with high-class French witches everywhere, and you retire to the library for some... what? French potions reading?"
"How did you know?" Draco asked.
Blaise gave him a look as if to say "come on now."
"Really though, why did you go into the library?"
Draco put his hands over his eyes, "I went in there to avoid someone and then realized I was standing in one of the largest most opulent and impressive libraries in Europe. It made me a bit homesick for the library at Malfoy Manor, so I chose to linger for a bit, is that a crime?"
Blaise would not be distracted from the first part of Draco's comment. "Who were you avoiding?"
Draco scoffed and looked away, "I went there expecting to avoid nearly everyone, remember? What does it matter..."
Blaise finished pouring the drinks and handed one to Draco, furrowing his brow and said, "Why won't you tell me?"
Draco fussed with a lose thread on his robes, thinking it probably got pulled carrying Weasley away. He was determined not to answer, but for once in his life couldn't think of a snappy retort, so he took a sip of firewhiskey instead. When he was around Blaise he might as well be translucent, Blaise never missed a thing.
Well, he had missed something earlier today, he thought. A small smirk appeared on Draco's face as he remembered the blustery mess Granger had been, backing away and out of his door. Scared of him, or scared of herself? he wondered.
Blaise was watching him closely, when suddenly his face lit up. "Who is she Draco?"
Draco still fussing with his thread said lazily, "What are you on about?"
"Draco... are you in love?"
"What? What are you saying?" He really couldn't think of anything biting to attack with, and nothing much to defend.
Blaise smacked his hand on the armchair, shouting "Draco Malfoy in love! I truly never thought I'd see the day, finally!" he put down his glass and cheered, throwing his fists in the air, "Thank Slytherin! AND his monster!"
Draco sat forward forcefully and a barrage of words left his mouth at rapid speed, "Will you calm down? I'm not in love, you have to actually know and be with a person in order to fall in love, and you know full well you're the only person I've been hanging round with so you can therefore logically conclude that I am not in love nor do I intend to be any time soon," he finished and took a deep breath.
Without missing a beat, Blaise asked, "What were you doing earlier today?"
"What?" he looked over at Blaise and saw that he had an eerie sense of forced calm in his eyes.
"Earlier today, Draco, what were you doing besides drinking wine in your skivies?"
"Why are you-"
"Well see because when I aparated to your place earlier, just as I appeared I caught sight of a muggle car on the road speeding away. I thought nothing of it but now I wonder…" he said, drawing out the last word and looking up in thought.
"Look mate, I know you're utterly relentless when you decide to be, but I'd appreciate it if you would just drop it right now and have this not be a time you choose to be a dog with his damn bone."
Blaise turned to him slowly and asked, "Have you been practicing your occlumency Draco?"
Draco froze. "You wouldn't. But yes I have."
"You know, I've become quite the accomplished legilimens," he said as he stood and moved towards Draco.
"Blaise how many firewhiskeys have YOU had?"
"Just enough to do this," and with a menacing grin, he aimed his wand right at Draco's face and cried, "Legilimens!"
A flash of yellow light - A woman walking silhouetted in the sun - she's suddenly close and her face is revealed - the same girl backing into a coat rack in Draco's foyer - walking through the party arguing with Weasley in a stunning black gown - weeping on the floor of the library with Draco's hand on her back - facing him, looking down at his lips as he takes a step toward her - falling into his arms, breathing in his scent deeply and sighing - subtly giggling at his joke to Potter - stepping closer to threaten Rita Skeeter - leaving to have an interview in the library - the door closing - darkness, and then... light!
"Aaaah!" Draco was shoving Zabini across the room. Zabini collapsed onto the floor, while Draco spun around wildly, staring daggers at his friend.
"You absolute arsehole I cannot believe you did that, I should cruciate you!"
As he got slowly up from the floor, Blaise said calmly, "you never could work that spell, mate."
Draco scoffed and forcefully shouted, "unbelievable!" and turned away, pacing the room with his hands on his hips, simply livid.
"Remember you told me, the one time you allowed me to come visit you in Azkaban? The Dark Lord commanded you to use it on a muggle and you couldn't work it. Makes more sense to me now I know you're in love with Granger."
Draco threw his glass of firewhiskey across the room and it shattered across the wall. Blaise didn't flinch.
"I am not in love, stop fucking saying that!" He resembled a teenager having a tantrum.
"Ok but I won't stop fucking thinkin it, you can't control my mind Draco, I'm obviously the more proficient Legilimens." He sat back proudly in his chair and grinned.
Draco stopped pacing and sighed, eyeing his oldest friend. If it had been anyone else in the world he would have hexed them.
Instead he asked, "So what do you know about love anyway? You've never been in it, to my knowledge, and you've not seen it in your home. Your Mum 'mysteriously loses' every man she marries-"
"That's just local folklore," Blaise said cooly. That same forced calm still enveloped him.
"Yea sure, and my mother's a muggle born," Draco retorted.
Blaise didn't look at him but smiled at the joke.
"I admit I know very little about love, Draco. But I'll tell you what I do know about…"
"What's that?"
"Lust. Obsession. Infatuation. I can smell it from a mile away, I can always tell who's shagging or who wants to be."
Draco stared at him, brow furrowed, "That's a really strange fascination, Blaise. You sound a bit mad, do you know that?"
He shrugged, "I can't help it, it's just a perception I've always had. It's like an energy I can lock on to, especially, yet not exclusively... when I read thoughts," he smirked up at Draco. Draco sat down in a black leather armchair, leaned his elbow on the arm rest and held the bridge of his nose in his fingers.
Speaking low, Draco asked, "What do you want me to say?"
Blaise just stared at him. Draco looked up.
"How do I reach the end of this conversation with you, Bla-"
"Have you caught some feelings for the Granger girl, Draco?" Blaise asked swiftly, then after a moment he added, "I truly wouldn't judge you if so, she is well fit. I personally wouldn't mind grasping handfuls of that wavy brown hair as I-"
"Don't talk about her like that!" Draco snapped instantly.
Blaise stood and pointed down at Draco, "Ah-hah! It's more than I suspected, it's not some weird good girl/bad boy fantasy, you actually care for her otherwise you wouldn't have gotten snappy over me fancying her! When did this begin? Was it back in third year when she slapped you? I knew you must like it rough, given your upbringing."
"Wow, seriously when did you become some bloody guru, dissecting all my words and actions? You know, you and Potter would actually get on very well. You'll both drive each other mad with the personality analysis, I'd love to watch," Draco retorted with a faux sense of composure.
"Alright Draco, I'm dropping it," he announced, and then theatrically mimed dropping something on the floor.
"How about you let me know when you want us to pick it back up again, alright? I'll be here for you when you need me." He sat back down and picked up his drink.
"Oh yes, next time I want my bloody mind invaded I'll be sure to come right over and request an inquisition," then he looked away and mumbled, "tosser."
Draco sat in contemplation. He was acting a bit angrier than he was. There was a small part of him that felt relieved Blaise had read his thoughts so that he'd been able to avoid putting words to what he'd been thinking, however horribly invasive it had been. Blaise knew him uncommonly well, often better than he knew himself.
Though he thought that Blaise had picked a funny moment to give in. He had actually been about to open his mouth and concede the point Blaise had been making.
He supposed he did care about her, otherwise he wouldn't be so worked up. When HAD it began? Draco hadn't considered that question yet, and filed it away in his mind for the moment, more distracted by the swelling feeling in his chest at present.
He just wasn't used to feeling this way about a person, any person, and it unnerved him. The thought that she was probably still in that library, spilling all of her personal secrets for front page news, just to save him from the same fate, it made his heart ache. He wasn't used to feeling his heart ache. He was very interested in understanding how to make it stop.
Draco stood from his chair, downed his glass in one, put the empty on the table and said, "I'm off, then."
Blaise watched Draco cross the room and said, "Are you at least going to tell me where you're going?"
"Something I need to handle…" Draco mumbled as he grabbed a handful of flu powder. He faced the mantle and checked that his badge was still on, then he turned the flames green and whispered the address so Blaise couldn't hear it.
"Be safe then, darling," Blaise called after him, just as Draco disappeared into the hearth.
