Kyla: Okay, I know it's been a long time since my last update.. Hopefully this longer chapter can make up for it.. I think it's the longest chapter I've ever written! XD Enjoy! Also, remember, I don't own Harry Potter, no matter how cool that would be. XP Don't forget to review either!
Draco of the Malfoy's No Longer
Chapter Eight
by
Kyla Mizuki
It was around midnight, and Harry wandered restlessly into the kitchen. With a heavy sigh, he collapsed into a chair at the table and buried his face in his arms. Groaning, he went over his dream again. There had been Voldemort, of course, but this time, Lucius was also there. They had been talking about... something, but what had it been about?
Deciding he wouldn't figure it out any time soon, Harry shoved the dream away to the back of his mind. He would worry about it later, but for now, he had to do something that would keep him from falling asleep. He was terrified of sleeping, even though he would attempt to sleep each night. The nightmares always came back. He was to the point he no longer wanted to sleep, not if it meant being plagued by those dreams.
The Boy-Who-Lived was slowly driving himself crazy. What was he supposed to do? He was supposed to be the Savior of the Wizarding World, but how? He was barely of age, for Pete's sake! He heaved another heavy sigh, hoping to sigh away his problems, at least for a little while... It didn't work. No matter what he did, his mind kept turning back to all that had happened to him throughout his life. Why had fate dealt him such cruel hand?
"Harry?" Hermione asked timidly and quietly from the doorway.
Harry moved his head enough to peek up at the bushy-haired girl, who stood hesitantly at the door. He could see she wasn't sure whether to enter or go back upstairs to bed. "Yeah, Hermione? Come on, sit down, if you want," he grumbled as he hid his face in his arms again, attempting to banish the exhaustion that was coursing through him. He couldn't fall asleep, he WOULDN'T fall asleep... not to have more nightmares.
Hermione made her way silently to the table and took the seat beside Harry. "You seem exhausted. Why don't you go upstairs and get some sleep?" the muggle-born suggested cautiously, eying her friend carefully.
"'M not tired," came Harry's muffled reply as he shifted some in his seat, "just restless tonight... Can't sleep." He knew his words were slurred together and that he was not talking in complete sentences, but that only showed just how tired he really was, though he loathed to admit it.
"Could have fooled me," Hermione snorted lightly, a small scowl flashing over her face. That scowl soon melted to concern, however, and she spoke softer, gentler, "Harry, just try and get some rest... okay? Please?"
Harry let out a small sigh and sat up, looking to an anxious Hermione. He gave her the best smile he could and said, "Alright. I'll head upstairs then." This was a lie, but he couldn't push his problems off on Hermione, so he pushed his chair out and stood up. "See you in the morning," he told her and left the kitchen.
He bitterly collapsed onto his bed, not bothering with the covers. He intended to just lay there and count the dust particles he could see floating above him. No matter how much cleaning the house went through, Grimmauld Place just would not stay clean, Harry thought to himself. And, in the midst of his thinking, he fell asleep, despite his vain attempts to stay awake. Thankfully, he had no dreams related to the war. He actually had no dreams at all, so he was able to rest peacefully.
At 7:30 the next morning, Ron Weasley's bright voice drifted through Harry's closed door, bringing Harry back into the harsh reality. Groaning, Harry reluctantly sat up and tried his best to wipe the sleep from his eyes as he heard Ron say, "Hey, mate, breakfast's done!"
"Fine... I'll be down in a few minutes," Harry called drowsily back to the redhead just outside the door.
"Right," Ron said and headed for the kitchen. He would have came into Harry's room to wake up the dark-haired teen hero, but the door was locked. So, Ron decided to let Harry keep his privacy and not say anything about having the doors locked.
Meanwhile, Blaise woke up with a big yawn. It took him a couple of minutes to realize, however, that there was a person laying on top of him... A certain blond Slytherin for that matter. With a grin, Blaise gently shook Draco awake. "Draco, wake up. Time for breakfast," he whispered into the blond's ear.
Draco squirmed some, trying to burrow more into Blaise's warmth. He yawned and tried to fall back asleep, not caring about anything else, but when Blaise dumped him off the bed, Draco yelped indignantly, falling with a thud to the floor. With a harsh glare sent at Blaise, Draco sat up stilfing another yawn. "What was that for?" he whined softly, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Time for breakfast. I just heard Weasley telling Potter a minute ago," he explained with a shrug.
Draco nodded in understanding then he looked up. "Wait, Potter's room is close to this one?" He didn't seem to like that idea too well. Not with how much Harry hated him, and how Draco hated Harry, of course.
"Yeah, is that so much of a shocker for you? The house is only so big after all," Blaise chortled and climbed out of the bed. He grabbed some clothes from his wardrobe and started to dress while Draco blushed and turned around.
"Yes, it is," Draco stated blandly but didn't bother to throw his friend a glare over his shoulder, "we hate each other. There's no telling what he could do!" He seemed angry, if not slightly upset.
Blaise sighed as he finished changing. He stepped over to Draco and wrapped his arms around the blond's waist. "Relax, Draco. My door had about five or six locking charms on in last night. There's no way he could have gotten in here," he cooed in his friend's ear.
Draco shifted, somewhat uncomfortable in the position, no matter how comforting it felt to have someone who was always there for him, no matter what was going wrong in his life, it still made Draco feel partially guilty, as if he was taking advantage of Blaise. "I suppose," he muttered then shrugged and pulled out of Blaise's grip. "Thanks, you can go on to breakfast. I'll only be a few minutes. I just need to change," he told his friend.
"It's fine, I can wait," Blaise offered and leaned on the wall beside the door.
Draco shook his head no and told his fellow Slytherin to go ahead and enjoy breakfast and that he would be down soon, and once Blaise reluctantly agreed and left, the blond started to change slowly while he pondered over different things.
It was, of course, by sheer coincidence that Draco and Harry reached the staircase at the same time. The two stared one another down with narrowed eyes full of distrust. They nodded to one another in civil greeting and said one another's names shortly. "After you, Malfoy," Harry said through gritted teeth and indicated for Draco to go down the stairs before him.
"No, I insist, Potter, you first," Draco replied with a sneer. He remained where he was standing, and he could tell Harry was getting annoyed, but why should he be the first one to go down?
"No, you first," Harry stated irately, his arms folded stubbornly over his chest.
"I could never," Draco said lightly, "I was raised to be polite, and polite I must be." He smirked at the Gryffindor, satisfied that he could still easily get under Harry's skin.
"Malfoy, just go!" Harry nearly snarled, his fists clenched tight as he pinned a death glare on the Slytherin.
"Age before beauty," Draco grinned and swiftly bowed, indicating to the stair well as he did. This only seemed to anger Harry even more, Draco noted. With a satisfied sneer, he listened as Harry groaned angrily and stomped off down the stairs, muttering about the blond that followed behind him.
Harry was seething. He hated having Draco there at Grimmauld Place. They had just arrived the day before, and he was already tired of dealing with the ferret. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he missed the hinted warning that Draco gave him before the Boy-Who-Lived tripped gracelessly over his own feet and fell down the last four stairs. With a groan, he sat up and rubbed his pounding head.
Draco had warned him with a quick, "There is a step in front of you, you know." When Harry didn't listen, he had missed the step and fallen forward, hitting the floor that was a few stairs down. Draco burst out laughing while Harry slowly sat up. "I see the war has not helped your gracefulness, Potter," the blond sniggered.
"Shut up," Harry demanded icily. He pushed himself to his feet and headed for the kitchen, not bothering to look back at Draco, who continued to not-so-silently laugh behind him.
When the two reached the kitchen, they split to different sides of the table. Harry sat on one side with Ron that was far enough away from where Draco sat next to Blaise so that the Boy Wonder and Ron could talk without Draco's interruption.
There was a knock at the door, and immediately, Mrs. Black's portrait started on its usual tirade. Molly and Arthur rushed from the room to go greet whoever was at the door. It turned out to be none other than the new Headmistress of Hogwarts.
Soon, Mrs. Black's shrieks faded away into the silence as the curtains were successfully pushed back over her portrait to silence her. Then, Molly, Arthur, and Minerva McGonogall all entered into the room.
"Hello, Professor," Hermione greeted her Transfiguration professor with a smile.
"Hello, Professor," Ron and Harry echoed behind Hermione.
"Hey, Professor," Blaise greeted the elder woman with a jovial smile while Draco merely nodded to the woman in respect. "How's things at Hogwarts?" the Zabini asked as Minvera took a seat at the table,
The Headmistress thanked Molly for the cup of tea that the Weasley mother had just set down for her before sipping lightly on it. As she sat it back on the table, she answered her student's question, "Dismally... I want to keep the school open, but many parents are sending owls saying they will not let their children return to Hogwarts. All because of the threat of You-Know-Who." She sighed and took another sip of tea.
"But why not?" Draco couldn't help but ask, a frown on his face. When everyone looked at him, he averted his eyes to the tabletop and explained himself, "Well, Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the magical world. Why wouldn't parents want their kids there?"
"Maybe they're afraid someone will let in a horde of Death Eaters like last year," Harry stated testily, glaring at the blond from the corner of his eye.
Draco's hands on his lap clenched into fists as he reigned in his temper. "It was one time, Potter. Why would I help the Death Eaters ever again? I've refused to follow the Dark Lord. It doesn't matter what I do to help them, I would never be welcomed back there," he said in a soft voice.
"That one time was enough to kill Dumbledore though, wasn't it, Malfoy?" Harry seethed, his anger raging. "You're not exactly welcomed here either," he added, green eyes flaming angrily.
"Harry," Hermione gasped, as if surprised Harry would say such a thing. Whether they liked it all or not, Draco was on their side, so they should attempt to put away their differences and at the least be civil to one another.
"Mr. Potter, calm yourself," Minerva warned him, feeling a duel to be coming on soon if she didn't intervene.
"You'd better watch it, Potter," Blaise snarled and pushed himself to his feet, ready to hex Harry all the way to the North Pole. He had to defend Draco, who was trying desperately not to lose his temper.
"Why should I?" Harry asked coldly, matching Blaise's glare full blast.
"Harry, calm down, mate," Ron said to his best friend cautiously. "It's Malfoy; he's not worth it."
"What's that supposed to mean, Weasel?" Blaise demanded, flicking his death glare at Ron, whose ears became red as his anger began to rise as well.
"What does it sound like it means?" Ron retaliated, standing to his feet too. Now he, Blaise and Harry were all up and ready for a scuffle.
"Boys, sit down," Arthur tried his hand at stopping a possible fight, but the three boys didn't feel they needed to listen to him either. Even Molly gave it a try, but she too was ignored.
"So, you have to have Zabini to defend you, Malfoy? What's the matter? Afraid?" Harry taunted, glaring at the blond, who was visibly shaking from anger.
"Leave him alone," Blaise growled, scowling at the Boy-Who-Lived.
"What's your problem, Potter!?" Draco finally gave into his rage, jumping to his feet as he pinned a cold glare on Harry.
"My problem is that I'm stuck here in this house with the one who killed Dumbledore!" Harry shouted back in reply.
"I wasn't the one who killed him, you Gryffindork!" Draco exploded, his blood boiling.
"You bloody well did," Ron joined into the argument, "you're the one who let the Death Eaters into the school!"
"But I wasn't the one to cast the Killing Curse!" Draco yelled in defense and banged his fist on the table.
"Boys!" McGonogall tried to shout over the four, but she couldn't get their attention. She saw Hermione looking near tears sitting in between the two screaming parties and nodded at her to move from between them. Hermione slipped from the middle of the argument without the boys' notice and moved to the other side of the table to sit beside McGonogall.
"But you're the one who let the Death Eater in that killed him!" Harry thundered, "That means you indirectly caused his death, but you still killed him, Malfoy!"
"He did not! Shut your useless, muggle-loving mouths!" Blaise demanded, shaking his fist angrily at the two Gryffindors.
After Harry's statement, Draco froze, his anger just slipping away. He stared long and hard at the floor, falling instantly quiet. "I've never killed... I can't... If I was the cold-hearted killer you seem to think I am, then why would Granger be alive now?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper, and it caught everyone by surprise.
"What?" Ron asked dumbly.
Hermione saw this as her chance to step in, and as Draco hurried out of the room with Blaise hurrying after him, she said, "I told you two that Malfoy saved me." When both boys nodded, she sighed, "Malfoy was supposed to kill me, right there in front of You-Know-Who, but he couldn't do it. Even though he hates me and can't stand me, he still couldn't stand to kill me or to watch them kill me. So, that's why he saved me... He's not a murderer."
"But, last year, he," Harry began to say, but Hermione cut him off with a cross look.
"Everyone makes mistakes, Harry. I will admit that what he did last year was a pretty bad mistake, but that's in the past, and he's learned from that mistake. He saw what being a Death Eater is really about and realized he didn't want to be a part of it," Hermione stated calmly.
Harry struggled to find something to argue with, but nothing came up as he muttered "but" over and over again.
"Might as well give it up, mate... You know it's no use trying to argue with her.. She's completely mental," Ron said and gave Harry a small grin.
"Is your fury calmed now, Mr. Potter?" McGonogall asked sternly, eying the Boy-Who-Lived carefully.
With a sigh, Harry muttered, "Yeah.." He slipped back down into his chair to pout, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.
"Very well," the Headmistress said, "Now, I know that you three want to begin searching for the Horcruxes and put off returning to Hogwarts this year, but I must insist that you return to the school."
Immediately, Harry started to argue. "But, Professor, if we don't hurry and destroy all the Horcruxes, then Voldemort will continue to kill! We need to stop him as soon as possible!"
"I am well aware of that," McGonogall said, silencing Harry, "but it would be wise to return to Hogwarts. You could start up Dumbledore's Army again and continue helping the students prepare themselves. We are at war, Mr. Potter. Would you really leave so many students unprotected?"
Harry mentally groaned as he thought, So, she's going to play the guilt trip... "Well, no, Professor," Harry muttered, "but, Voldemort..." He was cut off again.
"Can wait for the time being. You still have much to learn as well. It's the best option right now," McGonogall stated. "Alright?"
"Come on, Harry, it's probably a good idea," Hermione insisted hopefully.
"Yeah. I mean, think about it... Are we really ready for war?" Ron asked meekly, a small smile on his face.
"I've already been involved in this war. And I've handled it spectacularly so far," Harry scowled and stood back to his feet. "I'm already ready for war," he mumbled with his back to everyone in the room, then he hurried out of the room.
McGonogall sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. How had Dumbledore dealt with Harry for so long in all the years before? The boy seemed so moody and hard to persuade.
"Don't worry, Professor," Hermione said, "I'm sure Harry will come around."
"Yeah, he just needs some time to think it over's all," Ron added.
Those comments made the Headmistress feel slightly better, and with a smile, she thanked them then said "I suppose I'll take my leave now." She slowly stood to her feet.
"Are you sure? Why don't you stay for lunch, Minerva?" Molly asked to make sure.
"No," McGonogall replied, "thank you, but I can't. I must hurry back to Hogwarts... There's plenty to be done, and I'm almost certain I'll have owls, possibly some howlers, waiting for me." She laughed lightly along with everyone else before she bid them goodbye. Arthur escorted her to the door, while Molly began making lunch.
Ron and Hermione decided to go look for Harry and see how he was doing. So the two headed straight for the bespeckled boy's room.
Harry, meanwhile, sat in his room on his bed, scowling at the wall, grumbling angrily under his breath. "Why does everyone else think they have the right to tell me what to do? I'm almost of age, and I have faced Voldemort plenty of times on my own, yet everyone still thinks they have the right to treat me like a child!" He fell silent when he heard a knock on his door.
"Harry? Are you in there?" Hermione asked as she knocked. Then, the doorknob jiggled as she attempted to open the door, only to find it locked. "Oh, for goodness sake," she uttered then knocked again and spoke louder, "Come on, Harry, open the door."
"No," Harry replied loudly, not feeling up to arguing with them right now.
"We just want to talk, mate," Ron gave it a try, but Harry still refused to open the door. The two outside the room sighed.
Hermione said, "Alright, you come find us when you're ready to talk. You know where to find us..." When she didn't even get an answer, she had to admit that it hurt, but she had to tell herself that it would all be fine. It would all work out for the better eventually; it always seemed to smooth over on its own over time. "Let's go, Ron..." The two then left, leaving Harry to stew in his bad mood.
On the other hand, Draco was trying hard not to break something as he paced the room that Blaise had showed him to as the blond's own room he would be staying in. "How dare Potter," Draco seethed as he paced, "how dare he!"
Blaise sat perched on the bed and watched as his friend quietly tried to rid himself of his frustration. "It's just Potter, Draco," Blaise finally said, "he's not worth all this pacing and muttering. Just forget it and ignore him."
"I can't forget it!" Draco whined and came to a halt in the middle of the room. "Everything about him is just so annoying, so frustrating, I just can't ignore him. He's impossible to forget! And that only infuriates me all the more!" He flailed his arms out around him, as if to prove how frustrating it was. "I can't get him out of my head, I always think about him! How much of an idiot he is, how I can get under his skin next, how I just wanna strangle him with my own bare hands, how I just wanna hex him to oblivion, how I wish I could shut him up once and for all, how I wish I could just push him up against a wall and kiss him!" His pale, gray eyes widened to the size of saucers, and he slapped a hand over his mouth terrified.
Blaise gave Draco a weird look, then the Zabini's eyebrows rose as he smirked. "Oh, really now? Draco.. I never knew that about you," he grinned.
"Knew what about me?" Draco asked cautiously, mortified that he had said that. It was just a thought that had just ran through his mind.
"That you had a thing for Potter," Blaise stated, his grin growing. "So, that's why you turned to the side of the light then?"
"Wh-what!? Blaise, you imbecile, I do NOT have a thing for Harry, I mean, Potter, I mean... ah, you know what I mean! I hate him! I hate Potter!" Draco shouted panicked, convincing himself that he definitely hated Harry Potter.
"Ah, there's a fine line between love and hate, my darling Draco," Blaise snickered. It was amusing to see Draco so flustered, seeing as the blond hardly ever became so flustered, and over someone he "hated."
"I do NOT love him, Blaise! And don't call me darling!" Draco demanded moodily.
"Alright, my dear Draco, just calm down. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your crush on Potter," Blaise said, grinning ear to ear.
"I. Do. Not. Have. A. Crush. On. Ha—Potter," Draco hissed under his breath.
"Whatever you say, Draco," Blaise chuckled and left the room, "whatever you say..."
Draco was left to start pacing once again, muttering a new mantra under his breath, "I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I can't like him because I hate him..." After a few minutes of pacing, he plopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Just because I want to kiss him doesn't mean I love him or anything... does it?" he whispered to himself, a frown tugging at his lips.
Kyla: This turned out longer than I expected.. I'm glad it's so long! I feel proud! Lol. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it!
