Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me, it belongs to J.K. Rowling, I don't make money out of this, and all characters in this fanfic are of legal age.
Warnings: Slash, homosexuality, EWE, AU, ignores DH
A/N: Don't hit me, I bruise easily D8 All sorts of exams have been coming up one after the other :| Entrance exams, final exams, national exams and shizz so just imagine my pain at having to sit in the middle of class for three weeks with my fingers twitching from HPDM withdrawal. D8 BUT HERE IT IS. (Finally ;;) I'm so sorry it took me so long ;; Never again, I hope! And as promised, the plot thickens :D
Also, thanks again to my wonderful beta, Dreaded Fate!
Chapter 8
Implications
Harry wondered how much truth was there in Snape's words. If Snape really did finish the Blood-Replenishing Potions and put them in his drawers, then there was no way that Professor Bridgewood would look for it there. Professors' desk drawers were considered personal, so it would be very rude of her to look inside and Professor Bridgewood seemed like the epitome of respect and politeness. Unless Professor Snape told her to, which was as likely as a Gringotts goblin smiling at you with a greeting of 'Hullo there, good chap. Fancy seeing you here today. Would you like a cup of tea?'.
Besides, Harry knew – from numerous detention sessions spent cleaning every nook and cranny of the Potions classroom – that Snape kept his potions at the bottom of the ingredients cabinet. Still, he knew how to take a hint, so he had quickly made his exit to leave Draco to his godfather. He decided that by the way Snape had so obviously belied the importance of getting the potion, he was in no hurry to complete that task yet. He still had time to take a much-needed shower and finally get out of these school robes.
(Honestly, he really was rather curious though, as to what Snape had to tell Draco.)
Now newly-showered, he made his way towards the dungeons. Ron and Hermione still weren't in the common room, something he wasn't surprised about because ever since they got together, officially, they had moments where they would suddenly disappear off somewhere. Probably for some time alone without Harry Not Looking at Them whenever they'd snog. Harry didn't mind, really. In fact, he thought it rather sweet, just… hard to get used to. Especially since they were his two best friends, but he reckoned he'd learn to get used to it in time.
As he crossed the Entrance Hall to get to the staircase leading to the dungeons, he saw Professor Bridgewood and Morgan talking just outside the Great Hall. Professor Bridgewood was looking as timidly polite as always, and Morgan was talking animatedly to her with a big sunshine grin on his face.
"I'm happy for you, Professor! You shouldn't let those lads get your knickers in a bunch!"
Professor Bridgewood turned a rich scarlet. "My… my knickers?" she asked, aghast.
Morgan had the decency to look sheepish. "Oh, sorry, Professor. Some students o'er in the Greenhouse were talking, and I thought it was funny. Muggle idioms are amusing, aren't they? Very crass," he said, grinning mischievously.
Harry nodded his greeting to them when he passed by.
Morgan's face immediately lit up like the sun. It tended to do that whenever he'd start talking to anyone. "Yo, 'Arry! Have ye seen Neville? Poor lad's stressing himself out in the Greenhouse but wait till ye see what we're doing!"
"I'm excited, sir," Harry said politely, a grin on his face as he remembered Neville's overjoyed expression last week when he first told them about the Greenhouse Project, so dubbed by Ron. Professor Sprout, delighted with her two assistants, gave them Greenhouse 3 to re-decorate as they wish. Oftentimes, Neville would show up for breakfast dazed and half-awake as it ate up a lot of his free time, but everyone could see that he was enjoying what he was doing. "And no, I haven't seen him yet today."
"Well, tell 'im Morgan here's looking for 'im! Thanks, 'Arry!" Morgan said, waving wildly. "And congratulations on getting together with that Malfoy lad!"
Professor Bridgewood squeaked.
Harry immediately spluttered, eyes wide and face burning. "We're not –"
"Oh, Neville, there ye are!" Morgan exclaimed, oblivious to both of his companion's scandalized expressions.
Neville was running down the stairs to reach them, and as he neared, he quickly started apologizing. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, panting slightly. "Trevor got lost again."
Ah, some things never change, Harry thought, trying to desperately ignore Professor Bridgewood who was Not Looking at Him and was looking at the floor with a red face. Actually, she hadn't looked at him ever since this whole going-out-with-Malfoy thing started… Okay, so maybe despite it being unsettling, it was still kind of funny.
Neville then turned to Harry. "Hi, Harry. Are you helping us with the Greenhouse?"
Harry immediately shook his head, lest they suddenly decide to reel him in for the Project. In his eighteen years of existence, he found that people had the tendency to do that. "No, sorry, I'm – err, Professor Snape wants me to do something for him," he said in a rush.
Morgan gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. "Professor Snape's a serious man, ain't he? He doesn't seem to like us very much, does he?" he added, chuckling as he and Professor Bridgewood shared an amused glance.
"That's okay, he doesn't seem to like much of anyone, really," Harry offered, chuckling as well. But now, after seven years, he knew who Severus Snape really was. Not much, but enough to say, "But he comes through. Professor Snape's just… edgy around some people."
"Understandable," Morgan said, with a puff of his chest and a wink. "Considering what he went through in the war!"
Harry nodded then and wondered if he knew anyone else as carelessly friendly as Morgan.
"Well, we're off then," Morgan quipped, giving Harry a firm pat on the back. "Professor Sprout's waiting. Doesn't do well for a gentleman to keep a lady waiting, eh?"
Neville and Harry shared a look of wry amusement at Morgan's lame joke, before Neville bid goodbye as well. "Bye, Harry. You should come by the common room later. I miss having you in the dorms," he said with a smile.
Even though he knew Neville meant nothing by it, Harry still turned red at what his friends thought he was doing when he wasn't in the dorms. Professor Bridgewood flushed, too, and only managed a squeak as her farewell.
Harry waved goodbye as the three started walking towards the Greenhouses.
"Hi, Harry," Luna Lovegood greeted from behind him.
Harry whipped around in shock, and sure enough, there stood Luna with her long, light blonde hair and Spectrespecs. He'd always liked Luna, so it wasn't hard getting over his shock and grinning warmly at her. "Hi, Luna. Hunting for, um –?"
Luna nodded with a smile back at him. "Wrackspurts. They make your head go fuzzy, you know. I was looking through my trunk just this morning and came across my Spectrespecs. I rather missed them. Your head's full of Wrackspurts."
"I don't think they've ever been empty of Wrackspurts," Harry said with amusement.
Luna's smile brightened. "That's okay, Harry. It'd be bad if your head's empty of them."
Harry scrunched his nose up in confusion. Weren't having Wrackspurts bad? Before he could voice out his question though, Luna started speaking again.
"Oh, I almost forgot, Harry. Professor Lupin was looking for you earlier. Perhaps you should visit him. He has more Wrackspurts than you do."
"Err, right," Harry said, blinking. He chuckled when he thought of Remus and Wrackspurts. "Thanks, Luna. It was nice talking to you," he finished, grinning.
Luna beamed at him. "I missed you too, Harry. I suppose Draco's eating up all your time now, not that I mind. You're less withdrawn now. I should thank Draco later. See you, Harry."
Harry was too dumbfounded to reply, so he simply watched Luna walk away with a skip in her step and a dreamy smile on her Spectrespeckled face.
He's less withdrawn now? Harry thought about this as he descended the steps towards the dungeons, quietly mulling over the past few days. He wasn't really sure if he hadchanged, but he did feel… lighter somewhat.
He thought about the past summer, right after the defeat of Voldemort. After the inevitable celebrations and all the various speeches, Harry had shut himself in Grimmauld Place for a week, remembering Sirius and all the countless of people that should still be alive. Oftentimes, he had sat in the kitchen and relived those nights that the Order spent sleepless in that very same place but full of dread and discussing battle strategies.
It was exhilarating at some points, and horrific at others.
After that week, he had told himself to get a grip and Apparated to the Burrow, where the Weasleys all welcomed him with open arms and teary eyes. He and Ron spent their summer busy by helping with the rebuilding of the Burrow, and sometimes Hogwarts with the rest of the Patching Team. Hermione spent hers with her parents.
Then Ron and Hermione had officially come out together as a couple, and whilst Harry was immensely happy for them, it made him wonder about all the sudden changes in his life.
He refused to be tied down by the war any longer.
It was just that… some days were better than others.
He had the best of friends, so much that he couldn't believe his luck sometimes, but Harry found it hard explaining to them what it really felt having the whole world on your shoulders. With Draco, it was somehow easier, since it was like Draco experienced the same thing when he was pressed to murder at the age of 16, lest his own family be Crucio-ed to death.
…Actually, what was easywas that Draco didn't demand things from him.
What happened in the war? What did you feel? What was it like living the game of kill or be killed? What did you feel when your godfather died? What was it like, watching the people who believed you would save them die one by one in battle?
Harry didn't have to agonize over what to tell him if he asked, because he was sure that Draco wouldn'task. Someday, maybe, but right now and even before, he was just… there.
Maybe it was because they started out as bitter enemies. Maybe not, but whatever it was, Harry could admit to himself that he really enjoyed Draco's company.
And it didn't hurt that the other had a refreshing sense of humor. Very… blunt.
(Wait, when did Malfoy become Draco? He scowled. It was the bloody rumors' fault again.)
But, well, he didmiss Ron and Hermione though. They haven't been hanging out as often as before, which wasn't really muchto begin with ever since the two hooked up. Still, he missed laughing with –
"HARRY!"
Something very big and something very heavy doubled against him and shoved him very uncomfortably against the cobblestoned floor of the dungeons.
"Oof."
"Ronald, get off Harry right this instant!"
"Sorry, mate," Ron rushed out, breathless and squeaky. Harry nodded from where his nose was painfully squashed against stone, and grunted. "Oh, right." Ron quickly scrambled up and off him.
It was after Harry finally stood up and decided that his nose still looked like a nose that he realized Ron was quite discolored. Ron Weasley only naturally turned into three colors: red, white or green. They weren't very good colors, and right now, he was whiter than Nearly Headless Nick.
Harry turned to Hermione, because one always turns to Hermione for help, but she was as pale as he was.
Ron couldn't seem to contain himself. "See, Hermione was looking up all sorts of stuff on the potions that Malfoy took, and we tried looking up the ingredients one by one, and really, I haven't a clue what Hermione was going on about until –"
"Ron!" Hermione snapped.
"Oh, right," Ron said again. He took a deep breath and tried to prevent himself from rambling, but couldn't stop his wild hand motions if his life depended on it. "We found out why Malfoy's puking blood all over the place!"
Harry's eyebrows rose up to his hairline. "Really?"
Hermione scoffed, not even mentioning that shefound out why Malfoy was puking blood all over the place while Ron slept and drooled all over his Potions' essay, because they all knew that. She returned to the matter at hand and looked at Harry nervously. "First of all, don't panic."
"What?" Harry started panicking.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, for –" She harrumphed then sighed exasperatedly. "Veritaserum has Dragon Blood in it while the Restoration Potion has Erumpent Exploding Fluid. Now, Dragon Blood's really safe for human consumption, but it's definitely more reactive than other potion ingredients."
Harry nodded. "Snape was muttering about that a few days ago, the Dragon Blood and the Erumpent Exploding Fluid thing. What do you mean by, err, reactive?"
Hermione looked nervous again. "Well, dragons breathe fire, right?"
Harry nodded slowly.
"It's part of them," Hermione continued. "It's in their lungs and infused in their blood. Not majorly, but enough. And the Erumpent Exploding Fluid isan erumpent, exploding fluid…"
Behind her, Ron nodded furiously, but while Harry could see that this was bad, he couldn't for the life of him pinpoint exactly why.
"Hermione, just say it!"
Oh, this was why she found Malfoy's company much more mind-stimulating when they were at Grimmauld Place. Malfoy could actually carry an intellectual conversation.
"The Erumpent Exploding Fluid makes the Dragon Blood react!It's like a catalyst!" Hermione explained, the words rushing out through her nervousness. "A lit match to spilled fuel! It's slowly… burning…" she cut off, biting her lip.
Harry stared at her, dumbfounded and face draining of color.
"But you said Malfoy took in a whole bottle of Veritaserum, right?" Hermione said quickly, not giving him any chance to react. "The belladonna in the Veritaserum's good for him. I just don't know how good, so if we keep giving him belladonna, it should be enough to keep the Dragon Blood passive until his system gets rid of the potion."
Harry continued staring at her. "Hermione, you're brilliant."
Hermione flushed. Ron looked proud.
"Snape must have already figured this out, so I don't think we should worry about it anymore," she continued, shrugging. "Judging from the amount of Veritaserum he took, the potion should wash out of Malfoy's system in a month, right?"
Harry nodded. "That's what Snape said."
"Okay then," Hermione said, exhaling deeply. She looked more relaxed now. "Just thought we should know that little trivia. I don't think Malfoy's in any danger. He's just gonna be in pain though, whenever he gets into his coughing fit."
"I'm on my way to get the Blood-Replenishing Potion now," Harry said.
Just then, Ron made a disgruntled noise.
Both Hermione and Harry turned to look at him.
He looked absolutely miserable.
"Bloody hell, we're actually worrying about Malfoy. No, wait, I'mactually worrying about Malfoy. What'll my mum say?"
Harry grinned as Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "She'll say good for you. She likes Malfoy."
Ron scrunched his nose up but grinned after when he remembered his mother scolding Draco Malfoy for eating so little. ("Young man, you'll never grow up fit and healthy that way! No wonder you're as skinny as a wand! Is this the new thing amongst youngsters these days? Well, what are you waiting for? Eat up! Don't be afraid to ask for thirds, dear.)Malfoy had looked at her like he did Buckbeak when the hippogriff broke his arm and nodded mutely.
Oh, good days. Good days.
"Honestly, Ron," Hermione said softly, smiling. "I'm glad you're not carrying anything bad from the war."
Ron shrugged self-consciously, turning pink. They usually didn't talk about 'the war'. It wasn't taboo or anything, but there just… wasn't anything more to talk about. "Well, we all have to move on and stuff. I actually want to enjoy my last year in Hogwarts with you guys."
Hermione's eyes were suspiciously watery.
Harry grinned.
He had the best friends ever.
Afterwards, Harry went with Hermione and Ron to the Potions classroom. A game of rock-paper-scissors had Ron facing defeat and imminent doom at being the unfortunate one to open Snape's desk drawer. ("That's unfair, that's a Muggles' game!") Still, their caution proved to be unneeded as there were no hexes that sprouted from the drawer when they opened it. Apparently, Snape was telling the truth when he told Harry where the Blood-Replenishing Potion was, but Harry still believed that Snape just wanted him out of the room.
When Pansy entered the infirmary with a gleeful smirk on her face, Draco knew he was in trouble. Now 'trouble' with Pansy meant being humiliated or just horribly embarrassed. That was not to say that Draco was afraid of Pansy. Far from it. It was just that Pansy really knew how to rile him up and sometimes, he didn't need that kind of added stress in his already dramatic life.
So it was with great reason that he narrowed his eyes suspiciously when Pansy neared his bed, Blaise looking sympathetic behind her.
"Hi, Draco," Pansy said smoothly. "You certainly slept well. It's already sundown and you're still in bed."
"I was about to leave, actually," Draco replied just as smoothly, unfazed. "I need a shower," he muttered dispairingly.
Blaise scrunched his nose up. "You'd think they'd have learned how to make medical potions smell good."
"Imagine that," Pansy carried on conversationally, the edges of her lips quirking up even as she tried to prevent it. "Harry Potter-scented potions."
Draco looked at her and tried to look discreet even as his mind worked frantically to figure out what she was getting at. It was like a game for them, the Slytherins. Their own kind wasn't saved from their own cunning, and Pansy, as Draco begrudgingly admitted, matched him in that area. It was another reason why their relationship back in fifth year didn't work out.
They just ended up humiliating each other publicly.
Blaise rolled his eyes. "We came here this morning to visit you," he said simply as if he was talking about the weather.
As simple as that, Draco got the hidden meaning and turned red.
Pansy let out a whine. "Blaise!"
Blaise gave her a dry look. "Harry Potter-scented potions? Really? A first year would have come up with something better than that."
Pansy glared at him. "I was getting to it," she huffed. As if to prove it, she turned back to Draco and huffed again. "We wanted to see if you were up for lunch. Your curtains were drawn but we decided to bother you anyway."
Even through his embarrassment, Draco snorted. Of course they did.
Thenhe realized the implications of thatand he groaned. "No, you didn't." He squinted at them and checked to see if the light around them were gold. It was. And yes, they did.
"We did," Pansy quipped, inspecting her nails. Then, as if she'd been containing it for a while now, her face suddenly burst into a wide smile. "So? Did something happen?"
"No," Draco quickly said, looking at her, aghast.
Pansy waved it off. "Oh, don't look like that. As if you'd complain if something didhappen," she sniffed haughtily. Then she sobered, shoulders drooping. "So nothing didhappen?"
Behind her, Blaise rolled his eyes and mouthed to Draco, 'Girls.'
Draco rolled his eyes, too. "No, Pansy, so if you're looking for a little bit of a snog and tell, then go find Greengrass. She'll be happy to fill you in on about her next victim."
At that, Pansy scoffed. "Distasteful, that. Rumor says next week will be Longbottom."
Blaise jumped at that, raising an eyebrow. "Longbottom? I thought he was with Loony?"
Pansy and Draco glanced at each other knowingly. "Oh, debatable," Pansy said, sounding as if she found the topic uninteresting. "Some say they just did that to get rid of all the girls pawing at Longbottom ever since he came back from the war looking like Lockhart," she finished, sighing dreamily at that, remembering Lockhart from second year.
Draco will never know what the female species find in that man.
"Really," Blaise said and pretended to look uninterested too.
"I have another piece of news," Pansy continued, smirking slyly.
Slytherins lived for gossip. It was just a matter of being graceful about it, unlike the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors. Better the Gryffindors than the Hufflepuffs though. Ravenclaws were much like the Slytherins… except that they didn't know how to be discreet and sometimes ended up acting worse than Hufflepuffs. Sad, really.
"What, did Bridgewood finally grow a backbone?" Blaise said with a raise of his eyebrow, not joking.
"Please, Skele-Gro's lost on that woman," Pansy sighed, before going back to topic. She looked directly at Draco. "Do you know who Greengrass' target last week was supposed to be?" she said sweetly.
Draco narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. He knew she wasn't talking about him, because the whole House knew that Greengrass had been after him since first year. At least until sixth year when she realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere with him. At that time, Draco had been too busy with… other things to even remembershe existed.
But Greengrass' supposed target obviously had something to do with him with the way Pansy was looking at him so gleefully, and if it wasn't him… then that meant –
"Oh, bloody hell no," he found himself growling out.
Pansy nodded. "Potter. Good thing the whole school found out about you two fucking, huh?" she amended with a wry grin.
Despite his earlier irritation, Draco found himself suddenly laughing at that.
"I thought that everyone believes that Potter's getting back together with the She-Weasel?" Blaise pointed out. They usually didn't talk about the 'She-Weasel', as it tended to send Draco into horrible fits of moodiness, but he felt like it was an important detail when talking about Harry Potter's love life. (Pre-Malfoy rumors, anyway.)
"But he hasn't, that's the thing," Pansy shrugged. Then she turned serious. "Greengrass was talking about Amortentia a few days ago. I overheard her in the girls' bathroom," she said with distaste, but grinned shortly afterwards. "That was the day before you pulled Potter to the library of all places!" She laughed at the memory.
Blaise couldn't resist a grin as well. "I bet you did that on purpose."
Draco didn't, actually, but that wasn't what he was thinking about. He stared at Pansy with raised eyebrows. "Amortentia? Potter?"
"Horrible, I know," Pansy scoffed, waving a hand. "Distasteful, even for a Slytherin."
"Where the hell did she get Amortentia from?" Blaise asked, frowning. "It's banned from Hogwarts, and we all know how stricter the teachers have been with that."
They did, and they missed terribly the days of creative pranks that would have made the Weasley Twins proud.
Then, something clicked in Draco's mind and his eyes widened. "Professor Snape!"
Both Pansy and Blaise exchanged confused looks, before looking at their blond friend as if he had suddenly grown a hippogriff's beak. "As if Professor Snape would give her Amortentia," Pansy said in disbelief.
Draco rolled his eyes. "No, you twit. You said she talked about it the day before I asked Potter to the library." When said like that, it almost sounded he asked Potter out for a date even though there really was no asking done. No wonder the whole school went insane after that. To the library, no less. "That was the day I took this stupid potion and keeled over," he said dryly. "You do remember what I told you guys about Peeves turning the Potions classroom over?"
If it happened to any other professor, they would have snickered then, but this was their own Professor Snape. They had a soft spot for him.
Blaise frowned. "Yeah," he said slowly, catching on. Draco had always thought of Blaise as clever. It just depended on Blaise's mood if he wanted to show it or not. "And the three potions that went missing were –"
"Amortentia, Veritaserum, and Blood-Replenishing Potion!" Pansy finished for him, looked shocked.
"Well, we know where the Veritaserum went," Blaise murmured, looking at Draco pointedly. "And the Amortentia."
Pansy's eyebrows furrowed. "You're not saying that what happened to the Potions classroom was actually… planned?"
Draco shrugged. He and Snape were going to have another long talk later. "A plan that was blown out of proportion, yes," he said, sniffing haughtily. "Though thatwas also probably part of the plan. Make it look like a poltergiest's fancy to wreak havoc, is all."
"Had to have been a Slytherin," Blaise commented firmly. "Only a Slytherin could have manipulated Peeves like that."
Pansy narrowed her eyes. "You don't think that Daphne…?"
Almost immediately, Blaise and Draco shook their heads. "No," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "The Love Potion probably just got thrown out of the classroom and she picked it up somewhere."
Pansy huffed. They weren't getting any answers, and she hated unanswered questions. It was the same with gossip. "So tell me again what the planis? Wreak havoc on Professor Snape's classroom just so that they can get a Blood-Replenishing Potion?"
Blaise shrugged. "Makes more sense if they wanted the Amortentia or the Veritaserum."
Draco nodded. "That, or they wanted something elseand didn't find it."
Silence followed that statement, the seriousness of it all weighing down on them.
They were tired of this, but it was something that was imbedded into them by their family even way before the war started. The perpetual state of being suspicious. Wary.
It was Pansy who broke the silence. "Maybe it's just a prank," she said, shrugging offhandedly though there was nothing offhanded about the way she felt.
Blaise nodded, just to reassure her. "Maybe," he said, offering a wry grin. "Then it's definitely a Slytherin's handiwork."
Suddenly, Draco sighed loudly. Just like that, they knew that the topic was over. "Speaking of Slytherin, I'd really like to get that much-deserved bath right about now. Mind if we carry this to the dungeons?"
When did mealtimes become so stressful? Harry thought as he braced himself once again to enter the Great Hall. As always, conversation ceased immediately when he entered and all heads turned to look at him, before whipping towards the Slytherin table. Of course, this made Harry look at the Slytherin table too, where he caught Draco's eye. Draco shrugged. And everyone gasped at the interaction and started speaking in hushed tones.
Beside him, Ron sniggered. "Okay, you gotta admit. This is funny."
Harry admitted it silently, but glared at him half-heartedly anyway.
They walked towards the Gryffindor table and all was well in the world.
…Well, not really.
"You're certainly busy," Seamus quipped loudly and cheerfully, before they even had the chance to sit down.
Harry felt the familiar shiver that told him of impending doom. He knew this, because it's what he felt every time Snape came near him. Or Trewlaney, though with her, 'impending doom' meant embarrassing public fiascos.
The Shiver was never wrong.
"You didn't show up last night, then you and Malfoy skip breakfast andlunch?"
The Hufflepuffs gasped at this piece of information and immediately passed on their wisdom.
Beside Seamus, Dean offered Harry a sympathetic expression. "Sorry, Harry, his head's a bit thick. I tried explaining to him that it's not what he was thinking." Here, he paused and peered at him. "Right?"
For the first time, Harry thought of simply going along for the ride instead of flat-out denying it. After all, no one seemed to want to believe him and Ron was already spilling syrup all over himself from laughing so much. Even Hermione was turned away from him, 'coughing' into her hand.
"It's not what you're thinking, Seamus," Harry said seriously.
Dean whooped. Seamus froze, looking at him in dismay. Goodbye, five gallons.
"We didn't do anything last night," Harry continued as earnestly as he could. "Just stayed up together and talked a bit, that's all."
And the wisdom passed on from table to table like waves.
When Ron was done choking on a pea that found its way in his mouth (not surprising seeing as how he'd been half-lying on the table in his fit of gleeful laughter), Harry looked towards the other side of the room and found himself grinning at the way Draco's eyes bulged out in shock and the way his jaw dropped when Millicent Bulstrode gave him the news that came from the Ravenclaw table.
Okay, now that was funny.
Harry wasn't surprised when Draco marched up to him during the latter part of dinner time.
"Granger, Weasley," he greeted.
Harry grinned. Oh, this was going to be good.
Granger smiled at him in acknowledgement and elbowed Ron when he didn't reply. "I think you broke him," she said, waving a hand in front of Ron's face.
Ron snapped out of his stupor and scrunched his nose. "I'm not used to Malfoy acting like a human being."
"Oh, you'll have a lot of time to adjust," Draco said smoothly with a winning smile that had Parvati Patil knock over her goblet of pumpkin juice. He turned to Harry and quirked his head just a little bit to the side. "Harry, are you done?"
Ron made gagging noises and Harry could practically feelSnape's stare piercing his back, as well as those of pretty much everyone.
The Great Hall held its breath.
"I am, actually," Harry said, standing up. "Shall we go?"
Draco grinned.
"Stayed up together and talked a bit?" Draco asked him with incredulity, breathless after their fit of laughter when they stepped out of the Great Hall. "Can you be any more of a pouf, Potter?"
"Look who's talking," Harry shot back, still chuckling. "Merlin, Snape's not going to let me go for this."
"Certainly not," Draco grinned. "He'll hate you for soiling his godchild."
Harry's face turned red at the image that produced. The soiling part, not the Snape hating him part. He was already used to the latter. "We just stayed up together and talked a bit, remember? No actual soiling done," he said, grinning.
Draco's eyes lit up. "Pity, that," he quipped before turning around and walking towards the infirmary, a skip in his step.
It took a while for Harry to wipe off the gobsmacked expression on his face. And the blush on his cheeks.
When they reached the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey was in deep conversation with a professor.
What was surprising was that it wasn't Professor Snape. It was Professor Lupin.
"Remus!" Harry greeted, a smile breaking out over his face, which faltered when he saw how pale and fatigued Remus looked.
Still, the smile that Remus offered him was big and bright.
Then Harry remembered what Luna told him earlier. "Luna told me you were looking for me," he said, looking sheepish. "I'm sorry, it slipped my mind."
Remus' smile turned amused as he glanced at Draco behind Harry. "So it seems."
Harry turned red but Draco just looked pretty happy with himself. "Remus, you know what everybody's been saying isn't true."
Draco's shoulders drooped a little.
"Though that was quite a scene you pulled back there," Remus chuckled. "Severus almost burst a vein."
Harry grinned at the memory.
Madame Pomfrey coughed loudly and shot him a pointed look complete with the raised eyebrow. Harry immediately sobered up. Satisfied, she turned to Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, if you'll come with me. I'd like to do a few check-up tests."
Draco's own eyebrow quirked up because they all knew that 'check-up tests' only required a few swish and flicks of the wand. Still, he knew how to take a hint so he nodded at Harry and at Professor Lupin before following Madame Pomfrey to the other side of the room.
Remus looked at him seriously, and even a bit… was that nervousness? "Harry, there's something very important you have to know."
Okay, so that normally didn't mean something very good. Harry nodded and tried to pull up his confidence.
Remus closed his eyes and seemed to gather his thoughts but Harry knew better. "Sit down, Remus," he murmured softly.
Remus gave him another smile before walking towards a bed and sitting on its edge. Harry sat on the bed beside it, facing his professor.
"Remember the safety rooms we were talking about a few days ago?" Remus asked. Harry nodded. "I thought about it and asked Professor McGonagall. The safety rooms…" he paused, pressing his lips tightly together. "They're not finished. I didn't know because that's not my part in the 'Patching Team', as you so call it. Those in charge of it haven't charmed it to be triggered open yet. Meaning you can't possibly be falling through them."
Harry bristled. "What? But –"
"I know, Harry," Remus cut him off, softly. "That's what bothers me," he said gravely.
Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't get what you're talking about."
Remus paused for a moment, but shook his head and fixed Harry with a level gaze. "They can only be triggered open manually. With a wand and a spell."
He could see when the realization had started to sink in Harry's head. Harry had always been easy to read like that, and this time was no different. His eyes grew wide with every word that came out of his professor's lips.
Remus persisted on. "You're not stepping on anything or touching that made the safety rooms open. Someone…" he stopped there, because Harry's face had already begun to gradually lose its color.
Someone had been triggering those trap doors.
Just for him.
A/N: Everybody probably expected that :( /horrible at keeping secrets
Anyway, I'm not sure how stable updates will be but I'll still try to update once a week! If you're curious, then just check back to my profile (which I've been putting off... :D;;) because I'll be putting status updates there :) Again, thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! I really appreciate them, and they made my HPDM-less three weeks much more bearable D8 Thank you! :D
Please review this chapter and tell me what you think! :) Comments and concrit are very much appreciated!
