Golden Protector
Chapter 9: Crash
o0o
Malfoy was surprisingly light so he had no trouble carrying him down a flight of stairs and to the portrait hole.
When approaching the entrance Ron groaned once he realized something. " Great. How are we going to get in? Malfoy's unconscious and Garrott's who knows where right now."
"I know the password." Harry admitted as he shifted the blonde to get a better grip on his thighs so he didn't slid off his back.
"You know the password." Hermione stated in surprise. Using a tone that said she wanted an explanation later.
"I think I do at least. Hopefully they didn't change it yet." Harry answered. Looking at the man in the portrait he said "Wingardium Leviosa" he received a nod from the portraits occupant before it swung open to allow them entrance.
Harry sighed in relief before stepping over the lip into the common room. It was the first time his friend had been here so they examined the room. The fire place was lite but he guessed the house elves made sure it never went out.
He put the blonde down on the couch. He didn't want to reveal to his friends that he knew which room was Malfoy's too.
"I don't think he should be left alone right now." Harry stated as he sat down in an arm chair. He didn't like the idea of leaving Malfoy on his own when he was comatose. If Greyback did decide to attack right now, however unlikely, he'd be a sitting duck. "You should go down to dinner without me."
"You need to eat too." Hermione claimed.
"I'll go down to the kitchens later." Harry replied back.
"What are you going to do while you wait?" She asked inquiringly.
Picking up a book that was left on the coffee table he held it up for her to see. "I'll study for potions."
"Let's just go Hermione, I'm hungry." Ron complained.
"Fine" She agreed and they left for dinner together.
Harry was finally left alone with the blonde. The only sound in the room was the Slytherin's light breathing and the crackling fire.
He tried to read but he hadn't even gotten through a whole page because his eyes kept straying to the sleeping blonde. This is the first time he'd ever seen Malfoy in such an unsuspecting position. It's true that everyone looks different when they were sleeping.
Getting up he put the test book on the chair he walked closer to the blond. He debated moving him to his bed to sleep but thought better of that. If the auror came back, he didn't think the man would like it if he'd been in his charges room.
It didn't seem right though to leave him just like this on the couch though. He transfigured one of the extra pillows into a blanket and draped it over the other boy.
Sitting back down he was able to concentrate better now. 'If only the subject wasn't so boring' he thought to himself.
…
After his classes were over for the day Snape wanted to go directly to the hospital wing to check in on his god son but he had a lot of student work to mark. He decided that he'd do that first before heading up so he could spend time with him without having to run off to do something.
It took longer than he thought it would but at least it was out of the way. By the time he ended up heading up it was pushing dinner time already.
When he opened the door to the hospital wing he was surprised he didn't see anyone running around. He could see the nurse tending to a crying first year but other than that it was quiet. One of the hangings on the bed was closed so he pushed it open to only see an empty bed.
Turning to the nurse he asked "Where's Draco?" He came to the hospital wing still expecting his godson to be here. The potion shouldn't have worn off yet; at least not for the auror and the boy couldn't go anywhere without him.
Madame Pomfrey turned her attention to him. "Oh, they were causing so much noise and disturbing to the other patients, so when Mr. Potter came and offered to take them off my hands I readily accepted." She shrugged.
"You just let him take them?" He asked with a raised eye brow.
"Well since I can't do anything else for them I didn't see why not." Madame Pomfrey replied huffily.
Snape turned on his heel and left the hospital wing without further comment. He stalked down to the great hall where dinner had just started. Scanning the room for a head of messy black hair but he didn't see it. Where could that boy have gone? He asked himself.
He spotted the unmistakable short red hair at the Gryffindor table. Walking over to stand behind the boy's friends who were eating he asked "Where did Potter take my god son?" The Weasley started to choke in surprise and Granger patted him on the back. When other students noticed his presence they shifted away from him.
Hermione turned around to look at her teacher and answered. "Harry took him back to his chambers."
"Why would he need to do that? Wouldn't it be better to be in an open area?" Snape asked. He didn't think sticking a hyper boy in a small enclosed area was a good idea.
"Malfoy used all his energy so when the potion finally wore off he was knocked unconscious" she answered while still patting her boyfriend's back who was taking a drink to wash the food down.
"I did not expect the potion to wear off so soon." Snape said to himself in contemplation. "Why did Potter not come down with you to dinner?" He asked inquiring since the auror should've been there to look after the boy.
"He's actually waiting for Garrott to show up, he kind of ran off when we were outside." Hermione admitted sheepishly.
Snape frowned at hearing that. The auror was not doing his job properly of protecting the boy. "I best go relieve Potter of his duty then." He said before leaving.
He walked to the second floor and said the password that his god son had told him "Slytherin Prince" to gain entrance. When he stepped in he saw two sleeping boys. His god son was on the couch with a blanket on him while Potter was in the chair. He must've fallen asleep waiting.
The boy's head was lolled to the side like he drifted off without meaning to. He had an open potion text book lying open in his lap which must've been what made him fall asleep. His glasses were perched on the end of his nose like they were on the verge of falling off.
Snape slammed the portrait closed which had the desired effect of making the boy jump awake. His god son was still dead asleep though. He must be really knackered out because usually he was a light sleeper.
When Harry jumped awake he knocked his glasses off. All he could see was a black blob so he felt around with his hand until he felt coolness against his fingertips. He pushed his glasses back to the right position so he could see again.
"Snape" Harry said in surprise. He stood up and the book fell to the ground with a loud thump.
"Potter" The potion teacher responded back crossing his arms.
Harry shuffled his feet feeling like he'd done something wrong under the man's stare. "I just didn't think it was a good idea to leave him alone here. Garrott…" Harry awkwardly mumbled out.
"Yes, I know the auror is missing in action. I'm just here to relieve you from watch duty." Snape sat down in the chair that he had vacated. Potter looked at him confused and continued to stand in the room. "Potter, you may go now." Snape dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
He nodded and left after shooting Malfoy one last look. There should still be enough time for him to grab some dinner.
…
It was late in the evening by the time the auror showed up again.
Garrott sighed in relief once he got back to the portrait. He wasn't sure what happened during the past couple hours. It was all a blur to him. The last thing he remembered he was in the hospital room. When he came to he was on the other side of the black lake with no idea how he got there.
Saying the password the boy thought up the portrait swung open. When he entered the room he was surprised to see the potion master reading a book and drinking a glass of scotch in his common room. He could see his charge was asleep on the couch beside him.
"Mr. Garrott, where have you been?" Snape asked before taking another sip of his drink and snapping the text closed. "You are supposed to stay with my god son at all times are you not?"
"It's not my fault. I was under the influence of that potion he made blow up." Garrott responded defensively.
"I don't want to hear excuses. No matter what, you should always be thinking of your duty because…" Snape stood and drank the rest of his drink like it was a shot. He walked over and hit the man in the stomach with the potion book. Winding the auror and making him grab it in surprise "If my god son gets injured on your watch I will not be happy."
Garrott looked at the man in surprise as he looked intently in his eyes.
"You don't want to know what I'll do to you" Snape threatened before stalking out.
Garrott huffed in annoyance once the man left. Just realizing he was still holding the potion book he dropped it.
.
Pacing in front of the fire he looked at his charge jealously as he slept soundly. Even though he could feel that the potions effect had started to wear off he still felt like he couldn't sleep. It was fast approaching the mid night hour and he could feel his tiredness but there was something blocking him from actually acting on it. 'This is what people with insomnia must feel like' he thought to himself.
He walked over to stand above the boy with a contemplating expression. Garrott wasn't sure how such a good looking boy could have such a harsh personality. He pushed some hair aside that had fallen into the boy's face.
When he heard who his assignment was he thought it was going to be no trouble until he actually met his charge. The boy came from a high class family and always got what he wanted growing up. This caused him to fight him on a lot of things.
Garrott felt like he was worth the trouble though.
As soon as he first met the boy at the train platform he'd felt a pull towards him. When anyone else tried to get near him he felt this unexplainable jealousy take over him. He was trusted with Draco's safety. There was just this feeling that the boy belonged to him and him alone.
Potter was always trying to but in. He wasn't sure what his intentions were towards the boy but he didn't like him always hanging around.
Picking up the boy he carried him to his bedroom and tucked him into his bed. The blond didn't even stir.
o0o
When Draco woke up in the next morning in his bed to an alarm clock, without remembering how he got there he knew that wasn't a good thing. On a normal day he never got woken up by the alarm because he was already awake and he just used it as a precaution. He had a hard time remembering what happened the day before.
Reluctantly he climbed out of bed and got dressed for the day. Looking in the mirror he was surprised to see his hair in such a state. If he wanted to eat he wouldn't have time to shower. He usually never got bed head so it was a rare occurrence. 'I look like Potter' he thought. Using a comb and some gel he tried to tame his hair into submission.
Looking in the mirror at the result it looked like he went back in time he thought. If he wanted anything to eat before classes he wouldn't have any time to fix it so it would just have to do.
When he exited his room he was greeted by his auror who was already sitting in the common area. There were black circles under the man's eyes and he didn't look happy. "Did you sleep at all?" He asked blurry eyed.
"No I did not" Garrott answered back leaning into the chair more and crossing his arms. The whole night he sat and watched the clock tick away. He even tried lying down on the couch and will himself to fall asleep but it never happened.
"I'm going to breakfast" Draco informed him before turning to leave. The auror had to drag himself out of his chair to follow his charge.
Even though the day before was foggy Draco was pretty sure he never made it to dinner the night before. The only way he could've gotten off not eating was if he was already unconscious. Even though he'd slept for hours last night he still felt exhausted himself.
Sitting down at his usual seat at the Slytherin table, the first thing he thought was 'He needed coffee stat.' Draco didn't even bother putting sugar or cream in his cup and just had it black. Taking a deep sip he thought 'So gross yet good at the same time.' He started to feel like himself again after he had some caffeine in his body.
Next he started to pile his plate full of a lot more food than he would usually have because he was starving from not eating dinner the night before. He noticed Garrott was doing the opposite today and not packing food back like he did every meal. He just put his coffee together and sat there stirring it with an exhausted look on his face. Draco thought it looked like he was closer to banging his head on the table than actually taking a sip of his coffee.
When he saw others leaving for classes he thought he should follow their example. The week always started with double potion class. He slapped Garrott's should to get his attention that he was leaving. The auror sighed as he pushed his cold coffee away as he stood up.
When Draco was exiting the great hall he felt someone put an arm around his shoulder. He could hear his auror grown a small distance away so it couldn't be him. Looking to see who it was he met deep green eyes. "Potter?" Draco asked wondering what he was doing as the boy continued to walk beside him.
"How you feeling this morning?" Harry asked with humor in his tone.
Draco frowned when he heard Weasleys laugh at the question and Granger put her hand over her mouth to hold in a giggle. He knew that couldn't be a good reaction. There was a large gap in his memories from the night before and anything could have happened during that time.
He Narrowed his eyes at the lackeys before turning back to the Gryffindor. "Awful, what happened yesterday?" Draco asked trying to hide the worry in his tone.
Potter had a thoughtful expression on his face "Let's just say you were like a toddler."
Draco frowned at that description of his behavior. He didn't even want to know what he did. It was best for him to just pretend that day didn't happen. He noticed Potter's eyes focus on his head.
"What's with the gel, are we back to first year?" Harry asked reaching out a hand to touch it only to have the blonde slap his hand away. He ducked out from under his arm and speed walked down the short flight of stairs into the dungeon.
Malfoy ignored him when he ran to catch up. When they reached the potion class room there were student's standing around waiting meaning that Snape hadn't arrived yet. The blond leaned against the wall to wait patiently still acting like he wasn't there. "I was just making an observation" Harry tried to placate the blond.
Draco tried to ignore Potter but with his eyes boring into the side of his head it didn't last long. "I'm having a bad hair day, ok?"
All talking stopped when they saw Snape stomping towards them from the direction of his personal chambers instead of the great hall. Draco knew that wasn't a good thing because his god father got snappy when he hadn't eaten. Didn't mean he wasn't normally, it was usually just worse.
Without saying a word Snape unlocked the door and marched into his classroom and up to the board and he started to write. No one said a word because they all sensed that if they broke the silence the potion master would bite their head off.
Sitting down at their usual table Draco got out the text book and opened it up to the index preparing for another fit like last class. He was right because Severus turned around after only writing for a very short amount of time. "I expect this potion to be brewed and handed in at the end of class. I have to go do something and I expect you all to do as you're told while I'm gone." He instructed before marching out of the class room.
"Good" Draco thought. He hoped Severus was going to get something to eat. Even he couldn't stand that attitude for a double potions period. He wondered what caused his god father's bad mood this morning.
.
They weren't left without teacher supervision for long. When Severus returned he was in a better mood but not by much.
They were brewing a complicated potion that required a lot of attention. Draco was stirring when Potter touched his shoulder to gain his attention. He glanced to where he was pointing only to see that his auror had fallen asleep. It had started to gain attention by the rest of the class. Whispering and pointing at their table had begun.
Draco guessed that the potion had finally fully worn off causing him to lose consciousness. After not sleeping the whole night he wasn't surprised by it. Judging from what Potter had told him about the day before the same thing had happened to him.
Snape walked up to their table and cleared his throat. Garrott blinked his eyes open and sat up. "No one falls asleep in my class, even if they are aurors. Out!" Snape instructed snappishly.
"But…" Garrott tried to ask the man to let him stay but he could see he wasn't going to change his mind when the potion master narrowed his eyes. He stood up reluctantly. "I'll be just outside." He whispered into his charge's ear.
"I assure you my godson is safe in here with me." Snape stated and he had a thoughtful look. "From now on, he won't require your presence in my class."
"But I'm supposed to monitor him at all times." Garrott grasped the fact to convince the man. He had used that against him the night before.
"There are no windows in this room, only one exit and entrance which you'll be guarding. He'll be safer than ever without you disturbing my class." Snape snapped "Go." He'd have to inform McGonagall that he'd made the request because the auror was disturbing his class.
Garrott frowned before stalking out and slamming the door behind him.
"Everyone get back to work." Snape instructed when he noticed the shocked stares he was receiving from his students. After he retreated back to his desk.
Draco felt relieved to have the auror not looking over his shoulder while he was trying to concentrate on brewing. Potter leaned over and whispered in his ear that "Snape had the auror whipped" which made him smile.
Draco noticed that Ginny was frowning at him from the front row at his proximity to her ex-boyfriend. He leaned closer to test if he was right and her frown deepened. "What's happening between you and the Weaslette?" Draco asked nonchalantly.
Harry looked at where the blonde's eyes were directed and Ginny snapped her head away not wanting to get caught starring. "We tried getting back together after the war but it just didn't seem right anymore. I ended it though Ginny still insists that we try." Harry admitted exasperated.
"Oh good, I was afraid you had an Oedipus complex or something." Draco said in relief. Going back to stirring their potion like he hadn't just insinuated anything.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked confused. He vaguely remembered hearing the saying mention in History class when they went over the ancient Greek era in muggle grade school.
Draco rolled his eyes at the boy's obliviousness. "Ginerva Wesley is the spitting image of your mother."
Harry paled and said kind of loudly "Oh god you're right." Malfoy shushed him to say that his voice was drawing attention. "How come no one's ever pointed that out to me before?" He whispered, feeling queasy just thinking about it. Remembering thinking about how he liked Ginny's hair because it reminded him of his mother's.
"Glad to be of service." Draco leaned back with a sense of accomplishment. Ever since he saw a picture of a young Lilly Potter in Severus's office fourth year he thought she looked very similar to the Weaslette. His inquisitive nature forced him to bug the man about why he had it before revealing that they'd been childhood friends. His godfather had threatened great pain if he ever told anyone he saw the photo before hiding it in his desk. It had greatly grossed him out when two years later when Potter got together with the bint.
Draco smirked at the frown that the Weaslette was giving him. 'They would never get back together now' he thought to himself.
…TBC
