Author's Note: After this chapter, we will be taking a short break to carefully plan out and write the next couple of chapters which are definitely important. We'll be back by the end of the month and thank you in advance for your patience!
Also, don't be upset. To make it up to you, we plan on releasing a "special" chapter in mid-October. Stay tuned...
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks
CHAPTER 10: SUPPORT
"Anything?" said Peter, hurrying over to Draco as he climbed in through the portrait hole.
Draco shook his head. Peter sighed anxiously and moved back to the couch by the fireplace. Remus crawled through the portrait hole shortly after. Draco whirled around to look at him, but Remus only shook his head and hurried back to the table by the fire to consult the Marauder's Map again.
"I know I've said it before, but I really mean it this time," he muttered. "I am gonna kill Sirius."
"Yeah, I'll help you," Draco mumbled, taking a seat next to Peter and waiting as Remus folded and unfolded the map in all corners.
It was Monday night—or rather, Tuesday morning. The 2AM moonlight was peeking in through the windows, illuminating the almost completely dark and empty common room. Draco, Remus and Peter had noticed that Sirius had disappeared only when they'd gotten back to the common room after their detention. They'd tried looking for him but he was absolutely nowhere to be found on the map. It was as though he had left the castle grounds altogether. Peter had suggested telling McGonagall this, but Remus insisted that it was not a good idea.
"But what if something's happened to him?" said Peter in a small voice.
"It's Sirius—nothing will have happened to him," said Remus.
Admittedly, Draco agreed. If Sirius had disappeared, it was totally and completely intentional.
"Lord, if he doesn't show up in an hour," said Remus, who now got to his feet and began pacing.
"He will," said Draco.
"You don't know that!"
"I do. Sirius knows we'll be visiting James later today. He won't miss it."
"But—"
"Look," said Draco, taking the map from Remus and folding it up under his arm. "You're tired—I can see it. Why don't you go rest, and I'll stay up and wait for him to come?"
"But I—"
"—will be happy to do as you ask, Draco," said Draco, smiling warmly. Remus sighed. "Go on, it's okay."
Remus turned to Peter, who also got to his feet.
"You'll wake us if anything?" Remus asked Draco.
"You'll be the first to know when he comes back," he promised.
Remus nodded, and then he and Peter climbed up the spiral staircase to the dormitory. Once they were gone, Draco smoothed out the map on the table again and narrowed his eyes at the tiny labelled dots. He searched for Sirius' name again, but after several minutes of this, sighed and closed up the map again. It was no use. If Sirius was in the castle, it would show. He must've left.
Feeling wide awake, Draco crept up the stairs to the dormitory—where both Remus and Peter were fast asleep—and snuck the invisibility cloak from out of James' trunk by the bed on the far left. He then snuck back out and pulled it over himself before exiting the common room altogether, the map still tucked safely under his arm. Breathing as quietly as he could, Draco trotted along the silent corridors. His only source of light was that of the moon and only about a handful of torches that were still lit. He turned a corner, climbed some steps, then turned another corner and climbed a few more until he reached the third floor. He stopped before the door to the girls' bathroom, looked around again, and then, pulling the cloak off, he let himself in.
As he had predicted, the bathroom looked exactly the same as it had back in his own timeline. It was as though no time had passed (or rather, gone backwards). The floor was still damp, as always, and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles burning low in their holders. The wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched and the large mirror above the row of chipped sinks was still cracked and spotted. It was exactly the same bathroom where he had wept so many times before…
"Hello?" said a small voice from one of the stalls.
"Hey Myrtle," said Draco, in spite of himself.
Moaning Myrtle floated from out of the stall and moved towards him so she could get a better look at him. Draco stood there, cloak under one arm and map under the other. Myrtle surveyed him for several moments before she cried out, "Who are you?! I don't know you! Go away!"
She moved to hide behind one of the stalls.
"N-no, it's okay!" he tried, using the sincerest tone he could. "Really, it's okay! My name is Draco! Draco M—uh, Black."
"Draco M. Black?" said Myrtle, still refusing to come out from the stall.
"Y-yes," Draco stammered. "That's right."
"I know the Blacks," she said after a moment's silence. "Arrogant lot, they are!"
"W-well I'm not technically a part of the Black family," Draco insisted. "Not really."
Myrtle poked her head from out of the stall and narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I'm a Black, yes, but I'm also not a Black. I…I was raised in a muggle orphanage and Professor Dumbledore was my tutor this whole time."
"Dumbledore?" repeated Myrtle.
"Yes," said Draco. "I promise, I'm not gonna hurt you. Come out."
Myrtle hesitated, but then a split second later she moved from out of the stall. Though, she kept her distance.
"How did you know my name?" she asked.
"I've heard about you," Draco said, simply.
Myrtle let out a cold laugh. "That's a lie! No one talks about me—they've all forgotten I exist!"
Draco suppressed a laugh at the 'exist' part, and cleared his throat. "Look, I've met a lot of the ghosts in this castle and so far, you seem like the nicest one. I was just hoping we could be friends."
Myrtle's eyes widened and just for a fraction of a second, a smile crossed her face. She then grew serious again.
"Well, I suppose we could," she said, stubbornly.
Draco smiled.
"Listen, Myrtle, you're probably wondering what I'm doing out so late." She stared at him. "I'm looking for my friend. He's disappeared."
"Well he hasn't come by here, if that's what you're asking," she said.
"No, I didn't think that he did," said Draco. "But…Myrtle, do you think that you could help me find him?"
She paused. "Well I don't know."
"Maybe you could try?"
She stared at the polite expression on his face. "Well I suppose I could."
"Great!" said Draco. "So, I have this map here, you see," he pulled it out from under his arm and unfolded it before her, tapping his wand gently on the cover and whispering "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good" so that the dots would appear. Myrtle floated a bit closer to him so she could have a look. "So this map shows the Hogwarts grounds and everyone who walks upon them. See here? The dots are labelled for each person. And here I am, standing right next to—"
"Me!" Myrtle exclaimed, looking rather excited now.
"Yes, that's right!" said Draco. "So, my friend…his name is Sirius. And I can't find him anywhere on the map. He disappeared over 8 hours ago."
"Perhaps he's left the school grounds," Myrtle suggested.
Draco shook his head. "I doubt he would. I'm just wondering…are there any other places in the school that the map is missing? It's still underway, you see. Perhaps we missed some spots where we could've looked for him?"
"Well where would your friend go?" said Myrtle, her eyes still surveying the old piece of parchment in Draco's hands.
"That's the thing, I haven't got a clue," said Draco, almost desperately. "I haven't really known him that long and so I don't know any place he would be…" His voice trailed off as he suddenly remembered where Sirius had wanted to go with him the other night. Draco quickly unfolded the corner of the map that showed Hogsmeade Village and skimmed through it. Nope, no Sirius there. He sighed and showed it to Myrtle again.
"So are there any rooms that haven't been labelled on the map?"
Myrtle looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "How should I know? I died before I even finished this school. I haven't been everywhere in the castle."
"Well maybe you listen to the other ghosts talk," Draco suggested, feeling slightly agitated now. This Myrtle certainly wasn't as…understanding as the Myrtle that he'd known. Maybe students today tortured her even more, whereas in his own timeline, she was pretty much forgotten.
"The other ghosts don't talk to me," she said with a small whimper.
Draco sighed. "So nothing you can help me with then?"
Myrtle glanced at him and then at the map again.
"Well think about it," she said, obviously flattered that he was seeking her opinion on the matter. "If you wanted to go someplace alone, where no one could find you, where would you go?"
And then, it hit him. Hard. So hard, that he couldn't believe it hadn't hit him before. How could he have been so stupid? Actually, how could Remus be so stupid? Not long ago, he had hidden there himself! Draco looked at Myrtle with wide eyes.
"Thank you," he hissed, and wasting no more time standing there with her, he darted straight for the door whilst pulling the cloak over himself.
"Come back to visit me again!" she called after him, but he'd already left and was now halfway up the stairs to the fourth floor…then the fifth…sixth…He halted to a stop just before the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on the seventh floor. If he didn't know what the room became for Sirius when he'd entered it, then there was no way that Draco would get in now. He stood there, thinking. The Marauders knew about the Room of Requirement, surely. Or at least, Remus did. So why hadn't they ever added it to the map before?
Draco took a seat next to the tapestry and fixed the cloak so that it covered all of him. Perhaps Remus didn't want the others to know about the room, he thought. Draco continued to watch the map, expecting Sirius to appear as soon as he emerged from behind the Room of Requirement, but hours seemed to pass and still, there was no sign of him. So Draco gently leaned his head against the tapestry and set the map on his lap. His wand remained in his hands as he slowly shut his eyes and breathed deeply.
The cool night air was blowing hard and he was back on the Astronomy Tower, pointing a shaking wand at the old man on the opposite end. Clear blue eyes were blinking at him sadly, while he stood completely frozen, contemplating whether or not to commit murder…murder. A shrill voice was shrieking in his ear to hurry up and he could feel the treacherous spell just on the tip of his tongue, but still, he couldn't do it. And then suddenly, Snape's face appeared just in front of him.
"Don't do it, Draco," he said. "Let me—I'll kill him."
"No," Draco tried saying, but no sound came out.
He could feel Snape's long fingers slipping into his and grabbing a hold of his wand.
"No," Draco tried again, but still nothing came out.
Snape turned to Dumbledore.
"Draco."
Draco's wand rose into the air and pointed at the heart of the old man.
"Draco!"
Snape's mouth fell open and he was moments, perhaps seconds away from uttering the irreversible curse.
"DRACO!"
His eyes flew open and he gasped. A fresh sheen of sweat covered his face and his eyes had tears in them. Sirius was standing above him, looking positively frightened.
"A-are you okay?" he said, slowly and cautiously, as he levelled himself with Draco on the floor and stared at him as though talking to a mental patient.
Draco looked around the empty, sunlit corridor and then back at Sirius, whose eyebrows were now raised. The cloak seemed to have slipped off him and the Marauder's Map was on the floor now too, along with his wand. Following his gaze, Sirius picked up the wand and handed it to him. Draco took it.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, helping Draco to his feet.
Draco started and looked around. "I…I'm just…" he wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his pajamas. "W-we were looking for you."
"All night?" said Sirius. "Wait, how did you know I'd be here? This room is not located on the map."
Draco looked down at the map in his hands and then up at Sirius.
"Uh D-Dumbledore must've told me about it once," he mumbled, handing the map to Sirius' outstretched hand. Sirius tapped it with his wand, making the various labelled dots that were now moving about the castle disappear, and then folded up the parchment and tucked it into his robes.
"Come on, breakfast is almost over," he told him, pulling Draco with him as they descended the hall.
"That was some nightmare, huh?" Sirius said.
Draco stared at him. "Y-yeah."
"You kept saying 'no, no!' in your sleep—I couldn't wake you up," said Sirius, climbing down the stone steps. "You okay though?"
"Mhm, I'm fine. Uh, why is the Room of Requirement not on the map?" Draco asked, desperate to change the topic. "You know Remus knows about it too, right?"
"Yeah," said Sirius, nodding. "We all do."
"Well then why is it not on the map?"
They turned a corner and climbed down more steps.
"Because it's unplottable," said Sirius, simply. "That's the magic of the room—it comes and goes as it pleases, or rather, as you please it to. So, how are you gonna attend classes today? You look like death."
"I'll be fine," Draco mumbled, following him to Gryffindor Tower and into the now deserted common room. They quickly changed and grabbed their bags before heading down to the Great Hall, where barely a handful of students were hurrying through a late breakfast. Remus and Peter were sitting at the Gryffindor table, looking very anxious. At the sight of Draco and Sirius walking through the doors, they jumped to their feet and hurried over to them.
"Where have you been?!" Remus hissed at Sirius, pulling him into a hug and then pushing him away. "Do you have any idea what we went through last night—uh, is everything okay, Draco?"
Draco nodded vigorously, wiping his face on his sleeve again. Remus eyed him suspiciously for a moment before turning back to Sirius.
"Listen, I get that you're going through a lot but you can't keep doing this to us! You've got to tell us when you're—"
"James is waiting for us," Sirius interrupted calmly. Remus, looking outraged, made to argue but Draco shook his head at him and proceeded to lead the way to the hospital wing.
They were more than surprised when, ten minutes later, they arrived to find Frank Longbottom sitting in the chair next to James' bed. They were mid-conversation when Draco and the others interrupted. Frank smiled at once, while James looked slightly irritated.
"What's going on?" Draco asked.
"Just Quidditch talks," said Frank, letting Remus take his seat (he looked extremely peaky). "Do you know…I'm really pleased that you guys went with Aubrey. He's a fair flyer."
"Oh so you've met him already then?" said Draco.
"Well yeah, I met the entire team yesterday," said Frank, smirking. "While you blokes were in detention, I was posting the roster list on the announcement board…" His voice trailed off because of the grim expressions on Draco's, Remus', Sirius' and Peter's faces now. He looked from them to James, who was sitting in his bed wide-eyed and mouth hanging open. Draco, Remus, Sirius and Peter looked incredibly uncomfortable, and Frank let out a nervous laugh.
"Detention? What are you talking about?" said James once he'd found his voice.
"Um," said Remus, but even he did not know what to say.
Frank froze.
"Wait, don't tell me you didn't…I mean, surely you guys…" his mouth made a silent "oh" and then he smirked nervously. "Weeeelll, obviously you all have a lot to catch up on, so I'll be on my way."
And with that, he ran out of the hospital wing, leaving the Marauders and Draco staring at each other.
"What was that about?" said James, his eyes mostly on Sirius.
"Uh it's nothing," said Remus, hastily. "It can wait. Listen, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," James mumbled, his eyes still on Sirius. "Pomfrey said I'll be released tomorrow morning."
"That's great!" said Remus.
"And you have a free period tomorrow morning," Peter added, excitedly.
"Yeah it should be great, so what detention was Frank talking about?" said James.
The boys exchanged looks and he watched them fervently.
"I-it's nothing!" said Peter, suddenly. "It was just a misunderstanding but it's all over now. We're sorry we didn't visit."
"Just a misunderstanding?" James repeated, his left eyebrow raised. The boys nodded. "Okay…I thought you'd decided to ditch me and pull that prank without me."
"Never," Draco assured him.
James smirked. "Well, I can't say I wasn't surprised when you lot didn't even pop in yesterday…but at least that's over with now. The Quidditch team is set, I'm getting out of this hellhole—no offense to Madame Pomfrey—you lot remembered me, and the prank hasn't been done yet so I suppose now we can all—"
"Regulus and I got into a fight and it landed all of us plus three other Slytherins in detention all day yesterday!" Sirius blurted out, really, really quickly.
James stared at him, and just next to him, Remus gave Draco a knowing look. Draco grinned slightly.
"Huh," said James. "So when I asked you guys if anything happened while I was here…"
"Yeah, yeah, we lied," said Sirius, dismissively. "Look…"
He delved into a detailed explanation of everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours or so…from the fight with Regulus about the letter, to the detention from McGonagall (and all the various mini battles that took place there), to his disappearing for the rest of the night, only to be found by Draco in the morning. James listened without once interrupting, and when Sirius was finally finished—Draco was surprised that he hadn't lied about one single thing—James turned to look at him.
"You okay?" he asked.
"M-me?" said Draco, not understanding.
"Yeah, you," repeated James. "I mean, that must've been some nightmare."
Draco gave him the same answer he'd given Sirius, but James' eyes continued to narrow at him.
"What was in the letter?" James asked Sirius, though his eyes were still on Draco who stared back at him with the most neutral expression he could gather.
"Yeah, you never did tell us," said Remus, turning around in his seat to look at Sirius.
"Things," Sirius mumbled. All eyes now turned to him. He sighed. "Guys, it's…look, I wouldn't expect any of you to understand, okay? I mean, I'm sorry, Draco, I don't mean to be insensitive to your situation, being an orphan and all that. And you too, Remus. I know you have your fair share of problems at home, but you two—" he pointed at James and Peter "—have it so perfect, that I really wouldn't expect you to understand!"
"Sirius," said James, boldly. Sirius looked at him. "I've spent 5 years now listening to you bickering about how miserable life is at home and how you just want to get the hell away from there as soon as possible. You've told me more stories than I can even care to count. Do you really think that, at this point, I wouldn't understand? I'm only your bloody best friend…"
"James, I know," said Sirius, sighing heavily. He collapsed on the bed next to his and buried his face in the pillow. "My mother said in the letter that the day I was born was the day I brought a deadly curse upon the family." Draco felt his throat tighten. "She said that she fought with my father the day I got my sorting and that she fought for me to be able to stay at home. He wanted me to leave." Sirius sat up and looked round at the boys, his face almost gaunt as he spoke. "Just picture it," he whispered. "An eleven-year-old boy…they wanted to banish an eleven-year-old boy because of a sorting that was completely out of his hands…" he looked round at Draco. "Do you see how screwed up this family is?" He turned to James. "Do you realise what they will resort to, to keep their name's reputation? How many children they'll banish and murder…how many tortures they'll cover up…how many times they'll pay some crooks off to take the blame for their crimes…"
He put his face in his hands again and Draco noticed that his fingers were trembling. Unsure of what was coming over him now, Draco crossed the room and sat next to Sirius, placing his arm around him. The room was very silent for a long time, until James finally crept out of bed with Remus' help and moved to place his hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius looked up at him.
"I'm not mad that you got them all in detention," he told him, a smirk clear on his face now. "I'm mad that you lot did a detention without me."
Peter exploded into tiny laughs, followed by Remus and then Draco, until Sirius himself finally cracked a smile.
The rest of the day saw a great improvement in Sirius' mood. He was fairly quiet in Transfiguration and Defense, but after a particularly joyful Charms class, wherein the sixth years practiced Cheering Charms, he was all ready for Binns' dull History of Magic lesson. Draco however, had other plans.
Not at all worrying about getting caught, seeing as how Binns rarely ever looked up from his notes, Draco scribbled quickly into a spare sheet in his notebook and tossed it at Sirius, who was sitting in the seat next to his and lazily watching the professor. Sirius, though startled at first, took the notebook cautiously into his hands (expecting an interrogation) and frowned at it before a smile split across his face instead.
Any new girlfriends in your life?
Sirius looked at Draco with almost sparkling eyes; he was obviously relieved for the distraction from the latest events, and Draco was equally as relieved to talk about something normal teenage boys worried about, for a change.
Sirius' tale of a "particularly exquisite creature from Hufflepuff" was without a doubt more interesting than Professor Binns' tedious recount of witch hunting over the century. It kept Draco from falling asleep altogether. After the lesson, which was their last for the day, Sirius met up with James in the hospital wing, where he'd also sent the team for an important meeting. He opted for Draco to join them, but he insisted that he'd have nothing to do there anyway and that he needed to finish his star chart for the astronomy lesson tomorrow night. So, while they were busy with the team in the hospital wing and Remus was giving Peter a tutoring session in the library, Draco decided to return to the seventh floor for probably the twentieth time in two weeks, hoping that today would finally be the day.
And he was right.
He turned the corner to the corridor opposite the one with the entrance to the Room of Requirement. There, sitting cross-legged with his back against the wall and his head bent over a book in his lap, was Severus Snape. He had been coming there for a while now to work on the Half Blood Prince's book. Draco had argued with himself about joining Sev and maybe convincing him to allow him to help, but had been too edgy to try talking to him, until now.
"Hey there," he said as he approached the boy on the ground.
Severus looked up at him and instantly shut the book in his lap.
"Hello," he said.
"Mind if I sit down?"
"Go ahead."
Draco sat facing him, and Severus flipped the book so as to hide the title on the cover. Draco smirked at it.
"Glad you found a better spot to do this than the library," he told him. "Another day there and Madame Pince would've had your head for vandalising and such."
"Yeah," said Severus. "That's probably true. So um, what are you doing here?"
"Well I'm kind of bored so I thought I'd join you," said Draco, shrugging.
"Where are your friends?" said Severus, a hint of resentment in his tone.
Draco frowned at him, as though wondering for a second who he was talking about. "Oh um they're off doing some…stuff…listen, I heard what Slughorn was saying the other day about adding fluxweed to that hiccoughing solution and I think he meant to say seven portions, not six."
Severus stared at Draco for a second, before adding very quietly, "I know." He opened up the book to the page he'd been working on prior to Draco's arrival, and turned it so that he could see it clearly. Severus had scribbled notes along the margins of the page with the recipe for the hiccoughing solution, and the last thing that he'd written was the number 7 next to a crossed-out 6. Draco grinned at him.
"But how did you know that?" Severus wondered after a moment's silence.
"Oh I don't know," shrugged Draco. "Dumbledore must've told me about it once." He sighed and looked around the deserted corridor, his eyes landing on the door of one particular classroom he knew was empty. "So that was some detention yesterday, huh?"
"Yeah," said Severus, his eyes also on that door. "I don't think I've ever seen McGonagall so angry."
"Yeah me neither," said Draco before he could stop himself. Severus frowned at him, and Draco hastily added, "Sirius is doing much better today. How's Regulus been?"
"He's been fine," said Severus. "Should he be any different?"
"Well…it was a big fight…" said Draco, slowly.
"Yeah, but it's all over now and there's no use in moping about it now, is there?" Severus pointed out.
Draco stared at him. "W-well, no…but they're brothers!"
"King Hamlet and Claudius were brothers and look what happened to them!" said Severus.
Draco stared at him.
"Yeah, I've read it," said Severus, dismissively, "Unlike Mulciber."
Draco chuckled. "When did you read it? And why?"
Severus shrugged and looked down at the Half Blood Prince's book.
"Oh," said Draco, finally realising. His eyes fell on the book too and he frowned as he read the upside-down writing. "Oh, you might want to change that three to a six." He pointed at a spot on the page but Severus, to his great surprise, shook his head vigorously.
"Six will be too much—it'll set the whole solution on fire."
"Actually, it won't," said Draco. Severus looked at him. "Adding three extra will only increase the lifespan of the potion. "Borage explains the properties of fluxweed on page 70-something I think…he clearly states there that nine is the amount that will surely set your potion on fire."
Severus quickly flipped to page 73 and bit down on his lip as he read through the massive paragraphs. Then, he looked up at Draco and hesitated before saying, very quietly, "Thanks."
"No problem," said Draco with a bright smile.
Severus flipped back to the previous page and crossed out the number three. Draco looked pleased.
"So I have an idea," he said, trying to keep his tone as casual as possible. "You're clearly very intent on fixing this book—"
"—improving it," Severus corrected.
Draco nodded. "And we both have a free period on Monday afternoons…I don't suppose you want to meet up here regularly and work on it together…?"
Something about Severus' expression changed as Draco said these words, and his nod was very hesitant. Even after Draco said goodbye to him and headed back to his own common room, he replayed the scene in his head, trying to find what he might've said that set Severus off. He couldn't find anything wrong with his suggestion. On the contrary, it was friendly and quite innocent, and he sensed that he and Severus were already at that level where they could "hang out" as friends. What was his deal then?
The next day, Draco and the others awoke early so as to join James in the hospital before breakfast. James kept bothering Madame Pomfrey about letting him go, but she insisted that she needed to do one last checkup before she could. Seeing as how this would take a while, the boys decided to have breakfast there instead. They laughed about the latest rumours in the school while they ate, and then Madame Pomfrey finished up her checkup and declared James free to go. He practically hopped out of the bed with ecstasy, and looked as good as new. Shortly after, Remus excused himself for Arithmancy and Peter headed to Herbology, though both looked to be regretting having to go. With the skies looking pleasantly bright that day and the glory of having a full 2 hours until class, James and Sirius decided on taking their broomsticks out for a bit of air.
"You're serious…" said Draco as he watched them pull their broomsticks out of their things up in the dormitory. Both were smirking at him. "But you just got out of the hospital for a flying injury."
"It wasn't my flying that caused it," James reminded him.
"Still!" cried Draco. "Don't you think you should slow down a bit?"
"Relax, I'm good!" said James, waving his hand for Draco to follow them back downstairs.
"But—"
"Look Draco, James is totally fine," said Sirius. "He's had so many injuries before, this isn't anything new."
"I'm a flyer," said James, as they exited the common room and now made their way out of Gryffindor Tower. "It's what I do. I'm not going to stop doing it just because I had a small setback."
"That's dedication," Draco muttered, but neither of the boys heard him.
Once they were outside, they headed straight for the change rooms in the Quidditch pitch. There, James fetched one of the rusty school brooms and tossed it at Draco, who stared at him for a moment before nodding. Well, it was bound to happen sometime, he thought. The boys quickly changed out of uniform (James and Sirius in their team robes and Draco in muggle clothes) and were in the air in no time at all.
Sirius had nicked some old balls (no doubt from the Room of Requirement) and he tossed them at James and Draco, while he himself flew to guard the goal hoops. James let out one triumphant yell before he dived for one of the hoops. Sirius caught the ball in time and laughed himself to tears while James cursed out loud and swirled in the air to try again.
"COME ON, DRACO!" Sirius cried out from the other end of the pitch. Draco was hovering mid-air with a ball in his hand. "SHOW HIM HOW A BLACK DOES IT!"
Draco looked down at the ball in his hand and then ahead at where Sirius was on his broom, his arms stretched out above him. Draco sighed. He knew that he was going to regret this…big time. Draco soared forward on his broom and he could see Sirius already preparing to defend the hoop that he was headed for. At the last second, Draco rerouted his broom for the hoop next door and performed an outstanding Finbourgh Flick, like he'd done only once before in his life (during a match in third year). The ball went straight through the hoop, followed by James' victorious yell. Sirius was still wide-eyed even after Draco retrieved the ball and flew over to him.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Sirius breathed, taking the ball in his hands while James moved to take his place as Keeper.
"I dunno," shrugged Draco.
"That's not an official Quidditch move," James confirmed. "You must've like…invented it yourself!"
Draco shrugged again. The regret of showing them this not-yet-invented move was definitely building up inside him now, but still, he could not shake the bit of joy he'd received from showing it off, knowing perfectly well that they'd react exactly the way that they had.
"Show me how to do that," James said at once. "What did you do exactly?"
"He basically twirled his broom so that it hit the ball and it went straight for the goal hoop," Sirius explained.
"Awe wicked!" cried James. "Can you teach me how to do that?"
"Uh sure," Draco mumbled, grinning to himself.
If only they saw what the Dionysus Dive was . . . perhaps he'd show them later.
Draco had to admit that flying conditions were actually very nice that day. The sun was shining high up in the clear blue sky, but not so blazingly that it actually blinded them. The boys flew for the rest of their free period until it was time to change and head back to the common room to fetch their books before the Charms lesson. The entire way there, James and Sirius took turns hammering Draco about why he hadn't joined the team and how there was still time and they could still eliminate someone and put him in. They looked almost desperate at this point, but Draco kept sticking to his answer, insisting that he had plenty to do without adding Quidditch to the mix. It was the truth, after all. When they finally arrived in Professor Flitwick's classroom, they saw that Remus and Lily were already there, both looking completely outraged.
"Professor Slyfield decided to surprise us with a pop quiz this morning," Remus grumbled when they asked what on earth was the matter.
Sirius rolled his eyes at him and directed Draco to their table.
"Poor Moony will give himself a heart attack one of these days," he muttered. "The bloke cares way too much about school."
Draco had to agree. He couldn't remember a single time (now that he thought about it) in the last three weeks when Remus did not have some kind of a book with him. Draco was all for being a good student—Dumbledore expected him to be anyway—but this, he did not understand. This obsessiveness with being the very best at all things…it was the very thing that annoyed him most about Granger…and now, Lily Evans.
Charms that day was also very enjoyable because the NEWT students were continuing their practice on Cheering Charms. James however did not need any Cheering Charms to put him in a good mood. All the girls in the class—minus Lily—surrounded him the moment he came through the door and congratulated him on coming back from the hospital wing. He grinned and smirked and told stories of how much pain he'd been in, while Draco, Sirius, Remus and Peter watched him enjoy himself—Draco feeling slightly nostalgic at the memory of that being him not too long ago.
There was only one small thing off about the lesson, and it wasn't even that big because Draco didn't feel uneasy about it at all (perhaps because of the Cheering Charms). At one point, he spotted one Hufflepuff boy whisper to a Ravenclaw one, both of their eyes on Draco. The Ravenclaw boy's eyes went round after he'd heard whatever it was that the Hufflepuff boy told him, and then they both looked away from Draco when they saw that he was watching them. Maybe Mulciber had decided to tell the whole grade that Dumbledore had kidnapped a Black to raise him with his own ideals. Draco shrugged.
After Charms, the boys grabbed a quick lunch in the Great Hall and then headed out into the grounds for some air. It really was a nice day, and they knew that such days were numbered, for the winter was slowly drawing nearer. They stretched out on the grass underneath a tree not too far from the lake and James and Sirius almost instantly delved into Quidditch talks. Rolling his eyes, Remus pulled out another book, and Peter gave Draco a bright smile. Draco returned it, though his was not as bright because the Cheering Charms were wearing off and he could feel various students' eyes on him now. He looked around the lawn and the groups of students quickly turned away from him and proceeded with their whispering…how many people had Mulciber told?
"Beautiful day," said Remus, sighing happily.
"Anyone fancy a swim?" said Sirius.
"Not today," said Remus.
"Yeah, we're tired," said Peter.
Sirius shrugged. "James? Draco?"
Draco turned his head to look at him and gulped nervously. He began to absentmindedly stroke his left arm and waited for James to answer. Sirius turned to James.
"Nah, not today," said James, finally. "Don't forget, I'm a recent hospital patient."
"Don't give me that, there's bloody nothing wrong with you," said Sirius.
James smirked, and neither he nor Sirius noticed Draco letting out a sigh of relief. What was left of the Dark Mark on his arm was still clearly visible, and he'd had to keep his sleeves rolled down every day for the last few weeks…even when it had gotten incredibly hot.
Draco laid back on the grass and looked up at the clear blue sky. He still had Dumbledore's assigned homework to worry about, and admittedly, he hadn't given it a thought at all since Saturday. But seriously though…how did he expect Draco to just up and find a really happy memory? It was impossible, given the circumstances! Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath, searching. He had no idea what he was searching for…he wasn't even sure whether he remembered what it felt like to be really happy. But he knew that if he didn't give it at least some thought, Dumbledore would lecture him. He would know. How? Because Draco was not that good at Occlumency. That's how.
"Oy," Sirius said, snapping Draco out of his daze. "You looking forward to this Slug Club meeting next week?"
"Very much," said Draco, sarcastically.
Sirius smirked.
"I don't think it'll be all that bad," Remus admitted without looking up from his book. "The first one is usually pretty okay."
"How many meetings does he do per year?" Draco wondered.
Remus shrugged. "There's always a Christmas party though. You can invite someone to come with you."
At this, James and Sirius exchanged looks and then both quickly became very fascinated with what Peter was now drawing in his notebook. Draco stared at them for a long time, and didn't even notice the Slytherin gang walking right by them. The Marauders quickly sat up in the grass to face them, and the Slytherin boys stood for a moment, looking down at them. Then, the one at the very front—whom Draco still did not recognise—nodded, and Mulciber stepped forward, his eyes on James.
"How is your head?" he asked.
James' jaw dropped.
"Why do you care?" Sirius shot at him, but Mulciber ignored him, and Draco finally noticed that his expression was actually very genuine. James seemed to have noticed this too because he cleared his throat and nodded.
"It's all better."
Mulciber nodded and then took a step back. Draco finally caught a glimpse of Regulus. He was standing just behind the older boys of the group with his head bent. He looked at Draco for a fraction of a second, before the boys turned to leave and he followed after them. Severus was walking alongside the kid, and on the other side of him was that prat Crouch. Draco stared after them, and it was only after they were gone that James finally spoke up.
"Okay, what the hell happened in that detention? Did you guys agree to some sort of truce that you're not telling me about?"
"No," Sirius told him in a dark voice. "I reckon Mulciber is playing us…don't forget what he did to MacDonald last year."
"Oh, that I won't ever forget," James assured him.
Draco wanted to ask what exactly had happened to this MacDonald girl, but didn't get a chance to because the bell suddenly sounded from the castle grounds and the boys sprang to their feet and started to head back. As Draco, Remus and Peter made their way to Astronomy, Draco thought a lot about that detention. As it turned out, it had made some sort of an impact…the boys seemed to have come to a silent agreement not to bother each other anymore. It was the first time since Draco had known any of them that they actually had a decent interaction, no matter how short. As the boys entered the classroom, Draco found himself wondering whether or not, in the world of 1976 where he did not exist, the boys had ever actually come to such an unofficial truce.
After Astronomy was Potions—the last lesson of the day. Draco, Remus and Peter arrived to find James and Sirius already at their table, surprisingly. They had never been early to a class before, so this was definitely a first. Slughorn was lurking in the back cupboards, in search of some ingredient that the students would need for that day's potion. Draco took his seat and pulled out his copy of Advanced Potion Making. But as he did this, he couldn't help but notice the many curious eyes that were on him now. He wasn't exactly a new student anymore…they'd all had time to adjust to his being the second Black to be sorted into Gryffindor…and to him practically being Dumbledore's adoptive son…so why the hell were they still staring at him and whispering behind his back?
After Slughorn set the class to work on the potions, James meant to go to the storage cupboards to fetch the ingredients when Draco stopped him and volunteered to go himself. James looked slightly confused but sat back down, and so Draco stumbled out of his chair and hurried to the cupboard.
"Hello again," he said as he stopped just next to Lily, who was already piling ingredients into her arms.
Her eyes widened at the sight of him.
"H-hello," she stammered.
She looked like she was trying to decide whether she was mad at him or not, but eventually she let out a small smile, which Draco did not return, obviously annoying her even more.
"Need help with that?" he said, his eyes falling on the ingredients in her arms, some of which were at the risk of falling to the floor now.
"I'm good," she told him.
He stared at her.
"I must say, I'm a little surprised at you."
"About what?" she said.
Draco began pulling his own ingredients out of the cupboards. "About the way that you lied to McGonagall like that…didn't know you had it in you."
Lily's mouth fell open slightly. "What are you—"
"You know," Draco interrupted, "The whole bit about how we'd learned our lessons and Sirius and Regulus are the best of friends now."
Lily looked around to make sure no one was listening, and then lowered her voice. "I lied because—"
"Oh don't make excuses, Evans," said Draco, finally closing the cupboard and turning to face her. "Just admit it—you are just as bad and conniving as the rest of us."
He gave Lily no time to respond because he quickly turned his back on her and walked away.
"Got it?" James asked as Draco piled the ingredients onto the center of their table.
"Yep," said Draco, taking his seat again and glancing over his shoulder at Lily, who was still standing by the storage cupboards. "It's all taken care of."
By dinnertime, the staring and the whispering had completely gotten out of hand. Draco was now so aware of it that he subconsciously walked with his head bent, so as to avoid people's stares. None of the Marauders seemed to be aware of this though. Or, if they were aware of it, they were not willing to acknowledge it. Perhaps they knew what this was about…?
"Hey Snape!" Draco called as he spotted him emerging from the dungeons. The Marauders stared after him while he hurried over to where Severus now stood, waiting for him. "Listen, I was just wondering…"
"Look Draco," Severus interrupted suddenly. "I'm sorry but I have to eat quickly because I have this…uh…big paper to write for…Arithmancy…and it's due Friday so I'll see you later."
He hurried into the Great Hall, leaving Draco staring after him before he decided to follow. The Marauders were waiting for him at the Gryffindor table and he tried to avoid the stares from the students along that table as he moved to sit with them.
"What was that about?" James wondered, but Remus gave him a strange look and the boys all looked down at their plates at the same time.
"W-what's going on?" Draco wondered, looking from James to Sirius to Remus to Peter.
"Nothing!" said Sirius, innocently.
Draco stared at him.
"So what was it about?" Sirius asked, ignoring Remus' pointed look.
"I had to give him back notes that I borrowed," Draco mumbled. "Hey," he turned to Remus. "Do you…have a paper for Arithmancy that's due Friday?"
"No," said Remus. "But ugh…we have an Astronomy lesson tonight…it's Wednesday."
He groaned into his plate and the other boys looked away from Draco quickly. Draco pushed his own plate away, crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes at Severus, who was sitting with his gang on the other side of the Great Hall. Something strange was definitely going on here . . .
After dinner, the boys decided to hang around the Entrance Hall only for a little bit. Remus of course made Sirius promise not to attack anyone, and Sirius let out a nervous laugh but made no comment. Draco took this time to watch the students his spot on the stairs. Some of them still snuck peeks at him whenever they thought he wasn't watching, and he could tell they were still whispering to each other…but what on earth about?
"You guys don't happen to know why I'm getting strange looks, do you?" he finally blurted out, turning to look at the Marauders.
James and Sirius froze during their card game and Remus bit his lip. Peter, looking extremely nervous, shook his head quickly.
"You don't know anything?" Draco said, more slowly.
This time, all four boys shook their heads. Liars, thought Draco. Oh they knew. There was no question of it.
When the boys returned to the common room, they took their usual spot by the fireplace and stretched out in front of it, feeling too lazy to do any homework. Remus of course did not seem to have this problem because in no time at all, he was scribbling furiously into a notebook. James however looked like he was about to fall asleep, and Sirius was staring in the fireplace, apparently thinking. Only Draco seemed to notice how very tense Peter was looking. He raised his eyebrows at him, and Peter cleared his throat.
"C-can I ask you guys s-something?" he asked in a very, very small voice.
"What's up?" said James.
"I need advice about something," Peter mumbled.
"Yeah?" said James when he didn't continue.
Peter took a deep breath. He was obviously very nervous about this.
"Well there's this girl…"
Sirius slowly turned his head away from the fireplace and grinned broadly at Peter. Remus looked up from his notebook too and James sat up quickly.
"Yeah?" he said, this time more enthusiastically.
Peter blushed fervently.
"H-her name is Adalyn Chappelle and s-she's a sixth year . . . in Ravenclaw . . ."
"Mhm…?" said James, still more enthused.
Peter was positively red now and avoided all the boys' eyes. Sirius looked like Christmas morning had come early and Remus looked genuinely happy.
"I was just wondering…if I'd maybe ask her out…"
"That sounds like a great idea, Pete!" said Remus before James or Sirius could say anything.
"But how would I go about it?" Peter asked, looking up at them this time.
The boys exchanged looks.
"Well, in my experience," said Sirius, "Girls love it when you act like there's a ton of things you could be doing instead of going out with them."
"W-what?" said Peter.
"Oh yeah!" said Sirius. "It's absolutely true. Look, take it from me, man. You've seen how many hookups I've had, right? I know what I'm talking about."
"So what you're saying is to make the girl feel really bad about herself," said Remus.
"Exactly!" said Sirius, snapping his fingers.
Draco laughed.
"What?" said Sirius. "It's true!"
"Nah man," said James, shaking his head and moving to sit next to Peter. "What you really want to do is make sure that you look really good. It doesn't matter what you say…make sure you pull your hair back a lot when you talk to her. That'll work for sure."
"Or you could just be genuinely nice and see if she agrees to meet you for the next Hogsmeade weekend," said Remus, simply.
There was a pause, and then James and Sirius burst into laughter before growing serious again.
"I'm tellin' you, it works every time!" James told Peter.
Sirius now joined on Peter's other side. "Yeah, do that, but also make sure that you show her that you have other options. You don't want to come off as sounding desperate or anything of the sort."
Remus rolled his eyes and took a seat next to Draco, who was looking very amused.
"Are you hearing any of this?" Remus asked him.
"Oh yeah," laughed Draco. "So listen, are you sure you don't know what's going on? I've noticed people staring and whispering a lot today…"
Remus made a face before shaking his head. "No, I really don't. Sorry, Draco."
Draco sighed.
"Well I don't know," said Peter after hearing a mouthful from Sirius about how to get girls. "W-what do you think, Draco?"
The boys all turned to look at Draco.
"Um," he said, looking from each boy to the next.
Sirius then stubbed Peter's toe and Peter quickly jumped in his seat and said, "Um, never mind."
What the hell was that about, thought Draco.
He looked around the common room at all the students going about their activities, some of whom were still watching him. Lily was sitting in the corner with a group of girls, one of them being Alice. Frank was having a loud Wizard's Chess tournament with a group of seventh-year boys in another corner. A couple of first-years were arguing about which ghost scared them the most in the castle. All seemed normal, but it really, really wasn't.
Soon, it was time to say goodnight to the others and head for that midnight Astronomy lessons. Draco had really come to despise Wednesdays now. As he followed Remus and Peter to the Astronomy Tower, his most hated place in the whole castle, he thought a lot about everything that had happened that day. Severus was acting strange…and then the Marauders started acting strange…and then people started whispering about him…so what had Draco blurted out without himself realising?
The following day did not see an improvement at all. On the contrary, it was far, far worse…because now, Draco could actually make out what everyone was whispering about…and he had never felt more humiliated in his entire life.
"I'm not gay!" he repeated to the Marauders for about the hundredth time at lunch. "I SWEAR, I'M NOT!"
"It's okay, we're not judging!" said James quickly. "Seriously man, you do what you have to do."
"But I'm—"
"We'll accept you just the way you are," said Sirius.
"I—"
"We'll still be your friends!" said Peter.
"I'M NOT!" Draco bellowed, and then he looked wildly around the Great Hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of Severus. He was not there.
Seriously, this had to have been the worst thing he could have ever done to him…what the hell did he think Draco had meant? He had only wanted to work on the Half Blood Prince's book with him! He had only wanted to make him trust him so that he could become his friend and maybe, possibly, keep him away from that dark and twisted path that he was headed for.
It was the most humiliating day of his bloody existence…more humiliating than the time Potter had thrown mud at him and Crabbe and Goyle at Hogsmeade…more than the time Granger had smacked him across the face…more than the time that darn hippogriff had attacked him…or bloody Mad-Eye Moody (or rather, Crouch Junior) turned him into a ferret… this had to be the most embarrassing moment of his very being.
By nightfall, Draco could not take it anymore…the whispers…the stares…the assurances from the Marauders…it was too much. Feeling enraged, he spotted Alice sitting in the corner of the common room with a group of girls. Ignoring Remus, who was now promising him that James and Sirius would be on their best behaviour from now on and that they wouldn't tease, Draco marched up to Alice and said, "Can I have a word?" He swore that heads must've turned as he walked, but at that moment, he really didn't care. The greater their audience, the better.
Alice, looking slightly alarmed, nodded and moved away from the group of girls. She stopped at the center of the common room, where both she and Draco could now feel many curious eyes on them, and could practically hear people straining their ears to listen in.
"I'm sure you've heard the latest rumours about me," Draco began.
Alice blushed slightly.
"They're not true," Draco assured her. She giggled. "They're not. I don't know who came up with such rubbish but I can promise you, I am completely straight."
"It's fine, Draco, I believe you," she said.
Draco sighed. "Okay, I was just hoping to clear that up…you know, I think it's pretty obvious that I've been flirting with you…"
"Yeah," she agreed, smiling at him. "It is."
"Well you've been flirting back," he pointed out.
"I have," she said, simply. Her smile never faded.
Draco sighed again. "Okay, I just wanted to clear that up."
From the corner of his eye, he caught a third year leaning to whisper to another third year. Both of their eyes were on him. Feeling suddenly raged, Draco grabbed Alice's arm as she turned to leave and pulled her towards him, his lips crashing upon hers. When he finally let her go, the whole of the common room was still and no one seemed to be breathing.
"Wow," whispered Alice, and then her eyes fell on Frank, who was watching from the corner of the room with his mouth slightly open.
"Yeah," Draco agreed. "Wow."
Before he could say anything else, however, he jumped back. Lily was standing just next to him, and he had only noticed this now. She was staring at him with a confused expression, and then she quickly turned to Alice.
"Um, I just came to uh…tell you that we have an emergency Prefect's meeting now…" she stammered.
Alice nodded and then turned back to Draco.
"We'll uh…finish this later," she promised.
He winked at her, and she followed Lily and several other students out of the common room, which came alive once again. Remus also left with them. Draco, feeling like it was enough spotlight for the day, returned to the fireplace, where James, Sirius and Peter were sitting with their eyes wide open.
"So," said Sirius, slowly, letting out a wolf-like whistle.
Draco grinned.
"Yeah," he said. "Suppose that clears it up for everyone, doesn't it?"
"That, it does," agreed James. "You uh…you and Alice, huh?"
"I bet Frank'll be ecstatic about that," said Sirius, grinning over at where Frank was sitting, looking horror-struck.
"Y-yeah," said James. "But he'll get over it. Listen," he leaned forwards and Draco turned back to look at him. "You're not like…using her to prove anything, are you? I mean, you genuinely like her, right? Cause that would be just wrong…"
"Yeah, I mean, we normally wouldn't care and all," said Sirius, sheepishly. "But like…she's sort of a friend…"
"I actually like her," Draco lied. "Don't worry, guys."
James and Sirius grinned.
Soon, the boys retreated to bed and Remus joined them shortly after, claiming that McGonagall had enforced a new rule that first, second and third-years were not allowed to do magic in the corridors. The boys made small talk and joked a bit more about Draco's new 'relationship', before they eventually fell to sleep. Draco stared up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head and a smile on his face. It was safe to assume, he thought, that the crisis had been officially averted.
At last.
Isn't the thought of Draco and Snape totally adorable?
.. Joking, of course..
...or not... ;)