Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.
It was a Thursday, and Quidditch practice was just over. There was a match with Slytherin coming up in a few weeks. Harry hoped that the weather would improve. How was anyone to fly in this friggin' cold?
He shivered as he stepped under the hot spray of the shower and felt his body tense and break out in sweat before it adjusted to the sudden temperature change. His muscles ached, especially in the shoulders and the legs which he used to hold onto the broom.
Yet, he felt a great sense of achievement push the pain to the back of his mind. Practice went well today. The team knew their places assigned by Wood, although amidst constant murmured grumbling and he had stayed back a bit longer after the rest of the team had left to practice his some more and just fly.
He turned off the shower with a smile on his lips at the thought of that and plucked the towel from where it hung on the top of the door to start drying himself off.
Harry had no doubts of Gryffindor winning the first match of the school year.
Then he frowned. Thinking about Quidditch made him think about Slytherin which inescapably led to thinking about the most popular Slytherin in school – Draco Malfoy.
Until now, Harry couldn't figure out the blonde. Another card came the previous Saturday, as usual, but the person was as elusive as ever. It frustrated him to no end as Harry felt that they needed another talk. The previous one hadn't gone very well. Fuck that, it downright sucked.
The memory alone was enough to make Harry cringe as he pulled on his clothes and picked up his broom. Malfoy had totally misunderstood him! But Harry had to admit it was not entirely the Slytherin's fault. He himself was to blame. He should have chosen his words more carefully, considering how delicate the situation was.
Head filled with thoughts, the dark-haired boy exited the showers that was beside the Quidditch Pitch and began making his way back towards the castle for dinner. The lights flooding out from the shower rooms dimmed and went out completely as it sensed no more presence within and Harry was swallowed by the night, the castle lights not reaching as far as the Pitch. Only the crunching of his footsteps of the frozen grass and dirty snow belied that someone was there.
"Potter."
Harry screamed, jumping back and fumbling for his wand in his robes. Before he could even reach into the pocket a Lumos-tipped wand was shoved under his nose, temporary blinding him. A hand gripped his arm and began dragging him, from what he could guess, back where he came from.
When his eyes finally adjusted to the sudden light, Harry blinked and saw none other than Draco Malfoy dragging him now alongside the Quidditch stands. Too bewildered by this sudden situation, Harry was silent apart from a quiet "Malfoy?"
Said blonde stopped abruptly and spun around to face him, making Harry almost stumble into him and an extended wand still lit by Lumos that almost took his left eye out.
"Listen to me, Potter, and stop fooling around. I want to get this over and done with as quickly as possible." At the clipped, urgent tone, Harry straightened up to attention and immediately felt ridiculous as it felt like he was in an army camp. Before he could sound a protest though, Malfoy was already continuing.
"A letter is going to come to you soon, though I don't know exactly when. When you receive it, burn it. Do not open it. Do not read it." No sneer or sign of the usual contempt was on that face. Not even the look of disgust or disdain that it usually wore was there nowadays. The grey eyes in front of him were as serious as he had ever seen them. More serious than even when Snape gave out detentions. There was a burning urgency in them and it scared Harry a little. "Malfo—"
The grip was back on his arm again, and harder than before, making it hurt. He tensed and gasped as he was jerked closer and the other boy was so close he felt every small breath that came with each word.
"I am serious, Potter. It will most probably come to your room, in privacy, than in the Great Hall and more will most probably be sent if the first one fails. They may even persist throughout the holidays. Do not open any of them. Are you clear? Not if you want your life."
Harry kept on staring into those eyes as the urgency in the voice died down to a silent and deadly threat. He was shocked speechless. Thoughts flew every which way in his head and he couldn't grasp onto any one of them. Questions burned in his mind but he couldn't find his voice.
A little but firm shake made him utter a small affirmative, though, but he still could not move. Cold plus adrenaline had his muscles cramping.
The intense eyes moved closer and hot breath hit his ear. "No matter what happens, do not open it. Understand?" It was all Harry could do to nod.
A small wheezing sound followed by another blow of hot breath along with the rise and abrupt fall of the shoulder in front of his eye indicated a deep sigh and the grip that he forgot was on his arm loosened.
For a few moments, nothing moved and no sound was made except of the small wheezes of their breathing, one very close to his ear. Small puff of condensation rose up in front of Harry's face every time he exhaled.
Just when he could hold it in no longer and opened his mouth to speak, Malfoy moved back and had turned away in one smooth move, Lumos extinguished, striding away and not looking back, the crunch of dirty snow fading into the night.