Chapter 10- What Blaise, Draco and Harry Did
"Do you know what would be hilarious?" Blaise had said the afternoon before Hermione had come home to find Harry Potter high on boomslang skin.
"What?" Draco asked casually flicking through a copy of Witch Weekly Pansy had lent him.
"If we got Potter to imbibe like, a lot of boomslang skin."
Draco looked up from the magazine, mouth agape, a look of wonder on his face, "that's brilliant!"
Two hours later and Harry was bone tired after a thirteen hour shift on the streets. He'd come back to the flat, expecting to find it empty and everyone in class but instead he'd been greeted practically at the door by the two evil twins.
He should have known something was up when they didn't immediately draw their wands on him without Hermione there to protect him.
He definitely should have known something was wrong when they offered him some cookies and smiled, almost pleasantly.
But Harry was tired and the cookies smelt good and he was just going to have one and then collapse in Hermione's bed while she was at her cafe job on campus.
"Go on," Draco urged.
"Try one," Blaise continued, "we were baking all afternoon."
Well, that was good enough for Harry. Perhaps Malfoy was trying to be nice to him because he got his old wand back. He took an innocuous looking cookie from the plate and shoved half of it his mouth.
"Thanks," he mumbled, mouth full of delicious baked goods.
"You're welcome," Blaise said, almost sweetly.
Harry's stomach dropped just a little. He told himself he was being paranoid- after all, Hermione had told him to give these guys a chance.
"You didn't poison them right?" he asked just in case, "cause you know Hermione would be furious if you killed me."
Draco and Blaise laughed as if he'd just made the funniest joke in the world.
"Oh Potter," Blaise said good naturedly, going so far as to pat him once on the back, "lighten up" he continued and then they walked past him into the lounge.
Harry walked into Hermione's room and dropped his bag. Her bed was looking rather inviting but he was equally torn between seeing to his hunger and sleeping. Hermione had said that he was welcome to anything on her shelf of the pantry. Maybe he could have a quick bowl of cereal followed by a nap in Hermione's comfy bed. It was the first time he'd been in the flat without her so he was still a little hesitant about making himself at home. But really, she had said it was fine if he went and helped himself to her food- what could the Slytherin miscreants do to him?
He lumbered out of her room and down the hall towards the lounge. With each step he was reminded of how tired he was.
Zabini and Malfoy were in their customary place on the lounge room floor sprawled out in beanbags playing Mario Kart and carrying on a hushed conversation. When he entered the room they were ominously quiet and a little too focused on the game.
"I'm just getting some food," Harry mumbled, stalking past them into the kitchen.
"Sure thing Potter," Malfoy said cheerfully, smirking up at him, "Gee, you look mighty tired."
Harry shrugged, "It was a long shift."
He walked over to the pantry and began to rummage through the contents on Hermione's shelf. She had a lot of rubbish, healthy food but her one concession was some mildly sugary cereal. Probably the kind of thing she was never allowed to have as a child. A guilty pleasure.
He pulled the box out and then grabbed some milk from the fridge and poured himself a bowl.
Zabini and Malfoy shot him not so covert looks over their shoulders.
He took a bite of cereal. It was the best damn cereal he had ever tasted. It was like there was an explosion of flavour in his mouth. He took another bite.
"Oh my god," he moaned.
If flavours were colours a starburst of rainbows was exploding on his tongue. He took another bite and then another in quick succession, slopping some milk down his shirt.
"Good cereal?" Blaise asked, grinning widely.
"You've got to try this," Harry said, enthused.
Zabini and Malfoy cracked up for some reason. Harry saw their laughing faces and he couldn't help but feel a bit light hearted himself. He chuckled along with them.
"Another cookie Potter?" Draco asked, getting up and wafting the plate right under his nose.
"Don't mind if I do," Harry said, taking another.
"Oh take two," Blaise insisted, "We've already eaten plenty."
"Okay, but save some for Hermione," Harry reminded.
Blaise and Draco shared a significant look, "Oh she doesn't like this kind of cookie."
Harry shrugged and took another.
After that, things got much less coherent for him.
He could remember Zabini and Malfoy asking him to join them at playing Mario Kart and when he'd won he distinctly remembered Zabini challenging him to a round of sumo wrestling. But there were vague imagesof a Peruvian llama named Pablo that didn't seem to fit. He knew that wrestling with other men in loincloths was probably not what he normally would have considered normal activity and he knew too that it was extremely amazing that he had a tongue and that tongues were not only good for talking but for licking and eating and poking out at people too. In fact, how amazing was jelly?
"You're not so bad when you're off your face Potter," Zabini commented after one particularly impassioned round of sumo during which Harry had felt the need to stop and recite some impromptu poetry to his new friend Pablo.
"We should do this every day," Harry agreed.
"Here. Have another cookie," said Draco and then he proceeded to burst into a fit of giggles that sounded like bells ringing in Harry's ears and in the tiny but spacious cathedral in his head.
After that, he couldn't remember much at all.
AN: Boomslang skin is fictitious. However, if it were real I would not endorse the improper use of it. Nor would I endorse the improper use of any plant, animal or thing :)