He'd made sure Malfoy arrived earlier. Hermione and Ron were with him, both having initially despised the idea. Until Harry explained his reasoning.
"This whole keep friends and enemies together thing better work." Ron started.
"The saying is, keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer." Hermione corrected him.
"If Malfoy's reasons for learning defence are true then that's all there is to it. If he's lying, it would have been easier for him just to tell on us the last time we were here. He hadn't known we had a different way of leaving after all." Harry said.
"Still… it's Malfoy…" Ron grumbled. Just then Hermione's response didn't come out as the door opened and Malfoy walked in, closing the door quickly behind him. He turned to face the room a blinked with a little confusion as he saw only the three of them.
"Am I late?" he asked checking his coin once more.
"No. I merely put yours a couple of minutes earlier than everyone else's." Harry said. Malfoy confirmed with the coin anyway and put it away.
"Oh… ok." He said coming over. "Weaseley, Granger." He merely nodded at the two. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and simply gave a brief nod. Ron crossed his arms over his chest and kept glaring at Malfoy who turned his attention to Harry. "How was the date lover boy?" He said, with that same haughty tone he tended to use, though it didn't carry the spite it usually did.
"It was ok." Harry said. Malfoy gave a dry chuckle and Harry felt his face heating up as he realised that Malfoy must have seen them at some point. "Shut up." He grumbled looking away from the blonde's smug expression. The door opened and soon people started filling in. Some hesitant as they saw Malfoy.
Only about half the people came this time, probably still spooked after Umbridge nearly caught them last time. The ones that were present looked about ready to bolt seeing Malfoy there.
"Alright, shall we get started?" Harry asked.
"What's he doing here?" Katie Bell asked and Harry sighed.
"Draco Malfoy will start learning defence as well. Now, how about we finish perfecting 'expelliarmus'." He suggested.
"What if he tells on us?" Lavender Brown asked.
"He already saw us last time and in fact, led Umbridge away. For now, if he wishes to learn, we can let him." He said hoping they wouldn't decide to just up and leave. It was good that they were all progressing in being able to defend themselves.
Luckily his prayers were heard, because they all turned to each other and started practising experlliarmus. Malfoy, however, was directly ignored. Harry turned to the blonde.
"What defensive spells do you know?" He asked leading him to the manikin that the room provided. Everyone else trusted each other enough to not need it. Malfoy turned to it and blinked up surprised and an emotion Harry couldn't identify flickered in his grey eyes. He glanced up and wondered if Draco had noticed the eerie resemblance to the deatheater masks it had. "Malfoy?"
Malfoy shielded whatever had been showing in his eyes and nodded. He proceeded to list a number of 'defensive' spells that had a set of nasty effects. A couple of the neutral ones as well. They spent the hour assessing Malfoy. Harry acknowledged there were probably things the other wasn't revealing to know as well.
"Let's start teaching you the Patronus then." He said after a while. No one paid them any attention. Harry was actually surprised at how calm and… quiet Malfoy was. His spell did not conjure the light on several attempts. Only the last couple conjured a wall of light as tall as the blonde himself. It may push back one dementor, though Harry doubted it would be able to do much more. "That's a good start, it takes practice but we'll keep at it." He told the other.
"Hmm… thanks Potter." The blonde said looking at his wand. Harry stared at him for a few seconds before turning to everyone and letting them know the lesson was finished. Everyone managed to sneak away without problem.
To be honest, he'd wondered if an ambush would be waiting for them as soon as they left. But nothing. Malfoy grabbed his things and headed for the door. Harry reminded himself that it was possible that the Slytherin truly needed to learn defense with desperation. In all honesty he might be needing it a little bit more than Harry at the moment, considering Voldemort was residing in his home.
Harry wondered how he would feel should his own mother have had to accept giving residence to the Dark Lord while he remained far away, in a school, unable to protect her if anything should happen to her. Unable to even know how safe she was.
He really wished there was something Dumbledore could also do for him.
oOoOoOo oOoOoOo oOoOoOo
Draco walked out cursing himself. He was supposed to befriend Potter. Not focus on these spells so hard. Still… he had to admit that it was thrilling to see the wall of light. Dementors were frightening. He still remembered them looming around during third year. He could only imagine their skin-crawling chill around their beautiful manor.
No doubt they'd ruined his mother's treasured garden. He took a deep breath and tried not to think about his father. He worried, yes. But he was also angry. And he didn't want to be. Being angry at his father was admitting he had done something wrong to deserve his son's wrath. And Malfoys never make mistakes. They were supposed to be perfect, strong, worthy of the wizarding world's admiration.
For the longest time Draco had held his father to that standing and looked up to him. He had believed every word. Treasured every bit of advice and followed it by the law as much as he could. Until that summer. Last summer when everything changed. He couldn't help it as he recalled the details of that fateful night of the 31st of July. The Dark Lord did so enjoy patterns.
Draco heard approaching steps drawing him out from a dream. A dream where he'd been flying over the quidditch pitch after having defeated Potter in catching the snitch. He woke up from that dream feeling warm and victorious but all that vanished when the steps came closer.
His door was hurriedly opened and both his parents ran into his room, though his father had reached for his mother's arm as if trying to stop her from waking him up.
"Narcissa, no, we have… he's coming." He whispered, but Draco was already awake and heard the urgency and fear in his father's normally cold and proud voice.
"Then we need to get Draco out of here. Lucius… Lucius what if he wants to mark him? He's only fifteen Lucius." Draco felt fear and anguish making his heart race. Why did his mother, always so headstrong, sound close to tears?
"I won't…" Draco had expected his father to boldly state how he would not allow it, Dark Lord or not. But the promise of protection never came.
"What if he wants to punish him because we claimed to be imperiused?" She whispered. The sound of a sob echoed in his room.
"If we get him out of here now the Dark Lord will truly doubt us. He would kill us where we stand." Lucius hissed, as if trying to get his mother to understand.
"At least he would be safe."
"You don't know that… I would rather die than see him suffer… getting us killed and leaving him in a world where he has no true allies is not something I will do to our son."
Draco closed his eyes as he heard them approaching. When he felt a gentle hand passing over his hair he initially believed it to be his mother but when he felt the slightly larger hand on his cheek he knew it was his father. He had wished to open his eyes. He had wanted to see what look his father had in his eyes. But he was afraid of opening his eyes. When his father pulled away, it was too late.
"He's here isn't he…" His mother whispered.
"Yes…" Draco wasn't sure who gave him the kiss on the forehead and who hugged him, but as the door closer he was once more alone, and terror coursed through his veins. His parents whom he'd always believed to adore the Dark Lord, someone Draco thought was a man worth his respect and admiration, now cowered and almost sent him away.
Just what kind of monster was he?
Draco had to stop and lean against the dark wall, taking a deep breath. That very next day he learned exactly the type of monster he was. In their very living room, where they'd always spent almost every afternoon together as a family, now was tainted with the screams of a couple of muggleborns captured by a couple of deatheaters.
Draco had been invited. The word 'invitation' was not one the blonde would have used. He had been forced to stand there and stare as the Dark Lord crucioed the old muggleborn couple until they each had a heart attack and died. His parents had stared with cold unfeeling eyes. Draco had thrown up. His father had made a disapproving noise and looked down at him as if he were the greatest disappointment in his life.
"-foy… Malfoy…" Draco's vision focused enough to see Potter standing before him, in all his bloody glory, standing in the middle of the corridor at almost midnight, looking at him with distrust and concern. Funny to see the two together in another's face. "Was the lesson too much? You're feeling weak?" He asked softly, so as to not awaken the portraits.
"I'm not weak, stupid Potter." He snapped. Potter scoffed in annoyance.
"That's not what I said, stupid Malfoy." He snapped right back. "Seriously, what's wrong with you?" Hmm… maybe this truth could help him get closer to the Gryffindor.
"…I remembered the reason I wanted to learn defence in the first place. I remembered the ones I want to protect… and I remembered the one I blame for all this…" Yet he still wished that nothing would happen to his father.
"And you wonder if learning these spells are going to make a single bit of difference against Voldemort?" He flinched violently at the sound of the name. Strangely Potter hit the target hard. Or were similar thoughts circulating in Potter's mind?
"Yes."
"I can't give you an answer to that one… but it may give you an advantage here or there…" Potter's tone of voice meant he was trying not to make Draco's feelings worse. It made his insides swirl with loathing for Potter's… empathy. If it had been him he would have told himself to man up and stop being a pathetic idiot in the middle of the corridors. "I just think that those that can't defend themselves… should have some measure of doing so." He said gently.
"Why are you always so bloody… nice?" He hissed.
"Oh… I am not nice, Malfoy. It's my blood that brought him back. If I can help diminish the casualties that are sure to come… that's enough to settle my guilt a little… I hope." Malfoy looked up then, eyeing the stupid Gryffindor once more. "Let's go Malfoy, before Filch finds us and I get detention with Umbridge." Potter absently scratched the back of his hand as he said this.
He managed to find the strength he needed to move his legs. "I'm going." He said.
"I'll see you next time."
He stared at the stupid lion. "Yes…" Could he really be this easy to become friends with? Was he already aware of his mission? No… he couldn't be. Don't jump to conclusions Draco Malfoy. "Until next time, Potter." Potter nodded and hurried in his way, both of them parting ways when reaching the staircases.
They didn't talk again, they didn't repeat their goodbye. Draco once more wondered what he could do next time to get closer to Potter. And what would he tell him next time to gain his confidence? All these things played in his mind until he fell into a nightmarish sleep.
