Chapter 16

Draco stood somewhat dumbly in the entrance to the secret classroom, his bag on one shoulder. Granger, still smiling shyly at him, rose from her seat at the window, turning to face him. He noticed idly that she looked a bit pale.

"You're here," was all she said.

"Came back with the train, like everyone else," Draco responded immediately.

He realized how sarcastic that probably sounded, but before he could say anything else to soften it, Granger rolled her eyes, still smiling.

"No, I mean here, in my room."

Draco shrugged, returning her smile just a bit.

"The Slytherin common room was a bit crowded. I needed some peace and quiet."

"So you came to my hideaway?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips, attempting to frown disapprovingly and failing.

"Hideaway?" The word stuck out to Draco, and he glanced again at her pale cheeks, "What are you hiding from, then? Needed some space from the dunderheads you call friends?"

She opened her mouth to retort, evidently out of habit, but no sound came out.

He felt a triumphant smirk steal over his features, "Wait, I'm right, aren't I?"

"Er... I-"

"Normally when I insult Potter and Weasley, you jump to their defense. What did they do?"

Draco hoped he didn't seem too eager to pounce on the opportunity, but it would only be too good to hear Granger gripe about the dim-witted duo.

"...We do row sometimes, just like any friends do," she began, hedging at first. Then she ploughed forward, "But this time was different. First Ronald accuses my poor Crookshanks of intentionally targeting his sodding rat, and then that broomstick! I mean, Harry mysteriously receives a Firebolt for Christmas right after his broom breaks-"

Draco blanched.

"He got a FIREBOLT FOR CHRISTMAS?!" He exploded, "Potter now possesses the fastest broom ever invented and I'm stuck on my stupid Nimbus 2001?! I told Mother I needed a better broom, but she started going on about safety, and now this has happened!"

Draco finally caught sight of Granger's raised eyebrow.

"I… er, you were saying?"

She nodded approvingly.

"Yes, Harry got a Firebolt as a gift. A gift, with no note. We've no idea who spent a ridiculous sum of money to buy a present for Harry, who just so happens to be the target of an escaped homicidal maniac!"

"Because bloody Potter is apparently the center of the universe," Draco interjected in a surly voice.

Granger rolled her eyes in earnest this time.

"Malfoy, will you please stop interrupting me? Besides, that's not the point! Isn't it at all suspicious that Harry mysteriously gets the thing he wants most, when he has no clue where it came from?"

She paused expectantly, eyes demanding something from him.

"I suppose that the circumstances may be a bit suspicious, but-"

"Yes!" She interrupted, gesturing sharply towards him, "Thank you! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who sees it! When someone comes along offering you the thing you want most and expects nothing in return, it's a trap waiting to happen! If something seems too good to be true, it almost always is! This is just like the time in our first year - Harry realized the same thing then too - when Hagrid just happened to win that infernal dragon egg off of a random stranger at a pub!"

Draco stored away that bit of information for later use. That must have been the same dragon that got me caught by Mcgonagall up the astronomy tower after curfew!

Meanwhile, Granger had begun pacing, apparently unaware of his momentary distraction, "Of course, that time, the stranger who had the thing Hagrid wanted most was most likely Quirrel-slash-You-Know-Who in disguise, trying to get Hagrid to tell him how to get past Fluffy!"

"Wait, what?" Draco asked with wide eyes, but she paid him no attention.

"And even though Harry was the one to figure it out in first year, he and Ron still don't think that Harry receiving the most expensive, fastest, most top-of-the-line broom in the world could be the least bit dodgy!"

Draco, still trying to follow her diatribe, fell back on the conclusion he often came to:

"It's like I said - dunderheads."

"Quite!" Granger said, finally stopping to turn towards him again.

"So what did you do?" He asked.

"…..I told Professor Mcgonagall."

"Ah." Was his only response. He was starting to see how she came to be hiding in her room. Glancing around, he noticed for the first time how cluttered it had become. Books, parchment, and quills lay strewn about everywhere. He wondered how much time she had been spending sequestered away, studying for her thousand classes.

She looked at him hesitantly for a moment. Then, with a sigh, she continued, "Professors Mcgonagall and Flitwick are dismantling it now to look for jinxes."

"They're what?!" Draco asked, horrified.

Grangers expression was one of desperation as she explained, "I couldn't let Harry get hurt! He has had a terrible track recordwith cursed brooms in the past! The Dementors, Quirrell in our first year, then Dobby in our second! Harry had to regrow all the bones in his hand that time!"

"Wait, Dobby?" Draco shook his head, trying to make sense of how many twists and turns their conversation had taken, "My house elf cursed Potter's broom last year?!"

"Yes, Malfoy, do try to keep up-"

"But that's impossible, he was at the Manor. House elves aren't allowed to leave unless given explicit instructions. It's what makes them such valuable servants; they're bound to you."

The silence that followed his simple statement was heavy and cold.

"...That is one of the most despicable things I've ever heard you say." Granger's voice crackled with condemnation.

Draco's eyebrows pulled together.

She crossed her arms, speaking quickly, "House elves are such good servants because they're enslaved. They're magically forced to come at their master's beck and call, and they have no free will whatsoever! They don't receive wages or benefits, and they're forced to punish themselves if they disobey! It's disgusting!"

Draco held up his hands to try and stave off her anger.

"It's just how it works, Granger, the whole lot of them-"

"Well it shouldn't work that way! Dobby hated your family. And he still braved torture - torture which he was made to inflict upon himself - in order to help Harry. That poor elf had so many bandages on him, always new ones. Did you even notice?"

Draco spluttered for a moment before saying the first thing that came to his mind, "The best house elves are unseen-"

"Don't give me that excuse!" She screeched, "You didn't notice because you didn't want to. Ironically, your self-imposed blindness is what enabled Dobby to leave and disobey you. If you'd have paid more attention to him, if you'd have cared at all for the ways he had to punish himself, you might have realized that there were more bandages on him than there should have been. You might have seen that he was punishing himself for things you weren't aware of."

Draco wanted to say that it was just an elf, but he thought better of it. And what's worse, her words resonated. A small part of Draco knew she was right.

He had seen how his father treated the elves. At times, it had even unsettled him. And yet every time, he would walk away. All he could think in those moments was, At least it's not me this time.

He'd been happy that someone else had taken the brunt of his father's displeasure. It meant that he could avoid more bruises, at least for the moment.

He stopped. No, he couldn't think about that.

He let out a frustrated growl, "Look, Granger, I'm not saying that I'm wrong, but-"

"Of course you're not! That is just so typical!"

Anger flooded him, and he gratefully grasped onto it. Anger was better than whatever other feelings it overshadowed.

"How did this get turned around on me?! One minute we were completely fine discussing your two ridiculous friends and their lack of brains, and the next you're lecturing me about my bloody house elf-"

"Not yours anymore!" She said with a haughty smirk.

Draco's spiteful answer left his lips without conscious thought: "Good for him! He's free! He never has to step foot in the Manor or near my Father again, while I-"

He just managed to cut himself off.

"...While you what, Malfoy?"

"It doesn't matter."

Silence settled on the room for a long moment, and Draco had to fight the impulse to run. It wasn't like he had anywhere better to run to anyways. He could feel her eyes on him, and he hoped desperately that his flat expression would shield him like it usually did.

"Look, can we just… drop it? Let's go back to talking about how stupid Potter and Weasley are. Just… tell me more about what happened with them."

Truthfully, he would have latched onto any change in subject. Anything to distract from his near fatal admission.

She looked for a moment like she would ignore his request and continue to regale him on how wrong and inhumane he was.

Instead, she said huffily, "...They're furious with me, of course."

Draco doubted that their house elf conversation was actually over - knowing her, she would simply mount more arguments to bring against him later. Still, he was grateful that she had accepted his distraction in the meantime.

"As much as it pains me, I do understand their point of view a little. It is difficult to think about that magnificent broom being taken apart twig by twig…" he prompted.

"That's what they said," she agreed miserably, the fight seeming to leave her all at once.

"I think I have a solution though. If the thing is meant to harm Potter, and if Black is as clever as everyone assumes he is, then he should have been able to put a nearly undetectable curse on the broom, one intended to jinx Potter alone, right?"

Granger looked genuinely thoughtful, "I suppose it's possible, but we don't-"

"Right, so Mcgonagall should just give the Firebolt to me instead."

He ended with a flourish.

Granger stared at him for a moment, looking as if she might start to lecture him on how unlikely those circumstances would be. Then she cracked a smile, which turned into a giggle.

Draco stood a bit taller. It may have been just his imagination, but he thought that she had a bit more color in her cheeks than she had before.

Although he didn't particularly want to think about why, the thought was oddly... comforting.

A/N – So it's been a long time… I missed you guys! Sorry for the delay. I'm still here, and I'm still writing, but the process has slowed. Depression sucks, y'all. That said, I haven't given up on this story. I can't promise regular updates, but I can say that they will keep coming.

Thank you everyone who read and followed and reviewed. Please keep letting me know what you think! Your kind words motivate my writing and encourage my soul.