Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone! Hope you've had a great vacation. Here in Denmark it hasn't been snowing at all…
In this, the Slytherins will have a confrontation and whos' side will you be on?
DM POV
Trying to hide a yawn, Draco hurried up the stairs in the dungeon. He was already late for breakfast, since he'd spent most of last night, turning and tossing. His head had left him with hundreds of different thoughts and ideas, all fighting for the right to rule. He kept imagined Harry's smiling face and the laughter they shared. While the images left him flustered and spiralling, Pansy's annoying shrill voice kept interrupting. The bet, the bet.
No matter what had happened between him and Potter, he had to focus on the bet. It didn't actually matter if Potter made him feel anything – which Draco had a harder and harder time convincing himself of – because in the end what mattered was his freedom. He would never have to see Potter again after graduation and hopefully, Pansy would sink her pink-colored claws into another man.
Finally, at the great hall Draco turned straight left and headed for the Slytherin table. Most of the proud house had already shown up and finished eating. They had Herbology in the first class so he would have to make time for getting down to the third greenhouse. He had barely sat before the mail soared through the hall. White, brown, black and red owls tossed packages and letters down over the heads of students. Landing near his cornflakes was his family owl. Not used to getting letters this early in the week, Malfoy unwrapped the paper from the black-banded and orange-beaked owl and gave it a piece of bacon before it flapped and left the table. Opening the Daily Prophet from behind he flipped to page ten for the sport section.
Reading how the Quidditch referee had gotten in a fight with the keeper from Braga Bombers had caught him and he had almost finished the page when someone pushed their elbow against him. Scowling annoyed he moved his owns a little closer together to make space. When it happened second time, Draco sneered; "What?". There was after all, only so much patience a Malfoy could offer.
Glowering beside him Theodore Knott gave him a rather weird look. The boy nodded his head to the side as if to show him the rest of the hall. Sending a bored look out amongst his peers, he realized most of the students were looking either at him or at Potter. A sinking feeling left Draco rather conflicted. Why were they all staring?
Looking back at his own table, people around him were whispering and watching as well.
"Front."
"What?" He turned back to his friend.
"Look at the front." He said slowly, discreetly pointing at the paper in his hand. The sinking feeling spread in his stomach like acid as he turned it over. And truly it was a sight to behold. Had anyone shown it to him a few months ago he would have burned it and claimed to be possessed.
There on the cover of the front– taking up almost half the page – was a black/white photo of him and Potter. Sitting at the train station together and as if it couldn't get any worse the picture moved and made them kiss rather passionately. Knowing everyone was looking to him for a reaction, Malfoy did what a Malfoy do best. He swallowed the anger soothing inside him and refolded the paper. Letting the others believe he wasn't bothered by their lack of privacy.
Unfortunately, his faking calming demeanour only lasted until a hissing cat sound ran its gross warm breath into his ear.
"Can we speak for a moment?" a smaller hand grabbed his shoulder, sinking sharpened nails into his collarbone. Turning slightly, he wasn't the least surprised to see Pansy standing behind him.
"No. Not now." He turned back to his breakfast but didn't even manage a single bite as the woman dug her nails even deeper.
"Now, Malfoy!" Looking up he could see a good radius of students around them had heard Pansy and were clearly ready to see the argument unfolding before them. Throwing her claws of him, Draco looked at Blaise a few seats to the right having breakfast with Melck. They had been incredible chummy ever since Melck had been attacked by a unicorn.
Blaise was watching them, and discreetly nodded for him to get up and leave. Nodding back, the blond teen got up and answered the annoyed girl.
"Fine. Boys' toilet."
The girl didn't even spare him a second glance before marching out the hall. Leaving he could see both Blaise and Theo get up as well. Crabbe and Goyle would surely follow as well. They were clearly as curious for his explanation as Pansy was. Hopefully, they wouldn't throw a hissy fit as big as hers was sure to be. Exiting the hall, the Slytherins headed for the bathroom. The one closest to the hall was for some reason always empty. Perhaps people felt uncomfortable doing their business where they were still able to hear voices coming from the hall.
Entering the bathroom the students found it empty. Blaise was the last person to enter and pointed his wand at the door; closed it and locked it with a heavily spell. The second he placed a 'Silencio' around them, Pansy shrieked.
"So?" She placed her hands on her hip, trying to look intimidating.
"So, what?" Draco just sneered right back. He knew what she wanted but he wasn't happy about this turn of events either, so if he could make it worse for her, so be it.
"What the actual hell, Malfoy?!" Her tone reached a completely new level of high-pitched noise; in fact, Goyle had to scratch his ear afterwards.
"What? You wanted the bet. Of course, the second the golden boy goes out with anyone, someone will notice."
"It doesn't matter! You couldn't have kept this between you two? Why the hell would you go to Hogsmeade?" Pansy had moved closer to him each second her voice got louder, until she stood so close, he could smell her perfume.
"People already knew-"
"No!" Pansy shook for finger right into his face. "The school knew! Not PEOPLE, not OUR people! What am I going to tell my father?"
"YOU didn't think this through before making the bet?" Malfoy snorted. "That's on you."
Pansy looked madder than Draco had ever seen her before. "You have humiliated me in front of everyone who is someone in our circle! Not only does it look like you completely ditched me for a MAN! No, you left your house for the golden boy's ass!" She sneered, her mouth crunched up as if she had eaten something disgusting.
At the mention of Potter, Draco felt a certain anger flare in his chest. He wasn't a fan of Potter – he wasn't! – but Parkinson had no right to speak of him as if she actually knew him.
"Well guess what, Parkinson! We made a deal! It's not my problem how you sort out your own ones. Me and Potter have nothing to with you, all you how to do is sit back and enjoy the show!" His voice changed to a mocking stance as he gave a bow as if he finished a theatre performance.
"Fine!" The girl had angry tears in the corner of her eyes. Too proud to actually let them fall. In a huff she turned her back on him and stormed for the door. A fearful drop of ice dropped into his stomach as he turned to Goyle, demanding him to stop her. Goyle whom was thankfully still on his side, even if he didn't really know what the side meant, stopped the girl from leaving by grabbing her arm.
"Draco…" Theodore finally intervened after watching the raging argument.
"NO, she is obviously going to tell Potter-"
"No. I. Wont." Pansy managed to pull her small arm out of the meaty grip. "Unlike some, I still know what it means to be a Slytherin." She then proceeded to wipe her cheek with a quick flash of her hand and stormed out with her head held high.
Looking back from where they watched her leave, Theodore turned to Draco. "You better make sure this won't become a problem."
Snorting, Draco refused to show them how much this in fact, worried him.
Still incredibly annoyed, the boys set out for Herbology. Today's class hopefully wouldn't demand too much attention because Draco certainly didn't have any left for it. The rest of his house stood a good distance from the Hufflepuffs at the third greenhouse. This particular greenhouse was always overwhelmed with the powerful smell of mixed flowers. Even though there were no specific greenhouse for flowers, the third had always seemed the most overcrowded.
Draco decided to keep a safe distance from Pansy for now and stayed behind the other boys. Hoping not to draw to much focus. Even though it was hard, being a Malfoy and all. They were meant for focus and the attention from female as well as jealousy from the males. The greenhouse door finally snapped open and the students scrambled in. Standing beside Blaise, Draco immediately noticed the plant they were working on today had a rather pleasant smell. Honeysuckles with a mix of roses.
As the Professor proceeded to tell the class about the Flutterby bush - which had bloomed- Draco tried to keep his focus on her instead of the flower. Looking at the blooming bush, the blood red flower almost breathed. If Draco kept his eyes on a single flower, he could see the petals move in and out from the centre. Potter would probably like this flower as well, considering the Gryffindorish color. Reaching out he almost touched a flower.
"Mr. Malfoy, what did I just say? Don't touch the petals! The smell may not be even half as strong now as they will be in January but the pollen will stick to you like glue!"
Quickly pulling back his hand, he continued to watch as Professor Sprout talked. Finally, after almost half an hour lecture, she paired them up. Imagining that Blaise would be standing next to Melck on the other side, Draco turned to face Goyle.
"Oh dear, we are one to many today." The Professor stood thoughtfully. "Alright, Mr. Goyle, Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Zabini you will become a group of three and then Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Melck you will be teamed up as well. Alright students, remember the petals…." She started off as the students scrambled together around the pots. Looking to his left he saw Blaise pull Melck sleeve towards him and heard the whispered; "Be nice." Before the olive-skinned boy left them alone. It was hard to say which of the two boys seemed most unsatisfied by the predicament. Even though Melck was rather good at hiding his dislike, Malfoy had grown up recognizing facial expressions. It was a rather important part of making deals and speaking at the Ministry. If you didn't know where you had someone standing at, it could become an unfortunate situation of betrayal later on.
Melck gave a forced smile. "Should we start?"
Nodding uninterested, Draco grabbed his dragonhide gloves. Mimicking his behaviour Melck started by digging up the dirt around the plant as Draco began to pluck the dead leaves. They stood in utter silence, each concentration on their own task. This suited him just perfectly, as he wanted to talk to Melck as little as possible. He was a complete embarrassment to their house if not only for his unfortunate blood status but his annoyingly cheerful disposition as well. Speaking of which, Draco tried to calm himself with a deep breath as Melck started humming a jovial tune.
"Shut it." Well so much for being calm. The barely-Slytherin simply chuckled.
"So," He started cutting the smaller branches with a pair of scissors. "I hear you and Harry were on a date, how did it go?"
"I believe it went as 'none of your business.'" Draco sneered. Again, the irritating boy just smirked.
"I see. Well, I'm sure you had a lovely time."
Finally snapping, Draco said something he would quickly come to regret.
"Well, I'm used to having a 'lovely' time with boys. Although they are usually Slytherins." He said innocently. "Brown eyes, dark skin, good body-" Beside him the sound of the scissors cutting, stopped. "Still sleeps in my dormroom… you know the type."
Hoping to have finally infuriated the teen, Draco looked discreetly to his side. Although he had imagined it would anger him, he certainly wasn't prepared for the boy to start shaking. Before he even had time to ask, a low rather angry snarl and then, everything went dark.
…
HP POV
Well, today had definitely sucked. People had been whispering and teasing him most of the day. While Seamus and Dean had been very nice to keep him away from most of it, he couldn't ignore the laughing and teasing students making kissy faces at him. It seemed rather stupid how divided the male and female students were. The girls were actually the worst. He could deal with the teasing and mocking from the boys, that was standard at least once a year. But the girls? God, the giggling and blushing, every time they looked at him. It was as if they saw him in a new light. As if the fact that he was gay, now turned him from, well attractive, to… cute. One girl had even had the audacity to ask him what he thought of A-line skirts. What in the world was an A-line skirt?
Right now, he was heading for divination by himself. He had sent the two boys ahead, wanting them to have some alone time, since they had followed him around all day. Turning around a corner on the fourth floor, the air was knocked out of his lungs as he fell to the floor. Two Ravenclaws stood towered in over him and laughed.
"Watch it!"
"Careful Lesley, if you talk to him too much, he might think you are hitting on him." They laughed mockingly.
Getting up on his feet, Harry tried to walk past them, but one of them stepped in front of him.
"Easy Potter, we are just having fun, right? Nothing wrong with that, as you should know."
Laughing again, Harry clenched his hands, trying to keep from losing his temper. Suddenly steps sounded from behind him.
"Problem?"
Turning his head, he realized three Slytherin were standing behind him. He recognized one of them by face but otherwise he had no idea whom they were. This could simply not get any worse. Not only were the Ravenclaws mocking him, but also the Slytherins had come to oversee. He wished this day would suddenly end.
"No problem, just having some fun with the boy who lived." The Ravenclaw named Lesley shrugged.
"Well you better get going." One of the Slytherins replied coldly.
Harry wasn't sure who was most surprised by the outcome, him or the two Ravenclaws.
"Oh really?" Now the Ravenclaws looked less amused. The other boy reached slightly into his robe pocket, probably were his wand was hidden. Before he even had the chance to touch it, two of the Slytherins had pulled their owns, pointing it directly at him. Harry could only stand by as silent glaring battle began. Thankfully, it ended as quickly as it had begun, before Lesley shoved Harry's shoulder and went past the Slytherins. Ravenclaws could be obnoxious but they were usually not stupid enough to mess with the Slytherin. Unless of course, they were certain Gryffindor was on their own side.
"Erhm thanks." Harry practically whispered. The Slytherin whom had told them off, only shrug.
"It's fine, Potter. We look out for our own."
"But I'm not-"
The tallest of the boy interrupted him from the side.
"But you and Malfoy are dating. That's enough." After this they simply went passed him and continued towards their own class. Still rather stumped, Harry stood still. This was perhaps the first time today anybody had stood up for him, beside his friends. And the fact was they had been Slytherins. Perhaps he should remember to be more open minded, because while the Slytherin weren't exactly 'warm' people, he was. Showing them some kindness wouldn't be the worst thing that Harry had done. Remembering this, Harry hurried to the divination tower.
Arriving, he was the last student to climb the ladder. The room was crowded with scented candles and incense of various kind. The room mostly smelled of dust and cinnamon. Walking in, he sat down next to Neville and Ron. Both boys looked ready to fall asleep and the lesson hadn't even begun. Gathering his things, Harry tried to focus, but Professor Trelawney had barely spoken of their homework for today before she saw Harry and started ranting about his death. And so, the lesson continued…
After getting a well-deserved nap in Divination, Harry and his friends left the overly warm tower. They had to be in Transfiguration in ten minutes so there was no time for anything but heading for class. As they went down the long spiralling staircase, they heard numerous of hushed frantic conversations. Looking down the corridors, Harry could see a bunch of Hufflepuffs whispering, walking towards them. As they went past, Harry gathered bits of the discussion.
"…Attacked out of nowhere-"
"Probably on purpose…"
"Malfoy definitely said something!"
Coming to a halt, Harry noticed Hannah Abbott amongst the Hufflepuffs. Gently stopping her by grabbing her arm, he certainly surprised her.
"Harry!" She said and gave him a blazing smile. "How are you?"
"Good, thanks." He hurried. "Listen, did you guys talk about Malfoy?"
"Oh, yeah." Hannah got an almost worried look on her face. Typical Hufflepuff, getting worried on others behalf. A very nice trait if you asked Harry. "Well, you see, we were in Herbology with the Slytherins and… I stood to far away to see why, but suddenly there was a really loud crash and Jason Melck from Slytherin had practically tackled Malfoy to the ground. They ruined several pots and plants in the fall and Malfoy hit his head I think, because he was unconscious when- hey wait!"
Harry waved his apology back at her as he hurried down the corridor. Completely forgetting about Transfiguration, he ran towards the Infirmary. He had a pretty good feeling that was where Malfoy was. Emotions of fear and speculation pumped through his heart. He feared that Malfoy had truly been hurt if he had hit his head on the stone floor in the greenhouse. He wondered why Jason had attacked him. He couldn't imagine Jason attacking anybody, but unfortunately, based on the given knowledge he recently had inquired he worried it had something to do with Jason's veela side. And no matter how much he wished it wasn't true, he knew Malfoy well enough to know he most likely had provoked a reaction from the teen.
He rushed up the stairs two steps at a time. At one point, he had to stop to take a break. His heart was jamming against his chest as he tried to take deep breaths. Looking further ahead in the corridor he had stopped he saw three of his professors' walking on the same way he was heading. Albus Dumbledore in front with his rather sprawled purple coloured robes, Professor Sprout and Snape right behind him. Forcing himself to continue running to catch up with them, Harry stopped a little behind them.
"Professor?"
Only Dumbledore and Sprout made any sort of movement to acknowledge he was there.
"Ah young Harry, I am taking a guess that you already heard the rumours going around? Stories certainly travels fast around a school, indeed." Harry wasn't sure he was talking to him anymore or himself.
"Yes, sir." Harry took another deep breath. "I heard Malfoy got attacked in Herbology."
"He most certainly did. Was a rather violent one at that." Professor Sprout said, sending a disapproving glare Snape's way. The tall dark man simple ignored her as they continued up the last staircase.
"Can I come?" Harry asked.
"You are already here, so you might as well go the last five meters." Professor Snape glared.
Harry didn't take it personal. Snape must had quite a shock when he was informed his son had attacked another student, especially someone from his own house. He knew Snape would never favourite his own son more than the rest of the Slytherins but Harry had a suspicion he only wanted the best behaviour from his own, even though no one knew of their heritage.
Finally arriving at the infirmary, the group of four hurried inside.
"Draco!"
He ran across the room, right past Madam Pomphrey whom looked ready to argue for her patient's safety. Looking at the boy lying on the bed, Harry couldn't help but feel a sinking hole dropping in his stomach. Malfoy looked completely beaten up. His head was wrapped in a bandages and his eyebrow was a weird purple paste smeared across it, probably healing it.
Taking the cold pale hand lying on top of the covers, Harry gently stroked it, hoping for Malfoy to open his eyes. Squinting for a few seconds, Malfoy carefully opened his eyes.
"Hi." Harry gave him a bright smile, happy the teen at least was awake.
"Hey." Malfoy's voice sounded coarse.
"How are you? Are you hurting?"
"Nah, this?" Malfoy tried to smirk, but it was obvious even that was hurting him. "I tried worse."
Harry just gave him an overbearing smile and continued to squeeze his hand.
"Hm. Boys."
Drawing back, Harry had completely forgotten about the professors. Letting go of Malfoy's hand he sat back in the chair next to the bed.
"Madam Pomphrey, if you please." Dumbledore waved a hand towards Malfoy.
"Yes, well not too bad for the certain situation. Mr. Malfoy got a concussion, quite a bleeding from the head, a split eyebrow and a few minor bruises to the chest area." The Woman waved her wand over Malfoy an extra time and she nodded in conclusion. "All in all, he should be out by tomorrow."
"Where is Mr. Melck?" Snape interrupted.
"My office." Madam Pomphrey scoffed. "But Professor Snape, he already explained the situation and considering the boy's condition-"
"I'm his head of house, Madam, I will personally decide the outcome and punishment of the affair." He scowled as he stormed off towards the office at the end of the patienthall. The other adults took after him, and Harry hurried to check on Malfoy once more, hoping the look in his eyes was enough for him to understand, before he set off after them. He too, was rather curios to hear the story.
As Harry got into the office, he could already hear Snape ragingly ranting.
"-Of all the senseless foolhardy actions someone from Slytherin has ever done-"
Harry looked further into the room while Snape was pacing back and forth. In a chair in front of Madam Pomphrey's desk sat Jason, his head hanging down, looking very stubbornly at the ground. Beside him, Blaise Zabini sat, almost mushed up against him, holding a single of Jason's hand between his own two. While Jason looked ashamed and hurt, Zabini was looking very steadily at Professor Snape, daring him to comment on their seating arrangement.
"Everyone saw you! Not just an entire class of Hufflepuffs but a teacher as well! Even if we don't choose to expel you, the schoolboard-"
Expelled? God, no. Snape couldn't actually be serious about expelling his own son, could he?
Quickly locking eye contact with Dumbledore, Harry silently expressed himself as much as possible. Dumbledore gave him an almost invisible nod, before turning to Professor Snape.
"That is quite enough, Severus."
Finally stopping the ranting, Snape took a deep breath.
"I believe we should give young Mr. Melck a chance to explain himself, don't you?"
Everyone's eyes were now at the boy in the chair, whom still refused to look up from the floor. Knowing he would have to say something, he visible swallowed hard before answering;
"I... I was provoked, sir. But I am truly, truly sorry for my behaviour." Blaise just grabbed his hand harder and gently stroked it.
"Even then-" Snape began, still looking very upset.
"I believe you, Mr. Melck." Dumbledore carefully laid a hand on the sitting boy's shoulder. For the first time since entering the office, Jason looked up at the Headmaster, probably wondering about his continuing fate at Hogwarts.
"I don't think an expulsion is necessary today, Mr. Melck." He gently patted him. "But do remember, should another similar situation arise, I do not believe I will be able to give you the same slap on the wrist."
Jason looked completely struck as he quickly thanked the headmaster for his kindness. Jason hurried and gave Zabini a giant relieved hug. Harry watched as Snape finally let go with a shaking breath and massaged his aching temple from worry.
"We shall discuss your punishment tomorrow but-" As Dumbledore spoke a roaring green fire erupted from Madam Pomphrey's fire pit and a resolved problem suddenly became an even bigger one, as Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy arrived with floo powder. The blond man looked as arrogant and angry as ever. His wife kept a more composed look but stood by her husband with her head held high.
"Where is he? Where is the boy who attacked my son?!" Lucius Malfoy demanded to know.
"Mr. Malfoy, I see you got Madam Pomphrey's letter. Good, now before you-"
"Enough nonsense, Dumbledore." Lucius raised his voice. "I will give you exactly one day to expel the crazy boy who almost killed my son!"
"Mr. Malfoy, if you please-"
But unfortunately, this was the second Mr. Malfoy noticed Harry's presence in the room. His eye grew almost comically wide as he pointed his hidden wand cane at him.
"YOU! What are you doing here?"
Harry was no longer afraid of Lucius as he had been as a boy. He calmly gave Lucius and answer with the coldest voice he could muster.
"I'm here to make sure Malfoy is okay."
The clear and honest answer seemed to piss off Lucius even more.
"How dare you?" He boomed. "I will not have you anyway near my son! As if you could ever be good enough, a simple half-blood!?"
"I refuse-" Harry started yelling. Even though he knew he should be keeping his temperament in check, it always infuriated him when the Malfoys' brought up blood status.
"Everything the Prophet printed was pure lies and believe me, when I say they will be printing a retraction in the first print of tomorrow!"
Having had enough of the pompous ass, Harry was about to retort when the door to the office carefully opened. Malfoy came in, limping slightly as he leaned up against the doorframe for support. Harry imagined him and Mr. Malfoy's argument had been heard from the outside.
"Father, mother?" Malfoy seemed very surprised to see his parents.
"Darling." This was the first time since they had stepped out of the fireplace, Mrs. Malfoy had spoken. She quickly went across the room to kiss her son's cheek, checking him over. Harry, whom still had his eyes set on Lucius, realized that even though he didn't show the same concern as his wife, he showed true relief that his son was awake.
Collecting himself, Mr. Malfoy hurried; "Draco, tell me immediately what happened so we can get a prosecution started."
Everything seemed to slow done for a long time. Everyone looked at Malfoy, waiting for his answer. Because whatever he said next, would have to be followed up, not only by his father but by the schoolboard as well. After watching Malfoy looking slightly dumbstruck, the Headmaster came to his rescue.
"Well, we have already talked it through, Mr. Malfoy and I do not believe young Mr. Malfoy jr. will be pressing any charges, did I understand correctly?" He turned to give the young blond boy a twinkly-eyed look.
"I-" Malfoy looked around on the people in the room. Harry did as well. Seeing Jason and Zabini looking both frightened and hopeful together, seeing the calm yet underlying worry in Snape's eyes and in the end looking at each other seemed to make up Malfoy's mind.
"No." He tried to steady his voice. "No, I won't."
Mr. Malfoy seemed completely outraged at his son's refusal. While Mrs. Malfoy was still making sure her son was truly okay, Dumbledore shushed everyone out of the office, only leaving the Malfoys' and Snape, since it was a 'family matter' now.
Harry left the room with the two other teens, taking a quick glance and a brush against his shoulder as he passed Malfoy. He felt like he should be waiting for Malfoy to join them again, so he went to sit down in the same chair as before.
"Harry, come along." Dumbledore waved him towards the door. He couldn't exactly say no to the headmaster of the school, even though right now, leaving the infirmary was the last thing he wanted to do. He skipped slightly to keep up with the headmaster as they walked out.
"I hope you do not mind walking me back to the office." Dumbledore gently smiled. "I fear someday in my older age, I will simply forget how to get there."
"Of course, sir." Harry smiled back.
They walked for a while in comfortable silence. Harry was waiting for Dumbledore to speak, since he had never once asked him to 'just walk' with him. Harry knew the headmaster had in his best interest; he just wasn't so sure Dumbledore actually knew what was best for him anymore.
"I must say I was pleasantly surprised young Mr. Malfoy was able to stand up to his father."
Harry nodded. "Yes, I would have been very disappointed if you had had to expel Jason."
"Indeed and I think Mr. Malfoy was very aware of that." As they waited for the staircase to join their floor, Dumbledore looked him straight in the eyes.
"Harry, I understand you have sent a letter to Mr. Lupin."
"How would you know that?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"All Remus' mail have been forwarded to me."
"You read my letter?!" Harry took a step back in anger.
"Do not mistake, Harry." Dumbledore lifted a hand, showing him to listen. "I simply realized the letter was from you because Hedwig was the one to deliver it."
"Oh." Blushing slightly at his outburst, he apologized.
"I understand your concern for your friend."
"I haven't seen him in so long; I don't even know where he is." Harry sighed distressed. A light soothing hand was placed on his shoulder, patting him a few times.
"Do not worry about Mr. Lupin. He is, for now, on a special task for our cause. He will be back before you know it." Harry wondered why Remus would be on a mission. After all, Voldemort was gone. But not to disagree with the older man, he nodded along.
As they left the corridor, Harry had to take another case of stairs, while Dumbledore had to walk to the left. Leaving his hand on his shoulder for a bit longer, the icy-blueyed man smiled.
"Keep a close eye on Mr. Malfoy, my boy. I believe it's rather wonderful news… for house unity, of course." He gave a croak chuckle before leaving Harry.
Understanding Dumbledore was always a riddle. He never truly said what he meant, but by what he could decipher, he knew about Malfoy and him, which was pretty obvious, since the headmaster probably read the paper. But more importantly, he approved. Unlike Mr. Malfoy.
Sudden worry overcame him. Would Draco be alright on his own? His father wasn't exactly one known for a calm temper, perhaps he should head back…. On the other hand, Mr. Malfoy didn't really freak out before he noticed Harry standing in the corner of Madam Pomphrey's office.
An idea popped up. If he waited in the Slytherin common room, Draco was bound to come back eventually.
The Slytherin common room was deep into the dungeons and Harry hoped he would somehow run into someone who could tell him the password. The password still changed every month so it would hopefully not be a big deal if he were to have figured one out.
Standing in front of the giant stone-wall operating as an entrance, Harry came up with every word he believed could be a possibility.
"Serpent, Snake, pureblood."
Nothing happened.
"Slytherin, Salazar, cunning?"
Still nothing.
"Damn." Harry muttered.
The stones started moving around, slowly forming a passing.
"Seriously?" perplexed he wondered whom had come up with such a password. But before he could enter, a group of girls –probably fourth year - left the common room. They almost jumped back in fright, not having expected to see Harry standing outside waiting.
"Potter? What do you want?" A girl with curly black hair asked suspiciously.
"Oh, ermh, I was looking for Draco."
Behind her, the younger girls started giggling. Even though Harry was three years older than them, he felt the warm indication on his face of a blush starting to expand.
"I think he is still in the infirmary." She shrugged. "He isn't in the common room, at least."
"Yeah okay, but I was hoping I could wait for him here."
"Why?" she demanded with narrowed eyes, looking directly into his. Harry could see why such a person would be in Slytherin. She wasn't scared to stand up for her house. But still, he was three years older and basically towering up over her. Hating to do exploit himself as a bully, but hating even more having to answer her question, Harry invaded her personal space, looking down at her.
"I'm waiting for him in there. Step aside, now." He declared.
The change was immediate. The girls' giggling and whispering stopped as they stared at him in surprise. The bold girl's attitude shook as she quickly stepped to the side, letting him pass. They all followed through and hurried out of his way.
Not giving them a second glance, Harry went inside. Looking at the walls and the portraits decorating them, nothing had changed from his second year. Back when Harry and Ron had infiltrated the Slytherin cave believing that Malfoy could have been the heir of Slytherin. Back then, it had seemed so likely. In a child's mind, the idea of an annoying spoilt brat whom they hated appeared to be the perfect candidate for a murderer. Now, the idea of Malfoy killing anyone was absolutely ridiculous. He was a prat sometimes, he was definitely not a murderer. Walking past the portraits, he noticed their disdained looks as they watched him walk by. None of them spoke to him, but simply followed his every movement as he passed. Most of them looked to be from the turn of the century. Old clothes, clownish make-up and white wigs.
He finally entered the common room arear. At this time of day, students of the serpent house were sitting inside, doing their homework or sitting around chatting. A few of them noticed him immediately and elbowed or whispered to their friends, announcing his arrival. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea. Remembering how the girls out front had behaved, he simply looked up and straight ahead, acting as if he belonged there. Thankfully, he didn't stumble down the few stairs even though his legs felt like jelly.
"Potter?"
Zabini was sitting in an armrest black chair by the enchanted windows, reading. The slightly rounded eyes and lifted eyebrows told Harry, Zabini was very surprised to see him. Quickly, he ignored all the other students and hurried past them.
"Hi."
"What are you doing here, Potter?" a voice from another of the chairs, asked. Zabini had clearly been hanging out with Knott, while Crabbe and Goyle were eating sweets from a Honeydukes' bag, resting up against the wall.
"I wanted to wait for Malfoy. I thought he would come down here first."
"Isn't he still in the infirmary?" Knott acquired.
Nodding, Harry answered. "Yes, but I just wasn't sure if he was really okay, so I wanted to be here when he is done."
"I see." Knott ignored him after that and continued to read.
"Well, sit down then." Zabini appointed him a chair beside him. Harry gently sat down, still whishing not make too much noise. Sitting in uncomfortable silence for a while, Harry finally asked where Jason was.
"Still getting yelled at by Professor Snape." Zabini sighed.
"I'm sorry." And Harry realized he truly was. Zabini must have felt stuck in a terrible position. His boyfriend had practically tried to beat the shit out of his best friend.
Zabini ignored his pity, and simply moved on.
"Have you finished the charm essay?" groaning behind him Crabbe picked up another sour worm angrily eating it. Zabini smirked and looked at him.
"No, not yet." Harry shrugged. "I not even sure if I can write anymore."
"Why not? How much how you written?" Zabini seemed interested.
"…Thirteen inches."
Zabini laughed and picked up a book from the stack on the floor, beside him.
"Here. Read the third and sixteenth chapter."
"Probably also thirteen if you want to exaggerate the meaning of inventing future charm spells." Knott interfered.
Reaching for the heavy book, harry thanked him and quickly turned to the appointed chapter. After only reading a few paragraphs, Harry needed something to write notes with.
"Zabini?"
"Hm."
"Could a burrow a quill and some parchment?"
Slightly tilting his head, Zabini murmured; "In the bag."
Seeing the brown bag hanging on the back of his chair, Harry got up. Suddenly someone bumped into him and hurried past. Looking up from the content in the schoolbag, he saw Parkinson sitting down in a chair as well, burring her face in a novel. Harry couldn't help but notice how she had picked the chair as far away from his as she possible could, while still sitting beside Crabbe and Goyle. Burrowing the things he needed, he sat back down and leaned towards Zabini.
"Did I do something to upset Parkinson?"
Zabini watched the witch for a moment before looking back into his book.
"Don't bother. She is simply beside herself today."
Harry got the feeling Zabini wasn't telling the truth but he couldn't exactly demand to know was going on and he didn't want to overstay his welcome before Malfoy even got back. So ignoring the uneasy knot in his stomach, he went back to reading, occasionally pausing to take notes. No one spoke again until Malfoy arrived.