Harry woke up to a massive headache and sore throat, the only thing he wanted to do is to bury himself back under the covers and stay there forever. He wasn't ready to face the world after what happened, his mind too shy and too scandalized to replay the events. The boy's dorm room was blessedly empty and Harry contemplated drifting back to sleep until he felt the edge of his bed dip a little and saw somebody in Gryffindor robes sit next to him.
"Pepper up," Ginny smiled passing him a cup of steaming potion, "for your cold. Ron told me you didn't sleep well at night… My fault, we shouldn't have sat for so long in that courtyard."
"What are you doing here… aren't you supposed to be in class?" he mumbled, horrified to see her so oblivious to what actually transpired after she had left that wretched courtyard.
"I had a free period, besides I wanted to make sure you were okay," she said simply, pressing her lips to his forehead to feel for fever. Ginny noticed a hickey on his neck and smirked, "Didn't know I left it there."
You didn't, Harry thought, mortified.
"Are we good, Harry?" she asked him earnestly. "I am sorry if I seemed a bit off the rails recently… It's just a lot of things going on…"
"Yeah, tell me about it," he agreed. "We're fine, Gin."
She leaned to kiss him, her long ginger hair tickling his face, smelling like flowery girly shampoo and it was weird and wrong and mechanic for some reason. It sure was different from the way Malfoy had kissed him, the sort of inevitable and demanding domination he possessed over him.
"You'll catch my cold like that," Harry tried to joke, unable to respond to her advancements properly.
"Alright, Potter," she said teasingly. "but you need to get out of your bed soon. Unless you want me to climb in and catch that cold?"
He was taken aback by this shameless flirting and his treacherous body's lack of reaction towards it. He grumbled something inaudible and got up.
No more hiding from the world now.
"What's a Painless Poppy Philtre, Hermione?" Harry asked when the three of them were sitting together once again in the Potions' classroom. Malfoy hadn't shown up for the class that morning, so Hermione was leafing through some brewing books and trying to find a suitable potion for Ron and him to make.
Both of his friend looked at him like he had suddenly grown a second head.
"You're not planning on brewing that one, are you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Why not?"
"It's highly regulated, Harry. Look here," the girl pointed at the page in one of the textbooks. There weren't any instructions on how to cook it up, only general information. "The Painless Poppy Philtre is a strong Opium-based sedative, muscle relaxant, and anesthetic potion. Due to its highly addictive nature and various side-effects only a family physician or apothecary can prescribe it."
"Pureblood Bane, my mom used to call it," Ron added, "A lot of wizarding families were bonkers over that stuff, back in the day. She said Blacks had liked it too. I kept them from going mad."
"What do you mean, Ron?" Harry asked.
"It sort of makes you let go a bit… I would want to forget too if I were stuck in an arranged marriage with my cousin or something," the ginger snickered.
No wonder Malfoy wanted to let go with so many people giving him grief and constantly trying to watch his back with the probation. He remembered those muggle snapshots that were in his godfather's old school trunk, he was wondering if he too had been trying to forget his family like this and to live freely, do what he wanted… kiss who he wanted.
"Do you reckon Sirius was addicted to it?" Harry mused.
"I dunno, mate. Maybe… I would say, it's not anything one should be taking regularly. Pomphrey would not even give it to any of the students… Trust me, I've tried," Ron said begrudgingly.
"It says side effects... what sort of side effects might there be? Does it make you... do things?" Harry shamefully remembered what happened last night, how he'd gotten off with Malfoy out of all people, how he bloody enjoyed it. He felt so liberated from responsibility, from caring about what others might think. It was a dangerous feeling because he wanted to experience it once more.
"If you're planning to do drugs, Harry, you might as well start with muggle heroin, it would be less harmful!" Hermione exclaimed, "But no, nothing like that just drowsiness and headaches and whatnot."
That did not make Harry feel any better. If she had said that it induced euphoria or lust or something, then at least he would know that it was just the potion talking. He put his head on the desk, unable to stop worrying about what happened and how would it affect his and Ginny's newly reformed relationship. At that moment Harry wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole.
"Draco, darling, how have you been?" his mother's face appeared in the Slytherin common room fireplace and he had to look around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping before sitting down on the emerald Persian rug in front of the fire.
"I am fine, mother," Draco gritted. He didn't like this constant smothering that Narcissa was prone to.
"I have received the most wonderful news! Do you remember Gareth Greengrass, the Chief Unspeakable? He donates to various charities and he was present at the Halloween event at the St. Barbara's Orphanage. He was highly impressed with your performance," his mother spoke excitedly. "The Greengrass family has invited us to their annual Christmas gala. If everything goes well we might be able to secure an engagement with their younger daughter, Astoria. A marvelous young witch she is."
Draco felt ill. Without his father pestering him about arranging a marriage with some pureblood bint and continuing the family's legacy, he thought he would be free to pursue whatever future he wanted. But such foolish speculations would lead him nowhere. What future might he have, hiding around, denying rumors? He was already marked, Malfoy's family fortune confiscated for reparations, it would take a miracle to rebuild what they had lost because of the war. The Greengrass, on the other hand, had bottomless Gringotts vaults and if they were willing to forgive them it would be a chance to once again be at the top of wizarding society.
"Very well, mother," Draco said. "Tell them I am looking forward to meeting with Astoria."
"Excellent, I took the liberty of choosing a courting gift for you Draco. It should arrive at the Greengrass residence shortly." Narcissa beamed at her son.
As soon as his mother's face disappeared in the flames he decided to get high again. He rummaged through his robes' inner pocket until he remembered where the second vial had gone. Bloody Potter and his reckless behavior! How could Draco let it get this out of hand? Why didn't he pushed him away? The answer was quite simple: he didn't want to, he wanted to see how far the Gryffindor was willing to go and it scared him to think that were they somewhere more secluded he might even shag the git.
He needed extra dose fast, just to stop ruminating over something that shouldn't have happened. Draco was determined to sneak into Slughorn's storage once again, he wasn't sure there would be the Philtre itself, but maybe if he found enough right ingredients.
"Planning to smuggle another love potion to Potter, aren't you, Malfoy?" he heard a sneering voice behind. He turned around to see Theodore Nott pointing a wand at him, holding up an empty vial from last night, "I saw you two, what a revolting spectacle. But I might say it is rather curious how low you can go, Malfoy."
"What do you want, Nott?" Draco exhaled tiredly.
"You know I could go straight to McGonagall with this. I wonder what her reaction might be, a Death Eater scum like you drugging her Golden Boy?" the other Slytherin had a shit-eating smirk on his face. "Or maybe I should go to Weasley. It would be amusing to see him beat you into bloody pulp."
"Nott!" he was losing his self-control.
"What I want is simple: you have something that my uncle would like to have. Vials with memories… does that ring any bells?"
Draco knew exactly what he was talking about.
"You have twenty-four hours to give them to me, otherwise you might start packing your trunk to Azkaban, you traitor!" Nott pointed his wand at him and cried. "Crucio!"
The blonde slid down the potion storage door, torn in agonizing pain. He made himself concentrate on a simple piano melody he always thought of when he had to endure the Curse. The image of black and white keys being pressed rhythmically emerged in his brain and when he opened his eyes the pain was gone and so was the bastard.
He found her at the library, sitting in the Arithmancy section, surrounded by uneven piles of books that were about to tumble down at any moment, her hair a wild mess.
"Granger, I need you to do me a favor!" Draco said quietly, "Before you refuse, I want you to know that it is related to Potter and his safety."
She looked up at him and quickly cast a privacy charm, before moving all the books aside to listen attentively.
"You have to Obliviate Theodore Nott," he pleaded, "I know you're good at memory charms. I have been working together with you for a month."
"Flattery will not help you, Malfoy," Granger retorted, crossing her arms, "Why should I do that?"
"Because he knows something about Potter and… I, that might be damaging to his reputation and result in my expulsion," Draco said hoping she was smart enough to fill in the rest on her own.
"You do realize that I might get into a lot of shite if we get caught…" she whispered.
"That's why I came to you of all people," the Slytherin exhaled.
"Alright, but you owe me, Malfoy!" Granger warned him and took out a parchment to dart down their plan.
Draco was grateful for that fabled Gryffindor loyalty that she'd agreed to do it.
"It's nice to know that not only Slytherins are good at scheming," he smiled.
"Harry, I just need to nick some extra books from the library, that's all!" Hermione was acting strange at that moment when she asked to borrow his Invisibility Cloak, so naturally Harry followed her using the Marauder's map and a couple of disillusioning charms.
He didn't feel particularly possessive over the magical item, they had spent many occasions hiding under it together over the years. However her adamant refusal to tell him the real reason behind needing the cloak had urged the stalker in him to creep up to the surface.
What Harry did not expect is to find Hermione's dot make a sharp detour away from the Library and go down to the dungeons. He saw that she was nearing another label that said Draco Malfoy and was grateful that Ron was too emerged in his chess match to go with him. His friend might try to murder the git. Harry felt some weird sense of foreboding that told him that something fishy was about to happen. Was Malfoy trying to make a move at his friend? Where did that leave them…? He shook his head, banishing the thought.
Harry was close to the potion storage cupboards when he heard Hermione speak:
"Is this where you're supposed to meet? I will be waiting in this alcove to ambush him, then we leave under the cloak as planned."
He clenched his fists to stop himself from running up to them and confronting Malfoy about involving Hermione out of all people in some sort of evil scheme. Almost half an hour passed until he saw Theodore Nott walk confidently into the corridor.
"Did you bring it?.. Expelliarmus!", he called to Malfoy quickly disarming him and then kept walking… until he was pointing a wand at the alcove where Hermione had been waiting, " Get out of there, Granger! Wand where I can see it!"
Hermione reluctantly left her hiding spot giving Malfoy fearful glance.
"Well, well, Malfoy, making the mudblood do your dirty work? You never cease to amaze me with the level to which you're willing to sink," Nott spat, "Does she even know what you've done?"
"It is none of her concern, Nott!" Malfoy replied desperately.
"Your loyalties are misplaced here, Granger. If you knew what I know you would join me in cursing him," he continued still pointing his wand straight at Hermione.
"Leave her alone! I will give you what you want!" the blonde implored.
"What's the fun in that? Since you've brought company... maybe you should share an enlightening tale of how you've drugged Potter to his best friend?" Nott asked triumphantly.
"Malfoy?! Is this true?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"So you didn't know... and yet you're trying to help this creepy faggot?! Not as bright as you seem, huh, Granger?... Perhaps I should curse you instead and make this wretched coward responsible for it?" Theodore lifted his wand an Unforgivable on his lips.
"Stupefy!" the spell hit Nott in between his shoulder blades with such force that he fell on the floor his nose breaking with a loud crunch.
"Harry! Oh, thank Merlin!"
Harry ran towards them quickly to make sure that Hermione was okay.
"It looks like you needed a backup after all, with all that book stealing," he smiled at her and crouched down next to Nott to assess the damage. "What are we going to do now?"
"I need him conscious!" Malfoy said quickly coming out of his stupor.
"Okay! Harry, help me pick him up! Incarcerous!" thick ropes spurred out from Hermione's wand coiling around the still body.
"Will any of you explain to me what's going on?!" Harry demanded looking from the Slytherin to his friend.
"Quick, before anybody walks in on us!" Hermione shushed, "Evenerate!"
"HELP! HELP! HELP ME!" Nott bellowed as soon as he woke up.
"Oh for the love of… Silencio!" the girl huffed and looked expectantly to Malfoy, "Go on, he's yours."
The blonde smiled carnivorously and scooted down to their captive's eye level, "I will need a bit of insurance in case you remember anything and go running to any of the teachers... Don't try to fight it. As you said I am a Death Eater scum. Legilimens!"
Harry watched as Nott's eyes became vacant and his strained expression relaxed into an oblivious sort of smile. This lasted for about five minutes, and then Draco stood up, brushing off his knees and nodded to Hermione.
She brought the wand to poor sod's temple and murmured: "Obliviate!"
At that moment they heard somebody's steps aproaching them in the dungeon corridor. Hermione quickly dragged the Invisibility Cloak over Malfoy and shoved him towards the alcove.
"What is happening... Granger?! Harry?!" Horace Slughorn looked stunned and visibly disappointed to see both of them standing next to bloodied and tied down Theodore Nott.
Minerva McGonagall was not surprised to see Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in her office that evening, "I know you're both trying to protect Mister Malfoy here... but no matter what happened... Vigilante justice is unacceptable! Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense than to curse another student! Where is your wand?"
"I erm… must have lost it when Nott disarmed me…" Hermione said, quickly passing her wand behind her back for Harry to hide. "It is still in the corridor... probably."
"You both have earned yourself detention until Christmas!" the headmistress glanced at them disapprovingly, "50 points from Gryffindor, each! I will make sure to question mister Nott as soon as he gets back from the Infirmary."
Harry glanced over to Hermione who gave him an apologetic smile. He would never, under the influence of any drug or potion, believe that she would be getting a detention because of Malfoy and be so unabashed about it, but stranger things had happened.
"Did he really drug you?" Hermione asked him when they left the Headmistress office.
"Nah, we just drank some Elixir of Euphoria and that's about it," Harry protested feeling heat creeping up on his cheeks at the lie.
"You should be careful next time you decide to do potions with Malfoy... People will talk!" she warned him.
"So wait, you're not going to scold me for fraternizing with the ferret?" he was surprised by this change of attitude.
"The git's alright, I guess," Hermione shrugged. "He was trying to do the right thing. But you need to make sure that he doesn't get a wrong idea about your… friendship since you're trying to mend things up with Ginny."
These words made an uncomfortable feeling of doubt rise in Harry's chest. Was his friend actually encouraging to choose between his school sweetheart, the sister of his best friend, a perfect, uncomplicated future, and his former nemesis turned what… friend with benefits?... fuck-buddy?
They were at the Portrait of Fat Lady when Malfoy found them. He took off the Invisibility cloak and gave it back to Harry.
"Well, I'll leave you, lads, to it. Night, Malfoy!" the girl said hastily and went inside the Gryffindor common room.
"Good night, Granger!" the Slytherin called after her, he looked back at Harry. "I need a smoke after all of this! You're going?"
Harry nodded and followed him away from the Gryffindor Tower.
"She knows?" the Slytherin asked once they were sitting next to the opened stained glass window in one of the more secluded passages.
"She knows," Harry confirmed gravely.
Malfoy shook his head, hiding his embarrassed face in the palms of his hands and groaned.
"Nott saw us... that's why I needed Granger's help. He was trying to blackmail me with it," the blonde explained.
"Good thing Hermione agreed," he gave Malfoy a small smile and accepted the cigarette.
"She is brilliant… Granger. You're lucky to have such a friend" Draco exhaled a puff of smoke and at that moment Harry realized how lonely the Slytherin had been.
There was nobody he could trust or rely on in his own house, his classmates actively turning against him and calling him profanities.
"Malfoy… I know, I've king of cocked it up with the whole … erm, whatever happened yesterday... But if you are willing to start over... I don't mind being your friend," he said and it felt bitterly unfair to demand it from the person who used to have deeper feelings towards you, or maybe still had… if he somehow managed to fix his lost memories.
"Alright, Potter..." Malfoy smirked and stood up, nearing confused Harry, "But just so we're clear... I do this only with Pansy and you!"
"Do what?"
The unhinged git flicked the cigarette away and enveloped Harry in a tight hug, resting his chin on top of the dark-haired boy's head and pressing his body that smelled like that wretched citrusy cologne and tobacco closer.