Written for THE HOUSES COMPETITION Y7, Interhouse Bonus Round

Name, House, and position of Player 1: Sapphire402, Ravenclaw, Potions

House, House, and position of Player 2: Charlotteredmond99, Gryffindor, HoH

Prompts: [Location] Bathroom/Toilet; [Dialogue] "I never imagined you to be this stupid."

Word Count: 1342

Draco glared at the potion he had slaved over for nearly a month, a sneer twisting his face as he internally screamed. He needed this to work, but after weeks of waiting and careful brewing, it was a shade off, nothing he had tried was fixing it and it was all going to end down the drain.

Frustrations and rage surged without his control after he had stared at the ruined brew for so long. Draco couldn't have described what came over him then. He let out a roar of anger and threw the book he had been referencing as he tried to come up with a solution at the wall.

The sounds of the impact and of his scream were so loud that they almost disguised the bathroom door flying open, but Draco was too on edge to let something like that escape his notice. He jumped, turning towards the entrance with his wand already in hand, only to grit his teeth when he saw the intruder.

•

Dark eyes traced a very obvious path from the cauldron abandoned in the sink, to Draco's dishevelled state, to the book on the ground and back again. The door clicked shut.

"I never imagined you to be this stupid."

Draco wanted to scoff, write the whole scene off as if it meant nothing, but a scream was lodged in his throat and his fingers clenched on his wand of their own accord.

"Put that thing down, Draco. You don't want to make this worse."

Draco stared, unsure about what his next move should be — did he even have a choice? He was too tense, and his hold on his magic was almost a string ready to snap with just the slightest amount of pressure applied. Would this be the moment? He couldn't tell.

•

He went to speak, or shout, or do anything, but the chance he'd had was gone as his wand was pulled from his hand and across the room.

That turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Worse? How could I possibly make this worse?! Have you somehow missed the utter Hippogriff shit that I am piled up to my neck in right now?! I am done for whatever happens! I can't do this, I can't do that, I can't do anything they order me to but I can't not do it, and I just can't do this."

Draco didn't know how he expected Blaise to react to his almost insensate outburst but… that wasn't it.

Blaise's expression became colder than Draco had ever seen it. Draco had never had such a look directed at him from the other Slytherin. When Blaise's dark lips parted, Draco feared he would utter a curse, but his tone remained restrained, if not calm.

"Finally admitting it, are you?"

"Blaise —"

"What, Draco? You've been in over your head all term. Did you delude yourself into thinking I wouldn't notice? Did you believe your evasions were clever?"

"You don't know what you're talking about. What did you expect me to do?! I have orders! I can't throw them away!" Draco screamed at Blaise, the small measure of calm he had managed to gain abandoning him once more.

Blaise advanced in a few quick steps, Draco's wand tucked away safely in his robes, and stared into his friend's wild eyes.

"You've always been like this — having to touch the fire yourself before believing it's hot. Merlin and Mordred, is this enough? Will you allow yourself to be helped now?"

Draco made a noise that wanted desperately to be a scoff but more closely resembled a sob. He unwound enough to turn away, trying to focus on his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He looked like a mess — like someone who hadn't been sleeping more than four hours a night.

"I'm beyond help."

"Stop it, I—"

"What, Blaise?! What do you possibly think you can do against—?!" He interrupted himself before uttering the words, his right hand flying to his left forearm. He steeled his nerves. "I have my orders. The only thing I can do is—"

Blaise cut in abruptly, "Die?! That's how it works, right? Do as you're told, or die. And sometimes you die anyway. Is that what you want, Draco? Really?" For a few seconds there was silence, then, for the first time, Blaise's eyes lost their hard edge. "I don't claim to be able to oppose Him, of course, but that's not what you need."

"So you claim to know what I need." Draco drawled, slowly regaining some measure of composure.

Blaise rolled his eyes, as if it were any other argument about school matters instead of something that could risk their lives.

"What you've been doing hasn't been working, Draco. That much is clear."

Blaise moved closer once more, his long stride bringing him at Draco's side in barely two steps. Draco almost jumped out of his skin as he turned away from his ghastly reflection to face his Housemate head-on.

"I—"

"What are you going to do, Draco? More of the same?" Blaise's eyes were alight with his need to make Draco understand. His voice was low and deep, and his words dripped like caramel. "You don't need to keep struggling alone. Let me in. Let me aid you. You need someone in your corner, Draco, and I can be that for you. If you only let me."

Draco stared into Blaise's smouldering gaze. The burnished bronze eyes were brimming with emotions usually hidden behind Blaise's hard exterior.

Draco wanted to close his eyes and let go. Draco wanted this man, who had shared his dorm for five and a half years, to make good on his promise and, Morgana forgive him, help him. He was so close to giving in, reaching out for anything, everything, that Blaise could offer him.

Loud footsteps outside tore his attention away, his eyes glancing wildly from Blaise to the closed door and back again.

He closed his mind and pushed his wild thoughts out of his head. He needed to remember what was important — what was at stake. He was a Malfoy. Malfoys showed no weakness.

"Leave, Zabini. I don't need any help from the likes of you." He spat it out even as the words curdled the moment they left his mouth.

There was a moment, a single instant, during which Draco believed that Blaise would insist, call his bluff and insult him before helping him anyway. He could see it with his mind's eyes, Blaise saying "Shove off, Draco. You'll be safe if—" But Draco couldn't allow it. He screamed, "Retreat like a coward and hide your head in the sand as history is made! That's all you're good for!"

Draco gulped for breath after his last words tore out of his throat.

Blaise's eyes could have been chips of ice, they were so cold.

"So be it, Draco," Blaise uttered like a vow. "Dig your grave and lie in it, if that's being courageous," he spat. "I won't bother you again."

•

Draco watched in silence as Blaise gave him a last once-over, his expressive eyes filled with disgust instead of the worry that animated them before. Then Blaise turned sharply towards the door and left, pausing only long enough to look at him over his shoulder as he retrieved Draco's hawthorn wand from where he'd stashed it and — dropped it to the ground. It was the worst insult Draco had ever received.

The door slammed shut behind Blaise and all thoughts and emotions Draco had tried to Occlude seemed to wrestle out of his control and take over his mind. With his head in his hands, he managed to beat them back, and the silence in the bathroom was eerie.

He couldn't even hear dripping water.

All Draco could think was that he had just thrown away his last hope of survival and all he had left to show for it was a ruined potion and the tears rolling down his face.