SUMMARY: "It's awful," Pansy blurted. Hermione wrinkled her nose. "What is?" "Death Eaters are teachers," Blaise intervened. "For Defense. And our first...our first lesson was..." he swallowed. Draco's eyes met Harry's. "Crucio a first year." His face was cold but Harry saw the pain and fear as clear as day in his eyes. ~ A new take on Deathly Hallows - Draco, Blaise, and Pansy run from Hogwarts, the Dark Lord, their parents, everything and escape to Grimmauld Place where the Golden Trio is already hiding.
TAGS:Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe, Ron Weasley Friendly, Possible OOC like Slytherin Characters, Author tried to stay accurate to characterization & story, Possible Dumbledore Bashing, Potter Anger/Rage, Maybe Black Anger/Rage too?, Hermione ships it, Hermione is a Good Bro, Ron Weasley is a Good Bro, Eventual Apology, Wandless Magic, The Potters are Wizarding Legends, Parselmouth Harry Potter, Self-Deprecating Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy needs a Hug, Idiots in Love, Oblivious Pining, Mutual Pining, Mind Manipulation, Heartache, Insecure Draco Malfoy, (More tags to come with each chapter)
WARNING: *Characters might be OOC but I try to sort out this logical reasoning.* So that was a bit of a shorter chapter. It went in a direction I didn't expect but I think it added way more character development. I might go and edit pieces in later chapters but for now, I'll keep it the way it is. Again - encouraging people to at least check out the ao3 version because ao3 version will have end notes that I talk about changes or extra things before posting when I start tossing out weekly things, cus - hullo, this is Raven from August 26th, 2021! and I'm not posting this today so...some stuff might happen in between. I also realized that the locket talking to Draco might be a bit sudden. I only had like, twoish sentences on how the locket affects him and I tried to go back and edit different parts but I could never really find a right spot to do that. I know, the locket gets a little forgotten so, that's my bad. But, I mean, for now, I really have no way to edit it in. Maybe just before I post it, I'll find a way to change it but for now, it's...not super in this so, I do apologize. Also, fyi, this chapter probably underwent the *most* edits. seriously, I edited this like five times, it's insane. like, I added an extra 2k words through edits 0.0
DISCLAIMER:As much as I do not support JK, I do not own Harry Potter and probably never will :(
LAST CHAPTER : Ron and Draco talked. They found the Sword of Gryffindor and Harry helped Ron destroy the locket/Horcrux. The locket/Horcrux showed Draco something that shook him to his core and made him question his decisions until Harry convinced him to stay with them.
Pansy began ignoring him.
He wasn't sure why at first until Blaise filled him in, "She was offended when you reverted to Granger. I know it seems crazy but they've formed a bit of a sisterhood I guess. I mean, Pansy had Mill and Daphne back at Hogwarts but...I don't think Hermione has had any other girl friends. She's only had Potter and Weasley. And I think...with Pansy being here, they've been able to connect a bit."
And Draco understood that. He was a bit surprised that it had gotten to that point but then again Pansy was never one to show her true emotions. And her friendship making tended to be sarcastic insults thrown back and forth. Draco had never thought Hermione would be able to make a friend that way but she must've to gain Pansy's friendship.
The short-jet black haired Slytherin would never change how she did things for the sake of creating another female friend. And Draco could imagine Hermione going a few rounds with her to have a friend like Pansy.
That was the thing about Slytherins, he supposed. They all had a bit of loyalty and compassion and bravery and cleverness. The only difference was they used those traits when they wanted. With or against who they wanted. Not for just anyone. Unlike the other houses.
Either way, Pansy had decided that her loyalty with Hermione was greater and she would ignore Draco for three days. Which wasn't as awful as it sounds; Draco honestly needed time to himself. He had sort of just - bared all his insecurities out to the group he had been living with. Is living with.
None of them faulted him for it but none of them talked to him about it either. They all sort of walked around him and gave him space. Which would have been nice if they weren't doing it because they were afraid to make him more upset.
Eggshells, Draco thought, remembering what Potter had said. How the other had felt that his friends were always standing around eggshells around him, afraid to say something that would make him blow up.
Which is why, he supposed, that Potter was the only one who didn't . Who kept acting like nothing had happened and kept playing Exploding Snap with him as normal. Who kept dragging him into chess matches and kept acting like their confessions to each other hadn't happened.
And little by little, each day, the others began to do the same.
It had been about three days and they were all milling about the tent. They were sort of at a standstill. They had destroyed their first Horcrux and were trying to discover what was the next. Except - thanks to Dumbledore - they had no other leads. Potter had recounted that Dumbledore believed there to be at least six Horcruxes. The locket, the diary, and the ring were the ones that had been destroyed.
"I don't know what the others are," Potter twisted his lips, picking at his nails and frowning thoughtfully. "I...it's possible that they have something to do with Hogwarts. He - well - Hogwarts was always sort of his home -"
"If I ask how you know that, will I regret it?" Draco asked dryly. He was lying down on the bottom bunk while Potter sat up on the ground, lying his back against the bedpost. At some point Draco started to curl his fingers in the other's jet black hair and pet it. He caught himself about three minutes in and tried to stop but Potter would nudge him and come up and reach for Draco's hand to make him keep doing it. He figured he should probably be embarrassed - and on some level he was - but by this point everyone hardly seemed to care.
Hermione was lying on Weasel's lap, reading some sort of book while Blaise was in the kitchen making spaghetti. Pansy was sitting at the tent's opening and glancing between looking outside and checking and leaning her head back inside.
Potter grinned. "Probably." Draco groaned while Potter continued on. "But I'm not sure what it would be."
"Something to do with the houses would probably be likely," Pansy suggested and Potter looked over at her curiously and then tilted his head and closed his eyes when Draco scratched something particularly itchy apparently. Pansy smirked like an idiot and Draco shot daggers at her. "Well...the horcrux we found was Slytherin's Locket right? The locket was owned and passed down by Salazar Slytherin. And obviously when he found that he'd make it a horcrux - that was his house. It means something."
"That...and it's probably his," Potter pointed out, a little meekly. "Tom Riddle is the Heir of Slytherin." Pansy blinked.
"So he opened the Chamber back in second year?" she guessed and then furrowed her brow. "Wait, how would that work? Wasn't he dead?"
"Oh right yeah," Potter cleared his throat. "Well, I didn't know it at the time but the diary was a horcrux and it drained the life out of Ginny Weasley -"
"W hat ?!" Pansy almost shrieked, looking a little white.
"- and Tom Riddle came back, through the diary and he possessed her into doing all that stuff in second year," Potter continued nonchalantly. Draco didn't miss the way Weasel shuddered. He remembered when Weasleyette had been declared missing and they were all forced to stay in their common rooms.
He remembered that whole year really and honestly felt a bit sick when he thought about it. He was a prat as usual and he remembered what his father said before everything. About the Chamber and the Diary. And he felt a bit sick when he remembered that his father had been the one to pass on the -
Draco's eyes popped. "Holy shit," he blurted and everyone startled. He didn't often swear and when he did - especially when it was random - it caught everyone's attention and they all looked at him.
Draco sat up and looked directly at Potter, not wanting to look at Weasel or Pansy or Hermione or Blaise (who had come into the common room with the spaghetti and was floating everyone their bowls to them). "My father gave her that diary,"
"Yeah, we know," Draco could hear the scowl in Weasel's face.
"No, no you don't," Draco insisted. "My father - a follower of the Dark Lord - had that diary,"
Potter stared at him, emerald eyes boring into him with a slight frown when it dawned on him. "You think another horcrux could be with another Death Eater." Draco nodded. "Yeah, that's possible. Probably someone a bit more loyal and - no offense - but competent. I mean, I can't imagine he was happy that your dad dropped his soul into Ginny's bag."
Draco nodded absently and then twitched. "It's probably my aunt."
Potter looked at him skeptically. "Your aunt?"
"Bellatrix." Draco sighed and Potter sat up straighter, an angry gleam growing in his eye.
"Her?" He glared and Draco found himself shrinking a bit. Potter's anger was terrifying. And honestly, he was almost certain he hadn't seen the most of it. Just slim glances.
"Yeah," he swallowed. "You know her or something?"
"She killed Sirius," Potter grumbled and drew his knees to his chest and glared harder at the floor but the anger started to dissipate, turning into a twisted sort of grief.
The room sort of went quiet and Draco thought it over for a moment because there it was again - Sirius Black . But, as Draco recalled, Black had been released of all charges only after his death. Which was a bit unfair when Draco thought about it. It would be pretty awful to live a life as a declared murderer and only when you die get declared a hero.
"Harry?" Hermione's voice was quiet and soft, not wanting to anger Potter further. Potter gave a grunt in response. "With the wand...and the Deathly Hallows...did you hear the story?"
Potter took a deep breath. "No."
Hermione nodded. "Right. Well...would it hurt if I read it?"
"Not at all," Weasel smiled encouragingly. "It's a great story."
Hermione gave him a playful and knowing look as she opened her Tales of Beedle the Bard book. Draco knew this story fairly well and he leaned back down, resting his hand in Potter's hair again. Potter tensed a bit more before fully relaxing, leaning into Draco's touch.
"Well, let me see here...ah yes okay." Hermione cleared her throat. " There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight - "
"Midnight," Weasel interrupted, a bit dreamily and Hermione threw him a look. "Mum always said midnight."
"Twilight's better actually," Pansy sniffed and Weasel rolled his eyes.
"Twilight makes it sound more airy and darker," Draco agreed absently and Blaise snorted, pausing in his spaghetti.
"Are we really arguing about this?" he pointed out, smirking.
"It's not arguing," Weasel defended, scooping up his own bowl as if remembering he had food. "It's…" he mulled it over in his head for a moment before continuing, "friendly banter."
Pansy laughed at that while Hermione sighed loudly to catch everyone's attention. She gave them all pointed looks and then continued, " There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight." She repeated, slowing down a bit and relaxing as no one interrupted her. " In time, the brothers reached a river too treacherous to pass. But being learned in the magical arts...the three brothers simply waved their wands and made a bridge. "
"Were they the first wizards to show up to that bridge or something?" Potter frowned, interrupting the story again and Hermione started to look increasingly annoyed.
Without fully meaning to, Draco swatted Potter's head lightly. "Hush, let her tell the story."
Potter pouted but went silent and Hermione took another breath before continuing. " They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. It was Death and he felt cheated, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning -"
"Was he a Slytherin?" Potter interrupted again and Hermione let out a loud sigh. Draco found himself swatting Potter - again - but Potter ducked it and laughed. "Sorry 'Mione, keep going."
She shot him a look with a suppressed smile but started telling the story yet again. "He granted each brother a wish for their cleverness. The oldest, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. So Death fashioned one from an elder tree on the banks of the river. The second brother, who was an arrogant man, asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death plucked a stone from the river.
"Finally Death turned to the third brother. A humble man, he asked for something that would make him disappear. And so it was that Death handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility. Death then stepped aside and the brothers went their separate ways...
"The first brother traveled to a distant village where, with Elder Wand in hand, he killed a wizard with whom he had once quarreled. Proceeding to an Inn, he bragged of his invincibility. But that very night another wizard crept upon him as he lay sleeping. He took the Elder Wand...and slit the brother's throat for good measure. And so Death took the first brother for his own..."
Potter made a humming noise, as if thinking and Hermione shot him a look as if daring him to interrupt him again so he kept silent. Draco watched the interaction as his mind drifted a bit. He's heard of this story - most purebloods did - but few actually knew or believed that the story was real. Pansy's family was one who knew it was real. Draco knew his father liked to believe the Hallows were real simply because he wanted the Elder Wand but his family didn't know for sure.
He twisted his lips as his heart raced a bit when he remembered that the Dark Lord did, in fact, have the Elder Wand now. He rubbed his face and breathed, thinking, This just got a whole lot harder.
"Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his home, where he took out the stone and turned it thrice in hand. To his delight, the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared before him. Yet soon she turned sad and cold, for she did not belong in the mortal world. Driven mad with hopeless longing, the second brother killed himself so as to join her. And so Death took the second brother..."
Potter made a noise and Draco looked at him but he didn't keep going.
"As for the third brother, Death searched for many years but was never able to find him. Only when he had attained a great age did the youngest brother shed the Cloak of Invisibility and give it to his son. He then greeted Death as an old friend and went with him gladly, departing this life as equals..."
The tent went silent until Pansy cleared her throat.
"Your cloak, Potter?" she inquired and Potter looked at her with a start. "Did you ever have to cast a spell to replenish the Vanishing part of it?"
Potter frowned and looked at her as if she had three heads. "No...Should I have to do that?"
"We think -" Weasel started and then bit his lip. "Well, we think you're related to the Peverells."
Potter looked at him, still bewildered. "The Peverells?"
"Ignotus, Cadmus, and Antioch," Pansy listed off. "The Three Brothers from the story."
Potter's mouth dropped. "You think -!"
"I mean it makes sense," Weasel shrugged. "We've never had to cast a charm on your cloak. And it's been passed down through your family according to Dumbledore..."
Potter looked a little space-y and rubbed his face. "That's insane..." he muttered and they lapsed into silence again.
"If you could have one of them," Draco mused suddenly. "Which one would you have?" Potter raised his eyebrows, smirking and Draco made a face. "Well, if you didn't already have one."
"I mean, that's obvious isn't it?" Hermione piped up, sitting up and flipping to the beginning of the book to look at something.
"How do you mean?" Pansy furrowed her brow.
And then something weird happened. Potter, Hermione, and Weasel all spoke at once. But they each said something different.
"The Cloak," Hermione said as Potter said, "The Stone," and Weasel said, "The Wand."
Pansy blinked while the other three stopped and stared at each other.
"The cloak?!" Weasel rounded on Hermione. "You're supposed to say the Cloak, but who wants to spend all day being invisible?! Dead boring if you ask me. But an unbeatable wand !"
Draco's eyebrows raised at that, wondering what Weasel was thinking when Hermione sighed and pointed out, "Its owner grew drunk with power and was murdered."
Draco snorted at the deadpan in her voice while Weasel rolled his eyes and replied with, "Yeah but imagine what a short wicked life you'd lead."
"Wow," Blaise snorted himself while Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to Potter.
"Why the Stone, Harry?" she frowned.
Potter shifted a bit from his seating spot. "Well...you could bring people back, couldn't you? Mad-Eye...Hedwig...Sirius - Anybody." Hermione's expression softened while Draco wondered why Sirius Black was so important to Potter that he'd want to bring him back.
"But according to the story, they don't want to come back." Hermione said quietly and Potter seized a bit but sighed.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "Still be nice though."
Pansy waited for a moment before turning to Draco. "What would you want?"
Draco's eye twitched. He was sure that all of them expected him to say the Wand and he could say that. It'd be true but not...not fully true. "The Cloak." he said simply and didn't elaborate. It got him a few raised eyebrows but nobody said anything.
"I'd probably want the Wand," Blaise mused. "Not because I want power but...do you know how many spells you could cast? How many new ones? You could have all of magic in your fingers..." he trailed off a bit and twisted his lips.
"Pansy?" Draco asked, turning to her. "What would you want?"
Pansy didn't say anything, thinking but then she just smiled sadly and didn't respond. Draco sighed, taking that as the cue of 'I'm-not-telling'. They fell into silence again when Draco suddenly thought of something and yelped.
He leaned down and swatted Potter's head again who also yelped.
"What?!" he asked, sounding a little irritated.
"That was you!" Draco accused, glaring. Potter blinked.
"What was?" he frowned.
"In Hogsmeade!" Draco threw his hands up, glaring. Potter blinked again. "In third year!" he added and Potter's eye twitched as he began to suppress a slow smile.
"I've got no idea what you're talking about." he denied.
"Yes you do!" Draco fumed. "You were under that damned cloak weren't you!"
"I wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmeade in third year," Potter continued.
"Since when have you cared about rules ! In fact - how often did you three sneak out in that thing -!"
"It couldn't have been me - it was probably Peeves -"
" You DRAGGED me towards the Shrieking Shack! " Draco yelled shrilly and glared down at Potter who had cut himself off with a choke and was biting his lip so hard it started to bleed.
Draco narrowed his eyes and Potter burst out laughing. Even Hermione and Weasel began snickering and giggling from across the room. Blaise looked bewildered and Pansy was holding a hand to her mouth.
"What on earth are you lot talking about?" Blaise blinked rapidly.
Potter waved him off. "In third year, I sneaked out to Hogsmeade under the Cloak and well...dragged Draco towards the Shrieking Shack."
"Oh my god," Pansy's voice was muffled but her rising laughter was quite visible.
"To be fair, you were being a bit of a prat," Hermione pointed out, eyes glinting with mirth.
"I -! Well...yes," Draco admitted and that made Potter laugh harder. Draco tried to scowl a bit more but reflecting back on it, it was pretty funny. "Augh. You - I hate you so much."
"I thought you said you fancy me?" Potter bit back reflexively and the two froze for a second. Draco felt his face go a little hot and he heard Pansy's laughter die into a snort. He looked up to glare at her and she just sniggered.
"Something like that," Draco muttered and he saw Potter's eyes widen a bit so he quickly cleared his throat and pressed on. " Anyways , I do have a question for you three. It's been bugging me since Grimmauld."
"Yeah?" Hermione turned to him.
"What the hell is the Order?" he asked bluntly and Weasel tripped a bit as he was standing up to put dishes away. Hermione blinked.
"Oh um..." She looked between Potter and Weasel but Weasel shot her a look. Potter didn't do anything, leaning against a post. Hermione chewed her lip while Weasel sighed a little loudly and left with the dishes.
"The Order of the Phoenix," Potter said suddenly. "Group of people that were brought together by Dumbledore. It was created during the first rise of Vol - You-Know-Who and it was brought back when he came back." Potter sighed a bit. "Some of them are dead...some of them are...I don't know, finding ways of fighting him or running away."
"Ah." Pansy sighed herself.
"And Black?" Draco kept going, trying to get all of his questions out of the way. Potter jerked at that and stared at Draco. Hermione let in a sharp intake and glanced between the two of them. Blaise and Pansy watched curiously too.
"He was my godfather." Potter said finally. "And...didn't you hear from the Prophet ? He didn't betray my parents. That was Peter Pettigrew. He was...he was cleared after he died." Potter swallowed hard and Draco twisted his lips at the mention. He hadn't paid much attention to the story when it came out but he had seen it.
Draco wanted to ask how Black died but...from the look on Potter's face he could tell that he should stop pressing. So he settled back down on the bed and thought about going to sleep when Potter let in a sharp intake of breath.
"You know," he breathed, eyes wide. "I think I've held the Resurrection Stone."
"What!?" Pansy and Hermione jumped to their feet, staring at him in shock.
Potter rushed to explain. "That night in Dumbledore's office? When he showed me the ring he'd destroyed? One of the first Horcruxes we found after the Diary? It had a symbol on it. Now that I know about the Hallows it was - it was the Deathly Hallows symbol!"
Hermione shook her head and pushed her hands into her face. "Wait, wait, so - so You-Know-Who made a Horcrux out of a Hallow? Can he even do that?!"
Potter shook his head. "No, I think the ring itself was the Horcrux. The Gaunt Family ring but - but the Stone inside it - that was the Hallow. The Resurrection Stone."
Hermione stared at him. "Okay...okay so, so...okay." She rubbed her eyes and then took a deep breath. "I think...I think we should go to sleep." she decided and Weasel guffawed from the entrance of the kitchen. She blinked at him. "What?"
"Harry says he's held the Resurrection Stone and you want us to go to bed ?" he asked incredulously.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well there's nothing we can do about it now anyways. Plus, we really need to rest. Someone should watch and then...tomorrow we pack up and go. We shouldn't keep staying in one place for weeks and weeks. Right?" she glanced over to Blaise who was next to Weasel.
Blaise shrugged. "Fine by me."
Weasel sighed loudly and rolled his eyes but nodded.
"Good idea," Pansy agreed and then yawned. "That's a lot of information to think about. I'm out."
Draco snorted a bit as they lapsed into silence and the others began heading into their bunks to sleep. Weasel was probably going to snore again so Draco sat up and decided to hang out at the edge of the tent on watch. Of course, Potter did the same, walking over to sit down by him.
They didn't say anything though and for a while all that could be heard was birds and the rushing of the river. It was peaceful enough that Draco felt himself drift off and fall asleep. He didn't mean to - he had set himself up for watch, but he found that he was pretty tired. And besides, Potter had gotten a pretty good nap in earlier.
He didn't normally have dreams or nightmares; for a while during sixth year, he stole different Dreamless Sleep potions just so he could get some sleep. He didn't have any out here but his body had been so attuned to sleeping with them that a lot of times he just didn't have dreams - or nightmares thank Merlin.
But of course, tonight had to be the exception.
It didn't even make sense really. Just flashes - mostly images of his parents being killed or tortured. Sometimes the Dark Lord finds them and punishes him. Sometimes he watches Potter - Harry - be killed by a giant snake or a Dementor. They all weaved in and out of each other, like several nights of nightmares all strewn together.
But the one he hated the most was the one that could really happen. All of them could happen - but Draco being tricked into betraying Harry and Hermione and Ron; being tricked into giving them all up and watching as they look at him with betrayed disgust. The shocked faces turning to sneers, " I knew we shouldn't have trusted you. I knew you would do this ."
It never failed to wake him up in a cold sweat, red eyes, and wet cheeks from crying as he gasped for breath and regain control of himself.
Walking over coarse and leafy ground was not something that Draco would have thought he'd want to do often.
But walking through the forest and peering up through the trees, even tripping over the occasional root was something that Draco found he could get used to. Even when it rained, light - or heavy - drops of water falling onto his face and soaking his clothes felt like a breath of fresh air.
Fresh life. A new start.
So, while on their walk to evacuate any area that they stayed in for too long, Draco was always trudging ahead, happily hopping over rocks, dancing around and on fallen leaves, and nearly running into trees from craning his neck upwards to stare at the sky. He liked catching glimpses of the sun as it bore down through the branches and made the melted snow on the leaves glitter.
They had been walking all morning and it was starting to near lunch when Hermione bustled up next to him. Draco felt himself tense slightly. The whole time Draco had been in the front by himself and whenever he darted a glance behind him, Hermione had been quietly whispering with Weasel. Potter, Pansy, and Blaise were spread out next to them. They never really walked in a straight line but they never wandered off far from each other either.
But Hermione didn't say anything, just set her pace to the same as his so he eased his shoulders and kept glancing between the ground and the sky.
"You know, according to Ron and Harry, you've apologized to them."
Draco stiffened and looked over at Hermione. She was frowning at him and as they passed a gap between branches, her frown turned to a squint as the sun passed over her. Her brown hair glowed a bit and Draco found himself thinking it was a pretty look.
"Yeah." Draco said finally, shaking his head a bit.
"Multiple times." she pressed, clamouring over a rock as the ground got a bit steeper. She stood on the rock for a moment, hands on her hips as Draco climbed up the ground next to her.
"To Potter." Draco affirmed, a little wary.
She scowled. "Are you ever going to apologize to me?"
Draco froze. "I...uh...haven't found the right time." he muttered.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Bullshit. You can call me Hermione and not Granger anymore, you can let me make you tea, you can learn how to cook lasagna from me, but you can't apologize for calling me mudblood and treating me how you did?" she accused, climbing off the rock and determinedly following him as the ground began to even out.
Draco didn't answer.
"Draco." Hermione huffed. "I don't have a problem being friends with you. Hell, I think you and Harry would do splendidly -" Draco felt himself twitch, a bit scandalized at that comment. "But the least you can do is say sorry -"
"Yeah it is the least I can do," Draco agreed suddenly, cutting her off. She pulled back, surprised. "It's the fucking least thing I can do and I -" Draco ran a hand through his hair. "Frankly? It won't mean anything. Because what I did was awful and it's not something I feel like I can apologize for. A sorry isn't going to take away that pain. A sorry isn't going to make up for what I did. I was awful . And that's not something that can be healed with words." Draco swallowed all while Hermione's hard set face began to soften. "So I settled on...I dunno, being nice as best I can. Showing that I've changed rather than trying to convince you with my mouth." Draco sighed. "I dunno...I thought that if I acted better, it'd be worth more."
They fell into silence as they kept walking when Hermione cleared her throat.
"A sorry would be nice though," she whispered thickly. "It'd help." she added, staring imploringly at Draco.
Draco stared at her, stopping suddenly.
She stopped a few paces ahead of him, the sun now illuminating her figure from behind. Draco was aware of his thudding heart and just how blank his mind was. He was also aware of the fact that the group had caught up to them.
He shot a quick glance, noticing an expectant look on Weasel's face and he figured that Weasel must've helped convince Hermione to do this. Potter, Pansy, and Blaise looked confused but a bit impatient too. They clearly wanted Draco to keep walking.
"So…" he said slowly, finding his own throat thick with emotion. "When I have the words...when we have the time...I will." he looked at Hermione who searched his face for a moment. "But I don't think I have it in me to say sorry right now," he admitted. "I think...I think it'd be pretty cheap."
Nobody spoke for a moment.
"Yeah," Hermione said finally, nodding a bit as she looked at Draco with a curious and unreadable expression. "It would be."
"If you splash me with mud, I swear to Salazar Draco," Pansy warned, shrieking a bit when Draco jumped in another puddle.
"What is it with you and puddles today Malfoy?" Weasel groaned and then squawked when Draco jumped into another one, specifically aiming himself to hit Weasel with a splash.
Draco let out a laugh. "Never got to play in puddles. Father said I had a reputation to uphold. And well, since that's gone to shit, I figured I'd enjoy myself by doing something I want to do." He took a step back and then ran forward with a flying leap and hit both feet hard into a bigger puddle.
Mud sprayed out from around him, just barely clipping Pansy's shoes and hitting Weasel's pants completely. Both let out undignified shrieks and Draco laughed again, feeling a bit like a child.
"You've turned into a bloody first year," Blaise mumbled from ahead of him.
Their spread out horizontal-ish formation had turned into some sort of vertical line where they all stood one by one behind each other. Potter and Hermione had taken the front when Draco decided to lag behind. Some ways back, he got caught up jumping into a puddle. He had randomly decided to go for it and this bubbly feeling rose in his chest when he splashed down and sprayed water. When he did it again, he couldn't stop the feeling turning into a high pitched squeal and giggle, eyes gleaming with excitement. It was such a simple thing - jumping into a puddle - but something he had never been allowed to do and it was just...so much fun.
Blaise - reading a book - had drifted to the middle of the back, behind Hermione and Potter while Pansy, and Weasel stayed in the back. Draco had fun on the side, most of the time in the back but every once and a while he got caught up to Hermione and Potter so he could give a running jump into a different puddle. They had been walking for a few hours now - technically days as it had been a few of those since Hermione had confronted Draco - trudging through the forest that was still home to melting snow.
Ever since the beginning of this trip, Blaise had let go a bit and freely began to read whenever he wanted. Draco could tell that he was happy and pleased about that. Pansy had also started to let go, buddying up with Hermione and joking around with the other two boys as well. She started smiling a bit more - really smiling.
So, Draco supposed, he was the last to just...have fun and be what he wanted to be.
And right now, he wanted to be the person that jumped into puddles.
I could get used to this , he thought a little giddy, as he ran again and took another flying leap into a different puddle, this time splashing Hermione and Potter. Blaise held up his book to protect his face and moped a bit when it got dirty while Hermione yelped and turned away, shaking while Potter spit out mud that got into his mouth.
"Draco!" he spat a bit and for a split second Draco felt horribly guilty until he noticed Potter smirking at him.
And then Potter promptly ran up and jumped in a puddle, splashing him .
Draco whirled around, spitting out the mud that landed on his face while he heard Potter laughing behind him. Instead of a rush of anger, he just felt happy and found himself laughing along. Pansy shouted, "Payback!" from behind him and he got a brilliant idea.
He leaned down, packing some of the mud into a ball and looked up at Pansy, smirking.
Horror filled her eyes. "No...No...Draco -"
Draco threw the mud ball at her and she shrieked, turning away so it hit her hair. " Draco ! You bloody git! How am I going to get this out of my hair now!?"
"Find a pond?" Weasel suggested, sniggering while Draco let out another shout of laughter.
Pansy threw him a glare.
"Cleansing charm," Blaise proposed, flashing his perfectly clean book and Pansy groaned a bit.
"Those are always so difficult," she huffed and with the lapse of silence as she waved her wand a bit, allowed for Weasel's radio to get slightly louder.
"... Scarlet Sharp, Jacob Erland, Brownywn Trigg, Luna Lovegood, Joe Laurie ..."
"What?" Potter said loudly, spinning on his heels to stare at the radio. Weasel and Hermione both froze too. Draco glanced at the radio and then Potter while the other stepped forward, looking more and more angry. "What did it say?"
"Luna Lovegood," Hermione said quietly, growing a bit pale.
Draco recognized the name - Loony Lovegood. He also recognized it from when his mother talked about her. She was a relative - cousin from his Father's side. He remembered when his mum stopped talking about her when his father said that they don't talk about that side of the family.
"Missing people?" Draco suggested hushedly, trying to figure out what was happening and Pansy nodded. Draco felt his heart sink a bit when he remembered that Potter liked Luna and if Luna was missing...
She was taken , he thought bitterly and then Potter let out a yell and kicked dirt to the side.
"Fucking -" Potter let out a groan of frustration. "Fucking Voldemort! "
Everyone froze.
"Harry..." Weasel whispered weakly.
Potter sent him a confused glare when dawning horror rose. "Oh..."
Draco was confused at first too when he remembered - "The taboo," he blurted.
"That's right handsome,"