Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews, although I will say again that I
swear I'm not evil.
Disclaimer: See part one.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Tell me why I put up with him?" growled Claw from my left.
"Yeah," Gary muttered from my right. "Why do we put up with him?"
"Uh, because if you get into another fight with him - either of you - you'll end up out cold?" Rubber offered from across the table.
"So why do we put up with him?" Claw repeated. I sighed. They'd been having this argument on and off for three whole days, and I for one was getting sick of it. Eddie gave me a sympathetic smile from across the table - he hadn't been around for a lot of it, since he'd only been released from isolation this morning...because of a fight with the object of the argument.
Blaise Zabini. Who else? At the moment he was busy flirting with one of the men on his table. I wouldn't have minded that so much if it wasn't for two things: first, this was a prison not a bar, and second...second, it was making Harry look angry as hell. His eyes were smouldering, but he didn't look away from his plate, doggedly eating the potatoes that everyone else had given up on because they were hard as rocks.
Not that I wanted Harry and Zabini to be on speaking terms. But I hated seeing Harry this angry and upset - so did all of us.
And this had been going on for three days.
Thus, the arguments.
I was getting a headache, and I knew I wasn't the only one.
The argument, when I listened again, had moved on from 'why do we put up with him' to 'why the hell aren't we doing anything about him'.
"Because there's not a thing you can do," I chimed in crisply. Claw, Gary and Rubber looked at me in surprise - I hadn't spoken up in this argument before.at least, not for a day or so. "Leave it, why don't you."
"Fantastic idea," Harry spoke up, finally finished. "Quit, it, all three of you. It's not helping the situation." He looked around at us all, and sighed. "Look, I'll talk to Zabini about it later, okay? Let him know it's annoying everyone."
Sure. Like that would really help. It was obvious - to me, at least - why Zabini was doing what he was doing. It was because he wanted attention, from Harry in particular. In some respects Blaise hadn't changed in ten years.
Or maybe I was wrong. But Harry rose, and the moment he reached the door Zabini was out of his seat and following him.
Perhaps it was just because I knew now, but he seemed to be less discreet than he had been before.
On second thoughts, I decided that it wasn't just because I knew now. Something was wrong with those two, and I didn't know what. Aside from the whole 'screwing each other into the wall' thing. I mean, if that wasn't wrong what was?
But there was something else going on.
"Draco, are you coming or not?" Rubber asked me, a little impatiently. I glanced up to find that the others had gone; Rubber and I were the only ones left at the table. Huh. I wondered how that had happened.
"Yeah, I'm coming," I said vaguely. "Sorry..."
Rubber frowned at me. He took the plate from my hands and took it across the room, dumping it in the bowl. Then he returned, lifted me from my seat by my shoulders, and propelled me out of the dining room. He didn't take me to my cell, but to his.
Rubber's cell was number ninety-six, next to Gary's cell, on the ground level of row A, on Godric Alley. They were almost opposite Claw's cell, but not quite. I had only ever been into Rubber's cell once, and it was one of the barest cells there were in the prison - almost as bare as mine, in fact. He had a single photo on the wall over his bed of what I assumed was his family, and that was it.
"Okay, what's wrong with you?" he demanded once he'd pressed me into a chair. I blinked in confusion. There was something wrong with me?
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told him simply. "Why would you think there's something wrong with me?"
"Because for the past couple of days you've been in a world of your own," he told me, with a gentler tone in his voice than I had heard from anyone in this prison. "Ever since...ever since..."
As it looked as though he wasn't about to finish his sentence, I did it for him.
'Ever since I walked in on Harry and Zabini?"
Without showing the smallest hint of embarrassment, Rubber nodded. "Why are you so upset about that, Draco?" he wanted to know. "I mean, we all know it's less than ideal, what's going on with them, but you...you're taking it worse than the rest of us did when we found out. Is it because you were at school with them both?"
Oh. I suppose that might be why I was furious at the whole situation. I mean, at Hogwarts it had been Blaise and I - and Crabbe and Goyle, but they'd hardly counted - against Harry, Ron and Granger. Maybe I was still subconsciously prejudiced against Harry and Zabini being coupled together in any sense.
That sounded like something that Granger would have said - not that I really knew her at all. But it wasn't true. I didn't really want to admit it, but I knew it wasn't true, and more importantly I know *why* it wasn't true.
Not that I was going to admit that to myself, let alone anyone else.
"Draco!" I blinked, and looked obediently at Rubber. "Draco, you did it again. What is going on?"
"Damned if I know," I groaned, and buried my face in my hands.
Footsteps. I hoped against hope that it wasn't Claw, Zabini or Harry - any of those or a combination would probably prove near-fatal to me at the moment.
I wonder if I was at all given to melodrama. It was quite possible, I mused, considering the sort of thoughts I'd been having over the past few weeks.
"I'll see you later," I heard Rubber say, and then he left. I risked a glance, lifting my head from my hands to be met with clear green eyes, the eyes that had haunted my every moment - waking and sleeping - ever since I'd first seen him in that shop on Diagon Alley, in the summer before our first year at Hogwarts.
"Do you think I'm given to melodrama?" I asked him suddenly. He stared. "Right. Sorry."
"Why do you ask?" he wanted to know, clearly a little amused. "Not that I think you aren't," he hastened to add, with a small smile this time. I didn't smile back. "Draco, is...are Zabini and I bothering you?" he ventured.
Wow. Such a Sherlock. I wonder how he'd ever made it as part of the resistance with *those* kind of realisation capabilities.
Great. Now I wasn't even making sense to myself.
"No," I said curtly. "Not at all. Why does everyone think that something's wrong with me?"
"Because something bloody well is!" Harry snapped. I froze; he hardly ever swore. "Dammit, Draco, talk to us!"
"Why should I?" I said, a little spitefully. "Why should I talk to any of you?" I shook my head. "Harry, you know - or you ought to know - what's wrong with me. It's all your fault, as per bloody usual."
"And now you're acting like a child," Harry retorted. "What did I do, Draco?"
"What didn't you?"
The question hung in the air between us as we each held our breath, scared of what was being said and what wasn't. I shouldn't have asked that, and I knew it, and he knew it.
But it didn't matter. I exhaled, exasperated, and stood up. I made to push past him, but he grabbed me, and held me in front of him.
"Don't bear a grudge, Draco," he told me evenly, his eyes glinting. "Not in here."
"Don't fuck Blaise Zabini," I snapped. "He leaves everyone."
Sudden comprehension dawned in his eyes, and I broke away. With one last look at him, I left Rubber's cell and sought safety with Eddie and Gary, who were animatedly playing poker.
I didn't see Harry again until the next day; when I did, it was not pleasant.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To be continued.
Replies to reviews:
T.K. Yuy - thanks - as to why Harry doesn't see it...well, I have to keep a little of 'old' Harry in there, don't I? You'll see what I mean, eventually.
Blanche - Thanks!
Hana-chan - Well, you now know what Draco saw! Don't assume about Harry and Blaise, it'll just disappoint you in the end!
gryffcat - thanks! And I update at least every day, although at the moment it's more like twice a day, since I'm on summer holiday.
Hippy Flower(Voldie's kid - Thanks! And the bribe would work better if it was a chocolate muffin...
Piri Lupin-Snape - I am so not evil! Well, not much...And Draco may still want to snog Harry, and he may not. You'll have to wait and see. As to your questions: You'll find out about why Harry stays there and half-Eye's info soon, and also Sirius, Remus and Severus. Very soon. I promise *evil cackle*.
The Millennium One - thanks for your honesty, but short chapters aren't necessarily bad. It was meant to be an abstract chapter, since Draco was reeling from what he'd seen.
_-_:-|## - thanks - and they *are* on more of an even ground than before, although it's still a little rocky.
Squeeqee - You're not the only person to say Chained is like a drug! I can't seem to disagree...
iluvbadboys1313 - this fast enough for you?
anne phoenix - me, a tease? Never!
Disclaimer: See part one.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Tell me why I put up with him?" growled Claw from my left.
"Yeah," Gary muttered from my right. "Why do we put up with him?"
"Uh, because if you get into another fight with him - either of you - you'll end up out cold?" Rubber offered from across the table.
"So why do we put up with him?" Claw repeated. I sighed. They'd been having this argument on and off for three whole days, and I for one was getting sick of it. Eddie gave me a sympathetic smile from across the table - he hadn't been around for a lot of it, since he'd only been released from isolation this morning...because of a fight with the object of the argument.
Blaise Zabini. Who else? At the moment he was busy flirting with one of the men on his table. I wouldn't have minded that so much if it wasn't for two things: first, this was a prison not a bar, and second...second, it was making Harry look angry as hell. His eyes were smouldering, but he didn't look away from his plate, doggedly eating the potatoes that everyone else had given up on because they were hard as rocks.
Not that I wanted Harry and Zabini to be on speaking terms. But I hated seeing Harry this angry and upset - so did all of us.
And this had been going on for three days.
Thus, the arguments.
I was getting a headache, and I knew I wasn't the only one.
The argument, when I listened again, had moved on from 'why do we put up with him' to 'why the hell aren't we doing anything about him'.
"Because there's not a thing you can do," I chimed in crisply. Claw, Gary and Rubber looked at me in surprise - I hadn't spoken up in this argument before.at least, not for a day or so. "Leave it, why don't you."
"Fantastic idea," Harry spoke up, finally finished. "Quit, it, all three of you. It's not helping the situation." He looked around at us all, and sighed. "Look, I'll talk to Zabini about it later, okay? Let him know it's annoying everyone."
Sure. Like that would really help. It was obvious - to me, at least - why Zabini was doing what he was doing. It was because he wanted attention, from Harry in particular. In some respects Blaise hadn't changed in ten years.
Or maybe I was wrong. But Harry rose, and the moment he reached the door Zabini was out of his seat and following him.
Perhaps it was just because I knew now, but he seemed to be less discreet than he had been before.
On second thoughts, I decided that it wasn't just because I knew now. Something was wrong with those two, and I didn't know what. Aside from the whole 'screwing each other into the wall' thing. I mean, if that wasn't wrong what was?
But there was something else going on.
"Draco, are you coming or not?" Rubber asked me, a little impatiently. I glanced up to find that the others had gone; Rubber and I were the only ones left at the table. Huh. I wondered how that had happened.
"Yeah, I'm coming," I said vaguely. "Sorry..."
Rubber frowned at me. He took the plate from my hands and took it across the room, dumping it in the bowl. Then he returned, lifted me from my seat by my shoulders, and propelled me out of the dining room. He didn't take me to my cell, but to his.
Rubber's cell was number ninety-six, next to Gary's cell, on the ground level of row A, on Godric Alley. They were almost opposite Claw's cell, but not quite. I had only ever been into Rubber's cell once, and it was one of the barest cells there were in the prison - almost as bare as mine, in fact. He had a single photo on the wall over his bed of what I assumed was his family, and that was it.
"Okay, what's wrong with you?" he demanded once he'd pressed me into a chair. I blinked in confusion. There was something wrong with me?
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told him simply. "Why would you think there's something wrong with me?"
"Because for the past couple of days you've been in a world of your own," he told me, with a gentler tone in his voice than I had heard from anyone in this prison. "Ever since...ever since..."
As it looked as though he wasn't about to finish his sentence, I did it for him.
'Ever since I walked in on Harry and Zabini?"
Without showing the smallest hint of embarrassment, Rubber nodded. "Why are you so upset about that, Draco?" he wanted to know. "I mean, we all know it's less than ideal, what's going on with them, but you...you're taking it worse than the rest of us did when we found out. Is it because you were at school with them both?"
Oh. I suppose that might be why I was furious at the whole situation. I mean, at Hogwarts it had been Blaise and I - and Crabbe and Goyle, but they'd hardly counted - against Harry, Ron and Granger. Maybe I was still subconsciously prejudiced against Harry and Zabini being coupled together in any sense.
That sounded like something that Granger would have said - not that I really knew her at all. But it wasn't true. I didn't really want to admit it, but I knew it wasn't true, and more importantly I know *why* it wasn't true.
Not that I was going to admit that to myself, let alone anyone else.
"Draco!" I blinked, and looked obediently at Rubber. "Draco, you did it again. What is going on?"
"Damned if I know," I groaned, and buried my face in my hands.
Footsteps. I hoped against hope that it wasn't Claw, Zabini or Harry - any of those or a combination would probably prove near-fatal to me at the moment.
I wonder if I was at all given to melodrama. It was quite possible, I mused, considering the sort of thoughts I'd been having over the past few weeks.
"I'll see you later," I heard Rubber say, and then he left. I risked a glance, lifting my head from my hands to be met with clear green eyes, the eyes that had haunted my every moment - waking and sleeping - ever since I'd first seen him in that shop on Diagon Alley, in the summer before our first year at Hogwarts.
"Do you think I'm given to melodrama?" I asked him suddenly. He stared. "Right. Sorry."
"Why do you ask?" he wanted to know, clearly a little amused. "Not that I think you aren't," he hastened to add, with a small smile this time. I didn't smile back. "Draco, is...are Zabini and I bothering you?" he ventured.
Wow. Such a Sherlock. I wonder how he'd ever made it as part of the resistance with *those* kind of realisation capabilities.
Great. Now I wasn't even making sense to myself.
"No," I said curtly. "Not at all. Why does everyone think that something's wrong with me?"
"Because something bloody well is!" Harry snapped. I froze; he hardly ever swore. "Dammit, Draco, talk to us!"
"Why should I?" I said, a little spitefully. "Why should I talk to any of you?" I shook my head. "Harry, you know - or you ought to know - what's wrong with me. It's all your fault, as per bloody usual."
"And now you're acting like a child," Harry retorted. "What did I do, Draco?"
"What didn't you?"
The question hung in the air between us as we each held our breath, scared of what was being said and what wasn't. I shouldn't have asked that, and I knew it, and he knew it.
But it didn't matter. I exhaled, exasperated, and stood up. I made to push past him, but he grabbed me, and held me in front of him.
"Don't bear a grudge, Draco," he told me evenly, his eyes glinting. "Not in here."
"Don't fuck Blaise Zabini," I snapped. "He leaves everyone."
Sudden comprehension dawned in his eyes, and I broke away. With one last look at him, I left Rubber's cell and sought safety with Eddie and Gary, who were animatedly playing poker.
I didn't see Harry again until the next day; when I did, it was not pleasant.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To be continued.
Replies to reviews:
T.K. Yuy - thanks - as to why Harry doesn't see it...well, I have to keep a little of 'old' Harry in there, don't I? You'll see what I mean, eventually.
Blanche - Thanks!
Hana-chan - Well, you now know what Draco saw! Don't assume about Harry and Blaise, it'll just disappoint you in the end!
gryffcat - thanks! And I update at least every day, although at the moment it's more like twice a day, since I'm on summer holiday.
Hippy Flower(Voldie's kid - Thanks! And the bribe would work better if it was a chocolate muffin...
Piri Lupin-Snape - I am so not evil! Well, not much...And Draco may still want to snog Harry, and he may not. You'll have to wait and see. As to your questions: You'll find out about why Harry stays there and half-Eye's info soon, and also Sirius, Remus and Severus. Very soon. I promise *evil cackle*.
The Millennium One - thanks for your honesty, but short chapters aren't necessarily bad. It was meant to be an abstract chapter, since Draco was reeling from what he'd seen.
_-_:-|## - thanks - and they *are* on more of an even ground than before, although it's still a little rocky.
Squeeqee - You're not the only person to say Chained is like a drug! I can't seem to disagree...
iluvbadboys1313 - this fast enough for you?
anne phoenix - me, a tease? Never!