Chapter Fifteen ~ Seamus's Stealth
Draco stood leaning against the doorway to the seventh year Gryffindor boys' dorm room with his arms crossed, tapping his foot. He wasn't waiting for anyone and he wasn't in a hurry. He was just hyperactive.
In the few hours that he had been under the influence of too much Revitaliser Tonic, Draco had managed to break a window, scare Ron half to death by conjuring a tarantula and to top it all off he had run naked through the dormitory after his shower.
He was a bit quieter now, the energy was starting to dissolve into a nervous kind of energy. His soft grey eyes followed Harry around the room as the dark-haired seeker supervised Dean, Seamus and Neville's packing.
God, I want him, Draco thought, suppressing a groan. Just then, Harry bent over and all Draco could see was his boyfriend's toned arse wiggling in the air as he searched through his trunk.
"That's it!" Draco said firmly, startling everyone in the room. He pushed away from the doorframe and stood in the centre of the room, assuming a commanding presence. "Everybody out. Come on, move it."
He rolled his eyes as the Gryffindors stared blankly at him. This will get them out, he thought with a smirk. "Dinner time."
Harry watched, bemused, as Draco ushered everyone out of the room.
"Drac, what's going on?" Harry asked curiously.
Draco didn't answer. He just turned hungry eyes towards Harry and advanced on him.
"Oh," Harry said as he realised what Draco intended. "But what about the bet?"
"What bet?" Draco growled, momentarily distracted, then he remembered. "Fuck the bet. Besides you already spilled your guts anyway."
With that said, Draco pounced on Harry. He pressed his lips against Harry's and allowed himself to moan out loud at last. He ground his hips against Harry's and was rewarded with a deep guttural sound from the back of Harry's throat.
Two hours later, Harry lay on the floor, utterly exhausted but with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.
Draco, still full of energy, had gone to raid the kitchen, since they'd obviously missed dinner.
With dinner finished, Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean entered the room, planning to get a couple of hours sleep before leaving for what Seamus called their 'grand fucking adventure'.
"Ahh!" screamed Neville as he spied Harry's naked form lying spreadeagled in front of him.
"My eyes! My eyes!" Ron screamed mock-hysterically before he joined Dean in laughing at Harry.
"Ooh, Harry, you have been keeping your 'talent' under wraps, haven't you," cooed Seamus as Dean whacked him on the arm.
"My god, Harry, have a little dignity," Draco drawled as he surveyed the scene before him, a picnic basket in his left hand.
Harry merely smiled dreamily up at him.
"I'm afraid I may have worn him out," Draco said cheerily as he put down the basket and threw a blanket over Harry, covering his head completely but missing other parts.
"Oops," Draco grinned.
"Is that food?" Ron asked, eyeing the picnic basket.
"You just ate!" Neville said, astonished.
"But there's always room for…" Draco paused dramatically before whipping open the top of the basket. "Whipped cream and strawberries!"
The four boys (Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean) noted the almost manic look in Draco's eyes and backed out of the room as Draco pulled the blanket from Harry's still prone form and proceeded to liberally spray whipped cream over the seeker's body.
"Draco…I don't think I can…" they heard Harry murmur weakly, then "oooh Draco," before they closed the door and ran down to the common room.
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Early the next morning, at one o'clock to be exact, eight Hogwarts students stood in front of the fireplace in the Order of the Phoenix room engaging in a fierce yet hushed argument.
"No! You can't go by yourself," hissed Harry.
"I just have a feeling that I should go first just to check it out. I'm probably being silly and I'll get there and it'll just be mum and dad sitting in front of the fire," Draco hissed back.
"Drac, I just-" Harry started to whisper.
"Harry, I'll just pop in, check it out, sigh with relief and pop back and get you all," Draco explained patiently.
"Sounds reasonable to me," Hermione said, attempting placating both boys.
"How about we both-" Harry started to suggest before he was interrupted.
"No wonder boy, I'm going alone. I'll be back in a few minutes," Draco said firmly.
"But…okay fine. Go. But if you're not back in 5 minutes, I'm coming after you," Harry said firmly.
"Make it ten," Draco said, before shooting Ron a glance that clearly told him to not let Harry follow if Draco didn't return.
Draco threw some Floo powder into the fire and stepped into it before Harry could object.
Harry watched his boyfriend disappear in the flames. He had a feeling too, a bad one. Draco hadn't even kissed him goodbye.
"This isn't good," commented Seamus lightly.
"You think?" Dean said sarcastically.
"Why on earth did I let him go?" moaned Harry as he started pacing.
"Harry. Calm down," said Hermione firmly. "Draco was just being paranoid. You know what he can be like."
"It's kind of sweet, isn't it?" Ginny said softly, so Harry couldn't hear them.
"What?" Neville asked his girlfriend.
"How much they love each other," she explained. Neville smiled at her and kissed her gently.
"He'll be back soon, Harry," Ron said reassuringly, trying desperately to ignore his friend snogging his little sister.
"Yeah, I mean, you haven't seen anything happening to him, so he must be okay, right?" Harry asked anxiously.
"I haven't seen anything," Ron admitted cautiously, "but I can't see everything.
"I'm sorry I'm being such a git," Harry said, smiling at the others.
"It's okay, Harry. I'd be acting the same way if I was worried about Dean," Seamus said sympathetically as he sat down in Dumbledore's chair at the round table.
"So what is this place anyway?" Dean asked as Seamus pulled him into his lap.
"Uh…it's the base of a resistance group fighting against Voldemort," Hermione explained hesitantly. Seamus, Dean, Neville and Ginny had seen the room now so there was little point in lying about the purpose of the room.
"Oh, the Order of the Phoenix," Neville said knowingly.
"How do you know about that?" asked Ron, astonished.
"My parents were members of the group. My gran told me they were fighting You Know Who the last time he was trying to take over the world," Neville said proudly. Ginny squeezed his hand supportively.
Draco appeared in the fireplace as suddenly as he'd disappeared.
"Draco," Harry cried with relief, rushing up to where the blonde stood. "What happened? What took you so long?"
"Nothing happened," Draco replied slowly. "Harry, I'm breaking up with you."
Harry stared at him in shock and then a small hopeful smile appeared on his face. "Very funny, Drac. Can we go now?"
"I'm not joking. I don't want to be with you anymore," Draco insisted.
"What? But…but you love me," Harry said weakly, desperately. This could not be happening.
"No. I don't," Draco replied coldly.
Harry's face crumpled as he stared at Draco in pained disbelief for a moment before running from the room.
Ron watched Harry leave in stunned silence.
"Mione, do you think I should follow him? Or does he want to be alone?" he asked his girlfriend but she was staring at Draco with the same intensity that she usually reserved for anything NEWT related.
"I'm going after him," Ron said decisively and he checked the Hogwarts Map on the wall for a Harry dot and then raced out of the room.
"You guys had better go back to Gryffindor tower," Hermione said to Ginny, Neville, Dean and Seamus. "We're obviously not going anywhere tonight. Oh, Ginny, could you and Neville get the note Harry slipped under Remus and Sirius's door?"
The pair nodded and sped off.
"And what about us, Hermione?" Seamus asked, rubbing his hands together. He was obviously imagining some dangerous secret-agent type task to be done.
"Uh…you two can…oooh get the note I left for Lavender making her Head Girl. Since we're not leaving, I can still be Head Girl. Oh and make sure you get the badge too," She replied with satisfaction. She had not been happy about having to give up that coveted position
Seamus grinned and he and Dean left the room talking about various strategies of how to get in and out of the girls dorm.
"No Seamus. I am not going to drop you into the room like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible! I should never have shown you that movie," Dean said, exasperatedly.
"Oh come on. Haven't you always wanted to have me hanging from the ceiling?" Seamus protested as he closed the door.
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Draco, who was still standing in the same place he'd been standing since he arrived back from Malfoy Manor.
"Draco?" Hermione called uncertainly, waving her hand in front of his face. Draco's eyes had been disturbingly blank the entire time he'd been standing there. There was none of his usual sparkle.
"DRACO!" Hermione shouted, as none of her attempts to get his attention had worked.
"Oh. Hello Hermione," Draco said pleasantly, as if he were noticing her for the first time. He glanced around the room. "Where is everyone? Where's Harry?"
"Where's Harry?" Hermione repeated in disbelief. "Draco, you just broke his heart so I suspect he'd off crying his heart out somewhere."
"Broke his heart?" Draco appeared to be very distressed at this apparently new information, which confused Hermione further.
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Harry was sitting in the lake, rocking gently back and forth, his hands clutched together in front of him. How could Drac do that? They were soul mates. They were meant to be. They were forever.
He felt cold, so very cold, like he'd never be warm again. Of course part of that was the fact that it was almost winter and the water was freezing but the chill somehow made him feel better. In some strange way it was comforting, which was why he had chosen to sit in the lake at almost two in the morning in the middle of November.
Harry felt so lost. They may not have been together long but Draco had quickly become the most important person in Harry's life and now that was over. He would never understand where they went wrong. It was only a matter of hours ago that Draco had been inside him, screaming his name as he came. Could things really have changed that quickly or had Draco been faking it the entire time?
Ron found Harry exactly where his dot on the Hogwarts Map had told him he would be – sitting about one metre from the lake's edge in water about one foot deep. He looked like he was in agony, his grief in plain sight.
Ron sighed and waded into the water. He sat down with a splash, gasping as the cold water hit certain body parts that did not react well to cold water. He glanced at a distraught Harry.
"How…[gulp]…how could he?" Harry asked in a small voice, tears running unnoticed down his cheeks.
"I don't know, mate," Ron replied, not entirely sure how to comfort Harry.
Harry seemed to be in a haze of shock, murmuring incoherent thoughts and questions that only occasionally made sense to Ron.
"It hurts so damn much," Harry said as he hung his head.
Ron patted him on the shoulder supportively. What do people usually say to comfort someone at times like these? Ron wondered. Then he remembered something he heard his mother say to Bill when his girlfriend had dumped him.
"Uh, you know you can do so much better than him," Ron said, hoping Harry wouldn't get mad.
"What?" Harry asked through his tears.
"You deserve better, Harry," Ron said, more firmly now that Harry clearly wasn't going to hit him. "You deserve someone who won't hurt you like this. Someone who loves you so much they would rather die than cause you any pain."
Harry remained silent, whether he was listening or too consumed by his pain to hear him, Ron didn't know.
"Harry, I know he's changed a lot, but can a person really change as much as he supposedly did?" Ron questioned him. Ron wasn't really sure where his thoughts were taking him but these were questions he had felt in the back of his mind but had never voiced before.
Harry sniffed as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. "He did do a 180, didn't he?"
"He sure did. His personality totally changed and now it seems to have changed back which leads me to wonder, which personality is the real one?" Ron said softly, not really liking where this conversation was going.
Harry closed his eyes. "I don't know," he said in a strangled tone.
"And what about his parents, quickly leaving after the Halloween Incident?" Ron said, still perplexed by the Malfoy's behaviour back then.
"That was strange," Harry said, frowning at the memory.
"Harry, I don't like what I'm about to say, but in light of Draco's behaviour just now, added to the fact that he'd just been with his parents, who acted strangely while they were here, well, I think maybe all three of them are in league with You Know Who," Ron said, watching Harry's expression carefully.
Harry smiled ruefully at him, "If they are, they're bloody good actors."
Ron smiled back, "At least you know now, that Draco's a bastard I mean. Although the way he's acted over the years, you'd think you'd have worked that out before now."
"I was so sure that was just an act," Harry mused, his hand trailing through the water thoughtfully.
"We all did," Ron said, staring out over the moonlit lake.
"I just…I mean…we did stuff, you know," Harry said shakily, blushing as he did so. "How could he…make love to me so sweetly…if he didn't really…"
Harry started sniffling again and Ron knew he had to help Harry toughen up or he'd fall apart when he inevitably had to face Draco again.
"Remember all the times Draco teased you about your parents being dead," Ron said, hating himself for bringing it up but it worked, Harry stopped sniffling.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, his tone hardening, "and he constantly called Hermione a Mudblood."
"And he tried to get you expelled," reminded Ron.
"And he tried to get Hagrid fired," said Harry.
"And he never missed a chance to remind me of how much more money he has than me and my family," Ron said, a touch bitterly.
"I can't believe I let him seduce me into believing that he'd changed," Harry said sadly. "He's probably going to start doing all those things again,"
"Well, we'll be ready for it," Ron said fiercely.
"That's right," Harry agreed, matching Ron's fierceness.
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Hermione stared at Draco for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, could he honestly not know what had just taken place? What he himself had done?
"Draco, you just came back from Malfoy Manor and you broke up with Harry. We all heard you do it," she explained, watching him very carefully.
"No…" Draco said shaking his head. He smiled at her condescendingly. "I would never break up with Harry. He's the most important person in the world to me."
"You did, you broke up with him," Hermione insisted.
"No, I didn't," Draco insisted, his eyes flashing angrily at her. "I wouldn't do that. I want to spend the rest of my life with him."
"Draco. Listen to me, you did break up with him. But you were so…I don't know…empty when you did it. You're eyes were blank. Did something happen at Malfoy Manor?"
"No! I just went and…actually I don't remember what happened," Draco said in a small confused voice.
"Nothing at all?" Hermione asked, concerned.
Draco shook his head. He stared vacantly at the wall for a moment before suddenly grabbing Hermione's hand.
"I didn't really…break up with Harry, did I? Please tell me I didn't," Draco pleaded desperately with her.
Hermione stared helplessly back at him, not wanting to hurt him. She was starting to believe that he really had no idea what he had done. How on earth that had happened, she had no idea.
Draco could tell by her expression that he had, although he had no idea why he would have done such a thing. He fell into a crumpled heap on the floor and started sobbing.
"Oh Draco," Hermione said, distressed to see him so upset. She knelt down beside him and wrapped her arm around his shaking shoulders. "Just explain what happened. Harry will understand."
"Understand what? That I didn't know what I was doing? What sort of lame explanation is that? Even I wouldn't accept something like that," he said scathingly as he angrily brushed his tears away.
"Maybe not, but you have to try," she said.
"You're right. I have nothing to lose…not anymore," Draco agreed, drawing himself up.
He marched out of the room with Hermione scurrying after him. He didn't pause to check the Hogwarts Map, he knew where Harry would be.
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Ron stood up awkwardly, his soaking wet robe making it difficult. He held out his hand to Harry and helped his best friend up.
Harry ripped off his heavy robe and threw it onto the bank. Ron did the same and they both started walking up to the shore. They had barely taken two steps when someone started shouting at them.
"Harry, you've got to listen to me,"
It was Draco, with Hermione not far behind him. She gaped at Ron and Harry, standing in the lake but did not say anything.
"Why should I listen to a word you say, Malfoy?" Harry spat at him.
Draco recoiled as if he'd been physically struck as Harry called him by his last name but he ploughed on regardless.
"Harry, I didn't mean to-"
"Fuck off, Malfoy," Harry said coldly, pushing roughly past Draco and heading up to Hogwarts.
Hermione glanced questioningly at Ron, who shrugged, scooped up his and Harry's robes and hurried after Harry.
"He won't listen," Draco said despairingly as he watched the love of his life stalk away from him, anger radiating from every line of his body.
"Give him some time," Hermione suggested softly.
"He called me Malfoy. Malfoy!" Draco continued, anguish evident in his voice.
"Draco, maybe if we could figure out what made you act so strangely earlier, then maybe we could convince Harry that you didn't mean it," Hermione said practically.
"Maybe," Draco said sadly, still staring in the direction Harry had walked in, although Harry had long since entered the castle.
Hermione grabbed his arm and dragged him back up into the castle. They made it to the Gryffindor common room without running into Filch or Mrs Norris but soon discovered that Draco had been locked out of the boys' dorm room. Draco refused to use 'alohomora' to open the door (if Harry didn't want him in there, he wouldn't force his way in) but luckily Hermione knew there was a spare single room available for Draco to use that night.
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Early the next morning, Draco stood under the spray of the shower unable to believe his eyes as he stared down at his left wrist.
How the fuck did that get there?
He grabbed the soap and started scrubbing at his wrist. It wasn't coming off, god damn it. Draco felt tears stinging his eyes as he clawed at his wrist.
I have to get it off!
He chocked back a sob as he realised it was real and it was permanent. Oh god, Harry was never going to forgive him for this.
He leaned back against the wall of the shower and slid down to sit with the water raining down on him. He let the tears fall, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.
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Later that morning at breakfast, most of the Hogwarts student body were confused by the behaviour of many of the Gryffindors…
Draco and Harry were sitting at opposite ends of Gryffindor table and it was obvious from Harry's stony expression and Draco's anguished one that they had broken up.
Ron was sitting next to Harry, both of them fuming over Draco still being a Gryffindor.
The seventh year girls were pointedly ignoring Dean and Seamus. The girls had been mortified to discover the boys in their room at three in the morning.
Dean and Seamus were blissfully ignorant of the entire situation as they laughed and chatted together.
Dumbledore was eyeing the strange behaviour of the Gryffindors with a small frown. Something had obviously happened overnight to cause such a huge rift between the students.
Hermione was sitting next to Draco talking quietly to him, her Head Girl badge gleaming on her robes.
"Perhaps if you concentrated harder, you might be able to remember something," Hermione chastised Draco softly so the first years sitting by them didn't hear.
"I'm trying," Draco said, feeling frustrated by the lack of progress.
"I just don't understand how you could not remember what happened. I mean, people don't just forget fifteen minutes of their life for no reason," Hermione chewed her lip thoughtfully.
"There's something else," Draco said, almost inaudibly. He wasn't sure if he could show her, but she seemed to believe him when no one else would. He casually moved his arms below the table and slid his sleeve up slightly so only she could see his wrist.
"Oh my god!" Hermione exclaimed, clapping her hand across her mouth.
"Shut the fuck up," Draco hissed at her, looking murderous.
"I'm sorry. When did join?" she asked, sliding almost imperceptivity away from him. Almost.
"I didn't join, as you so eloquently put it. I wouldn't have a bloody clue how that appeared there. It wasn't there before I went to the Manor anyway, so it must have happened while I was there," Draco explained, breathing deeply to keep from panicking.
Suddenly Hermione jumped up and grabbed her books.
"I have an idea. I just need to check it out in the library. I'll let you know what happens," she said quickly as she hurried off to the library.
Draco nodded numbly and returned to ignoring his toast.
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After breakfast, the first class of the day was Potions. The Gryffindors trudged down to the dungeon, dreading the class as always.
"Draco!" Hermione said urgently as she grabbed the sleeve of his robe as they walked through the dungeon door. Draco jerked his robe out of her hands and glared at her. She looked apologetic but continued on regardless.
"I think I know-" she started to say.
"We all know that you know everything, Miss Granger. No need to show off. Sit down," Snape said coldly. The class quickly took their seats.
Snape looked positively gleeful which was unsettling. No one could figure out what had made him so cheerful until he started listing off the pairings for that lesson, which, unfortunately, was a double.
"And last but definitely not least, Potter and Malfoy. Hurry up, move to your new desks," Snape instructed them, watching as Harry and Draco reluctantly moved to a desk together. He'd been watching them at breakfast and knew they would not like to be seated together, which made this lesson all the better, for Snape anyway.
After Snape had finished discussing the potion they were making today, Harry started preparing their ingredients in pained silence.
Draco glanced up at Harry's face and was startled to see a familiar expression on his face. It was the same expression Harry had always worn when they were paired together in Potions for their first four years at school. It was an expression of intense loathing.
Oh my god, Draco thought with horror, he hates me.
Harry felt Draco's eyes on him and turned scornful eyes towards his former lover.
"Are you actually going to do any work, Malfoy?" Harry asked contemptuously, "Oh that's right, I forgot. The little rich boy can't do anything for himself."
"You're used to hard labour, so why don't you keep going," Draco drawled icily. He was shocked at how easy it was to slip back into old habits, only now he knew intimate details about Harry's life that he could use as ammunition. Although Harry knew everything about his own life…well, almost everything, he thought, absently rubbing his wrist.
Harry's eyes narrowed angrily but he didn't respond. He turned back to measuring the armadillo bile.
Draco sighed softly. It was truly over between them.
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to be continued
Draco stood leaning against the doorway to the seventh year Gryffindor boys' dorm room with his arms crossed, tapping his foot. He wasn't waiting for anyone and he wasn't in a hurry. He was just hyperactive.
In the few hours that he had been under the influence of too much Revitaliser Tonic, Draco had managed to break a window, scare Ron half to death by conjuring a tarantula and to top it all off he had run naked through the dormitory after his shower.
He was a bit quieter now, the energy was starting to dissolve into a nervous kind of energy. His soft grey eyes followed Harry around the room as the dark-haired seeker supervised Dean, Seamus and Neville's packing.
God, I want him, Draco thought, suppressing a groan. Just then, Harry bent over and all Draco could see was his boyfriend's toned arse wiggling in the air as he searched through his trunk.
"That's it!" Draco said firmly, startling everyone in the room. He pushed away from the doorframe and stood in the centre of the room, assuming a commanding presence. "Everybody out. Come on, move it."
He rolled his eyes as the Gryffindors stared blankly at him. This will get them out, he thought with a smirk. "Dinner time."
Harry watched, bemused, as Draco ushered everyone out of the room.
"Drac, what's going on?" Harry asked curiously.
Draco didn't answer. He just turned hungry eyes towards Harry and advanced on him.
"Oh," Harry said as he realised what Draco intended. "But what about the bet?"
"What bet?" Draco growled, momentarily distracted, then he remembered. "Fuck the bet. Besides you already spilled your guts anyway."
With that said, Draco pounced on Harry. He pressed his lips against Harry's and allowed himself to moan out loud at last. He ground his hips against Harry's and was rewarded with a deep guttural sound from the back of Harry's throat.
Two hours later, Harry lay on the floor, utterly exhausted but with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.
Draco, still full of energy, had gone to raid the kitchen, since they'd obviously missed dinner.
With dinner finished, Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean entered the room, planning to get a couple of hours sleep before leaving for what Seamus called their 'grand fucking adventure'.
"Ahh!" screamed Neville as he spied Harry's naked form lying spreadeagled in front of him.
"My eyes! My eyes!" Ron screamed mock-hysterically before he joined Dean in laughing at Harry.
"Ooh, Harry, you have been keeping your 'talent' under wraps, haven't you," cooed Seamus as Dean whacked him on the arm.
"My god, Harry, have a little dignity," Draco drawled as he surveyed the scene before him, a picnic basket in his left hand.
Harry merely smiled dreamily up at him.
"I'm afraid I may have worn him out," Draco said cheerily as he put down the basket and threw a blanket over Harry, covering his head completely but missing other parts.
"Oops," Draco grinned.
"Is that food?" Ron asked, eyeing the picnic basket.
"You just ate!" Neville said, astonished.
"But there's always room for…" Draco paused dramatically before whipping open the top of the basket. "Whipped cream and strawberries!"
The four boys (Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean) noted the almost manic look in Draco's eyes and backed out of the room as Draco pulled the blanket from Harry's still prone form and proceeded to liberally spray whipped cream over the seeker's body.
"Draco…I don't think I can…" they heard Harry murmur weakly, then "oooh Draco," before they closed the door and ran down to the common room.
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Early the next morning, at one o'clock to be exact, eight Hogwarts students stood in front of the fireplace in the Order of the Phoenix room engaging in a fierce yet hushed argument.
"No! You can't go by yourself," hissed Harry.
"I just have a feeling that I should go first just to check it out. I'm probably being silly and I'll get there and it'll just be mum and dad sitting in front of the fire," Draco hissed back.
"Drac, I just-" Harry started to whisper.
"Harry, I'll just pop in, check it out, sigh with relief and pop back and get you all," Draco explained patiently.
"Sounds reasonable to me," Hermione said, attempting placating both boys.
"How about we both-" Harry started to suggest before he was interrupted.
"No wonder boy, I'm going alone. I'll be back in a few minutes," Draco said firmly.
"But…okay fine. Go. But if you're not back in 5 minutes, I'm coming after you," Harry said firmly.
"Make it ten," Draco said, before shooting Ron a glance that clearly told him to not let Harry follow if Draco didn't return.
Draco threw some Floo powder into the fire and stepped into it before Harry could object.
Harry watched his boyfriend disappear in the flames. He had a feeling too, a bad one. Draco hadn't even kissed him goodbye.
"This isn't good," commented Seamus lightly.
"You think?" Dean said sarcastically.
"Why on earth did I let him go?" moaned Harry as he started pacing.
"Harry. Calm down," said Hermione firmly. "Draco was just being paranoid. You know what he can be like."
"It's kind of sweet, isn't it?" Ginny said softly, so Harry couldn't hear them.
"What?" Neville asked his girlfriend.
"How much they love each other," she explained. Neville smiled at her and kissed her gently.
"He'll be back soon, Harry," Ron said reassuringly, trying desperately to ignore his friend snogging his little sister.
"Yeah, I mean, you haven't seen anything happening to him, so he must be okay, right?" Harry asked anxiously.
"I haven't seen anything," Ron admitted cautiously, "but I can't see everything.
"I'm sorry I'm being such a git," Harry said, smiling at the others.
"It's okay, Harry. I'd be acting the same way if I was worried about Dean," Seamus said sympathetically as he sat down in Dumbledore's chair at the round table.
"So what is this place anyway?" Dean asked as Seamus pulled him into his lap.
"Uh…it's the base of a resistance group fighting against Voldemort," Hermione explained hesitantly. Seamus, Dean, Neville and Ginny had seen the room now so there was little point in lying about the purpose of the room.
"Oh, the Order of the Phoenix," Neville said knowingly.
"How do you know about that?" asked Ron, astonished.
"My parents were members of the group. My gran told me they were fighting You Know Who the last time he was trying to take over the world," Neville said proudly. Ginny squeezed his hand supportively.
Draco appeared in the fireplace as suddenly as he'd disappeared.
"Draco," Harry cried with relief, rushing up to where the blonde stood. "What happened? What took you so long?"
"Nothing happened," Draco replied slowly. "Harry, I'm breaking up with you."
Harry stared at him in shock and then a small hopeful smile appeared on his face. "Very funny, Drac. Can we go now?"
"I'm not joking. I don't want to be with you anymore," Draco insisted.
"What? But…but you love me," Harry said weakly, desperately. This could not be happening.
"No. I don't," Draco replied coldly.
Harry's face crumpled as he stared at Draco in pained disbelief for a moment before running from the room.
Ron watched Harry leave in stunned silence.
"Mione, do you think I should follow him? Or does he want to be alone?" he asked his girlfriend but she was staring at Draco with the same intensity that she usually reserved for anything NEWT related.
"I'm going after him," Ron said decisively and he checked the Hogwarts Map on the wall for a Harry dot and then raced out of the room.
"You guys had better go back to Gryffindor tower," Hermione said to Ginny, Neville, Dean and Seamus. "We're obviously not going anywhere tonight. Oh, Ginny, could you and Neville get the note Harry slipped under Remus and Sirius's door?"
The pair nodded and sped off.
"And what about us, Hermione?" Seamus asked, rubbing his hands together. He was obviously imagining some dangerous secret-agent type task to be done.
"Uh…you two can…oooh get the note I left for Lavender making her Head Girl. Since we're not leaving, I can still be Head Girl. Oh and make sure you get the badge too," She replied with satisfaction. She had not been happy about having to give up that coveted position
Seamus grinned and he and Dean left the room talking about various strategies of how to get in and out of the girls dorm.
"No Seamus. I am not going to drop you into the room like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible! I should never have shown you that movie," Dean said, exasperatedly.
"Oh come on. Haven't you always wanted to have me hanging from the ceiling?" Seamus protested as he closed the door.
Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Draco, who was still standing in the same place he'd been standing since he arrived back from Malfoy Manor.
"Draco?" Hermione called uncertainly, waving her hand in front of his face. Draco's eyes had been disturbingly blank the entire time he'd been standing there. There was none of his usual sparkle.
"DRACO!" Hermione shouted, as none of her attempts to get his attention had worked.
"Oh. Hello Hermione," Draco said pleasantly, as if he were noticing her for the first time. He glanced around the room. "Where is everyone? Where's Harry?"
"Where's Harry?" Hermione repeated in disbelief. "Draco, you just broke his heart so I suspect he'd off crying his heart out somewhere."
"Broke his heart?" Draco appeared to be very distressed at this apparently new information, which confused Hermione further.
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Harry was sitting in the lake, rocking gently back and forth, his hands clutched together in front of him. How could Drac do that? They were soul mates. They were meant to be. They were forever.
He felt cold, so very cold, like he'd never be warm again. Of course part of that was the fact that it was almost winter and the water was freezing but the chill somehow made him feel better. In some strange way it was comforting, which was why he had chosen to sit in the lake at almost two in the morning in the middle of November.
Harry felt so lost. They may not have been together long but Draco had quickly become the most important person in Harry's life and now that was over. He would never understand where they went wrong. It was only a matter of hours ago that Draco had been inside him, screaming his name as he came. Could things really have changed that quickly or had Draco been faking it the entire time?
Ron found Harry exactly where his dot on the Hogwarts Map had told him he would be – sitting about one metre from the lake's edge in water about one foot deep. He looked like he was in agony, his grief in plain sight.
Ron sighed and waded into the water. He sat down with a splash, gasping as the cold water hit certain body parts that did not react well to cold water. He glanced at a distraught Harry.
"How…[gulp]…how could he?" Harry asked in a small voice, tears running unnoticed down his cheeks.
"I don't know, mate," Ron replied, not entirely sure how to comfort Harry.
Harry seemed to be in a haze of shock, murmuring incoherent thoughts and questions that only occasionally made sense to Ron.
"It hurts so damn much," Harry said as he hung his head.
Ron patted him on the shoulder supportively. What do people usually say to comfort someone at times like these? Ron wondered. Then he remembered something he heard his mother say to Bill when his girlfriend had dumped him.
"Uh, you know you can do so much better than him," Ron said, hoping Harry wouldn't get mad.
"What?" Harry asked through his tears.
"You deserve better, Harry," Ron said, more firmly now that Harry clearly wasn't going to hit him. "You deserve someone who won't hurt you like this. Someone who loves you so much they would rather die than cause you any pain."
Harry remained silent, whether he was listening or too consumed by his pain to hear him, Ron didn't know.
"Harry, I know he's changed a lot, but can a person really change as much as he supposedly did?" Ron questioned him. Ron wasn't really sure where his thoughts were taking him but these were questions he had felt in the back of his mind but had never voiced before.
Harry sniffed as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. "He did do a 180, didn't he?"
"He sure did. His personality totally changed and now it seems to have changed back which leads me to wonder, which personality is the real one?" Ron said softly, not really liking where this conversation was going.
Harry closed his eyes. "I don't know," he said in a strangled tone.
"And what about his parents, quickly leaving after the Halloween Incident?" Ron said, still perplexed by the Malfoy's behaviour back then.
"That was strange," Harry said, frowning at the memory.
"Harry, I don't like what I'm about to say, but in light of Draco's behaviour just now, added to the fact that he'd just been with his parents, who acted strangely while they were here, well, I think maybe all three of them are in league with You Know Who," Ron said, watching Harry's expression carefully.
Harry smiled ruefully at him, "If they are, they're bloody good actors."
Ron smiled back, "At least you know now, that Draco's a bastard I mean. Although the way he's acted over the years, you'd think you'd have worked that out before now."
"I was so sure that was just an act," Harry mused, his hand trailing through the water thoughtfully.
"We all did," Ron said, staring out over the moonlit lake.
"I just…I mean…we did stuff, you know," Harry said shakily, blushing as he did so. "How could he…make love to me so sweetly…if he didn't really…"
Harry started sniffling again and Ron knew he had to help Harry toughen up or he'd fall apart when he inevitably had to face Draco again.
"Remember all the times Draco teased you about your parents being dead," Ron said, hating himself for bringing it up but it worked, Harry stopped sniffling.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, his tone hardening, "and he constantly called Hermione a Mudblood."
"And he tried to get you expelled," reminded Ron.
"And he tried to get Hagrid fired," said Harry.
"And he never missed a chance to remind me of how much more money he has than me and my family," Ron said, a touch bitterly.
"I can't believe I let him seduce me into believing that he'd changed," Harry said sadly. "He's probably going to start doing all those things again,"
"Well, we'll be ready for it," Ron said fiercely.
"That's right," Harry agreed, matching Ron's fierceness.
**********************************************************************
Hermione stared at Draco for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, could he honestly not know what had just taken place? What he himself had done?
"Draco, you just came back from Malfoy Manor and you broke up with Harry. We all heard you do it," she explained, watching him very carefully.
"No…" Draco said shaking his head. He smiled at her condescendingly. "I would never break up with Harry. He's the most important person in the world to me."
"You did, you broke up with him," Hermione insisted.
"No, I didn't," Draco insisted, his eyes flashing angrily at her. "I wouldn't do that. I want to spend the rest of my life with him."
"Draco. Listen to me, you did break up with him. But you were so…I don't know…empty when you did it. You're eyes were blank. Did something happen at Malfoy Manor?"
"No! I just went and…actually I don't remember what happened," Draco said in a small confused voice.
"Nothing at all?" Hermione asked, concerned.
Draco shook his head. He stared vacantly at the wall for a moment before suddenly grabbing Hermione's hand.
"I didn't really…break up with Harry, did I? Please tell me I didn't," Draco pleaded desperately with her.
Hermione stared helplessly back at him, not wanting to hurt him. She was starting to believe that he really had no idea what he had done. How on earth that had happened, she had no idea.
Draco could tell by her expression that he had, although he had no idea why he would have done such a thing. He fell into a crumpled heap on the floor and started sobbing.
"Oh Draco," Hermione said, distressed to see him so upset. She knelt down beside him and wrapped her arm around his shaking shoulders. "Just explain what happened. Harry will understand."
"Understand what? That I didn't know what I was doing? What sort of lame explanation is that? Even I wouldn't accept something like that," he said scathingly as he angrily brushed his tears away.
"Maybe not, but you have to try," she said.
"You're right. I have nothing to lose…not anymore," Draco agreed, drawing himself up.
He marched out of the room with Hermione scurrying after him. He didn't pause to check the Hogwarts Map, he knew where Harry would be.
**********************************************************************
Ron stood up awkwardly, his soaking wet robe making it difficult. He held out his hand to Harry and helped his best friend up.
Harry ripped off his heavy robe and threw it onto the bank. Ron did the same and they both started walking up to the shore. They had barely taken two steps when someone started shouting at them.
"Harry, you've got to listen to me,"
It was Draco, with Hermione not far behind him. She gaped at Ron and Harry, standing in the lake but did not say anything.
"Why should I listen to a word you say, Malfoy?" Harry spat at him.
Draco recoiled as if he'd been physically struck as Harry called him by his last name but he ploughed on regardless.
"Harry, I didn't mean to-"
"Fuck off, Malfoy," Harry said coldly, pushing roughly past Draco and heading up to Hogwarts.
Hermione glanced questioningly at Ron, who shrugged, scooped up his and Harry's robes and hurried after Harry.
"He won't listen," Draco said despairingly as he watched the love of his life stalk away from him, anger radiating from every line of his body.
"Give him some time," Hermione suggested softly.
"He called me Malfoy. Malfoy!" Draco continued, anguish evident in his voice.
"Draco, maybe if we could figure out what made you act so strangely earlier, then maybe we could convince Harry that you didn't mean it," Hermione said practically.
"Maybe," Draco said sadly, still staring in the direction Harry had walked in, although Harry had long since entered the castle.
Hermione grabbed his arm and dragged him back up into the castle. They made it to the Gryffindor common room without running into Filch or Mrs Norris but soon discovered that Draco had been locked out of the boys' dorm room. Draco refused to use 'alohomora' to open the door (if Harry didn't want him in there, he wouldn't force his way in) but luckily Hermione knew there was a spare single room available for Draco to use that night.
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Early the next morning, Draco stood under the spray of the shower unable to believe his eyes as he stared down at his left wrist.
How the fuck did that get there?
He grabbed the soap and started scrubbing at his wrist. It wasn't coming off, god damn it. Draco felt tears stinging his eyes as he clawed at his wrist.
I have to get it off!
He chocked back a sob as he realised it was real and it was permanent. Oh god, Harry was never going to forgive him for this.
He leaned back against the wall of the shower and slid down to sit with the water raining down on him. He let the tears fall, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.
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Later that morning at breakfast, most of the Hogwarts student body were confused by the behaviour of many of the Gryffindors…
Draco and Harry were sitting at opposite ends of Gryffindor table and it was obvious from Harry's stony expression and Draco's anguished one that they had broken up.
Ron was sitting next to Harry, both of them fuming over Draco still being a Gryffindor.
The seventh year girls were pointedly ignoring Dean and Seamus. The girls had been mortified to discover the boys in their room at three in the morning.
Dean and Seamus were blissfully ignorant of the entire situation as they laughed and chatted together.
Dumbledore was eyeing the strange behaviour of the Gryffindors with a small frown. Something had obviously happened overnight to cause such a huge rift between the students.
Hermione was sitting next to Draco talking quietly to him, her Head Girl badge gleaming on her robes.
"Perhaps if you concentrated harder, you might be able to remember something," Hermione chastised Draco softly so the first years sitting by them didn't hear.
"I'm trying," Draco said, feeling frustrated by the lack of progress.
"I just don't understand how you could not remember what happened. I mean, people don't just forget fifteen minutes of their life for no reason," Hermione chewed her lip thoughtfully.
"There's something else," Draco said, almost inaudibly. He wasn't sure if he could show her, but she seemed to believe him when no one else would. He casually moved his arms below the table and slid his sleeve up slightly so only she could see his wrist.
"Oh my god!" Hermione exclaimed, clapping her hand across her mouth.
"Shut the fuck up," Draco hissed at her, looking murderous.
"I'm sorry. When did join?" she asked, sliding almost imperceptivity away from him. Almost.
"I didn't join, as you so eloquently put it. I wouldn't have a bloody clue how that appeared there. It wasn't there before I went to the Manor anyway, so it must have happened while I was there," Draco explained, breathing deeply to keep from panicking.
Suddenly Hermione jumped up and grabbed her books.
"I have an idea. I just need to check it out in the library. I'll let you know what happens," she said quickly as she hurried off to the library.
Draco nodded numbly and returned to ignoring his toast.
**********************************************************************
After breakfast, the first class of the day was Potions. The Gryffindors trudged down to the dungeon, dreading the class as always.
"Draco!" Hermione said urgently as she grabbed the sleeve of his robe as they walked through the dungeon door. Draco jerked his robe out of her hands and glared at her. She looked apologetic but continued on regardless.
"I think I know-" she started to say.
"We all know that you know everything, Miss Granger. No need to show off. Sit down," Snape said coldly. The class quickly took their seats.
Snape looked positively gleeful which was unsettling. No one could figure out what had made him so cheerful until he started listing off the pairings for that lesson, which, unfortunately, was a double.
"And last but definitely not least, Potter and Malfoy. Hurry up, move to your new desks," Snape instructed them, watching as Harry and Draco reluctantly moved to a desk together. He'd been watching them at breakfast and knew they would not like to be seated together, which made this lesson all the better, for Snape anyway.
After Snape had finished discussing the potion they were making today, Harry started preparing their ingredients in pained silence.
Draco glanced up at Harry's face and was startled to see a familiar expression on his face. It was the same expression Harry had always worn when they were paired together in Potions for their first four years at school. It was an expression of intense loathing.
Oh my god, Draco thought with horror, he hates me.
Harry felt Draco's eyes on him and turned scornful eyes towards his former lover.
"Are you actually going to do any work, Malfoy?" Harry asked contemptuously, "Oh that's right, I forgot. The little rich boy can't do anything for himself."
"You're used to hard labour, so why don't you keep going," Draco drawled icily. He was shocked at how easy it was to slip back into old habits, only now he knew intimate details about Harry's life that he could use as ammunition. Although Harry knew everything about his own life…well, almost everything, he thought, absently rubbing his wrist.
Harry's eyes narrowed angrily but he didn't respond. He turned back to measuring the armadillo bile.
Draco sighed softly. It was truly over between them.
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to be continued