Okay, I just had a four day weekend because it's ENTRANCE EXAM TIME for all
those little elementary kids wanting to get into middle school and all
those middle school Yuuki Miakas trying their little hearts out to get into
high school.
So, for those who haven't read my bio, know that I don't have a little piece of paper that says I own Harry Potter. If you sue me, understand that you will most definitely be paid in yen.
Now for a little talk about me and the way this chapter is going to go. There's no getting around the fact that I have depression, and so this story is kinda a little pet for me to explore my feelings on the subject. This chapter in particular is going to get a little angsty on Harry's part. Not overly, for though I believe JK-sama will write more of her experience with depression into the series, I also believe that Harry himself, while in part a tragic figure, is a pretty brave kid, although he does tend to bottle up emotions. Ah, well, we'll see what happens in the OOTP. As for now, just remember that Harry's not going to be the happiest in this chapter.
"BOY!!!!!!!!!"
Harry's eyes scrunched tighter, and he wrapped the pillow around his head to stop the earsplitting shriek from resounding in his head. The shrieking was soon accompanied by banging on the door and the sound of locks being undone. Harry lifted his eyelids, blinking in the dawn light, just as his door was slammed open, and Aunt Petunia entered, her hair still in rollers.
"Boy!! Where's the fruit basket!!? How dare you sneak out with your dirty tricks and steal food meant for hard-working people!!"
Harry tried to understand what she was saying. He hadn't stolen any fruit basket, now, did he? Malfoy had done that...that's right, last night, they'd gone out on their brooms and got caught by Mrs. Figg and...
The fruit basket!! They must have left it in the forest at that stream!!
Harry groaned and brought his hands up to his face. *Damn damn damn!!*
Aunt Petunia misinterpreted his reaction as actual guilt.
"That's right, you dirty little liar! I should lock you in here for another day, but," she flushed slightly as she remembered what Draco had said yesterday morning at breakfast, "the work that *I've* been forced to do in *your* place is really quite below me."
She drew a sharp breath in through her nose, glaring at her nephew, and said, "Get dressed and get downstairs. Your Uncle has to go to work today, and Dudley's friends are coming to meet Draco. Don't you *dare* embarrass us or do anything....unnatural, do you understand?"
She turned on her heel and swept out the door with the regality of a queen dealing with a contemptible urchin. Harry relaxed back into the bed, before slithering on to the floor and rummaging for clothes out of his wardrobe, while throwing all his robes and homework back into the trunk, lest Dudley's friends find them suspicious. Hedwig's cage was empty, disappointing Harry, though it was probably for the best.
His clothes hung pathetically off him, and as he looked in his reflection, he began to dread what Dudley's friends would say about his appearance when they arrived, and the fact that they'd say those things in front of *Malfoy*, of all people. And how was Malfoy going to act when the number of Muggles in the house increased? And it wasn't helping to calm Harry's nerve that these Muggles were all coming just so they could *meet* Malfoy.
*Oh, God, Malfoy is gonna hex them, he's so gonna hex them, and then we'll both be in trouble with the Ministry and Dumbledore and Voldemort...*
Grimacing, he walked out of his door and straight into a tousle-haired, bleary-eyed Draco on his way to the bathroom. Harry tripped up slightly, but Malfoy, whose hair was sticking up in the back, wasn't affected, aside from the fact that he looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion. He merely glared intensely at Harry and said, "Watch it, Potty. Thanks to you and your bloody banshee aunt...."
A stricken expression crossed Harry's face. "We forgot the fruit basket!! She thought I nicked it!! So don't blame me!!"
Draco's reply was accompanied with a dry chuckle. "I see. Well, she *is* a Muggle, Harry."
Still chuckling to himself, he walked past Harry and into the bathroom.
The raven-haired boy didn't move, didn't even hear the lock click. He would have heard it if his mouth hadn't been working like a fish's and his mind going faster than his Firebolt in a nose-dive.
Malfoy had called him by his first name.
**
Harry stood at the stove, frying vegetables to use as toppings for that morning's toast, butter having gone out of fashion for the Dursleys' themselves. Aunt Petunia was actually lathering the creamy yellow substance on a stack of toast reserved for her Drakie-darling, with a simpering smile that was just sickening. Lifting his head from his cooking, he glanced surreptitiously at her.
*"She's a Muggle, Harry."*
It wouldn't leave him alone. It pestered him like an overactive mosquito, buzzing in his mind, taunting, tormenting. It wasn't only the fact that Malfoy...or Draco? Must Harry call him Draco now?...........had called him by his first name, but it was the way he said it, the way it just rolled off his tongue like it was meant to be.
Harry allowed himself a small smile. If Draco hadn't come off as such a spoiled snobbish Pureblood brat four years ago, it would have been normal for the two of them to be...to be friends. They would have called each other by their first names all along.
But they couldn't be friends then, and what made either of them think that they were friends now? Even last night, all they'd done was fight for the position of supremacy, just the same as they had done for four long years of cruel words and violent Quidditch matches. How could he just forget all that they had shared together, just put it behind him?
No, it had just been *Malfoy's* slip. The both of them were letting out the steam; after all, being trapped together with Muggles who would kick them out the minute they let something slip about their true heritage wasn't quite the atmosphere for their normal bantering and slanging. Of course, they'd pretend to act as support for one another behind the Dursleys' backs, but nothing would have changed between them once they returned to Hogwarts. It wasn't worth the effort to become Malfoy's *friend* just to be snubbed back at school.
**
Harry didn't notice Draco enter the kitchen, but Aunt Petunia most certainly did.
"Awww, Sweetie-pie, what are you doing up so so early? You should be getting some nice sleep right now!" she called in a coquettish voice, all thoughts of Drakie-darling's toast abandoned. Draco himself looked rather alarmed by the woman's severe maternal attitude,?and backed toward the door, but possessed enough courage in the face of glittering teeth and perfectly curled hair and a neck that looked as if it could extend to stutter out, "It's..it's o-okay, I, um, just want some...some food, uh, Aunt..Aunt Pe-Petunia"
Harry whispered quietly, "Really eloquent, this one, isn't he?"
Draco glanced at him scornfully. *Trust Potter to throw that back in my face.* Remembering that Harry was supposed to have been gone on errands yesterday, he decided it was now or never for payback. Well, Aunt Petunia was watching, sooo...
"Finally back, are you?" He sneered at Harry. "I was beginning to think you'd run off, ungrateful wretch. After all that your relatives do for you, you can't even extend them the courtesy of being fast about your tasks? They keep you on when no one else would want you, and you still leave them to lift more fingers than their birthright gives them need to! My family wouldn't have you on for a servant if it meant our fortune."
Petunia sighed graciously at the end of Draco's speech, longing to throw her arms around him or clap or sing...he was such an extraordinary boy!! She wished Vernon and Dudley could have heard that!
Draco was also slightly impressed with himself, until he realized that Potter was showing no physical reaction, like reddening or glowering, nor did his eyes become overly bright or did his bottom lip tremble. He continued to gently move the vegetables around the frying pan with the wooden paddle as if he hadn't heard a word that had been said.
**
But Harry had heard.
*No one else would want you.*
*Ungrateful wretch.*
*Birthright.*
*My family wouldn't have you...if it meant our fortune.*
No, Malfoy most certainly hadn't changed. *And here I was actually entertaining the idea of our friendship.*
Depressed, though he was not entirely familiar yet with the name of his most recent ailment, Harry applied himself to his vegetables, utterly ignoring the world around him, and would not look anywhere but at the frying pan. The vegetables gave off a sweet smell, reminding him slightly of the fire from Professor Trelawney's room, and the heat from the stove burned at his eyes. The steam - or was it smoke?-tore his throat, making him need to cough.
But the youth resisted, not wanting to show weakness in front of his enemy.
*"I'll teach you about aura tonight.*
An ill-aimed swipe with the paddle sliced a pepper in half cleanly.
**
He didn't know what he did.
Why? Why was Potter ignoring him? He could have *sworn* he hadn't said anything out of character!! Potter *never* brushed Draco's comments off, unless of course the Mudblood was whispering, "Ignore him, ignore him" in his ear.
*Was he simply longing for his wand, in order to curse me? Was it that bad? Or maybe....is he just tired?*
Thoroughly bewildered, Draco sat down at the kitchen table. He hardly registered the fact that Horse-face had put a huge stack of toast in front of him and was now providing him with about five varieties of jelly. Absentmindedly, the blonde chose a piece from the tottering pile as Aunt Petunia sat herself across from him, gazing rapturously at her little doll. Draco stared back at her, though lost in thought, until Aunt Petunia herself realized that she'd been staring. She broke the silence, marred only by the crunching of the toast in Draco's mouth, without much preamble.
"Oh, honey, you won't mind, will you? Dudley's friends want to meet you!! They are all coming today, Piers and Lucas and...oh, my, sweetie, are you okay??!!"
Draco had choked and promptly spit out the offending piece of toast at her pronouncement. "WHAT??!!"
"Oh, don't worry, Draco-honey, they won't be here for a few hours, so you've got plenty of time to get ready! I know you want to be looking your best, so don't fret!!" she continued, smiling warmly.
Draco let out the tiniest squeak. And then it happened.
Harry burst out laughing.
Aunt Petunia rounded on him with speed unsurpassed in the Muggle world.
"Boy, how dare you! Even if *you*, you with your awful hair and freak disposition, if you can't see the importance of trying to impress someone, then let those who know how to live properly as true human beings do so without your rude interruptions! Just like your mother! I have half a mind to lock-"
"Please stop."
Harry looked up in surprise from his doubled-up position by the stove. Malfoy wasn't glaring at anyone, but rather simply staring down his nose at his toast. The Gryffindor's eyes narrowed. *So Malfoy is gonna play the hero now, is he?*
Malfoy looked up and caught Harry's expression. He smirked smugly and lifted a delicate eyebrow at Harry before turning to Aunt Petunia and saying, "Don't waste your energy. You'll have a number of teenage boys running around the house today, and you'll need your strength to keep us all in check. If he wants to waste his time laughing when he's still got breakfast to prepare, well, you shouldn't lower yourself to his level...so, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get ready. Thank you for an early breakfast, as I really didn't mean to inconvenience you."
Draco walked out of the kitchen doorway calmy, disappearing from view like a shadow when the cloud moves from in front of the sun.
**
Harry stared after him, nearly as confused as Draco had been earlier. Malfoy had just....helped him, although it had been dimly disguised as insult. Well, he hadn't *helped* him, truth be told, but he had stopped Aunt Petunia from stumbling into enemy territory, for one never insulted Harry's parents to his face without provoking violent reactions that didn't require a wand.
Aunt Petunia stood still, watching as Draco left, but did not return to scolding her nephew. She simply sniffed angrily and set about throwing out at least four pieces of uneaten toast, before snapping at Harry to set the table for three.
**
Safely hiding within his cell, this....this cell of a room that Severus had sent him to, Draco contemplated all that had passed since he'd entered the kitchen that morning. Harry had been acting so oddly, and disturbing even. The lack of reaction when Draco had teasingly (as he thought of it) insulted Potter, except for maybe that deadened look in his eyes...It was so frustrating!!
Draco had actually felt relieved when the other boy had burst out laughing at Draco's plight, having to deal with more Muggle contact in three days than he'd experienced in fifteen years, the ones in helicopters notwithstanding. The Slytherin frowned at no one in particular. Seeing Potter laugh at him again made things seem like normal between them.
Last night had been...interesting, to say the least. The young Malfoy had seriously considered their escapade to have been one of fun, not making fun of. Spirit, not spite. He and Potter had never shared that before, and though Draco had enjoyed his little evening of fun, on reflection, he wondered if it had changed things between the two rivals.
It hadn't. Had it?
Draco couldn't divine the answer, but something was telling him that he wasn't going to like it when he found it.
**
Harry had spent at least an hour and a half after breakfast straightening the house for its impending guests, everything from dusting off the already impeccable TV and game control system (impeccable from overuse - it rarely ever sat still long enough to become dusty), to making Dudley's bed for him and rearranging Dudley's computer game collection.
By 9:00AM, he was waiting by the door, ready to open it and take people's coats. Harry didn't like being in so open a place where it was painfully obvious that he would be noticed, causing a number of stinging words and possibly some punches from Dudley's posse-boys. Dudley himself was sitting watching TV, as usual, bored and basically pretending to be not at all caring that his friends were about to show up.
Harry stared out of the side pane of the door, wishing the car would hurry up - *The sooner they get here, the sooner they'll leave.* - but a creak alerted him too clearly to the presence behind him. He felt Malfoy lean in close, and the taller boy whispered in his ear, "Tonight, midnight?"
Harry stiffened, almost feeling a blush climb his face. Malfoy chuckled at the other's discomfort.
"You wanted to know about aura, right? Well, I'm about to have a really bad day, and the least you can do is make it up to me, just let me do something that doesn't involve Muggle contraptions. Leave your window open, and I'll come to get you."
Harry's back was suddenly cold as Malfoy stepped away and walked nonchalantly into the living room. Dudley immediately looked up from the TV and grinned at his partner-in-arms. He then noticed Harry standing by the door, and took the time to say, "Up for a game of Harry Hunting today? Man, haven't done that in years!! Piers has been looking forward to it. Make sure you've got tape ready for those giant frames of yours, 'cause they're gonna be in a few pieces soon!"
He chortled and went back to the TV, engaging Draco in some extraordinary conversation about the main actor's scandalous love liaisons.
Draco was more interested in this so-called Harry Hunting thing, and wasted no time in asking. Harry chose that moment to walk into the kitchen and make sure that the special junk food bought for today was all set up and ready to be devoured by everyone other than himself. *It's gonna be a long day. At least I DO have some Spello-tape....*
**
By noon, Draco was ready to take his Nimbus 2001 and concuss all three of his stalkers soundly, or transfigure them into anything BUT ferrets (ever since that crazed old loon attacked him, Draco had had a profound apathy towards ferrets, whether originally human or not). Potter had in all ways disappeared, as if he had an invisibility cloak or something, completely stranding Draco.
Not that the Malfoy heir blamed him entirely. This...Piers was slightly scrawny, but his friend Lucas was nearly as huge as the Land Whale, the two of them plus Piers took up the entire couch by themselves, forcing the slender Slytherin to sit on the floor. He'd never had to sit on a floor in his life, let alone a *dirty* Muggle floor, conveniently having forgotten that Harry had scrubbed it two days ago. And stalkers they were indeed! They had barely said a word of greeting to their *real* friend, and had almost ignored Harry ("Oh look, Four-eyes *still* has those same glasses!! I thought we'd broken them too often!!"), before pouncing on Draco, the first words out of their mouths being, "What are chicks in France like? Wish mum would send me to school there!!"
And did they ever stop eating? Did they have a real cornucopia or something that kept refilling itself? Not even the Hogwarts house elves were that good! It was making the young wizard utterly disgusted, these pig-like antics of theirs. Rolling his eyes, he fended off the intruders and their questions doggedly, swearing that at certain Scarhead nearby had a Time Turner and was screwing with his mind on purpose. *That would be so like Golden Boy, Dumbledore's little pet, able to get away with anything...* Giving up, Draco asked his first question with no intimidation.
"So, who wants to go for a walk?"
Dead silence reigned.
**
She smiled as she opened the door, positively shining with excitement that he had come.
She had hoped he would, no, *knew* he would, for even as a child had he been curious. She didn't blame him, for he'd lived in a house steeped in secrecy and lies all his childhood, and that "Never ask questions" business was more than enough to provoke the desire for an answer. Curiousity in a child was no harm, after all. It simply conveyed a wish to learn, something that was slowly disappearing from the youth of modern times.
"Harry dear, do come in. It's been quite some time since you came to visit me in - er, normal circumstances. Actually, I don't believe you've ever come to me of your own volition, but I must say, it's always a pleasure having you here! When it's *not* three in the morning, that is."
Harry laughed in spite of himself. He stepped cautiously into the witch's house, for even though he'd been in her cabbage-smelling dwelling before, a few summertime excursions to the Burrow had left him wary of magical houses.
Barely two steps off the doormat, he nearly tripped over the cat winding its way between his legs, grinning benignly up at him. Mrs. Figg directed him to her moldy lace-covered sofa, before drawing a long wand from the deep pocket of her apron and summoning two empty glasses and a pitcher of pumpkin juice onto the living room table.
The old lady sat next to Harry and poured the drinks. Her charge, as she had always considered Harry, wasted no time in downing his, for though the walk from the Dursley's wasn't a long one, the heat of the day was not conducive to strolling under the blinding sun. Arabella watched the boy sip more slowly at his second cup before beginning conversation.
"So, out without the Malfoy boy this time, are you?"
Harry was not used to this direct talk from his babysitter, well remembering the babbling she used to do when he was little. And did she have to remind him of Malfoy right away?
"Yeah, he's hanging out with Dudley's friends now." He allowed himself a smirk, wondering how the other boy was faring, and imagining very horrible things happening right around now.
Mrs. Figg was not as amused. "You left a *Malfoy* with Muggles? Well, you can always move in with me if the Dursley's house is in ruins when you go home."
Harry allowed himself a little giggle. "At least I'd be rid of Malfoy."
Mrs. Figg suddenly became serious. "You shouldn't talk that way. Most certainly not about that boy. He may be a Malfoy, and that name does one very little good, though much fear, in the eyes of others these days, but he's got his heart in the right place. Otherwise he wouldn't be in that beastly Muggle house you call home during the summer holidays."
No, Mrs. Figg was still mad, if she was sticking up for a Malfoy like that. Harry wanted to tell her of all the horrible fights and duels and all the intense rivalry that students at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry had become used to witnessing between the two pillars of Gryffindor and Slytherin. And yet, Malfoy *had* been semi-decent since he showed up on the Dursley's doorstep not forty-eight hours ago.
Arabella sensed the furious battle being waged in Harry's mind. She gave him a nudge in what she personally believed was the right direction. "Hasn't he even told you why the Dursley's weakness was exploited, why they were tricked into taking him in?"
Harry shook his head. "He wouldn't tell me. He said...he said it would make me too hopeful for the side fighting against Voldemort. Malfoy....He said that we don't have a chance of defeating Voldemort." His voice wavered slightly as he spoke.
His listener's expression became grave. "Harry. You must listen -"
But Harry didn't listen. His throat became tight, and a headachy feeling of suppressed tears settled around his temples.
"We....we talked the-the first night, Malfoy and I. And now that I think about what he said, it makes sense. Ever since I was a baby, I've been hunted by *him*. Every year at school, someone new turns up trying to-to hurt my friends, and to get me out of the way. My only family is in hiding, wanted for murder, and most students at Hogwarts are wishing I was going to dementors with him, after Cedric...An-And now I'm stuck with the same guy I've hated for all my school life, and he keeps breaching our little line of mutual hatred, helping me, or actually half-trying to be my friend. But he's *not* my friend, he can't be...It's just not fair anymore!"
Harry stared at the ground, feigning interest in the fuzzy brown carpet, when all he was really doing was trying to disguise the tears threatening to spill.
"Harry."
He heard her, of course, but he couldn't look at her. She was about to tell him that everything would be all right, just like everyone else had. About to tell him that life would get better, that they'd defeat Voldemort, that Harry would live to see his eighteenth birthday...everything he didn't want to hear.
"You've carried a terrible weight all your life. You will carry it for much longer, Little Lion. It will be over one day, whether for good or for bad. We can't change that at all. It *isn't* fair that this happened to you, but I can assure you that anyone in your position would feel even worse. Albus has probably told you hundreds of times, but you can't give up hope. You don't want to hear it, but all across Europe, there are witches and wizards who have so much faith in you. They've never met you, you've never met them, but they exist. You're not fighting for yourself anymore, not after what happened at the Last Task. But you will not be alone."
Harry didn't respond right away. He half felt resentment, as if Mrs. Figg was a mother berating her child who'd just broken an expensive vase. He half felt that she was right. But he didn't know what to believe.
Trying to divert the conversation, he asked, "Why? Why did Malfoy come to stay at the Dursleys'?"
Mrs. Figg knew he was ignoring her talk, but didn't try to impress upon him the seriousness of the situation. It was not best to force these things on children. Playing along with Harry's diversion, she said, "That's for the Malfoy boy to tell you himself. Like you, he made a major choice, and like you, he's now facing the consequences. You two truly aren't that different, Harry."
"How come *you* know why he's here and I don't?"
Smiling, she told him, "Albus told me. He and I had to tweak the spells over the Dursley's house to take care of the both of you."
"Spells? You mean...You mean like the Fi-Fidelius charm, don't you? Voldemort said - he told the Death Eaters that the wards around the Dursleys' house were so powerful that even he couldn't touch me."
Her smile broadened. "Oh, I wouldn't say *so* powerful...you've just got a very good Secret Keeper, if I may say so myself. We Muggle-borns know what we're doing."
For the first time in what seemed like ages, Harry cracked a small grin. "I should introduce you to my friend Hermione sometime..."
"You mean your shared girlfriend from Witch Weekly?"
Harry groaned.
**
Okay, guess what? Slash starting next chapter!! I *DO* have plot planned out after all (yeah, I totally botched up my calligraphy project because it was all I could think about...hate calligraphy).
Now, I want to thank all the people who approve of my steps into somewhat creative writing. Actually, I'm thanking everyone who reviewed, because for some reason, everyone liked it...
Nanono - *smile* Thanks so much for being the first person to review!! Are the square thingies still there? Everything looks fine from my computer, but I don't know. When I write I use Japanese Word, but all the commands are in, um, Japanese, and being that I don't even know the American commands, it's not much help. Anyways, keep reading!!
Sirius - Thanks so much!! I'm not usually the most humorous of people, but I'm trying my best. I also know what you mean about keeping characters in, well, character. Even though this chapter kinda opens a side of Harry that I personally believe exists, I hope you still think that they're the same old Draco and Harry that we all love.
Amethyst Shard - Yes the plot line is a bit overused, which is exactly why I wanted to do it, to see if I could expand on it. I'm so glad you like it!!
Prozac Addict - Yep, it's THAT Boshi twin. I've been a major FY fan for four years, thanks to my wonderful sister. In fact, even though it's slightly shallow, if it wasn't for FY, I would never have fallen in love with Japan, and I wouldn't be here right now. Anyways, Suboshi is a doll, in my eyes, and just for the record, I call my best friend Aniki, even though she's most definitely not my brother and she's younger than me. But she answers to it all the same. But I digress severely. I'm going to keep writing, so hopefully you'll keep enjoying.
Elssha - Thanks a lot!! Did ya get your mail? Hope you like it, because chapter six is on the way!
Neko kyo - Weee! Many thanks, my friend! And I got a 20/20 on my test! You're a good luck charm!!
Saa, minna, mata aeru!!! ~ Shun-chan
"
So, for those who haven't read my bio, know that I don't have a little piece of paper that says I own Harry Potter. If you sue me, understand that you will most definitely be paid in yen.
Now for a little talk about me and the way this chapter is going to go. There's no getting around the fact that I have depression, and so this story is kinda a little pet for me to explore my feelings on the subject. This chapter in particular is going to get a little angsty on Harry's part. Not overly, for though I believe JK-sama will write more of her experience with depression into the series, I also believe that Harry himself, while in part a tragic figure, is a pretty brave kid, although he does tend to bottle up emotions. Ah, well, we'll see what happens in the OOTP. As for now, just remember that Harry's not going to be the happiest in this chapter.
"BOY!!!!!!!!!"
Harry's eyes scrunched tighter, and he wrapped the pillow around his head to stop the earsplitting shriek from resounding in his head. The shrieking was soon accompanied by banging on the door and the sound of locks being undone. Harry lifted his eyelids, blinking in the dawn light, just as his door was slammed open, and Aunt Petunia entered, her hair still in rollers.
"Boy!! Where's the fruit basket!!? How dare you sneak out with your dirty tricks and steal food meant for hard-working people!!"
Harry tried to understand what she was saying. He hadn't stolen any fruit basket, now, did he? Malfoy had done that...that's right, last night, they'd gone out on their brooms and got caught by Mrs. Figg and...
The fruit basket!! They must have left it in the forest at that stream!!
Harry groaned and brought his hands up to his face. *Damn damn damn!!*
Aunt Petunia misinterpreted his reaction as actual guilt.
"That's right, you dirty little liar! I should lock you in here for another day, but," she flushed slightly as she remembered what Draco had said yesterday morning at breakfast, "the work that *I've* been forced to do in *your* place is really quite below me."
She drew a sharp breath in through her nose, glaring at her nephew, and said, "Get dressed and get downstairs. Your Uncle has to go to work today, and Dudley's friends are coming to meet Draco. Don't you *dare* embarrass us or do anything....unnatural, do you understand?"
She turned on her heel and swept out the door with the regality of a queen dealing with a contemptible urchin. Harry relaxed back into the bed, before slithering on to the floor and rummaging for clothes out of his wardrobe, while throwing all his robes and homework back into the trunk, lest Dudley's friends find them suspicious. Hedwig's cage was empty, disappointing Harry, though it was probably for the best.
His clothes hung pathetically off him, and as he looked in his reflection, he began to dread what Dudley's friends would say about his appearance when they arrived, and the fact that they'd say those things in front of *Malfoy*, of all people. And how was Malfoy going to act when the number of Muggles in the house increased? And it wasn't helping to calm Harry's nerve that these Muggles were all coming just so they could *meet* Malfoy.
*Oh, God, Malfoy is gonna hex them, he's so gonna hex them, and then we'll both be in trouble with the Ministry and Dumbledore and Voldemort...*
Grimacing, he walked out of his door and straight into a tousle-haired, bleary-eyed Draco on his way to the bathroom. Harry tripped up slightly, but Malfoy, whose hair was sticking up in the back, wasn't affected, aside from the fact that he looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion. He merely glared intensely at Harry and said, "Watch it, Potty. Thanks to you and your bloody banshee aunt...."
A stricken expression crossed Harry's face. "We forgot the fruit basket!! She thought I nicked it!! So don't blame me!!"
Draco's reply was accompanied with a dry chuckle. "I see. Well, she *is* a Muggle, Harry."
Still chuckling to himself, he walked past Harry and into the bathroom.
The raven-haired boy didn't move, didn't even hear the lock click. He would have heard it if his mouth hadn't been working like a fish's and his mind going faster than his Firebolt in a nose-dive.
Malfoy had called him by his first name.
**
Harry stood at the stove, frying vegetables to use as toppings for that morning's toast, butter having gone out of fashion for the Dursleys' themselves. Aunt Petunia was actually lathering the creamy yellow substance on a stack of toast reserved for her Drakie-darling, with a simpering smile that was just sickening. Lifting his head from his cooking, he glanced surreptitiously at her.
*"She's a Muggle, Harry."*
It wouldn't leave him alone. It pestered him like an overactive mosquito, buzzing in his mind, taunting, tormenting. It wasn't only the fact that Malfoy...or Draco? Must Harry call him Draco now?...........had called him by his first name, but it was the way he said it, the way it just rolled off his tongue like it was meant to be.
Harry allowed himself a small smile. If Draco hadn't come off as such a spoiled snobbish Pureblood brat four years ago, it would have been normal for the two of them to be...to be friends. They would have called each other by their first names all along.
But they couldn't be friends then, and what made either of them think that they were friends now? Even last night, all they'd done was fight for the position of supremacy, just the same as they had done for four long years of cruel words and violent Quidditch matches. How could he just forget all that they had shared together, just put it behind him?
No, it had just been *Malfoy's* slip. The both of them were letting out the steam; after all, being trapped together with Muggles who would kick them out the minute they let something slip about their true heritage wasn't quite the atmosphere for their normal bantering and slanging. Of course, they'd pretend to act as support for one another behind the Dursleys' backs, but nothing would have changed between them once they returned to Hogwarts. It wasn't worth the effort to become Malfoy's *friend* just to be snubbed back at school.
**
Harry didn't notice Draco enter the kitchen, but Aunt Petunia most certainly did.
"Awww, Sweetie-pie, what are you doing up so so early? You should be getting some nice sleep right now!" she called in a coquettish voice, all thoughts of Drakie-darling's toast abandoned. Draco himself looked rather alarmed by the woman's severe maternal attitude,?and backed toward the door, but possessed enough courage in the face of glittering teeth and perfectly curled hair and a neck that looked as if it could extend to stutter out, "It's..it's o-okay, I, um, just want some...some food, uh, Aunt..Aunt Pe-Petunia"
Harry whispered quietly, "Really eloquent, this one, isn't he?"
Draco glanced at him scornfully. *Trust Potter to throw that back in my face.* Remembering that Harry was supposed to have been gone on errands yesterday, he decided it was now or never for payback. Well, Aunt Petunia was watching, sooo...
"Finally back, are you?" He sneered at Harry. "I was beginning to think you'd run off, ungrateful wretch. After all that your relatives do for you, you can't even extend them the courtesy of being fast about your tasks? They keep you on when no one else would want you, and you still leave them to lift more fingers than their birthright gives them need to! My family wouldn't have you on for a servant if it meant our fortune."
Petunia sighed graciously at the end of Draco's speech, longing to throw her arms around him or clap or sing...he was such an extraordinary boy!! She wished Vernon and Dudley could have heard that!
Draco was also slightly impressed with himself, until he realized that Potter was showing no physical reaction, like reddening or glowering, nor did his eyes become overly bright or did his bottom lip tremble. He continued to gently move the vegetables around the frying pan with the wooden paddle as if he hadn't heard a word that had been said.
**
But Harry had heard.
*No one else would want you.*
*Ungrateful wretch.*
*Birthright.*
*My family wouldn't have you...if it meant our fortune.*
No, Malfoy most certainly hadn't changed. *And here I was actually entertaining the idea of our friendship.*
Depressed, though he was not entirely familiar yet with the name of his most recent ailment, Harry applied himself to his vegetables, utterly ignoring the world around him, and would not look anywhere but at the frying pan. The vegetables gave off a sweet smell, reminding him slightly of the fire from Professor Trelawney's room, and the heat from the stove burned at his eyes. The steam - or was it smoke?-tore his throat, making him need to cough.
But the youth resisted, not wanting to show weakness in front of his enemy.
*"I'll teach you about aura tonight.*
An ill-aimed swipe with the paddle sliced a pepper in half cleanly.
**
He didn't know what he did.
Why? Why was Potter ignoring him? He could have *sworn* he hadn't said anything out of character!! Potter *never* brushed Draco's comments off, unless of course the Mudblood was whispering, "Ignore him, ignore him" in his ear.
*Was he simply longing for his wand, in order to curse me? Was it that bad? Or maybe....is he just tired?*
Thoroughly bewildered, Draco sat down at the kitchen table. He hardly registered the fact that Horse-face had put a huge stack of toast in front of him and was now providing him with about five varieties of jelly. Absentmindedly, the blonde chose a piece from the tottering pile as Aunt Petunia sat herself across from him, gazing rapturously at her little doll. Draco stared back at her, though lost in thought, until Aunt Petunia herself realized that she'd been staring. She broke the silence, marred only by the crunching of the toast in Draco's mouth, without much preamble.
"Oh, honey, you won't mind, will you? Dudley's friends want to meet you!! They are all coming today, Piers and Lucas and...oh, my, sweetie, are you okay??!!"
Draco had choked and promptly spit out the offending piece of toast at her pronouncement. "WHAT??!!"
"Oh, don't worry, Draco-honey, they won't be here for a few hours, so you've got plenty of time to get ready! I know you want to be looking your best, so don't fret!!" she continued, smiling warmly.
Draco let out the tiniest squeak. And then it happened.
Harry burst out laughing.
Aunt Petunia rounded on him with speed unsurpassed in the Muggle world.
"Boy, how dare you! Even if *you*, you with your awful hair and freak disposition, if you can't see the importance of trying to impress someone, then let those who know how to live properly as true human beings do so without your rude interruptions! Just like your mother! I have half a mind to lock-"
"Please stop."
Harry looked up in surprise from his doubled-up position by the stove. Malfoy wasn't glaring at anyone, but rather simply staring down his nose at his toast. The Gryffindor's eyes narrowed. *So Malfoy is gonna play the hero now, is he?*
Malfoy looked up and caught Harry's expression. He smirked smugly and lifted a delicate eyebrow at Harry before turning to Aunt Petunia and saying, "Don't waste your energy. You'll have a number of teenage boys running around the house today, and you'll need your strength to keep us all in check. If he wants to waste his time laughing when he's still got breakfast to prepare, well, you shouldn't lower yourself to his level...so, if you'll excuse me, I need to go get ready. Thank you for an early breakfast, as I really didn't mean to inconvenience you."
Draco walked out of the kitchen doorway calmy, disappearing from view like a shadow when the cloud moves from in front of the sun.
**
Harry stared after him, nearly as confused as Draco had been earlier. Malfoy had just....helped him, although it had been dimly disguised as insult. Well, he hadn't *helped* him, truth be told, but he had stopped Aunt Petunia from stumbling into enemy territory, for one never insulted Harry's parents to his face without provoking violent reactions that didn't require a wand.
Aunt Petunia stood still, watching as Draco left, but did not return to scolding her nephew. She simply sniffed angrily and set about throwing out at least four pieces of uneaten toast, before snapping at Harry to set the table for three.
**
Safely hiding within his cell, this....this cell of a room that Severus had sent him to, Draco contemplated all that had passed since he'd entered the kitchen that morning. Harry had been acting so oddly, and disturbing even. The lack of reaction when Draco had teasingly (as he thought of it) insulted Potter, except for maybe that deadened look in his eyes...It was so frustrating!!
Draco had actually felt relieved when the other boy had burst out laughing at Draco's plight, having to deal with more Muggle contact in three days than he'd experienced in fifteen years, the ones in helicopters notwithstanding. The Slytherin frowned at no one in particular. Seeing Potter laugh at him again made things seem like normal between them.
Last night had been...interesting, to say the least. The young Malfoy had seriously considered their escapade to have been one of fun, not making fun of. Spirit, not spite. He and Potter had never shared that before, and though Draco had enjoyed his little evening of fun, on reflection, he wondered if it had changed things between the two rivals.
It hadn't. Had it?
Draco couldn't divine the answer, but something was telling him that he wasn't going to like it when he found it.
**
Harry had spent at least an hour and a half after breakfast straightening the house for its impending guests, everything from dusting off the already impeccable TV and game control system (impeccable from overuse - it rarely ever sat still long enough to become dusty), to making Dudley's bed for him and rearranging Dudley's computer game collection.
By 9:00AM, he was waiting by the door, ready to open it and take people's coats. Harry didn't like being in so open a place where it was painfully obvious that he would be noticed, causing a number of stinging words and possibly some punches from Dudley's posse-boys. Dudley himself was sitting watching TV, as usual, bored and basically pretending to be not at all caring that his friends were about to show up.
Harry stared out of the side pane of the door, wishing the car would hurry up - *The sooner they get here, the sooner they'll leave.* - but a creak alerted him too clearly to the presence behind him. He felt Malfoy lean in close, and the taller boy whispered in his ear, "Tonight, midnight?"
Harry stiffened, almost feeling a blush climb his face. Malfoy chuckled at the other's discomfort.
"You wanted to know about aura, right? Well, I'm about to have a really bad day, and the least you can do is make it up to me, just let me do something that doesn't involve Muggle contraptions. Leave your window open, and I'll come to get you."
Harry's back was suddenly cold as Malfoy stepped away and walked nonchalantly into the living room. Dudley immediately looked up from the TV and grinned at his partner-in-arms. He then noticed Harry standing by the door, and took the time to say, "Up for a game of Harry Hunting today? Man, haven't done that in years!! Piers has been looking forward to it. Make sure you've got tape ready for those giant frames of yours, 'cause they're gonna be in a few pieces soon!"
He chortled and went back to the TV, engaging Draco in some extraordinary conversation about the main actor's scandalous love liaisons.
Draco was more interested in this so-called Harry Hunting thing, and wasted no time in asking. Harry chose that moment to walk into the kitchen and make sure that the special junk food bought for today was all set up and ready to be devoured by everyone other than himself. *It's gonna be a long day. At least I DO have some Spello-tape....*
**
By noon, Draco was ready to take his Nimbus 2001 and concuss all three of his stalkers soundly, or transfigure them into anything BUT ferrets (ever since that crazed old loon attacked him, Draco had had a profound apathy towards ferrets, whether originally human or not). Potter had in all ways disappeared, as if he had an invisibility cloak or something, completely stranding Draco.
Not that the Malfoy heir blamed him entirely. This...Piers was slightly scrawny, but his friend Lucas was nearly as huge as the Land Whale, the two of them plus Piers took up the entire couch by themselves, forcing the slender Slytherin to sit on the floor. He'd never had to sit on a floor in his life, let alone a *dirty* Muggle floor, conveniently having forgotten that Harry had scrubbed it two days ago. And stalkers they were indeed! They had barely said a word of greeting to their *real* friend, and had almost ignored Harry ("Oh look, Four-eyes *still* has those same glasses!! I thought we'd broken them too often!!"), before pouncing on Draco, the first words out of their mouths being, "What are chicks in France like? Wish mum would send me to school there!!"
And did they ever stop eating? Did they have a real cornucopia or something that kept refilling itself? Not even the Hogwarts house elves were that good! It was making the young wizard utterly disgusted, these pig-like antics of theirs. Rolling his eyes, he fended off the intruders and their questions doggedly, swearing that at certain Scarhead nearby had a Time Turner and was screwing with his mind on purpose. *That would be so like Golden Boy, Dumbledore's little pet, able to get away with anything...* Giving up, Draco asked his first question with no intimidation.
"So, who wants to go for a walk?"
Dead silence reigned.
**
She smiled as she opened the door, positively shining with excitement that he had come.
She had hoped he would, no, *knew* he would, for even as a child had he been curious. She didn't blame him, for he'd lived in a house steeped in secrecy and lies all his childhood, and that "Never ask questions" business was more than enough to provoke the desire for an answer. Curiousity in a child was no harm, after all. It simply conveyed a wish to learn, something that was slowly disappearing from the youth of modern times.
"Harry dear, do come in. It's been quite some time since you came to visit me in - er, normal circumstances. Actually, I don't believe you've ever come to me of your own volition, but I must say, it's always a pleasure having you here! When it's *not* three in the morning, that is."
Harry laughed in spite of himself. He stepped cautiously into the witch's house, for even though he'd been in her cabbage-smelling dwelling before, a few summertime excursions to the Burrow had left him wary of magical houses.
Barely two steps off the doormat, he nearly tripped over the cat winding its way between his legs, grinning benignly up at him. Mrs. Figg directed him to her moldy lace-covered sofa, before drawing a long wand from the deep pocket of her apron and summoning two empty glasses and a pitcher of pumpkin juice onto the living room table.
The old lady sat next to Harry and poured the drinks. Her charge, as she had always considered Harry, wasted no time in downing his, for though the walk from the Dursley's wasn't a long one, the heat of the day was not conducive to strolling under the blinding sun. Arabella watched the boy sip more slowly at his second cup before beginning conversation.
"So, out without the Malfoy boy this time, are you?"
Harry was not used to this direct talk from his babysitter, well remembering the babbling she used to do when he was little. And did she have to remind him of Malfoy right away?
"Yeah, he's hanging out with Dudley's friends now." He allowed himself a smirk, wondering how the other boy was faring, and imagining very horrible things happening right around now.
Mrs. Figg was not as amused. "You left a *Malfoy* with Muggles? Well, you can always move in with me if the Dursley's house is in ruins when you go home."
Harry allowed himself a little giggle. "At least I'd be rid of Malfoy."
Mrs. Figg suddenly became serious. "You shouldn't talk that way. Most certainly not about that boy. He may be a Malfoy, and that name does one very little good, though much fear, in the eyes of others these days, but he's got his heart in the right place. Otherwise he wouldn't be in that beastly Muggle house you call home during the summer holidays."
No, Mrs. Figg was still mad, if she was sticking up for a Malfoy like that. Harry wanted to tell her of all the horrible fights and duels and all the intense rivalry that students at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry had become used to witnessing between the two pillars of Gryffindor and Slytherin. And yet, Malfoy *had* been semi-decent since he showed up on the Dursley's doorstep not forty-eight hours ago.
Arabella sensed the furious battle being waged in Harry's mind. She gave him a nudge in what she personally believed was the right direction. "Hasn't he even told you why the Dursley's weakness was exploited, why they were tricked into taking him in?"
Harry shook his head. "He wouldn't tell me. He said...he said it would make me too hopeful for the side fighting against Voldemort. Malfoy....He said that we don't have a chance of defeating Voldemort." His voice wavered slightly as he spoke.
His listener's expression became grave. "Harry. You must listen -"
But Harry didn't listen. His throat became tight, and a headachy feeling of suppressed tears settled around his temples.
"We....we talked the-the first night, Malfoy and I. And now that I think about what he said, it makes sense. Ever since I was a baby, I've been hunted by *him*. Every year at school, someone new turns up trying to-to hurt my friends, and to get me out of the way. My only family is in hiding, wanted for murder, and most students at Hogwarts are wishing I was going to dementors with him, after Cedric...An-And now I'm stuck with the same guy I've hated for all my school life, and he keeps breaching our little line of mutual hatred, helping me, or actually half-trying to be my friend. But he's *not* my friend, he can't be...It's just not fair anymore!"
Harry stared at the ground, feigning interest in the fuzzy brown carpet, when all he was really doing was trying to disguise the tears threatening to spill.
"Harry."
He heard her, of course, but he couldn't look at her. She was about to tell him that everything would be all right, just like everyone else had. About to tell him that life would get better, that they'd defeat Voldemort, that Harry would live to see his eighteenth birthday...everything he didn't want to hear.
"You've carried a terrible weight all your life. You will carry it for much longer, Little Lion. It will be over one day, whether for good or for bad. We can't change that at all. It *isn't* fair that this happened to you, but I can assure you that anyone in your position would feel even worse. Albus has probably told you hundreds of times, but you can't give up hope. You don't want to hear it, but all across Europe, there are witches and wizards who have so much faith in you. They've never met you, you've never met them, but they exist. You're not fighting for yourself anymore, not after what happened at the Last Task. But you will not be alone."
Harry didn't respond right away. He half felt resentment, as if Mrs. Figg was a mother berating her child who'd just broken an expensive vase. He half felt that she was right. But he didn't know what to believe.
Trying to divert the conversation, he asked, "Why? Why did Malfoy come to stay at the Dursleys'?"
Mrs. Figg knew he was ignoring her talk, but didn't try to impress upon him the seriousness of the situation. It was not best to force these things on children. Playing along with Harry's diversion, she said, "That's for the Malfoy boy to tell you himself. Like you, he made a major choice, and like you, he's now facing the consequences. You two truly aren't that different, Harry."
"How come *you* know why he's here and I don't?"
Smiling, she told him, "Albus told me. He and I had to tweak the spells over the Dursley's house to take care of the both of you."
"Spells? You mean...You mean like the Fi-Fidelius charm, don't you? Voldemort said - he told the Death Eaters that the wards around the Dursleys' house were so powerful that even he couldn't touch me."
Her smile broadened. "Oh, I wouldn't say *so* powerful...you've just got a very good Secret Keeper, if I may say so myself. We Muggle-borns know what we're doing."
For the first time in what seemed like ages, Harry cracked a small grin. "I should introduce you to my friend Hermione sometime..."
"You mean your shared girlfriend from Witch Weekly?"
Harry groaned.
**
Okay, guess what? Slash starting next chapter!! I *DO* have plot planned out after all (yeah, I totally botched up my calligraphy project because it was all I could think about...hate calligraphy).
Now, I want to thank all the people who approve of my steps into somewhat creative writing. Actually, I'm thanking everyone who reviewed, because for some reason, everyone liked it...
Nanono - *smile* Thanks so much for being the first person to review!! Are the square thingies still there? Everything looks fine from my computer, but I don't know. When I write I use Japanese Word, but all the commands are in, um, Japanese, and being that I don't even know the American commands, it's not much help. Anyways, keep reading!!
Sirius - Thanks so much!! I'm not usually the most humorous of people, but I'm trying my best. I also know what you mean about keeping characters in, well, character. Even though this chapter kinda opens a side of Harry that I personally believe exists, I hope you still think that they're the same old Draco and Harry that we all love.
Amethyst Shard - Yes the plot line is a bit overused, which is exactly why I wanted to do it, to see if I could expand on it. I'm so glad you like it!!
Prozac Addict - Yep, it's THAT Boshi twin. I've been a major FY fan for four years, thanks to my wonderful sister. In fact, even though it's slightly shallow, if it wasn't for FY, I would never have fallen in love with Japan, and I wouldn't be here right now. Anyways, Suboshi is a doll, in my eyes, and just for the record, I call my best friend Aniki, even though she's most definitely not my brother and she's younger than me. But she answers to it all the same. But I digress severely. I'm going to keep writing, so hopefully you'll keep enjoying.
Elssha - Thanks a lot!! Did ya get your mail? Hope you like it, because chapter six is on the way!
Neko kyo - Weee! Many thanks, my friend! And I got a 20/20 on my test! You're a good luck charm!!
Saa, minna, mata aeru!!! ~ Shun-chan
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