HANDCUFFS: Chapter 2
Harry awoke to a splitting headache. It was no wonder, after such a miserable dream that night. Handcuffed to Malfoy! The thought almost made his stomach turn. No time for that, of course, he was probably late for breakfast. Ron and Hermione would be waiting for him. Harry rolled over in bed, or tried to, but he hadn't moved more than five centimeters before something tight around his wrist stopped him cold. He pulled again. Still stuck.
"Potter, if you pull my wrist one more time, I'm going to make sure you don't wake up for the rest of the day." The drawling voice grated on Harry's ears.
With a sinking sensation, Harry pulled his eyes opened. He was lying in a cot in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey was bustling around his bed, prodding him with her wand at various places as the aches and pains from his limbs disappeared, and Dumbledore was standing at the end of his cot, looking rather... amused. None of this, however, was important, considering the other person in the room, Draco Malfoy, who was still handcuffed to his left hand, lying on the cot next to his.
"Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey snapped. "The two of you already caused enough damage to each other. If you start anything in here, and this goes for you too, Mr. Potter, I will personally make your lives even more miserable than they already seem to be." With that, she picked up a tray of ointments and potions and walked swiftly from the room.
Draco muttered something about it being utterly impossible to be more miserable than he already was.
Ignoring him, Harry turned to Dumbledore, who hadn't moved, and was still looking at him with that same amused expression. "Professor Dumbledore, sir! I'm sure you can get us out of this! I mean, it's just a little locking charm, right? Surely, you can..." He was cut off as Dumbledore shook his head slowly.
"Ah, Harry," he began with a slight chuckle, "it's not merely a simple locking charm. Neville did an exceptional job; I examined the charm myself. This is the type of lock used on vaults in Gringotts, and various other high-security locations. It's a timed charm, as you know. You were practicing the same thing, were you not?"
Harry nodded, not wanting to hear what would come next.
"Then if you read the theory behind this particular charm, you would know that tampering with a timed locking charm before the time period is over will cause it to explode."
Harry felt himself go several shades paler. At that same moment, Draco lunged and started pulling ferociously at the cuffs. "I'LL TAKE MY CHANCES!" he yelled. "Get this thing off of me!"
In a heartbeat, Dumbledore had stepped between the cots and had firmly separated the boys. All traces of amusement were gone from his expression and his eyes shone furiously as he spoke, "If either of you two fight, just once, while you are stuck together, I will find a punishment for each of you the likes of which you can not possibly imagine."
Draco flopped back onto his pillow sullenly. "Nothing could be worse than this."
"Oh no?" Dumbledore eyed him, a hint of the twinkle returning. "I do believe that Hagrid plans to be teaching about manticores in Care of Magical Creatures next week. I'm sure he could use someone to help him clean out the cages."
Draco, who had now also lost all the colour in his face, seemed to be choking on something. "I... I... you can't be serious?"
"I am quite serious, Mr. Malfoy."
"What about Potter?" he sneered, jerking his head at Harry. "I'm sure he'd get off easy."
"Ah, I am certain he would not be too happy with a month of detention with Professor Snape. When last we spoke, our Potions Master informed me that he would be receiving several large shipments of supplies over the next two weeks, and it will take him at least twice as long to put it all away." He peered over the tops of his spectacles at Harry.
"You... you wouldn't..." Harry whispered.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to find out?"
For a brief, insane moment, Harry seriously considered taking his chances with the exploding handcuffs. Seeing the look in Dumbledore's face, however, he decided that perhaps this wasn't the best time to push his luck. Taking a deep breath, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "Professor, what am I, er, we supposed to do for the next twenty-four hours?"
The twinkle fully returned to Dumbledore's eye. "I would suggest that you learn to get along with one another. Tomorrow is Saturday, so you need not worry about attending classes."
"But where will we sleep?" Draco suddenly blurted out. "We can't... I mean... I won't..."
"Mr. Malfoy, I will make the necessary arrangements for that. House dormitories are for members of a given house only. The two of you will require your own room for the night."
Draco turned a bit green. "Me? Alone in a room with . . . with Potter?" he stammered.
Harry turned his head to the boy lying next to him. Despite his own severe qualms about spending a night alone with Malfoy, this was almost funny, watching him squirm like this. "Scared, Malfoy?"
Draco's head snapped over to glare at Harry. In a lowered tone, he said, "You wish."
Harry raised his eyebrows in a perfect imitation of Dumbledore's amused expression. "Whatever you say, Malfoy." He turned back to the Headmaster. "Sir, what are we supposed to do now?"
"It is time for supper." Dumbledore inclined his head slightly. "The two of you will be joining your classmates in the Great Hall for supper."
"He is NOT sitting at the Slytherin table!" Draco sat bolt upright, half- pulling Harry along with him.
Harry sat the rest of the way up and reached across to rub his wrist, which was aching from the harsh tug, while glowering furiously at Draco. Then, in what appeared to be a flash of inspiration, the scowl turned into a devious grin. "Okay then. You can sit at the Gryffindor table."
With that, Harry jumped off the bed and began walking stoically towards the infirmary exit, dragging the Slytherin behind him. Draco, who had been too surprised by the sudden action to protest immediately, suddenly began to look very frantic.
"I can't! I can't be seen at the Gryffindor table! That would be intolerable!" He looked back over his shoulder as Harry continued to haul him forwards. "Professor Dumbledore! You can't possibly let him do this!"
Dumbledore folded his arms across his chest, smiled at the retreating pair, and called out after them. "Just remember, no fighting!"
Harry ignored Draco's protests all the way from the hospital wing to the entrance of the Great Hall. Despite his smaller size, Harry found that he was able to drag the Slytherin easily enough, and took a great deal of amusement in listening to the panic in Draco's voice. He didn't seem so tough now, without his trollish henchmen on his flanks, and that was just how Harry liked it. This was going to be a very entertaining supper.
Turning the corner into the foyer that led to the Great Hall, Harry could see a steady stream of students wending their way to supper. However, it was at the first sight of this flood of people that Draco's panic hit a feverish pitch.
"I can't do it! I'm not going to do it!" He dug his heels into the floor as best he could and his free hand latched onto the edge of the banister, bringing both of them to a grinding stop. He took a rushed breath and forced some control back into his voice, despite how nervous he still was. "Listen, Potter. I will NOT sit at your little Gryffindor table for supper, just to spend the time being harassed by you. Nor do I wish to be seen with the Mudblood and the Weasel..."
Harry took a sharp, threatening step towards Draco, almost pinning him against the banister. "YOU listen, Malfoy! If I hear that word out of your mouth ONCE more while we're stuck together, I would wholeheartedly take an entire year of detention with Snape just for the pleasure of beating your face into a pulp. Do you understand me?"
His eye were blazing green fury, the corner of his jaw clenched tightly, muscles on his neck standing out unnaturally. Despite being a few centimeters shorter, for that brief moment, it was obvious that Harry had completely overpowered Draco.
Draco shrank back against the banister, wanting to put as much distance between himself and Harry as possible, which wasn't much. Strangely, he found himself at a lack of words.
"I SAID do you UNDERSTAND me?" Harry repeated, emphasizing his words as though speaking to a small child who was in a lot of trouble.
It was all Draco could do to nod.
"Good. Now listen up. I'm going to go have supper with my friends. HERMIONE and RON. You'd do well to get their names right. Granger and Weasley, if you must. I don't care if you sit there and sulk the entire time. It's not my problem. I can do quite nicely to ignore you. You can either whine and continue to make a miserable fool out of yourself, which will only give me something else to laugh at when this is all over, or you can shut up and behave like an adult. Believe me, I'm no happier about this than you are."
Draco stared at the floor. "Okay, you've made your point." His head snapped up. "Just eat fast, will you?"
"Why? You're not going to eat?"
"I've lost my appetite, for obvious reasons, Potter," he growled. "You've got what you want. We're going in there, and I'm going to sit at the bloody Gryffindor table. Let's just get this humiliation over with."
With a curt nod, Harry turned on his heel and strode off towards the Hall entrance. This time, Draco fell into step quickly enough that he didn't nearly fall over.
There were whispers and giggles as the boys stepped into the Great Hall. Draco could feel his ears burning red, but Harry didn't pay the least bit of attention to all the commotion. He was quite accustomed to people staring at him, and although he didn't much like it, he knew how to deal with it. Making a beeline for Ron and Hermione, he quickly lowered himself into a seat across from the two of them. Draco hesitated, but with a sigh of resignation, took up a seat to Harry's left.
"Harry!" Hermione greeted him. "We were so worried! I heard what happened." She glowered at Draco, who returned the expression with a sneer.
"I heard the bloke tried to throw you down the stairs, and was too stupid to realize that he was still stuck to you. Are you all right, Harry?"
"Aside from this disgusting growth I seem to have accumulated, I'm fine."
Draco shot him a glare, but Harry ignored him completely and instead began helping himself to the food with his right hand. "Besides," he continued, "it'll be over in about twenty hours. I can survive until then. I may have to soak myself in disinfectant, but I'll survive."
"You watch it, Potter..."
"Wasn't there anything Dumbledore could do? Surely he could...?" Hermione wrung her hands nervously, flicking her eyes briefly at Draco.
"I asked, Hermione. If he could have, I'm sure he would have fixed it." Harry gritted his teeth. "He said that if we tamper with a timed locking charm, it's liable to explode, and I'm kinda fond of my hand, you know."
Ron eyed Draco warily for a moment. "You know, I think I'd risk it. Madam Pomfrey can fix almost anything, you know."
"Don't think I wasn't tempted. I'm still considering it."
Draco looked down at his hand as though it was going to blow up at any second.
"Are you going to flatten him, Harry?" Ron asked hopefully. "I can help. He doesn't look so tough without Crabbe and Goyle around."
Draco glanced desperately over his shoulder to the Slytherin table, and caught sight of Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom were staring at his desperately as though to ask, "What the hell do you want us to do?" It was a tempting thought to just wave them over and turn them loose on the annoyance to whom he was handcuffed, but instead, Draco shook his head slowly. Goyle's jaw dropped in shock and Crabbe slumped dejectedly as Draco turned his head back to the Gryffindor table, not really letting himself see any of it.
"No Ron, we're not going to flatten him," Harry finally answered his friend with a definite tone of disappointment. "Doesn't mean he doesn't bloody well deserve it, of course, but Dumbledore promised me a month detention with Snape if I get into a fight with this prat, so why make a bad situation worse? Right now, I'm starving, so let's ignore it, ok?"
"Ignore it?" Ron asked incredulously. "You're handcuffed to Draco-bloody- Malfoy! How can you ignore it?"
Harry took a large bit out of a roll and spoke around the mouthful. "Easily. Pass the potatoes."
Ron seemed more than a little bit skeptical, but finally conceded and passed Harry the potatoes. The meal passed slowly, and the tension at the table was obvious to everyone, creating much less amusement than Harry had hoped for. The other Gryffindors gave the group a wide berth, and conversation was carefully regulated, with the presence of a Slytherin in their midst. The whole time, Draco said nothing, didn't move, staring sullenly at the table in front of him.
As people started to filter from the Great Hall, a few of them greeted Harry with looks of sympathy. Draco wasn't watching them, but he knew they were staring. He could feel it on the back of his neck, and it was damned uncomfortable. He wasn't used to being a spectacle, that's for sure. For a brief moment, he let himself wonder how the hell Potter could stand it, getting stared at all the time, but he buried the thought as quickly as it had come. Now, he was being stared at, and Potter was receiving looks of sympathy because of him, as though he were a terrible disease Potter had contracted. Where were his looks of sympathy? Wasn't it just as terrible that he was stuck with the bloody Gryffindor as for Potter to be stuck with him? He hadn't asked for this either.
He was just wondering when the torture was going to end when he felt someone standing behind his back. Turning around at the same time as Harry, the boys looked up at Dumbledore, who was standing solemnly with his hands folded into the sleeves of his robe.
"I trust your supper was acceptable?" he greeted them.
"Wonderful," Harry smiled with a false but very convincing levity.
"Just ducky," Draco sulked.
"Very good then." If Dumbledore had caught the undertones from the boys, he completely ignored it. "If you will both follow me now, I will show you to the room I've arranged for you."
Suddenly, Draco decided that staying right there at the Gryffindor table wasn't such a bad option. There were people around, and if Potter decided to kill him, there would be witnesses.
Harry glanced across the table at Ron and Hermione in turn, as though begging for them to do something. Even as he did, he knew that there was nothing they could do. With a meaningful nod, he let them know it was going to be okay, even though he wasn't quite sure of that himself. Ron didn't look the slightest bit convinced, and Hermione was once again wringing her hands, but they both nodded in return.
Slowly, both of the boys stood and followed Dumbledore out of the hall.
***********************************************************************
A/N: Did you read it? Please review it! Only takes a second.
I should have more of this story ready in a couple of days. I'm working on two larger stories as well at the moment, and can't put all my time into just this one. Thanks for reading!
Harry awoke to a splitting headache. It was no wonder, after such a miserable dream that night. Handcuffed to Malfoy! The thought almost made his stomach turn. No time for that, of course, he was probably late for breakfast. Ron and Hermione would be waiting for him. Harry rolled over in bed, or tried to, but he hadn't moved more than five centimeters before something tight around his wrist stopped him cold. He pulled again. Still stuck.
"Potter, if you pull my wrist one more time, I'm going to make sure you don't wake up for the rest of the day." The drawling voice grated on Harry's ears.
With a sinking sensation, Harry pulled his eyes opened. He was lying in a cot in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey was bustling around his bed, prodding him with her wand at various places as the aches and pains from his limbs disappeared, and Dumbledore was standing at the end of his cot, looking rather... amused. None of this, however, was important, considering the other person in the room, Draco Malfoy, who was still handcuffed to his left hand, lying on the cot next to his.
"Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey snapped. "The two of you already caused enough damage to each other. If you start anything in here, and this goes for you too, Mr. Potter, I will personally make your lives even more miserable than they already seem to be." With that, she picked up a tray of ointments and potions and walked swiftly from the room.
Draco muttered something about it being utterly impossible to be more miserable than he already was.
Ignoring him, Harry turned to Dumbledore, who hadn't moved, and was still looking at him with that same amused expression. "Professor Dumbledore, sir! I'm sure you can get us out of this! I mean, it's just a little locking charm, right? Surely, you can..." He was cut off as Dumbledore shook his head slowly.
"Ah, Harry," he began with a slight chuckle, "it's not merely a simple locking charm. Neville did an exceptional job; I examined the charm myself. This is the type of lock used on vaults in Gringotts, and various other high-security locations. It's a timed charm, as you know. You were practicing the same thing, were you not?"
Harry nodded, not wanting to hear what would come next.
"Then if you read the theory behind this particular charm, you would know that tampering with a timed locking charm before the time period is over will cause it to explode."
Harry felt himself go several shades paler. At that same moment, Draco lunged and started pulling ferociously at the cuffs. "I'LL TAKE MY CHANCES!" he yelled. "Get this thing off of me!"
In a heartbeat, Dumbledore had stepped between the cots and had firmly separated the boys. All traces of amusement were gone from his expression and his eyes shone furiously as he spoke, "If either of you two fight, just once, while you are stuck together, I will find a punishment for each of you the likes of which you can not possibly imagine."
Draco flopped back onto his pillow sullenly. "Nothing could be worse than this."
"Oh no?" Dumbledore eyed him, a hint of the twinkle returning. "I do believe that Hagrid plans to be teaching about manticores in Care of Magical Creatures next week. I'm sure he could use someone to help him clean out the cages."
Draco, who had now also lost all the colour in his face, seemed to be choking on something. "I... I... you can't be serious?"
"I am quite serious, Mr. Malfoy."
"What about Potter?" he sneered, jerking his head at Harry. "I'm sure he'd get off easy."
"Ah, I am certain he would not be too happy with a month of detention with Professor Snape. When last we spoke, our Potions Master informed me that he would be receiving several large shipments of supplies over the next two weeks, and it will take him at least twice as long to put it all away." He peered over the tops of his spectacles at Harry.
"You... you wouldn't..." Harry whispered.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to find out?"
For a brief, insane moment, Harry seriously considered taking his chances with the exploding handcuffs. Seeing the look in Dumbledore's face, however, he decided that perhaps this wasn't the best time to push his luck. Taking a deep breath, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "Professor, what am I, er, we supposed to do for the next twenty-four hours?"
The twinkle fully returned to Dumbledore's eye. "I would suggest that you learn to get along with one another. Tomorrow is Saturday, so you need not worry about attending classes."
"But where will we sleep?" Draco suddenly blurted out. "We can't... I mean... I won't..."
"Mr. Malfoy, I will make the necessary arrangements for that. House dormitories are for members of a given house only. The two of you will require your own room for the night."
Draco turned a bit green. "Me? Alone in a room with . . . with Potter?" he stammered.
Harry turned his head to the boy lying next to him. Despite his own severe qualms about spending a night alone with Malfoy, this was almost funny, watching him squirm like this. "Scared, Malfoy?"
Draco's head snapped over to glare at Harry. In a lowered tone, he said, "You wish."
Harry raised his eyebrows in a perfect imitation of Dumbledore's amused expression. "Whatever you say, Malfoy." He turned back to the Headmaster. "Sir, what are we supposed to do now?"
"It is time for supper." Dumbledore inclined his head slightly. "The two of you will be joining your classmates in the Great Hall for supper."
"He is NOT sitting at the Slytherin table!" Draco sat bolt upright, half- pulling Harry along with him.
Harry sat the rest of the way up and reached across to rub his wrist, which was aching from the harsh tug, while glowering furiously at Draco. Then, in what appeared to be a flash of inspiration, the scowl turned into a devious grin. "Okay then. You can sit at the Gryffindor table."
With that, Harry jumped off the bed and began walking stoically towards the infirmary exit, dragging the Slytherin behind him. Draco, who had been too surprised by the sudden action to protest immediately, suddenly began to look very frantic.
"I can't! I can't be seen at the Gryffindor table! That would be intolerable!" He looked back over his shoulder as Harry continued to haul him forwards. "Professor Dumbledore! You can't possibly let him do this!"
Dumbledore folded his arms across his chest, smiled at the retreating pair, and called out after them. "Just remember, no fighting!"
Harry ignored Draco's protests all the way from the hospital wing to the entrance of the Great Hall. Despite his smaller size, Harry found that he was able to drag the Slytherin easily enough, and took a great deal of amusement in listening to the panic in Draco's voice. He didn't seem so tough now, without his trollish henchmen on his flanks, and that was just how Harry liked it. This was going to be a very entertaining supper.
Turning the corner into the foyer that led to the Great Hall, Harry could see a steady stream of students wending their way to supper. However, it was at the first sight of this flood of people that Draco's panic hit a feverish pitch.
"I can't do it! I'm not going to do it!" He dug his heels into the floor as best he could and his free hand latched onto the edge of the banister, bringing both of them to a grinding stop. He took a rushed breath and forced some control back into his voice, despite how nervous he still was. "Listen, Potter. I will NOT sit at your little Gryffindor table for supper, just to spend the time being harassed by you. Nor do I wish to be seen with the Mudblood and the Weasel..."
Harry took a sharp, threatening step towards Draco, almost pinning him against the banister. "YOU listen, Malfoy! If I hear that word out of your mouth ONCE more while we're stuck together, I would wholeheartedly take an entire year of detention with Snape just for the pleasure of beating your face into a pulp. Do you understand me?"
His eye were blazing green fury, the corner of his jaw clenched tightly, muscles on his neck standing out unnaturally. Despite being a few centimeters shorter, for that brief moment, it was obvious that Harry had completely overpowered Draco.
Draco shrank back against the banister, wanting to put as much distance between himself and Harry as possible, which wasn't much. Strangely, he found himself at a lack of words.
"I SAID do you UNDERSTAND me?" Harry repeated, emphasizing his words as though speaking to a small child who was in a lot of trouble.
It was all Draco could do to nod.
"Good. Now listen up. I'm going to go have supper with my friends. HERMIONE and RON. You'd do well to get their names right. Granger and Weasley, if you must. I don't care if you sit there and sulk the entire time. It's not my problem. I can do quite nicely to ignore you. You can either whine and continue to make a miserable fool out of yourself, which will only give me something else to laugh at when this is all over, or you can shut up and behave like an adult. Believe me, I'm no happier about this than you are."
Draco stared at the floor. "Okay, you've made your point." His head snapped up. "Just eat fast, will you?"
"Why? You're not going to eat?"
"I've lost my appetite, for obvious reasons, Potter," he growled. "You've got what you want. We're going in there, and I'm going to sit at the bloody Gryffindor table. Let's just get this humiliation over with."
With a curt nod, Harry turned on his heel and strode off towards the Hall entrance. This time, Draco fell into step quickly enough that he didn't nearly fall over.
There were whispers and giggles as the boys stepped into the Great Hall. Draco could feel his ears burning red, but Harry didn't pay the least bit of attention to all the commotion. He was quite accustomed to people staring at him, and although he didn't much like it, he knew how to deal with it. Making a beeline for Ron and Hermione, he quickly lowered himself into a seat across from the two of them. Draco hesitated, but with a sigh of resignation, took up a seat to Harry's left.
"Harry!" Hermione greeted him. "We were so worried! I heard what happened." She glowered at Draco, who returned the expression with a sneer.
"I heard the bloke tried to throw you down the stairs, and was too stupid to realize that he was still stuck to you. Are you all right, Harry?"
"Aside from this disgusting growth I seem to have accumulated, I'm fine."
Draco shot him a glare, but Harry ignored him completely and instead began helping himself to the food with his right hand. "Besides," he continued, "it'll be over in about twenty hours. I can survive until then. I may have to soak myself in disinfectant, but I'll survive."
"You watch it, Potter..."
"Wasn't there anything Dumbledore could do? Surely he could...?" Hermione wrung her hands nervously, flicking her eyes briefly at Draco.
"I asked, Hermione. If he could have, I'm sure he would have fixed it." Harry gritted his teeth. "He said that if we tamper with a timed locking charm, it's liable to explode, and I'm kinda fond of my hand, you know."
Ron eyed Draco warily for a moment. "You know, I think I'd risk it. Madam Pomfrey can fix almost anything, you know."
"Don't think I wasn't tempted. I'm still considering it."
Draco looked down at his hand as though it was going to blow up at any second.
"Are you going to flatten him, Harry?" Ron asked hopefully. "I can help. He doesn't look so tough without Crabbe and Goyle around."
Draco glanced desperately over his shoulder to the Slytherin table, and caught sight of Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom were staring at his desperately as though to ask, "What the hell do you want us to do?" It was a tempting thought to just wave them over and turn them loose on the annoyance to whom he was handcuffed, but instead, Draco shook his head slowly. Goyle's jaw dropped in shock and Crabbe slumped dejectedly as Draco turned his head back to the Gryffindor table, not really letting himself see any of it.
"No Ron, we're not going to flatten him," Harry finally answered his friend with a definite tone of disappointment. "Doesn't mean he doesn't bloody well deserve it, of course, but Dumbledore promised me a month detention with Snape if I get into a fight with this prat, so why make a bad situation worse? Right now, I'm starving, so let's ignore it, ok?"
"Ignore it?" Ron asked incredulously. "You're handcuffed to Draco-bloody- Malfoy! How can you ignore it?"
Harry took a large bit out of a roll and spoke around the mouthful. "Easily. Pass the potatoes."
Ron seemed more than a little bit skeptical, but finally conceded and passed Harry the potatoes. The meal passed slowly, and the tension at the table was obvious to everyone, creating much less amusement than Harry had hoped for. The other Gryffindors gave the group a wide berth, and conversation was carefully regulated, with the presence of a Slytherin in their midst. The whole time, Draco said nothing, didn't move, staring sullenly at the table in front of him.
As people started to filter from the Great Hall, a few of them greeted Harry with looks of sympathy. Draco wasn't watching them, but he knew they were staring. He could feel it on the back of his neck, and it was damned uncomfortable. He wasn't used to being a spectacle, that's for sure. For a brief moment, he let himself wonder how the hell Potter could stand it, getting stared at all the time, but he buried the thought as quickly as it had come. Now, he was being stared at, and Potter was receiving looks of sympathy because of him, as though he were a terrible disease Potter had contracted. Where were his looks of sympathy? Wasn't it just as terrible that he was stuck with the bloody Gryffindor as for Potter to be stuck with him? He hadn't asked for this either.
He was just wondering when the torture was going to end when he felt someone standing behind his back. Turning around at the same time as Harry, the boys looked up at Dumbledore, who was standing solemnly with his hands folded into the sleeves of his robe.
"I trust your supper was acceptable?" he greeted them.
"Wonderful," Harry smiled with a false but very convincing levity.
"Just ducky," Draco sulked.
"Very good then." If Dumbledore had caught the undertones from the boys, he completely ignored it. "If you will both follow me now, I will show you to the room I've arranged for you."
Suddenly, Draco decided that staying right there at the Gryffindor table wasn't such a bad option. There were people around, and if Potter decided to kill him, there would be witnesses.
Harry glanced across the table at Ron and Hermione in turn, as though begging for them to do something. Even as he did, he knew that there was nothing they could do. With a meaningful nod, he let them know it was going to be okay, even though he wasn't quite sure of that himself. Ron didn't look the slightest bit convinced, and Hermione was once again wringing her hands, but they both nodded in return.
Slowly, both of the boys stood and followed Dumbledore out of the hall.
***********************************************************************
A/N: Did you read it? Please review it! Only takes a second.
I should have more of this story ready in a couple of days. I'm working on two larger stories as well at the moment, and can't put all my time into just this one. Thanks for reading!
