Chapter 6: The Tower
Harry only realised that Draco had gone after Ron and Hermione said goodbye to him to go have their breakfast in the Great Hall.
*Damn, I better go find him and bring him back before Pomfrey finds out.* he thought, feeling slightly guilty for not having noticed when Draco had slipped out.
He left the room quietly, lest Madam Pomfrey was somewhere nearby. He didn't fancy getting dragged back into bed again.
He shook his head slightly to himself *Honestly, that woman must think we're made of glass or something.*
He looked down both sides of the corridor and tried to figure out which way Draco might have gone.
*He couldn't have gone right, that leads to the classrooms and towards the Great Hall.* Somehow Harry knew that Draco would probably want to be alone, and not surrounded by people.
He looked to the corridor leading to his left, he didn't really know where it led to. It looked kind of dark and a little disused.
*Perfect.*
He made his way down the corridor and came to the end where it forked out in two different directions. One way led to outside and as Harry neared it and nudged the door open, he could see Hagrid's hut in the far distance. There was a little smoke furling out from the chimney. *He must be making breakfast now.* And his stomach growled in response to remind him that he hadn't had his yet.
Harry closed the door and turned back to go the other way, and quickened his pace slightly. Somehow he didn't think that Draco would want to go outside either.
He almost missed it.
Except for a familiar drawl that stopped him in his tracks.
"Going somewhere?"
"Draco!"
He turned and saw that Draco sitting halfway up some stone steps. The steps were leading up a winding staircase, which was buried in the right wall of the long corridor. The stairway had been partially hidden from view from a huge stone statue of a menacing looking gargoyle; so that people passing by the corridor would not likely see it unless they knew it was there.
"What are you doing?" Harry demanded.
"Last time I checked, this was called sitting." Draco said sarcastically. He didn't make any move to stand up, but instead propped his elbows on the steps behind him and leaned back, glaring at Harry.
*Is he mad at me or something?* Harry wondered.
"Why did you leave? Pomfrey will have a conniption when she finds you're not in the room."
"Not to mention the obvious here, but so are you."
"I only left to look for you and drag you back!" he protested.
Draco smirked but he couldn't help feeling a little glad that Harry Potter had came out to look for him.
"And do you really think you could manage that?" he challenged back.
Harry took a step forward closer to Draco, as if to prove that he could.
Draco also chose the same moment to stand up rather suddenly and their noses almost bumped, they were suddenly standing so close.
Neither moved or blinked.
Despite Harry's growing anger at Draco, his heart still managed to jump in his chest slightly at the proximity.
Draco spoke first.
"You seemed pretty busy the last time I checked. It's a wonder you noticed I was gone at all." It was more of a statement, than a question. But something vulnerable flickered over Draco's eyes for a split second when he said it that Harry couldn't ignore.
"Well, I did." he said softly.
Draco acknowledged this silently and stepped back, feeling a little self- conscious all of a sudden.
He nodded but didn't look at Harry, or couldn't, fixing his eyes down the corridor instead. He lifted his right hand and run it through his flaxen hair, swallowing back a small gulp.
Harry felt he should say something; anything to break the awkward silence.
"So. . .where does this lead to anyway?" he asked, looking towards the staircase.
"Oh. Uhm, just a tower." Draco shrugged.
"Really?" Harry took a few steps up and craned his neck to try to see to the top of it.
"You want to take a look?"
"Why not?"
They made their way slowly up and Harry had to gape at what he saw.
The view from the small tower was completely unobstructed by any castle walls. Harry could see most of the school grounds easily. The Dark Forest loomed over to one side, and there was a storm building up from over it, though the rest of the sky was still relatively bright and clear.
"How'd you find this place?" still gaping when he turned to Draco.
"By accident. I was flying around on my broom and it started to rain. I saw the tower and landed on it. Hardly anyone comes here. You know, because the entranceway is quite hidden and all."
"It's great." Harry said, taking in the view again.
"Yeah, I guess it is." He said quietly, trying to see what Harry saw. He'd come up here a few times to be alone after he chanced upon it, but he didn't think it was anything special.
"You know, Hogwarts has a lot of hidden places like these." Draco said, looking at Harry with a slightly puzzled expression.
"I know. I've seen secret rooms, hidden closets, dungeons, but never anything like . . . this! I guess, I just assumed, if it was secret, it had to be. . ."
"What? Dark, spooky and evil?"
"Well, some-thing like that."
Draco was silent for a moment and looked away before he said something so faintly that it was almost carried away by the wind.
"Sometimes good things are hidden too."
Harry heard it and turned to Draco, surprised.
But Draco was looking at the storm which had picked up now. Lightning was flashing, lighting up parts of the Dark Forest.
Suddenly a familiar voice carried faintly through the air. "BOYS!!!"
Draco met Harry's equally wide eyes, "Pomfrey!"
They ran pretty fast for a couple of invalids.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oliver Wood was still angry. Angry that he just came back from Professor McGonogall's office to hear from her that the Quidditch matches between Slytherin and Gryffindor had been moved back until further notice.
*It's bad enough that we're trailing behind them in House points, now this.*
He slammed his cup down a little too violently and several faces turned to him in surprise.
He ignored them.
He frowned as he saw Marcus Flint sitting at the Slytherin table. He was wolfing down his breakfast with as little grace as humanly possible.
*We trained so hard, too. All those afternoons out in the pitch.It's not fair!*
His frustrated thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger; who had just entered and were taking a seat opposite him.
"Morning, Oliver. You don't look so good." Ron said as he reached out for a piece of toast.
"Morning." He grunted back. He didn't feel like talking.
"What's wrong, then?" Ron persisted.
Oliver sighed. Well, everyone would have to know sooner or later, he thought.
"The match with Slytherin is still postponed."
"Yeah, we know." Ron shrugged. Oliver looked at him incredulously.
"You do? How?"
"Harry told us. We just came from the hospital room."
"Oh."
"Yeah, you should visit him. He's quite well enough to receive visitors. Ginny is going soon too, I think."
Oliver didn't hear the rest of this, he was thinking about something.
"Ron, did Harry say anything about what happened that day?"
"No, said he couldn't remember. Why?"
"Nothing." Oliver slumped slightly in his seat, disappointed.
Ron was looking suspiciously at Oliver now.
"You're not still going on about foul play, are you?"
"No." he paused. "Well, so what if I am? People don't just fall off their brooms for no good reason!"
Some of the Gryffindors seated near Oliver who heard this groaned. They'd heard this rant too many times already and were getting a little tired of it. Everyone had been more concerned about the life-and-death situation of the two seekers to really care about how it happened.
Except for Oliver. He just couldn't let go of it.
*Gee, I wonder why...* thought Hermione silently as she turned her head to see Marcus Flint leaving the Hall. Oliver's eyes never strayed from his retreating figure.
*Men.* Hermione rolled her eyes, as she dug into her omelette.
Harry only realised that Draco had gone after Ron and Hermione said goodbye to him to go have their breakfast in the Great Hall.
*Damn, I better go find him and bring him back before Pomfrey finds out.* he thought, feeling slightly guilty for not having noticed when Draco had slipped out.
He left the room quietly, lest Madam Pomfrey was somewhere nearby. He didn't fancy getting dragged back into bed again.
He shook his head slightly to himself *Honestly, that woman must think we're made of glass or something.*
He looked down both sides of the corridor and tried to figure out which way Draco might have gone.
*He couldn't have gone right, that leads to the classrooms and towards the Great Hall.* Somehow Harry knew that Draco would probably want to be alone, and not surrounded by people.
He looked to the corridor leading to his left, he didn't really know where it led to. It looked kind of dark and a little disused.
*Perfect.*
He made his way down the corridor and came to the end where it forked out in two different directions. One way led to outside and as Harry neared it and nudged the door open, he could see Hagrid's hut in the far distance. There was a little smoke furling out from the chimney. *He must be making breakfast now.* And his stomach growled in response to remind him that he hadn't had his yet.
Harry closed the door and turned back to go the other way, and quickened his pace slightly. Somehow he didn't think that Draco would want to go outside either.
He almost missed it.
Except for a familiar drawl that stopped him in his tracks.
"Going somewhere?"
"Draco!"
He turned and saw that Draco sitting halfway up some stone steps. The steps were leading up a winding staircase, which was buried in the right wall of the long corridor. The stairway had been partially hidden from view from a huge stone statue of a menacing looking gargoyle; so that people passing by the corridor would not likely see it unless they knew it was there.
"What are you doing?" Harry demanded.
"Last time I checked, this was called sitting." Draco said sarcastically. He didn't make any move to stand up, but instead propped his elbows on the steps behind him and leaned back, glaring at Harry.
*Is he mad at me or something?* Harry wondered.
"Why did you leave? Pomfrey will have a conniption when she finds you're not in the room."
"Not to mention the obvious here, but so are you."
"I only left to look for you and drag you back!" he protested.
Draco smirked but he couldn't help feeling a little glad that Harry Potter had came out to look for him.
"And do you really think you could manage that?" he challenged back.
Harry took a step forward closer to Draco, as if to prove that he could.
Draco also chose the same moment to stand up rather suddenly and their noses almost bumped, they were suddenly standing so close.
Neither moved or blinked.
Despite Harry's growing anger at Draco, his heart still managed to jump in his chest slightly at the proximity.
Draco spoke first.
"You seemed pretty busy the last time I checked. It's a wonder you noticed I was gone at all." It was more of a statement, than a question. But something vulnerable flickered over Draco's eyes for a split second when he said it that Harry couldn't ignore.
"Well, I did." he said softly.
Draco acknowledged this silently and stepped back, feeling a little self- conscious all of a sudden.
He nodded but didn't look at Harry, or couldn't, fixing his eyes down the corridor instead. He lifted his right hand and run it through his flaxen hair, swallowing back a small gulp.
Harry felt he should say something; anything to break the awkward silence.
"So. . .where does this lead to anyway?" he asked, looking towards the staircase.
"Oh. Uhm, just a tower." Draco shrugged.
"Really?" Harry took a few steps up and craned his neck to try to see to the top of it.
"You want to take a look?"
"Why not?"
They made their way slowly up and Harry had to gape at what he saw.
The view from the small tower was completely unobstructed by any castle walls. Harry could see most of the school grounds easily. The Dark Forest loomed over to one side, and there was a storm building up from over it, though the rest of the sky was still relatively bright and clear.
"How'd you find this place?" still gaping when he turned to Draco.
"By accident. I was flying around on my broom and it started to rain. I saw the tower and landed on it. Hardly anyone comes here. You know, because the entranceway is quite hidden and all."
"It's great." Harry said, taking in the view again.
"Yeah, I guess it is." He said quietly, trying to see what Harry saw. He'd come up here a few times to be alone after he chanced upon it, but he didn't think it was anything special.
"You know, Hogwarts has a lot of hidden places like these." Draco said, looking at Harry with a slightly puzzled expression.
"I know. I've seen secret rooms, hidden closets, dungeons, but never anything like . . . this! I guess, I just assumed, if it was secret, it had to be. . ."
"What? Dark, spooky and evil?"
"Well, some-thing like that."
Draco was silent for a moment and looked away before he said something so faintly that it was almost carried away by the wind.
"Sometimes good things are hidden too."
Harry heard it and turned to Draco, surprised.
But Draco was looking at the storm which had picked up now. Lightning was flashing, lighting up parts of the Dark Forest.
Suddenly a familiar voice carried faintly through the air. "BOYS!!!"
Draco met Harry's equally wide eyes, "Pomfrey!"
They ran pretty fast for a couple of invalids.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oliver Wood was still angry. Angry that he just came back from Professor McGonogall's office to hear from her that the Quidditch matches between Slytherin and Gryffindor had been moved back until further notice.
*It's bad enough that we're trailing behind them in House points, now this.*
He slammed his cup down a little too violently and several faces turned to him in surprise.
He ignored them.
He frowned as he saw Marcus Flint sitting at the Slytherin table. He was wolfing down his breakfast with as little grace as humanly possible.
*We trained so hard, too. All those afternoons out in the pitch.It's not fair!*
His frustrated thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger; who had just entered and were taking a seat opposite him.
"Morning, Oliver. You don't look so good." Ron said as he reached out for a piece of toast.
"Morning." He grunted back. He didn't feel like talking.
"What's wrong, then?" Ron persisted.
Oliver sighed. Well, everyone would have to know sooner or later, he thought.
"The match with Slytherin is still postponed."
"Yeah, we know." Ron shrugged. Oliver looked at him incredulously.
"You do? How?"
"Harry told us. We just came from the hospital room."
"Oh."
"Yeah, you should visit him. He's quite well enough to receive visitors. Ginny is going soon too, I think."
Oliver didn't hear the rest of this, he was thinking about something.
"Ron, did Harry say anything about what happened that day?"
"No, said he couldn't remember. Why?"
"Nothing." Oliver slumped slightly in his seat, disappointed.
Ron was looking suspiciously at Oliver now.
"You're not still going on about foul play, are you?"
"No." he paused. "Well, so what if I am? People don't just fall off their brooms for no good reason!"
Some of the Gryffindors seated near Oliver who heard this groaned. They'd heard this rant too many times already and were getting a little tired of it. Everyone had been more concerned about the life-and-death situation of the two seekers to really care about how it happened.
Except for Oliver. He just couldn't let go of it.
*Gee, I wonder why...* thought Hermione silently as she turned her head to see Marcus Flint leaving the Hall. Oliver's eyes never strayed from his retreating figure.
*Men.* Hermione rolled her eyes, as she dug into her omelette.
