Part Forty-One: Kali's Prediction
It had been an emotional goodbye the next morning between Sirius and Harry as they were dropped off at King's Cross to board the train back to Hogwarts. Harry had promised to write more often and now, more than ever, Harry was thankful for the presence of his godfather in his life. It wasn't a desperate gratitude like he had experienced in his fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament, a shocked gratitude like he had experienced when he first met Sirius, or an intense gratitude like he had experienced during the fifth and sixth year when Voldemort was doing so much killing and Harry felt like everyone was putting their faith in him yet he was powerless to stop it. This was a peaceful gratitude, having the knowledge that Sirius was always there to support him and love him without complications fueling it. This felt more genuine than anything ever had before.
The train ride had been just as pleasant on the way back, though much less eventful, as it had been at the beginning of Easter holiday. Harry was relieved that Hermione wasn't on the train with them as she'd be shouting at them for not studying for the N.E.W.T.s over the holiday. He was sure that she would, anyway, because Draco spent most of the way back with his nose in his Transfiguration notes going on and on about how he was never going to pass. This sentiment made Harry's stomach curl because if Draco didn't pass, Harry had a good chance he would do so badly that even Dumbledore would be disappointed in him.
Upon returning, Lupin helped them get their things packed away in the carriages before they took off for the castle. Harry, Ron, and Kali went straight up to Gryffindor with their things to unpack while Draco went off to Ravenclaw before they met back up for dinner in the Great Hall. Servius and Hermione were sitting together at the Gryffindor table when they arrived and Draco let Padma know he was going to sit with Harry today for dinner before they went over to sit down.
"How was your holiday?" asked Hermione.
"Splendid," replied Harry.
"He and Sirius had a bonding moment," Ron informed them.
"Congratulations, Harry," said Hermione just as Servius said, "A bondage moment?"
Laughing, Harry said, "Thanks, Hermione, and no, Servius. Not a bondage moment. A bonding moment. Like, a heart to heart. I appreciate that bondage comment, though. I feel like I haven't talked about shagging enough lately."
"That's because of me," Draco pointed out. "I'd break up with you if you started talking about other people you fantasize about shagging and I'd go red in the face and refuse to speak to you if you started talking about what you'd like to do to me in bed."
"That's right," said Harry. "I forgot about you."
"Of course you did."
"How were your holidays?" asked Ron.
"I fared off better than Professor Snape," said Hermione, evasively, giving Servius a glare.
"What did you do to my daddy?" demanded Kali.
"I didn't do anything to Uncle Sev," said Servius. "I can't help he didn't want to spend Easter with us."
"Servius lost Hufflepuff over a hundred points refusing to stop following Professor Snape around on Easter day. Most of the time I spent studying, our exams are so close, but Servius just wouldn't leave him alone. I thought I'd lose loads of points for Gryffindor but he only kept yelling at Servius. It was a relief, really."
"Uncle Sev was really unpleasant. I thought he needed cheering up. Uncle Sev, however, seemed to feel differently."
"Felt differently about what, Servius?" said Snape in a silky voice behind them.
"Company at Easter. I was just telling them how you didn't seem to want to spend Easter with me even though I'm so wonderful and such great company, too."
"I see."
"I don't blame you, Professor," said Ron. "I wouldn't want to spend Easter with Servius. I don't even want to eat dinner with Servius but I'm given no choice."
"I appreciate the support, Mister Weasley."
"Sure, Weasley. Smarm up to him. He won't see that at all," said Servius.
"Shut up, Serv. Hi, Daddy," said Kali.
"Hello, Kailah. And how was your holiday without Servius?"
"Pleasant. Honestly, Daddy, I don't know what your problem with Sirius Black is. He was really nice to me and he told me loads of nice things about Momma."
"Don't you get on my case, too. I had to listen to Dru for years trying to coerce me into liking Sirius Black. I've had Dumbledore on my back for years on tolerating Sirius Black. It is very unlikely that you will be the one to make any progress."
"But, Daddy," she protested, "I'm you little girl. That's why I am the only who always seems to get through to you."
"Let's not dwell on that now, Kailah. I'll speak to you later as I plan on eating right now."
"Good Daddy," she said, patting his wrist in an affectionate way as he took off to the Head Table.
Finishing eating, they headed out into the Entrance Hall. Servius and Hermione parted from them, heading for the doors and planning on taking a walk outside before they had to be in their common rooms. Before Kali, Ron, Harry, and Draco could head for the Grand Staircase, however, they were interrupted by Crabbe and Goyle coming out of the Great Hall and, upon seeing them, wicked smirks came across their faces.
"Hey there, Draco," said Crabbe. "How was your holiday?"
"Like fuck you care about my holiday," sneered Draco. "Get the pleasantries over with and why don't you just tell me what the fuck it is that you want?"
"Getting hasty there, Draco," said Goyle in his bad impersonation of Draco's drawl.
"No, just sick of you being every fucking place I turn."
"Language," warned Crabbe. "You don't want any of the professors to hear you talking like that. Not so close to graduation."
"Finally fighting your own battles, though. It's a step up," said Goyle. "So tell us, Draco. We've all been dying to know if it's true."
"Tell you what?" he asked, giving Harry a warning look to stay out of it.
"If you really fell to pieces when you saw a knife. That's what I heard, anyway. You saw a blooming knife and went crying to your brave, Gryffindor boyfriend. Pathetic, really, but I told Crabbe I didn't think it was true. Draco Malfoy never falls to pieces, at least not at something as small and pathetic as that."
Draco's jaw went tight and he refused to answer.
"Come on now, Draco. Tell him it isn't true. He won't believe me when I tell him so."
Swallowing hard, Draco turned away and Harry was pained to see a sheen layer of saline forming, pooling in Draco's eyelids and trying to spill over. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one who saw.
"Draco, are you going to cry? Over something little that?" sneered Goyle. "I suppose that means it is true, then. Well, Crabbe, who bet seven minutes because I had him pegged to last for at least ten before he cried."
"I'm not sure. I'll check when we get back to the dormitory."
"Why don't you just leave him alone?" spat Kali, glaring at them. "He didn't do anything to you."
"Because he's a blooming poof, it's sick and disgusting, and he should die for it," sneered Crabbe. "I don't expect a whore like you to understand."
Kali had to physically restrain Ron from going for his wand.
"I don't know what you're getting so defensive about, Weasel," drawled Goyle. "Everyone knows about your forays in the sack with her. Is it because it makes you wonder how many cocks she sucked before yours?"
Ron's jaw was clenched so tight he couldn't speak and Kali had taken his wand away from him.
"Draco knows he should die," continued Crabbe on the earlier tangent. "You know it, don't you, Draco? You've tried to kill yourself twice now, right? I think that constitutes as being well aware of how worthless your life really is. You're just a waste of flesh, space, and oxygen. A revolting waste at that. Why don't you just do everyone a favor and off yourself? I can't think of many people that would mourn at your passing. You're mother would probably be thrilled."
"Come on, Draco," said Harry, grabbing Draco's arm and yanking him toward the Grand Staircase, now more determined to get him out of there than letting the brawl escalate. Kali was right behind him, guiding Ron away who was still fuming over the comments about Kali before his infamous redheaded temper got away from both him and her. As they walked up the stairs, they could hear Crabbe and Goyle's voices following them,
"Running away now instead of facing the truth?" sneered Crabbe. "So, Draco, this is the person you depend on to save your life. Someone who can't even face reality. Your chances are deplorable at best."
"I don't know why you're so surprised. Draco's been a coward for years. We both know that," Goyle said. "The only difference was that back then, he used to use us to hide behind. Now all he has is Potter and Merlin knows that won't last long."
"Indeed, but I never would have thought a Weasley a coward. They're an embarrassment to the wizarding world, of course, but they do always seem to stand their ground."
"Well what do you expect from him when he's got that Gryffindor slut around?"
"I thought she was a whore," said Crabbe.
"She can't be a bloody prostitute, Vincent. The Weasleys are too dirt poor to afford that."
They had reached the first landing on the staircase and now Harry had to help Kali to restrain Ron because he had almost gotten free on his own. Draco just stood off to the side, arms hugging his torso and his eyes close, his lips mumbling as if saying a silent prayer. From below, still in the Entrance Hall, there was a loud ring of laughter from Crabbe and Goyle. Harry tried to get a stronger grip on Ron when he saw them starting up the staircase. They were coming after them. His eyes darted to Draco, still leaning against a wall, words of his own reassurance on his lips.
"Look at him," said Crabbe, pointing at Draco. "Standing over there like an invalid. He's completely fallen apart. He may was well be up at Saint Mungo's getting fed pudding through a straw. Pathetic."
Draco's eyes flew open as he flattened himself against the wall, looking at them approach with the apprehension in his eyes one usually only sees in caged animals.
"What can you expect?" said Goyle. "It runs in the family. He's pathetic like his Gryffindor slut of a cousin." Ron's body tensed as Goyle leaned toward him and said, "And she is a slut." Straightening back up, he continued. "Pathetic like his father, who actually dared to betray Voldemort. What goes around comes around in the end, though, and he got his. And pathetic like his uncle, whom I'm embarrassed to say is my Head of House and betraying Slytherin for Gryffindor."
Ron, who was still struggling at Goyle's final words, went limp in Harry's and Kali's grasp when Draco, still flat against the wall, stiffened. His eyes had gone hard, dark, and his jaw tight as he stared at the two people who he used to call friends.
"Always have to write off any association with another house as betrayal, don't you?" snapped Draco. "You're too blind, stupid, or both to actually open your eyes and see what's right in front of you. You were always like that. That's why you must have kept me around, seeing as how I'm so piteous. I had to explain to you what was so blatantly obvious to everyone else. If you haven't gotten the memo, Kailah is his daughter. It doesn't make him any less of a Slytherin. If you have a problem with me, keep it with me, but leave my friends and their fathers out of it."
"Touchy about fathers, are we?" said Goyle, stepping too close to Draco for his liking. "I suppose you have a right as you caused your father to have his soul sucked away."
Harry, now, had gone for his wand, but Crabbe got there first, pointing it at Harry, Ron, and Kali, who were still practically on top of each other from the attempts at restraining Ron.
"Don't even think about it," sneered Goyle. "This was supposed to be about Draco, but as you just had to get yourselves involved -"
Goyle never got to finish. Once a good distance away from Ron and Kali, Harry had gone for his wand. It all seemed to happen in slow motion to Draco at the time, but was too quick for him to distinguish when he looked back on it. Harry went for his wand but Goyle had seen him first. In a reaction to snatch Harry's wand from him before he had a chance to do anything with it, he had sunk his meaty fist into Harry's stomach. Stumbling from the impact, Harry had lost his balance and his wand snapped in half just before he lost his footing and went sprawling down the staircase, landing with a sickening thud.
The moment seemed frozen as the five still on the landing stared down at Harry's unmoving body. Hours seemed to have passed as they watched, waiting for him to move, but there was nothing. When the doors to the Great Hall opened and three girls came striding out, it broke the reverie. Upon seeing Harry, one of them gave a small shriek and disappeared back to where they had come from. Ron and Kali rushed down the stairs toward Harry, but Draco, still in shock, turned to Crabbe and Goyle.
"I didn't mean -" started Goyle, but Draco held up a hand.
"Don't even try to talk your way out of this. I don't know what you're trying to pull with me. We used to be friends and this is how you treat me now? Why is it me that you've always got to keep attacking? So my father is in Saint Mungo's. So I used to have a cutting problem. Get off my back. Whatever you're trying to pull with me, it isn't going to work. I'm not about to give you the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart. Grow up and get a life."
Draco only made it halfway down the stairs before Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape came rushing into view, the three girls from a few minutes ago behind them. Dumbledore bent over Harry, turned him over, and that was when Draco saw the blood. Matting the front of his hair and pooling on the floor was a puddle of crimson. It was as if his heart seized up as he saw the pieces of Harry's broken glasses and wand laying beside him, and it was so obvious that all that blood was coming from his head.
Seeing Crabbe and Goyle still at the top of the stairs, McGonagall looked angrier than Draco had ever seen her. She sputtered when she commanded them to come down to her. Having nowhere else to run to as they had to pass the teachers to get to Slytherin, and it wasn't like they had anywhere to hide anyway, Crabbe and Goyle slowly descended, passing Draco halfway down.
"Don't you even dare look at him," Draco hissed when they reached the bottom and Crabbe glanced down at Harry. "You don't deserve to look at him. I swear to Merlin, if you killed him I will hunt you down and kill you with my fucking bare hands."
"Draco," said Lupin, softly.
"I suggest you three go back to your common room," Dumbledore said to the three girls that had gotten the teachers. They cast sympathetic glances at Draco as they passed him on the way up. "Professor McGonagall, please take Misters Crabbe and Goyle to my office. I will meet you there, Professor Snape." Nodding, Snape gave Kali's hand a short, reassuring squeeze before setting off in the direction of Dumbledore's office, following the lead of McGonagall with Crabbe and Goyle. Only Draco, Kali, Ron, Lupin, Dumbledore, and Harry, himself, were left at the scene of the crime.
"I suppose it will be futile to tell any of you to go back to your common rooms," said Dumbledore, smiling kindly at Kali, Ron, and Draco.
"Is he dead?" said Draco.
"No, Mister Malfoy, but he does need to see Madam Pomfrey immediately." Conjuring up a stretcher, Dumbledore began to lead Harry up to the hospital wing.
Draco watched, still frozen on the steps but now able to breathe knowing Harry was still alive, as Dumbledore passed him, Harry floating ahead.
"Come on, Draco," said Lupin, softly, as he came up next to Draco and placed a hand on the small of his back. Draco looked up at him and nodded, drudging beside him.
~*~
"What happened to him?" Madam Pomfrey had asked, shrilly, as Harry was placed on the bed nearest the door.
"He was pushed down the staircase," said Draco, his voice eerily calm.
Madam Pomfrey was horrified. She tried to coax everyone out so she could tend to Harry and only after a great deal of persuasion and a promise by the mediwitch herself that he could spend the night, Draco went out to sit in the hall with Kali and Ron.
"I must now attend to Misters Crabbe and Goyle," said Dumbledore. "Remus, let me know when Poppy is done with Harry. As for you," he now turned to Draco, "please come and see me sometime tomorrow. I believe there are a few loose ends to problems you've been having this year that I think you'll be prepared to tied up?"
Draco nodded. "Yes, sir."
When he had left, all eyes turned to Draco. He had been leaning against the wall, but now had slid down to the floor. His forearms were resting on his thighs and his forehead rested on his forearms. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady.
"Are you okay, Draco?" asked Kali, the first who dared to speak.
"As long as Harry will be," he said. "I can't believe it got to that level. It should have never gotten there."
"It isn't you fault, Draco," said Lupin, now sitting beside him and wrapping an arm around Draco's shoulder.
"I know," he finally replied. "I thought so much was my fault this year, and yet none of it was. I know that now. It wasn't my fault about what happened to my father. It wasn't my fault about what just happened to Harry. I hate that word. Fault. It has so much power to destroy."
Lupin nodded. "Only if you let it."
"I knew they were wrong," said Draco. "They had gone too far. When they attacked Snape. I knew the things they were saying about you, Kailah, were rubbish, but they say things like that. It didn't seem significant. But when they attacked him. It was reaching too far, and if they were trying that hard to get to me . . . everything else they said had to be rubbish, too. It backfired on them."
"You can come in now, Mister Malfoy," said Madam Pomfrey. "He's still out but you're welcome to sit beside him tonight."
"Thanks," said Draco, standing up. Everyone else did along with him.
"Tell him we'll see him tomorrow if he wakes up," said Ron.
"Okay." Draco hesitated, but then wrapped Ron in a hug. Next, he hugged Kali, and finally, Professor Lupin. "Thanks for staying out here with me. I couldn't have made it without your support. Just thinking of him in there . . . it hurts me so much."
"I told you we're here for you whenever you need us," said Ron. "You just have to call us on it."
"Goodnight, Draco," said Kali. They wrapped theirs arms around each other and set off down the hall, away from Draco and toward Gryffindor.
~*~
A sharp pain clenched in Harry's chest when he tried to laugh upon seeing he was in the infirmary of all places. Ron really hadn't been kidding when he insisted Harry take out a membership last year. His face turned to a grimace and he put a hand to the side of his chest, wincing. Casting a glance to the side, a soft smile smoothed out Harry's features. There was Draco, sitting in the chair Harry had so often occupied back in October, sleeping with his head lolled back to expose his pale throat.
A soft whimpering escaped Draco as he shifted in the chair. Harry hated to wake him but the whimpers were coming more often and he didn't look comfortable in that chair at all. Having slept in it a few times himself, Harry was well aware just how uncomfortable it was to sleep in the chair. Had he been in a bed, Harry would have thought Draco would be thrashing by now, which only meant a nightmare. The pain in his chest seized again as he leaned to the side and reached out until he could poke Draco in the side with his index finger.
His entire body gave a slight jump as his eyes popped open. Draco turned to look at Harry, still on his side and looking curiously up at him. His incriminating finger was still stretched out, preparing to poke Draco yet again if necessary.
"You're up," was all Draco said.
"You looked like you were having a nightmare so I woke you."
"Oh. Yeah. Death Eaters."
For Harry, it was a good enough explanation.
"I should go get Madam Pomfrey," said Draco.
"Wait. What happened?"
Draco stared at Harry. "Don't you remember?"
"I remember a fight with Crabbe and Goyle and falling down the stairs. Perhaps there's more to Divination than I thought."
"What?"
"Kali's prediction in class. Someone getting pushed down stairs."
"Oh," said Draco, his face dropping. "That's what Ron and Kali were talking about when they said they wished she hadn't been right."
"Before you go get Madam Pomfrey, can you let me know what's going on? I don't know what happened between then and now."
"Right then. Dumbledore brought you up to the hospital wing. Crabbe and Goyle got sent to his office. McGonagall was so mad she was shaking. Your glasses and wand got broken but Dumbledore had your wand fixed and did your glasses himself, as you should be able to tell with them sitting right there on your face. Madam Pomfrey let me stay here. I think she took pity on me after all my visits to the infirmary this year, both for myself and for friends. I know I said I won't accept pity, but if I get to be with you, I'll deal with it."
"How long have I been here?"
"You've been out for a few days now. Almost a week. You've stirred a few times but Pomfrey keeps giving you dreamless sleep potion before you're fully awake. Says you need your rest."
"What's my diagnosis?"
"Four broken ribs, broken ankle, broken wrist, and you cracked your skull. Among the many bruises marring your skin."
"That good, huh?"
Draco smiled and nodded. "I was just relieved you were in one relative piece. You could have died, Harry. I thought you did die."
Harry grew silent at this, overtaken by the emotion in Draco's voice. "I'm right here, Draco."
"I know, Harry, but - there was so much blood when you fell. Your hair was soaked."
Holding out his hand, Harry motioned for Draco to come sit with him on the bed. Complying, Draco took Harry's hand and sat on the side of his bed, facing Harry and drawing circles on the back of Harry's hand with his free fingers.
"I'm not going anywhere, Draco. Voldemort couldn't take me out and neither are they. I'm not going out like that." Harry gave Draco a big smile. "Now that that's settled, what's happened since then? Anything I should know?"
"I went to Dumbledore the day after . . . he called Blaise and I down there. Since Crabbe and Goyle were caught at the top of the stairs when - you know - Dumbledore figured out that they've been behind everything this year. Blaise affirmed for him that they were the ones who put him in the hospital wing. I confessed that they had been threatening me since January. They confessed to putting the dagger in my bag and pushing you down the stairs. It being so close to graduation, Dumbledore decided not to expel them, but they've been suspended for the rest of the year, which means they have to come back next to repeat seventh year. As for Parkinson, she's got two weeks detention as she was no physical part of any of it."
"That's all settled then." Harry paused, staring at Draco's somber face. "Draco, you know that you didn't cause this, right? It's not because of you that I'm laying in here."
"What?" asked Draco, thoroughly confused that Harry would assume Draco would think such a thing. Then, realization hit him, remembering that Harry had been in this very bed, unconscious, when this revelation came about with Professor Lupin. "Oh. Harry. I forgot you had already fallen down the stairs when I snapped at them."
"What? You snapped at who?"
"Crabbe and Goyle. I was so angry. I don't even remember what I said to them, though I do remember telling them to grow up and that I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me fall apart again. Then, in the hallway, Lupin and I had a chat while Madam Pomfrey was fixing you up. Ron and Kali were there, too. They're wonderful people, Harry. But Lupin was telling me it wasn't my fault but I didn't need to hear it. I knew it already."
Despite the pain in his chest, which Harry now presumed to be his broken ribs, a huge grin broke out on Harry's face. He yanked Draco toward him and pressed his mouth against Draco's.
"You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that," said Harry against Draco's lips.
"You don't know how glad I am to hear you say anything," said Draco.
"You're really okay?"
"For once, yes. I think I really am okay."
"I suppose that means Malfoy is back. I'm glad. I kind of missed him."
"If you're referring to my attitude when swaggering about and thinking I am ruler of all that is pureblood, then no, Malfoy is not back."
"Yes, he is. Only Malfoy would have said something like that to Crabbe and Goyle. I missed the Slytherin in you."
"I'm a Ravenclaw," Draco pointed out.
"Doesn't mean you don't have Slytherin in you. You're always going to be a Slytherin. It's just a title. You have huge amounts of Slytherin in you, Draco. You just chose to showcase them in Ravenclaw. The Sorting Hat is never wrong."
"Does that make you a Slytherin, too?"
"Yeah, so I guess you're in good company."
"I suppose. I still don't think that means my Malfoy side is coming back. He would have never dated you."
"I never said he was coming back the same way he was when he left. Draco, you're older. You're more mature. You've gone through more things. All I'm saying is that spirit for life you have is reemerging from the cocoon you buried it in last year when you tried to kill yourself. The big difference this time, though, is that it isn't cold and detached. It's learned how to be loved."
"Don't you mean it's learned to love."
"Nope. Perhaps it's learned how to accept knowing how to love, but you didn't know how to be loved. Now you do."
Thinking this over, Draco nodded. "I have you to thank for that."
"I love you, Draco."
"I love you, too."
