Chapter Five
"Seamus, I can expliain."
Harry would have given anything at that particular moment in time to just vanish and never come back. Even if it did mean taking Draco Malfoy with him.
For a second, Seamus looked as if he were about to yell out to someone, and call the entire school's attention to harry's plight. Then, with a deep internal battle showing in his face, he shrugged. "Aye, you can probably explain. Start now, and we'll see how far we'll be getting before we get to the Common Room."
Harry sighed with relief and started walking. Seamus came up beside him, deliberately ignoring Draco, who sputtered his indignation at such horrible treatment.
"I had a fight with him yesterday," Harry started, "and Professor McGonagall caught us. Sent us up to Dumbledore."
"So you were there last night," Seamus said with some relief. "For a minute I thought you'd be telling me that you'd stayed in Malfoy's bed!"
"Shut up, Finnegan," Draco said dangerously. "It's probably a lot cleaner than the Gryffindor beds."
Seamus hit him around the back of the head almost casually. Now playing Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, his slap had Draco wincing in pain. "I'm here to listen to Harry's story, not yours, fool," he said firmly.
"Well, Dumbledore cast this spell on Draco and me, and we're pretty much tied together until we learn to trust each other," Harry said miserably.
Seamus whistled; his dark eyes reflected surprise. "That sucks," he said in a low voice. "Why on Earth would you want to trust him?"
"I heard that!" Draco snapped, starting to get really pissed off. What was it with people treating him like he wasn't there? It had never happened to him before. At home he was treated like royalty, and at school, people feared him. It all worked out neatly.
"Are you going to tell anyone?" Harry asked Seamus, slightly desperately.
Seamus thought for a moment, rubbing his snady hair. "No," he said eventually. "But you should. You should tell Ron and Hermione. They're really worried about you, and they don't believe that you were in Dumbledore's office all night."
"Do you?" Harry asked quickly.
"Of course!" Seamus said indignantly. "The only other explanation I could think of would be that you were in the Slytherins dorms." He shuddered.
After a fairly uneventful day, in which they split their time up more or less equally, with Harry attending Potions and Divination, and Draco visiting his Arithmancy and Transfiguration class, and actually eating lunch, they once again found themselves in front of the Slytherin dorms.
"We're not going in there again, are we?" Harry asked desperately. "Look, this will be the second time I haven't been to the dorms. Ron and Hermione will think something's up."
"Do I look like I care?" Draco asked impatiently. Giving the password, he dragged them into the Common Room.
He wandered through saying hello to various people of different years, and they eventually wound up - again - in his dorms. Harry glanced at the bed he now knew to be Draco's and shuddered. I slept in there, he thought, feeling vaguely disgusted and vaguely amused.
"Ok, Potter, here's the deal," Draco said. His voice had an edge to it, like that of someone about to lose all reason. "This has been going on for two days, and we're running into problems that I knew we'd hit. I didn't know I'd miss two meals because of you, and I didn't think about the sleeping situation. But now we have a huge problem."
Harry raised his eyebrows. This wasn't like Draco at all. He didn't deliberate. He was straight to the point, and blunt when he got there.
"What are you on about, Malfoy? It can't be that bad."
Draco took a deep breath. "I'm a clean person, ok, Potter? I like my personal hygeien habits."
"Oh, no," Harry said, knowing where this was going. "No. Don't even - not a word about it."
Draco nodded grimly. "Sorry Potter, but I need to shower before I go insane."
Harry's insides hit rock bottom. The boy behind him was suggesting they shower together? No. It wasn't happening. It couldn't be.
Some distant part of his mind was telling him that he was hysterical, that he'd heard something he just couldn't accept and had gone into denial. The rest of his mind was focues on explaining to Draco, in very clear, very simple terms, exactly why this was a bad idea.
"I mean, Malfoy - just look at this. This is not something you should be doing. We are tied together. If you shower, I shower. I don't want to know about your shower habits. I don't even want to hear about them, much less see them firsthand."
"Look, Potter, this isn't my idea of a good time either," Draco snapped. "But I have already missed numerous showers, and I just can't do it anymore. I feel dirty. Granted, most of that is probably because you're here, but I need to shower."
"No," Harry said firmly. It was all he was capable of. "No."
Outside the room, Blaise Zabini smiled with triumph before slipping quietly down the stairs. Something about his expression was - disturbing.
Once down there, he headed straight for Pansy Parkinson. Her face twisted with hate as she saw him approach.
"Piss off, Zabini. I've got nothing to say to you."
"Pansy, Pansy," Blaise said, holding up his hands in a placating motion. "I know we've had our differences, but I'm truly sorry for that. It was my duty as a student to inform Professor Snape, you know that."
"Duty, my ass," Pansy said. "You did it for your own sick pleasure."
Blaise feigned humility. "I'm wounded that you would even think that, Pansy. But I am truly sorry that the consequences were so drastic. Please, let us put it all behind us. I need a favour."
"A what?" Pansy almost shrieked. "You got me put on a month of in-school suspension, and I was given my own room which has been spelled not to admit anyone else, and Dumbledore told me parents, and you want a favour?!"
"Yes," Blaise said, smiling. "Have you heard the rumours Peeves was spreading about Draco Malfoy? Wel, I think they're true."
He told her what he'd heard last night, and then added the fact that both boys had not been seen at the same time all day, and then related what he'd just heard. When he'd finished, she was wide eyed and a malicious smile was playing about the corners of her mouth. Blaise saw it and grinned.
"So now you see what I'm up to," Blaise said amicably. "You can be in on the fun, too. All you need to do is let me borrow your camera."
*~*~*
Author's Note: Evil Blaise! And to shower or not to shower? Review and find out...
"Seamus, I can expliain."
Harry would have given anything at that particular moment in time to just vanish and never come back. Even if it did mean taking Draco Malfoy with him.
For a second, Seamus looked as if he were about to yell out to someone, and call the entire school's attention to harry's plight. Then, with a deep internal battle showing in his face, he shrugged. "Aye, you can probably explain. Start now, and we'll see how far we'll be getting before we get to the Common Room."
Harry sighed with relief and started walking. Seamus came up beside him, deliberately ignoring Draco, who sputtered his indignation at such horrible treatment.
"I had a fight with him yesterday," Harry started, "and Professor McGonagall caught us. Sent us up to Dumbledore."
"So you were there last night," Seamus said with some relief. "For a minute I thought you'd be telling me that you'd stayed in Malfoy's bed!"
"Shut up, Finnegan," Draco said dangerously. "It's probably a lot cleaner than the Gryffindor beds."
Seamus hit him around the back of the head almost casually. Now playing Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, his slap had Draco wincing in pain. "I'm here to listen to Harry's story, not yours, fool," he said firmly.
"Well, Dumbledore cast this spell on Draco and me, and we're pretty much tied together until we learn to trust each other," Harry said miserably.
Seamus whistled; his dark eyes reflected surprise. "That sucks," he said in a low voice. "Why on Earth would you want to trust him?"
"I heard that!" Draco snapped, starting to get really pissed off. What was it with people treating him like he wasn't there? It had never happened to him before. At home he was treated like royalty, and at school, people feared him. It all worked out neatly.
"Are you going to tell anyone?" Harry asked Seamus, slightly desperately.
Seamus thought for a moment, rubbing his snady hair. "No," he said eventually. "But you should. You should tell Ron and Hermione. They're really worried about you, and they don't believe that you were in Dumbledore's office all night."
"Do you?" Harry asked quickly.
"Of course!" Seamus said indignantly. "The only other explanation I could think of would be that you were in the Slytherins dorms." He shuddered.
After a fairly uneventful day, in which they split their time up more or less equally, with Harry attending Potions and Divination, and Draco visiting his Arithmancy and Transfiguration class, and actually eating lunch, they once again found themselves in front of the Slytherin dorms.
"We're not going in there again, are we?" Harry asked desperately. "Look, this will be the second time I haven't been to the dorms. Ron and Hermione will think something's up."
"Do I look like I care?" Draco asked impatiently. Giving the password, he dragged them into the Common Room.
He wandered through saying hello to various people of different years, and they eventually wound up - again - in his dorms. Harry glanced at the bed he now knew to be Draco's and shuddered. I slept in there, he thought, feeling vaguely disgusted and vaguely amused.
"Ok, Potter, here's the deal," Draco said. His voice had an edge to it, like that of someone about to lose all reason. "This has been going on for two days, and we're running into problems that I knew we'd hit. I didn't know I'd miss two meals because of you, and I didn't think about the sleeping situation. But now we have a huge problem."
Harry raised his eyebrows. This wasn't like Draco at all. He didn't deliberate. He was straight to the point, and blunt when he got there.
"What are you on about, Malfoy? It can't be that bad."
Draco took a deep breath. "I'm a clean person, ok, Potter? I like my personal hygeien habits."
"Oh, no," Harry said, knowing where this was going. "No. Don't even - not a word about it."
Draco nodded grimly. "Sorry Potter, but I need to shower before I go insane."
Harry's insides hit rock bottom. The boy behind him was suggesting they shower together? No. It wasn't happening. It couldn't be.
Some distant part of his mind was telling him that he was hysterical, that he'd heard something he just couldn't accept and had gone into denial. The rest of his mind was focues on explaining to Draco, in very clear, very simple terms, exactly why this was a bad idea.
"I mean, Malfoy - just look at this. This is not something you should be doing. We are tied together. If you shower, I shower. I don't want to know about your shower habits. I don't even want to hear about them, much less see them firsthand."
"Look, Potter, this isn't my idea of a good time either," Draco snapped. "But I have already missed numerous showers, and I just can't do it anymore. I feel dirty. Granted, most of that is probably because you're here, but I need to shower."
"No," Harry said firmly. It was all he was capable of. "No."
Outside the room, Blaise Zabini smiled with triumph before slipping quietly down the stairs. Something about his expression was - disturbing.
Once down there, he headed straight for Pansy Parkinson. Her face twisted with hate as she saw him approach.
"Piss off, Zabini. I've got nothing to say to you."
"Pansy, Pansy," Blaise said, holding up his hands in a placating motion. "I know we've had our differences, but I'm truly sorry for that. It was my duty as a student to inform Professor Snape, you know that."
"Duty, my ass," Pansy said. "You did it for your own sick pleasure."
Blaise feigned humility. "I'm wounded that you would even think that, Pansy. But I am truly sorry that the consequences were so drastic. Please, let us put it all behind us. I need a favour."
"A what?" Pansy almost shrieked. "You got me put on a month of in-school suspension, and I was given my own room which has been spelled not to admit anyone else, and Dumbledore told me parents, and you want a favour?!"
"Yes," Blaise said, smiling. "Have you heard the rumours Peeves was spreading about Draco Malfoy? Wel, I think they're true."
He told her what he'd heard last night, and then added the fact that both boys had not been seen at the same time all day, and then related what he'd just heard. When he'd finished, she was wide eyed and a malicious smile was playing about the corners of her mouth. Blaise saw it and grinned.
"So now you see what I'm up to," Blaise said amicably. "You can be in on the fun, too. All you need to do is let me borrow your camera."
*~*~*
Author's Note: Evil Blaise! And to shower or not to shower? Review and find out...