Title: Human Behavior
Author:Orenji Kaniku
Spoilers: SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, and OotP
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Warnings: Strong Language, slash, and homosexual prejudice
Challenge: Part of the Ebony and Ivory Challenge #:11. Voldemort never existed, Harry's parents didn't die, and Harry was sorted into Slytherin. (Lirren), 1. A.U. Harry's sorted into Slytherin and falls for his best friend, Draco Malfoy. (Minnie), 93 Draco can't cope with that fact that he's attracted to Harry. (Carawen)
Betas: Yami27, Liger, ChildOfSwords, and my little sister, Monkey4hirenb.
Notes: This story is written in British English. Words like, "shit" are spelled as "shite". It's not a mistake, I swear. I don't know why it's like that, but it's how I was taught. "Berk", is a woman's nether regions, it's basically the worst swear you can call anyone. Equivalent to the American "fuck"? Any questions about the words you have I'll be happy to answer if you need to e-mail me.
"If you ever get close to a human
And human behaviour
Be ready to get confused
There's definitely no logic
To human behaviour"- Bjork, Human Behavior
Chapter One: Hesitation
---------------------------------
(1991, September)
"Harry! Darling you're going to be late!" Lily Potter called up the stairs, one hand holding a black bag with a few of Harry's favorite things while the other held onto the ornately carved ball at the end of the stairs. She and her husband were so proud that Harry had gotten into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the very same school they had graduated with honors from years before. She ran a hand through her long red hair and sighed, checking her watch. "James did you pack all of his things in his trunk?"
James Potter, a rather tall and thin man was dragging a trunk by the handle with both hands, his ears turning red underneath his messy black hair. "Yes, dear. His school uniform, pictures of you, and extra socks and kecks. For goodness sakes Lily, he's going to school, not to deactivate land mines in Cambodia." He chuckled, hazel eyes twinkling mirthfully.
"That's not funny." She said before yelling once more, "Harry James Potter!"
"I'm coming Mum! Hold it down!" Harry, age eleven, hurried down the stairs with his new pet, Hedwig. She was a snowy-white owl, with lovely yellow eyes, and had been perched on his shoulder since she'd arrived from his godfather, Sirius Black, two days ago."Where are Uncle Sirius and Remus?"
"They're going to meet us at the station if we're not late!" Lily exasperated. She always had to be the punctual one and always on time. She grabbed her son's hand and they made their way to the fireplace next to the kitchen. Harry made a sound in the back of his throat, Lily looked down to his matching green eyes. "What's the matter, dear?"
"We can travel with all of that stuff?"
"It's been done before," James winked, taking a handful of Floo Powder from a lovely azure ceramic pot that was always placed on a black metal stand. He stepped into the dead fireplace, the big trunk following him after he had cast a mobilis charm on it. He shrunk the trunk and placed it in his pocket before yelling quite clearly, "King's Cross Station!"
Harry watched as his father was engulfed in the green flames, green like his mother's eyes. He never liked to travel by Floo powder. He didn't mind getting dirty, but the soot from the fireplaces took ages to get out of your clothes unless you had a good Scouring Charm; his mother always cast a few as soon as they were to their desired destination.
They traveled quick and fast after arriving through King's Cross extremely busy Floo Powder network. Juggling Harry's school things and debating with his mum whether or not to take the bag that she packed for him, they made it to the platform.
"It's full of things to do on your ride. It can get awfully boring."
"Mum, people are looking!" Harry whispered, his eyes moving to the side where a couple was standing with their own eleven-year-old child. He was sickly pale with a pointy face and white-blonde hair. His eyes were grey, kind of pretty actually. Lily turned her gaze to where her son was pointing with his eyes and frowned.
She never got along with Narcissa in school. James made what sounded like a gag behind his hand and smiled, "Lucius Malfoy, howdy-do?"
Lily held her son close and nodded her head, "Narcissa." She didn't like either of them, but her mother taught her at a very young age to treat people with the respect that you would want to be treated with yourself. It was something that she passed on to Harry at an early age as well.
Harry was studying Lucius and Narcissa's son with extreme interest. "I'm Harry Potter." He held out his hand and smiled softly. The blonde boy raised an eyebrow questioningly as if he'd never been offered a handshake before. Sirius liked to shake hands with Harry all the time, said he had a good grip for a boy as young as he.
"Don't be rude, boy." Lucius said softly, though his stern message was still evident.
"Draco Malfoy." Draco took Harry's hand gently and almost snapped at him when his grip was a bit more than he would have liked. He looked at Harry and knew instantly that he hadn't meant to hurt him.
The train gave a whistle and suddenly both boys found themselves engulfed in their mother's arms.
"Harry, send Hedwig back with a message as soon as you've settled down." Lily kissed him gently on the forehead, "I know you'll have a good time. Hogwarts is one of the best schools. I know that you'll behave yourself. . ." She shot James an inquisitive look. He laughed and slugged his son in the arm.
"WAIT!" Sirius was running through the crowd with a hand on his head to keep his hat from blowing askew and Remus barley keeping up with him. "Dear Harry hasn't said good-bye to his uncles yet," Both men knelt in front of Harry, smiling and panting. "Didn't think you'd leave without getting a good-bye from me, did you?" He hugged the boy tightly; Harry felt as if his godfather squeezed out every breath he had left in him.
Draco muttered a goodbye to his father, hugged his mother quickly, and made his way to the train. He turned back and almost envied the Harry Potter he had just met. He looked so happy.
What Harry didn't know was that Sirius had slipped a little bag of jokes from Gambol and Japes into the black bag his mother had given him for the train.
Remus handed Harry a large bar of his favorite dark chocolate and a novel, "To pass the time."
"Harry, I'd suggest getting on the train. It's going to leave without you." Draco called from over his shoulder.
"Mum, I have to go. I love you!" He hugged her midsection; he was not yet tall enough to reach her neck. She blinked back a few tears and stood next to James, they shook hands like gentlemen departing a meeting before they too engaged in a quick hug. "I love you!" Harry said to his father.
"I love you more."
"Bye Uncle Sirius! Bye Uncle Remus!"
"Get on with it!" Sirius shook the boy's hand and winked, "Got you a few presents in that sack of yours."
"Harry Potter, get a move on!" Draco yelled. His blonde head was halfway out of a window and he was glaring fiercely at him.
"Bye Draco, have a good trip!" Lily called, waving gently. She smiled when Draco blushed and waved quickly before pulling his head back in. "He's a good kid. I can tell."
"Mother's intuition?" Remus asked staring at the train, trying to find a sign of Harry anywhere.
"Women's intuition," Before James could comment, she held up a finger, "Not a word, James."
"Right-o." He hugged his wife tightly and they walked as far as they could with the train, watching as their only son left for a school.
-----
Harry boarded the train without looking back at his family. He hadn't realized how much he would miss them until he had to put Hedwig with the other pets and couldn't find a seat. He knocked softly on each door until he gave up and just stood in the corridor with his arms crossed over his small chest, the black bag on his back serving for a pillow. He was nervous. The longest he'd ever been away from his mum and dad had been a week when Sirius and Remus took him camping and fishing outside of Muggle London. They didn't catch a thing but they had a great time.
"Never been away from home?"
Harry jumped and turned around, bumping into an equally small chest. Thank God. Harry didn't know how he would have reacted if he bumped into a second year or worse, a seventh year.
"Watch it!"
Harry pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and gave a weak smile. "Sorry Draco. No, I haven't been away from home completely. It's always been a home away from home." He brushed imaginary hairs from his jumper and leaned against the window.
"You'll get used to it. Give it a few days." Draco said before turning away to return to where his seat was.
"Wait!"
Draco stopped and asked, "What?" Without turning.
"Do you have an open seat?" Harry asked, staring at the back of Draco's plastered head. He wanted to laugh, but if he did he might have to stand the whole way to Hogwarts.
"Follow me."
-----
The first years arrived to Hogwarts and made a very crooked line of first years in between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. The bravest dared to catch peeks of their schoolmates. Harry was idly looking around the Great Hall and tugged on Draco's sleeve, pointing at the ceiling which was very starry with only a few clouds roaming free. "Look!"
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." A girl with bushy brown hair whispered, smiling. Obviously she was enjoying the new experience as well.
"Interesting," Harry commented politely.
"Oh shove off. We've got a know-it-all here, Harry. Hogwarts, A History, really." Draco huffed, turning back around.
"Don't mind him, he's just grouchy." Harry said touching the girl's arm gently. "He didn't mean it."
"Granger, Hermione!" the girl with the bushy hair inhaled sharply and clenched her fists.
"Don't be scared." Harry whispered. She smiled at him and went to take her seat underneath the Sorting Hat held by the witch he learned earlier was Professor McGonagall.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Now you can read my mind?" Draco hissed.
"Malfoy, Draco." The tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes called; she'd been reading from a very long scroll. Her stern face searched the crowd for Draco. Harry shoved him forward a bit and smiled.
"I know you're scared!"
"I hate you." Draco managed to whisper before making his way to the front with the Sorting Hat. Had Harry been paying attention the whole time he wouldn't have been surprised when the hat suddenly yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Draco smirked and set off to the table farthest on the left where he was greeted with friendly pats on the back and welcomes.
"Potter, Harry!"
Harry suddenly felt the need to go to the loo. He gave a helpless look towards Draco who mouthed, "Scared?" He glared at the blonde who sniggered and set a determined pace towards the stool.
"SLYTHERIN!" Harry felt his heart leap up to his throat as he jumped from the stool and all but ran to the Slytherin table right next to Draco. The blonde arched an eyebrow and barley withheld a smile.
"What are you so happy about? Don't you know that every witch or wizard who went bad were in this house?"
"You looked pretty happy to be sorted into this house." Harry said resting his chin on his palm.
"Shut up."
"Be nice," Harry chided, "Honestly. . . you've been in a mood all day."
"I just don't like people, okay?"
"Well, you seem to like me just fine. . ."
"The feast is getting ready to start, Harry"
-----
They were taken to their dormitories soon after they were finished eating. Harry wasn't surprised to find his things already in his corner of the room by the window. Draco was across the little room. Within talking distance naturally, but it was further away from his new friend than he would have liked.
Draco was changing quickly behind his bed, out of Harry's eyesight.
Harry hummed a ditty and looked out the window as he changed into a pair of boxers and his favorite T-shirt. Hedwig chirped affectionately when he finally set out the little napkin full of cold cuts that he had taken from the Great Hall before the feast was over with. Draco, in his black satin pajama pants and matching button-up shirt leaned against the bedpost and hesitated before saying, "Nice owl."
Harry beamed and shoved his glasses up his nose, "Thanks, her name is Hedwig. I named her."
"I can tell." It wasn't meant as an insult or to be mean, Draco couldn't take the malice out of his voice. It had been so long since he had a friend that wasn't a thirty-year-old in an eleven-year-old's body. Everyone at home, Wiltshire to be exact, were so proper because those were the kind of people that Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy wanted to raise their only child around. He needed to learn poise, dignity, propriety, and distinguish for himself who he should and shouldn't associate with. Meaning if you weren't a full-blooded wizard you weren't worth speaking to. Harry Potter's mother was a Muggle; Draco had heard his mother talking to her odious sister, Bellatrix, about the tainted wizards and witches. It didn't strike Draco as rude when she said it, but now it made him wonder whether or not everything he'd been taught was wrong.
Harry's mother reeked of strong magical powers. Certainly more so than both of his parents.
"I'm going to bed," Draco said suddenly, sliding beneath the silk forest green covers and ignoring Harry when he bid him goodnight.
Harry pet Hedwig gently on the head and slid into bed, and drawing the curtains closed he pulled out his wand, ink, and parchment from the black bag that his mother packed for him. He also pulled out a brown paper bag. Harry beamed, remembering that Sirius had given him a present. Harry nearly cried out when he pulled out a pair of cards that started shuffling themselves almost immediately. There was also an assortment of Stink Pellets, Dung Bombs, and a Nose-Biting Teacup.
"Thanks, Sirius. . . I think."
September 1, 1991
Mum and Dad,
I am writing to you when I settled down just like you asked. I was sorted into Slytherin. Draco said that there was not a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in this house. I was kind of disappointed that I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor because that is the house you, Uncle Remus, and Uncle Sirius were in when you were at Hogwarts. I hope you're not disappointed. I'm glad though that I'm here with Draco, remember the quiet blonde boy at King's Cross Station?
He seems very sad and very grown up. I think we're friends, but he's so cold. It's okay though, the world is full of different people. I can't expect them all to be warm and kind like the people I know now. I love you very much. Tell Uncle Remus and Sirius I said, "Hello."
Bye then,
Harry
-----
October 3, 1992
Harry,
I'm very glad you talked Draco into coming over before school started. He looks as if he's doing well. Very polite boy. Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Draco who was busy reading The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Mirando Goshawk and scrawling notes in his notebook with a look of pure concentration. Hard to believe this boy could make Sixth years cry. "'Polite boy' indeed, mum." At any rate, Christmas is coming up and I'd wonder if he wasn't doing anything if you could talk him into coming by with you. Nothing bad can stay in the mind with the Potters. What do you say? Oh, and do keep warm, Harry. I know you hate it when I worry, but you need to be careful. I love you very much. Uncle Remus, Father, and Uncle Sirius send their love.
Bye then,
Mum
-----
(1992, October)
"Mudblood," Draco hissed, Hermione and her friend had turned the hallway with their books in hand. Hermione froze, almost dropping her books and turned to face Draco, near tears.
"What did you call me?"
"A Mudblood. Are you so blemished that you can't even hear me correctly?" Draco antagonized. He didn't even know what had provoked him to start this harassment in the first place. He had heard his mother and father talking about Mudbloods almost all summer until he went to see the Potters two weeks before school like he had done since first year. It was in his system and there was no way for it to get out.
"Stop it!" Hermione's friend, the pudgy and sensitive Neville Longbottom cried. He was still holding his books with one hand and clenching his thick fists in anger.
"What are you going to do? I've seen you in Charms, Longbottom. You couldn't hex me even if I directed you through every procedure necessary."
Neville's brow furrowed with anger and embarrassment.
"Leave him alone!" Hermione shrieked, immediately forgetting her own persecution.
Harry was wandering through the halls, trying to remember the correct ingredients for Professor Snape's Swelling Solution and the antidote, the Deflating Draught. All he could remember were the mandrakes. He didn't think they were something you could really forget. He scratched his ear in pure nervous bewilderment and stopped.
"Densaugeo!"
"Crikey!" Harry began to run down the corridor until he ran right into the back of Draco. He knew it was Draco because he could smell the cologne Narcissa had bought Draco for his birthday last year; he thought it smelled like incense. "Draco?"
Hermione was in tears. Neville was holding stiffly to his wand, and when Harry turned Draco around to look at him, he couldn't tell whether he wanted to laugh or worry about him.
"He called me a Mudblood and said Neville couldn't hex him even if he were to instruct him and it just went from there." Hermione blubbered; her feelings were hurt and she was overwhelmed with the warm empathy for Neville, for she knew Snape would not let this go unnoticed; he was very protective over his Slytherins. She only wished she were the one to think of the teeth-growing curse. Honestly, she didn't know how Harry Potter got sorted into the Slytherin house, or why he was friends with Draco Malfoy. They were complete opposites.
"Are you both okay? Physically?" Harry asked, scanning them over.
They nodded.
Draco was near tears and he was trying to shout curses at them, his wand raised and aimed right at Hermione rather than Neville. Harry took the wand away from Draco and turned to his friends once more, "Go to Professor McGonagall and tell her what happened. I'm going to take him to Madam Pomfrey- STOP MOVING DRACO!"
Draco was angry. He didn't like being in Harry's arms, nor did he like being hexed.
"Stop moving Draco!"
"Ef gon'tch gneed ger elp!"
"I don't care if you don't need my help you big ferret. I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey whether you like it or not." Harry's hands clutched tighter to Draco's robes so that he found it quite fruitless to keep struggling against him.
"Gine." Draco muttered; his teeth were passed his collar. He made no attempt to cover them up because it seemed to make them grow even faster. He looked at Harry's profile, his jaw was set, like he was trying not to say something. Harry's unruly black hair fluttered softly as they walked passed the empty classrooms to the Hospital Wing.
"Harry are you feeling ill ag- oh my," the middle-aged nurse took Draco from Harry's arms and set him on the bed. "A bit of a shrinking potion should do the trick."
Harry waited for her to ask what had happened but she didn't. Draco choked down the potion and Harry waited outside the screen on a chair, picking at lint on his robes. "Can you talk now?"
"I dohn't vant to talk to vu."
"Too bad. Why did you call her that?" Harry asked, glaring at the silhouette of Draco's head from behind the privacy screen, wishing he had something to bash him over the head with. "Why did you say those things to Neville?"
"Vecause ish vhat she is and ish froo-"
"I don't want to hear your load of cock and bull, Draco. What in the hell is your problem? My mother isn't a full-blooded witch. Are you going to call her that too? Is that what you think she is? Is that what you think I am?"
Draco laid down on his cot and curled up against the extra pillow Madam Pomfrey had given him. He always needed something to curl up against at night so that he wouldn't feel lonely.
"Well? Are you going to answer me? I'd really like to hear what you have to say." Harry was getting very angry now. "You know what? I don't even want to hear it!"
Draco listened to Harry's footsteps trail away and closed his eyes when Harry shut the door.
"Chocolate?" Madam Pomfrey offered.
"Ves, pvleaf," Draco took the little pieces of chocolate and fit them around his large two front teeth and chewed thoughtfully.
-----
When Draco finally went to the dorm, the boys were all asleep. Harry's drapes were closed but Draco knew he wasn't asleep.
"I don't think you're a Mudblood."
Harry rolled his eyes, but he didn't move or talk.
"I just don't like Granger or Longbottom. I never have. Do you ever just get the feeling that you don't like someone but you don't know why? No, I guess not. Your mum probably raised you to treat everyone as you would like to be treated, didn't she?" Draco laughed humorlessly and began to undress for bed. "I'm not nice because I don't have to be. I find no prospect in being nice so I don't waste time with it. It's as simple as that. You can be my friend, that's fine. I don't mind your friendship but I'm not going to bend over backwards just because you have more than one friend and they can't take my criticism."
This time, Harry did sit up and pull the curtains back. Draco was pulling on a pair of pajama pants, Harry's nose was running because he hadn't been feeling well. He sniffed, startling Draco into whirling around and catching hold of his bedpost to keep from tripping.
"Are you crying?" Draco asked in disbelief.
"No, I'm sick."
"I barley saw you six hours ago, Harry."
"Sinuses," Was this concern that he heard in Draco's voice? Be still my beating heart, Harry thought humorously
Draco shrugged and leaned against his bed. "I'm not sorry for calling her that, you know?"
"I don't expect you to be." Harry muttered turning back around.
"Can I have my wand back?" Draco asked, holding out his hand expectedly.
"No, you really pissed me off."
"I'll tell Professor Snape."
"You go right ahead and tell him," Harry sniffed indignantly.
"I'm serious, Harry, give me the wand."
"NO."
"IT'S MINE!" Draco leapt onto the bed and tried to reach under the pillow where he knew Harry was keeping it. The other boys were waking up. Gregory Goyle was groaning with irritation and hurled a pillow at the both of them.
"Shut your gob! I'm trying to get some sleep!"
"SHUT UP GOYLE!" They both yelled.
"Give it to me!"
"No! Gerroff me!" Harry screamed, his legs trying in vain to kick Draco off of him. It was effortless and he clamped his mouth onto Draco's arm, which had been slithering towards his pillow for the wand.
"You just bit me!" Draco yelled. He reared his head back and bit Harry on the neck, the first available patch of skin he could reach.
Gregory Goyle, Naiara Amarillo, Vincent Crabbe, and Oakley Preston were sitting up in their beds completely awake by now with looks of what could have been amusement or annoyance or both.
"Fancy a flutter on Harry," Naiara whispered.
"A sickle on Draco." Crabbe said with pride. His mother had sent him a sickle because he had asked Marcus Flint to bring him back a bag of sweets when he went to Hogsmeade; he was most fond of the licorice wands.
Goyle chuckled, "Two on him."
"I don't know, Draco has a mean kick," Oakley said before adding, "Not that I know or anything."
"GIVE ME THE GODDAMN WAND!"
Harry wiggled out of Draco's headlock and scrambled for the door into the empty common room. Draco followed, as did the other boys in their dorm room. Draco hurled a book he found on the desk, sending it crashing into a candle and onto the stone floor.
"Are you going to keep making fun of my friends?" Harry asked holding the wand tightly in his right fist.
"YES!"
"I'm not giving it to you until you give me your word that you will not call anyone that name ever again. It's rude and downright mean," Harry said calmly studying the wand. "You don't really have a choice, wands do happen to burn in fires you know. . ." To further prove his point, Harry inched the wand over the dying flames.
Slytherin, indeed.
"FINE!"
"Why are you still up?" a soft velvety, but equally menacing voice asked from behind them. Harry jumped at the sight of the Slytherin Headmaster and dropped the wand.
"Shite!" Harry yelled, almost diving into the fireplace to save the wand.
"SHITE!" Draco cursed, running towards both Harry and his wand.
"Accio wand," Snape called calmly, the wand flung itself into his hand, "Impedimenta!"
Harry was shaking, frozen over the flames. Draco grabbed his arm and pulled him back and shoved him onto the black leather chair nearest them. "You're a berk!"
Harry had not yet composed himself. Snape, in his normal black robes rose an eyebrow. "Boys, you're twelve years old. Is there really such a need for language like that? What is going on?"
"He called my friend a Mudblood-"
"She is!"
"SHUT UP!"
"YOU STARTED IT!"
"ENOUGH!" Snape roared, both boys froze and looked at him with eyes as wide as saucers. "Now, clearly I cannot leave you two alone without trying to work at some kind of mischief. I heard about the event earlier today concerning your teeth, Mr. Malfoy-"Draco blushed. "Now, I don't like having to referee petty fights, but I dislike inconsequential name calling even more."
"Inconsequential! Did you not hear what he called her?" Harry yelled hotly, "He might as well have called her a fucking Mudblood!"
"Silence! As much as I'd hate to I'm getting dangerously close to taking a point away from this house for your cheek, Potter," Draco shot Harry a glare. He wanted to win the House Cup almost as badly as Harry. "You had better settle your diffrences quickly and quietly or I'll be forced to take action. Go to sleep. It's near midnight, all of you." Snape said curtly, turning to look at the awakened students who were lined up on the stairs and the corridors leading separately to the boy and girl's dormitories.
Draco took his wand gingerly from Snape and they walked silently to their beds with the rest of their housemates, none of which dared to ask either what had happened.
"You owe me a sickle. Draco got his wand back." Crabbe whispered to both Goyle and Naiara. They looked at each other and back at him,
"You never said anything about Professor Snape stepping in, no one won. We owe you nothing."
"Botheration."
"I can't believe you bit me." Draco said, putting his wand protectively underneath his pillow once they were in their dorm rooms. In all honesty, he was kind of proud of Harry for ruthlessly fighting with him. It was fun.
"Slytherin." Harry sang, sinking into his bed gratefully.
Draco smiled softly and fingered his wrist where Harry had bitten him.
-----
(1993, November)
Harry had been in Madam Pomfrey's care for more than two weeks. The Witch Nurse didn't seem to let Harry stay conscious for more than an hour at a time with her various potions and Snape's sporadic surveillance.
Draco came in after lunch when he was supposed to be in his Potion's class. He set his bag by the door and took a seat by Harry who was –surprise, surprise- sleeping.
"Wake up," He poked Harry's side with the tip of his wand. "Harry!" Harry groaned and turned his back to Draco. "That was intentional."
Harry's back trembled and he heard a splat on the ground. Draco stood immediately from his chair and cleared his throat. "Ah, well. . . I'll get Madam Pomfrey."
"Don't go." Harry said, his voice so soft Draco had thought he imagined it. "Rub my back, please? Mum does it when I get sick." Draco would have given him a smart remark about how he wasn't Harry's mum, nor did he think she asked to be his mother or to rub his back when he retched all over the floor, but he didn't. Very reluctantly did Draco sit on the bed and lay his hand over Harry's back. His hand moved violently with Harry's back as the boy retched again. Draco watched Harry's face turn red with strain and for once in his life he was sorry he had to see him like this. Whenever Harry got sick he never visited him in the Hospital Wing as he had today. He usually waited it out, no matter how long it was.
"The first Quidditch match is over," Draco said, trying to make small talk. The room was quiet with so few patients. Harry and a Ravenclaw Seventh year, Jaclyn Soliel.
"Who won?"
"Slytherin, naturally. I can't believe you have to ask me that." Draco smiled when Harry's back shook with light laughter.
"Harry- Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey almost dropped the vial of green potion freshly brewed from the look of the steam rising from the top. With her free hand she shook a finger at him. "You should know full and well that I don't allow free visits in my Hospital Wing! Why aren't you in class?"
"I came to see how my friend was doing and to give him his Potion's homework. Please, don't let me interrupt what disgusting concoctions you plan to shove down his throat at the moment. I'm sure he'd rather talk to you than me. . ." Draco drawled, getting up and leaving, but not before squeezing Harry's shoulder.
"Mr. Malfoy come back here immediately! I'll have you know I'll talk to Professor Snape about this!"
"Go ahead." Draco called out before shutting the door.
Madam Pomfrey let out a squeal of frustration before setting Harry up so she could force him to drink. "Honestly, that boy. . ."
"Is a puzzle, I know." Harry smiled.
-----
Hedwig flew through the open window and onto Draco's desk, where he had been writing an essay on werewolves.
"Hi, Hedwig." He took the parchment attached to her leg and sighed with relief. He'd been working on the essay for a little more than two hours. Two feet of parchment, really. . . Quirrell had gone mad.
Draco,
Come pick me up. Madam Pomfrey says I can leave.
Harry
"Thanks, bird," Draco ran a hand through his hair and ignored Hedwig's offended chirps.
-----
Draco marched into the Hospital Wing with a big smile on his face and plans to drink the Ogden's Old Firewhisky his father had sent him, just because. He ignored Madam Pomfrey's glares. Draco had been sent to detention where he wrote, "I will not disrespect the school nurse.", a hundred times and helped Professor Snape with the batches of Pepperup Potion he'd promised Madam Pomfrey. He had a good time actually. A couple days of detention with Snape was a fair price to pay for telling Madam Pomfrey, he thought. He'd had fun during both events.
"Well Harry, this makes your sick leave a grand total of two weeks and three days. Honestly. . . spanner, you are." Draco honestly thought Harry looked like crap. He'd lost weight from throwing up anything he was brave enough to eat and he was pale from being hidden underneath thick blankets all day.
"You better be glad I'm feeling good," Harry warned, taking hold of Draco's arm.
"This is good?"
"Shut your gob."
They made it back to the dormitory in one piece. Harry was too tired to keep up a good argument with Draco so they just walked to the dungeons in silence.
-----
"Thank you."
Draco frowned and pulled back the covers. "For what?" He rolled Harry onto the bed and tucked him in as gently as Mrs. Potter did to them when he stayed over during the summer break. They would eat watermelon and camp in Muggle England. Draco had even taken a liking to hamburgers, which his own mother never let him eat because cows were a "lowly creature". He had grown farther and farther away from his family the more he spent time with the Potters.
"For taking care of me," Harry reached for Draco's wrist and held onto him until he relaxed into sleep. Harry had forgotten to take off his glasses again.
"I should let you break them in your sleep," Draco murmured, taking them off with his free hand and setting them on the nightstand by the bed. He crawled into bed with the other boy, not wanting to take his wrist out of reach. He murmured a spell, closing the curtains to his bed curtains so that the other boys would think he had turned in early and was in his own bed. It wasn't yet dinnertime and no one was in the common room except a paranoid first year, Maddox Hamilton, who was busy reading study guides and hadn't even noticed them walk in.
Draco laid down on his side and wiggled until he was comfortable. "In any other circumstance I would have been glad to yank my wrist out of your grip and woken you up," He whispered, "You're lucky I like you as much as I do."
Harry sighed and nuzzled Draco's neck, sending shivers up his spine and making the hairs on his neck stand up. He was getting ready to slide out of the bed and leave before Harry coughed violently and shivered.
"Very lucky," Draco tucked the covers as tightly around Harry as he could and closed the curtains to the bed before falling asleep, Ogden's Old Firewhisky all but forgotten.
-----
"Can you swim to the other side of the lake and back?" Fifth year Gryffindor, George Weasley challenged.
Draco rolled his eyes and looked at him from beneath lazy lids. "I won't, will I? Would you?"
"Dozens of times with my brother, Fred." As if on cue, an identical mold of George strolled by and hung over his brother's shoulders, grinning stupidly at the blonde in front of him. Draco would have bet a Galleon that they had this planned and that Fred's arrival wasn't just coincidental.
"Then you both won't mind that I suggest we all take a dip in the lake."
"If both of us have to jump in, you have to chose another contestant."
"What's the prize?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.
"Three Galleons."
Draco sneered, "Do you even have three galleons? I know you, Weasley. The family with more children than they can afford-"
"We don't have to discuss our financial status with a ferret-face like you, Malfoy. Are you going to compete or not?" George cut him off.
"Count me in."
"Tonight. We'll make the necessary arrangements for you to get out of your House without being detected and you will be at the lake to await further instructions." Fred said before both brothers turned on their heels and strode off.
-----
"Do you have any idea how cold that lake is, Draco?" Harry groaned diving under the covers and digging his head underneath the pillow. "You're absolutely mad!"
Draco grinned, pulled the pillow off, and smacked him on the head with it. "Scared?"
"No, I just want to live to see fourteen."
"You jump in, swim to the other side, and back. What the hell is the big deal?"
Harry sat up and grabbed his hand, leading him to the window. He slapped the blonde's hand on the glass. A ring of fog slowly formed around the boy's long digits. "THAT! Do you feel how cold it is outside?"
"If you don't want to go, fine. I'll get Goyle or Naiara to go with me." He thought for a moment before saying, "I'll get Goyle or Crabbe to come with me. Naiara is probably smart enough not to step in that lake. Have you seen the water? It's absolutely disgusting! I'll be washing my hair for hours." Draco touched his head of feather-soft hair with a look of pure terror.
"I didn't say I wasn't going to go. I think you're a complete git for doing this to me. How did this happen?" Harry asked as they made their way down to the Great Hall for lunch as Draco explained what happened. When he got to the harassment of the twins Harry punched him in the arm, hard.
"You moron! What was that for?"
"What did I tell you about making fun of my friends?" Harry yelled.
Draco rubbed his arm and mentally checked that his wand was safely in his pocket. "The Weasley Twins are your friends too? Mr. Congeniality, you are. Honestly, I can't be mean to half the school without you getting after my arse."
"Why don't you try and be nice to someone for a change?" Harry asked as he started walking.
"Too easy."
"Could have fooled me. Being nice to you is a great deal of work sometimes."
"Hey, it's real hard work being mean all day, every day. You should try it and then you would have sense enough not to give me any grief about it."
"I don't want to be mean to people," Harry said curtly.
"Well, I don't want to be nice to people," Draco shot back. They glared at each other before entering the Hall, where students were busy talking and eating happily. Their tension was barley enough to turn a few heads of even the most clairvoyant.
They sat down shoulder to shoulder and helped themselves to steak and kidney pie, chips, and hot chocolate to finish. Eating in silence, they didn't take their eyes off their plates or mentioned anything of the lake until they slipped out of their beds with Harry's father's invisibility cloak that he had given him before they started third year in the summer.
-----
Fred had knocked five times with a three-second pause between knocks and whistled, "God Save the King", before Harry and Draco could leave the dungeons. All four boys fit rather uncomfortably underneath the cloak. They had set off the Dung Bombs that Harry had given them, unused from Uncle Sirius but still good enough to great a diversion.
"Don't touch me!" Draco hissed when a twin's elbow jabbed him in the side.
"Believe me, it's no pleasure."
"Boys. . ." Harry warned. They made their way silently to the lake where the cloak was finally discarded and they stripped down to swimming shorts. They made a show of folding their clothes neatly and piling them up perfectly on the bank. Neither pair wanted to go first so they decided in the end to jump in all at once.
Harry's body refused to move for a full five heartbeats before Draco yelled his name, "Get a move on, Potter!" He knew how much Harry hated being called solely by his last name. The pain was sharp in his chest, but he ignored it and kept swimming.
Draco turned his head and watched as Harry moved, flailing his arms wildly, trying to get this over with as fast as possible. He didn't blame the other boy; he was regretting ever letting his pride get in the way of a perfectly good Saturday night. He should have been in the common room with a cup of hot chocolate and a mystery novel.
The Weasley twins weren't turning around yet, they intended to make it to the other side and back just as they agreed. So did he.
He couldn't feel his toes as he swam, but he expected it was because it was so cold. If he kept his body moving he would be just fine. The twins were slowing down to a halt as they got to the other side of the bank. Draco would have grinned if he weren't feeling so ready to stop himself. He didn't think he was going to finish. So what if he lost three Galleons? His father had loads of them.
The four boys made it to the opposite bank, shivering and pale.
"H-h-how ab-bout-t we call it a d-d-draw?" Fred stammered, curling up in a ball on the bank.
"Sounds g-g-good. . ." Draco replied.
"Y-you s-s-uck." Harry hissed, barley crawling out of the lake. They all curled up against the warmth of each other's bodies.
They didn't know how long they were lying there. They tried not to fall asleep. Draco was clutching to Harry so tightly that the feeling almost came back into his numb fingers. They vaguely felt themselves being wrapped in warmth. There were voices all around them.
-----
"No one is dead until warm and dead."
"Severus! Hot chocolate, straight away!"
"Botheration, why did it have to be Potter? He's already delicate as it is."
In the back of their minds they heard voices of Madam Pomfrey shouting orders, Professors McGonagall and Snape cursing their students and worrying out loud. Headmaster Dumbledore calmly spoke to the students brought in to supply necessary body heat. Ginny Weasley and Ron Weasley were brought in to lie with their brothers while Percy Weasley slid into Harry's cot and Ravenclaw Prefect, Mace Labdhi, shared Draco Malfoy's.
"You have specific orders not to tell any of your school mates what has happened, do you four understand me?"
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore."
The volunteers were allowed to leave almost immediately as they awoke one after another. George looked almost bedazzled to be in the Hospital Wing. Fred made a show of wiggling his toes and fingers. Draco immediately searched for Harry and was disappointed to find that he was dozing in the cot next to him.
"It's not healthy for him to sleep that much!" Draco called out after he'd been given a large mug of hot chocolate.
"It's not healthy for the four of you to be swimming in the lake in November!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked, "You all had moderately severe hypothermia! Least of all Potter, his immune system is weak! How could you do this to him? Really! Irresponsibility!"
Draco didn't say anything. He turned and stared at Harry who seemed to be resting comfortably, but his fresh peach complexion had been reduced to a very cold beige. "I want to talk to Professor Snape." Madam Pomfrey had a talent for making Draco feel like he couldn't do anything right. He was the only patient she seemed to look down on whenever he had to come to the Hospital Wing.
"Poppy, that will be quite enough,"
Fred and George inhaled sharply before recomposing themselves, "Hi, Professor Dumbledore."
"Good evening, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley." The tall old man in flowing purple robes smiled at each of the twins and finally turned to Draco. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy, so we meet at last."
"Yes, it would seem so." Draco said warily. His teachers had threatened to send him to the headmaster before. He'd only seen the old man at the Sorting Ceremonies, mealtimes, and at the Leaving Feasts. He didn't think Headmaster Dumbledore did anything of real importance but make an appearance every now and then. "Am I going to get expelled?"
Dumbledore smiled and chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling behind half-moon spectacles, "Not today, Mr. Malfoy. Not today. I'm here to talk about what happened as you may have already guessed." He took a seat in front of all four beds, glancing only momentarily at Harry's bed. Draco felt a tinge of jealousy, as he always did when anyone looked at Harry with the need to protect in their eyes. Dumbledore genuinely cared about Harry. He could see it. Draco decided this man was not someone he should be making friends with.
"Yes, I did."
Dumbledore ignored the hostility in Draco's voice and cleared his throat before moving on. "Exactly what did happen to provoke such an odd exploit?"
George started explaining how he met Draco in the hallway, Fred picked up with details on the actual plan. Dumbledore chuckled and put in his own remarks, "I remember my youth at this very same school-"
"Professor!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked.
Dumbledore smiled and cleared his throat once more. Draco thought it made him look stupid. "At any rate, what you have done is extremely reckless even for you two," the twins flushed, "but what matters is that you four are alive." He glanced quickly at the sleeping Potter and back to each of the boy's eyes, "I think you have suffered enough, wouldn't you say?" He got up and moved the chair back against the desk in between Draco and Harry's cots. "Of course, we will have to send your parents letters of notice because that is school policy."
Fred and George visibly winced.
"I'll try and give you a heads up before a Howler is sent your way, boys."
"Professor, about Harry-"
"I think it is a talk long overdue between the both of you. He will live, if that's what you mean to ask. I would not lie to you about such a thing." Dumbledore smiled lightly, "Good day, Mr. Malfoy. Do get better soon."
-----
"Harry, for God's sake, would you just wake up already? You're acting like a complete sloth." Draco murmured. He tilted his head thoughtfully and for the first time realized that he had never really taken time to study the boy's beautifully plain features. His long lashes sometimes squashed themselves on the lenses of his glasses, splitting apart to reveal his stunning green eyes. How could he have overlooked this when they first met? Draco wanted to touch Harry's face which was a little blemished with pimples that naturally came to even the cleanest of faces in their adolescent years. He would have thought this would make him a little unattractive but he found it most endearing.
Another part of Harry Potter.
"Draco. . ."
Draco jumped and relaxed instantly when he found that Harry was only talking in his sleep. His eyes trailed over Harry's throat where he had bitten him last year. He chuckled at the memory. The two of them wrestling on Harry's bed over a wand. It nearly cost him the wand and Harry's perfect skin.
Draco wasn't falling for his best friend. He didn't like boys. It wasn't wrong, Oakley found an almost unsettling attraction to Professor Snape. Homosexuality was so overrated that it gave people something to talk about when they saw a man or woman holding hands with another man or woman. Wizarding World or not, it wasn't something that was usually taken lightly among society.
He resisted the urge to climb into the cot with Harry, delicate Harry.
"You all had moderately severe hypothermia! Least of all Potter, his immune system is weak! How could you do this to him? Really! Irresponsibility!"
Draco frowned and touched Harry's cheek with a warm hand. That had been three weeks ago. Harry, himself, and the twins were released last week.
"Congratulations, Harry, your sick leave grand total is three weeks even as of November 25, 1993. Aren't you going to have a load of work to polish off when you get out?" Draco sighed and turned to leave. Eating away at him was the urge to touch Harry once more. "Codswallop!" Draco marched over to Harry's cot and gently kissed him on the mouth before running out of the Hospital Wing wiping his face on his sleeve.
Harry, faking a nap rose slowly into a sitting position and reached for his glasses. "Oh, Holy Jesus. . ."
To Be Continued. . .