"Well, where is it?" Malfoy asked, getting just as annoyed as Harry.
He'd been asking this question every couple minutes, knowing perfectly
well that Harry too, was completly clueless. The others were starting
to get aggitated. A few of them whispered about going back, but when
Harry shot them glances, the whispering descended. He looked down the
road that lead into the forest. His patience were wearing thin. Malfoy
opened his mouth to make another snide comment, but Harry turned his
wand on him, and he shut it.
"It's not coming for us, someone must've tipped them off to what we're doing." Lavender finally decided. She turned to head back to Honeydukes. No sooner than they had, they heard hoof prints coming from the forest. They heard a horse whinny.
"What is it?" Parvati asked, straining hard into the dark.
"Thestrals." Malfoy muttered, and stepped back a bit.
It was indeed the Thestrals. The sounds of the hooves got louder. The gallop turned into a trot as they approached the students. Both Harry and Neville, went and started petting the horses. Harry looked back and noticed Malfoy standing behind the group as they all walked closer to find the horses. His face was solemn as he stared. Harry went over to him.
"Pansy's-"
"I know why I can see them!" Malfoy snapped and pushed Harry aside. He went over to one of the four horses and stared at it, observing it.
"So I guess we can try and take them to Manchester..." Harry stated.
"What if they were sent by Dumbledore, they might take us back to Hogwarts. We'll all be expelled." Lavender stated, as she was nudged by, an invisible to her, dragon like snout of one of the Thestrals. Harry pondered this for a minute.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we? We can't walk to Manchester. The bus isn't coming. We could always travel the muggle way and take a train. But I think that with our school robes and black clothing we might look a bit suspicous." replied Harry, as he started to mount one of the Thestrals. There were a few undistuingishable mutters, then the rest followed suit. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan scrambled onto a horse that they couldn't see, with Luna's help. Lavender and Parvati were next, then she helped Neville onto the last horse and he pulled her up. She smiled at him and blushed a bit. Harry helped Ron up, then offered a hand to Malfoy.
"I've ridden a horse before, Potter.... a few other things as well." he spat and pulled himself up behind Ron, who pretended to almost fall off and elbowed Malfoy in the stomach.
"Tenebrus, we need to get to... hey where exactly are we headed?" Harry directed at Malfoy.
"Stretford." he replied in a monotone.
"We need to get to Stretford as fast as we can." Harry informed the Thestral. The creature seemed to nod its head in understanding, then began to beat it's large bat like wings. Harry clung tightly around Tenebrus' neck. Ron grasped Harry's waist to keep from really falling, and Malfoy grabbed him. Ron pulled up his legs, away from the giant wings when he felt them brush up hard against him.
"This is so weird. I'm so cold." Lavender complained as she groped around for a place to hang on, as her and Parvati's Thestral began to bat its wings. The other Thestrals followed, as Tenebrus took off into the air.
Harry's stomach settled a bit once he realized that they were taking them South, instead of back up to the Castle. He released some of his grip on Tenebrus and sat up. Harry felt refreshed, feeling the wind in his face. Aside from the coldness sweeping through his body with the mixture of cold air and the fact that he was touching a Thestral, Harry related the experience to that of when he'd first rode Buckbeak his third year. They rose higher and he watched as the town of Hogsmeade became nothing but small blurbs of buildings underneath them, and disappeared into the darkness of early morning. Harry looked back at the others. Dean and Seamus were holding on for dear life. Parvati and Lavender seemed to be enjoying the sites. Harry thought about how akward it must be for them to be riding something they couldn't even see. He looked at Ron, who wore a pitiful expression of fear and discomfort. Malfoy, like Harry, was observing the other students. He glanced at Harry, then averted his attention elsewhere. Harry felt himself drifting off to sleep awhile later. He couldn't control it as his eyes began to droop...
Hermione crouched down on the floor. Tears were streaming down her face. She had a cut under her right eye, where a bruise was forming. She wiped blood away from her lips. She looked up at Lucius Malfoy, who'd just struck her.
"Do you really think they'll be able to save you? How pathetic."
"Harry!" Ron's voice jolted Harry out of his sleep. He looked down to see the ground hundreds of feet below him and began to panic. He'd slipped right off Tenebrus. He looked back up and saw Malfoy grasping his hand tightly, but it was slipping. He reached up with his freehand and grabbed Malfoy's arm, who pulled him back up onto the Thestral. Ron had grabbed Tenebrus' neck as Malfoy'd grabbed Harry when he slipped. He pulled him up behind him.
"Try not to get yourself killed before we even get there, ok?"
"Er.. thanks...Draco." Harry replied and grabbed his waist as Tenebrus changed directions, almost bumping him off again.
"I saw Hermione..."
"What, before you tried to commit suicide?"
"I don't know what happened okay? Anyway, your father's beating her right now. The sooner we can get there the better. I think us three are the only ones who really know how serious this is and what we're facing."
"Do you want my opinion?"
"Er..."
"No one else seems to be doing anything about this so we weren't left with many options. But honestly, Potter, you lack organization skills. I suggest we get into Stretford and get rooms at a B&B, then sit down and plan this out. We can't just walk up, knock on the door, and say 'could we please have our friends back?'. I need to figure out exactly where the Manor is at any rate." remarked Malfoy.
The Thestrals started moving downward towards the city below them. By the time they reached Stretford the sun was already beginning to rise and the town was busy with movement. They were dropped off in a park right outside of Stretford. Harry thanked Tenebrus gratefully, and waited for the rest of the group to join them. Seamus had a bit of trouble getting of his Thestral. Not being able to see exactly where to unsaddle, he miscalculated and toppled to the ground. Dean Thomas fell on top of him. Neville helped Luna down, and the both of them went to help Lavender and Parvati. Once all the students were safely on the ground, the Thestrals took off back towards Hogwarts. Harry turned around to see a homeless staring at them wide eyed, muttering words like "unbelievable" "what's this?" "who are..." Malfoy rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand.
"Obliviate!"
"Stupefy!" another voice called. Malfoy turned around to Nevile who had his wand out and was turning a shade of red as the man fell over.
"You didn't have to knock him out, the memory charm would've sufficed." Harry pointed out and lowered Neville's wand.
"Sorry." he muttered shly, then rejoined Luna and the others.
"Now um... I think we should check into a Bed and Breakfast and sort all this out. He still needs to find out where the house is, and we need to practice. But we should rest first." Harry told them. He felt bad as he looked at them. They were all worn out and trying hard to stay awake. Even Ron seemed to be drifting in and out.
"There's a Wizard Inn outside of Trafford. We could go there." Lavender piped up.
"We're going to need to catch a bus, we can't go walking through the streets like this, we'll stick out." Seamus Finnigan stated.
"How exactly to do propose we do that? I think it's highly unlikely they'll except galleons in the muggle world. We don't have much of a choice." Malfoy replied.
"That's why we're here mate!" called a voice from behind a fountain. They all turned to see Fred and George Weasley walking up to them.
"How'd you know we were here?"
"Who do you think informed Dumbledore that you needed the Thestrals?"
"Yeah, it's not like you can really plan anything in Hogwarts anymore without someone finding out."
"Ron here told us about the plan." Fred smiled and patted Ron on the back. Ron turned bright red and wouldn't make eye contact at Harry.
"Oh don't be mad at him." George told Harry.
"We think the idea's brilliant!" Fred added.
"The more the merrier. Lupin, Tonk, and Moody are already on their way over. Ran into a bit of trouble though with some deatheaters."
"Hagrid's on his way too, with Madam Maxime!"
"This is it, mate."
"Yeah we might not be able to get to Voldemort, but if we make an impression and put a dent in his army, it'll buy us more time before the war." Fred and George took turns explaining the situation to the group. Dumbledore had expected Harry to act rashly, and we he'd heard that they were already in Hogsmeade, he'd sent the twins to look after them. Hermione had apparently contacted Viktor Krum before the Hogmeade visit and asked him to come to Hogwarts and talk with Dumbledore. He was bringing with him a fair amount of supporters from Durmstrang. Everyone was on their way to Manchester. This relieved Harry more than anyone would know. They followed Fred and George out to Stretford and they caught a double decker bus.
"Dad gave us muggle money before we left." Fred stated and started digging through his pockets.
"It's not much but it'll get us where we need to go, since you ickle ones can't apparate yet." Fred added, then handed the driver a pocket full of change.
"Oops, that's mine." he took a galleon out of the hand of the driver and smiled goofily at him. They all boarded the bus.
"Where to?" ask the driver.
"Trafford, please." George told him and followed behind Luna and Neville. They all found seats on the first level. A few people stared, and others commented to each other about the appearance of the nine teenagers dressed in all black wearing unusual robes.
"So how's the joke shop going?" Harry asked as he took a seat behind the twins with Ron and Malfoy .
"Brilliant, mate."
"Business has skyrocketed. We're getting orders for our fireworks from Beauxbatons and the Harvard School of Magic and Mystery in the United States. The snackboxes are a sell out." George replied, turning around.
"Mom finally accepted our career choice when we sent her a new set of robes and books to replace that rediculous Lockheart set. Dad was just thrilled when we sent him a box of Muggle clothing and accessories. I think we might out sell Zonko's in no time." added Fred.
"That foul was bollocks! It was Owen and his poor excuse of talent! Keane was not out of line. Bloody fucking Owen, I tell you. He's shite!" yelled a muggle man from the front of the bus to his companion who sat next to him.
"Football, you know I never really understood it." Fred remarked. George nodded in agreement.
They arrived at Sleepy Owl Inn awhile later and shuffled in. They then booked five rooms that were reasonably close to each other. Harry told them all to get some rest and he'd be in for them later that afternoon to start working on defense spells. They nodded the best they could in their sleep deprived state and walked wearily too their room.
"Ron, you bunk with Neville." Harry stated.
"You're going to bunk with Malfoy? Are you sure thats such a good idea, mate?"
"Don't worry about me." he replied, curtly. He was tired and didn't care who he was sharing a room with as long as he could sleep. When he got to the room, Malfoy was already there laying in bed.
"Close the door. I need to talk to you." he sneered. Harry closed it then laid down on his own bed. His body ached for rest. He wasn't in the mood to talk and he began to drift into a sleep.
"Potter! Did you not hear me? I need to talk."
"Save it for later."
"No. What did you see on our way here? What's my father doing?"
"I told you, I just saw your father beating her. Oh and yelled at her."
"What'd he say?" Malfoy asked, urgently.
"I... I don't know. Why is this so important?"
"Because he knows we're coming." Harry snapped awake and sat up, hearing this.
"You mean he knows the order's coming right?"
"No, God you're thick. He knows you and I are coming. He's gotten stronger with the Legilimen spell. I couldn't use Occlumency against it. He knows about me teaching them to reflect the Imperius curse, and he saw everything you told me before we got together last night. He knows we're here."
"Why didn't you mention this early?" Harry snapped. Malfoy shrugged.
"You're getting on my last nerve Malfoy! What else have you just forgotten to mention?" he got no response.
"I shouldn't have even brought you along, you're worthless. You haven't been helpful, you've just been making matters worse. That's the plan isn't it? All you care about is your childish retaliation against your father. Don't expect pity out of me, I don't care what happened in your perfect childhood. At least you have a father and a family! It was your own choice to abandon them. You brought this all upon yourself! "
"Save your orphan bullshit, Potter. I don't want to hear it. This is between me and my father. As for being useless, if it wasn't for me you would've been poisoned. And, I was kind enough to save your pathetic life again. I could've just let you fall, but I didn't. So you owe me, and you're going to help me. If you don't, I'll have no problem with disposing of you. You've been annoying me since first year, and good riddence if you die in the process of your feeble attempt to save your friends."
"Do you even care about what happens to Hermione? We knew you were feeding her all this bullshit about actually caring for her, but you had her so convinced."
"I care, okay?! I care! How the hell do you think all of this got started in the first place? Forget it. You're too much of a git to understand anything that happens around you. You're so self absorbed in your own iquest/i that anything else that happens around you and to the people you care about gets pushed aside and only gets attention when it involves you having to be a hero. It's that stupid Gryffindor pride. It's you trying act exactly like your pathetic father, who went and got himself killed because of it. You'll die just like him, because you don't see anything else!"
"You iare/i in love with her." Harry stated in awe. He was extremly pissed off about what Malfoy had said about his father, but he was beginning to see the truth. The truth about the relationship between him and Hermione, and his own attitude about things. Harry was about to say something else, but the door was forced open. Ron and Neville jumped in, pointing their wands at Malfoy.
"All right, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's okay, you can lower your wands. Nothing happened."
"We heard yelling. I told you this wasn't a good idea, Harry. You go sleep with in the other room with Neville. I can handle him."
"No it's all right, really. Just go back to bed." Harry told them and rushed them out the door.
"We only have to pretend to be friends for a little while longer. After that, I don't want you speaking to any of us again." Harry told Malfoy, coolly.
"It'll be my pleasure." he replied and turned over with his back against Harry, who crawled back into bed and finally allowed his body and mind to rest.
"It's not coming for us, someone must've tipped them off to what we're doing." Lavender finally decided. She turned to head back to Honeydukes. No sooner than they had, they heard hoof prints coming from the forest. They heard a horse whinny.
"What is it?" Parvati asked, straining hard into the dark.
"Thestrals." Malfoy muttered, and stepped back a bit.
It was indeed the Thestrals. The sounds of the hooves got louder. The gallop turned into a trot as they approached the students. Both Harry and Neville, went and started petting the horses. Harry looked back and noticed Malfoy standing behind the group as they all walked closer to find the horses. His face was solemn as he stared. Harry went over to him.
"Pansy's-"
"I know why I can see them!" Malfoy snapped and pushed Harry aside. He went over to one of the four horses and stared at it, observing it.
"So I guess we can try and take them to Manchester..." Harry stated.
"What if they were sent by Dumbledore, they might take us back to Hogwarts. We'll all be expelled." Lavender stated, as she was nudged by, an invisible to her, dragon like snout of one of the Thestrals. Harry pondered this for a minute.
"We don't have much of a choice, do we? We can't walk to Manchester. The bus isn't coming. We could always travel the muggle way and take a train. But I think that with our school robes and black clothing we might look a bit suspicous." replied Harry, as he started to mount one of the Thestrals. There were a few undistuingishable mutters, then the rest followed suit. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan scrambled onto a horse that they couldn't see, with Luna's help. Lavender and Parvati were next, then she helped Neville onto the last horse and he pulled her up. She smiled at him and blushed a bit. Harry helped Ron up, then offered a hand to Malfoy.
"I've ridden a horse before, Potter.... a few other things as well." he spat and pulled himself up behind Ron, who pretended to almost fall off and elbowed Malfoy in the stomach.
"Tenebrus, we need to get to... hey where exactly are we headed?" Harry directed at Malfoy.
"Stretford." he replied in a monotone.
"We need to get to Stretford as fast as we can." Harry informed the Thestral. The creature seemed to nod its head in understanding, then began to beat it's large bat like wings. Harry clung tightly around Tenebrus' neck. Ron grasped Harry's waist to keep from really falling, and Malfoy grabbed him. Ron pulled up his legs, away from the giant wings when he felt them brush up hard against him.
"This is so weird. I'm so cold." Lavender complained as she groped around for a place to hang on, as her and Parvati's Thestral began to bat its wings. The other Thestrals followed, as Tenebrus took off into the air.
Harry's stomach settled a bit once he realized that they were taking them South, instead of back up to the Castle. He released some of his grip on Tenebrus and sat up. Harry felt refreshed, feeling the wind in his face. Aside from the coldness sweeping through his body with the mixture of cold air and the fact that he was touching a Thestral, Harry related the experience to that of when he'd first rode Buckbeak his third year. They rose higher and he watched as the town of Hogsmeade became nothing but small blurbs of buildings underneath them, and disappeared into the darkness of early morning. Harry looked back at the others. Dean and Seamus were holding on for dear life. Parvati and Lavender seemed to be enjoying the sites. Harry thought about how akward it must be for them to be riding something they couldn't even see. He looked at Ron, who wore a pitiful expression of fear and discomfort. Malfoy, like Harry, was observing the other students. He glanced at Harry, then averted his attention elsewhere. Harry felt himself drifting off to sleep awhile later. He couldn't control it as his eyes began to droop...
Hermione crouched down on the floor. Tears were streaming down her face. She had a cut under her right eye, where a bruise was forming. She wiped blood away from her lips. She looked up at Lucius Malfoy, who'd just struck her.
"Do you really think they'll be able to save you? How pathetic."
"Harry!" Ron's voice jolted Harry out of his sleep. He looked down to see the ground hundreds of feet below him and began to panic. He'd slipped right off Tenebrus. He looked back up and saw Malfoy grasping his hand tightly, but it was slipping. He reached up with his freehand and grabbed Malfoy's arm, who pulled him back up onto the Thestral. Ron had grabbed Tenebrus' neck as Malfoy'd grabbed Harry when he slipped. He pulled him up behind him.
"Try not to get yourself killed before we even get there, ok?"
"Er.. thanks...Draco." Harry replied and grabbed his waist as Tenebrus changed directions, almost bumping him off again.
"I saw Hermione..."
"What, before you tried to commit suicide?"
"I don't know what happened okay? Anyway, your father's beating her right now. The sooner we can get there the better. I think us three are the only ones who really know how serious this is and what we're facing."
"Do you want my opinion?"
"Er..."
"No one else seems to be doing anything about this so we weren't left with many options. But honestly, Potter, you lack organization skills. I suggest we get into Stretford and get rooms at a B&B, then sit down and plan this out. We can't just walk up, knock on the door, and say 'could we please have our friends back?'. I need to figure out exactly where the Manor is at any rate." remarked Malfoy.
The Thestrals started moving downward towards the city below them. By the time they reached Stretford the sun was already beginning to rise and the town was busy with movement. They were dropped off in a park right outside of Stretford. Harry thanked Tenebrus gratefully, and waited for the rest of the group to join them. Seamus had a bit of trouble getting of his Thestral. Not being able to see exactly where to unsaddle, he miscalculated and toppled to the ground. Dean Thomas fell on top of him. Neville helped Luna down, and the both of them went to help Lavender and Parvati. Once all the students were safely on the ground, the Thestrals took off back towards Hogwarts. Harry turned around to see a homeless staring at them wide eyed, muttering words like "unbelievable" "what's this?" "who are..." Malfoy rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand.
"Obliviate!"
"Stupefy!" another voice called. Malfoy turned around to Nevile who had his wand out and was turning a shade of red as the man fell over.
"You didn't have to knock him out, the memory charm would've sufficed." Harry pointed out and lowered Neville's wand.
"Sorry." he muttered shly, then rejoined Luna and the others.
"Now um... I think we should check into a Bed and Breakfast and sort all this out. He still needs to find out where the house is, and we need to practice. But we should rest first." Harry told them. He felt bad as he looked at them. They were all worn out and trying hard to stay awake. Even Ron seemed to be drifting in and out.
"There's a Wizard Inn outside of Trafford. We could go there." Lavender piped up.
"We're going to need to catch a bus, we can't go walking through the streets like this, we'll stick out." Seamus Finnigan stated.
"How exactly to do propose we do that? I think it's highly unlikely they'll except galleons in the muggle world. We don't have much of a choice." Malfoy replied.
"That's why we're here mate!" called a voice from behind a fountain. They all turned to see Fred and George Weasley walking up to them.
"How'd you know we were here?"
"Who do you think informed Dumbledore that you needed the Thestrals?"
"Yeah, it's not like you can really plan anything in Hogwarts anymore without someone finding out."
"Ron here told us about the plan." Fred smiled and patted Ron on the back. Ron turned bright red and wouldn't make eye contact at Harry.
"Oh don't be mad at him." George told Harry.
"We think the idea's brilliant!" Fred added.
"The more the merrier. Lupin, Tonk, and Moody are already on their way over. Ran into a bit of trouble though with some deatheaters."
"Hagrid's on his way too, with Madam Maxime!"
"This is it, mate."
"Yeah we might not be able to get to Voldemort, but if we make an impression and put a dent in his army, it'll buy us more time before the war." Fred and George took turns explaining the situation to the group. Dumbledore had expected Harry to act rashly, and we he'd heard that they were already in Hogsmeade, he'd sent the twins to look after them. Hermione had apparently contacted Viktor Krum before the Hogmeade visit and asked him to come to Hogwarts and talk with Dumbledore. He was bringing with him a fair amount of supporters from Durmstrang. Everyone was on their way to Manchester. This relieved Harry more than anyone would know. They followed Fred and George out to Stretford and they caught a double decker bus.
"Dad gave us muggle money before we left." Fred stated and started digging through his pockets.
"It's not much but it'll get us where we need to go, since you ickle ones can't apparate yet." Fred added, then handed the driver a pocket full of change.
"Oops, that's mine." he took a galleon out of the hand of the driver and smiled goofily at him. They all boarded the bus.
"Where to?" ask the driver.
"Trafford, please." George told him and followed behind Luna and Neville. They all found seats on the first level. A few people stared, and others commented to each other about the appearance of the nine teenagers dressed in all black wearing unusual robes.
"So how's the joke shop going?" Harry asked as he took a seat behind the twins with Ron and Malfoy .
"Brilliant, mate."
"Business has skyrocketed. We're getting orders for our fireworks from Beauxbatons and the Harvard School of Magic and Mystery in the United States. The snackboxes are a sell out." George replied, turning around.
"Mom finally accepted our career choice when we sent her a new set of robes and books to replace that rediculous Lockheart set. Dad was just thrilled when we sent him a box of Muggle clothing and accessories. I think we might out sell Zonko's in no time." added Fred.
"That foul was bollocks! It was Owen and his poor excuse of talent! Keane was not out of line. Bloody fucking Owen, I tell you. He's shite!" yelled a muggle man from the front of the bus to his companion who sat next to him.
"Football, you know I never really understood it." Fred remarked. George nodded in agreement.
They arrived at Sleepy Owl Inn awhile later and shuffled in. They then booked five rooms that were reasonably close to each other. Harry told them all to get some rest and he'd be in for them later that afternoon to start working on defense spells. They nodded the best they could in their sleep deprived state and walked wearily too their room.
"Ron, you bunk with Neville." Harry stated.
"You're going to bunk with Malfoy? Are you sure thats such a good idea, mate?"
"Don't worry about me." he replied, curtly. He was tired and didn't care who he was sharing a room with as long as he could sleep. When he got to the room, Malfoy was already there laying in bed.
"Close the door. I need to talk to you." he sneered. Harry closed it then laid down on his own bed. His body ached for rest. He wasn't in the mood to talk and he began to drift into a sleep.
"Potter! Did you not hear me? I need to talk."
"Save it for later."
"No. What did you see on our way here? What's my father doing?"
"I told you, I just saw your father beating her. Oh and yelled at her."
"What'd he say?" Malfoy asked, urgently.
"I... I don't know. Why is this so important?"
"Because he knows we're coming." Harry snapped awake and sat up, hearing this.
"You mean he knows the order's coming right?"
"No, God you're thick. He knows you and I are coming. He's gotten stronger with the Legilimen spell. I couldn't use Occlumency against it. He knows about me teaching them to reflect the Imperius curse, and he saw everything you told me before we got together last night. He knows we're here."
"Why didn't you mention this early?" Harry snapped. Malfoy shrugged.
"You're getting on my last nerve Malfoy! What else have you just forgotten to mention?" he got no response.
"I shouldn't have even brought you along, you're worthless. You haven't been helpful, you've just been making matters worse. That's the plan isn't it? All you care about is your childish retaliation against your father. Don't expect pity out of me, I don't care what happened in your perfect childhood. At least you have a father and a family! It was your own choice to abandon them. You brought this all upon yourself! "
"Save your orphan bullshit, Potter. I don't want to hear it. This is between me and my father. As for being useless, if it wasn't for me you would've been poisoned. And, I was kind enough to save your pathetic life again. I could've just let you fall, but I didn't. So you owe me, and you're going to help me. If you don't, I'll have no problem with disposing of you. You've been annoying me since first year, and good riddence if you die in the process of your feeble attempt to save your friends."
"Do you even care about what happens to Hermione? We knew you were feeding her all this bullshit about actually caring for her, but you had her so convinced."
"I care, okay?! I care! How the hell do you think all of this got started in the first place? Forget it. You're too much of a git to understand anything that happens around you. You're so self absorbed in your own iquest/i that anything else that happens around you and to the people you care about gets pushed aside and only gets attention when it involves you having to be a hero. It's that stupid Gryffindor pride. It's you trying act exactly like your pathetic father, who went and got himself killed because of it. You'll die just like him, because you don't see anything else!"
"You iare/i in love with her." Harry stated in awe. He was extremly pissed off about what Malfoy had said about his father, but he was beginning to see the truth. The truth about the relationship between him and Hermione, and his own attitude about things. Harry was about to say something else, but the door was forced open. Ron and Neville jumped in, pointing their wands at Malfoy.
"All right, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's okay, you can lower your wands. Nothing happened."
"We heard yelling. I told you this wasn't a good idea, Harry. You go sleep with in the other room with Neville. I can handle him."
"No it's all right, really. Just go back to bed." Harry told them and rushed them out the door.
"We only have to pretend to be friends for a little while longer. After that, I don't want you speaking to any of us again." Harry told Malfoy, coolly.
"It'll be my pleasure." he replied and turned over with his back against Harry, who crawled back into bed and finally allowed his body and mind to rest.