By tati1
Disclaimer: sorry, but no, I do not own Harry Potter. Which really bites.WARNING: This story is R for a REASON! It is NOT NC-17, as I have read much, /much/ worse that was permitted, so I have abused nothing! Rated for violence, serious angst (later on), and rape. If you have a problem with it, go read something else because I didn't write it just to be safe. It's written because it's how and what I write. So buzz off. :{
(and if my mean attitude offends, I do apologize but I'm sorta protective of my work.)
A/N: I'm truly sorry. This would have been updated sooner, but Fanfiction cut off my updating privileges for a week because I had a chapter in my fic Childhood Was For Fantasies that was an Author's Note to explain the story. So if your Author Alerts get a sudden influx of Yugioh, that's why. I have to rearrange everything. *scowls* I mean, it's not like that A/N was a waste of time, either! It explained the plot to those who didn't get it, like that one chapter in Fallen For a Veela that I now have to go repair so /it's/ not taken down.
You know, ff.net really sucks sometimes.
Apart from that, it was my own laziness that kept me away (and writer's block). I've decided to at least try to be a responsible teenager and loose this chapter on you. I hope you enjoy it. Read and Review!
--tati1
Chapter 15 – PercyLast time:
Harry bolted upright in bed, and stared at Draco, who was still sleeping peacefully.
"Waitaminute! Did he say I was his?" yelped Harry. A pale hand reached up lazily from the bed and pulled Harry back down, cuddling him against Draco's chest as the blonde grinned sleepily.
"Yes," he purred softly. "You are mine. Stop whining and go to bed. It's really very late, you know."
Slowly, Harry relaxed, thought about it, and fell back to sleep with a smile on his face, Draco happily hugging him close.
*
"Potter!" Harry turned slightly to see Oliver Wood bearing down on him. He blinked.
"Yes?"
"Why weren't you at Quidditch practice??" Wood howled. Harry blinked again.
"We had practice?"
"Of course we had practice! What do you think the bulletin board is for? Decoration?!" He noticed Draco, who looked on the verge of hexing him. "Sod off, Malfoy."
"I wasn't in the common room," said Harry simply. "I don't sleep in the common room, and I don't go to the common room. I haven't been to Gryffindor Tower in a while."
"Why the hell not?" asked Wood, bewildered, but not wishing to be dissuaded from his ire.
"Because you arseholes made it too dangerous for him!" snarled Draco. "Everyone kept beating him up, so it was decided he should set up residence in the Hospital Wing. He's sleeping in my dorm now though; you won't get at him there." He sounded smug. Harry looked embarrassed.
"What?" snapped Wood. "You're sleeping in the Slytherin dorms?" Harry shrugged.
"You say no to Draco. I prefer to keep my life." Wood actually smiled.
"Alright then. Practice is every Thursday, seven o'clock. You better show, Potter. Talent you may have, but it will all come to nothing if you don't perfect it." Harry nodded.
"Erm, am I going to be using one of the school brooms?" he asked. "Just checking," he added hastily as Wood looked at him darkly.
"Of course you're not using a school broom! Those things are ancient history!" His tone spoke of nothing short of complete disgust. "We'll have to get you a good one. Do you have enough money to get a newer model?" Harry shrugged.
"He does," said Draco, calmer now that Wood didn't seem to be threatening Harry. "The Potter's have as much as my family does; he'll never be short of funds. My father told me," he added, seeing Harry's questioning stare. Wood grinned evilly.
"Good. Then I expect him to buy nothing less than the Nimbus Two Thousand."
"After all, it's not your money," muttered Draco dryly. Wood nodded.
"Precisely!"
*
Harry looked at Draco as the blonde followed him to Transfiguration.
"You know, you really aren't allowed to go to classes with me - " Draco sniffed haughtily.
"Should they try to stop me, my father will have their heads. It should be permissible. After all, I'm going to class with my friend, who needs help in class, and I'll learn the material I need for first year with your assistance. I won't get in the way."
"Mr. Malfoy," snapped McGonagall, seeing Harry's friend still by his side. "You do not have this class right now." Draco sneered at her.
"Oh, but I think I do. You see; I will now be accompanying Harry, Professor. He can keep me from falling behind in my schoolwork should I need it, and it's not like it will hurt anything."
"Mr. Malfoy, you will go to class. Should you persist in this foolish behavior, points will be taken." Draco sat down in a desk, defiant. "Mr. Malfoy."
"Yes?" he arched a cool eyebrow.
"Out of my classroom!" The noise level was growing as students came into class and spotted the blonde first year. Several were snickering.
"No," said Draco flatly.
"You will exit this classroom, and there will not be a repeat of this experience. You will leave now, else there will be a detention coming your way very shortly."
"No." Harry looked worried.
"Draco - "
"No."
"Detention, Mr. Malfoy, and ten points from Slytherin. Leave, or I shall make it fifty."
"No." McGonagall was fuming now, and Harry thought there was something … odd … about that. The Professor Minerva McGonagall Severus had told him about was always in command. In fact, Snape held a great deal of respect for her.
So why was she suddenly acting so incompetent?
Glancing at the older teenagers already seated in the room, Harry saw one or two eyes narrowing at the Head of Gryffindor House. The Slytherins, positioned opposite the Gryffindors, all wore the usual blank or sneering mask, but Harry, accustomed to trying to discern his Uncle's moods, saw the calculation in their eyes. He nodded to himself thoughtfully.
He would keep an eye on the teacher.
Returning his attention to Draco, Harry mentally shook himself. How could he let Draco risk things like this? He'd be on the outs with Slytherin House if he lost McGonagall's promised fifty points, and it would be all Harry's fault. Just like everything else.
Nervously, Harry tugged on Draco's arm, but the Malfoy heir shot him such a look that he shrank back unconsciously and shut his mouth, trying to remind himself that Draco wouldn't hit him, and that he didn't want Draco to know—
"This is all your doing, isn't it, Potter?" shrieked Minerva suddenly. Harry shied away violently as the woman lunged for him. He fell and scrabbled backwards as she regained her balance and drew her wand, aiming it at the terrified first year. Almost collectively, the class gasped, shocked that the orderly, stern, but just matron would break her own rules and attack an eleven-year-old. Harry was looking down her wandpoint when two robed legs stepped in front of him, placing the person between Harry and the enraged teacher.
"Mr. Weasley, what do you think you're doing?" snapped McGonagall breathlessly, clutching the wand even more tightly and trying to aim at the right angle to hit Harry. Draco was already behind Percy Weasley, lifting his small celebrity friend with an ease that he absently noticed as indicating the other boy was far too light. The fifth year stared his Head of House down.
"I'm protecting that boy; that Gryffindor," he snapped; face almost as red as his hair. "He's one of your own! Professor McGonagall, get a hold of yourself! You have responsibilities that must be upheld! As a Prefect, I am duty-bound to help protect these students, as are you! Malfoy should not have been breaking the rules, but that's not a reason to attack Harry Potter!" The teacher's eyes narrowed malevolently.
"Out of the way, Weasley. The brat is mine to punish as I see fit. I will not be responsible for any injury you may suffer should you keep this ridiculous spiel about 'duty' going." So saying, she moved to shove Percy out of the way. The Gryffindor stood firm; his face resolute.
"Professor McGonagall, leave him alone." Harry stared at his unexpected protector with something akin to awe. He had thought they all hated him …
McGonagall raised her wand imperiously, pointing it at Percy in unadulterated rage. "STUPE – "
"EXPELLIARMUS!" bellowed a new voice, coming from the doorway. The same voice muttered a cushioning charm just in time to catch the flying Transfiguration Professor, and the room turned as a whole to see the Headmaster glaring at Minerva. He advanced a step and students scuttled to the side walls, awed by his dangerous aura. All but Harry that is, but he was dragged away anyway by Draco, who didn't seem to believe that his newfound friend still possessed legs and the mental faculties to employ them. He wriggled, anxious to get out of Draco's arms, no matter how comforting the other boy's heat was. Reluctantly, the blonde let him down, recognizing his silent wish to see what the Headmaster would do with the mad teacher.
Albus stopped a few feet away from the panting Minerva before he spoke, his voice laced with danger.
"What on Earth could possess you to attack a student?" he growled, his voice far changed from the friendly, oblivious attitude he normally displayed. McGonagall paled dramatically.
"I – I … I'm sorry Albus," she murmured, sitting up and looking about her dazedly, all traces of anger gone. Harry was immediately suspicious. "It's just … that Malfoy boy was being so insolent, and Potter and all those sleepless …" she broke down sobbing; the students looked bewildered.
"Nervous breakdown," mumbled Percy understandingly. Harry looked at him incredulously. Was he really that gullible? He didn't believe it for a moment. And neither, apparently did Dumbledore, for Harry saw his eyes flash at the crying woman before he forcibly subdued his aura and pushed the twinkle forward in his eyes once more. He looked entirely sympathetic as he bent and helped McGonagall to stand and walk out of the room. He paused at the door to look back at them.
"Class dismissed for now," he said cheerily, quite as though he did not have a distraught teacher dangling off his shoulder. "And Mr. Malfoy, so long as you keep up in your classes and turn your work in on time, you may remain with your friend. Twenty points to Slytherin for your determination." And he departed; McGonagall's sobs echoing back down the corridor.
Exchanging a glance with Draco, Harry barely got out of the way in time for several of his considerably larger classmates to whiz by, whooping at the newfound freedom Dumbledore had just granted them. Draco, sneered at them, making his own exit slow and stately, pausing briefly at the classroom door to give Percy Weasley an imperious glance.
"Thank you," he said regally. Then, "Come along, Harry," and the smaller boy found himself trailing behind the Slytherin on the way to the Library.
Percy stared after them incredulously. Then he began to smile, and then grin, until it was a full-blown laugh, something he indulged in very rarely.
"Dragon's pet," he snickered, turned, and left the classroom.
````````````````````````````````````````````
Eight thirty that night …
"So you just expect me to forgive you?" asked Harry quietly; his large emerald eyes shadowed in the flickering torchlight. The three offenders shook their heads.
"No," said Hermione, just as quiet. "But we would like it if you would give us the chance. We don't like what we did. It was a very stupid, very bad, very hurtful mistake, and we know it is probably unforgivable. We just want to be allowed to be there for you; to protect you and maybe help to make you as happy as you deserve to be. Your start at Hogwarts wasn't exactly what anyone would have wished for." Draco sneered angrily, stepping forward in front of Harry as though shielding him from the hurts of the world.
"You don't deserve it," he snapped. "You don't even know who he is; you don't even know how to take care of him. We're just fine without backstabbing little morons like you, Mudblood. He doesn't need you to attack him again."
"I know," said Fred and George quietly, in unison. Draco opened his mouth again, but Harry prodded him in the back. With concerned silver eyes, the taller boy turned to his friend.
"We'll give it a try," said Harry flatly. Not one to give up so easily, Draco was about to protest. If he put his foot down, he knew that Harry would never say another word about it; would follow Draco's direction and never be friends with his Betrayers … But Draco saw the loneliness in the jeweled eyes, even as the raven-haired first year tried to stamp it down, and he knew that it would take more than one quarter-Veela to fix it. And he knew that he, he held Harry's life in his hands; Harry's future; Harry's happiness. Draco scowled. He hated doing nice things; even if it was for his only friend. He turned back to Granger, the Weasleys, and Neville, who had remained in the background the entire time.
"Fine," he snapped, with an edge to his voice. "But the very second one of you tries something - " He stuttered into horrified silence as Hermione bounced and hugged him, a wide grin on her face. He became even more upset when Fred and George ruffled his perfectly gelled, god-like hair. And then Neville came along, and prying himself away from Granger, Draco shot Harry a stunned look and fled out of the Potions classroom. Harry couldn't help but laugh, and soon the others joined in.
"Poor Dragon," Harry muttered, muffling his giggles in his sleeves. Fred and George had no such reserves and were rolling on the floor. Hermione was mimicking Harry in a vain attempt to be polite, and Neville was giggling helplessly, watching the door Malfoy had just fled through.
It took a long time for them to regain their breaths, and they parted for the night, feeling that maybe things wouldn't be quite so bad in the Yet To Come …
*
A/N: Well, it's done… It took a few hours, let me tell you, but not half so bad as I thought it would be. I know the laughter seems a bit unrealistic, but it won't be quite that easy for the others in the future. They have to EARN Harry's trust, so don't worry that the plot will fall out.
Ebony Orb competition /should/ be starting soon, but I said that about six chapters ago. *shrugs* Then again, I might make Harry take the tests in the next chapter… Could someone please remind me to do that when they review? Otherwise it might slip my mind and we'll never get anywhere fast…
Again, apologies for taking so long. I'll ask my beta reader to bug me more often.
Love,
--tati1
