Out of the Closet, Into Your Arms
Chapter Three
Rating: RR
Author: NicktheEvil
Disclaimer: I don't OWN. That is like, the most OBVIOUS thing in the world. -flips hair arrogantly over shoulder- that is... If I had long hair. Heh.
Chapter Three
Attack Thy Enemy
Harry, stifling a surprised yell, backed up abruptly into the shelves behind him and didn't even notice that there were now broken shards of glass and scattered toad legs littering the area around his feet.
He stared at the motionless figure before him and then the closet became pitch black again when his wand slipped through his fingers and clattered noisily on the stone.
"What is going on here?" a voice demanded loudly from his left. Harry jumped and saw with horror that in the lit doorway, stood his furious looking Potions professor and the rest of the class peering from behind him to try and see what the commotion was about.
"Lumos." Snape's wandlight lit the room once more and there was a loud chorus of gasps. Snape stepped over the broken glass and over to Malfoy who was still as immobile as ever. Harry began to panic.
"It wasn't me, professor! I swear! I just came in here because he was taking so damn long and then I found him-"
"Silence, or I will give you detention Potter." Snape said without turning to look at Harry.
"But-"
Harry couldn't see clearly what Snape was doing because his back was to the rest of the students, but there was a scuffle of cloth and then Snape suddenly stood up.
"Potter, take Mr. Malfoy to the infirmary."
Harry thought he might have imagined it, but he could have sworn that there was fear in Snape's voice.
Not wanting to be accused further, he nodded and pocketing his fallen wand, watched nervously as Snape levitated Malfoy's body a good three feet into the air.
"Follow Potter."
Avoiding all his fellow classmate's curious eyes, he quickly made his way through the rows of chairs and desks and only stopped to look over his shoulder to see if Malfoy's body was keeping up with him when they were well outside the classroom and in the cold dungeon corridor.
He let out a shaky breath and continued to walk on.
Why was Malfoy unconscious? Why? WHY?
And why did Harry have to get all the blame for the prick?
Did Snape believe that Harry really was responsible for the state of his favorite student? Most likely.
Harry turned his head instinctively once more and saw that Malfoy was no longer moving forward. He was still floating, but it looked as if the levitation charm would snap at any second.
"Crap!" Harry cursed loudly and he dived toward the limp body just as it was about to hit the ground.
The dead weight of the boy nearly brought him down but he managed to stay on his feet with excruciating effort.
What the bloody hell is going on? Harry's mind cried out in confusion as he struggled to readjust his arms without dropping the body. Spells aren't supposed to quit working at their own will!
Very slowly and carefully, he lay Malfoy back onto the floor and pulled out his wand from his back pocket with shaking fingers.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he muttered hurriedly. Nothing happened.
"WingARdium LevIOsa!" he tried again. Still, nothing happened.
Oh crud. Now what?
Should he try the summoning spell? No, that wasn't necessarily a levitation charm. He tried to think of other spells that would help him take Malfoy to the Hospital Wing but none arose in his mind.
Should I leave him and get Madame Pomfrey? He bit his lip. No, Snape would murder me.
Even though he knew it was completely pointless, he knelt down beside Malfoy and tentatively prodded him on the shoulder with his wand.
"Psst. Malfoy." he whispered loudly. "Wake up will you?"
As he expected, there was no reply. He tapped a little more sharply.
"Please? I really don't feel like carrying you..." It was a futile attempt.
For all the difference it made, he could have been talking to a log.
Groaning inwardly and heaving a defeated sigh, Harry repocketed his wand once more and rolled up his sleeves for the exertion ahead.
He hesitated before placing one hand into the gap between the back of Malfoy's bent knees and the floor, and the other on the small of his back.
When he made to lift him, he found it considerably less difficult than before, and noted that Malfoy really was a lithe creature who practically weighed nadda. Some things about him, he thought, were really unusual to the plain eye.
He would admit that a number of times before, he'd doubted that Malfoy was even human. What with the impossibly silky flaxen hair, and the almost unnatural glow of the pale skin, and the much too delicate features of the face... if the body he held didn't breath and was as cold as stone, then he would have thought it to be a porcelain doll.
Or maybe he's a Veela. Harry considered, his eyes widening. But if he was, then wouldn't everyone be going gaga over him by now? Wouldn't I???
But the unfortunate truth, which Harry knew, was that most of the school was in fact obsessed with the evil-spirited Slytherin. The girls... well, they weren't even a matter to regard; it was frankly evident that most of the girl population had little wallet sized photos of Malfoy in their notebooks and in their diaries. The boys... Harry felt like gagging over how many of the males in the school had bulging eyes for him too.
Well, at least there are still some that haven't lost their sanity yet. He thought gratefully to himself. Ron, Seamus, Dean, Me.....
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Harry saw a flash of pale flesh shoot up at his face and then all of the sudden he was finding it very difficult to breath. Trying to keep his eyes in focus while feeling as if he was going to pass out any second, he tumbled to his knees with Malfoy held tightly in his arms.
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing?"
A familiar line that he'd heard earlier that day....
Harry gasped and loosened his grip involuntarily.
"M-Mal-foy!" By pure instinct, he summoned up his remaining strength and swung his arm out in front of him.
There was a painful scream and something cracked loudly. The pressure on his throat immediately subsided and Harry collapsed onto all fours, hacking and heaving for much needed oxygen.
The moment his heart rate slowed, he scrambled up and pressed his back into the stone wall, sending a deathly glare at Malfoy who was also struggling to stand up with one shaking hand clamped over his bloody nose.
"What was that for?" Harry cried out in a quavering voice.
Malfoy's head snapped up to meet Harry's gaze and he suddenly winced and let out a moan. The scarlet blood continued to dribble down his white face steadily. If Harry hadn't been about to start hyperventilating in shock, then he might have been enchanted by the transfixing contrast of the two colors.
"What was I supposed to do?" Malfoy retorted defiantly. "I open my eyes and the first thing I see is your fucking face for god's sake!"
Harry laughed harshly. "Oh so I get choked and nearly killed for helping you? How fair is that?"
"Hey, well look at me! I have a god damn broken nose Potter! And you nicely ruined my best pair of robes!"
"You are so full of yourself-" Harry said through gritted teeth. "I was so STUPID to agree to take you to the Hospital Wing!"
Malfoy opened his mouth to reply again but this time, just before the words came out, he halted as if he'd been struck by lightning.
"Fuck-" he murmured quietly. His eyes flickered quickly down to his left arm and then back at Harry in almost an incriminating way. "Did you-"
"Did I what?" Harry said, crossing his arms in irritation. "Why were you unconscious in the Student Cupboard anyway? Are you sick or something?" he coughed. "Not that I care but-"
"So you haven't-"
"What?"
Malfoy narrowed his eyes suspiciously and shook his head.
"Never mind and just keep your fucking nose out of other people's business."
"Don't you tell me what to do-" said Harry angrily. "Snape's blaming me, you know? Now I'm probably gonna get detention because of you!"
"No you won't get detention, so just chill your knickers Potter." drawled Malfoy, a sudden calmness replacing the odd nervousness from a second before. "I'm going to stop by the Hospital Wing and I believe I can find it by myself perfectly fine."
"The hell you can!" Harry fumed. "I wouldn't dream of escorting you after THAT."
"Mr. Malfoy- there you are."
A deep voice echoed through the empty corridor and both boys turned to find Professor McGonagall walking briskly toward them from the staircase. Snape was with her as well.
Snape? Harry wondered in amazement. When the hell did HE get up the ground floor?
"Professor-" Harry stammered.
"I see Mr. Malfoy has regained his consciousness." Professor McGonagall nodded rather grimly. "If you will follow me-" she motioned with her hand at Malfoy and then turned swiftly on her heel to re-ascend the stairs.
Malfoy went after her quickly, and Harry noticed that he was looking uncertain again. What was going on?
"Potter, you will return to class." Snape snapped his fingers in front of Harry's blank face and pointed a long finger at the Potions class door menacingly. "Now."
"Professor-" he tried again, not wanting to give up that easily. "What is this about? Why is Malfoy-"
"NOW."
Harry closed his mouth and pursed his lips tightly. He stomped back to the classroom feeling incredibly cross about the whole situation. He didn't like being ignored, and he definitely didn't like being waved off as he were some annoying fly. He also felt as if he had a right to know, as he'd been the person to discover Malfoy and all.
Snape followed him back to the classroom as well and they continued on with the lesson as if nothing had happened. Except, instead of actually brewing the illegal potion that day, Snape announced that they would leave until the next day when Malfoy was present to participate.
If it was me in the Hospital Wing, you sure wouldn't wait for me you greasy bastard. Harry felt like saying outloud, but he stopped himself just in time.
When lunch came, Harry was more than happy to be able to toss his bookbag carelessly underneath the table and settle himself next to his best friends. Both Ron and Hermione seemed to be in much better moods than he was, and he couldn't help but feel slightly jealous. His own class after Potions had been Charms, and even though he normally enjoyed that class, spending it with four other students who he hardly knew and who were all unbearably boring was enough to make anyone fall into a deep stupor.
He put on a smile despite his bitter morning and dove right into conversation with Ron.
"So is the Ministry class any good?" he asked lightly, loading his plate with more food than he could possibly eat.
"It's brilliant so far!" Ron said excitedly, grinning from ear to ear. "In DADA we got to practice all these wicked spells that only the licensed Ministry people get to do! Wish you could've seen me tackle Justin with the Tongue-Twisting hex, mate! He was begging me for mercy after thirty seconds!"
"Was not!" Justin spurned from the table across the aisle, overhearing the Gryffindor's conversation (not that Ron was keeping his voice down in the first place). "You were the one that ended up surrendering after ten seconds of the Tickling curse!"
Ron's face turned pink and he drew himself up pompously.
"I lasted more than ten seconds Finch-Fletchly, and you know that!"
"Oh Ronald, you're honestly giving me a headache." Hermione muttered exasperatedly, prodding her temples with her fingers gingerly. "I'm sure you did wonderfully, but some of us were looking forward to some peace and quiet during lunch break."
Ron frowned as if he was feeling insulted.
"I'm not bluffing though, I DID last longer than ten bloody seconds."
"Yes, we heard." she replied again, closing her eyes. She then turned to Harry and smiled. "So how was Potions?"
"Must you ask?" Harry said weakly.
"Gee, was it really that bad?" Ron asked, looking sympathetically surprised. "Who's in the class?"
"Oh-" Harry shrugged. "There's Susan Bones, MacMillan, Boot, Corner...." he paused and took a breath. "And Malfoy."
Ron had been nodding at each given name but when Harry mentioned the name Malfoy, Ron snorted in surprise and spat a mouthful of pumpkin juice into the air; Neville was left blinking and spluttering with thick orange glop dripping down his face.
Ron took no notice of poor Neville and turned on Harry as if Harry was insane.
"Ferret boy?" he blurted out disbelievingly. "The evil asshole that was the son of You-Know-Who's most loyal supporter? You've gotta be kidding me!"
Harry glanced at Hermione for help since he was feeling quite overwhelmed by Ron's incredible outburst but she was staring at him too, eyes wide and gaping. In fact, almost all the Gryffindors who had been within earshot had their head turned in Harry's direction dubiously. He realized that he was on his own.
"Er- yeah." Harry said. "He was in the uh- Auror group."
"Are you crazy?" Ron let out a laugh. "Has Malfoy gone crazy? What's he at?"
"Dunno..." a frown crossed Harry's lips as he recalled the fishy events that had happened during Potions. He considered for a moment, telling Ron and Hermione about it, but something in him told him not to bother about it.
Ron let out a low whistle. "Man, do I feel sorry for you Harry."
"But why would Draco want to join an Auror group out of all the other choices that he had?" Hermione was biting her lip and casting a discreet look over her shoulder at the Slytherin table across the Hall. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense."
"Tell me about it." muttered Harry.
"I bet you he's up to something, the bastard." Ron said, lowering his voice. "Something Dark..."
"Or maybe he's finally decided to right his wrongs." Hermione suggested, shooting Ron a disapproving look. "I know he's been a jerk in the past but we should give him a chance."
Ron snorted. "We're talking about Malfoy here aren't we? I'll eat the next peppermint humbug I see if he's doing anything of the sort."
"You like peppermint humbugs."
"So?"
"Oh, I've had enough of this."
"Hey! 'Mione! Where are you going?" Ron called after Hermione who was making a move to get up from the table.
"I need somewhere to study where there aren't any scatterheads bothering me with useless topics of conversation." she snapped.
"What? Are you saying that I'm a 'scatterhead'?" exclaimed Ron.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Yes." she turned to Harry. "I'll see you later at dinner Harry."
"Er-" Harry shifted his gaze from Hermione to Ron and back to Hermione.
"Uh, Harry mate? Do you mind if I-" Ron jabbed his thumb at Hermione's retreating back.
Harry cracked an amused smile. "No, go on Ron. I don't mind."
"Right, well, don't let Malfoy get to you-"
"I won't."
Ron, obviously completely distracted about Hermione, just nodded reassuringly and hastily went after her with ears the color of ripe strawberries.
After the two were gone, he sighed and returned to his lunch.
It was a great thing that his two best friends seemed to be stuck on each other, however how much either tried to disguise their feelings. He'd had a hunch; no, more like known that for the longest time, that Ron had been crushing on Hermione, and Hermione in her own way, had been reciprocating the feeling in return. They were just too stubborn to admit it first.
It was just that, what with N.E.W.T.s coming up and the three being split up for the first time ever since their enrollment into Hogwarts, he felt as if he was all alone and friendless. There was no doubt that he wanted to become an Auror after graduation, but he hadn't been expecting to spend an entire school year with Malfoy. It was as if his worst nightmare had happened before his very nose. He didn't know how in the world he was going to make it through even a week of spending six hours a day, five days a week with him without either trying to murder the other.
Seamus and Dean, where are they? Harry wondered, changing the direction of his thoughts abruptly. Thinking about Malfoy didn't make him feel any better. Only angrier.
With Ron and Hermione gone, and Seamus and Dean's usual seats unoccupied, the Gryffindor table seemed unnaturally vacant. At the other end of the long table, there were a heap of the younger years chatting loudly, but the seventh years end was lacking liveliness for sure.
He halfheartedly pulled his schedule from his bag to see what class he was supposed to be in next.
"Divination?" Harry groaned. "The day just seems to be getting better and better."
He didn't know why it was bothering him so much. But it was.
What was he bothered about?
Malfoy of course.
He hadn't appeared in any of the two classes after lunch either and it was the same with dinner.
Is he that sick?
He'd certainly looked fine while being led away from the dungeon corridors by Professor McGonagall. He'd also had the strength enough to nearly strangle Harry to death- so why was he still in the Hospital Wing?
Harry was currently sitting in his dorm, playing exploding snap with Ron and Neville. Dean and Seamus were mysteriously gone again.
His mind kept drifting each time it was either Ron or Neville's turn, and they would have to call out Harry's name each time his own turn came around.
"What's up with you Harry?" Ron demanded, scrunching his brows together. "You're really out of it."
"Yeah." Neville chirped in, looking sincerely concerned.
"Nothings up. I'm fine." Harry reached out an arm to place a card on top of the now towering stack. It quivered dangerously.
"If you say so..." Ron frowned. "Your turn Nev."
Neville gave a nervous gulp and got onto his feet to place his card on the tower.
"It's gonna fall." Ron stated matter-of-factly.
And he was right. With a yelp, Neville's shaking hand knocked the cards and the whole tower came fluttering down, emitting sparks and snaps everywhere and covering the three boys in black soot.
"S-sorry!" Neville apologized pitifully. "I'm no good at these games!"
"No worries, Neville. At least you lasted longer than last time. You're improving." smiled Harry, wiping his glasses clean.
"Here-" Neville retrieved his wand. "Let me help-"
Ron blanched. Neville's spells rarely did what they were supposed to do. "No! Uh-I mean, no. You don't have to. I'll do it."
A slightly hurt look crossed Neville's face but he tried to hide it.
"Oh. Okay."
"Scourgify-" Ron flicked his wand quickly.
Harry blinked at the now sparkling room.
"Don't take this the wrong way Ron, but... when the hell did you learn to do that?"
Ron blushed. "Oh- mum. She's always cleaning the house you know. I guess it sorta rubs off on me. Heh."
"I'll put those away now." Harry picked up the neat stack of Exploding Snap cards and went over to his bed where his trunk lay open and who's contents were spilling over the sides haphazardly.
He began stuffing his clothing back into the trunk when something he hadn't touched for a good couple of months, caught his eye.
It was the Marauder's Map.
A sudden curiosity bit at him and his fingers sorely itched to unleash the secret of the old flimsy sheet of parchment.
He checked to see if Ron or Neville had noticed him with the map, but they were busy pulling out the chess board from underneath Ron's bed and weren't looking in Harry's direction.
Harry whipped out his wand and in one breath, hissed out the incantation;
"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
Ink vine-like lines began to sprout all over the blank page and he couldn't help but grin in recognition.
Random dots were popping up amongst the lines and beside the dots, names.
His eyes traveled rapidly from the point where the dot labeled 'Harry Potter' was, to the Gryffindor Common room, which was full of students, and then through the empty corridors until he read a dot labeled 'Mrs. Norris' and 'Filch'. Further down the page, there was 'Peeves' and 'Hermione Granger'.
Probably doing her night watch rounds. Harry thought.
Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening, which was a slight disappointment to Harry as he'd gone through the trouble of revealing the Marauder's Map. He was about to refold it and stuff it back into the depths of his trunk when he read a dot that made his eyes flash with a bitter distrust and a temptation to meddle in matters that he shouldn't meddle in.
Well, well, well. What do we have here?
Harry smirked uncharacteristically to himself.
Draco Malfoy, in the Library during the Forbidden hours? Even Head Boy's aren't supposed to be in there at midnight. This might turn out interesting.
He crammed the map and his wand into his back pocket, craftily snuck his Invisibility Cloak into his sweatshirt and turned around.
"You wanna play winner after this game, Harry?" Ron asked with a yawn, waving at the board set between himself and Neville.
Harry shook his head and edged toward the door, trying to look apologetic and hoping he didn't arise suspicions.
"You know what? I'm kind of hungry and I haven't dropped in to visit Dobby for a while. I think I'm going to go to the kitchens-"
"Now?" Ron's eyes widened.
Harry shrugged. "I'm hungry."
"Right, just try not to get caught. Say hi to Dobby for me too. I don't feel like putting up with a mountain of House Elves right now..."
Harry nodded and yanked open the door.
"Oh and Harry?"
"What?" Harry accidentally snapped.
"What? I was just going to ask if you could bring me some Peppermint Humbugs..."
Harry paused. "Oh. Uh- sure, why not."
Ron grinned.
"Thanks."
"Yeah, later."
Harry shut the door behind him and took a deep breath before throwing the watery material over his body.
A/N
For all those that are wondering about the mysterious party- don't fret! Of course it is coming. And let me tell you, it's gonna be one heck of a hubub. Patience my friends. And thanks for all that reviewed! I'll be awaiting more! :)