Their first class of the next day was Charms. Harry relunctantly took the seat next to Malfoy at the two person desk, pulling out his parchment and quill without saying anything to the other boy. Crabbe and Goyle were seated at the desk on Malfoy's right, while Ron and Hermione were seated at the desk to Harry's left. There was definate tension in the air and, although everyone in the class knew the reason why, most of them had stared at Harry and Malfoy as they walked into the classroom. Harry felt as though he were a specimen under a microscope, the way everyone's eyes kept watching him.
Of course, it probably had something to do with their fight, which the whole school knew about already. It hadn't taken long for it to get around about the battle which had sent both of them to the hospital wing with at least five broken bones each. It had been the only topic of discussion all through breakfast, as far as Harry could tell. Even the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses were talking about it.
He knew everyone was waiting for a second confrontation. Although fights sometimes occured, it wasn't every day the two most competative students in the school went at it with their fists. In fact, Harry thought with a slight frown, despite their many verbal battles, he and Malfoy had never had an actual physical fight before. There had been a few magical ones, but even those were few in number. It had been both disturbing and satisfying, to slam his fist into Malfoy's nose, as though all of his years of frustraition had poured out with it. He hadn't liked that violent part of himself, but he had liked the way Malfoy's head had snapped back.
At least his luck seemed to have returned. They spent the entire class discussing the aspects of a charm they had learned yesterday, analizing its purposes and set backs, its simularities to other charms, and in what situation it would be most suitable. He and Malfoy managed to go the entire class without having to say one word to each other as they wrote their notes, stubbornly ignoring one another.
Unfortunately, Defence Against the Dark Arts wasn't as easy. Grendall was still teaching them about the Sarcio spell and its branches. Every example Grendall used, he had Harry and Malfoy perform the spell. At first, it was frustraiting trying to work together, both of them saying the word at different times, refusing to look at each other even as their tempers began to frey once again.
Finally, Grendall pointed out that it would be much simpler if they counted to three before speaking, his expression exhasperated. Feeling like an idiot for not having thought of the solution sooner, Harry did as was instructed. Although their spells afterward worked without a problem, there ever-present tension in the air had grown even heavier. Neither of them liked having to be dependant on each other. After so many years, Harry had gotten used to using magic regularily, having it just flow from his mouth and wand. He ran into obsiticals as he learned new things, but it had never left him feeling as vulnerable as this. As the class had gone on, and he'd had to recant more and more spells with Malfoy's words along with his own, the realization had finally hit Harry rather hard. For six more days, his magic was completely useless without Malfoy. He felt as though he had no power, no defense, and he didn't like that feeling.
It was a relief when the class ended and Harry almost collapsed on his desk when the bell rang signalling that he could go. Really, Grendall was having a grand time forcing them to work together, and it felt like his last nerve was being stomped on.
"You look like you're either going to kill someone or have a nervious break down," Hermione commented as they made their way down to the dungeons for Advanced Potions.
Harry tried to force the tension out of his shoulders, rubbing his fingers against the tight muscles there. "Wait a bit, and I might just do both," he replied dryly.
"Are you still sore?" Ron asked, noting the shoulder rubbing.
Harry shrugged, lowering his arm. "That particular pain is entirely stress created. Madam Pomfrey said that I would ache for most of today, if not a bit of tomorrow, but all of my bones are mended. I've just got a few bruises left. Still, I'm exhausted from having to put up with Malfoy, and we're only one class into the day," he replied.
"That was a pretty wicked fight, Harry. I've never seen you so angry," Ron said. A wicked light came into his eyes. "I gotta say, if Malfoy hadn't fallen down the stairs, he would of gotten his ass kicked."
Unable to help himself, Harry grinned. Hermione tisked at them. "You shouldn't be so proud of yourself, Harry. You're very lucky that Professor Dumbledore thought you'd had enough pain as punishment, otherwise you'd have detention for a month. In fact, you could of even gotten yourself expelled, had Grendall not explained the situation to him," she stated.
"I was kind of wondering why he hadn't said anything. I'm lucky that Professor Dumbledore has such patience. I guess after hearing about what happened, it was understandable that we'd fly off the handle. I mean, Malfoy and I have never been able to say more than two words to each other without getting into an argument, and he knows that," Harry said.
"You've managed today relatively well," Ron commented, a slightly surprised look on his face.
Harry gave a ruefull grin. "Malfoy and I made a truce. Neither of us wants to fail or recieve punishment. We decided that we'd ignore each other besides when we have to cast spells in order to avoid more conflict," Harry explained.
"A truce with Malfoy? Think he'll keep it up?" Ron asked. He didn't look as though he believed Malfoy was capable of such a thing.
Harry shook his head. "It was his idea, but I still have some doubts. I just know he'll take advantage of the situation the second that he can."
Their arrival at Snape's class ceased further discussion, and Harry took his place at Malfoy's table once again. He didn't know if they would be doing another potion that required a spell, but he figured it would be easier this way just in case.
Luck was with him once again and Harry was able to complete his potion without having to speak to Malfoy once. He had to give the other boy credit, he was keeping his part of the deal so far. It was a rare thing, to go through two classes without even one snide remark. He found himself waiting for it every time he made the slightest mistake or when he spoke to Ron and Hermione. In the past, Malfoy had thrown in his own rude comments every chance he was given. It was almost disturbing to go through three straight hours without one.
Even Snape had ignored him, besides one scathing comment about getting out of detention. He made it sound as though Harry had begged Dumbledore, but gave him only dark looks after he'd finished with his comments.
When class finished and they filed out of the room, Harry found himself feeling a little disoriented and confused. Throughout all of his years at Hogwarts, he'd had to deal with Malfoy's arrogant attitude, strong hatred, and sneering comments. He was used to either Snape or Malfoy finding something to chide him for, even if it was as rediculous as his writing ink being the wrong color. He didn't know what he found so unsettling, really he should be glad that he'd gone through one of his first hassle-free days, but he couldn't shake off a sense of wrongness over their behaviour.
It was almost as if he missed Malfoy's taunting, as rediculous as that sounded. They day just seemed... uneventful.
Shaking off the thought, Harry followed Hermione and Ron toward the dining hall. He grimaced when half the people in the room fell silent and stared at him as he went by. Everyone had just finally started treating him like a normal person instead of the famed "Boy Who Lived", and now here he was once again sticking out of the crowd.
"They'll get over it, eventually," Hermione said, as though reading his thoughts. He glanced at her, and she grinned. "It was written all over your face. It is easy to tell when you're self-concious because you start looking like you're trying to turn invisible."
Harry flushed with embarrasment, but had to admit that it was true. "I just hate the fact that I thought this year would finally be the one where I wouldn't be the center of attention, and here I am being gawked at all over again. It really gets to be tiring, having people stare at you and whisper about you all day," he said with a sigh, taking his seat.
"Just do what you do every year and try to ignore it," Ron suggested. "How about we talk about the upcoming Quiddich practice? Wood named you his successor as captain. Have you thought about strategy?"
Taking Ron's distraction, Harry turned his thoughts to Quiddich. After the disaster over the Triwizard Tournament, they had reintroduced Quiddich as the school sport. Harry had taken over as captain when Wood graduated, promising the other boy that he would do his absolute best to make Gryffendor victorious, and he'd spent the entire summer thinking about what kind of new strategy he would bring to the field.
Happy to keep his thoughts away from Malfoy, Harry and Ron talked Quiddich all through lunch.