OK, I'M ALMOST DONE WITH THIS ONE SO IF YOU NEED TO WAIT MORE THAN THREE DAYS FOR A CHAPTER, IT'S BECAUSE I'M CONFUSED OR HAVE A LOT TO DO.
Reviews are appreciated anyway, 'coz my posting time is very much due to how quickly my wonderbetas (Raithen (my dearest friend ever) and creativeangel) finish their work. I probably should give them more to do, shouldn't I? grins
Love ya.
Diinamichelle, thanks! Uhm, you see... that's one of those "magical features" I was talking about, I'm sure you can start guessing now. smirks I was trying to hint at that one by Harry's thoughts (much like those when the Azure appeared, you'll see), thus tying it to the mysticism around the stone. Which will, by the way, "go into hiding" for some chappies now, before I solve the riddle for you (in chapter 9, if I don't start doing weird things). Anything you'd like to add/change, just mail me about it ).
creativeangel Ok, as for the really quick acceptance between D&H, I have several reasons. But first I must ask what you consider "getting along"... a fist-fight in the Slytherin dorms? Or sleep-talking? My reasons will be added last in the chapter, because one main reason for the real getting along – which will begin in this chappie – is part of this chappie.
CHAPTER 3 – To The Dursleys... With A Guest
"I must impress on the both of you the seriousness of the situation! This is not simply a meaningless squabble between the two of you; this could very well bring about critical changes in Mr. Malfoy's life, and we wouldn't want that." He let his stare burn into Harry's eyes.
"But sir!" Malfoy was actually whining, Harry realised. Not that he didn't do the same himself, this was not bad – this was worse! "You can not possibly mean that..." As Draco seemed to lack words, Harry decided time had come to speak up.
"Professor Snape, sir, you can't possibly imagine what problems would occur if I not only have to spend two weeks at my aunt's, but also spend them with... him!" The last word was almost choked with tension. Severus Snape, potions professor at Hogwarts, clutched the table so hard his hands went white, strictly controlling every motion so that his exhaustion with the entire subject would not be seen.
"It has been decided by the Headmaster and you two are simply wasting my time. Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter... get packed, you will be leaving with me personally in the morning. The Headmaster has already sent word to your house, Mr. Potter, and I'm sure it will all turn out a pleasurable holiday." The last words were added mostly for the sake of formality and Snape had not exactly counted on the two boys' reactions. Draco seemed to swallow his tongue, giving Harry the opportunity to speak first.
"Pleasurable?!" He exclaimed, though in a low voice, seeing the need not to aggravate the professor further. "Sir, by all means, uncle Vernon would stew me for breakfast and lock Draco in the cupboard! That's not..."
"Silence!" Snape roared. "I know it's not what either of you wished for. I would not send Mr. Malfoy there unless it was desperately called for. Which it is," he added, before any further protests could make their way into open air. He sighed. "I recommend that you two make a truce." The boys stood in stunned silence as he proceeded. "I suggest a formal truce, written by myself, with equal rules for you both..." He waved his hand to stifle their objections once more. "Yes, equal, or you will find the situation unbearable before long. I shall write it down tonight." At last the two youngsters seemed to realise there would be no getting out of the professor's stern pushing them around. This appeared to relax him somewhat, to be no more than the usual, grumpy potions professor. "The question is not up for discussion. You will be packed by morning, when you both shall accompany me to London, where the Dursley family will pick you up. Good evening." However civil, the dismissal was final and the tone conveyed that he would tolerate no foolishness. The boys walked out in silence.
"Ow! Stop walking away from me," Draco scowled. "It hurts no less than it did three hours ago." His words were sarcastic, but they didn't have the evil edge that so often came through between the two.
"Sorry," Harry muttered. "But I need to pack myself and you've been packing half the evening already." He was pacing the Slytherin dormitory like a wolf, or rather a lion, on a leash. He stopped only to fix his eyes on the blonde backside of Draco's head, with a slightly confused look on his face.
"And stop staring at me," Draco said quietly. "It's quite rude. You will have your time, once I'm finished with my packing. You know that." He paused for a second, still rummaging around with his things – discarding this, choosing that. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I tell you to stop staring, Potter?" Again, the blonde's words lacked their usual acid, as he turned around to return the gaze.
"How did you know I was?" Draco Malfoy sneered, as if to say that it would have been odder if he hadn't known.
"I just knew. Now, if you would...?" He turned back to his packing. Lacking arguments for a refusal and too indifferent to care, Harry continued his circling of the room.
"Why are you this... polite, Malfoy?" Harry kept looking at the floor, kept walking. He couldn't help but let some curiosity slip into his voice, though. Draco's lips curled slightly upwards at the question and his grey eyes glittered.
"Oh, I haven't changed, Potter. Have no fear." He turned, to yet again face the dark-haired boy that still kept his eyes averted, and tried to keep his face under control. I am not telling a lie, there's not a chance that this is a permanent change... whatever it is. "I'm simply preparing myself for Sev's truce." Draco shrugged. It took Harry a few seconds to realise that "Sev" must be professor Snape, before he had thought that to its conclusion his schoolmate had continued talking. "It's sure to be a disturbing one, since he always was quite good at forcing his will upon others." His object of attention stopped, frowning a little, teeth biting the lower lip and hand distantly scratching his cheek. Draco sighed inside, unable to discern the whole truth. He couldn't quite figure out what had happened when the Azure Tear appeared again. Nor why it had lost its shine. This greatly disturbed him, but somehow he didn't feel as eager to take his irritation out on Harry as usual, he felt a rather odd... liking for the bastard, somehow. I have to look into this...he noted to himself. Stupidity is what it is.
"Yeah, what about it, really?" The dark-haired boy asked, pulling Draco out of his daydreaming. "What does he mean 'a formal truce'?"
"Simple." Draco waved his hand, to indicate that he surely didn't think it a complicated matter. "He will write up a contract that regulates what we may and may not do to each other while we are at your family's house..."
"They are not my family!"
"Whatever, Potter. My point is that it will clearly state that we're to be civil to each other, no needless fussing about and probably no name-calling and such. It will be magically sealed, of course. We don't have to lie about how much we love each other, but on the other hand, neither can we express our undying hatred while the contract is functional. Only Sev will be able to break it, of course." Draco smirked in his usual over-confident way, as he watched while the words sunk in. Harry was disturbed.
"What'll happen if we break the contract?" he wondered, anxiously. Draco's smirk grew theatrically innocent and he turned back to his giant trunk in a trouble-free manner.
"We'll probably get severely hexed, but don't worry. It won't be forever, even if it will feel like it." His words made Harry groan.
Several hours later, when they were finally ready in the Slytherin quarters, Harry decided that they sleep in Gryffindor Tower, stifling the Slytherin's aggressive complaints with a simple "I wouldn't fuss if you hadn't stayed here so late that I'll have to pack halfway through the night. Unless you wish to sleep here alone?" With that comment, he turned around and walked out the door, Draco trailing behind and muttering wishful curses at him. This night is going to be a long one...
"Good morning," Snape nodded at the two tired students. "Here's your contract, get your signatures on it and I will hand Mr. Malfoy the copy, which you can read on your way to London." He shooed them on and as soon as they had signed the parchment he almost ripped it out of Harry's hands. "Now, I'm not inclined to baby-sit you two all day, come on! Come on!" He hurried them into the back seat of the little car waiting for them.
"What's this, really?" Malfoy sounded slightly disgusted. "I'd have better space in my wardrobes!"
"It's a muggle car," Harry responded sourly. "Probably enchanted. The Weasleys have one, too."
"Ah yes," Snape sneered from the driver's seat. "How can one forget yours and young mister Weasley's little tour in that car your second school year, Potter?" Harry cast an evil glance toward the professor, but decided that silence was a good idea.
The flying car, invisible to muggle eyes, of course, hummed in the snowy air over England's hills. Harry found the trip rather enjoyable, while Malfoy sat quiet; even if the scowl on his face betrayed his emotions he did nothing to spread them. Whatever he had said, the car was quite comfortable, not least compared to the Weasley's. The journey took about three hours and the boredom that settled after the first ten minutes was relieved only by the time Snape accidentally drove into a flock of flying geese, zigzagging wildly to get away from the panic-stricken birds. The two boys found themselves laughing quietly, so that their driver would not overhear. Infuriating the black-haired professor was not a good idea.
The car landed swiftly on the dark asphalt of the street outside London Central Station. Snape checked the surroundings thoroughly and turned visibility back on. It was still very early in the morning, Harry could not believe how early it must have been when they left Hogwarts. He had slept for an hour, but he still felt kind of numb. Not that such a feeling was unusual in a situation like this one – he was, after all, going to see the Dursleys again. The only light in the darkness was – oddly enough – Draco Malfoy, who showed great promise with this new, civil attitude. Meaning that he did not attack Harry on sight with his usual smirk and casually snappy remarks – the thought of Draco actually being nice to him was still odd. And then... Oh please, what have I done to deserve this? Across the street, Vernon Dursley stepped out of his shiny little car with all the excess pounds firmly crammed inside a large jacket. The frown that made his face look like a wrinkled leather sofa made Harry put on his don't-pay-any-attention-to-me-face. Draco, on the other hand, smirked in his usual, arrogant Malfoy-way.
"Boy! Get over here, I don't have all the time in the world," Uncle Vernon called out, annoyed as usual. Harry turned to professor Snape and nodded respectfully.
"Goodbye, Professor Snape." Malfoy followed his example and the two boys walked across the street, observed by a professor that seemed to have gotten a slight twitch in the corner of his left eye. No one stood close enough to overhear his muttered: "Take care, boys."
The back seat of the Dursleys car was not as comfortable as Snape's, although Harry still found it quite acceptable. Malfoy, however, looked less satisfied, wriggling and turning in his seat all the time, in pursuit of a softer spot. At first, the boy had tried starting a conversation to fill out the silence, with little or no response from his driver. Before the words even came out of his mouth, as he attempted to speak to his co-passenger, Harry had silenced him with a glance that showed alarm and – to his surprise – a slight amount of panic. Ever since then his only stress-relief had been looking out at the winter-white England and its inhabitants. How can muggles live like this? It's as comfortable as being tucked up inside a travelling trunk! Draco was not in his best mood as the car turned and drove up onto the parking space of 4, Privet Drive. Vernon Dursley muttered something that he hoped was a dismissal and Draco exited as quickly as possible.
After a second he was reminded that no house-elf would take his trunk and went to get it with a heavy sigh. He felt uncomfortable without his robes and, really, he couldn't understand why Harry had made such a fuss about them getting muggle clothing for him – his robes worked perfectly everywhere else, why not in this pathetic little excuse for a town? When he reached into his pockets for his wand Harry came up with a stern look on his face.
"Leave it, I'll get your baggage inside, Malfoy. I don't want to get into more trouble than I already have because of you." His voice was stark, but not cruel, and his comment made Draco's eyebrows lift to new heights. What in the whole world does the insolent little brat suggest I've done now?!
"What?" was his only, chilly comment.
"Let's talk about it upstairs, in my room. Now be silent and carry one of the smaller bags." He briefly looked over at Mr. Dursley, who was on his way toward the door, and whispered: "And no magic!" Then he silenced any complaint Draco might have had by simply turning his entire attention to carrying the boys' two large trunks into the house.
Draco took his own two smaller ones and followed, his confusion hidden behind his often used 'Malfoy mask of superiority'.
Well in the room Harry sighed heavily, but in a strangely relieved way.
"Now, Malfoy," he said in an instructing tone. "I know that Snape gave you permission to use magic here because you're not used to muggle ways, but I'd really suggest you shut that thought out immediately." He hushed the other boy with a wave of his hand. "No, really, uncle Vernon's going to suffocate me the second he finds anything the least magical around here – no matter who did it."
"Gosh," Draco said, perplexed. Harry smiled shortly at his surprise and continued.
"Aunt Petunia would not turn from her cooking to save me and my cousin would gladly kick my ass for nothing."
"I know that kind of relatives," Draco chuckled sarcastically. "Most of mine are of the kind. But why do you have to care? At the end of year you will be a fully fledged wizard and they are, after all, only muggles."
"You're right. But I've really got the feeling that they will do anything to kick me while I'm down simply because I had the rudeness to force you to come with me."
"But... you didn't!" Again, Draco was confused and frowning.
"Oh, in their point of view, anything bad must come from me."
"Ah, I know that attitude too. Simply didn't think of it that way. I won't ask you about their being your loving relatives, considering that I have a few like them. I see your arguments, but I still think it's stupid."
"You will do as I ask, won't you?" Silence. "Malfoy?" More silence. "Please, Draco?" Harry's voice had gone from normal, to worried, to pleading, while the beautiful face he was looking at kept its blank appearance. Then Draco sighed.
"For the moment, but I won't let this ludicrous charade go on for two weeks," he stated calmly. "I will however," he added when he realised that the green eyes still held a considerable amount of anxiety, "tell you if I'm planning something. Might not listen to you," he added with a grin, "but I'll tell you, so you get the chance to run off." I never realised how many colours green could be. "I'm tired, where's my bed? I mean, I can't very well sleep on the floor, now can I? And I won't be having constant headaches every night for two weeks."
Harry was relieved. Now this, he had planned for. Not a very comfortable plan, he admitted that, but at least one that worked out. "I'll be sleeping in my old room. We might have to move the bed over by the door to get it close enough, but there it'll be almost on top of the stairs and unless you take walking trips at night you'll be fine."
"Oh." Figure this building's big enough for even Harry to move around...It's so small compared to the Manor. "Which one was your old one?" he asked, more for the asking than for any real wish to hear "the Potter's story" as he used to call it. Harry shrugged.
"Uhm... the cupboard under the stairs," he said, just a bit too hasty.
Draco gagged.
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HERE are my reasons for having them getting along so well.
Draco: Knew from experience that Snape's treaty would force him not only to seem nice to Harry, but to be nice, meaning he wanted to get used to it first. This is unclear because it's from H:s POV (though I corrected that slightly). After the little quarrel they had in the bedroom, he was also curious as to what H knew about his parents that he himself didn't (I'm getting to that one, let it take its time). And one more reason that will be my secret until I wish to reveal it grins maliciously
Harry: Has only seldom been the one to invite fighting with Draco (which doesn't mean he stops them if they're coming at him), he just doesn't usually trust D. Now, D has valid arguments (the treaty) to treat him nice, thus H doesn't pick a fight. During the scene in the dorms he also realized that Draco is not the black-and-white son-of-a-Death-Eater that he'd always figured him to be and was forced to reconsider a few things.
Is this clear enough in the story or do you want it sorted out?
