Chapter 9- The Arrival
Harry went to his room, quite confused. 'Why did Malfoy look like the Angel? He couldn't have been the angel, could he have? No, Malfoy would never be nice to anyone, especially me. I don't think he is capable of being as nice as that angel was. But still…why did he look so much like my angel?'
These thoughts nagged at Harry's brain, until finally, he came up with a solution that worked to ease his troubled mind somewhat. 'Obviously, the angel came from my mind. I must have hallucinated the angel while I was half-conscious, and then got the angel mixed up with Malfoy's image, who I could faintly see.' The fact that it might be odd to find more comfort in imagining caresses than to think another person in the room had touched him never really occurred to Harry. Besides, he would probably rather have imagined someone touched him than to believe Draco had been nice to him. That would just be weird.
Draco, meanwhile, was observing the tapestry with mild interest. He already knew all the pureblood families, of course, but he didn't know exactly how he was related to all of them. He hated the fact that he was related to the Weasleys of course. He thought he saw a movement outside of the door, but when he turned his head to look, there wasn't anything there. So he lay back on the floor, thinking of the summer still to come.
Spending every day in the same house as Potter, then (and this was the part that actually did make him dread the summer) he would have to endure the Weasleys and the Mudblood. Not to mention the other people that would be tramping in and out of the house, giving him no peace. 'Hopefully, though, when Potter's 'friends' get here, they'll all be busy amongst themselves and will leave me alone.' This thought did not make him feel better. He didn't like being ignored or cast aside as if unimportant. Especially not by Potter.
The next week went by rather routinely. Draco and Harry basically ignored each other, except for the fact that Harry kept checking on Draco to make sure he wasn't doing any bad deeds. It was on one of these intrusions that Draco got irritated. Harry had interrupted him while he was trying to think of ways to survive the Slytherins in the upcoming year. Seeing Harry had reminded him of the fact that he wouldn't be in his predicament if he had just let Harry die, and how Harry was now being very ungrateful. So, he got angry at Harry for ignoring him for the better part of his stay at Harry's house.
"I'm not doing anything 'evil'! Will you stop coming in here all the time! It's fucking annoying. I know Dumbledore told you to, and you're his little puppet and everything, but wouldn't you think that if I was planning on killing you that I'd have done it by now?" he snapped.
This got Harry on the defensive as well. "This is MY house! Don't try to tell me what to do in it. Or I will throw you on the streets for the Death Eaters to find."
"I'm sure Dumbledore'd love that, wouldn't he? And need I remind you that I saved you in the first place? If it hadn't been for me then you-"
"I'd be dead. Right. But just because you saved me doesn't mean you have the right to do or say anything you want to anyone. If you say one nasty word to any of the Order members, I swear, you will wish the Death Eaters had you."
Draco laughed softly. "Yes, I'm sure that you, with your high morals and non-violent ways, would be much more threatening than He-Who-Shall-Eventually-Be-Named and his followers."
Harry looked as though he agreed, but didn't say so. "Not in the ways of pain, no. But you would not do so well without at least one ally when school starts, would you? I'm warning you right now. You better be respectful to every last person that enters this house. And that includes Ron and Hermione."
Draco looked incredulous. "You're trying to tell me that I have to be nice to a Mudblood? That's disgusting."
Harry glared at him. "Malfoy!"
"What! I am not going to be nice to a Mudblood. I absolutely refuse. And it's not like they're going to be nice to me. Why should I have to be respectful to them when they are just going to treat me like shit?" Harry looked at him, thoughtful.
"Ron probably will. Hermione won't though, as long as you don't call her names, or disrespect her. And I didn't say you had to be nice to them, anyways. I'm just saying that you can't be mean to them. And I'll talk to Ron. There, are you happy?"
Draco looked very far from being happy, but didn't say so. Instead, he shrugged. "Whatever. It's not as if I can change the situation, is it? Might as well stop whining."
Harry looked stunned for a moment. He had never thought that Malfoy even could stop whining when he wasn't getting his way. It was just one of those things that Malfoy did.
"Fine. Just make sure you remember to watch what you say." Harry left the room and went back downstairs to do whatever it was he was going to do.
Draco lay back down on his bed. He wanted out. He had been kept inside for too long. He needed to do something other than walk around the house all day and sleep. But as of now, he couldn't. So he would have to be content to stay in the house and be bored until school. He couldn't wait until school started.
A few weeks later, Harry and Draco were still basically avoiding each other. Today, the Order members that would be attending Hogwarts were coming back to the Order. It was time for Harry to remind Draco of their agreement. Harry was not looking forward to this. In fact, he decided to just not say anything to Draco about it. 'It would just get Draco in a bad mood. He's more likely to be cruel to them if I remind him not to be then if I just leave him alone.' Two hours later, while Harry was in the sitting room, he heard the door open and shut and then the sound of running. A second later, Hermione had thrown her arms around Harry. Predictably, Ron was right behind her, looking a bit jealous. Harry laughed a little at that. Hermione let go of Harry, and stepped back to Ron, taking hold of his hand.
"Harry, we have the most fantastic news! Ron and I are a couple!"
Harry had figured as much out when Hermione had held Ron's hand, but he decided not to say so. Ron's ears had turned red. 'Sometimes my friends are a little too predictable.' "That's great! I was wondering when you two would make it official." Harry said smiling.
If anything, Ron blushed even harder, but Hermione smiled even more brightly. "Well, Harry, you'll have to fill us in on what's been happening up here. Dumbledore didn't tell us anything while we were away."
Harry was surprised at this. "He didn't tell you anything?" The fact that he would have to tell them both about Draco was not welcome news to him. Hermione looked a little worried at Harry's shock.
"No. Why, has something bad happened?" Harry was now trying to figure out how best to tell them about Draco. He knew he would have to tell them before they saw him there - they might try to kill him otherwise.
"Well, we have a new guest staying with us for the summer." he began.
"Who is it?" Ron asked.
"Um… Malfoy?" he said, deciding to just tell them and get it over with. Hermione was looking at him as though trying to figure out what he meant by saying "Malfoy." Ron stared at him blankly for a moment. There was a moment of awkward silence, before Ron started laughing. "That was a good one. You really had us fooled for a minute. OK, who is it really?"
Hermione was also looking relived, now that she had gotten the joke. Harry didn't laugh. Hermione saw this and looked anxious again. Ron, however, was oblivious to this fact, it seemed.
"Well…" Harry began, but was interrupted by Draco tramping down the stairs.
"I thought I smelled a Weasel. Oh, and look. It's holding hands with the Mudblood. How cute." Draco batted his eyelashes sarcastically.
Harry growled. "Malfoy! Don't start anything with them. I already told you-"
"Yes, yes. Be nice to the Mudblood. I can be evil to the Weasel if he picks on me. No name calling. Behave. Oh, dear me. I suppose I must have forgotten a few of those rules." he drawled. He said it as though he was bored, although his eyes shown, asking for a fight. Harry understood.
Draco was bored and was trying to find entertainment in a fight with his favorite school rivals. Harry didn't know whether to play along and let Draco have some fun or ignore him. He would have ignored him, but he knew that then Draco would continue to get worse, and might really get him mad. So he decided instead to play along.
"Yes, I suppose you must have, but all is forgiven Malfoy. Now go back up to your room like a good little puppy, and make sure you don't go wandering off. We wouldn't want those mean Death Eaters to get a hold of you, now would we?" Harry turned back to Ron and Hermione, who were looking between Draco and Harry with very confused expressions. Harry sighed, not really feeling like explaining everything that had happened to them.
He was saved the trouble, however, when Draco drawled, "Well, come on then. Tell your little pets how I saved your life from my evil father. It's not that complicated of a story."
He looked over at Ron and Hermione. "Oh, but you might want to talk slow. The red-haired one's a little D-U-M-B." He said to Harry.
Ron pointed his wand at Draco. "Shut up, Malfoy. We don't have to take any crap from you. This is Harry's house, and he can put you out on the streets if he wants to."
"Actually, I'm staying here on Dumbledore's orders, not Potter's generosity. So I doubt if he'll "put me out on the streets" anytime soon. In fact, I doubt Potter would do anything without the Dumb one's say so. Tell me, does he have to tell you to wipe your arse?" The last question was addressed to Harry.
Harry was beginning to get bored with Draco's mouthing. "Fuck off, Malfoy." He turned back to Ron and Hermione once more. "Come on, let's go up to my room, and I'll explain what happened." They made to go up the stairs, but Draco was blocking them. "Move, Malfoy." Harry said, annoyed.
"You're not going to tell the story without me. You'll make me sound bad." He said this so arrogantly that Harry had to try hard not to laugh at him.
"Fine, just move." Draco let them through and followed Ron up to Harry's room. It looked for a moment as though Ron was going to slam the door on Draco, but thought better of it. Ron and Hermione sat on one bed, while Draco and Harry sat on the one opposite them. Harry began to tell them the story, while Draco added in details that he thought necessary, and Ron and Hermione asking questions the whole time. Finally, Harry and Draco were able to get them to a point where they finally understood what had happened.
Author's Notes: Yeah, I know that was a little short for the amount of time I took on it, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.
Linker27: Yeah, I guess it wasn't too long. But I'm impatient, so I naturally believe people will stop reading my story if I don't post within a week of the last chapter. But that's just me. Heh.
OneWhoSitsWithTheTurtles: Thanks for the tips!
Emeralddragon: They will eventually. They are probably in denial. Btw: I like your user name.
Elly Yuki: I agree.
Hikari-Aoi:Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I've done that with a couple of fanfics before.
Im da fuck tard: lol. I forgive you. Luckily, my emails arrive so that I read your apology before your insult. Or else I probably would have been VERY confused…until I read my next email…lol.