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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 11: Follow the Rat
Harry sighed and moved his chess piece, not really getting into the game. He watched as Ron took his castle and in the same move, had him checkmated.
"Checkmate," Ron said with a smile.
"Got me again," Harry muttered. He stood up and walked over to the fire. He didn't feel like pretending to be happy today.
Ron yawned and stretched. "I'm going to bed. You coming?"
"I'll be up in a bit," Harry told him. Ron nodded and took off up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.
Harry glanced at the Christmas decorations that adorned the common room. He wasn't in a very festive mood, even though the next day was Christmas. It had been nearly two months since the day Malfoy had basically told him to shove off and Harry was still feeling hurt. It wasn't fair that he should feel this way about Draco Malfoy when there were plenty of women and even men who would want to go out with him. It wasn't fair that Draco Malfoy had pretended to feel something and then had taken it all away. It wasn't fair that every time Harry tried to catch his eye in the hall, Draco Malfoy ignored him.
Harry had stayed at the school for the winter holiday as most of the students had. Only those whose parents would come to the school to get their children could leave and there weren't a lot of parents who were willing to put their kids in danger. Of course, these rules didn't apply to the Slytherins, whose parents were the ones causing the danger. Indeed, most of their parents had shown up at Hogwarts and whisked them away to their homes.
Harry sighed again. It had been nice being able to at least look at Draco. After Harry had heard Malfoy's decision, he had been sad, and then angry. He had held onto the hope that Malfoy would change his mind. He didn't.
And now Harry was just lonely.
Sure, he had Ron and Hermione and two better friends he could not ask for. But it hurt to see them hold hands or catch them kissing and realize that he had lost that. He wasn't completely pessimistic. He knew that some day he would find someone else, but still, the ache in his chest was almost too much to bear.
He stared into the flames and wondered what Draco Malfoy was doing at this very moment.
Draco Malfoy was not a very happy camper.
"That bitch. That stupid bitch," he muttered quietly. His hands were curled up into fists and his lower lip trembled.
He was so angry.
He couldn't believe that Pansy had sold him out. A part of him was mad at himself for underestimating her, but mostly, he hated her. It was her fault he was stuck in the dungeons of his own home, her fault that his Father had kicked the shit out of him. The man had never laid a finger on him, but hearing that his son was gay had sent him into a towering rage.
Draco had denied it. He had told him it wasn't true. But he knew his Father wouldn't believe him. What did Pansy have to gain by lying about this? No, she was hurting herself. No doubt he would be killed and Pansy would not be married into the Malfoy name.
So Draco's father knew it wasn't a trick.
He heard a tray slide into his cell. He grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it into his mouth. He was starving. As he ate his meager meal, his mind traveled back to Potter.
He should have sided with him.
Hindsight is 20/20.
If only he had connected the dots, remembered that Pansy had been right there as he had come out of the prefect's bathroom, recollected her sudden coldness towards him…he could have stopped her from telling his father or at the very least, he could have went with Potter and avoided the entire situation he was in now.
No, Pansy was smarter than she let on. Draco had been terrified that his father was going to torture him for information about Potter, but he had not. And Draco could only assume that Pansy had not told his father that the male he had been running around with was Harry Potter.
A true Slytherin move.
She had saved that piece of information, assuming that his father knowing he was gay was bad enough. She was right. And now she could tell his father about Potter anytime she wanted…if she needed to at all.
Of course he would probably die at this rate anyway.
He's probably trying to starve the homosexuality out of me, Draco thought wryly as he finished his bread and cheese. He drank his glass of water in one gulp and sighed. His throat was still parched.
Harry was just about to go up to bed when he heard a noise. It sounded like something was moving. Curiously, Harry looked under the couch he was sitting on and gasped.
It was Scabbers.
Or rather, Peter Pettigrew.
Harry reached out a hand to grab the rat, but the rodent moved out of his grasp and ran towards the portrait hole. Harry laughed. There was no where for the animal to go.
He stared incredulously as the portrait hole opened.
Not pausing to think about getting someone else, Harry raced after the rat. "Lumos!" He called out, lighting his wand. He could barely see the rat, racing through the Hogwarts corridors, but the rat couldn't run that fast. Harry was managing to keep up.
They reached the doors to the castle and again Harry was surprised as the door opened. The night was cold, but Harry barely noticed as he made continuing grasps at the rat. Harry didn't even realize where they were going. His mind was solely focused on the rodent in front of him.
Harry was gaining on the rat and decided to go for it.
He dove and grabbed Wormtail with his right hand. He yelled out as one of the Whomping Willow's branches struck him on the side of the head. He fell down. The world seemed to be spinning. He still held Scabbers in his hand.
Harry watched as two people appeared from thin air. Invisibility cloaks, Harry thought vaguely.
And then everything went black.
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