Chapter 6
Lucius Malfoy walked away from the group of Weasleys and Granger with his sneering son at his heels. Harry had been watching the whole encounter between the two Malfoys and the Weasley clan and had seen Malfoy senior drop a book in the youngest Weasley's cauldron. He did not think it was a first year book she lost. So, being the concerned school mate he was, he walked up to the Weasley clan and cleared his throat. "Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley. It is an honor to meet you." The oldest Weasleys turned to him in surprise and gaped. Arthur recovered first. "Mr. Potter, it is nice to meet you too. I am quite surprised you came to meet us." "Of course he came to meet us Arthur. Harry probably knows what good friends we were with the Potters." Molly interjected. Harry nodded merrily "Yes. My aunt Petunia talks about mom sometimes and she mentioned the Weasley name. I did some research and I thought it would be best to meet you. Perhaps sometime you can tell me about my parents." He made sure to sound hopeful and desperate.
"Of course Harry dear! We would love to talk about your parents. They were such wonderful people, the cream of the crop!" Molly said with a huge motherly smile. Harry gave a grateful one "Thank you." As if seeing her for the first time, Harry's eyes fixed on Ginny. The girl was blushing to the roots of her hair and looked ready to faint. Ron, the twins and Percy were as if they were watching a train wreck. "Who is this beautiful lady?" If possible, Weaslette became even redder. Arthur looked amused and Molly became ecstatic, a reaction he has to remember. "Oh, that's our darling daughter Ginny. Isn't she lovely?" "Ewe, mom that's grose!" Ron groused. The twins sneakered "Oh, sweet, sweet young love!"
Without taking his eyes off the redheaded girl he said "Not to be rude Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but may I have a moment with Miss Weasley." The two Weasleys smiled knowingly. "Of course. If you need us we will be in the apothecary." Once the two were alone Harry came closer to Weaslette. "Ginny, right?" Weaslette stuttered out "Yes!" Really lady-like. Harry let his eyes droop a bit. "You know, I've never met someone like you. Beautiful in your own unique way." Weaslette smiled with a blush and a shudder. "You really think that?" 'Do we really have to do this? It's disgusting.' 'Victory doesn't come cheap. Besides, I would love the look on her face when she realizes I will never like her in any way.' 'Hopefully it will be worth it.'
"I know it." Harry purred. Then he sighed disappointedly. "Unfortunately your unrivalled looks are not the reason I came to talk to you. I need your help." Weaslette grinned at him, rubbing her arm shyly. "Sure, anything." "You see, I'm not sure which books the first years are using this year. A friend of mine is also a first year and asked for my help but I'm completely clueless. I was hoping I could look through your books for clues." He said and gave a small but sexy smile. Weaslette blushed fiercely once again and was lost for words, but she did hand over her things. He took them with as dashing a smile as he could manage with Lelita literally throwing up in his head. He searched the book bag intensely while wandlessly banishing the sneaked book into his trunk. Weaslette never saw anything, fixated on staring dreamily at his face. Harry got up again "I think I know what to tell my friend now." "I'm glad I was helpful." "You were very helpful. Thank you so much Ginny. I would be lost without you." The girl giggled. "Unfortunately again, I have to go finish my own shopping. I'm sure my aunt is quite worried about me." Weaslette drooped in disappointment. "Oh. Alright, I understand." "Well, goodbye Ginny. See you at Hogwarts." Harry walked away with his hands in his pockets. "That was easy."
Ginny Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor, as expected. She kept throwing glances at him and making sure he was inn her sight. Harry ignored her like he ignored everyone else. Draco came over to where he was sitting alone at the end of the Ravenclaw table. "Potter." He greeted. A non-committal grunt was his answer. The blonde looked over at the ring he was rolling between his fingers. It was silver with an emerald embedded in it. "What is that?" "A ring." Was the simple reply. Draco rolled his eyes. "What I mean is; Why do you have it?" "I have it Draco, because I found it and decided to keep it." "I'm not getting anything out of you, am I?" "No." Draco sighed and let it drop. Instead he focused on the food in front of him.
The next morning Harry was absent from breakfast and the morning classes. He never came for lunch either. "Mr. Malfoy, do you reckon where Mr. Potter might be?" an irritable McGonagall asked. Draco shook his head no. The professor pursed her lips and continued teaching. At dinner, Harry came through the door and sat down at his usual spot as if nothing was amiss. Draco joined him not even a minute later. "Where have you been?" he whispered harshly. He also noticed the same ring he saw Harry fiddling with yesterday now on his right middle finger. Harry raised an eyebrow at him but answered anyway. "Exploring. It was the first day of school and I thought I wouldn't waste my time on introductory lessons." "And you didn't tell me this why?" "Because I didn't need to." Was the smooth answer. Draco went a bit pink with rage before sighing it out. "Are we friends or not Potter? You can't just disappear like that; you know people will get suspicious." "Let them. It would be fun to watch them gossip my every move and motive." Again the blonde sighed. There was no talking Harry into telling him everything he needed to know. After spending most of his time with Harry for almost the whole school year he realized that the raven was wrapped in so much mystery he doubted he could unravel it all. He was so closed off from the world and was ok with it. He wanted to keep people at arms' length while he watched them pass him by. He was like a predator watching the sheep of the world try to become familiar with him and he would just laugh at their attempts to get closer to death. Harry was dangerous, he knew. He could see the power in his eyes when they happened to cross his and his aura was different from everyone else's in a dramatic way. He knew Harry was dangerous, yet he couldn't help but want to get closer, even without his father's encouragement.
"How's Lockhart?" The question startled him so bad he jumped, spilling juice on himself. He cursed colorfully, trying to wipe the mess. "Merlin Harry, give me a warning next time." "I asked a question." Draco focused on Harry to see him staring at Professor Lockhart at the head table. "Uh, Lockhart is… well, not much better than Quirell. All he does is talk about himself and how great a wizard he is. The first task he gave us for class was answer a quiz about himself with questions like: 'What is Lockhart's greatest adventure?', 'What is Lockhart's favorite colour?' Then he let loose a cage full of Cornish pixies then ditches us to fix it!" Draco stopped his ranting when he noticed Harry wasn't paying attention. "Why did you want to know?" Harry turned to him "Just asking. It is not everyday you get a famous adventurer and author for a professor." He said and started eating too, leaving Draco to ponder.
"Alright! You are gathered here to take part in your first dueling club session of the year. I will willingly demonstrate a duel to you with the help of my assistant Professor Snape!" Lockhart said standing on a raised platform that was long and narrow. Professor Snape came up elegantly. They walked towards each other and bowed before moving in opposite directions, counting ten steps as they did. They turned to face each other again. Lockhart started the match "Ready, start!" "Expelliamus!" Snape said with a wave of his wand and Lockhart was thrown to his back before he could even move. He groaned in pain and stood up. "That was very good. Although it was pretty obvious what you were about to do." Snape was not impressed. "Perhaps we should let the students duel. After all this is for them. Mr. Potter and Mr. Nott perhaps." The surly professor suggested. He urged the Slytherin student onto the platform. Harry joined him a moment later.
Nott smirked at him, confident of his dueling abilities. "Ready Potter?" "Only if you are." Harry drawled, beyond bored. They repeated their superiors' actions then faced each other in dueling positions. Harry had his wand positioned limply in his hand while Nott had his raised above his head at the ready. "Ready, duel!" Nott waved his wand and pointed it at him. "Confrigo!" Harry side stepped the curse easily. "Expelliumus!" This was also side stepped, and the next burn hex was dodged too. "Fight back, Potter!" Nott shouted at him and threw another disarming spell which was also avoided. Harry was watching his opponent and his weak points. There were many weaknesses in Nott altogether. He just had to take him out and be done with it. He raided his wand "Expelliumus." quickly followed by another flick of the wand "Stupify." Taking a page out of his book, Nott rolled out of the way of the spell but fell right into the body bind. He went stiff as a board and fell on the ground. Harry walked over to him in the ensuing silence and plucked Nott's wand out of his stiff fingers then waited expectantly. "Mr. Potter is the winner. I never doubted you my boy!" Lockhart announced as he walked towards Harry to pat him on the back. Harry stiffened slightly and had to stop himself from wrenching his hand off his shoulder. Instead he jumped off the platform.
It seems someone wanted to take revenge for his fallen friend because the next thing he heard was "Serpensotia!" A snake protruded from a Slytherin's wand to he left and landed harshly in front of him. The second years froze in fear as the serpent got up to hiss and spit at the crowd around it. ~Where am I? What are you humans doing, do you intend to harm me?!~ It hissed in panic and anger. Harry crouched calmly as the people around him shouted that he should move. He saw Snape draw his wand and subtly threw a shielding spell around the snake. He hissed ~Hello there little one. Don't worry, no one will harm you in my presence.~ The room instantly went silent at the hissed words. Everyone stopped to stare at him open-mouthed; even Snape paused in his approaching assault. Draco, who was going to help him with his snake problem, stumbled back in shock, staring at his somewhat friend in shock.
The snake snapped its head towards him. ~You are a speaker. I have never thought I would meet one.~ it said in wonder, tasting the air around him. Harry smiled, startling the crowd even more. ~What is your name?~ ~I am the one called Sasha. A cobra from the forest.~ the serpent replied proudly, rearing up and displaying its impressive crown. ~Nice to meet you Sasha. I am Harry Potter. I can get you back to your home in a moment if you wish. Just get onto my arm.~ Harry said offering his right arm. The snake slithered onto his arm without hesitation and settled on his upper arm with its head on his collarbone. He saw Snape draw a breath and hold it. Harry got up again and looked around at the astounded and fearful faces. His eyes settled on Draco's pale face. He addressed them with amusement coloring his voice "What? Never saw a parselmouth before?" He walked out of the room. Snape scowled after him then left through the opposite door. Chatter started up about two minutes later among the students. Draco swallowed the thick lump in his throat and ran after Harry, refusing to let his fear get in the way of his friendship with Harry.
He found him at the edge of the forest about an hour later, just coming out. He cleared his throat nervously. "I didn't know you could speak to snakes." "You never asked." Draco scowled at the smirk on Harry's face. "Be serious." No answer came. Harry stopped in front of him. They both stood there in silence for what felt like forever to Draco. "I'm not scared of you." He finally said, reassuring Harry and solidifying his own resolution. An eyebrow rose "I never expected you to distance yourself from me even if you are afraid, Draco. I would have been surprised if you ran away with your tail between your legs." Harry replied to Draco's shock. He cocked his head to the side as he buried his hands in his pockets. His words made the blonde turn scarlet. "I know you want to stay by my side. That you want to keep close." Draco fidgeted and looked anywhere but at Harry. The raven continued. "Even so I advice you to be careful. I am not someone meant for good company, I'm sure you have already realized that." Draco stayed silent. "Even if your daddy says so, it is not wise to stay close to me." Draco snapped his head towards Harry. He made to open his mouth probably to make excuses and protest but Harry stopped him. "I know it is not your intention to betray me Draco. Stay away from me. Trouble follows me at every corner, Draco. Stay away from the flames or you will get burnt."
Harry's gaze was intense on him. Draco released a long breath, trying to calm his nerves. "No." "Excuse me?" Draco shook his head with his eyes screwed shut. "I c-can't. I can't just walk away. I can't just pretend everything never happened. I will not abandon you just because you can talk to snakes. I've never had a friend like you Harry, who doesn't care about my blood status or name or associations. You don't care about anyone insignificant to you but…" he opened his eyes only to look away to hide the moisture gathering there. "But I know you care about me. You ignore everyone else and entertain them only when needed. You kept me longer than you do everyone else. I'm sure you care…" his words trailed off into silence. He heard feet coming at him and Harry stopped right next to him. When he looked up Draco saw a genuine smile on Harry's face as he stared off into the distance. "You are the most idiotic person I've ever met; I'm surprised you're not in Gryffindor. You're brave Draco, I'll give you that. I'm honored that you chose to stay by my side though I prefer you didn't. You don't know what you are doing, though I hope you find what you are looking for." Harry said and continued to walk into the castle. Draco stayed as he was, a strange pressure in his chest. He took a deep breath, wiped the tears in his eyes and smiled. At least Harry let him in somewhat. He did not know if he was making the right choices but he knew what he wanted, and damned if he did not get it.