HAPTER SEVENTEEN
[Colurways]
HARRY
There were only three more days until the start of term and not nearly enough time to figure out whatever the bloody hell was happening.
Within the span of four days he finally escaped the Dursely's, manged to be on the run from the Ministry, get attacked by deatheaters, get on a first name basis with Draco-Fucking-Malfoy, and get hit by whatever dark magic was eating at him at aching like a bludger to the stomach. Not to mention they still had no idea how any of this started in the first place.
They were in the library again. This time they were both huddled over books clear of tears.
He looked up without moving his head to glance up at Draco. He'd be lying if he said he didn't expect Draco to start breaking down. Last night he looked so incredibly fragile, almost as if you could blown a leaf at him and he'll shatter. It was eye-opening, really. This was a whole new side of Draco that Harry didn't think anyone had ever seen before. He felt honored but also great a responsibility not to break it.
Draco looked up from his book and threw back the rest of his hot chocolate. (He was addicted. Harry tried to voice these thoughts but only was glared at and told to pour another glass). He looked just as exhausted as Harry felt.
"I don't get it. The Festival of Wonder is supposed to be a wizarding holiday! How is there nothing in any of the books about it? I'm a pure-blood wizard for Mercy's sake. I should have learned something about it by now."
Harry's lips twitched into a frown. "Maybe that's not it's real name?"
Draco's brows furrowed. "What do you mean? The Festival of Wonder is what both called it."
"I know that. But think about Easter. Some people call it Pascha. Same way with Christmas and Xmas. It wouldn't be too hard to believe. I don't know about you, but 'The Festival of Wonder' sounds made up by a child."
Draco crosses his arms and stares at him from the other side of the table. If he didn't know any better he would say he was glaring. "Okay, but what about Cassowary's comet then? Still not even a whispers in any of these books."
Harry shrugs. "I don't know? Same rule maybe. I'm only guessing..."
Draco sighed exasperatedly . "How did you ever manage to survive up until this point, Potter?"
"Hermione." He answered simply. Without her he wouldn't be standing where he was right now. Thinking about her only made him feel guilty. What would her reaction be if he told her that he'd been hanging around Draco this entire time? Salazar forbid Ron ever found out. He would have a field day. He still had multiple unopened letters sitting on top of his trunk just for that reason. He couldn't bring himself to lie to them even with everything happening.
Draco rolled his eyes and snorted. "Right. Of course."
Harry raises an eyebrow. "Oh don't pretend to be high-all-mighty. You would have been eaten alive in first-year hadn't it been for Crabbe and Goyle at your side twenty-four-seven."
Draco tilted back his chair a little and his head fell back in a short laugh. "Probably. Those idiots don't even know how to cast a simple locking charm."
Harry finds himself smiling too against all odds. This 'getting along' thing was weird and new but he definitely wasn't complaining. Sure, he had to fight back insults sometimes but that was out of habit, not spite. The more they would sit together in silence he found himself wanting to spark a conversation.
He was absolutely crazy and he very well knew it. Four days was way too fast for a hatred to evaporate into thin air, let alone become fond.
Harry tore his burning gaze away and shrugged his shoulders. "We could search the Hogwarts library when term starts. Your collection is a paperclip compared to the school's."
Draco's face dropped slightly. "Potter..."
"Harry. It's Harry."
"Harry," he corrects himself then wincing. "I'm not sure I'm going back."
Harry's face drops in surprise. "What? Why?"
"Think Potter. I have a horde of death eaters who want me dead, a father who will stop at nothing to get to me, and by default know too much and have a prize on my head by the Dark Lord. Take your pick."
"Oh come on you can't back out now! Voldermort-"
"Don't say his name you dunce-"
"-has been after my head since I was a baby and I'm fine right?"
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Aside from mental damage?"
"Yeah okay," Harry rolled his eyes. "My point is, Hogwarts is the safest place in all of Europe aside from Gringotts. They won't be able to reach you there."
"Remind me P- Harry just how many times you have been attacked while inside that castle's walls?"
"Um-"
"Exactly. It's not exactly the same when your father is a highly-valued member of the ministry who can get almost anything he wants. He can just ask nicely and I'll be handed right over to him on a silver platter."
"We'll just tell Dumbledore-"
"Have you forgotten already that if you go back as well the ministry will snap your wand? You'll be back with your relatives in a click of your finger."
Harry fell silent. He hadn't thought of that. The thought of never doing magic again was almost as terrifying as being with the Dursley's until he could move out. He would have to watch from afar as Ron and Hermione studied for their N.E.W.T.'s and graduate without him. Voldemort would find him one day and he'll be left defenseless to die at the same hand who killed his parents. Or he could live in hiding the rest of his life. No one would ever know where he was. He'll be safe and so would everyone he loved. Either way he'll be in exile the rest of his life. Could he ever handle that?
"I'm sure Dumbledore will think of something. He wouldn't let that happen."
"Are we not talking about the same old, manipulative bastard? You said it yourself, Dumbledore knew exactly what was going on inside that house and despite your desperate pleas he left you there."
"He had his reasons. It was the only place safe for me," Harry frowned heavily causing Draco to scoff.
"Safe? Harry, it's obvious what he's doing. He's manipulating you. If Hogwarts was safe he could have never let you out of the grounds."
"Manipulating is a harsh word... He knows what he's doing. Fair enough I would probably be safer somewhere else but he's thinking of war. Long-term stuff. He has his reasons. I can't sacrifice everyone else's lives for my happiness."
"Merlin, you really are dense, aren't you?" He rubs his forehead. "He's using you as a pawn in whatever twisted war games are going up inside his head. He's disfigured you like clay and turned you into a toy soldier. He left you there so you'll be mold-able. And you- you don't even care! He has you wrapped around his pretty little finger."
"Draco, I get it. You dislike Dumbledore. He's shady, I know. But either way he's going to be the one to help me end this war. I don't really have much of a choice but to trust him."
"So what? Who said you have to fight? You shouldn't have to be thrown into this war just because some psychopath killed your parents."
Harry rubs his face with his hands and sighs. "It's not as easy as that. I have to do it whether I want to or not."
"Where is it written? Where is it written you have to fight?"
Harry goes silent. Only the Order, Ron, and Hermione, and him knew the prophecy dictating the course of his life. He felt as if he could trust Malfoy. He had helped him fight against death eaters at the inn despite his father being in the ranks. Though, wanting to get along with someone and telling them life-saving information in a time of war was something different all together. His ground with him was a little unsteady to trust such a heavy secret. It just wasn't smart.
"You're getting off track," Harry points out. "You're right. Dumbledore may be using me but what other option do I have? He's playing his cards right. He wouldn't let them snap my wand. If you asked he could probably help you too."
"I don't want to be a pawn, Harry. I just want to be me."
"Would you rather be found again? You can't live your life alone for the rest of your life. You can't just sit in the shadows while everyone else does the work for you. I've seen first hand what Voldemort is capable of. You can't hide. Or run. You'll just end up at his feet, begging to die. And I just-" Harry clears his throat abruptly. "This is war. You don't have a choice."
Draco stares at him as though he just stabbed him through the chest. He looks back down at his book as if he is contemplating something. "I don't understand how you can be so selfless after everything. You've never had a break. Don't you ever want to hold on to something? Give people who've wronged you a taste of their own medicine?"
"Well yea. I'm not a saint as you'd like to believe," Harry smirks. "I've thought about it more than once. Acted on it actually. Almost killed your aunt. In the end I always figured there's not much point in it, is there? There's already been enough bloodshed. If me holding back if what is going to help Voldemort die then so be it. Better me than anyone else."
"Uhg," Draco rubs his forehead, "You're hero complex is acting up again. Mind if I vomit?"
"I'm serious though! You would be safe at Hogwarts. You don't have to go to the headmaster I suppose, but you have to think about it. Do you want to be on the run the rest of your life with no more than a 5th year education against Voldemort's merciless army or do you want to help get rid of him once and for all?"
Draco closes his book then gets up off of his seat to put it back on the bookshelf. It was ten in the morning and the two still had half a pile of books to comb through about wizarding traditions and permanent dark magic curses.
"Fine, I'll think about it."
"We only have three more days."
"So? As far as we know you could be expelled right now. There is no rush."
Harry could hardly stand the idea of being expelled from Hogwarts. It was his home... He needed to talk to Dumbledore. He was the only person who could sort all of this out. He voiced his thoughts to the blonde who shrugged. "Fine, talk to the crazy bastard if you insist. Use an anti-tracking charm on your owl. I don't want anyone to find us after we just escaped. Also-" he lifts up his mug with a pout that resembled a kicked puppy. "More please?"
Harry scowled. "You've already had nearly five glasses. Don't you think that's a little much?"
"I can't help it. I haven't had sweets in months. I'm suffering from withdrawal."
"Have you ever gone to a dentist?"
"A what now?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Nevermind."
He stood from his seat to grab the mug in annoyance when he suddenly felt light-headed.
It was as if his heart had suddenly stopped beating and all the blood had run down into his shoes. He swayed for just a moment, grabbing onto the table, before Draco noticed. His eyes winded for a millisecond and then moved swiftly, catching him and lowering him back into the chair.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Draco demands. "You almost just collapsed out of nowhere!"
"I didn't know, Draco. Maybe ask the mark on my stomach. It's didn't exactly to fall in your arms like a fucking damsel in distress. Shit." Harry winces heavily, resting his head on the table and holding his stomach. Waves of heat coursed through his blood as cold sweat glistened in his gaunt features. It felt as if someone was injecting fire straight into his veins
"I need to get the bathroom." He mumbled feverishly, holding his hands over his mouth.
Harry stumbled out of the room with Draco's help, and with each step his stomach tightened and ached all the more. The wave of nausea that hit Harry was so intense that he hardly made it to the toilet bowl before he emptied his stomach. Ashen faced, he clung to it as a life raft. His stomach felt like the bag in a set of bag-pipes being vigorously squeezed. With a heaving lurch of his stomach another small mouthful of bile dribbled from his quivering lips into the waiting pool of rancid vomit.
Draco flicks his wand next to him with a quickly cleaning charm. Harry slumps back, dazed in pain. The worst part seemed to be over and the rest seemed to be fading fast after it. It still hurt like arse though. He tried to pull himself up with the sink only for his legs to give out halfway and his knee's to bang loudly on the bathroom tile.
"Need help?"
"Oh piss off."
He takes Draco's hand though who helped lead him towards his room.
"Take off your shirt." Draco demands as soon as Harry managed to crawl back into his bed.
"Woah, Draco. Don't you think you should ask me on a date first?" Harry manages to tease despite the pounding headache in his head. He could hardly pay attention with his heart beat flooding his ears. He was just suddenly so tired. He closed his eyes for a brief second before getting snapped at by the blonde.
"I'm serious. I need to check your stomach."
Harry grumbled something unintelligible under his breath.
"Potter."
"Fine."
He tore the greenish-blue shirt from off his back before leaning back into the pillows with a satisfied sighed. He would have passed out right then had it not been for Draco's sharp curses.
"I thought you said it wasn't hurting!"
"It wasn't," he mumbled tiredly. "It didn't"
He looked down at himself where the black ink on his stomach was an even darker black than before and spread from hip to hip. Draco reached out to touch it resulting in a sharp wince from Harry.
"Bollocks. You just vomited in my toilet and on the edge of passing out. You idiot.Just because you have a high pain tolerance doesn't mean you should have to be in pain."
Harry hummed loopily as if the tiredness had made him go mad. "You worry too much Draco. I'm fine."
"I'm happening to worry just the right amount as someone in my situation would, thanks."
"Hmmmmm. You don't look 'ike it. You don't show it but I can hear it in your 'oice." Harry responded, slurring his words together. He had himself curled under the blankets without taking the time to put his shirt back on.
"What?" Draco asked, voice barely above a whisper.
"...forgot. I'm 'ired."
He truly did. He could barely keep his eyes open let along keep his thoughts in line. Why was he keeping him awake anyways? Quite rude of him.
"It's... fine. Just go to sleep."
The brunet curled himself up in a ball under the thick green comforter with a contented sigh. The morning light from the open window shone through the curtains followed by the sounds of birds singing and kids laughing.
"Goodnight 'Ced."
