Author's Note: Have a wonderful rest of the week, everyone! Too bad about that website crash, otherwise this would've been updated sooner ;)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling
CHAPTER 8: CHOOSE
Two Weeks Later
"I can't believe Frank," said James for the thousandth time that morning. The boys sighed. "I just can't believe him."
"It's not like you haven't gotten detention loads of times yourself," Remus pointed out.
"Yeah but on trials day!" hissed James. "Talk about irresponsible."
"HA!" laughed Remus.
James raised his eyebrows at him.
"Aren't you two supposed to be in Muggle Studies right now?" Remus said, looking from him to Draco, who shrugged.
"It's not like I didn't talk to Livesey about excusing us beforehand," said James. "I am responsible, Moony."
At this, the boys exploded with laughter. James scowled.
It was Friday afternoon and while the rest of the boys had a free period, James and Draco had Muggle Studies but had decided to skip it for the purposes of preparing for Gryffindor's Quidditch trials, which were scheduled to take place in about fifteen minutes. After weeks of interviews, James and Sirius had finally narrowed down their choices and set the schedule. Frank had been very stubborn about also being there when James would choose a new beater, but had gotten detention from McGonagall at the last minute and was unfortunately going to miss trials. James was furious.
"…and after everything I've done for him!" he repeated as the boys turned the corner and reached the school's courtyard.
"Look, don't worry about it so much, Prongs," said Sirius. "We've narrowed it down to a fair number of players."
"Yeah, you guys will just see what's best when you get into the air," Draco pointed out.
James shrugged and threw his broom over his shoulder.
"If you were willing to try out, we wouldn't even be having this issue," he muttered.
Draco said nothing, because he had only just managed to convince both James and Sirius to leave him alone about Quidditch already, and wasn't planning on restarting that argument. It had been weeks and weeks of nagging and they still just wouldn't take no for an answer, until Remus decided to back him up and silenced the other two. Draco was sure that if they actually saw him play and realised that he was pretty decent, he would never hear the end of it.
When they finally got to the Quidditch pitch, James and Sirius waved goodbye to the other three and soared off into the air to fly around for a bit while they waited for the rest of the team to show up. Draco, Remus and Wormtail meanwhile headed off to the stands to watch. They had dropped their things off in the common room beforehand, but Remus had still brought along a few notebooks and now began making up questions to test Wormtail on for Transfiguration.
"He's not still failing that, is he?" Draco whispered to him.
Remus, who was sitting in the middle, glanced at Wormtail before answering him.
"He's not stupid or anything—he's just a little slow."
They sat in silence for the first little while, until the team finally showed, followed by those who were trying out.
"Watch carefully, Draco!" James yelled, zooming by him before heading for the ground.
Draco leaned forwards in his seat and kept his eyes on the little red figures still on the ground, each one holding a broom. He wasn't exactly sure how well he would be able to judge them, but wasn't planning on disappointing James either.
Beside him, Remus was scribbling into his notebook at an intense speed and Wormtail was curiously watching the players on the field. After several minutes, (which probably went something like this: "No matter what happens today, you are all winners—there are no losers here"), the players finally mounted their brooms and soared off into the air. James flew by Draco again and gave him a thumbs-up, which Draco responded to with a nod.
Draco knew exactly when the trials began because Wormtail's piercing shriek ("Go Jaaaaames!") was what made him permanently half-deaf. He and Remus together covered their ears and then glared at Wormtail, who looked at them apologetically and then tried to make himself look small in his seat.
"Just—watch—the—game—Wormtail," said Remus, slowly.
Wormtail nodded.
But this was easier said than done. As far as Draco could tell, for the rest of the tryouts, Wormtail jumped in his seat every time James made an impressive move in front of his team members. The kid was positively in love with him—or with his abilities...Draco wasn't quite sure yet. But soon, he grew very agitated listening to Wormtail squeal with excitement every few minutes or so. And funnily enough, so did Remus.
"Will you please stop?!" he hissed for the hundredth time after Wormtail almost fell from his seat with joy.
"You okay there, Remus?" Draco asked after Wormtail muttered his apology and sat back down.
"Fine," said Remus, returning to his notebook and frowning at it.
"You've been in a terrible mood the last couple of days," Draco observed.
Remus shrugged but did not answer. It had been extremely difficult for Draco not to notice how strange the boys were acting the last couple of days. But he was not an idiot—he understood what this might have to do with. After all, it was only about a week and a half until the full moon, and having studied the symptoms of a werewolf back in his third year, Draco distinctly remembered that one of them was said to be mood swings.
"Well if there's anything I can help with, you just lemme know," he said.
Remus gave him a small smile.
"You'd better focus on the tryouts or James'll have your head for it," he told him.
"Nah, it's fine," said Draco. "I've already decided who's definitely not a good fit."
"That quick, huh?" said Remus, his eyebrows raised and a grin on his face.
"I'm actually a fair player myself, just don't tell James or Sirius that," Draco whispered.
Remus let out a laugh.
He watched the boys flying in the air for a few moments with Draco, before he slowly closed up his notebook and turned to face him.
"What's up?" said Draco, his eyes still on the players in the air.
"I just realised that I never did thank you," began Remus, "For what you did…you know, with the prank and everything."
Draco turned to look at him.
"Uh yeah it's fine," he said, slowly. "It—seriously, it's no problem."
"Well no, it…it does matter," said Remus. "I'm already used to going down for things because of James and Sirius. I just always happen to be there."
"At the wrong place at the wrong time," said Draco, nodding.
"Yeah," agreed Remus. "And it just…meant a lot that you stood up for me like that…s-so…"
"Yeah, don't mention it," said Draco, dismissively. "What are friends for?"
Remus smiled at him, and then the both of them turned their heads just as James zoomed by them, yelling "YOU WATCHING THIS?!"
"They're for sharing a cell with," Remus said, sighing.
Draco laughed.
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"Stupid, idiotic, foolish imbeciles!" spat Remus as he continued to pace about the partially deserted common room. "I can't believe that after everything you've done—after years of talking to you about this, you still went ahead and did it anyway—oh stop laughing already!"
James and Sirius fell silent instantly, though both were still trying hard not to crack smiles. Draco shook his head at their ridiculousness but still found himself thoroughly amused.
"Sorry Moony," James mumbled.
"But come on!" cried Sirius, jumping from the couch. "You know you enjoyed yourself."
"I most definitely did not!" Remus contradicted, furiously. "Do you realise that you nearly got me in trouble for what would be probably the seventieth time in five years—"
"But you didn't get into trouble, did you?" James pointed out, his arms folded across his chest now. "And that's largely thanks to Draco, over here. You know, I really didn't think you had it in you, pal. I'm impressed."
Draco nodded at the memory of how smoothly he'd convinced McGonagall that Remus had had nothing to do with any of it, but then he quickly grew serious because Remus shot the boys a terrible look.
"You've no idea how much Professor McGonagall has done for me," he said, lowering his voice. He was talking more to James and Sirius than he was to Draco, so Draco just settled himself on the couch next to Wormtail and watched. "I owe so much to her—you…it…I can't stand seeing the look on her face when I disappoint her over and over again because of you two."
"Look, we told you to relax, so relax already!" said Sirius. "It was a funny, harmless little—okay, so not that harmless," he added at the look that Remus gave him now, "But you've gotta admit, you did find it a bit funny. Loads of people found it funny!"
"I don't think Severus Snape found it funny at all," Draco admitted, and both James and Sirius let out nervous laughs.
"Old Snivelly did look quite dashing with beaver teeth," said Sirius, looking rather satisfied.
Remus scowled at him.
"Come on, Moony, no one got seriously hurt," James added. "Relax. We've taken the blame for it completely."
"And more importantly, we've made an addition to our little pranking scheme," said Sirius, his eyes landing proudly on Draco. "So proud."
"This is not something to take pride in!" exclaimed Remus, but Draco gave Sirius an acknowledging nod and crossed his own arms.
"It was nothing, really," he said after Remus had calmed his rage.
"It was the most hilarious prank we've ever pulled!" James contradicted.
Again, Draco simply shrugged.
"What, you don't agree?" said Sirius.
Draco looked from him to James and back.
"I think I could do better," he told them, truthfully.
They exchanged looks of great incredulity and then James scoffed.
"Is that right?"
"It is," said Draco, simply.
"Well then," said James, getting to his feet as Draco did too. "Why don't we let you lead the next prank we pull?"
Sirius let out a low whistle which told Draco that James had never permitted anyone that power before.
"James, can we please not?" said Remus, looking rather tired from his rage. "It's enough you corrupted Sirius with your imbecile of a mind. No need to spoil Draco either."
"Excuse me?" said James and Sirius together, but Draco simply shook his head.
"It's alright, Remus, I accept the challenge," he told him, his eyes on James who was smirking.
The boys looked rather pleased with their little arrangement. That is, until the portrait of the Fat Lady slid and through the hole came Lily Evans, looking absolutely outraged. She paused, located the boys, and instantly stormed at them. Large beaver-like teeth were sticking out from her mouth and her face was almost as red as her long hair. Draco could not contain himself. He burst into the kind of laughter he hadn't enjoyed for years—probably not since Weasley got a howler from his mum which shrieked on the entire Great Hall. Draco felt himself collapse on the couch and he held onto his stomach which began to pain from all the laughing. Wormtail also broke into laughter, and so did Sirius, but James and Remus were both looking very panicked.
"Lily," said Remus, taking a step towards her. "I swear—I had nothing to do with it."
"This time," Sirius added, though Draco wasn't sure anyone besides him had heard.
Lily was now glaring at him as she stood just before James.
"Turn them back to normal," she hissed.
The boys exchanged looks.
"I…" said James, but Sirius interrupted.
"Don't worry, Evans, the effects will go away in about—how long has it been, an hour? So give it another five. You'll be back to normal in the morning."
Lily did not look pleased with this and shot him a look of deep dislike.
"Uh," said Wormtail, turning all heads towards him. "W-we enchanted the…the hallway leading to the…the dungeons. How did you—?"
"How did I manage to walk right into your idiotic prank, you ask?" Lily finished for him.
"Yeah, why were you even in the dungeons?" Sirius wondered.
"That's my business, thanks!" Lily shot at him, her face growing still redder. "You boys have done some really low stuff in the past but this—"
"—is hilarious," said Draco, finally getting to his feet.
Lily scowled at him, which caused him to only laugh again. Those beaver-like teeth sure made her look a lot like Granger.
"Oh, you think this is funny?!" she cried, but Remus moved to stand between her and Draco.
"Not funny," he told her. "Really, we're very sorry you got caught up in the middle of it."
"Come on, have a sense of humour," Draco teased her, which only caused her to take another step towards him.
Remus quickly pulled her away with him.
"Come on, I'm sure we'll find a helpful book in the library," Draco heard him say and the two disappeared through the portrait hole again.
As soon as they were gone, Draco and Sirius burst into laughter again, followed loosely by Wormtail. James just stood there, and when they noticed that he wasn't laughing too, Sirius said, "Oh come on, Prongs. I'm sure she'll still go out with you after this."
"Yeah, I wouldn't count on it," James muttered.
The boys finally settled back down on the couches and sighed happily. Though Draco had not been directly involved in the prank, he had scored himself a detention too, but he didn't mind. It looked to be more tragic to Remus than it did to him, so he was just glad he'd managed to talk McGonagall out of giving him detention too.
"For the record," Sirius told them after a while, "James did not corrupt me. I consider me self-corrupted, thanks."
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"Draco?" said Remus, tapping him on the shoulder again.
"Yeah?" said Draco, jumping out of his trance. One boy flew by him and let out a triumphant yell. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"I said, how is Snape doing these days?"
Draco started.
"I don't…know what you mean."
"Oh stop pretending," said Remus, rolling his eyes. "I've seen you always looking for him or just asking people if they've seen him."
"You have?"
Remus nodded.
"I told you before, and I'll tell you again—there is nothing wrong with you wanting to be his friend."
"Yeah," said Draco, sighing. "Tell that to James and Sirius."
Remus followed his gaze to where Sirius was hovering in the air by the goal hoops. James was somewhere not far from him, observing from above as players flew this way and that. Several Gryffindors who had come to watch were cheering lightly from the stands for their favourites as the afternoon sun was slowly setting.
"I know they can be a little…" said Remus, his voice trailing off as James shouted at someone who had just almost knocked another player off their broom. "But you don't owe anything to them or me or anyone else. You do what you have to do."
"Thanks, Remus," said Draco, turning to look at him again. "That means a lot."
Remus smiled. There was something about his smile that bothered Draco however. It was almost—knowing. He really didn't like that smile. It made him nervous.
"So," he said, trying to reroute the conversation from these dangerous waters. "I reckon Slughorn will be sending us information about this club thing soon enough?"
"Oh yes, that he will," said Remus. "You looking forward to it or something?"
"Not at all," said Draco, truthfully. "Just wondering what I should prepare myself for."
Remus thought for a minute, and then answered, "A night full of food and people taking turns explaining how they are going to make themselves into prodigies in the near future."
"Ah," said Draco, nodding. "That sounds about right."
"Yep. But it'll be fine—like I said, there's food."
"Better be good food," Draco muttered. He paused. "Do you know if—"
"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMES!"
Draco, Remus and Wormtail flew to their feet and Wormtail clasped his hands to his mouth to stop himself from screaming. James had just taken a hit from a bludger—on account of a very frightened-looking sixth year—and was now falling tens of feet from the air. Panicked, Sirius darted from the goal hoops in the speed of lightning and caught James just as he was inches from the ground. Together, they landed smoothly and spectacularly on the grass, greeted by all the players who had lowered themselves onto the ground to see what was going on.
By the time Draco, Remus and Wormtail had reached them, there was an entire crowd huddled around. Sirius was holding an unconscious James in one hand and two brooms in another. Draco hurriedly grabbed James' arm and flung it over his shoulder, while Sirius took the other arm. Remus and Wormtail grabbed the brooms.
"Thank you to everyone for showing up today!" Sirius called to the group at large as they began to make way for them to pass through. "You will all know if you made it in a couple of days!"
"If James lives until then," Remus muttered.
It took twice as long to get to the hospital wing than it normally would, but once there, the boys handed James over to Madame Pomfrey who immediately hurried for some potions in her private stores. When she came back, she tried shooing the boys away but they were all incredibly insistent on staying, so she settled for having lost that battle and proceeded with administering the potions to James and bandaging his head. When she was finally done, she told the boys that they had until 9 at the very latest and then she would be returning to kick them out. With these her last words, she left.
Sirius sighed with fatigue and collapsed on the bed next to James', while Remus settled for a chair nearby and buried his face in his hands. Wormtail was sitting at the foot of James' bed with a worried expression on his face, and Draco just stood there, not sure what to do.
"Well," said Sirius, pulling out the long list from the inside of his Quidditch robes and folding it out in front of him. "I'd say it was a decent tryout, wouldn't you?" He looked at Draco, who shrugged slightly. "I mean, before James' injury and all that…I think we saw some pretty decent players out there. We'll have plenty to choose from."
"A little insensitive, don't you think, Sirius?" said Remus, raising his head to look at him.
Sirius shrugged innocently.
"Don't worry about James, he'll be fine," Draco assured Remus. "He's a warrior."
"That, he is," agreed Sirius, sitting up. "Look, he'll be waking up soon, you'll see. He'll be eager to get that slimy Harrison Lancaster who, by the way, is the worst beater I have ever seen in my life!"
"Stop, Sirius," said Remus, his eyes on James. "Just stop."
Sirius fell silent.
"Look, it's been a long night," said Draco after a long moment's silence. "Why don't we just…let Madame Pomfrey handle it from here on out?" The boys looked up at him incredulously. "Look, there's not much we can do by being here, right? We'll come back tomorrow—first thing."
"Like hell you will," said James, and the boys all looked round at him.
Sirius got to his feet and let his broom fall to the floor.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Oh brilliant," said James, sarcastically.
He tried to sit up but his head gave way and he fell back on his pillow and gasped from the pain.
"How are you feeling, Prongs?" Remus asked in a small voice.
"Like my head weighs hundreds of pounds more than it did before," answered James.
"But you remember what happened?" said Wormtail.
"Yeah," said James. "Yeah, I remember. And when I am out of here, I am gonna kill Harrison Lancaster."
Sirius sighed of relief.
"Well, at least he still sounds like his old self, doesn't he?!" he exclaimed to the others.
James laughed.
"I'll admit—not the best start to the season," he told the boys. "But from here on out, it's gonna be all serious business. When do I get to go?"
There was silence. James raised his eyebrows at each of the boys, and then stopped at Draco.
"When can I go?" he repeated.
"P-Pomfrey said that it'll be…four days, no less," he told him, quietly.
James' eyes widened and he tried to sit up again but then fell back on his pillow.
"Four days?!" he repeated in a hiss-like tone.
"Minimum," Remus corrected.
James shook his head, as though his protest could change it, and then his eyes fell on Sirius.
"Okay, you'll just have to take over for now," he told him. Sirius nodded. "As co-captain, that's your duty anyway. Make sure you keep everyone informed—everyone that showed an interest in a spot today, that is. And you'll be coming back here a lot so we can decide everything together." Again, Sirius nodded. James' eyes flew to Draco. "And you too."
"Me?" said Draco.
"Yeah, you!" cried James. "You were observing today, right? That's what I told you to do. Please tell me that's what you were doing."
"Relax James, that's what he was doing," Remus interjected.
Draco nodded slowly.
"Okay good," said James, calming down a bit. "I expect you two to work together then," he told Draco and Sirius, both of whom nodded again.
"And then in no time," James added, "I'll be back."
"Just don't work yourself up so much in the meantime," Draco pointed out. "I mean, a head injury is pretty serious."
"Nothing I haven't dealt with before," said James, dismissively.
"Yeah but today it's your head and tomorrow it'll be a collapsed lung," said Draco.
"Relax!" said James. "Do you have any idea how many injuries I've sustained from Quidditch over the years?"
"He's broken more limbs than all of us combined," said Remus matter-of-factly, and Sirius began to count them off on his fingers.
"An arm, a wrist, an ankle, a finger, two ribs, a hip, the other arm, another finger, his left leg, his right toe, the other wrist…"
"Whoa," said Draco, his eyebrows raised. He turned to James. "And how have you not checked in to St. Mungo's for permanent residence yet?"
"Because Madame Pomfrey is a goddess," said James, simply. "She's cured Remus here more times than I can count…" His voice trailed off while his eyes landed on Remus. For the boy's sake, Draco chose to pretend that he hadn't noticed and said, "We should go—curfew."
"Like that hasn't stopped us before," said Sirius.
"Yeah, but the cloak's not gonna do you any good if it's up in the dormitory," James pointed out. Sirius sighed. "Look, just come back tomorrow, okay? I'll hex you if you don't. We need to go over the roster and start making eliminations."
"We'll start with Lancaster, shall we?" Draco suggested.
James chuckled.
"You'll be there too?"
"Uh," said Draco, who had actually been planning on sleeping in, given how much homework he had to do this weekend. "Y-yeah, I'll be there."
"Of course he'll be there, don't be stupid," said Sirius. "We'll all stop by after breakfast."
"You'd better," said James, lying back on his pillow. "Now go on—get out of here."
The boys each waved goodbye to him and then exited the hospital wing together. By the time they got back to the common room, night had fallen. Sirius, exhausted from the efforts of tryouts, collapsed on his usual couch by the fireplace. Remus dug into his bag and pulled out his notebook, handing it—along with a quill—to Wormtail and motioning him to a desk at the back. Wormtail nodded and walked away, his head bent over the notebook. Draco and Remus sat on the couches near Sirius, but soon enough, his faint snores ensued. They exchanged a look and then Remus sighed.
"Crazy night," he said.
"I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day," Draco said, reassuringly.
Remus scoffed.
"Not in James' world…so anyway, about what we were saying before…"
"Yeah?" said Draco, who suddenly found the hem of his robes to be extremely fascinating.
"You were going to ask me something before James' accident," Remus clarified.
"It was no accident," Draco pointed out, but when he looked up, he found Remus staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, he wasn't going to let this go. "I was just wondering…if Regulus…you know, Sirius' brother…happens to be…"
"In the Slug Club?" said Remus.
Draco frowned at him, wondering how on earth he remembered exactly what they'd been discussing before James' fall.
"I have a perfect memory," Remus explained and Draco's confusion subsided. "And yes, he is. He's been a member since his…oh I'm terrible with this kind of stuff…" he frowned, "His…fourth year? I think."
"But Sirius is not a member," Draco clarified.
"Nope," said Remus. "Sirius and Regulus have always been the most unbrotherly brothers I've ever known."
"What does that even mean?"
Remus paused before answering. "It means that they are very, very different…and yet also the same in some ways. Though, I'd prefer if you kept that part of my opinion to yourself." He turned to look at Sirius snoozing on the couch. "Lord knows he'd have my head if he heard me say this."
"Your secret is safe with me," Draco muttered, also staring at Sirius.
The portrait slid open and in climbed a gang of very noisy girls, among them being Lily Evans. She gave Remus a polite wave and then disappeared to the girls' dormitory. Alice was also a part of the group which now slowly made its way up the spiral staircase as well. Just before disappearing behind the door, Alice locked eyes with Draco and gave him an extremely flirtatious smile. Draco grinned slightly, and then grew very serious once he realised Frank sitting on the other end of the common room with a book which he was not paying attention to in the slightest.
Over the last few weeks, Draco and Alice had been flirting back and forth, which seemed to have ticked Frank off just a bit.
"We're not seeing each other," he told Draco multiple times.
"Then why do you care what she does?" Draco wondered.
"I don't," said Frank, most unconvincingly. "I just…well I mean, what do you see in her anyway?"
"Different things," Draco admitted, and though Frank looked somewhat displeased with this answer, he nevertheless decided to drop it.
It was very clear that fighting for revenge was not his style, and it definitely shocked Draco how very willing Frank was to let this go. He either didn't like Alice enough to care, or he liked her more than Draco would ever know and therefore desired only her happiness. Either way, Draco found himself starting to like Frank more and more with each day. The kid was definitely the "James" of his year, even though no one officially acknowledged this.
"You gonna ask her out anytime soon?" Remus wondered, interrupting Draco's thought flow completely.
"What? Oh—no, I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"I dunno," said Draco, shrugging. "It's just harmless flirting, that's all."
"For now," Remus pointed out. "Don't be afraid to get out there and have some fun."
"Okay Moony," laughed Draco. "I think that's enough advice for one day, but I'll keep that in mind." He rose to his feet. "I'm off to bed."
"I'll be up shortly," said Remus, who now stretched on the couch and rested his head on one of its shoulders. "Gotta mark Peter's quiz when he's done with it."
Draco nodded and waved goodbye to the mouse-like boy on the other end of the room. When he was up in the dormitory, Draco undressed and got into bed with Alice still circulating his mind. Of course he was not an idiot. He knew that she was only giving him this attention to get back at Frank for whatever had happened between them. It was obvious, really—every time she was talking to Draco, she was acting extra girly and looking around constantly to make sure Frank was watching. And watching, he was. But Draco didn't seem to really care about being used like this at the moment. He was already too bombarded with keeping up with his image and his schoolwork and in between Dumbledore lessons and everything else, romance was probably the last thing on his mind.
The next day, true to their word, the boys breakfasted fast and headed down to the Hospital Wing straightaway. James was already up by the time they got there, and Madame Pomfrey was fussing over him to finish off the last of his porridge.
"Okay, I'm done—now lemme talk to my friends," he told her, after gulping down the last bit.
She gave him a stern look and bustled into her office, looking very angry.
"So how are you two getting along?" said Sirius, who took a seat on the chair next to James' bed and put his feet up on the bedside table.
"Divinely," James muttered, "Did you bring the list?"
"Yep," said Sirius, pulling it out.
"Have a seat," James told Draco, and he did so. "We have loads to talk about. But first—did you scratch Harrison Lancaster?"
"Already ahead of you," declared Sirius, thrusting the list in James' face.
James took it in his hands and nodded approvingly. He then looked up at the two. "Okay, what did we think of Patricia Jenkins?"
"Awful," said Sirius, at once. "She can't fly if it would save her life!"
"Agreed, she's out," said James, who took in hand a pen that Sirius gave him and crossed the name off the list. Before he could continue however, Remus interrupted.
"Hagrid's invited us to tea this morning. Peter and I are gonna go, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," said James, dismissively, his eyes on the list.
"Uh Draco," said Remus, before leaving. Draco looked up at him, surprised. "Do you want to come?"
"No!" cried James, giving Remus a look.
"James is right, Remus, the boy stays," said Sirius.
Draco gave Remus a smile and waved goodbye as he and Wormtail left the hospital wing. He turned back to the other two.
"You do want to stay, don't you?" James asked, unsure.
"Yeah, of course," said Draco, at once. He had absolutely no intention on having tea with that miserable oaf, though he wasn't at all surprised that Remus and Wormtail were willing to go. "Who's next?"
"Uh okay, there's Davey Gudgeon who I actually found was fairly good," said James, consulting the list again.
"Is that the bloke who flew headfirst into that tree at the end of the pitch?" said Sirius, sitting up.
"No, that was Brian something," said James, slowly.
"He was rubbish," Draco added.
"Yeah," agreed James. "Yeah no, Gudgeon was the guy who kept high-fiving Frank whenever he got a quaffle past you, Sirius."
"Oh yeah, him!" cried Sirius. "Yeah, damn he was good! Seventh year, right? Yeah we should take him."
"Chaser, it is!" said James, and he scribbled on the parchment.
"Wait, so of those that are already on the team, who is staying?" Draco wondered.
"Us two and Frank and Cresswell," said James.
"Cresswell…?" said Draco, who was completely lost.
"Dirk Cresswell," said Sirius. "You know, the guy who kept high-fiving me whenever he got a quaffle past me?"
"Oh," said Draco, comprehension dawning on him.
"He's a fifth year," said James. "He's been on the team with us since we were in third year."
"And he's a chaser," said Draco, nodding. "So that means you're looking for a beater and two chasers."
"Naturally," said James, who was now frowning at the list. "D'you know, I'm not sure I cared much for Atrenus."
"You mean the little munchkin that no one paid attention to?" said Sirius, letting out a bark-like laugh. "Cross him off."
"No wait!" said Draco before James could do just that. The boys both looked at him. "Don't be quick to cross off the youngest one. I watched him for a bit and he does look like he has potential."
"Having potential won't be enough to get onto my team," James told him. "We're going for the Quidditch Cup here, not the Award of Amateurs!"
"Don't cross him off!" Draco tried again, when James reached to do it. James sighed. "Look, he's small and unnoticeable. That's a good thing. Just trust me, you'll see. When it's game time, he'll be able to use his size to his advantage."
James and Sirius exchanged a look.
"I know what I'm talking about," Draco added hastily.
"Your call, Jamesy," said Sirius.
James thought for a long time but eventually decided to go ahead with Draco's advice and put Jarine Atrenus as their second chaser pick.
But for the next half hour, all the boys did was argue about their choices for a beater to accompany Frank up in the air. By 9 o'clock, they still hadn't come to an agreement, though they did manage to narrow it down to Cresswell's younger brother Arthur, some fourth year by the name of George Hensley, and a fifth year called Bertram Aubrey. Draco gave his input as best as he could and then excused himself from James' and Sirius' row.
"Where are you going?" James demanded once he'd finally realised that Draco had gotten to his feet.
"I have to get started on that vampire essay for Claybrook," Draco told him, apologetically. "Look, you guys narrowed it down to the best three. Just take your pick and it'll all be fine."
"It's fine, you can go, you've helped us loads," Sirius told him. He turned back to James. "Why won't you just listen to me and go ahead with Cresswell?"
"Because the kid's a git!"
Draco let them have at it and let himself out of the Hospital Wing. He kept true to his word and headed for the library straightaway, though the words "vampire" and "essay" were absolutely the last things on his mind. He was headed for the library for another reason entirely—a reason that had brought him back there quite a few times now. Regulus Black.
Draco had been trying to get a hold of him for a few days now, but the kid was never alone. He was always surrounded by his gang of Slytherins, and he always looked somewhat frightened. The only comforting thing about it all was that Snape was a part of this group, and so Draco knew that Regulus was not in complete enemy territory. Still, he felt quite uneasy every time he saw him off with them. And the way that this group of boys eyed Draco—as though he was a fresh piece of meat for them to play with—was not at all comforting.
Failing to find Regulus yet again, Draco settled himself at a table in the corner and proceeded with pulling out his Defense against the Dark Arts homework. Might as well, he thought grudgingly. But even after twenty minutes of staring at the blank piece of parchment in front of him, titled Vampires and their Extraordinary Properties, he was still unable to focus. He found his mind wandering to other things that fascinated him a great deal more than vampires ever would.
xxxxxxxxxx
"I can't do it, OKAY?!" he shouted. "I've tried and I can't. What do you want from me?!"
"I want you to dig deeper," Dumbledore told him, still more calmly. "Have the courage to dig deeper."
"Is that supposed to be some kind of jab at me being in Gryffindor?" Draco shot at him.
"Not at all," said Dumbledore with a sad smile.
Draco scoffed at him and resumed his pacing about the dimly-lit office. Dumbledore stared at him from his desk, a curious expression upon his face.
"Close your eyes," he instructed.
Draco stopped and did so.
"Concentrate," said Dumbledore. "Find it within you—look as deep into your childhood as you have to."
Draco took a few deep breaths, like Dumbledore had instructed before, and concentrated with all his might. First, he'd tried using the memory of the first time he'd walked through those front doors to Hogwarts. It had barely produced a silver light, let alone a full-bodied Patronus.
"Find the memory," Dumbledore continued, his voice alike to that of a meditation counselor. "Allow it to fill you up inside. Immerse yourself within it completely."
Draco took several more breaths, concentrating hard on that day he'd challenged Harry Potter on their first flying lesson. He had been so pleased to show off his superb flying skills, and even more pleased when Professor McGonagall came to get Harry Potter.
"Expecto Patronum!" he cried, his wand shaking slightly in his hand.
Nothing happened.
"Not good enough," said Dumbledore, disapprovingly.
"Look, you think I don't know that?" Draco yelled. "Professor" he added at the sight of Dumbledore raising his eyebrows at him.
Of course he knew why the memory he'd chosen this time wasn't working. It was because he kept remembering that McGonagall had pulled Harry Potter away so as to ask him to join the bloody Quidditch team as the only first-year in a century. But it was the best he could do, under the circumstances. There wasn't anything else he could think of. It was too much pressure.
"What was the memory you chose?"
"I thought you said I shouldn't tell you," Draco pointed out, sinking into the chair across from Dumbledore. "I thought you said it should be personal enough for me not to tell anyone."
"What does it relate to?" Dumbledore clarified.
Draco sighed. "Quidditch."
Dumbledore frowned at him.
"What?" he added.
"That's not good enough!" Dumbledore hissed. "Not nearly good enough!" Draco rolled his eyes at him. "Have you been listening at all to what I've been saying?"
"Yes," said Draco, irritably.
"It has to be the strongest memory of your very existence!" Dumbledore repeated for the thousandth time. "The single-most happiest moment you've ever felt in your life! Find it! Feel it! Relive it!"
"I CAN'T!" Draco shouted, startling Dumbledore just a bit. "Look, if you lived my life, you'd understand, okay? I can't just up and find a moment of ecstasy when the last year of my life has been a complete and total nightmare!"
"You can if you truly want to," Dumbledore said, calmly. "You have to want to. If you want to, you can achieve anything. All you have to do is ask."
xxxxxxxxxx
A pair of fingers snapped right before Draco's eyes and he jumped slightly. Lily Evans was sitting across from him at the table in the library.
"Y-you okay?" she wondered, looking fascinated with him.
Draco looked around the nearly deserted library and then back at his untouched homework.
"Fine," he grumbled.
"You looked like you had something important on your mind," Lily observed.
"So what if I did?" Draco muttered, picking up the quill and beginning to write on the parchment.
Lily was silent for a long while, and though Draco's eyes were firmly on the homework in front of him, he could feel her stare. Finally growing tired of these little games that she had been playing him for a week now, he looked up at her expectedly. She flashed him a bright smile.
"Can I help you with something?" he wondered.
"Just wanted to talk," she said, simply. "You know, I think you've been avoiding me. . . I've been trying to talk to you for like a week now."
"Avoiding you? I have no idea what you're talking about," said Draco, innocently.
Lily raised an eyebrow at him but he simply returned to his homework and resumed writing.
"Look, I didn't know that you had nothing to do with the prank, okay?" she blurted out.
Draco looked up at her.
"I just assumed…you know, when you were laughing at me and all…"
"Because you looked ridiculous!" said Draco. Lily smiled softly. "And anyway, that's fine. I didn't expect any less from you."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" said Lily, suddenly.
"Just what you heard," said Draco, who was now starting to gather his things. "You'd never go and find out the truth before accusing a person. It's better to just assume that they're guilty before they even have a chance to explain, isn't it?"
And without waiting for her to answer, he turned around with his bag hung over his shoulder and exited the library, leaving Lily completely appalled at that table.
The rest of the day passed rather slowly. Remus and Wormtail returned from their visit to Hagrid's only at noon and Sirius came back from the hospital wing shortly after, looking flustered and exhausted. He took a nap for the rest of the afternoon ("I don't care about that essay, Remus, I'm completely knackered!"), while Draco followed Remus and Wormtail out into the courtyard to try and get through that vampire essay. They visited James briefly just before dinner (he looked positively bored with the hospital wing already) and then Draco bid farewell to the other two (who headed for the Entrance hall hangout) and started for Dumbledore's office.
"Draco, how nice to see you again," Dumbledore told him once he'd entered the office. "Well, let us get started straightaway?"
"Yep," said Draco, closing the door behind him and pulling out his wand.
Dumbledore walked around his desk and stopped at the center of the room.
"Do you have a memory?" he asked, his hands in the pockets of his robes.
Draco nodded, having thought up a second memory earlier that day, as it was the homework that Dumbledore had assigned him last Saturday.
"Alright, same drill then," said Dumbledore. "Close your eyes, concentrate hard, and allow the memory to fill you up—first through the tips of your toes and fingers, and then into your very veins, until it reaches the center of your heart."
Draco thought of the moment he and Pansy had danced for the first time, back in the Yule Ball. It had been a truly remarkable moment, given that they had grown up together. He could remember her running around in his house as a toddler, on one of their many playdates together, and so the dancing that night was definitely awkward, but somewhat nice to have fun with his childhood friend.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A silver streak somewhat crawled out of his wand and then vanished into vapour just as quickly as it had occurred. Dumbledore still looked unimpressed.
"You are not trying hard enough," he told him, shaking his head as he walked away from him.
Draco stood there, stunned and unsure of how to make Dumbledore understand.
"I am trying," he mumbled. "I just—don't—have—many—happy—memories."
"Sure you do," said Dumbledore, simply. "Everyone has at least one memory. It might not be considered the happiest by others, but to them, it is in comparison to every other memory that they have. And if they want to make it happy, they will."
"You know professor, you're making no sense at all," Draco observed.
"So I've been told," said Dumbledore, smiling warmly. He then grew serious. "Ready to try again?"
Draco jumped to his feet, sighed, and nodded, closing his eyes.
It was going to be a looong night.
Sunday was even longer than Saturday had been. Breakfast was a subdued affair, with the exception of one small thing that occurred towards the end. The owl post arrived as usual, and a small white envelope fell into Sirius' lap, which was most unexpected considering he never got mail. He stared at it for a few moments and then pocketed it instantly and returned to his food as though nothing had happened. Draco and Remus glanced at each other but neither was stupid enough to ask any questions. Not yet, anyway.
James was even more agitated that day than he'd been before. Sirius got the list out and again, they delved into their argument regarding who would make the cut for the open beater position. Remus excused himself, claiming to have an important Prefects' meeting, and Draco and Wormtail left the hospital wing together and retreated to the courtyard to do a bit reading. Well, it was more Draco walking himself and Wormtail acting as his shadow. Still, they sat very quietly for the entire afternoon, until Lily took a seat on Draco's other side.
"Hi again," she said.
"Can I help you, again?" Draco said, without looking up from his book.
"I've read that about three times already," she said, pointing at Dumbledore's copy of Hogwarts: A History in his hands.
Draco did not answer.
"Well, if you were wondering, the prefect's meeting went well," she tired.
Again, Draco did not answer. She was like a buzzing fly that just wouldn't leave him alone.
"Look, why can't we just start over?" Lily blurted out after a moment's silence. "I mean we obviously got off to a bad start, didn't we?"
"Obviously," Draco repeated.
"I just think that we barely know each other so it doesn't make sense to be mad at someone you don't even know," she said, reasonably.
Draco looked up at her.
"What book did you get that ridiculous fact from?"
"It's called intuition, you ought to look it up," she said.
Draco raised an eyebrow at her and she tried to maintain her cool, but he could tell she was growing slightly nervous.
"Look, I admit that I may have acted…slightly less than professional…but it doesn't mean we can't start over," she added. "Besides, as a prefect, it is my duty to make new students feel welcome."
"Even those who you fear?" said Draco, turning his body fully so that he was facing her.
Her smile faltered. "I'm not afraid of you."
"Shame," he said, lowering his voice significantly.
Lily's eyes widened slightly, but before she could say anything, Remus and Sirius showed up.
"Oh, hey Lily," said Remus, looking somewhat confused.
Draco turned away from her and stood up, looking at Sirius. "Did you guys choose a beater?"
"Yeah," sighed Sirius. "We're going with Aubrey."
"Excellent choice."
Sirius nodded. There was something very strange about the way he looked—Draco actually felt slightly unsettled and asked, "You okay?" Sirius nodded but looked away without even making a joke to cover up this awkward moment.
For the rest of the day, he acted strange. He was quieter than usual—angry, even. Draco found himself almost itching to find out what had been in that letter, but decided it was best not to press Sirius on the matter. He would bring it up himself when he felt was right. Draco was sure of it.
But even as the boys headed for dinner at the end of the day, Sirius had not said a word and his mood had not improved in the slightest. He remained in the Great Hall for all of ten minutes before jumping from his seat and calling it a night. Draco, Remus and Wormtail stared after him, watching as he exited the Great Hall in a hurry, all of them confused.
"So," said Remus, switching the subject. "How was your lesson with Dumbledore yesterday? I didn't get a chance to ask before."
"It was fine," Draco responded, taking another bite of his steak.
"Just fine?"
Draco looked up at Remus.
"It was okay?" he said, slowly.
Remus shrugged and turned back to his dinner. Draco, on the other hand, found himself momentarily distracted. On the other end of the hall, seated along the Slytherin table, was Mulciber, whose black eyes were dead set on Draco. Some three seats away from him, Regulus was chatting with a group of boys, and on his other side, Snape was eating and reading at the same time. But Mulciber was sitting with his arms crossed and staring at Draco long after Draco met his eyes. Something told Draco that this was not a good sign at all.
Sirius did not return when dinner was over, so Draco, Remus and Wormtail headed for the Entrance Hall without him. They took their usual seats on the stairs and watched as the rest of the fifth, sixth and seventh year students crowded around the hall and went about their usual conversations, some of them even pulling out cards and starting games. It looked like it was going to be a nice and quiet evening, which at this point, between the piles of homework that he still had to do and the Patronus Charm lessons that weren't moving forward at all, was exactly what Draco needed.
He turned to look at Remus, who was staring at some spot on the floor and thinking hard.
"What's on your mind?" Draco wondered.
Wormtail turned his head to look at them.
"Nothing much," said Remus, still staring at the spot.
"You've been looking very peaky lately," Draco observed, knowing perfectly well what the reason for this was.
Remus shrugged and gave him a sheepish smile. "I mean I might be coming down with something but other than that, I feel fine."
"Good," said Draco, nodding. "Because it's bad enough that James is in the hospital wing without you going to join him there too."
Remus smiled to himself. He then looked up at Draco with a curious expression. "Lily complained to me this morning at our prefect's meeting."
"Did she?" said Draco, indifferently.
"Yeah," said Remus. "I was just wondering…do you in fact have some kind of a problem with her?"
Draco's eyes fell on Wormtail, who looked quickly away. Had the sneaky git snitched on him about what had happened that afternoon?
"I mean, maybe it was something that she said or did," Remus added, hastily.
But he never got his answer because at that precise moment, Sirius raced past them, almost stepping on Remus' hand in the process, and jumped the last step, looking around.
"Sirius? What—"
He ignored Remus completely and stalked to the end of the Entrance Hall, pushing chatting students aside as he went. Draco and Remus both jumped to their feet and followed him, stopping just in front of the gang of Slytherins that were standing at the very corner of the hall. Sirius was standing before them, a letter clutched tightly in his hand. Draco's heart skipped a beat or two.
"Can I have a word with you?" Sirius shot at his younger brother, who was standing in the middle of the group, looking startled.
"S-sure?" he said. He meant to take a step forwards but Mulciber's hand shot out to stop him. Sirius glared at the boy.
"You wanna get your filthy hand away from my brother?" he snapped.
"Or what?" said Mulciber, and he too, took a step forwards, only to be stopped by Snape's arm.
Snape's eyes met Draco's for a split second, before he said to Sirius, "What do you want, Black?"
"I don't believe I was talking to you, Snivellus," Sirius growled.
This time, Snape took a step towards him, but another hand flew in front of him, blocking his way. Draco stared at the boy whose hand it was. He looked definitely older, and very…crossly. Snape met the boy's eyes, and then nodded and moved a step back. All the while, Sirius remained exactly where he was, still fuming and letter still clutched in his hands. His eyes landed on Regulus again.
"A word?" he repeated through gritted teeth.
"W-what's up?" Regulus asked.
"Fine," said Sirius, "We'll talk here, I guess." He held up the letter. "I heard from our dear mother today." Regulus opened his mouth to speak, but Sirius never let him. "She had some very interesting things to tell me. She—" he smoothed out the letter and read from it "—was absolutely appalled and yet not at all surprised to hear that I, her oldest son, have been parading around the school in my bloody Gryffindor robes, caring only about my bloody Quidditch and bloody girls." He looked up at Regulus, whose face was now ghostly pale. "You—have—been—reporting—on—me—haven't—you?"
Regulus opened his mouth again but nothing came out.
"How fucking dare you?" Sirius hissed.
"Watch your tone, Black," said Mulciber, but Sirius thoroughly ignored him and continued to glare at Regulus.
"I w-was just f-following—"
"—following our mother's orders?" finished Sirius.
Regulus nodded slowly.
"Does the word 'brother' mean nothing to you?" Sirius shot at him. "Have you completely lost your mind? Have you completely forgotten our entire childhoods? Every time I saved you from those psychotic cousins of ours…every time I defended you in front of our criminal-minded parents…every single fucking time—"
"Look, just back off, Sirius!" Regulus spat.
Sirius' eyes widened dangerously, and Remus put a hand on his shoulder to try and pull him away. Sirius wretched it off instantly and continued to glare at his brother.
"What did you just say to me?" he said through gritted teeth.
"You heard me!" cried Regulus, moving a step away from his gang. "You…look, enough is enough, okay? I did what mother told me to. It's not my fault she's fed up with your nonsense—"
"Shut your mouth!" hissed Sirius. "Fed up with my nonsense, is she?" He held up the letter again. "You are a cowardly idiot and Regulus is a hundred times the man you'll ever be." He looked up at Regulus and let out a bark-like laugh which was the coldest Draco had ever heard. "I suppose her perfect man of a son won't want to let mummy down, will he?" He turned to Remus and Draco, smiling widely. "Can you believe it? Regulus here, thinks he is a man!"
"Shut up, Sirius!"
"No, you shut up!"
Sirius turned back to Regulus and took a step towards him. Regulus did not move this time, but continued to glare at his brother.
Draco's eyes fell on Snape again, who looked very troubled. He acknowledged him with a nod but said nothing. It was then that Draco noticed that the whole of the Entrance Hall had grown silent, and all eyes seemed to be on them now.
"You think I give a damn at all that our parents favour you over me?!" Sirius hissed angrily. "You think I care that they are just about ready to throw me out of the inheritances? I DON'T GIVE A DAMN. WHAT I CARE ABOUT, QUITE FRANKLY, IS THAT MY IMBECILE OF A BROTHER IS JUST ABOUT READY TO STAB A KNIFE IN MY BACK OVER A LITTLE GOLDEN TROPHY FROM MUMMY!"
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, SIRIUS!" Regulus shouted. "YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS! YOU ALWAYS HAVE BEEN. THEY CLEARLY LOVE ME MORE THAN YOU!"
"IDIIOOT!" Sirius shouted, his face inches away from that of his brother's. "You stupid, heartless piece of trash! You'll give my head to any one of our relatives for a mere 'Atta boy', you pathetic little twit! Have you no shame at all? Don't you fucking care that I am your fucking brother?"
"Some brother!" laughed Regulus. "You run around with your stupid friends, trying to act all brave to get attention! You don't care at all about what our parents think of this…You gonna be moving in with Dumbledore anytime soon?"
Sirius cursed loudly, and several girls to his right gasped.
"Oh you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he hissed. "For me to move."
"It'd be like Christmas morning every day!" said Regulus, proudly. A cruel smile then crossed his face. "No one would even miss you."
And at that moment, Sirius lost it. Forgetting all about the fact that he had a wand with which he could duel, he lunged at Regulus with all his might, causing both of them to fall to the floor. The students in the hall gasped and started shouting either for them to stop or to continue fighting. Draco, Remus, Wormtail, Snape, Mulciber and another Slytherin boy all fell to their knees, trying hard to pull the two brothers away from each other, but both Sirius and Regulus were tearing into each other as though the apocalypse were upon them. Draco struggled hard against Sirius, who seemed to be fighting the fight of his life. They couldn't hear anything over the shouts and yells of the surrounding students.
"Sirius, let him go!" Remus shouted into his ear, but it did no good.
Sirius had now managed to get on top of Regulus and was punching him over and over again across the face, while Snape, Mulciber and the boy Draco did not recognise pulled their arms around him and pushed him off of Regulus. Regulus, however, wasted no time in getting to his feet and lunging back at Sirius in retaliation. It was now Draco, Remus and Wormtail's turn to pull a brother away. This was easier said than done, for Regulus was kicking and screaming like he was being tortured with the Cruciatus.
Suddenly, time seemed to stop. The boys all froze mid-fight and the hall silenced at once. Draco felt a strange sort of colouring around them, and all sound became muffled. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a wand lowering and a figure moving a few steps towards the group of frozen boys.
"Exactly what is going on here?" came Professor McGonagall's undeniably furious voice.
The end.
Totally kidding, please don't kill!
How about that Sirius/Regulus fight though?
