Author's Note: You'll find that this half of sixth year is much more fast-paced than the first half was. We have a lot planned so do try and keep up with the details. We know exactly where we're headed up until chapter 60 (which won't be the end of the story, like we promised, it'll be a long one, but we have planned details that far) and we hope you continue to enjoy as we publish.
Also, happy summer, everyone!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks
CHAPTER 33: BERMUDA
"Ow—Draco, cut it out! You're hurting me!" Lily cried as he pulled her by the arm out through the portrait hole and into the corridor outside the common room. Exasperated, Lily turned to look at him. "What, what is it?"
Draco opened his mouth, glanced sideways at the Fat Lady, who was resting her chin on her palms and giving him a 'do continue' look, and then pulled Lily a little ways down the corridor so that they were out of earshot. Hell, he didn't need the most gossipy portrait in the castle knowing this.
Finally, Draco stopped to look at Lily. She waited.
"Anything you wanna tell me?" he asked, breathless.
"Um...no?"
"Really?" said Draco, his voice full of sarcasm, though still quite calm. "Nothing at all?"
"Draco, what's—"
"Not even something pertaining to the little holiday party before the break?"
"Oh no," Lily muttered.
"Oh yes," said Draco.
Lily nodded her head and looked down at her feet. "So...you remember then..."
When Draco didn't answer straightaway, she chanced a glance at him, and found him staring back at her, eyebrows raised.
"Um yeah, no thanks to you!"
"Draco, I—"
"How could you keep this to yourself?" he interrupted, his tone accusatory. "You and I both know I was drunker than you that night. I mean, seriously, Lily, how could you keep this from me?"
"Honestly?" she said, looking up at him. "I didn't think you'd want to know."
"Yeah well that wasn't your decision to make!" Draco cried out.
Lily's eyes went slightly round. He sighed and looked around again. All the portraits in the hallway were wide awake and watching the pair of them. Draco lowered his voice as he looked back at Lily with stone cold eyes.
"You should've told me."
"Are you saying that you would've been okay with me telling you about this the next morning?" she asked, softly.
"Yes," Draco breathed.
"Honestly, what's the big deal though?" she said. "It didn't even mean anything to either of us—"
"That doesn't matter," Draco snapped. "I like knowing who I've hooked up with."
"Why, so you could add it to your little list?" laughed Lily.
"Don't push it, Evans."
She grew serious again. "We haven't hooked up."
"Well not officially, no, but things...happened."
"Nothing happened."
"Something could have happened."
"Nothing happened."
"Lily," said Draco, sharply, making her look at him. "Would you have stopped me if something started to...happen?"
She stared at him now, eyes full of mystery.
"I...I should get back to my essay..." She turned away but Draco grabbed both her wrists and forced her to turn back to him.
"Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have stopped me," he demanded.
Lily struggled to set her wrists free but when Draco didn't let go she looked down and took a deep breath. Then, moments later, she met his eyes. She opened her mouth but said nothing. Draco sucked in his breath so as to try and calm himself down. If he'd thought he'd screwed things up with Regulus in this timeline...he'd definitely underestimated his power to screw up the future Potters before they even graduated...
The night before the holidays
"ALRIGHT SERIOUSLY, WHO WANTS TO SEE ME RIDE A BROOMSTICK NAKED?!" Harrison Langley shouted in ecstasy to the cheering common room.
Someone whooed and Langley began stripping, though it took him longer to do drunk than it probably would have were he sober. Draco didn't stick around to watch. He already felt so dizzy from the drinks, he knew he had to get to bed. But getting across the common room to the spiral staircase that would take him safely to his dormitory deemed too challenging a task at the moment, so he resorted for one of the couches near the fireplace. Unfortunately, he didn't make it five steps before he tripped over the rug and fell into the arms of a stranger.
"Oh, sorry," he said, quickly, before he realized who was holding his arms. A boyish grin crossed his face. "Hey Evans, didn't expect to still see you down here at this hour."
"Why, because I'm supposed to already be in bed by now?" she teased, grinning back at him.
Draco looked down and laughed. One of Langley's shoes flew across the room then and hit a vase which fell to the floor and shattered. The crowd cheered again. Over in the corner, Remus was drunkenly reciting something that could only be described as one of the Sorting Hat's pathetic little start-of-term poems...and he was doing this with nothing but his boxers and a Gryffindor scarf on. Somehow though, it didn't matter now that anyone could spot the many scratches on his body and become suspicious. As far as Draco could tell, everyone in the common room was completely trashed.
"Why so serious, Draco?" Lily said now, bringing his attention back to her. "I thought you were supposed to be this big bad party boy, yet I don't see you taking off any clothes and trying to dance on the table."
"You'd want that, wouldn't you?" said Draco amidst giggly laughs and slurs.
"Ugh, don't start," Lily said, looking away from him for a second before turning back.
It was then that Draco realized she still had her hands on his arms, holding him steady so that he wouldn't fall over. He took a good look at her. She was wearing a dark blue top and some skin-tight jeans which really punctuated how great her body looked. She'd also let her hair down, as opposed to just braiding it as usual. It also appeared that she was wearing just a little bit of makeup, to really highlight her eyes. And her lips...fiercely red. Draco moved his arms away from her.
"Don't worry, Evans, I won't fall...I'm not that drunk..." he said, moving to lean against the nearest couch, "...yet..."
But Lily did not step down and instead moved with him, so that she was standing just in front of him.
"Oh I'm not worried about you one bit," she informed him.
He took a close look at her now and realized several key features that he'd failed to notice before. Her hair wasn't as neat as it'd been earlier that day, and her eyes were just slightly watery. She was also looking rather flushed, as though she too, had several drinks in her. Funny, Draco hadn't seen her all night so he'd just assumed she wasn't even at the party. But it looked now as though she'd definitely been present.
"I didn't think you drank," he said, trying to keep his concentration on her face but finding his eyes starting to wander to dangerous territories.
"Did Mary tell you that?"
Draco, still distracted, continued to examine her and Lily snapped her fingers in front of his face to grab his attention again.
"Huh? What?" Draco said, grinning still, his hand now finding its way to her shoulder so that he'd be able to gather the strength to raise his eyes so that they were on hers, and not elsewhere.
Lily gave a frustrated sigh and looked away from him.
"Loosen up a little, Evans," Draco said in an almost whiny sort of voice. Lily snapped her head back to him and he giggled once. "You don't always have to think with your head. Sometimes, it's better to just not think."
"Well you would know a lot about that, wouldn't you?" Lily observed.
Draco shrugged and looked away from her, the smile still on his face as he watched his classmates have their fun.
"Nothing wrong with it," he answered her, gesturing at the common room.
Lily looked around with him, then met his eyes again, her arms now folded in front of her, while his hands moved away from her completely.
"I can let loose, you know," she defended. "I'm...not who everyone thinks I am."
"Honey, I'm not who everyone thinks I am," Draco slurred.
"I don't doubt that's true," Lily stated, causing Draco to look up at her and find her smiling.
"Touché," he said.
His eyes wandered again and it was all he could do not to throw up from all the nausea rushing to his throat. His head was starting to spin too.
"You know, I've seen the way you've looked at me in the hallways and in classes," Lily was now saying.
Draco let out a snort. "Isn't it the other way around? You always watching me?"
"Mmm," said Lily, taking another step towards him and brushing her fingers ever so lightly on his wrist so that they started to slowly run up his arm, making him shiver slightly.
"You been dreaming about me at nights, Evans?" Draco said, still grinning stupidly.
"Oh definitely," Lily said. "I stay awake every night, just wishing you were next to me. How, oh, how did I ever live without you in my life?!"
"You liar," laughed Draco, looking down again, with now both his hands on her shoulders so as to keep himself from actually falling off the couch.
Lily laughed too.
"But in all seriousness," she said, after they'd both calmed down, "I can let loose—anytime I want to."
"And do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Want to?" Draco repeated, barely aware of what was going on around them anymore, and just focused on her.
Lily stared back at him, her eyes speaking tales which he couldn't hear. He waited for her answer, knowing that it had probably shocked her and she was now attempting to figure out a clever response. This was no doubt not what she'd expected.
But it was Draco's turn to be taken aback when Lily suddenly smiled flirtatiously and gave a light nod of the head.
"Wait, really?" Draco said.
At this, Lily leaned forward and whispered "Very much" in his ear. Draco shivered from the feel of her breath so close to his neck, and his heart skipped a beat.
Langley, who was now buck naked, flew across the room, crashed into a pile of books, jumped back up and flew the other way like nothing happened, to the tune of the drunken crowd's roaring and applause, as well as the background party music. Draco found Sirius, who was amidst a wild makeout session with some blonde girl and already had a hand up her blouse. He then looked over at Remus, who was now giving some giggly girl a piggyback ride across the room. Peter was already snoozing on a coffee table and everyone else in the common room was laughing, shouting, kissing or drinking. And then it occurred to Draco that none of this would matter tomorrow. No one would remember. It was like tomorrow didn't even exist. And if he was already thinking along that philosophy, why not make it count?
He turned to look at Lily again, who moved slightly away from him so that she could see his face, both her hands now gripping his arms tightly, as though she were the one in need of support standing.
"Ladies first," Draco said, cocking an eyebrow at her.
And to his great surprise, she didn't even protest. Helping him off the couch, she took his hand in hers and began to lead him through the wild crowd of the common room, taking one drink off a table and finishing it off before tossing the glass at the couch. Draco did the same. Twice.
As it turned out, the spiral staircase that led up to the boys' dormitory wasn't as far as he'd initially thought it was. They reached it soon enough and climbed up the stairs until they reached his door. Lily turned to look at him, fiery excitement in her eyes which told Draco that she wanted this.
"I...have to go," Lily now whispered, looking pained and tired.
Draco stared at her, still not understanding. He slowly released her wrists and she took a step away from him.
"What was the bloody plan, Lily?" he said, quietly, his voice echoing slightly in the dark corridor. "What, do you just sit around in your spare time plotting ways to torture guys? First James, then Sev and now me?!"
"That's not fair!" Lily cried out now. "James Potter is an arrogant idiot, Severus is an obsessive stalker and you—"
"YES?" said Draco, eager to hear how she would finish that sentence.
Lily watched him carefully.
"You're different," she finally said in barely more than a whisper.
Draco let out a sarcastic smile. "Oh no. Nuh-uh, it's not gonna happen."
"Fine."
"Fine!"
Lily looked away from him once again, arms still folded in front of her.
"Can we just forget about the whole thing?" she said, softly.
"No, unfortunately we can't," Draco said.
"But—"
"James knows."
Lily stared at Draco, complete and utter shock written on her now pale face.
"H-he does?" she whispered.
Draco nodded. "Don't ask how—it might kill you."
Lily shook her head, looked away, looked at Draco again and then buried her face in her hands.
"Oh my god," she cried into them.
"He's not gonna tell people," Draco offered, "But yeah. He knows."
"I...I don't know what to say," Lily said, finally lifting her face to show distraught. "I'm...humiliated."
Draco tilted his head now. "Why, 'cause hooking up with the likes of me is so darn embarrassing?"
"We didn't hook up!" Lily cried out now.
"Oh come on!" Draco said, half laughing and half yelling. "Exactly in which direction did you think things were headed before I passed out on you?"
Lily considered this for a moment but then shook her head quickly and turned away, suddenly jumping in surprise.
"Heeeeey guys," said Remus, slowly. "W-what's going on here?"
Neither of them had noticed him approaching and now he stood just in between them, looking confused and slightly startled.
"Nothing," Lily answered, her eyes on Draco. "There—is—absolutely—nothing—going on here."
Draco stared right back at her and gave a little nod in agreement, though couldn't think of anything to say.
Clearly not wanting to stick around any longer, Lily hurried away from them and back through the portrait hole. The boys watched her for a few seconds after she'd gone. Then, Remus turned to look at Draco.
"Where's James?" he asked expectedly.
"Taking a walk," Draco answered, still watching the portrait hole where Lily had disappeared.
"We thought he was with you," Sirius said, appearing at Remus's side with his mouth full of some jelly pastry, completely oblivious to the fact that Lily was there only moments ago.
"Why would you think that?" Draco said.
James had been avoiding him for so long now.
"That's what the map showed," said Remus. "That's actually the reason why we left Hagrid's Hut early. Admittedly, we were surprised to see the two of you next to each other."
"Yeah well..." Draco mumbled, "...it wasn't for long."
"I'll check where he is!" cried Peter, who'd also appeared at Remus's other side and now quickly pulled the map from his pocket. Draco gave him a questioning look and Sirius shrugged.
"He said he wouldn't lose it again," he mumbled in between bites.
"Ah," said Draco. "Where'd you get the pastry?"
"Hagrid's," Sirius said.
Peter flipped open the map, tapped it with his wand (muttering the incantation quickly under his breath) and unfolded many corners, his eyes narrowed as he skimmed through the various passageways with excitement on his face.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked Draco in a soft voice.
"Yep," Draco answered, simply, having no interest in discussing any of this with Remus.
Unless...
"Hey did James...?" he said, now wondering but doubting whether James had indulged the boys with this tale.
"Did James what?" said Remus, looking genuinely concerned now.
"Found him!" Peter cried out, his finger pointed at a corner in the map which indicated that lonesome seventh floor corridor where no one ever bothered going.
"Never mind," Draco mumbled in response to Remus's question. "Come on, let's go study."
"But shouldn't we...?"
"He wants to be alone, Remus, come on."
Draco led the hesitant boys back through the portrait hole, though not before he caught the Fat Lady giving him an amused and knowing look. He rolled his eyes at her in response. If she knew what was good for her, she'd keep her mouth shut.
Draco waited up for James that night, and long after the marauders had fallen asleep, he remained seated on his bed, the tip of his wand lit as he examined the map spread out in front of him. James's dot had disappeared a while ago, indicating that he was no doubt in the Room of Requirement, pacing or raging or whatever the hell it was that he was doing. Draco anxiously waited, not even sure of what he would say when his friend finally returned.
He remembered that night very clearly now. He remembered every sound, every scent, every shout in the common room. He remembered every shiver from Lily's breath on him...every kiss and every hairpull. He remembered how much she'd surprised him that night, with all her urges and her control...the sexy white bra she'd worn for the occasion, so that he'd be able to see it in the dark. But he also remembered their conversation beforehand. There was no way that she'd planned it. He was sure that somewhere between what they were saying (and with the help of the couple of drinks she'd had in her), she suddenly got the idea and went with it. But to arrive in the common room that night with the idea already planted in her head?
No way was that the case.
Draco continued on waiting, but as the clock on his bedside table ticked the seconds away into the darkness, he started to drift off, and soon his wand rolled out of his hand and his head fell right on the map.
The next time he woke, it was just after four in the morning. The map was gone, his wand was placed on his bedside table, and James appeared to be fast asleep in his bed across the room. Draco took several deep breaths as he tried to recover from yet another dream about the Astronomy Tower, and contemplated whether he should wake James up or wait until morning.
After a few more minutes of sitting in the dark, listening to the boys' soft breathing as they slept, Draco decided on the latter and fell back down on his bed, though it was hours before he managed to sleep again.
He was later awoken by Sirius slamming the dormitory door shut and pausing to stare at Draco.
"Sorry mate, didn't mean to wake you," he said.
Draco rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. It was just the two of them. Sirius crossed over to the other side of the dormitory and sat on his bed by the window. He pulled out his wand and began twirling little white feathers in the air with a concentrated look on his face. Beside him, the sun was shining brightly through the window and it didn't appear to be snowing.
"What time is it?" Draco mumbled, slowly raising himself to a sitting position and holding his pounding head.
"Just after nine," Sirius said.
"Shit..." said Draco. "Am I...are we late...?"
"Nah, it's Wednesday," said Sirius, still concentrated on the feathers. "Free period, mate."
"Where's...where's James?"
"Downstairs," said Sirius, simply.
Draco sat up more on the bed and squinted through the light coming into the room. "Well why aren't you with him?"
"I was," said Sirius, finally stopping with the feathers. "I just left."'
"Okay..." said Draco, still not understanding. He sighed deeply and looked around the room. "What do we have today?"
"Charms and Potions I think," said Sirius, crossing his legs on his bed now.
Draco looked at him.
"How...how is James?"
Sirius frowned. "Fine, why?"
"I dunno," Draco mumbled, looking away from him.
Sirius tilted his head. "You guys finally talked yesterday, didn't you?"
Draco looked up at his friend again. "You mean he didn't tell you?"
"No, all he talked about today was Quidditch."
"Quidditch?"
"Yeah man, we've got a game coming up." Draco stared at Sirius, who in turn raised his eyebrows at him. "You know that..."
"Yeah, I guess there's just been a lot on my mind," Draco finally said. He stood up from the bed and stretched.
"Anything I can help with?" said Sirius.
"Nah, it's fine," Draco said, shifting about the room to collect his things.
"Okay," said Sirius, mostly to himself. "Well...I'm here if you need...you know, like to talk and stuff..."
"Right," said Draco distractedly.
After he was all dressed and ready for the day, Sirius hopped off the bed and walked out of the dormitory with him. There were a few seventh and sixth year students scattered about the common room when they got there, but no James. Draco and Sirius left Gryffindor Tower altogether and proceeded to the Great Hall, which was fairly empty. Only a few older students were scattered about the tables, enjoying a late breakfast or reading through the Morning Prophet.
The boys sat at the Gryffindor table and Draco immediately started on breakfast, as it suddenly hit him just how hungry he was. Sirius randomly doodled on a piece of parchment, claiming he'd already eaten. After a while, he grew bored with his drawings and started ruffling through his hair as if trying to fix it.
"I like it," Draco told him. "It suits you better than the long hair did."
"Thanks," said Sirius. "Andy said it would."
Draco pushed his plate away and leaned back, folding his arms in front of him.
"So... shots, poker and haircut..."
"Yeah," Sirius smiled. "If anyone knows how to cheer a person up, it's Andy."
Draco laughed.
"You probably would've had more fun if you had been with us that night, instead of that stupid wedding," Sirius said now.
Draco thought for a minute, wondering if that was true. But though he had been emotional that night, and though a lot had happened, he knew in his heart that he was glad to have attended the wedding, because it gave him a chance to see his parents happy. And he would give anything to have that chance again.
James suddenly filled the seat next to Draco and gave him and Sirius an acknowledging nod before reaching for an apple in the nearest fruit basket.
"What are we talking about?" he said to no one in particular.
"Nothing," Sirius mumbled without looking at him.
Draco chanced a glance sideways at James, who met his eyes briefly before looking away. Well that certainly answered his unasked question. James had no intention of rehashing what went down last night. He was also doing a good job of avoiding Sirius too.
Draco was seriously starting to wonder whether the two of them had had an argument of some sort when the bell rang and everyone who was in the Great Hall got to their feet, Sirius and James included. Draco followed them all the way to Professor Flitwick's classroom and sat with Sirius near the middle back.
On the whole, it was a rather productive class, though Draco certainly didn't appreciate the fresh load of homework that Professor Flitwick assigned them, and neither did the rest of the class. And Astronomy was no better, though Draco was really not looking forward to the midnight lesson that evening.
He ate lunch with just Remus that day, since none of the other boys showed up and James currently had the map in his possession. Sitting in the crowded Great Hall, Draco watched his housemates eat and discuss things and laugh about things and joke around.
"Are you sure you're not gonna eat?" Remus asked him at one point.
"I'm fine," Draco answered truthfully. "Do you have any idea where those idiots are?"
"No clue," said Remus. "Are you sure everything is okay?"
"Yeah, why do you keep asking me that?"
Remus paused before answering, "You just seem on edge."
"I'm fine," Draco repeated, looking away from him.
His eyes landed on Lily, sitting several seats away from him, laughing with Alice and Frank about something Draco couldn't hear. He watched her for a few minutes, wondering whether he'd really screwed up or if this could be something they'd all just forget about for the rest of time.
Who was he kidding though...James would never forget.
But it seemed that only Draco was getting the blame here, which he really didn't think was fair. He might've been drunk, but from what he remembered, there were two sets of hands and two sets of lips that night. He didn't exactly force her upstairs with him. If anything, she had led him up those stairs. She had pulled him closer to her. She had probably wanted it more than he had, for reasons he knew he would never quite fully understand. He could ask her, sure, but he didn't really feel like starting yet another rivalry if James saw him even look in Lily's direction, much less talk with her. It wasn't worth the risk.
When Remus was all done, he convinced Draco to leave the Great Hall with him, claiming that all the noise and crowd was giving him a headache. They ended up taking the long route to the dungeons, and thus bypassed many silent corridors with little to no life. The entire time they walked, Draco felt Remus's hard gaze on him. At first he tried to ignore it, his mind instead focused on James and what an annoying prat he was being. But by the time they'd reached the corridor leading directly to the dungeons, Draco had lost his patience.
"What—what is it?!" he said, stopping to look at Remus.
"Sorry?"
"I know you want to say something to me so just say it, okay? Don't play games."
"I'm not," said Remus quickly.
Draco waited. He watched as his friend stood there, fidgeting nervously. Though finally, he seemed to make a decision because he gave a deep sigh and looked Draco in the eye.
"Lily's about the most careful person I know," he began. "She's never been one to do something impulsive o-or spontaneous. I...guess I was just wondering how you managed to...well to..."
Draco shifted slightly.
"You...know about that?" he said slowly, finally understanding. He hadn't thought James would tell any of the marauders about it. Or at least, not Remus.
"Yeah, she told me," Remus answered. "Yesterday."
Oh.
"What did she say?"
"Enough," said Remus.
The two boys stood there awkwardly in the corridor, their book bags at their shoulders.
"You're not gonna be mad at me now too, are you?" Draco asked bitterly.
Remus cracked a smile. "No, of course not! Despite what James might've thought all these years, Lily has always been just a friend."
"Then why do you care what we did?"
Remus thought for a minute. "Because as much as she has been my friend, she's also been like a little sister that I take care of. And when someone hurts her or is mean to her, it hurts me too."
"I wasn't mean to her," Draco said quickly. "And I certainly didn't hurt—"
"I didn't think that you did," Remus interrupted. "But as she was telling me this, I grew more and more shocked and it's because she has never done anything like this! It was so uncharacteristic of her, I'm even surprised that she told me!"
"I'm surprised she told you too," Draco mumbled.
There was a pause, during which Draco eyed Remus carefully. "Are you suggesting that I was the initiator?"
"The thought has crossed my mind, yes," Remus admitted. "I'm not mad at you—you've always been a direct person and if Sirius gets urges when he's drunk, then I'm sure you do too. I guess I'm just curious how you managed it with her. I-I mean, she's a bright girl!"
"There's nothing girl about her," Draco mumbled. "She's quite adult, I'll tell you that."
"Awe, please don't talk about her like that, Draco," Remus groaned. "She's like a baby sister to me. I-it's..."
"Alright, alright," Draco said, giving a small laugh as Remus cringed before him. "Hah, if only you knew how skilled she really is..."
"Draco," said Remus suddenly, "I'm not gonna stand here and let you talk like that about someone I care about, okay?" Draco's smile faded. "If you want to brag about how amazing it was, what you did to her that night, then go and find Sirius."
"I'm confused," Draco began. "What exactly did she tell you? Did she say that I had her strapped up against the wall? Was I threatening her with the torture curse unless she did exactly what I wanted? No. She was there, with me, in the moment, wanting and willing to do everything that we did, okay?"
"Draco—"
"I mean honestly, don't you know me better than that by now, Remus?!"
"That's not fair," said Remus quickly. "You have a habit of doing uncharacteristic things too. You're not exactly a predictable person, Draco. You can't blame me for assuming that—"
"That what, I forced her to that dormitory with me?!"
Remus paused, looking around the hallway awkwardly.
"Well I didn't," Draco said, setting the record straight once and for all. "I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt here, Remus." The boy looked at him again. "Have some faith in me, dammit."
"I do," Remus said. "I just...I guess I don't understand it, that's all."
Draco thought for a minute, wondering what exactly it was that he was trying to convince Remus. Or what he would later tell James when they eventually talked. Or what he was trying to convince himself...
"I don't know what got into her that night—she didn't seem as drunk as I was," he finally admitted. "And I only wish that James would actually let me explain that it wasn't all me!"
"Draco," Remus suddenly said, "Look, the thing with James...he'll get over it with time. Trust me. And if he doesn't, I'll do the talking myself and I'll play the role of the mediator and I'll make sure all is well. I'll do that because I'm your friend, just as much as I am his. And, if being with Lily is something that you want, then—"
"Whoa, whoa, back up there, mate!" cried Draco. "I don't want to be with her."
"But..."
"Look, two people can hook up one night without wanting anything more the next day, right?"
"Well...I mean yeah, but..."
"And James would know that I don't want anything if he'd just bloody talk to me but he doesn't seem to want that clarification so..."
"But Draco, are you sure that's what she wants? To forget about it the next day, I mean?"
Draco paused to look hard at Remus. "Are you suggesting otherwise? Did she say something to you?"
"Well no, but—"
"Look Moony, I respect you a lot and you're one of my bests, but do me a favour and stay out of it, okay?"
"Okay," said Remus quickly. "It's none of my business."
"You're right," said Draco. "It's not."
He turned to leave, but Remus grabbed his arm.
"But she is like a little sister to me," he whispered, "So if you hurt her or take advantage of her in any way, I will make it my business, Draco. I'm not about to let anyone hurt her, not even a git like James."
"You can't exactly take advantage of a person, who is throwing themselves at you, now can you?" Draco mumbled, shrugging his arm off and continuing down the corridor.
"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?" Remus said, hurrying to keep up with him.
Draco stopped just at the door to Potions and turned to look at his friend one last time.
"It means that Lily Evans is clearly not the person everyone thinks she is. Or at least she wasn't that night."
He walked in without waiting for Remus's reaction and sat at the table, mutually agreeing with his friend to pretend like that conversation had never happened. And as the week passed, it became all the more easy to pretend like it hadn't. Though at the same time, it became all the more difficult to convince James that Draco was not hooked on Lily. Draco did everything he could to try and get James on his own so that he could attempt to explain himself, but James was obviously making it a priority to ensure that conversation between them never happened. He hardly ate with the marauders in the Great Hall, he was always in or out of the dormitory before them, and he sat with only Peter in classes and no one else.
Muggle Studies on Thursday morning was awkward enough, and James resorted to just sitting with Severus throughout the lesson, which was something he'd never done. Many students in the class were watching them, James included. Even Lily looked to be surprised. But Severus mostly just looked pleased, and Draco knew exactly why. According to him, Draco was becoming more and more like 'their people'. And Severus couldn't possibly be more overjoyed at the idea.
At the end of the lesson, Draco had assumed that James would wait for him, seeing as how they were all headed in the same direction anyway, but James bolted out the door as soon as the bell had rung. Frustrated, Draco walked to Transfiguration with Severus instead, and even made a point of sitting with him. Everyone in the class stared at them, and even McGonagall looked taken aback, since never, in the history of Hogwarts, Draco was sure, had she ever witnessed a Gryffindor student willingly sitting with a Slytherin student.
Later that night, James once again retreated to the dormitory before the others and pretended to be asleep when they took turns coming in to check on him. And so, once again, they spent the evening doing homework in the common room, though Remus was helping Peter in one corner while Draco and Sirius were in the other. Sirius, for once, was focused very much indeed on his essay, and barely even heard Draco when he called him the third time.
"What?" he finally said, looking up.
"You almost done?" Draco asked.
"Um," Sirius said, frowning down at the paper. "I don't know, if I'm being honest..."
"How can you not know?"
"Well I'm just making things up at this point to try and get it to be longer, you know?"
Draco let out a laugh, then looked in Remus's direction. He was too busy with Peter to notice. Not far from them, Lily was scribbling quickly into a notebook, with four large books open in front of her.
"What are you thinking about?" Sirius asked, following Draco's gaze.
"Nothing," Draco mumbled, still watching her deeply-concentrated face as she bit onto the tip of her quill and flipped through pages. He found himself wondering how she was not bothered by the taste of that ink, when he suddenly realized that she was biting a fake quill, and that her writing quill lay on the table in front of her. Draco bit back a laugh.
"What's on your mind, mate?"
He turned to find Sirius watching him, a fascinated look on his face.
"What are you talking about?" Draco asked.
"Well I dunno," Sirius shrugged. "You look like you've got something on your mind...or...someone..."
Draco sighed deeply. "Who told you?"
"James, but I can't believe that you didn't!" Sirius cried, sitting up like an excited child.
Draco rolled his eyes at him. So he'd been right. James had told.
"When?" he croaked.
"Over the holidays," Sirius said. "He was still really upset when I came to crash at his place—you know how he is."
"Unfortunately," Draco mumbled.
"Anyway, you should've told me."
"I didn't remember until two days ago," Draco said instantly. "I was drunk, Sirius. Really, really, really drunk. Do you honestly believe that in my right mind I would've done something like this?"
"I believe that you would, yes," said Sirius, amused.
"Brilliant," Draco muttered. "Apparently everyone knows what I would or wouldn't do better than I."
"It's life, mate," Sirius shrugged.
Draco rolled his eyes at him again. He turned to look back at Lily, who was now resting her head against the armchair and looking out the window, where it was snowing heavily outside. It quite near tortured Draco, how hard she was to figure out. One minute she was saying something and the next she was doing something else entirely. And then there was James, with his ridiculous, uncalled-for jealousy.
"Hey," Sirius said, suddenly leaning forward, having pushed his books aside. Draco turned to look at him and Sirius smirked. "So I've gotta ask...which is the better kisser, Lily or Alice?"
Draco laughed. Remus sure had been right about Sirius.
"Well considering I haven't kissed Alice like that, I think you have your answer," Draco finally said.
Sirius grinned broadly. He was definitely enjoying this, which honestly surprised Draco a great deal. He'd assumed, being James's best friend, that Sirius would be pissed at him too. After all, how dare he get drunk and act impulsively?
"You're bloody lucky that you passed out when you did, otherwise James would've killed you if you'd actually shagged."
"I don't doubt that for a second," said Draco, sighing deeply.
"It's pretty funny though, if you think about it," said Sirius.
"What is?" Draco looked at him.
Sirius grinned again. "I've spent maybe four years fantasizing about doing things with her, and it took you four months to actually do things with her...she must really like you."
"Wait...y-you and Lily?"
"Nah man, I don't do relationships!" Sirius cried. "But I assure you that every guy in this room has fantasized about doing things with her, including precious Remus."
"I don't think so," said Draco, remembering his conversation with Remus earlier. "I think he honestly thinks of her as a sister."
Sirius cocked an eyebrow at him. "That's what he says. And I find it hilarious that James thinks he's the only one who fancies her. I mean...look at her!"
"Well I haven't fantasized about it with her," Draco admitted truthfully. "Stop laughing, Sirius. I'm not lying. It surprised me just as much that night as it surprises you now."
"It doesn't surprise me, mate," Sirius said, still laughing. "With you and her, it's always just kind of been there...it was bound to happen eventually and if I'm being honest, only thing that surprises me is that it took four bloody months."
"Now how could you know that it was going to happen but no one else did, not even me or her?" said Draco, fascinated to hear Sirius's answer.
But Sirius grabbed one of his books and sat back against the couch again. He shrugged.
"It's a gift."
Draco shook his head at him.
The next day, for the first time that week, Draco was able to actually put the James situation to rest, even if it was just for an hour. Claybrook had given a rather interesting lesson on fiendfyre. He claimed that he wanted the students to learn its properties because it is "just as important to know how to perform dark magic as it is to know how to defend it."
Draco was thoroughly pleased that he happened to share this mentality with who soon came to be his favourite professor at Hogwarts in this specific timeline. He was sad to go at the end of the lesson, though he couldn't say the same for his classmates. They looked to be thoroughly confused and quite definitely frightened of what to expect for the next lesson. But Draco hadn't seen anything wrong with the lesson. And by the looks of it, neither did the Slytherins.
After lunch, Draco bid farewell to the marauders and went to the seventh floor corridor to enjoy the free period by himself. Though on the way there, he suddenly felt a surge of fatigue wash over him, and before he could even stop himself or try to shake himself awake, he was headed for Gryffindor Tower instead. He then collapsed on his own bed and fell into a deep sleep, such that he hadn't enjoyed in months probably.
It was such a peaceful sleep too. He wasn't sure what he was overcome by, but he wasn't interrupted by any nightmares or dreams whatsoever. He slept like he hadn't slept in years. He slept for every waken minute that he'd spent worrying or stressing or pacing or crying or generally freaking out.
And when James came into the dormitory to wake Draco, he sat in his bed and smiled.
"What are you smiling about?" James asked him bitterly as he stood over his bed.
Draco's smile faded. "Is this a dream?"
"No, you prat, get up!" James cried. "Professor Livesey is going to freak out."
"Why?" Draco asked sleepily, getting up from the bed.
"Because we're late to Muggle Studies, now get up!"
James jerked Draco off the bed and threw his Hogwarts sweater at him. Then, he scattered about the room and started collecting Draco's things and stuffing them into his bag while he hurriedly dressed by his bed. When he was all ready to go, he quickly followed James out of the dormitory and dashed down the stairs.
They reached Professor Livesey's classroom about twenty five minutes after class had begun, and she gave them both a cold look and continued with the lesson as though they hadn't appeared. Both their heads bent, they hurried to the back of the classroom to find their seats and pulled their books out.
The lesson was pretty dull, though at least Professor Livesey did not burden the students with extra homework assignments. They were dealing with various muggle substances that day and, for some reason, Mulciber had thought it would be funny to test his new wand out. Red paint splattered all over the walls just before the bell rang, making the classroom resemble a horror scene. Several students shrieked and dodged as the paint shot and splattered in all directions. Mulciber of course almost instantly feigned ignorance and convinced Professor Livesey that it had been an honest mistake.
And Draco had to exercise serious control in that moment and not burst out laughing when Professor Livesey actually believed him.
The bell rang and the students all started to collect their things. Draco hurried as fast as he could, seeing how James was just about ready to dart out the door. But just before he could do so, Professor Livesey called them both to her desk.
"Seeing as how you two don't mind wasting my time and prefer to walk into my classroom at whatever time suits you best, I won't mind wasting your time right now," she announced. James gave Draco a bitter sideways glance. "You shall both clean up this mess without the use of wands. And I will be deducting five points from Gryffindor. Each."
She shook her head at them again and then followed the last of the students out of the classroom for what looked to be a free afternoon. Draco could feel James's bitter gaze on him. He sighed deeply and reached for the washcloth that Livesey had left on her desk.
"Way to go, Black," James muttered, grabbing one too and starting at the wall with the windows.
Draco turned to look at him. "Seriously? I'm a Black to you now?"
James said nothing, his back turned to Draco.
"I didn't ask you to come wake me, you know," Draco said hotly.
"Yeah well I would be as big a prat as you are if I didn't," said James.
"You can't do that!" Draco cried out, startling James. "You can't cut people out of your life when things get just a little rough. It doesn't work like that!"
"Cut you out?" said James, continuing to rub at the walls. "I went back to bloody wake you up, Draco. I'd hardly call that cutting out."
Draco took a few steps towards him. "That night meant nothing." James stopped washing the wall. "And something tells me that you already know that." Silence. "Oh come on, if it had been Sirius, I doubt you'd have still been upset by now!"
"It wouldn't have been Sirius," James said, turning to look at him. "He'd know not to do something so…disloyal."
"Disloyal?!" cried Draco. "James, in case you haven't noticed, you and Lily aren't exactly together." James glared at him. "And if it hadn't been me that night, then it would've been someone else. Just like it will be someone else, sometime in the future, unless you step up and bloody talk to her already." James looked away from him. Draco sighed. "Look, that's not the point. The point is that you're one of my best friends here and I'm not gonna lose that just over some girl who I don't care about. Honestly! I really don't!"
James looked in his direction again.
"If you opened your eyes just for a second, then you'd see that there is nothing going on here," Draco finished.
James looked around the splattered red classroom again and then down at his dirty washcloth.
"I just can't stop picturing it in my mind," he finally said, in barely more than a whisper.
"And for that, I am sorry," Draco admitted. "Honestly, I'm horrified that it happened and even more horrified that you had to see it happen. But I was clearly not thinking that night!"
"Clearly," James muttered. He looked up at Draco again. "You'd tell me if it meant something, wouldn't you?"
"Yes," Draco breathed. "And it didn't."
"You're telling me the truth," James declared with a hint of a question to the end of it.
"I am," Draco promised.
James took a long, hard look at him, and then sighed deeply and gave a small nod. Draco knew how hard it must've been for him to give that nod, but he nevertheless gave it. Relief washed over him instantly and he even cracked a smile. James smiled back.
It took them just under a half hour to get the classroom back to looking like itself. At the end of it, James grabbed the bucket full of red washcloths and left the classroom to get it cleaned out. Draco stood at the window, watching the Quidditch pitch in the distance, where tiny yellow dots were flying around the hoops. The Hufflepuffs were already practicing for their game, which was weeks away.
He sighed deeply again. He hadn't thought that James would ever forgive him, but he was mighty glad that he had. And he also made a mental note not to have another drink for a long, long time.
James was gone a while, and so, soon growing bored, Draco reached over to Livesey's desk where he'd left his bag and pulled out the Tom Riddle diary. He glanced at the door again before pulling out a quill and ink bottle too. Then, he sat at one of the empty desks and thought for a minute.
I think I know what my animagus will look like, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
He waited, watching as the little black letters disappeared into the page and vanished forever. A few young girls ran past the classroom in the corridor, giggling, and Draco moved the book closer to him, as if ready to hide it at any moment. Then, the letters appeared on the page.
Whose idea was it for you to learn the animagus transformation? Dumbledore's?
Draco frowned down at the page, then quickly dipped his quill in ink and wrote,
You know of Dumbledore?
The diary took a while to answer, by which point it had started to snow outside again. Draco could hear a bucket dropping somewhere at the end of the corridor, its echoes reaching Professor Livesey's classroom. Then, the letters appeared.
Tom Riddle wrote in me when he was at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore had been his Transfiguration teacher at the time, and was granted the headmaster position shortly after Tom's graduation. As you very well assume by now, Tom wrote a lot about Albus Dumbledore.
"Ready to go?" came James's voice from the door.
Draco shoved the diary into his bag and jumped from the seat.
"Yep!" he said. "Let's go get food."
Next chapter will be published as soon as y'all get generous with your reviews, so get on that. Start typing XD
