It's kinda hard to believe I'm on chapter 7 already. Honestly, I'm in shock at the response this fic has received since I first posted it. This is definitely the last chapter I will post for about a month. Chapter 8 is nine and a half pages long on notebook paper, so it will take forever to type up. Besides, I need to crack down on my Thanksgiving Break assignments. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for reading my story and let you know that I haven't died if I haven't posted for a while.
Disclaimer: The Golden Trio, the Silver Trio, and their associates are neither my property nor my idea.
"Speech"
XXXXXXXX- scene change
Despite Draco's concern, the worst thing that happened during Transfiguration was that both Neville and Goyle simultaneously turned their dolls into giant tarantulas. This caused Ron, who was sitting next to them, to leap behind Blaise while yelping in fear. Blaise's response was to roll his eyes and return the arachnids to their original state.
The class bolted from the room as soon as they were dismissed, Draco and Ron sighing in relief. This caused Harry to snigger. When Draco glared at him, he held up his hands in self-defense.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but you and Ron agreeing on something is a sight I never thought I'd see."
Hermione and Pansy giggled at the boys' gob-smacked expressions. Draco and Ron were less amused. As Ron opened his mouth to retort, he was cut off.
"Well, Potter," Draco snarled menacingly. "You have excellent observational skills. Too bad I have to kill you because of them."
Harry grinned at the blond. "Catch me if you can!" With that, he turned tail and ran. Draco growled and charged after him, ramming through a group of first year Hufflepuffs.
When their friends finally caught up to them, the boys were waiting in the Entrance Hall. Draco was panting furiously, but Harry's only sign of exertion was a slight quickening of breath.
"You need to run more often, Malfoy," he teased. "It wasn't even that far!"
Draco scowled. "Yeah, well, not all of us are half gazelle!"
"It's half stag, actually."
The Slytherins blinked, wondering if he were serious, while Hermione and Ron put their hands over their mouths to keep from laughing obnoxiously. Upon seeing the Silver Trio's dumbfounded looks, Ron lost it completely. Hermione, however, managed to get herself back in check.
"It's an inside joke. Maybe Harry will explain it to you later, since he's so keen on revealing his secrets."
Harry and Ron rolled their eyes. "Are you still going on about that, Herms?" Ron asked in exasperation.
"I'm surprised you're not reacting in a similar fashion… and don't call me Herms!"
"Do they do this all the time?"
Harry nodded. "Yep. It's kinda funny at first, but gets stale after the fifth time. By the tenth, their arguing is just plain annoying."
Draco shook his head in pity. "I know what you mean. Blaise and Pansy were the same way before they started going out."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Figures. The chances of Ron admitting that he likes Hermione like that are pretty much equal to three dragons flying into the school. So, who wants to eat lunch outside?" he asked loudly, successfully breaking up the bickering of his two best friends.
"But we don't have time! By the time we get our food and get out there, we'll only have five minutes until we're late for Charms and-"
"Hermione! We have an hour. Harry can ask Dobby to set up a picnic in our usual spot; we'll eat quick and have time to spare."
Draco cocked his head. "Dobby? He was my family's house elf before Father freed him as a punishment for disobedience. You mean to tell me that he works here now?"
Harry nodded. "Yep, but he wasn't freed as a punishment; he was set free because I tricked your father into giving him a sock."
The blonde's eye twitched. "Fooled by a twelve year old boy! Just how low has my family fallen?"
"Pretty damn far."
"It was a rhetorical question, Weasel!"
While this new debate was going on, Harry had summoned Dobby and asked him to take a picnic basket to the Golden Trio's usual place. When he turned around, he saw that Draco and Ron were engaged in a war of words that had somehow degraded to the usual petty insults. The others were looking from one arguer to the other, looking like they were watching a particularly interesting tennis match. Harry groaned in frustration.
"Guys?"
When he got no response from the quarreling duo, he tried being a little louder.
"Guys!"
Harry gave up when he still received no response. He turned his attention to the spectators.
"When they stop fighting, will one of you tell them I've already left?"
When Blaise nodded absentmindedly, Harry began to walk toward the castle doors.
"Yeah? Well at least my family isn't composed of a bunch of muggle-lo-"
Draco cut himself off mid-rant and glanced around frantically. He looked at the entrance to the school just in time to see Harry opening the large oaken doors. As the brunette walked outside, Draco snapped back into his senses.
"Harry! Wait up, you bloody git!" he exclaimed as he raced after the other boy.
"Did Draco just call Potter 'Harry'?" Blaise asked, dumbfounded. The others nodded the affirmative numbly, too shocked to do more.
XXXXXXXX
Harry glanced back when he heard his name being called, but continued on when he saw that it was Draco. He broke into a sprint when the fair boy was right behind him. A loud groan was heard, followed by the sounds of pursuit.
After about five minutes of running, Harry skidded to a stop underneath the branches of a large willow tree. A minute later, he was tackled to the ground by a silver-blonde blur.
"How dare you leave me alone with Weasel in the middle of an argument!" Draco hissed.
"Um… Pansy, Blaise, and Hermione were there."
"Do you honestly think they could stop Weasley if he decided to attack me?"
"Yes, actually."
"And how, exactly, would-"
"Well, isn't this a compromising position?"
The boys looked up when they heard Blaise's smug voice. He was smirking knowingly, the girls were giggling, and Ron was green in the face. After a minute of gawking at their seemingly insane friends, the boys decided to see what position, exactly, Blaise was referring to.
Draco was straddling Harry's waist while holding the other boy's hands above his head. Their robes were entangled almost to the point of hopelessness, and their faces were separated by mere centimeters. Both faces were flushed from their sprint. Draco's hair, which he had decided to wear without gel, was mussed slightly, while Harry's was even messier than usual. Somehow, Harry's tie had loosened during the minor tussle, and it now hung loose around his neck.
Harry struggled not to let his somewhat modest nature overpower him, but Draco returned the smirk.
"The position Potter and I are in is nowhere near as compromising as the one I found you and Pansy in last Christmas, Blaise."
It was now the Slytherins' turn to blush as Ron and Hermione laughed uproariously. Draco calmly got off of Harry during this distraction and pulled his counterpart to his feet.
"So…welcome to the hang-out of the Golden Trio," Harry said after an awkward moment had passed.
Ron looked around in confusion. "Where's the food?"
Right on cue, Dobby popped into the middle of the group, clinging to a picnic basket.
"Dobby do as Harry Potter asked. Is there being anything else Dobby can do for Harry Potter?"
"No thanks, Dobby, the food is enough."
As Dobby nodded his head reluctantly, he caught sight of Draco.
"M-Master Draco!" Dobby threw himself to the ground at the blonde's feet, sobbing. "Dobby sorry, Master Draco! Dobby is a bad house elf!" He began slamming his head into the earth repeatedly. Harry, eyes wide, bent down to stop the frantic elf, but Draco shook his head. He bent down and firmly held Dobby's shoulders, keeping the elf from moving.
"Dobby," he said slowly. "My family and I are no longer your masters. You were given clothes; you are free. There is no need to punish yourself on behalf of the Malfoy name."
The elf was still whimpering, but his efforts at self-harm had ceased. When Draco cautiously released his hold, Dobby threw himself at the blond and locked him in a suffocating embrace.
"Thank you, Mister Draco, sir! You are being the most kind of Dobby's old masters! Dobby be loyal to you like Dobby is being loyal to Harry Potter!"
"Uh, Dobby?" Harry hesitantly interjected. "Perhaps you could let Malfoy go now?"
The elf leapt away quickly, leaving Draco gasping for breath. "Dobby is going back to the kitchens now. Call Dobby if Harry Potter or Mister Draco be needing anything!"
Before a response could be formulated, Dobby disappeared with a loud pop. They stared at the place where the house elf once stood.
"Was he always that…eccentric?" Harry asked after a moment.
"Worse, actually. The stack of hats suits him. Don't you agree?
"Tell that to Hermione. She made most of those during fourth year."
"Oi! Are you two eating or not?"
Draco and Harry turned and saw that their friends had snatched away the picnic basket during the chaos. They had already started lunch, not overly concerned with Dobby's outburst. Draco and Harry ran towards the picnic and grabbed some slices of bread and shrunken food.
"Engorgio."
When the meals had expanded to their normal size, they began eating frantically. The food was pushed away after only half had been devoured. Harry leaned pack, leisurely nibbling on a piece of bread.
"Is that all you're eating?" Hermione asked in concern.
"Yeah. Big breakfast."
Hermione stared at Harry, but decided to let him slide this time. Meanwhile, Pansy rounded on Draco.
"Well, what's your excuse?"
"Uh…big breakfast?"
"Big breakfast my ass! You spent the whole time being paranoid about what Potter was saying!"
Draco's face turned a light pink. "That doesn't mean I didn't eat," he muttered sullenly.
"Oh yes it does! I had to resort to threats just to make you get a piece of bacon down!"
The Golden Trio watched the argument in interest while Blaise rolled his eyes.
"I thought they'd gone too long without arguing."
Harry smirked. "Parkinson is reminding me more and more of someone else I know. I bet that now Malfoy is going to cross his arms and pout, causing her to drop the subject."
Draco crossed his arms in frustration and stuck out his lower lip.
"Oh no, mister! Don't you dare give me that face!"
In response, Draco just looked up at her from under his bangs, eyes shining. Pansy's face softened.
"Alright, alright! You win."
As soon as this proclamation was made, Draco uncrossed his arms and smirked.
"I knew you'd see it my way."
Ron stared at Harry in shock. "Mate, how do you do that?"
"I've had the same argument with Hermione a lot," he replied, shrugging. "That's what I usually do when I want her to drop the subject."
Up at the castle, the warning bell tolled. Hermione looked towards the sound with frantic eyes.
"Oh, Merlin! WE'RE LATE!"
"Hermione, that was the warning bell! We still have five…minutes." By the end of Ron's sentence, Hermione was gone. All that remained was a trail of dust. Harry stood up and cleared the area with a wave of his wand.
"Shall we?"
The five of them bolted, running up the castle stairs at full speed. Harry shut the door after he entered and chased after the others. He soon pulled in front of Draco, who was in the lead.
"Almost there!" Ron managed to pant after three minutes had passed. They fell through the open Charms door, one after the other, as the final bell rang. The door shut magically behind them, alerting any stray students still in the halls that they were late. Hermione looked smugly down at the squirming mass from her seat, eyebrow raised.
"Excellent timing! Now if you would get in your seats so I can begin class?" Flitwick squeaked from his podium, obviously amused.
"Next time, we eat lunch inside," Draco grumbled from his place beneath Harry.
"You've got that right," was the muffled response.
Author's Notes: There's chapter 7! Finally got a hint of slash action in there. Sorry if Dobby's dialogue is a little messed up. I'm not really sure about how he's supposed to talk, exactly. Here's how the song suggestions stand thus far:
Harry: "Buttons" by The Pussycat Dolls; "The 8th Square" by The Cruxshadows; "The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars (2x); "My World" by The Sick Puppies
Ron: "Gimme That" by Chris Brown; "Sinking" by The Cruxshadows
Hermione: "Another Sad Love Song" by Toni Braxton; "Hero" by Mariah Carey (2x); "Sophia" by the Cruxshadows; "Who Knew" by Pink
Draco: "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson; "24/7" by Kevon Edmonds; "Eye of the Storm" by the Cruxshadows
Blaise: "Boy" by Darren Hayes
Pansy: "Thug Style" by Ciara; "Resist/R" by The Cruxshadows
I'm still taking suggestions for both songs and animagus forms, so send 'em in! This is probably the last time I'll post song suggestions (they get a bit cumbersome). However, as you can see, poor Blaise has been all but forgotten. The next chapter will most likely serve as a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/other holiday gift.
Thanks to the following chapter 6 reviewers:
GreenEyedCatDragon
amber v
scintillating
Xylia Luna Orion
Wayward Fool
SwarmOfFanGirls
Gwaeren
StunningSpellRocks2345
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