Chapter 4
Draco kept to himself for the better part of the next day and no one dared to bother him about house cleaning. When he was tired of just sitting around he got up and made his way downstairs. He could hear them in the back of the house toward the kitchen so he decided to follow the noise. Upon entering he was surprised by the impressive Snitch cake with 'Happy Birthday Harry' written on it in red and gold icing. Harry noticed him in the doorway and gave a half smile. Draco raised his eyebrows in response, his hands in his pockets. He looked around and noticed Bill and Fleur talking at the table but looked away before any eye contact could be made. The atmosphere always seemed so thick whenever he was around.
"…I'll go pack these for you Harry" Hermione told him as she walked out of the room with all of his gifts. Harry smiled at her and walked over to Draco.
"I…suppose you could have mentioned that today was your…birthday…"
"I didn't think you would've cared" Harry replied frankly.
"You're right, I don't!" he said looking away.
Harry grinned and rolled his eyes, "Thanks." He saw Draco's eyes look past him and he noticed his eye narrowing.
"Harry," said a voice from behind him.
"Hey Ginny"
"I have a present for you upstairs, come see."
"Ok," he said reacting to her grabbing his arm, "I'll be right back" he told Draco.
He watched them leave the room and walk around the corner out of sight passing Hermione on the way out. He looked away trying to remain indifferent to the situation. She sighed as she noticed Draco.
"Hey" he heard Hermione say.
He turned around, "…hey" he replied.
"She has it bad for him doesn't she" she said regarding what transpired earlier.
Draco sneered, "I've noticed. Rather pathetic really; the way they drool over each other."
"But you know what is funny?" she ignored his sardonic remark, "I don't think Harry reciprocates her feelings. You know what I think?" she asked.
Draco looked at her in question, not sure if he could trust her answer.
"As much as it pains me to admit this, I think he is distracted by someone else and he doesn't even realize it."
Draco eyed her suspiciously, "And who would that be, Granger?"
"It's you, Draco" she smirked when she noticed his discomfort.
His eyes narrowed, "I don't know what you are implying Gra…"
She cut him off, "Say what you want Malfoy…I don't care really. There are a lot of things about Harry that you don't know, I was just telling you what I observed…" She walked away from him leaving him stunned in the doorway.
When he regained his composure, he sought refuge in the garden. He liked the garden—it was big and secluded, just what he needed right now. He sat on a bench under a tree and sighed. His thoughts drifted to his parents again. He almost wished he was with them but shuddered at the hell he would have been in with Voldemort. In a blissfully ironic sort of way, he decided that he was happy here with Potter.
Shouting snapped him out of he reverie as Ron plowed through the door, his face an angry Weasley red.
"You ditched her! What are you doing now? Messing her around?" Ron was livid.
"I was not! I thought I had explained why I couldn't date her. I thought she understood…I thought you understood too. This isn't easy for me Ron!"
"Don't bring that up! You obviously didn't make it clear enough! She was really cut up by that."
"How can I not bring it up? It's a part of me! I can't love her the way she wants me to Ron and you know that..."
"Shut up! Just shut up! You should have never led her on like that! You shouldn't have touched her!"
"I'm sorry Ron!"
"Don't apologize to me you cad!" Ron bellowed.
Draco was finding all this very amusing. Ron turned and glared at him. Draco smirked marveling at his crimson face.
"Ron, I thought you were passed this."
"This isn't about you and your…preference…this is about my sister!"
Harry's eyes narrowed and Draco noticed he looked more hurt than angry.
"I don't think what happened in Ginny's room bothers you half as much as…"
"Didn't I tell you to shut up about that?" Ron cut him off and with out another word he left.
Before Harry could leave Draco decided to meet him. "Well, Potter that was fun wasn't it."
"Cut the crap Draco, I'm really in no mood to deal with this!" He said walking to the bench. Draco followed anyway and sat right next him.
"I knew you were messing with her." he teased glancing at him through the corner of his eye.
Harry put his face in his hands, "She kissed me, what was I supposed to do? Throw her off?"
Draco chuckled, "You can't help it if you're irresistible." He noticed that his words startled Harry. Maybe he sounded too serious. Draco caught his gaze and saw Harry look at him as if for the first time. Then he thought of what Hermione said coupled with what he gathered from the argument with Ron. He'd known for a while that being with Potter didn't exactly disgust him. He thought he should test his theory about him first. He leaned in slightly. He didn't think Harry would notice his slight movement but he saw Harry's face turn red and lost his nerve, looking away.
They sat in silence for a few moments but it was broken by Hermione walking hastily to them.
"Scrimgeour is coming" She said holding a letter from the ministry.
"What!" Harry exclaimed getting up and grabbing the letter from her.
"Yes, he's coming to read Dumbledore's will to us!" She said almost panicking, "What are we going to do with him?" she asked pointing Draco out.
Harry looked at Draco and shrugged, "We could keep him in Ron's room. He could wear my invisibility cloak too."
"Harry the minister can't find out he's here! The Death Eaters have taken over the newspapers and who knows the Ministry might be next."
"You can count on that" Draco said.
Hermione nodded, "We can't afford Scrimgeour finding out in case someone…gets to him."
"I know Hermione. He shouldn't go prowling around the house looking for him."
"No but I'm sure he'll be asking lots of questions" she said looking angry.
Harry turned to Draco, "Go to Ron's room and stay there Draco. Don't come out for anything, my invisibility cloak is in my trunk."
Draco nodded and disapparated.
Hermione noticed that Harry looked relieved after Draco left.
"Dumbledore has a will?" Harry said noticing his somewhat delayed reaction.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "yes, anyway, Mr. Weasley sent the letter and they will be here soon."
Harry nodded.
"I'll talk to Ron. Neither of us can slip up and give Draco away." She left in a rush.
It was almost an hour later and Draco was done with waiting patiently. He held the cloak as he got out of the bed and walked as quietly as he could to the door. He thought he heard some sort of commotion earlier and guessed that the Minister was here now. Following the voices he heard, he made his way to the staircase that lead to the sitting room and sat on the top step.
"The last will and testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Bryan Dumbledore" said a voice he didn't recognize. It must belong to Scrimgeour. "…yes here we are… 'To Ronald Bilius Weasley I leave my Deluminator in hope that he will remember me when he uses it.
'A Deluminator,' Draco thought, 'those are rare' He wondered what the other two would get.
"To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard in hope that she will find it as entertaining an instructive."
Draco's stomach clenched as he knew who was next.
"To Harry James Potter, I leave the snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill." Draco made a face, 'A snitch? How like Dumbledore—to leave a reminder telling him to persevere or some such shite.
He heard Scrimgeour speak again, "Why did Dumbledore leave you this snitch? Here take this from me. Do you think this is a mere symbolic keepsake?"
Draco's brow furrowed. Why was he being so suspicious?
"I suppose so," he heard Harry say. "What else could it be?"
"I'm asking the questions," Scrimgeour said, "I noticed that your birthday cake was in the shape of a snitch, why is this?"
'Oh my God' Draco rolled his eyes.
He heard Hermione laugh, "It could be a reference to the fact that Harry is a great seeker, that's way to obvious. There must be a message hidden in the icing."
Draco smirked.
"You can just give us our things and leave. You've done you job." He heard Harry say.
"I'm not finished here." He heard Scrimgeour's voice become deadly, "There is one more to this will." Draco leaned forward listening intently. "To Draco Abraxas Malfoy, I leave my faith that he will see this through." There was a pause and the air was thick. Draco could scarcely breathe with the shock of hearing his name.
"Why do you think he mentioned a Malfoy?" he said his name with disgust.
"How should I know!" Harry exclaimed.
"Why would he say that he has any faith at all in a Malfoy?"
Draco wanted to leave, to go back to Ron's room and hide under the bed. What if he did start snooping around? Draco tried to calm down.
"You wouldn't be hiding any information from me would you?"
"No" Ron said.
There was silence for a moment and Draco held his breath as Scrimgeour limped into his view. He saw him give one last glare at them and he walked out of the door; Ron and Hermione following him out—only then did he relax. As he stood up the stair made a creaking noise and he stopped when he saw Harry walk by. Harry glanced at the staircase and walked out. Draco let out the breath he held and hurried back to Ron's room. He shut the door quietly and leaned against it. He felt his heart practically beat in his throat; damn Dumbledore for putting him in the will. In the back of his mind he hoped this would help ease the tension with Harry and Weasley however that was unlikely—they were both so thick headed. He heard foots steps down the hall and quickly moved away from the door as they got closer; he pulled the invisibility cloak tighter around him as the door opened.
"Draco, where are you?" Harry asked forcefully.
He took off the cloak and closed the door from behind. "So how did it go?" he asked as innocently as he could without giving himself away.
Harry's eyes narrowed "Don't play innocent with me Draco. I know you were there. That was stupid! He could have found out and drug you to Azkaban—he doesn't listen as well as Moody or Kingsley. You better come up with a good explanation as to why you left this room to stick you nose where it didn't belong and I better not hear 'because I was bored."
Draco raised an eyebrow as if to ask, "are you finished?" he thought for a moment and chuckled to himself, "I had as much of a part in this whole thing as you did, Potter—excuse me; Harry.
"That's beside the point…" he sighed, "whatever, you're impossible you know.
Draco rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Hardly."
Harry decided not to press the issue any further, "Fine, whatever…anyway, it's time for the dinner party—want to come?"
Draco looked at him as if he were joking, "Surly you don't really expect me to go."
"You know, a simple 'no thanks' would have sufficed."
Draco snorted and sat on the bed, "No thanks" he said sarcastically.
Harry shook his head and without another word left Draco alone.
It was late when Harry returned and Draco was half asleep.
"Hey, are you awake?" Harry asked
"I am now." Draco said tiredly, "what do you want."
"They told me to keep you company while they restore the garden after the party."
Draco raised his eyebrows in response. Harry scoffed sitting next to him on the bed. "I actually rather stay here than restore the garden anyway."
Draco gave him a slight odd look but said nothing.
Harry continued, "I wish Dumbledore would have explained his reasoning behind what he left us."
"It doesn't surprise me; I guess he thought you lot were intelligent or something" Draco said with a smirk.
Harry turned and gave him a warning glance, "with this whole situation I'm beginning to think he expected to die but I don't think he meant to."
Draco winced turning to him, "What do you know about it Potter? Nothing! So just leave it!"
Harry's eyes narrowed, "I know more than you think Draco. I was there that night he—" Harry faltered a little and noticed out of the corner of his eye the look of confusion and anger Draco was giving him. "You had him cornered didn't you?" Harry kept his head down; he didn't have the nerve to look Draco in the eye. "He almost convinced you to join our side; you even lowered your wand." Harry glanced at him again and Draco had a distressed look about him, he seemed on the verge of tears. "Why did you call them? He would have protected you."
Draco made an odd noise that sounded like a whimper, maybe even a slight sob. Harry looked at him and Draco looked away staring at his hands. His brow furrowed, he spoke in a strained voice, "I didn't want to kill him…"
Harry cut him off, "then why did you call them to you?"
Draco answered angrily finding his voice again, "They would have found us anyway. What do you think would have happened if I did go over to him? They would have killed me! Or worse tell Voldemort that I was a blood traitor…" Draco shivered at the thought.
At that moment it seemed the realization of Dumbledore's death hit him all at once. He was angry that Draco didn't even try to save him and before he could stop himself he said, "So.. you let Snape kill one of the greatest wizards in the world to save your arse?" …that was cruel, maybe too cruel and Harry regretted saying it.
"My arse isn't worth saving?" Draco asked angrily.
Harry closed his eyes, "That's not what I meant..."
"You meant every word." Draco spat, "I'll have you know Potter, the fact that I failed to kill him cost me everything. He put me through hell! I had to live with him Potter, and you have no idea what that is like." Draco tried to calm himself down. Damn Potter for making him remember. He closed his eyes and sighed, resting his head against the back of the bed—block it out, it never happened, just block it out" he thought pushing the memory to the back of his mind.
"Draco—I didn't know."
"Shut up already, don't mention it again."
Harry nodded. "Alright sorry." And he really was. He didn't mean to be so cruel and he also didn't stop to consider Draco's side of the story. Come to think of it, would he really act differently if his life were threatened in a similar manner? The answer scared him, he probably would risk someone else's life to save his own, and he frowned at that — 'some hero I'm turning out to be' he thought.