Chapter Three: Prongs' Bad Faith
Harry almost ignored the rumbling in his stomach for favor of a few more minutes of sleep before Potions the next morning. But the idea of sitting through Potions with an empty stomach overrode his wish for extra sleep and he trudged down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As usual, the only open spot was next to Neville, with the rest of the Gryffindors packed as close to Prongs as they could.
Neville smiled wearily up at him as he sat down. He actually looked more tired than Harry felt.
"What happened to you?" Harry asked as he began helping himself to some breakfast. "You look exhausted."
"I am a bit tired," Neville agreed. "I stayed up all night reading."
"Must have been interesting. Herbology?"
Neville nodded, though he didn't expand upon that answer, something which was strange for him. Harry had found that if Neville found something so interesting that he'd loose sleep over it, he'd be more than willing to talk about it. Well, Harry didn't much care for Herbology anyway. He only listened because it was what a friend did for another friend.
His breakfast was meager, only a slice of toast and some pumpkin juice today, but it filled his stomach. Neville eyed the piece of toast for a minute.
"You should eat more than that, Harry. It can't be good for you to eat so little."
Harry shrugged. "I haven't been feeling hungry lately."
Neville frowned but said nothing. Harry was struck with the thought that if it had been Ron and Hermione who were worried about what he was eating, they wouldn't have let it go at that. They would have made him eat more. But he pushed that aside with a violent mental shove. He didn't need thoughts like that.
Neville gave him another tired grin as he remarked about walking to his doom and left for Potions. It would be his fourth Potions lesson with Prongs. If anything, having Prongs in the class had made it worse than it had been before. Prongs continued to partner with him, no matter what Harry did to try and avoid it. He hadn't been helpful since that first day. Now, he could have been on par with Snape for his attempts at making Harry's life miserable, except that Snape had a lot more practice and his skill was more refined. They seemed to be trying to outdo each other on who could make him feel the worst. It was, without a doubt, the worst way to start the week that Harry could have ever imagined.
He'd stopped trying to arrive right as the class started – that only got points deducted from Gryffindor and it was useless as Prongs merely waited until he came to class. Arriving earlier at least let him grab the table in the backmost corner of the room. He'd found that, if he sat there, Snape only bothered to walk all the way back to him twice, instead of the four or five times that occurred if he sat in the front of the room. In front was, inevitably, where Prongs would choose to sit if Harry came in late.
Only the Ravenclaws got to class before Harry did. The Hufflepuffs would arrive shortly after, to be followed by Prongs and Hermione, and then finally the Slytherins. Harry didn't bother looking up from the table when the thud of a textbook and cauldron sounded next to him. Prongs was early, he noted, but that wasn't so important that he would actually engage the other boy before he had to.
The boy sat down next to him in silence, which was odd for Prongs. Normally Prongs didn't waste any time. If he wanted to outdo Snape, he had to get in a lot of comments after all. His didn't have nearly the bite that Snape's barbs did, so he made up in quantity. But again, Harry hadn't even looked up at him. Perhaps Prongs hadn't slept well either, and was tired. It didn't matter, he'd start up soon anyway.
Harry finally did look up when a set of footsteps marched over to the table and he heard Prongs' voice icily accuse someone of sitting in his seat.
Malfoy, too, looked lazily up at Prongs. "Really? I wasn't aware that this was yours. Brought it from your timeline, did you?"
Harry blinked as Prongs snarled at the other boy. "Harry's my partner in Potions."
Malfoy didn't seem impressed. "Well, Harry promised to work with me today. So you'll just have to partner someone else. You know, keeping promises to people he's known in his own timeline is more important than those to people from a timeline he'll never know."
Harry gaped at Malfoy as Prongs' face started to turn red. "You think you're so powerful, Malfoy," Prongs snapped in fury. "But I'll have you know that you were nothing in my timeline. Your parents were killed in Azkaban because they were loyal to You-Know-Who. You grew up in an orphanage with no one and nothing to your name!"
"Now isn't that a shame," Malfoy drawled. "No wonder this timeline is better than yours. It's just not right for a Malfoy to grow up that way."
"Your timeline is not better-"
"Oh yes it is." Malfoy was smug and Harry noticed Snape's figure looming towards them. "After all, it's still in existence, isn't it?"
Prongs visibly collected himself for a scathing remark but was cut off before he could utter a word.
"Potter! Ten points from Gryffindor for not being prepared for class! I believe Miss Granger has saved a seat for you; go sit down in it and stop wasting my class time."
Snape loomed over them and Prongs wilted before moving off as he had been commanded. Snape turned and headed for the front of the class where he began to lecture without addressing Harry at all.
This must be what it feels like to be a Slytherin, Harry thought in amazement. No wonder they liked this class.
"What are you doing?" Harry whispered, ignoring Snape in favor of trying to find out what had just happened.
"Working on that ulterior motive which you haven't asked about yet," Malfoy's reply was just above a whisper as he continued to listen to Snape's lecture.
Harry rolled his eyes but turned his attention back to Snape. It was probably a one-time thing. Next class, he would be back to working with Prongs.
But, against all odds, it wasn't. On Friday, Malfoy was waiting for him at the back corner table as if this was a normal occurrence. Prongs was livid, Malfoy was smug, Snape ignored Harry yet again, and Harry was left utterly confused. Any questioning he did resulting in Malfoy explaining patiently that he was working on his ulterior motive but he wouldn't say anything further. Harry had to admit that his Potions ability seemed to improve in leaps and bounds now that he had a partner who both knew what he was doing and wasn't adverse to explaining things to Harry. But he was still wary. Some backlash had to come from this. Malfoy never did anything he wouldn't profit from.
And so far Harry hadn't seen any profit for Malfoy from helping him with Potions. Malfoy would have done much better on his own than with Harry, but this seemed to have not occurred to the other boy. Something was going to happen, Harry was sure of it.
That backlash happened on Friday. Harry entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and read the subject title for the class on the blackboard with dread. Their professor for this year, Mrs. Bubonic, hated writing on the board during class. Any and all notes needed for each lecture was there on the board before she began to speak.
The subject header for today was "Dueling". They'd been working up to it, Harry supposed, as he took out his parchment and began to copy down the notes so he wouldn't have to do so during her lecture. The spells they had learned over the first month of school had slowly brought them to this point. They'd started out with review of disarming and shield spells the first class of the year, and had moved from light jinxes to heavier jinxes to curses. Bubonic was training them to duel. Harry wondered idly if Dumbledore had something to do with this curriculum, or if it was just Bubonic's career in professional dueling that had designed their lessons.
The Slytherins and Gryffindors entered in their normal groups, and the classroom became very loud almost instantly. Harry sat back as Mrs. Bubonic, a tiny woman with a soft voice, tried to quell the sound. For every class it took her a good five minutes to get their attention.
When she finally did, she wasted no time. She was a practical woman who believed in not wasting class time with theatrics.
"We will begin our study of Dueling today. The notes are, as always, on the board. Now, I have heard that there was a dueling club started in your second year. Because of this, I think we should start with a demonstration instead of a lecture.
The dueling platform she conjured looked like a purple and black version of Lockheart's dueling platform and Harry eyed it warily.
"Now I believe the two students who dueled are in this class, no? Potter and Malfoy."
Prongs rose immediately, yet no one seemed to find it strange. Didn't they remember that Prongs hadn't been here in Harry's second year?
"Excuse me professor, but that Potter isn't who I dueled. He wasn't even here in second year." Malfoy's drawl seemed to shock everyone, including the teacher who frowned and then blinked in confusion.
"Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry Prongs, but it was Harry who dueled Draco."
Harry eyed Malfoy's smug look warily as Prongs leveled a glare in Malfoy's direction, but he stood and made his way to the platform were Malfoy was waiting for him.
It was like second year all over again, and for a moment Harry forgot that it was indeed sixth year. But as they saluted each other, reality caught up with him and he mouthed, "What are you doing?"
Malfoy merely smiled. "Making waves, Potter," he murmured as they turned and began to pace back.
Making waves? Harry did not like the sound of that.
They spun to face each other at pace ten, but Bubonic didn't bother to count. The first note on the board today was that both duelists should start when they are ready.
Both boys moved in tandem, and their first curses fired. Harry dropped as the disarming curse flew over his head and Malfoy spun away from his own.
The class was watching avidly and Harry could feel their eyes on him as Malfoy and he traded curses and jinxes. The dueling platform itself caused the most difficulty, with its limited room for movement. Protego was in its element on this kind of stage, but Protego wasn't Harry's best spell. It was adequate, yes, but Malfoy's was much more solid, bouncing the curses off – back at Harry – instead of absorbing them as Harry's did.
Malfoy paused and Harry readied himself for something awful. Malfoy had a look of glee on his face, as he whispered a spell Harry could not hear, but remembered very well.
"Serpentsortia."
The snake shot from Malfoy's wand and Harry looked up at Malfoy in confusion. Didn't he know Harry would just turn it around on him?
"Do it," Malfoy mouthed, confident, from the other side of the platform
"Attack the one who summoned you," Harry told the snake. His words, hissing and spitting, were loud in the dead silence of the room.
The snake immediately turned and headed for Malfoy who lazily pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Evanesco".
"I believe you boys should stop," Bubonic cut in, surprisingly calm. "Excellent form and an ingenious spark of creativity, you two. Ten points to both Slytherin and Gryffindor."
Malfoy bowed mockingly to Harry and pointedly looked over at Prongs before heading down from the platform. Harry's eyes followed where he'd looked as if of their own volition, and he saw Prongs gazing at Malfoy, his face ashen but his eyes livid.
Harry slid in to his seat in contemplation. There was something about Parseltounge that scared Prongs. But what about it could be so threatening? Prongs was Harry and Harry was Prongs, so Prongs was a snake speaker as well. It couldn't be that much of a shock for him to realize how similar they really were, could it?
Neville bit his lip as he looked across the common room at the girl sitting there, the only one working on schoolwork on a Friday afternoon. Clutching his own assignment just a little bit tighter, he grabbed what little courage he knew he must possess to be in Gryffindor and walked over to her.
"Where are Ron and Prongs?" he asked, sitting down next to her and opening his textbook.
"Oh, they're out practicing," Hermione replied flippantly. "Prongs' Nimbus 2001 arrived today, so they were eager to try it out."
Neville nodded, waiting until she finished a sentence before asking, "Hermione, can I talk to you about something?"
She put down her quill instantly. "Sure, Neville, what's wrong?"
"It's about Harry. Doesn't he seem a little… off… to you?"
Hermione frowned. "Yes. He has been acting strangely, ever since Prongs arrived. Harry's not the one to act in jealously, but he's been acting so hurtful to Prongs." She shook her head. "Ron's upset at him as well. And Harry won't even try to reconcile with him. I hardly even see Harry outside of classes anymore."
"That's because he thinks that you don't want him around," Neville said hesitantly.
"What?" Hermione looked genuinely shocked. "Of course we want him around! Where did he get an idea like that?"
"Because that's how you're acting." She opened her mouth to protest but Neville forced himself not to let her interrupt him. "Even I can see it. Ever since Prongs got here you've been ignoring Harry. I know you just didn't want Prongs to feel like an outcast, but you've gone too far."
She looked at him, but her gaze had turned inward, as if thinking over the past month since school had started and Prongs had been catapulted into their lives.
Neville took her silence as permission to continue. "You said yourself that Harry wouldn't be spiteful towards Prongs, but all you listen to is what Prongs tells you. Have you ever wondered if maybe Harry is the one being hurt by Prongs and not the other way around?"
"But he did give his Firebolt to Malfoy," Hermione objected, more questioning than sure.
"I asked him about that. Do you know what actually happened?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Ron and Prongs woke Harry up that morning to demand that he give it to Prongs. Think about how Harry must have felt, Hermione! You know how much Quidditch means to him and there was Ron, going on about how Prongs might be better for the team than Harry had been!"
"Ron wouldn't do that on purpose," Hermione muttered, "He probably just got carried away."
"Of course he did," Neville agreed. "He saw an opportunity to defeat Slytherin, but he never saw how he hurt Harry in his enthusiasm. Think about it Hermione; if you had been in Harry's spot, would you have given your broom to Prongs?"
"No," Hermione replied after a moment of thought. "I guess I wouldn't."
"Harry hasn't been rotten to Prongs at all, Hermione," Neville pressed. "If anything, he's stayed as far away from Prongs as he can! Whatever Prongs says Harry has done, it's not true. I can vouch for him – I'm the only one who's with Harry when he's not in class – he never goes near Prongs unless he absolutely has too."
Hermione was shaken, Neville could see that, so he tried a different tactic. "Have you done any research on timelines yet?"
"Well, I tried," Hermione replied instantly. "But there aren't any books on it in the library. So all I've had to go on was what Dumbledore told us."
"Dumbledore left some things out," Neville said slowly and Hermione's head spun towards him so fast he thought her neck might snap. "I think he believed that Prongs and Harry wouldn't have a problem, because he knows Harry. But Prongs hasn't made the same choices Harry has, so he's in fact quite different, and some things about timelines make what Dumbledore didn't tell us actually very important."
"How did you research it?" Hermione asked.
"There's a book in the Restricted Section," Neville lied. Yes, Malfoy's book was in the Hogwarts Restricted Section, but Neville hadn't bothered to actually go find Hogwarts' copy for himself.
He wrote the title and author down on a scrap of parchment and handed it to Hermione. "I think you should read it and then go talk to Harry. He misses you… and Ron too," Neville added after a moment.
Hermione pocketed the piece of parchment carefully before smiling at Neville. "You're a good friend, Neville," she said, packing up her things. "Harry is lucky that you're looking out for him." She paused for a moment and then added, "We all are."
Additional Notes:
(1)Mrs. Bubonic – All name jokes aside (yes, I totally gave her that last name on purpose), for everyone who's head snapped up and went "WHAT??" at this, I will remind you that I started planning/writing this fic before the sixth book came out. Ergo, Snape is still teaching Potions, and I created a teacher to teach DADA. I haven't gotten any reviews going "OMG why is Snape still teaching Potions?!", so thank you very much for that, and I just ask for that same flexibility here. I was going to try and simply fit in Slughorn as a DADA teacher… but that didn't work. Like really didn't work. I hope these discrepancies from the sixth book don't spoil the fic too much for you.
status: beta'd by Ayeshah Harvey-Lomas