A Note: This chapter is shorter than normal but I wanted to publish something before I went out today. Feedback would be appreciated :) Thanks for reading!
Harper tossed and turned in her oversized bed, unable to find comfort among the numerous pillows and blankets. After a few hours of these futile efforts to fall asleep, she just gave up and decided she could use a midnight snack anyways. She walked down the marble staircase in her short shorts and an oversized shirt. She hadn't thought to throw on a robe or anything; it was getting close to 1 AM and she was sure that she would be the only one up.
She made her way to the kitchen and started putting together a huge Ice Cream Sunday, reveling in the multiple scoops of vanilla, cookie dough, and cookies and cream ice cream that she was serving herself. While she went for the chocolate sauce, she heard some rustling of pajamas behind her. She whipped around, terrified it might be one of her parents. Much to her relief, it was just Draco. He stood in the entryway to the kitchen looking rather disheveled, suffering from a serious case of bed head and his once neatly pressed pajama pants very wrinkled.
"What are you doing down here?" Harper whispered, continuing to make her monster Ice Cream Sunday. "Couldn't sleep…" he muttered, eyeing the mountain of ice cream, chocolate sauce, and nuts Harper had been creating.
"Me either" she said casually, putting the final touches on the ice cream. "There's more than enough ice cream here to share. Grab a spoon" she said with a hospitable smile, pulling up a chair. He smiled a little back at her and grabbed a spoon as she directed. Both of them began to dig in.
A few minutes of relatively silent pigging out went by before Draco asked something that Harper had definitely not seen coming. "So… are you sleeping with my Dad or something?" Harper looked at him for a second and burst out laughing, gripping her sides to ensure that they wouldn't split. "Of course not! Why do you ask?" She said, still giggling a little.
Draco blushed and looked a little indignant. Apparently he was not very used to or fond of being laughed at. "I've never seen him act like that before… that's all" he said defensively. "I've never seen him act like that before. It was very… strange."
Harper smiled and patted Draco on the shoulder. "Don't worry Draco, I'm not sleeping with your Daddy." She said jokingly, even Draco cracked a bit of a smile. "Glad to hear it" he said, taking another spoonful of ice cream.
"So where have you been going to school? I never saw you at Hogwarts" Draco asked conversationally. "Dad sent me off to a boarding school in France. I didn't come home often." She explained. "I wish I could have gone to Hogwarts though… I was so happy when I got my letter… But I guess Dad thought I'd get a better education under someone other than Dumbledore." Of course, Harper knew that was not the reason her father sent her to school far away, but she didn't feel it would be appropriate to explain the real reasons to Draco. That didn't know each other very well yet.
Draco and Harper spent the rest of the early hours of the morning getting better acquainted. Draco loosened up dramatically and was soon laughing and joking with his newfound friend. Around 5 in the morning, Mr. Malfoy came downstairs and found his son and Harper acting like old friends. This worried him. He had already sent the Dark Lord a file on the girl and he really thought that he would show interest in her. It would be dangerous for his son to be so close to the Dark Lord's potential Bride to be.
Harper was the first to notice Mr. Malfoy's entrance. She sent a particularly bright smile his way. "Good morning Mr. Malfoy, sleep well?" she asked cordially, quickly putting the now empty Sunday dish into the sink where she hoped the house elves would quickly deal with it. "Very well, thank you" he replied politely. "You two are up awful early…"
"We had trouble sleeping… we just ran into each other in the kitchen" Draco said quickly, not understanding why he felt it was so important to make sure his father knew nothing was going on between them.
"Yes… well you two better get dressed. Wouldn't want the other adults to get the wrong idea…" Mr. Malfoy instructed cheerfully. Harper didn't understand the underlying message, but Draco did. For whatever reason, his father didn't want him and Harper to get too close.