"Harry? Earth to Harry?" An elbow slammed into his ribs, making Harry gasp and spin around in his chair. Hermione was staring back at him, her eyes wide.
"What the hell, Hermione." Harry asked, rubbing his side. "That hurt."
"I was calling your name for almost five minutes!" She said, glancing up to the front of the class room. They were sitting in the back row of the Transfiguration Classroom. Professor McGonagall was making her rounds in the room, checking on everyone's progress. "You haven't even attempted to make a copy of your goblet yet."
Harry looked down at the simple goblet he held in his hand. They had been working on doubling charms, and last week the only thing he had managed to do was shake the goblet on the table top. He glanced over at Hermione's station to see she had already created six of her goblets.
"I was distracted…" Harry shrugged, looking down at his goblet.
"Yes, I could tell." Hermione smiled softly at him and straightened her shoulders as she turned back to her Goblet. "Gemino!" She said, waving her wand. The Goblet shuddered on the table, while an exact copy of the goblet grew out of it and clattered to the table, lying on its side.
"Perfect, Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed behind them, making them jump. "I think you may need to help Mr. Weasley with his doubling charm." She gave Hermione a rare smile and looked a few tables back at Ron, who was sitting beside Neville and looking murderously at his Goblet. "Mr. Potter?" She said, waving at his goblet.
Harry turned and placed his goblet flat against the table. He lifted his wand and said, "Gemino!" His Goblet shook, and a small growth came from the bottom of it. He kept his eyes down, not needing to turn to see the look on McGonagall's face.
"I think you should probably help Mr. Potter while you're at is Miss Granger." Harry could feel Hermione's apologetic smile, and they waited until McGonagall moved on towards another table.
"What's going on, Harry?" Hermione asked, scooting her chair towards Harry.
Harry sighed and turned to face her. "Last week, the Malfoy's house elf came to see me and said that Malfoy was in danger. So I seeked him out…"
"Harry…" Hermione reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze.
"I know… I know I shouldn't have. But I did. Malfoy pulled me aside and was angry I was seeking him out, he said that I was going to blow his cover if people saw us together." He pulled his hand out of Hermione's and ran it through his hair. "He said he had been lying to Voldemort about our friendship to keep me, my friends and the Order safe." He ignored Hermione's gasp at the mention of The Dark Lord's name and pushed forward. "Since then, I haven't been seeing him around as much. Although I haven't been seeking him out on purpose, he's a hard presence to miss. He hasn't been going to classes and barely going to meals…"
"You're worried something happened to him." Hermione interjected. Harry nodded once before sighing and leaning back into the chair.
"I know I shouldn't be. I am so angry at him for what he did… but he was my best friend. I can't just stop caring about his well-being."
"Maybe we can ask Professor Snape if everything is okay?" Hermione suggested, biting her lower lip. It was something Harry noticed she did when she was deep in thought. "Maybe Ron can do some re-con tonight… I believe the Slytherin's have Quidditch practice tonight…"
"Thank you Hermione." Harry said, some of the stress he had been feeling this morning starting to evade. "I know neither one of you like Malfoy, and I appreciate you helping me."
"That's what friends are for, Harry." Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Now, let's see what you can do with your Goblet." Hermione launched into a tirade of the proper wand movements and enunciation of the spell that she had noticed Harry was off on. Harry allowed her to correct him almost fifteen times, but by the end of class, he was holding two perfectly copied goblets.
Harry was pacing back and forth before the fireplace, ignoring Hermione's sighs of annoyance every time he passed her.
"Harry…" She said, reaching out to grab his arm. "Please just sit down!"
"I'm fine…" He shook his head, twisting out of her grasp. "It's been almost an hour since Ron went down…"
As if on cue, the portrait tipped open and Ron came climbing through, completely soaked.
"I didn't know it was raining!" Hermione said jumping up, her want outstretched. Using a hot-air charm, she began drying Ron's robes and hair.
"It wasn't." Ron said, walking past them both to stand before the fire. "The Slytherin's thought I was sneaking in on their practice to spy on plays or something. So they decided to hex a raincloud over my bloody head. When Fitch caught me in the main hall, I thought he was going to skin me alive right there. Had to have Snape come and do the counter-hex and of course, I was given a week of detention, scrubbing out old phials in the Potion cabinet."
"I'm sorry, Ron…" Harry winced, feeling guilty he had gotten his friend in detention.
"You just owe me a chocolate frog a day for the next year, mate." Ron brushed off his apology and offered him a smile. "Malfoy wasn't down on the pitch either… They were actually pretty pissed about it. I guess he hasn't been showing up to any of the practices lately."
"Strange…" Harry sat down in one of the arm chairs. Draco loved Quidditch… it was one of the only things he ever talked about liking at Hogwarts—the fact that he could play on the team. Even when he was sick, he never missed a practice… "Something has got to be wrong." Harry mumbled to himself.
"I don't know what else we can do, Harry." Hermione said, sitting in the chair beside him, confident she had gotten Ron as dry as she could.
"Thanks, 'Mione." Ron said, sitting across from them. "You could always see if you could sneak into the Slytherin Common room and find out."
"Ron! Harry can't just go sneaking in there." Hermione said, shooting him an angry look. "We all know how dangerous it would be for Harry to go waltzing in there. Half of the Slytherin's hate him and think he is a traitor for changing houses, and the other half are probably being constantly questioned and given orders by their parents who are working for him."
"Well how else is he going to see if Malfoy is alright?" Ron fired back at her. "Really, I think the git might be feeling a bit guilty about what a crappy friend and person he is. Harry can't very well turn himself invisible and waltz in there, can he?"
"Actually…" Harry said, sitting up straight in the chair. "I can." He pushed off of the chair and raced up to his room, Ron and Hermione hot on his heels. "I haven't used this in ages…" he said as he got to his knees in front of his trunk. He opened it and dug through to the bottom.
"Harry!" Hermione gasped as he pulled out a shimmering cloak. "Where did you get that?" Hermione stepped forward, her eyes wide as she reached to touch the corner of the fabric.
"So what?" Ron said, confused. "It's a cloak, Hermione."
Harry smiled at his friend and threw the cloak over his shoulders. Ron's mouth dropped open as he gaped at Harry.
"Bloody hell…" Ron said, once he found his voice. "Those are really rare!"
"It was my father's." Harry said, sliding it off his shoulders, and folding it over his arm. "Dumbledore gave it to me my first year, saying that it technically belonged to me."
"But Harry." Hermione said, pulling her eyes away from the cloak. "Even if you're invisible, how are you going to get into the Slytherin common room?"
"I'll just wait until someone comes out and then slips in." Harry shrugged.
"Want any company?" Ron offered.
"It's probably best if I do this one alone." Harry said, and then noticed how both of his friend's faces fell. "But, once I am back… I think we could all go for a midnight stroll." Even Hermione had a tentative smile at the suggestion.
"Be careful, mate." Ron said. Hermione threw her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Harry nodded at them both before leaving them standing in the middle of the room and heading out into the Hallway.
As he approached the Slytherin dungeon, he looked around him to make sure he was alone in the hall. He threw the cloak over himself, ignoring the whispers coming from the portraits around him. He hoped he wouldn't have to be waiting long… He leaned against the opposite wall and waited.
After what felt like an eternity, Crabbe and Goyle came stumbling up the hallway, their hands full of pumpkin pasties they had taken from dinner.
"Salazar." Crabbe said, once they were both positioned in front of the stone wall. Harry crept up behind them, as close as he could get without alerting them. The stone wall slid back, revealing the Slytherin Common room. To Harry's dismay, it was packed full of students. He slipped in, just as the wall was sliding back into place and pressed his back against it, taking in the scene before him.
Montague, the Slytherin Captain was lounging in an arm chair by the fire, his legs thrown over one of the arms.
"You should have seen it!" He was saying. Most of the Slytherin's were crowded around the chair, leaving a pretty clear path for Harry to make his way through to the dormitories. "The blood traitor was trying to pull his wand out to jinx us, but his hands were too slippery that he couldn't get a good grip." Roars of laughter met him. "He ran away, tail between his legs as the thunder cloud Warrington cast over him, bobbed over his head."
Anger ripped through Harry as he realized they were talking about Ron. He stopped in the center of the common room, his wand at the ready. No. He told himself, inhaling sharply. He was here for a reason… He tore himself away from the scene and forced himself to head towards his old room. Montague would pay… he promised himself as he stood before the door. He pressed his ear against it, listening for any movement inside.
Slowly, he pushed open the door and slipped inside. All of the beds had the curtains pulled back, except one.
"Draco…" Harry whispered. He turned to the door, waving his wand over it and whispering Colloportus. He pulled the cloak off of his shoulders and moved towards Draco's bed.
"Draco." He said again louder, but was reached with no response. He reached forward, gripping the hanging tapestry that surrounded the bed and pulled it back. The scene before him hit him like a ton of bricks.
Draco was lying in his bed, his skin chalky and stretched. Draco's eyes were slightly parted, his expression confused as he focused on Harry's face. His wand lay forgotten beside him, and Harry could see thick scars on his wrists underneath his robes, and a few fresh cuts. A thick white foam was leaking from his lips.
As recognition flooded through Draco, his eyes widened and he tried to push himself up into a sitting position, before a groan of pain escaped his lips and he collapsed back against the pillows.
"I'm sorry, Harry." He whispered, his voice cracking.
"What happened?" Harry demanded, looking over him again, not knowing where to start.
"I couldn't betray you." Draco whispered. He closed his eyes, a tear escaping down his cheek. "It will be okay now."
"Draco." Harry said, reaching forward to shake Draco's shoulder. Draco's head rolled on his shoulders, completely unresponsive. "Fuck." Harry swore, looking around the room. How the hell was he going to get Draco out of here? Harry cursed again as he retrieved the cloak from the floor and threw it over his head again. He crossed his fingers that everyone was still engaged in Montague's hilarious story.
He plucked up Draco's wand and tucked it into his robes. "Wingardium Leviosa." He said, pointing his own wand at Draco. Draco's body hovered and Harry raised his wand to lift Draco, almost to the ceiling. He took a deep breath and moved towards the door. He used Draco's wand to unlock the dormitory door and then slowly made his way back towards the common room.
He picked his way around the students, careful not to bump into anyone or call their attention. He constantly kept one eye on Draco, trying to keep the other boy's body as close to the ceiling as he could without knocking his face or head into any rafters. He had to move slowly… He heard a sharp intake of breath and turned, realizing he had stepped on a first years toe. Alarm went through him as she looked around, and then to Harry's horror, looked up.
Just as he mouth opened and she was about to scream a warning, Harry's shot Draco's wand up and whispered, "Pertificus Totalus!" The girl's body seized and fell, causing the girls surrounding her to scream and jump up. The rest of the common room turned in alarm, and Harry slipped out quickly, pulling Draco along with him as the attention focused on the girl.
"One step down…" Harry whispered to himself, then looked up at Draco. "Don't worry, Draco. I'll get you some help." He promised and started off towards the Gryffindor Tower. Towards his home.