Okay, I realized I forgot to put a disclaimer on the first chapter, so I have two here:
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Disclaimer: I still wish I did...
Hermione frowned and turned another page in the book, not really registering the text. Oh, she'd been so stupid! Harry was supposed to realize how much he wanted to keep Ginny, not how much he wanted to dump her. And definitely not in the common room, and most certainly not in front of Lavender!
"Dwelling on recent events, Granger?" A soft voice cut through her thoughts as Hermione turned another page. Malfoy smirked down at her. "May I sit?"
Hermione grudgingly gestured to the vacant stool, closing her book and setting it aside. She glanced up at Malfoy. "What do you want, Malfoy?" She sighed, before another thought crossed her mind. "And why do you think I wasn't reading before you showed up?"
Malfoy sat down on the stool, placing his elbows on the table and leaning forward. Hermione shrunk back slightly. "Simple. No one, not even you, Granger, could ever read that fast and understand it. And besides, you were supposedly reading about a calming drought, so even if you were actually reading, you were ultimately distracted, or you wouldn't be reading about a calming drought. So, I deduce that somehow, this entire thing is stressing you out. Am I right?"
Hermione sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. Pureblood git. "Fine, you're right, but what do you want? I somehow doubt that you just came to discuss my eminent stress."
"Of course," Malfoy smirked. "I just wanted to know why Potter broke up with Weasley. You seemed the obvious person to ask."
Hermione snorted and looked away. "Just ask any passing person. She got pregnant. She cheated on him. He realized he deserved better. She was in love with someone else. Take your pick. They're all different."
"Now, now, Granger," Malfoy drawled as he reached forward and pulled her chin to the front, forcing her to meet his eyes. "I think we both know that none of those gossips know the answer, so they make up their own. My own informant does so. Why did Harry really break up with Weasley?"
Hermione was about to answer, but promptly stopped. He called Harry… what? "Excuse me?" Hermione stood, shaking off Malfoy's hand and stepping around the table, staring down at him. "Did you just call Harry by name? Not Potter or The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die?"
Draco promptly thought every swear word in every language he could think of. Why did he have to call Potter Harry? Talking to Granger, even! "I simply thought that you would be more likely to confess the truth should I call him by the name you use most often," he lied, and stood so Granger was looking up to him. Malfoys were not looked down upon. It was unheard of.
Granger shook her head slowly as she stared up at him. "No. You're Draco Malfoy, you wouldn't call him Harry to try to get information. If you were that desperate, you'd slip me Veritaserum, and Merlin knows you haven't tried to do that yet, unless you obliviated me afterwards." She took another step forward until her body was nearly flush against his. "You- you like him, don't you? You don't think he's all that bad."
Blaise would kill to be in these shoes, Draco thought idly, but then turned his mind to the task. Most likely, Granger only intended that Draco didn't dislike Potter, not that he fancied him, which was what Draco's brain was more intended to believe she meant. However, if she had figured her way that far, there was nothing to stop Granger from figuring out exactly how much he liked Potter. And as Draco really wanted to talk to someone about exactly how adorable Harry was without them giving him the look of 'You are Slytherin, so don't disgrace us like this,' Granger wouldn't have to work all too hard to get it out him. Therefore, he needed to get away from Granger quickly, before he confessed every dirty thought he'd had of Potter since puberty.
Malfoys never ran away from problems. But, Draco thought as he shoved Granger away and sprinted out of the library, he'd been disowned, so that didn't really matter so much.
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The thing was, Harry mused as he stepped out of the potions classroom, Snape just didn't change the punishments a lot. It was always cleaning cauldrons, organizing ingredients, lines, or cleaning up any mess you made. All together, it made detentions much less frightening when you could easily sort it into a common category. And after seven years of doing them, well, you rather got the hang of it.
The countless detentions didn't mean Harry didn't get lost every time, though.
He continued walking down the path he had chosen, noting with interest the increasing drafts and shadows. The lamps were lit much less frequently, and it appeared that in the dungeon such lamps were all the light.
"Lumos," Harry quickly whispered, and the warm light strung out from the tip of his wand, illuminating a doorframe a few steps ahead of him..
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Draco hopped down the last few steps, his shoe finally landing on the cold stone floor. As he stepped forward into the dungeon, Draco finally took a deep breath. Away from Granger. It was improbable even a Gryffindor, or rather, especially a Gryffindor, would dare to follow a Slytherin in the dungeons. Everyone knew that Slytherins knew every nook and cranny in the dungeons, and it would be fool to follow one.
Draco languidly treaded down further into the dungeons, far past the potions classroom. There was a sharp fork, and Draco took the passage away from the common room with a second of hesitation. He couldn't speak to Pansy and Blaise now, as he would probably tell the entire confrontation in the library, which would lead to Blaise despairing about missed opportunities, and Pansy telling him about how trouble with Granger meant that Potter wasn't the right boy.
More cold flittered across Draco's arm as he strode down the passage, and he unconsciously drew his cloak further in around him. Even some Slytherins never ventured down this way, as it was cold, and dark, and rumors of rats and snakes living in the abandoned classrooms were told as jokes to younger years, often by those who believed the rumors were true. Of course, Draco had found this to be false his first few times down, without a rat or snake in sight. As such, it made an excellent place to think things out, with no peers wandering.
Or so it had been. A soft light shone down close to where the rooms began, moving steadily with the gait of someone's walk. Draco silently drew his wand, moving closer to the wall away from the intruder.
As the first of the cobweb-covered doors appeared, the intruder stopped, turning and trailing their wand up and down the door, lighting the bright strands. A pale hand reached out of the cloak, extending slowly toward the knob, which, although unlocked, was blocked from the other side somehow. Draco suspected there was another passage out of the room, as there was scarce a way that even a powerful wizard could manage to bar a door from the other side that dark magic couldn't remove.
The intruder shook the knob slightly, slamming it with their palm after it was clear the door would not budge, then emitting a slight groan when cobwebs brushed away onto their hand. The intruder cast a quick cleaning spell on their hand, too low a volume for Draco to recognize the voice, but loud enough to be labeled as male.
As the intruder turned to face the hallway once again, Draco raised his wand, and uttered just loudly enough to be heard clearly, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" When the intruder stayed silent, Draco raised his voice a notch. "A single step in the other direction, and I'll body bind you and leave you here for the next time the house elves come to brush the hallway for dust, next week. Answer."
"Harry Potter. I'm lost, Malfoy. Why else would I be wandering around in your dungeons?"
Draco shrugged, not moving his wand from his target, although he now was filled with thoughts of what a shame it would be to hex Potter's pretty face. "And how did you get lost down here? The potions room is far away from here."
Potter looked down, playing with his wand with his hands. He glanced up at Draco's face once, but quickly directed his eyes toward the floor again. "Well, er, you know…"
Draco sighed, tiring of Potter's mumbling and the way he was flicking his wand back and forth, and thus their light. "Lumos," he cast his own wand. "Potter, I don't know, or I wouldn't have asked you."
Potter rolled his eyes, finally meeting Draco's eyes. "There are plenty of wrong places to turn coming out of the potions room. Perhaps I should've turned around when it became apparent this was not the way out of the dungeons, but it was just getting interesting." He looked around, skimming the unused doors with a careless gaze. "Hey, is this where the Slytherin common room is? Is that why you were coming down here? Aren't many Slytherins…"
Draco gritted his teeth, scowling. "No, Potter, the Slytherins do not have to fight their way through cobwebs to reach their common room. I was coming down here simply to check that no bumbling idiots were wandering around in the dungeons. Now, would you like to leave, or shall I leave you here for the house elves next week?" The saying 'hexed into next week' fell into Draco's mind, and he held back a snicker. Potter, sadly, didn't notice.
"Would you? I mean, without hexing me for stupidity, or just leading me further into the dungeons…?"
It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes. "Potter, do you honestly think that I want Gryffindors in the dungeons? This is where Slytherins, like myself, can actually get away from idiots like yourself, as unbelievable it might seem that we may like to." He flicked his wand away from Potter's face, turning away and up towards the lamps. "So, I'm leaving. You can continue being lost, if you wish, or you could have a grander time venturing out of the dungeons. Your choice."
Draco started up the hallway without hesitation, smiling to himself as he heard Potter's shoes squeak as they hurried to catch up with his strides. After a few seconds, the lamplight began again, and he heard Harry release a breath he must have been holding. Draco extinguished his wand, and after a moment he heard Harry do so as well.
Minutes later, they finally reached the fork again, and Harry peered down the other hallway when Draco turned. "What's down there?"
"The same as down the other way," Draco tossed over his shoulder, and continued walking. Harry quickly followed, jogging for a few seconds to keep up.
"But there were more lamps down there, and I saw a few Slytherin students walking around! There weren't any down the other way, and I saw a few portraits as well."
Draco studiously ignored him, continuing into the area more commonly frequented by students, with more turns. He told himself the reason he didn't turn Harry loose now was because the boy would get lost, not because he wanted to prolong their companionable walk. Harry's hand repeatedly bumped Draco's thigh, and Draco fought to keep his breath even as they slowly neared the potions classroom.
"Blaise, you idiot, look!" Pansy's voice cut through Draco's bliss, and he cringed. Harry looked over at him, his eyebrows knitting and making him look far too cute.
"What, Pansy, is so important that you must--Merlin, is that Potter?" Blaise's voice exclaimed.
Draco muttered a curse and grabbed Potter's arm, swinging him around to face Draco. "Listen, Potter, the classroom is a left, and then a right. Go stand by the door when you see it. Then walk forward and take a right at the next turn, a left, and then another left a step later, you'll arrive at the staircase. Don't take any turns on the stairs, just go straight up and you'll soon be leaving the dungeons. Now, go!"
Potter paused for a moment, blinking several times, but then smiled up at Draco. "Thanks for helping me, Malfoy. I understand that you have to go now, but if there's anything you need, don't hesi-"
"You're welcome, Potter, but I need to go. Follow the directions I gave you." Draco sharply turned away, heading toward the whispering Pansy and Blaise with quick, short steps.
Harry watched Malfoy leave, inwardly sighing. He was stupid to think that Malfoy might've wanted to speak to him, and not just get him out of Slytherin territory. He'd thought, though, with a few of the glances Malfoy had sent at him, and how Malfoy's face had been so indifferent, not angered, that maybe…
No, he was foolish to think that Malfoy didn't hate him. Thinking back, Harry recalled the directions Malfoy had listed. Left, right, classroom, right, left, left, steps.
Harry started forward, pointedly not looking at Malfoy, and took the next left. He honestly didn't know why he felt… betrayed. He'd always been the first to break up with any of his girlfriends… Wait, why was he comparing Malfoy to his girlfriends? No!
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Draco shuddered as he finally took a seat on the plush Slytherin coach, folding his hands neatly on his lap as he had when he and his father had formal conversations. Then again, most sitting conversations with his father had been formal. This could hardly be constituted as formal.
Pansy leaned forward, smiling and locking her eyes with Draco's. "Spill it, Draco."
Draco looked away, gazing at the life-size portrait of Salazar Slytherin hanging on the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about, Pansy. Spill what?" He felt Pansy's eyes freezing his skin, and continued scanning the common room. Portraits of important Slytherin figures stared back down at him, looking as though they were accusing him of a crime as medals and trophies proudly shown below them. Three large tables for homework blocked the fire from view, as it fervently attempted to warm the otherwise freezing common room.
Pansy finally rolled her eyes and leaned back, just barely touching Blaise's arm. "You know what. You've been crushing on Potter for ages. How, in Merlin's name, did you manage to get him to follow you around in the dungeons?"
Draco calmly shrugged. "He was lost down by the empty rooms. I offered to lead him out. He accepted. The end."
"The end, huh?" Pansy raised an eyebrow, and Blaise grinned. "We'll see what's the end, Draco. You looked awfully cozy."
"We most certainly did not look-"
"Oh, you did." Pansy stood, smiling. "You most definitely did. Blaise, darling, if you would accompany me to the kitchens?"
"Of course, Pansy, dear."
Pansy grabbed Blaise's hand and pulled him up, striding away and tugging an obedient Blaise behind her. "See you, Draco!" She called over her shoulder, and Draco stared.
This was not good. This was bad. Very bad.