Chapter 5
Harry stared wistfully across the hall the next morning at Draco who was prodding a bowl of porridge with a bitter look on his face and heavy bags under his eyes. Despite being surrounded by cheerful, laughing house-mates, the boy was starting to tug at his mop of black hair as if in an effort to hide underneath it and go back to sleep.
Around Harry, his Slytherin house-mates were in a similar mood. Blaise was blindly fumbling for the toast while his head rested on his arms, his eyes remaining firmly closed, and as Harry reached for the coffee - a luxury which he'd never seen on the Gryffindor table - Pansy actually hissed at him and slapped his hand away before snatching it away possessively.
Harry didn't know how to respond to that in Draco terms, so her glared at her until she looked up and noticed and resolved to slap her hand away every time she tried to touch him or hold his hand today.
He really had to speak to Draco about her.
He was just watching Ron and Hermione talking, and feeling miserable, when he was pleasantly surprised by an eagle owl bearing a parcel which turned out to be full of sweets, but as he cast an eye across the hall and saw Draco watching miserably, he tucked them under the table. As he did so, he heard a small noise of protest, and looking around he found himself faced with several reproachful expressions.
Okay, I just did something wrong.
"I suppose you can have one each," Harry said, making sure he wrinkled his nose in disgust at them "if I get the coffee first tomorrow." he gave Pansy a hard stare, and her shoulders slumped.
"But I always get it first!" she complained, but she relented and dropped her gaze as Harry stared her down and he imperiously began handing out sweets to everyone who looked expectant in what he hoped was an appropriately snobbish manner. He almost handed one to a hopeful looking third year, but he looked up to see Draco give a slight shake of the head and he snatched it back quickly.
"Can't have it!" he sneered, feeling like a monster, and expecting the boy's face to crumple, but instead he received a mischievous grin and a shrug.
Slytherins are made of tougher stuff, he realised, and wondered if the house might have done him some good after all if he hadn't argued with the hat at his sorting. He hoped he was doing this all right. He had no idea what Draco would do in the majority of situations, but he tried to pretend he was Dudley instead when he came across a difficult situation.
Harry felt unusually chipper, all things considered as he made his way to Herbology. He thought he'd done well this morning in his dealings with his house mates, and he'd forgotten his nervousness of the night before. As a Gryffindor, he couldn't imagine being so rude to people on a daily basis but it seemed to create a sort of comradeship in Slytherin, and it was sort of fun to lord it over other people, and insult them, knowing that they wouldn't take it seriously.
The difference between me and Malfoy, Harry told himself when he felt a pang of guilt at his thoughts, is that I don't mean it and he thinks its owed to him.
Herbology was a messy lesson, and Harry couldn't help his gaze drifiting every few minutes over to Ron, who was playfully flicking Draco with miniscule flecks of slime. The Slytherin seemed to be enduring it with good grace, but Harry could see the twitching muscle in his jaw and Draco looked a little too smug when their bowl of Bubotuber pus ended up upside down in Ron's lap.
"Come on now, scoop it up before it's wasted!" Sprout called irritably.
Harry made sure he caught up with Draco as the classes walked together down to Care of Magical Creatures. Ron looked annoyed and the Slytherins looked taken aback, and everyone in general looked shocked, but Harry wanted to speak to him.
"How do I deal with Pansy?" he muttered, conscious of the other students' stares.
The corner of Draco's mouth twitched "Tolerate her, but don't let her go too far."
"How far is too far?"
Draco looked at him speculatively "For now, don't let her do anything that you wouldn't let a close friend do, but don't talk feelings or get close to her."
"For now?" Harry asked quizzically
"Well if you're actually interested - can't see why you would be - you could always do something. But not yet, you need to convince them you're me, remember?"
Harry flushed. "I'm not interested in her!" he whispered
Father won't be impressed then, Draco thought dully
"I just wanted to know what to do about her!"
"Whatever," Draco shrugged "just don't embarrass me."
Care of magical creatures was an experience Draco could have done without. Hagrid had bred some monstrous hybrid lobster creature, and most of the class had ended up taking refuge in Hagrid's hut. Of course Granger and Weasley had to go and decide they were going to play Dragon Wrangler with the creatures and help Hagrid get them back in their cages, which meant he too had to risk life and limb to play his part as a Gryffindor.
"Get the hell into the hut with the rest of the sensible people!" Draco snarled as Harry made to join in "You're a Slytherin, remember?"
At lunch time, he watched with amusement as Granger decided to protest house elf rights by not eating.
Stupid Gryffindor.
She didn't know a bloody thing about magical traditions, that was clear, but she was obviously one of those fools who stick to high and mighty principles come hell or high water.
"You should read up on house elves in the library." he suggested mildly
"I'm going to, tonight!" she said approvingly "Want to come with me."
He did. He wanted peace and quiet, and to meet Harry for a study session actually, but he'd had no time to organise it and anyway, they couldn't do it with Granger there. Even so, it would be nice to read a book in blessed silence.
Ron seemed to take his hesitation as unwillingness to hurt Hermione's feelings, and jumped into the conversation hastily.
"Harry said he'd play chess with me tonight." he said, his voice muffled by half a sausage which hung from his mouth. Draco forced a smile at him, but felt it twitch on his face as he considered what it might be like to hurl one of the gold goblets at his head.
Great, I'll be losing chess games to Weasley all night.
Divination, unsurprisingly, turned out to be a load of Knarl dung. Trelawny approached him in a shuffling gait, arms raised and beaded shawls tinkling, and Draco had backed into a wall alarmed as she gesticulated wildly with her hands inches from his nose that most dreadful things would come to pass, and he was surely doomed. He could only managed a wide-eyed stare back at her, as she stood trembling, hands hanging spread in the air above his head as if waiting for a response.
"I'll - er - watch out then." he said hesitantly, and everyone around them looked very impressed at Trelawney, apart from Ron who said confidentially "How many times do you think she'll predict your death this year mate?" and laughed.
"Not very many, I hope." Draco said tightly. The woman was a fraud but she made him think of the danger he was in, inhabiting Potter's body.
After lessons that day, Draco and Harry happened to pass each other in the courtyard, and Harry pulled Draco aside in a panic.
"Snape!" he muttered fervently
"What?" Draco asked, drawing closer
"Snape! You said I had a few days!" Harry said, looking panicked
"A few days at best-" Draco defended
"You said a few days at least!" Harry snapped "He sent me a note at lunch to have dinner with him in his quarters tomorrow night! What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"
"He must have got a letter from father," Draco said, thinking swiftly "you were acting out of character on the platform, and father must have told him to check on me."
"Oh god." Harry moaned
"Sev will be concerned, he doesn't care about father." Draco explained "He'll be worried about me. You'll just have to tell him - tell him -"
"You want me to lie to Snape?" Harry said incredulously "There's no way I'll manage it! He always -"
"Don't look him in the eyes."
"What?"
"Don't look him in the eye, he's an occlumens. A mind reader.' he added exasperatedly when Harry looked blank. "And drop that expression," he said irritably as Harry's expression turned to horror at the revelation "it doesn't suit my face."
Harry scowled at him "So what shall I say, when he asks what's wrong with me?"
"Tell him father had you practicing dark magic over the summer, and it made you feel uneasy. You're worried he's making plans for your future and you're worried about what exactly they are."
Harry's grey eyes locked on him, narrowed in concern "Did he?"
"Yes." Draco said brusquely "Before he went away, he was having a lot of meetings with some dodgy characters in the drawing room. He forgets there's a passage behind the wooden panels where you can eavesdrop. He kept talking about 'finding me a place in the ranks', whatever that means, and it seems too much of a coincidence that he's been teaching me dark spells since Christmas. He left me with a list to learn by September. Once he mentioned 'once we kill Harry Potter', but that's all I heard-"
"You heard what?" Harry burst out "If I'm in danger-"
"I'm in danger, you nitwit!" Draco snapped "Remember who's who! Put that wand away."
Potter, the idiot, had drawn his wand at the very mention of danger.
"Sorry!" Harry said, but not putting his wand away "It just occurred to me though, that it's a bit sudden, this Triwizard Tournament. And what about hiring an Auror as a teacher, it's almost as if -"
"They're expecting something to go wrong." Draco finished grimly
"What if they're holding the tournament as a trap to lure the person into acting so that Moody can catch the person who's after you." Harry said speculatively
"Seems a bit elaborate," Draco replied, then smiled brightly, preening "but then I am the Boy Who Lived. My safety is top priority."
"Ssh!" Harry said, eyes darting around, but he looked amused "So, if I'm right, do you think that means you'll be put in a position of danger? Like bait?"
"That's really risky," Draco frowned "because the only way that would work is to have me as the Hogwarts champion."
"You're under age." Harry pointed out
"So as long as I don't put my name in, I'll be fine." Draco said primly, but he looked worried. "Listen Potter-"
"You'd better get used to calling me Malfoy." Harry interrupted
"-Malfoy," Draco said, wincing at the sound of it "but anyway, Snape's chambers are on the third level of the dungeons. Look for the stretch of wall between a torch and a tapestry of wrestling giants. The password is 'Aconite'.
"You really need to tell me what to say to him," Harry said desperately "I don't know-"
"I don't know what to tell you," Draco said "be polite, but friendly. Respectful. He'll ask you how school's been. Just say what you want. Don't spill your guts and cry all over him, but you should tell him what you're worried about in a sort of - I don't know, keep your emotions distant, but still tell him how you - I felt - about - about your life being planned out for you."
Draco flushed as Harry winced in sympathy. "I suppose this is my life now."
He smiled wryly back "Enjoy it."
Harry stared at him as Draco turned to leave. The next few moments were a blur as he made to call Draco back; he really wasn't sure about this Snape business - but he involuntarily raised his wand slightly, and as he did so, a shout echoed around the courtyard and his wand arm reflexively raised.
"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"
Harry wheeled around in alarm, backing up with his wand raised as he saw professor Moody charging towards him with his wand in an attack position.
"Wha-" he started to say, but his voice wouldn't work properly, and then he suddenly felt violently ill; the world spinning around him wildly. He shit his eyes tightly, throwing his hands out to help balance himself.
"What do you -" Harry heard, and he opened his eyes and found that he was very close to the ground. Squinting up, he could see his body - Draco - standing above him.
"Did he get you? Moody growled.
"What? No!" Draco said harshly "Would you -"
Harry wasn't staying to hear more. He had been cursed, or something, so become very small. He made a dash for the castle, then found himself tripping over small, white furry feet.
He's turned me into a rat! He thought in a panic. He looked around wildly and saw Ron, standing by the castle door and made straight for him. His body felt longer than usual as he ran, it was a very odd feeling.
Harry only remembered that he was Malfoy as he came near enough to Ron to notice that he was laughing silently, clutching his belly in silent laughter. A pang of sorrow went through him, and he veered towards the entrance hall instead.
"I don't think so!" he heard Moody bellow, and suddenly there was empty air beneath his feet, and he was flailing, the world a blur.
SLAM
The earth came up to meet him, and Harry thought he had blacked out, but no, he was in the air again
SLAM
Moody was shouting, and then someone was shrieking, and then there was another awful feeling of giddy sickness and he fell to earth again, but this time the limbs that fell around him were human. He tried to gather himself together, but only fell in a tangle again. He looked up to see where Moody was.
"You tell your father boy -" Moody threatened, his beady eye narrowed in dislike as he spun in the air above Harry, his electric blue one focused on him in a very threatening manner "I know him of old - you tell him, Moody's keeping a close eye on his son…you tell him that from me." Harry merely stared up at him, eyes watering with pain, and a dull sense of humiliation slowly growing on him as he began to look at the people in the courtyard, all frozen with shock, apart from Ron who was laughing, and Draco, who was staring at him in horror from behind Moody. Harry was sure he'd picked up on Moody's warning…did Moody know?
Are you okay? Draco mouthed, and Harry tried to smile reassuringly but it came out as a grimace.
"Now, you're head of house'll be Snape, will it?"
"Yes." Harry replied blankly
"Another old friend," growled Moody "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape…come on, you…" and Harry felt himself being manhandled away. He looked pleadingly at McGonagall but she didn't help him, merely watched him being carried off with a worried expression on her face.
"Get out of my office." Snape spat, his voice low and dangerous, and Harry made to leave.
"Not you!" Snape grabbed his arm, and Harry flinched in surprise "You!" his dark eyes bored into Moody, who drew himself up.
"Don't you tell me-!"
"You transfigured my student into an animal, and abused him! You think you can escape child abuse laws by a loophole?"
"Are you threatening me?" Moody said menacingly, starting forward
"Why yes, I believe I am." Snape purred dangerously, drawing himself up so that his cloak billowed around him "Get out of my office."
"Dumbledore would fire you in an instant Snape, don't you think he wouldn't. He'd never keep a Death Eater over a loyal friend." Moody spat, looking Snape up and down. His ugly expression spoke volumes about how he felt about Snape.
"Is that so?" Snape said coolly
"I'm keeping an eye on you, Snape. Don't you think you can escape me boy."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the man was out of the room, until he remembered he still had a role to play.
"Are you alright, Draco?" Snape asked, in a voice softer than Harry had ever hear him use.
Call him Sev. Don't look him in the eye.
Harry hesitated. He wanted to brush off the concern, but he didn't think that was something Draco would do. Draco had told him to open up to Snape, just not to put his emotions on show.
"It was rough." he said, keeping his eyes downcast.
"I'm sorry, Draco."
Harry forgot his instructions, and looked up in surprise.
Snape was leaning towards him, a hand held out as if to brace his shoulder, but not quite touching. His face was lined with concern, and Harry was so confused about what to do with this change in character than it was all he could to to force his eyes back to the ground.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there, Draco. I promised you I wouldn't let anything happen to you while I was here."
"It's not your fault." Harry mumbled
"Draco." Snape said in such a way that Harry knew it was intended to make him meet his eye, and he did so, but only briefly "I know what it was like to be bullied here. Slytherins get no compassion…and from a teacher! Teachers are always biased to some degree, but to physically abuse a student…"
"I'm alright though." Harry said, wanting to escape "That's what matters." he swallowed "Sev."
Snape huffed and shot Harry a very light glare compared to what he was used to. "I'll let you away with that one, seeing as you've been through an ordeal. Now tell me, do you care to explain your recent behaviour?"
Harry swallowed. "What do you mean?" He looked longingly towards the door.
"You know very well what I mean!" Snape said sternly, motioning to the chair in front of his desk, and Harry sat down resignedly. Opposite him, the professor seated himself too, but Harry was very careful to keep his eyes on the desk now. He couldn't shake the feeling that Snape could tell a lie from truth, no matter how Harry tried to hide it.
"Your father tells me you got into a public brawl with Potter at the train station."
"How is that unusual?" Harry said sullenly
"You were rude and disrespectful to your father, and he's …concerned."
Here we go. He began to gear himself up for what would have to be a credible act.
"Concerned I'll mess up his plans for me, you mean!" Harry spat, fuelling the small resentment he felt on Draco's behalf into his words.
"What?" Snape sat up straighter "What have you heard?"
The way Snape said it, Harry wondered if he already suspected, or knew some of what he was going to say.
"Father…he's had me practicing dark magic recently. And I - I overheard my name - he's been meeting with people, bad people, and I know he's planning something for me. I just wish he'd let me live my own life-"
"What spells has he had you doing?" Snape sounded very worried.
Harry froze. Draco hadn't told him.
"Draco?"
Harry thought through his options quickly, and decided running was his best option. Run before I give anything away…
"I have to go." Harry said, standing abruptly
"Draco, you can talk to me-" Snape stood too. His voice was worried, but Harry didn't meet his eyes. This was dangerous territory.
"I know. Thanks." Harry kept his eyes on the floor "Just - I need time. See you later - Sev."
Harry heard Snape fall back into his chair before the door shut behind him and sighed as he walked swiftly away.
Snape obviously really cared about Draco, he felt almost bad for denying him the information.
Still, there was nothing he could do. They were in this alone.
Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters, they belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any profit from this fic, it's purely for fun.