For whatever reason, there were more people than normal staying at Hogwarts over break this year. Harry figured it was because most parents simply thought that the school was the safest place their children could be at the moment. Hogwarts' Christmas dinner, therefore, was a rather boisterous affair compared to previous years. There was even an unexpected amount of Slytherins staying over break, so Harry had spent much of his dinner glaring at a certain blonde across the hall, surprised that he, in particular, was there because he hadn't seen him at all during the first few days of their vacation.
"Why do you suppose he's even here?" he asked at one point, cutting into a conversation that Hermione and Ginny had been having.
"He, who?" his bushy-haired friend returned, eyebrows furrowing.
"Malfoy, of course."
"Malfoy's here?" Ron broke in, suddenly tuning into the conversation. He cast a quick glance to the Slytherin table, catching the blonde as he sent a mocking wave towards the Gryffindors. "Weird, doesn't he usually go home?"
"Well, he was here second year," Harry reminded him.
"Oh yeah!" Ron chuckled. "The polyjuice thing. That was a trip, wasn't it? I still say Hermione never looked better than she did with that tail." He and Harry shared an amused grin as Hermione huffed and crossed her arms.
"Polyjuice?" Ginny spoke up. "And when was this?"
"Er…it's not important…" said Harry, uncomfortably remembering the unfortunate experiences of the girl's first year. She rolled her eyes, seemingly accepting his answer, and turned to talk to someone else. "Anyway, Malfoy, why do you suppose he stayed?" Ron shrugged, but Hermione's eyebrows shot up.
"Well, where else would he go? Home?" she asked, as if the answer was obvious. She was rewarded with two blank stares. "Oh, for the love of- Don't you read? Don't you pay any attention to anything? Harry, I thought you were reading the papers religiously nowadays. In fact, I'd rather guessed that was part of the reason you two were fighting so much!" The stares were still blank, though Harry was starting to look a bit sheepish.
"Erm, only over the summer, Hermione. When I'm back at school, I guess I figured any important news would spread quickly." Hermione let out a breath in exasperation.
"Well…I guess it was a pretty short article. And it wasn't even on the front page. I think they were trying to keep it quiet, I mean, it's bad enough with Lucius a confirmed Death Eater and out of Azkaban, but-"
"Hermione," Ron cut in. "Get to the point, would you?" Harry took a moment to wonder how they could act as if nothing had happened between them the previous week, and decided he might as well just give up on their hopeless case, before turning his attention back to Hermione.
"Draco's mother is missing," she revealed, voice dropping to a whisper. "He can't go home because the Aurors have the place completely sealed off. They've been searching it for weeks." Ron was starting to look excited about this news, but Harry had stilled in shock.
"Wicked!" his red-haired friend exclaimed. "For how long?"
"Since this summer," Harry replied, still absorbing the news and feeling furious at Malfoy for lying to him.
"No, that's not right," Hermione said, and Harry shot her a confused look. "She's only been missing since…well, since Halloween. But nothing happened on Halloween. I think that's why the Daily Prophet actually kept it quiet, though, so as not to rouse suspicion and make people worry."
"Since Halloween?" Harry repeated, continuing at Hermione's nod. "So that's only about two months…"
"They didn't even report it until mid-November." Hermione gestured with her head in the general vicinity of the Slytherin table. "Bet he was worried out of his mind, not receiving any notes from his mother for nearly half a month."
"How do you know that?" Harry asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Harry, you noticed that, don't you remember?" When he shook his head, the girl sighed and raised her eyes skywards.
"Oh, I remember!" Ron spoke up, catching the attention of the other two. "You started pointing out how Malfoy's owl had stopped showing up. For about a week, actually." The red-head frowned. "Still not sure how you knew which owl was his, really."
"I- well- It used to show up nearly every day!" Harry spluttered.
"Malfoy was jittery that whole week," Hermione continued, ignoring him. "And then he looked miserable for another week after the news came out. That's when you started fighting with him even more so than usual."
"He starts those fights, you know," said Harry indignantly.
"Really, Harry, you spend quite a bit of your time focusing on Malfoy. It's starting to become a nasty habit of yours."
"Wha- I do not! Tell her I don't…focus on Malfoy too much!" Harry turned to Ron looking for support, but the boy shrugged helplessly.
"You sort of do, mate." He held up his hands defensively when Harry's face hardened. "I hate him as much as you do, I promise! But honestly, I don't even know what you fight about anymore."
"We…I…he…um…" Harry tried to explain, trailing off into confused silence. "It's…difficult to explain."
"Try us," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow. Harry's cheeks slowly reddened.
"Um…but he starts it!" he said desperately. "I swear he does! He just keeps…nagging and I can't take it! He's like…like an annoying little gnat or something!"
"Really now, Potter, surely I'm not that annoying," a drawling voice interrupted, and Harry and Ron turned around in their seats to see Malfoy looming behind them, his two hulking bodyguards absent for once. "And I'm sure I'm damned more attractive than a gnat."
"Who said anything about your looks?" Ron muttered, turning back around and sharing a look with Hermione. "We'd have been referring to a rat or ferret if that was the case." Malfoy opened his mouth to retort, but it snapped shut again when Harry grabbed his robes and threw him off balance as he dragged the blonde down into the seat next to himself.
"What- Potter!" Malfoy cried crossly.
"You lied to me!" Harry shouted angrily, and the Slytherin at least had the decency to blink in confusion.
"Did I now?" he asked, after a slight pause. Hermione and Ron watched in interest.
"You told me your mother wasn't missing!" Hermione gasped slightly, while Draco blinked again.
"Oh," he said flatly. "You're referring to that." He leaned back against the table, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankle, looking for all the world as if he regularly visited with Gryffindors in the Great Hall. "Actually, I was a bit surprised you didn't already know. I guess I figured Ms. Brains over here would have told you, had you not heard it from Dumbledore himself."
"Don't call her that, Mal-! Oh wait…" Ron yelled, and Hermione promptly threw her napkin at him.
"Hold on, you honestly don't have any idea where your mother is?" Harry asked, steering Malfoy's attention away from the antics of his friends and back to himself.
"Not that it's any of your business, Potter, but no, I don't."
"Well then…what if she's still missing by summer? You can't stay at Hogwarts the whole break, can you?" Malfoy slowly drew in a deep breath, eyes narrowing.
"I turn of age in January, I imagine I'll be able survive on my own without mommy and daddy dearest," he said snidely, nose wrinkling.
"Harry, when were you and Malfoy discussing this?" Hermione asked curiously. Harry blushed slightly and started to vehemently deny the thought that he'd been discussing anything with his rival, but the Slytherin intervened.
"It was after our latest fight got us thrown out of Potions," he answered, and Harry glared at him. Smirking, he continued, "Speaking of, we haven't fought in nearly a week, Potter. I know you're missing your bruises, are you up for a tumble any time soon?" Ron snorted and Hermione coughed slightly, while Harry stared incredulously at the boy.
"I think not, Malfoy," he replied slowly. Draco shrugged, but at that moment a shrill voice called to him.
"Draco!" Pansy was shouting, standing at the entrance of the Great Hall, as she'd been making her way out, and staring at her friend in shock. After all, he was sitting with Gryffindors.
"Ah, well, not that I don't love chatting with you all, but I must be off," Malfoy said, standing and brushing down his robes.
"That's right, Malfoy, your girlfriend's calling for you, after all," Harry smirked, and the blonde raised an eyebrow at him.
"Girlfriend? Who have you been talking to?" Malfoy returned the smirk and started to walk away. "Ta, Potter! I'm oh-so-looking forward to our next encounter." Harry watched him saunter out of the Great Hall, arm interlocked with Pansy's, and turned to his two friends.
"They're not going out?"
"Who cares," Ron said, shrugging and finally digging into his dessert again. Hermione shook her head.
"Never went out," she replied. At Harry's surprised look, she went on to say, "They only went to the Yule Ball together. As friends."
"Oh."
"Well, come on then, you two," Hermione said, pushing her plates away and standing up. "We need to get ready for the party."
