A/N: I surprised myself with even updating this early, to be honest!
I didn't think I would be updating this quick (it's quick for me, usually I take months to update a story), and I did have the plan that I was going to write half of a chapter on a Wednesday and then finish it on a Friday - because those are my days off - but I was able to finish this chapter today, which I am really happy about!
Since I can get a chapter done in one day, I might start doing a chapter on the days that I don't have college and also on the weekend. Because I do have everything planned out as I've mentioned before, it's just finding the time to do it, but if I can do it in a day, then I won't have a problem.
Oh, but I am sorry if this chapter does seem a little rushed near the end or if there are mistakes and whatnot (just like the last chapter), when I was writing this, it was four in the morning and I had to be up in a few hours for college, so I did kind of rushed it towards the end. I will obviously check it again when I get home from college, and if there are any mistakes and whatnot, I'll fix them then.
Also! I now have the books because a lovely friend of mine bought me them just the other day, I've got them all, so I plan on reading them as soon as I can. It's probably going to take me a while because of college, just like it's gonna take me a while to update this (maybe). But yes, I now have the books and plan on reading them very soon!
But anyway! Thank you for reading and I hope you like this chapter!
Harry hadn't told anyone about the night he saw Pansy and Draco returning to the Slytherin common room - not even Ron or Hermione, and those two were his best friends.
Well...he didn't tell anyone right away.
He had decided to keep it to himself because he didn't really know what had happened anyway, so he couldn't exactly tell anyone because all he would be able to tell them was that he saw them going back to their common room. Harry didn't even know why or when he had started making his way towards that bathroom. He couldn't sleep, so he had just decided to take a wander around the castle and he had taken the map to watch for any of the professors - he might be eighteen, but he still didn't want to get caught by any professors and get points taken from their house.
For some reason, he had just been drawn to the bathroom, but before he could really do anything, Pansy had been bumping into him and then Draco had been too. And after standing there for a few minutes wondering what had happened, he finally went back to bed.
It was a week later when Harry had told his friends of what had happened. All of his friends.
It was actually an accident, he hadn't meant to say anything, but Seamus had been talking about how Ginny had overheard Pansy and Draco talking, and it had just sort of slipped out. Of course, he was immediately hit with question after question from the others, things like "what happened?" "what did you see?" and, of course, "why didn't you tell us sooner?"
Harry just simply replied to most of them with "I don't know".
What he didn't know was that Seamus had been planning on trying to get Pansy to talk about Draco and what sort of things he had been doing late at night, assuming she knew. Now that he actually knew that Pansy knew what Draco was doing, he was going to go through with his plan and get her to tell them a few things.
...which was why a few hours later, Harry was brewing a Veritaserum potion with Ron, Dean, and Seamus standing at the table and watching him. Hermione was there too, but they were all pretty sure it was just so she could remind them how much of a bad idea it was.
Did they listen?
Of course they didn't.
"Tell us again what happened." Seamus said after a while and Harry sighed, trying his best to keep his concentration on just making the potion.
"I've already said I don't know." He muttered, then hesitated a little before continuing to talk. He figured he should tell them what he did know. "I was just wandering around because I couldn't sleep, somehow I ended up at the bathrooms. Next thing I know, Pansy and Malfoy are bumping into me-"
"So they were together?"
"Well...no. It looked like Pansy was trying to get away before Malfoy could notice her."
"And that didn't make you want to find out what had been going on?" Ron asked.
"No, it had. I just wasn't going to find out about it."
"See, why can't you three be more like Harry?" Hermione finally spoke up again, walking over to them. "Stop being so nosy all the time. If Pansy and Draco finds out about this, you're going to be in a lot of trouble."
Harry figured it would be best not to tell Hermione that he now wanted to find out just as badly as his friends did, it would only make her more upset with them. He gave her a small smile and then watched as she left after a few more minutes, saying she would much rather be doing some studying.
"We're not going to do this right away, we have to wait.
"We?" Ron smirked at his friend.
Harry gave him a look that told him to shut up before leaving the room. He was excited and eager to find out what was going on, but at the same time...he knew this was a bad idea and that in the end, someone was going to probably end up hurt.
But, he was still going to go through with it.
.
.
.
It was a month later when they were finally ready to go through with their plan.
Normally they would have done it much sooner, but they had gotten distracted with classes and there had been a Quidditch match that had also distracted them. Plus, it took a while for Veritaserum to be brewed correctly. They would have actually forgotten about it if it hadn't of been for Ginny. She had been the one to remind them - they didn't know how she knew until she said that Hermione had let it slip while talking about how much of a bad idea it was.
They decided that they were going to do it during dinner, it was probably the best time to do it. They just had to figure out how to do it before dinner. Luckily, Hermione had thought ahead, knowing that they would only be able to do it one way. During the month, Hermione had been brewing a Polyjuice Potion - another reason why it had taken so long for them to actually go through with their plan.
When it was ready, she told the others the plan she had. Ginny was going to be Millicent. When asked why Ginny had to be the one to do it, Hermione simply said that she didn't want anything to do with it, and that the Polyjuice Potion was the only thing she was going to help with. And when they had everything they needed, including a stand of Millicent's hair, no one asked how Hermione had gotten it, the potion was handed over to Ginny, who took it reluctantly.
After everything else was done, like knocking Millicent out with a spell and hiding her after taking her robes, Ginny was given the Veritaserum and then finally made her way to the Great Hall during dinner. She made sure to sit down next to Pansy, who looked at her immediately. "Where have you been?"
"Bathroom," she immediately said. "...where's Draco?"
Pansy scowled when asked that, looking back down at her plate of food. "Probably in the common room, or the library. I don't know, and at this point, I don't care."
"Do you really think I believe that you don't care?" Ginny asked after a moment of silence. Everyone knew how Pansy felt towards Draco, whether they were in the same house or not. "You've cared about him for years, and now you're suddenly going to say that you don't care? That's odd even for you, Pansy. Did something happen between you?"
"...no, nothing's happened. I just don't understand him sometimes."
Ginny watched her, then glanced over to her friends at the Gryffindor table, who were already watching and trying their best not to laugh. She let out a quiet huff and turned back to the Slytherin table, beginning to eat when she realized Pansy wasn't going to say anything else. At this rate, she wasn't going to be able to put the Veritaserum in her drink.
As if knowing what she was thinking, the group at the Gryffindor table tried to think of some way to get Pansy's attention so Ginny could put the potion in the drink. After a few minutes, Seamus finally got an idea. He turned to face the Slytherin table. "Where's your boyfriend today, Parkinson?" He teased, immediately grinning when she turned to look at him, glaring sharply.
"He's not my boyfriend, so shut up with that already." She ground out between grit teeth, completely unaware as Ginny finally poured the poiton into her drink while her back was turned.
"I bet you want him to be, though." Seamus continued to tease. "Everyone has seen the way you look at him and the way you follow him around like a puppy. You're lost without him, you all are."
Pansy would have gotten up to hit him then and there, but 'Millicent' brought her attention away from them and back to her food. A 'thank you' was muttered before the older Slytherin started eating again, occasionally stopping to take a sip of her drink. The entire time, Ginny stayed there. However, when she started to turn back to herself, she had to quickly get up and leave.
This only sparked both curiousity and worry in Pansy, so she got up to follow her. But what she didn't know was that the group of Gryffindor friends, all except Harry because he was off helping Luna with something, also followed. She was only aware of them when she was pushed into a classroom and shoved down into a chair, Seamus putting his hand on her shoulder to keep her in place.
Dean decided to keep watch while Ron done the talking. "Where has Malfoy been wandering off to at night?"
It was obvious that Pansy had tried so hard to fight back against the Veritaserum, but she soon couldn't hold back. "The prefects bathroom."
"Why?"
"To talk to that moaning ghost."
Dean looked over at that, eyebrow raised. "Moaning Myrtle?"
"Apparently he has more trust in her than he does with his own friends," she grumbled, and that was all it took for her to talk without being asked questions. "Every night he goes to see her, but we were the ones who helped him, not her! I would feel much better if he had even turned to Crabbe - but Moaning Myrtle?! That's just stupid. Everyone knows she can't keep a secret."
"Do you know exactly what they've been talking about?"
"No, I always hide myself just outside the bathroom so I'm not caught. I can never hear what's being said."
That meant they now had to go to Moaning Myrtle, but she didn't exactly like Ron, and they weren't too sure how she felt about Seamus and Dean. The only other person she liked was...well, it was Harry.
They left Pansy alone after that, and decided to go back to the Great Hall for the time being. Luckily for them, Harry was going to the Great Hall just as they were, chatting away to Luna. "Harry!" Ron walked up to him, saying hello to Luna before turning to his best friend. Seamus, Dean, and Luna left them alone to finish dinner. "We found out why Malfoy has been going to the bathroom - apparently he's been talking to Moaning Myrtle every night. But Pansy didn't know why, so we need your help-"
"You want me to talk to Moaning Myrtle, don't you?"
"Well, you're the one she has a crush on, mate."
Harry groaned as he was reminded of that, but reluctantly agreed to go to the prefects bathroom.
It seemed he wouldn't be getting dinner tonight.
.
.
.
When they arrived at the prefects bathroom, Myrtle immediately asked if it was Draco, then made a face when she saw it was Ron and Harry. The crush she had on Harry wasn't as nearly as big as the one she had on Draco. "What do you want?" She asked.
"Well, we wanted to know what Malfoy has been talking to you about-"
"Oh no, I'm not telling you that. That's a secret."
Harry stared at her and then let out a sigh, trying to think of some way that he could convince her to talk about it. It wasn't like he could use Veritaserum on a ghost, and besides, that takes a long time to brew - he wanted to do this right now so he could try and get at least something to eat before bed. "...what do I have to do to get you to tell us?"
"Start visiting me more often, for one."
"Alright, it's a promise. What else?"
Myrtle hummed softly in thought, then finally moved closer to Harry, who just stared back at her. "Be more kind to me, and tell that Granger girl to be more nice to me too. But mostly you, I want you to compliment me and tell me how nice I look every time you come visit me."
"Okay-"
"Starting right now."
Harry sighed and then hesitated before speaking again. "You look lovely today, Myrtle. I'm sorry for not visiting you more often, I can't wait to see you more."
Thankfully, Myrtle seemed pleased with that because she immediately spilled everything Draco had told her. She told them about how he had been feeling, how the other students had been making him feel, how unwanted he felt. She told them how Draco thought returning to Hogwarts was a bad idea, and the only reason he was there was to stop his mother from worrying so much. She even told them that every day, Draco would send a letter to his mother and always get a letter in return.
She told them everything, just like she said she would. And when she had stopped, she made sure they promised that they wouldn't tell anyone that they had found out from her.
They promised her and then left the bathroom, going back to the Great Hall where they informed their friends of the new information, and Harry also finally got some dinner. But after what he had just found out, he hadn't really been that hungry anymore once they reached the Great Hall.
Things were still like a living Hell for Draco. Almost in every class he went into, he was either pranked or someone decided to curse him. But after a while, he no longer cared. Yet the other students didn't give up and they done everything they possibly could to the older Slytherin student. Really, the only times he had gotten angry at the other students was when some of them insulted his family, especially his mother.
They had to spend a week in the hospital wing when Draco was done with them - which he was proud of, despite getting more points taken off of their house. However, losing points was something that upset him, and he knew it was stupid.
But usually he was the one getting the points, not losing them. However, the other houses lost points too whenever he got in a fight with one from a certain house or when a professor found out they had been cursing Draco.
His friends didn't seem to care about the points.
Draco had actually started talking to them again after a while. Or well, he had started talking to Millicent, Crabbe, and Blaise. He had tried to talk to Pansy, but most of the time she would say she had somewhere to be, or she wouldn't look at him. And whenever they did talk it was always the simple "how are you?" and that was it. He had apologized a few times for acting the way he did, thinking that might be the problem.
But even when his friend had forgiven him, she still didn't talk to him much.
Of course, what he didn't know was that they reason Pansy wasn't talking to him was because of what she had said to Ron, Dean, and Seamus. It wasn't like she could have helped it though, she had been under the influence of a truth serum - she hadn't been able to lie!
Eventually, Draco had decided to let Pansy be, knowing she would talk to him in her own time. She would talk to him when she was ready.
Today was not that day.
However, today, Draco was cursed and pranked much more than he usually was - but he still tried to act as if it didn't bother him. The first three classes had been Hell, but he didn't react to anything. But, when their third class was over and they were taking a break, Draco made his way up to the Owlery to send a letter to his mother, explaining what was happening, how he was feeling - that sort of thing.
The usual thing he spoke to her about.
Talking to his mother about this stuff helped him, and he still spoke to Myrtle about it, not knowing what she had done. It was comforting, and it was helping Draco cope. Because while he wanted to leave, he knew he couldn't, because it would only make his mother worry. And she was already worrying enough, which is why whenever he had thought that he could leave Hogwarts whenever he wanted, he always told himself to just stay there.
He had lost count of how many times he had thought about leaving, but every time, Draco decided not to.
And it wasn't really that bad...once he pushed away the bullying and the nightmares, and everything else that was bad. He still had his friends and he was doing well in his classes, that was all he wanted to think about right now. However, it had been three months since they had all arrived at Hogwarts, he just hoped the bullying would stop soon.
He was sure they would get tired of it eventually, and that it would stop.
Draco thought wrong.
Two more months had passed and the bullying still hadn't stopped.
However, while the bullying hadn't stopped, he noticed that something had - his mother's letters. It had been two months since her last letter and now Draco was the one worrying. He still sent one every day in hopes that she would reply, but she never did. He hadn't really noticed it at first because he just assumed she was busy or focusing more on his father.
But after a few weeks, that was when he started to get more and more worried.
He spoke to Myrtle about it, of course, who simply said in return that she was probably busy and that Draco was just most likely overthinking things, and he agreed with her. And when he thanked her for listening and comforting him, it was then that Myrtle thought she should tell Draco what she had done. But before she could, Draco was leaving the bathroom and returning to the common room.
Despite what Myrtle said, Draco still sent letters to his mother. Now it wasn't only the nightmares keeping him up at night, not hearing from his mother was also keeping him up, imaging the worst had happened.
Sometimes he was even sending letters twice a day before he remembered what Myrtle had said about him overthinking things, and then he left it alone for a while to go to classes or to get something to eat.
His mother would get back to him eventually, he was sure of that. She wouldn't have just decided to...stop talking to him.
.
.
.
Today, Draco had accidentally slept in incredibly late, despite having classes. He had stayed up all night worrying himself, and he didn't get to sleep until very very late. Which was how he ended up sleeping up until so late. And when he got up, he was reluctant as he climbed himself out of bed and got himself ready for the rest of the day.
He could have probably stayed in bed for the rest of the day, but decided not to. He knew it would only cause his friends to ask him what was wrong, and that wasn't something he needed.
Before going to the Great Hall, he went to the Owlery and sent a letter to his mother that he had already written last night. And he stayed there for longer than he should have before finally making his way back down and finally going to the Great Hall. He hadn't even walked in the doors when he noticed how pretty much everyone was surrounding the Gryffindor table.
Everyone except a few Slytherins - which included Millicent, Crabbe, Pansy, and Blaise.
He had just been about to go over to his friends and ask what was going on when he noticed that when he walked into the Hall, everyones eyes from the Gryffindor table immediately went to him, some of them even laughing. It made Draco curious and also uneasy, so he tried to ignore it as he walked to his friends and sitting down.
He tried hard not to pay any attention to the other students as he spoke with his friends, his name being whispered didn't bother him. However, when he heard something that he didn't expect to hear, he quickly turned to face the Gryffindor table.
"Oh, I've got a good one!" Seamus laughed as he held up paper, waving it around a little to get the attention of the other students before then beginning to read off of it.
"Draco," he started, putting on his best woman voice.
"If you wish to return home at any time, you know you can. I know that the reason you're staying at Hogwarts is so I don't worry, but honestly, I'm just even more worried about you while you're there. Your father and I would be fine with you back home, if it would make you happier, then please come back. Don't put yourself through the pain of the bullying and the nightmares you're having-"
Seamus wasn't even able to get through it all because all of the students, himself included, started laughing as he tried his best to read the letter. Ron was next to read one, doing the exact same voice Seamus had done.
"Draco,
I'm very worried about you. From what you wrote in your last letter, it seems like your nightmares are getting worse as well as the bullying. I wish you would come back, or at least talk to someone. Talking to someone would help, someone other than me - someone who can actually help. Why don't you even try making some more friends. I'm sure that could help too."
Ron couldn't get through his complete letter either because someone was soon grabbing it off him - that someone being Draco himself. He stared at the letter, then looked at the other ones on the table - all of the letters his mother had sent him in the past two months were spread out on the table, some of them were open, others weren't.
And Draco didn't know how to react.
He was angry, of course he was. But he was also very upset about this.
Almost every student in the entire school now knew how he felt about the bullying, how he felt about being back at Hogwarts. They knew about his nightmares. They probably knew everything, and Draco didn't know what to do about it. He didn't know if there was anything he could do about it.
He had been searching through the letters, searching for ones that hadn't been opened, but when he heard the laughter of the other students again, he immediately stopped. Would he seem like a coward if he turned away and left right now? Should he stay and actually do something, find out where and how they had gotten their hands on his letters?
Everyone probably knew about how...weak he was now all of because of the letters. No one was going to let him live this down - they were all going to make fun of him every day and they would probably keep the letters to remind Draco.
Because that's how much people hated Draco and wanted to see him suffer. They wanted payback for everything he had done and they would make sure they got it.
Thinking about it more and more soon got him torn with his own emotions. He couldn't let anyone know that this had actually upset him, but as his hurt was growing, so was his anger. But he knew that if he done something out of anger, it wouldn't end well for anyone.
He pulled his gaze away from the letters and then looked around the table before looking to Weasley and his stupid friend - the one that blows things up, he still didn't know his name. "You'll pay for this," he hissed, and when they both just simply laughed, Draco swiftly turned and left, pushing past Hermione and Harry on his way out.
This wasn't supposed to be happening. He was Draco Malfoy, people weren't supposed to laugh at him, they were supposed to cower in fear from himself and his family! People were supposed to be scared to talk to him, to even sit next to him!
But that's now how things were. People were laughing at him, mocking him and his family, they were calling him weak. They were calling him a traitor. They were doing anything they could think of to bring Draco down, but that wasn't what got to him. What got to him was that a place he had once considered a home, despite what everyone thought, was no longer as safe as he had once thought it to be.
Everywhere he turned, everyone was against him.
And it was now that he realized perhaps coming back to Hogwarts after everything that had happened, could quite possibly be the second worst mistake he had ever made.