Change In A Star's Alignment
Chapter 13:
Harry walked out of the Hospital Wing, still blushing from having Narcissa see Malfoy and him holding hands. He walked at a steady pace to go to Dumbledore's office. Right before he got to the Gargoyles, he was stopped.
"Mr. Potter, what are you doing away from Draco?" Harry turned to find Snape standing behind him.
"Oh, I'm just heading to see the Head Master to talk to him about something important." Harry responded.
"I thought you weren't going to leave his side…"
"Well he woke up a little while ago so we talked and he told me everything that has happened to him."
"So he's awake and you left him alone? After everything he's been through?" Snape said angrily.
"Relax Sir! I didn't leave until Narcissa got there!" Harry said defensively.
"Oh, okay… Sorry, I just…" Snape said, obviously struggling to find the right words.
"It's okay, Sir. I get it… You just care for him." Harry said quietly.
"Yes, well… Anyways," Snape began, trying to change the subject, "what exactly happened to Draco?"
"Look, I'm about to tell that to Dumbledore right now so why don't you join us?" Harry offered.
Snape looked a little surprised that Harry would let him in on the conversation, but he nodded his head before saying, "After you, Mr. Potter."
"I don't know the password, Sir." Harry said.
Snape smirked at this. "Honestly Potter," he said, "do you ever think things through?"
Harry blushed but he knew that his professor was only joking.
"Lucky for you," Snape continued, "Dumbledore has changed the way the Gargoyles work. Now, instead of passwords, they step aside for Magical Signatures."
"Oh," Harry said, understanding, "so then it goes by who you are rather than if you know the password… That's smart because anyone can find out the password if they try hard enough, but no one can copy your Magical Signature!"
"That's… actually correct…" Snape said, sounding amazed. Harry knew that Snape had not expected him to understand what Magical Signatures were let alone know so much about them and why they were beneficial.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Honestly!" he said. "I do read you know! Just because I'm not great at Potions, doesn't mean I'm terrible at everything else!"
Having said that, Harry turned and walked past the Gargoyles, who had stepped aside for him. He heard Snape following him so he kept going. When he reached the door to Dumbledore's office with Snape close behind, Harry knocked and waited for a reply.
"Enter." Dumbledore said as the door opened by itself. "Ah, Harry, Severus! To what do I owe this pleasure?" the Head Master asked.
"I have something important I need to discuss with you Sir." Harry said, sitting in one of the chairs across from Dumbledore.
"I see… And why, may I ask, are you here Severus?"
"I am here," Snape answered, "because whatever this is about, involves Draco in some way."
"Well alright then." Dumbledore said, now turning back to Harry, "How about you tell us why you are here."
"I need you to give Hogwarts permission to construct a new Tower for Malfoy, myself, Hermione, Blaise, Pansy and Theo to live in." Harry said, deciding to get right to the point.
Dumbledore and Snape both looked completely shocked.
"Well, why?" Dumbledore finally asked.
"Because Malfoy can't go back to living in his room or even anywhere near the Slytherin Common Room."
"But why?" Snape asked.
"Because last night wasn't the first time!" Harry stood up and started pacing around the Head Master's office.
Harry looked towards the desk to see that Dumbledore looked shocked both at the news and at Harry's outburst. Harry then turned to Snape who looked much paler than usual.
"How many times?" Snape eventually whispered.
"I'm not sure…" Harry replied, finally stopping his pacing and sitting back down. "He told me about two other times but I'm pretty sure there has been more than that."
Silence fell between the three for a while before Dumbledore finally broke it. "But why does Mr. Malfoy need to switch rooms?" he asked.
The very thought of why Malfoy had to switch rooms angered Harry to no end. He ended up pacing again while he answered angrily, "He has to move rooms because they attacked him on the stairs to the Slytherin Common Room and then dragged him into his room! His own bloody room!" Harry continued his pacing, trying to calm himself down.
Eventually, he stopped when he noticed Dumbledore whispering. Harry turned towards the sound and found the Head Master whispering to the wall. Confused, Harry asked, "Um… Sir? What exactly are you doing?
Dumbledore continued his whispering for another minute before moving to sit back down. Once he was seated, he answered Harry's question.
"I just told Hogwarts about the situation and she has agreed to make a new Tower."
Relieved, Harry finally sat down. "When will it be ready?" he asked.
"In about a day. It will be ready before Mr. Malfoy is released from the Hospital Wing."
"Thank you Sir." Harry said.
He let himself relax for a bit before he got up. Harry said goodbye to Snape and Dumbledore, explaining to them how he had to get back to Malfoy. Harry couldn't wait to see the blonde and tell him that they'd now have their own Tower to live in. Harry walked quickly down the corridor wondering how Malfoy's conversation with Narcissa had gone.
Draco's POV:
"Oh, Draco! How are you feeling?" Narcissa asked once Potter had left the Hospital Wing.
"I'm pretty tired…" Draco said, "And sore, but other than that I'm good."
"You almost died Draco!" she exclaimed, close to letting her unshed tears fall.
"I know Mother, Potter told me." Draco said. When the look on her face changed from upset to smirking, Draco immediately regretted bringing up Potter. Oh shit! Now she's going to question me about him… Draco thought.
"Oh he did, did he?" she asked.
"Yes Mother, he did."
"And what else did he happen to tell you?"
"He told me that he was the one who found me and that he had called for Severus who sealed up all my wounds and then-"
"Wait a minute!" Narcissa interrupted. "He didn't tell you that he was the one that healed you?"
"Please Mother," Draco scoffed, "Potter didn't heal me. Unless you're trying to tell me that he lied to me?"
"No, no… He didn't lie exactly… Severus did heal the wounds to your chest which had been made with a Dark Magic Harry hadn't been familiar with…"
"Woah wait," Draco said, "so you're telling me Potter was the one who healed all of the other wounds?"
"Yes Draco, he did. Pomfrey told me that if Harry hadn't of healed those other wounds as well as he had and when he had, then there would have been no way you would have survived!" she said, choking up a bit at the end.
"But… why wouldn't he tell me?" Draco asked. Why did Potter make me believe Severus had been the one to save me instead of him? Draco wondered.
"I'm not sure, hun. You'll have to ask him yourself." She responded. "Now, how about you tell me what was happening between you and Harry when I walked in." Narcissa said with a wink.
Draco groaned. He had really hoped that she would have forgotten about that. "Look Mother, nothing is going on between Potter and I."
"Mmhmm… Sure Draco… Now tell your Mother the truth."
"I am telling you the truth!" Draco exclaimed. "We are just friends."
"Really? Then why were you two holding hands?" she asked smugly.
"He was just comforting me because I didn't want to be left alone after everything that's happened!" Draco said, trying to convince her.
"Okay Draco, I believe you." She said.
Draco knew, however, by the way she said it that she didn't really believe him. Oh well, Draco thought, at least she will leave it alone… I hope…
A little while later, Potter came racing in looking excited. "Guess what Malfoy!" Potter said happily, making his way towards Draco.
"What?" Draco asked a little confused.
"We have our own Tower!" Potter said.
Realization hit Draco as he remembered their conversation earlier. "Really? That's great Ha-Potter!" Draco said, correcting himself quickly. But not quickly enough apparently since Narcissa gave him a small smirk before turning to Potter.
"What are you talking about Mr. Potter?" she asked.
"Oh, Mrs. Malfoy!" Potter said, obviously having forgotten that she has been in the room.
"Please," she said, "call me Narcissa."
"Right, well, Malfoy didn't want to go back to his dorm or Common Room, so I asked Dumbledore to get Hogwarts to build a new tower for us to live in!" Potter said.
"Oh," Narcissa said, turning back to Draco. Draco noticed that her smirk had gotten bigger, "so just the two of you in your own private tower, huh?" she finished with a wink.
Merlin, H-Potter, Draco thought, why did you have to word it like that? Now she's definitely going to think we're dating!
"No Mother, it won't be just us. Pansy, Blaise, Theo and Granger will be living there with us as well if they accept."
"Oh and if you wanted to, you could live there too Narcissa." Potter added.
Draco looked up at Potter in surprise. Why hadn't I thought of that? Draco wondered. How does Potter know exactly what I need even before I do? Before he could ponder this, Narcissa spoke.
"I'd love to, thank you Harry."
"No problem Narcissa." Potter said, smiling.
For about an hour, Draco, Potter, and Narcissa all spoke about trivial things. Draco was a little on edge because Narcissa kept giving him looks that clearly said she still thinks something is going on between Potter and me. I really don't know what she's seeing, Draco thought, I mean, it's not like we're holding hands or even talking secretively or something!
"Harry dear," Narcissa said, breaking Draco from his thoughts. "May I speak to Draco alone for a moment?"
"Of course." Potter responded.
Narcissa's POV:
Narcissa watched as Harry got up from the chair beside Draco's bed. "I'll be just outside." He told Draco quietly. Harry then nodded to Narcissa and left the Hospital Wing.
Once Harry was gone, Narcissa immediately turned to her son. "So, not dating, huh?" she asked.
She watched as Draco closed his eyes and sighed heavily, "I swear Mother, we're just friends! I mean, who said I'm even gay?" he said defensively.
Narcissa openly laughed at that. "Oh please Draco! I've known for a while now! I think almost everyone knows, hun… It is pretty obvious."
"Okay fine… But who said Potter is gay?" Draco said after looking incredulously at her for a moment.
"Oh, well, I don't even think Harry knows it himself yet, but I can tell." Narcissa answered confidently.
"But even if he was, he wouldn't be interested in me…" Draco said quietly.
"Oh I don't know about that, hun. I think you'd be surprised. This is Harry Potter we're talking about here after all. He tends to surprise people and do the opposite of what we expect from him." Narcissa could see that Draco was thinking about it but she saw when he decided not to believe her. She sighed before continuing. "Oh alright, don't believe me! But he seems to be doing an awful lot more for you then he needs to. Just keep what I said in mind." When Draco reluctantly nodded, she got up. "I'm going to go off to bed now… I'll send Harry back in on my way out. Get some rest Draco."
"I will Mother." Draco responded.
Narcissa gave her son a light hug, not wanting to hurt him and then walked towards the doors to the Hospital Wing. When she opened the doors, she found Harry sitting with his back against the wall, fast asleep. She reached down and shook the boy's shoulder gently.
"Harry, wake up, you need to go back in with Draco now."
"Sorry" Harry said, "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"Have you not been sleeping well?" she asked.
"Not particularly… It was hard to sleep knowing he could wake up at any moment, you know? I wanted to be there for him when he woke up. I didn't want him to be alone and face what happened to him by himself…"
Wow… Narcissa thought, he really does care for Draco. Narcissa was quite touched that he had hardly slept for three days just to be sure Draco didn't wake up alone.
"Thank you Harry." She said sincerely, "For everything. For saving him, and being there for him and for saving me as well. How could we ever repay you?"
"You don't need to repay me… really. I just want you and Draco to be safe. I didn't do anything special. I just did what anyone else would have done…"
Hearing how uncomfortable Harry was with gratitude and praise, Narcissa suddenly understood why Harry hadn't told Draco that he'd ultimately been the one to save her son. He didn't want Draco to feel like he owed Harry something. Harry didn't, for whatever reason, want the praise. Realizing she had been lost in her thoughts, Narcissa went back over what Harry had just said and frowned slightly. Though she knew Harry wouldn't want to hear it, she knew it needed to be said.
"You're wrong about that last part Harry." She began, "I highly doubt anyone else would have done what you did for us. Draco was a bully to you all throughout your schooling and I am married to Lucius Malfoy, the Dark Lord's right hand man and you still helped us!"
"But you're both innocent and Draco, I mean Malfoy, explained everything to me! I understand why he did all of that now!" Harry argued.
"But that's exactly it Harry! No one else would have even given Draco the chance to explain like you did. They wouldn't have hesitated in hexing him right then and there in that bathroom! Yet, you lowered your wand and listened. And even after that, you never told your friends about Draco breaking down even though anyone else would have done that and had a nice laugh over it. No one other than you would have done what you have for a previous enemy. No one else is as kind and understanding as you are Harry."
"Thank you Narcissa." Harry said quietly, a slight blush creeping up his neck from the compliments.
"You should go in and see Draco now… And for Heaven's sake, get some sleep tonight!" she said teasingly.
She watched as Harry nodded and smiled slightly. "Goodnight Narcissa." He said, then turned and walked towards Draco who had been watching the whole time from across the room.
Once Harry was in his transfigured chair beside Draco's bed, Narcissa left the Hospital Wing, closing the door quietly behind her. She could tell that there was definitely something going on between Harry and her son. She knew that the holding hands earlier today was just a comforting gesture, but she remembered how both boys had seemed to have forgotten that they were even holding hands.
It was like it was something so seemingly normal or natural to them that they didn't even realize it was happening. She thought. Normally there would be an awkwardness to it if they didn't like each other but I didn't see any of that, even though they were enemies only a couple weeks ago… Narcissa sighed.
She couldn't quite figure those two out. She saw a bit of potential for them, but she wasn't sure if they would realize it. Especially Harry, she thought, he may be highly intelligent, but sometimes he seems to miss the obvious. Well, I know one thing for sure… It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out…