So, as an apology for the incredibly long wait, I wrote a long chapter! And the slash IS coming, I promise!
"So, all you have to do to save the Malfoys is tell Dumbledore they can change?" Ron asks, dumbfounded.
"Well, theoretically, but of course Harry won't actually tell him until he's sure if it himself. Doing so could endanger the order." Hermione reminds him.
"Well, with a bunch of Malfoys running around, how safe can it be?" He snorts, as we walk back to our commons.
I'm honestly not sure how I feel about what Dumbledore said. I don't want to be in charge of the fates of any more people, especially people who have morals so different from mine. At this point I have no idea about if the parents would fight for the order, although it seems doubtful, and very little proof to show that Draco would switch sides. If I tell Dumbledore to give them protection and they aren't ready to switch over, I'm endangering the Order. If I tell him not to, the family is put in danger, whether they want to change sides or not.
But in another way, I'm glad Dumbledore is letting me choose. Only I saw him that night (well, and Moaning Myrtle), and he was so different. I feel like I don't even know him anymore. Maybe that's how I can find out if he would help our cause, by getting to know him. I'm trying to convince myself I'm not excited about this, but I really am. I guess I just like adventures.
"Oy! Malfoy!" Ron wakes me from my thoughts with this delicate approach to the situation at hand. Draco turns his head, seeings us there, and pauses, looking unsure of whether he should keep walking, or come to us. I smack Ron on the head, and head towards him, Hermione following closely behind, and Ron trailing in the back. Luckily it's only us in the hallway, or I'm sure Draco wouldn't even have hesitated before continuing away from us.
"Weasley." He says with some venom, although sounding a little more nervous than usual. I feel a pang when I see that he's only gotten skinnier, and the shadows under his bloodshot eyes darker. Hermione attempts to decrease the tension.
"Malfoy, we've just been to visit Professor Dumbledore about Harry's plan, to see if it's actually feasible." Draco looks at me with a look between anger and terror, and it occurs to me that I never told him I'd gotten Ron and Hermione involved.
"Draco, I don't keep anything secret from them, and they're the most trustworthy people I know. I don't think I could have come this far without their support, and I can't help you without it either." He grimaces but nods.
"Er, well, it seems that we're not needed here, Harry can explain, I guess..." Ron mumbles awkwardly, clearly using all of his self-control not to flair up at Draco.
"Harry, we'd better get going before this one," Hermione jerks her head at Ron, "loses it. But we're here if you need us." I nod, feeling glad that they're leaving, then guilty for feeling that. Why would I want to be with Draco without them?
Once they leave, he asks, "What did he say?"
"He said it's up to me." Draco looks nervous.
"So... what'll it be?"
"Well, it wasn't that simple, he wants my opinion on something, and that'll determine it. And I'm not sure yet, I need to think."
"So he wants you to say if I'm a good person or something?" I nod, not telling him exactly what it is incase he tries to manipulate that. "I don't think it's fair that YOU'RE judging, we've never exactly gotten along." I laugh at that, and I see him smile for a second before hiding it.
"That's why he thinks it should be me. Who better to judge character than the person's worst enemy?"
"Anyone?"
"Well, whether you like it or not, it's up to me, and I plan on getting Dumbledore an answer soon. So I thought, to help me figure this out, I should, you know, learn more about you..." My face heats up at the end of this, and I can tell his did too.
"Er, okay, I guess. What do you want to know?" I hadn't actually thought he'd agree to this, so I hadn't bothered thinking of any questions.
"I don't know... let's sit down, I need time to think." He rolls his eyes, but sits down on the ground next to me. I pound my brain for a question, but it's suddenly gone blank. Then I remember something Dumbledore said, and before I can stop myself I blurt out the only question on my mind.
"What was the story you told Dumbledore about how I ended up bleeding on the girl's bathroom floor?" Draco grins at that, to my surprise, momentarily making his skin look a little less sickly, the bags under his eyes less apparent.
"This is going to prove my innocence?" I stubbornly nod.
"Alright, then, be prepared for the tale of a lifetime!" He says, dramatizing each word. "So much better than that pathetic story you told him." I roll my eyes, waiting for the git to elaborate.
"It all started when I, being my magnificent prefect self, was helping some first years with potions, when around the corner came you. You and that Patil girl, lip-locked-"
"You told this to Dumbledore?" I ask incredulously.
"Shut up Potter, and let me finish. So you and that Patil girl-"
"Which one?"
"I didn't specify! Makes the story harder to disprove. Now keep quiet or I won't finish. So around you come, when you slip on the cauldron that I was demonstrating how to make apparition potion with. You grab onto me to try to stop the fall, but it's too late. We are transported to the house of the person who made the potion, me. The Patil girl had been pulled away by the first year, so it's only us.
You'd already been hurt by the lip of the cauldron, and you were bleeding quite profusely. We land just inside the property, which is where we have rose bushes, so you get scratched up quite a bit. I, trying to save you, attempt to drag you out of our property, but before I can get you out, our albino peacocks start to attack the intruder. At this point you're barely conscious, and I'm desperate to get you back to the school. I muster all of my energy, and manage to apparate us both back to the school.
Unfortunately, one cannot apparate inside of Hogwarts, so we landed in the lake. With you now passed out, I do the first thing I can think of. I call out to Moaning Myrtle, and because she loves following teenage boys around the bathrooms, she was right there. She tells us to hold our breath, and we are pulled under the water by her ghostly powers.
After what seems like an eternity, we emerge from the toilet in the girl's bathroom, soaking wet, and I quickly perform a drying spell. And that's how it happened." He finishes with more than a note of pride in his voice. He watches me expectantly for my reaction to what he's sure is a spectacular story. Finally, I manage to choke out a sentence.
"How the bloody hell was I supposed to know that was what you said when Dumbledore asked for my version of the story?"
"I thought it should have been pretty obvious, what else could have happened?"
"Anything." I deadpanned, but in a joking way. The tension between us has eased slightly, and I can tell he feels it too. "But class starts any minute, we should probably get going." He nods, looking slightly disappointed, hesitates, then asks,
"Should we do this again?" I nod, grinning.
"Just so I can give a good report back to Dumbledore, though." He nods, but I can tell he's disappointed in that answer, and I wish I could take it back. I try to cover it. "I mean, it's mostly for that, but also, I've come to realize I don't really know you, and, well, if I'm gonna hate you, I should at least do it properly..." I trail off, hoping he takes it as a joke. He smirks, his grey eyes lit up and for the first time directed at me, and starts heading towards potions.
"See you around, Potter. Maybe next time you can tell ME a story?" I grin, nodding, and wave as he walks away.
Once he's out of sight, I shake my head disbelievingly and start heading for the commons. I've known him for 6 years, yet I don't know him at all.
Hope you enjoyed the funny (I hope) chapter, the next one will be a little more serious. Reviews are loved :)