Smells Like Teen Spirit
I'm back! Sorry about the excessively long wait, and I'm thankful to you all for having the patience with me. Here's the next chapter. I know they're out of sync with r/l, but never mind. :) Enjoy.
Wednesday. The last Defence lesson the eighth years would have in 1998. Their next lesson would be in the New Year, and hopefully by then, everyone would have been able to cast a Patronus. The class were only waiting on Dean and Draco. Over the past month, other students had managed to cast their various corporeal forms, and Professor Elliott had, again, offered her little bits of trivia towards each one, with ten points being awarded to each student, of course. First had been, surprisingly, Susan Bones. Her rabbit bounded around the room as the Professor stated that, like Susan, rabbits were shy but had "big hearts". Next was Justin Finch-Fletchley. When his form soared from his wand, Harry, Ron and Draco were all disappointed, as they were hoping for something small and puny, something ironic, and an Afghan Hound certainly was not. However, their moods changed when the Professor stated that they were graceful, yet always portrayed as "snobbish characters in muggle children's films". That certainly put a smile on their face. And it certainly made Justin go bright red when the Professor once again muttered under her breath, loud enough for those closest to hear but quite enough so that not everyone heard, that the snobbishness of the Afghan was "not too dissimilar to the attitudes of some well-respected families and their children". Justin's embarrassment came as he knew that he was like that. Ron laughed it off; he may be a pureblood, but was hardly well-respected. In fact, he was probably more muggle than Justin, and the Hufflepuff was from a family of muggles. Surprisingly, Draco did not get offended, despite being from a well-respected family like the ones the Professor was jibing at. He instead laughed along with Ron; he had had those same thought for a few years now, but had never been able to express them.
The last student to cast their Patronus was Astoria. She'd only managed to last week, but she was very proud of what she had achieved. Hers was also the first magical creature to be cast: a Golden Monkey. The Professor had been especially proud of this, as it was very rare for someone to cast a magical creature as a Patronus. There was no way of knowing who would cast one, and only a few people were ever known to be able to do it, Dumbledore and Grindelwald being two of them. "The Golden Monkey is", according to the Professor, "very protective and loyal towards their family and friends, especially protective over the young. They can turn vicious if they feel that they, or one of their group. They are very observant, very smart, and very beautiful. It seems you have the long-haired variety. Matches your long hair…" the Professor had said. It was safe to say that Astoria had been very pleased with herself that day.
Now all they needed was for Dean and Draco to cast their Patronus. First was Dean. His came out as a zebra, but one that only had stipes on its front half. The Professor told them it was called a Quagga, and was extinct in the world now. Nonetheless, it was still a Patronus. After the points had been awarded, every eye turned to Draco. He was the last one to get a corporeal form, and he knew it. No matter how much practice he and Harry had put in over the last few weeks, it hadn't worked. All he kept managing to get was a thin whisper of light. Yes, it was staying up longer and longer each time, but that wasn't the point. It was still yet to have a form. He knew he was getting embarrassed, he could feel the heat rising up his neck and face. But he had to do it. He was not going to be the last one left. He took a big sigh, but before he could even raise his wand, a voice was heard from the back of the classroom.
"What's the matter Death Eater? Can't do it? No? Well of course you can't. Your scum. Lifeless, cold, heartless scum. And you need to be able to feel love to cast a Patronus don't you? Oh, but I'm forgetting, of course you can feel love! Yes, that's right! You love Potter, don't you? Such a shame he doesn't love you back. Bet that's why you keep giving him a love potion every night, isn't it? Or is it a very strong Imperius? Wouldn't surprise me if it was that either. Unforgivables come second nature to you don't they? And look, you're all embarrassed! Aaawww, ickle baby's embarrassed. Ha! Don't make me laugh!"
"That is enough Mr. Finch-Fletchley! It seems having points taken away from you by the headmistress isn't enough. Therefore, you will serve detention with me every Saturday and Sunday until the end of the year, is that understood? You will also be banned from going on the trip after your exams." Professor Elliott ordered voice low, but deadly and intimidating.
"But Professor, that's not fair…" Justin started to protest.
"What isn't fair is your constant bullying of Mr. Black! And before you say it, no, there is no favouritism there. Now I suggest you keep quiet!"
"Yes Professor, sorry Professor."
"Don't apologise to me Mr. Finch-Fletchley. Apologise to Mr. Black."
"Sorry." Came the mumbled, humiliated reply.
"Good. Carry on Draco." Draco nodded, before stepping up to the front of the class where everyone could see him. First he looked at Finch-Fletchley. He imagined all the horrible things he could, the filthy little mudblood. Turning him into a ferret for a start, see how he liked it. He seemed to remember the other boy laughing at him particularly hard when that Crouch decided to turn him into a white rodent as part of his so-called 'punishment' and 'teaching'. That would be a generous start. Leaving his musings, Draco next turned his gaze to Harry, who was staring at him, smiling in encouragement. Draco's mind wondered back to the time he felt Harry kiss his neck, arms wrapped around him. With that image in mind, coupled with the pleasant feeling he would get from torturing Finch-Fletchley, Draco closed his eyes and whispered the words "Expecto Patronum." For a couple of seconds, nothing happened, but then suddenly, a huge creature erupted from his wand. It was bigger than all the other Patronuses the class had made. The creature looked familiar to Draco, but not for the right reasons. As realisation struck, his memories faded and creature disappeared. Silence filled the room for a couple of seconds, before the Professor spoke up again.
"My word, another magical creature Patronus, and within the same class too! Well done Draco, twenty points to Slytherin! The hippogriff is, as you know, quite a magnificent creature. In fact, there is a herd of them living the forbidden forest, and I'm sure Hagrid bought one out for you to see back in your third year. As I'm sure you saw, hippogriffs are very attractive creatures. They are also very protective and loyal towards those who have earned their trust, and I must say, earning the trust of a hippogriff is not a small feat either. Isn't that right Harry?" She eyed the Gryffindor with a smile on her face, and he nodded smirking. "The only thing that lets down the otherwise perfect character and personality of a hippogriff is their pride. I'm sure Hagrid taught you the proper way to approach such a creature. I can see why you managed to produce such a creature Draco. Even I will admit that you are a good looking young man, and once someone has earned your trust, which takes a lot, you are protective over them. Pansy, Blaise, Gregory and Astoria are prime examples of this. However, the one thing that lets you down, and lets nearly of Slytherin down, is your pride. Being bought up within a strict pureblood family means you are very proud and are afraid of asking for help for fear of losing such pride. Don't ever be afraid of that. Everyone has to at some point. But enough of that; well done Draco. Now, if I could have everyone once again seated before you leave…" She waved her hand and the desks and chairs returned. There was a scraping as everyone sat back down, looking eagerly at their teacher.
"Now, as it is the last lesson of this year. I'm sure you're all aware of the fact that I need an answer from you. It has to be a majority vote. Do you wish to go on the trip at the end of the year? If so, please raise your hands." Every hand shot up, except for Justin's, who had resigned himself to the fact he couldn't go. "Well, that's that. Letters will be sent out to your guardians during the holidays. Permission slips must be signed and returned to me by the end of February at the latest. Be warned, if you do not get your permission slip to me, signed, by then, you will not be able to go. Also, if I do not have eight returned by then, none of us will be able to go. That's all I have to say on that matter, so all that's left is for me to wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a very happy New Year. Off you go." She waved her hand in dismissal, before disappearing into her office. People grouped so as to walk to the Great Hall together and as they did so, none of them noticed Draco slip out of the classroom alone.
xxxDHDHxxx
After dinner, Hermione claimed she needed to find something for ancient runes so disappeared off to the library, leaving Harry and Ron to walk to the common room alone. On the way, they were met by Pansy and Blaise.
"Hey guys." Pansy greeted.
"Hello Pansy. Where's Greg and Tor?" enquired Harry.
"Greg and Millie have disappeared up to the library to study, and Astoria's spending time with her sister. Let me guess, Hermione's in the library?"
"Yeah she is. Where's Draco?"
"We were going to ask you the same thing." Blaise said sadly. "We haven't seen him since Defence, and we were hoping one of you would know where he is."
"Why should we know where he is, he's your friend not ours." Ron said, finally entering the conversation.
"Ron! Don't be so rude. What if it was Hermione? What if she'd been missing since last lesson? You would be worried too." Harry admonished. He turned back to his Slytherin friends. "Sorry. Ron doesn't know what tact is a times. Do you not see him leave?"
"No we didn't. None of us did. We've searched the library and the grounds. We've gone to the common room, we've gone up to your dorm, we've even gone to the Slytherin common room. That's why we were late to dinner, we were looking for him. But we can't find him anywhere." Pansy explained worriedly.
Ron once again added his view on the situation. "Have you tried the Astronomy Tower?"
Harry answered this one. "No, he wouldn't go there. He told me he still has nightmares of the night Dumbledore died up there. It took him quite a bit to come and find me up there, so he definitely wouldn't go up there willingly. Hmm, I wonder where he could be." The four went silent, all deep thought. Suddenly, an idea struck Harry. "I think I know where he is."
"Where?" Pansy asked, rushed but hopeful.
"I'm not telling you. I'm sorry, I know you're his best friends, but if he is there, I think I know why. He'll probably only talk to me anyway. Look, I'll get him to come back, I promise. But I have to go alone. I'm sorry." With that, he ran off in the opposite direction he came. Down stairs, upstairs, across moving staircases, until he came to his destination. He stood and stared at the door. He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and stepped inside. His ears were immediately greeted with the sound of a soft piano and light guitar chord: Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi. Against the one wall was a huge bed, and lying there, with his back to the door, was Draco. Harry approached him tentatively, not wanting to scare him. He went round to the other side and kneeled down in front of the other boy, noticing the tear tracks that glistened on his face.
"Draco? Draco what's the matter? What's wrong?"
The other boy slowly lifted his eyes and stared at Harry. "My Patronus. It's a hippogriff. A magical creature, and I don't deserve it."
"What do you mean you don't deserve it?
"Exactly what I say!" He sat up angrily. "Astoria's got a magical Patronus, but she deserves it. She's bright, smart, pretty, funny…but she's humble. She's never had a big break in her life, never been worshipped or doted on like the rest of us. Yeah sure, she's feisty, and sure, she did what the rest of the Slytherins did last year, but she didn't want to. None of us did. There was a couple who gladly joined in, but most of us didn't want to do what we did. Either way, she hasn't had that much of a life and deserves something like being safe in the knowledge that she is one of the few people to ever cast a magical creature Patronus. Me? No, I don't deserve it. I don't deserve anything."
Harry shook his head. "Don't be so stupid. Of course you do! You, more than anyone, deserve something good in your life. The life you've led has been no better than mine, if worse. You've lived in a cold home, one without any real love, for most of your life. At sixteen, you were forced to take the Mark as a way of punishing your father. You were than given the task of killing one of the most powerful wizards to have ever lived. You saw him die. Nobody should have had to have gone through that, least of all someone who was barely an adult. You then had to suffer him living at your home. When he's gone, you get thrown in Azkaban, and despite the fact you were proven innocent at your trial, you had to put up with people saying stuff not just behind your back, but at your face too. And not just that, but people cursing you. True, you've managed to prove to people that you have changed, and most people believe you so have left you alone, but even here, you're still getting picked on by pricks like Finch-Fletchley. Pardon me saying Draco, but you've had a shit life. A magical creature patronus is a rare but wonderful thing to have, and nobody more than you deserves to have it."
"You mean that?"
"Of course I mean it." Harry got up and sat on the edge of the bed. He reached out slowly and wiped the tears that were once again starting to fall down the other boy's face.
Draco sniffed, "I bet they all started to saying stuff after I left didn't they? About how ironic it was that the animal I get is the one that I provoked to attack me back in third year. Bet they said stuff like 'serves him fucking right' didn't they?"
"No. They didn't say anything, not that I heard. If they did, I would have said something myself, and if Finch-Fletchley had of said anything, not even Professor Elliott would have stopped me, trust me. I wouldn't have let anyone say anything at all."
"Noble Potter as always. But thank you. That's another thing I don't deserve."
"What?"
"You, being so nice to me. Loving me. After everything I've done to you over the years, you should, by rights, still hate me."
"No Draco, never. You've apologised for all that, and you've more than made up for it by not identifying us, and by how you've been behaving this year. I couldn't hate you now even if I tried."
Draco laughed weakly. "It doesn't matter what you say. I still think I don't deserve you. Were Pansy and Blaise asking about me?"
"Yeah they were. They looked for you everywhere apparently. Then I had a suspicion that you would be here. When I saw the door at the end of the corridor, I knew I was right. I made sure that they didn't follow me. I told them that if you were where I thought you were, then you wouldn't want them to be here. The only person you'd want to talk to is me. It's as though we've made this place our own private area."
"It is yeah," he sighed. "I still don't believe you. I still don't think I deserve anything. But if you say I do, then I'll take your word for it."
"You can take my word for it as much as you want to, but you have to believe it. You deserve all of this. I mean it."
"Whatever." Draco fell silent.
Harry stared at him. The Slytherin looked so broken, so down, despite his new status as being one of the few wizards to ever produce such a rare Patronus. It was then that Harry made himself a pledge. From now on, his main goal would be to make Draco realise that he deserved everything he was getting. Harry would do it, he knew he would. His Gryffindor tendencies o never give up would make sure of that.
xxxxx