Smells Like Teen Spirit
Saturday evening, 1st May 1999. The anniversary of the war was the next day, and Harry was sat in the common room going through his speech in his head. However, something kept playing on his mind. All day, his friends had seemed…agitated. As if there was something they were keeping from him. He had noticed at breakfast and lunch also that Pansy and Blaise had seemed that way around Draco. Draco. God, did Harry miss him. They hadn't spoken since their split Valentine's Day, and it was killing him. But he couldn't. He couldn't talk to him. He was still too angry to talk to him. Too angry that he decided to spread a lie, and then turn it back on him. However, Draco's words had had an effect on him. He had started to think, am I really as bad as Draco made out? Do I really flirt with Ginny? He'd been trying to see his actions from Draco's point of view, and the events mentioned in the words had been playing back in his head. He couldn't see why Draco would think like that; he personally couldn't see the wrong in his actions. All he was attempting to do was make everybody happy. But instead, he just made everything worse. But he still couldn't talk to him. Anyway, why was he thinking of Draco? Focus Harry, focus. You need to remember your speech, you can't mess up. Pushing all thoughts irrelevant out of his head, he went back to memorising his speech. However, it seemed that the Gods were against him, as at that moment, Rona and Hermione came down from Ron's room to drag him to dinner. Reluctantly, he followed. He was hungry after all…
xxxDHDHxxx
They were at it again! Even as they sat down, Ron and Hermione, Harry noticed, seemed really wound up, as if they had a big secret they didn't want him to know about. Choosing to ignore it, he sat himself down, filling his plate with food.
A body dropped down next to him. "Hey Harry."
"Hi Ginny."
"You OK? You seem distant?" She seemed genuinely worried.
"I'm fine Gin. I've just got a lot on my mind."
"Wanna share?"
"No thanks Ginny. I'll be fine."
"OK. Just know that if you do need to talk to someone and you can't talk to those two," she indicated towards them with her head, before placing her hand over his, "I'm here to listen, OK?" She leaned in closer to him as she said this, as a sign of companionship and solidarity against the world.
"I know. Thank you." She smiled at him and turned back to Dean, her current boyfriend.
It was at that moment that Hermione turned to him. "Harry, will you come with us to the Room of Requirement after we've all eaten? There's something we want to tell you, but we don't want to be overheard."
He nodded. "Yeah sure, but why can't we discuss it in the common room, or in my room? We could put a Muffliato or Silencing charm up."
"Because there is still the chance we could be overheard. The ROR is impenetrable for sound."
"OK, OK. I'll come with you."
"Excellent." She added, going back to her meal, and seeming much calmer. Harry shook his head and returned to his own plate, missing the discrete nod Ron sent in the direction of Professor Elliott, and the nod she gave him back, before leaving her seat and disappearing out of the teacher's entrance.
xxxDHDHxxx
Draco sat down with his friends at the Slytherin table just after dinner started, preferring to eat early so as to spend most of his time people watching- one of his favourite activities. The information one could gain just by being observant was never-ending. Information gathered could be used for the most horrible of things, if Draco was still the old Slytherin he had to pretend to be. But now…now he just stored the information, preferring to keep it to himself, and use it if he needed to so as to help them.
Pansy and Blaise were acting odd. Something was on their mind, and he wanted to know what. "Something on your mind?"
Pansy turned to him, and cool façade and a blank expression. "What do you mean?"
"You and Blaise are keeping something from me Pans, I can tell."
"And what if we are?" Blaise queried.
"I want to know what it is, especially if it concerns me."
"It's a surprise." Pansy told him.
"A surprise?"
"Yes, a surprise. In the Room of Requirement."
"Why there?"
"Because only you are allowed to see it."
Draco was still sceptical, but decided to go along with it anyway. "OK. When do I get to see it?"
"After dinner."
"Alright fine. I'll wait, I suppose." He turned around to engage himself in conversation with Greg and Theo, completely missing Blaise's thumbs-up to Professor Elliott.
No long after, Blaise looked up towards the door of the Hall and saw the three people he needed to see. "Harry's just come walking in." He said to no-one in particular, but just loud enough for Draco to hear.
"And you are telling me this Blaise, why?"
"I'm not. I wasn't. I just happened to say it out loud and you heard me."
"Bullshit Blaise." The Slytherin countered. "Ever since February, you have all been telling me at random times that he's here. What do you expect me to do? Go up to him and speak to him? Fuck no. Stop telling me where he is."
"Alright Draco, Merlin! Calm down. Blaise simply said a fact out loud." He went to open his mouth again, but Pansy was quicker, aiming her wand right at him. "If you don't shut up I'll hex your mouth shut, got it? Good. Come on, time to go." She stood up and left the Hall, Blaise and Draco following close behind.
xxxDHDHxxx
They reached the Room of Requirement in record time. Pansy and Blaise stopped on either side of the door that had appeared. "OK Draco, go in."
"Pansy, why do I get a sudden feeling of dread when you say that?"
"You love me really. Now get in there."
He opened the door slowly and stepped in to a dark room. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind him, and he distinctly heard the sound of the lock. "Hey! Pansy, Blaise, come on open up! You've had your fun, now let me go!"
"It's for your own good Draco." He faintly heard Blaise shout back before he heard the two's retreating footsteps. He swore aloud and kicked the door. He tried as many spells as he could think of on it, and yet it would not budge. Giving in, he tried to light the room, but his spell wouldn't work. Thinking hard, he asked the room for some light, but it didn't obey. Sighing, he sat down at the side of the door, and waited for someone to let him out.
xxxDHDHxxx
"Go on in Harry. Go wait in there while we go and get a couple of others." Hermione told the Boy-Who-Lived once they reached the Room.
"Who else do you need?"
"That's a surprise. Now go on! We'll be back in a bit." Her and Ron turned on their heel and left before he could reply, so without much else to do, he went into the Room. Closing the door behind him, he was engulfed in darkness.
"Lumos." He muttered, but nothing worked.
Suddenly, a voice came from the other side of the room. "That won't work. The Room will only obey me for now." Light flooded the room at that instant and Harry saw, there, at the other end of the room, Professor Elliott. She was stood with her hands behind her back and her feet shoulder-width apart, perfectly straight, her head held high.
"Professor Elliott, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to sort the two of you ought." She nodded her head to the left of Harry and he turned, to find Draco sitting on the ground staring just past him, his expression blank.
"Draco?"
"Glad you could actually notice I was here Potter." The boy stood up and stretched, before stepping forward towards the Professor, barging shoulders with the Gryffindor. "What do you mean by that, Professor?" His voice was laced with venom as he said her title, his anger starting to build.
"Do not use that tone with me Mr Black. If you give me a chance, I will tell you what I mean." She wandlessly conjured two chairs behind the boys which knocked them off their feet, forcing them to sit. She herself sat on a third chair. "I know that you broke up in February, but what I have been seeing, and from what I have been told, the way you are behaving is abnormal. You aren't even acknowledging the other's presence. That isn't right. From what I've heard, you both usually, when there is such hatred between you as there is now, start to fight. If one is unresponsive, the other purposely goads him into fighting. Sounds familiar doesn't it Mr Potter? You two need to talk. Three months down the line, there shouldn't be as much animosity between you now. You will stay in this room until you have sorted this out. The room is putting a block on your magic, so you can't get out of here, and you can't cause any serious damage to each other. The only commands it will respond to is if you need something to eat or drink. Nothing else. And once I am gone, the room will lock itself until it feels that all that needs to be said has been said. You do not need to be friends for the room to unlock, but you do need to have at least talked about your problems. Now," she stood and headed for the door, the boys jumping up to keep her in sight, "I will bid my leave. Be warned, you will stay in here as long as it takes. Oh, and 100 points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin for such childish behaviour. Grow up, and sort it out. Good luck." She stepped out the door and left them alone.
Silence ensued. Both boys kept their eyes to the door, refusing to look at the other. Finally, Draco sat back down. He stared straight ahead, scowling, his Malfoy mask almost in place. Harry sat also. Another silence stretched once they had both got comfortable, with both boys refusing to look at each other.
Finally, after half an hour of silence, Harry turned to look at the boy next to him. "Professor Elliott is right Draco. This is stupid. We're adults and we need to grow up. We have to talk about this."
Slowly, Draco turned to lock his stormy grey eyes with Harry's emerald green ones. "Then talk."
A/N: Right. I intend to spend one, long, chapter on their conversation. However, I will not make it obvious in the chapter as to whether their talk is for the good or the bad. I know how it will end, but I'm not telling you yet. Leave a review, and I may give you a sneak peek of part of the next chapter.
xxxxx