Wow, it's been awhile… Not as long as with my other story though… Maybe I should update that. Anyway, I'm glad that people enjoy my story. It's a wonderful feeling when your readers enjoy your work. So, just for future reference, Sixth year is going to be changed a little; maybe even a little of fifth year. When I started this, I hadn't finished the book so a couple events will be altered and shifted in time. It's an AU so it's to be expected to change a little right? Well, on to the story!
The shuffle of students preparing for the day echoed throughout the dorm of green and silver. Curtains of soft silk hung around the bed frames; most had been pushed open and allowed the watery sunlight that entered through the lake hidden window to shine down upon their pillows. Only one remained closed; Draco Malfoy lay, still sleeping, on his bed with his black comforter wrapped tightly around his body. A rare blissful dream playing behind closed eyelids, the usual nightmares seemingly erased from existence. A few mumbled words escaped his pale pink lips as a tiny yet soft smile captured them in an almost loving embrace.
"Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty!" A startled squeak, which would be denied later, resonated from the bed as Draco jumped, wide awake and dripping wet. Liquid trickled down his face from his soaked hair as he glared hatefully at the darker skinned Italian grinning beside his bed. Blaise Zabini was, to all in Slytherin, an easy-going and playful sort of guy; he was the life of the party and could rival the Weasley twins in pranks. While most deemed him as wonderful person to be friends with, everyone knew that even his closest companions were not spared from rude wake up calls. He also had a bad tendency to flirt with everyone. "Mornin' love! It's another sunny Monday so up ya get!"
A low growl of absolute annoyance emanated from the blond, he had always hated when his precious sleep was interrupted but he just couldn't bring himself to hate his best friend for it. Blaise was one of the few Slytherin's to stay with him when this whole mess started, just because he wanted too. The snakes of Hogwarts weren't known for their ability to make friends, most were just allies in a cause or house acquaintances; but Draco's relationship to Blaise was as close to true friendship as one could get in the snake pit. With that thought in mind and one final, long sigh of defeat; he gathered his clothing and grooming necessities and silently slipped away to the bathroom.
"Was that really wise, Blaise?" The Italian turned curious orbs towards the only other current occupant of the sixth year boy's dorm. Theodore Nott stood by the door, leaning slightly against the frame. His arms were crossed over his chest and his favorite scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck. Theo's unamused and cold calculative eyes staring searing holes into Blaise's head had that been possible to do with a single gaze. "Draco rarely gets much sleep at all these days; a good night's sleep is even more scarce. He looks practically dead on his feet half the time, a stark contrast to how lively he used to be." He turned his now sorrowful gaze towards the bathroom, a frown gracing his visage. "Shouldn't we have let him sleep?"
The darker skinned male frowned as well as he focused his eyes on the door hiding his friend from view. "Probably… I didn't think of that…" He trailed off slowly, the faint sound of running water echoing between them. A serpent is always watching, calculating; both boys knew something had happened to the pale boy over the summer that was causing him to suffer. However, even constant watch didn't tell them anything new. It was obvious he was running off to the 'Room of Hidden Things' with Vince and Greg every chance he got but that knowledge only came with more unanswered questions. "Well, it's too late now to worry about the past." A glint of shiny silver caught his eye. "Wait, what the…" Without hesitation, Blaise dug out the silver object from Draco's damp and unmade bed. "A snake pendant? Think it's because he's a Slytherin?"
The necklace dangled from Blaise's outstretched hand as he showed his companion. The elegant silver serpent protectively encircled a cloudy white stone, a faint aura of strong magic wound tightly into its core. "Actually, a snake can represent many things," Theo mused, "It could portray anything from patience to guidance or rebirth." The paler of the two walked closer and gently grasped the ornamental end in his palm as he examined it closely. "I would say that this represents protection because of how it's wrapped around the moonstone. The moonstone itself represents intuition; it's used for developing love with a soul mate, preventing nightmares, and used to protect travelers." Looking up at his companion, Theo noticed the dumbfounded glance he was receiving, "What?"
"How the bloody hell did you know all that? How did you know it was moonstone?"
Theodore rolled his eyes and the easily impressed boy. "Unlike you, I actually read my textbooks. Most of what I just said can either be found in the potions or divination books." He used the momentarily silence to draw his wand and cast a few spells at the pendent to confirm the strong magic was not dangerous. "Whoever made this cast many strong protection and healing charms on it."
"Apparently, we aren't the only ones that want to keep Draco safe." It was this moment when the bathroom door creaked open and Draco reemerged from within. Both boys could easily agree that he looked better than he had in days. His skin was still very pale but not deathly, his hair looked fresh and soft like silk, and his eyes sparkled with life and mischief that hadn't been seen since fourth year. Blaise grinned shamelessly as he dropped his hand, letting Theo keep hold of the pendant. "Well, look at you. Slytherin's famous sexy ice prince is back in business!"
"Did the ice prince ever truly leave?" Draco smirked; for some reason even he couldn't explain, he felt amazing. It was like all his stress had disappeared and he no longer had to worry about his impossible task; it was like first year again. After all, first year was the only year he can remember not overly stressing about something for longer than a week. Sadly, most of his stress was because of Potter and his stupid luck, be it good or bad. Shaking the unpleasant image of the last time he'd seen Potter from his mind, he glanced suspiciously between his dorm mates. "So, what have you two been gossiping about while I was gone?"
Theo's smiled had mischief emanating from it; though he wasn't the type for petty pranks, he certainly knew when to use the right information to get under your skin. "Blaise found this gift in your bed and though it was shiny. What have I told you about leaving your toys lying around?" With that awkward declaration that had both boys stuttering in defense with cheeks as red as a Weasley's hair, Theo casually swiped his dusty blond hair out of his eyes and just watched.
"I did not think it was shiny! And I'd never touch another person's toys; Merlin knows where they've been!"
"T-that was only once damn it! And I had no idea what it was!"
Theodore chuckled softly at his two companions. He extended his hand towards Draco, showing the embarrassed teen the serpentine pendant. While to others it was obvious the boy needed a healthy dose of embarrassment every now and then, he generally didn't appreciate it. Plus, it helped to sidetrack his mind from the more unpleasant parts of life. Theo knew this playful banter between the three of them was what they all needed with the war on the horizon, but he also knew not to push it too far. If he did then Draco would just push himself farther away from everyone like he tried to do at the start of the school year. The pale blond's eyes widened slightly, gasping a breath that sounded suspiciously like 'Snitch'. He tried to subtly look around for his new black-furred friend but his effort was in vain. Snitch was nowhere to be seen and his dorm mates were more perceptive than he liked. "Your secret lover's already left, must have gone before we got up."
Draco paled at Blaise's calm accusation, just the thought of being in an intimate relationship with his ferret friend made him queasy. Sure, he liked his furry companion and appreciated his presence during his breakdown but he wasn't into bestiality. Though that did bring up the question, is it considered bestiality if both are ferrets? One would be an animagus but would that still count? Draco preferred not to think about such things that could lead to a whole other load of problems. "I don't have a lover." He stated with calm conviction, a dust of a blush covering his face and hinting at his new embarrassment. "Now, come on or we will miss breakfast." Draco huffed in annoyance to cover up any other thoughts he may have had concerning his gift.
He yanked the pendant from Theo's hand with more force than necessary, and stormed from the dorm and out the common room portrait without waiting to see if the other two followed (Which they did with a shrug and a shared grin). It wasn't until half way to the Great Hall that conversation sparked again. They had to stop once for Blaise to help get the pendant clasped securely around Draco's neck but otherwise it wasn't mentioned. Their chatter was fairly tame in comparison to earlier, mostly discussing the upcoming Hogsmead visit. Sentences like "I can't wait to stock up on sugar quills and chocolate frogs" echoed around them. Blaise loved to have sweets for a nice treat but usually stocked up on them for Draco. The boy loved sweets more than anything; having a plentiful bundle was a good idea if you wanted the ice prince to do something. The darker skinned boy however, generally just gave him the candy because he liked seeing the slightly younger's eyes light up in delight.
They continued their sweets talk until they reached the doors of the Great Hall were the Slytherin trio ran into the Hogwarts Golden Trio. For the longest moment, both groups just stared (or glared in some cases) at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Shining silver met dim emerald, flashes of yesterday in the bathroom danced behind their eyes. Draco turned away, the memory of shame in what he'd done still fresh in his mind. He never wanted to seriously hurt anyone, even Potter. The though just made him feel like a monster. "Potter…"
"Malfoy…" The golden boy acknowledged, nodding his head in greeting but offering no emotion to show; no hate nor concern hide in his carefully blank and abnormally dim eyes. The tension was steadily building between the six students and it was a wonder that no one started throwing hexes. Blaise and Weasel certainly looked ready and eager for it. Surprisingly it was Potter that called off the glare match with his quiet words. "Come on guys, we'll miss breakfast." The raven-haired male's voice was strained; like he was holding something back or maybe it was like after exerting to much magical energy at once, Draco couldn't tell. He did notice the sun tanned boy had paled slightly and his eyes were lacking their usual spark of fire. Before he could dissect any more from Potter's ragged appearance, the heroic trio of Gryffindors was herded through the door by said leader.
It was a couple seconds later before any of the Slytherin's found their voice at the strange encounter. "Well, that was weird." Blaise muttered uncomfortably, while he didn't hold a searing hatred towards the Gryffindors he still didn't like them, mostly because of their obvious hatred of Slytherins, especially Draco. He could handle people hating him but he drew the line at people being hostile towards his family. Draco may not be related by blood but he was still like the little brother Blaise never had and he had vowed to protect the blond because of it. Everyone knew Snakes had a hard time making true friends, even within their own house because they were always watching for what was best for them. If a snake managed to make a bond that deep then nothing was going to break them apart. Blaise turned curious and playfully glaring eyes towards the quiet ice prince. "What was that? We had the perfect opportunity to insult him and maybe hex Weasley's hair pink."
Blaise sighed and muttered under his breath quietly ("I'm never going to understand you") as Theo's silently calculating eyes drifted back to the frail boy between them. Something had happened concerning Potter that Draco was ashamed of; he could see it in their interactions. His gaze wondered toward the door again before he spoke. "Did Potter seem unnaturally exhausted to you?" his inquiry brought two confused and/or thoughtful gazes to him. The dusty blond could tell that their younger friend had something to do with the Golden Boys appearance and from the looks of it, it had been bad.
"Now that you mention it… yeah... Potter did look a bit worse than usual." The Italian crossed his arms in thought, all playfulness gone leaving only curiosity. They both caught the Malfoy heir's expression of guilt as he looked off to the side but neither wished to cause him any more stress than he already had. Blaise was the one to take pity on the near broken boy and wrapped his arm tightly around Draco's shoulders in a half hug and dragged him into the Great Hall. "Well, whatever happened isn't my concern. I'm ready for a big plate of bacon and eggs with a healthy helping of pumpkin juice."
Draco smiled appreciatively, his look of relief enough to stop any unwanted questions. Theo brushed his hair from his eyes as they sat across from Pansy and Daphne, his eyes drifted to the Gryffindor table. Calculating blue orbs met the suspicious brown eyes of Granger as she gazed back at him. A mutual nod of acknowledgement passed between them as Theo slide into the spot beside the Slytherin ice prince. Without looking over at his companion and instead focusing on his food, he quietly whispered. "If you ever need us, for anything at all, we are always here for you Draco."
He didn't need to look up to know he'd been heard. The boy's soft whisper of 'Thank you' was all he needed.
Wow, I didn't realize how much I missed typing this up… I have several chapters written out in my hasty and awful hand writing but it takes a bit to transcribe it to the computer and fix it up so it actually sounds good. Since its summer and college is done, hopefully I'll get some more posted before fall. Anyway, hopefully anyone reading this likes it… I'm trying my best to follow my idea and not make everyone too OOC… I think I'm failing with that though.