Chapter 5: He's a twisted trickster
Notes:
Hello Hello!
Over 400 hits omfg. Really wasn't expecting anyone to actually read this. So thank you!
CW/TWs:
- Violence
- Death
- Suicidal Ideation
More in depth descriptions at the end.
Enjoy :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
He could feel the heat, skin tingling near the flames. The air was getting harder to breathe. The smoke was becoming too thick to see through. He turned his broom around, desperate to help. He could spot the black suit amongst the fire. He extended his arm down and clasped the blonde's hand, but it wasn't strong enough. No.
He watched as Malfoy's hand slipped from his, dropping him into the flames below. The scream being snuffed out by the impact. There was no one else, it was just them. And he had killed Draco Malfoy. The scene before him began to shift, hands wrapping around his arms and hair. Pushing him to his knees, his face hurt. Draco Malfoy stood in front of him, burnt clothing and pure white eyes. Harry could feel the hands on his arms digging in, nails turning to claws as he was kept in place.
"Is it him?" He distantly heard, the voice felt like it was coming from next to him but also across the room. Harry was sure his heart was about to beat out of his chest. The scarred Draco before him smiled, before speaking.
"Yes," The room filled with laughter, and noise, and flames, and all too small of a room, "Yes it's him." A scream was heard ringing through the room, sounded like Hermione. A wand was pressed to his throat, laughter increasing. No. He felt that tug, something pulling him back.
His eyes snapped open, the air was clear. There was no screaming anymore. He grabbed his glasses and slid them on his face, clearly seeing the bed around him. Just a nightmare. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. He was fine, he went to open his drawer next to him before seeing the light. He wasn't going to get away with smoking during the day.
He heard laughter again, this time definitely coming from Dean and Ron. Harry pulled back the curtain of his bed, and noticed first that Draco's bed was empty and perfectly made. He turned his head and caught sight of Seamus hitting Ron with his pillow.
"Piss off, Weasley!" He shouted, rubbing his eyes and dropping the pillow. Ron flopped on Dean's bed, as Dean was laughing his way towards a toilet.
"I thought you could handle your drink?" Ron joked as he sipped his glass of water. Harry looked at his own bedside table and spotted the small vial with a note attached. He picked it up and smiled at it. 'Hangover cure :)' Must have been Hermione. He downed the drink and felt the fuzzy feeling in his head leave. The ache behind his eyes disappeared, and his throat didn't feel as dry any more. She was always good at potions. He grabbed some clothes and walked towards the other bathroom for a shower. Before he could get very far, however, Ron spotted him.
"Oi, mate, where did you get to last night?" He asked, leaning against a bed post and folding his arms. Classic Ron move for whenever Harry was about to be accused of something. Harry's eyes flickered over to his bedside drawer and then back, but pushed the thought aside.
"Hm?" Was all he could muster up. It's not like he was doing anything. Smoking. Which Hermione would hate.
"You left the party last night, didn't come back for a while, and then went straight to sleep." Neville finished for him as he unpacked a few things.
"Yeah, so who's the girl?" Ron demanded, laughing at Neville tripping over his own bed.
"There was no girl, I just wanted some fresh air and lost track of time." Not technically a lie, so he was saved there. He wasn't saved from the click of a door at the end of the room. He turned his head and watched the blonde dressed for the day and wandering over to his bed. He looked better, like he'd slept slightly.
"Yeah, sure. Anyway, who'd you snog?" Seamus had chimed in now, having remedied his hangover slightly. There was a snort at the back of Ron's throat, he turned to Seamus to watch as the boy squinted against the light. As his head was turned, Draco passed between them, throwing a wink to Harry as he clearly caught onto the conversation.
"There was no snogging!" He exclaimed, feeling the eyes on his head from Malfoy, "Look, honestly, there were a lot of people and I just needed to clear my head." Ron threw his hands up in defence and laughed his way towards the door. Harry checked the time, and sure enough, breakfast was starting. Of course, Ron would never miss it.
They waved a quick goodbye and Ron headed out the door. Harry continued his quest to the bathroom for a shower, trying to ignore the previous wink sent to him. He locked the door behind him and turned on the shower.
Why would he lie to Ron? It's not like he was snogging Malfoy, he was just checking on him. Something Harry would have done for anyone that left early. He didn't want someone to be alone in the cold, it didn't matter that it was Malfoy. It didn't matter that he had rested his head on his shoulder, had spoken to him and only him since getting out of Azkaban. It didn't matter that Harry had managed to get the boy to sleep at least for a small amount of time. It didn't matter that Harry was still having nightmares of not saving the man.
Of course it didn't matter. They weren't even friends. They just owed each other in their own way. Needed someone that wasn't going to look at them with only sympathy or hatred. They needed a friend, but they weren't friends. No, they were only over the enemies part.
He stepped into the shower, letting the hot water hit his skin and relax his muscles. He was thankful for Hermione's potion, but wished she had given him one to clear his head of thoughts. Why did he have to wink?
It meant nothing. He was just joking. It was something friends do. Maybe they are friends. Friends wink at each other. Friends lean on each other. Friends call each other by their first names. Friends have nightmares of the others dying.
But friends don't lose their breath when someone leans on them. Friends don't think about their mates winking at them in the shower. Friends don't have nightmares of the others dying. No. This wasn't friendship. So what was this?
Stepping out of the shower, Harry felt slightly better than before. He wrapped a towel around his hips and moved towards a sink to brush his teeth. The mirror was all fogged up, in the corner he spotted a little smiley face someone had drawn before. It was faint, clearly drawn on after the last shower had. The smell of apple shampoo was still in the air from the person before him. It smelt good.
Harry quickly dried himself off and got changed, rubbing his towel over his head as he walked out the room. Seemed like most people had gone down for breakfast, Dean and Neville were discussing something on their way out of the door, leaving only Harry in the dorms. Or at least, he thought it did.
Draco was sitting on his bed with a book, almost exact to the day before. It was a potions book this time, however, something far more advanced than Harry had seen before.
"Morning," Greeted Harry as he strolled past to his own bed. He dropped the towel over the back of his chair to dry it out, deciding his hair was good enough. He turned over to Malfoy and watched a look of mild disgust grow on his face. " Not even combing it, Potter? " Draco's face changed at the comment, and a smile grew instead. He scanned the room and saw it empty, clearly trying to decide if he wanted to talk or not.
"It looks like a nest." It was back to a whisper again, almost worried of being caught talking by Blaise. Harry slipped his feet into his boots and began tying the laces.
"I like it like this," Harry attempted to defend, looking up at the blonde. "You coming to breakfast?"
"Not hungry." Draco shook his head slightly, turning his head back to his book.
"My mistake, that wasn't actually a question. You're coming to breakfast, come on." Harry jumped up to his feet and slid a jacket over his shoulders. He turned back and waited. Draco sighed and pushed himself to the edge of his bed, sliding on a pair of shoes. By the time he stood up, Harry was beaming. Draco just had enough time to pull a thin knit jumper over his shirt as Harry was herding him out the door.
They strolled towards the great hall, passing a few students rushing around. The blonde rubbed his wrist, making sure the jumper was pulled down tightly. Once they had walked down an empty stretch of hallway, Harry broke the silence.
"Think you'll speak to Blaise today?" He got a shrug in response to his question, "He wants to speak to you."
"I know, I just…" His thought fizzled out, he turned his head behind him to check the coast was clear, "I - I. It will just be loads of questions and I don't know the answers." Harry had stopped walking, grasping the boy's elbow and halting him as well.
"Questions about what?" Malfoy ran a hand over his jaw.
"About everything. What- what it was like, what I'll do next, why I don't want to talk to them but can talk to you." And here Harry was, trying not to ask those exact questions. He smiled and then nodded down the hall.
"Okay, you'll have to talk to him eventually but I'll keep it quiet for now. Now, food. Come on." They walked the rest of the way in silence, joining the 8th year table quickly. They had sat in the same places as before, as to not draw attention to the budding friendship. Harry put some food on his plate and said good morning to the group, filling his cup up with some orange juice.
He nodded along to Neville and Hermione's conversation on classes, but kept looking over to Malfoy. His plate was still empty, and he sipped from a mug of tea. They made eye contact, holding it in a challenging sort of way. Harry picked up his fork but didn't eat, and instead only took a bite of food once Draco had grabbed some toast from in front of him.
It was a small accomplishment, but as Draco took a bite the conversation around him stopped. Theo and Pansy quickly picked it up again, hoping to get him to keep eating. Blaise stopped moving altogether, watching and waiting as Malfoy took a second bite. In return, so did Harry. Blaise turned his head and watched the pair, only eating when the other ate. Forcing each other to finish their plates. They were all still sitting in the same order but slightly closer now, Blaise only being a foot away from Harry.
Harry made eye contact with him as the man mouthed a small 'thank you'. He nodded and turned back to Draco. He made a start on the second piece of toast. There was a smile playing with Harry's lips, he returned to the conversation between Hermione and Neville.
"We should come up with a study schedule I think, keep everyone on track." Hermione stated, this earned an eye roll from Ron. He had a mouthful of food so couldn't audibly protest. He chose to instead turn to join the other boy's conversation. As Harry took a final sip of his drink, he did his best to not watch Draco leave the room. He really did.
This didn't work, however, when he noticed two other students leave immediately after, wands drawn. He muttered an excuse to Neville and excused himself, following the group of boys out of the room. Harry finally caught up with them in time to see a spell be cast. Draco stopped walking and put a hand on the wall beside him to steady himself. Laughter could be heard from the two younger boys, they must have only been about 16. No one was wearing their uniforms as it was a Sunday, so Harry had no idea of their houses. They raised their wands again but the Gryffindor expelled them from their hands. In response, the kids whipped their heads around ready to start a fight until they realised who it was.
"What are you doing?" He sounded angry, he hadn't heard anger in his voice in a while. Harry didn't like being angry, but they were being idiots. Neither of the two boys responded. "Well?" He demanded.
"He deserves it." One claimed, stepping away from Draco slightly.
"He's a fucking death eater, he shouldn't be here." The other finished. He was the one to cast the first spell by the looks of it, his friend just there for support. Harry was about to snap. "My sister is dead because of him!"
The Gryffindor threw both wands behind him on the floor before turning back to them, "Hurting others won't help you, trust me." He felt something pang in his chest. It was just a kid, he'd lost a family member and wanted to take it out on someone. Harry understood that, but it wasn't Draco's fault. "Now I suggest you leave before a prefect walks this way." He wanted to scream at them but Draco had turned to face him now, and was shaking his head slightly.
Harry watched the two boys scrambled for their wands and sulked away. Draco's hands were shaking and he was tense. They met eyes and the Slytherin turned to walk away, before he could though, Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him into a room. It was a simple classroom, lined with desks. An empty room, meaning Draco would speak.
"Are you okay?" Harry kept his hand on the other's arm but lightened his grip. Whatever had hit the other boy was lingering.
"I'm fine, thank you." Malfoy lied. Harry may be oblivious but he wasn't an idiot. He pulled out his wand and tried to ignore the way Draco flinched under his touch. He ran a pain killing charm over the boy and his muscles relaxed slightly.
"I can tell McGonagall if you want, get them punished." He offered, dropping his arm as the blonde leaned against one of the desks.
"No." It was too quick.
"Why not?" He sat on a desk opposite him, pushing forward on his arms slightly.
"Because…" Draco dropped their eye contact, crossing his arms across his chest and inhaled deeply, "Because he doesn't need to be punished." Harry knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, tilting his head slightly to encourage the boy ahead of him to continue. It took a moment, a silence being drawn out.
"He's not wrong."
"Yes he is."
"No he's not. I did k-kill her." He started to scratch at the skin under his shirt, clearly something he did a lot looking at the red skin on his wrist. "I helped. I hurt people. I didn't stop anything."
"Draco-" Harry stood up to make a move towards the other boy.
"No. He was right." The Slytherin began to pace down the line of desks. "But Saint Potter had to get me a light punishment. I…" He trailed off, stopping at the end of the classroom and staring at the wall covered in random education posters.
"You what, Malfoy?" He didn't deserve to be cursed at school. He didn't deserve any of it. He was just a kid whose hand was forced. Harry took a few steps towards him, partly because he was still being quiet, partly because he didn't want the man to run.
"I should still be there."
A confession. He wasn't telling his friends this, which meant they definitely weren't friends. But, by Merlin, was he wrong. Harry didn't know what to say, he wasn't going to convince him of anything different no matter how much he wanted to.
He was a kid. They both were. It wasn't Draco's fault he was born on the wrong side of a war. It wasn't his fault he had to do all those things, or even believed it. He didn't - Couldn't - kill Dumbledore. He didn't sell Harry out any of the times he could have. He wasn't a bad person.
He was scared.
But that didn't make him a villain.
"No you shouldn't." Harry said, not knowing how else to talk to him without calling him an idiot.
"Yes I should, I only got a few months because you spoke at my trial." He protested, taking a step back towards Harry. These thoughts must have been in his head for days, if not months.
"They wouldn't have lessened your sentence just because I said so, they had evidence." Harry began, "They don't like me, they don't just do what I say. If they had, we wouldn't have had a fucking war to begin with."
He was angry. With so many and so much. The ministry never listened to him, people praising him as Hero like he wanted any of it. And now he got to be angry with Draco for being an idiot. He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.
"You can think whatever you want, but I'm not letting people hurt you for something you didn't do." Harry wanted to hug him, to make him see the truth, and console him. But no, they weren't friends, and a hug was out of the question.
So they settled into silence as Draco calmed himself down. He had somewhat slept now, and had definitely eaten. Harry was on track to get the man healthy. He smoothed out his jumper and stood up a bit straight.
"We should leave," Draco stated, nodding towards the door. A smirk fell onto his lips as he held eye contact with Harry, "Wouldn't want Weasley to think we're snogging again, would we?"
"Oh ha ha, so funny." Harry joked, making his way out the room with Draco. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them. Almost like friends, Harry mused. They were honest, open. But they weren't friends, no. Friends would have been better than whatever this was. "You're never going to speak to Blaise, are you?" Harry muttered as they strolled back towards the common room.
"Probably not, no," Draco whispered back, slipping his hands into his pockets. "It's far too fun this way."
Notes:
Thanks for reading!
CW/TWs:
- Violence. Draco is attacked, one spell thrown and he is a bit shaky after.
- Death. Nightmare at the beginning of the chapter, Harry envisions Draco's death (he's okay, dw). A characters death is also mentioned later on.
- Suicidal Ideation. Draco doesn't want to be around anymore, blaming himself for a lot of peoples deaths. This is also a reoccurring one, and will be talked about in future. I will contain this warning on those chapters but I thought you should know. He says he should still be in Azkaban, but I'm going to count it as SI in this chapter to give you warning for the future.
Look after yourself, don't continue to read if these will upset you or make your day difficult.
Next chapter: 29/04/23
(Also, If I were to write a Jegulus/ Wolfstar fic would anyone actually read it? Because I got an idea and it's already at 50K words so I thought I should probably check before going any further)