Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Ron and Hermione gasped for breath as they raced into their encampment, determined to break up the brawl.
As Ron quickly bent down and attempted to separate Tom and Draco, Hermione shouted, "STOP IT! STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU! THIS IS MADNESS!"
Draco snarled as Tom managed to land one last brutal slap across his face before he allowed Ron to pull him away.
Both fighters panted and scowled as they shot each dangerous glares while Hermione and Ron exchanged nervous glances.
"What the bloody hell are you two on about?!" Ron asked in an exasperated sigh as he shrugged the dirt off of his shoulders that had been kicked onto his clothes during his brief time kneeling down on the forest floor.
Draco and Tom looked over in his direction before Hermione reprimanded them, "What would Harriet say if she were here?!"
Tom and Draco scowled at each other once more before Draco let out a breath and asked, "...She's not here though, is she, Granger? And she won't be anytime soon…..thanks to him." He growled as he nodded at Tom.
"It must be very inconvenient to watch her blossom with the fruit of our love, Draco Malfoy." Tom challenged with a grin that was undeniably sinister.
Ron braced himself as Draco snarled, ready to intervene again if the battle resumed but Hermione sought to sustain the fragile peace with words, "Would you two please stop?! Stop it! It doesn't matter who Harriet's with or….any of that nonsense! Malfoy!" She called.
A frown formed on her lips as he looked over, "Rolling in the dirt isn't accomplishing anything! If this war is lost, where do you think that will leave you?...Where will that leave any of us?"
Draco frowned into her reprimanding stare.
Hermione's expression softened as her heart filled with sudden pity.
Draco quickly looked away as shame overcame him while he clambered to his feet in a subtle attempt to reclaim whatever dignity he could still possibly scrounge together.
"I came to let you all know the bleak situation grows bleaker and Harriet seems to weaken as time goes on." He scowled.
"Are her wounds not healing?" Tom hissed as Ron and Hermione frowned.
"They're healing fine!" Draco spat. He shot Tom a glare of unbridled jealousy as he added, "She has other issues to deal with, in case you've forgotten! We're all trapped in this now, thanks to you!"
"I took nothing that was not freely given, Draco Malfoy." Tom answered with a smug smirk.
Draco ground his teeth as he prepared a biting retort.
If Hermione and Ron hadn't rushed between them to prepare the rabbits they had caught, Draco would have gladly taken another swing at Tom.
Although he was not prone to violence, he wanted nothing more in that moment than to cave Tom Riddle's smirking face inside his skull.
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Harriet frowned as Lily held her hand while Severus applied a bit more tonic to her wounds the next morning.
"Did Malfoy ever come back?" She asked.
"Not yet…….He's still away, sweetheart." Lily smiled.
She and Severus looked at each other briefly before Lily glanced at Harriet again and assured her, "His errand may have taken a bit longer, that's all."
"It's not him I'm worried about, Mum!" Harriet snapped.
She felt Severus's reprimanding eyes fall upon her before Lily chuckled and called her attention back, "It's alright, love…..I was irritable when I carried you and Ellery too."
"I never remember you speaking harshly to me." Severus quipped.
"Well, that's because I bit my tongue, Sev." Lily laughed as she and Harriet decided to watch him work.
Severus's lips twitched as if he resisted the urge to smirk while he used a clean cloth to press the last of Harriet's daily tonics to her wounded shoulder before he took his hand away.
"Your mother and I will leave you to rest." He said as he stood.
Lily obediently followed him as she rose to her feet, but Harriet scowled, "I don't want to rest, I want to-"
"-Then think about what you need, sweetheart." Lily said as she clasped her daughter's hand and gave it a loving squeeze. Her emerald eyes shone with apprehension as she begged Harriet, "...Think about what we all need, dear."
Harriet's burning desire to flail against her captivity suddenly became irrevocably extinguished as she watched a sullen frown pass over her mother's fair face before she released her hand, turned, and let Severus lead them both away.
Harriet sighed to herself as the door to her room closed while she contemplated the grim situation in which her recklessness had unintentionally landed herself and her loved ones.
As they walked down the hallway, Lily clutched onto Severus's arm while they exchanged fearful, worried frowns.
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Draco had all but concluded Harriet would most definitely be asleep by the time he returned to Malfoy Manor, late that night.
Shamefully, he allowed himself the luxury of checking in on his beloved as he cracked the door to Harriet's temporary bedroom.
If he could only glimpse her sleeping, resting peacefully……then he would have the reassurance he needed to seek his own respite for the evening.
Her comfort and safety mattered more to him than anything else.
To Draco's mortification, as he peered into the candlelit room, he found himself staring into her emerald eyes as she blinked at her unannounced visitor from her position in bed.
He hastily moved to close the door but Harriet furrowed her brow and asked, "...Is that you, Malfoy?...Are you going to peep at me and then run away?"
Harriet watched the door slowly creak open as Draco entered the room with a frown.
"I wasn't peeping, Snape." He huffed, "Riddle's interested to know how your healing is progressing. What do you expect me to do? Ask your mother and father for an update?"
"What happened to your face?" Harriet scowled.
Draco looked away the instant he realized she remained ignorant about his altercation with her lover.
The bruises and scratches across his cheeks and nose attracted her immediate attention as she asked, "Malfoy, what's happened to you?!"
"Nothing, don't worry about it! It's none of your business!" Draco hatefully spat as he quickly raised a hand to hide his injuries,
"I know Ron didn't do that to you." Harriet said defiantly as she crossed her arms. Her expression fell with worry as she dared to ask, "...Did Tom?"
"Don't be ridiculous." Draco managed to laugh with a cleverly feigned hint of haughty malice in his voice, "If Riddle touched me, he'd be the next bit of himself to go, wouldn't he?"
In an effort not to wound Draco's pride, Harriet decided to tactfully stay silent as her instincts urged her to consider what may have been the root cause of the incident.
"Well, what happened, then?" She blinked.
"I……." Draco began as he tried to think up a believable lie, "I went on a brief mission with the others." He whispered, "There was no serious damage, but, um…….I ended up like this."
"Hermione didn't bother healing you?" Harriet frowned.
A wave of lonely rejection passed through Draco's heart as he considered that not a single one of Harriet's companions had in fact, offered him any assistance with his bruises and scrapes.
"I didn't need her help." Draco spat.
Harriet ignored the bitterness in his voice as she frowned and said, "...He'll ask what happened if he sees you looking like that…..Why don't you let me do it?"
"Do what?" Draco scowled.
"...Heal you." Harriet huffed.
Draco's mouth fell open.
She watched his eyes widen as he cleared his throat and forced himself to initially issue a denial, terrified of seeming too eager, "I can manage it myself, Snape, I really don't-"
"-It'll be loads easier if I do it for you." Harriet interrupted.
Draco closed his mouth as she reached over and pulled her wand out of the nightstand's drawer.
"...Sit, Malfoy." She ordered him as she took her wand in her hand, "I won't have you ruining everything we've worked for….everything we've fought for….over scrapes and bruises."
Draco obediently walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.
As Harriet opened her mouth and murmured the gentle spell designed to heal minor injuries, he closed his eyes as a gentle, cooling breeze passed over his throbbing face.
The sting of his cuts vanished along with the ache of his bruises.
As Draco opened his eyes, he found himself staring right into Harriet's as she asked, "...Better?"
Overcome with the urge to lean forward and steal a kiss from her pouty, pink lips, Draco swallowed the tension between them as he nodded quickly and stood, "Yes…….thanks."
Harriet frowned as he marched out of her room with his shoulders squared and his head bowed before she could speak.
As Draco hurtled down the hallway with his teeth grit, Harriet put a hand to her face and sighed.
