[a/n: No, this does not feature Voldie-ball. That's in "Nobody Ever Asked My Birthday", which I highly suggest you read, if only for that one chapter's sake.]
Harry Potter had had an Idea. It was true, he couldn't cast most higher level Charms. Defense was completely out - Protego was nowhere near a first year's capability. However, he could do limited transfiguration... very, very slowly. The thing about transfiguration was it was more mental than anything else - if you pictured the transformation properly, you could do it. Harry just had to picture simple transfigurations. Very, very simple. Take marble. Increase Marble's size. Change Marble's Material. Change Marble's color.
Oh, yes, and take about an hour to actually accomplish each of these.
It was slow going, but snakes have oodles of patience. Harry quirked his lips - already changing to your new house, Potter? That was a low blow, but Harry didn't let his concentration waver. He'd done transfiguration under much more stress than this... hadn't he?
Eventually, he was left with one small, red ball that bounced. It was made of rubber - a substance Wizards didn't use much. And that, itself, was a tool and a sliver of information. Harry had to wonder if Malfoy would pry the reasoning out of him.
It may have been a bit gittish of Harry to want to exploit Malfoy's friendship by using them both as target practice in preparation for his ... 'duel' tomorrow. Still, Harry had the salve of knowing that Malfoy made a decent Seeker, and thus probably had the reflexes as an eleven year old to prevent his marbles from getting hit.
Or not.
Harry didn't care either way, truth be told. He knew that Malfoy's 'friendship' with Harry had an expiration date - not measured in The Dark Lord's Rising, but in Hermione's temper. Sooner or later, she was going to sit down in the library with Harry when Malfoy was already there. Harry would take the natural and responsible path, as always, but the little bigot wouldn't see it that way.
Harry shook Malfoy awake (Harry was always earliest to wake - though from Vince and Greg's expressions, they were just as used to rising with the sun, and considered him only marginally crazy for waking in the falsedawn.)
"Care for a little fun?" Harry Potter asked.
Malfoy was not awake enough to understand, instead covering his pale blue eyes with his arm, and muttering, "Mrrfl."
Harry Potter shook Malfoy again, and then pinned him to the bed with two hands on Malfoy's shoulders.
Malfoy was still mostly asleep, although his eyes were starting to almost focus.
After about three more iterations of "Toss Malfoy around on his bed, and consider tossing him on the floor for good measure"... Draco Malfoy looked up at Harry Potter, "What are you on about? It's unwizardly early in the morning. Merlin! Have you no kindly thought for your fellows at all?"
Harry Potter had to smile at that - both because he'd thought so unjustly of Draco in his past life, and because Draco's style of complaining was just as elevated as Ron's was earthy.
"Come on!" Harry said, grinning as if he knew how infectious it was. "It'll be fun!"
Draco, now wakeful enough to remember manners and curiosity, stumbled through dressing in a rather shoddy semblance of his natural order. (Ron would have pissed himself - Draco was sporting a cowlick in the back of his head, and hadn't bothered to look at a mirror.*)
"Let's find a spare classroom." Harry said, tugging Malfoy through the nearly empty Common Room.
Malfoy daintily covered a yawn bigger than his hand. It was ineffectual.
Harry found the classroom he'd wanted (Ron and Hermione and he had used it a number of times in third year) - it was covered in dust, and, more importantly, the desks had all been removed. Harry studied the hard wooden floor and the harder stone walls, before grinning and saying, "Perfect."
Malfoy, from the entryway, studied Potter, who was looking around the room from the inside. He asked curiously, "What is all this about?"
Grinning, Harry grabbed a fistful of Malfoy's robe, yanked him into the room, and with his free hand, Harry reached around Malfoy to pull the door shut.
At this point, Malfoy gave him a very dubious look, "Potter, I don't think we're old enough..."
Harry hastily swept those thoughts out of Malfoy's head by flourishing the small red ball. "Here! Catch!" Harry deliberately threw it past Malfoy, hard enough to have the ball bounce around the room.
"Did that ball just... bounce?" Malfoy asked curiously. "How did you get one of the older students to charm that? And red, too?"
"Didn't need to." Harry said, "It's just rubber." He threw the ball again, harder.
Malfoy dove to catch it, on one of the longer bounces. Unfortunately, Malfoy neatly proved that the ball would bounce off of him, too. "Hey! It bounced off me!"
"It'll do that," Harry said, studying the aberrant motion until it was safe to catch the ball. Harry caught it with both hands. "Wanna try again?"
Malfoy's eyes sparkled with a competitive zeal that Harry recognized from the Quiddich pitch. "You're using both hands." Malfoy smirked. "I'll have it next."
Malfoy was right, of course - and they both slowly got the hang of the thing, rolling and bouncing and jumping around the entire room - even occasionally hitting the walls with a shoulder or two.
It was tons of fun - and Harry learned that his reflexes were still sharp, even if he was naturally more clumsy as an eleven year old.
Harry had expected Malfoy to be babbling stuff at him as they walked to breakfast. Malfoy had never seemed the quiet type, even under the best of circumstances. And Harry had simply expected to nod along and note things to read about later.
Malfoy, instead, said just before they entered the Great Hall (and greeted the beloved public), "Good luck tomorrow, Potter."
*Yes, you silly ducks, there were reasons Malfoy used so much hairgel.
[a/n: Harry really doesn't have much here. He now has a little red bouncy ball, after hours of work. Perhaps you could see how to win a duel (or at least match Drue) using this and an entire week, but Harry had Better Things To Do.
Author's Writing Tip: Know what you want, in terms of Character's Power, but be willing to bend. Here, I liked this chapter so much that I was willing to bend the "Harry's just got first year spells, although he has all the knowledge you'd expect of a graduated-6th-year fugitive.")
Malfoy was also going to get into "I don't think I like boys like that..." Being the mannerly boy he was, he was trying to let Potter down gently. Bear in mind that he's been cornered by girls before. Narcissa has him drilled.
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