Disclaimer – It has come to my attention recently that I unfortunately do not own Harry Potter. Who knew.
To everyone planning on celebrating National Be a Millionaire Day tomorrow, I wish you an enjoyable holiday and all the luck getting there. And to everyone else I can only think of three to four acceptable reasons to not do so. In lieu of that, I hope you are still having a wonderful weekend and enjoy National Streaming Day.
Anyone who is looking to provide support and get access to early chapters for my stories or see my original content, please visit Pa T-rEoN / FavoriteAuthor
On that note, a big thanks to my newest patrons – Harsh G., James H., Wilson R., TypistTyphon, Ryan, James N., Gabriel F., Shae S., Paul B., and Abby T! I do not know if I would be as motivated without the support.
Flashback to World Cup Match
[Caution - while there is no abuse in this chapter … it is certainly darker than most of the previous chapters]
Malfoy POV
The sound of the door shutting behind him caused Draco to snap out of his momentary moment of paralysis. Angrily shaking his head, he looked around realizing that Potter had apparently walked right by him and entered the box seats.
Irritably cursing at the wall, he shook his head and schooled his emotions as best as he could, knowing his father would … not be pleased with him if he embarrassed him. Feeling he appeared proper, he entered the box and made his way to his seat, arriving just as he watched Krum take a Bludger to the face.
Amidst the mixture of cheering and complaining that resonated through the box, Draco quietly took his seat angrily staring at the back of Potter's head, believing himself to have managed to rejoin the box unnoticed. However, this belief was quickly dashed as he felt a very familiar razor-sharp grip pinch his shoulders near his neck.
"Draco, where were you?" His father hissed into his ear, the anger in his tone barely concealed. "During the break, I was attempting to talk to Minister Fudge about making … beneficial changes to Hogwarts and he wanted to ask you for a students take on my suggestions. However, when I turned you were gone."
Draco looked up at his father, almost wincing under the glare and the pain from the pinch. "I'm sorry father." He said contritely. "I had only just …"
However, his words died in his throat as he felt his father's grip tighten, nails digging into the muscles of his shoulder.
"'I had only just' nothing, Draco. Excuses are for children. You embarrassed me, Draco, in front of the Minister of Magic no less. When we get back to the tent after the match we shall have a talk. Now don't leave this seat, in case I manage to work the conversation back to Hogwarts, I might need to use you as a …" Draco watched as his face immediately drained of anger as he trailed off, likely die to the hand that he saw resting on his father's shoulder.
He watched as his father expertly covered his previous emotions under a manufactured smile and turned back towards the Minister of Magic.
Looking up towards his father, Draco felt his mother's soft hand on his other shoulder causing him to unconsciously, but almost unperceptively, flinch, before he spun to face her.
"Draco, darling, you know you can't upset your father like that."
He looked up to meet her eyes only to see a brief look of pity before she looked back to the match apparently having lost interest in the brief bit of conversation.
Knowing that there was no point in trying to continue the conversation with her and arguing or protesting would only make a scene … an action for which he was well aware of what the consequences would be.
Sulkily, he spun in his seat to look towards the match, however his eyes froze on the back of Potter's head. Noticing the other boy laughing and animatedly chatting with his friends, seemingly completely aware of what had happened behind him and of the attention that was currently being paid to the back of his head.
As Draco stared at the back of his head, Potter's words from earlier bounced around in his head.
"… they hated me for who I was and for the thought that they might be able to control me one day …"
"… took pleasure in abusing me …"
"… I have a feeling, I might not be the only one who has had a hard life …"
Draco shook his head angrily, trying to dislodge the sound of Potter's voice from his head. Gritting his teeth, he stared back at the back of his head. 'Just who does he think he is …to say things like that … like he had any idea as to who I am. I don't care even if his life is some completely sad mess, we are nothing alike. And even if my father abus…' Draco's eyes opened a fraction, before he shook his head and corrected his thoughts, '… disciplines me. It's because he loves me and wants me to be the best, unlike Potter and his stupid sob story. At least I have a mother who loves me … even if she has gotten distant the more time I spend with father.'
A sudden roar from the crowd caused Draco to look up from the back of the head he had been glaring at, looking up just as he saw Krum's extended fingers barely miss the Snitch as it flew back towards the ground, after apparently having flown upwards just in front of where they had been sitting.
However, the thing that truly caused Draco's jaw to drop was when rather than slow the broom before angling it back to the ground, or even the more time consuming decision to bank the broom to the side, was when he watched as Krum rolled around on the broom till his back was to the ground before sharply pulling the broom towards him in a motion which while it did cause him to slam heavily into the broom allowed him to almost instantly shoot back towards the Snitch. An action which allowed him to instantly begin gaining on the Irish Seeker and somehow narrowly avoid a Bludger, one Draco hadn't even seen, which flew by close enough that Draco was confident Krum could have reached out and touched it had he desired.
Unable to look away from the action, which had seeming picked up significantly, Draco watched intently, his gaze shifting between the action between the Chasers and the racing Seekers who were both gaining on the Snitch as Krum was making up ground on Lynch.
He, along with the entire crowd, seemed to hold their breath, watching the action … until finally he saw Krum's hand extend past Lynch's allowing the Bulgarian Seeker to capture the Snitch.
Not really having cared for the outcome of the game, Draco didn't care about Minister Bagman conversing with the referees over who had won, as the Chasers had appeared to score at the exact moment Krum had capture the Snitch, happy that his favorite player had caught the Snitch. In fact, despite knowing that his father would disapprove, if only on principle, Draco was about to start yelling and cheering for Krum … only to stop when he saw Potter's red headed Weasley friend doing that exact thing.
Biting his tongue to avoid cheering, Draco refrained from cheering and settled into his seat, contenting him self with polite applause, an effort to mimic his father's actions, hoping his father would not be able to find fault with his response to the ending of the game.
From his spot between his parent's Draco watched as Potter, his two friends, and the rest of the Weasley rabble celebrated once it was announced that Ireland had scored with the Quaffle a fraction of a second before Krum had managed to catch the Snitch, before the entire group ran out of the box, their voices heard celebrating down the stairs, rather than staying to make connections, as Draco knew his father would demand of him.
Eventually, after almost an hour, his father had finished talking to the individuals he felt needed to be talked to and motioned to his wife and son to quickly finish their conversations and join him to leave the box.
After ther made their way, in silence, down the stairs emerging outside the private entrance to the grounds around the stadium, he noticed the area had already mostly emptied of partying fans. Although by the sound of it, the celebrations had merely moved back to the main camp site, the sound echoing to where they were standing.
Looking to his father, he saw him motion towards the betting tent.
"I need to deal with something." He said curtly, immediately turning and heading to the booths, leaving Draco and his wife to quickly follow in his steps.
As Draco, caught up to where his father was, he chose to stay back, noticing that he appeared to be angrily involved in a conversation with a man sitting within a betting tent. As a result of his decision, he found himself to be just on the other side of a tent wall from another two individuals having their own conversation.
"I know … I just can't believe it …"
"So someone seriously made a bet that Ireland was going to win the match 170-160 but yet the game would be ended when Krum caught the Snitch."
Draco raised his eyebrows slightly, as the first man replied.
"I know, when the kid walked up to me I almost laughed but thought that if he wanted to throw away what was a pretty sizeable bet that was up to him. Hadn't actually given it another thought until he came to the tent after the match."
"How excited was he? Kid must have been beside himself after a win like that … the odds must have been ridiculously good."
"They were. But that's the thing ..." the first man began. "… it seemed he didn't even really care. Not that he really needed the money in the first place. He was just content to let us deposit the winnings into his accounts with Gringotts."
"His accounts?"
There was a lengthy pause, long enough that Draco wondered if the conversation had moved off or someone had thrown up a privacy spell. But eventually the first man began to speak again.
"His accounts." He confirmed, before continuing in a quieter tone. "It was Harry Potter."
Draco's eyes shot up in surprise, as he heard the second man exclaim loudly in surprise. But before he could hear more from the two of them, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father throw up his hands and start turning around.
Quickly Draco straightened up and took a step away from the tent he had been standing beside, drawing only a slightly stare from his father as he finished his turn, who paused for a second before angrily glancing back to the man behind him.
"You are making a mistake." He said icily before turning around and storming in the direction of their tent.
Eventually making their way to their tent, Draco followed behind his father, through the warded entrance, as he entered the tent, only to come to an immediate stop, eyes shooting open in panic, at the sight of his father's wand, pointed directly at him, apparently having been drawn as soon as he had entered.
Looking up to his father's scowling face, Draco forced himself to resist the urge to draw his own wand, knowing it would only make the situation worse.
"While you were foolish enough to embarrass me in front of the Minister of Magic … at least you weren't actually stupid enough to raise your wand against me …" he trailed off staring hostilely at his wife, before glancing back to Draco. " …we'll have words as soon as I'm done with your mother, but I expect you to watch this. Perhaps you will learn something."
As he turned to face his wife, Draco watched her freeze in the kneeling position that she had adopted when she had entered the tent.
"I'm sorry, Lucius. I never meant to harm you. I only meant to stop you from embarrassing …" she trailed off as her eyes shot open in fear, realizing what she had said.
Draco watched as his father's anger flared as he pointed his wand right at her chest and called out. "Cruc…"
However, he stopped mid curse, at the sound of the wards alerting them that someone who had been keyed to the wards was entering their tent.
Draco spun around and was greeted by the sight of Theodore Nott Sr, an ugly smile on his face, as the man looked between Lucius with his wand pointing at his wife and Draco who was standing off to the side.
"Ah … a teaching moment? I can wait here if you want to finish up. No need to let me interrupt this … but the others and I were talking during the match. We were thinking that it might be a good time to … do what we had considered doing and … have some fun tonight. There is nowhere near enough security and I have no doubt we'll be able to slip away easily enough without being caught by the time the aurors arrive. And if you are lucky … maybe you can even get another shot with …" he glanced towards Narcissa and smirked. "… well … with one of them, before they disappear."
He paused and looked back to Draco. "Are you bringing your boy? I'm allowing min to follow along. It might be a nice chance for your son to see the mudbloods and worthless muggles running around like Diricawls with their heads cut off."
Lucius laughed, before looking and staring at Draco for several seconds, a gaze he held until he looked back to Nott Sr. "I'd been considering it but after … an incident earlier at the match … well let this be your punishment Draco, you shall stay in the tent rather than be allowed to watch us have our fun."
He turned away before Draco could reply, walking quickly to the largest bedroom in the tent, a room he had claimed for himself, where he spent less than a minute before he re-emerged with a small bundle under his arm.
He walked across the floor towards Nott Sr, only to pause and turn towards his wife.
"While, not being involved in tonight should suit as Draco's punishment. We … me and you that is … we … are … not … done. And I promise I will be the only one to enjoy tonight."
With that he laughed and turned to Nott Sr. "I'll head to Goyle's tent. Finish grabbing everyone up and meet me there. We can finish preparations before the … fun tonight."
Turning back to Draco, he smiled, "This is on you, Draco. Be better and next time you will have the opportunity to join us."
With that Draco watched as his father left the tent.
Kind Regards,
FavoriteAuthor
If you like this content do not hesitate to smash that like button and subscribe. Haha but seriously if you do enjoy the story - do favorite it, other than messaging me or leaving a comment it's the only way I know if you are enjoying the stories and chapters.
Story Note 1 – One of the things that I have been asked in comments and messages is what is going on in the world and how Harry's actions affect what else is going on, especially with respect to Draco. As such the easiest way I felt to show this was through the use of these small interlude chapters, which I am planning to release occasionally if there is a character or event I want to introduce, but unable to directly introduce them in a convenient way related to what Harry is doing at the moment, or in this case walk through how Harry's actions have affected Draco – there will be a chain of several chapters spread out displaying Draco's journey. Beyond this one have already had several requests about things people want to see, that have been written out. Am planning for them to usually be a little longer than this but likely a little smaller than normal chapters (depending on how much needs to be covered) ~ 2000 - 3000 words. If there is any situations or characters you think should be included send a message or leave a comment. And provide feedback on the style of these little interludes. Thanks in advance!
Story Note 2 – I admit the Lucius is a little OOC compared to how I saw him portrayed in the books/movies (at least in the later ones). I saw in portrayed as more of an opportunistic, self-serving low moral individual rather than someone who was actively sadistic. Although he did try to kill Harry when Harry cost him his house elf … so he obviously was no saint. However, the biggest reason I chose to portray him this way was as an effort to explain Draco's behavior as I felt that one of the reason's that could explain the way Draco behaved was if he was actively trying to mirror and impress his father. And as Draco became more aware of the failings of the man, in later books/movies he realized that he didn't want to become him and as such didn't want to kill Dumbledore or Harry any of the opportunities he had.
Story Note 3 – Yes, the Diricawl is an actual animal in the magical world! A plump fluffy-feathered and flightless magical bird … one better known to us muggles as the Dodo.
Thanks to those of you out to those of you who enjoy my stories, I promise to keep updating the stories as long as you enjoy them, and a special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to leave feedback or reach out to me directly.
Author Note 1 – All feedback is welcome (hopefully constructive!) Looking forward to what you think! Once again, thanks for all the reviews and feedback on this story, I'm pumped it has been well received. Obviously, I love people telling me they enjoy the chapters (keep it up if you do) but I really enjoy the constructive criticism as well. One of the earliest pieces of feedback I got was that Fred/George dialogue was rough – so as a result I changed it and really like the way it is coming across now (a sentiment that seems to be universally shared by everyone's' reviews as well). Also please continue to share ideas or requests as to things you wish to occur in the stories. I love the suggestions. And try to incorporate what I can.
Author Note 2 – I have started posting polls, having been getting really helpful feedback from some readers and thought I would make it easier for anyone to provide feedback on the stories they are liking without having to reach out directly. Thanks in advance for anyone who follows up.
Twitter: FavoriteAuthor_
Instagram: FavoriteAuthor_Fanfic
LadyPhoenix68 - Well I guess you are as excited for reading the chapter as I am to share it!
littleemberlou - I love feedback like this so much! I guess we will see how the competition goes!
Hudy Leak 613 - I'm really glad you are enjoying the story, do let me know how a chapter like this stands up.
AhsokaTano2291 - I'm really happy you are enjoying my take on the characters! As for Fleur's cousin ... I'd say there is a pretty good chance she'll pop up
Ariadne Venegas - He will
Concrete63 - Thanks for reviewing!
jslee102 - Glad you are enjoying the story so far. How did you find this little interlude story?
zega606 - I imagine Ron might be alittle more forthcoming now that they are actually friends. Although no need!
Evergone the Great - Thanks so much. It's nice when I write something that someone takes a look at and is like ... oh ... thats good/interesting/new. Glad it was well received! And that's a fair point about Ron.
TimC34 - Haha I find myself in the same boat and for what its worth there is a chance Rita might take time to heed a warning.
skotos07 - Thanks so much!
