CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

[Paris]

DRACO

To say that Draco was enormously screwed was to put it nicely.

He cursed Blasie for his stupid talk and his stupid mind and his stupid ignorance. Draco wished he could forget about the entire night completely and blame the flicker of emotion to his exhaustion. But being Draco Malfoy meant being exceptionally unlucky, especially when it came to dealing with things head-on. Merlin, he would be give anything just to disappear out of existence for a couple hours so he could finally get his mind steady. There was already so much turmoil in their already, was it really necessary to throw this in there as well?

The word 'crush' seemed so stupid. He wasn't some fickle schoolgirl and he refused to let himself be so. Draco didn't know what else to call it though. It wasn't intense and passionate in the way Blasie described. Instead, it was much like the way he'd noticed Harry the other night. Quietly and delicate, like the way the Great Lake would patiently ripple at the banks until they softened up enough to be carried away.

He cared for Harry Potter. He enjoyed Harry Potter. The way things flowed naturally around him, unlike the suffocating restrictions that had always held him back. And the way he stubborn and stupidly brave even if it got him in more trouble than it seemed to be worth, cause it was so different. And it felt so odd to feel that way, but then again, that seemed to be most things nowadays to him.

He doesn't even know how it happened. It was bizarre. Draco had never been someone to open up nicely or quickly. He'd known Blasie since he was eight and opening up to him felt laughable. So why the hell did Potter make it so easy? It irked him that Harry was so easily slipped into his inner-workings. Draco was supposed to be the snake here.

What was worse was the realization Harry was a boy. Draco was already insecure enough as it was and having people find out sent shots of fear into his veins. It the halls when people would look at him his heart would thump with a 'do they know?' even if it was impossible (Draco was a trained Occlumens, he would know). Draco kept his head held high despite it but there was no denying his faulters.

It had been two weeks since that night and Draco was about ready to fling himself off the astronomy tower. Only last week had Harry been excused from the Hospital wing under the premises to have someone with him twenty-four seven and to come to her thrice daily. Granger had brilliantly found a cure and that was in the makings. When Draco found out he'd nearly jumped for joy. Now he almost wished Harry still was in the infirmary because the mess in Draco's head had not been sorted through yet, causing everything to be a jumbled mess of intelligible emotions every time he was with him.

Draco was sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast, mind almost completely blank of Harry in one of those rare few times in the past couple weeks in conversation about the effects the war could have on the value of currency. He'd almost made it through all of breakfast too when Weasley and Harry came rushing in, faces flushed and out of breath. Draco almost immediately zoned on the prior without thinking. He ever so carefully and Harry gasped and pushed up the bridge of his glasses with an apologetic grin at Granger and Longbottom.

Pansy snapped in front of his face to pull his out from where he was looking over his shoulder. "Draco, are you even listening? I said my mother has invested a lot of the family fortune into artifacts and such so the value won't differ."

"Yes, that's quite impressive considering her utter lack of competent brain cells. What else do you want me to say?" He recoils. "The Malfoys have always made such amends. You're late to the party."

Blaise straightens up. "Not all of us were expecting another war."

Draco sends both of them a piercing stare. "No, but you wanted one."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Draco tears his gaze away and stabs at his eggs. "Nothing."

He looked back at Harry. He had a scone shoved in his mouth and was already heading back out again, this time by himself. Harry didn't look at him to avoid suspicion but gave him the discreet signal they came up with when they wanted each other alone.

Draco waited a few seconds before wiping his mouth on a napkin and standing up, abruptly ending the conversation. "I promised Professor Snape I'll meet with him before class. Don't wait up for me." He stuffed an extra muffin in his bag for an extra measure before taking off.

The Great Hall barely noticed him as he slipped out the entrance. Out in the hall Harry was nowhere in sight, only the regular Ravenclaw lot who sent him dirty looks. He purposefully turned the other cheek at them. There were more important things to deal with.

He figured he couldn't have gone very far- they had transfiguration with one another in about twenty minutes. He decided to head toward the tower on the third floor as it was one of their closest meeting locations. Draco aggressively ignored how much he was enjoying the thought of the other boy's presence. They had only met up once or twice since he'd been let out and Draco couldn't help but be hyper-aware of his recent realization. It was like walking into a muddied bog; every step he took it weighed him down tenfold. In some ways it felt wrong; the feelings were so foreign to him he had no idea where to place them. Then in other ways, he simply carried on cause he just didn't care enough about the repercussions to let it go. For once in his life he was close to something he truly wanted and he would be damned if he let it go so easily. It was reckless and stupid, just the what he cursed Gryffindors for being but Draco thought maybe this once it might not be such a bad thing.

Draco barely got down the hall. He had, embarrassingly, been roughly yanked into a small broom cupboard without warning. It was cold and dark, and Draco was shamed to he might have yelped a bit tot high-pitch for a male his age. He quickly shoved off his attacker on instinct, twisting away and snapping his palm back roughly to the sound of it hitting flesh rather harshly.

"Godric's beard. How did you even learn to throw a hit like that? I doubt they taught that in your private penmanship lessons," a voice groaned. "You hit worse than a bludger."

Draco quickly reached into his sleeve for his wand and lit up the closet. Draco let out a relieved breath of air to find it was just Harry and not some Slytherin ready to intact revenge in the name of the Dark Lord again. Or their daddy and mummies.

Harry had a hand up to his nose, looking at Draco with an expression he couldn't quite place.

"That's what you get for attacking someone unprovoked you blundering idiot," Draco curses, not without the fondness slipping into his voice. "Hold still." He grabbed ahold of Harry's chin, hardly a chore as there was roughly only half a foot of space between them due to Harry's poor choice of location, and lifted in upwards to examine to damage in the soft glow of the wand. He carefully avoided the other's eyes as not to give too much away about how the position affected him. If he was good at anything, it was acting and restraint. Nevermind that his fingertips tingled with electricity or his urge to straighten out of Harry's mess of hair, nothing would come from it. Taking actions on his thoughts never even crossed his mind because the idea of whatever inclined Draco being reciprocated was beyond unfathomable. Out of the question entirely actually.

Draco flicked his wand for the light from the tip of his wand to hover overhead briefly as he tended to the injury on Harry's face. "Episkey!"

There was a crack of bone followed by a sharp wince. "Thanks," Harry muttered sheepishly. "When did you pack so much muscle?"

"The same time you were losing your brain over those pestiferous Quidditch magazines you insist on reading." Draco resorted quickly, dropping his hand from Harry's face in the most discreet manner he could.

"You like Quidditch."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to go slobbering away over quidditch drills and plays like Weaslby."

Harry shook his head as if to say something but didn't. Instead, he scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "Okay, fine... but..."

"Get on with it, Potter. We have class and you haven't eaten breakfast like the damned fool you are. You told me what Pomfrey had said, you're blood sugar is already low enough. I don't need you fainting on me like Longbottom." The more nervous he got the sharper his tongue became. He hoped Harry hadn't caught on to that particular habit yet as it was rather embarrassing.

Harry scowled. "I did too eat. I was just running late was all. How would you know?"

"You're rather conspicuous," Draco mused, "and oblivious. A rather troublesome duo actually. How on earth you ever became the chosen one is beyond me-"

Harry stuck out his tongue mockingly and Draco smirked. They hadn't really touched on the matter of the prophecy much and he was glad he hadn't overstepped some boundaries. Draco reached into his bag and pulled out the pair of muffins in a napkin he'd bothered to save. Harry gave him a crazed look as they were thrust into his hands.

"I'm not four."

'Then don't act like it. Eat before you pass out." Draco warned.

Harry rolled his eyes but took a small bite of it anyways to please him.

"Actually, I have a favor to ask of you," Harry says. His tilts his head up to gauge Draco's reaction before moving on. "That's why I pulled you in here."

"And it couldn't wait till tomorrow night?"

Harry winced. "I guess so. But I wanted to make sure you hadn't had plans before then."

Draco tilted his head in an open-ended question, urging him to continue.

"The Hogsmeade trip this weekend. I need your help getting something. Potion ingredients."

"And what for?" Draco questioned. "I hardly find that a two-man chore. Is the apothecary too scary for the Gryffindor trio to venture? Let me guess- the Acromantula fangs are too frightening for Weasley?"

Harry jabbed at his stomach rather aggressively with his wand. "I already told you to shut it with the jabs against them. They did nothing wrong. And no, of course not. I- The potion Hermione found is brilliant and all but the ingredients are... dark. I wouldn't know where to find them if I tried. Snape-" he spits the word out with a foul grimace, "has already completed the first stage of the potion but we still need a few other things."

"...and you think I can help with that." Draco finished for him.

"Well...yes. You're the only one I know who really know where to start. And, uh- I'm pretty sure I'd be flayed alive if I walked into one so..."

"How dark are we talking about?"

Harry shifted on his feet then brought out out a small scroll of parchment from inside his robe pocket. Draco took it suspiciously. He didn't like the sound of Harry's life being in danger from something so mundane as potion ingredients.

Unicorns blood

Occamy egg

Dragon thorax

Moonseed

An uneasy feeling settled inside of Draco. These were dark, outdated ingredients but he could no doubt get them if he really tried. The problem was the same one as Harry's. He was on Voldemort's hitlist now too. Though without question he would rather his life be risked than Harry's and that wasn't just because of how valuable he was in the long run. Draco owed it to him. But there was a flaw in his plan.

"Suppose I could get these ingredients, how would you explain them to Granger and Weasley? I doubt they'll believe you just found they laying on the pavement."

Harry took another bite of his muffin to buy time for his answer. "I... don't really know. I'll just tell them I got them through a bribe or something."

"You out of all people should know not to mock Granger's intelligence. She'll see through that in an instant." Nonetheless, Draco shoves the parchment into his robe pocket. He looks up and realizes how close they really are. Their noses are only centimeters apart. Potter doesn't seem to notice as his breath hits Draco's, turning his face red for more reasons than one. His heart leaps up through his throat as he takes a cautious step back.

"I don't know. What do you think we should do then?"

He had no idea but Draco sure as hell wasn't going to let him die. Especially from something so meaningless.

"I think you should chew with your mouth closed first of all. Second, even I can't come up with a plan like that on the spot. I have to think."

"So you'll do it?" Harry asks hopefully, dismissing the first comment entirely.

"Again, I'll have to think it over."

Harry beamed, obviously taking the answer for a yes. "Thank you."

"It hardly needs thanking. It's a rather simple choice. Like I said once before, we can't have the boy-who-lived dying on us."

~~~

The Slytherin common room was at its busiest when he finally returned from the library that day. It was just after dinner and most of them were around the fireplace studying or playing chess in one of the ornate armchairs. Draco remembered the days when he could so easily plop down on one himself and join a game like it was nothing. The relationship with them, on his side at least, had started to strain itself long before this summer's events. He'd tried to get back on their graces but he knew with a bunch of passive-aggressive, grudge-holding teens it never was going to be easy. Most were only avoiding him now.

Pansy and Blaise were sitting together, talking with Millicent Bulstrode near one of the fireplaces, and playing a game of Gobstones. Neither had noticed his presence as he watched on from the back of the room. Pansy smiled coyly at her, causing Blaise to playfully show her to the side and her to mockingly gasp with a laugh.

Draco's heart ached with something (Loneliness? Longing?) as he turned around and headed up the staircase to the empty dorm. It was best not to dwell on what he couldn't have. It would send him into a paralyzing frenzy he wouldn't be able to shake himself from. It was selfish really, to want a normal friendship after the things he's done. And besides, he had Harry. Who cares if they could only meet up at odd and ends. It was more than most people had.

His hand was on his doorknob when something caught his attention. It was a bug. On the doorframe. It wouldn't have been too odd of occurrence had it not been for the fact it was an Earwig, which wasn't native to Scotland. They were frequently used in potions but had to be imported from other countries. Slughorn had mentioned it a couple weeks ago for a bonus question on a test.

He watched as the bug crawls off the frame and onto the wall. It crept along the doorways as if leading him somewhere. Draco's brow furrowed his brow and took out his wand to follow the creature. It's movements were robotic, almost like it was being controlled.

The bug stopped finally at a couple doors down from his own and crawled upside down into one the cracks into the room. It was one of the fifth year dorms. Draco didn't enjoy the creeping suspicion that settled into his bones.

He went to go back to his own room when the door swings open. And, for the second time that day (he hope it wasn't becoming a habit), he was snatched inside the room.

Being already armed, he was easily able to throw down the person who had grabbed him with a stunning spell. To his extraordinary luck, there were three others in the room, one of which that grabs him from behind and covers his mouth.

Arseholes.

He bit down hard on the hand and threw his weight into jabbing his elbow behind him. There was a colorful curse as Draco was dropped hazardously to the ground

"Ventus!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Draco's wand was thrown from his hand as one of them was thrown backward into the wall, passing out embarrassingly easy. Draco went to reach for his wand but realized someone had already beat him to it.

"Going somewhere, Malfoy?"

Draco looked up to see Yatin Bhagat looking down at him tauntingly. He had a mop of largely curly brown hair and bushy eyebrows. To his left was another fifth year he didn't know the name of only that he was limping from Draco's prowess in self-defense. The third was by the door, locking it to keep people out, or more likely, to keep Draco in.

"Really, four to one? Pathetic, you know. One might think you don't have the balls-" He looked pointedly at the limping one who cowardly protected his crotch from another hit, " to face me alone."

"Oh shut it with the repartee. You're awful with it."

Draco raised an eyebrow. He didn't make the move to stand up with the three wands faced towards him. "You just don't like feeling outsmarted."

Yatin raised his wand higher and Draco rolled his eyes to play off his fear. In reality, he absolutely hated feeling helpless with a wand pointed at him. It reminded him too much of his father. Not that he would have to know that.

"What do you want?"

"Information."

"You could have just asked nicely. Ever heard of please and thank you?"

A non-verbal cutting charm is fired at his cheek. Draco touches it with mild annoyance. "Someone didn't get their treacle tart tonight."

Yatin was a year younger than him but had always held a rather silent grudge on Draco for making jabs at him once or twice for fun when Draco was twelve. The boy took Slytherin pride to another level to where he doubted it was even pride. Just plain pettiness.

"What did the Dark Lord want with you? What was your mission?"

People kept saying that. That the Dark Lord was had been about to give him a special task. Draco truthfully knew of no such thing. He was insistent that Draco be given the 'honor' that summer of joining his ranks but he figured that was more a sadist thing.

"Why do you want to know? Did mummy not think you were mature enough to handle it yet?"

Another stinging hex.

"Just tell me."

Draco sighed. "If you had more than two brain cells you would have already put two and two together. I ran away, obviously. You've no doubt heard the rumors already. So why the hell should I know."

"Don't play games with me," Yatin growled. "I know you know something. You're not letting something on. I'm not stupid."

Draco smirked. "If the Dark Lord wanted you to know you would have already. I guess he just doesn't see you as worthy material."

The boy to the left of him moved to hex him again but Yatin held him back. "Don't."

Draco tilted his head jeeringly, taunting him to have another go.

"Why would he pick you. There has to a reason."

Draco gave him a smug look. "A disgraced Malfoy still has more worth than a know-it-all half-blood scum on the bottom of his shoes. Maybe if you kiss them a little bit more he'll make you his official shoe polisher."

Yatin resembled a furious Blibbering Humdinger who's dinner had just been stolen. Surprisingly he threw Draco's wand at him.

"You're a coward, Malfoy. Most would kill for your position."

Draco met his eyes with an equally unwavering stare. "I know you would."

~~~

If we go down then we go down together

They'll say you could do anything

They'll say that I was clever

~~~

Hiya. I have no excuses. I just didn't want to write :P But! This chapter is like a thousand words longer than usual? 

PS No idea how consistent updates will be for awhile since I start online school on the 24th which I can't fucking stand.

Words: 3428

Published: 8/21/2020