Chapter 1
Draco is tired. And pissed off. He’s been staring at the words on the page so long that they’ve started doing a jig. How the bloody hell is he supposed to understand it now? So inconsiderate of the letters.
A hand is on his shoulder, and he jumps, startled. He was quite certain that he alone occupied the library, it was practically midnight for Merlin’s sake! But his angry “hey!” he prepared for the intruder was swallowed when he noticed who he was staring at.
The idiotic mess of a Gryffindor, the fucking Chosen One stood before Draco in all his pajama glory, his hair ruffled and his glasses half falling off his face. Of course. It’s just his luck that Potter happened to come across his struggles. He’s here to torment him, isn’t he?
“Malfoy, is that—muggle world history?”
The blond rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes Potter, you came here to watch me suffer and torment me with that hideous birds nest of yours. Save yourself the trouble. I’m doing perfectly fine withou—“
“It sure doesn’t seem like it,” Harry leaned over Malfoy’s shoulder to point to the offending words, clearly oblivious to the red slowly making its way down Draco’s neck. “How did the Song Dynasty of China maintain and justify its power? This—this is like the 13th century, right?”
“I don’t have a bloody clue!” Draco wailed. “Professor Biggs was going all on about filler peety and imp—imperial bureaucracy and I don’t know what in hell is going on!”
Draco hid his eyes, not wanting to see Potter’s reaction to his blatant loss of dignity in his outburst, yet when his eyes finally met swirling green he realized Potter was amused.
Amused? At Draco’s suffering? He was going to get expelled, you know! He opened his mouth once more to tell Potter off but he was interrupted with the sound of laughter.
“Filial piety, Malfoy?” Potter pushed his hair back, fully knocking his glasses off. Yet he didn’t seem to notice, or care, as he continued to grin. “Its not rocket science. You’re making this a lot harder than it needs to be. Here, let me show you.”
Draco’s protests went just as unnoticed as Potter’s glasses as the latter pulled up a seat unapologetically and started to furiously write notes in his scrawl on top of Draco’s neat font. Yet, the Slytherin couldn’t bring himself to care as Potter bit his lip in his focus. Tugging on it ever so slightly. Draco just wants to—
“Here,” Potter thrusted the sheet of paper in Draco’s face, pointing to some illegible scribble. “Fi-li-al pi-ety. It comes from Confucianism. Or rather neo-Confucianism. Like a new, sort of revived practice of the old philosophy dating back to the Han Dynasty. Anyways, it’s like the practice of hierarchy. Like men ahead of women, fathers ahead of sons, elders ahead of children.” Potter ruffled his bangs away from his forehead in an annoyed huff. “They thought this practice would teach people to learn that rulers were ahead of subjects, and, well, it did. Many say Song China was the golden era, you know.”
Potter shifted in his seat, resting a hand on the side of Draco’s chair. “Women didn’t have it very ‘golden’, though. They had to bind their feet until they could hardly walk, and it was seen as a sign of wealth and power. If women couldn’t walk, then they couldn’t work, meaning they must be rich.”
Draco gaped at Potter. “That’s awful!”
“It sure was. Yet they called Song the golden age for many reasons. For literature, art, music, and agricultural technology, they were thriving. They practiced commercialism, where they would produce more than they needed in order to sell it, and it led to a growing population. So did champa rice, actually.”
Draco flicked the brunette next to him. “What about the, erm, imperial bureaucracy?”
Potter tilted his head, thinking for a moment. “Well, imperialism is practically colonization usually ruled by an emperor, and a bureaucracy means that the state government had control. China had a new civil service examination, basically meaning that authority figures were given exams before they could hold that power.”
“Exams about what?”
“Mostly Confucianism teachings. The exams helped people in less rich communities have more power, but it was far from perfect.”
Draco furrowed his eyebrows in deep thought. “Okay, I guess that makes sense. But where do Korea and the other neighboring countries come into play? I remember that was like a big deal.”
Potter placed a quill into Draco’s hand and handed him a fresh sheet from his bag. “Write down everything you know about their interactions.”
It was silent for a few minutes excluding the scratching of the quill against the paper. Draco paused every so often, but he was quite skilled in active recall. Finally, he handed the paper over to the brunet sitting next to him.
“Okay, let’s see here—yes, Korea had a tributary relationship with China. But do you know what that means, Malfoy?”
“Doesn’t it mean—well, that Korea would like give them gifts in exchange for security?”
“Exactly. And I see here you said both Vietnam and Japan did as well. Vietnam, yes, but Japan? Think geographically, Malfoy. Their land isn’t touching China. They were, in fact, in control of what they took and didn’t take from Song.”
“Oh.” Draco clenched his fingers for a moment against his knee, before Potter reached over and unclasped them for him.
“It’s okay to not remember everything. Your exam doesn’t need to be perfect. Remember, 70% is a 5. Just try the best you can.”
Draco glared at his paper in silence. “Well alright, did I get everything else?”
Potter examined the rest. “Yes, they all took parts of Confucianism and Buddhism from China…it’s important to remember that Korea took more sexist aspects while Vietnam took less…Japan had bushido, the way of the warrior instead of the emperor…Malfoy, I see that you put writing as an influence, but do you remember which?”
Draco pondered for a moment. “Yeah, Korea had Hangul and Korea had chu nom, right?”
Potter nodded. “You must give yourself more credit, Malfoy.”
Draco shrugged, flushed.
Potter picked up his quill and paper. “It’s well past midnight. It’s best that you get some sleep.”
Draco didn’t respond, but offered the brunet a light smile and even a wave. Wow, he’s practically become a Hufflepuff. How pathetic.
He sat there, debating whether to study any more, before deciding Potter was right and sleep really was the better option. But of course, even that was infested with images of the Gryffindor, laughing and biting his lip.
~ ~ ~
Even though Draco planned to be in the library at the same time just for the chance to be close to Potter, he was still shocked when the brunet actually showed up. They hadn’t made any plans, exactly, just exchanged smiles.
The second Potter grabbed a chair, Draco waved his arms excitedly. “Potter, let’s review religion! Please, it’s so fun.”
Potter raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Sure Malfoy, where do you want to begin?”
“Buddhism! I remember there’s Therevada, which originated in Sri Lanka, but it was only meant for monks. Oh, and Buddha was like a prince.”
“Siddartha Gautama.”
“Yes! And there was also Mahayana, which was meant for all. And then Tibetan Buddhism came, which added a mystical element.”
“Why did Buddhism come to be, Malfoy?” Potter rested his head on the palms of his hands, locking his eyes on Draco’s. The latter noticed, with faint disappointment, that Potter’s glasses were fully back on his face.
“Why did—oh. Well Hinduism was the ethnic religion of India, which was structured around the caste system; having people reach Nirvana after several lifetimes of serving out their duties. Buddhism rejected that. Buddha believed that anyone could achieve Nirvana if they followed the four noble truths.”
Potter grinned. “Right. And what was the Hinduism response?”
“The Bhakti movement! They rejected the hierarchy and only devoted themselves to one Hindu god.”
“Great Malfoy, now quick vocab test. Are you ready?”
Draco nodded.
“Upanishads.”
“Uh—the books of Hinduism.”
“Samsara.”
“Isn’t that like the process of rebirth through karma?”
“Exactly. Moksha?”
“Reaching the top of the hierarchy.”
“Atman.”
“The spirit of the Brahmin.”
If you told Malfoy a year ago that he would be high fiving Potter, and doing it happily, he would have laughed in your face. But here he was, grinning ear to ear, laughing along with Potter. Because he was actually doing it.
Potters face, previously relaxed, suddenly became nervous. Draco wasn’t worried. Not at all.
“What? What is it?” Draco leaned in closer to the brunet.
Harry turned away, suddenly a bit sheepish. “I had an—idea, of sorts to help teach you in a more productive way, and…I’m not sure…”
“Oh just spit it out Potter, we don’t have all day.”
To Draco’s utmost shock, the next few moments that took place did not in fact involve Potter spitting it out, but pulling it out.
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
“I can’t…where’d you even get this?”
Potter had, in the palm of his hands, a fucking time turner. Oh you know, the banned magical object in practically every part of the world today?
“Don’t ask. Simple as this Malfoy: we can go back and experience history ourselves. See it first hand. Ace your exam for sure. Or…you can leave here today hoping that this will be enough. Take it or leave it.”
Draco rolled his eyes and grabbed potters sleeve. “I may not be a Gryffindor but I’m no coward.”
Potter looked up, surprised.
“Well come on then, what are you waiting for?”