Chapter 49
Harry was nervous, but he was doing his best not to run and hide.
Draco had been here plenty of times now – usually with Marius, while they had lessons. This time, it was just the two of them. There were adults across the room, but Draco and Harry were over in this corner by themselves.
Draco could easily do something naughty and blame Harry and get Harry in trouble and then Harry would get hit and locked-
‘Are you alright, Harry?’ Draco asked cautiously. ‘You’re breathing weird. Do you want your dad?’
Harry looked up at Draco through his lashes, then glanced across the room at Tom and the others, then back at Draco. He took a deep breath and shook his head. His dad thought he was brave enough to do this, so he would be.
‘Okay,’ Draco said simply. ‘Want to play hunting dragons?’
Harry frowned. ‘Hurt dragons?’
Draco blinked. ‘Yes, of course! We have to slay the dragons and save… save the princess!’
Harry shook his head. ‘No hurt. Dragons feel hurt.’
Draco shook his head. ‘No, it’s fine! Dragons are bad, and in the game they’ve trapped the princess, so we have to kill them!’
Harry flinched, curling in on himself and shaking his head. Before Draco could try to convince him, Tom was there.
‘Are you alright, Harry?’
‘Not bad. No hurt. Please. No.’ Harry signed, resolute and fearful at the same time.
Tom looked at Draco, eyes hard. ‘Who are you planning to hurt, Draco?’
Draco wilted under Tom’s gaze. ‘Dragons. I wanted to play hunting dragons. We have to kill them and save the princess.’
‘No hurt dragons. Please. Dragons hurt. Dragons not bad. No death.’
Tom wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulders. ‘Draco, I know your father has explained to you that Harry doesn’t like games where someone gets hurt.’
‘But it’s just dragons! Dragons are bad!’ Draco insisted.
‘Why?’ signed Harry, eyes hard. ‘Why bad?’
Draco frowned. ‘Because they’ve got big teeth and big claws and they breathe fire.’
‘Not bad. Just danger. Dragons hurt. Dragons feel.’ Harry signed insistently.
Draco blinked. ‘But dangerous is bad, isn’t it?’
Tom looked across the room for help, but Lucius was smirking at him, clearly content to leave this little parenting situation in Tom’s hands. Tom gave him a dirty look.
‘Dangerous can be bad, and we try to avoid danger, you’re right, Draco.’ Draco smiled triumphantly, while Harry looked betrayed. ‘However, nobody – creature or person – is bad just because of the way they look, or because they have big teeth and claws. People – or creatures – are bad because of the things they do. If you go into a dragon’s home, and the dragon gets scared and tries to defend itself, that’s not bad. If a dragon came to your home and tried to eat you, and you fought it away, that’s not bad either. But if you go looking for something to hurt deliberately – that’s bad. Do you understand?’
Draco’s brow scrunched as he thought it through. ‘So… so maybe we could play rescue the dragon, but the dragon doesn’t know we’re rescuing it? Then there’s lot of fire and claws and it’s exciting, but at the end we can be friends?’
Harry’s face lit up. ‘Yes yes yes! Help dragons!’
‘Father says there’s a dragon at Gringott’s! We could pretend we’re rescuing it!’ Draco bounced on his toes.
Harry looked cautiously excited too. ‘What name dragon?’
‘Ooh yes, it needs a name! Boy or girl dragon?’
Tom stood and moved back, watching the boys for a minute before crossing back to his seat on the far side.
‘Well done, dad.’ Lucius grinned. Tom gave him another dirty look but couldn’t quite supress his proud smile.