thirteenth lotus leaf

My dearest Dragon,

I received your letter. I apologize for the delay in responding; your mother is quite upset about it.
Things in France are wonderful, thank you for asking. However, there's something I'd like to discuss with you. Please forgive your mother's sudden departure; I promise I'll make it up to you.

I recall you mentioning your hopes of spending the summer holiday in France. We can disregard your father's insistence on Russia. We'll be going to France this summer. We can experience Russia's magnificent winter the following year. I'm sorry you won't be able to see Russia's special dragon, Zmei Gorynich. Your mother will be speaking with some dragon trainers in France for you. I hope this doesn't upset you, my little Draco. Your mother has some more business to attend to in France. I'm afraid you might be alone with your father for part of the holiday, but I'll convince him to bring you to me at the French Ministry of Magic. Your father is very busy and won't be able to join us for the holiday. Your mother has already taken care of the arrangements, so please don't worry your pretty little head about it.

How is Hogwarts? Are you having fun? I hope Pansy's birthday gift arrives on time. Would you check for me? And Draco, please stop buying that girl the same boring peacock feather; even I'm starting to get tired of it.

You've barely written about your time at Hogwarts. You'll have to tell me everything. There's no escaping your mother. If you need anything, or if anything or anyone bothers you, tell Lucius, and he'll take care of it. Until next time, my bright little star.

With love,
Narcissa Black Malfoy, Your Mother

Draco carefully folded his mother's letter. He opened his drawer absentmindedly and put it inside. What bothered Draco was that his mother had gone to France for a week in the previous timeline, and spent half of the summer in Russia. What had changed? What had caused this change?

Draco was planning to call his cousin, his uncle Regulus, in France. His mother's letter would be of great help to him in this regard. Draco sighed, regretting that he would not be able to wear the special fur he wore in Russia; it would start to get small for him the following year. And it was the first time that his mother was so serious about going to France. She usually invited her French friends to her mansion in France and held tea parties. Draco had attended a few of these tea parties. He had noticed that the French knew a lot of things in a strange way. It was as if they had comments on every subject. And little Draco had certainly used these gossip materials for good.

Draco smiled, throwing away the old memories in his head. This summer would definitely be different from the previous summer. He had no doubt about it. He just felt that his mother was preparing more things for him.

"Draco, mate, what's wrong?"

"What?"

"You've been staring ahead without blinking for two hours, and it's starting to get creepy."
Ah. He was wasting time!

"I'm sorry, Theo, I was distracted." Draco, who thought that he had really scared the boy, gave up on telling him to get lost.

"What time is it anyway?"

"9.30"

Damn it! He was late, he was late. He jumped out of his bed in a hurry. As soon as he put on his slippers, he left the room. He believed that he did not attract anyone's attention while leaving the common room. Even if he did, he was Malfoy, they could not do anything.

He arrived at their agreed meeting spot. Potter wasn't there yet. Or had he grown tired of waiting for Draco? Draco began to nervously chew on his lip.

He thought he heard footsteps. He instinctively backed closer to the wall. But his arm hit the wall abruptly. His heart was pounding.

"Shhh. It's me."

"Potter! -" A hand clamped over his mouth. The hand was floating in mid-air on its own. That's right, Potter had a very rare invisibility cloak. This explained so much over the years. After pulling off the cloak, he became fully visible. His green eyes were shining in a way Draco couldn't understand. He slowly removed his hand from Draco's mouth.

"I want to show you something," he said. As soon as he said this, he threw the cloak over them. He took his hand and started pulling Draco along. Draco's heart still hadn't calmed down. He tried not to attribute this to being close to Potter.

As they walked down the dark corridor, Harry held Draco's hand tightly. Draco's heart was beating fast. He didn't know what was happening.

Finally, they stopped in front of an old door. Harry opened the door and they went inside. The room was dimly lit, and there was a large mirror in the middle of the room.

"What is this?" Draco asked.

"This is the Mirror of Erised," Harry said. "This is what I wanted to show you."

Draco approached the mirror and looked at his reflection. He was astonished by what he saw. In the mirror, he saw his family, his mother and father. He saw himself, grown up and with flawless skin. He also saw Regulus behind them, alive. They were all together, smiling happily.

"What do you see?" Harry asked.

"My family," Draco said. "My mother, my father... We're all together."

Harry looked into Draco's eyes. "Really?" he asked.

Draco nodded. "Yes."

Harry approached the mirror and looked at his own reflection. In the mirror, he saw himself and Draco side by side, along with many unfamiliar faces that resembled him. They were holding hands, smiling happily.

"I see you too," Harry said. "Next to me, happy."

Draco didn't understand what Harry meant. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Harry took Draco's hand. "I love you," he said.

Draco was stunned by Harry's words. "Me?" he asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, I love you."

Draco looked into Harry's eyes. Draco couldn't make sense of it.

Harry's heart started beating fast. The fact that Draco could see him in the mirror too had given him a glimmer of hope. But when he made eye contact with the boy, he realized that this wasn't the case. He looked very confused, and there was a look in his eyes that Harry couldn't understand.

Despite everything, Harry wanted to say these words to his first friend again. It had slipped out in an instant, but he felt very good. The warmth in his heart had increased, and the weight on his shoulders had lifted, as if.

"Me too," Draco said, with a great seriousness on his face. Harry was happy, but this situation was starting to feel a bit strange to him.

"After all, you're trying to be my friend. If I didn't like you, you wouldn't be around me, that's for sure." Draco began to speak as if he were lecturing him. The smile on Harry's face had already faded.

"And Potter, please. You can't impress me with an old mirror." The blonde wrinkled his nose.

Harry shrugged. "It impressed me, after all, I learned that I have a family, even if it's in the mirror."

Draco's heart ached at these words. He reached out and grabbed the other boy's index finger. He wrapped his own index finger tightly around it. Harry found some comfort in this touch, even if it was small. The thought that his magnificent, beautiful angel was worried about him was enough to make Harry want to jump for joy.

Harry's heart was broken, but he still wanted to be by Draco's side. "You're right," Harry said. "But... I really care about you."

Draco looked into Harry's eyes. "I care about you too, Harry," he said. "But... This is something very different."

Harry understood what Draco meant. "I know," he said. "But... Maybe one day everything will change."
Draco took Harry's hand. "Maybe," he said. "But... For now, let's stay like this."

Harry held Draco's hand tightly. "Okay," he said. "Let's stay like this."

Together, they moved away from the mirror. Harry didn't want to let go of Draco's hand, but he also wanted to understand what Draco was thinking.

Together, they started walking towards the common room. Harry continued to hold Draco's hand. Draco didn't want to let go of Harry's hand, but he also didn't know what to do.

When they arrived at the common room, Draco let go of Harry's hand. "I'm going to bed," Draco said. "Good night."

"Good night, Draco," Harry said.

Draco started walking towards his room. Harry watched him go. He didn't know what Draco was thinking, but he didn't want to lose him.

When Draco entered his room, he sat on his bed. Harry's words were still on his mind. He liked Harry, but... This was something very different.

Draco lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. He thought about Harry until he fell asleep.

The next morning, Draco woke up feeling much better. Talking to Harry had done him good.

Draco went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He smiled when he saw Harry. Harry smiled back at him.

Their days were going well until Weasley let slip accusations about Snape. Understandably, this "brave" trio couldn't resist sticking their noses into something. Draco wished he had brought up the subject earlier. It wasn't at all surprising that they suspected Severus. Even if Draco knew nothing about it, he would have called him a bat too. Draco had long since realized that this trio couldn't resist being curious about something and taking action. But this was now starting to feel like an obsession to Draco. And believe me, he knew a lot about obsessions. He was talking about the man right now.

Draco sighed. He really didn't need this. He had his own research to continue, his own questions that were eating away at him. The change in his mother's plans, the coded messages in Toujours Pur, the disturbing dreams; these were much more urgent matters than Potter's latest obsession. But he knew, with a sinking feeling, that he would be dragged into this mess regardless. He was always like that. He was tied to Potter, an unwilling participant in the boy's chaotic life, a moth drawn to the same destructive flame. He looked at them again. They were still whispering, their eyes now darting towards him. He could almost hear the gears turning in their heads, the inevitable question forming on their lips. He braced himself. It was only a matter of time. The seed of anxiety that had sprouted in his heart had already begun to take root. He just hoped it wouldn't strangle everything else that was trying to grow.

But he didn't want to be unfair to Potter. That boy had earned the right to live his childhood. But Potter was being targeted for murder by the snake-faced wizard every year. Draco found this unfair. That's why he decided to break another vow he had made to himself. He couldn't let those idiots get themselves killed. They might be enjoying the adventure and mystery right now, but they hadn't yet grasped how serious things were. Damn it, they were children. They were all children. They shouldn't have to fight the most powerful dark wizard of their time. If anyone was going to fight, it should be a powerful adult wizard. Like Dumbledore. The man needed to stay alive to fight that damn snake-faced bastard. He shouldn't be letting those kids do his job. Despite all this time, Draco hadn't been able to figure out what was behind those piercing blue eyes. But he had a hand in this. He knew that much.

"Draco?" Hermione whispered, gathering her courage. Draco sighed inwardly. Here it came.

"Do you think it's Snape who's after the stone?" Hermione finally asked. Weasley and Potter were eagerly awaiting his answer.

"I don't think so," Draco replied, pretending to be thinking. Hermione gave them a "I told you so" look, while Weasley started to protest.

"But I heard him talking to Quirrell, they—" Draco cut Potter off.

"I understand, Potter, Severus isn't exactly the most affectionate person."

"Mate, this has nothing to do with being affectionate, have you seen him?" Weasley complained again.

"Weasley, think with your head, if you had hair like that, wouldn't you want to live longer?" Draco tried to joke. This made the kids laugh for a short while.

"But seriously, Draco, what do you think? Your opinion is very important," Hermione asked again, seriously.

Draco saw this as an opportunity. He had to stop those kids from contacting the Dark Lord.

"Actually, I really don't think it's him. Everyone knows that Dumbledore trusts him a lot, even though he acts like a vampire and clings to his students. And he's been at school for a long time, if he wanted to do something, he would have done it already. And Potter, I don't think he wants to kill you. Don't you remember what he said in class?" Draco said, while Hermione nodded her head in belief, defending her teacher.

"I remember him deducting ten points from Gryffindor for the last time, oh wait, sorry, that's all he ever says anyway," Weasley said with a sarcastic smile, crossing his arms.

"You're missing the whole point, Ronald," Draco said reproachfully. Ron wrinkled his nose at his formal name.

"You remember the questions he asked you in your first class, don't you?" Draco asked, turning to Harry. Potter nodded his head in agreement.

"He was testing you and apologizing to you at the same time," Draco said, looking at him, letting his sadness show on his face.

Harry was very surprised by this information. He whispered "for what" to him softly. Draco wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't looked at the boy directly.

"Your mother was the most intelligent witch of her time. Your mother and Severus were very close friends. But they had a few problems between them. He... didn't like your father very much. In his first class, Severus tried to see if you had your mother's intelligence. Your mother was very hardworking despite being so intelligent. She had memorized all the books before school even started. He couldn't find what he was looking for in you. He started to see you as your father. Not as Lily."

Draco knew this was very unfair. Severus wasn't acting like an adult at all. But Draco had to do his best. The only people who protected him and cared about him were his mother and his godfather. Draco needed him.
Weasley couldn't help but say "like Hermione." Draco smiled slightly at them. He knew how much Weasley admired and respected Hermione despite his sharp words.

Potter asked again, "What did he apologize for?" Draco swallowed deeply. He allowed the boy to prepare himself.

"All the questions he asked were actually a riddle. What he meant was... 'I'm very sorry that Lily died,'" Draco watched the boy gasp in shock. He looked like he was on the verge of collapse.

It was as if he was thinking that the scary man who had done nothing but taunt and be rude to him since the beginning of the term was someone with a heart.
Weasley and Granger were also very quiet. Hermione was deep in thought, while Ron had put an arm around Harry.

"Okay, so it's not Snape, but I still don't understand the match," Surprisingly, it was Weasley who said this.

"He might have been doing counter-curses. Did you guys look at the stands carefully?" Draco stubbornly tried to prove his point.

Hermione groaned. She seemed regretful about her reaction and that she might have attacked the wrong professor. Weasley shook his head at her. Potter now seemed to have come to his senses.

"Then I guess I should read more books," The boy looked at Draco with a sparkle in his eyes. Hermione clapped excitedly at this revelation, while Ron looked disgusted.

"Okay, go ahead and form a good book club, but there's still someone who wants to kill Harry," Weasley stubbornly stated the real issue. He leaned against the table with a sigh.

"I can agree with you for the first time, Ron," Hermione smirked jokingly. Ron smirked back at her.

"Who could it be?" Harry asked.

"Someone you wouldn't suspect at all. And which new teacher came to school this year?" Draco asked arrogantly.

The children looked at him in admiration. Draco winked at them.