The Tragic Tale of the Boy Who Lived and the Boy Who Wanted to Die [ON HIATUS]

During the day, when he was playing chess with Theo, or practising Quidditch with Blaise and Ginny, he managed to take his mind off the hippogriff. Ginny had assured him that her brother, Potter, and Granger were helping Hagrid win the case. Draco wasn’t about to let his friends worry about him.

But whenever he glanced towards the Gryffindor table and saw the three of them, or saw Hagrid up at the staff table, he felt nauseous with guilt. At night, when it was just him, he could only think about the attack. It kept replaying in his head. Part of his brain was fighting to turn it off, to just ignore it, and the other part was picking it apart, trying to change it and make it different. He kept thinking about what he should have done instead, how he could have handled it differently. He even considered trying to help the trio prove Hagrids innocence to make up for what he did. He didn’t, of course, but he wanted to.

He couldn’t deny that the castle was beautiful, much like it had been last year, and was far less crowded, as many students had gone home. He really preferred the castle empty like this.

Ginny had done a very good job at hiding Flurry. On Christmas Eve, Ginny asked Draco how they wanted to do presents the following morning.

“Should I just bring Flurry down here, and try to hide her? I could ask Harry if I could borrow his Invisibility Cloak. That might work.” Ginny left the common room to try and corner Potter before nightfall, since they weren’t allowed out past then. Draco didn’t want to accept favours from Potter, but he really had no other choice, since the only other option was to hope Theo didn’t see the cat before he opened his presents. About 15 minutes later, Ginny came back, holding a silvery cloak.

“He said yes. I didn’t tell him what it was for, exactly, but he’s fine with us borrowing the cloak for the night.”

“Great.” Draco said. He then thought about what she had said. “Wait, what do you mean, us? This was your idea.” Draco did not want Potter to think that Draco needed his assistance.

“The cat was your idea. I just told him I wanted to borrow the cloak for something, and I would return it tomorrow. Jeez, it’s not like I said, Oh, Draco needs your cloak and asked me to get it from you. What’s your problem with him anyway?”

“I- I just don’t like him is all.”

“Or you just don’t want him to think you need his help.”

Draco did not respond, but knew from the look on Ginny’s face that she knew she was right. The next morning, the four of them (Theo, Blaise, Draco, and Ginny) gathered in the common room with their presents for each other (they opened the gifts from their families separately). Ginny sat down next to Draco and subtly handed over the cat and cloak.

“Can I go first?” Blaise asked.

“Sure, but I want to go second.” Ginny replied.

“I don’t mind going last, Draco.” Theo told him.

Blaise was very excited when he opened the bag of Zonko’s products. Ginny got him a set of books about Quidditch, and Theo had gotten him a new broomstick servicing kit. He looked very happy with the gifts he had gotten.

Ginny and Draco then opened their presents. Draco got some cool Astronomy books from Ginny (since that had long been a subject he enjoyed), a new cauldron from Blaise, and from Theo he got some more books and-

“Book plates?” He asked Theo.

“They’re enchanted to tell you the page you left off on, so that you don’t have to bookmark or dog-ear the pages. They are also easily removable, so you can put them in library books.”

Then it was Theo’s turn. Flurry was still wrapped in the cloak, and was sitting on Draco’s lap. He felt the corner of the cloak with envy; what he wouldn’t give to have a cloak like this!

“Thank you guys for the presents! I love them!” Theo exclaimed.

“Wait, Theo, you haven’t opened mine yet.” Draco said.

“What are you talking about? I have it right here! A Definitive Guide on How to Raise a Cat- ” Theo suddenly realised what Draco meant. “ Draco you didn’t! ”

Draco laughed as he tossed the cloak to the side, revealing the large cat. Theo was speechless as Draco handed him the cat.

“I’d better get a good present next year. How come he gets a cat and all I get is a bag of Zonko’s products?” Blaise laughed. Draco was glad he didn’t sound genuinely mad. He was slightly worried his other friends would be jealous.

Everybody then started comparing gifts, but Flurry was no doubt the best one there. She paced around the group of friends, demanding love from each and every one of them, before laying down between Draco and Theo. Soon, Blaise announced that he was going to go practise flying.

“I’d suggest you come as well, Draco. Flint’s not happy his favourite player hasn’t flown. And you, Ginny, since second years don’t usually make the team, and we don’t want you getting kicked off.”

“For your information, Blaise, I have been flying since the age of six. And I’m a far better Chaser than Montague ever was, so shut your mouth. Also, it’s Christmas, so I have to go see my family. At least the ones who aren’t assholes, anyway.” Ginny muttered the last sentence and looked away.

Draco knew that she had recently had an argument with her brother Peter, or whatever his name was. He didn’t know why.

“Fine, you guys stay here, but I’m going to go practice.” He gave Flurry one final pat on the head and left. Draco privately thought that he probably should be practising, but he really didn’t want to. Instead, he picked up the invisibility cloak that he had been hiding Flurry under.

“This is a really cool cloak, Ginny. Where did he get it? Cloaks like this don’t typically last very long, so this one is either new or very expensive.” Draco wouldn’t put it past Potter to own an expensive, luxury cloak.

“Oh, he got it from his dad. Family heirloom or something.” She replied.

Draco found this odd, since even the most expensive cloaks couldn’t last for more than 50 years or so. If it was a family heirloom, then it must be some really powerful magic. The only cloak Draco had ever heard of lasting this long was from a storybook he read as a kid. ‘The Tale of the Three Brothers’, or something like that. He decided to try it on.

“Holy shit, I’m completely invisible! How has this thing not faded yet, if it’s a family heirloom? He got it from his dad?” Draco walked around the common room, completely invisible. He passed a mirror hanging on the wall and couldn’t even see a hazy spot where he stood. How was this cloak allowed in the school? He wondered, Couldn’t it be dangerous? He took it off and handed it back to Ginny.

“I might just have to buy my own invisibility cloak. I wonder if there are any in Hogsmeade?” Draco said, in awe of the cloak.

“Probably not, invisibility cloaks are rare as it is. If there are any in Hogsmeade, they probably aren’t any good.” Theo replied.

“Well, I’d better return this to Harry. I’ll be back later.” Ginny left, and Draco knew that she wasn’t looking forward to seeing her family today. Draco could relate.

“You really shouldn’t have, Draco. I told you not to go overboard!” Theo teased. The two of them started laughing. Draco was really glad he stayed for Christmas.