Fancy A Sweet?

Malfoy tried to control his shaky hands, trying to keep his breathing constant. He had tried since he got that letter from the Ministry that same morning. Politely asking him to come to the Ministry to answer some questions about some recent Death Eater sighting.

Politely. As if.

He cannot cry. He cannot. He would not lie to himself that this would be a friendly chat. He was ready…not ready really but was expecting the worst.

“I do not care what the Ministry says. You must have this young man back at the castle by tonight. He has lessons and the exams are coming up.”

The moment he could, Malfoy was going to get the Headmistress the biggest gift he could find. Watching her stand up to that fucking Auror was the best thing he had seen in a while.

“The Ministry will have him as long as th-”

“Mister Smith. They will have him back no later than eighth in the afternoon or I will go to the Ministry and find him myself.” McGonagall said with an air of finality that left no room for discussion.

“Eight in the morning is the best I can offer.”

“I will go after him if you don’t bring him back at 8pmsharp.”

“I know.” Auror Smith looked at Malfoy. “Time to go.”

“Thank you.” Malfoy looked at McGonagall. The Headmistress looked at him with such resignation, it resembled his mother in a way. The sad acceptance of things out of your control. He walked to the fireplace, the Auror behind him but not touching him, probably because McGonagall was there.

“Ministry of Magic. Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Auror Headquarters. Auror Ewan Smith and key witness 010.” He threw the powder. “After you, Mister Malfoy.”

Malfoy looked at McGonagall one last time.

“I will be waiting right here.”

Malfoy nodded and stepped into the Floo, followed by Auror Smith. 

\\\

So Malfoy cancelled their tutoring session. He also let him know that he was going to miss detention. Well not detention-detention but their meeting to finish up the cauldrons that they didn’t finish the day before. Harry went to finish them, obviously. Because only something very important would make Malfoy cancel on him. 

“Harry. This is Sixth Year all over again.”

“No, it’s not.”

“What’s Sixth Year?” Seamus sat down on the sofa in front of Harry and Ron, near the fire in the cosy Gryffindor Common Room, wrapping an arm around Dean. Ron didn’t look up from the chess board.

“Harry freaking out about Malfoy.”

“What did the asshole do now?”

Harry groaned a bit as he leaned back into the couch, staring at the ceiling. Ron finally made his move, destroying the knight. Dean swore under this breath and moved closer to the board, frowning a bit. Ron looked at Seamus.

“He just missed his tutoring session with Harry and now he is freaking out.”

“Why?” Seamus’s face changed, getting more serious. “Do you think he is planning something? Should we call the Aurors?”

“No!” Harry said a bit too loud as he sat up. Everyone was now looking at him. Great. “No. I don’t think he is up to something. I was just saying that it was weird.”

“Weird is that he is tutoring you in Potions.” Dean commented, his hand hovering over the board. “And that you haven’t killed each other yet.” He lowered his hand, both elbows on his knees and his hand holding his head, staring intensely at the board.

“We can be civil.”

“Are you sure he didn’t cast a spell on you or something?” Seamus joked, looking at Ron. “Have you had him checked?”

“Eh, his obsession with Malfoy isn’t new, mate.” Ron scratched his cheek, watching Dean move. 

“I’m not obsessed. I’m just worried! He cancelled our lessons, he didn’t show up to polish the cauldrons, he missed lunch and Muggle Studies.”

“As if he cared about Muggle Studies.” Seamus said with way too much venom in his voice.

“He does actually.” Harry felt a pinch of anger, because who was he to judge Malfoy? He didn’t know Malfoy. “He cares a lot about all of his classes. Especially Muggle Studies.”

“Because they would kick him out if he didn’t.”

“No. He genuinely likes the subject.”

“Why are you defending him?”

Was he defending Malfoy?

“Whatever.” Harry stood up. “I’m going to bed.” He left without another word. He didn’t owe them an explanation. And they didn’t have the right to talk about Malfoy, none of them knew him like Harry did. None of them understood him.

He got ready for bed quickly, not wanting to risk seeing his roommates now. Harry didn’t think he was in the mood to keep explaining himself to them, even if they were friends. They just kept bugging him about Malfoy when he was being perfectly reasonable. It was not Sixth Year all over again. Besides, he was right Sixth Year!

He laid on his bed, curtains drawn up with a strong Silencing Charm and Privacy Charm to keep his roommates away. He stared at the canopy with no hopes of sleeping. Why couldn’t they understand? It was odd behaviour. Malfoy would never miss a class. He would never give Harry a chance to ‘one up’ him, such as having Harry clean more cauldrons than him. And well, it seemed that Malfoy was enjoying their lessons. 

One detail he left out was that Malfoy was nowhere in the castle. No where on the map. His name was gone. So where was he? Malfoy would have told him if he went to visit his mother. Or that he got a permit to go to Hogsmeade or…or anything. Malfoy would have told him.

Harry groaned and covered his face with his pillow.

It was going to be a bloody long night.

\\\

And it was a bloody long night. Harry felt even more on edge the next day. He got out of bed around 5:30 and went to wait for breakfast at the Great Hall. Once it appeared, he poured himself some coffee which only made him more upset because he hated the taste.

“Morning, Harry.” Hermione sat next to him and had the good grace of not commenting on his mood. Ron, on the other hand, did not offer him the same kindness.

“You look like shit, mate. Did you even sleep?”

“Some.” He lied as he got another cup of coffee, this time with milk and sugar. It still tasted awful and got him in an even worse mood.

And apparently it showed because none of his friends talked to him the whole duration of breakfast. Hermione pushed a plate of scrambled eggs and some toast in front of him and Harry ate it. Okay, he was moody but he wasn’t self destructive as some people like to put it. Of course he was going to eat, no point in being exhausted AND hungry. Gotta pick a struggle.

Maybe he would take a nap during History of Magic. Surely Hermione wouldn’t be too hard on him and would let him borrow her notes. With that in mind, he sat in the back of the class, folding his arms over the desk and resting his head on them, just getting comfortable to sleep, just as he was drifting off, the door opened with a creaking voice and in almost a whisper a voice spoke.

“I’m sorry, Professor Binns…Did Headmistress McGonagall talk with you?” 

“Yes, Mister Malfoy. She did. It’s all good.”

Harry’s head shot straight up. There he was. Malfoy walked to the back with his head down as Professor Binns continued his class. Luckily for Harry, the only empty seat in the back was the one next to Harry. Malfoy seemed to hesitate but sighed and sat next to him.

“Not a word.” Malfoy whispered as he pulled his things out. Harry closed his mouth and looked at him. Malfoy’s hands were a bit shaky as he dipped his quill into the ink pot and began taking notes, ignoring Harry. But Harry couldn’t look away. Malfoy looked pale, well, paler, he had deep under eye bags, proof that he also didn’t sleep and had a faint redness around the eyes. His eyes were a bit glassy too.

Something had happened.

Malfoy looked…empty. He just sat there with that posh perfect posture of his. Keeping a razor sharp focus on the class, taking notes with that perfect handwriting of his. The only tell that something was wrong was the slight shake of his hands that every now and then messed up one or two of those smooth letters.

Then Harry remembered. He reached over for his bag and rummaged through it. Man what a dump. He finally reached what he wanted. He pulled it out of his bag triumphantly and slid the Chocolate Frog to Malfoy, poking his arm with the box which made Malfoy flinch hard, almost dropping his ink pot. Malfoy blinked a bit and stared at the Chocolate Frog. Harry gave him time but the more it passed, the more worried he got. He took the box and opened it, he took a small bite of the chocolate and that seemed to snap Malfoy back to the present. He accepted the rest and ate it while he went back to taking notes. He still looked stiff but his shoulders did look less tense so Harry took it as a win.

After a while, Malfoy poked at a half-asleep Harry and opened his hand, palm up as if asking for something. 

“Mmm…What?” Harry’s voice a bit groggy, turning his face to the side to look at Malfoy, still using his arms as a pillow. Malfoy spared him an unamused look and wiggled his hand in front of Harry's face. Harry looked at him confused and Malfoy rolled his eyes and flicked the Chocolate Frog box at his face, making Harry flinch and groan a bit.

“If you wanted more,” Harry whispered as he looked inside his back, pulling out two more Chocolate Frogs and a Sugar Quill, a red one, and slid it over to Malfoy. “You just had to say so.”

Malfoy looked at the sweets, hitting his chin with the end of his quill as he thought about which one to eat. He ended up opting for a Chocolate Frog. He did a quick job with the packaging, easily handling the frog and eating before it could leap away. Damn, he managed to make eating candy look posh. Malfoy checked what card he got and rolled his eyes, he carelessly toast it over at Harry and went back to taking notes. The card landed on Harry’s hair.

“Merlin, what a prick. You are welcome.” Harry whispered, a small smirk appeared on Malfoy’s face. He checked the card and held a laugh. Of course, of course, it was his own. Harry smirked and slipped it into Malfoy’s bag with him being none the wiser, focussing way too much on the class in Harry’s opinion. Harry would bet his wand that Malfoy had read all the versions of ‘A History of Magic’, probably even some rare posh versions too.

The manor must have some fancy, creepy library like the ones in the movies. Full of dusty books. Wait, no. Dusty? Impossible. With how pristine the Malfoys always look, there must not be a peck of dust in that library. Would it be bigger than the Hogwarts library? Impossible. But it must be pretty big. Would it be empty now? He remembered something about taking stuff away from the Malfoys, he couldn’t remember the trials very well. They kinda blurred into each other. He didn’t remember a lot about that period of time.

Merlin, this class was boring.

“Harry! We are gonna be late for Transfiguration.” Hermione’s voice woke him up. Damn, when did he fall asleep? He looked to his side and found the seat empty. “Harry, come on!”

“Fuck, okay, okay.” Harry just threw everything inside his bag. He did notice that the Chocolate Frog and Sugar Quill were missing. He smirked and rushed to Ron and Hermione.

“I cannot believe you fell asleep in class.”

“Give him a break, Hermione.” Ron walked next to her, holding her hand. “The class was boring anyways.”

“Well, exams are coming up and this class was quite important.”

“Yeah, but…”

The voices faded into the background as they made their way to the Transfiguration. He knew Ron and Hermione were bickering next to him, it was adorable and also annoying. He was glad they got their shit together and accepted the feelings for eachother, he really was. But now he was forced to witness them being an actual couple. With their knowing looks and silent conversations that Harry was no longer part of. As if they were speaking a different language that Harry would never be able to learn.

It did get them off his back though. So that’s a plus. It was nice to not have their inquiring eyes on him all the time. Watching him, waiting for…for something, for Harry to fuck up? Not like they would think that, they just want him to be okay. Which he was, he was perfectly okay, he was fine. Perfectly and utterly fi-

“Ah shit!” Harry rubbed his side that just got hit with the edge of a table. Fuck, that hurt. 

“You okay, mate?”

Ron was staring, everyone was staring.

“I’m fine.” Harry said a bit too harshly to be believable. Oh shit, why was everyone staring? Everything was fine. “Just clumsy.” He moved to the back of the classroom. He didn’t want to have eyes watching his back. He felt so on edge now. For fuck’s sake, he just bumped into the fucking desk!

Oh, Malfoy was here. Just a few desks in front of Harry. He actually had a good view of the slippery guy. Where was he yesterday? Harry didn’t have the chance to ask him in History of Magic. Who was the guy next to him? Why was he sitting next to Malfoy? The guy kept glancing at Malfoy. Luckily, Malfoy didn’t pay any attention to him.

Harry smirked. Of course Malfoy wouldn’t pay attention to someone like that guy. Harry didn't even know his name. What house was he even in? The class was a mix of students, they mixed them up in some lessons. House Unity and all of that. Was he a Hufflepuff? He had nothing against them but he couldn’t picture Malfoy voluntarily hanging out with a Hufflepuff. Gryffindor? Harry would know them. So either Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Were there any of those in this class? Maybe? He hadn’t been paying much attention to his classmates. Too busy focusing on class.

Yeah sure.

You know what. Why was Malfoy sitting with him when there was a perfectly empty seat next to Harry. It took him months (exaggeration) to get him to talk and this random ass student can go and sit with him? Fuck no. Harry tore a piece of parchment paper and wrote a quick note before folding it and spelling it to go to Malfoy. It appeared in front of Malfoy who looked confused and a bit hesitant to read it. The moment he opened it his head snapped incredibly fast to look at Harry. Who gestured him to come over.

Malfoy’s face of confusion was hilarious. Harry gestured to him again and Malfoy glanced around. Harry rolled his eyes and casted a quick Disillusionment Charm on both of them and gestured to him more dramatically. Oh Godric, for someone who studied so much, he was sure slow to pick up a clue. Malfoy slowly picked up his things and put them in his bag, still giving him a weird look. Harry had to suppress the smirk that was threatening to form on his face. Malfoy seemed a bit hesitant to move but once he realised Harry’s Disillusionment Charm was a good one, he stood up and went over to him.

Something stirred inside Harry. Feeling…Something that he decided he would not look into.

He moved seats to let Malfoy take his spot, he sat down and narrowed his eyes at Harry, who smiled.

“Hey.”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing.”

“Well then.” Malfoy picked up his things to leave and Harry stopped the Disillusionment Charm. Malfoy suppressed a groan and put his things down, looking around and so far, no one noticed him moving except the idiot Malfoy had been sitting with. “What the fuck do you want, Potter?” He whispered, getting his things to take notes.

…what did he want? Well, he wasn’t sure. He did know he didn’t want Malfoy sitting with some stranger, that’s for sure. But he did need to come up with something because Malfoy was glaring at him. It was better than the blank stare from the other class but not what Harry would have preferred. What would he prefer? Also not sure. Damn, he wasn’t sure of a lot of things.

“Can I borrow your notes?”

Malfoy gave him a blank stare, before shaking his head and roughly opening his book and taking out his parchment paper to continue working on whatever they were supposed to be doing.

“Unfucking believable.” Malfoy muttered as he worked for a bit before abruptly stopping and looking at Harry. He rolled his eyes at Harry and put his parchment paper in the middle of them. “Page 234.”

“Really?”

“A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration, page 234. We are in Transfiguration, by the way.” He whispered as he looked back at his book.

“Yeah, I gathered that much with Headmistress McGonagall teaching the class.”

“Aren’t you a brilliant one.”

“Aw, you think I’m brilliant?”

“Yes.” Malfoy said, surprising Harry. “Brilliantly stupid. Blindingly stupid. I bet they could power up a whole city with your stupidity alone.”

He should be angry. A comment like that would have made him angry before. But now it was sort of…endearing? Was that the word? It was cute, okay? It was kinda cute. It made Harry smile, then he realised he was smiling and was glad that Malfoy was so focussed on his paper instead of Harry.

“You know what electricity is?”

“Not all its nuances.” Malfoy gently dipped his fancy quill in his equally fancy inkpot. With practice ease, he moved the quill’s point along the mouth of the inkpot to get rid of the excess. Then he waited a few moments before lifting his quill, letting any leftover ink drip down and once satisfied, he went back to writing. “But I know what it is.”

“How?”

“I read.”

“What do you read?”

“A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration. Page 234 is rather interesting.”

Harry rolled his eyes and finally opened his book to page bloody 234. Maybe he could try to actually do some work….or he could just ask Malfoy to help him later. Harry was sure that he would say yes after berating him for not paying attention in class.

Just as the class ended, Malfoy picked up his things in record time. But he was not able to sneak out so easily. Harry held Malfoy's sleeve and Malfoy shot him a glare.

“Let go, Potter.”

“Can I borrow your notes?”

Malfoy looked confused for a second before rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

“No. You should have taken your own notes.”

“I will get you some Chocolate Frogs.”

That got Malfoy to consider it. God bless that sweet tooth of his.

Malfoy pulled out his parchments and put them on the table. Harry tried to take them but Malfoy had his hand on top of them.

“I want them back after Care of Magical Creatures.”

“Alright.”

“Don’t get used to this.”

Malfoy turned around and left the classroom before Harry could answer. But Harry didn’t mind. They have their tutoring lesson anyways.

\\\

Before Care of Magical Creatures, Harry told Hermione and Ron to leave without him, he would catch up with them later. He saw Malfoy make his way down near Hadrid’s hut and got a bit curious.

Malfoy avoided asking questions to Hagrid. Anyone else would think it’s because he didn’t think that Hagrid was good enough to be a Professor. Before, Harry would agree with them. Before, it was probably that.

But now, it was clear to Harry that Malfoy tried to maintain as little contact as possible because he was ashamed of his past actions. What a pity. Malfoy was a good student. Under different circumstances, Hagrid would have enjoyed having him as an active student.

Malfoy was sitting on a transfigured blanket on the ground. His long legs crossed, the book ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ opened on his lap with his notes on top. He looked very absorbed in his work. His head was tilted slightly to the side, every now and then, he would blow his short bangs away from his face. Everytime he got to something particularly difficult, he chewed his lower lip a bit.

“Need anything, Harry?”

Harry almost jumped out his skin when Hagrid spoke. Hagrid looked at him with curiosity and waited until Harry recovered from the surprise.

“Uh. No, just. Gotta talk with Malfoy.”

“Harry…” Hagrid said with a warning tone. “Don’t go starting fights.”

“I’m not going to start any fights.” Harry frowned and crossed his arms. “Who said I’m going to start a fight?” Merlin, he had been so mean to Hagrid lately. Chill out. Harry cleared his throat a bit. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t talk to you like that.”

“That’s alright, Harry.” Hagrid gave him a warm smile that only made Harry feel worse from his awful behaviour towards him. “It’s been a difficult year, I don’t take it personally.” He picked up a huge bucket filled with raw meat. “If you say you won’t start a fight, then I believe you. Come for tea sometime. Don’t forget about old me.”

Harry laughed a bit and shook his head.

“I will be passing by soon. See you in class.”

“Don’t forget to bring the magnifying glasses.” Hagrid walked away to feed some insane animal he must be hiding somewhere. 

Once he was far enough, Harry walked over to Malfoy and just as he was about to sit down, Malfoy closed his book harshly and stood.

“What do you want, Potter?” Malfoy didn’t even look at him, with a quick flick of his wand, the blanket turned back into a pebble. Impressive. He put his things back into his back. “I don’t have all day.”

“Your notes.” Harry quickly looked through his bag and pulled out Malfoy’s notes. He used one of Hermione’s favourite spells to keep the pages wrinkle-free. Because who knew what scandal Malfoy would have if he found even a minor crease on his pristine notes. “Thanks.”

Malfoy finally looked up at him, he looked down at the parchments and took them. He looked mildly surprised, probably because of how well taken care of they were. Harry’s chest filled with pride.

“They were very good.”

“That happens when you pay attention in class.”

Harry snorted. Malfoy put his notes neatly on his bag and turned around, leaving without saying another word to Harry.

But he didn’t want to stop talking just yet. Harry walked faster to catch up with Malfoy.

“We still up for Potions?”

Malfoy spared a brief glance at him.

“Got five gallons?”

“Got ten even.”

“Not enough to endure you for more than an hour.”

“What would it take?”

Harry stopped just as they reached the entrance steps. Malfoy stopped and half-turned around.

“Add two Chocolate Frogs and I might consider it.”

Harry smirked at him and put his hands on his pockets.

“What if I give you three and a Sugar Quill too.”

“A bit desperate, aren’t we, Potter?”

“What can I say,” Harry walked closer, climbing a few steps, stopping just as he was at eye level with Malfoy. “I really want to pass Potions.”

Malfoy blinked a few times and looked away.

“Tomorrow, after lunch. We will meet in the library.”

“Sounds good.”

“Don’t be late.”

“See you in class.”

Malfoy rolled his eyes as he turned around and walked away. Harry waited a bit before walking inside. Knowing Malfoy, he would probably think he was following him or something. 

He met up with Hermione and Ron with a smile on his face.

\\\

“There you are.” Macmillan cornered Draco just as he left the library, in one of the less used corridors of the castle. He was leaning against a wall, looking Draco up and down with way too much interest in his eyes. “It’s impossible to talk to you with Potter taking up all your time.”

“Potter hasn't taken up shit from me.” Draco tried to walk past him but he cut Draco off, moving in front of him and leaning against the opposite wall with one arm. Standing in the middle of the corridor, his arm covering whatever space his idiotic body didn’t cover. For a moment, Draco regretted taking the less used corridor to get to class.

“I’m going to be late for class.”

“What a pity that Slytherin has all its classes with Gryffindor. I would have loved to share classes with you.”

“Yes, what an immense pity.”

“Oh, let me walk you.” Macmillan stepped closer and Malfoy stepped back. Macmillan’s eyes got sharp. “Better not be alone around empty corridors. You never know who might be around.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“Not what I have heard.”

Malfoy felt his muscles tensed up so much that it was borderline painful. His wand weighed his pocket. Would he be able to reach for it? Would it make a difference? Macmillan stepped back, a deceitful friendly smile on his face, both his hands now out of his pockets and wand-free.

“Come on, Malfoy. Don’t play hard to get.” He shrugged. “It’s not like you have the social standing to be rejecting people right now.”

“I’m going to ignore that.”

“You have been ignoring me quite enough.” 

“Take the hint.”

Draco pushed past Macmillan, but he stopped him again, standing back on his way.

“I’m going to be late.”

“Let me walk with you.”

Draco didn’t know what to do. Actually, he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to hex Macmillan’s balls off and tell him to never direct a word to him ever again. Or, in a less extreme way, tell him that he was not interested in his proposition. Reject him like the good pureblood wizard he was. But he couldn’t because, as much as he hated to admit it, Macmillan was right. Draco didn’t have the social standing to be rejecting people. He didn’t have the upperhand anymore.

“I can’t stop you if you want to walk that way.”

That was as good of a rejection he could give. He didn’t not accept his invitation. That was clear.

“Sure.” Macmillan’s smirk looked way too self assured for him to have actually understood what Draco meant. But he was running late enough so he walked as fast as he could and relished the fact that Macmillan had a bit of trouble keeping up.

Draco had never felt so relieved to see a group of students walking down the stairs. First time in the whole year that he had been glad that there were more people on the corridor.

Sadly, that did not stop Macmillan from staying by his side. Draco was hoping that people would bring some sense into him but no. Macmillan probably thought with his dick. Draco doubted his brain was strong enough to handle anything more difficult than breathing, walking and being fucking annoying.

“It’s kinda cold.” Macmillan said in the lamest attempt ever to get his oh fuck, the asshole was about to wrap his arm around-

“Malfoy!” The Saviour himself stepped between the two of them. “Hey! I have been wanting to ask you some questions about Potions.” He gave Draco a look that somehow made him relax. He hasn’t realised how tense he was. 

“Harry.” Macmillan said tersely as he was forced to step quite a few paces back. “What a surprise.”

“Surprise?” Potter looked over at Macmillan. “Hardly a surprise, I got class with the Slytherins. You, on the other hand, do not. Why are you here?”

“Just walking Draco to class.”

Oh for fuck’s sake.

“He was not.”

Potter looked at Draco and nodded. He looked at Macmillan, there was a hardness in his eyes, it was a bit frightening. Even Macmillan seemed intimidated.

“He said you weren’t. Bye.”

Potter did one of the weirdest things he had ever done. He put his hand in the middle of Draco’s back. Just between the shoulder blades and guided him out. But it didn’t feel forceful. It was a barely there touch. And Draco did an even weirder thing.

He didn’t push Potter away. He let him guide him away from Macmillan. Draco didn’t look at Macmillan, he kept his eyes looking straight forward. Potter’s…protective? Hand on his back. It felt…nice.

Merlin, he was pathetic.

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You didn’t look very comfortable with him.”

“As if anyone could be comfortable around that pathetic little shit.”

Potter nodded, he glanced back and his hand did not move from his back.

“So what are your questions?”

“Oh, I didn’t have any questions.”

Malfoy stopped walking. They weren’t far away from Hagrid’s hunt, they still had about 5 minutes before class started. And Potter’s hand was still on his back. He wanted to lean into the touch so badly but even he couldn’t fall that low. Being accosted by Macmillan of all people was bad enough.

“Then why did you-”

“You look uncomfortable.”

“I do not need your help.”

Potter looked at him. He was looking at him with such softness, the change from the harsh way he looked at Macmillan was jarring. Draco’s defenses must be really fucked up because he couldn’t get himself to glare at him.

“I know you don’t.”

It took a second too long for Draco to answer. He had to gather sufficient strength to step away from Potter’s comforting hand. He felt it move down to the middle of his back.

“We are going to be late. Don’t stand next to me.”

Draco was already a few metres away but he still caught Potter saying, in a very soft voice:

“Okay.”