Sprinkled Donuts
True to Draco’s word, the next class they had with McGonagall was a dance lesson. It took a lot of restraint for Hari not to throw a hex at Draco’s smug face from across the room. Bloody ponce.
His favorite teacher began her lesson with a reasoning for why they were learning the dance. “The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception. On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the Yule Ball is first and foremost...a dance.”
Hari snickered at the groans emerging from the boys; the girls seemed to be sparkling with excitement.
“Silence. The House of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you, in the course of a single evening, besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons. As for Salazar Slytherin’s house, I trust you will handle yourself with refinement and pride in our traditions.”
Fred snickered to George, “Try saying babbling, bumbling band of baboons five times fast.” Hari could see George mouthing it out of the corner of his eye.
“Now, to dance is to let the body breathe. Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst forth and take flight,” McGonagall said, her arms spreading with her analogy.
Ron whispered to Seamus, something that Hari couldn’t quite catch, stuck between nodding at the appropriate times and being bored out of his mind. He locked eyes with Hermione from across the room. Once he held her gaze, he motioned for them to be dance partners, as they had been practicing a lot lately. The smile he received made him relax; he didn’t particularly want to dance with anyone else in this room.
“Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance. Mr. Weasley, will you join me?” She asked as she grabbed his arm and pulled him to the dance floor.
‘So much for proper dance protocols Draco drilled into me,’ Hari mentally rolled his eyes, starting to check out of the lesson. ‘I wonder what the egg is a clue of? Maybe I should write Dick, he knows a lot of weird stuff. Note to self, Timmy’s birthday is coming up soon, I need to snag him a gift. I wonder if Roy will come to the Yule Ball. I really liked his outfit from last Yule, it’d be cool to wear something like that. Can I pull off the corset skirt combo? Maybe if it was green and not white. I’ll ask Jason and Padfoot when we are done here; they are better about fashion than I am.’
“Hari, are you okay?” Hermione asked, pulling the teen from his thoughts.
“Fine, just thinking if I can pull off a skirt.”
“What?”
“What?”
-----
“I hope you know that Hermione will not be your date.” Draco had his nose upturned as they walked out of class. “I plan on asking her Friday.”
Hari furrowed his brow. “Why not now?”
Draco clicked his tongue at him, an often occurrence when he was annoyed. “Where is the romance in just asking her now? No, I’m waiting for her gifts to arrive by post first. Then I will pull her aside privately and ask her.”
Green eyes rolled at the proclamation. “Bloody ponce, alright, be fancy.”
He received a punch in his shoulder. “Any idea who you will ask?”
Hari chose to ignore the fact he sucked his teeth, a habit he picked up from Malfoy. “No idea. I would ask Charlie or ’Mione, but one’s missing, which—do we have any news on that? And one’s your girlfriend. Maybe Luna? If anything, I could cop out and bring Tim. But with how much he hated dancing at the party last year, I’d probably owe him a favor. Which reminds me, his birthday is coming up soon. Any good books I could order for him? He’s off the deep end studying the not-so-secret Slytherin books you have locked down there.”
“A few come to mind. I’ll send you the catalog with my recommendations highlighted. He is quite fantastic, that little brother of yours, frightening too,” Draco grumbled.
Hari’s head cocked. “What do you mean?”
“I once woke in the middle of the night to him staring at my bunkmate, Theodore Nott. He was waving his wand and chanting something quietly. He turned to look at me and said, ‘You see nothing.’ I just rolled over.” Draco shivered at the memory. “He wasn’t even on the bed; the small boy was somehow balancing on the wooden foot.”
“That oddly tracks. He has insomnia; I used to wake up to find him doing weird stuff like that.” Hari sat in his seat for Charms. “One time I found him muttering to himself in the kitchen as he made pudding. I think I heard the words ‘annihilate,’ ‘Raj,’ and ‘Mothman.’”
“How did you handle it?”
“Walk out slowly, hoping he doesn’t notice was the advice everyone gave me… You did the right thing.” Hari patted his shoulder. “After the fourth day of him being awake, the safest thing to do is treat him like a wild animal. Slow movements, non-threatening tones, and no eye contact.”
Somewhere across the castle, Tim sneezed. “Someone must be talking about me.” The boy went back to making his potion in the second-floor girls’ out-of-order bathroom.
“Myrtllllleeeeee, wanna try this?”
“Shouldn’t you be in class?”
“Please, that’s plebeian knowledge. This, this is true potions.” The monstrosity he had created began to melt his spoon.
Jason jumped down from his seat in the rafters. “Tim.”
“No.”
“Tim, you need sleep.”
“NO! I’m close to making a tracking potion. And maybe a potion that gives incorporeal beings bodies.” Tim smacked the side of the acidic potion that had just melted his spoon.
“I think that will do the opposite.” Jason cringed at the purple bubbling mess. “Come on, if you agree to go to sleep, I’ll bring you some donuts.”
“... Strawberry? With sprinkles.” Tim’s pout would have been adorable if it wasn’t for the massive eye bags, and dirty clothes.
“Yes, now just let me.” Jason cleaned up the potions and Tim, who probably hadn’t showered in days. “Let me pick you up?”
“Only because you walk too fast. Stupid tall people.” Tim yawned as Jason picked him up, balancing him on his hip. “Want to sleep together in the RNR or your dorm?”
“RNR is fine. Maybe I can find a book to fall asleep to.” Tim tucked his head into Jason’s neck. “This year was supposed to be fun.”
Jason leaned his head on Tim’s head. “I know, buddy.”
“I can’t help from here. I can’t have my tech.” Tim’s yawns became more consistent, his small hands rubbed his eyes, which were barely staying awake.
“It sucks. But Dick and Roy are on it.” Jason paced outside the hallway, waiting for the room to appear.
“I wonder if B is even sleeping.”
“Alfred will make him.” Jason sat Tim on the bed as he grabbed some pajamas to switch him into.
“Like how you are making me?” The young boy lazily raised his arms as his brother changed him into something clean, barely paying attention.
“Something like that, yeah.”
“How are you not losing it?”
“Well, I’m testing ahead, and I have you.” Jason poked Tim’s nose. “And Hari. I can’t help the others, but I can help you two.”
“You’re on drugs, aren’t you?”
“Legally, yes. Apparently, my blood pressure was going to kill me.”
“Did you make the room have an underwater theme?”
“It’s soothing. Just stare at the mermaids and fishes.”
“No.” Tim still struggled against Jason as he tucked him into the giant bed in the room. He was out as soon as Jason settled in the bed beside him, safe that his older brother was there.