Chapter 1
Draco was eating breakfast in the great hall when an owl came swooping down and dropped a wrapped package on Draco, hitting him square in the head and almost dunking his face in his scrambled eggs.
He swore, but opened the package, thinking it was from his mother, the only one who would send him anything.
Inside was a small, rectangular box and the newest edition of Witch Weekly on top.
The front page proclaimed:
Is everyones favorite savior facing a siege of Valentines this week?
He snorted at the predictability of the subject matter, but despite himself opened the magazine to read the article.
Record high valentines chocolate sales to Hogwarts students this year, Honeydukes reports.
Perhaps the end of You-know-who has inspired love to bloom among young witches and wizards, but we think the extra quivers of cupid's cocoa are aimed at the chosen one this year.
Since Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts to finish his NEWT year like so many others, his classmates have sent us stories of countless fans trying their luck with the boy who lived.
So far it seems our heartthrob has turned down all offers.
But perhaps some lucky witch will land herself the wizarding world's most famous young man this Valentines day.
Either way Harry Potter is all grown up and single as far as we know, so a witch can hope, right?
Draco rolled his eyes. Yeah right, everyone knew Potter was all set to marry the Weaslette and finally join his adopted family for real, living the fairytale ending.
On the inside of the magazine's wrapper was an envelope. Complementary good luck amulet.
Draco emptied the envelope into his palm and studied the cheap trinket. A small bleached wishbone on a thin silver chain. What the hell, Draco figured he could use all the luck he could get these days, and clasped the necklace on.
He moved on to the box that the magazine had come on top of.
Honeydukes Valentine's Chocolate Cauldrons
Filled with Borteg's Veelan liqueur
Enchanted with festive details
There was an illustration of said chocolate cauldron bubbling happily as a ladle stirred the syrupy pink contents and a stream of little heart shaped steam clouds rose up from it.
A handwritten note stuck on the box answered the question of who had sent the owl.
Why don't you try your luck Death Eater scum. Maybe Potter will save you if you suck his dick real good
As insults went this one wasn't particularly inventive. It wasn’t the first time someone had brought up dicksucking, but it was the first time someone brought Potter into it like that. Usually people who insulted him were fans, but then you could include most of wizarding Britain in that group. This person sounded like one of the rare few who disliked him.
Pansy dropped onto the bench beside him and snatched the copy of witch weekly, skimming the article.
“Gossip Draco?” she simpered. “I didn’t think you read this anymore since all they write about is Potter?”
“I don’t,” he glowered. “Someone sent it to me as a joke. Can you believe this drivel? Declaring him available just to sell papers. Everyone knows he’s all but engaged to the Weaslette.”
Pansy studied him with mock pity and leaned her chin on his shoulder, her sleek black bob brushing his cheek.
“You are out of the loop, dear, if you think that. Ginevra is supposedly dating Dean Thomas again, at least theyve been snogging all over the castle for months. You must be blind to not have seen. And she hasn't given Potter more than a very sisterly looking hug all year. Word has it they broke it off during the summer, or some say they just never got back together again.”
Dracos heart did an odd flip, and it distracted him enough that he didnt catch Pansy’s next exclamation before it was too late.
“Valentines cauldrons? For me? You absolutely should have!”
And she ripped off the lid on the box and popped one of the chocolates into her mouth.
“Shit Pansy, NO!” Draco shouted and batted the box out of her hands. The nearby slytherins looked over curiously.
“Whyy?” Pansy whined and pouted. “I deserve chocolate, you should share, meanie.”
“No, Pansy,” he grabbed her shoulders and shook. “Those came with the magazine and an insulting note. They could be poisoned!”
No one had yet gone so far as to try and kill him, but several had attempted to really hurt him, so he figured it was probably just a matter of time. And better safe than sorry either way.
Pansy paled, and spit out the residual chocolate on a napkin, but she had already swallowed most of it.
Draco grabbed her arm and the box of chocolates and pulled her up from the table.
“Come. Hospital wing.” He said and set a quick pace out of the hall.
He was so shaky that he only remembered they should have done a regurgitation hex when they arrived at the hospital wing. Pansy heaved the contents of her stomach in the nearest potted plant as Draco explained to Pomfrey what had happened.
He was never very worried for himself when someone attacked him, but this was Pansy. She was innocent, no matter what words she'd said at the last battle, she didn't deserve this Shit.
Pomfrey did some diagnostic spells on Pansy.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong,” she summoned a potion bottle with a flick of her wand. “But drink this just in case. It’s a generic antidote. Covers the most common simple malicious brews. And stay here until we can be sure there is nothing in your system.”
She turned her attention to the box of chocolates, doing a series of detection spells.
“You need to be more careful Pans,” Draco said clasping her hands as she sat on the edge of one of the hospital beds.
“Besides me, Theo and Greg and the other relatives of his followers, you are the most targeted. It’s not safe.”
“I know Draco,” she said with a shaky smile. "Now stop being such a Hufflepuff, it's embarrassing."
After doing every detection spell in the book, Pomfrey declared the chocolates poison free unless some potion savant was behind them. She let Pansy stay the rest of the day for peace of mind, but shooed Draco out og the wing. Somehow he ended up with the box of chocolates in his hands outside. He stared down at them. He should just tross them. They felt like a physical representation of all the abuse targeted towards the Slytherins. The rest of the houses had always treated them with undue suspicion, but after the war it was like they saw the lot of them as budding criminals. Even the bloody first years. None of them had taken the mark, they couldn't help who their parents were, or what house they were sorted into. Slytherin wasn't evil any more than the other houses. He was so angry and tired. He was the only one of them that deserved any kind of punishment.
His hands clenched on the box crumpling it a little on the edges. He didn't know what he would have done if Pansy had gotten hurt from an attack aimed at him. And he knew something like that could easily happen again.
The only actually dangerous attacks had been directed at him. And he had been fine with that, but the thought of his friends getting caught in the crossfire, or even some hapless first year, made his stomach twist with fear. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him. The image of Pansy bleeding on the floor made something snap. If she had died he would want to die. He grabbed one of the chocolates wanting to hurl it at the wall or smash it in his fist. It bubbled merrily in his palm, the little steamcloud hearts puffing up towards him. To think something silly like this could be deadly. If he had died in that fire, or been sent to Azkaban like his father, maybe his friends would have been safe.
He stuffed the chocolate into his mouth. It melted on his tongue and right then he wished it had really been dosed.
It tasted delicious.