The Welcome Feast!
"What happened?" Draco croaked, sprawled on the compartment floor, leaning into Harry's chest, amidst a crowd of people. He blinked a couple of times to shake off this abhorrent feeling, the sense of hopelessness.
"How are you now?" Draco looked up at Remus, who leaned over the others to check on him.
"I'm fine... just a little disoriented. What happened?" he inquired again, surveying the concerned faces of his friends. Remus gave him a stern look and, seemingly satisfied that Draco was indeed alright, offered him a piece of chocolate.
"We don't know, mate," Ron hurriedly began, followed by others eager to explain the events.
"There was this chill, and then everything turned morose," Pansy said, her voice still shaky with worry, most probably.
"Then there were these hooded figures—" Ginny started.
"And then you started having some kind of fit... and fainted," Neville finished.
"I... I fainted?" Draco frowned, puzzled. Wasn't Harry supposed to faint? "Who was screaming?" he asked.
"You..." Harry said in a whisper. "You were screaming... you weren't hurt physically, but you were screaming so bad, Draco." Harry said. He tightened his grip on Draco as if afraid of losing him.
Draco slowly remembered the dream-not-dream, where he found himself back in the orphanage, surrounded by taunting children, with no one there to help him, save him.
"Oh..." he muttered under his breath.
"Eat. It will help," Remus pointed to the chocolate in Draco's hand.
"What were those?" Hermione asked Remus.
"Dementors," Remus replied, now distributing chocolate to everyone else. "Dementors of Azkaban." He gave Draco a searching look, probably recalling their argument at Spinner's End.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Remus asked Draco again, while the others looked at him with wonder, respect, and, in Pansy's case, probably a fantasy of a fourth wedding (because she was too young to be married to a professor as a first husband. Her words not Draco's.)
"Yes. I am better, sir," Draco reassured.
"Good," Remus said, turning to the others. "Eat, it will help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak to the driver..." With that, he strolled past the others and disappeared around the corner.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Hermione asked anxiously. Draco suddenly realized he was practically in Harry's lap and tried to move to his seat. Harry tightened his grip on Draco for a moment before reluctantly releasing him.
"So... what did I miss?" Draco attempted to lighten the mood.
"Well, those things... approached the door and looked at us... at least I think they did? Can't be sure, it was too dark under their hoods," Theo said, still a little rattled.
"I thought you were having a fit or something," Ron repeated. "You sort of went rigid and fell out of your seat. Harry was right next to you."
"I thought Harry was having the same fit, but he was just trying to hold you through... whatever that was," Ginny said, her eyes still wide with fear, looking forlorn.
"And then that god of a Professor just walked towards the Dementor. No fear in his bearing at all," Pansy said dreamily, her hero-worshipping tendencies overcoming her concern for Draco. "He said, 'None of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks, you morons.'"
"But the Dementors were clearly not having it. So Professor Lupin took out his wand and said an incantation and the next thing we knew, there was a silver wolf driving out the Dementors," Blaise finished, thoroughly entertained by the turn of events.
"It was horrible." "It was beautiful," Luna and Neville said simultaneously.
"Did you feel the cold too?" Neville asked Draco, his voice higher than usual, clearly affected by the Dementors as well.
"We all felt it, baby," Theo reassured Neville, collecting him in a hug.
Everyone was clearly shaken by the encounter. Ginny was huddled in a corner, gripping Pansy and Luna's hands tightly. Ron and Hermione were sitting so close they were almost embracing. Theo, Blaise, and Neville were practically on top of each other at this point.But the most striking reaction was Harry's.
Harry, who looked sick with worry for Draco and nothing else. There wasn't a trace of fear in his expression. He looked deeply concerned but solely for Draco.
Draco didn't understand. He felt shaky and weak, as if recovering from a severe flu, but Harry seemed fine as far as Draco could see. Why was he so rattled? For heaven's sake, he knew how to cast a Patronus. Granted, it wasn't corporeal, but it could have protected him nonetheless. He could have defended himself, yet he had fallen to pieces when confronted with the Dementors.
"I haven't poisoned that chocolate, you know..." Remus stood in the doorway, eyeing the uneaten chocolate in Draco's hands.
"Severus might have..." Draco snorted. He could see Remus's lips twitch, but otherwise, he remained nonchalant. Fortunately, no one else seemed to have heard him.
"We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Remus announced, taking his seat. "Are you alright, Harry?" Remus asked, looking over Harry. Draco realized Harry had been unusually quiet.
"Hey," Draco turned to Harry, who still clutched Draco's hand tightly. "It's okay. I'm fine."
"You were screaming, Draco." He said in a small voice as if afraid that speaking any louder might trigger another outburst. "Are you sure he will be ok?" Harry asked Remus.
"Yes, he will be fine, Harry. No need to worry," Remus assured him. "Regardless, I have sent a message to Madam Pomfrey; she will be at the Great Hall to look over you guys."
Harry seemed comforted by that, as Draco rolled his eyes. This wolf and his tendencies to nesting, nurturing and tending.
They didn't talk much for the rest of the journey. When they left the train, the weather was almost freezing, rain drizzling in icy sheets. Hagrid was on the platform, beckoning them to join him as he gathered them all and led them to the horseless coaches. Well, horseless for some, probably; Draco could see the Thestrals. Luna and Neville could see them too. Luna was eager to pet and coo at them, but Neville kept his distance and rushed to sit in the coach.
Draco saw Remus talking to Hagrid, clearly happy to reunite after a long time. There was a genuine smile on Remus's face, but his body betrayed his excitement. Seriously, Remus, Sirius, and Snape had spent the last week holed up in their home, yet he looked as if he was meeting his partner after a decade. Draco rolled his eyes.
The ride to the castle was silent, with a few murmured concerns about the new Dementor guards. As promised, they were met by Pomfrey and McGonagall (Severus was nowhere in sight) at the entrance and led aside for Pomfrey to give them a proper check-up. Draco's examination took more than a few minutes, but eventually, they were cleared of any lingering effects. McGonagall asked Blaise and Hermione to have a brief discussion in her office.
Draco once again marveled at the folly of entrusting Time Turners to literal thirteen-going-on-fourteen-year-olds.
Remus greeted Pomfrey and McGonagall before disappearing in a blur of a moment, no doubt getting his proverbial reunion.
They were surrounded by the twins, Greg, and Vince when they entered the Great Hall, understandably worried about them. Having missed the Sorting, they could talk a little more easily, not really worried about the noise. Rumors had been circulating, from Harry killing a Dementor in Draco’s defense to Draco getting Kissed and Harry losing his sanity. Draco found it hilarious that in both cases, Harry came out looking insane.
Then it was time for Dumbledore's usual warnings and balderdash. Remus was introduced to a round of applause and cheers. Almost everyone had heard about the standoff between Remus and the Dementors. Safe to say, Remus was going to have his own fan club.
Severus wore a severe expression when they announced Remus was taking up DADA. If Draco didn’t know Severus, he might have thought he was extremely unhappy about Remus. But Draco knew better, hence didn’t miss the proud look Severus gave Remus, the upturned corners of his lips, or the raised glass to hide his proud smile.
It took a good five minutes for the cheering to stop for Remus. Hagrid was next to be appointed as the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and the next round of cheering took even longer to die down. By the end of it, Ron, Harry, Theo, Luna and Pansy were standing on their seats, hollering and cheering loudly, while Hagrid blushed and visibly delighted in the applause.
The welcome feast was as grand and delicious as tradition dictated. After dinner, they made their rounds congratulating Hagrid on his appointment. Percy was the one to herd them to their respective houses, promising Hagrid a visit for tea tomorrow.
In the Slytherin dorm room, the atmosphere was tense. But for now, no one was ready to address the Hippogriff in the room. With a mutual non-verbal agreement, everyone went to bed.
There were serious matters that needed discussions, but they’d hold off until tomorrow. For now, Draco was happy that he was back. The start of the term was peaceful and, as expected, well, atleast relatively as expected.