The Funeral!
After the game and the unfortunate catastrophe that was the murder of Harry’s Nimbus, it wasn’t exactly a surprise that Oliver spent most of his days despairing around the pitch. Draco (in solidarity to his friends but not from heart) and Co. spent most of their breakfasts and mealtimes glaring at Cedric (the poor guy!).
Harry was under strict orders to remain in the hospital wing for the rest of the week, so obviously the gang was there for most of their free time as well. Ron, Vince, and Greg were planning a proper soldier’s send-off—read: funeral. (“He deserves it, Draco. Nimbus deserves to be honored.”) It was planned for the next Sunday, as soon as Harry was good to be released by Madam Pomfrey.
There was a constant stream of Gryffindors paying visits to ask after Harry. Susan from Hufflepuff, along with Cedric, had also paid a visit, bringing some really good badger-shaped chocolates and yellow-and-black flowers.
The following Sunday dawned grim. The whole Gryffindor team arrived at the hospital wing right as Harry was officially discharged. Oliver looked worse for wear, with dull eyes and a dead sort of voice. Ron and Vince brought the Nimbus out to Harry, neatly wrapped in a Gryffindor banner with a white flower on top.
The procession to the pitch was very somber. Oliver was the first to speak about the Nimbus and the services it had performed, the honor it had brought. After that it was a stream if Gryffindors, too heart broken at the loss of Nimbus. The rites were said on the pitch, and the burial was performed near the Forbidden Forest, with a proper monument erected to mark the site.
Draco was pretty sure he saw tears from Ron and Harry (Harry he could understand; it was one of the first gifts from someone ever), and Oliver was sobbing, almost wailing in his grief. The twins consoled and comforted Oliver as Draco and Pansy ran toward the castle to hide away in a deserted classroom and let loose the peals of laughter they had been holding back.
.....
The days dragged on, but fortunately for Ron and Greg, Remus was back for the next DADA classes. On his return, the class was full of complaints and whining about the devastating two rolls of parchment essay Severus had assigned. Remus laughed and assured all of them that a single roll of parchment would suffice for them; clearly, he didn’t want to undermine Severus’s authority.
The class was all about Hinkypunks, which reminded Draco of anime characters for some reason. Remus asked Harry to stay behind after class. Harry was extremely solemn during lunch. Draco chalked it up to the Patronus talk, which Remus had told him about.
When the solemn mood carried through dinner, Draco pulled Harry aside on their way back to their dorms and asked about it.
“It’s stupid, really,” Harry murmured, abashed and utterly adorable.
“Try me,” Draco encouraged him. “Talk to me, Scarhead.”
“Remus wants to teach me the Patronus charm.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Draco asked, confused.
“It is. I want to learn it; if not for what happened during the match, then solely to protect you,” Harry said sincerely. “I don’t want you to ever be like that again.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“What if I’m not good enough?”
“Well, now I get the stupid part,” Draco huffed. “Harry, you’re at the top of the DADA class. I’m pretty sure you’ll get distinctions in your OWLs and NEWTs. Trust me, you’ll ace it in no time.”
“You think so?” Harry looked at him earnestly.
“Yeah, I’ll even bet on it.” Draco ruffled his hair. “In fact, if it’s okay with you, I would like to join your lessons. I think I need some extra practice on my Patronus.”
“Well, I’ll tell Lupin that.” Harry’s smile was dazzling.
......
By the end of November, Draco’s idiotic Gryffindors were finally feeling much better. Slytherin’s chances of winning the cup had plummeted dramatically when they lost to Ravenclaw, and the daily practices were enough to work as a dopamine uptake.
Two weeks before the end of term, the sky cleared, and Flitwick decorated his classroom in shimmery lights. Even the Potions classroom was less dull and dingy (probably due to Remus’s involvement). Draco had half a mind to offer to stay for Christmas in the castle, the same as Hermione and Ron, but to his surprise (and apparently as per others' expectations), Harry told him he was going home. It was some nonsense about how his aunt and uncle were so religious about family Christmases. Vii was no help at all in solving that mystery until Harry himself told him.
They were all on the lawns enjoying the sun. Hermione, Blaise, and Pansy were finalizing their decorations for the talent show. They had finally decided on the date (June 10), and Pansy was on the edge of a full-blown breakdown with how excited she was. Ron and Lavender were often missing from the group for their performance, which honestly confused Draco, about when had Lavender been added to their gang.
“You sure you’ll be okay on Christmas?” Draco softly asked Harry, who was lying down with his head on Draco’s thighs as he ran his fingers through Harry’s hair, trying in vain to manage it.
“Hmm…” Harry was almost asleep at that moment. “Yeah, it’ll be okay. Archie and Phil are doing a proper Christmas dinner. They’ll have guests and all. Mary’s been writing about the menu for the party.”
“So you’ll be with them?”
“Yeah. You know my uncle and aunt,” Harry grumbled. “I’ll be better with Archie and Phil. What about you?”
“I’ll be spending my holidays with Severus and his partners. Father has asked for me to join them for the Christmas dinner, though.”
“I still can’t get over how you can spend so much time with Severus. Also, that ‘partners’ part still trips me up,” Harry sounded amused.
“It’s honestly the best thing ever,” Draco mused. “Severus is a completely different man when it comes to his partners. You’d be surprised how childish they can be.” Especially Sirius.
The Saturday before they were to leave for home, it was announced as a Hogsmeade day. Harry was once again denied permission to leave the castle. Harry had asked them to go without him and just enjoy. Draco knew it was the day Harry received the Marauder’s Map, so he was expecting Harry to join him before noon.
It was half past noon, and they were just about to leave Honeydukes when Harry joined them to the sound of Hermione’s disgruntled squeals.
“Wow! You’ve learned to apparate?” Ron looked impressed.
“How did you know that?” Harry asked, confused.
("Wait! What?! Vii, when did Harry learn to apparate?"
“No idea!”)
“What do you mean, how did you know that?” Theo asked, incredulous.
“What, like you don’t?” Harry asked, brows arched.
“How would we know to apparate at thirteen?” Blaise screeched.
“That’s illegal, Harry,” Hermione exclaimed.
Harry gave Draco an inquisitive look, clearly asking him something. “Don’t look at me; even I don’t know how to apparate yet.” Draco raised his hands in innocence.
“Huh!” Harry seemed to be musing something in his head. “Well, I just thought with you being pureblood and all… maybe I was wrong. Anyway, I learned it in summer,” Harry said as if it was the most normal thing to say. It was chaos after that.
It took them twenty minutes to calm down from this doozy. By that time, they were settled into the Hogshead. Hermione had tried to lead them to the Three Broomsticks but had failed miserably. Draco was not in the mood to catch up on Fudge and McGonagall drama, so the Hogshead it was.