Draco's Interlude
It’s been a really fucking weird year. Saint Potter managed to defeat the dark lord, then my father was executed, my mother ran away to France to live with her friend Amélia where the British laws don’t apply and I got fucking arrested.
The holding cell in Azkaban was harsh and cold and grubby, not as bad as the actual cells of the prison though those were awful. At least in the Holding cell the worst I had to worry about was grabby guards and horrible food, the dementors aren’t permitted into the lesser levels. Still it’s unbearably cold, and damp and the smell is close to horrifying. I had a small bed in the corner, a toilet and a sink, my meals came already portioned and consisted primarily of porridge or bread. I felt grubby, dirt caked under my fingernails, I’m lucky that I can’t grow a beard, I imagine it would have been hell. The day they announced my trial one of the guards came to tell me, I may have provoked them just a touch and well that was how I ended up being pinned against the walls of my cell by my throat.
I was dragged from the holding cell at 8am the day of my trial, dragged into a shower that looked like it had never been cleaned, thrown into the robes I was wearing the day I got arrested and escorted to the ministry.
It was cold, damp, and enclosed. They’d shoved me roughly into a wooden chair in the centre of the floor, clasped the cold metal restraints and then chained me down just to top it off. Did they really think that I was going to even try to escape from the ministry it would be a fucking suicide mission. No-one can get out of the ministry other than walking out a free person.
I was watching people funnel in, the council in their opposing red and black, Umbridge who was easy to spot with her pink dress under the dress robes. Kingsley Shacklebolt entered and sat directly in front of the podium, staring down at me. He opened his mouth and like a bad party trick the doors boomed open, mouths dropped open and if I could have spun round to see who was interrupting the slow walk to my doom I would have.
As it turned out I really didn’t need to, the second I spotted golden skin and pitch black hair I knew exactly who had just walked into my trial. Fucking saint Potter. He stalked forward with an air of confidence that I’d never seen him with before, shoulders back, head held high, he looked every inch a pureblood. I’d not seen him since the day of the battle actually, he looked older, more of a man who knew what he was not a boy who was wondering. He moved in front of me and I saw the look Kingsley gave him, half exasperation, half fondness.
“Mr. Potter, the viewing seats are above you. I understand that you’ve been out of this world for some time but I assume your manors are still the same. You cannot be on the floor.” Kingsley's voice boomed. Out of this world? Where had he been?
“I require a word Kingsley.” His voice was gruff but with a certain melodic tune to it, had it always sounded like that? The security team tightened their hands around their wands as Potter stalked forward.
“What could possibly be so important that you are interrupting this trial?”
Potter gestured for Kingsley to dip his head down to hear him, I watched as the expressions flew across the minister's face as Potter spoke too low for anyone else to hear. Whatever was exchanged between them was tense since Potter’s posture straightened and his hands clenched into fists as he took a step back from the podium and then another until he was seated on one of the benches on the floor. Surely chosen one or not he shouldn’t have been allowed to do that, he should be up on one of the viewing platforms not sitting on the bench not that far from me.
“Order in the courtroom!” Kingsley's voice boomed over the mutterings of the council. Kingsley looked down, then back at me, sorrow in his eyes as he spoke.
“We are here to begin the trial of Draco Lucius Malfoy. Mr Malfoy the accusations are as follows, Upon your left arm we would find a mark, faded since his death but marking you as one of his, as a death eater. You knowingly aided the dark lord and his forces during the war, you created a way for his forces to enter Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, you gave them sanctuary in Malfoy manor, made no effort to alert the correct people to his whereabouts, you knowingly endangered hogwarts student and faculty lives. You and you alone cursed one student, named Katie Bell, you unknowingly poisoned one Ronald Weasley, you are indirectly responsible for the deaths of Lavender Brown, Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Albus Dumbledore” His voice was magically amplified so the entire chamber could hear him, every name was like a cutting curse to my chest, did they really believe that I had killed anyone? Me? The guy who runs away from his own peacocks on the grounds of his own manor?
“How do you plead Mr. Malfoy?” The look in Kingsley's eyes was sympathetic, I took a breath and went to open my mouth when a familiar voice spoke. Except they spoke inside my fucking head
Don’t freak out, don’t look over but do not under any circumstance state that you are guilty of any of those crimes
What the actual fuck! I tried my best not to whip my head towards him, I managed not to, but I did look at him out of the corner of my eye. He was sitting with his ankles crossed, leant back with his arms crossed across his chest. He didn't have his glasses on, the rings on his hands were new too and his emerald green gaze was unblinking staring at me.
If you admit anything, even the slightest thing they are going to draw and quarter you. You will be a spectacle. Do not say a fucking word.
I wanted to ask him how he knew, I wanted to ask him if he thought I was guilty, I wanted to know exactly how he was fucking talking inside my head. More than anything though I wanted to ask him why he was helping me, my breathing sped up just a fraction, did he finally think me worthy of his attention?
I’m going to help you. I’m going to get you out of this. You don’t deserve this.
Ahh there’s that hero complex. He’s wrong. I do deserve this, I deserve to rot. I deserve to be executed just like my father was. I didn’t notice Potter moving until I heard Kingsley warning him
“Potter”
Imagine my surprise to see the boy who lived standing in front of me, all eyes on him. He didn't move out of the gazes on him like he used too, if anything it made him stand slightly taller as he spoke.
“The crimes in which you have accused Malfoy are grossly inaccurate and honestly wrong on so many levels. Draco Malfoy might be many things but he is none of what those crimes implies. He is a boy, one who had fewer choices than even I had, his path laid before him before he was even conceived thanks to his parents. Draco Malfoy had no choices laid before him, he was terrified, threatened and fearing for not only his life but the lives of his parents. Despite this Mr Malfoy did manage to undermine the Dark Lord, when he had the option of forging a new choice he did so without hesitating. If not for the man sitting here I would not be sitting here, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley would not be sitting here. Mr. Malfoy lied directly to the dark lord's face when questioned if i was in the manor, he lied and told him he didn’t know, he brought down the wards around Malfoy Manor to allow me, Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley to escape with the prisoners that Voldemort had in the dungeon. He brought the essence of dittany to the dungeons to use on Ms. Granger's wounds, he brought us food, and when faced with the dark lord in battle he threw his wand to me. You cannot punish a boy for the sins of the father”
What the fuck is going on?
Potter is defending me?
“Be that as it may Mr. Potter, he is still a death eater” Umbridge seethed
“An unwilling one.” He spat back
“One nonetheless and that makes him Guilty!”
“I distinctly remember you within Voldemort's ranks, surely if he is a death eater so are you!”
“There is no mark on my skin, I do not remember Ever being involved in the Dark Lords ranks. If I was I was under the imperius curse Mr. Potter”
“You’re lying Dolores” Potter whispered
“This is of no consequence Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy is yet to tell us whether he himself deems himself guilty”
Oh wow, this is great. I was watching, almost fascinated by the way that Umbridge's features twisted more and more the more Potter countered her. I always forget that there’s history there, I barely remember their arguments in Hogwarts but I do remember the scar on Potter's hand, the one that he held up to her eyeline.
“How can he possibly be guilty if the crimes are not his?” he asked in an almost soft voice
“It was his wand that allowed the death eater ranks into Hogwarts castle!” Dolores’s voice went up an octave.
“It was also his wand that slew the Dark Lord” he retorted, I could almost picture the eyebrow raised
“He cursed a Hogwarts student and gave them a cursed necklace to give to the headmaster!” I dropped my head down, I did do that after all, I didn’t bank on her touching the damn thing though, I’d told her specifically not too, I never was very good with the imperious curse though, never a strong enough hold.
“It never made it to the headmaster and Katie Bell stands in opposition to this trial. Don’t believe me? She’s right there in the stands, ask her yourself” he pointed upwards the stands, except I was chained to a chair and unable to see what exactly Potter was pointing to or why everyone was now staring open mouthed.
“He tried to poison your best friend!” Umbridge began anew, venom in her voice
“And yet Ronald Weasley sits next to Katie Bell in opposition to this trial.” Well that shocked me, both of them were sitting in the stands? Free entertainment I guess.
“He is the reason that Lavender Brown, Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Albus Dumbledore are dead!”
I was staring at the floor now, he was never going to get me out of this
“Lavender Brown, Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Albus Dumbledore all died to ensure the defeat of Voldemort. To insinuate that Draco Malfoy had anything to do with how they died is an insult to their memory. I was there, I saw how they died, and Malfoy was nowhere in sight when they did. Lavender Brown died at the hands of Fenrir Greyback who tore her throat out in the transfiguration courtyard. She died fighting a death eater. Fred Weasley stepped in front of a curse cast by Bellatrix Lestrange to shield his younger sister. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks died hand in hand in an eight on two battle in the astronomy tower. Albus Dumbledore died by his own hand, he placed a cursed ring on his finger and then had Severus Snape kill him in the astronomy tower before we even knew if we could defeat Voldemort. Each and every one of those people who you’ve named died a hero fighting against a dark lord that wanted to take over the world. To reduce the world to ashes, they all made their own choices, they chose to stand against Voldemort and to fight. They did not die at Draco Malfoy's hand!”
“He aided the dark lord's forces!” she screamed
“Under duress” He shouted back, this was hilarious.
“Do you plead guilty Mr. Malfoy?!” Kingsley's voice was on the edge of hysteria
“He does not!” Potter roared, shaking the chamber. Woah. How furious was he to shake the whole damn chamber, I could almost see the magic crackling over his skin.
“You are not the accused Mr. Potter” Kingsley sighed. “I suggest we take a small break, have some refreshments before one of you causes an incident” he mutters.
The chamber empties and Potter turns to face me.
“You are seven kinds of foolish Potter” I snapped “Did it ever occur to you that I am guilty?! That I deserve to be punished”
“Punish not the children for the crimes of their parents” he muttered
“And what the fuck was that thing with talking inside my head?”
“Yeah I wasn’t sure that would work”
I whipped my head up and looked at him, really looked at him. There was something off about him, his eyes were way darker than they used to be, his hair was giving off a blue tint rather than a red one, suggesting it was darker. His skin was unblemished and pretty much perfect, his features were even and honestly were the kind of features that I would love to draw. I doubted very much that he had grown into features like this, it was more likely that something had changed them and I wasn’t about to open that cauldron of worms right now.
“You’re different” I whispered
“War changes a person” he shot back
“Not like that”
“Like what Malfoy?” I didn’t answer him
“I’ll be back in Malfoy, I’m going to see if I can get Kingsley to drop the charges” he muttered “Stay with him?” He must have been speaking to his friends cause then he was gone and in his stead was a bushy haired muggle born with eyes the colour of gold and a redhead in hand-me-down robes.
“What is he doing?” I whispered
“Trying to save you” Granger answered
“Why?”
“You two are two sides of the same coin. He can’t stand the injustice. I think in Harry’s eyes punishing you for what your dad did is the same as how Snape punished him for his dads. Well that and he fought for a better world, gave his life for it, for you and everyone else with no thought for his own life and then putting you on trial for having no choices in the path you’ve been given is almost like they’re throwing it in his face.”
“Oh” I hadn’t thought of it really, how he had fought for a better world and somehow that included for me and how in putting me on trial for crimes either committed by my father or by another death eater they’re ignoring what lessons he had tried to teach us. Granger stepped back as the doors opened again.
“Kingsley can’t do shit, apparently his power is dwindling, the new security division has the ministry by the fucking bollocks” Potter grumbled.
“Told you it was pointless potter” I muttered and he shook his head again.
“Yeah we’re going to walk out of here” he declared, confident or not there’s no way the ministry is letting me walk out when they can make an example of me
“Harry you can’t just take him and walk out” Granger sighed
“Watch me.” he growled. I looked at Granger, her face was resigned with a touch of fright and then I looked to Potter who was practically vibrating before me, no-one got a chance to say anything else before the council and all their members walked back in. All prim and proper to send me to my execution
“Right this trial is now back in session, Mr. Malfoy, how do you plead?” Kingsley asked,
“He pleads nothing.” Potter spoke over me. Prick “He pleads nothing because this trial is a sham, You aren’t interested in anything other than a guilty verdict”
“He has done nothing wrong, he pleads nothing” Potter stated
“He is guilty!” Umbridge snarled
Potter lifted his left hand, I could see it clearly, the scar that he had been forced to carve into his own skin.
“I must not tell lies” he whispered, He was twisting his hand towards me, behind his back. I nearly gasped when the chains and restraints fell away from me and clanged noisily to the floor. I could see the shocked expressions on their faces and I went to move but Potter's hand slammed onto my shoulder and suddenly I was spinning, being tugged from here to there before being deposited feet first and very gently onto the tiled floor.
My first thought happened to come tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop it. Potter had just saved me from my own certain death after all but even so
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I shouted, my voice going up an octave as i got to mind
“Apparently but you know me all in the name of justice” Potter said dryly, a smile twitching at his lips. Prick.
“Where the fuck even are we?”
“Potter Manor”
Wait did he just fucking say Potter Manor?! Surely I would fucking know if Potter had a fucking Manor. The Potters are part of the sacred 28, there has never even been a whisper about there being a Manor.
“Why the fuck are we here?” I asked
“Because I am the only remaining Potter, the only one who can walk through the wards without being obliterated. This is the one place the ministry wont think to look and if they do they wont be able to get here anyway” Great Potter had a tone on him now. I watched him as he walked to an unassuming cupboard and yanked out what appeared to be a bottle of fire-whiskey and two glasses. Potter removed himself from the room and walked through another open door. I gave myself a second to breathe before following, entering just in time to watch Potter throw himself down onto a warm, worn looking couch. I sat gently into an armchair which actually was so obscenely comfortable I might need to find one of them. The room was spacious yet cozy, two armchairs sat facing each other in front of a fireplace which must have been charmed to not throw off any heat, there was a little table in between. The walls were clearly done in good taste and in pure mahogany, bookcases lined at least two of the four walls that I could see. The floor looked like it could be some kind of marble or sandstone, there was a huge Arabian style rug in the middle of the floor. It was homey actually with dim lights and big windows and the sense that people lived here and enjoyed it. That the furniture was meant for use not just for show. When I finally looked back at Potter, I found he was already looking at me
“So?” I asked
“So?” Potter responded, one eyebrow quirked and the glass in his hand rocking from side to side
“What's the plan?” I asked, Clearly that is what i had implied in the So but well was Potter ever intelligent?
“Well we stay here for now, then I’ll go back out into the world and tell everyone you’ve vanished without a trace if you want” He shrugged as he spoke, tipping more of the whiskey in the glass down his throat.
“That won’t work, Umbridge will be after us and she’s got the backing of basically the entire ministry, she’ll never believe I’ve just vanished, or that you can’t be used to get to me.”
“I’ll kill her” he said, but his voice was off, actually if i hadn’t seen his mouth move i wouldn’t have believed that the voice came from potter at all
“What happened to justice, to that goodness you pride yourself on?” I pressed, I was almost joking. Almost
“It died with my humanity” His tone was flat as he laughed, like it was meant to be a joke that even he didn’t believe
“You have more humanity than the world combined, it could never die. But seriously what are we going to do, you’ve just made us both fugitives” I sat back in my chair and lifted the drink to my lips. Fire whiskey burnt on the way down but it was named for the way your stomach felt as it hit it. Like it was on fire.
“Yeah not the first time I’ve been a fugitive, probably won’t be the last either if I'm honest. Besides they can’t find us here” Potter shrugged and took another drink.
“Where exactly is here?”
“Nowhere” Oh wow Potter is still just as fucking infuriating even when he's answering questions. The fuck does he mean “Nowhere”
“What?” I cocked my head to one side, something I've not done in years.
“Nowhere, the concept that something has to be somewhere is such a mundane thing when you really think about it. Technically we’re in Mexico, where my family is originally from, where potter manor has stood for thousands of years”
“Mexico?” I was trying really fucking hard to not scream, Fucking Mexico?!
“Si”
“You live here? Is this why we haven’t seen you around?”
“No, I live in London, I just live in the muggle world, It’s less complicated, less well everything really. I can just be Harry there, none of this by who lived shit, there’s less at stake there.”
“But you’re a wizard?” I said
“Well spotted Malfoy, what wonderful observational skills you possess”
Fucking sarcastic bastard.
“So why would you live in muggle London?”
“Less temptation, less complication, less at stake, that’s why”
Temptation?! What the fuck does the great saint Potter have to be fucking tempted by? Which Weasley to talk to? Which of his adoring fans to talk to that day? Fucking temptation bullshit. Then again Potter did look different now, darker more intimidating almost and most definitely fucking hotter. Then there was the shaking and the fist clenching thing that he’d started doing.
“What temptation is there for you?” I murmured, I'd been watching him stare at his phone clearly, something was more important than the kidnapping victim sitting in front of him.
“What isn’t there temptation for?” he countered
“So, since when do you have a Manor? Whenever I’ve seen you you’ve been wearing rags and living with the Weasleys”
“That’s a long story” H sighed, I looked around, then looked back at him and with a hint of a grin that I was trying to suppress, I said
“We have time”
Potter laughed then, it was a glorious noise deep and loud and full, how could I make him do it again?
“Alright, if you insist but don’t say I didn’t warn you”
Bingo. I poured myself another glass of whiskey and sat back to listen to the boy wonder himself talk about himself.
“So my parents, as you know, were James and Lily Potter. They had set up a trust fund when I was a baby just in case they were to die, you know. They’d put enough in the fund to get me through school and buy all the things I could possibly need before the age of 18. Obviously that didn’t really happen, upon their death I was meant to go to live with Sirius. He was my godfather after all, he even adopted me in some weird blood magic he and my dad found, that obviously didn’t actually happen. Instead I got sent to live with my mum’s muggle family, her sister as it happened and her husband. Awful people, they really didn’t like me very much.” I choked on my whiskey, Potter grew up with muggles?
“You grew up with muggles?” It slipped out really but the pitch of it could have been a lot better if I'm being honest
“Yes? It’s no secret that I grew up away from magic I didn’t even know I was famous until I came to hogwarts”
“You… You didn’t know who you were?” Was that my voice? Fucks sake it sounded like is been inhaling helium from those muggle balloons
“Nope, I thought my parents had died in a car crash actually” I could feel how big my eyes were, how wide they were as I shook my head. A car crash? Sweet fucking merlin on a broom.
“Actually Potter, that makes a lot of sense. I remember how you were in first year, amazed by everything magical, how badly Severus treated you because you couldn’t answer his questions. I always just thought you were being a smartass, but you genuinely couldn’t answer because you had no idea” I tried to suppress my laugh at the memory of Potter being questioned that first day in potions but I’m not sure if i was successful.
“As I was saying, they didn’t like me very much”
“Define that they didn’t like you” I really needed to stop fucking interrupting him, but i had to know
“Well I was the child of a sister that my aunt hated because she was magical, I was magical and weird things happened around me. More than once I was punished for accidental magic, it’s not a big deal”
“Potter. I am only going to ask you this once and I’m asking because I need to know. I'm a nosy sort and it will eat me alive if I don’t find out. Did they beat you?” I was holding my breath, the idea that some filthy muggles had hurt Potter was abhorrent, even if he is a right fucking prat. Potter said nothing, he simply looked down and that was all the confirmation that I needed. They had beaten him. Actually it explained a lot, How he always looked painfully thin in school, the bruises under his eyes, the marks along his arms that he shrugged off . Fucking Cunts.
“Yeah so I usually got my larger cousins hand-me-down clothing, but it was better than no clothing at all, anyway once I found out about Hogwarts, Hagrid took me to gringotts. That’s where I learned about the trust fund, except I didn’t know how to turn the money into muggle money, and I didn’t really bother about nice things. It’s hard to miss something that you’ve never had, then I did stay at the Weasleys sometimes so at least I got food even if they didn’t have much money and wouldn’t take any from me. Once I turned 18 I received a missive from Gringotts telling me that the full weight of my accounts was now accessible, I had no idea there was anything other than the original trust fund. Then suddenly I had the weight of not one fortune but two since Sirius had willed the black vaults to me, and then there were the properties, town houses, manors, ancestral homes.” Potter's voice trailed off as he caught my stare.
“So yeah, that’s how I’ve ended up here, I learnt that wealth is meant to be spent and I learnt I’m bad at doing nothing, so I bought more properties, I rent them out, I created a company and run that. I have more money than I know what to do with really” he joked
“So now you have so much money you actually do spend it?”
“I do, but maybe not as willy-nilly as you but I am sitting here in an Armani hoodie and custom made Japanese jeans” he laughed again.
“So this place?” I gestured around
“This is Potter Manor, I think people thought that it was destroyed during the first war but it wasn’t. It’s pretty much impenetrable, Helps that everyone thinks that the Potters are Indian but we’re Spanish, Mexican really so no-one thought to look for the manor that is blatantly under their noses. I did edit the wards just a little and I do have a get out plan should we need it though not to worry”
“So we’re in Mexico?”
“Yes Malfoy, I did say that earlier”
“Forgive me oh great one for being a little bit perplexed at the fact that you apparated us out of the ministry and not paying attention, never mind that you apparated in one damn jump i might add halfway across the world and you don’t even appear winded”
“I don’t look winded because I’m not winded Malfoy” He looked down again, I could see the pink blush starting to crawl up his neck. Fucking Potter
“It shouldn’t be even in the realms of possibilities to apparate out of the damn ministry Potter. There are wards up, anti apparition wards, wards that should have been impossible to get around!” I was starting to shout again
“I didn’t go around the wards, Malfoy” he sighed.
“Then how the fuck did we get out of there?”
“I went through them”
Fucking What?! He went through the fucking wards at the ministry? Am I fucking delusional? Am I insane? That can’t be what he’s just fucking said
“You’re telling me that you have the magical ability that surpasses the combined strength of merlin and dumbledore?!”
“You’ve always known I was powerful Malfoy” he groaned.
“Not that fucking powerful, that means you’ve always been going easy on me when we’ve duelled haven’t you!”
“I…”
“Don’t fucking lie potter!” I didn’t realise i was standing and glowering until Potter had to look up at me from the chair
“Maybe” He muttered. Absolute fucking pile of hippogriff dung!
“Up, get up we’re going to duel!” I announced, not actually thinking about the words coming out of my fucking mouth as per usual.
“I don’t suppose I can take you for a tour of the manor instead?”
“Absolutely not, I know there’s got to be a duelling room somewhere, if you’re going to keep me prisoner here the least you can do is show me how much you were tanking our duels”
Potter shook his head, but stood anyway and began to walk through the Manor. I followed him because of fucking course I did. If I'm going to be staying with the person who cursed me back in 6th year then I'm damn well gunna see how fucking strong he really is.
The house is beautiful, the pale floors and russet walls continue to be a running theme but the house is pretty in a rustic sense. Lived in and warm and filled with memories that I had no business looking at truth be told.
He led us to the back of the house and pushed open what appeared to be an iron door. Behind it was a room that was so black it was almost purple, it shimmered and reflected the light and it really could have only been one thing. Obsidian. The one substance that absorbed magic.
“Is this entirely made of obsidian?” I asked, I knew it was, I just wanted to see if Potter knew.
“Yes” He was moving around the room
“It’s beautiful, but why obsidian?” Again I just needed to see if he knew
“Obsidian is one of the few things that absorbs magic, not in the sense that it wouldn’t allow us to do anything but given that were attached to a whole ass manor I’d really rather it didn’t come down on our heads the second our spells start flying. From what I recall you aren’t exactly a subpar magic user. I’ve added cushioning charms to the entirety of the room too. We don't need any injuries”
I threw the over robe onto the floor and began rolling my sleeves up, then I noticed what Potter was doing, He was only taking off that Armani jumper but fuck me sideways if it wasn't attractive to see how the jumper pulled up the bottom of his shirt showing me the pale expanse of his lower stomach. My mouth watered, Since fucking when did he have abs like that?!
“Ready?” He asked me, I was already in position, wand in my left hand but Potter hadn’t even gripped his, it remained on his arm in the holder.
“Are you going to raise your wand Potter?”
“Not if I can help it”
“It’s fucking insulting if you don’t, you know that”
“It’s practical Malfoy, I don’t want to hurt you”
I sent a stinging jinx towards his thigh, it fizzed against the shield. He’s definitely stronger than I remember. A lot stronger somehow. Don’t get me wrong Potter for all his faults and trust me there are MANY has always been a powerful wizard. It took roughly eleven spells before I landed a hit and that’s between watching him CATCH spells with his bare hands and throwing them back at me. I hit him with a binding spell which he counters without a wand or an incantation. Fuuuuuckk.
I get hit because I’m too busy admiring the battle axe in front of me, and when I come too I'm staring up at him, aching like hell with a likely cracked rib from the pain I get when I inhale.
“I think it broke a rib” I wheezed. I watched the shimmering blue diagnostic materialize above me, Didn’t realise he knew battle medic spells either, it makes sense that he does but for whatever reason I just didn't think he did.
“Episkey” he casts and fuck if it isn't like being lit on fire from the inside out, o have to grit my teeth to stop from screaming.
“Thanks”
Potter stood in one graceful movement and then offered his hand to me once more. I took it because of course I did and I didn't let go as he pulled me along beside him through the house.
“You’re different” I muttered, he really was, I didn't personally think it was bad different but
“Yeah, well so are you”
Turned out he was leading me to the kitchen which had the same theme as the rest of the house.
“Sit, I’ll make you something to eat, the fire whiskey probably wasn’t a good idea now that I think about it” Potter was talking, maybe he felt awkward in the silence but I sort of liked it. It gave me time to observe him really, without having to take apart the way he was reacting to words or statements. People are so complicated.
“Malfoy?” His voice almost startled me, I’d taken a seat on the island and was almost daydreaming. What exactly is it that’s so different about him? He’s still a smart arse, he’s still sarcastic and sort of nice, but his eyes are darker and his hair is darker and he alludes to this dangerous aura around him that makes me want to lick him.
“Scrambled eggs on toast okay Malfoy? I’m not the greatest cook" I snapped my gaze to his so quickly i pretty much gave myself whiplash
“Oh, yeah sure”
I was daydreaming again by the time Potter slid the plate in front of me alongside a steaming mug of what looked like tea? He hadn’t made himself any food, that’s weird. Maybe he isn’t hungry?
“I’ve never had food that a house elf hasn’t cooked,” I whispered, looking down at the eggs.
I know Potter said something but I've no idea what I was too busy shovelling Eggs and toast into my mouth at a speed of knots
“These are really good” I said around a mouthful, not the most pureblood thing I've ever done but neither is being a fugitive so
I sniffed the tea and then stopped mid chew, swallowed the eggs in my mouth and then looked at potter
“Is this earl grey?” i asked
“Yes, It’s your favourite isn’t it?”
“How did you?” he cut me off RUDE
“I remember the whole argument you had with Pansy in 5th year because she was drinking black coffee and you told her she was uncultured and that earl grey is so much better. I thought it was pretentious at the time and stored it as blackmail material. As it happens it came in handy now, since you’re here with me and were both fugitives”
“Thanks for reminding me about the whole running from the law thing” I glared at him
“Come on, eat up, I’ll show you to your room”
As it happens the eggs were actually really very good and I did finish the plate before following Potter to the main entryway. He dragged me up the stairs, I'm pretty sure he was talking but I’d stopped listening and was just focussing on not spilling the fragrant tea everywhere.
He stopped at the top of the stairs and gestured forward
“This is the second floor, choose whatever room you’d like. They’ve all got attached bathrooms and there’s one down the hall if you require it. Third floor is a library, make yourself at home. My room is the one with the black door, if you need me for anything just come in” I looked and then decided on the door closest to me, if that just so happened to be opposite Potters then I really wouldn’t complain. Did I hear something about a library too?
“Poppy?” Potter's voice was tentative, the crack of a house elf appearing near enough sent me into a cardiac arrest right then and there.
“Master Potter you be calling?” Her voice was girlish, she wore a little dress with the potter insignia on the breast.
“This is Mr Malfoy, he’s going to be staying here for a while. Can you or anyone else who's available come if he calls you?”
“Yes Mr. Potter. We is being happy to be helping”
“Thank you Poppy, I’m sorry to disturb you” She curtseyed and then vanished again with a crack, I was staring now, not even trying to hide it
“That was a house elf!”
“Once again, fantastic observational skills Malfoy”
Sarcastic mother fucker
“But you’re Harry Potter…You’re against house elves. What the fuck?”
“They’re employed properly Malfoy, I pay them, as in actual money not just magic I did mention them earlier, I think you were to busy watching me make eggs to listen though”
I tried really fucking hard to suppress the blush that crept up my throat. I had been watching him, and daydreaming let's be honest but the fact that he had noticed would send me into an early grave. He didn’t need to know literally any of the thoughts going on in my head right now, not that they’re any different than they have always been around pretty saint Potter.
Merlin did I just call him pretty?!
“I employ three currently, Poppy, Bobby and Whimsy. They’ll come if you call them. Don’t be mean to them and absolutely no hurting them, I don’t care if you scald yourself on bath water, you lift a hand to them and I will set Hermione on you”
“I’d never hurt them… I always hated how father treated Dobby, it was awful he didn’t deserve that” I was pretty much whispering but how father had treated Dobby was awful. I’d tried to keep him out of trouble, tried so many times and all it got me was lectures and a cane across the knuckles. Sure Dobby was dishonest and a pain in the butt but he wasn’t a bad elf. He always knew how I liked my tea, and he washed my hair for me sometimes and he was a really good listener.
“I’m going to have a nap, feel free to wander, you're a guest, not a prisoner” Potter waved his hand almost too uncaring before opening the door to his room. It was brief but from what I could see his sheets were plain white, the bed a huge four poster like the ones we have at Malfoy manor, the canopy over the bed was pitch black. There was a window with red curtains that were pulled shut and the floor looked like more sandstone, his broom was in the corner of the room, next to an empty owl cage. Where was his owl?
I shrugged and watched as he closed the door, leaving me alone in the hallway of the second floor with nothing but time to keep me company.
Well he did say I was a guest not a prisoner.
Maybe I should explore.
If it’s anything like Malfoy Manor there’s bound to be rooms unidentified and unexplored and I so loved doing it as a child