Book 2
Summer was better than the others. At some point though, Draco couldn’t find Dobby. Strange.
Anyways, Draco had lived up to his father’s expectations for that year. The next year, however, would be harder.
Father wanted deeper conversations, secrets. He had assured Draco that he did great for first year, but Father was tired of hearing about the daily fights between Weasley and Granger. He wanted real information.
Draco had no idea how he would get that information. He’d have to figure it out though, for both his sake and for his mother’s sake.
---
While shopping for supplies in Diagon Alley, Draco was looking at school books when he saw Harry. Talking with our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Lockhart.
At first, Draco just stared at him. Harry looked healthier than he had last year. Happier, too. When the Weasleys started handing Harry books and laughing with him is when Draco realized that Harry was here with the Weasleys. Great.
They must be really close friends. Draco wasn’t sure why that thought made his heart ache.
Draco snapped back into focus when he heard the commotion, and noticed Father and the Weasley’s father fighting, in the middle of the bookstore. He rushed towards the scene, wanting nothing more to stop this immediately.
But it was too late, Harry was already glaring at him.
“Father!” Draco yelled, grabbing his father’s cloak. Father turned to Draco, his withering stare made Draco shrink on himself.
“Let’s go Draco, don’t want to be anywhere near these degenerates,” Father huffed, and walked out. Draco felt like a rat as he scurried past the crowd.
Last thing Draco saw in the bookshop was a peculiar book that stuck out of the Weasley girl’s cauldron. It had no title, and looked very worn.
Strange.
---
Draco couldn’t find Harry and Ron on the train. He found Granger easy, but found she seemed just as worried about looking for both boys as well. This was no good at all. Why weren’t they here? They should be here.
They weren’t there during the Sorting ceremony, but he overheard Snape talking about how, quote, “Those idiot kids drove here in a flying car, and crashed it into the Whomping Willow. Weasley broke his wand too. Dumbledore should have expelled them, its what I would have done.”
Harry Potter was a fucking idiot. Draco thought that more and more often.
---
Father had paid for Draco to get on the Slytherin quidditch team. Said it would help make Harry and him closer, have something to talk about.
Draco didn’t feel like he was a very good seeker. During games, he would just watch Harry, whether or not Harry was playing.
Draco’s friends started to notice how much Draco just watched Harry, and started to tease him about his “very obvious crush.” Draco ignored them. It wasn’t true, so why should it matter? At least, that’s what Draco kept telling himself.
---
“I think Draco has a crush on you,” Hermione said. Harry’s head shot up from the essay he was totally writing, not just doodling on the edges of the paper.
“What? No he doesn’t. What makes you think that?” Harry said maybe a little too quickly.
“Because he’s constantly watching you?” Hermione said like it was common knowledge.
“He is?” Harry asked, confused because he was always glancing towards Draco and Draco looked very busy each time.
“Yes?? Wait, did you not know? He’s been watching you since like last year. Every time I look around he’s there, looking at you. Even during Quidditch games he’s just sitting there on his broom, watching you. Honestly it’s a little creepy,” Harry was dumbfounded. Had Draco really been watching him?
Hermione was right, that is a little creepy.
“Are you sure he isn’t just planning something? Because there is no way Draco likes me. No, he must be planning something,” Hermione just shrugged and went back to reading her book.
Harry stared down at his scroll, and studied the little origami swan he had drawn.
---
When Filches cat was paralyzed, and a message written in blood on the walls, Draco was concerned. At first, everyone thought Harry did it, as he was the one to discover the sight, along with Granger and Weasley. Draco knew he didn’t, because Harry would never do that.
While listening in on the trio, he heard them say they thought Draco did it. Preposterous! Draco would never! They seemed to think that Draco was this big bad guy that was out to get them.
Which, Draco had never done anything to prove otherwise, so. That was on him, really.
The rumors that Harry was the one to do it only increased when Draco was actively dueling him. Ironic, they always seemed to be pitted against each other. He had summoned a snake, mainly because he was panicking and so many people were watching him.
What he hadn’t expected was Harry to start hissing at the snake, and it almost looked like he was telling the snake to attack a random student. The rumors after that really just bloomed, and people looked at Harry weirdly.
Well, Draco had something to tell his father, something deeper like he wanted. Draco described how all these weird things were happening around Harry, and how Harry was very much distraught at the thought that someone could think he would do such horrid things.
Father was very pleased with this letter, and wrote back about how the plan was working. Draco wasn’t sure what that meant, but if Father was happy, Draco was happy.
---
“Draco is for sure up to something. He made that snake to make me look like the heir. He’s probably even the one who paralyzed poor Mrs. Norris and wrote on the walls in blood. Hell, he’s probably even the one making me hear voices!” Harry ranted, clearly angry.
“Harry, what in the hell are you talking about,” Ron replied, staring at Harry’s angry form.
“More and more people keep ending up paralyzed, the school thinks its me, and we have to stop the actual person who is doing it. We have to stop Draco!” Harry said, exasperated by Ron’s lack of worry.
“If you are so sure that Draco is the one who did it, then we can go to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and make Polyjuice potion,” Hermione replied calmly, barely looking up from the book she was reading. “Polyjuice potion is a potion that will allow you to take form of someone else, like Blaise and Pansy, Draco’s friends,”
“Great idea Hermione! But those are only two people, who will the third be?” Harry asked, getting excited about the plan.
“Oh, I’m just making the potion, I’m not coming. I still think Draco has a crush on you, and I don’t want to spy on someone I think is innocent. I’m helping because you are my friend and I know you will absolutely go crazy about this otherwise,” Hermione said coolly.
“Thanks ‘Mione,” said Harry, staring at his shoes. Maybe she was right, and they shouldn’t do this.
No, Draco was sure to be behind this, Harry had to stop him.
---
“I have all of the ingredients for the potion, I just need some hair from both Blaise and Pansy,” Hermione said, double checking that they got all of the ingredients.
“How are we going to get that?” asked Ron.
“I’ve made these cupcakes, it’ll put them to sleep. You guys just have to convince them to eat them,” replied Hermione, shoving two pink cupcakes into Ron’s hands. “I’ll meet you both back in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. Get the hair quickly before someone realizes they are missing,”
“Okay, thanks again Hermione,” Harry said, taking one of the cupcakes from Ron.
Harry and Ron wondered a bit before they found Blaise and Pansy, and luckily Draco was no where to be found.
“Hey! Blaise and Pansy, right?” Harry called out to the two. They both turned and shared an equally confused look.
“Hi?” Pansy said, confusion evident in her voice.
“Ron and I were just handing out cupcakes to every student to apologize for the whole snake incident,” Harry lied, but his lying was not as convincing as he hoped. Luckily for Harry, Pansy took the cupcake from Harry, and elbowed Blaise, who then in turn grabbed the other cupcake.
“Thanks,” said Pansy, sort of giving off a ‘Go away’ vibe. She turned to leave, but Ron spoke up.
“Well, could you try if for us? You guys are the first we’ve given cupcakes to and we want to make sure that they are actually good,” Ron lied much more convincingly than Harry had.
Pansy sighed, looked at Blaise, and then took a bite out of the cupcake. Blaise did the same. Pansy smiled, gave a thumbs up, and both of them dropped to the floor.
Harry grabbed Blaise, and dragged him to an open door. Ron just stared at him.
“What? It’s not like we can just leave them out here. Come on, bring Pansy,” Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing ever. Ron just shrugged and dragged Pansy’s body to the room.
They both held up the hairs they had plucked from the two that were now shoved in a closet.
---
“The Polyjuice potion is done. Now, who is going to be who?” Hermione said, holding out the two cups of potion. “One of you is going to have to be a girl for a while,”
“I’ll be Pansy!” Ron said, a little too quickly, before clearing his throat, “I mean I’ll be her. So Harry can have guy time with Draco,” Harry and Hermione looked at Ron for a second, before mutually deciding to see what that was about later.
Harry and Ron took their respective cups, held their noses and downed the whole thing.
Harry gagged immediately, running over to the sink. Ron fell to the ground, groaning while gripping his stomach. Harry thought that he might pass out, and in that moment he noticed how his skin started to change. He turned to Ron who’s skin looked the same as his.
And just as fast as it started, it was over. Ron was now Pansy, longer black hair rather than his short red hair. Harry turned to look in the mirror and saw it was not his own reflection. He now looked exactly like Blaise.
“Okay you two, the potion doesn’t last too long, so you have to hurry,” Hermione said, her sight lingering on Ron’s new form.
“Okay, thanks Hermione,” said Ron, touching his lips as he was surprised how girly he sounded.
---
Draco couldn’t find Harry, which was strange. Draco could usually always find Harry, but he wasn’t in any of the group’s hangout spots.
“Hey, Draco!” Draco heard Blaise shout behind him. Draco turned to find both Blaise and Pansy walking toward him.
“Oh hey guys, where have you been?” Draco asked, as he hadn’t seen them in a little bit.
“You know, about. Anyways, what are you up to?” Blaise hurried to change the subject. Draco squinted at him a moment before responding.
“What I always do, looking for Harry. He got away from me,” Draco said, watching for their reactions.
“Why are you looking for Harry?” Pansy asked. That was strange, both of them had made fun of his ‘crush’ on Harry repeatedly. Maybe they were just teasing him.
“Only my massive crush on the guy. What’s up with you guys, you know this and have repeatedly made fun of me for it,” Draco said. This was suspicious. Had Father sent them?
“Of course we know! We’re just teasing,” Pansy said quickly, while giving Blaise a side eye. Blaise just stared at Draco, extreme shock on his face. It went away once Pansy elbowed him.
“You still like him after what he’s probably done? Everyone at school thinks he’s the heir of Salazar Slytherin,” Blaise said.
“Oh Harry definitely didn’t do any of that, and he is definitely not the heir,” Draco replied. He knew that Harry wouldn’t do such a thing because, well because he is Harry. Draco knew him, and he wouldn’t do that. No matter how suspicious he might seem.
“How do you know?” Blaise pushed, seemingly trying to get something out of Draco.
“Because, he’s Harry. He’s the boy who lived. I could never imagine him doing such a thing,” Draco said with such passion, he didn’t even recognize his own words.
“You must really like him, huh?” Pansy said.
“Yeah, I do,” Draco looked at his feet. When he looked up, Pansy was hidden behind Blaise’s back.
“What are you doing?” Draco questioned.
“Nothing! Just, Blaise and I have to go,” Pansy said with a suspiciously low voice.
Before Draco could protest, both of them ran down the hall and away from him. Weirdest interaction he’s had with them in a while. Draco shrugged and continued looking for Harry.
---
“Holy shit,” Harry said. Hermione looked up from the book she was reading in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom.
“What? Did you get caught?” Hermione asked, concern clearly showing on her face.
“We almost did, but ‘Mione you were right! Draco has a crush on me!”
“I told you! And is he responsible for the attacks?”
“No, he can’t be. All he talked about was me! I.. I don’t know how I feel about that,”
“Where’d Ron go?”
“He’s not here?”
Harry turned to see that indeed Ron was gone. Huh.
---
“Let me in, this is urgent,” Draco cried to the painting.
“No, you do not know the code, you are not allowed in,” she replied, unimpressed with Draco’s guesses. The door opened anyway, revealing Harry, who froze a bit once he saw who was at the door.
“What’s-” Before Harry could get a word out, Draco interrupted him.
“It’s Hermione, she’s been petrified. I was in the library when it happened, and I was the one to discover her. After I got her to the Medical Wing I came straight here, I thought you should know,” Draco said, his words blending together in the panic that he was saying them in. Ron was right behind Harry, and was the first one to push past them both. Harry and Draco followed soon behind.
Draco glanced behind himself as the painting door closed, to see a familiar redhead go up the stairs to the boys side of the dorm. Hmmm.
Draco stood behind as the boys cried beside Hermione. Draco swore he heard Harry say ‘How are we going to do this without you?’ while Ron just sat there, the kind of dread on his face that could make a person give up.
Right before Draco left, he saw something in Hermione’s hand, the one that was not holding a mirror. Draco approached, and both boys looked up at Draco, slight confusion, but let him near. Strange that they sort of trusted him now, but that was besides the point. Gently, he took the object, a paper, out of her hand. On it, it had some mumbo jumbo about a snake or whatnot. Draco handed it to Harry, who’s eyes widened. Harry stood up and looked at Draco.
“Follow me,” he said, a determination in his voice that Draco hadn’t quite seen before. Draco’s heart skipped a beat.
They followed Harry back to the Gryffindor dorms, where Harry opened the door to his room, only to find it trashed.
“I knew it,” Harry muttered. He promptly turned and left the dorms, leaving a slightly confused Ron and Harry.
When they reached a girls bathroom and both boys proceeded to enter with no hesitation, Draco was confused, more than he already was. But in he entered anyway.
It was empty, and Harry was already looking for something.
“I knew I wasn’t just hearing random voices. There’s a basilisk in the walls. I thought it was you, Draco, that was opening the the door to the Chamber of Secrets but it has to be someone else. I think I could open it with Parseltongue, but I’m not sure how,” Harry said in a one breath, pausing to catch it.
“Try saying open,” Ron suggested. Draco thought that was absolutely ridiculous but when Harry did, the sinks all opened and converged.
Maybe Ron was smarter than Draco gave him credit for.
---
Down in the hallway that led to the Chamber of Secrets, Draco felt useless. After the avalanche, Draco and Ron were just stuck there. There were lots of screaming, and fighting noises coming from where Harry went that Draco couldn’t. Ron was shaking so bad that Draco forced him to go back get Dumbledore and the other professors but Draco stayed.
When it was quiet, it was too quiet.
“Fuck this,” Draco muttered under his breath, lifting rocks with the Wingarduim Leviosa charm. He wasn’t perfect at it but he eventually made it through.
In the Chamber was the Weasley girl, Ginny, and Harry. Harry didn’t look to great and the girl was crying. An all too familiar book lay on the ground, and a fang stuck out of it. Not to mention the giant snake that lay dead, a sword through it’s head.
Draco ran to Harry, a nasty wound present in his arm. Ginny was sobbing, repeating things like ‘I’m sorry,’ and “I didn’t mean to.’ Draco told himself to calm the girl once Harry was alright.
The wound was bad. It was deep, and Draco could only assume the basilisk bit Harry. Draco had taken too long, and it was too late. Harry was going to die.
Just then, a Phoenix flew in from somewhere and landed by Harry. Draco found it hard not to stare. It looked at Draco for just a moment, before letting a single tear fall onto the bite. Draco watched in wonder as the wound healed itself, and Harry began to sit up.
“Hey, take it easy,” Draco said, and Harry’s beautiful green eyes stared up at him for just a moment before Harry fell unconscious again. Luckily, the professors arrived at that moment, sweeping up Harry and fussing over him.
Draco turned to face Ginny, who was still sobbing, but hyperventilating even harder now. Sitting near her but not quite touching, Draco held his hand out to her. Ginny looked at him, confused, and reluctantly placed her hand on his own. Draco guided Ginny’s hand to his chest, where he dramatically breathed in and out, urging her to do the same. To his surprise, it work, and she calmed.
“It’s not your fault, Ginny. I promise,”
And just like that, it was like time resumed again and Ginny was whisked away. Snape asked if Draco was okay, but that was it.
---
Hermione and the rest of the petrified students were okay, along with Ron and Ginny.
Harry was also fine. In fact, he was so fine that he somehow managed to free Draco’s family house elf, Dobby. Secretly, Draco was glad Harry did it. Dobby deserved better, Draco always thought he was rather kind.
But Father was furious. Even with all the letters that Draco had sent, some even telling the truth of how Harry and him had become closer, Draco had gotten a Howler.
It almost felt like Draco couldn’t go home. But, where else would he go?