Year Four
This has to be the worst start to any school year Regulus has ever seen. Somehow, his 14-year-old nephew was chosen for the Triwizard Tournament as a second Hogwarts champion, and then, for some ridiculous reason, they just forced him to participate. Harry has been hysterical since it happened, and all of his friends are mad at him. Regulus has been on an understandably short straw recently because of it, and he’s warned his kids plenty that he’s not in the tolerating mood for anything having to do with Harry, and for the most part his students, especially his older ones, have gone out of their way to be very nice to Harry when the rest of the school hasn’t been. Of course, if someone is going to taunt Harry, it’s going to be Draco.
Regulus hears that shrill, haunting laugh from the courtyard as he walks by, looking through the pillars to see Harry yelling something back at Draco and his group of friends before storming off, knocking into the shoulders of people walking by. They all curse and scoff at him when he does, Regulus not getting time to see where Harry went. Instead, he decides to deal with this problem at its source, walking out into the courtyard up to Draco.
“Draco, come here, let’s talk,” Regulus firmly demands, Draco’s expression completely changing from smiling and laughing to fearful. He doesn’t let the fear linger though, acting tough in front of his friends.
“I didn’t do anything, Professor, no need to talk to me,” He tries to laugh, Regulus not in a good mood at all. The flashing of the stupid ‘Potter Stinks!’ buttons does not help in the slightest.
“No, now,” Regulus coldly demands, clearly striking a chord with Draco because he stops laughing and walks up to Regulus. Regulus silently leads him back to his classroom, closing the door behind the two of them and walking up to his desk, not looking back when he points and says, “Sit.”
Draco sits down, Regulus sitting down at his desk, Draco staring at him in fear. Regulus lets it happen, though, being beyond furious about the treatment of his nephew. Draco is his cousin, yes, but Harry means the world to him, and he’ll defend him with anything that it takes.
“I have warned you in class multiple times, I am not tolerating this treatment this year at all, especially from you, Draco. I understand you and Harry have a rivalry that you mutually participate in, but this is over the line. Every time I walk by the courtyard you and your friends are humiliating him and encouraging other students to do the same. That is unacceptable, these buttons are unacceptable, your behavior is unacceptable and I expect to never see this again. I expect you to uncharm these buttons you’ve created and I no longer want you encouraging this behavior, do you understand?”
“Professor, it’s just a joke, it’s not serious,” Draco tries to quickly brush off, but Regulus isn’t up to listening.
“No, it’s not, because it’s not being taken as a joke at all. You have the privilege to believe something like that is funny at all, but your classmate is going into a very dangerous game. He could get seriously hurt, Draco, I don’t believe you see that risk at all. The teasing and demeaning of this choice that he did not make is not acceptable at all,” Regulus maintains.
“But-”
“No,” Regulus stops him, “No, I am not taking arguments.”
“Pro-”
“Draco,” Regulus cuts him off again, taking a deep breath before deciding this is not the correct approach to this issue. “Why?” He settles on asking, “Why are you doing all of this to tease him? I want to understand so we can talk about it better.”
“Because he’s not the real champion,” Draco argues, surprisingly aggressive, “He’s just going to poorly represent Hogwarts, he’s not nearly good enough to do any of these tasks. All he’s going to do is barely escape with his life because he’s not a talented wizard, but I guess that runs in his family.”
Regulus stares at him in disappointment and shock at what just came out of his mouth. He cannot believe he stooped so low as to make a comment about Halloween to justify constantly humiliating Harry. Regulus is not happy with him, and as much as he tries to hide it the stinging disappointment in a boy he thought was better than that must display all over his face, because Draco goes from visibly angry to almost panicked, beginning to ramble to Regulus.
“I-I just mean like, I mean like it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous and he could die and it’s just- He’s too young and he might, he might get really hurt, he’s probably going to get hurt and I’m worried- I’m sc- I don’t want him to get hurt because that wouldn’t be good,” Draco scrambles to justify it, Regulus beginning to pick on on the real reasons why Draco keeps doing this. “And he’s- he’s been busy with all of these new people from the other schools and the newspapers and he hasn’t been, you know, arguing with me at all and I’m just- I want his- I just- I don’t want him to get lost in all of this.”
Regulus takes in the jumble of an admission Draco just gave him, Draco bright red and staring at Regulus almost desperately. Regulus has to very carefully contemplate his response, because as furious as he is about what Draco said he thinks that he was just doing it because he felt backed into a corner. After a moment of silence, Regulus replies to him, still trying to push down his anger, “I don’t know whether you believe what you said about Harry’s family or not, but under no circumstances should I ever hear you say that to either me or Harry. It is extremely disrespectful. You should never make fun of anyone’s trauma, that is a line that is uncrossable because all it is going to do is recall those horrible memories and you don’t know how they’re going to react. If you had said something like that to Harry he would have blown up at you because that incident is very difficult for him to hear about. You need to control what you say, Draco, I never want to hear you even joke about that again.”
Draco frowns, looking down into his lap and muttering, “Sorry.”
“Thank you,” Regulus answers, still not thrilled about his behavior but deciding there’s no point in driving that point home, he’s done enough. Instead, he works on a new point, “And I understand you’re just worried for Harry, but you’re not making things better for him, dear. Constantly telling him that he isn’t good enough to do something he has no choice in isn’t going to make him feel appreciated or make him want to continue interacting with you, dear. You’re going to catch more flies with honey, people don’t talk to people who aren’t nice.”
“But I don’t mean it like that,” Draco counters.
“I know you don’t, but you are being very mean to him. You’re bullying Harry, Draco, I don’t think you see that,” Regulus calmly tells him, “You need to step back and see how poorly you’re treating him, and how this isn’t mutual arguing. This is one-sided and over the top, if he’s not matching your energy then you’re not being equal. If you’re really worried, you ask him if he’s ok, you do not berate him around every corner.”
Draco nods, not saying anything.
“I want you to stop wearing and encouraging your classmates to wear those buttons, I know you have them charmed, uncharm them and leave it at that. I expect it to be done by tonight, too. I don’t want to see them at dinner tonight, is that understood?” Regulus asks.
“Yes Sir,” Draco affirms, not looking at Regulus. Regulus suppresses a sigh at the formal term, hating that he was scared enough to use it with him but not knowing any other way to get him to cut it out. He decides that’s a good sign to just leave it at this and hopes he got through to him, though, Regulus nodding.
“Alright, thank you, dear, if you need anything I’m here but if not I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” Regulus smiles at him, Draco looking up at him for a minute but not saying anything, just getting up and silently walking out of the room. When he shuts the door Regulus groans, putting his head in his hand and his fingers under his glasses so he can press them into his eyes. That went horribly, about as bad as Regulus could have pictured it going without any physical violence. He has no idea if Draco just shut down and stopped listening or if he really did get to him, but he figures he’ll find out at dinner tonight. If they’re wearing the buttons, he’ll just have to speak to Draco again.
Regulus just decides to calm down with grading until dinner, abandoning his original plan of getting some errands around the castle done. He doesn’t see Harry at all, but the last time he went to find him Harry had some interesting choice words for Regulus, so Regulus decides if he needs him he’ll come find him.
Regulus glances up at the clock and sees it’s just about dinnertime, sighing and packing up his things. He decides to leave his bag behind in hopes that maybe Poppy will be there, beginning his way to the Great Hall. While he’s walking, Neville catches up to him, Regulus listening to him ramble about some new plant he’s learning about. Regulus just smiles, happy to get to hear his excited voice explaining something Regulus doesn’t understand. It calms him down a bit, even if he doesn’t understand a word of it. Neville gives a quick goodbye when they walk into the room, going off to sit at the Gryffindor table with Ginny and Luna, Regulus not seeing Harry at the table at all. He sighs, but he lets it go, walking up the middle of the room but slowing down when he sees the flashing buttons at the Slytherin table. He goes to walk up and tap Draco on the shoulder, but he stops when he sees them all pointing their wands at them, complaining about something.
“Draco, what happened to these? What did you do?” A Slytherin questions, Draco shrugging.
“I don’t know, I can’t fix it,” He tells them, “Someone hexed them.”
The table all continues complaining, Regulus getting close enough to see the buttons flash the words ‘Go Potter!’ Regulus waits for it to change, sure that they don’t really just say that, but it never does. They just stay with that displayed on them, Draco just watching as his friends frantically try to fix it. Regulus smiles as he walks by, heading up to his seat at the teacher’s table next to Poppy, who is thankfully here today.
“Hello Regulus,” She greets as he takes a seat, “How has your day been?
“Alright, I’ve lost Harry, he ran off an hour ago and I haven’t seen him since, but I’m trusting him to come to me if he needs something,” Regulus tells her, “Other than that mundane, just stopping a couple of kids from tormenting my poor nephew.”
She sighs, “It’s been bad recently, I feel bad for him. Although, did you see what happened to their buttons walking by?” She asks, nodding towards the group of Slytherins.
Regulus nods, “Would you believe me if I said I caused that?”
“Oh, they’re Draco’s buttons, I absolutely would,” She affirms, “Did you talk to him?’
“Mhm, yeah, he definitely tested my patience today but I managed to make him see why what he’s doing is bad. He doesn’t understand, he’s very worried about Harry so his first reaction is to just be mean, which is interesting but not surprising. I was worried I didn’t get to him, though. so I’m very proud he listened and changed that behavior.”
“I would never believe that kid could be anything but nasty, yet you turn him into a totally different person,” She comments, Regulus making eye contact with Draco. He smiles at him, Draco giving him the smallest smile and winking at him. Regulus looks back at Poppy.
“He’s just never had someone really unconditionally care about him,” Regulus tells her, “Maybe I’m too understanding, who knows. I just understand what it’s like to be there.”
“Whatever you’re doing it’s working,” She replies, “Because I wouldn’t believe you if you told me he would change those buttons to anything but something horrible against Harry, yet look where we are.”
Regulus laughs, shrugging as he looks back out at Draco putting on a show to his friends, who are relentlessly asking him to fix them.
“Well, what can I say, I’m a miracle worker I guess.”
***
Regulus bids goodbye to a student who was walking with him, continuing back to his classroom from where he was looking for something in the library. Things haven’t been much better since Regulus spoke to Draco, but Draco himself has been. He hasn’t been teasing Harry nearly as much, and the couple of times he has heard it it’s been mutual. Which is why, when he hears their two voices going back and forth in the courtyard, he doesn’t even bat an eye. Not until he hears Moody’s voice boom through the crowd, all of a sudden hearing laughing and yelling coming from outside. He stops and turns back around, looking out the doorway leading into the courtyard, so stunned at the scene he’s watching that he can’t even step in. He sees Harry pointing down at the ground at a ferret, yelling at Moody.
“Make him a human again! He didn’t even say anything, turn him back!” Harry demands, the ferret, who is a very familiar blonde color, gets picked up by Moody and slammed to the ground, Harry rushing over to grab it and hold it in his hands, where it’s looking around frantically. “Turn him back! What the hell is wrong with you?”
Moody groans, “You are so hard to please, boy, fine.”
Moody grumbles to himself but listens to Harry, flicking his wand at the ferret. It suddenly morphs back into none other than Draco Malfoy, now standing hand in hand with Harry, facing him, so close their noses almost touch. Draco is clearly stunned, eyes wide and whole face bright red. Harry doesn’t move, either, glancing down at their hands before they both perk up when Minerva comes storming across the grounds.
“Go back to class! All of you go back to class!” She booms, shooing away all of the kids surrounding the two boys. Regulus takes this as his cue to walk up as well, although he lets her do the talking. “Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, what happened here?”
Harry steps off to the side and lets go of one of Draco’s hands so they’re both facing Minerva. “Professor, Professor Moody turned Draco into a ferret for no reason.”
“Moody! We do not use transfiguration as a punishment,” She scolds, “Off with you, and I better not see you doing that again or I’m reporting it straight to Albus.”
“Blah blah, whatever,” Moody dismisses, hobbling off as his cane clicks against the ground. Minerva huffs but turns back to Draco and Harry.
“Are you alright, Mr. Malfoy?”
Draco suddenly zones back in on the conversation and quickly nods, although Harry responds for him.
“This hand is hurt,” Harry tells her, holding up Draco’s hand, which he snatches away when Harry does it, cradling it.
“Ow!” Draco cries, Regulus deciding this is his moment to step in.
“I can take him to Madam Pomfrey,” Regulus offers, holding out an arm, “Come here, dear, come on.”
Draco walks over to Regulus, Regulus wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He rubs it for a moment, although he drops it when they start walking. Minerva takes Harry wherever he was headed, letting Regulus focus on Draco. As much as he’s holding his already bruising hand to his chest, he’s beaming, looking at his hand a couple of times as they walk. He’s really red, too, but Regulus doesn’t comment on it. They just walk silently to the Hospital Wing, walking in and immediately catching the attention of Poppy, who is handing something to another student.
“Oh, hello, what happened there?” She asks, saying something to the student she was just with before walking up, looking at Draco’s hand, “Come sit, let’s talk about what happened here, come,” She gestures, Regulus and Draco following her to the back corner of the room where her cabinet of treatments is. Draco sits on the bed, Regulus taking a seat in the chair next to it. Poppy goes right over to take things out, Draco looking at Regulus.
“You can go,” He tells him, almost confused.
“No, it’s alright, dear, I want to make sure your hand is ok,” He assures him, smiling, “I’ll stay, I’m worried about you, of course I’ll stay.”
Draco looks at him a moment before nodding, his expression very content. Although, the moment Poppy walks over it with her medicine cart hardens again, Draco wearing almost a grimace.
“What happened here?” She asks as she pulls up the swivel chair and sits in front of him, “Let me see.”
Draco hands his wrist to her, Poppy unbuttoning his sleeve and carefully folding it back to reveal what is undoubtedly a broken wrist. She turns his hand to face up, looking up at him.
“Can you do me a favor and flex your fingers out for me?” She requests, Draco trying to flex out his fingers but failing to even get them halfway out.
“Ow! That hurts!” He complains.
“Ok, don’t do it if it hurts,” She stops him, “I’m just trying to see if it’s broken so I can properly fix it.”
“Well is it?” He questions, oddly aggressively, “Can’t you just fix it?”
“Draco,” Regulus stops him, Draco looking over surprised, “Be nice please, dear. She’s helping you, be nice to her.”
Draco’s expression softens, looking back at Poppy but not saying anything. She takes her wand out and mends his wrist, Regulus watching it straighten back out and Poppy moves it around again, looking at Draco.
“Does this hurt?” She asks as she taps each finger to the center of his hand.
Draco shakes his head, “No.”
“Good,” She smiles, putting her wand back down. Before she even gets the chance to reach for the bruise cream, Draco questions her.
“What about the bruise?” He asks, although not nearly as meanly as before. Regulus smiles, happy he corrected that behavior.
“I’m going to put this on it,” She tells him, picking up the circular container, “And it should fade, if not completely almost all the way. The rest will disappear within the next couple of weeks, but if you can even see any it’ll be small. Nothing to worry about, dear.”
Draco nods, watching as she puts on the cream and the bruise fades away. Once it’s all gone, Poppy stands up and pushes her chair away, putting her cart back as she explains to him.
“Be gentle with it for some time, it’s still fragile even if I healed it. If it starts to throb or feels tingly or hot come back to me so I can make sure it’s healing well. Other than that you’re all set, dear,” She smiles at him, Draco standing up. He goes to walk off without saying anything, but one glance at Regulus makes him rethink that choice.
“Thank you,” He tells her, not waiting for an answer before walking out of the hospital wing. Poppy leans around the divider and waits for the door to shut before drawing the curtain on the room and looking at Regulus in shock.
“You made that boy say thank you without lifting a finger,” She marvels, “Forget miracle worker, I think you’re a god.”
Regulus laughs, “It really isn’t that hard.”
“You got him to respect you, that’s a task that no other teacher has managed to pull off, not even Severus,” Poppy sits down on the bed, “You’re really good for him, he’s lucky to have you here.”
“I’m lucky to have him too, Poppy, for a long time I just thought I would never get to know him, I missed his whole childhood,” Regulus reminds her, “It hurt seeing him again and realizing he’s everything I was pushed into as a kid, I’m doing everything I can to reverse that and give him something positive to learn from.”
“You’re doing an amazing job, too, because he listens to everything you say,” Poppy adds, “He really likes you, Reg, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls a you and leaves.”
“That is my end goal, actually,” Regulus tells her, “I really want him to see there’s a way out, but I just haven’t seen the opportunity to yet. He’s still too deep into that mindset to understand he doesn’t need to stay.”
“One day, you’ll get to him one day,” She smiles, looking over when she hears someone call her name from the door. She groans, “While you’re changing lives, I’m doomed to healing the world’s weirdest ailments a teenager could contract.”
Regulus laughs, watching as she walks out, hearing her heels click quickly towards the door. Regulus just sits for a moment, trying to process everything that just happened. Draco’s interest in Harry has skyrocketed this year because Regulus is pretty sure Draco would have just stood there hand in hand with him forever. But that interaction also taught him that Harry definitely doesn’t hate Draco, nowhere near it. He knew his hand was hurt but continued to hold it. Physical touch, that’s Harry’s favorite means of comfort. He comforted Draco, whether either of them knew it or not, Harry respected Draco enough to comfort him when he was hurt and Draco respected Harry enough to let him. They’re getting there, bit by bit.
At this rate, hopefully, the two can realize by Seventh Year that they actually don’t hate each other at all.
***
Regulus has been keeping himself busy by circling around the Yule Ball, watching as kids mill around with one another. In particular, he watches as Draco sits and sulks, Pansy and his friends continuously coming up to him and trying to get him to get up and do anything with them. He refuses every time, though, and after Regulus sees his friends go off somewhere else he decides to see what’s going on with him. He walks over to where Draco is sitting, back to the table he was at, just stormily staring at something, and pulls up a chair next to him.
“What?” Draco grumbles, Regulus not taking it personally.
“Hello dear, how are you? No dancing or anything?” Regulus lightheartedly asks, although Draco doesn’t lighten up at all.
“Mmm,” He mumbles.
“What’s wrong, dear?” Regulus asks.
“Nothing,” He brushes him off, eyes locked on something that seems to be moving around the room. Regulus doesn’t look at what he’s looking at, although it gets increasingly clear what it is when he looks away and Harry walks up to Regulus a moment later.
“Hi Uncle Reg,” Harry greets, “What are you doing?’
“Just chatting, walking around and making sure you all behave,” Regulus tells him, “What are you doing? Where is your date?”
“I don’t really like her that much, I don’t know where she went,” He shrugs, Regulus seeing Draco shift out of the corner of his eye. “I’ve been hanging out with Ron. Something about three deadly tasks doesn’t put me in a dancing mood.”
Regulus laughs, “I understand bud, but as long as you’re having a good time it doesn’t matter what you’re doing.”
“Was that one of your piano kids playing today?” Harry asks.
“Mhm, it was,” Regulus nods, “Why? Do I have to tell her she did a horrible job?”
“Yeah, it was horrendous, made my ears bleed,” Harry jokes, laughing, “But it sounded very good, Uncle Reg, was that the piece I heard you playing the other day?”
“The one at Halloween?” Regulus questions, Harry nodding, “Bud, that was two months ago.”
“Ok, whatever, was that the one?” Harry brushes it off.
Regulus nods, “Yes, it was, I’m surprised you recognized it. You definitely don’t have your father’s ear for music, that’s for sure.”
“Dad couldn’t tell rock from classical,” Harry replies, glancing back over his shoulder before beginning to walk back away from Regulus waving, “Ok, I’m going back to Ron, bye Uncle Reg.”
“Bye bud, go have fun,” Regulus waves back at him, watching as Harry goes off to sit with Ron at a table a little bit away from them, but still visible. Regulus looks back at Draco, who now doesn’t look nearly as grumpy. “Sorry, Harry loves to interrupt me.”
“It’s ok,” Draco assures him, “He’s right, the music was very good.”
“Thank you, Professor Flitwick and I have been working on this for a long time, I’m glad it paid off,” Regulus smiles, “Did you ever learn piano?”
Draco shakes his head, “No, why?”
“Really? Wow, I’m surprised, I would think you did,” Regulus replies, “I did when I was very young, I would’ve thought you would have been taught it too.”
“No, my dad doesn’t like piano,” Draco tells him, “My mum likes it a lot, though.”
“I would be offended if she didn’t, she grew up hearing me ask her to listen to things I was playing,” Regulus tells him.
“When did you start?” Draco asks, oddly interested.
“I was 3,” He answers, “Funnily enough, I started playing at the same age you were when I first met you.”
Draco slowly nods before telling him, “I don’t remember meeting you.”
“I’m sure, you were very young,” Regulus responds, “You and your mum went to a diner, I met you there and chatted with your mum a bit. You didn’t want to talk to me, though, you were more interested in your broken green crayon.”
“I don’t even like green that much,” Draco laughs.
Regulus returns the laugh, asking, “What is your favorite color?”
“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Draco fiddles with his hands.
“Tell me anyway, dear,” Regulus encourages, pretty sure he knows what Draco is about to say.
“I like red a lot, “Draco admitted to him, Regulus chuckling.
“Gryffindor colors, huh?” Regulus teases, Draco flushing a bit red.
“No, no, no,” Draco quickly dismisses, “I just think- I don’t know, I think it’s nice.”
“Ok, I like red too, but I like green more. Not the Slytherin green, but more of a sage green,” Regulus tells him, “I’ve always found it very calming. I have a pair of knitting needles in that color. Harry’s grandmother actually gifted them to me, she was the one who taught me how to knit.”
“You can knit?” Draco asks, Regulus nodding.
“Mhm, between your Aunt Andromeda and Harry’s grandmother I’ve been taught a lot of those kinds of skills. I knit, crochet, sew, all of that,” Regulus tells him, “Your Aunt Andromeda and I tried to quilt once but it didn’t go too well, the quilt fell apart halfway through and we just gave up. Well, it didn’t really fall apart, your cousin Tonks ripped it, but I think it was a sign.”
Draco laughs, but his attention is completely drawn away when an oddly familiar laugh sounds across the room. Regulus looks up to see Harry standing with Cho, clearly sheepish. Regulus just muses that he’s just like his dad, he freezes up the moment he’s in front of someone he likes. Although, he looks over to see Draco zeroed in on the two of them, grumpy expression returning as he just watches Harry walk around the room. Regulus simply observes him for a moment before deciding to question him.
“What are you looking at, dear?” Regulus asks, Draco, clearly zoned out, sitting silent a moment before almost whispering back to Regulus.
“At Harry,” He tells him, almost infatuated. Regulus is shocked, although he doesn’t get any time to react, as Draco looks over at him in fear, his whole face, which was previously flushed red, having gone completely white with the hint of almost green. He gets up and practically runs out of the room, Regulus chasing after him. He knows Draco didn’t want to say that, but he needs to assure him that what he feels is ok and that Regulus isn’t going to stop talking to him because of it.
Regulus just catches Draco going off into a corridor a little bit down the hall from where the entrance to the ball is, Regulus rushing after him. He walks in to see Draco curled up on the floor, looking up at Regulus in pure terror. Regulus takes a deep breath, preparing himself for what he needs to say to calm him down.
“Hey, dear, is it alright if I sit next to you?” Regulus asks, Draco nodding. He keeps his eyes fixed on Regulus as he sits on the ground, giving Draco a little bit of space but sitting close enough to assure him he isn’t mad or anything. “What’s going on, dear? I want you to talk to me, I want to listen,” Regulus presses, “Take a deep breath first, too. You’re safe, you’re with me.”
Draco listens, taking a deep breath in and out before shaking his head, “It’s stupid, it’s fine. Go away.”
“No, I’m not leaving until I’m sure that you’re going to be ok,” Regulus denies, “I’m ready to listen whenever you’re ready to talk.”
Draco wraps his arms around his legs, which are pulled up to his chest, sitting in silence for a long moment before he very quietly begins to talk. “I wanted to go to the ball with him. Not-Not like that, not, no, not, I- I wanted, I don’t know. I don’t know.”
“Deep breath, dear,” Regulus reminds him, “But you could have asked him, I almost guarantee you he would have said yes. He was scrambling for his date.”
“No, no, that’s not what I wanted” Draco shuts him down, “No, I don’t know, I just want to talk to him. Not argue, I don’t know, I just- I don’t know. It’s stupid.”
“You want to be friends,” Regulus finishes for him, Draco nodding. “You know, he doesn’t hate you, not at all. When you broke your hand at the beginning of the year he made sure you got help, he respects you, my dear. You can just talk to him, he’s a little short tempered but he’s not mean. I’m sure he’d love to be friends with you, too, but I just think he doesn’t think you like him at all.”
“Mmm,” Draco dismissively hums, “He doesn’t like me.”
“That’s not true,” Regulus shakes his head, “You’ve never really talked to him, you could go in and talk to him right now and I’m sure he’d spark up a conversation.”
“No, he doesn’t like me,” Draco denies again.
“But-”
“He doesn’t like me,” He interrupts him, “He doesn’t like me, Professor.”
“You’ve never-”
“He doesn’t like me like that!” Draco explodes, immediately burying his head in between his knees. Regulus is stunned, but he can’t revel in it for too long or Draco is going to run off again.
“He doesn’t know you, my dear,” Regulus softly responds, “Look at me, please, just for a moment.”
Draco looks up at him, still hunched over, his entire face all the way up to his ears beet red and his eyes a little watery, “What?” He aggressively questions, although it’s mostly empty.
“Harry is a very sweet kid, I’m sure he has his preconceived notions of you but if anyone is used to breaking those boundaries it’s him. He is surrounded by it, dear, and you will be no exception. Once you talk to him and show him you, no arguing or teasing, I promise that you two are going to get along great,” Regulus assures him, “If anyone is going to know him, it’s going to be me, and I would never give you false hope. You two can be friends, you’re more similar than you think.”
Draco nods, putting his head on his knees and looking out at the wall on the other side. After a minute, he finally says, “I don’t know what to do.”
“To talk to him?” Regulus asks, Draco humming in affirmation but not looking over. “Harry is pretty easy to talk to, he’s a lot like his dad in that sense. He’s definitely got quite the lip on him, that comes from his mum, but it’s never done out of malice. He’s in my room all the time, if you come in he’s probably going to be there. Just sit next to him and ask him how he is, how his practice was, things like that. It’ll take a little bit to break down what the two of you have created, but I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, dear. You are enjoyable to talk to.”
Draco looks over at Regulus a moment before returning to looking at the wall, not saying anything.
“Would you like a hug, dear?” Regulus asks, Draco hesitating a moment before nodding. He turns towards Regulus, who draws him into a hug, although it only lasts a moment. Regulus just smiles at him.
“You know, dear, I don’t look forward to you two being friends because you two are going to be insufferable together, Harry is just like his father and you’re just like Sirius. The two of them are inseparable and I have a feeling you’ll be the same way,” Regulus tells him, smiling, “I’m sure Sirius told you quite the number of stories of the two of them last year.”
Draco nods, chuckling, “He told me about the time that they glitter in your piano books.”
“Oh my goodness, that haunts me to this day, there’s still glitter in some of my older books,” Regulus shakes his head. Draco smiles back at him, waiting a minute before getting up.
“I’m going back to my dorm,” He tells him, “Bye, Professor.”
“Bye dear,” Regulus smiles back, standing up, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Draco nods, going to walk away but looking back, looking down before telling him, “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Regulus beams back at him, thrilled he said thank you, “Have a good night, dear.”
“You too,” Draco answers before walking off, Regulus taking a deep breath before deciding he needs to call Sirius. He doesn’t bother to go back in and tell anyone, he was told he didn’t need to stay anyway and it’s gotten loud in there since he left. Instead, he heads back to his quarters, although he stops when he sees Hermione sitting on the stairs, shoes next to her and her blue dress splayed out around her, crying. Regulus immediately shifts his goal to comfort her, walking over and taking a seat next to her.
“What’s wrong, dear? Are you alright?” Regulus asks, Hermione moving a bit closer but looking away from him.
“It’s nothing, nothing is wrong,” She clips back, Regulus knowing full well that she’s lying.
“My dear, you came here with one of the champions and you looked like you were having an amazing time with him. I’m worried about you, I want to know what happened,” Regulus presses, Hermione leaning her head on his shoulder, continuing to look away. Regulus wraps an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm. After sitting there for a moment he feels her turn her head so her face is against his shoulder, hearing her start to cry again. Regulus pulls her into a hug, Hermione burying her head into his shoulder. He doesn’t say anything, just letting her sit there and cry as he gently rubs her back, although it doesn’t take more than a minute for her to start talking through sobs.
“Ron just- he’s so mean, he yelled at me and, and he told me Viktor doesn’t care about me and just wants me for- for information like I’m some object,” She complains to him, “I don’t know what I did wrong! I was just having a good night, I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”
“I’m sorry, dear,” Regulus starts to console her, although he’s cut off by a very familiar voice coming out of the Great Hall. Regulus looks over to see Harry, looking right at the two of them in concern. Hermione must’ve heard him talking, too, because she pulls back from Regulus to look. Of course, where there’s Harry there’s Ron, and he comes out of the Great Hall only a moment after Harry. Regulus knows this is going to end horribly, but he decides to let them deal with it.
Harry walks up to them, looking at Hermione, “Ron wants to say something to you.”
“Well tell Ron I don’t want to hear it,” She bites back, Harry just looking over at his friend. Ron looks like a kicked puppy, and Regulus is sure Harry gave him a James-Potter-level talking to.
“‘M sorry,” Ron grumbles.
“Well if you were sorry you shouldn’t have said it in the first place,” She stands up, “You ruined my night Ron! Who I went to the ball with had nothing to do with you! All you wanted to do was sit and sulk the whole time but that doesn’t mean you had to ruin my night too!”
“Well maybe you shouldn’t be getting in with Krum then,” Ron argues back, matching her tone.
“Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" She screams back, Ron going to argue but Regulus decides he needs to put an end to this. He stands up, holding out a hand.
“Ok, alright, everyone take a deep breath. Harry, Ron, go take some time to cool off please, I don’t mind if you go back to the ball or not but let’s give each other some space, ok?”
Harry, who is well used to the concept of giving space when he’s angry, nods, grabbing Ron by the arm and dragging him back into the Great Hall. Hermione sits back down on the step, starting to cry to herself again. Regulus sits down next to her, waiting to see what she does before he says anything. Surprisingly, she moves away from him, grabbing her shoes next to her.
“Where are you going, dear?” Regulus asks.
“Back home, I guess,” She shrugs, “Can’t go back in now, everything is ruined.”
“It’s not, not at all. You should go back, go enjoy your night. Harry and Ron aren’t the only people who care about you, I’m sure your date is wondering where you went,” Regulus tells her, “Go find him and have a good time.”
She sniffles a bit, wiping her eyes and looking down at her hand, which now has a streak of mascara on it. She shakes her head, “I can’t, my makeup and my hair are all ruined, I’ll look horrible.”
“That’s nothing I can’t fix, my dear,” Regulus smiles at her, taking out his wand, “I’m actually quite talented at makeup illusion charms, I grew up with a brother who used them all the time. Face me, dear,” He tells her, Hermione looking at him. Regulus places a hand under her chin to keep her head still, her eyes going crossed as she watches Regulus flick his wand, her makeup returning to what it was before. “There, just like new. It’ll wear off by tonight so you can wash it all off before you go to bed.”
“Thank you, Professor,” She smiles at him, running a hand over her now collapsed bun, “But my hair is a mess now, it was hard to tame in the first place.”
Regulus chuckles, “You came to the right person, then, I’ll braid it for you. I don’t know if I can put it back in the bun but I can certainly help.”
“Are you sure? It’s not easy to work with,” She warns him, Regulus nodding.
“I’m sure, turn around, dear, let me help,” He assures her, Hermione turning away from her. Regulus has braided her hair before, it’s much thicker than he’s used to but after unsuccessfully doing it in her first year here he made sure he taught himself exactly how to braid thicker hair than Cynthia’s or Andromeda’s. He’s very careful to braid it neatly, wrapping it back in a bun when he finishes. He taps her on the shoulder when it’s all done, Hermione looking back at him, touching what he did with her hand.
She smiles, “Thank you, Professor.”
“Of course, now go enjoy your night, and if you ever need anything remember I’m always here,” He reminds her, Hermione giving him a big hug. Regulus just smiles, Hermione pulling away after a second and slipping her shoes back on, standing up.
“Thank you again, Professor, have a good night,” She waves at him, Regulus standing too.
“You as well, my dear, I should see you in class once more before you all leave, right?” He asks, Hermione nodding.
“Mhm, Monday, I’ll see you then,” She says, Regulus smiling before walking off as well, heading back to his quarters again. He spends the walk processing what on Earth just happened, musing at how he ended up consoling two kids who have problems with the same pair of oblivious best friends. He wishes he could have helped Draco like he did Hermione, but he didn’t think there was any getting him to go back in there after that.
He makes it back home uninterrupted this time, picking up the phone and dialing Sirius’ flat. Sirius picks up after a minute, answering, “Hello?”
“Hi Sirius,” Regulus greets.
“Hey Reg! Aren’t you holding that weird tournament ball today?” Sirius asks, “It’s not over yet, is it?”
“No, not at all, but I was all done consoling crying 14-year-olds,” Regulus replies.
“Oh no, what happened? Was one of them Harry?”
“No, better than that,” Regulus sighs, “Well, one was Hermione because Ron had yelled at her about going to the dance with another champion, I didn’t hear a lot of the details but she was pretty upset about it. That ended alright, though, I helped her clean herself up a bit and go back in. However, you’ll never guess who else was upset about a date today.”
“It was Draco fucking Malfoy, wasn’t it?” Sirius immediately guesses.
“Absolutely, it was,” Regulus leans against the counter, “I need your help, though, because I have no idea what to say to him.”
“Did he admit it to you?” Sirius questions, “No way he did.”
“I mean, he didn’t mean to, but he did, in a weird, backward way,” Regulus tells him, “He was staring at Harry hard, and when I asked what he was looking at he accidentally told me he was looking at Harry. He ran off but I went after him and we sat and talked for a bit, and he told me he wanted Harry to take him to the ball as, what he said, an excuse to talk to him, but then accidentally yelled at me that Harry doesn’t like him ‘like that’.”
“He is in so over his head,” Sirius sadly sighs, “I feel horrible, God, I know what that feels like. He doesn’t think he should feel like that about him so he’s bottling it up but he also so desperately wants to tell someone because he needs validation that what he’s feeling is ok. I did that to McGonagall my second year at Hogwarts, at least you knew how to comfort him.”
“I don’t know, I tried, but I just don’t know what to say,” Regulus crosses his free arm over his chest, “I think I did alright, he was laughing by the end and I told him how Harry just likes to talk and he could always find him in my classroom and just talk to him. I just- I don’t know how Harry feels, and I know that they could have some kind of a relationship, but I don’t know where Harry is on that spectrum yet.”
“I mean, to me, I think Harry doesn’t care that much,” Sirius chimes in, “He seems to just bicker with Draco for the fun of it, you know him, arguing is fun. But I think if Draco sat down next to him I’d be worried Harry would give him lip and scare him off, especially if Draco is really fragile emotionally right now. As far as them together, though, I see it.”
“Harry has never liked a boy before, Sirius.”
“Oh, whatever, literally every single one of us is something, Harry didn’t know what a straight person looked like until he went to school,” Sirius brushes him off, “You’re ridiculous if you think he doesn’t like boys, Reg, he totally does. I think him and Draco would work well too, maybe not now but I think they would click if they cared to get to know each other.”
“Draco isn’t ready for that,” Regulus denies.
“Oh, he absolutely isn’t,” Sirius agrees, “I wasn’t until I left, and it’ll be the same for him. It just sucks because that feeling of shame is crushing, and he’s just going to have to live with it until he admits his feelings to someone and gets validation that what he thinks is ok or he gets out of where he is and changes his mindset. Realistically it’s going to take both, and right now he has neither.”
“So what can I do?” Regulus asks him, “What do you think would have best helped you?”
“What you did, that was perfect. You went after him, you didn’t leave or brush him off, you responded to what he was saying and didn’t make a big deal out of it,” Sirius assures him, “Keep doing that, keep supporting him, and hopefully one day he’ll come around to telling you how he feels directly and you can talk about it.”
“It was never this prominent,” Regulus comments, “I don’t know what happened. This year it seemed like he came back and his need for Harry skyrocketed.”
“If I’m honest, Reg, I think that might have been my fault,” Sirius admits, “We talked a lot when I used to do patrols last year and bring him with me, he asked a lot about me and Remus and how we got together and everything. I told him, of course, but by doing that I think I also defined what love like that feels like by accident and made this problem so much worse.”
Regulus sighs, “I can’t even be mad because at least you helped him realize that he isn’t wrong.”
“That was my goal,” Sirius proudly answers, “And I achieved it, never say I’m heartless.”
“But now you’ve stressed this poor boy out, pining after someone who doesn’t even know him,” Regulus adds.
“That’s James’ area, not mine,” Sirius concedes, “I can handle the gay part, the pining requires a phone call to James.”
“I’ve already done that, but maybe I’ll talk to him again about it, he’ll know more about Harry’s feelings,” Regulus agrees.
“Mhm, I agree,” Sirius hums, a moment of silence falling over them before Sirius asks, “So do you want to hear about the chaos at the Ministry right now?”
Regulus sighs, “Sure, yeah, why not.”
“Well, the Minister is all into…”
***
Regulus is quietly humming along to the music playing in his room, trying to calm himself down from the chaos that has been the last few days. After the Third Task Harry has been holed up in the Hospital Wing, slowly but surely recuperating from everything he just went through. He’s been alright, but after a few days of no sleep or attention to his classroom, Regulus needed to go back and start to clean and pack things up. The end of the year is getting close and Regulus has barely even thought about packing everything up. When he looks out of the cabinet he’s been buried in for the last 10 minutes organizing, he sees Draco putting something on his desk, Regulus smiling.
“Hello Draco,” He greets, Draco looking up at him scared. “Sorry, dear, didn’t mean to scare you. I’m camouflaged with my cabinet today.”
“Uh, sorry,” He awkwardly steps back, “I’ll just, I’m just going to go.”
“No need to rush out, dear, what’s that?” Regulus asks, pointing at what’s on his desk and stepping back out of the cabinet. He walks up closer, Draco looking like a kicked puppy. “What’s wrong, dear? Is something wrong?”
“Just, this is,” He hesitates before quickly telling Regulus, “This is for Harry.”
“Oh, that’s very nice of you, my dear,” Regulus comments, picking it up and looking at a small bag of a couple of lemon sugar quills, what looks like a pumpkin pasty at the bottom, and a little tag tying the bag together. The tag is a small, origami lion with a loop on its back, tied to a string that is keeping the gift bag together. Regulus smiles at the very nice gesture Draco put together, looking up at him and asking, “I was just going to visit him, do you want to come with me? You can drop it off yourself.”
“No, no,” Draco quickly denies, “No, you- you can bring it to him. I don’t want to.”
“Are you sure?” Regulus asks, “He’ll really appreciate it, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m sure he’d like to see it’s from you, too.”
Draco shakes his head, “No thank you.”
“Alright, I can bring it to him then,” Regulus nods, deciding not to push it too much, “Thank you for getting something for him, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”
“Is he alright?” Draco asks him, not making eye contact with Regulus at all, looking off anywhere but Regulus’ face.
“Yes, he’s alright, definitely shaken and a little beat up but overall he’s doing alright. His parents came the other day and saw him for a bit. I've been with him a lot, too, he’s been doing alright. How have you been, dear? I haven’t seen you in a bit.”
“I’ve been fine,” He tells him, clearly uncertain, “Yeah, I’ve been fine. Things have been fine.”
Regulus looks at him in concern, “That doesn’t sound too certain, dear, are you sure you’re ok?”
“Yeah, yeah,” He nods, not elaborating further. Regulus sits down at his desk, gesturing at the chair in front of him. Draco sits down, looking down into his lap.
“Does it have something to do with You-Know-Who, my dear?” Regulus hesitantly asks, not knowing where Draco stands on the subject. He nods, though.
“I’m just worried, it’s nothing,” He brushes it off, “It’ll be fine.”
“You’re allowed to be worried, you have every right to be. It’s a scary period of time, especially for someone stuck in the middle of it like you are. I just want you to always be safe, my dear, and remember I’m always here for you. Even if I’m at home. I’m quite good at sending inconspicuous letters,” Regulus assures him, “We don’t need to talk about it now if you don’t want to, but if you want to I’m more than willing to listen.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Draco quietly answers, looking up at him, “I don’t want to.”
“Then we don’t,” Regulus concedes, “I’m here if you ever want to, though. Or if you ever need advice, I’ve lived this before, I understand where you’re coming from.”
Draco nods, pausing a moment before saying, “I will.”
“Good, thank you, my dear,” Regulus smiles at him. Draco looks back at the door, Regulus knowing exactly what he’s going to say next.
“I’m going to go,” He tells him, getting up, “Bye, Professor.”
“Have a good day, Draco, make sure you come and see me again before you get let out for summer,” Regulus reminds him, Draco just nodding before he walks out of the room, shutting the door behind himself. Regulus just sits for a moment, contemplating what he’s going to do with Draco. He’s really worried about what Draco is going home to, his father is a Death Eater and his mother could care less about protecting him from any of it. Regulus knows what that’s like, and he now has a huge, crushing fear that his cousin is going to become a Death Eater against his will. Hopefully, he can help Draco before that happens.
He decides to give up on cleaning his classroom, grabbing Draco’s gift and heading off to the Hospital Wing. The castle has been deafeningly silent since everything that happened, most of the students staying in their rooms and keeping quiet when they’re out. The schoolwide mourning and fear are weighing heavy on everyone, Regulus is both excited for and dreading school getting out. He doesn’t want to be here anymore, but he knows all of the things that go into a war, and he knows he’s going to have to be involved in it.
Regulus walks into the Hospital Wing to hear Madam Pomfrey talking with Harry, peeking her head out from around the divider.
“Oh, hello Regulus,” She smiles, Regulus walking back to where she is.
“Hello Poppy,” He replies, looking around into Harry’s makeshift room when he gets there, “Hey bud.”
“Hi Uncle Reg,” Harry smiles, “Madam Pomfrey said I can stop taking that stupid gross potion tomorrow.”
“I said if you’re able to get up and walk around tomorrow, then you don’t have to,” She corrects him, looking back at Regulus, “Harry got up today and walked around a bit, he was a little unstable but he didn’t fall at all.”
“Oh, is that the potion Remus takes?” Regulus asks, “The strength one?’
“Yeah, it is, it’s revolting,” Harry chimes in, “I was talking to Dad about it when he was here and he told me he remembered Uncle Remus taking it, I couldn’t do that all the time!”
Regulus laughs, “Well hopefully you’ll never have to do it again.”
Harry smiles at him, eyes catching what Regulus is holding in his hand. He points at the gift, “What’s that?”
“It’s something for you, someone left it on my desk to give to you,” Regulus tells him, walking up and handing Harry the gift. He takes off the string tying it closed first, opening it up and peaking in it. He smiles at the pastry and sugar quills, then turns his attention to the origami lion. Harry runs a hand across it, the paper unfolding itself to reveal a note. From where Regulus is standing, he sees it simply reads ‘Get well soon’. Harry looks up at Regulus after, the lion folding itself back up into a lion.
“Who gave me this?” Harry asks him, Regulus shrugging.
“I don’t know, it was just there,” Regulus lies, “It’s very sweet of them, though.’
“I like this lion, he’s cute,” Harry smiles, placing it on the bedside table and watching it begin to walk around. “Oh, it walks! That’s so cool! You don’t know who gave me this, Uncle Reg? You’re sure you aren’t losing it just yet?”
“Harry,” Regulus sighs, smiling and shaking his head, “No, I am perfectly with it, and I don’t know. It doesn’t say anything on there, someone is just giving you a nice gesture.”
“Whatever you say,” Harry shrugs, Regulus walks over and sits down next to Harry’s bed, Harry just admiring the handiwork of the lion as he takes out the pastry and sets it on the table, opening it up and taking a piece off of it. Regulus silently mourns the fact that Harry doesn’t know who the gift came from, wishing he had just pushed a bit harder against Draco and made him come give it to Harry. It would have been amazing for their relationship, but it didn’t happen. It’s a step, a small one, but a step nonetheless. Draco is demonstrating care, that’s the first step.
Only if Regulus could get him to actually show Harry that.
Well, maybe someday.