Dead Dove
"I’m telling you! It. Was. Malfoy.” Harry emphasised every word with a finger hitting the table.
Draco rolled his eyes and Hermione looked hesitant. Ron, however, was for believing Harry, except… Well, he also had other priorities. “How are you sure?” Wearily asked Hermione.
“He’s been wandering around at night.”
“Oh?” Draco examined his nails - still refraining from gagging at the Gryffindor common room décor. “Anything else?”
“I… No,” Draco scoffed and Hermione deflated in her seat, “But I just… have a feeling.”
“I’m with you, mate.” Ron said, full of confidence, “Always. Even if it’s a bit barmy.” Harry chuckled.
Wow, Draco could not believe it. How does Florian, a sixteen-year-old child, have the dark mark? A stamp that signifies he is evil, against anything muggle. He is fine with Draco being friends with non-pureblooded people. He scoffed, “I am not.”
“Draco-”
“No,” He interrupted Harry’s protests and stood up, “you already know my stance on this, and I will not sit here and listen as you ridicule and insult my family.” Marching out of the common room, Draco headed for Slytherin. He wanted to talk to Florian. He was going to tell Florian what Harry thought so they could prove him wrong and Harry can go back to being a normal teenager for a few months.
In the common room there were seventh years and Daphne Greengrass with her sister - Florian was supposed to marry her sister Astoria when they left school, even though he’s apparently with Pansy (Florian doesn’t like Pansy very much though, he thinks she’s too clingy). Personally, Draco thought Astoria was a better fit for Florian because she doesn’t put up with any of the blood-purist crap anyone spits.
Greeting them, he made his way to Florian’s dorm, charging in without knocking. In Florian’s hands was a dead bird. One as white as Harry’s snowy owl but with beadier eyes and it looked like a dove. “Knock next time, muggle-lover.” Florian sneered. “Were you raised in a barn?”
“Do I have to worry about you being a sociopath?” Draco asked, seeing the bird before Florian would put it anywhere.
“What do you want?”
“Now, I want to know why you have a dead bird.”
“None of your business.” Draco gave Florian a look and the boy grumbled, “I found it outside on the floor and… didn’t want to leave it there.”
Sighing, Draco went to the wardrobe and took an empty coat hanger. In the air, he drew a diagonal line then a rectangle around it and the coat hanger changed into a black cuboid box with a silver, metal lock and a silver line around the top. “Here.” He gave Florian the box. Draco didn’t know what he would have done if he saw the bird. Most likely, he would have left the bird where it was.
Grateful but still hesitant, Florian took the box and carefully lowered the bird into it. "We can bury it if you want." Draco suggested.
Florian set his jaw, fully on board with the idea, "OK. Let's go " Draco didn't mean right in this instance, but he followed Florian out of the dungeons and to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest.
After burying the box, Florian added a white flower over the top and they went back to the castle in silence: Draco going to Muggle Studies and Florian to Ancient Ruins.
He was so thankful that Muggle Studies was a subject, because that means an easy A*, or an Outstanding. Today, they were learning about Muggle science, something Draco excelled at in muggle school.
While he was in Muggle Studies, Harry tried to concentrate in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Who else would it have been apart from Florian? Harry spent the entire hour and a half trying to figure it out. Deducing it could have been Snape, or maybe someone in Hogsmeade which opens up a whole can of Nargles he doesn’t want to go into. If Draco wasn’t here, Harry knows he wouldn’t be thinking of alternative suspects, but he didn’t linger on that for too long. Harry couldn’t think of his life without Draco now.
Marching into the library, Harry was on a mission holding an unfolded piece of parchment in his hand. Seeing Draco reading at a table, he walked towards him and slammed the paper on the desk, smiling as he did. “Hello, Draco,” Draco sighed, still reading, “Ah, hello Potter, how are you? I’m smashing, Draco, you? Amazing, Harry, until you arrived.” Harry rolled his eyes, pushing the parchment forward and dropping next to Draco. “What am I meant to do with this?”
“These are the people who could have given the necklace to Katie.”
“Snape, Parkinson, Voldemort, random Death Eater… Filch with a question mark.” Draco didn’t know whether to laugh or send him to Madam Pomfrey. “Why are you showing me?”
“Because I don’t just think it’s Florian. And I don’t want this war to come between us.”
“Harry,” Draco took his hand and squeezed it, “It is going to. My biological family is with Voldemort, and Florian…” He trailed off.
“I know.” Harry jumped in, “but right now… we don’t have to.”
“I suppose.” Draco rolled his eyes, resting his head against Harry.
“Can't believe you chose Muggle Studies.” Harry shook his head.
“Why not?”
“You lived as a bloody muggle!” Laughed Harry.
Draco shrugged, “Oh well. They never specified anything.”
“Could’ve joined me in Defence.”
Draco snorted and Harry took that as a definite no. As much as Harry would love to have more lessons with Draco than just Potions, it was nice to spend time alone outside of them. So they could talk to each other. “Snape’s awful.” Harry grumbled, “All ‘you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of non-verbal spells’, and ‘a question of concentration and mind-power which some-’” he looked at Draco in the way Snape glared at him. Draco tried to hold in a laugh, “-lack.’”
A silence passed before Draco burst out laughing, having to clutch his side to get his breath back. “Stop it!” Harry tried to say seriously, but started laughing too. Hitting Draco in the chest, Draco didn’t feel it from how much he was cackling. “Amazing, truly.” Draco managed when he calmed down, giving Harry a round of applause.
Harry soaked up the mocking praise, “Thanks, I aim to please.”
“Hm.” Draco hummed, straightening Harry’s tie and smoothing his collar down, “Too bad you can’t dress yourself.”
“It’s never been an issue before.” Harry defended himself.
Once again, Draco rolled his eyes. “Trust me, it has, but you’re just so oblivious to your own scruffiness.” Apart from their date, Harry had never cared about his appearance. Even then, Neville made him change clothes.
However, the next time they met up wasn’t as pleasant. It involved a little more blood. Draco was walking back from the Astronomy Tower, after looking at the stars because it was hard to do so in Muggle London. Maybe one or two, but the pollution was too difficult to look through.
On his way back, he ran into Harry Potter under the cloak again. When they bumped into each other, Draco heard the pained intake of breath and threw the cloak off Harry to see what was wrong. And there he was: bloody, broken nose. Red streaks came down to his mouth as he tipped his head back to try and stop the blood. “Who did this to you?” Was Draco’s first response, grabbing Harry by the shoulders to steady him and see what was wrong.
“Ah.” Harry seethed, “doesn’t matter. I need to get to Pomphrey.”
“I’ll do it.” Draco insisted.
“Do you know the spells?” Questioned Harry, looking to the ceiling.
For the first time in a while, Draco pulled out his wand. He didn’t want this going wrong at all: if he made the slightest wrong movement with his hand or some thought interrupted the spell, it could go catastrophically wrong. It was safer to use the wand this time. “Episkey.” Instantly, Harry’s nose healed and Draco accoi’d tissue paper and used aguamenti to wet it. Gratefully, Harry cleaned the blood up.
“What happened?” Draco asked while Harry was cleaning the blood.
“My nose was broken.”
“I’ll break it again if you don’t tell me what really happened, Potter.” He crossed his arms.
Scowling - although Harry tried not to - he said, “Nothing. Nothing.”
“Fine.” He muttered then dramatically sighed, “Guess I’ll go tell Professor Dumbledore…” Turning, Draco got three steps away before:
“Wait.” He called out. First, Draco smiled before spinning on his heel and putting on a serious face. “I…” Harry sank in on himself, “It was Malfoy.”
Draco was less shocked than he thought he’d be. He was shocked, so very shocked, but… it wasn’t entirely out of character. “Why?”
“I followed him…” Harry rubbed the back of his head, “He keeps going to the Room of Requirement, disappearing off the map. So I… followed him. He saw me, and then,” Harry gestured to his face.
“He broke your nose, because you were following him?”
“Basically, yeah.” Harry shrugged.
“Well? Why are we standing here then!” Draco was baffled, “We should tell someone. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape-”
Harry interrupted, “I am not telling Snape anything.”
“Well what about Dumbledore then?” He crossed his arms, “You have meetings with him, you could tell him then.”
Harry was just so confused. On one hand, Draco wanted to be there for Florian, to protect him. On the other hand, he wanted Harry to be safe. How will Harry be safe with Florian Malfoy around? “Don’t you want Malfoy to be safe?”
“Dumbledore will try and help him, won’t he? He wouldn’t leave a child in whatever mindset he’s in.” Harry promised to tell Florian, hugging Draco goodbye. When he pulled away, Draco leaned in and pecked his cheek before sauntering away.