Back to Quidditch
Chapter 11
Draco and Harry slowly walked towards McGonagall. They both were fearful of what was going to happen after deliberately breaking the one rule Madam Hooch gave them. Draco knew Potter would be fine, but McGonagall must have seen him this time for her to bring him along. "Hurry along now, I don't have all day." she said. They both sped up their pace and followed her inside the school. Draco followed McGonagall through the hallways as he and Potter tried to keep up with the fast pace she set. They walked up the stairs, and Draco was sure they were going to her office. Of course, Potter would still get his spot on the quidditch team and be one of the youngest seeker players the school has ever had.
That thought made Draco realize he would never be able to play quidditch for the school again. He was a seeker. That's what his father trained him to be even though it wasn’t his favorite position, but now that he was in Gryffindor, he would never get that position because it was Potter's. He would never feel the calm and peace run throughout his body as he soared in front of the stands filled with students and teachers. He would never have the type of happiness he only felt while flying. He would be one of the people in the stands cheering people on instead of being out on the field like his heart longed to be.
As they got closer and closer to McGonagall's office, Draco felt sick to his stomach. It had already been an eventful first couple of days with him being sorted into Gryffindor and getting a howler on the first day of class where the whole school heard how much of a disappointment he was to his family and would have to find a new home while he he tried prove to his father that he could live up to the Malfoy name. Now his quidditch life was over, and he was going to get in trouble while the person he was helping gets to start their quidditch success.
They were feet away from McGonagall's office, and as they got to the door Draco stopped waiting for McGonagall to lead them into his office. McGonagall and Potter both looked back at him once they realized he stopped. "What are you standing there for?" she asked. Draco was confused. Isn't this where we were going? he thought. "Um.... I don't know. I just thought...." Draco trailed off. "Well come along. It's not much further." she said and they started walking further down the hall.
They stopped at the doors of the Defense Against The Dark Arts room. "Professor Quirrell, would you mind if I speak with Oliver Wood for a moment?" McGonagall asked Professor Quirrell.
Of course, Draco thought, Potter's needs must come first.
Professor Quirrell nodded and sent Wood out into the hall.
"Wood this is Potter your new seeker and Malfoy your new chaser" McGonagall said.
"What?" Draco said surprised, "What do you mean chaser?"
"Two spots are open on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a seeker and a chaser. Mr. Wood was planning on having tryouts for those positions, but with the flying I saw both of you show today I believe you both will be the perfect fits for those spots." McGonagall explained. "I leave you two with him now." and she left back to her office.
"Well, I'm glad to have you both on the Gryffindor team. If McGonagall went out of her way to tell me to put you guys on the team, then you're on the team. You'll be the youngest house players in a century, but this doesn't mean you don't have to put in the effort to be on the team. I'll meet you both down at the Quidditch Pitch after dinner to go over the basics of the game." Wood told the boys and walked back into class.
"Did that really just happen?" Potter asked Draco, amazed.
"Yeah, who would’ve thought? We better go back and find our friends." Draco suggested.
As Draco led them through the corridors, Potter took this as an opportunity to talk with Draco alone. “I’m sorry for how I have been acting towards you,” Potter said. “I shouldn’t have believed everything Ron was saying about you when you hadn’t done anything to prove that he was right.”
"It's okay. I know my family hasn’t always been the nicest people. Especially to the Weasley Family. There's no hard feelings" Draco said and gave Potter a smile.
It was true, Draco held nothing against them. To him it was just how they had always acted towards each other. There was only that sliver of a time between when they met again at Madam Malkin's and when they saw each other once more on the train that he thought that could be different.
He had put Weasley and Potter through years of torture and wouldn't hold much against them, or anyone he had treated badly in the past. This way he could move on from his past and start focusing on his new future. He was given a second chance, so why shouldn’t anyone else? Besides, his family wanted nothing to do with him anymore and had already ruined his life once, so why should care what his decisions did to them?
"Do you know much about Quidditch?" Potter asked.
"I've played it before with my friends, but I don’t have much experience with the chaser position." Draco said. He could tell that Potter was excited but also nervous about the sport he had never heard of. "If you're worried about whether you'll be good at it, don't be. You'll be a great seeker. I'm certain of it." he told him reassuringly.
"What if I mess up?" Potter asked. "Then you'll learn and be better the next time. Quidditch isn't that hard of a sport to understand and there will be practices that will help you learn." Draco said, trying to calm his nerves. He knows Potter will be one of the greatest seekers the school has seen. He has played against him after all.
Draco and Potter continued to talk about Quidditch when they heard a voice call out. "Harry there you are!" They turned and looked and saw Weasley running towards them. "I told the others I would come and find you guys. So, what happened? Did you guys get in trouble?" He said quickly. They continued to walk to the Courtyard as Potter answered him. "We didn't get in trouble. She took us to see some Gryffindor named Oliver Wood, who’s the head of the Quidditch team and said I'm going to be the new seeker and Draco is the new chaser for the team."
Weasley looked at them astonished. "So you are on the Quidditch Team now?" he asked with a giant grin on his face. "Bloody hell, wait till my brother here about this. They're on the team too. Hurry up, we have to go tell the others." Weasley dragged them off at a fast pace and in no time they were in the Courtyard. Draco looked around and saw Neville along with Seamus, Dean, and Hermione. He walked over to them with Potter and Weasley trailing behind him.
"Neville, how's your wrist? Does it feel okay?" Draco asked, wanting to make sure he was okay. "I'm fine Draco. Madam Pomfrey had it fixed within a few minutes." Neville reassured. The other two had finally made it to the group and before anyone could say anything else Weasley shouted "Harry and Draco are going to be on the Quidditch team." The rest of the group turned and started to ask questions on what happened. Potter told them the whole story of how McGonagall took them to see Oliver Wood and them having to meet with him next week to go over the basics of Quidditch and what they would have to do.
"I don't know how well I'll do." Potter said "I've never played Quidditch before and barely know what a seeker is."
"You'll be fine Harry, I know you will" Weasley said, with full confidence in his friend.
"Harry, Draco, well done on making the Quidditch team." Fred said, patting them on the back "Wood just told us the good news. We are the beaters on the team."
"We make sure you don't get beaten up to bad bludgers on the field." George said, smiling.
"Though, we can't make that promise. Quidditch is a rough game. People go missing sometimes." Fred said.
"But they always show up eventually" George said as the two walked away.
"See Harry, you shouldn't worry. You'll be great." Seamus said.
"It's in your blood." Granger told him, and they all gave her a weird look and she sighed. "Follow me." she said and led them to a trophy case. "See? Look there." she pointed at a trophy that was near the middle of the case. It read James Potter, Seeker.
"Your father was a seeker too," Ron said.
Draco could tell that realization made Potter feel much better about the seeker position. Potter had a smile on his face. He looked proud to have something in common with his father.
"We have a couple of hours till dinner. We should go up to the common room to celebrate." Seamus suggested. Weasley, Potter, Dean and Neville agreed, nodding their heads.
"I can't," Draco said. "I have to go talk to some people before dinner."
"I have to go study in the library." Hermione said and walked away.
"Well, I guess we'll have fun without you." Weasley said and led the rest of them up towards the Gryffindor common room.
Draco walked down the stairs and headed towards the dungeons. He needed to talk to his Godfather. Draco ended up right in front of Severus's study. He knocked on the door, hoping he was in there working. He waited a second and contemplated leaving when the door opened, and Severus stood right in front of him. Draco forgot how intimidating he could be without even trying.
"Can I help you Draco?" Severus asked.
"Can we talk now instead of after dinner?" Draco asked, getting more nervous by the second. He didn't know what Severus wanted to talk about exactly and he still had his big secret that no one knew about.
"Come on in." Severus said and led his godson inside. He sat on one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. Draco followed and sat in the chair next to it.
"Why can't you meet after dinner anymore?" Severus asked.
"I was just curious about what you wanted to talk about, and I'll probably have to go over Quidditch things with Potter during dinner." Draco told him.
"Ah, Minerva told me about your Quidditch skills. Congratulations on making the team. Though I’m sure you could’ve gone about it differently," Severus said. The way he said it made Draco beam inside because he knew his godfather was at least a bit proud of him.
"Thank you. What exactly was it you wanted to talk about?" Draco asked
"Just about what has happened over the past few days." Severus said. "I'm sorry for what Lucius did to you this morning. If I would have known he would've gone that far I would have stopped it." From the way this conversation started out Draco knew it was going to be on the rare times he saw this side of his godfather. The side where Severus showed genuine empathy.
"It's fine. I've dealt with worse." Draco said, looking into the fire. “I knew he was going to be upset when he read my letter.”
“I have talked with Lucius, and we have agreed that you will be living with me this summer instead of going back to Malfoy Manor,” Severus informed his godson.
Draco felt relieved knowing he would have somewhere to stay and thanked his godfather once more.
"I appreciate it.Thank you,” Draco told his godfather.
"Lucius will come to his senses soon. He always let his anger overpower him," Severus said.
"It doesn't matter. I'd rather stay with you anyways," Draco admitted.
Severus smiled and said "I wanted you to know you can always talk to me. I know this year might be hard for you with all these changes. I'm always here for you Draco."
"I know,” Draco said and smiled up at his godfather. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"
"Not that I can think of. You may leave if you wish." Severus told him.
"I'm going to go to the library," Draco said and got up to leave.
"Good luck with Quidditch later today. We should meet for tea again soon." Severus said.
Draco smiled, knowing that his godfather enjoyed his company as much as he enjoyed his. “How about Sunday after dinner?” Draco offered.
“I’ll be here waiting,” Severus replied, and Draco waved goodbye as he walked out of the study.
As the door closed behind him, a voice called out and interrupted his plans to go to the library.
“Draco!” the voice shouted, and Draco turned to face the direction it came from.
He was happy to find the voice belonged to Blaise and to see Pansy and Theo were with him. Draco walked towards them, and they did the same, meeting him in the middle of the hallway.
“What happened with McGonagall?” Theo asked.
“Let’s go to the library, and I will tell you everything. I was headed there anyways,” Draco said, and quickly led the group through the hallways until they reached their destination.
The library was practically empty, with only a few students inside who wanted to get a head start on their school work even if it was only the first day.
Draco found a secluded table that could seat them all. He pulled out a chair and sat down, and the others followed in suit.
“So, what happened?” Pansy asked impatiently, and Draco recalled all the events that happened after him and Potter were taken out of class abruptly.
“You’re telling me that you had me toss a rememball with you, so Potter would chase you around in the air, which landed you both a starting position on the Quidditch team?” Blaise asked in disbelief.
“In simple terms, yes. I didn’t know about the Quidditch part,” Draco replied almost truthfully. He didn’t know that he was going to get a position, only that Potter would.
“Only you would be able to do the exact opposite of what the professor asked, get caught, and still end up with a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Theo laughed lightly.
“And you even stopped in front of McGonagall’s office, ready to be punished. She must have thought you were crazy,” Pansy added.
“What was I supposed to think?” Draco defended, but still smiled along with his friends.
They all looked around at each other, and no one said a word until they each had giant grins on their faces and burst out laughing.
They didn’t realize how loud they had gotten until Madam Pince told them to keep it down or leave, to which they obeyed and stayed in the library quietly, but still joked around and talked about random things.
Draco had forgotten how carefree his life used to be. How he could just enjoyed the company of his friends without worrying if Voldemort was going to angry and torture them for having fun. How he could relax because he knew that no one was listening to their conversation.
Soon an hour had passed of them catching up with each other, and Pansy said she needed to get back to her dorm to finish organizing her things. They all got up and left the library together, but Draco realized they now had to go their separate ways because even though he wanted things to be the same, they weren’t. Blaise, Pansy, and Theo would head one way to the Slytherin common room while he would go a different direction to the Gryffindor common room.
“We’ll see you later, Draco,” Blaise said, and all three Slytherins waved goodbye.
Draco said his goodbye as well and watched as his friends walked away from him, fully engaged in a new conversation that didn’t include him.
He started to walk back up the stairs to his common room and decided against using the tunnels wanting to take his time before facing more people. Faster than he would've liked Draco was in front of the common room, saying the password, and walking inside. Sitting on the couch and chairs were Potter, Weasley, Neville, Seamus, and Dean talking and laughing amongst each other. Draco walked in hoping he could walk past them without being noticed.
Draco walked quickly past them and was about to walk up the stairs to his dorm when he heard "Draco, come join us." He looked back at he group and walked over to them. "I'm going to head up to our dorm. I don't feel to well right now." he told them.
"Oh, okay. I hope you feel better. We'll come up to get you when we head down for dinner okay?" Neville told him with a worried look on his face.
“Also Wood moved our meeting to next week. He said something came up, so he couldn’t meet with us today,” Potter informed him.
Draco nodded and turned back to head up the stairs. He opened the door to the dorm room and walked inside. He went straight to his bed and drew the curtains. All Draco wanted was to be alone at this moment. It was the first time all day he could really think about what happened. He was a disappointment and failure to the Malfoys. That's who they are now. Not his family, the Malfoys. They didn't want him. He was too messed up and broken to be a part of a family that was seen as perfect as them. He was just Draco now. He didn't hold the title that his past self prided on so much. It was just like Lucius said, he didn't deserve it.
He knew his father wouldn't take him back easily. He would have to work hard to win his approval back, but did he want it? It was the only home he had ever known, and he always wondered if it was this hard to make your parents happy. With Severus he was almost always proud of Draco. He was always there for Draco when he needed him, but he needed to learn not to rely on him for everything. He could handle his life himself. More so now than ever. He knows what can happen. He knows what can be gained and what can be lost. He didn't need someone to guide him. He was used to having to do things on his own.
So many things have changed in so little time. Draco truly didn't know what the future would hold. That scared him. His only advantage in this timeline is knowing what will happen next. Draco knew that he would have to use what he knows could happen to get him through this timeline, but he could never forget that things might not go as planned. He decided that as of now he would just go on with his life as normal as he could. He spent his last life worrying to much of what everyone thought of him, especially Lucius. He wanted to make him proud of him. He did everything he could to impress his father. He didn't want to put hat pressure on himself again, but things were easier said than done and old habits die hard. He knows a part of him will always want the approval from his father he never got and will want people to proud of him.
At that moment Draco felt nothing. It was like all his feelings were gone. He expected him to be sad or mad at the realization of his father having this big effect on his life, but he felt nothing. Draco wanted more than anything to feel something, but he didn't. His mind started to drift and a voice popped into his head. 'You know what will make you feel something. Just grab your blades from your bag. This is why you brought them. You need to feel something. You deserve to feel pain. It's what your father would've wanted.'
Draco walked over to his bag and grabbed a small metal tin. As Draco walked back to his bed he could the blades inside the tin hit the side of the metal. He sat on his bed and closed the curtain around it. He wouldn't risk someone walking into his dorm. He opened the tin and grabbed the sharpest blade he could find and sat the rest to the side. Draco rolled up his left sleeve. For a second he thought This is a new start. I don't have to start like this but the voice in his head quickly overpowered his own. 'You need to do this. You deserve this.'and he took a deep breath and pressed the blade into his skin.
Pain overcame him, but he had become used to the feeling over time. He was happy to feel something other than loneliness, and when he was satisfied with what he had done, he put his blades away and walked into the bathroom. He cleaned off the bloody mess that was on his wrist and wrapped it in bandages.
Draco got under his blankets and laid down in his bed. All he did was lay there. He didn't have the energy or motivation to do anything else. Thoughts of regret filled his head and tears welled in his eyes, but not a single one fell down his face . He knew he should have never started to cut in the first place and never should have started in this lifetime, but the urge to hurt himself overwhelmed him. He replayed in his head what decision he had made for this lifetime until he felt a hand on his shoulder that snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Draco are you ok? I called your name a couple of times, but you didn't answer." Neville said. Draco sat up quickly and said "Yeah I'm fine. Just lost in thought."
"Come on we're going to head to dinner and you need to eat something." Neville said. Draco got out of his bed, and the two walked down to the common room to meet the others. "Do you feel better?" Potter asked Draco as they all walked towards the Great Hall. "A little" Draco said, thinking back to what he just did to himself, and even though he regretted it, it calmed him down.
The rest of the group talked the rest of the way, but Draco didn’t feel like engaging. They soon made it to the Great Hall and quickly found seats at the Gryffindor table. Draco sat next to Neville and Granger with Potter across from him. They all started to fill their plates with food and talk about random stuff, but Draco only grabbed a few pieces of chicken and a roll. He didn't feel hungry, yet knew he needed to eat something after the long day he had.
For the rest of dinner Draco only listened to the conversations around him. It was all careless chatter anyways, and held no importance if he contributed or not. Soon Neville addressed him directly, but he was thankful it was to pull him into the conversation with everyone else.
"Draco, are you sure you're okay? You haven’t said much since we were in the courtyard." Neville asked concerned while the rest of the group stared at him, waiting for an answer.
"Yeah, sorry. I'm fine. Just a bit tired still." Draco assured them and gave them a smile.
"Well, me, Dean, and Seamus are headed back up to the dorm. Do you want to go with us?" Neville asked him
Draco looked down at his plate and saw he had barely eaten any of what he put on it. Even if he wanted to go with them, he needed to eat, so he said "I'm going to stay down here and finish my food then I'll be up."
"Okay." Neville said. He waved goodbye to Draco and the rest of the group, and he, Dean, and Seamus walked towards the doors.
Draco turned back to his plate and slowly started to eat his food. Granger, Potter and Weasley stayed behind as well and were still eating too. Potter and Weasley were having a conversation while Granger was reading a book in her lap. Potter turned towards Draco and said "Ron and I are talking about the Quidditch team. His brothers say the team hasn't been good in awhile and Wood is hoping with us on the team we'll be able to win the Quidditch Cup."
"That would be nice, but I don't know how good I'll be at being a chaser. I was always trained to be a seeker for Slytherin." Draco said, taking another bite of his food.
"Are you kidding? You should've seen yourself up there. You flew fast and threw that remembrall far." Weasley exclaimed. "And since you know some things about being a seeker you can help Harry out." he said and then turned towards Potter and told him "No offense mate, but you don't know much about Quidditch."
Draco smiled and joined them in talking about quidditch and other things like school work and their teachers. Thankfully neither Weasley nor Potter brought up Severus and soon they were all done with their food. "Ready to head back up to our dorms?" Potter asked and they all nodded. Granger joined them out the doors and up the stairs towards the common room. As they stepped onto a set of stairs they started to move and threw them off their path.
"Let's just go this way." Potter said and lead them through a door. The only light in the corridor was the moon shining through the windows. They walked down the corridor alongside each other when they heard another set of footsteps. "They must be here somewhere. I heard footsteps." Filch said to his cat Mrs. Norris as they walked closer towards the group of students.
They all looked at each other worried. "Come on we have to go. This way." Draco said running down the corridors. The others followed, but they could hear Filtch catching up to them. Draco looked around them and with a lock on it. He ran up to it and grabbed his wand out of his pocket and said "Alohomora" unlocking the door. "Quick get inside!" he said, ushering the others in and quietly shut the door behind them.
They heard Filch walk past the door saying, "They must have gotten away. We'll get them next time, my sweet." The sound of his footsteps got quieter till none of them could hear them anymore. "Why was he looking for us anyways, we're just walking through the corridors?" Weasley asked confused.
"This is the third floor. We aren't supposed to be here. Dumbledore said it's forbidden." Granger explained as they caught their breath.
"Umm guys. I think I know why this floor is forbidden." Potter said. The rest of them looked behind them and saw a three headed dog towering over them. A large growl filled the room as six pairs of terrifying eyes stared down at them. They ran out of the room and slammed the door shut. They quickly locked the door and ran down the corridor till they felt a safe distance away from the beast.
"They keep that thing in the school, What are they thinking?" Weasley exclaimed when they slowed down.
"Do you guys ever pay attention to anything?" Granger questioned. "It was standing on a trapdoor. It is obliviously guarding something." She glared at all of them and said "Now, if you three don't mind I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed- or worse, expelled." She walked out of the corridor, towards the common room as the other three stayed behind.
"She needs to sort out her priorities." Weasley said as they walked to the common room as Granger did minutes before.
“Do you really think it is guarding something?” Potter questioned.
“It would explain why there was a trap door and why a thing like that would be in the school,” Draco offered.
“But what's so valuable that a Three Headed Dog has to guard it and why is it here?” Weasley asked as they rounded the corner to the common room.
“I don’t know. It could be anything really, but it must be important if they’re willing to keep it here,” Draco said and then added the password to the common room.
Draco entered the common room, and they all decided to leave their questions alone for the night and head up to their dorm to sleep.