Back to Fights
Chapter 12
A week later Draco, Neville and the rest of their dorm mates were eating breakfast. Over the past week Draco, Weasley, and Potter would occasionally bring up the three headed dog they had seen and tried to come up with ideas as to what was under the trap door, but none of them even remotely right. When Draco brought it up with Granger though, she cut him off saying she wanted nothing to do with it.
Potter told him about seeing an article in the paper about a break in at Gringotts and how earlier that day he was with Hagrid when he emptied that same vault hours before. Draco was sure that was what the dog was guarding and the others agreed. The only problem was they had no idea what was in the package Hagrid took from the vault.
Draco had also been doing well over that past week. He hadn't relapsed at all and had no problems eating most meals. He and Neville had started to become closer and Draco was grateful to have him as a friend. He also kept in touch with Pansy, Blaise and Theo. It made him happy that they accepted Neville into their group and they all talked a lot especially in Potions class. He and Granger decided that they would study and work on homework together in the library at least once a week. Draco knew that even though he had taken all these classes before he needed to refresh the basics and Granger would help him with that.
All the boys in Draco's dorm had given him an apology for how they treated him when they first got there. All they saw was his last name, but when he got that howler they realized his life wasn't as perfect as they thought. Draco accepted all their apologies, but hated that they took pity on him. He didn't want people to feel bad for him just because his parents disowned him. It's not like he was homeless now. He has and always will have Severus by his side, so it didn’t matter if his parents wanted him.
As the group was talking about what their favorite class was so far, owls started to fly in, dropping off mail to students. Two owls flew in with rather large sized packages and dropped them off in front of Draco and Potter. They both looked at each other wondering what was inside them. Potter ripped open the letter that was attached to his and as he read it a smile grew on his face. "Draco, these are our new brooms." Potter whispered. Draco then opened his letter and read it to himself.
Dear Draco,
McGonagall informed me she was planning on buying Mr. Potter a new broom for when he started Quidditch. It only seemed fit for my godson to have the same treatment. Inside this package is a Nimbus 2000, which as you know is the best broom on the market. I remember how you begged for months for one when they first came out this summer, so I thought it was the perfect time to get you one. Don't open this package till you're by yourself. McGonagall doesn't want anyone knowing you and Mr. Potter have one. Bring it with you to your first lesson tonight before dinner. Remember if you ever need anything you can always stop by my study.
-Severus Snape
Draco looked towards Potter and asked "Do you want to put these in our dorm before class?" Potter nodded and as they got up Weasley said "I'll go with you. I forgot my charms book in the dorm." They walked out the Great Hall, telling the group they would meet them in Potions Class.
As they were about to walk back up the stairs to their dorm a voice called out to them. "What do you guys think your doing?" They turned around and saw Granger standing with her arms crossed on her chest and an annoyed look on her face.
"What do you mean?" Potter asked her, confused as to what they were doing wrong.
"First years can't have brooms. You're going to get in trouble and lose Gryffindor more points," she told them and saw Professor Flitwick walk past them. "Professor Flitwick" she called, "Harry and Draco have brooms sir. They're breaking the rules."
Professor Flitwick looked at the boys and then turned towards Granger and said "Professor McGonagall informed me of their situation. They're allowed to have the brooms." he told her and continued to walk away.
Granger sighed and turned back to the boys. "I suppose you're happy, being rewarded for breaking the rules." she said, sounding even more annoyed than before, which made Draco think she was almost upset they didn’t get in trouble.
"What happened to not talking to us?" Weasley asked her.
"Don't stop now. We liked it better that way." Potter said. Granger gave them one last glare and walked back to the Great Hall.
As the boys continued to walk up to their dorm, Weasley asked "What's her problem? It's not like we wanted to find that monster of a dog." "I don't know." Draco answered.
He was confused. He knew Granger didn't want anything to do with what they saw last week, but he didn't know that she stopped talking to Potter and Weasley all together and would try and get them all in trouble. It surprised him because he thought Potter, Weasley, and Granger had always gotten along. Even when Weasley and Potter were fighting, Granger was the one to keep them together. He realized that maybe all his assumptions from the past weren’t true, and he would need to experience it to fully believe it.
They continued up to their dorm, and Draco and Potter put their brooms in their trunk as Weasley grabbed his charms book when they got there. They then headed down to the dungeons for Potions class. Potter and Weasley sat over at their usual spot while Draco went over to sit by Neville in his. Neville was talking to Blaise about how bad he is at Potions as Blaise chuckled.
"Draco what was in that package you got this morning?" Theo asked him as he sat down.
Draco smiled and whispered "Sev got me a new broom, but you can’t tell anyone." His friends nodded in silent agreement and knew to change the conversation to a different topic.
Severus then entered the class and started explaining they will be brewing a Forgetfulness Potion. He wrote the instructions on the board and let the students start working. Draco turned to Neville and told him to grab the ingredients from the cupboard as he prepared their station for the potion. Once Neville returned Draco started to add the ingredients into the cauldron as Neville handed them to him. Draco knew how bad Neville was at potions and decided he would slowly have him work up to bigger tasks. Neville was his friend and he would work with him on his potions skills, but he couldn’t risk messing up today.
By the end of class Draco and Neville's potion turned out perfect with a bright orange color. Severus walked past each potion to expect them, taking mental notes on how each of them did. When he stopped by theirs, he turned to Draco and Neville and said "Very nice work. Ten points to Gryffindor for having the best potion in the class."
He then walked over to Potter and Weasley's potion which ended up as a dull yellow color. He looked down at the two boys and told them "Maybe you should take some tips from Draco and Mr. Longbottom next time. Ten points from Gryffindor." Class was soon over and the Gryffindor group headed to their next class.
❀❀❀
Classes were done and dinner was just about to begin, so Draco and Potter were now walking towards the Quidditch Pitch, brooms in hand to wait for Wood. Draco had spent the last five minutes trying to calm Potter's nerves down. Draco knew Potter would be just fine and kept reminding him of how naturally it came to him a week before.
When they reached the Pitch, Wood wasn't anywhere to be seen. "How about we fly around while we wait?" Draco asked, already mounting his broom. Harry smiled and quickly followed Draco up on his own broom. Draco stopped and looked over at Potter and said "Race you around the Pitch." and took off flying.
That caught Potter off guard, but he quickly caught up to Draco, and they were soon flying right beside each other. They were getting closer and closer to the end of the Pitch when Potter started to slowly pull ahead. Potter reached the end seconds before Draco and gave him a victorious smile. Draco smiled back when they heard a voice call out to them. "I see what McGonagall was talking about now. You guys are naturals." Wood said.
Draco and Potter started to fly back down to the Pitch. As they got closer they saw Wood standing with a trunk by his feet. "Today we will go over the basics of Quidditch. I assume Draco already knows the basics of Quidditch, if not more, so this is more for Harry." Wood explained to them.
He opened the trunk and revealed three balls. "In Quidditch there are 4 different positions. A keeper, which I am, stays close to the goal posts," Wood pointed to them on the field behind them, " and blocks quaffles from being thrown into the rings." Wood said as he picked up the ball in the middle of the trunk.
"This is a quaffle. Chasers, which Draco will be, try to score points by throwing the quaffle into the rings. There are three chasers, so they can pass the quaffle between each other.
Then there are beaters, which Fred and George are. They use bats to hit bludgers away from their team and towards the other to knock the quaffle out of their possession." He then pointed to the two balls on the side of the trunk and grabbed one of the bats. "These are the bludgers and bats. Do you guys understand everything so far?" Wood asked the two boys before moving on. They both nodded, and Wood gave them a smile.
"Lastly, there is the seeker, which is what Harry will be. It is the most important position on the field. " He crouched down and opened a compartment in the trunk and grabbed a golden ball out. "A seeker's job is to find the golden snitch which could be anywhere on the field." He held up the snitch and showed the two boys how fast its wings could move.
"It moves really fast, so a seeker has to always be ready to move. The game doesn't end till the snitch is caught and the team that catches it gets one hundred and fifty points." He told the two. "You guys think you can be a chaser and a seeker?" Wood asked. "Yes!" they both exclaimed excitedly.
Wood smiled at them and said, "That's all there really is. We practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays after dinner. I'll see you guys then."
Draco and Potter watched as Wood walked back towards the castle. "Are you still nervous?" Draco asked. "I think I'll be a good seeker. I can't believe we're on the Quidditch Team. A month ago I didn't even know what Quidditch was" Potter said with a big smile.
"I know right. I never thought I would even have a chance at making the Quidditch team." Draco said.
They walked back to the castle and towards the Great Hall to meet up with the rest of their friends for dinner. Draco saw their group quickly and noticed that Granger wasn’t sitting near them. She was sitting by herself. As he walked over to his friends, he couldn’t understand why she acted the way she did this morning. Sure Granger had always been one for rules, but only to a certain extent, and now she was all alone.
Draco put those thoughts to the back of his mind, and sat next to Neville at the table. "How was your Quidditch introduction?" Neville asked.
"It was good. I already knew most of the stuff he said, but we have practice three times a week. I hope it won't get in the way of school." Draco said as grabbed a sandwich and salad from the food in front of them.
"Oh no" Potter exclaimed, "I haven’t even thought about fitting this in with all my school. It’s only been a week and I’m already behind."
Draco looked at him and could tell he was genuinely worried about finding time for everything. He didn't want him to stress over balancing Quidditch with school when he knew that Potter would be just fine and have way more important things to worry about.
"You'll manage Potter. I'll help you if you need it." Draco reassured him. Potter thanked him with a smile, and Draco could tell he had become less anxious. They all finished their dinner soon after, and then walked up to the Gryffindor common room.
"Do you guys want to play a round of exploding snap?" Seamus suggested to the group. They all smiled and gathered around the table in front of the fireplace. For the rest of the night they laughed, made jokes, and talked about random things; and for the first time in a long time Draco felt truly happy.
❀❀❀
Halloween 1991, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Draco woke up that morning to Neville shaking him awake. Over the past couple of months he has had a hard time sleeping, so when he finally did have a good night's rest, he had a hard time waking up on time. Neville or one of his other dorm mates always made sure to wake him up though. He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. He changed into robes and brushed his teeth. He looked up into the mirror and saw his hair was a mess. He quickly grabbed his comb and brushed out his hair. He then grabbed his gel to style it, and slicked it back the way he had always done it this age.
Once Draco was done getting ready he joined Neville and the others for breakfast in the Great Hall. Draco's hungry appetite was becoming more common, with only days even so often that he didn’t have one.
"No Potions today and we have charms first." Draco said sadly when he remembered their schedule for the day. Draco actually loved charms. It's just so easy for him to do now that he gets bored easily in the class.
"Mate, I think you're the only one upset about that." Weasley told him and the rest of the group chuckled.
They all finished their meals and walked towards the Charms classroom. When they got there, Professor Flitwick told the class they would be working on levitating charms. He started to pair the students up. Luckily Draco got paired with Neville and Potter was paired with Seamus. Dean was paired with one of the Ravenclaws Draco couldn't remember the name of, but to Weasley's misfortune he was paired with Granger. They all walked to desks and started to practice the charm. Draco remembered how he had some trouble with it the first time, so he tried not to get the spell right quickly especially after Flitwick brought attention to Granger when she got it right in the past.
As he was trying to help Neville with the charm he heard Granger starting to shout at Weasley. "You're saying it wrong. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa. You have to put emphasis on the o." she told him.
"Well if you know so much about it why don't you do it." Weasley snapped at her.
Granger picked up her wand and said "Wingardium Leviosa" and the feather in front of her started to rise into the air.
"Everyone look, Miss Granger has done it!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed and everyone looked over while Weasley glared at the feather.
Once class was over Draco, Weasley, and Potter were walking in the corridor to their next class. "Who does she think she is? Just because she studies a lot and thinks she knows everything doesn't mean she has to correct everything people do wrong. I mean the only person who tolerates her is Draco. She has no friends!" Weasley exclaimed, annoyed.
Draco felt someone bump into his shoulder as they rushed past. Draco looked and saw Granger walk away quickly and could hear her crying. "I think she heard you mate." Potter told him.
They walked to their next class and when Draco sat down, he looked around the room for Granger, but she was nowhere to be seen. She didn't show up to any of the other classes the rest of the day. Draco was worried. Weasley really hurt her feelings and he knew what it was like to feel like no one liked you. Besides, missing classes was completely out of character for her.
When he and Neville got to the Great Hall for dinner, he overheard one of the Patil twins saying Granger was in the girls bathroom crying. Draco sat down and looked over to Potter and Weasley. "We need to go and apologize to Granger. Especially you Weasley," he told them. "Why?" they both asked. "Because she's in the bathroom crying over what you said to her." Draco said. Weasley sighed and said "Can we go after dinner?" "As long as we bring her something to eat when we go" Draco agreed.
He started to fill him plate with the Halloween treats laid out on the table when the doors of the Great Hall slammed open. Professor Quirrell came running inside, screaming "Troll in the Dungeon! Troll in the Dungeon!" Then he fainted onto the floor. Everyone started to look at each other with wide eyes. "Prefects, take your houses to your common rooms." Dumbledore said calmly. Everyone started to shuffle out of the Great Hall and Draco looked over to Potter and Weasley. "We have to go get Granger. She doesn't know about the troll." Draco whispered.
They broke off from the group of Gryffindors and headed towards the girls bathroom. As they were walking, they heard footsteps behind them. "Hurry, this way." Potter said and pulled them behind a statue.
They peaked out and saw Severus Snape walking towards the third floor. "He's going up to the third floor." Weasley whispered to the others.
"Come on, we have to keep moving." Draco told them once Severus's footsteps faded away.
They quickly walking to the girls bathroom and as they approached the bathroom they heard loud footsteps. They entered the bathroom and saw the huge troll towering over Granger as she tried to hide from it.
"We have to distract it." Potter told them. He looked at Weasley and motioned for him to do something. Weasley gulped and grabbed a metal pipe off the ground. "Hey!" he screamed at it and threw the pipe at the troll. The troll shocked for a second, and Draco screamed at Granger to move slowly away from the troll, but she didn't listen.
Draco knew he needed to get Granger and everyone else away from the troll before he could cast spells that would be effective enough to stop it, so he ran over to Granger himself and dragged her back to where Potter and Weasley were standing.
Draco then raised his wand at the troll, and said, “Stupefy!” The troll flew back into the wall, but because of its size still wasn’t fully knocked out.
Before he had the chance to think of his next move, Weasley was by his side, wand raised, and said, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
The troll’s club had raised at the command, and Weasley didn’t hesitate to launch it at the troll's head which caused the troll to be completely unconscious and slump over upon impact.
They all took a moment to react. Weasley made sure Granger was okay. Then he turned to Draco to say, “Bloody hell mate! Where did you learn to do that?” and Potter added on , “That was amazing!”
Soon they heard footsteps rushing in the bathroom. McGongall entered with a gasp as she saw the scene in front of her. "What is going on in here?" She demanded as Severus and Dumbledore entered behind her.
“It was my fault,” Granger spoke up quickly. “I thought I could defeat the troll myself. Harry, Ron, and Draco were just trying to save me.”
Draco looked up at the three professors. McGonagall looked very disappointed ,and Severus had a big wound on his leg. Once he realized Draco and Potter noticed it he covered it up quickly.
“Well Miss. Granger for your reckless decisions, five points from Gryffindor,” McGonagall said and turned towards the three boys, “As for the three of you, 10 points will be awarded for pure dumb luck. Not many first years can fight a full grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. You may all head back to your dormitories now.”
Professor McGonagall, Severus, and Professor Dumbledore headed out of the bathroom leaving the four Gryffindors alone.
“Did you guys see that cut on Professor Snape’s leg?” Potter asked the rest of the group. “He must’ve tried to get past Fluffy when everyone was distracted by the troll.”
“What are you suggesting, Potter?” Draco asked, starting to become angry that he would accuse his Godfather of that. He knew Potter didn’t know that Severus is his godfather, but Severus was one of the few people he still cared about and would defend till he died.
“He’s the one who is trying to steal what Fluffy is guarding. Nothing else could’ve caused that big of a wound on his leg.” Potter said in a defensive tone.
“You don't know that! You're just assuming things. He wouldn't do that." Draco shouted at Potter.
"Draco's right, he's a professor, what would he want with what Fluffy is hiding?" Granger spoke up.
"It's obvious that what Fluffy is guarding is valuable. Snape probably wants whatever it is for himself." Potter said.
"You can believe what you want Potter, but I know he would never do that," Draco said and walked out of the bathroom.
He kept walking until he was far away from the others. Draco looked around the corridor to make sure no one else was around. He took out his wand and tapped the wall in a secret pattern, and an opening in the wall appeared. He entered and walked through the tunnels as the opening closed behind him.
Draco entered the center room where all the tunnels connected. It looked so bare since the last time he had been here to calm down. This used to be the spot Draco would always go to when he needed to be alone. His father had told him about it before his fourth year and it saved him many times. Over the years he had decorated the space, so he could stay there as long as he needed. Now it was just an empty room as it was before.
Draco sighed and sat against the wall. He felt bad for yelling at Potter, but he was accusing Severus of something with no proof other than the wound on his leg. Draco had to admit that it was suspicious that Severus happened to have a giant wound on his leg, but he knew his godfather. He wouldn't try and steal something, not without a good reason at least. Why would he need something that was so valuable that it needed to be guarded by a three headed dog anyways?
Once Draco had calmed down, he looked around the room till his eyes landed on the tunnel with the word Dungeons above it. He was soon standing in front of his godfather's study. He knocked on the door and heard uneven footsteps walking towards the other side of the door. The door opened and Severus stood in front of him with a tired look on his face.
"Come in, Draco." Severus said and they sat in front of the fire.
Draco looked over at Severus and asked "Are you okay? Your leg looked really bad."
"My leg will be fine Draco." Severus reassured. Draco nodded and looked into the fire. "How'd you get a cut that big?" he asked.
Severus sighed and looked at his godson. "I was trying to protect something," he said.
Draco nodded knowing his godfather wasn’t going to expand any further on the topic. "It's getting late. You need to get some sleep."
Draco didn't want to go back to the Gryffindor dorms. Right now it just didn't feel like home. "Can I stay here tonight?" Draco asked.
Severus nodded, not wanting to argue with his godson this late at night and went to set up Draco a bed. Once Draco laid down, he instantly fell asleep not wanting morning to ever come.