Geia
“I still can’t believe they’re canceling Quidditch!”
Pansy rolls her eyes, looking longingly at Millie’s book like she might snatch it away just so she doesn’t have to participate in the same conversation they’ve been having for the past hour. It would work as annoying if she wasn’t muttering ballgown ideas to herself in the hallway.
Draco completely ignores her, turning to Blaise with wide angry eyes, “I know! No inter-house cup? No Quidditch? So that the six and seventh years can compete in a death competition?”
“What are the rest of us supposed to do?”
“Study?” Pansy glares at the boys, “Work? Design the best dress this school has ever seen? Maybe not die for one year? I’d very much like to have just one relaxing year.”
“Your version of relaxing is still more anxiety-inducing than a Death Tournament.”
“Hey,” Draco shrugs, “It’s not being mauled by a werewolf in front of your deranged criminal cousin.”
Pansy can, and will, be cursing them both later, she’s just annoyed because she won’t have access to her sketchbook for the next hour. Millie’s just lucky her book is big enough to hide her grin. The four of them continue making their way down to the dungeons, and yes, they should probably sleep and get ready for tomorrow, but no one’s under the illusion that it’ll actually happen.
Blaise pushes past them, following the other Slytherins into the common room and making a beeline for the open couch by the fire. “How big is your family now anyways, Draco?”
“Oh, you know.”
Pansy snorts, “It’s as huge as ever. He’s related to almost everyone. The Blacks, obviously, through his mother. The Lovegoods, I think they’re twice removed cousins?”
“Thrice removed.”
“Thrice removed, then. I know you’ve always been friendly with Luna,” She settles in next to Blaise, pulling Draco and Millie down with her, “The Rosier Family, though they stopped being big after the whole mess with Grindelwald-”
“We disowned him and refused to associate with him,” Draco clarifies, already laying on Pansy’s lap so she can play with his hair.
Pansy lightly slaps his head for interrupting, “Fine then, but you’re still blood related to them. The Lestranges too, though, don’t you dare interrupt me again Draco Malfoy so help me I will shrink all of your robes, as I was saying, the Malfoys no longer associate with them because of, well, you know. Thanks to the Lestranges they’re also related to the Gages, Perrots, and Tremblays, very distantly of course, no marriages or even affairs, I don’t believe. Who else?”
She’ll pull his hair for this, but he doesn’t mind, “Flint.”
“Flint?” Ouch, okay, on second thought he should’ve kept his mouth shut. “Like Flint Flint?”
“Yes?”
“Oh Merlin,” At least she’s trying to make it up to his poor scalp, Blaise is just snickering like the asshole he is, “Through the Black side aren’t you? Oh, love, I’m so sorry. No wonder Granger thought you bullied your way on to the Quidditch team. I think that might be worse than you being related to the Weasleys...”
Blaise giggles, “I always forget about that…”
Millie looks like her entire world has been changed, “The Malfoys are related to the Weasleys?!”
He would ask her what the problem is, but he gets it. The idea of him and Ron being related isn’t that bad, Girl Weasley stood up for his father, so did the Twins, so they’re not awful. But he’s heard some shit about Percy, not that he liked the idiot in the first place back when he still went to Hogwarts. Placing him in the Ministry made no sense whatsoever, they have enough egotistical assholes as is. There’s two more, and he’s never really heard of them, so he can’t really have an opinion on them. If they’re like Ron, he doesn’t mind one bit.
Draco tunes back in to Pansy explaining his relatives in other countries and sits up so fast he almost smacks Blaise in the face. “Fleur!”
“Excuse me?”
“Can you at least try not to maim me?!”
“What’s a Fleur?”
Merlin, he’s so excited. “Fleur Delacour! She’s related to Luna and I, and she goes to Beauxbatons! She’s gonna be coming to Hogwarts!”
“The Beauxbatons?” Blaise smirks, “So she’s hot-”
“Don’t you fucking dare. She’s like Luna! You won’t hit on Luna, would you?” Blaise shakes his head. “Then don’t hit on Fleur. Just, in general, no hitting on my relatives. It’s weird.”
Pansy rolls her eyes, Draco’s convinced they’re going to get stuck in the back of her head one day, and turns to Millie, begging to braid her hair while Blaise moans about how unfair his life is. Snape comes into the room soon enough, giving his usual first year speech and sends them all off to bed. Draco would usually go up and demand evening tea with his godfather, but they had tea yesterday and Severus’s already told him how busy he’ll be this year. Their first tea is scheduled for Wednesday, so he just smiles and takes the smirk he gets back as a win. Then he lets Pansy kiss his cheek ‘goodnight’ and wishes her and Millie the same before following Blaise to the boy’s fourth year room.
He walks straight into his friend’s weirdly firm back.
“What the fuck, Blaise? Hurry up, I’m ready to see LuLu-”
Draco blinks.
There are only two beds.
He blinks again, just to make sure, and then holds his arm up. Blaise pinches him, it hurts, which means he isn’t dreaming but….
There are still only two beds.
It’s not an ugly room, per say. Much like the common room, there are windows into the Black Lake, giving a view to sparkling water and little creatures that like to swim all hours of the day. LuLu’s chasing a fish by the bed furthest from the door, tucked between the wall and a single ornate black nightstand. Their trunks are nowhere to be seen, but they each have dressers that match their side tables, they each have lush forest green chaises at the foot of their beds, they each have waning imperial flowers that someone has transfigured into soft white lights, they both have Slytherin green comforters on black poster bed frames and they each have a chair right by the fire separating the windows on the long side of the bedroom.
And they both only have one bed each.
Which makes no fucking sense.
“Maybe we’re sharing?” Blaise asks.
He’s scared. Blaise scared is never fucking good. Worried, annoyed, tired, Draco can handle all of those but Blaise was one of the fuckers that forced him into a blood contract, he’s the son of Belle Zabini, one of the few people that Slytherins bow and listen to. Blaise has been scared so few times Draco can count them on one hand, and all of them were pretty valid.
The first was when he accidentally destroyed Belle’s evening gown, and the only reason he lived through it was because Pansy had been wanting to make a dress anyways, and Blaise is by no means a coward, it’s just that no one fancies dying at the ripe age of eight. Second was when he and Pansy had thought Draco was going to get himself killed, and yes it’s over protective but if one of them had been sneaking around the castle while a giant murderous beast was on the loose, well, he honestly would’ve done the same thing. Blaise isn’t nearly as crazy as his mother is about his safety, but no one wants to see their friends killed by their own stupid actions. The third and last time Blaise had been scared was when Narcissa told them that Riddle is back, but by fuck everyone should be scared of that.
Now there’s a fourth time to add to the list.
See, when Blaise is scared he’s exactly like he always is. It took years for Draco to figure out the subtle differences. There’s a slight tremor in his left hand, but his right one is still. His shoulders tenses roughly a centimeter, and he won’t look anyone in the eye. Instead he stares either at the nose or the side of someone’s face, but never directly in the eyes. Draco’s thankful for it, he doesn’t know what he would do if he saw fear in Blaise’s expression and he never wants to find out.
So yes, now there’s a fourth time.
Because there are only two beds.
And Crabbe and Goyle were at dinner, but they didn’t say a word.
So, if he puts together the facts he has, Draco can figure out why Blaise is scared, and it fucking terrifies him too.
Crabbe and Goyle have shared a room with them for four years. They’ve spent so many countless nights cramming, watching books, playing with new spells, shit talking professors and people they didn’t like. Four years of four people. And yet, there’s only two beds.
Which leaves him with the question: why are there only two beds?
And the only logical fucking answer he can think of is Tom fucking, bitch-faced, homicidal maniac Riddle and his merry gang of violent neanderthals.
It makes sense, doesn’t it? Their fathers were Death Eaters, like the willing type of Death Eaters. Not like Lucius, or his mother’s parents, or his Aunts and Uncles, they wanted to do it. Like the type of people his father had to work to clear, the whole reason their sons were so keen to keep Draco safe before was because they wouldn’t be alive without his family.
But now there are rumors at every corner, people whispering about his return, how he will be back soon, how those who followed him should be preparing.
Narcissa said they weren’t safe, that they refused to even think of purebloods who don’t support the cause.
There’s only two-
“Draco, love, you’re hyperventilating, and I’m pretty sure my arm is going to fall off if you don’t let go.”
Three blinks later and holy fuck when did he get inside the room?
Blaise has somehow managed to sit him on what he assumes is his bed, even though he has a death grip on Blaise’s shaky arm and has more than likely been useless the past few seconds. Blaise wipes at the wetness on his cheek, and Draco thanks everything for his friend’s keen sense on how much he hates people knowing about his very much existing and fragile heart.
“Merlin-” why does he sound so bad all the time now? “Fuck, dude it’s all fucking, it’s real now, isn’t it? It’s not just keeping Harry safe anymore, we’re gonna have to fight our friends and-fuck- our families and he’s not even back yet and there’s already a divide?!”
Blaise just brushes a hand through his hair, “Now, love, there’s no way to tell-”
“You hear the whispers, Blaise! My mother is gathering an army, and people are bound to figure it out, okay? The people we’re going to have to fight against are going to fucking figure it out! No one is safe!”
“We’re safe for now.” Blaise forces him into a hug, but it’s probably just a way to shut him up while also trying to choke him into calming the hell down, “Okay? Me, you, and Pans. The three of us forever, right? From five until the end of time, remember?” Draco nods, “We’ve made it through so much shit at this point a war is nothing. I’d also like to point out that there’s no guarantee a war will even happen. And Harry, well he’s Harry. He’s never failed before, and he’s fought Riddle at least three times and won every time, right?” Another nod. “Even when he was at full power against baby Harry, the guy just vanished after one curse. Harry’s got this, you said it yourself, he won’t lose. He’s got Ron and Hermione, and they’ve got the three of us and we’ve never failed before, we have a lot of people on our side now, and we have an entire year to breathe and figure out how to do this.”
Draco buries a little deeper in his chest, huffing a snort when LuLu licks at his toes.
“You’d make a great minister, you know that?”
Blaise pulls him towards the bathrooms, “I save you from a panic attack and you insult me?”
“It’s true, you’re very good at getting things done.”
“Anyone’s better than the current guy, now hurry up, the sooner we shower the sooner we get to go to bed.”
It should feel weird to shower together, but they’ve been doing it since they were kids, and Blaise has already seen his scars so he doesn’t think anything of it until Blaise catches his wrist and holds it up.
“This is new.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
It’s not even on his wrist, firstly. Normally he just goes over the scars on his hips, or the ones on just thighs, but he remembers this one. The night after The Quidditch World Cup. He couldn’t get the flashes of muggles out of his mind. Confused about his father, running on two hours of sleep, probably not his best decision ever. But he just wanted to feel a little bit, and it matches the cut his father had given him from that damned cursed knife, the one that is finally just a scab and an angry red line. A matching set. Symmetry.
Call him a little unstable, but two lines is better than one as far as aesthetics go.
Now he thinks that it was probably not worth it, because Blaise looks pissed and worried at the same time and that never bodes well for him. That’s how he ended up in a blood contract, who knows what he and Pansy will do now.
“How long?”
Like, how long is the cut? He doesn’t know, it’s not like he takes a measuring tape to his arms, he’s not that sick in the head. Or like...how long has it been since he hacked at his skin like a wannabe lumberjack. Do those still exist? Who’s to say, honestly. Who cares? Who-
“Draco.” Blaise’s other hand slips under his chin and he’s staring into deep brown eyes, “Focus, darling, how long have you been doing this to yourself?”
Oh. That ‘how long’.
Sensible Draco would not answer because he knows Blaise is going to either give him hell or watch him like a hawk, or both which is the worst and most likely to happen. However, Blaise is shaking. And Blaise does better when there’s someone else to focus on. And, it’s an asshole move he knows, but he doesn’t know how to handle it if Blaise breaks down, so he’s breaking down.
Fuck it, he deserves a small mental breakdown. It’s been hell or weird as shit since he was eleven, he has every Merlin given right to-
“Okay, you’ve got to work with me here.”
They’re out of the shower, he has no idea how or why they got back into the room, but they’re here. LuLu’s glaring at Blaise, refusing to leave his side, and Blaise is glaring back with a large t-shirt in his hands. Draco appears to be shirtless.
Which makes sense because it is rather cold.
But he doesn’t need a shirt, he needs to just sleep a little bit, and there’s a bed and-
Blaise tucks them in, petting LuLu who’s wiggled in between them even though they were just standing.
They’re both wizards, but Blaise definitely is a little more magical than most.
Somehow his fingers start moving through white hair too, and then playing with Blaise’s hand on top of LuLu’s stomach. He still hasn’t answered the question.
“Since last year…”
Blaise freezes, “What?”
“You asked me how long...since last year.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
They’re quiet for a moment, Draco watches the fish swimming in the moonlit lake.
“Please don’t tell Pansy.”
There’s no reply so he feels the need to clarify.
“Or Ron, or Hermione, or Millie. Harry is also off limits, he’d freak.”
He still doesn’t get a response so he starts forming an argument in his head but it’s very difficult when his thoughts won’t fucking work with him and he’s tired and LuLu is warm and Blaise is like an added security measure and he’s so, so, close to falling asleep and forgetting about the other empty bed.
“If you do it again I’m telling them. For now, we’ll keep it between us. But I get to inspect you every week for new ones, and if I find out this is what you’ve been using my medical books-“
“It’s not. I was looking in those for when mum tries to kill father again and if we do go to war having a medic never hurts and I already know the basics thanks to, well, ya know, and it just made sense-“
“Go to bed before I change my mind and tell them anyways.”
Draco was planning on going to bed regardless, there’s no need to add a threat to the discussion.
Hermione’s pissed off at something, which is scary in itself, but even worse is the fact that they have to find a new hidden classroom, because their old one is currently undergoing construction.
It’s like they’re trying to add to Hermione’s fire.
“We’ll have to find a new one!”
Pansy slaps a hand over her mouth, “Maybe if you’re a little louder the whole school will know!”
He’d roll his eyes, but Pans has a point. No one knows where anyone stands right now, not exactly the time to be testing the waters, and it’s not exactly safe for them to be seen together even if Narcissa is secretly on their side.
“We could use The Chamber.”
Draco whirls on him, which is really a bad decision because he looks a little too cute this morning to be intimidating. Harry winces, now is so not the time. “Have you lost your mind? The Chamber? Where Giant Scary Snake tried to fucking eat you?”
“It’s actually not a bad idea,” Ron shrugs, “I mean no one but Harry can get down there, and if he teaches us how to open it, we can get down there too, so it’s probably one of the safest places, and the snake is dead, right?”
Harry pauses.
Hermione doesn’t like that, “It is dead, right?”
Draco seems unsure too, which can’t be good.
“Guys.” Oh fuck, even Blaise and Pansy look a little upset. But, if they’ve taught him anything it's to leave wiggle room.
“Probably.”
He can count to three before Hermione lets out a noise that sounds a little like a rat dying. “Probably?!”
“I'm like ninety percent sure-”
"What the fuck, Harry.”
Blaise and Pansy look ready to murder them both. “You should be a hundred percent sure!”
Draco shrugs, “Okay, so Harry and I will go down to the chamber and see if it’s clear-”
“You absolutely will not-”
“You could get hurt-”
“If it’s alive-”
“Listen!” Dear fuck they really are going to end up alerting the entire school with Harry’s own big mouth. “I can talk to it, listen and maybe even talk it down. Worse comes to worse, Draco and I are the best at dueling and the least likely to die, plus I’ve already survived it once. How hard can a second time be?”
Hermione is going to throttle him in his sleep. “If you get killed you won’t have me to blame.” She huffs out of their little corridor, bumping his and Ron’s shoulders on the way out. The four of them exchange looks and then Draco finally asks.
“What’s her problem?”
“Oh ya know, slavery and unfair treatment of living creatures.”
Ron tries to explain a little further, but the bewildered look their Slytherin friends have is too rare to not gawk at. It’s like they’re not even aware of the shit happening around them. The bell cuts them off, so it will just have to wait until their Thursday study’s session.
Class is relatively boring as far as first days go. There’s Care of Magical Creatures with Slytherins, but he can’t talk to Draco or Blaise, and yes he’s happy to see Hagrid, it just sucks that he can’t be happy to see his friends too. At least Draco doesn’t get hurt like last year, if he can keep the whole ‘not being hurt’ thing up for the rest of the week George will be twenty coins up and making Fred do his homework for the rest of the month. Herbology with the Hufflepuffs isn’t that exciting except for the new kid he had no idea existed, and since Hermione’s now added him and Draco to the current Reasons to be Pissed List, he can’t very well ask her.
He spends most of Divination thinking about how much simpler life would be if he could just be friends with whoever the hell he wanted to, and then he sees that Hufflepuff again and decides he really needs to ask someone about them. Pansy’s really his best bet, but she’d kill him if he exposed them in public, which again, really fucking sucks because they have potions with the Slytherins too and he’s dying to know how the hell Draco manages to make Snape look like a pacified cat every single lesson.
Dinner comes and goes much too quickly, which means he basically blinks and then he and Draco are standing in Myrtle's bathroom, an hour past curfew.
“Sneaking out already? It’s only the first day back….unless you have other motives for coming here alone…..just the two of you…”
Harry regrets this decision entirely, fully ready to beat his own head into a sink just so he can avoid Myrtle’s giggles.
“Good evening to you too,” He says instead, hoping he’ll be enough to distract her.
He’s not.
“You never come and visit….are you making it up now?” If ghosts could blush she’d be the color of Ron’s hair by now. “Going to put on a show for me, Harry?”
“Myrtle, is it?”
Harry’s been thankful for Draco a lot at this point, but he’ll never be over the creepy smile the blonde gets right before destroying people, or in this case, ghosts.
Myrtle doesn’t know about the smile, though. She’s just happy to have a cute boy talking to her.
“Y-yes, and you are?”
Draco bows, honest to fucking bows. Holds out his hands like some sort of weird prince and as if that isn’t enough, Myrtle places her hand in his and giggles while he kisses it. Harry’s so fucking confused. What is this? What is he doing? Going around and kissing other people’s hands is just weird and it’s not because he’s a little jealous or whatever, it’s just, ya know, unsanitary.
Myrtle doesn’t agree.
Myrtle is fucking delighted.
And Draco apparently has a fifth smile Harry’s never seen. There’s Diplomatic Smile, the one he usually gives people that aren’t his friends, Little Shit Smile, for when he’s being an asshole, Intimidation Smirk, that one always gives Harry chills, and Harry’s favorite; the Cute Smile, for when his guard is completely down and he’s just happy.
This smile is somewhere in between creepy and cute, and he has no idea what to label it.
“Draco Malfoy, at your service. We’re terribly sorry to disturb such a fine young lady as yourself so late in the evening, but Harry and I have some business in the Chamber, something that might interfere with your safety and we’d never allow that to happen. Perhaps, once that business is settled, we could bring more friends to visit with? After all, a gorgeous girl like you shouldn’t be left to her lonesome. It’s not right by a gentleman’s standards.”
Myrtle buys every single line like Dudley at a bake sale. She literally melts into a puddle at Draco’s feet, swooning complete with heart eyes, looking like she’s seen some deity, and Harry’s one creepy comment away from snagging Slytherin robes and finding a different place altogether.
“Of course,” she says in a dreamy voice, “I’d be honored to assist…”
She stays on the floor even after they’re climbing into the hole behind the sink.
“You didn’t put a spell on her, did you?”
“Of course I did,” Draco rolls his eyes and Harry decides that only nice people get warnings about possible skulls and shredded snake skin. “It’s called being charming-”
Draco screams, Harry laughs even as he’s being hit.
“You asshole! You could’ve warned me!”
“I thought your charm would prepare you.”
Harry does end up warning him about the grosser things the further they get into the pipes. Partly because he knows if Draco sees a giant snake anything he’ll start hexing left and right, but mostly because he doesn’t actually want his friend, possible crush, to have a heart attack.
“It smells awful down here.”
They’re almost to the main room now, which is bad because he might have lied about how scared he is of seeing the Basilisk again. To be fair, the last time he was down here he almost died and lost his best friend’s sister, who’s also like his little sister, and he isn’t looking forward to reliving those memories in his nightmares tonight.
“Hey,” Draco bumps into his side, “You’ve gone all quiet on me. It’s the smell, isn’t it?”
Harry snorts, “Ya know I didn’t really notice the smell the first time around….”
“Who can blame you? You were on your way to save a life, I feel like that might outweigh the whole rotting corpse aroma for you Gryffindors, but I’d give anything for even a vomit smell right now.”
“I prefer lavender but to each his own I guess.”
Draco snorts, but it’s fond. “My mother loves lavender.”
“I feel like that clashes with your vomit preferences just a bit.”
“Still better than rotting corpse scent.”
They chuckle again, and his nerves are still all wound up, so he says, “Hey, do you think we could sell Rotting Corpse as like a candle?”
“Why in the fuck-”
“Look, all I’m saying is that if we could, I’m pretty sure Old Witty Riddy would buy the entire stock, which means he’d have no bribe money left, and he’d be distracted smelling them all day so we could probably take him by surprise.”
Draco’s trying so hard not to laugh. “I don’t take Riddle as a candle man.”
“You’re right, I’m betting he likes incense made of, I dunno, children.”
“That would explain why he keeps trying to get into Hogwarts.”
“This is a horrible topic.”
“You brought it up!”
They’re standing outside the door now, and he can’t get nervous with the image of Riddle sticking his nose in a candle like he’s seen mothers do in muggle shops. Draco takes his hand and gives it a light squeeze.
“There are three options behind that door, okay? One, the creature is alive and hostile, we kill it and move on because it will kill us if we don’t. Two, it’s alive and friendly, which I doubt, but it’s a possibility. You’ll talk to it and try to come to an understanding. Three, it’s dead so we deal with the body and remember that it died trying to kill you and Girl Weasley.”
“She does have a name-”
“Harry, now is so not the time.”
“I’m just saying ‘Ginny’ is shorter and a lot easier to remember than ‘Girl Weasley’.”
Draco can glare all he wants to, he can’t hide the amusement clearly written in his eyes or the soft smile that really takes away from the whole ‘annoyed’ persona. “Are you ready or not?”
There’s no time like the present.
Harry nods, they each take out their wands, and then he looks to the snakes locking the door and whispers “Open”.
“Who goes there?”
Oh shit. Harry closes his eyes and makes Draco do the same, their wands stay up, Draco doesn’t say a word.
“My name is unimportant.”
“I recognize your smell….you were with Him on that night…”
“I don’t know what you’re-”
“Do not lie, boy! You reek of that bastard! How dare you waltz into my home and bring back memories of my torture! Leave this place! Let me die in peace!”
“Harry?” Draco sounds a little panicked, even to his own ears, “Harry, what’s going on? I don’t speak but those hisses don’t sound particularly happy. More like Poly after Lockheart hurt her.”
He has no fucking clue who Poly is, but he’ll worry about it later. Right now he’s going to do something insanely stupid.
“You’re dying?”
They can feel more than hear the giant sigh released, and it’s then that Harry remembers Fawkes clawing out the eyes, so he opens his and draws in a sharp gasp.
The Basilisk he remembers was terrifying. Like he definitely almost shit his pants several times during their first meeting, but now the creature lies half in murky water, head barely hanging onto dingy marble floors. It looks pitiful and Harry knows, he knows this is stupid, but he’s hasn’t been meeting his yearly quota, and Hermione’s already pissed at him so there’s really nothing stopping him from adding to his Stupid Life Choices.
“I’ve been dying for some time now. Since my eyes were taken from me and my head impaled. I merely wait for Death to grace me with tender arms so I may no longer feel pain this body ties me to.”
Well shit, he’s definitely getting involved now.
“Do you wish to die?”
The Basilisk snorts, Harry didn’t know snakes could do that. “No soul wishes to die, boy. I have been alive for many years, I have seen many things, at first I wished to join my first friend in the next realm, and yet I am not satisfied enough to say I would be happy to meet Death. However, not everyone gets the option to refuse should she come knocking. I had any chance of survival ripped from me the second that evil Speaker came into this cursed school.”
“You talk of Riddle?”
“Do not mention that name to me!” The hiss is so loud and angry Draco opens his eyes on instinct, making an unnecessary whimper that will definitely be keeping him up tonight.
“That wretched man used me twice! I fell for his traps twice! Have you any idea who I am? What I have contributed to? I was great once! A beloved figure, held in high standards, loved and adored, I had friends who called me by my name with pride! And now, because of that man, I have been disgraced. ME! I have suffered for his actions-”
“That man killed my parents in front of my crib.” As far as smart moves go, cutting off an ancient being probably isn’t one, but what’s done is done and the sullen snake head turns to him, so he continues. “He took them from me before I could talk. He tried to take me too, but failed. Because of Him I lost something I can never get back. The boy next to me? His father was cursed by That Man into abusing him. That Man almost forced a father to kill his own child. My first year at this school I was eleven years old and had to murder a teacher because of Him, only to turn around and destroy Him again when He used you the year after. So many people have lost so much more than their pride, and I’m sorry you’ve suffered, but I have to remind you that it was you who petrified children and nearly killed more of my family that year.”
“You think I would leave my shelter willingly? No, you fool, this place has been my home since my last friend. A gift I cherish until my last breath. That man, he came to me with talk of allies and war, to which I never wanted a part in. When I told him no….”
“He Imperoed you, didn’t he?”
Draco’s hand is squeezing his to point that it’s painful, so he squeezes back and really hopes it gets the message across.
“Yes.”
Fuck. What the hell is he supposed to say to that? “I’m sorry. No one should have to suffer those curses.”
“And yet an Avada Kedavra would have been kinder than to claw out my eyes and leave me for dead.”
Harry winces, because yeah, the snake has a fucking point. “I can heal you. Or, my friend here can heal you. Probably. We can find a way to if nothing else. But in order to do that, I need you to swear not to hurt us.”
“Why would you heal me? Why should I trust you? For all I know you’re just like that Riddle boy.”
Now that’s an insult if he’s ever heard one. “My name is Harry Potter. I intend to one day stop Tom Riddle and all this senseless fighting.”
“How can you claim it senseless?”
“Because anything that keeps people from being friends is stupid, war included. There’s no reason for children to be forced into a war, and there’s no reason why one man should get to decide who lives and who dies. All life is precious, even if he refuses to see it.”
“If all life is precious, what will you do if you have to end His? You’ve already killed someone once, what’s stopping you from becoming just like Him?”
“Love.” Harry replies without missing a beat. “Tom Riddle has never known love, I don’t think. Not if what I know about him is true. And I may not have had parents, but I have people who love me and people I’m not willing to lose even if it kills me. I have friends I will protect until my dying breath, and that is what sets me apart from Him.”
The snake takes a deep breath, Draco’s shaking next to him and is definitely going to kill him when he finds out that Harry basically just signed them up to heal a Deadly Dangerous Snake that they may or may not be able to heal. Maybe Draco and Hermione can team up and make a detailed book of all the things he does that pisses them off. It’d be a bestseller in The Daily Prophet , he’s sure.
“You said your name is Harry Potter, of the Potter line, correct?”
Uh, he doesn’t know of any other Potter lines, “Yes.”
“My name is Uγεία, you may call me Geia. Should you heal me, I will not harm you and yours.”
Great. Now he just has to explain to his friends how they’re going to be healing a giant snake that tried to kill them.
Draco’s going to throttle him before Hermione gets the chance.
“Are you kidding me? This is supposed to be a relaxing year, Harry! Healing her wasn’t a part of our options!”
“But you said we could work something out if she was nice-”
“When I said that I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to sign us up for a friendly clash with venomous teeth! We could die doing this, and-”
“If you won’t help me heal her then I’ll do it myself.”
Over his dead body will he let Harry try that. There’s so many things that could go so, so, horribly wrong. Yes, he’s been healing himself since he was eleven because he wasn’t exactly keen on letting people know about his abuse, but no one’s ever tried to heal a snake with magic. Not to his knowledge, of course, except for that one time with Polly and the Dinner Party, but he still didn't know how she was healed. However, if it’s the only thing that will keep Harry from running off and getting himself into trouble this early in the year he’ll fucking try it. Even if it means strong-arming Hermione into putting her annoyance aside, which he’s sure she’ll do if it keeps her friends from dying. “Why do you care so much? This creature-”
“Geia. She said to call her Geia.”
Merlin, give him strength. Draco counts to ten, pointedly ignoring the piles of animal skulls, that are very much real, so he doesn’t start screaming. “Fine, then. The last time you saw Geia she was trying to kill you, and Ginny! You can’t lie to me! I watched you in Foe Glass, you would’ve died if Fawkes hadn’t healed you! She’s not safe.”
“She was under the Imperius Curse! No one is safe under an Unforgivable, you of all people should know that!”
Draco flinches back without meaning to. Of course he knows that, he’d been under two of them, he’d seen what mind control curses can do to people, his father is still recovering and Draco seriously doubts that he’ll ever get over it. The first time he hurt his Torture Pixie was when he was under Impero, and the only reason he didn’t fight harder was because of the Crucius Hour he endured beforehand.
Harry reaches out to touch him, Draco moves away and the look Harry gives him makes something squeeze tight in his chest. The outstretched arm drops.
“I’m sorry, that was too far. I didn’t mean to-”
“Why do you care about her so much? She’s dying anyways, right? Why not just kill her and put her out of her misery?”
Harry mumbles something. He’s looking at the entrance to the bathroom, they’re so close Draco can taste air that doesn’t make him want to throw up, he can hear Myrtle sighing like a love-struck first year, but they can’t leave this conversation unfinished.
“What?”
Green eyes are pleading with him to just drop it, which he isn’t going to do, and then something mildly alarming happens. Harry’s eyes clear and he sighs. “Can we talk about this somewhere that doesn’t make me want to hyperventilate?”
He’s too shocked at the change in tactics to say ‘no’, so he ends up sneaking past the ghost that everyone avoids. Draco doesn’t get it, she’s really quite easy to handle, all you have to do is give her a smile and treat her like she isn’t worthless. Granted it was a shot in the dark, but he remembers Pansy talking about how lonely Myrtle is, and well. It doesn’t take much to put two and two together.
Harry leads them out of the bathroom and up a few staircases. How he knows his way around the dark, Draco doesn’t want to know, but he has a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with that damned map from last year. Where they’re going is a bit of a mystery until he’s looking at the door to the Astronomy tower. Classes for the sixth years will be starting at three, and it’s only one so they have time.
“That was a long walk for an explanation”
“Well,” Harry grins at him, “It certainly smells better up here.”
Draco sighs, “Harry, you can’t distract me, we need to talk about this.”
“I know, I know. I’m not trying to distract you, I just...I didn’t want to talk about this down there. Not yet.”
They take seats by the ledge, the night is a little cloudy from the leftover storm, but the moon still shines brightly. Draco doesn’t say anything, simply stares at Harry until he caves. It’s a nice view.
“It’s just,” Fuck he’s really weak for Harry’s eyes tonight, maybe he didn’t get enough sleep. “Think about it, Draco. She’s been in that room since the founders, right? And after Salazar left, she was alone until Riddle. She hasn’t had a friend in so long, she’s been forced to stay in one area and she’s suffering.”
“And why does this-”
“Because she’s like me.”
Wait, what? Harry’s cheeks are slightly flushed, eyes wide behind his glasses, and the worst part is either the water collecting in those green orbs or the shaking of his hands as he explains.
“I get it, okay? I get what she’s going through. For the first ten years of my life I was forced to live in a small cramped space, I was bullied and starved and hurt by the only people I had the chance to interact with. She had friends, and they were taken from her just like my parents, Sirius, and Remus were taken from me. Riddle did the same thing to her that my aunt and uncle did to me. And even though she thought he was her friend, all he did was force her into a world full of death and misery against her will, just like me! She doesn’t deserve to be hated and- and fucking murdered for something that was against her will. I just...I can’t leave her. It’s not fair for me to be saved and not at least try to help her.”
Fucking Gryffindors and their damned morals. Fucking Harry and his need to save the world. Fucking green eyes that he’s never been able to say ‘no’ to. They’re the whole reason he got into this mess, well, that and his own need to save the world.