Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
October 11,evening
When Harry came down for dinner, Hermione was scolding Ron about not doing his homework properly. Harry sat down across from them and almost reflexively his eyes went to the Slytherin table. Malfoy walked out of the great hall, Parkinson in tow and when he looked away he felt Hermoine stare at him and prepared himself for the onslaught of questions.
“Harry, what happened in potions?You lost Gryffindor 25 points!”
“I messed up my potion. He asked me to write an essay correcting my mistakes and let me go.”he shrugged.
“No detention? Looks like you got lucky, mate.”Ron said, seemingly bored with the topic of studies.
“Harry, you should really be paying more attention in class. Anyways, I wanted to ask you about what you said this morning about Malfoy ignoring us. Could you tell me what you meant by that?” Here we go. he thought. He was about to make some excuse to shrug it all off when they were interrupted by Ginny.
“Harry, when are you holding the Gryffindor tryouts? The other three houses have already completed theirs.” How could he forget about Quidditch. He was the captain for Merlin’s sake!!!
“Yeah, is the pitch free for tomorrow? We have to catch up fast,”Harry replied.
“The Hufflepuffs have booked the morning but the evening is free. We better get it booked quickly.”Ginny answered cheerfully. Ron’s face practically beamed at the mention of Quidditch and he was enthusiastic about trying out for the keeper position.The three of them talked about Quidditch for a while and decided to head to bed.
Harry was exhausted by the time he reached his bed. He subconsciously reached for the Marauder’s Map without even meaning to. He decides that he will see where Malfoy is and then head to bed.
Malfoy was in one of the corridors next to Parkinson. They parted ways and she left for the dungeons while he went to the library again. If Harry felt tired in the beginning then his exhaustion may as well have vanished in thin air. He grabbed his cloak and rushed to the restricted section.
As expected Malfoy was there up to no good. The blond was sitting in a hidden corner in the restricted section with grayish-blue potion in one hand and a thick book on his lap and a half-eaten apple in his other hand. He looked down at the book intently flipping through the pages so quickly that it made Harry wonder whether he was even reading it. Harry for the life of him could not understand what was going on. He thought it was a potions book but he couldn’t be sure . Malfoy took another bite of the apple and the juice trickled down his lips. He licked his lips and the sight made Harry’s breath hitch. Malfoy probably heard the sound because he looked up at Harry’s direction and frowned and went back to reading the book. He bit into the apple again and Harry licked his lips and scolded himself for doing so. Malfoy and Harry were there in the library for almost another hour until Malfoy closed that book. Just when Harry thought Malfoy was going to leave the prat brought a thicker book and sat down, vanishing the core of the apple with a flick of his hand. He can do wandless magic! Harry thought astounded. He heard Malfoy sigh as he glanced at his watch. The muggle watch from the shopping tour!!!. Harry glanced at his own watch and it was past midnight. Malfoy closed that book and headed out of the library. Harry waited for five more minutes and then left the library.
He reached the Gryffindor tower without being caught and flopped down on his bed. Why was he feeling so nervous around Malfoy. These are the kind s of things he could talk to Sirius about. I miss him he thought. He sighed and fell asleep.
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Draco and Pansy were sitting in the great hall for dinner. Theo was with Blaise in the common room helping him with his divination homework, a class Draco had not taken.Pansy was giving him odd looks throughout dinner and he was becoming uneasy around her. He was halfway through dessert when he saw Potter enter the great hall. Now will be the right time to go to the library without being followed by the mighty saviour. He thought as he ate the last piece of brownie on his plate.
“Okay Pans, I’ll be off.” He said and got up to leave.
“Dray, wait for me.”she said and left the hall right behind him.
The two Slytherins walked in the general direction of the library until Pansy began to speak.
“Draco, look, I know there is something you are not telling us and I want to know if you are okay.”she said,concerned.
“ I don’t know what you are talking about.”He said with a neutral tone and expression. Of course she is being nosy. What else is more normal than this upcoming interrogation! He thought his mind going back to third year.
Pansy sighed and said “Look I understand if you don’t want to tell me but can you give some hints or at least tell me if you are okay.”
“Well, I am okay. And as far as hints go you will just have to ask the right questions.”he shrugged.
“Which are?”
“And that my dear Pans is the perfect example of a wrong question. Besides, I myself don’t know much about the entire thing.”
She smiled at him and asked, “Okay, Does this have something to do with Lucius?”
“It has everything to do with him.”
“Does this have something to do with Dark Arts?”
“I am not sure.” he answered. Dark Arts!Why didn’t I think of that?!
“Well, Do you want me to tell Blaise and Theo or do you want to tell them yourself?”
“I think I will tell them myself once I have figured out more things…. Pansy do you think Blaise is still angry with me about this morning?”
She took a moment to think and said, “ Dray, I won't sugarcoat it. You were a little blunt asking him about that at breakfast of all things. Theo has talked some sense into him but you know he was extremely close with Zeltan and you remember how devastated he was last year when he found out last year.” she took a breath and continued “ I don't think he’ll be angry at you for long, though.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just wanted to ask is all .”
“Dray, I know. But you need to learn to be a bit more sensitive about stuff. Do you know what is up with Vince and Greg? They too are not being their usual selves.”
“Well, I actually refrained myself from asking but they were close with their fathers.”
“Makes sense, I guess. Anyways I am heading back are you coming?”
“No I should head to the library.”
“To look up about whatever it is you are doing?”
“Yes. Oh and Pansy what are you doing about Tori ?”he asked with a playful smirk.He wasn't going to let this chance of pointing out the obvious sexual tension between her and Astoria, go to waste.
“There is absolutely nothing between me and Astoria.”she said with a serious face which made Draco smile .”Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that.”he said and Pansy blushed!!
“I am going to sleep. Try not to get caught.”she said and left for the dungeons.
“You too.”he called after her as he went towards the library.
Draco had only found three books about Dark potions one of which was in the Manor’s library. He grabbed the smaller book of the remaining two and sat down in a secluded corner . He took out an apple from his pocket and started eating it.He had carried the vial with him for reference. He was comparing the contents in the vial to the descriptions in the book. He had a general idea of what ingredients went into making this potion but there were three ingredients he didn’t know of. He took another bite of his apple and the juice trickled down from his lips. He tried to lick it off , annoyed, and he heard something … or someone sigh? He looked up at the direction of the sound but found no one there. Potter! He thought and went back to reading the book. He checked with all the potions listed in that admittedly big book in vain. When he found nothing he kept the book back and grabbed the other one.He didn’t hear another sound so he assumed that Potter was gone. He glanced at the index page of the book but he wasn’t sure whether or not it will be helpful.He vanished the apple core with a flick of his wrist.Still need to get used to this he thought.He glanced at his watch and it was past midnight.He was wearing the muggle watch he had brought as a part that stupid shopping tour Professor Burbage took them on, two weeks ago.He preferred the muggle watch for his nighttime sneaking out because unlike his normal watch it wasn’t enchanted to chime at set times and in the presence of danger or his father and aunt among other things. The thought of owning muggle artifacts still filled him with disgust but he was working on it. He felt a little tired so he closed the book and put it back on the shelf and left for the dungeons. He reached the dungeons relatively safely considering his close encounter with Filch.His roommates were asleep. Obviously. It’s 12:15. He thought and went to sleep.