Undefined

Chapter 10

Defensive Magic

Draco reached Snape's office at exactly half past seven, pulling out the small bit of parchment Katrina'd given him the night before. He slipped it back into his pocket and found a very large, very heavy door in lieu of the smaller, more familiar one which led to Snape's office. He entered without knocking, finding Snape in the middle of a very vast room as large as a cathedral sanctuary. There was no furniture, no tapestries, no windows, only rows and rows of still paintings of ancient witches and wizards watching him with doleful eyes. Despite the lack of sound buffers, nothing echoed in the room and it seemed quite cozy even if it was austere and stern. Snape wasted no time in commencing their lesson for the evening, Draco's mind wandering to other matters almost instantaneously.

"Defensive magic is, without a doubt, one of the most essential components in combat. If you are able to block any curse your adversary chooses to aim...are you listening to me, Draco?" Snape asked, sighing irritably.

Draco snapped out of his reverie, straightening up and paying immediate attention to Snape. "Sir?"

"A wandering mind does no good in battle," Snape said, pacing slowly. "Whoever this girl is, I suggest you remove her from your mind completely."

"Yes, sir," Draco said, realizing with a bit of dismay that all of his waking thoughts were devoted to Harry. It was dead annoying, really, the way everything seemed reminiscent of him.

"Good. I expect you know of nonverbal spells," Snape said, continuing to pace. Draco nodded. "And you are aware of the advantage of time and surprise this technique possesses." Draco nodded again. "Good, let's begin."

Draco spent an hour practicing simple nonverbal spells, advancing a short time later to casting after his defenses proved satisfactory. Snape stood in front of him the whole time, telling him how to hold his wand, how to focus his eyes, and most importantly, how to use his mind.

After several failed attempts, Snape pulled Draco aside. "I know you have it in you, you just need to focus; try harder. Clear your mind and concentrate on hexing me. Don't try to hex me, do it!"

Draco nodded, practicing his aim, his block, and his wand technique for what seemed hours, feeling no closer to mastering the skill than when they'd started. He groaned loudly in frustration as he fell to the floor, unable to block Snape's curse.

"Watch the eyes," Snape said, helping Draco off the floor, "they often convey what your enemy is thinking."

"Shouldn't we start with Legilimency?" Draco asked, dusting off his trousers.

"No," Snape said curtly. "Once you master nonverbal spells, employing Legilimency will only prove that much easier. Again!"

Draco stood opposite Snape, staring straight into his eyes. What are you expecting me to cast? What? Then, Draco saw something behind Snape's eyes that told him, quite plainly and loudly, "I'm thinking of the Body-Bind Curse, you moron." Draco immediately cast Levicorpus, before he could blink. Snape looked from his upside position in the air very pleased.

"Good," Snape said. "Now let me down!"

Draco did so immediately, resuming his position, Snape's dark eyes boring into his own. They continued for what must have been another hour or two, until Draco demanded they stop for the evening, his body sore from having been knocked down several times throughout the evening. But he had, to Snape's pleasure, acquired a very strong skill in both casting and blocking nonverbal spells.

"Tomorrow night, same time," Snape said. "And practice, Draco, practice every moment you can."

Lessons continued in the evenings for at least four hours, leaving Draco exhausted and thoroughly drained by the time he returned to the common room. He met with Harry as often as he could, even if it was for a very short and very unfulfilling smattering of time. It didn't take long before Draco grew restless and tired with this routine, his frustrations finally boiling over when he passed Harry in the boys' lavatory.

"Potter," he yelled, as two Hufflepuff boys stood washing their hands. They immediately turned to look. "Next time you have an issue with me, come to my face and don't send your little messenger boy Weaslebee."

"Get over yourself," Harry snapped. "Why would I have anything to say to you?"

The two Hufflepuffs scampered out, obviously afraid of getting caught in the middle of a very nasty duel. Draco smirked and sauntered to Harry, grabbing his robes and pulling him into a cubicle.

"Hey," Draco breathed, kicking the door shut and pushing Harry against it.

"Bit suspicious, isn't it?" Harry asked, seemingly captivated by the situation.

Draco smirked again, placing an arm a little above Harry's head. "Maybe."

"Rubbish," Harry said. "You know it's damn stupid to do this!"

"Maybe I don't care," Draco said, pushing Harry's robes aside and hooking a finger in his belt loop.

"You're mental," Harry mumbled, squirming slightly.

"Maybe I am," Draco said, leaning down and grazing Harry's lips. "But you have to admit" -he slipped his hand past the belt, cupping the pronounced bulge--"it is kind of fun."

"Yes, but...not here!" Harry said, his eyes closing and his head resting against the cubicle door.

Draco smiled, licking his lips slightly as he began to stroke Harry, pressing and releasing teasingly, and squeezing hard every little bit to elicit those small moans.

"Not here," Harry moaned, thrusting against Draco's hand. "Please."

"Oh c'mon," Draco said, his lips grazing Harry's. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"It's...I..." Harry said, giving in.

Harry grabbed fistfuls of Draco's robes and pulled him closer, his breath hitching and small moans escaping his lips. "Harder."

Draco crushed his lips against Harry's, savoring the feel of his small body against his own, wanting more but knowing it was impossible. Instead, in a very rare moment, he acquiesced to Harry's pleas, rubbing him at a frantic pace.

"Oh, God," Harry said, pulling out of the kiss and nearly slamming his head against the door. "Fuck!"

"Faster?" Draco asked, unable to take his eyes of off Harry's withering body.

He nodded and bit his lip, his face contorting as Draco's hand continued to move in all the right ways. Damn, he thought, I could use a go. He was calculating the amount of time it would take to choreograph everything against the odds of someone walking in; not happy with the outcome, Draco decided it was best to wait. Besides, Harry was nearly done as he whimpered and groaned pathetically against Draco and pulled viciously at his robes. He assaulted Harry's neck, sucking hard, knowing it would prove too much. It was just enough to push Harry over the edge as he let out a strangled moan and banged his head full force against the cubicle door, once, twice, three times as he climaxed, finally collapsing against the door and breathing heavily.

"God, Draco," was all Harry managed to say as he pulled away, his clothes disheveled.

"You owe me," Draco said, disentangling himself from Harry.

Harry nodded, seemingly unaware of his surroundings as Draco gently brushed past and looked both ways before stepping out of the cubicle. By some miraculous stroke of luck, the lavatory was completely empty as Draco left, Harry still struggling to regain his breath.

***

Much to his dismay, Draco soon fell behind in his studies as a result of those damn evening lessons that were consuming his life. Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts were fine enough, but Transfiguration, History of Magic and Herbology were a completely different story. He landed detention from McGonagall for turning up without his homework for the third consecutive day, but luckily Snape intervened and cleared the matter up instantly.

"It takes discipline and dedication to be in your position," Snape said during their lesson that evening. "I cannot and will not intervene again. You must learn balance!"

"How can I learn balance if I spend all evening here and all day in class? I barely have enough time to sleep!" Draco snapped.

"How unfortunate you find your life so busy," Snape said reprovingly. "What on earth will you do when you're an adult?"

"Don't lecture me, Severus," Draco sneered. "My father's quite good at it."

"Imagine what he would think if he found out you are falling behind in most of your lessons," Snape said coldly.

"Don't threaten me," Draco said. "I don't respond well to threats."

"Then quit whining!"

"I'm not!"

"Enough; let's begin," Snape said, raising his wand.

"No," Draco said, folding his arms stubbornly.

"Now is not the time to throw a teenage temper-tantrum," Snape sighed.

"Is one evening off going to hurt anything? No!" Draco said, and moved to storm out.

"You are acting more and more like Potter as the days pass," Snape said, causing Draco to turn.

They stared at one another for several moments not speaking. Finally Snape waved his hand. "Go on then; I'm in no mind to deal with this tonight. My patience is wearing thin."

Draco turned on his heel and stomped out, slamming the door as he left.

What a useless, annoying, overbearing prick, he thought, unknowingly walking in the wrong direction. He realized it once he found himself standing in the Entrance Hall. Luckily, he spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking up the stairs.

"Potter!" Draco yelled.

Harry turned slowly, Ron and Hermione eyeing the pair of them suspiciously. Harry strode casually towards Draco, his hands in his pockets and a small smile on his lips.

"What?" Harry said a bit too loudly.

"The Shack, an hour," Draco muttered barely above a whisper. "I have an extra Dementor hanging about, care to take it off my hands?"

"Fuck you, Malfoy," Harry said, turning on his heel.

Draco smiled as he turned and walked back to the dungeons, not missing the irony in Harry's statement.

"Who is she?" Pansy asked darkly as she took a seat beside Draco in the common room.

"What?" Draco snapped.

"Who're you sleeping with now?" Pansy asked. "It's no one in my crew; we always share that sort of information."

"That's disgusting," Draco said, not feeling in the least appalled. He knew girls must share such information. Blokes certainly did.

"Is she in Ravenclaw?" Pansy asked in an accusatory tone. "You never go after those filthy girls; you've always stuck with your own kind."

"Her name is it's-none-of-your-goddamned-business-Parkinson-so-shut-up!" Draco said.

Pansy shot up and went to slap him, but Draco hexed her nonverbally with Furnunculus. She ran from the room screaming, boils erupting on her flesh.

Draco smiled slightly as Crabbe and Goyle sniggered nearby.

"Not bad, Malfoy," Nott said, taking a seat. "Nonverbals?"

"Yeah," Draco said. "My father thought it wise I beef up, given the circumstances."

"If she'd stayed round long enough, I could've performed the counter-curse," Nott said.

"Well, Parkinson isn't famous for her brains," Draco said.

"Right," Nott said casually, eyeing Draco's arm with the Dark Mark.

Draco instinctively folded his arms and threw Nott a rather scathing look.

"I have some notes from History of Magic, if you'd be interested in copying them," Nott said, standing.

Draco shrugged but didn't comment; there was something in Nott's tone that was rather unsettling. Draco realized what it was; it was as though Nott expected them to act as best mates when they had only been casual acquaintances. Well, too damn bad. Draco had no time for such nonsense.

"I'm off," Draco muttered to Crabbe and Goyle, who immediately sprang up like obedient dogs. "God, sit down, I'll be back later."

He glanced back, and noticed Nott looking highly interested in where Draco was going.