Undefined

Chapter 34

Minerva's Secret Stash

Draco walked carelessly to Potions with Harry by his side. After their romp in the Trophy Room, he felt particularly relaxed and content with the world, even with every student and portrait staring as they walked by. Harry, rather uncharacteristically, had his Potions text open as he walked, rifling through the pages.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked.

"I didn't do that stupid essay last night," Harry said.

"Put that away," Draco said, grabbing the book. "You can turn mine in instead."

"But our handwriting's completely different."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Do you honestly think I don't know a charm to fix that?"

"What about you?" Harry asked, stuffing his text back into his bag.

"I'm a big boy; I'll be fine."

They walked into Potions, taking a seat behind Ron and Hermione, who were the only two who didn't turn and gape. Ron had his arm around Hermione, absentmindedly playing with her hair as she read through a massive text.

"You missed Charms," Hermione said, her face still buried in the book.

"Oh, did we?" Draco said, stretching. "Funny, I didn't even notice."

"Where were you?" Hermione sounded ready to chastise the pair of them.

"Contemplating the alignment of the cosmos in the Astronomy Tower," Draco said.

Hermione reached into her bag without a word and set a sheaf of parchment in front of him. "Here, I went ahead took a few notes for you."

"Thanks," Draco said, shoving the parchment appreciatively into his bag.

"And just so you know," Hermione said, turning to face him, "I don't approve of skiving off class just so you two"--her voice dropped to barely above a whisper--"can shag."

"Right, because shagging before class is completely off the point," Draco whispered, winking at Hermione.

She turned a vivid shade of purple before turning around. Draco smiled, and turned to Harry, who had grown very pale and rigid.

The door slammed ceremoniously shut from the back of the classroom, marking the arrival of the Potions Master. Snape strode to the front of the room and turned on his heel. He then lazily withdrew his wand from his robes and, with a casual flick of his wrist, conjured a list of ingredients and instructions on the blackboard.

"Today you will brew a Befuddlement Draught." His eyes rested on Harry and Draco. "Begin."

The room bustled as students pushed their chairs aside and gathered ingredients, talking amongst themselves.

"How am I supposed to know?" Ron whispered to Hermione.

"I knew we should have used a Silencing Charm," Hermione whispered back, frowning. "No telling who else heard!"

"What does it matter anyway?" Ron snapped. "You're acting all put off by it; are you ashamed?"

"No!" Hermione said. "No, of course I'm not!"

"It sounds like you are!"

"Weasley!" Draco hissed, and Ron turned. "Drop it! She's not saying that!"

Ron huffed and turned back around.

Draco watched as Harry measured, diced, and prepared the ingredients, correcting him every so often.

"I can read," Harry snapped.

"Obviously not," Draco retorted, "or you would've added more!"

"Do you want to do it, then?"

"No," Draco said, folding his arms. "I have no desire."

Snape stopped in front of their table, examining the contents of their cauldron. "For God's sake, Potter, can't you read? Or must I write out a separate set of instructions for your slow, imbecilic mind to follow?"

Harry scowled into his book, but said nothing.

"Perhaps you should let someone with an ounce of competence take over," Snape said, looking at Draco.

Harry said nothing, but threw Snape a murderous look as he moved to examine Ron and Hermione's cauldron.

"Fucking bastard," Harry muttered, throwing ingredients into the cauldron and stirring it harshly.

Draco pushed his hand away.

"Don't let him get to you," he said, carefully stirring the contents of the cauldron. "That's what he likes."

"Easy for you to say," Harry said, wiping his hands on his robes. "He thinks you're bloody perfect."

"Actually, he doesn't," Draco said, and dropping his voice very low muttered, "he knows about us."

"What?" Harry asked.

"All the teachers know, actually," Draco added quickly.

"You're telling me this now?" Harry said, sounding exasperated, terrified and confused.

"Yes," Draco said, examining the consistency of the potion. "Right, now all we have to do is let it simmer for three quarters of an hour, then stir it counter-clockwise every ten minutes."

"That's just great," Harry said, folding his arms, "Snape fucking knows, McGonagall fucking knows, even Flitwick knows!"

"So?"

"Oh, come on, you have to admit," Harry said, leaning closer to examine the cauldron, "it's a bit disturbing to think Flitwick knows."

"I'm more disturbed to think that Binns knows," Draco said, moving closer to Harry.

"Binns? What harm's Binns?" Harry asked.

"He's a fucking ghost," Draco said, "isn't that enough?"

Harry laughed as Hermione huffed, turning around to shush them.

"Relax, Hermione," Draco said, sitting down and gazing at his watch. "It's only a Befuddlement Draught!"

"Snape keeps glaring at you," she whispered urgently. "It's not been a week since you two've finished serving detention with him!"

Draco nodded, knowing it was best to not argue with her. She turned back around and smacked Ron's hand when he reached to stir the cauldron.

"Not yet!" she hissed, turning back to her text and scribbling notes furiously.

When the lesson ended, Snape made his final rounds, stopping once again in front of Harry and Draco's table.

"Suitable, even if your partner did most of the work, Potter," Snape said. "As such, Mr. Malfoy, you receive full credit, while you, Potter, receive none."

And with that, Snape strode rather smugly to inspect Ron and Hermione's cauldron. Harry cleaned up their workspace and gathered his belongings as fast as humanly possible.

"Essays on my desk," Snape announced, as everyone bustled to leave.

Shit, Draco thought, taking out his completed essay and muttering a quick charm under his breath. Instantly, Harry's rapid, careless scrawl replaced his own.

"Here," Draco said, shoving the essay into Harry's hand.

Harry smiled slightly as he walked to Snape's desk and slammed the essay on top of the pile. He then turned on his heel and stomped out, muttering, "Unbelievable bastard," under his breath.

"Hermione," Draco said, "can I see your essay?"

"For goodness' sake," she said, handing it over.

Draco scanned it quickly then handed it back to her, but she pushed his hand away. "Just copy it like you did for Harry." Draco looked at her uncertainly. "Oh, I've got another version I wrote out last night! Go on!"

"You're a life saver," Draco said, quickly charming her neat handwriting into his own.

"If I had a Galleon for every time I've heard that..." she said, pulling out another sheaf of parchment.

"You'd have a shit load of Galleons?" Draco said.

She laughed and as she walked to Snape's desk, placing her essay neatly on top.

"I have spoken to the Headmaster," Snape said to Draco, carrying a tray of empty vials to his desk. "And he has agreed to give you private lessons."

"When?" Draco asked.

"Tomorrow evening."

"Right," Draco said, standing and gathering his bag.

He found Harry waiting for him in the corridor, still fuming. Draco was just about to comment when his owl fluttered overhead and dropped a message. He opened it hurriedly, noticing it was from his mother, and read her one line message:

Your father has been released. Details later. Love, Mum.

"That's good news," Harry said, leaning close to read the letter.

Draco said nothing as he folded the bit of parchment neatly, stuffing it into his pocket.

"Right?" Harry said uncertainly.

"I reckon," Draco said, shrugging. "It is for mum at least."

The truth was Draco felt no insane sense of happiness upon learning of the news. He was relieved, of course, and was glad his mother would no longer have to suffer lonely nights in the Manor with only the house-elf as company, but it only added to Draco's realization that he would inevitably face their reactions to his relationship with Harry. Deciding it was better for them to hear it from him, rather than through a third party, he made his way to the Owlery.

Harry followed silently, not bothering to prod or intrude on Draco's thoughts. Draco leant against the wall and scribbled a note on his knee, then attached it to his owl and watched as it fluttered off. He stood by a window, not saying anything, feeling a soft breeze wash over his face and hair.

"It'll be all right," Harry said quietly.

Draco nodded and collapsed against Harry, placing his arm around him. They stood motionless for several moments, gray clouds billowing and sweeping over the horizon, draining the color from the earth.

"It's going to rain," Harry said absently and then, impulsively yet deliberately, Draco pulled him into a kiss, wrapping his arms around Harry.

Draco lost himself in that moment, feeling the wind pick up outside, and Harry's arms circle his waist and gently pull him closer, his tongue parting Draco's lips, gently mingling and mixing and causing them both to shudder. Aware that the owl was drawing nearer to the Manor with every breath he took, and aware that his mother would undoubtedly run shrieking to his father, and the maelstrom that would ensue, Draco slid his hands past Harry's shoulders and neck, and gently tugged at his hair, willing them closer, wishing they could meld into one. And then, he heard a high-pitched shriek near the door, and nearly groaned in frustration when Harry pulled away.

"What the hell?" Pansy shrieked, standing immobile by the Owlery entrance.

"Shit!" Draco spat, punching the wall.

"Tell me I'm seeing things!" Pansy said, the bit of parchment in her hand blowing free and floating away in the wind. "Tell me I've been affected by the Befuddlement Draught! TELL ME THIS INSTANT, DRACO!"

The dozens of owls perched on their stands rustled and hooted slightly at the shrill disturbance. Draco punched the wall again, annoyed beyond all reason he was found out in this way by Pansy fucking Parkinson of all people.

"Go away!" Draco shouted.

"It's him, isn't it?" Pansy said, leveling a shaky finger towards Harry. "He's the one! Not the Mudblood!"

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Draco screamed.

"Blaise was right; he's been saying it for ages, but no one believed him!" Pansy ploughed on. "Why would we? You've shagged half the girls in Slytherin. You've shagged me countless times and all the while you were picturing him!"

Draco said nothing, his body shaking. He felt ready to use an Unforgivable and laugh in delight as she writhed in pain.

"Maybe--" Harry began, and Pansy turned on him.

"Don't you dare speak to me!" she shrilled. "Don't breathe near me, don't look at me - nothing!"

"You're just sore because you never had a chance with me," Draco said, his tone icy. "You knew I'd never have anything to do with you. You knew I just used you because you're a pathetic slut who would suck my dick or spread your legs at my beck and call!"

Pansy backed away, her fists clenched and her face red. "Fuck you, Draco," she said and turned on her heel. "The whole school is going to know this instant that you, Draco Malfoy, are shagging the half-blood, Mudblood lover Harry fucking Potter!" she screamed as she descended the stairs.

***

Draco conceded that it was immeasurably better for the school to believe he'd been shagging Hermione for the past few months rather than Harry. Where he'd had months to adjust to the reality of his relationship with Harry, the sudden news garnered by the rumor mill, which operated at the speed of light, reached his classmates with the rapidity of a bolt of lightening. The majority of students had no inkling what had been occurring right under their noses, and now that they did, it erupted into a sort of hurricane. The whispers increased in pitch and volume and seemed to hit him in waves. He was met with scathing and relentless stares that could have whipped the bark off of the trees outside. And the torrent of verbal confrontations from disgruntled classmates poured forth like unrelenting hail. He found his former prestige and unquestioned dominance had chipped and crumbled away as no amount of "It's none of your business," or "Fuck off!" could dissuade the shocked and angry masses. There seemed an undercurrent of girls who, whenever they saw Harry and Draco together, would blush and giggle, whispering madly among themselves.

"Well, at least they're enjoying it!" Draco spat, as he kicked a fourth-year Ravenclaw boy out of his way.

"It'll pass," Harry said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced.

"Oh, right, sure," Draco said, totally unconvinced as he pushed his way through a knot of Slytherins.

Ron and Hermione retreated as best they could in the circumstances, shirking away from crowds and hovering together in corners. When confronted, Hermione could be heard shouting, "I know nothing! I know nothing!" and Ron, who always ran on a short fuse as it was, often ended up with his fist in someone's face. He was more volatile than ever lately, having to regularly defend not only himself, but his girlfriend and two of his friends amidst the ridicule and scorn of the entire student body.

"Damn it!" Ron shouted as he and Hermione joined Harry and Draco. "These bastards are driving me mad!"

"Ron," Hermione said, clutching his hand tightly and looking very tired. "Just ignore them; they aren't worth it."

"That works when it's one person, Hermione," Ron said, looking very heated, "but not the whole school!"

"It'll pass," she said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced.

Ron stopped suddenly when a fourth-year Hufflepuff boy slammed into him.

"Do you mind?" Ron growled.

"In case you haven't noticed," the boy said haughtily, "the corridors are quite full and I have no where to walk!"

"YOU HAVE PLENTY OF SPACE TO WALK, YOU SMARMY FUCKER!" Ron screamed.

"It's not my fault your friends are couple of poofs," the boy said coldly.

Ron responded by placing his fist squarely in the boy's mouth.

"RON!" Hermione screamed, trying to pull him off. "RON STOP IT!"

"THAT'S FOR ALL YOUR FILTHY HOUSEMATES THAT HAVE MADE MY LIFE HELL THIS WEEK!" Ron screamed, delirious with rage.

"RON!" Hermione cried, tugging on the back of his robes.

Harry intervened and pulled Ron away from the boy, who ran off bloody and in tears.

"GET OFF!" Ron said, his fist colliding with the side of Harry's face and knocking his glasses free.

"Calm down!" Harry yelled.

"Calm down?" Ron said, still shaking with rage. "CALM DOWN?"

And with that, he slammed Harry against the wall and gripped fistfuls of his robes.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Ron spat, shaking Harry very hard.

"STOP IT!" Hermione said, tears cascading down her face.

Draco pulled Ron from Harry, separating the two with his hands. Sniffing, Hermione handed Harry his glasses and sat miserably on the floor of the corridor, sobbing.

"Things are a mess," Draco said, furious that everyone had stopped and was, as usual, staring at them. "But that's no excuse to go about punching one another."

Hermione sobbed loudly behind them, her face buried in her hands.

"AND WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?" Draco screamed, turning to the gaping masses. "DON'T YOU HAVE A LIFE?"

"You'll just encourage them," Ron said, still shaking very hard.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonagall's sharp voice interjected.

She stared at the four of them, eyeing Harry and Ron's disheveled clothes and hair, Draco still holding the pair of them apart with his arms, and Hermione sobbing on the floor.

"To class! Everyone! THIS INSTANT!" McGonagall barked, and the students immediately milled by, still pointing and whispering.

Once the corridors had significantly cleared, she knelt beside Hermione and coaxed her up, ordering the four of them to follow her.

"Sorry," Ron muttered to Harry.

"Forget it," Harry said.

They followed McGonagall to her study, where she conjured four chairs and reached under her desk, pulling out a huge bottle of Firewhisky. Silently, she filled five glasses to the brim and passed them around. Everyone but Hermione, who was busy wiping her tear stained cheeks, looked at McGonagall uncertainly

"Well, drink," she said, draining her own glass.

Then, she removed her glasses and rubbed her temples. Harry looked to Ron and Draco uncertainly before quickly downing his glass, and they quickly followed suit. Hermione emptied her glass then asked McGonagall for another. Ron caught Draco's eye and they grinned.

"By all means, Ms. Granger; no one is leaving until this bottle is empty!"

Draco helped himself to another glass, never knowing that the Deputy Headmistress was such a lush.

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione said, draining her glass and immediately refilling it.

It was a scene that grew more comical with each glass of Firewhisky Draco finished. The four of them eventually loosened up, until Draco and Ron were in hysterics over his attack on the Hufflepuff.

"No!" Draco said, laughing. "You called him a smarmy git."

"No, I think it was bastard," Harry said thoughtfully.

"I thought it was git," Draco said.

"Oh, it was bastard," Hermione piped in suddenly, her cheeks pink. "I'm more apt to remember than you lot!"

"I've never heard you curse, Hermione," Ron said.

"Well, I generally don't, do I?" she said, taking a sip from her glass. "But under certain circumstances it's completely appropriate."

"Cheers!" Draco said, loudly, forgetting McGonagall was still in the room, but she made no indication that anything they were discussing was in any way offensive.

Once the whisky was gone, she informed them that she had class, but that they were free to linger as long as they liked.

"I just hope this rubbish passes," she said, rolling her eyes as she left.

"She must be pissed, if she's allowing us free reign in her office," Ron said, his temper very much under control at the moment.

"McGonagall's all right," Harry said. "'Cept when she breathes fire from her nostrils."

They remained in her office for a few more moments before Hermione leant in and whispered something to Ron. He smiled and took her hand.

"We're off," he said, trying hard to sound casual.

"We'll meet you two after lessons," she said, practically dragging Ron from the room.

"You know they're going to shag, don't you?" Draco asked, turning to Harry.

"Please," Harry said, wincing, "don't say that."

"Come on," Draco said, grabbing Harry's arm. "The corridors are empty and we have a free hour."

"Shall we go to the library?" Harry said, standing.

"The library, yeah..." Draco said, pulling Harry out the door.