The Tale of Two Rings

Chapter 5: Trouble in the Tower

Both Ron and Harry sat there with their jaws open as Draco approached the Gryffindor table. Ron’s expression was whiter than that of the ghosts that roamed the halls.

"You might want to consider closing your mouths before he reaches the table," Hermione chided.

The two boys snapped their mouths shut just as Draco planted himself in the seat across from Harry.

Harry found himself at a loss to explain the smile on Draco’s face. It was not his usual smirk, nor was it a full-fledged smile. It was more the smile of a little boy.

The four of them ate in silence, neither Ron, nor Harry, having anything to say to the newcomer.

Hermione leaned across the table to address both Harry and Ron in a conspiratorial whisper, "The two of you do realize that you will have to share a dorm with him, being the same year and all."

This news did not sit well with Ron. He had leaned across Harry in order to hear what Hermione had to say, and now he vomited into Harry’s lap.

"That’s gross!!" Harry screamed, as he leaped to his feet and began to wipe the vomit from his robes with a napkin.

Professor McGonagall was there almost immediately, absorbing the situation at once. Leaning down to Draco, she spoke briefly to him and then straightened and turned her attention to Harry, "Go and change now Harry, and take Draco with you. He has yet to familiarize himself with Gryffindor Tower."

"Bloody hell!" screamed Ron, wiping the vomit from his chin.

Professor McGonagall cast a glare at Ron as Harry left the Great Hall with Draco in tow.

Harry quickly made his way back to the tower, silently praying that he would lose Draco in the maze of hallways. But Draco always seemed to be one step behind him, no matter which way he turned or how fast he moved.

They reached the fat lady and Draco said to Harry, "If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were trying to lose me back there."

"The thought crossed my mind," Harry muttered to himself.

However, Draco must have heard it because he frowned and said, "Oh."

Harry uttered the password and the fat lady opened, allowing the two boys passage. Draco wanted to admire the Common Room, but he also wanted to watch Harry change. Realizing that he would have ample opportunity to explore the Common Room, he followed Harry into the fifth-year dorm room.

Harry walked over to his trunk, opened it, removed a change of clothes and began to undress. He had planned on taking a shower and then going to bed. He was just about to remove his pants, when he realized that Draco was in the room with him.

Draco stood cemented to the spot where he had stopped, transfixed by the way that Harry had just decided to get undressed in front of him without thinking twice about it.

"What are you staring at?" Harry inquired icily.

Draco had lost his voice. He had nothing to say. He just stood there, staring.

"I see," replied Harry.

He picked up his nightclothes, walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Draco could hear the door lock slide shut. He could only sigh and fall to the floor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Get a hold of yourself, Draco!

I silently scolded myself.

I shook the cobwebs from my head and headed to my chest, which just so happened to be between both Ron and Harry.

"This is not good," I muttered to myself.

Not wanting to face Ron when he arrived, I got myself ready for bed and slipped beneath the covers.

Time passed rather quickly. I pretended to be asleep when the two of them returned to the room.

"Think he’s asleep?" Ron asked, his voice a whisper.

"With any luck," replied Harry.

"We could throw him out the window and nobody would miss him," ventured Ron.

I shifted a bit in my bed and I heard Ron jump.

He lowered his voice even more, "I’ll bet he’s just waiting for us to go to sleep so that he can do us in!"

I couldn’t take it any longer, so I sat up and pulled back the drapes. The two of them sat on Harry’s bed, their eyes trained on mine.

"Can I help you?" I asked wearily.

"Yeah, you can leave," Ron barked, pointing at the door.

I offered him a glare and he made a move for his wand.

"Don’t," I whispered, almost pleading.

"Why not?" Ron asked angrily.

"Because I am unarmed, my wand is in my trunk," I replied.

"Even better," Ron pointed his wand at me, shouted a word that I couldn’t understand and then everything went black.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *