For 16 Galleons

Chapter 13

Harry was carefully packing Master Draco's things in preparation for leaving. It had been a very interesting year. There had been secret study sessions, Quidditch matches, midnight duels, Duelling Club and so many revelations. He smiled to himself and thought how lucky he was.

The extra studying had probably been the hardest part. They had to keep it secret that he and Hermione were learning things the other slaves weren't. Slipping away hadn't really been the problem, hiding the extra knowledge had been. The sessions had, of course, helped Miss Millicent keep up with her classes. It had been a struggle for her. It wasn't that she didn't have much power - she just wasn't all that intelligent. She had a great deal of common sense and was one of the sweetest girls Harry had ever met, but when it came to books... she was hopeless. Draco, on the other hand, found himself fighting with two Ravenclaws for the top spot in First Year after beginning the study sessions.

The problem had been with Harry and Hermione. They now knew things that none of the slaves were supposed to know. They sometimes found it almost impossible not to let slip something they had learned while helping to teach Millicent. It wasn't too bad for Harry since he had learned early on not to outdo Master Draco if he didn't want to deal with a royal snit. Hermione, on the other hand, had never had to learn that lesson. There were times in class when he could feel her practically vibrating in place next to him with the desire to answer a question. Sometimes, he thought maybe Professor Lupin suspected something.

Potions had been interesting. Twice a week, half the class was herded down the corridor to Professor Snape's classroom to be taught by Thibault for an hour and a half. Of course, Professor Snape was always in his office next door in case there was a problem. Thibault had turned out to be even stricter than Professor Lupin. Hermione said it was because an accident in a potions lab could be deadly. Harry had enjoyed the lessons anyway, especially when the Potions Master would come in and give a special session or work on one of his own researches during class. The man was an eloquent genius.

Quidditch had been brilliant. The slave teams got to play four games during the season. They weren't allowed to play the House teams but that was all right. They did get to scrimmage with the House reserve teams on occasion. He had watched all the House games and, frankly, the only team that would have given either of the slave teams any competition was Slytherin. The other teams just didn't seem to have the same quality brooms or experience. Plus Justin had become his best mate - next to Draco, of course - and they had enjoyed rubbing the other slaves' noses in the fact that they had made the actual teams instead of the Reserves, as First Years..

Duelling instruction had been a lot more boring than he had expected. First Years weren't allowed to do much. The curses they learned were pretty silly and, though they would work just fine against students, they would not do much against an adult who was threatening their masters. They were working on shielding spells, but none of the First Years had very strong ones yet. He couldn't wait to learn the stuff the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Year slaves were learning. Now those were some powerful spells!

The lessons did come in handy a couple of times, though. The Weasel had challenged Master Draco to a duel one night. Draco had, of course, taken Harry with him as his second. The Weasel had taken his best friend, Logan Smith. Draco didn't trust the two Gryffindors at all and had instructed Harry to take Smith out as soon as the duel started. It was cheating but Draco's reasoning had been, 'do unto others before they do unto you' an it had worked. Harry hit Logan with a Jelly-legs curse and The Weasel had squawked indignantly. Draco had used the distraction to disarm Ron. The two winners had laughed as they sprinted down the corridors back to their common room.

Harry finished packing and watched as the House Elves took his and Master Draco's belongings to be placed on the train. He was sad to leave Hogwarts for the summer but he was glad to be going home. He missed Mrs. Carter and the rest of the staff. He wondered if could sneak down tonight and steal some biscuits.

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"Harry, you and Dean save us a compartment, yeah?" Draco told him.

"Yes, Master Draco," he replied.

He and Dean sprinted from the carriage to the Hogwarts Express. They pushed their way through the growing crowd and quickly found a compartment. Dean pushed the window down and waved to Blaise to let him know where they were, then sat down. Shortly, their masters tumbled through the compartment door and collapsed into the seats. As they caught their breath, Master Theodore and Justin stuck their heads in.

"May we join you?" Theodore asked.

"Hey, Theodore," Blaise greeted and indicated that they could come in.

The boys had just begun talking about what they were planning to do during the Holidays when Mistress Pansy came in and plopped down right next to Draco. Harry growled deep in his throat. He really hated that stuck up girl. Sally Ann stood in the doorway uncertainly.

"Oh, Draco, I can't wait for you to come visit. I've talked to Mother and she said it would be fine. You can come by every week."

"Why would I want to do something like that? Get off me!" he said as he shoved at her clinging hands.

"We can have a great time. You can come shopping with me and Mother and we can introduce you to all our friends and family."

"Pansy... Oh, just get out. This compartment is already full and you make it downright crowded."

Pansy looked like she was going to argue when Miss Millicent called to her from the doorway. "Come on, Pansy. Hermione has a compartment for us just down the aisle. Lavender and the Patil twins are there. You should hear what they are doing for the Holidays."

Harry and Draco looked up at Millicent with relief. She smiled and winked at them, then took Pansy by the arm and practically dragged her from the compartment. Harry looked back at Draco and saw the other boy shiver.

"I hate when she hangs all over me. What is it with girls?"

The rest of the trip was quite pleasant with the boys talking about Holidays, Quidditch and gossip from school. Draco lounged against Harry's shoulder most of the time. They ate sweets from the trolley and were a bit surprised when the journey came to an end. They said their 'Good byes' and quickly found Master Malfoy and Mr. Arieta. The ride home was taken up with Draco telling his father all of their adventures, minus the extra studying, from school.

Before they reached the Manor, however, Draco got quiet.

"What's the matter, Son?" Master Malfoy asked.

"Pansy said I'm supposed to visit her this summer."

"Yes. Your mother and I thought it would be a good idea for the two of you to start spending a little time together."

"But she's awful, Father. She grabs me and hangs on to me and tries to kiss me. It's gross."

Master Malfoy laughed and Mr. Arieta looked like he was having trouble keeping quiet. "I understand, Son. I'll speak to her mother and see if she can't curb Pansy's behaviour a bit."

"Can Harry come with me?"

"I suppose so," Master Malfoy said as he glanced over at Mr. Arieta. "Do you think Miss Parkinson is likely to keep that girl she has now? We could consider her as a match for Harry, I suppose."

Harry's eyes got wide and he gulped. He looked quickly over at Draco, who smirked evilly back at him. He didn't want a fiancée. Look at all the trouble Draco had with Pansy. Sally Ann was nice enough but she didn't knw anything about Quidditch and was beginning to get as girly as those Patil twins. Lisa would be better. At least she was on the reserve team. Why couldn't he just stay with Draco? They understood a bit more about marriage now and neither of them thought it was a good idea.

As soon as they entered the Manor, Harry was swept up in a warm, cushiony hug. He wrapped his arms around Mrs. Carter's neck and hugged her back.

"Oh, my goodness, Harry. You've grown so big!" she exclaimed. She let go of Harry and turned to Master Draco. "Oh, you too, Master Draco." She gave the young master a slightly less exuberant hug. She pushed the two of them next to each other, "Now let me get a good look at the two of you." She shook her head. "You two are going to be right little heartbreakers in a couple of years."

The boys just grinned, soaking up the compliments and affection.

"Draco!" came Mistress Narcissa's voice from down the hall. "I'm so glad you're home. The Manor has been quiet as a tomb with you two off at school." With a genuine smile Narcissa leaned down a bit and hugged her son.

"I missed you, too, Mother," replied Draco.

When she stood back up she turned to Harry and squeezed his shoulder. "It looks like you had a good year. Both your reports were quite favourable. Professor Snape had very good things to say about you. I'm so proud of you, Draco. Top of the year in two classes, in the top three for all the rest and Reserve Seeker for the Slytherin team. That is just wonderful."

"Thank you, Mother," Draco beamed at the praise.

"Professor Lupin is very impressed with you as well, Harry. He said you show great promise in your classes and a true desire to serve Draco."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Harry said shyly.

The boys spent the next few hours telling their new audience, consisting of Narcissa, Mrs. Carter and occasionally other members of the staff, about their year, minus the extra study, of course.

That evening he had to put up with Draco's rousing rendition of "Harry and Sally, sitting in a tree..." until he finally went to his own room and slammed the door.

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The two boys ended up having to go to Pansy's house four times that summer. After Draco shoved her off the walk into a flower bed for clinging to him the visits weren't too bad. Harry always tried to keep Draco and Pansy in between Sally Ann and himself. The boys suspected that Pansy's mother had a long talk with the girls about seemly behaviour.

They got to attend one professional Quidditch match between the Holyhead Harpies and Ballycastle Bats. The boys thought Barny the Fruitbat was about the stupidest mascot they had ever seen. They were quite disgusted that grown wizards would be seen in public wearing huge bat ears on their heads. Master Lucius referred to the men in hats as fanatics and rolled his eyes at them.

All in all, the summer was a lot of fun, but they couldn't wait to get on the Hogwarts Express.

To be continued