The Secret of the Malfoy Name

Chapter XI: A Matter of Trust

09/22/1996
Snape’s low-pitched voice echoed in the classroom during the 6th year double Potions with the Gryffindors, as usual. His greasy hair fell in front of his dark cold eyes as he walked around angrily.

‘I’m sot sure what have you been fed for breakfast, but I don’t like the way you’re working today. Making potions requires concentration, and I highly doubt any of you can concentrate while you talk with your friends.’ Snape mad a pause and went on. ‘My class is not the time to socialize so, from now on, you will sit and work with the partner I consider most adequate. Is that clear?’

He made everyone stand up to reorganize their sitting arrangements.

‘Ptter…’, he said with disgust. ‘Perhaps Mr. Malfoy will be enough good influence on you and teaches you how to behave for once.’

Draco took the seat at the back and was followed by Potter.

‘Great, this is just what I need…’, Draco complained. ‘A whole classroom of students and I have to be with the Potions disgrace.’

‘Did I or did I not get a high enough mark to be in here?’, Potter asked.

‘That, you did. By the way, who did you bribe?’, Draco asked sarcastically.

‘I’m sorry, you must be mistaking me with your father’, Potter replied.

‘Alright, now we can finally start concocting the Veritaseum potion’, Snape announced. ‘The instructions are here’, he added, and with a flick of his wand, the 13 complex steps wrote themselves on the blackboard. ‘You have 45 minutes to finish it.’

Potter had to half-close his eyes to read the first step, but he didn’t complain about the distance from the front, nor asked for help. Draco was having fun on his expense until he started reading aloud annoyingly slow to make him nervous.

‘You can read from the text book if you’re that blind!’

Potter smirked and looked for the potion in his book.

‘You’re insufferable…’, Draco drawled.

‘Thank you.’

Draco hesitated but decided to take off his ring before getting his hands on a very disgusting ingredient. Potter seemed to have noticed it, but he made no comments. Every once in a while, Draco’s gaze unconsciously fell on the ring. Being without it felt like losing a limb.

‘I’m not going to steal your stupid ring, if that’s what you’re so worried about.’

Draco looked at Potter furiously.

‘Excuse me… did I make any despicable comment about your glasses or your hair?’

‘No, but you did make fun of my sight. Does that count?’, he asked. ‘And what’s wrong with my hair?’

‘What’s wrong?’, Draco laughed. ‘It looks like a bloody bird nest! Have you ever consider getting a haircut?’

‘For your information, it cannot be done. It grows back the next day.’

‘Really?’, Draco asked sceptically. ‘I bet I can give you a good haircut and the next morning you’ll still have it.’

‘You really think I’m going to trust my head to you?’, Potter asked.

‘’Well, if you’re so sure it’ll grow back, I don’t see the problem…’

‘Alright’, Potter said confidently. ‘When do you want to do it?’

That night, Draco met Potter at the Charms classroom, which was half way from both houses. Since Draco was a Prefect, he had the right to walk around the castle in late hours, unlike Potter. He could have told Filch or a teacher that he was out of bed, but he had other plans.

‘So, what happens if it grows back?’, Potter asked.

‘You can ask me to do whatever you want’, Draco answered slowly to make it sound even more appealing.

‘And I guess that goes for you too.’

‘That’d be only fair’, he said, setting the place up to begin. ‘And remember, you can’t grow it with magic.’

‘He made a sign with his arms for him to sit down.

‘And how will you know if I used magic or not?’

‘I won’t. But if I can’t trust you with this… just promise me you won’t cheat and be a good Gryffindor.’

‘OK, I promise.’

Draco took his scissors from his pocket and used his want to create a large mirror in front of Potter.

‘Malfoy… do you know what you’re doing?’, he asked uncertainly.

‘Of course I do! I do it to my s… myself all the time’, Draco corrected himself before revealing his sister’s existence.

‘I never would have thought you cut your own hair’, Potter said impressed.

‘I, my friend, am an artist’, Draco said. He rolled up his sleeves and begun cutting his hair.

Raven hair fell to the floor and Potter’s head started to take a normal shape. He looked at Draco work in the mirror and, for some reason, it didn’t look as strange as he had thought it would be.

It took about ten minutes for Draco to finish the haircut. He blew Potter’s neck gently to get the hair off until he realized what he was doing and saw Potter with his eyes closed, biting his lip in the mirror.

‘OK…’, he said tensely walking around the chair to face Potter. ‘Let me just fix the front and we’re all done…’

Draco level their gazes and ran his pale fingers through his dark hair. He looked straight into his green eyes and felt as though he couldn’t look away.

‘It looks good on you. Tell that thick head of yours to keep it.’

‘Well, your arm looks good unmarked, but some things just can’t be avoided.’

Draco found himself speechless. Potter’s words danced in his head along with Hera’s.

Do it for him…

He stood up straight and looked away from Potter’s eyes, touching his ring instinctively.

‘So, I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow, right? To see who wins’, Draco said casually.

‘Yeah… tomorrow. And I won’t cheat’, Potter said lifting his right hand and putting his left on his heart.

‘I know…’, Draco whispered and made the mirror and hair disappear.