How They Fell

Chapter Twelve


Harry created quite a stir when he Apparated onto platform nine and three quarters, clutching his (much heavier) trunk, broom and Hedwig’s cage. Looking around at all of the gaping faces, he leant towards Hermione and groaned.

“What did the Daily Prophet write about me today?”

Hermione shot Harry an amused look. “Nothing Harry.”

“No really, you can tell me, I’m prepared.”

“Really Harry, they haven’t printed anything about you for over a month.” Harry paused and looked around again.

“Then why are people staring more than usual?” Ginny giggled wickedly. “What?”

“Oh, their just shocked that they boy-who-lived has turned out to be such a looker.”

Harry’s jaw dropped open. “What!” He gasped.

“Oh honestly Harry! Even with the new glasses your blind as a bat.” Hermione paused and then spoke more patiently, but with a small smirk on her lips which told Harry that she found him amusing. “Your new clothes and glasses are just making a few people re-evaluate their perception of you.”

“Yeah,” continued Ginny wickedly, “re-evaluate you as one of the hottest guy’s in Hogwarts.”

Harry blushed profusely. “You know Hermione,” said Ginny, with an evil smirk disturbingly reminiscent of Fred and George. “We really did do a good job of picking out Harry’s clothes, now everyone can see those gorgeous Quidditch muscles of his.” Harry by this point had turned a spectacular red, but Ginny continued with a wink, “and of course his very sexy arse!”

Harry bolted for the safety of the train, muttering to himself as his friends almost laughed themselves to tears.

* * *

Harry continued to be embarrassed and grumpy for the majority of the train journey, until his excitement at being back at Hogwarts began to increase.

Harry felt that familiar joy settle into his stomach as he changed into his school robes. Here he wouldn’t be able to brood, he would be kept busy with lessons, homework, friends and Quidditch. Even the sight of the Thestrals couldn’t dampen Harry’s happiness at being back.

The sorting and welcome feast passed in a cheerful blur of friends, conversation and food. Pouring himself into the familiar four-poster that night Harry let out a huge sigh of satisfaction. He was back.

* * *

Harry’s feeling of relaxation did not last for long. He was now in seventh year and expected to get top grades in his NEWTS if he wanted to become an Auror. His timetable for the coming year reflected this. Harry and Ron groaned as they looked at their lesson timings, they had potions every day apart from Thursday’s. Harry wasn’t sure how he was going to survive this year without seriously hexing either Snape or Malfoy or both.

Thinking of Malfoy made Harry’s head snap up as he cast his eyes over the Slytherin table. It was odd; he hadn’t even set eyes on him yet. Usually they had their start of term argument before the beginning of the welcoming feast. It was unheard of for them to have reached the second day of school and not tried to curse each others balls off. ‘Especially now,’ thought Harry, ‘when we have a much better idea of how to go about it.’

Another oddity was that Malfoy wasn’t sitting with his minions. If fact, he was sitting by himself at one end of the table. He was focusing on his food and looked…well, rather inconsequential. Harry mentally shock himself, that was impossible, it was as good as written in the Malfoy handbook, that Malfoy heirs had to always look as important and pompous as possible.

Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by Ron’s bellow.

“MALFOY? What?” Harry blinked a couple of times. “That’s not possible, Dumbledore wouldn’t have- but he’s as good as hung a sign over the gates: ‘Come on Death Eaters, come on Voldie this is the way to invade Hogwarts, step right up!”

“What’s the matter?” Asked Harry.

Ron opened his mouth to begin another sarcastic rant, but Hermione interrupted him.

“Dumbledore made Malfoy Head Boy this year Harry.”

Harry’s jaw dropped.

“And I personally accept his decision although I am not happy with it.” Ron opened his mouth to disagree, but Hermione continued forcefully. “Yes his father may be a death eater, and yes he’s not the most pleasant of people, but he does have the best marks of any boy in the year and so he deserves to be rewarded accordingly.”

“But Hermione…Come on – I mean, its Malfoy!” Gaped a flabbergasted Ron. Harry felt equally shocked. Although now he thought about it he really couldn’t think who else it would be.

“For your information Ronald! In the meeting yesterday, he seemed much nicer, he didn’t insult me once and he seemed respectful to Dumbledore! So I don’t want to hear another word about it, and hurry up or we’ll be late for class.” And with that she bustled off to go and hand out more timetables, leaving Harry and Ron very surprised.

“Honestly!” Muttered Ron, “only Hermione could believe that Malfoy has changed. Can you imagine it? A Malfoy seeing the error of his ways?”

They both laughed at this ridiculous image and made their way to their lessons.

* * *

The next week passed without incident. The lessons were harder, the homework took longer and they seemed to receive daily lectures on the importance of NEWTS in their future lives. Snape was as foul as he could possibly be and took sadistic pleasure in ‘relieving’ Gryffindor of as many points as possible. The only difference was that Malfoy had steered clear of Harry, Ron and Hermione. He didn’t talk to them, he didn’t mock them, he barley seemed to look at them. It was all, as Harry summed up to Ron, really, really weird!

Malfoy also seemed to avoid his former friends; in fact he avoided the whole of Slytherin house. Hermione reported that he spent most of his time either in his new room or in the Heads common room, which he and Hermione shared.

Hermione was surprised by his actions towards her. He ignored her for most of the time, and when they had to work together he was distant but polite. He seemed to be distracted! Harry no longer saw him strutting around the castle, instead he moved quickly from one place to another, shoulders hunched protectively over his books. Really, really weird!

“Something’s got to be up with Malfoy!” Sputtered Ron through a mouthful of shepherd’s pie at dinner three weeks into term. “I mean all the brooding, the separating himself of from everyone else – he’s defiantly planning something.”

“Yeah,” replied Harry. Hermione rolled he eyes, but Ron interrupted her before she could speak.

“Look, Mione – its just not possible! After six years of behaving like the biggest headed, git-snob in the world, there is no possible way he has ‘turned over a new leaf.’ He said mimicking her. “I mean, for Merlin’s sake Hermione, the guy’s probably already taken the Dark Mark. He’s done nothing but insult and attack all of us for six years! Face it, he hasn’t ‘changed’ he’s just plotting something!”

Harry winced as Hermione raised he voice to defend her opinions, and finished his breakfast while the two got into yet another argument. Personally he sided with Ron, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud, Hermione would have his head.

* * *

When he got into bed later that night his two best friends still weren’t talking. They had bickered at each other all day and both had demanded that Harry state his opinion to settle the matter, when he hadn’t they had both got annoyed at him and had both gone off in a sulk to opposite sides of the common room.

Harry rolled over onto his side to go to sleep. He was tired, his eyes and body heavy, sinking into the mattress. His head, however, kept thinking.

No matter how Harry tossed and turned he had not been able to sleep. It was now one in the morning and he was getting that panicky feeling of knowing he was going to be exhausted tomorrow – which of course made the necessary sleep more impossible.

Eventually he sat up and reached to open the top draw in his bedside table. Harry had discovered that over the summer, that whenever sleep became impossible, or when he missed Hogwarts too much, just looking at the Marauder’s Map, following the moving dots, helped him to relax.

A quick lumos and ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,’ and Harry was looking down at the familiar lines of Hogwarts.

Harry quickly scanned the larger corridors, seeing if anyone interesting was moving around. Mrs Norris was patrolling the trophy room, Filch was three corridors away and Nearly Headless Nick was floating around the Hufflepuff common room with the Fat Friar.

Harry’s eyes moved over to search for Dumbledore in his office, but were halted suddenly by a dot moving gradually down a small passage a floor above, and slightly to the left of the Hufflepuff common room.

The dot read ‘Draco Malfoy.’

Harry blinked twice in surprise. What the hell was Draco doing anywhere near the Hufflepuff’s at one o’clock in the morning? The prefects patrolled the corridors at night, not the Head Boy and Girl, and those patrols stopped at midnight! He had no business being there! It was certain that he was up to something.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have done what ever it was that he was doing and was making his way to the Heads rooms.

Harry determined that he would watch Malfoy until he found out what he could be doing. You simply didn’t decide you needed a walk and went off to travel around the corridors. Not if you were Draco Malfoy anyway. Ron was right, he was up to something.




Author's note: Hope you're enjoying this, if you've got anything you want to say, or ask then please review. And thank you Holly, my one reviewer. Yay! I actually started writing this fic almost a year ago, before HBP and so if you see any similariites between the two its just fluke...or my mind is scarily linked to J.K Rowling's...hhmmm.