A Reason To Be

The potion would take two weeks to prepare, and during that time Draco spent most of his time with Hermione. Every night he read to her and talked about his day. Some of the time he would say nothing at all and just look at her, sometimes holding her hand. He kept telling himself that he could do this, he had to do it. He had as good as done this to her himself, he would undo it.

Draco was sitting in his chair in the hospital wing, reviewing his Potions notes, when he heard the door open. He leaned over to look behind him and cringed when he found Harry walking towards him.

“What the hell do you want?” Draco asked just loud enough for the approaching Harry to hear. Harry kept on walking, his hands in his pockets, until he came to the foot of Hermione’s bed.

“Not to see you.” Harry retorted. This was partially true. He really had no desire to see Malfoy at all, but he did want to say something to him. He looked up from Hermione and at Draco’s extremely unfriendly expression. Harry took a deep breath and begun.

“I know what you did for Hermione. The protection thing…” Harry muttered. The moment he heard what the young man had said, Draco’s nostrils flared up in anger and his jaw tightened. His fingers dug into the arms of his chair and he let his book slip of his lap onto the floor.

“How did you find out, Potter?” Draco demanded with a growl. He had not intended anyone to know. No one except the four that had done the attacking and Blaise. Harry didn’t answer right away. He just stared at the floor, shifting from one foot to the other.

“It doesn’t matter how I know, I just do. And…I know you…like her. The thought personally makes me ill, but it’s really not up to me. I will say that…well I am not glad about it but it was a good thing.” Harry managed to get out. It was unbearably hard for Potter to say anything that might be considered praise for Draco Malfoy, but he had been brave about it. When he had finally decided to say something to Malfoy, he had told himself that it wasn’t about him or Malfoy, it was about Hermione and keeping her as safe as possible.

“If you ever hurt her, in any way, I will kill you. I don’t know how, but I will just kill you.” Harry added quickly. Given the kind of relationship, or lack thereof, that was about as close as a blessing as Draco would ever get from one of the Golden Trio. Draco looked up at Harry, still glaring at him. Malfoy wasn’t quite sure how to react to this. He eased back into his chair and released the armrests.

‘I just used an almost extinct noble right to protect her. I put my name on the line and I am about to put my life at risk and he warns me not to hurt her. He sure is smart.’ Draco thought to himself. He was going to say all of it to Harry right then but instead something different came out of his mouth.

“If I ever do, feel free.” Draco replied finally. Harry looked him in the eye and nodded his head.

“Should I expect the same display of idiocy from Weasley any time soon?” Draco asked smirking as he leaned down and picked his Potions textbook up off the floor.

“I didn’t say anything to Ron. His reaction…would not be good. He’d lose it if he knew you were even up here.” Harry explained. It was true. Ron didn’t handle this type of thing well.

“That might be fun to see.” Draco countered, with is infamous Malfoy smirk still in place. Harry chuckled softly and shook his head.

“Ron is my best friend, but he can be an idiot sometimes.” Harry said laughing, running his hand through his dark, messy hair. The two were silent after that; they both were just looking down at Hermione. Draco looked up at the young man at the foot of the bed.

“Is that what you came here to say, Potter?” Draco asked impatiently. He really didn’t want to spend his afternoon with Harry Potter, he was anxious for Harry to leave. He did not like sharing Hermione with only people.

“Well I did come here to see Hermione as well; you may recall that she is my friend.” Harry countered smugly.

“Not one of her best traits but I was willing to overlook it.” Draco grumbled in reply. They didn’t say anything else for a long while. Draco sat and Potter stood, looking at the comatose girl. Harry’s eyes rested on the piece of jewelry on Hermione’s wrist. He had seen it the other day when he had come to see her, it had surprised him.

“You buy the bracelet?” Harry asked finally, looking back up at the blonde young man. The answer he got also took him by surprise somewhat.

“Yes I did and if you take it off her I will beat the living hell out of you.” Draco responded without a moment’s pause. His face was serious, Harry believed him. He probably would get the beating of his life he touched that bracelet.

“I wasn’t planning on it, just wondered where it came from.” Harry said defensively, raising his hands in a surrender-like gesture.

“And who else do you know that could afford it?” Draco asked arrogantly. Harry snorted and shook his head, rolling his eyes. A moment later, Harry turned around, put his hands back in his pockets and began walking towards the door. Draco did not look up to watch Potter leave.



“Is it potion yet?” Draco asked Severus as he strode confidently into the Potions teacher’s classroom. Severus looked up from the small cauldron he stood over and rolled his eyes. Draco walked down the aisle towards the professor’s desk. When he reached an arm’s length away from the cauldron he gagged and jumped two steps back.

“Ugghh…oh Merlin, what makes it smell like that?!?!” Draco coughed out. His hand flew up and covered his nose and mouth. Snape looked up from the bubbling and hissing mass and rolled his eyes and the blonde Slytherin student.

“It is the combination of nightshade and cypress that gives it this unique scent. I will also say that it will taste as bad as it smells.” Snape said as he stirred the dark, purple liquid. Draco recovered from the horrible smell and ventured closer. He walked up to the desk and peered down into the cauldron.

“When will it be ready?” Draco asked, trying to breath through his mouth, rather than his nose. Severus did not answer right away. He kept gently stirring the abysmal looking draft.

“Tomorrow.” Snape answered finally. Then he instructed Draco to go over to a nearby shelf and bring him the last ingredient. Malfoy went over and picked up a small blue bottle and brought it back to his Potions professor. Snape took the bottle, uncorked it and proceeded to add three drops of its contents to the mixture. The potion hissed and the turned a lighter purple. He replaced the cork and took a step back from the desk.

“I cannot believe I am helping you do this.” Snape said incredulously, running his hands over his eyes. Draco reached forward and clapped his hand on the older man’s shoulder.

“Come on, Sev. Be bold for once in your life.” Draco said teasingly. Snape looked at him, his black eyes narrowing angrily.

“Do not ever call me that again.” Severus warned Draco. Malfoy drew his hand back from Snape’s shoulder. The two stood there quietly, circled around the cauldron of the Mind’s Door draft. Snape looked up from the pewter pot at the young man before him. Never in a thousand years had he imagined any member of the Malfoy family, let alone Draco, to do something like this; something selfless.

“Nervous?” Severus asked Draco after a moment of awkward silence.

“A little.” Draco replied. He leaned against the nearby wall and sighed. He didn’t seem to be nervous to Severus, which the older man found odd. Knowing what the young man was going to undertake, Severus thought he should be quite a bit nervous.

“Scared?” Severus continued, re-phrasing his inquiry. Draco looked up at the teacher and shook his head. Severus frowned at this.

“You may die doing this, you should be afraid.” Severus told him. He crossed his arms and waited for Draco to answer him. A moment later Draco shrugged his shoulders, and a smirk, albeit a sad one, crossed his young face.

“My life wasn’t that great anyway.” Draco replied.