Hybrid Destiny

Chapter 25

Harry and Draco remained in their rooms until the following Monday. Monday morning came and Harry got up before Draco, took a shower, got dressed, and finished up his Potion’s essay. He glanced over at Draco and thought, ‘Poor baby. He’s all worn out; even after sleeping for sixteen hours straight.’

Checking the time, he saw it was now 6:30. He walked over to the bed and gently shook Draco’s shoulder to awaken him. “No more, elf. I’m tired,” Draco mumbled into the pillow.

“Draco, get up. It’s 6:30 and we have Potions first thing this morning. Considering we haven’t had much in the way of food for the last three days, I would also like to eat breakfast this morning,” said Harry, still shaking Draco’s shoulder persistently.

“I don’t wanna go to class,” whined Draco, pushing at Harry’s hand.

“Okay, love. I’ll just tell Severus that you missed class because I wore you out. I’m sure he’ll understand,” said Harry, standing up and walking towards the common room.

“What? Oh hell no, you better not tell him that. I’m up,” said Draco, scrambling from the bed and rushing to the shower. Harry just snickered and packed his bag for class.

*****

“I hope Harry and Draco make it to class today,” said Hermione worriedly. She was sitting at the Slytherin table with Blaise.

“I’m sure they will, Granger. They had all day yesterday to recover,” he said calmly. Harry and Draco’s arrival interrupted anything else said.

“Oh hi, Harry,” said Hermione nervously, blushing and looking anywhere but at the two of them.

“Hello, Hermione, Blaise,” said Harry, loading his plate. He looked up and saw how red her face was and asked, “What’s wrong, Hermione? You look awful flushed. Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

“No, I’m fine,” she said quickly. “How are you feeling, Harry?”

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine. I had a hard time getting Dray out of bed this morning, though. He only got out of bed because I threatened to tell Professor Snape ….,” he said before Draco clapped a hand over his mouth to keep him from saying anything else.

“Draco had a hard time getting out of bed this morning, hmmm? What were you going to tell Professor Snape?” asked Blaise, smirking at the flush on Draco’s cheeks.

“None of your business, Blaise. Are you done eating, elf? We need to get to class,” said Draco, glaring at Blaise.

“I have a question,” said Hermione. “Who’s the bottom in this relationship? Or do you switch? I’m just curious because I would have thought that the bottom would be a bit more uncomfortable after 48 hours of continuous sex.”

“None of your business, Granger. Use your imagination,” said Draco irritably.

Harry shifted slightly in his seat and gasped softly at the residual twinge that shot up his back. Hastily shoving the last bite of toast in his mouth, he stood quickly and said, “I’m ready to go now.”

“Well, no need to answer my question. Right, Harry?” she said, smirking at the glare her friend sent her way.

“Hermione, don’t you have anything else better to do than to contemplate my sex life?” he asked peevishly.

“What can I say? I’ve become enamoured with the world of slash. Must be your undue influence, my friend,” she said cheekily.

“So Harry’s the bottom?” asked Blaise innocently, snickering at the glares he received from Harry and Draco.

“I’m going to class,” said Harry. “Coming, love?”

Draco nodded and he and Harry walked out of the Great hall. Hermione looked at Blaise and they both burst out laughing. “I’m definitely going to have to find out what Harry was going to tell Professor Snape. I’ve never seen Draco blush like that,” said Blaise between snickers.

“Poor Harry looked like he had a permanent sunburn on his face,” said Hermione laughingly. She then noticed the time and gasped, “We have to go. Potions start in five minutes.”

Hermione and Blaise rushed to the dungeons, trying desperately to get into the classroom before Professor Snape arrived. They managed to the walk through the door at the exact same time the professor did, narrowly avoiding punishment.

“Today we will be brewing the Skele-Gro potion. You will be working with a partner, so you’re stuck with person beside you. The instructions are on the board, now get to work,” said Professor Snape with his perpetual sneer.

Harry and Draco worked quietly for the most part. They were diligently ignoring Hermione and Blaise because every time they happened to glance at the duo, they smirked gleefully at them. Draco was so distracted he almost botched the potion. It was fortunate that Harry was actually paying attention for once and stopped him from adding the wrong ingredient. Unfortunately, though, Professor Snape had observed this near miss. It’s too bad he didn’t see a certain redhead raise his wand slightly and mutter a spell beneath his breath.

“Mr. Malfoy, are you not feeling well? You look a little tired,” he drawled mockingly. He had also read about elves and fae and knew all about the breeding cycle. He hadn’t been at all surprised when Harry and Draco had disappeared for three days straight.

“I’m fine, sir. I just got distracted,” he gritted out from between clenched teeth.

Hermione and Blaise both started giggling because they finally realized exactly what Harry had been planning on telling Professor Snape. “You’re right, sir. He does look a little worn out, doesn’t he?” he asked, laughing outright at the glare he received from the blushing blonde. “Maybe he should take a Pepper-Up potion to give him a little stamina.”

By this time, even Harry was struggling to keep a straight face. Hermione and Blaise had no such control. They were giggling uncontrollably and even Snape was having a hard time keeping the sneer on his face. Noticing the confusion on the other students’ faces, Snape just snapped out, “That’s enough. Get to work.”

As soon as the potion was done, Harry quickly bottled a sample and took it to Professor Snape’s desk. Draco was silently fuming and as soon as class was dismissed, he stalked out of the classroom leaving Harry behind. Hermione and Blaise were a little shocked that he had left Harry like that and hurried over to the elf’s side.

“He is so mad at me,” whispered Harry.

“No, he’s not. He’s just a little embarrassed,” said Hermione soothingly.

“Yeah, he’ll realize what a prat he’s being and apologize,” said Blaise. At Harry and Hermione’s look of utter disbelief, he revised, “Okay, maybe not apologize, but he will get over it.”

“Come on, Harry. We have to get to Transfiguration class,” said Hermione, pulling him towards the door.

When they reached Transfiguration class, Hermione and Blaise quickly sat at a desk together. Harry looked for Draco, but when he finally found him, he saw him sitting with Pansy. The only desk that had a free sit was the desk Ron was occupying. He warily walked over to the desk and sat down, ignoring the glares he received from the redhead beside him.

Transfiguration class was pure hell. Ron constantly muttered hurtful remarks just hoping to get a rise from Harry and Draco didn’t look at him even once. The moment class was dismissed, Harry stood and started for the door, but someone pushed him from behind causing him to trip over a bag lying in the floor. He managed to avoid hitting face first, but he broke a wrist in the process.

Hiding his injury from everyone, he just stood, assured everyone he was all right, and left the room. Draco had seen Harry fall but hadn’t bothered to help him up. He was still pissed off about the potion’s incident. ‘It’s all Harry’s fault. If he hadn’t said anything to Blaise and Hermione, it wouldn’t have gotten so far out of hand. Malfoys do not deal well with humiliation,’ he thought to himself.

“Trouble in paradise already?” asked Pansy smugly.

“Shut the hell up, Pug Face. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Draco.

“I noticed you didn’t do anything to Weasley for pushing him down, and you didn’t bother to help him up. I would say that’s a big change from the last few months,” said Pansy snidely.

Draco just calmly stood and walked out of the room. Hermione and Blaise stared at his retreating back wondering why he was acting that way. They quickly went to the Great Hall for lunch, expecting to see Harry already in attendance. They were surprised to see Draco there, but no Harry in sight.

“Where’s Harry, Draco?” asked Hermione.

“How should I know?” he asked irritably.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Draco? And why are you treating Harry like that? He’s your mate and you have been treating him like dirt,” said Blaise angrily.

“There’s nothing wrong with me. I don’t want to talk about Potter right now. this morning’s episode was all his fault, anyway,” said Draco scornfully.

Hermione calmly walked over to Draco and slapped him across the face. “You bastard. Harry didn’t deserve to be treated that way, especially by you. It would serve you right if Harry left you for good,” she hissed viciously, turning around and rushing out of the Great Hall. She ran to Harry’s room to see if he was all right, but never got an answer to her calls.

Hermione finally decided to try the infirmary, hoping that Harry hadn’t needed to go there. Tentatively peaking around the door, she saw Harry sitting on his usual bed. She hurried into the room and asked, “Harry, why did you have to come here?”

“I just had to get my wrist reset,” he said calmly.

“You broke your wrist in that fall? And didn’t tell me?” she asked incredulously.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal. I’m perfectly fine,” he said numbly. “I do need to go talk to Dumbledore, though.”

“Why?” she asked.

“To get another room. I can’t exactly go to Gryffindor tower with the situation with Ron and Draco hates me, so staying in that room is out of the question. I have to stay in the infirmary tonight, so I’ll talk to Dumbledore in the morning,” said Harry, staring at the wall blankly. “It’s almost time for class. You’d better get going. You don’t want to be late.”

Hermione just gave him one last worried look and left the room. ‘I am going to knock some sense into prat if it kills him,’ she thought, rushing down the hall to her Arithmancy class. Draco had already arrived and found a seat. Since the seat beside him was empty, she made sure to sit with him. Draco glared at her, but she just ignored him.

They didn’t say a word to each other the entire class, but when class was dismissed, she dragged him to an empty classroom and locked them in. “You are going to tell me what your problem is and you are going to tell me,” said Hermione.

“My problem right now just concerns a nosy little mudblood,” said Draco arrogantly.

“Did you know that Harry is going to ask Dumbledore for another room?” she asked, forcibly reigning in her temper.

“And I’m supposed to care because?” he asked snidely.

“Well I guess my next question is moot now. I’ll just go to the infirmary and tell Harry that his mate has rejected him and hope he survives the next three months,” said Hermione, turning to do just that.

“Now what are you talking about?” asked Draco impatiently.

“That little fall in Transfigurations resulted in a broken wrist and if you had read the books on elfin and fae mates more thoroughly, you would know that they do not have those breeding cycles unless they are mated. If their mates do not participate, so to speak, they can literally die from the heat. Since you are Harry’s mate and you have rejected him, I imagine January 31st is not going to be pleasant for him,” said Hermione sadly. “I’m going to see Harry. I’m sorry I actually thought you could be a decent person.”

She walked to Gryffindor tower and entered the common room just in time to hear Ron bragging about the spell he had cast on Malfoy. “I found this spell in the library that drains all positive emotion from a person leaving only negative reactions and thoughts. This way, Malfoy will toss Harry aside, and Harry will come crawling back to us,” said Ron boastfully to his captive audience.

“What spell was it?” asked Seamus.

“Abduco Felix Felicis,” he said smuggle. “It means to literally abandon happiness.”

Hermione quietly crept back out of the tower and ran to towards Dumbledore’s office. Fortunately she didn’t have to go all the way there because she literally ran into him in the corridor. Not even giving the headmaster time to ask about her health, she said, “Professor, Ron cast a spell on Draco that stripped all happiness and I’m afraid he’s going to reject Harry as his mate.”

“Do you know the name of this spell?” he asked urgently, walking towards the infirmary.

“Ron was bragging in the common room and said it was called ‘Abduco Felix Felicis.’ I came to find you because I knew I wouldn’t have time to find the counter spell before Draco did something he couldn’t take back,” she said, hurrying her steps to match the headmaster’s.

“Let’s hope we get there in time. Once he rejects Harry, Draco won’t get another chance. Harry will withdraw from everyone around him,” said the headmaster gravely.

They managed to intercept Draco right before he entered the infirmary. Not giving Draco the chance to say a word, Dumbledore lifted his wand and said, “Addo Felix Felicis.”

Draco stopped and shook his head. Hermione cautiously asked, “Draco, are you all right?”

“Why am I in the infirmary? And where is Harry?” he asked dazedly.

“Do you not remember what happened in Transfiguration class?” she asked hesitantly.

“Not really. The last thing I remember clearly is when Harry stopped me from adding the flobber worms to soon. Anything after that is a blur. What time is now?” he asked.

“It’s almost dinnertime,” she said quietly.

“Dinnertime? Oh no, just tell me what happened. With the way you’re acting, I know I did something terrible, so just tell me,” he said urgently.

“Mr. Malfoy, apparently Mr. Weasley cast the ‘Abduco Felix Felicis’ spell on you during potion’s class. This spell literally causes a person to abandon all happiness,” said Dumbledore.

“What exactly happened, Hermione?” he asked softly.

“You left Harry in the potion’s classroom, wouldn’t sit with him in Transfiguration, didn’t help him up when Ron tripped him in that class, and didn’t really care that he missed lunch because of a broken wrist from that fall. I slapped you, called you a few names, and left to visit Harry. Harry said he was going to ask for a new room because he knew you hated him and told me to go to class. After class, I locked you in another classroom, asked what your problem was, got angry because of your uncaring attitude when I told you your rejection would ultimately kill Harry, and left once again. I went to Gryffindor tower, heard Ron bragging about what he did, and left to find Professor Dumbledore. We came straight here. You know everything else,” she quickly explained.

“Please tell I didn’t actually watch someone hurt my elf and do nothing?” he asked miserably. When Hermione she just continued to stare at him sympathetically, he turned and ran the rest of the way to the infirmary. Rushing into the room where Harry was currently housed, he stopped in total shock and horror. His once lively elf was sitting on the bed, staring at the wall listlessly. He didn’t even turn and look at the person invading the room.

“Merlin Harry, I am so sorry. Please forgive me,” he cried rushing to the bed and pulling his beloved elf into his arms. He started to cry when he didn’t get an immediate response and just hugged Harry even tighter.

A tear fell on his face, bringing Harry partially out of his self-imposed exile into his own consciousness. Reaching up to his face to brush away the wetness, he slowly became aware that the tears were not his. He looked up and saw something he never would have imagined seeing. Draco Malfoy had tears streaming down his face while mumbling “I’m sorry” every few seconds.

“Draco? What’s wrong?” he asked hoarsely.

“Harry? I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. Please forgive me,” he said, hugging his elf tighter.

“What happened? I thought you hated me,” said Harry sadly.

“No, love. Ron cast a spell on me during potion’s class that stripped away my happiness. Apparently, since you are my happiness, you were the first one to be hurt. Hermione heard Ron bragging about it and found Dumbledore. They found me and cast the counter spell. I am so sorry,” he said hurriedly.

“You don’t hate me?” asked Harry warily.

“I love you so much it hurts, elf. When Hermione told me what had happened, I almost died. I rushed straight here and almost died again when I saw what my words and actions had done to you,” said Draco.

“Well I guess I won’t have to ask Dumbledore for another room, then,” he said, trying to cheer up his mate. He was glad he had his Draco back. It was horrible having him act like Malfoy to him after all they’d done together.

“Thank you, love. Do you have to stay here for the night?” asked Draco, making himself more comfortable on the bed.

“Yes. Poppy was worried about me. I had a broken wrist and should have been in a lot of pain, but I was just totally listless and didn’t feel anything. I guess she thought I would do something drastic if she didn’t watch over me through the night,” said Harry wryly.

“Well, you’ll just have to make room for me too,” said Draco, pushing Harry down onto the bed and pulling him in his arms. “I don’t sleep well without you.”

“Me too, Dray. Me too,” said Harry sleepily. Within minutes, Harry had fallen asleep. Draco smiled at how adorable his little elf looked and hugged him close. He had come far too close to losing his love because of that weasel and he would pay dearly for that.