Harry Potter and The Bound Prince (BP1)
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
50,970
Reviews:
155
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
50,970
Reviews:
155
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
House Business
Chapter Number/Total: 25/37
Chapter Title: House Business
Words: 3026 Words
Harry moved through the common room quickly. He didn't see Ron anywhere, but most of the boys still knew what had happened. He could see the portrait hole and went a bit quicker, just wanting to get out of there, but someone called him. He stopped briefly and looked over his shoulder. It was Hermione.
She rushed over to him. "Morning. Going to breakfast?" she asked. She obviously didn't know what had happened in the bathroom. It was surprising actually. "Erm, morning, Malfoy ... er, Draco?" she said oddly.
Draco nodded his head. "Good morning ... Granger." He felt oddly formal calling her by any name.
She smiled a bit and turned back to Harry. "Going to breakfast?" she asked again.
"Yeah," Harry said, looking around for Ron.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry's voice. "What's wrong?" she asked slowly.
Harry sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just hungry. Erm ... we're gonna go ... Coming?"
Hermione frowned. "Actually I was going to wait for Ron. He's taking forever. You should wait too. I know he's being a prat, but you know he cares about you."
Harry closed his eyes. "No -- I -- I'm just gonna go. Erm, I'll see you later."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. She looked like she wanted to prod him for information, but she didn't. She just stared at him strangely. "Well ... okay ... see you at breakfast then ...."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, bye," he muttered before climbing up into the portrait hole and waiting for Draco on the other side.
Draco's face gave nothing away, but once they were past the portrait hole and out of anyone else's earshot, he moved a bit closer asking, "Why did you lie to her?"
Harry shrugged. "She'll figure it out," he said simply, beginning to walk down the hall.
Draco shook his head, but held his tongue. Most of his thoughts now turned to watching other students as they passed them, and to how he would handle his breakfast with his house. Just before they reached the entrance to the hall, he stepped a bit closer to Harry and said quietly, "Remember, at your service."
Harry looked up at him and nodded, although he knew he would never call Draco to him. "Ready?" he asked.
Draco nodded, gave him a brief smile, and then turned and strode into the room with his trademark swagger. The room had gone suddenly quiet as the two boys reached the door. Draco took his favourite seat at his table. The looks he was given by his fellow Slytherins ranged from shock to anger to curiosity.
Harry watched Draco and resisted shaking his head. He walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Ginny. She smiled at him. He smiled back weakly.
Predictably, Crabbe was the first person to speak. "What're you doin' here?" he growled. There were a few snickers and a couple gasps as his audacity.
Draco raised one eyebrow, only glancing disdainfully at the other boy. "Presumably eating what passes for food here," he answered.
Every pair of eyes at the table watched him as he reached forward and put a scone on his plate.
"Draco," Pansy purred, "we are so glad to see you. You had us all worried."
She moved closer to Draco on the seat so that her thigh rested against his and smiled at him. "We heard some awful rumours."
Harry began scooping eggs on his plate. He could feel the stares of the others, but he ignored them.
"Morning," Ginny said next to him.
Harry glanced at her. "Morning," he returned.
"You all right?"
Harry shrugged and nodded, his mouth full of eggs.
She frowned a bit. "So ... are you really with Draco Malfoy?"
Harry glanced at her again and nodded. He swallowed. "Yeah, I am."
She nodded. "I do believe you, about him not being -- well, what we all assume he is."
Harry smiled. "I appreciate that. A lot."
Draco added cream to his scone and reached for his tea. He was not overly fond of pumpkin juice. "I am doing better," he assured her.
She and several of the other students exchanged looks and she continued, apparently for all of them. "So were you in the hospital wing? What happened?"
“And your things are no longer in the dorm," Crabbe added, frowning.
Draco picked up his scone, nibbling it for a minute before answering, "Yes, I was ill and in the hospital wing for several days."
Pansy frowned, leaning in and placing her hand on his arm. "But they wouldn't let us visit you. Not even me."
Neville wandered over now and sat across from Harry. "Hi, Harry," he said firmly, frowning down the table at some people who were staring.
Harry smiled. He knew Neville was trying to prove that he didn't care what Harry was or whom he was with. "Hi," he said, his mood brightening a little.
"I saw what happened in the bathroom," Neville said more quietly now. So much for being a mood-brightener.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "He's a prat."
"Who's a prat?" Ginny asked. "What happened in the bathroom?"
"Ron," Neville answered seriously.
"Oh, no." Ginny sighed. "What's he done now?"
Draco reached for a strawberry with the arm that Pansy was touching, effectively dislodging her hand and giving the hint. She frowned at him. Draco ate the strawberry, using it to cover for time while he tried to come up with a plan. Finally, he sighed and put both hands on the table. "Let's get this over with," he said finally. "A lot has changed in the last week. Particularly, I will no longer be sleeping in our dorms. I am still a Slytherin and, for the time being, still a prefect. But I have entered into an unusual arrangement." There were mutters around the room and some smirks. Apparently some had heard the rumours already. Draco took another deep breath. He tried several different versions out in his head and most of them sounded ridiculous. How was he going to explain this?
"We had a row," Harry said, not really wanting to talk about it.
Neville snorted. "They did a lot more than have a row. They were Muggle duelling. Malfoy had to pull them apart."
Ginny's mouth fell open. "You were Muggle duelling? With Ron?"
Harry sighed again and nodded. "Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because he was being a bloody prat," Harry said angrily.
Ginny raised her eyebrow at him as if to say, "Don't you talk to me like that, Harry Potter."
“Sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "He just made me really angry."
"I am sharing a room, and yes, for the record, a bed, with Harry Potter," Draco said. There was full minute of silence before the uproar. Suddenly, everyone at the table was shouting, cursing or making rude comments. Other House tables around the room stopped to stare. Draco only caught the exact words from a few of them.
"Potter?" Blaise sneered.
“What the fuck?" from Crabbe and "Traitor!" from Goyle.
Pansy didn't actually say anything. She pulled away and burst into tears.
Harry had just been about to explain what exactly Ron had done when he heard the uproar. His head snapped up quickly, and he searched the Slytherin table for Draco. He sat on edge, ready to pounce if something should happen.
"Looks like he's just told them," Ginny said, staring at the Slytherin table as well.
Draco let them shout for a couple minutes. He stood abruptly and spoke in a tone of absolute command, loud enough to be heard but not exactly shouting. "Silence!" He punctuated the word with a single slap to the table. The effect was breathtaking. The entire hall fell silent.
Draco scowled for a minute. Then retook his seat. "If you have questions, I will be available to answer them after classes today. Until then, remember who I am and hold your tongues." With that, he picked up the scone and began to eat. It tasted like wood, but he forced himself to chew it as if it was the best thing he had ever eaten. There were some general mutterings but then things settled down. No one spoke to him the rest of breakfast. Which suited him just fine.
Harry's mouth fell open when he watched what Draco did. If he'd stood up and done that, his entire House would've died laughing. He looked at Ginny and Neville. They were both looking surprised too.
"He has quite a lot of influence, doesn't he?" asked Ginny.
"I suppose," Harry said, still looking at Draco.
At that moment, Hermione showed up and sat on Harry's left. She looked angry. Ron came in seconds later and sat quite a few seats down, scowling.
"He is such a prat," Hermione said angrily. "Why didn't you tell me what happened?"
Harry shrugged. "I just wanted to get out of the common room before he came down."
Draco pretended indifference as he sat eating his scone and sipping his tea. But his eyes narrowed when Weasley stalked into the room. He sat carefully keeping an eye both on his own House and the Gryffindor table.
"Well, I certainly don't blame you! I cannot believe him! Why is he being this way?" said Hermione.
"You'd have to ask him," Harry said stonily.
Hermione sighed. "I'm not even going to try anymore. If he wants to talk to me again, he's just going to have to stop acting like a two-year-old."
"I've never heard a two-year-old call someone an insane queer," Harry said bitterly.
Hermione gasped a bit. "Oh, Harry, he didn't!"
Harry sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I don't want to talk about it."
Ginny rolled her eyes in Ron's direction. "You can stop talking to him, Hermione, but I won't," she said bitterly. She got up, stalked over to her brother and sat across from him. There were soon shouts from both of them before Ron got up and left the table completely. He seemed to be doing that a lot.
Ginny came and sat back down with Harry. "Well, he's still being a prat, but if I know him, he'll come around."
Harry watched Ron leave. "Yeah, whatever," he said quietly.
Draco relaxed some when Weasley stormed out again. He shook his head. His Housemates had a lot to say on the subject of whom he was involved with, but not a single one of them had called him a poof. Gryffindors. He sighed.
"Let's not talk about him anymore," Neville said firmly, smiling encouragingly at Harry.
Hermione sighed. "Let's not," she agreed. "I know you've told me a bit already, but what is the whole deal with Malfoy?"
Harry sighed and explained to his friends as best he could, which wasn't great, and by the time he was finished they still all looked skeptical.
"Look," he said tiredly, "maybe you'll all understand a bit better when you've had the chance to talk to him." He was finished eating and was waiting for a signal that Draco was done too.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Would he even be willing to talk to us?"
"I'm sure he would be," Harry said uncertainly.
"You sound confident," Neville said quietly.
Harry sighed. "He really isn't the bloke you guys think you know. How could I stand him if he was?"
"Whatever you say, Harry. Whatever you say," said Ginny, shrugging.
Draco felt he would be sick if he tried to eat another bite. He sat sipping tea and looking at Harry. When he saw Harry look his way, he nodded, hoping he would know that meant he was ready.
"Well, I'm off," Harry said, pushing his plate away. "Maybe I'll talk to you later."
They all sighed.
Hermione looked at him sadly and nodded. "Okay."
"Don't stay away forever," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.
Neville nodded.
"I won't," Harry said, getting to his feet and looking over at Draco. He squeezed Hermione's arm.
Draco rose a few moments after Harry and followed him from the room.
Harry waited outside the doors for Draco and sighed when he came through them. "Nice way of getting them to shut up," he said with a small grin.
Draco smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it's just temporary. House policy. No airing inner-House dissent in public."
"Where are you going to talk to them then?" Harry asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets to keep from grabbing Draco's hand.
Draco noticed the gesturing, smiled, and moved slightly closer. "They may call a House meeting," he said. He gestured away from the doors. "Let's walk to class."
Harry nodded and walked away from the doors. "You have House meetings?" he asked curiously.
Draco raised an eyebrow, and glanced at him. "You don't?"
Harry laughed. "No, we just say whatever we want whenever we want to say something."
Draco shook his head, grimacing. "I see how well that works. We have more ... discipline in our House. House meetings are used to spell out the rules, assign tasks, sometimes air conflicts and set punishments."
Harry's eyebrows rose. "That's so ... structured. We just sit around ... Is it all set up by you lot? I mean, Snape doesn't make you do it or anything, right?"
Draco snorted. "Can you see Snape wanting to bother with all that? Prefects run things. Snape only interferes if he doesn't like what we are doing."
"That's so strange. We all sit around and just ... sit around. How is anything any fun in your House?" Harry asked, eyebrows still high on his forehead.
Draco shook his head. "We don't have a House meeting every night. And we do have some pretty wild parties."
Harry nodded. "We have parties, but nothing too wild. You know, nicking food from the kitchens and getting some Butterbeers, mostly after we win Quidditch games."
"I'll just bet," Draco said with a laugh. They reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts class with no more trouble than stares and whispers. When they got there, Draco turned to Harry. "Do we sit together?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Ron isn't going to sit with me, so there'll be an empty seat. You can sit with me if you want to." He knew he sounded hopeful, and felt stupid for it. He knew he would have Draco all night later on.
One side of Draco's mouth quirked up. "Do you really need to ask what I want?"
Harry smiled. "Sit with me then. I'm sure Snape'll love it."
Draco snorted, but nodded and followed Harry into the room, sitting beside him. The muttering was louder now that he had done that.
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. He was used to all the attention, but it was starting to get on his last nerve. "Isn't this driving you insane?" Harry asked Draco quietly, moving so that their legs and arms were touching.
"You drive me insane," Draco whispered, barely moving his lips.
Harry smirked and elbowed Draco playfully. "Don't start that now," he whispered back.
Hermione came in then and sat on Harry's other side. She looked at both boys for a moment, but then shrugged and began taking her things out.
Ron came in next and didn't look at Harry. He merely took the seat that he had been sitting in all week.
Snape strode in and the room fell silent. He glanced up and scowled at the new seating arrangement before launching into class instruction. Draco had pulled out a scroll and began taking notes. It didn't take him long to realise that Snape was completely ignoring him. When he raised a hand to answer a question, he was not acknowledged. No praise or snide remarks. It was like he didn't exist.
Harry took notes too. He knew the answers to the questions, but he didn't raise his hand. Snape would probably either ignore him or find something wrong with his answer. He felt bad for Draco, who Snape usually always called on.
Draco stopped raising his hand when he realised what was happening. About halfway through class, he decided to push it. He stopped taking notes, setting his quill down and crossing his arms across his chest. To his astonishment, Snape continued to ignore him.
Harry glanced at Draco and raised an eyebrow; he hadn't ever seen Draco not take notes. He would've asked him what he was doing, but Snape was glaring at him as usual and so he held his tongue.
Draco sat with his arms crossed and a stony look on this face, staring at his godfather throughout the rest of the class. The stalemate seemed to hold.
Class took forever it seemed. Harry could feel the tension as well; there was something going on between Snape and Draco, but he didn't know what. He was very relieved when the bell rang and he sat waiting for Snape to dismiss the class.
Snape did dismiss the class, but Draco leaned over and whispered to Harry, "You go on. I need to stay here for now."
Harry frowned, but nodded. He had been thinking that this might happen. He squeezed Draco's hand quickly and got to his feet, gathered up his things, and followed Hermione out.
Draco stood in the middle of the classroom, arms still crossed, and waited.
The older man was fussing about with scrolls and other things on his desk. After a few minutes he looked up and shook his head. “Mr Malfoy, you have another class to attend.”
Draco walked forward to stand right in front of the desk. “You were ignoring me,” he said quietly.
Snape’s frown didn’t change. “Regardless of what you might think, Mr Malfoy, the world does not revolve around you.”
The blond continued to stand, not answering.
“Get out of my class, Draco,” Snape sneered.
Draco walked over and picked up his things. When he reached the door, he turned back. “I expect my father to disown me,” he said, “but I thought you might be different.” Then he left, making his way to his next class. He did not cry. He would not.
Chapter Title: House Business
Words: 3026 Words
Harry moved through the common room quickly. He didn't see Ron anywhere, but most of the boys still knew what had happened. He could see the portrait hole and went a bit quicker, just wanting to get out of there, but someone called him. He stopped briefly and looked over his shoulder. It was Hermione.
She rushed over to him. "Morning. Going to breakfast?" she asked. She obviously didn't know what had happened in the bathroom. It was surprising actually. "Erm, morning, Malfoy ... er, Draco?" she said oddly.
Draco nodded his head. "Good morning ... Granger." He felt oddly formal calling her by any name.
She smiled a bit and turned back to Harry. "Going to breakfast?" she asked again.
"Yeah," Harry said, looking around for Ron.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry's voice. "What's wrong?" she asked slowly.
Harry sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just hungry. Erm ... we're gonna go ... Coming?"
Hermione frowned. "Actually I was going to wait for Ron. He's taking forever. You should wait too. I know he's being a prat, but you know he cares about you."
Harry closed his eyes. "No -- I -- I'm just gonna go. Erm, I'll see you later."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. She looked like she wanted to prod him for information, but she didn't. She just stared at him strangely. "Well ... okay ... see you at breakfast then ...."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, bye," he muttered before climbing up into the portrait hole and waiting for Draco on the other side.
Draco's face gave nothing away, but once they were past the portrait hole and out of anyone else's earshot, he moved a bit closer asking, "Why did you lie to her?"
Harry shrugged. "She'll figure it out," he said simply, beginning to walk down the hall.
Draco shook his head, but held his tongue. Most of his thoughts now turned to watching other students as they passed them, and to how he would handle his breakfast with his house. Just before they reached the entrance to the hall, he stepped a bit closer to Harry and said quietly, "Remember, at your service."
Harry looked up at him and nodded, although he knew he would never call Draco to him. "Ready?" he asked.
Draco nodded, gave him a brief smile, and then turned and strode into the room with his trademark swagger. The room had gone suddenly quiet as the two boys reached the door. Draco took his favourite seat at his table. The looks he was given by his fellow Slytherins ranged from shock to anger to curiosity.
Harry watched Draco and resisted shaking his head. He walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Ginny. She smiled at him. He smiled back weakly.
Predictably, Crabbe was the first person to speak. "What're you doin' here?" he growled. There were a few snickers and a couple gasps as his audacity.
Draco raised one eyebrow, only glancing disdainfully at the other boy. "Presumably eating what passes for food here," he answered.
Every pair of eyes at the table watched him as he reached forward and put a scone on his plate.
"Draco," Pansy purred, "we are so glad to see you. You had us all worried."
She moved closer to Draco on the seat so that her thigh rested against his and smiled at him. "We heard some awful rumours."
Harry began scooping eggs on his plate. He could feel the stares of the others, but he ignored them.
"Morning," Ginny said next to him.
Harry glanced at her. "Morning," he returned.
"You all right?"
Harry shrugged and nodded, his mouth full of eggs.
She frowned a bit. "So ... are you really with Draco Malfoy?"
Harry glanced at her again and nodded. He swallowed. "Yeah, I am."
She nodded. "I do believe you, about him not being -- well, what we all assume he is."
Harry smiled. "I appreciate that. A lot."
Draco added cream to his scone and reached for his tea. He was not overly fond of pumpkin juice. "I am doing better," he assured her.
She and several of the other students exchanged looks and she continued, apparently for all of them. "So were you in the hospital wing? What happened?"
“And your things are no longer in the dorm," Crabbe added, frowning.
Draco picked up his scone, nibbling it for a minute before answering, "Yes, I was ill and in the hospital wing for several days."
Pansy frowned, leaning in and placing her hand on his arm. "But they wouldn't let us visit you. Not even me."
Neville wandered over now and sat across from Harry. "Hi, Harry," he said firmly, frowning down the table at some people who were staring.
Harry smiled. He knew Neville was trying to prove that he didn't care what Harry was or whom he was with. "Hi," he said, his mood brightening a little.
"I saw what happened in the bathroom," Neville said more quietly now. So much for being a mood-brightener.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "He's a prat."
"Who's a prat?" Ginny asked. "What happened in the bathroom?"
"Ron," Neville answered seriously.
"Oh, no." Ginny sighed. "What's he done now?"
Draco reached for a strawberry with the arm that Pansy was touching, effectively dislodging her hand and giving the hint. She frowned at him. Draco ate the strawberry, using it to cover for time while he tried to come up with a plan. Finally, he sighed and put both hands on the table. "Let's get this over with," he said finally. "A lot has changed in the last week. Particularly, I will no longer be sleeping in our dorms. I am still a Slytherin and, for the time being, still a prefect. But I have entered into an unusual arrangement." There were mutters around the room and some smirks. Apparently some had heard the rumours already. Draco took another deep breath. He tried several different versions out in his head and most of them sounded ridiculous. How was he going to explain this?
"We had a row," Harry said, not really wanting to talk about it.
Neville snorted. "They did a lot more than have a row. They were Muggle duelling. Malfoy had to pull them apart."
Ginny's mouth fell open. "You were Muggle duelling? With Ron?"
Harry sighed again and nodded. "Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because he was being a bloody prat," Harry said angrily.
Ginny raised her eyebrow at him as if to say, "Don't you talk to me like that, Harry Potter."
“Sorry," Harry said sheepishly. "He just made me really angry."
"I am sharing a room, and yes, for the record, a bed, with Harry Potter," Draco said. There was full minute of silence before the uproar. Suddenly, everyone at the table was shouting, cursing or making rude comments. Other House tables around the room stopped to stare. Draco only caught the exact words from a few of them.
"Potter?" Blaise sneered.
“What the fuck?" from Crabbe and "Traitor!" from Goyle.
Pansy didn't actually say anything. She pulled away and burst into tears.
Harry had just been about to explain what exactly Ron had done when he heard the uproar. His head snapped up quickly, and he searched the Slytherin table for Draco. He sat on edge, ready to pounce if something should happen.
"Looks like he's just told them," Ginny said, staring at the Slytherin table as well.
Draco let them shout for a couple minutes. He stood abruptly and spoke in a tone of absolute command, loud enough to be heard but not exactly shouting. "Silence!" He punctuated the word with a single slap to the table. The effect was breathtaking. The entire hall fell silent.
Draco scowled for a minute. Then retook his seat. "If you have questions, I will be available to answer them after classes today. Until then, remember who I am and hold your tongues." With that, he picked up the scone and began to eat. It tasted like wood, but he forced himself to chew it as if it was the best thing he had ever eaten. There were some general mutterings but then things settled down. No one spoke to him the rest of breakfast. Which suited him just fine.
Harry's mouth fell open when he watched what Draco did. If he'd stood up and done that, his entire House would've died laughing. He looked at Ginny and Neville. They were both looking surprised too.
"He has quite a lot of influence, doesn't he?" asked Ginny.
"I suppose," Harry said, still looking at Draco.
At that moment, Hermione showed up and sat on Harry's left. She looked angry. Ron came in seconds later and sat quite a few seats down, scowling.
"He is such a prat," Hermione said angrily. "Why didn't you tell me what happened?"
Harry shrugged. "I just wanted to get out of the common room before he came down."
Draco pretended indifference as he sat eating his scone and sipping his tea. But his eyes narrowed when Weasley stalked into the room. He sat carefully keeping an eye both on his own House and the Gryffindor table.
"Well, I certainly don't blame you! I cannot believe him! Why is he being this way?" said Hermione.
"You'd have to ask him," Harry said stonily.
Hermione sighed. "I'm not even going to try anymore. If he wants to talk to me again, he's just going to have to stop acting like a two-year-old."
"I've never heard a two-year-old call someone an insane queer," Harry said bitterly.
Hermione gasped a bit. "Oh, Harry, he didn't!"
Harry sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I don't want to talk about it."
Ginny rolled her eyes in Ron's direction. "You can stop talking to him, Hermione, but I won't," she said bitterly. She got up, stalked over to her brother and sat across from him. There were soon shouts from both of them before Ron got up and left the table completely. He seemed to be doing that a lot.
Ginny came and sat back down with Harry. "Well, he's still being a prat, but if I know him, he'll come around."
Harry watched Ron leave. "Yeah, whatever," he said quietly.
Draco relaxed some when Weasley stormed out again. He shook his head. His Housemates had a lot to say on the subject of whom he was involved with, but not a single one of them had called him a poof. Gryffindors. He sighed.
"Let's not talk about him anymore," Neville said firmly, smiling encouragingly at Harry.
Hermione sighed. "Let's not," she agreed. "I know you've told me a bit already, but what is the whole deal with Malfoy?"
Harry sighed and explained to his friends as best he could, which wasn't great, and by the time he was finished they still all looked skeptical.
"Look," he said tiredly, "maybe you'll all understand a bit better when you've had the chance to talk to him." He was finished eating and was waiting for a signal that Draco was done too.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Would he even be willing to talk to us?"
"I'm sure he would be," Harry said uncertainly.
"You sound confident," Neville said quietly.
Harry sighed. "He really isn't the bloke you guys think you know. How could I stand him if he was?"
"Whatever you say, Harry. Whatever you say," said Ginny, shrugging.
Draco felt he would be sick if he tried to eat another bite. He sat sipping tea and looking at Harry. When he saw Harry look his way, he nodded, hoping he would know that meant he was ready.
"Well, I'm off," Harry said, pushing his plate away. "Maybe I'll talk to you later."
They all sighed.
Hermione looked at him sadly and nodded. "Okay."
"Don't stay away forever," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.
Neville nodded.
"I won't," Harry said, getting to his feet and looking over at Draco. He squeezed Hermione's arm.
Draco rose a few moments after Harry and followed him from the room.
Harry waited outside the doors for Draco and sighed when he came through them. "Nice way of getting them to shut up," he said with a small grin.
Draco smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it's just temporary. House policy. No airing inner-House dissent in public."
"Where are you going to talk to them then?" Harry asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets to keep from grabbing Draco's hand.
Draco noticed the gesturing, smiled, and moved slightly closer. "They may call a House meeting," he said. He gestured away from the doors. "Let's walk to class."
Harry nodded and walked away from the doors. "You have House meetings?" he asked curiously.
Draco raised an eyebrow, and glanced at him. "You don't?"
Harry laughed. "No, we just say whatever we want whenever we want to say something."
Draco shook his head, grimacing. "I see how well that works. We have more ... discipline in our House. House meetings are used to spell out the rules, assign tasks, sometimes air conflicts and set punishments."
Harry's eyebrows rose. "That's so ... structured. We just sit around ... Is it all set up by you lot? I mean, Snape doesn't make you do it or anything, right?"
Draco snorted. "Can you see Snape wanting to bother with all that? Prefects run things. Snape only interferes if he doesn't like what we are doing."
"That's so strange. We all sit around and just ... sit around. How is anything any fun in your House?" Harry asked, eyebrows still high on his forehead.
Draco shook his head. "We don't have a House meeting every night. And we do have some pretty wild parties."
Harry nodded. "We have parties, but nothing too wild. You know, nicking food from the kitchens and getting some Butterbeers, mostly after we win Quidditch games."
"I'll just bet," Draco said with a laugh. They reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts class with no more trouble than stares and whispers. When they got there, Draco turned to Harry. "Do we sit together?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Ron isn't going to sit with me, so there'll be an empty seat. You can sit with me if you want to." He knew he sounded hopeful, and felt stupid for it. He knew he would have Draco all night later on.
One side of Draco's mouth quirked up. "Do you really need to ask what I want?"
Harry smiled. "Sit with me then. I'm sure Snape'll love it."
Draco snorted, but nodded and followed Harry into the room, sitting beside him. The muttering was louder now that he had done that.
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. He was used to all the attention, but it was starting to get on his last nerve. "Isn't this driving you insane?" Harry asked Draco quietly, moving so that their legs and arms were touching.
"You drive me insane," Draco whispered, barely moving his lips.
Harry smirked and elbowed Draco playfully. "Don't start that now," he whispered back.
Hermione came in then and sat on Harry's other side. She looked at both boys for a moment, but then shrugged and began taking her things out.
Ron came in next and didn't look at Harry. He merely took the seat that he had been sitting in all week.
Snape strode in and the room fell silent. He glanced up and scowled at the new seating arrangement before launching into class instruction. Draco had pulled out a scroll and began taking notes. It didn't take him long to realise that Snape was completely ignoring him. When he raised a hand to answer a question, he was not acknowledged. No praise or snide remarks. It was like he didn't exist.
Harry took notes too. He knew the answers to the questions, but he didn't raise his hand. Snape would probably either ignore him or find something wrong with his answer. He felt bad for Draco, who Snape usually always called on.
Draco stopped raising his hand when he realised what was happening. About halfway through class, he decided to push it. He stopped taking notes, setting his quill down and crossing his arms across his chest. To his astonishment, Snape continued to ignore him.
Harry glanced at Draco and raised an eyebrow; he hadn't ever seen Draco not take notes. He would've asked him what he was doing, but Snape was glaring at him as usual and so he held his tongue.
Draco sat with his arms crossed and a stony look on this face, staring at his godfather throughout the rest of the class. The stalemate seemed to hold.
Class took forever it seemed. Harry could feel the tension as well; there was something going on between Snape and Draco, but he didn't know what. He was very relieved when the bell rang and he sat waiting for Snape to dismiss the class.
Snape did dismiss the class, but Draco leaned over and whispered to Harry, "You go on. I need to stay here for now."
Harry frowned, but nodded. He had been thinking that this might happen. He squeezed Draco's hand quickly and got to his feet, gathered up his things, and followed Hermione out.
Draco stood in the middle of the classroom, arms still crossed, and waited.
The older man was fussing about with scrolls and other things on his desk. After a few minutes he looked up and shook his head. “Mr Malfoy, you have another class to attend.”
Draco walked forward to stand right in front of the desk. “You were ignoring me,” he said quietly.
Snape’s frown didn’t change. “Regardless of what you might think, Mr Malfoy, the world does not revolve around you.”
The blond continued to stand, not answering.
“Get out of my class, Draco,” Snape sneered.
Draco walked over and picked up his things. When he reached the door, he turned back. “I expect my father to disown me,” he said, “but I thought you might be different.” Then he left, making his way to his next class. He did not cry. He would not.