How They Fell

Chapter Twenty Six

Harry spent that afternoon sitting morosely in the common room staring at the fire.

It wasn’t that he was missing his friends overly much, and although he found working in such close quarters with Malfoy extremely strange, it was actually ok. In eight days Malfoy hadn’t insulted, or sneered at him once! No, that wasn’t why he was upset.

It was just the form of his patronus. He had hoped so much that he would have the same form as his father! He knew it was irrational and he was perfectly happy with his own forms, but to know that he was truly like his father! That he didn’t just look like him, but that they were somehow similar. That would have been so great.

And that he had seen what his father’s form looked like, felt like; that really annoyed him! He had seen all those possibilities in his dream, all the other forms available, laid out as if on a giant shelf for him to chose which to be. It was odd that he could remember them so well. He seemed to know exactly which coloured globe went next to which…and, most oddly, which colours responded to which form. He knew instinctively that the reddish brown next to the sandy yellow globe was for a stag, but the knowledge was pointless, the form didn’t belong to him.

Harry looked around for other forms/colours that people he knew had. He found Ron’s and a deep grey colour that was Sirius’s. He thought about it for a moment, bemused. His senses told him that that colour didn’t correspond exactly to Padfoot’s shape, that was specific to the witch or wizard. What it the colour meant was a large bread of dog. Therefore if Harry could transform into a large dog, his form would be different from Sirius’s. So even if he could become a stag he would look different, or would that apply if they were father and son?

Harry growled, thumping the chair with a clenched fist. Really there was no point in thinking about it. It wasn’t possible, simple as that! He had three forms, he was extraordinarily lucky!

Grumpy and frustrated, and uncertain why he decided to go out for a walk. He ran upstairs to fetch his cloak, wrapped it tightly around him, opened the window and transformed into the kestrel. He had been very grateful to find that clothes somehow stayed with you when you were in your animagus form, as long as they were close fitting. He hopped up onto the windowsill, spread his wings and flew down to the grounds.

He found this form of transport much quicker and more pleasant than any other, and it made him very happy to know that he could swoop down and outside in the time it took for you to open a window and blink.

Once at the edge of the lake, hidden behind a willow he changed back.

Walking, he found, always settled his mind. In his rather hectic life as a seventh year surrounded, and guarded by Gryffindor House, Harry had little time to himself, so he made the best of moments like these. It allowed him to clear his head in a slightly different way from his transformations. Instead of just getting everything out of his system, he could walk and think things through.

He was uncertain why he was still upset over the fact that he could not transform into a stag. It was a stupid thing to hope for in the first place. It may have been the form of his patronus, but that was an entirely different form of magic. But he had hoped and had allowed himself to hope for the impossible. He had to face it, he was not and never would be that like his father. Circumstances had made him different, it was unfortunate but he had to live with it. He was a wolf, and the other parts of him where caused and created by Voldemort.

Harry laughed gloomily to himself, it was typical of his life that Voldemort had more influence in his character than his own father. And that led him to worrying about Voldemort and what was to come. He stopped himself knowing that worrying would only make him feel worse. Instead he turned around and walked back in the other direction. He would go and visit Hagrid. He hadn’t seen him much this year as he was no longer taking Care for Magical Creatures and he felt guilty for seeing so little of his friend.

* * *

The next morning Moody and Tonks were back and their lessons proceeded as they had done before, but only after a very thorough test to ensure that the boys had been practicing.

Harry was feeling uncertain and grumpy. He needed to talk things through with Ron and Hermione. But he didn’t have much time for musing, the lessons were continuing at a very quick pace and it was Christmas Eve tomorrow.

Moody and Tonks, were now happy with Harry and Draco’s offensive spells, but had decided that their shields and wards needed work. This meant that the two spent their lessons desperately trying to block the many curses and hexes that the Auror’s sent flying at them. Both frequently resorted to diving behind various bits of furniture. They left the classroom even more battered than usual, their hair messed up and with various scorch marks.

“Thank Merlin we have a three day holiday.” Exclaimed Draco on their last lesson before Christmas.

“I know. I’m going to kill Dumbledore for this! ‘Just a few defence lessons, only for a couple of hours a day, oh, only two insane Auror’s throwing spells at you non stop for two hours straight.’” Harry mimicked.

Draco laughed. “Well you know Potter it is necessary if we don’t want to be squished into a pulp and fed to evil babies! COSTANT VIGILANCE!” He barked in a fair imitation of Moody.

They both laughed heartily as they made their way to lunch.

“And you wanted to be an Auror? You do realise your insane?” Draco asked, shaking his head from side to side expressively.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck still laughing slightly, looking up at Draco as he answered.

“Well I thought I did. I’m changing my mind though, think I’ll play professional Quidditch instead – safer.” Draco snorted with laughter and Harry smiled ruefully. “Well, bye Malfoy.”

“Bye Potter.”

* * *

Harry spent the three days flying over Hogwarts, lazing around the common room and fiddling with his presents. There had been the usual jumper and mince pies from the Weasley’s, a Chudley Cannon’s matching hat, scarf and boxers all in bright orange from Ron, but nothing this year from Hermione. For a moment Harry had been upset until he had spotted the small Christmas card with Hermione’s neat writing on the front. He opened and quickly read it.

Dear Harry.

Happy Christmas!
I’m sorry Ron and I can’t be there (really being a bridesmaid is so boring!) and I hope you are managing to have fun without us. I hear the forbidden forest is particularly beautiful on a snowy night

Harry grinned at the not so subtle reference to possible night time visits.

Anyway, I have not sent you your Christmas present this year as you can no doubt see, and yes I have brought you one. This is for a very good reason, I want to give it to you personally so that you can’t hide in the bottom of your chest and pretend you never saw it. And don’t worry it’s not a copy of Hogwarts a History.

Have a great Christmas!

Hermione.

Harry’s heart sank, if it was that bad then she must have moved away from her usual gifts of rather harmless, yet incredibly thick books. However there was nothing he could do about it in the mean time so he decided not to brood on it.

Christmas dinner had been a very small affair much like third year with only fifteen people at the table. The food, however, was as spectacular and abundant as ever.

Dumbledore had very diplomatically placed Harry and Draco at opposite sides of the table, something which momentarily annoyed him. Malfoy really wasn’t that bad, he used to be, but he was so different now. He wasn’t bad company all considering. Rather disturbingly they had a similar sense of humour, although there were still frequent uncomfortable moments. Harry wasn’t entirely sure why this was, it seemed a bit silly to blame it on six years of hostility when they got on perfectly well most of the time.

After Boxing Day the lessons started up again with all of their previous flair and excitement. Harry found it all interesting and consuming, but wished it was a bit more relaxing. Moody and Tonks had insisted that the only way to practice the harder shields were to have spells sent flying at you. The fact that the type of shield needed depended on the spell was an added complication. Wizards needed to be able to change the power and consistency of their shields in a split second, and know which shield was appropriate for which type of spell. Harry and Draco both agreed that it was very hard.

One afternoon Harry was practicing Quidditch on the pitch when a black smudge appeared out of the corner of his eye, as it wasn’t usually there he turned to look more closely. It was Malfoy.

Harry had a moment of uncertainty before he dropped into a dive and swooped down to face Malfoy.

“Hey.”

“Hello, I was wondering if uh, I could join you?”

“Oh, yeah sure. Are you back on your team then?”

“Not yet, I will be though. Do you have a snitch?”

“Yep.”

Draco nodded thoughtfully and looked down to the crate that held the four Quidditch balls.

“You don’t mind if I release the Bludgers do you? It’s just that I like to practice with them.”

“No that should be fine.” Harry paused for a moment, then with a devilish grin pointed out, “so we’ll both be going after the same snitch then?”

Draco caught on very quickly and sent an answering smile. “May the best man win. Although I am out of practice.”

They both set off, flying high over the pitch. Harry couldn’t restrain a smile of delight, it was so wonderful to play competitively, against an opponent who would challenge him.

They circled the pitch, occasionally tailing the other and dropping into fake dives. Judging from the look on Malfoy’s face he was enjoying the flying too.

With two Bludgers after only two players there was a lot of ducking and rolling which added another perspective to the game. Harry decided that he might borrow that particular training technique.

Just then Draco dropped into a spectacular dive, Harry close on his heals, eyes scanning for the snitch, but he couldn’t see it. He and Malfoy were spiralling down towards the pitch, but Harry couldn’t see the snitch in front of them. Understanding Harry pulled up, yards from the ground, waiting for Malfoy to follow.

“Beautiful Wronski feint there Malfoy.” He called, unable to keep the satisfaction of having out guessed Malfoy out of his face. Malfoy shot him a searching look then a wry smile.

“Very good Po -.”

But Harry had finally caught a glimpse of gold and he was off chasing it before Malfoy could finish. Draco took very little time to follow.

The chase was spectacular, both of them swerving and weaving around the goal posts. They would follow the snitch in one direction before it would suddenly turn at a right angle. It was some of the hairiest flying Harry had ever participated it, the thick metal poles of the goal posts a constant threat, demanding split second adjustments and stops.

Harry followed the snitch corkscrewing up the centre pole, Malfoy coming in fast from his left. He was just reaching the large circle of the goalmouth and the snitch was still moving up, fast. Harry was just about to put on a burst of speed to catch up with it when he second-guessed himself. Just then the snitch threw itself through the goalmouth. Harry stopped, turned, pressed himself to his broom and followed the snitch through the goal, speeding up. Harry sensed something coming at him fast from the right, but Malfoy was still correcting his mistaken move upwards and he had been on his left. The feeling had the small buzz of magic about it, familiar from the many spells that had been shot at him over the past week. Harry rolled, not loosing any speed and felt the whoosh of the Bludger as it just missed his back; reached out a hand still upside-down and his fingers closed around the small fluttering ball.

He pulled up his broom and turned to find Malfoy looking at him appraisingly.

“Good flying Potter.” Harry smiled.

“You too Malfoy. That Wronksi feint! You almost had me.”

They both turned their brooms and flew companionably back to the pitch.

“Close call with that Bludger.”

“Yeah, I know, thought it was going to get me for a few seconds there.”

“How could you tell it was coming?”

Harry thought.

“I’m not sure, I kind of felt it.” He looked at Malfoy to see if he was going to make a sarcastic comment, but none came instead he looked thoughtful. “It’s like when were blocking and the shields been breached, when the curse gets a certain distance away from you, you can feel it so you know which way to duck. ‘S’ why I’ve never been hit I guess, even with Voldemort I’ve always been able to dodge them.”

Draco shuddered slightly at the name, but what Potter was saying was interesting.

“It’s true, when they’re close you can kind of sense them, like a buzzing.”

“Exactly.”

“You know not once in this whole two weeks of having hexes and spells thrown at us have we ever been hit. Our shields are improving, but they still break frequently and then we just dodge the spells.”

Harry nodded. “It must be something to do with Quidditch. You know fast reflexes, practicing with Bludgers, that kind of thing.”

“Your right. I wonder what we could do with it.”

“Well we could mention it to Moody and Tonks tomorrow and see if they have any ideas?”

“Ok, tomorrow then.”

They packed away the balls and made their way up to the castle talking about Quidditch, their favourite teams and players.

It really was strange, Harry mused as he sat in the common room that evening; that after all these years of antagonism and hatred, he and Malfoy could actually get along. There was a kind of comradery between them now that they had to suffer the extra defence lessons together, although there were still those moments of uncertainty and confusion between them. All in all, Harry concluded, he would never have seen this coming!

* * *

The next day Moody and Tons were busy again, so Draco and Harry once more found themselves forced to duel.

Harry shot a nervous glance at Malfoy.

“So…” He said breathing out and searching the other boy for an idea of what to do. “What are we going to do?”

“I’m not sure. But they’ve told us specifically to practice our shields.”

“Which means duelling.”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause. Harry was considering the situation. If anyone had told him to stand still while Malfoy shot curse after curse at him before the Christmas holidays, he would have considered it tantamount to a death sentence. But now…well, he didn’t think Malfoy wanted to hurt him and there were plenty of opportunities were he could have had and hadn’t. Making a decision and taking a deep breath Harry started.

“Right then!” Draco looked up at him questioningly. “I trust you not to hex me into a thousand pieces if you trust me not to do the same.”

Draco smiled slightly, one corner of his mouth moving up.

“Deal then?” Draco held out his hand

“Deal!” Repeated Harry, taking the offered hand and pulling Malfoy to his feet. Harry suddenly found himself very close, within inches of Draco, with their hands still clasped between them, looking up into the taller boys eyes.

To Draco the moment seemed surreal, being this close to Potter and with out any aggression at all! It made their body language take on an entirely different tone. It was kind of warm and…intimate in a way that surprised him. He had never really realised that Harry was smaller than him, or that there were a few delicate freckles scattered across his cheeks.

Harry stepped away suddenly, turning to hide the faint blush from the other boy.

He strode over to a point quite far away from Malfoy and turned to face him.

“Ready then?”

“Yes.”

The two began to duel. Slowly at first in order to make sure that the other had enough time to react so that they couldn’t injure each other, but gradually picking up speed as they got into a rhythm. Both shot and blocked flawlessly until Draco sent a strong curse that Harry was unfamiliar with. It crashed through his shield, but Harry threw himself out of the way in time.

Draco winced. “Sorry Potter.”

“’S’ ok.” Replied Harry, dusting himself down. “What curse was that anyway?”

“One of the ones my father had me learn, it slipped out.”

“A dark curse?”

Draco nodded.

“I thought it might be, I could feel it, you know, buzzing as it went by me and it felt different, angrier.”

“That’s interesting. – I wonder if…Can I try something?”

“Sure.”

Draco waved his wand and cried, “Furnunculus!”

Harry could feel the spell moving towards him, he ducked easily, but sensed it as it moved passed his shoulder.

“How was that?” Draco asked.

Harry paused to consider. “It felt, less. I mean the buzzing wasn’t as loud or as distinct, like it was less powerful.”

“Which it was, a simple boils hex. We could really be on to something here Potter! Try it out on me.”

Harry quickly sent two spells at Malfoy, one quite gentle and the other one of the powerful offensive curses that Moody had taught him.

“Yeah I could feel the difference too!”

“I wonder…” Harry stopped, looking at Malfoy uncertainly, he didn’t want to be laughed at if what he suggested was stupid.

“What?” Draco actually looked interested, Harry swallowed.

“I was just wondering if the different types of curses and hexes felt different too. That way you’d know what type of shield to use even if you couldn’t hear the spell.”

Again Draco looked thoughtful, Harry studying his face as he waited for an answer.

“I don’t see why not, it’s a good idea. Try it.”

Harry nodded, thinking up curses. The first one he sent was a curse with long lasting effects, needing a thicker shield, the second would create thick vine like ropes from thin air to bind the victim; as it wasn’t immediately involved with a person it needed a full circle shield, not of great strength, to repel it.

“Hmm. I’m not sure. Try again.” Harry did so.

“Yes, I think I can feel a difference between them.”

“Let me try, use the same spells.”

Draco complied, waiting as Harry thought.

“Again.” Harry nodded as he straightened himself.

“Yes there is definitly a difference between them. Kind of like, the stuff surrounding the spell is different, or has a different energy…sort of.” Harry finished, self-depreciatingly.

“No, I understand.” Insisted Malfoy. Harry smiled slightly at him.

There was a slight pause before Draco brought himself back to the task in hand. “Ok, now try two different curses, but ones in the same groups as the others.”

Choosing two other spells, Draco sent them at Harry. It felt very odd to stand so calmly sending hexes at a boy who had been his worst enemy. Especially when he was actually asking to have horrible spells sent at him and purposefully not blocking them.

“Yes.” Said Harry, pulling him out of his reverie. “It did feel like the same difference, if you know what I mean?”

“Try on me.”

Harry sent the same curses back and watched Malfoy’s smooth dodges with envy. He always managed to stumble or fall over, but Draco just stepped out of the way with a lithe grace which Harry didn’t think he’d ever manage, except on a broom.

“Yes your right!” He concluded, smiling at Harry. “Do you know how useful this could be? If we could learn how to do this, we’d be able to block anything, even unfamiliar hexes!”

“And even if it was a spell we couldn’t block by the end of this we’ll be so good at ducking that it won’t matter.” Harry replied with equal enthusiasm.

“Imagine the looks on Moody and Tonks face if we could block everything they sent at us, they’d die of shock!” Said Draco smirking slightly.

Harry smirked back. “It would be good wouldn’t it!” Then. “More practice?”

“Definitely.”

* * *

Tonks and Moody were absent for a further two days in which time Harry and Draco worked hard to master the new technique.

They both quickly realised that it would take a lot of work. Not only did they have to pin point the exact feeling of all of the different types of curse and hex, but also memorise them and be able to respond automatically with the right shield.

However, they quickly found a problem with this idea. By the time they knew the type of curse, they had already dodged it and it was too late to put up a shield. The only way around this was to try to sense the curse while it was still quite far away. Harry and Draco therefore found themselves throwing curses further and further away from the other to try to increase their sensory range. They both discovered that it involved a lot of concentration.

As the distances very slowly grew larger and the boys became more practiced their shielding charms did improve, but it took a long time.

Harry was amazed at how easy it was to work with Draco. He seemed to understand Harry when he explained complex feelings and was equally able to explain his feelings, as well as various theories on the subject that he had found in the library.

They had both been shocked to find out from one of the books that this kind of magical sensing demanded high levels of magic, and was considered far too advanced for most witches and wizards. Draco had been quick to shrug the fact aside with a short explanation of, “well I’m a Malfoy, what else did you expect,” but Harry could sense that the information had affected him as much as it had Harry himself.

The two days passed pleasantly, ironic considering that they spent almost all of the time throwing various curses at each other. In fact they both stayed considerably longer than two hours and on the second day only stopped at three because they were hungry. That was another fact that impressed Harry, the book on theory stated that such magic could only be used for short periods of time as it was so draining and involved so much concentration, but he and Malfoy had been at it for hours.

“I wonder if it has anything to do with being a seeker?” Harry asked Malfoy as they made their way to the kitchens after practice.

“You mean heightened awareness of Bludgers?”

“Yeah. I mean ever since that dreadful incident in second year I can kind of feel them coming.”

“I know, you only have to be hit a couple of times before their presence really begins to register with you.” Malfoy joked. Harry laughed and continued to lead the way to the kitchens.

“I never knew where the kitchens were before.” Draco said as Harry tickled the pair.

“Fred and George showed me in third year.” Harry explained before stepping in, Draco hot on his heals.

They were promptly surrounded by helpful house elves.

“Mr Harry Potter sir! Mr Harry Potter sir!” Squeaked one particularly familiar voice.

“Oh hello Dobby, how are you?” Harry heard Draco’s small gasp from behind him.

“Dobby?” Draco asked, his eyes searching over the elf.

Harry blushed a bit and embarrassedly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Um, yeah, he used to belong to your father.”

“Until you freed him. Lucius was not happy about that.”

Harry half shrugged. “Well, he did deserve it.” But he blushed at the same time.

There was an embarrassed pause, before Harry managed to ask. “So, um, what do you want to eat?”

They had plonked down in a rarely used corner of an out of the way corridor and proceeded to eat their way through the generous lunch that the house elves had provided. They ate, talked and laughed there way through the meal and the thought struck Harry that he and Malfoy were now acting much as Blaise and Malfoy had in the Three Broomsticks a month ago.


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Author's note: Yup, must congratulate all those who reviewed, flatmates officially deeply worried about my sanity…well done. Thank you to all those who regularly review you get a special type of squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Hemhem, so thank you.