Bonds by the Book

Bonds by the Book

Chapter 3

Harry continued to stare at the place Draco had previously occupied in utter astonishment, not even noticing when the headmaster took his leave. Draco had just managed with one action to throw him for a loop He heard a snicker to his left and finally turned to look at Professor McGonagall. When she saw the confused look on his face, she broke down into giggles. \'Maybe Albus was not so far off the mark,\' she thought.

\"You should see the look on your face, Harry. You look thoroughly flummoxed,\" she said, smiling at the young Gryffindor.

\"Can you honestly blame me?\" he asked, looking at his teacher in a new light. He had never seen her act so young. She was usually so stern and now here she was giggling like a schoolgirl. \"I never in a million years imagined Draco Malfoy telling me he didn\'t hate me.\"

\"So you have imagined him kissing you?\" she asked, smirking when he blushed and sputtered indignantly.

\"Professor! I have done no such thing,\" he insisted. \"Though, I do have to admit the Malfoys are both very gorgeous. It\'s really too bad that their attitude totally ruins it. \"

\"They can\'t be that bad. After all, they did help you defeat You-Know-Who,\" she pointed out reasonably.

\"His name is Voldemort. Say it with me, Vol-de-mort. See?\" he said facetiously.

\"I notice you didn\'t disagree with my assessment,\" she said trying to keep a straight face.

\"I still have a pet snake, you know. I would hate for him to get out of his cage because you know how much he loves hiding in your bed,\" said Harry teasingly.

\"You let that snake out and I find him, the Malfoys will be without a soul mate,\" she threatened.

\"Well I can\'t do that then. I don\'t want to do them any unnecessary favours,\" he said, smiling at the frown on his professor\'s face.

\"What are you going to do over the next week? Christmas holidays start very soon,\" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. She had teasingly threatened to murder him but it just felt somehow wrong for him to be joking about his own demise. He had come far too close to dying this time.

\"Catch up on homework, of course. I\'ve missed an entire week of classes and I\'m sure I have a load of essays that need to be written,\" he said, glancing at Minerva with a wry expression.

\"Ah yes. I don believe you have a Transfiguration essay to write. I\'m also pretty sure you have an essay for Potion\'s as well,\" she said.

\"You know very well that Professor Snape probably gave me extra work for being so impertinent as so stay out because of something so menial as a coma. Would you be a dear and send Hermione or Ron with all of my assignments,\" he said, fluttering his eyelashes flirtatiously.

\"Yes, I will you little brat. I\'m sure Ron and Hermione would like to visit you anyway,\" she said, smiling at his antics. \"I will see you later; hopefully in class this time?\"

\"Yes, ma\'am,\" he said. He really had a lot of work to do. He just hoped he could finish it this weekend. He didn\'t imagine he would get a whole lot done over the holidays.

******

\"Father, have you made the arrangements yet?\" asked Draco, walking into the suite Dumbledore had given his father for the duration of his stay.

\"Yes, Draco. Did Harry make any complaints after I left?\" asked Lucius.

\"Actually, he didn\'t say anything at all. Of course, that may be because I kissed him and told him we didn\'t hate him. Then I left to come straight here,\" said Draco smugly, smirking at his father. \"I think I may have shocked him speechless.\"

\"Maybe I should have stayed around a little longer,\" he said.

\"What have you arranged? We don\'t have classes on Friday and most of the students are leaving on that day. Harry and I both have classes on Thursday, but we get out before lunchtime. Will we be leaving Thursday after classes or Friday with the rest of the students?\" asked Draco, pacing across the floor.

\"I have been invited to Hogwarts for lunch and we will be leaving immediately afterwards,\" said Lucius, watching his son pace nervously. “Why exactly are you so nervous? He’s already agreed to visit the Manor.”

“I’m not nervous,” he snapped, stopping in the middle of the room. “I’m going to the lake.” Draco turned around and stomped out of the room leaving his father smirking at his back. ‘Where does he get these ideas?’ he thought. So engrossed in his thoughts that he wasn’t paying much attention to his surroundings, he suddenly crashed into someone coming around the corner.

“Oww,” he said, slowly standing and rubbing his sore bum. “Watch where you’re going.”

“I could say the same thing, Malfoy,” said Hermione, picking up the books she’d dropped upon impact with the blonde.

“Oh shut up, Mudblood,” he growled, pushing past her.

“I’ll be sure to tell Harry hello for you,” she said, walking towards the infirmary.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded, turning to face the witch.

“He is your soul mate, after all. I only have one thing to say. If you hurt him in any way, hell will look like a paradise by the time I am done with you,” she said calmly. “He has had enough problems in his life and he really doesn’t need you adding to them. The fact remains that he stuck with you. You had just better not hurt him. I believe there are more Weasleys than Malfoys. The entire clan will descend on you like a plague of locusts if their precious adopted son, Harry, is hurt. Just remember that and you’ll be fine.”

“You must not have all the information regarding this situation, Granger. I’m not Harry’s soul mate; I’m ‘one’ of Harry’s soul mates. My father is the other. Besides, why do you think we plan on hurting him? You’d think that after we helped him kill Voldemort, you people wouldn’t think so badly of us,” said Draco, voice rising with indignation towards the end of his statement.

“What can I say? You’re history works against you,” she said. “By the way, I imagine I can tell Ron that Harry will not be visiting the Burrow for Christmas?”

“Harry will be visiting Malfoy Manor over the holidays. I don’t care whether you tell Ron or not,” he said dismissively, turning away once again.

“You do realize that now Harry is your soul mate, you will be seeing a lot more of Ron and me. Harry won’t just give up his friends and if you try to force him to, things will probably go badly; for you and your father, that is,” said Hermione. “Not that I haven’t enjoyed our little chat, but I really do need to be going. I have to deliver these homework assignments to Harry. Ta ta.”

“I really hate her,” said Draco, continuing towards the entrance hall.

*****

“Hello, Harry. Glad to see you finally awake,” said Hermione brightly, walking into the infirmary positively laden with books.

“Hello, Hermione. Are all of those books for me?” he asked, groaning when she nodded. “Everyone hates me. The teachers hate me; Fate hates me; even my own mum hates me. Why? What did I do to piss off the universe?” He was positively whining with the last question. When Hermione just laughed at him, he crossed his arms and pouted.

“Nobody hates you,” she started, quickly amending her phrase when she saw Harry’s disbelieving look and raised eyebrow. “Okay, some people do hate you, but they are Death Eaters so why do you care about them anyway. The teachers don’t hate you; well maybe Professor Snape does, but none of the others do. Your mum sacrificed her life for you; she definitely doesn’t hate you. How do you figure Fate hates you?”

“Fate hates me because things like my recent situation keep developing. I had to have pissed off someone high in the ranks to get saddled with not one, but two Malfoys. How can you not agree that Fate hates me?” he said reasonably.

“You’re just looking at it from the wrong angle. The Malfoys are drop dead gorgeous and they’re both very powerful; maybe not as powerful as you, but still very powerful,” she started.

“Yeah, and they also both have a history of being cruel, not only to me, but also to my friends. Besides, isn’t Lucius already married?” he pointed out.

“Oh that’s right. You were in a coma when we found this out. Narcissa Malfoy died when Voldemort died. Apparently, she left Lucius to, uhm, well to be with Voldemort. She willingly bound her life to his and when he died, she died. Obviously, she was certain you would lose, but she didn’t count on the Malfoys coming to the rescue. Oh well, serves her right,” said Hermione judiciously.

“To be with Voldemort. She actually had sex with that disgusting creature willingly? Ewww. Thanks, Hermione. You have just scarred me for life. Ewww,” said Harry, shuddering with disgust.

“Anyway, here is your homework. Several of these essays are due Monday, and the rest are due on Tuesday. Oh, and don’t worry. I’ll make sure to tell Ron that you won’t be visiting the Burrow over the holidays,” she said, starting towards the door.

“How did you know that?” he asked irritably.

“I ran into Draco on the way down here,” she said.

“And he just told? He hates you. Why would he do that?” he asked disbelievingly.

“I figured it out, if you must know. I will admit, though, that I thought only Draco was your soul mate. He delighted in correcting me on the matter,” she said.

“Oh, now that, I can believe,” said Harry.

“Well, you have a lot to do so I’ll leave you to it,” said Hermione, quickly making her escape.

*****

“Oy! Hermione, where have you been?” yelled Ron, running to catch up with her.

“In the infirmary. I took Harry all of his assignments,” she said, waiting for Ron to reach her before resuming her walk.

“So he’s awake, then? Who’s his soul mate?” he asked.

“I don’t think you want to know right now,” she said forebodingly.

“As long as it’s not Malfoy, I really don’t care,” said Ron.

“It’s not Malfoy; it’s both Malfoys. Harry has a soul bond with both Draco and Lucius Malfoy,” she said, awaiting the inevitable explosion.

“WHAT?! How can he possibly have a soul bond with two people? And could those two people be Malfoys?” he asked incredulously.

“I really don’t know, Ron. It’s true, though. I heard it from both Draco and Harry,” she said, trying to calm down the irate redhead.

“I think I need to go lie down for a while. Harry is still coming to the Burrow for Christmas, right?” he asked, though he already knew the answer. His shoulders slumped when she shook her head ‘no’ and nodded. He walked up to his dormitory and just collapsed on his bed. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to lose his friend, but damn did he hate the Malfoys.