why_me_why_not (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
why_me_why_not) wrote2005-06-08 10:55 pm
why_me_why_not) wrote2005-06-08 10:55 pm
Picking Up the Pieces -- Chapter 18
Title: Picking Up the Pieces
Author: why_me_why_not
Rating: PG, for now at least
Summary: Draco & Harry are thrown together after both face situations that have turned their lives upside down. Will they become friends themselves?
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. I don't own the characters. I just borrow them and let them play around in my head (as long as I get to watch). No copyright infringement or disrespect intended. Please don't sue b/c I have less than nothing.
A/N: links to previous chapters under cut
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
A/N: Here is Chapter 18 (finally--sorry about the wait!)
Special thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lilian_cho for her wonderful beta skills.
There may be future changes made to this chapter before I post it on OWL.
Chapter 18
Harry veered off from his friends as soon as they reentered the Great Hall and headed to the table where Malfoy was sitting. Crabbe and Goyle were across from him, and Karissa and three other first years—a Ravenclaw and two Slytherins—were sitting a few feet further down the bench. Draco looked up briefly from the parchment he had in his hand.
“It’s a good thing I’m bloody brilliant or I’d never get any of my own homework done, having to review everyone else’s work,” he grumbled, but there was no real anger behind his words.
Harry pulled his books out of his bag as he sat down. “You mean it’s a good thing we’re all brilliant and only need a review. You should be appreciative of all the house points we’re helping you earn.”
Draco glared at him for a moment before returning to the essay he was reading.
Harry heard shuffling and whispers from the first years and leaned forward to look at them. “What’s up?”
Karissa rolled her eyes and grabbed a piece of parchment from one of the Slytherin boys. “Harry, will you read this over for Ethan? He doesn’t want to ask you himself even though I told him you’re good in Defense.”
“I will,” Harry agreed, taking the proffered parchment, “but only if Ethan asks me himself.” He looked patiently at the younger boy.
“Er, will you please look over my essay?” the boy asked. “I was going to get Draco to do it, but he’s reading hers”--he indicated Karissa with a wave of his hand--“first, like always.”
Harry grinned and shook his head. He wasn’t sure what surprised him more, a Slytherin saying “please” or the fact that Draco was publicly putting Karissa in front of his own housemates, even if it was just a small gesture. He helped Ethan with his essay, then quizzed all four of the first years for the test they had the next day in Herbology. Satisfied that they would all pass, he left them alone to work on their History of Magic essays and pulled out his Transfiguration text.
There were several long minutes where the only sound was the faint scratching of quill on parchment. After the novelty of the study sessions had worn off, the students that continued to come generally settled down to work fairly quickly, and for the most part they remained quiet. It was like studying in the library, except they could communicate without whispering and there was food from the house-elves if they wanted.
Harry got his second surprise of the night about halfway through the session. He was immersed in his book when the silence of their table was broken by Crabbe slamming his own textbook down on the table.
“I’m never going to understand this,” he growled, obviously frustrated.
“Let Potter help you,” Draco said, not even hesitating over the Arithmancy homework he was working on.
“What?” Harry, Crabbe and Goyle asked in unison.
Draco looked up and glanced at each of them before settling on Crabbe. “Let. Potter. Help. You,” he repeated slowly, enunciating each word as if he were talking to a small child. “You’re working on that Charms essay you have to write for failing your test on the Disillusionment Charm, right? Potter’s decent at Charms, he can help you with that. Right, Potter?” He looked at Harry for confirmation.
“Um, yeah, right,” Harry said quickly. “Let me see what you have so far.” After a moment’s pause, Crabbe handed over his parchment, filled with scrawl Harry could barely decipher, and started explaining what he had written so far and what he was still having trouble with.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Harry was lying on the bed, idly levitating a small glass griffin figurine and enjoying the silence, when his dorm mates entered the room noisily. Seamus was apparently in the middle of telling a story.
“…so Dean slipped it into their cauldron while Lavender was talking to Pansy, and then Malfoy came back just as their potion started to boil over—“
“You should have seen his face! It was priceless!” Dean broke in, laughing.
“Oy, shut up Dean! I’m telling this story!” Seamus elbowed Dean in the ribs with a grin before he looked back at Ron and Neville and continued his tale. “So Malfoy pulls Pansy behind him at the same time their cauldron exploded and it covered Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in green slime! Everyone froze, and it was completely silent for a good thirty seconds, then Pansy started yelling at Draco because it had gotten on her shoes!! She was worried about the acid eating away at her shoes when Malfoy was covered in the stuff! Guess even the other Slytherins don’t like him.”
None of the other boys had realized Harry was in the room until the griffin he had been playing with shattered violently, shooting shards of colored glass out from the bed. They looked up, startled to see the dark glare Harry was giving them.
“Oh, h-hi, Harry,” Neville stammered nervously. “S-seamus and Dean were just t-telling us what happened in Potions today.”
“Yeah, and the best part is Snape took points from the Slytherins before he sent them to the hospital wing!” Dean added excitedly.
“What part of inter-house unity do you guys not understand?” Harry asked slowly, his voice dangerously low as he slid off the bed and approached his friends.
Seamus looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you pulled a prank, a potentially harmful one, on a classmate. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s a classmate who’s part of the DA!”
“But it’s just Malfoy! He’s a bloody git; he always has been and always will be. Just because he’s decided to teach us a few curses doesn’t mean he’s a good person!”
“He’s risking his life to help us!”
“We’re all willing to risk our lives if it means You-Know-Who will be gone!”
“His name is Voldemort, not You-Know-Who!” Harry was standing practically toe-to-toe with Seamus. “Draco Malfoy gave up everything when he came to our side! And his own father wants him dead because of it! He’s got to watch out for people from his own house turning him over to Voldemort—I think he’s got enough to worry about without having to put up with your childish games! This isn’t about house points; it’s not about Gryffindor versus Slytherin! This is still war, Seamus, and we need to make sure all of our alliances are strong, otherwise everything will fall apart.”
Harry took a deep breath, stepping back and running his hand through his already-unruly hair. “Look, Seamus, Dean, Ron, Neville…you guys, we have to trust each other. The DA needs that teamwork! If there is a battle and the closest DA member to you is Malfoy, you need to have that foundation laid out so that you can work together! This is bigger than petty differences, bigger than school kids bickering, bigger than us. I think you all need to grow up and realize that.” He turned around and walked out of the room, ignoring his friends calling after him.
Leaving Gryffindor Tower, he headed directly for the hospital wing. He assumed that Draco would still be there since the potions incident would have happened during the last class of the day. Once he reached the infirmary, though, he encountered a formidable Madame Pomfrey, who refused to allow him to see Draco.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Potter,” she told him, not sounding apologetic in the least, “but Mr. Malfoy is sleeping now, and he is not to be disturbed. He will be remaining here overnight, along with Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle. You can see them tomorrow morning. Now hurry along, dinner is about to be served in the Great Hall.” She ushered him out with a shooing motion and shut the door firmly behind him.
He grumbled at the closed door and headed towards the Great Hall. Halfway there, he changed course, deciding that he wasn’t actually eager to face his friends just yet. Instead, he headed towards Remus’s private quarters, knowing the werewolf was still recovering from the recent full moon. Remus had given him the password shortly after the start of the term in case Harry wanted to visit when Remus wasn’t well enough to answer the door. He found Remus sitting in front of the fireplace, a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.
“Harry!” Remus sounded genuinely delighted to see him. “I was about to summon Dobby to bring me something to eat; would you care to join me for dinner?”
“I’m not hungry,” Harry said, shaking his head, but his stomach had other ideas and protested loudly, causing them both to laugh. “Well, maybe I am, a little.”
Remus called for Dobby and requested two meals, and when Dobby returned, Harry stopped him before he could leave again.
“Dobby, will you do me a favor?” he asked. “Can you go by the infirmary and check to see if Malfoy’s awake? If he’s asleep, don’t wake him up, but if he’s not, just ask if he needs anything. And let me know if he’s okay?” After Dobby had agreed and Disapparated again, Harry looked up to find Remus grinning at him. “What?”
“Worried about Mr. Malfoy? Professor Snape was here a bit ago and said the students were fine, though apparently the potions classroom is a mess.”
Harry shrugged. “Well, it’s Dean and Seamus’s fault he’s there. Besides, we’ve been getting along pretty well. And Madame Pomfrey won’t let me in to see him.”
“What do you mean, it’s Dean and Seamus’s fault?”
“Well, Dean and Seamus played a prank on Malfoy and slipped something into his cauldron, which is what made it explode. They seem to think they were incredibly brilliant—until I told them off, of course. I mean, we’re supposed to be on the same side!” He repeated what he had told his dorm mates to Remus.
“Harry, they don’t see Draco the same way you do. You know he’s changed, and the two of you have been working together, and in a different environment, than the others. I don’t know how he acts when you have the DA meetings, but in class he’s the same old Malfoy. I don’t know if anyone else realizes it’s an act to protect himself from the other Slytherins, but I doubt they would unless he tells them that.” Remus frowned. “However, that was a rather foolish thing for Dean and Seamus to do, especially since three students ended up in the hospital wing over it. I will have to inform Professor Snape of this, you know.”
“I know.” Harry felt slightly guilty about telling on his friends, but they did deserve some type of punishment.
“How did the DA meeting go Wednesday night?”
“It was okay, I guess. Several members from last year’s DA were able to cast the Patronus, and most everyone had some type of positive result. Neville and Ginny were able to do it, but from the way they were giggling with each other afterward I’m not sure I want to know what their happiest memory was.”
“Neville and Ginny? I thought Ginny had a crush on you?”
“Don’t ask,” Harry ordered with a smile, rolling his eyes.
“Alright,” Remus agreed, laughing. “So all that sounds like it was a rather successful meeting. Why do you think it was only ‘okay?’”
Harry shrugged. “Hermione was in charge of the first years, which is normally Malfoy’s group, and she was completely frazzled by the end of the night. She told me to never talk her into that again, at least not with the first years. She doesn’t have as much patience with them as Malfoy does—she just expects them to know what she’s trying to say. She does make things rather difficult sometimes, like she expects it to come as easily to everyone as it does to her. And then, of course, the first years were upset with having to put up with Hermione and several of them were whining about it. And Malfoy—well, he couldn’t cast the charm and he gave up.” Harry didn’t mention the talk he and Draco had after the meeting was over.
“It just takes time and practice. Hopefully, Severus and I will be able to complete this spell we’ve been working on to deal with the Dementors. Of course, I hope none of you ever need to actually use the Patronus charm, but that’s probably a fool’s hope.”
Harry and Remus talked until past curfew, and Dobby reappeared as Harry was entering the corridor. “Harry Potter, sir, I did what you asks. First Master Draco was sleeping, so I went back a second time and he wrote this for you.” Dobby handed Harry a slip of parchment, bowed good night, and disappeared.
Harry unfurled the parchment as he walked down the hall.
You bloody prat! It’s your bloody worrying-about-other-people-thing rubbing off on me that landed me here! I should have pushed Pansy in front of me instead of shielding her—and she wants me to pay for her bloody shoes! But I think I can sneak you some Dreamless Sleep potion while I’m in here—meet me tomorrow morning after breakfast at the RoR.
Harry laughed and stuffed the note in the pocket of his robes. When he entered the common room, he noticed Hermione and Ron sitting up waiting on him. From the serious looks on their faces, he was in for a lecture.
“Where have you been?” Hermione asked softly. “It’s after curfew.”
Harry considered telling her that it wasn’t her business, since it wasn’t, but instead answered, “I had dinner with Remus, and stayed to talk for a bit. I wasn’t aware I needed to check in with you before I went anywhere.”
“Harry, mate, there’s no need to get shirty with Hermione,” Ron said. “We’re all worried about you, especially after what you said earlier.”
“What I said earlier?” Harry repeated. “I meant everything I said earlier, and I’ll repeat it as many times as I need to until you understand.”
“That’s just it, Harry, we don’t understand. You spend more time with Malfoy than you do with us!” Hermione protested.
“I do not! I’m with you guys all day long, as well as every meal and every evening here in the Common Room, and with Ron during Quidditch practice!”
“And you spend every study session in the Great Hall with Malfoy! If you need help with your work, why aren’t you coming to me? Haven’t I always helped you in the past?”
“Yeah, but you’ve been busy. Malfoy knows what he’s doing, and he helped me with my assignments that week at Grimmauld Place. We work well together. Besides, there’s no reason we can’t all make one study group down there; you two always come in after me. No one’s making you sit on the opposite side of the Great Hall.”
“Harry, you talk about him like he’s your friend!” Ron sounded appalled by the very idea. “What the bloody hell is going on?”
“We’re not friends, we’re just not enemies anymore,” Harry said, repeating something Draco had said on several occasions.
“I just don’t know how you can trust him, after all he’s done to us!”
“How about what we’ve done to him? Ron, we turned him into a slug last year! Our friends botched his potion today and he ended up in the hospital wing over it! I wouldn’t blame him for not trusting us, but he doesn’t have a choice. You do. Be the bigger man, and at least try to make this work, okay? I meant what I said, we need to present a solid front or all our defenses will fall. And Malfoy is part of that defense.” He crossed his arms and looked at both of his friends, daring them to argue with him. “Now, is there anything else, or can I go to bed?”
Ron and Hermione shook their heads, though the look in both of their eyes said the discussion wasn’t over, merely set aside for a later time. After a round of good nights, Harry trudged up the stairs to the darkened dorm room. It was dark, and Dean and Seamus both appeared to be asleep, which suited Harry fine since he really didn’t want to speak to them right then.
“Harry?” came a whisper from the bed he knew to be Neville’s.
“Yeah, Neville?” Harry’s response was gruff, though he tried to cover it since he wasn’t really upset with this friend.
“Do you really want us to stop saying ‘You-Know-Who?’”
“Yes. Calling him You-Know-Who gives him power, makes him think he’s special. It makes everyone think he’s someone to be feared, that he’s more than any of us. But he’s not—he’s a man just like the rest of us. Call him Voldemort, call him Tom Riddle, call him Tommy Boy if you want. Just quit handing him power by calling him You-Know-Who.”
“Oh.” There was a rustle of blankets and a long sigh. “I-I can’t promise, Harry, but I’ll try. And I’ll try to be nice to Malfoy, too.”
“Sometimes that’s all it takes, Nev,” Harry replied, climbing into his own bed. “Good night.”
“’Night,” came the reply, muffled as it was by the bedcovers.
Harry listened to his dorm mates. After five years together, he could tell they were all asleep by the way each was breathing. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to sleep, wondering if Draco knew that the Gryffindors were responsible for what had happened in Potions. He couldn’t believe his friends had done this. Well, he could believe it, but it still made him angry. Someone could have been seriously hurt, and it wasn’t a very effective way to try to bridge the gap between Slytherin and Gryffindor houses. When Harry finally did drift off, he found that he now had a new irrational nightmare to add to his collection: The potions incident gave Draco permanent damage; consequently, Draco decided he had made a mistake by turning to the Order. Strangely enough, Harry was more worried about Draco turning away from him than about him betraying the Order.
Chapter 19
Author: why_me_why_not
Rating: PG, for now at least
Summary: Draco & Harry are thrown together after both face situations that have turned their lives upside down. Will they become friends themselves?
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. I don't own the characters. I just borrow them and let them play around in my head (as long as I get to watch). No copyright infringement or disrespect intended. Please don't sue b/c I have less than nothing.
A/N: links to previous chapters under cut
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
A/N: Here is Chapter 18 (finally--sorry about the wait!)
Special thanks to
lilian_cho for her wonderful beta skills. There may be future changes made to this chapter before I post it on OWL.
Chapter 18
Harry veered off from his friends as soon as they reentered the Great Hall and headed to the table where Malfoy was sitting. Crabbe and Goyle were across from him, and Karissa and three other first years—a Ravenclaw and two Slytherins—were sitting a few feet further down the bench. Draco looked up briefly from the parchment he had in his hand.
“It’s a good thing I’m bloody brilliant or I’d never get any of my own homework done, having to review everyone else’s work,” he grumbled, but there was no real anger behind his words.
Harry pulled his books out of his bag as he sat down. “You mean it’s a good thing we’re all brilliant and only need a review. You should be appreciative of all the house points we’re helping you earn.”
Draco glared at him for a moment before returning to the essay he was reading.
Harry heard shuffling and whispers from the first years and leaned forward to look at them. “What’s up?”
Karissa rolled her eyes and grabbed a piece of parchment from one of the Slytherin boys. “Harry, will you read this over for Ethan? He doesn’t want to ask you himself even though I told him you’re good in Defense.”
“I will,” Harry agreed, taking the proffered parchment, “but only if Ethan asks me himself.” He looked patiently at the younger boy.
“Er, will you please look over my essay?” the boy asked. “I was going to get Draco to do it, but he’s reading hers”--he indicated Karissa with a wave of his hand--“first, like always.”
Harry grinned and shook his head. He wasn’t sure what surprised him more, a Slytherin saying “please” or the fact that Draco was publicly putting Karissa in front of his own housemates, even if it was just a small gesture. He helped Ethan with his essay, then quizzed all four of the first years for the test they had the next day in Herbology. Satisfied that they would all pass, he left them alone to work on their History of Magic essays and pulled out his Transfiguration text.
There were several long minutes where the only sound was the faint scratching of quill on parchment. After the novelty of the study sessions had worn off, the students that continued to come generally settled down to work fairly quickly, and for the most part they remained quiet. It was like studying in the library, except they could communicate without whispering and there was food from the house-elves if they wanted.
Harry got his second surprise of the night about halfway through the session. He was immersed in his book when the silence of their table was broken by Crabbe slamming his own textbook down on the table.
“I’m never going to understand this,” he growled, obviously frustrated.
“Let Potter help you,” Draco said, not even hesitating over the Arithmancy homework he was working on.
“What?” Harry, Crabbe and Goyle asked in unison.
Draco looked up and glanced at each of them before settling on Crabbe. “Let. Potter. Help. You,” he repeated slowly, enunciating each word as if he were talking to a small child. “You’re working on that Charms essay you have to write for failing your test on the Disillusionment Charm, right? Potter’s decent at Charms, he can help you with that. Right, Potter?” He looked at Harry for confirmation.
“Um, yeah, right,” Harry said quickly. “Let me see what you have so far.” After a moment’s pause, Crabbe handed over his parchment, filled with scrawl Harry could barely decipher, and started explaining what he had written so far and what he was still having trouble with.
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Harry was lying on the bed, idly levitating a small glass griffin figurine and enjoying the silence, when his dorm mates entered the room noisily. Seamus was apparently in the middle of telling a story.
“…so Dean slipped it into their cauldron while Lavender was talking to Pansy, and then Malfoy came back just as their potion started to boil over—“
“You should have seen his face! It was priceless!” Dean broke in, laughing.
“Oy, shut up Dean! I’m telling this story!” Seamus elbowed Dean in the ribs with a grin before he looked back at Ron and Neville and continued his tale. “So Malfoy pulls Pansy behind him at the same time their cauldron exploded and it covered Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in green slime! Everyone froze, and it was completely silent for a good thirty seconds, then Pansy started yelling at Draco because it had gotten on her shoes!! She was worried about the acid eating away at her shoes when Malfoy was covered in the stuff! Guess even the other Slytherins don’t like him.”
None of the other boys had realized Harry was in the room until the griffin he had been playing with shattered violently, shooting shards of colored glass out from the bed. They looked up, startled to see the dark glare Harry was giving them.
“Oh, h-hi, Harry,” Neville stammered nervously. “S-seamus and Dean were just t-telling us what happened in Potions today.”
“Yeah, and the best part is Snape took points from the Slytherins before he sent them to the hospital wing!” Dean added excitedly.
“What part of inter-house unity do you guys not understand?” Harry asked slowly, his voice dangerously low as he slid off the bed and approached his friends.
Seamus looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you pulled a prank, a potentially harmful one, on a classmate. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s a classmate who’s part of the DA!”
“But it’s just Malfoy! He’s a bloody git; he always has been and always will be. Just because he’s decided to teach us a few curses doesn’t mean he’s a good person!”
“He’s risking his life to help us!”
“We’re all willing to risk our lives if it means You-Know-Who will be gone!”
“His name is Voldemort, not You-Know-Who!” Harry was standing practically toe-to-toe with Seamus. “Draco Malfoy gave up everything when he came to our side! And his own father wants him dead because of it! He’s got to watch out for people from his own house turning him over to Voldemort—I think he’s got enough to worry about without having to put up with your childish games! This isn’t about house points; it’s not about Gryffindor versus Slytherin! This is still war, Seamus, and we need to make sure all of our alliances are strong, otherwise everything will fall apart.”
Harry took a deep breath, stepping back and running his hand through his already-unruly hair. “Look, Seamus, Dean, Ron, Neville…you guys, we have to trust each other. The DA needs that teamwork! If there is a battle and the closest DA member to you is Malfoy, you need to have that foundation laid out so that you can work together! This is bigger than petty differences, bigger than school kids bickering, bigger than us. I think you all need to grow up and realize that.” He turned around and walked out of the room, ignoring his friends calling after him.
Leaving Gryffindor Tower, he headed directly for the hospital wing. He assumed that Draco would still be there since the potions incident would have happened during the last class of the day. Once he reached the infirmary, though, he encountered a formidable Madame Pomfrey, who refused to allow him to see Draco.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Potter,” she told him, not sounding apologetic in the least, “but Mr. Malfoy is sleeping now, and he is not to be disturbed. He will be remaining here overnight, along with Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle. You can see them tomorrow morning. Now hurry along, dinner is about to be served in the Great Hall.” She ushered him out with a shooing motion and shut the door firmly behind him.
He grumbled at the closed door and headed towards the Great Hall. Halfway there, he changed course, deciding that he wasn’t actually eager to face his friends just yet. Instead, he headed towards Remus’s private quarters, knowing the werewolf was still recovering from the recent full moon. Remus had given him the password shortly after the start of the term in case Harry wanted to visit when Remus wasn’t well enough to answer the door. He found Remus sitting in front of the fireplace, a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.
“Harry!” Remus sounded genuinely delighted to see him. “I was about to summon Dobby to bring me something to eat; would you care to join me for dinner?”
“I’m not hungry,” Harry said, shaking his head, but his stomach had other ideas and protested loudly, causing them both to laugh. “Well, maybe I am, a little.”
Remus called for Dobby and requested two meals, and when Dobby returned, Harry stopped him before he could leave again.
“Dobby, will you do me a favor?” he asked. “Can you go by the infirmary and check to see if Malfoy’s awake? If he’s asleep, don’t wake him up, but if he’s not, just ask if he needs anything. And let me know if he’s okay?” After Dobby had agreed and Disapparated again, Harry looked up to find Remus grinning at him. “What?”
“Worried about Mr. Malfoy? Professor Snape was here a bit ago and said the students were fine, though apparently the potions classroom is a mess.”
Harry shrugged. “Well, it’s Dean and Seamus’s fault he’s there. Besides, we’ve been getting along pretty well. And Madame Pomfrey won’t let me in to see him.”
“What do you mean, it’s Dean and Seamus’s fault?”
“Well, Dean and Seamus played a prank on Malfoy and slipped something into his cauldron, which is what made it explode. They seem to think they were incredibly brilliant—until I told them off, of course. I mean, we’re supposed to be on the same side!” He repeated what he had told his dorm mates to Remus.
“Harry, they don’t see Draco the same way you do. You know he’s changed, and the two of you have been working together, and in a different environment, than the others. I don’t know how he acts when you have the DA meetings, but in class he’s the same old Malfoy. I don’t know if anyone else realizes it’s an act to protect himself from the other Slytherins, but I doubt they would unless he tells them that.” Remus frowned. “However, that was a rather foolish thing for Dean and Seamus to do, especially since three students ended up in the hospital wing over it. I will have to inform Professor Snape of this, you know.”
“I know.” Harry felt slightly guilty about telling on his friends, but they did deserve some type of punishment.
“How did the DA meeting go Wednesday night?”
“It was okay, I guess. Several members from last year’s DA were able to cast the Patronus, and most everyone had some type of positive result. Neville and Ginny were able to do it, but from the way they were giggling with each other afterward I’m not sure I want to know what their happiest memory was.”
“Neville and Ginny? I thought Ginny had a crush on you?”
“Don’t ask,” Harry ordered with a smile, rolling his eyes.
“Alright,” Remus agreed, laughing. “So all that sounds like it was a rather successful meeting. Why do you think it was only ‘okay?’”
Harry shrugged. “Hermione was in charge of the first years, which is normally Malfoy’s group, and she was completely frazzled by the end of the night. She told me to never talk her into that again, at least not with the first years. She doesn’t have as much patience with them as Malfoy does—she just expects them to know what she’s trying to say. She does make things rather difficult sometimes, like she expects it to come as easily to everyone as it does to her. And then, of course, the first years were upset with having to put up with Hermione and several of them were whining about it. And Malfoy—well, he couldn’t cast the charm and he gave up.” Harry didn’t mention the talk he and Draco had after the meeting was over.
“It just takes time and practice. Hopefully, Severus and I will be able to complete this spell we’ve been working on to deal with the Dementors. Of course, I hope none of you ever need to actually use the Patronus charm, but that’s probably a fool’s hope.”
Harry and Remus talked until past curfew, and Dobby reappeared as Harry was entering the corridor. “Harry Potter, sir, I did what you asks. First Master Draco was sleeping, so I went back a second time and he wrote this for you.” Dobby handed Harry a slip of parchment, bowed good night, and disappeared.
Harry unfurled the parchment as he walked down the hall.
You bloody prat! It’s your bloody worrying-about-other-people-thing rubbing off on me that landed me here! I should have pushed Pansy in front of me instead of shielding her—and she wants me to pay for her bloody shoes! But I think I can sneak you some Dreamless Sleep potion while I’m in here—meet me tomorrow morning after breakfast at the RoR.
Harry laughed and stuffed the note in the pocket of his robes. When he entered the common room, he noticed Hermione and Ron sitting up waiting on him. From the serious looks on their faces, he was in for a lecture.
“Where have you been?” Hermione asked softly. “It’s after curfew.”
Harry considered telling her that it wasn’t her business, since it wasn’t, but instead answered, “I had dinner with Remus, and stayed to talk for a bit. I wasn’t aware I needed to check in with you before I went anywhere.”
“Harry, mate, there’s no need to get shirty with Hermione,” Ron said. “We’re all worried about you, especially after what you said earlier.”
“What I said earlier?” Harry repeated. “I meant everything I said earlier, and I’ll repeat it as many times as I need to until you understand.”
“That’s just it, Harry, we don’t understand. You spend more time with Malfoy than you do with us!” Hermione protested.
“I do not! I’m with you guys all day long, as well as every meal and every evening here in the Common Room, and with Ron during Quidditch practice!”
“And you spend every study session in the Great Hall with Malfoy! If you need help with your work, why aren’t you coming to me? Haven’t I always helped you in the past?”
“Yeah, but you’ve been busy. Malfoy knows what he’s doing, and he helped me with my assignments that week at Grimmauld Place. We work well together. Besides, there’s no reason we can’t all make one study group down there; you two always come in after me. No one’s making you sit on the opposite side of the Great Hall.”
“Harry, you talk about him like he’s your friend!” Ron sounded appalled by the very idea. “What the bloody hell is going on?”
“We’re not friends, we’re just not enemies anymore,” Harry said, repeating something Draco had said on several occasions.
“I just don’t know how you can trust him, after all he’s done to us!”
“How about what we’ve done to him? Ron, we turned him into a slug last year! Our friends botched his potion today and he ended up in the hospital wing over it! I wouldn’t blame him for not trusting us, but he doesn’t have a choice. You do. Be the bigger man, and at least try to make this work, okay? I meant what I said, we need to present a solid front or all our defenses will fall. And Malfoy is part of that defense.” He crossed his arms and looked at both of his friends, daring them to argue with him. “Now, is there anything else, or can I go to bed?”
Ron and Hermione shook their heads, though the look in both of their eyes said the discussion wasn’t over, merely set aside for a later time. After a round of good nights, Harry trudged up the stairs to the darkened dorm room. It was dark, and Dean and Seamus both appeared to be asleep, which suited Harry fine since he really didn’t want to speak to them right then.
“Harry?” came a whisper from the bed he knew to be Neville’s.
“Yeah, Neville?” Harry’s response was gruff, though he tried to cover it since he wasn’t really upset with this friend.
“Do you really want us to stop saying ‘You-Know-Who?’”
“Yes. Calling him You-Know-Who gives him power, makes him think he’s special. It makes everyone think he’s someone to be feared, that he’s more than any of us. But he’s not—he’s a man just like the rest of us. Call him Voldemort, call him Tom Riddle, call him Tommy Boy if you want. Just quit handing him power by calling him You-Know-Who.”
“Oh.” There was a rustle of blankets and a long sigh. “I-I can’t promise, Harry, but I’ll try. And I’ll try to be nice to Malfoy, too.”
“Sometimes that’s all it takes, Nev,” Harry replied, climbing into his own bed. “Good night.”
“’Night,” came the reply, muffled as it was by the bedcovers.
Harry listened to his dorm mates. After five years together, he could tell they were all asleep by the way each was breathing. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to sleep, wondering if Draco knew that the Gryffindors were responsible for what had happened in Potions. He couldn’t believe his friends had done this. Well, he could believe it, but it still made him angry. Someone could have been seriously hurt, and it wasn’t a very effective way to try to bridge the gap between Slytherin and Gryffindor houses. When Harry finally did drift off, he found that he now had a new irrational nightmare to add to his collection: The potions incident gave Draco permanent damage; consequently, Draco decided he had made a mistake by turning to the Order. Strangely enough, Harry was more worried about Draco turning away from him than about him betraying the Order.
Chapter 19
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I'll have Ch 18 up later tonight or tomorrow
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*****
Additional beta-ing (I missed most of these on my first read):
“You mean it’s a good thing we’re all brilliant and only need
inga review.”Karissa rolled her eyes and grabbed a piece of parchment
awayfrom one of the Slytherin boys.“What?” Harry, Crabbe
, and[and] Goyle asked in unison.“
Oi[Oy], shut up Dean! I’m telling this story!”“Everyone froze[,] and it was completely silent for a good thirty seconds, then ...”
Harry took a deep breath, stepping back and running his hand through his already-unruly hair.
[The section starting from this sentence is better off as a separate paragraph, since it has a different feel and tempo to it.]
Remus had given him the password shortly after the start of the term[--] in case Harry wanted to visit when Remus wasn’t well enough to answer
if Harry knocked[the door].“Severus was here a bit ago and said the students were fine, though apparently the
potions[Potions] classroom is a mess.”[And since when does Remus call Snape Severus? Are they closer in your fanfic?]
“Well, Dean and Seamus played a prank on Malfoy and slipped something into his cauldron, which
is what[then] made it explode.”“
Okay[Alright],” Remus agreed, laughing.[I think "okay" is too colloquial and informal for Remus.]
Harry didn’t mention the talk he and Draco had
hadafter the meeting was over....a new irrational nightmare to add to his collection:
Draco suffering permanent damage from the potions incident and deciding that he had made a mistake by turning to the Order.[The potions incident gave Draco permanent damage; in consequence, Draco decided that he had made a mistake by turning to the Order.]*****
And just something that I need to squee over:
“And Malfoy is part of that defense.” *melt into goo*
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>>>>>“Severus was here a bit ago and said the students were fine, though apparently the potions [Potions] classroom is a mess.”
[And since when does Remus call Snape Severus? Are they closer in your fanfic?]
I'm going with the assumption that since they are working together on the Dementor project they are on a first name / civil basis but I can change it to Snape instead--I need to go back and look at the earlier chapters & see if it was ever established.
>>>>>“Well, Dean and Seamus played a prank on Malfoy and slipped something into his cauldron, which
is what[then] made it explode.”I know that "then" is proper but I hear Harry saying it the way I have it. We don't always use proper grammar when we speak so I don't always use proper grammar when I write dialogue.
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Yeah, I don't remember whether you use "Severus" or "Snape" in earlier chapters. Maybe you can insert Harry's surprise at Remus calling Snape "Severus." Of course, Remus will have his revenge on Harry when Harry starts calling Malfoy "Draco." LOL.
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Random side note on Grammar. Both of these sentences are grammatically correct.
“What?” Harry, Crabbe and Goyle asked in unison.
“What?” Harry, Crabbe, and Goyle asked in unison.
It's pretty much a matter of taste and where you were taught grammar. In America, it is customary to include the comma before "and" whereas in the UK, it's not. Commas can be tricky sometimes - in fact, that specific type of comma is known as an Oxford comma. All that really matters is that your ideas are communicated clearly to the reader, which I feel that this work does not have a problem with.
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>>>>>In America, it is customary to include the comma before "and"
Actually, it depends on what field you are in. In journalism, you do NOT put a comma before "and" in a list--unless if it will be confusing otherwise (e.g. "I have fish and chips, and clam chowder for lunch.") Even then, this can usually be avoided by rewriting the sentence or the order of the list.
I understand that book editing is more lenient in that they stick a comma before "and" if it's a list of long phrases. E.g. "Harry hates Malfoy for his prissy fashion style, his lilting aristocratic drawl, and his suspiciously veela colorings."
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LOL, that's the biggest perk of being a beta ;-)
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>>>>>All that really matters is that your ideas are communicated clearly to the reader, which I feel that this work does not have a problem with.
That made my day!
Yeah, the comma thing can be rather tricky. The way I was taught, I put that extra comma in there. But as long as it's readable I'm fine with it! :)