White Lies (9/?)
Title: White Lies (9/?)
Author: Cassis Luna
Rating: PG-13 for now
Warnings: ignores DH, EWE, AU, adult themes, profanity
Chapter Word Count: 4937
Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. No money is being made out of this.
Note: I got the idea about the Restoration Potion from the Troyjeinen Potion found here, so that's not mine either.
Summary: Eight year. Draco drinks a potion that makes him know if a person is lying, and Harry, apparently at fault that Draco is this way, is forced to 'help' him throughout the effects of the potion. For the first time, they deal with each other with no lies to hide behind.
Alternate Summary: In which Draco's a Potions experiment gone bad, Hogwarts wants to eat Harry (oh, but does it really?), and everyone thinks they're shagging each other. (Yes, even the house-elves.)
CHAPTER 9
More than Meets the Eyes
"Someone wants to kill me," Harry muttered morosely, burying his face in his hands and groaning. "Someone in Hogwarts."
Suddenly, he gave a short, dry laugh against his palms.
Well, that wasn't really anything new, was it?
"No," Remus said sharply, and Harry snapped his head up, startled at the man's tone. "Not kill you," Remus continued, softer this time and not looking away from the boy he'd thought of as a son for the last five years, when Harry first came to him and bravely asked him to teach him the Patronus Charm at age thirteen. "Trap you, perhaps."
Harry nodded, swallowing. "They want something."
Remus shook his head slowly, hesitantly. "We're not sure. I've…" he paused, eyes flicking to the other side of the room where Madame Pomfrey continued unnecessarily fussing over Draco, who was looking more sulky by the minute. "I've told Madame Pomfrey, because she's one of the people who are working on those safety rooms. You're not the only who's falling through them, apparently," he said, pressing his lips together thinly.
Harry nodded again, only mildly surprised. Ever since the school year started, students meeting minor accidents with the 'new' Hogwarts weren't unusual. It was the same with students accidentally slipping through a few steps down whenever the staircases would move. After all, it was Hogwarts.
"When did this start?" Remus asked.
Harry thought real hard about this, remembering the first time. It hadn't been such a big deal really, so he didn't give the event much importance. He just tripped and fell through a broom closet. Alohomora-ing it was easy enough. Admittedly, there was a big chance that it could have just been a result of his two left feet. "Last week," he said. "Exactly last week. I remember it being a Saturday. We had Quidditch practice and I stayed behind for some more flying. Well, that could have just been an accident," he muttered, flushing.
"Or not," Remus said seriously.
Harry didn't know what to say to that. He simply nodded slowly and asked one of his own questions. "Who else have been falling through them?"
At this, Remus paused again. Finally, he let out, "Neville Longbottom."
Harry blinked hard. "Neville?"
Remus nodded.
"See, maybe we're just taking this too seriously, Remus," Harry started, eyebrows knit together. His head was starting to hurt. "They all seem like coincidences to me. I mean, everyone's been getting into some small accident with all the new stuff in Hogwarts."
"That's why you didn't tell anyone sooner then?" Remus raised an eyebrow, almost accusingly.
Harry flushed. "Well, the first time I tried to, Ron and Hermione laughed at me," he muttered defensively. "Though it really did sound mental at the time. I came to you next, of course."
And Remus, despite knowing that he really should be giving Harry a good scolding right about now, suddenly felt warm at the boy's declaration that Remus was one of the first people that he trusted to share this to. He told himself to be more like James. What would James do?
…Probably something embarrassing like ruffling Harry's hair and hugging him enthusiastically.
Let's not even talk about what Sirius would do.
Lily. Right, Lily.
"Harry, you do know that you have this bad habit of keeping important things to yourself, don't you?" he said with a sigh.
Harry found that he liked the infirmary floor. It was… clean.
"I hate to say this, Harry," Remus murmured softly. "But there are still Death Eaters on the loose. You're not… safe…"
Harry gave a small snort. "Will I ever be?" he muttered, sounding bitter and tired. This was his last year of Hogwarts. He wanted to spend it with friends and butterbeer. Couldn't he have one year free from madmen after his head?
Remus felt his heart tighten painfully at Harry's tone. "I don't know."
Nodding, Harry gave Remus a reassuring smile. The man had more important things to worry about, and here he was, worrying about Harry. "I'll be more careful."
"I haven't told anyone yet," Remus replied, looking pained. "Harry, I'll be leaving tomorrow. I'll be back within the week, but -"
"It's okay, Remus," Harry said softly, smiling in a way that he hoped was reassuring once again. "I'll be fine."
Remus paused at that, but then nodded quite stiffly. "I'll tell Professor McGonagall before I leave," he murmured instead. "And Severus."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but Remus cut him off quickly with a small, amused smile. "Severus cares about you more than you think," he said, almost wistfully.
Harry didn't know what to reply to that.
"I'm rather envious," Remus continued, looking thoughtful. Harry blinked, cocking his head in confusion and was about to ask when Remus suddenly stood up. "I'm sorry, Harry, I wish I had more time. I have to get the Wolfsbane Potion from Severus."
He motioned for Harry to follow him, and together, they walked towards Madame Pomfrey and Draco. As soon as they neared, Madame Pomfrey put her wand down even though she was in the middle of a spell. Draco glowered.
Remus nodded his head at her. "I'll be off now, Madame Pomfrey."
Madame Pomfrey nodded back, before slowly glancing at Harry with a meaningful look. At that, Remus' eyes widened as he realized one important detail. He looked worried again.
Harry blinked at his elders. "What?"
"I'll be leaving tomorrow," Remus said regretfully, looking at Madame Pomfrey. He didn't pay mind to Draco's presence; the boy already knew everything about Remus' condition after fighting together in the war. "We need someone -"
Harry realized what they were talking about. He cut in, only slightly irritably. "I'll be fine, Remus. I don't need a babysitter."
Remus looked at him, unfazed. "Harry, you don't know how big this is," he said softly, before pausing.
There were so many new changes to Hogwarts, and so many more were planned. So many, that the Patching Team had to be divided into smaller teams. They've held meetings prior to the reconstruction about what needed to be done and who will be doing it, but it was still the testing period. Spells to be casted on the castle weren't specifically said or listed; they were up to the person casting them. Most spells were done by trial and error, to see if they were effective and efficient.
The Patching Team was given free reign.
That was one of the reasons why the Patching Team now only consisted of the faculty of Hogwarts, plus a few extra people that could be counted with two hands. A few extra people that could be trusted.
If one of those people…
Remus looked at Harry seriously, worryingly. "How dangerous."
It was because of his expression that had Harry shutting up whatever protest he was planning on saying. Remus shouldn't be worrying about him, Harry realized. He should be worrying more about himself.
"Alright," Harry said quietly.
"I'll make sure he won't get into trouble, Professor," came the self-satisfied quip in front of them.
Harry's expression transformed into a mixture of surprise and confoundment. "Draco, do you -"
"That's an excellent idea, Mr. Malfoy," Madame Pomfrey said appraisingly. She looked at Remus. "Mr. Potter is already tasked by Professor Snape to watch over Mr. Malfoy after all. It won't make much difference, and I can make preparations for Mr. Potter to sleep here in the infirmary."
Harry looked dismayed. As if he hadn't spent enough time in the infirmary already for the past seven years. He turned towards Remus for some sort of saving but wasn't really surprised when he saw his professor nodding in agreement.
Remus gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Harry, but it's for the best. It's not that I don't trust you to take care of yourself. I do, really. You know that." Then, his smile turned wry. "Would you please do this for me anyway? Just to keep me at ease."
Harry stared at him incredulously. That was unfair and Remus knew it. He sighed in defeat. "Alright."
Three triumphant faces were his reply.
-
After Remus left and Madame Pomfrey instructed the house-elves to bring in Harry's things from the Gryffindor Tower, Harry lay back on the bed beside Draco's, both already in their pyjamas. He gave the other boy a raised eyebrow. "Do you even know what you've got yourself into?"
"Not really," Draco said nonchalantly with a careless shrug. Then he smirked. "But it's all about keeping the Golden Boy safe, right?"
Well, this was funny. For six years, he dedicated himself to making Harry Potter's life a living hell in more ways than one, and now he's committing himself to keeping the boy safe. (Of course, he had already done so ever since he and his mother switched sides and he didn't have to listen to his father anymore but it was still different saying it out loud.) From what, he didn't even know yet. This was suspiciously -
"How very Gryffindor of you," Harry replied, smirking back.
And Draco realized suddenly, with profound horror, that he was right. He sighed dramatically. "We must all make sacrifices for the greater good, I suppose," he said dryly.
Immediately, Harry sobered up. If Remus was right and this was all some very elaborate plan that Death Eaters came up with to exact revenge on Harry Potter, then Draco might as well have signed himself up for suicide. The thought made Harry's stomach churn.
He sat up and looked at Draco with furrowed eyebrows. "Don't."
Draco was surprised at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Don't what?"
"Don't… do that," Harry mumbled, shrugging. "Don't make sacrifices. I hate it when people do that," he said, frustrated, lips pressing together and eyes on the floor as he remembered the war and Sirius and Dumbledore.
And everyone else who should still be alive.
"I'm not… someone who…"
Draco sighed, deliberately cutting him off and getting his attention. "You Gryffindors are such idiots," he muttered to himself. He raised an eyebrow at him and regarded him seriously. "You'd do the same, wouldn't you? For others?"
For me? Draco thought but didn't want to voice it. He already knew the answer. And it hurt.
"Of course!" Harry answered immediately, as if he was surprised that Draco would even ask that.
"There you go, Potter," Draco said matter-of-factly, waving a hand and rolling his eyes. "Now stop worrying about small details. It'll give you wrinkles."
He rolled over on the bed, his back to Harry, and pulled the covers over him. His heart suddenly felt very heavy. "Good night, Potter," he drawled. "And don't go sneaking out the infirmary. I'll hex you."
And he forced himself to sleep, not even remembering to ask Harry just what he and Lupin had been talking about.
-
"You'd do the same, wouldn't you? For others?"
"Of course!" Harry answered immediately, decisively, thinking of Ron and Hermione and the Weasleys and Neville and Luna and Remus and the Order and Draco. As if Draco needed to ask that.
"There you go, Potter," Draco said.
Harry's expression contorted into confusion. They were back to 'Potter' now?
"Now stop worrying about small details. It'll give you wrinkles," Draco continued with a roll of his eyes before turning over in his bed and getting ready to sleep. "Good night, Potter, and don't go sneaking out the infirmary. I'll hex you."
"I wasn't going anywhere," Harry mumbled defensively, glaring at Draco's back. He stared at it perhaps a little longer than he should have, suddenly feeling like he said something wrong.
Hermione told him once that he could be either really impulsive or really dense.
Or maybe it was just his imagination.
"Good night," he said softly, before snuggling in under the covers as well and closing his eyes.
-
Sleep hadn't been very kind to him, really.
As a child, he used to dream of things under his bed in the cupboard after Dudley told him that a Bogeyman lived under his bed and was going to eat him in his sleep. Then he arrived in Hogwarts and his dreams became filled with chocolate frogs and flying, at least until fourth year when Cedric died.
It was his fifth year that Voldemort started to infiltrate his dreams.
That was over and done with. Voldemort was gone.
But the dreams came by to visit now and then.
It wasn't anything overly dramatic, really. All of them had those kinds of dreams. Harry just accepted it as some sort of post-traumatic thing that he'd outgrow in a few months or so. After all, only five months had passed since that day his title got promoted from The Boy Who Lived to The Boy Who Lived Twice.
That was why his inability to sleep because of those damned safety rooms had been both a nuisance and a blessing. (More of a nuisance, really.) And that was also why he was surprised that he had slept peacefully yesterday, when he had slept with Draco.
-
Harry cracked open his eyes with a small, muffled groan against his pillow.
Cupboards. And Bogeymen that lacked noses.
He knew that he needed to get over a lot of things, but he at least thought that he was done with those.
He rubbed at his eyes, ignoring their complaint at their rest being cut short very abruptly. He wasn't really feeling up to going back to sleep, even though a quick Tempus told him that it was only half past midnight. He rested tense muscles against the bed instead, thinking back to his dream.
It was probably because of those 'safety rooms' thing. Ever since Remus told him about what falling through them might mean, he'd been coming up with all sorts of elaborate ideas that the enemy (considering it was an enemy) wanted to do to him.
Kill him, obviously. Or Crucio him. He had also thought about being turned into a toad.
Then there was one thing that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
If the safety rooms were activated manually, as with a swish of the wand, then whoever was trying to trap Harry … they should have been following him those nights that he fell through them.
Just the very thought of it made Harry's fingers go cold.
There was also the possibility that the safety rooms were timed to activate.
But then there had been times when Harry had been stuck in them for hours. Surely, if someone wanted to get him, they wouldn't have waited for morning, after they had drunk their morning cup of tea?
It just didn't add right.
A part of him wanted to believe that these were all just coincidences. Just magical accidents that resulted from the reconstruction of Hogwarts.
He told himself to expect the worse anyway.
With his nerves already on end, the sound of the door creaking open had him sitting upright and grabbing for his wand, a Stupefy on his lips -
"I-it's just me," a voice whispered into the darkness.
Harry breathed a loud sigh of relief. "Neville? Is that you?"
Neville echoed his sigh. "Yeah. Harry, that's you, right?"
Harry nodded but then remembered that Neville probably couldn't see him. "Lumos," he whispered.
Neville hurried to the light that led him to Harry's bedside. His eyes flickered to the bed beside Harry's, where Draco was sleeping soundly. A surprised look came over his face. "You've been sleeping in the infirmary?"
Well, technically, this was the first time he was sleeping in the infirmary officially. Yesterday didn't count, but he didn't want to say any of that to Neville lest he get any more wrong implications. "Yeah," Harry muttered, shrugging. "It's kind of complicated. Neville, what are you doing here?"
Neville put aside all questions about the infirmary and Malfoy, as he was just reminded of his purpose. He lifted his left hand to motion to his right, which just hanged at his side. "I kind of broke my wrist," he said, looking nervous and sheepish. "You know how I am. I'll probably make all my bones disappear if I try to Episkey it, and I didn't think that Hermione would be awake if I went up the Gryffindor Tower."
Harry didn't need to ask why Neville needed Hermione. You didn't really trust Ron, Seamus or Dean to fix broken bones for you. They were a funny lot, the eight year Gryffindor boys. Couldn't spell a good Episkey if their life depended on it. (Well, Dean could probably do a decent job…)
"What happened?" Harry asked, still whispering so that Draco wouldn't wake.
Neville looked embarrassed. "Well, I kind of - well, fell-"
Harry's eyebrows rose. "Through the floor?'
Neville paused, and blinked at him. "Through a wall, actually."
Harry's heart thudded in his chest. What if these were really just coincidences? "How many times has this happened to you?"
"Twice," Neville replied, shrugging. "Morgan calls them safety rooms. You know, just in case there was an emergency. They're really sloppy though. They end up opening right away after I fall through them," he said with a bit of a chuckle. "Not very safe, are they?"
Harry's heart did a somersault before plummeting at the bottom of his feet. "Opening right away?" he repeated meekly, voice squeaking.
Neville nodded. He looked sheepish again. "It's embarrassing, I know -"
"No, it's okay," Harry quickly assured him by shaking his head, just in case Neville started self-pitying himself again. He searched for another topic to give him time to gather his wits. "You - uh, you're going to have to knock on Madame Pomfrey's portrait," he said lamely, the words rushing out.
Neville suddenly looked uncertain. "Oh, I'd feel bad for waking her up just for a broken wrist…"
"Well, will you be able to sleep with that?" Harry asked, motioning towards Neville's limp wrist.
Neville looked at him hopefully. "Could you…?"
Harry immediately backed up on the bed, shaking his head and staring at the other boy incredulously. "Neville, I'd probably Vanish your wrist!"
Neville was unperturbed. "I don't think so, Harry. You and Dean are the only ones among us who can do a decent Episkey."
"You know I've never Episkey-ed broken bones," Harry replied, giving him a pointed look.
"Well, it's a good time to try, isn't it?" Neville said lightly. He glanced at the portrait of Madame Pomfrey's quarters. "I'd really feel bad waking her up just for a broken wrist. I mean, I suppose it'd be alright if I had a broken wrist and got hit by a, err, Furnunculus or something, but simply a broken wrist just sounds…"
"Normal and really lame," Harry said, sighing as he empathized. After seven years in Hogwarts, you end up seeing all sorts of jinxes that a broken bone suddenly seemed like a very minor thing. Harry knew this very well. After all, Merlin knows how many times he'd been sent in the infirmary. "Alright, Neville, but no hard feelings if your wrist suddenly finds its way into Durmstrang."
Neville smiled at him gratefully, albeit a bit anxiously. "No hard feelings, Harry."
Before he lost his nerve, Harry quickly drew up his wand and flicked it at Neville's wrist. "Episkey!"
With a crack and a surprised yelp from Neville, his wrist aligned itself into place.
"Knew you could do it, Harry," Neville said. Or, at least, that's what Harry thought he said because he couldn't really make much of Neville's words as he wheezed it out.
"No bones missing?" Harry asked hesitatingly.
Neville shook his head. His face looked a bit purple, but Harry told himself that it was just the moonlight… or something.
"Uhm, so," Harry started, still looking nervously at Neville's wrist just in case it suddenly imploded. "Where did you fall anyway?"
"Fourth floor corridor," Neville said distractedly. His attention was towards his wrist which he tried to move slightly. He cringed as it did so.
Harry could almost feel his pain. "You better get some ice for that."
Neville nodded, before giving Harry a grateful smile. "Thanks, Harry."
Harry smiled back.
"You know, I'm not going to ask about you and Malfoy," Neville continued conversationally, glancing at Malfoy's still sleeping form. "But he's good for you," he admitted, chuckling. "I never thought I'd say that, and I'm not really surehow he's good for you, but ever since you two got together, we've been getting the old Harry back."
Harry was taken aback and a little bit confused by that sudden declaration. "Old Harry? What do you mean?" Also, more importantly - "And Neville, Draco and I aren't really -"
Draco suddenly shifted in his sleep, turning over so that he was lying on his back. Harry and Neville both froze, staring at Draco's sleeping face but his eyes remained close.
They both let out identical sighs of relief.
"The old Harry," Neville continued, shrugging. "You know. Before this whole Voldemort thing started."
It was ridiculous, but Harry's heart still swelled with pride every time Neville uttered Voldemort's name without stuttering or reluctance.
"Well, you didn't really change, but it was like something was holding you back," Neville said, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to put his thoughts into words. "You kind of let go when you're with Malfoy. Well, I'm not really sure when it started, or maybe I'm just listening to Seamus too much, but it's kind of hard not to notice after seeing you a bit down these past few months."
Harry stared at him.
"Oh, no, don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm upset that you can share your feelings with Malfoy than with us. Just glad to see you back, Harry," Neville finished, grinning.
And Harry stared some more. And flushed. Then, when he was done with that, he thanked Merlin that Draco was asleep. Oh, if Draco could hear Neville now. He'd probably snicker and make some more poncey jokes about sharing feelings.
…Okay, so that would be funny.
…Oh, Merlin, he's really getting into this whole joking about shagging-each-other thing now, wasn't he? It was just that it really was admittedly funny and even though Harry had agonized about it at first, there was no stress included because Draco had always made it easy -
Oh. Oh. Well.
He now understood what Neville's been saying and what Luna had told him yesterday.
"Uhm, thanks, Neville, I guess," Harry said lamely, still a bit pink in the face.
Neville grinned at him brightly.
And after Harry had gotten over his sudden epiphany, which took him about two seconds, he grinned back.
"Glad to be back."
He still had a lot of things to think about, like the safety rooms (And Draco, his brain unhelpfully supplied, which he did not listen to.) but after this talk with Neville, Harry found that unlike half an hour ago, he felt that he could finally get back to sleep.
-
"You two had a fight?" Ron said the next morning, or at least, Harry thought he did because Ron's mouth was currently full of breakfast.
"Who?" he asked idly, scooping his pudding and pretending that Ron was not asking about Draco Malfoy.
Beside him, Hermione rolled her eyes but her nose remained in her book.
Ron followed his girlfriend's suit and rolled his eyes as well. He gave one big swallow. "You know," he said, motioning with his head not indiscreetly towards the Slytherin table.
Harry sighed and gave Ron a raised eyebrow. "The two of us went inside the Great Hall together, didn't we?"
Ron shrugged. "He's been pointedly ignoring you ever since you came in," he said, reaching for Hermione's pudding. "The Hufflepuffs are panicking. Penny Coulby actually burst into tears when Malfoy didn't so much as look at you five minutes after entering. Tears, Harry!"
Harry gawked at him.
"I'm not lying," Ron persisted. "She's in the bathroom right now, bawling her eyes out."
Harry gawked some more. "Ron, since when have you been worried if Draco and I are fighting? We've always fought. Uhm. Remember?"
"Since you two stopped," Ron muttered, at the same time Hermione closed her book with a loud snap.
"So you two are fighting then?" she asked with one mighty eyebrow raised.
Harry shrank from it. "No," he said, more strongly than he would have liked.
Hermione's eyebrow remained lifted until Ron started snickering through a mouthful of pudding.
Harry's shoulders slumped. "I don't know," he muttered, abusing his own pudding with his spoon. "He's been like that since morning. I'm not even sure why he waited for me to get dressed so that we could go here together," he said, frustrated.
"Did you say anything to him yesterday?" Hermione asked, glancing at Draco at the other side of the room from the corner of her eyes.
"I… I don't think so?" Harry said, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I'm not really sure, 'Mione," he sighed out dejectedly.
Hermione gave his shoulder a sympathetic pat.
"He's probably just being a drama queen again," Ron said with a shrug. "You know him."
Hermione rolled her eyes again but didn't reprimand him. Then, as if just remembering something, she gave a start and turned to Harry again. "Oh, Harry, Remus left you a message when we met up with him in the Gryffindor Tower earlier this morning."
Harry's nose scrunched up in confusion. "Remus' still here? Isn't the…" he trailed off, knowing that the other two got the hint, even though everyone already knew of Remus' condition.
The full moon was tomorrow.
"No," Hermione said, shaking her head. "He was about to leave when he talked to us, said you were still sleeping."
"Alright, what did he say?"
"He wants you to keep the Marauder's Map with you at all times," Hermione said slowly, making sure that Harry did not miss her suspicious and accusing stare. Even Ron stopped eating to look at Harry. "Is there something we should know, Harry?"
But Harry's attention wasn't directed at her. His eyes were wide in shock, and he marveled at his stupidity. The Marauder's Map! Of course! Why didn't he think about it sooner?
In theory, if the safety rooms really were activated manually or at least timed, then whoever did it would have to follow Harry around to activate it.
He just needed the Marauder's Map in the safety room with him.
At least then he could finally confirm if this whole thing was just messed up coincidences.
He leaped up from his seat suddenly excited and nervous at the same time. He grinned reassuringly at Ron and Hermione who stared at him with wide eyes from surprise at his sudden movement. "I'll tell you everything when I get back," he said, and made to leave when he remembered one important detail.
He glanced at the Slytherin table, where Draco was in deep conversation with an outraged Pansy.
"Err, keep an eye on Draco. Make sure he doesn't keel over or something."
And he was off, walking briskly out of the Great Hall with sweaty palms.
-
He raced out into the Entrance Hall and up the stairs, running through the first and second floors.
In retrospect, he probably should have expected that something were to happen again - Remus did tell him to be more careful - but he still found himself emitting a very unmanly noise as the floor underneath him suddenly opened up with a swift grinding noise and swallowed him whole. By the time he managed to grab his wand from his pocket, he was already half-way down what seemed like a pipe slide.
With wind in his ears and prickling his eyes from beneath his glasses, he shouted a frantic "Lumos!" but it did not do much. Harry looked up and down, but only saw darkness from both sides. This reminded him very much of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and he desperately wished that this would not lead him there.
Finally, the pipe line made him swerve suddenly, and he tensed as he saw light. He fumbled with his wand and quickly cast a Cushioning Charm just as soon as the pipe line ended, spat him out from the ceiling of a room, and shoved him quite ungainly against a cobbled floor.
Harry groaned, cursing and grumbling about half-assed Cushioning Charms. His ankle was broken again, since he was shoved feet first to the ground. Other than that, the rest of his body didn't receive much impact because of the charm. His glasses were broken too, but that could easily be Reparo-ed. Bits of glass stuck to his skin and he winced as he moved his head and weakly raised an arm to remove his glasses.
He lay face-up, eyes still closed and trying to regain his breathing and steady heartbeat. Harry sighed exasperatedly, rubbing his temples.
Well, this was turning out to be a grand day.
And breakfast wasn't even done yet!
After getting rid of the bits of glass that threatened to embed themselves to his skin, he opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light.
That ceiling looked familiar…
Suddenly, a cold dread filled him as he realized just where he was. He sat up quickly, the pain in his ankle a dull throb compared to the apprehension that engulfed him as he let his eyes roam around the room, memories of Professor Quirrell and the Mirror of Erised and the Philosopher's Stone and Voldemort filling his head.
He groaned pitifully.
"Damn Hogwarts."
How was he going to get out now?
Chapter 10
Author: Cassis Luna
Rating: PG-13 for now
Warnings: ignores DH, EWE, AU, adult themes, profanity
Chapter Word Count: 4937
Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. No money is being made out of this.
Note: I got the idea about the Restoration Potion from the Troyjeinen Potion found here, so that's not mine either.
Summary: Eight year. Draco drinks a potion that makes him know if a person is lying, and Harry, apparently at fault that Draco is this way, is forced to 'help' him throughout the effects of the potion. For the first time, they deal with each other with no lies to hide behind.
Alternate Summary: In which Draco's a Potions experiment gone bad, Hogwarts wants to eat Harry (oh, but does it really?), and everyone thinks they're shagging each other. (Yes, even the house-elves.)
CHAPTER 9
More than Meets the Eyes
"Someone wants to kill me," Harry muttered morosely, burying his face in his hands and groaning. "Someone in Hogwarts."
Suddenly, he gave a short, dry laugh against his palms.
Well, that wasn't really anything new, was it?
"No," Remus said sharply, and Harry snapped his head up, startled at the man's tone. "Not kill you," Remus continued, softer this time and not looking away from the boy he'd thought of as a son for the last five years, when Harry first came to him and bravely asked him to teach him the Patronus Charm at age thirteen. "Trap you, perhaps."
Harry nodded, swallowing. "They want something."
Remus shook his head slowly, hesitantly. "We're not sure. I've…" he paused, eyes flicking to the other side of the room where Madame Pomfrey continued unnecessarily fussing over Draco, who was looking more sulky by the minute. "I've told Madame Pomfrey, because she's one of the people who are working on those safety rooms. You're not the only who's falling through them, apparently," he said, pressing his lips together thinly.
Harry nodded again, only mildly surprised. Ever since the school year started, students meeting minor accidents with the 'new' Hogwarts weren't unusual. It was the same with students accidentally slipping through a few steps down whenever the staircases would move. After all, it was Hogwarts.
"When did this start?" Remus asked.
Harry thought real hard about this, remembering the first time. It hadn't been such a big deal really, so he didn't give the event much importance. He just tripped and fell through a broom closet. Alohomora-ing it was easy enough. Admittedly, there was a big chance that it could have just been a result of his two left feet. "Last week," he said. "Exactly last week. I remember it being a Saturday. We had Quidditch practice and I stayed behind for some more flying. Well, that could have just been an accident," he muttered, flushing.
"Or not," Remus said seriously.
Harry didn't know what to say to that. He simply nodded slowly and asked one of his own questions. "Who else have been falling through them?"
At this, Remus paused again. Finally, he let out, "Neville Longbottom."
Harry blinked hard. "Neville?"
Remus nodded.
"See, maybe we're just taking this too seriously, Remus," Harry started, eyebrows knit together. His head was starting to hurt. "They all seem like coincidences to me. I mean, everyone's been getting into some small accident with all the new stuff in Hogwarts."
"That's why you didn't tell anyone sooner then?" Remus raised an eyebrow, almost accusingly.
Harry flushed. "Well, the first time I tried to, Ron and Hermione laughed at me," he muttered defensively. "Though it really did sound mental at the time. I came to you next, of course."
And Remus, despite knowing that he really should be giving Harry a good scolding right about now, suddenly felt warm at the boy's declaration that Remus was one of the first people that he trusted to share this to. He told himself to be more like James. What would James do?
…Probably something embarrassing like ruffling Harry's hair and hugging him enthusiastically.
Let's not even talk about what Sirius would do.
Lily. Right, Lily.
"Harry, you do know that you have this bad habit of keeping important things to yourself, don't you?" he said with a sigh.
Harry found that he liked the infirmary floor. It was… clean.
"I hate to say this, Harry," Remus murmured softly. "But there are still Death Eaters on the loose. You're not… safe…"
Harry gave a small snort. "Will I ever be?" he muttered, sounding bitter and tired. This was his last year of Hogwarts. He wanted to spend it with friends and butterbeer. Couldn't he have one year free from madmen after his head?
Remus felt his heart tighten painfully at Harry's tone. "I don't know."
Nodding, Harry gave Remus a reassuring smile. The man had more important things to worry about, and here he was, worrying about Harry. "I'll be more careful."
"I haven't told anyone yet," Remus replied, looking pained. "Harry, I'll be leaving tomorrow. I'll be back within the week, but -"
"It's okay, Remus," Harry said softly, smiling in a way that he hoped was reassuring once again. "I'll be fine."
Remus paused at that, but then nodded quite stiffly. "I'll tell Professor McGonagall before I leave," he murmured instead. "And Severus."
Harry raised an eyebrow, but Remus cut him off quickly with a small, amused smile. "Severus cares about you more than you think," he said, almost wistfully.
Harry didn't know what to reply to that.
"I'm rather envious," Remus continued, looking thoughtful. Harry blinked, cocking his head in confusion and was about to ask when Remus suddenly stood up. "I'm sorry, Harry, I wish I had more time. I have to get the Wolfsbane Potion from Severus."
He motioned for Harry to follow him, and together, they walked towards Madame Pomfrey and Draco. As soon as they neared, Madame Pomfrey put her wand down even though she was in the middle of a spell. Draco glowered.
Remus nodded his head at her. "I'll be off now, Madame Pomfrey."
Madame Pomfrey nodded back, before slowly glancing at Harry with a meaningful look. At that, Remus' eyes widened as he realized one important detail. He looked worried again.
Harry blinked at his elders. "What?"
"I'll be leaving tomorrow," Remus said regretfully, looking at Madame Pomfrey. He didn't pay mind to Draco's presence; the boy already knew everything about Remus' condition after fighting together in the war. "We need someone -"
Harry realized what they were talking about. He cut in, only slightly irritably. "I'll be fine, Remus. I don't need a babysitter."
Remus looked at him, unfazed. "Harry, you don't know how big this is," he said softly, before pausing.
There were so many new changes to Hogwarts, and so many more were planned. So many, that the Patching Team had to be divided into smaller teams. They've held meetings prior to the reconstruction about what needed to be done and who will be doing it, but it was still the testing period. Spells to be casted on the castle weren't specifically said or listed; they were up to the person casting them. Most spells were done by trial and error, to see if they were effective and efficient.
The Patching Team was given free reign.
That was one of the reasons why the Patching Team now only consisted of the faculty of Hogwarts, plus a few extra people that could be counted with two hands. A few extra people that could be trusted.
If one of those people…
Remus looked at Harry seriously, worryingly. "How dangerous."
It was because of his expression that had Harry shutting up whatever protest he was planning on saying. Remus shouldn't be worrying about him, Harry realized. He should be worrying more about himself.
"Alright," Harry said quietly.
"I'll make sure he won't get into trouble, Professor," came the self-satisfied quip in front of them.
Harry's expression transformed into a mixture of surprise and confoundment. "Draco, do you -"
"That's an excellent idea, Mr. Malfoy," Madame Pomfrey said appraisingly. She looked at Remus. "Mr. Potter is already tasked by Professor Snape to watch over Mr. Malfoy after all. It won't make much difference, and I can make preparations for Mr. Potter to sleep here in the infirmary."
Harry looked dismayed. As if he hadn't spent enough time in the infirmary already for the past seven years. He turned towards Remus for some sort of saving but wasn't really surprised when he saw his professor nodding in agreement.
Remus gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Harry, but it's for the best. It's not that I don't trust you to take care of yourself. I do, really. You know that." Then, his smile turned wry. "Would you please do this for me anyway? Just to keep me at ease."
Harry stared at him incredulously. That was unfair and Remus knew it. He sighed in defeat. "Alright."
Three triumphant faces were his reply.
-
After Remus left and Madame Pomfrey instructed the house-elves to bring in Harry's things from the Gryffindor Tower, Harry lay back on the bed beside Draco's, both already in their pyjamas. He gave the other boy a raised eyebrow. "Do you even know what you've got yourself into?"
"Not really," Draco said nonchalantly with a careless shrug. Then he smirked. "But it's all about keeping the Golden Boy safe, right?"
Well, this was funny. For six years, he dedicated himself to making Harry Potter's life a living hell in more ways than one, and now he's committing himself to keeping the boy safe. (Of course, he had already done so ever since he and his mother switched sides and he didn't have to listen to his father anymore but it was still different saying it out loud.) From what, he didn't even know yet. This was suspiciously -
"How very Gryffindor of you," Harry replied, smirking back.
And Draco realized suddenly, with profound horror, that he was right. He sighed dramatically. "We must all make sacrifices for the greater good, I suppose," he said dryly.
Immediately, Harry sobered up. If Remus was right and this was all some very elaborate plan that Death Eaters came up with to exact revenge on Harry Potter, then Draco might as well have signed himself up for suicide. The thought made Harry's stomach churn.
He sat up and looked at Draco with furrowed eyebrows. "Don't."
Draco was surprised at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Don't what?"
"Don't… do that," Harry mumbled, shrugging. "Don't make sacrifices. I hate it when people do that," he said, frustrated, lips pressing together and eyes on the floor as he remembered the war and Sirius and Dumbledore.
And everyone else who should still be alive.
"I'm not… someone who…"
Draco sighed, deliberately cutting him off and getting his attention. "You Gryffindors are such idiots," he muttered to himself. He raised an eyebrow at him and regarded him seriously. "You'd do the same, wouldn't you? For others?"
For me? Draco thought but didn't want to voice it. He already knew the answer. And it hurt.
"Of course!" Harry answered immediately, as if he was surprised that Draco would even ask that.
"There you go, Potter," Draco said matter-of-factly, waving a hand and rolling his eyes. "Now stop worrying about small details. It'll give you wrinkles."
He rolled over on the bed, his back to Harry, and pulled the covers over him. His heart suddenly felt very heavy. "Good night, Potter," he drawled. "And don't go sneaking out the infirmary. I'll hex you."
And he forced himself to sleep, not even remembering to ask Harry just what he and Lupin had been talking about.
-
"You'd do the same, wouldn't you? For others?"
"Of course!" Harry answered immediately, decisively, thinking of Ron and Hermione and the Weasleys and Neville and Luna and Remus and the Order and Draco. As if Draco needed to ask that.
"There you go, Potter," Draco said.
Harry's expression contorted into confusion. They were back to 'Potter' now?
"Now stop worrying about small details. It'll give you wrinkles," Draco continued with a roll of his eyes before turning over in his bed and getting ready to sleep. "Good night, Potter, and don't go sneaking out the infirmary. I'll hex you."
"I wasn't going anywhere," Harry mumbled defensively, glaring at Draco's back. He stared at it perhaps a little longer than he should have, suddenly feeling like he said something wrong.
Hermione told him once that he could be either really impulsive or really dense.
Or maybe it was just his imagination.
"Good night," he said softly, before snuggling in under the covers as well and closing his eyes.
-
Sleep hadn't been very kind to him, really.
As a child, he used to dream of things under his bed in the cupboard after Dudley told him that a Bogeyman lived under his bed and was going to eat him in his sleep. Then he arrived in Hogwarts and his dreams became filled with chocolate frogs and flying, at least until fourth year when Cedric died.
It was his fifth year that Voldemort started to infiltrate his dreams.
That was over and done with. Voldemort was gone.
But the dreams came by to visit now and then.
It wasn't anything overly dramatic, really. All of them had those kinds of dreams. Harry just accepted it as some sort of post-traumatic thing that he'd outgrow in a few months or so. After all, only five months had passed since that day his title got promoted from The Boy Who Lived to The Boy Who Lived Twice.
That was why his inability to sleep because of those damned safety rooms had been both a nuisance and a blessing. (More of a nuisance, really.) And that was also why he was surprised that he had slept peacefully yesterday, when he had slept with Draco.
-
Harry cracked open his eyes with a small, muffled groan against his pillow.
Cupboards. And Bogeymen that lacked noses.
He knew that he needed to get over a lot of things, but he at least thought that he was done with those.
He rubbed at his eyes, ignoring their complaint at their rest being cut short very abruptly. He wasn't really feeling up to going back to sleep, even though a quick Tempus told him that it was only half past midnight. He rested tense muscles against the bed instead, thinking back to his dream.
It was probably because of those 'safety rooms' thing. Ever since Remus told him about what falling through them might mean, he'd been coming up with all sorts of elaborate ideas that the enemy (considering it was an enemy) wanted to do to him.
Kill him, obviously. Or Crucio him. He had also thought about being turned into a toad.
Then there was one thing that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
If the safety rooms were activated manually, as with a swish of the wand, then whoever was trying to trap Harry … they should have been following him those nights that he fell through them.
Just the very thought of it made Harry's fingers go cold.
There was also the possibility that the safety rooms were timed to activate.
But then there had been times when Harry had been stuck in them for hours. Surely, if someone wanted to get him, they wouldn't have waited for morning, after they had drunk their morning cup of tea?
It just didn't add right.
A part of him wanted to believe that these were all just coincidences. Just magical accidents that resulted from the reconstruction of Hogwarts.
He told himself to expect the worse anyway.
With his nerves already on end, the sound of the door creaking open had him sitting upright and grabbing for his wand, a Stupefy on his lips -
"I-it's just me," a voice whispered into the darkness.
Harry breathed a loud sigh of relief. "Neville? Is that you?"
Neville echoed his sigh. "Yeah. Harry, that's you, right?"
Harry nodded but then remembered that Neville probably couldn't see him. "Lumos," he whispered.
Neville hurried to the light that led him to Harry's bedside. His eyes flickered to the bed beside Harry's, where Draco was sleeping soundly. A surprised look came over his face. "You've been sleeping in the infirmary?"
Well, technically, this was the first time he was sleeping in the infirmary officially. Yesterday didn't count, but he didn't want to say any of that to Neville lest he get any more wrong implications. "Yeah," Harry muttered, shrugging. "It's kind of complicated. Neville, what are you doing here?"
Neville put aside all questions about the infirmary and Malfoy, as he was just reminded of his purpose. He lifted his left hand to motion to his right, which just hanged at his side. "I kind of broke my wrist," he said, looking nervous and sheepish. "You know how I am. I'll probably make all my bones disappear if I try to Episkey it, and I didn't think that Hermione would be awake if I went up the Gryffindor Tower."
Harry didn't need to ask why Neville needed Hermione. You didn't really trust Ron, Seamus or Dean to fix broken bones for you. They were a funny lot, the eight year Gryffindor boys. Couldn't spell a good Episkey if their life depended on it. (Well, Dean could probably do a decent job…)
"What happened?" Harry asked, still whispering so that Draco wouldn't wake.
Neville looked embarrassed. "Well, I kind of - well, fell-"
Harry's eyebrows rose. "Through the floor?'
Neville paused, and blinked at him. "Through a wall, actually."
Harry's heart thudded in his chest. What if these were really just coincidences? "How many times has this happened to you?"
"Twice," Neville replied, shrugging. "Morgan calls them safety rooms. You know, just in case there was an emergency. They're really sloppy though. They end up opening right away after I fall through them," he said with a bit of a chuckle. "Not very safe, are they?"
Harry's heart did a somersault before plummeting at the bottom of his feet. "Opening right away?" he repeated meekly, voice squeaking.
Neville nodded. He looked sheepish again. "It's embarrassing, I know -"
"No, it's okay," Harry quickly assured him by shaking his head, just in case Neville started self-pitying himself again. He searched for another topic to give him time to gather his wits. "You - uh, you're going to have to knock on Madame Pomfrey's portrait," he said lamely, the words rushing out.
Neville suddenly looked uncertain. "Oh, I'd feel bad for waking her up just for a broken wrist…"
"Well, will you be able to sleep with that?" Harry asked, motioning towards Neville's limp wrist.
Neville looked at him hopefully. "Could you…?"
Harry immediately backed up on the bed, shaking his head and staring at the other boy incredulously. "Neville, I'd probably Vanish your wrist!"
Neville was unperturbed. "I don't think so, Harry. You and Dean are the only ones among us who can do a decent Episkey."
"You know I've never Episkey-ed broken bones," Harry replied, giving him a pointed look.
"Well, it's a good time to try, isn't it?" Neville said lightly. He glanced at the portrait of Madame Pomfrey's quarters. "I'd really feel bad waking her up just for a broken wrist. I mean, I suppose it'd be alright if I had a broken wrist and got hit by a, err, Furnunculus or something, but simply a broken wrist just sounds…"
"Normal and really lame," Harry said, sighing as he empathized. After seven years in Hogwarts, you end up seeing all sorts of jinxes that a broken bone suddenly seemed like a very minor thing. Harry knew this very well. After all, Merlin knows how many times he'd been sent in the infirmary. "Alright, Neville, but no hard feelings if your wrist suddenly finds its way into Durmstrang."
Neville smiled at him gratefully, albeit a bit anxiously. "No hard feelings, Harry."
Before he lost his nerve, Harry quickly drew up his wand and flicked it at Neville's wrist. "Episkey!"
With a crack and a surprised yelp from Neville, his wrist aligned itself into place.
"Knew you could do it, Harry," Neville said. Or, at least, that's what Harry thought he said because he couldn't really make much of Neville's words as he wheezed it out.
"No bones missing?" Harry asked hesitatingly.
Neville shook his head. His face looked a bit purple, but Harry told himself that it was just the moonlight… or something.
"Uhm, so," Harry started, still looking nervously at Neville's wrist just in case it suddenly imploded. "Where did you fall anyway?"
"Fourth floor corridor," Neville said distractedly. His attention was towards his wrist which he tried to move slightly. He cringed as it did so.
Harry could almost feel his pain. "You better get some ice for that."
Neville nodded, before giving Harry a grateful smile. "Thanks, Harry."
Harry smiled back.
"You know, I'm not going to ask about you and Malfoy," Neville continued conversationally, glancing at Malfoy's still sleeping form. "But he's good for you," he admitted, chuckling. "I never thought I'd say that, and I'm not really surehow he's good for you, but ever since you two got together, we've been getting the old Harry back."
Harry was taken aback and a little bit confused by that sudden declaration. "Old Harry? What do you mean?" Also, more importantly - "And Neville, Draco and I aren't really -"
Draco suddenly shifted in his sleep, turning over so that he was lying on his back. Harry and Neville both froze, staring at Draco's sleeping face but his eyes remained close.
They both let out identical sighs of relief.
"The old Harry," Neville continued, shrugging. "You know. Before this whole Voldemort thing started."
It was ridiculous, but Harry's heart still swelled with pride every time Neville uttered Voldemort's name without stuttering or reluctance.
"Well, you didn't really change, but it was like something was holding you back," Neville said, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to put his thoughts into words. "You kind of let go when you're with Malfoy. Well, I'm not really sure when it started, or maybe I'm just listening to Seamus too much, but it's kind of hard not to notice after seeing you a bit down these past few months."
Harry stared at him.
"Oh, no, don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm upset that you can share your feelings with Malfoy than with us. Just glad to see you back, Harry," Neville finished, grinning.
And Harry stared some more. And flushed. Then, when he was done with that, he thanked Merlin that Draco was asleep. Oh, if Draco could hear Neville now. He'd probably snicker and make some more poncey jokes about sharing feelings.
…Okay, so that would be funny.
…Oh, Merlin, he's really getting into this whole joking about shagging-each-other thing now, wasn't he? It was just that it really was admittedly funny and even though Harry had agonized about it at first, there was no stress included because Draco had always made it easy -
Oh. Oh. Well.
He now understood what Neville's been saying and what Luna had told him yesterday.
"Uhm, thanks, Neville, I guess," Harry said lamely, still a bit pink in the face.
Neville grinned at him brightly.
And after Harry had gotten over his sudden epiphany, which took him about two seconds, he grinned back.
"Glad to be back."
He still had a lot of things to think about, like the safety rooms (And Draco, his brain unhelpfully supplied, which he did not listen to.) but after this talk with Neville, Harry found that unlike half an hour ago, he felt that he could finally get back to sleep.
-
"You two had a fight?" Ron said the next morning, or at least, Harry thought he did because Ron's mouth was currently full of breakfast.
"Who?" he asked idly, scooping his pudding and pretending that Ron was not asking about Draco Malfoy.
Beside him, Hermione rolled her eyes but her nose remained in her book.
Ron followed his girlfriend's suit and rolled his eyes as well. He gave one big swallow. "You know," he said, motioning with his head not indiscreetly towards the Slytherin table.
Harry sighed and gave Ron a raised eyebrow. "The two of us went inside the Great Hall together, didn't we?"
Ron shrugged. "He's been pointedly ignoring you ever since you came in," he said, reaching for Hermione's pudding. "The Hufflepuffs are panicking. Penny Coulby actually burst into tears when Malfoy didn't so much as look at you five minutes after entering. Tears, Harry!"
Harry gawked at him.
"I'm not lying," Ron persisted. "She's in the bathroom right now, bawling her eyes out."
Harry gawked some more. "Ron, since when have you been worried if Draco and I are fighting? We've always fought. Uhm. Remember?"
"Since you two stopped," Ron muttered, at the same time Hermione closed her book with a loud snap.
"So you two are fighting then?" she asked with one mighty eyebrow raised.
Harry shrank from it. "No," he said, more strongly than he would have liked.
Hermione's eyebrow remained lifted until Ron started snickering through a mouthful of pudding.
Harry's shoulders slumped. "I don't know," he muttered, abusing his own pudding with his spoon. "He's been like that since morning. I'm not even sure why he waited for me to get dressed so that we could go here together," he said, frustrated.
"Did you say anything to him yesterday?" Hermione asked, glancing at Draco at the other side of the room from the corner of her eyes.
"I… I don't think so?" Harry said, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "I'm not really sure, 'Mione," he sighed out dejectedly.
Hermione gave his shoulder a sympathetic pat.
"He's probably just being a drama queen again," Ron said with a shrug. "You know him."
Hermione rolled her eyes again but didn't reprimand him. Then, as if just remembering something, she gave a start and turned to Harry again. "Oh, Harry, Remus left you a message when we met up with him in the Gryffindor Tower earlier this morning."
Harry's nose scrunched up in confusion. "Remus' still here? Isn't the…" he trailed off, knowing that the other two got the hint, even though everyone already knew of Remus' condition.
The full moon was tomorrow.
"No," Hermione said, shaking her head. "He was about to leave when he talked to us, said you were still sleeping."
"Alright, what did he say?"
"He wants you to keep the Marauder's Map with you at all times," Hermione said slowly, making sure that Harry did not miss her suspicious and accusing stare. Even Ron stopped eating to look at Harry. "Is there something we should know, Harry?"
But Harry's attention wasn't directed at her. His eyes were wide in shock, and he marveled at his stupidity. The Marauder's Map! Of course! Why didn't he think about it sooner?
In theory, if the safety rooms really were activated manually or at least timed, then whoever did it would have to follow Harry around to activate it.
He just needed the Marauder's Map in the safety room with him.
At least then he could finally confirm if this whole thing was just messed up coincidences.
He leaped up from his seat suddenly excited and nervous at the same time. He grinned reassuringly at Ron and Hermione who stared at him with wide eyes from surprise at his sudden movement. "I'll tell you everything when I get back," he said, and made to leave when he remembered one important detail.
He glanced at the Slytherin table, where Draco was in deep conversation with an outraged Pansy.
"Err, keep an eye on Draco. Make sure he doesn't keel over or something."
And he was off, walking briskly out of the Great Hall with sweaty palms.
-
He raced out into the Entrance Hall and up the stairs, running through the first and second floors.
In retrospect, he probably should have expected that something were to happen again - Remus did tell him to be more careful - but he still found himself emitting a very unmanly noise as the floor underneath him suddenly opened up with a swift grinding noise and swallowed him whole. By the time he managed to grab his wand from his pocket, he was already half-way down what seemed like a pipe slide.
With wind in his ears and prickling his eyes from beneath his glasses, he shouted a frantic "Lumos!" but it did not do much. Harry looked up and down, but only saw darkness from both sides. This reminded him very much of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and he desperately wished that this would not lead him there.
Finally, the pipe line made him swerve suddenly, and he tensed as he saw light. He fumbled with his wand and quickly cast a Cushioning Charm just as soon as the pipe line ended, spat him out from the ceiling of a room, and shoved him quite ungainly against a cobbled floor.
Harry groaned, cursing and grumbling about half-assed Cushioning Charms. His ankle was broken again, since he was shoved feet first to the ground. Other than that, the rest of his body didn't receive much impact because of the charm. His glasses were broken too, but that could easily be Reparo-ed. Bits of glass stuck to his skin and he winced as he moved his head and weakly raised an arm to remove his glasses.
He lay face-up, eyes still closed and trying to regain his breathing and steady heartbeat. Harry sighed exasperatedly, rubbing his temples.
Well, this was turning out to be a grand day.
And breakfast wasn't even done yet!
After getting rid of the bits of glass that threatened to embed themselves to his skin, he opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light.
That ceiling looked familiar…
Suddenly, a cold dread filled him as he realized just where he was. He sat up quickly, the pain in his ankle a dull throb compared to the apprehension that engulfed him as he let his eyes roam around the room, memories of Professor Quirrell and the Mirror of Erised and the Philosopher's Stone and Voldemort filling his head.
He groaned pitifully.
"Damn Hogwarts."
How was he going to get out now?
Chapter 10