“shouldn’t it?”
“no we’re not in the manor anymore you don’t have to keep any more favours for my mother you’ve done your part”
“i’m not doing this for your mother”
“then what are you doing it for? beause you want to be friends with me?” drao ughs, harsh and derisive, and harry tries to stop the hurt from reeping in “it’s suffoating, potter go bother somebody else with your goddamned hero omplex i’m sure there’s a lot who’d love to have your attenn”
it’s not w everything that drao says still stings
harry looks away, unable to look at drao’s sneer anymore, not when he’s gotten so used to his fae without it “yes, malfoy, i do want to be friends with you,” he mutters he takes a deep breath to ease the tightness in his hest “i…thought we already were”
he stands up, ready to flee, ready to lik his wounds “i guess not”
and drao rumples to the floor with a dull thud
when drao omes to, harry’s too tired from the onsught of emons he’s been through for the day to expin why they’re sitting on the floor of the ompartment, legs folded in awkward angles to fit the tight spae, and arms pressed against eah other
“welome bak,” harry says instead “i fixed your fae”
drao’s head is bent gerously lose to harry’s shoulder he doesn’t move it “my fae doesn’t need fixing it’s impeable”
the smile is in harry’s voie “mm-hmm”
minerva mgonagall, now headmistress, welomes all of them after delivering a short but emonal speeh, one that leaves many students dabbing at their eyes with their sleeves, the s and the weloming feast begins csses resume as usual, with the eighth years following the shedule of the seventh years
but muh is different, inluding the unusually quiet atmosphere of the shool, made by the redued student popun and the grim, physial reminders of the war that had ourred in these very halls just months ago
some areas are still bloked for repairs, with the promise that repairs are to be omplete before halloween
the first month is the hardest of all: students have lost their reservans at ambushing them left and right to ask for pitures and autographs he finds that he an’t even rex in the on room without someone sittingto him and asking him how he ‘vanquished the dark lord’ herne’s taken to spending long hours in the library just to be able to study in peae, with a grumble of thetime somebody disturbs me in the on room, i might atually hex their lips off
worst of all, adding to his budding irritan, he an’t even go near drao anymore without being bloked by a doting fan, though, harry thinks, this is probably a good thing drao never really retrated what he had said bak in the hogwarts express, and his words have done a good job in onvining harry to grit his teeth and ignore the urge to atively seek out blond hair and pale skin
but even so, at night, with a sense of guilt gleefully lounging in his stomah, he an’t help but return to old habits:
looking at the marauders’ map
“huh,” herne omments one fine weekend m
“huh?” ron asks, looking up from the hiken pot pie that he had been dev “what’s huh?”
herne’s twirling her quill, and there is an open tome id out beside her half-eaten pte of breakfast ron and harry have tried and failed to get her to stop studying on the breakfast table (“it’s too early for me to look at a book, “ne!”ron had failingly pleaded)
“huh,” herne repeats, pointing with her quill to the other side of the room
ron looks at where she’s pointing, blinks, stares, and then also says, “huh”
harry, who is sitting aross from them and thus faing bakwards from their soure of usity, turns on impulse “what are you guys looking at?”
he sans the great hall, but sees nothing out of the ordinary it’s already te in the m, and so the great hall is not as rowded as it usually is during meals students mill around and groups of friends luster together in hithat and ughter he turns bak to his own friends “i don’t see it”
ron snorts, turning bak to his beloved pie “i’m surprised you’re always the first to see him”
harry’s heeks slowly olour as he realizes who they’re talking about “i haven’t…i mean not tely”
ron rolls his eyes “i see you with the map at night, harry”
“i don’t use it to look for him!” harry defends, blushing fuusly, but he immediately knows that it’s a patheti lie ron and herne’s eyebrows are both raised “not just him”
“bolloks,” ron says “you better start using it on astoria greengrass, too they’re getting awfully touhy”
it’s really taking a lot of self-ontrol not to turn in his seat right now there’s an ahe in his heart, but he’s used to that, so he stubbornly ignores it “well, it’s not any of my business, is it?”
herne smiles at him sympathetially “i guess not”
harry starts looking for astoria greengrass in the marauders’ map
he’s dismayed to find that, over the ourse of thefew weeks, her name and drao’s name are more often than not beside eah other in the slytherin on room
《宅书屋》om
