Letters To Harry | Harry Potter

Chapter Fifteen

 "Hey, Ron?" Harry whispered. He was unable to sleep, and thought maybe talking to his best friend would help. "Ron, are you still awake?"

 "Yeah?" Ron replied sleepily. "What is it?"

 "Do you remember when I told you about Declan Malfoy?"

 "The one sending you the letters."

 "Yeah, that's him."

 "What about him?"

 "I talked to him today. For real. You know, we met face-to-face and talked. He was at tryouts for the Hufflepuff quidditch team today, so I went to watch, and then I met up with him again at the library. We...well, we just talked. He told me about himself. After years of Malfoy and his father, it was great to talk to someone in the family who won't insult every chance they get."

 "Right. Well, be careful, though," said Ron. "He's still a Malfoy whatever house he's in. And I'd like to meet him myself, make sure he's all right."

 Ron and Hermione had yet to meet Declan. Harry hadn't thought of that. But he wasn't sure if he and Declan were even friends. Maybe it would be a good idea for his best friends to meet the Hufflepuff boy just yet. He doubted Declan would mind holding off on that.

~~~~~~

 "But I'm not sure if we're actually friends or not," Declan was saying. "That's just it. I want to be friends with him, but he just won't say whether he wants to or not."

 "Then why don't you just ask him?" Rolf suggested.

 It was very late, later than they should have been awake since they had classes the next day, but Declan felt the need to tell Rolf everything about his meeting with Harry in the library, so they sat together in the now-deserted Hufflepuff common room to talk.

 "I couldn't," said Declan. "It was just too awkward. I don't know if he even likes me." Declan sat down in the sofa in defeat. "I ruined it."

 "That doesn't sound like ruining it. It'll probably take more time than that."

 Declan shrugged. "Well, maybe. This is going to sound weird, but I'm just...attracted to him."

 "It doesn't sound weird. I think you just like him is all."

 Declan stared at his friend. He had never told Rolf what he suspected about himself, but now wondered if Rolf had also thought of it.

 "So...you don't think I'm weird?" he asked.

 "No, I don't think you're weird. Even if you were, I don't think I'd mind very much. We'd still be mates, just weird."

 Declan smiled a little. "You sound like you've been spending some time with Luna."

 Rolf nodded. "Yeah. She's actually really great. She's not loony like everyone says; she's just a bit different is all."

 "Of course. Well, I think maybe I should go to bed, think about this in the morning."

 "Good idea," Rolf said, getting up. "It has to be nearly midnight by now."

~~~~~~

 Declan hung around outside the Great Hall, lying in wait for her to come out. He knew she hung around with Draco a lot; she was bound to know something.

 When she came out with a few other Slytherins, he said, "Pansy. Can I talk to you?"

 Pansy Parkinson turned and looked at him.

 "What do you want?" she asked, looking at him with distaste.

 "To ask you something. It's important, for real."

 Pansy rolled her eyes at her friends and said, "Just Draco's silly cousin. I'll catch up with you in a bit." She came over to him and said through gritted teeth, "This better be good."

 "No, it's possibly bad," Declan said. "I need to ask you about Draco."

 "Well, why can't you ask him yourself?"

 "Because he won't tell me anything. But he might tell you. Have you noticed anything different about Draco recently? Maybe since the start of the year?"

 "No," Pansy said without the moment's pause you would think she'd have if she were trying to think of a time Draco seemed off. "Why do you want to know?"

 "Because he could be in trouble. Has he been acting different at all?"

 "Declan, his father is in Azkaban. Of course that would affect him. I know you're not asking me because you care about him, so you'd best keep your big nose out of it."

 Pansy turned on her heel and stormed off towards the Grand Staircase.

 There was Declan's answer. Draco was certainly up to something.

~~~~~~

 It was nearly Christmas, and most of the students were going home for the Christmas break. Declan had packed his things and gone to meet the Hogwarts Express. He saw Harry there, standing not far from him, with that Ron Weasley.

 "Harry." Declan walked over to them. "Going home for Christmas?"

 "Oh. Hi, Declan," Harry said, seeming a bit awkward. "Yeah, staying with some friends, really. Erm, this is Ron Weasley. He's one of my best friends. Ron, this is Declan Malfoy."

 Ron nodded. "Right. Nice to...meet you, I guess."

 Declan nodded back. "Of course. It's been a while, Harry. But I know you've been busy. There is something I wanted to tell you, though."

 Ron seemed to sense that this something Declan waned to discuss with Harry alone. He said, "I'll go save us a compartment. See in a bit."

 "Yeah. Thanks, Ron," Harry said. He turned back to Declan and whispered, "What is it?"

 "A few weeks ago, I talked to Pansy Parkinson," Declan whispered back. "Or at least I tried. She was definitely lying when she said nothing was off with Draco. And I heard what happened to your friend Katie Bell-that certainly sounds like it could have something to do with it."

 "You believe it?"

 Declan nodded. "Yeah, I do. But please, don't worry about it during Christmas. You can do more investigating when we get back. Um...well, Merry Christmas, Harry."

 "Yeah. Merry Christmas. See you after the break."

 Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express with Declan watching him go. He had hoped for a better conversation, but it seemed that would have to wait.