(Drarry) Faking My Own Death

Chapter 44: 'I'm Just A Sidekick' by Team StarKid

They went about their afternoon. At dinnertime, Harry was still in a terrible mood and Draco hadn't shown any signs of life.

Fleur had set out a plate for him, and asked Ron and his friends if they knew when Draco was coming down. Ron and Hermione shrugged. Fleur blew some air out of her nose, a sound close to a disappointed huff, intermingled with worry. Meanwhile, Harry simply stared at the table in front of him, leaning back in his chair with his forehead pulled into a deep frown.

Bill ventured upstairs to check on Draco, and when Ron didn't hear a whole heap of yelling he figured Draco at least wasn't regressing back to old Draco. Old Draco, who had seemed to make a reappearance when Draco had angrily stormed off into the rain, was the type to bark at everyone once threatened. Whatever was going on, it had to do with Harry specifically. Great. That didn't make things easier at all.

Reporting his findings downstairs, Bill started preparing a plate for Draco to eat upstairs. "He said he wasn't hungry, but I'll get him some food anyways."

Harry huffed. "If he doesn't want it, why waste it?"

Bill stopped and turned towards Harry. He shot Hermione and Ron a puzzling look. Hermione and Ron both radiated a "don't even get me started" energy.

Bill turned back to what he was doing. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Harry. Everyone deserves food."

"I didn't say that. But if he doesn't want it, why bother?" Harry doubled down.

Bill finished the plate and set it down. He sternly faced Harry, saying: "Because, sometimes people don't mean what they say. Sometimes people push others away for whatever reason their brain comes up with. Sometimes your brain doesn't register what you need. Doesn't mean you don't need food. Doesn't mean Draco can't still get hungry later."

When Bill finished, Harry didn't protest or respond much. Bill went upstairs to deliver the plate returning soon thereafter. As Fleur set down the pots and pans on the table for them to eat, Harry apologized to Bill and kept quiet for the rest of the night.

So.......... Harry definitely wasn't doing okay. Ron knew that much. He also knew this had to do with Draco, although what their fight had been about was still a mystery. For as far as he could tell, the conversation that Draco had opted out of wasn't about anything for Harry to get too angry about. Draco was cooperating and sharing his opinion, although he was open to whatever the trio would decide was best.

Thus, the first part of the whole mystery was why Draco would walk away from their conversation. There wasn't anything controversial or triggering mentioned, and he hadn't seemed upset before. Was he just being difficult? Did he get bothered by not being the centre of attention? Ron couldn't figure the guy out, that's for sure. Hopefully Hermione could find answers there.

The most important thing right now was to ensure that Harry and Draco could work like a team during the heist. They couldn't risk infighting or slip-ups. Ron expected that Harry wouldn't like to talk about the fight with Draco, but at the very least Ron could try to tip him away from being angry and towards being neutral to get through the heist. He didn't have to like Draco, he would just have to tolerate him for a few more days.

This reminded Ron that the three of them hadn't even discussed what they would do with Draco once he'd played his part. In general, Ron wasn't clear on what their plan was following the Heist. He would have to ask later, since talking to Harry about his current mood was top priority.

The next morning, after breakfast, Ron found Harry sitting in a comfortable armchair that he'd dragged over to the window overlooking the beach. He seemed to be sunk deeply into his thoughts.