Rivals Not Enemies (Drarry Slowburn)

DEFENDING HOGWARTS

Draco got a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. It caught Harry off guard when he insisted on leaving the classroom to find out what was going on. "I really don't want to . . . but we have to," Draco exhorted.

When Harry asked what he meant, Draco just shook his head in befuddlement, "I don't know, but Felix does." He ran to his blazer and fished the phial of Liquid Luck from the inner pocket.

Draco's voice was serious, "I have a feeling that you'll need it." Held in his grasp, the golden shimmer of Felix Felicis sparkled majestically in the low-lit dungeon.

"I'll be fine," Harry said.

Draco begged Harry to take the phial from him as the castle quaked once more and cries of distress echoed throughout the adjacent corridor.

"I can't!"

"You can, and you will," Draco insisted.

Harry wasn't the biggest fan of how his words had been repurposed and used against him, but it was hard to be upset when Draco spoke with such sincerity, "You have to trust me, Harry." His gray eyes were pleading.

‭"‬I do‭," ‬Harry admitted‭, taking the phial as if he were obligated to. He drank what was left of the potion‭, ‬at the mercy of Draco's intuition‭. ‬

Amid the chaos of panicked shrieks and professors trying to maintain order‭, ‬he wondered to himself about what they might face above ground‭ when they escaped the dungeons.

As they hiked up the staircase, Draco and Harry noticed that the upper levels were veiled in a green tinge. Lattice-covered windows revealed a stormy sky and torrential rainfall, but something more foreboding hovered over the school, just out of view. It seemed to be a manifestation of dread, itself.

"It can't be. . ." Draco said breathlessly, "This looks like a Death Eater's curse. . ."

Thick green clouds blocked out the sun, similar to the ones that rolled in at the time of Dumbledore's murder. What were the odds that something like that could happen again? Harry began to worry about who would fall victim to the Killing Curse this time‭.‬

Considering the worst possible case scenario, Harry asked, "Do you think Death Eaters are trying to take over Hogwarts again?"

Draco was frozen in fear and unresponsive as he stared out the window.

"Think, Draco!" Harry urged, "Is there a chance that any of the people you worked with formed their own coalition?" Draco nodded stiffly in consideration.

"Then we need to get closer," Harry declared. This seemed to snap Draco out of his daze.

"What?" he sputtered.

"To the clouds. . ."

"Oh, yeah," Draco said coolly, "I knew you meant that."

They rushed up several more flights of stairs as anxious students ran past them in the opposite direction. The tremors continued, mere minutes apart from the next. If there really was a Dark Mark in the sky, they would be able to Stupefy any Death Eaters that used it as a portal. They could only hope to find themselves within close proximity to the skull in the sky—within stunning range—before that happened. The higher they climbed, the stronger their hearts pumped with adrenaline and something else akin to dread.

Harry veered onto a seventh floor balcony, scanning the scenery below. The wind was loud, and the rain was near painful. Looking up at the tumultuous sky, Harry asked Draco with a titter, "Still reckon my Animagus is a bird that can fly?"

Draco nodded with certainty, though he seemed unsure of why he was so confident.

Harry turned back to face the darkened sky, "Then I need to jump off this ledge."