Together, We Can Soar (A Drarry FanFiction/"Falling" 2 of 3)

Chapter Five

   Unfortunately, girl Number One seemed to have gotten a bee in her bonnet, and wasn't going to make things that easy for them.

"Excuse me Harry?" her sweet voice came from his elbow, and he turned to realise she had crossed the few feet of space between them. Girl Number Two was hovering anxiously at her side, but if she'd attempted to stop her coming over she had obviously failed.

"Yes?" Harry replied coldly, letting go of Draco's shoulders to face her fully. They were both several inches taller than her, however the girl, to her credit, didn't seem to let that faze her.

She smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I was wondering if we could have a quick word," she said, flicking back her wavy brown hair, and indicating the nearest classroom, which looked at a glance to be unoccupied. "In private."

Harry huffed. "I'm sorry," he said, at least attempting to maintain an air of civility. "But we're already late."

The girl shot a fast but still noticeable glower at Draco. "Actually, it was just you I needed a word with," she said breathily, like this was nothing and they talked all the time. "I'm sure whichever professor you have next will understand, you are Harry Potter after all."

If she had been purposefully looking for a button to press, she probably couldn't have picked a worse one than that. Harry felt a cold anger flare through him that he was certain showed plan as day on his face. "I don't expect or need any kind of special treatment, so no, I will not be late to where I'm going, thank you very much."

He made to move, but the girl apparently decided to throw caution to the wind and stepped in his way. "But you are special," she insisted, and Harry guessed she was going to say whatever it was that she had wanted to out there, in the open. He prepared himself for another argument. "You can't avoid that, you're The Chosen One and people pay attention to you." She swept her eyes up and down Draco in a most unflattering manner. "You have to be careful what you do, otherwise people might start getting the wrong impression."

"And what impression would that be?" Harry asked, amazed at the control he'd managed to hold onto with his voice. He was aware that they were earning themselves a crowd, and Draco was all but trembling next to him. He so desperately wanted to put his arm around him, but instead he just inched closer to him, trying to send him support without actually saying anything.

"That you're hanging around with Death Eaters!" blurted Girl Two, throwing her lot in with her friend. "My mum works at the Prophet, and she said someone had sent them a tip you guys were friends or something!"

Both the girls seemed to be under the impression this would shock Harry, but he didn't even flinch. So Girl One carried on. "Look, I'm worried this is our fault, after what we said the other week." She glanced at her friend, who nodded in encouragement. "We...might have been...out of line," she said, but it seemed like it was costing her to get the words out. "And we're sorry about that."

"We are," Girl Two said eagerly.

"But that doesn't mean you have to make up for our mistake," Girl One urged him. "The papers will be looking at you now Harry," she hissed solemnly. "You can't give them any excuse, you know how they like to twist stories – no offense," she added to her mate, as if she was the one being insulted.

"None taken," Girl Two said weightily. "It's true, Harry all they need is a picture of you guys together, and they'll make it seem like you're being corrupted!"

Harry had barely heard the last few words from them both as he'd been counting to ten whilst taking steady breaths. He was absolutely determined not to do something stupid. "You may be too young to appreciate this," he said in clipped tones. "But the Prophet always finds a way to write whatever it wants. Who I chose to be friends with is none of their – or quite frankly your – business."

Girl Number Two swallowed as a flicker of shame crossed over her face, but Number One just seemed to bolster. "We're only looking out for you," she said earnestly. "Your other friends might not know how bad this could get, or maybe they're too scared to tell you the truth."

"The truth?" Harry bit out.

She jutted her chin up and looked him in the eye. "Draco Malfoy is bad for your image. You have loads of friends, why don't you spend time with them?" She all but sneered at Draco still by Harry's side. "He doesn't deserve you."

"I am a grown man who does not need a silly little girl telling me who I can and cannot be friends with," Harry shot at her, finally losing his temper. He then grabbed Draco's arm and shoved by the Ravenclaws, ignoring the onlookers and their open mouths. "I suggest you get over your own arrogance next time and refrain from ever speaking to me again."

"You don't need to drag yourself down because you feel like you're doing him a favour!" the girl fired belligerently to their backs. "Just because he needs a thicker skin doesn't mean you have to burden yourself with this...charity!"