Mere Damnable and Detestable Curiosity DRARRY

Chapter Two

Harry had spent most of the Christmas holidays, when he was almost the only student in the castle, casting small charms on the doors and windows that would let him know when Malfoy returned to the school, and if he went certain specific places. For most of January, Malfoy hadn't left Hogwarts, and Harry had disabled the charms that told him when Malfoy was entering a classroom; they simply rang too frequently. But now one of them had awakened him in the middle of the night, long after curfew. Harry sat up and took a moment of stupid blinking to recognize the buzz in his ears and realize what charm it was.

Malfoy had left the Slytherin common room.

His heartbeat and his breath both quick with excitement, Harry slipped on boots and then slung the Invisibility Cloak over him again. He could almost hear Hermione's voice scolding him for doing so; she didn't think it right to treat one of the Deathly Hallows as if it were only a toy to help Harry sneak around. But it wasn't as though Harry had a better use for it right now.

He sneaked rapidly down the stairs from Gryffindor Tower, all the time listening for the buzz that would tell him Malfoy had crossed out of the school. It didn't come. Malfoy might be pacing the dungeons, or climbing to meet Harry.

Harry tapped his wand against his wrist to recast some of the charms that would let him know if Malfoy entered the classrooms. That would at least cut down on the number of places Harry needed to search for him.

Then he paused and shut his eyes. He would have hit his forehead with his wand, but he was afraid of the sound it would make.

The charms are useful for telling me when he's sneaking out at night, but once I know that, I don't have to rely on them alone.

"Point Me," Harry whispered, and his wand spun around and then pointed straight down the corridor. Malfoy wasn't above him, at least. Harry hurried towards the edge of the staircase and started to take the first step, reminding himself that the third stair down was a trick one that would suddenly grow slippery beneath any unwary foot.

And then he saw a flash of pale hair in front of him, and barely pulled back against the wall in time. Malfoy strode past him, his lips set in a thin line, never looking to left or right. If he had, Harry had to concede, he might have seen Harry's trainer poking out from under the Cloak again. Not even one of the Deathly Hallows could do anything about the inconvenient growth spurt that had come over him lately.

Harry waited until Malfoy was most of the corridor ahead before he followed him. The last thing he wanted now was to give himself away with a clumsy scuffle or too-loud gasping.

Malfoy still didn't look around as he walked, though, and his jaw was set so sternly that Harry decided he must be lost in his own thoughts. He continued making his way up, up, and up, and Harry wondered if he was going to Gryffindor Tower to plant some prank. That would at least be more normal behavior than what Harry had seen from him so far.

He'd tried, but he couldn't forget the look on Malfoy's face the day he'd received, and shattered, the mirror. It was burned into his memory, so strongly that he couldn't even resent Malfoy costing him the money Harry had paid for the gift. No one reacted like that to a present unless something was seriously wrong.

What could it be, though? Harry was beginning to think he'd never satisfy his curiosity about what Draco Malfoy was doing this year, short of another confrontation on top of a tower whilst Malfoy tried to assassinate a professor.

Malfoy at last slipped into the Owlery. Harry waited before he went through after him, both because he needed to catch his breath and because he was dealing with the disappointment settling in his chest like a lead weight.