Catch 22 (Harry/Draco)

Except, Apparently, When They Do

'Murder me, Zabini,' he pleads quietly. 'Please? I'll pay you. Very well. I have lots and lots of money. I could buy you your own country. Possibly your own moon. Who wouldn't want their own moon?'

'Tempting,' Blaise says without looking up. 'Toss in a blowjob and you might have a deal.'

Draco furrows his brow. 'I'm not that desperate.'

'Yet,' Blaise corrects him cheerfully, still shuffling through his bag for a quill. 'We shall see. I am a very patient man.'

'You're a terrible friend,' Draco tells him, and buries his head in his hands.

Blaise smirks, twirling his newly discovered quill between his fingers. Vince and Greg could not have survived in Ancient Runes if their lives depended on it, and are instead suffering through Divination, which requires no brains at all, just enough stamina to withstand the fumes. Blaise, however, for all his insouciance, is surprisingly erudite, and is a good study partner and an even better friend, for he has not mentioned anything to do with Harry Potter or Gryffindors in general since breakfast; in fact, after three failed attempts at conversation concerning Quidditch, he has left Draco to his own devices, a silent but perfectly adequate figure of Moral Support.

'Can anyone translate the ancient curse inscribed in the Björketorp runestone?' Professor Radford is asking the class at large. Surprise, surprise, Draco thinks, rolling his eyes, as Granger's hand is first in the air. 'Yes, Miss Granger?'

"Here, I have hidden the secret of powerful runes, strong runes. The one who breaks this memorial will be eternally tormented by anger," Granger recites verbatim from the text. "Treacherous death will hit him. I foresee perdition."

'Very good, Miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, can anyone tell me...'

"I foresee perdition," Draco mocks under his breath. He is eager to take his frustration out on something, something other than Harry Potter, because that, while preferable, would be at the worst blasphemous and at the least most definitely counterproductive. Harry's bushy little female accomplice, however, supplies Draco with an ideal scapegoat. 'Perdition's been on our doorstep ever since that idiot Dumbledore let Mudbloods into this place.'

Blaise shifts slightly but does not respond. Draco is curious, because Blaise is always quick to jump on the Gryffindor slander bandwagon.

'...which was also used on the Stentoften runestone,' Granger concludes yet another answer, earning another ten points for Gryffindor.

'Yes, let's reward word-for-word citation of the text that requires no creative evaluation at all,' Draco continues in a sour undertone. He balances his chin on his hands as he glares at the bushy head in the front row. 'Wouldn't want to try and progress our minds or anything, it's only a place of learning, after all.'

Blaise snaps his book closed with unnecessary force. 'You know the course content as well as any,' he says coldly, 'so instead of griping about Granger, why don't you save your breath to answer the questions and earn us some points for a change?'

Draco is sure he would be gaping in shock, had Blaise's words not caught him so completely off-guard that he can't even manage to look at his friend, and instead keeps his eyes fixed straight ahead. Not a full moment later there is a great scraping of chairs as Professor Radford dismisses the class, and Draco hears Blaise stand up quickly and sling his bag over his shoulder. Without a word, Blaise departs, leaving Draco in his seat, staring at the blackboard.

What the bloody hell was that about?

Blaise never snaps—certainly not at Draco, anyway. They get along ridiculously well, because Blaise is always friendly and in a good mood and cheers Draco up when Draco's having a bad day, going out of his way to make sure Draco doesn't kill anyone or do something else rash to get himself expelled. Blaise does these things for every Slytherin because Blaise is a good friend, and good friends do not suddenly change their habits and shut out friends in need, especially when they are having such an exceptionally bad day as Draco.