Never Have I Ever

Chapter 13: Unlucky

Harry sped towards Gryffindor Tower as fast as he could, one hand gripping his wand. Students moved aside hurriedly as he approached them, looking scared. He barely stopped to speak to Neville, who was coming out of the portrait hole as he arrived in front of it, and ran up the stairs to the dormitory. Digging around, Harry threw his invisibility cloak on and hurried back out.

*

Malfoy did not have his wand. They had disarmed him before he had noticed, because he had been watching Harry Potter having breakfast through the doors of the Great Hall. Then one of them cast a Petrificus Totalus charm and now he was pressed again a pillar, seven wands digging into his abdomen.

"So, we just wanted to know what your Soul Mark was", one of the seventh years said breezily, "seeing as everyone's been talking about it. Could you give us a tiny peek?"

Malfoy couldn't even say no if he wanted to, because he was frozen. One of them grabbed hold of his robes, when the taller one called out.

"Hey, look Malfoy, your boyfriend's here. Maybe he'll save you!"

Malfoy glared at Potter as hard as he could, willing the stupid git to go away and avoid a bad situation. He looked momentarily confused, but seemed to get Malfoy's silent message. The group of seventh years laughed as Harry continued walking, leaving Malfoy alone. He was starting to fight the charm, but currently it was only his toes that he could move, and that was hardly useful.

The hall was quiet again, and his robe was pulled off, with some difficulty, seeing as Malfoy was crushed into a corner, stiff as a plank. They did not know where his Soul Mark was, but they weren't far from discovering it either. He tried to struggle, but only managed to vaguely wiggle like a beached merman.

"So where is it then?" a girl asked, attached to the wand that was poking under one of his ribs unpleasantly. Malfoy avoided her gaze and looked hopelessly up at the high stone ceiling.

"Can we just hex him?" the tall boy asked.

"Not yet," the first boy said. "Just find the tattoo."

A pair of hands began to undo his cufflinks, and another boy bent down to lift his trouser legs.

However, no one got to find anything, because the charm had worn off up to Malfoy's knee, and he swiftly kicked the boy in the shoulder. There was a helpless moment where his other foot still hadn't unstiffened, and he had every wand pointed at his face, before he heard a hushed "Stupefy" and two students went crashing into the middle of the hallway.

Everyone looked around, but no one was there. Malfoy managed to crack a smile, and suddenly, he felt the charm lift entirely off his body.

Harry disarmed one of the boys, and dodged a hex cast at random. The wand clattered to the floor and spun towards Malfoy's feet. He picked it up and hexed the girl who had been poking her wand into his ribs. Her hands immediately began to swell up and she dropped her wand, staring at her hands in shock.

The rest of the students scattered as Harry invisibly disarmed them, and Malfoy ran to the base of nearby tapestry to retrieve his wand, which had rolled under it. Turning, he expected to see Harry removing his cloak, but no one was standing in the hall.

"Guess I owe you a thanks", said Draco begrudgingly at the apparently empty space. But no one replied. More students started to leave the Great  Hall, so Malfoy turned, not wanting anything else to happen, and made his way towards the common room feeling rather put off.

*

Harry was swamped in homework and Quidditch practice, so he hardly saw Draco Malfoy. The most interaction they had was in Potions, in which Malfoy greeted him with a stiff "Potter", and the same on his way out. However, he was so swift leaving, that Harry found himself replying long after Malfoy had swept out of the dungeon.