"Blaise, are you alright?" Daphne asked, stepping into the common and walking over to the silent boy. Per usual, he was dressed immaculately, but he still looked horrid.
This early in the morning, Blaise was the only person in the large Slytherin common room. He was sitting near the empty hearth in one of two wingback chairs. Behind the chairs were several couches situated around a large green circular fur rug. The room had a surprisingly warm feeling that invited comfort and camaraderie as a common room should. Hanging on the walls were various portraits and tapestries baring the Slytherin crest. Below those were five sturdy desks scattered around the circular room for tutoring or studying. Aside from that, there were little knick knacks left behind by the younger students: books, throw pillows, and more. Despite the potential comfort the room had to give, it had no effect on the slumped sixth year.
Looking up at his friend, Blaise shook his head in honest answer. Most believed that Slytherins hid behind blank faces all of the time, but that wasn't true. They were human too, and around people they trusted they did allow some emotions to shine through. At school, whether they liked each member or not, there was no one they trusted more than the members of their house. That said; it wasn't surprising to find many of the Slytherin students pouting, shouting, or even crying within the confines of their dormitory. Still, even if Blaise wanted to hide his illness, at the moment, it would have been impossible. He felt like shit, and didn't have the energy or the will to hide it.
The Slytherin was suffering from chills, shortness of breath, fatigue, and nausea. Earlier, when he'd awoken he'd wanted to vomit, but he categorically refused to disgrace himself to that degree. He was also sweating more than usual, especially in the cool dungeon space. Honestly, Blaise felt like he was having a heart attack, and the increasing pressure in his chest was doing nothing to alleviate his fears.
Daphne pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and neck. "You're burning up, Blaise! You should go see Madame Pomfrey or at least Professor Snape."
Blaise shook his head. He felt awful, but it wasn't nearly as bad as his run-in with Dragon Pox last summer. He wasn't sure if this was a side-effect of the miscast spell the previous night, but he felt he could at least make it through the day. It was Friday, so he would have the entire weekend to deal with whatever this was and check on Potter. If the little bloke felt anything like he did at the moment...Blaise winced at the pressure increased in his chest and he had to gasp a quick breath as his lungs were crushed. He could hardly think straight, and he had a strong desire to leave the dungeons. Perhaps,
he just needed to eat a little. Some tea would definitely do some good for his roiling stomach at least.
"If I am still unwell after breakfast," he rasped, changing his mind after that last attack, "I will visit the infirmary. As it is, I don't think I can make it to the third floor as of yet."
Daphne nodded worriedly as she sat beside him and grabbed his hand. It was really clammy. "Are you sure you shouldn't go now?"
Blaise shook his head again and closed his eyes. For one reason or another, he was being really stubborn about it, and Daphne was being really persistent. Blaise snorted. He truly wasn't surprised; the girl had a split personality; he was certain. Although Daphne was loyal to her house in general, she was icy and cold to most of her housemates, but to a select few she was...overly solicitous. She was very protective of her baby sister. She doted on her, spoiling the girl rotten. Daphne gave into Astoria's every wish. Furthermore, she loved to mother Blaise and Draco when the boys allowed it.
"Here take this." Blaise cracked his eyes open and saw a potion vial thrust just beneath his nose. He followed it up to the slender hand holding it and further up to Draco's face.
"It's a pain-relieving potion. I was going to give you a pepper-up, considering how late you came back last night, but from that pained scowl on your face I think this will serve you better." Blaise nodded his thanks and grabbed the potion, tilting it back into his mouth without a second thought. Seconds later he sighed in relief as the potion took the edge off the throbbing pressure just as it was beginning to burn in his chest. Once the pain subsided a little, the rest of his discomfort became manageable as well. He graced Draco with a small smile of thanks.
"My hero," he teased.
Draco snorted and withheld a smirk. He tilted his head back, thrusting his nose into the air, "I just couldn't have you following me around looking like something the troll dragged in."
Blaise laughed, "Of course not, let's go. I'm hungry, and I could use some tea."Daphne nodded as she moved to take her place between both boys, linking their arms together. "Why exactly, were you so late returning to the dorms last night Blaise?"
Blaise arched an eyebrow. Here we go. "I was working on my charms project t as I'm sure Draco told you."
"Yes, but you were gone for the entire night. Astoria waited up for you, and you never returned."
Blaise withheld an irritated sigh at the chastisement in Daphne's voice. That little girl, cute as she was, really needed to get over this crush she had on him. It was becoming tiresome.
"I don't need to curb my hours because of your sister Daphne. We aren't dating or engaged."
Daphne paused in the hall and looked scandalized while the portraits gave them inquisitive glances. There were no larger gossips than those animated pictures to be found in the entire castle. "Certainly not! She's only a fourth year! What's gotten into you? She only wanted your help with Arithmancy."
Blaise rolled his eyes, and Draco snickered as they continued towards the Great Hall. Not only did Daphne spoil her sister, she was also hopelessly oblivious to her sister's romantic interests. "You do know that your sister has the highest marks in her year in Arithmancy?" Blaise began.
"Yes, I know, and I'm so very proud of her."
"So," He led.
"So what?" Draco sighed beside them.
"Daphne, your sister doesn't need help with Arithmancy anymore than I do with Potions. She just wants to spend time alone with Blaise. She has a schoolgirl crush on him. Surely, you've realized that by now."
The girl frowned and looked straight ahead. "Surely, you jest. My baby sister doesn't a have crush on anyone. She would have told me," she said in a frosty voice.
Blaise sighed and Draco remained silent. Neither of them wanted to upset Daphne further and speaking ill about her little sister was dangerous. "
I'm sure you two are mistaken," she nodded to herself.
They all remained silent as they made their way up the final flight of stairs to the Great Hall. Upon entering, Blaise looked directly towards the Gryffindor table, hoping to see Potter there. He was curious to see if the boy was also suffering discomfort as well. If he weren't, then Blaise had probably just caught a bug, but if he were...
"If you stare any longer, people will notice," Draco mumbled, nudging his friend along. "Potter isn't there, so let's sit down."
"Right." Blaise followed Daphne to the Slytherin table at the far end of the hall and sat across from his two friends. There was ample space on either side of the group as majority of the Slytherins had yet to make an appearance.
"What's up with you two anyway?" Draco asked after sitting down and piling bacon, eggs, and bangers onto his plate.
"What?" Blaise asked, sipping his pumpkin juice.
"Are you getting along with Potter?"
Blaise eyed his friend strangely, trying to figure out where he was going with this line of conversation. "Yes, we work well together," he admitted hesitantly.
"I see."
"Drake, what is it?" Blaise asked as he sat his cup down and watched his friend closely. Daphne remained silent, but she was obviously very curious as well. In any case, Blaise was tired of beating around the brush about this. While Harry was surprisingly pleasant to be around, he was just his charms partner.
"I just want-"
Draco trailed off as he gazed across the table and watched his friend's head snap up, staring intently over his right shoulder. Draco turned and looked behind him briefly and sighed when he saw Potter and his cronies walk into the Great Hall. For some reason, Blaise was uncharacteristically concerned with Potter. It was beginning to disturb Draco. When Blaise sighed, he looked up and studied his friend. He looked much better already. The stress lines from his earlier pain were less prominent, and he seemed more relaxed.
"What were you saying Draco? I missed that last part."
"Nothing," the blonde mumbled, turning back to his food. It wasn't like he could share his secret with Blaise or anyone else for that matter, but he desperately wanted...well something. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't help but feel like he was drowning without a lifeboat in sight. It would have been great to have his best friend's silent strength and support, and right now he felt like Potter was once again stealing something from him, something important. Damn him .
---:::---
"Harry, can't you sit still for five minutes?" Hermione huffed. She'd been in the library for two hours with Harry and Ron, and honestly she couldn't understand why they came anymore. Ron didn't do anything but read Quiddich monthly or beg to see her notes, and Harry seemed to have ants in his pants today, and his fidgeting was really starting to grate on her nerves.
Harry glared at the bushy-haired girl, but didn't say anything. It wasn't his fault. He'd been feeling strange all day. When he woke up that morning he'd felt especially bad. His stomach was hurting terribly, and there was an awful ache spreading from his chest to the rest of his limbs. As he went through his morning ablutions the pain only increased until it was barely tolerable. Harry was contemplating going to visit Madame Pomfrey, believing that pain stemmed from the botched experiment the night before, but once he stepped into the Great Hall and began to eat a little he'd felt much better. He decided to hold off on visiting the infirmary because he really did hate going there, and throughout the day he felt better in varying degrees. He wasn't sure what the problem was, but it seemed to be manageable at least.
"Leave him alone, Mione. He's not feeling well today," Ron mumbled, flipping a page in his magazine.
"Then he should go see Madame Pomfrey instead of sitting here," she scolded. Harry huffed and grit his teeth as a particularly painful wave passed through him, "Look, don't talk about me like I'm not here. I can make my own decisions," he snapped, the pain and their bickering destroying his patience.
"There's no reason to get snippy Harry," Hermione said, sweeping hair out her face and taking a good look at her friend. "If you are feeling unwell, then you really should go to the infirmary. You've been out of sorts all day today."
Harry sighed heavily and grabbed his bag from the floor, shoving his potions essay and textbook inside of the bag along with his invisibility cloak. He'd taken to carrying it around with him in case he had a chance to tail Malfoy, but those opportunities were rare and rarely yielded any results.
Hermione watched Harry pack and scowled when she glimpsed his textbook. "Harry, are you still using that book? I thought I told you to hand it in to Professor Dumbledore or Professor Slughorn. It's a horrid book, and you're probably cheat-"
"It's not cheating Hermione," Harry said exasperatedly, while clenching his fist to ride out the increasing pain. Ever since classes ended for the day, the pain had been increasing in steady increments. It was past the level of pain this morning, and it felt as if he needed to get out of there. He needed to go see Madame Pomfrey to get a pain-relieving potion at least. This was quickly becoming unbearable.
"Mate, where are you going?" Ron asked, standing a little out of his seat.
Harry ignored both of his friends as he walked quickly from the library. He needed to hurry. Once he exited the library, he couldn't help but start to run down the halls. The infirmary wasn't far from the library, but he felt as if he couldn't get there fast enough. It felt as if someone had cast the accio spell on him. He couldn't have stopped even if he wanted to. The more he ran, the more he felt that the infirmary wasn't his true destination. He didn't know what it was, but he desperately needed to be there to stop this pain. His eyes began to water, and he huffed in exertion.
"Hey, watch out!"
"We're standing here you know!"
Students yelled at him as he bumped into them without apologizing, and the paintings repeatedly chided him not to run in the halls, but Harry didn't care. When he rounded the corner that would bring him to the infirmary, he nearly cried when he saw his charms partner racing toward him.
He wanted to call out to the Slytherin, but he maintained enough restraint to stop himself, but he couldn't slow his body as he literally snapped into Zabini. He recognized the magic working around him now as he came closer and closer to the taller boy. When he reached him, he couldn't help himself. He threw his arms around Zabini's thin waist and buried his face into his broad chest. Harry nearly wept when the pain instantly ceased.
"Potter," Blaise mumbled into his hair, his own arms tight around the slight Gryffindor.
"What the fuck was that?" Harry asked, pulling his head away even as his arms remained. For the moment neither boy could step away. The magic was holding them tightly together, and they weren't sure if the painful throbbing would resume if they parted. Still, that didn't stop Harry from thinking he might die of embarrassment. He had literally run into Blaise's arms and was clinging to him like a harlot. He felt completely humiliated as he blushed crimson.
"I don't know, but I take it you experienced the same thing I did?" Blaise asked, looking down into Harry's watery eyes. The boy wasn't crying, but he looked as if he might have if the pain had continued. Blaise couldn't blame him; he thought his rib cage was going to burst from the tugging that pulled his closer and closer to what he now realized was Potter.
"This is because of the spell isn't it?" Harry asked quietly.
Blaise noticed his embarrassment but didn't comment on it. He figured the boy wouldn't want more attention called to their strange position, so he simply nodded, "Most likely, let's get out of here, so we can try to figure this out."
Harry sighed and pulled his arms away from the Slytherin tentatively. Once they were a hand's width apart and nothing untoward occurred, no unexplainable painful tugging, they both sighed in relief.
"At least we know we don't have to be in physical contact for the time being," Harry said quietly, beyond embarrassed by his earlier clinging. He took an addition self-conscious step away from Blaise.
Blaise smirked; Harry was so easy to read, especially when he blushed so prettily like that, "It's okay Potter; I was hanging on to you too."
Harry blushed harder and remained silent as he followed closely behind Blaise into a nearby abandoned classroom on the third floor. The room was dark and dusty with sheets over the chairs and double desks. The boys couldn't tell what class used to be taught in such a room, but it wasn't large, and it had only one window on the right side behind the professor's desk. On the back wall was a blackboard, and the two walls on the right and left side were covered by empty bookshelves. Moving into the room, both boys pulled out their wands.
"Lumos," Harry whispered before he began coughing uncontrollably. He turned and glared at his partner.
Blaise held the dusty white sheet with a chagrined smile on his face. "I was just trying to clear a space for us," he said, waving his hand to clear the dust particles from the air
. Harry only shook his head as he moved around to grab some of the covered chairs lining the walls. Bringing them back, both sat down two feet apart.
"So what do we know?" Blaise asked, angling his chair more towards Harry, so he could see him fully.
Jumping straight in, Harry leaned back and closed his eyes in thought. Aside from the fact that weird shit like this always happens to me, I don't know much. "When I woke up this morning, I felt like and elephant was sitting on my chest. There was so much pressure, and it was really painful. When I left for breakfast, I thought about going to the infirmary, but I felt much better when I entered the Great Hall and began to eat."
Blaise nodded. He'd had much the same morning. He ran his hand through his hair distractedly. "Me too, I felt better, but not pain free. I think it's safe to assume that close proximity to each other alleviates the pain, but it's unclear if intermitted physical contact is necessary."
"Right, I think we need to establish a base line," Harry suggested. "We need to be pain free for a couple of hours and see what triggers the pain and what stops it."
Blaise nodded and reached for his bag. He'd the left the dungeons so quickly and was so intent on answering what he was beginning to call 'the summons' that he was a little surprised to find the thing by his feet. He certainly didn't remember grabbing it. "We may as well get some work done in the meantime. It seems like we'll be here for a while."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, moving to sit across from Blaise while pulling out his potions materials.
Ten minutes later, Blaise couldn't help but glance over at Harry's work. He noticed all of the strange notations in his potions book. He couldn't read them as they were upside down, but he was interested. Blaise knew that potions wasn't Harry's strongest subject, so he couldn't imagine the Gryffindor doing extra work and making corrections in the textbook. "What do you have there Harry?"
When Harry looked up and noticed Blaise staring at his book, he was immediately on edge. He got enough crap about his textbook from Hermione. He didn't need it from Blaise too.
"It's just a book."
Blaise shook his head. "Can I see it?"
Harry sighed heavily but pushed it over anyway. Blaise took his time flipping through it, reading each notation carefully. "Where did you get this?"
Harry swallowed. "Slughorn gave it to me. I didn't have one because I didn't think I'd scored high enough for NEWT Potions, so he gave me one left behind by other students.
Blaise nodded. "Well, whoever owned this before you was brilliant." Blaise tried not to stare when Harry lit up. There's that smile again.
"I know. He called himself the Half-Blood-Prince," Harry said excitedly, happy to see that Blaise wasn't going to have a fit. He moved back around the table to sit beside Blaise so they both could see the book.
Scooting in close, he flipped to the back of the book to show Blaise the signature.
"Hmm, mysterious," Blaise said.
Harry laughed, "Yes, but I think it's kind of cool."
"You're such a dork," Blaise smiled softly.
Harry stared at him for a second before turning back the book with a bright blush and a smile. "Hermione thinks it's cheating, but it just explains things in a simpler way that I can understand. Hermione is a real pedant if you haven't noticed, and she doesn't like that I cut corners," Harry said while rolling his eyes and making air quotes. Mostly, she's angry because my potions are as good as hers now, but I also think she's a little worried about me."
Blaise arched an eyebrow, "Why would Granger be worried. It's just a book."
Harry sighed, tilting his head to the side so he could see his partner better. "There are some spells in here that the Half-Blood-Prince created himself it seems, and she believes them to be dangerous. She thinks I should turn the book in because of them, but I can't. He's so snarky and witty with his scathing comments about the author of the book that I can't help but laugh and enjoy reading the book just for entertainment value. It's like a new friend. Wow, that's stupid," Harry mumbled self-consciously.
Blaise gazed at him softly. There were so many sides to this Gryffindor that he kept discovering. Harry could be brash and reckless, but he was also shy at times and self-conscious, not mention brilliant with his wand.
"It's not stupid," Blaise whispered, smiling at the renewed blush that flushed Harry's cheeks and neck.
"Um, you're a little close, Zabini."
"Blaise."
"Huh?" Harry asked in confusion.
"Call me Blaise. I have a feeling we'll be around each other much more often now. You should at least use my first name."
Harry cleared his throat, "Right...Blaise."
Blaise smiled brilliantly. For some reason, it felt good to take this small step closer to Harry.
"Although you've done it already, it's okay to call me Harry."
Blaise nodded as he continued to smile, but then he turned back to the book. "Why don't you show me those spells?"
"Okay," Harry agreed easily, "They're just here." He flipped a few pages. The list read:
Langlock, Levicorpus, Liberacorpus, Muffliato, Sectumesempra, Toenail Growth Hex.
Blaise blinked and a strange realization came over him. He knew each of these spells. In fact, his entire house knew them.
"Do you know what these do Harry?"
Harry nodded. "Well, most of them anyway...I'm not sure about this one. It says it's for enemies, so I've yet to try it, but the others I have. They're right useful. I wish I could have met the HalfBlood-Prince. I think he could teach me a lot about spell fabrication."
Blaise nodded, but didn't comment further. He agreed that the Prince could certainly teach him more about spell construction, but Harry would probably eat those words if he knew exactly who'd created those spells. The Slytherin was sure that it was his Head of House, but he wasn't going to ruin Harry's fun. It wasn't necessary at the moment, and he knew that if Harry knew that the Half-Blood-Prince was Snape it would upset him.
"Well," Blaise broke into the silence, leaning away from Harry and the book. "This book is really handy, but if you need help with potions or just desire some stimulating and witty conversation," he smirked confidently, "you can ask me, and I'd be happy to oblige."
Thanks, Harry grinned, laughing at Zabini's mock bow. Despite the strange circumstances that brought them to this abandoned classroom, Harry was really starting to enjoy time with Blaise. And, despite the spell on them, Harry felt inexorably pulled towards him.
---:::---
"It's about time," Blaise said, looking up from his homework at his charms partner. "Want to try and test the limits of this spell?"
Harry nodded his consent and began packing away his things. Once they were done, they both began shifting the desks and chairs out of the way, so they had enough room to move around freely. "What should we do first?" Harry asked.
"Well, we're about two feet apart now, and I currently feel fine. How do you feel?"
"I'm okay," Harry answered.
Blaise nodded; he'd figured as much. "I think the first thing we should establish is the maximum distance we can separate as well as any outside factors that may increase or decrease that distance."
"Right," Harry said, pushing his glasses up on his nose. He wasn't looking forward to purposely inducing that pain, but he didn't see any other way.
"Here."
Harry's head whipped up quickly at the call, and his right hand jerked out to catch the tiny piece of chalk Blaise had thrown at him.
Blaise snorted and smirked, "Your reflexes really are amazing...on and off a broom," he laughed, winking suggestively.
Harry withheld a blush and glared half-heartily at his partner. "Let's just get on with this you wanker."
Blaise chuckled a little before sobering. "Alright, we each alternately take a step backwards and mark the distance. When there's pain, any at all, we move forward half a step continually until it ceases. I'll go first."
Harry nodded and clenched his fist prepared for a spike of pain that never came. The boys alternated stepping backwards for some time until Harry threw his hand up, "Stop!"
Blaise grit his teeth and took half a step forward. "Yeah, I felt it too," he muttered. They'd just answered three of their questions, so that was helpful although the pain that lanced through him was intense and made his bones ache.
They each marked the distance, and Harry conjured a muggle tape measure. Blaise tilted his head as they measure the distance. "It is roughly twenty feet," he said, looking at his end of the tape measure. "Give or take a centimeter or two."
Harry nodded and sighed, smiling a wry smile, "It could have been worse."
Blaise arched an eyebrow, "Well, aren't just the optimist. We do live in separate Houses, remember? How are we supposed to remain within twenty feet of each other?"
"Well, we could always notify the Professors, and they could set up rooms for us until we figure this out, or we could..." Harry suggested.
"Or what?" Blaise asked. He was hesitant to immediately go running to teachers. It was embarrassing since they hadn't even tried to fix the issue themselves first. Harry looked up at his handsome partner with a wide smile, "I know what you're thinking, and I agree, but we can deal with that later. We should continue figuring this out first. Perhaps, there's a simple solution that can be taken care of today?"
"Perhaps," Blaise replied with a non-committal shrug. He really doubted that, and he sensed that Harry did too, but the Gryffindor was right about figuring this out as soon as possible. Blaise figured that it would at least take the entire weekend to rectify this mistake. "So we know that twenty feet is our limit."
Harry nodded, frowning, "And, that we don't necessarily need physical contact to nullify the effects of the spell."
Blaise took a seat on the cold stone floor and leaned back to rest on his arms. "Unless we spend too much time outside of our perimeter in which case we'll mostly likely need to touch like earlier."
Harry blushed and ducked his head, still really embarrassed about that. "Right," he cleared his throat. "Also, this time felt as intense as it did just before I found you, so I think it's safe to say that the punishing effects of the spell are immediate and intense. They don't increase in increments the longer we're apart. It was like that this morning, but..."
Blaise nodded, he'd figured that too, "This morning was the beginning, so maybe it was just establishing a baseline." Harry shook his head and walked over to sit beside Blaise. "I don't understand."
"The spell might have been ratcheting up all day until it established our pain tolerance. How much could we take before we gave in? Once that was established, that level of pain and discomfort will await us every time we push the boundaries."
Harry sighed and flopped onto the floor with his hands thrown over his head. "Of course, that's just great." Blaise rolled and positioned himself halfway over Harry, decreasing the distance between them by half.
Their faces were about six inches apart, and both boys were acutely aware of that distance. "What happened to all of that optimism? It's not that bad is it Harry, having to be close to me," Blaise asked quietly, some of the curls on top of his head, falling into his face.
Harry turned away from him but made no move to slide away, "I guess it's not so bad," he mumbled, "but like you said this will be problematic." Blaise leaned back with a smug smirk on his face.
Harry was really cute when teased like that. "What other properties does this spell have?" Blaise asked the room. Now able to breathe properly again, Harry exhaled heavily, "Aside from the accio spell somehow caught between us, I have no idea," he huffed.
Blaise's eyes widened like a unicorn thrown in front of a charging hippogriff. "You're a genius Harry."
"What?" the boy asked, popping up from the floor.
"This is clearly a result of our accio spell," Blaise explained excitedly, pacing in front of the seated Gryffindor. "I kind of figured that," Harry said, confusedly, scratching the back of his head, "and I thought you did too."
"I did," Blaise said, waving that last comment away,
"but I didn't think about the other properties of the spell we cast."
"Alright, so what are you thinking?"
"Stand up."
Harry moved to stand and watched as Blaise moved around the room conjuring different sized candelabras and positioning them around the room, still careful to stay within twenty feet of Harry.
"Alright," Blaise said, stepping back to look at his handy work. Candles were placed at varying heights everywhere around the room, short ones tall ones and fat ones. "What are these for?" Harry inquired, thoroughly confused at this point.
Blaise looked at his partner with a triumphant smile, "Our spell was to alter the properties of objects summoned by the accio spell correct?"
Harry nodded.
"In order to do that, we decided to have the object adopt the properties of shadows, avoiding all light and moving within the shadows of other objects until it reached the caster. If there were no shadows to maintain the object's properties then it could move through light for .8 seconds before returning to its original shape."
"Yes, I remember all of that," Harry said a little impatiently.
"Good, well so far we've only experienced the compelling nature of the accio spell. What if theother aspects of our spell have affected us too?"
Harry gaped, "You're kidding right? There's no way."
"Why not?" "Because that's just...just..."
Blaise smirked, "The least we can do is try it out, hence the candles. I want to throw different shadows around the room, and see how those affect us."
Harry sighed, "Ok, Blaise." He wasn't looking forward to more of that incapacitating pain, but he trusted that Blaise had at least some idea of what he was doing.
He didn't think that Blaise would go out of his way to hurt him, and Blaise would experience the pain too, so he knew that the Slytherin would try to avoid it at all costs. For the next hour, they lit the different candles at different angles and established that like their original spell, spending time in their partner's shadow increased the distance threshold.
They didn't even need to be completely enveloped in the shadow just a hand or fingertip would do, but once they were completely outside of it the pain was debilitating, and they were forced back together.
Now that they had a handle on it, they only needed to hold hands for a time to reset the spell, so to speak. Harry panted from their last and final test, "Well, that was enlightening." Blaise agreed, unconsciously squeezing Harry's hand.
That hand and the boy it was attached to were becoming so very important to him because it stopped the pain. Even if he didn't think that Harry was adorable and brilliant at times, with this spell in place, Blaise could imagine the Gryffindor becoming very precious to him very quickly in the same way that St. Mungos' patients coveted their pain-relieving potions.
As it was, Blaise was very thankful that he found Harry's company and touch more than tolerable before these strange effects occurred. He honestly enjoyed being around Harry, and certainly didn't mind touching him at times.
"Do you think we could move through other shadows like our pot was supposed to?" Harry asked, bringing the Slytherin out of his reverie.
Blaise turned to look at his partner, "Hmm, I can't say, but I don't think I want to experiment with that today or even tomorrow."
Harry laughed and rubbed his thumb across Blaise's hand as they both continued to lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling.
"I completely agree."
Blaise was preparing to respond when his stomach growled and interrupted him. Casting tempus, he sighed forlornly, "We've missed dinner." Harry laughed again,
"You sound like a kicked puppy."
"What? I like my food," the Slytherin huffed.
"Don't worry I'll feed you."
Blaise arched a skeptical eyebrow, "How?"
Harry stood and stretched before reaching a hand out and helping his partner up. "I can get food for us from Dobby or take you to the kitchens."
Blaise looked completely gobsmacked, "You know where the entrance to the kitchens is?" Harry smirked and nodded proudly.
---:::---
"Here, we'll have to use this," Harry said, pulling from his bag a shimmering piece of cloth. Blaise couldn't hide his shock or surprise, "Is that what it looks like?" Harry smirked, "If it looks like a genuine invisibility cloak, then yes it is?" Blaise lifted his hand to run it down the silky material,
"You have something amazing here." Harry laughed lightly,
"You'd be more than surprised if you knew everything I had." Blaise arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
Harry sighed and threw the cloak to Blaise who caught it deftly, but was still surprised when his entire right side disappeared.
It was slightly disconcerting, and he wore a horrified expression for a split second. Thankfully, Harry was too busy mumbling to himself and pulling parchment from his bag to notice.
"In for a nickel, in for a Galleon I guess. You're lucky I have this today. Well, I guess you would have seen it in my dorm anyway," Harry said as he righted himself and moved to stand by the Slytherin. Blaise had no idea what he was talking about.
"What are you on about?" he asked
"Look at this," Harry said unfolding the parchment and raising his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Blaise watched in amazement when the parchment began to fill with ink, forming a map of what looked like Hogwarts. As far as he knew, no such thing existed. When the names and dots appeared he was hard pressed not to gasp.
"You can't be serious," he whispered.
Harry scooted closer to him and Blaise could feel his body heat against his side.
"Look, here we are, and there's the kitchen. I'll show you how to get in there one day soon since we'll probably be taking a lot of our meals there for the time being. Oh look there's Snape probably preparing to torment those kids in the corner there." "This shows everyone in the castle anywhere?" Blaise asked looking from the map to Harry.
Harry sighed, "Unfortunately, no. It has its limits. It will show anyone, but certain places it can't identify like the Room of requirement. It's just there, but it doesn't register on the map. When people go in there they just drop off the map, and the Chamber of Secrets isn't on here either. It can only show places that the Marauders had discovered when they made the map. I think they'd found the Room of Requirement, but they couldn't really define it, and the room is always changing so the map's magic didn't know what to do with it. "
"Who are the Marauders?"
A pained look came over Harry's face, but he answered anyway despite himself.
"It was the name of the group my father started with his three closest friends. I used to be so proud of them; I thought they were wonderful, but I found out recently they were a bunch of bullies, tormenting the students of the school with little to no reprimand from the professors." Blaise maintained a stoic silence.
It was clear to him that Harry was conflicted about his father's behavior. Because he didn't know his father either, Blaise could understand how the Gryffindor might have idolized the father he'd never met only to be disappointed to find out that he wasn't as perfect as he'd originally been led to believe. Smartly deciding not to comment, Blaise glanced back at the map, scanning the dots for familiar names.
Pansy was in the common room, Daphne in the library, and Draco appeared to be approaching the seventh floor where Harry had indicated the Room of Requirement was located.
"Harry, I think we need to go. We should get something from the kitchens tonight or call your elf and hold up in one of our dorms until tomorrow. Then we can come up with a plan," Blaise suggested. Harry frowned.
Just a minute ago, Blaise wasn't in a huge hurry to leave, but now he was hurriedly grabbing his bag and heading to the door. Looking back towards the map, Harry realized why. "Malfoy is on the move now," Harry grumbled. Blaise didn't comment. Drake was his best friend and regardless of his partnership and tentative friendship with Harry, he wasn't about to help the Gryffindor make trouble for Draco. Therefore he held his peace.
He looked up when Harry made no move to grab his own bag. Harry was standing obstinately in front of the desk with his arms crossed.
"Are you in on it?" he asked.
"In on what," Blaise asked with a blank face. The shy, excited Harry from earlier had disappeared, replaced by a glaring, suspicious Gryffindor Golden Boy. "
Are you working with Malfoy?"
"Harry we only have one partner project this term. You know that."
Harry glared at the Slytherin, "Sure, lie to me if you want, but I know that as soon as we leave this room if I check this map Malfoy's dot will have disappeared."
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