Harry was dumbfounded. Had he imagined Malfoy's wink? He had come and gone so soon that it was entirely possible. Harry knew in the back of his mind that he hadn't imagined it, but he refused to acknowledge those thoughts. Always observant, Hermione had asked him what was wrong but Harry, being lost in his thoughts, hadn't heard her.
"HARRY! What is wrong?! You've gone really pale." Hermione looked at him worriedly.
"Uh... um.... I..." Harry couldn't find a way to explain what had happened without sounding insane, because they surely wouldn't believe him.
Instead he rose clumsily from the seat and exited the cabin, feeling relieved to have a little fresh air since the windows on the corridor were open. Unsure of where to go, he just set off walking down the train and turned around when he reached the end. He thought about Dumbledore who would be waiting in the Great Hall, and Hagrid who would be waiting at the station. Anything to stop pondering Malfoy's actions.
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Once he sat back down across from Pansy in his compartment, a grin appeared on Draco's face as he thought about Harry who he knew would be pacing somewhere on the train by now. It was so easy to wind up Potter, and Draco knew exactly what to do next.
While plotting his next attack on Harry, the train whistled to a stop and he could hear the commotion outside the cabin. Draco gathered his things and met Pansy and Blaise who were waiting for him just outside. They joined the cluster of people emerging from the train and waiting for a spare carriage.
A carriage arrived with only two places left, and Draco, quite uncharacteristically, urged his friends to get on without him. Of course, they didn't part without a stunned expression on the faces of both Blaise and Pansy. Draco waited for what seemed like hours, until the very last carriage arrived. As luck would have it, Hermione and Ron were still waiting, and as expected, Harry was there too. Draco smiled to himself when he realised he could enact his next step quicker than he had expected.
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He stood there, mouth wide open, anger boiling inside of him. Not only had he have to share a carriage with Malfoy, but Ron and Hermione had sat next to each other, leaving Harry to sit with him! He grumbled to himself as he got in, making sure to sit as far away from Malfoy as possible.
Malfoy sneered at them, clearly amused by their discomfort. "Happy to be home?" he asked. Although it was not accompanied by any cruel words, Malfoy had a way of speaking that made Harry's hair stand on end as if he had been threatened and couldn't defend himself.
Hermione spoke up first, seemingly eager to get off to a good start with him. "Yes I am happy, I'm especially excited to see what our herbology project for thus year will be. I'm hoping it has something to do with mandrakes" she smiled happily.
At thus, Malfoy just rolled his eyes. "Of course" he mumbled. Hermione was put out by his response, and Ron wouldn't talk to Malfoy if his life depended on it, thus it was the end of conversation.
Harry began to get lost in his thoughts, which eventually made their way back to Draco's wink, making him shuffle uncomfortable. Draco seemed amused by this. Just as Harry was about to start an argument with him, Hermione pointed out the window at Hagrid's hut with smoke coming out the chimney, and announced that they would have to go see him since they hadn't at the station.
Meanwhile, Draco took the opportunity to grab Harry's hand and give it a tight squeeze. Harry's gaze snapped up to the blonde boy who was smiling cheekily. Since he had been taken by surprise Harry didn't think to remove his hand until Draco let go and stared out the window as if nothing had happened.
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A/N Eventually I hope lots of of people will be reading this, but for now I'm thankful to those of you who are, but I'm especially thankful to my best friend (shoutout to you Cat) who has always been there for me, not just in my writing. I love you all so much (mostly Cat tho)!!! Chapter 3 is coming soon ~ H