Stupid, stupid, stupid. Draco considered beating himself in the head with his fist to punctuate his annoyed thoughts, but decided against it. He might have been stupid, but he wasn'tthat stupid.
On the other hand..
"Draco."
"What?" He didn't care how peevish he sounded or how little Greg deserved to be the target of his bad mood. At the moment, he was the only person there.
"Is there a reason why you're beating your head on the desk?"
Raising his bruised head, he glared at his friend. A reason? Yes, he was stupid. Of course, Greg simply looked at him as if he'd sprouted wings when he relayed that.
"So? You've been stupid before and you didn't give yourself a concussion because of it."
Draco sputtered at that a bit before composing himself. It was too late not to react to the insult, but he'd be damned if he'd actually comment on it. Instead, he turned his attention to the matter at hand. "Potter is avoiding us."
"And?"
"And it's partially my fault," he ground out. The blonde still believed that he was justified at being angry. Potter should have at least let them know he was leaving, even if he hadn't told them exactly where he was going or what he was doing. It was only polite after all. Still, perhaps snubbing the smaller boy completely had been a bit harsh. Potter had been raised muggle and Draco supposed that he couldn't really be expected to understand what constituted correct behavior.
"You're right, Draco. You are stupid." Greg blithely ignored the scowl sent in his direction as he never looked up from the sketch pad in his lap. "It's completely your fault."
"Gregory Goyle, I insist you go up to the Gryffindor Tower and bring him back down here this instant. Carry him if need be, but bring him to me."
Goyle chuckled, but still didn't glance at him. "He'll come down whenever he's ready, Draco. Forcing the issue will only upset him more."
Pouting at that, Draco stood up and paced around the room for a few minutes before sprawling onto his bed. Staring up at the canopy, he pondered the last week.
For four days, their truce with the raven-haired Gryffindor Seeker had gone so well. They'd built snowmen, had snowball fights, and played Quidditch. When indoors, the trio had lazed about and talked. Hells bells, they'd even eaten all their meals together, alternating between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. And if Potter didn't always smile as much as Draco wished, those times when he did had been all the more precious.
He sighed and covered his face with the pillow, loosing an aggrieved growl into it's softness.
Being gay in this school was hard enough as few boys outside of Slytherin would even speak civilly to him never mind actually consider a snog. Fancying Harry Potter was right up there with dreams of being a Potions master- out of reach and damned frustrating.
Not that the knowledge that he couldn't have either kept him from tormenting himself with the want.
"Greg?"
"Hmm?"
"Where's that album Potter gave you?"
Greg finally looked up. "Why d'ya ask?"
Draco sighed again. He really should put his foot down one of these days. His friends questioned him entirely too much. He wondered if he was the only Malfoy who had to put up with that sort of thing. "Because I want to owl it to You-Know-Who." Greg just grinned at his sarcasm. "Why do you think I want it?"
The bigger boy was chuckling, but he did get up and hand Draco the album. "Don't tear it or anything. I don't imagine anything would piss Potter off worse."
The pair shared a shudder as they remembered the Gryffindors confession about wandless magic. He'd never really been afraid of Potter, but then, he'd never known the fire he'd been playing with over the years.
Shaking off the thought, he opened up the album and began studying its contents. There was, of course, that first picture of the Potter's back when they'd still been alive. The adults still smiled at him. The baby gurgled as happy as before, paying little attention to anything other than his parents.
Turning the page, he found the infamous trio laughing and grinning at him. Running his fingers over the first year picture, he took in their happy, easy expressions and tried to remember if Harry had laughed- a genuine one, full of this joy- since the hols had began. The closest he'd come had been when they'd made fun of Snape that first night.
Flipping through the album, he noticed that the first year one was the only picture where Potter didn't have shadows lurking in his expression. Fifth year was the worst, and gazing at the absolutely miserable emerald eyes half hidden behind those horrid glasses, he couldn't help but wonder why the other boy had bothered to include it.
There were no sixth year pictures with Potter in them, although there were a handful of the other Gryffindors. Of course, that was long after the Boy Who Lived had terrorized Creevey into leaving him alone, so Draco hadn't expected there to be. He barely glanced at the one he'd already seen of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. He didn't care to think about how the latter had spent over a decade in Azkaban for a crime that he hadn't committed. He wasn't sure why he believed Potter's explanation- after all, it had been crazy and challenged a tale he'd heard for as long as he could remember- but he did. And, more than that, it gave him a warm feeling to have been trusted with something so personal for his fellow wizard.
At the end, he found one of Potter, Black, and Lupin together. He gauged it to have been taken sometime earlier in the school year. All three looked weary and haunted, but they also seemed happy to be together.
His godfather... Amazing.
Was nothing about Harry Potter normal?
Somehow he doubted it.
He closed the album and lay his head against the leather cover.
Morning would bring Christmas and presents. Draco's last thought before sleep caught up was to wonder if Harry would at least show up for the feast.
Pouting a bit, Draco stabbed at his eggs with his fork while letting his friend's deep voice wash over him. They'd been at the table for over a half an hour and so far it looked as if Potter was going to continue to avoid them.
He was the only student who hadn't shown up for breakfast and not even Creevey knew whether or not the older Gryffindor planned on making an appearance.
"Are you sure you won't fetch him?"
Greg looked startled at the sudden deviation from the current topic of presents, but he just shook his head. "I told you last night, Draco. It's better he comes down on his own."
Sighing unhappily, Draco rested his head on his curled fist and stared over at the Gryffindor table. It just didn't seem fair that he'd finally managed to gain some companionship with Harry Potter only to have it all lost because of a simple misunderstanding.
Weren't Gryffindors supposed to be just and loyal?
He frowned for a second.
No.. That was Hufflepuffs.
Gryffindors were brave and lacking of common sense, rushing in even when everyone else could tell it was suicide.
He was distracted from his musings as the doors of the Great Hall burst open and Draco looked up to see the object of his thoughts enter with Professor Lupin and a dog.
"Oh. Um." He tore his eyes away from the entourage heading his way to see Greg looking at him apologetically.
"What?"
His bigger companion leaned over so that he wouldn't be overheard. "At the train station Potter told Granger and Weasely that Lupin was coming to see him a few days before Christmas. I'm sorry, Draco, it completely slipped my mind."
Draco glared at his friend. He'd just spent the last three days worrying that his own anger had ruined any chance for anything non-hostile with Potter because it had 'slipped his mind'? And what of Potter himself? He couldn't have just mentioned that he'd be unavailable?
Didn't anybody else understand terms like 'polite' and 'good manners' anymore?
Potter arrived at their side before Draco could open his mouth to chastise Greg.
"Here you are! Happy Christmas!"
He paid little attention to those around him as he ran his hands over the gaudily wrapped gift that Potter had deposited onto the table in front of him. Perhaps it was shallow of him, but the blonde had always enjoyed getting presents.
He scrunched his nose in disdain as he noticed the way Greg just ripped into the other package. He opened his own much more carefully.
Once the paper had been gently pulled aside, he couldn't help the gasp that escaped.
Inside, Draco found the super deluxe potions kit that he drooled over every time he went into the potions shop in Hogsmeade. His hands were shaking faintly as he picked it up and set the box to the side so he could see the book underneath it.
The title read 'Everything a Future Potions Master Needs To Know'.
How in Merlin's name had Harry known? Though they'd spoken of any number of things since the holiday had begun, he was almost positive that it hadn't come up.
Looking up, he caught the hopeful smile sent his way. "I hope it's the right one. The shop owner seemed to recall that you'd particularly wanted it. But, he may have just been trying to get me to spend more money."
Mouth working, Draco couldn't form a reply. Too many thoughts and feelings were tangled around inside him. It was the only thing he'd ever really wanted that had been denied him by his father and no one else had ever dared to challenge Lucius Malfoy's decision.
Only Harry.
Before he was even aware of what he was doing, Draco had nearly bowled the shorter boy over.
"Thank You, Harry! It's absolutely perfect!" Draco's voice was muffled as he buried his face in the raven locks of his former enemy. He inhaled deeply, taking in the clean spicy smell that permeated the messy hair.
For a second, he was afraid he'd overstepped his bounds as Harry shifted a bit, small seeker hands fluttering uneasily along Draco's sides before settling against his back.
A shiver crept down his spine as the soft chuckle caused warm breath to tickle his neck. "You're welcome, Draco."
He was enjoying the closeness when something occurred to him and he pulled back to look down at the boy in his arms worriedly. "But I didn't get you anything."
The Gryffindor just smiled. "S'all right. I didn't get you a present so that you'd have to get me one. Besides, you taught me how to build a snowman with magic. That's gift enough for me."
Draco smiled back and for a moment, the pair just gazed at one another. Had the moment gone on any longer, the Slytherin was sure he'd have done something incredibly foolish like leaning down to kiss that enchanting smile.
As it was, he was saved from the possible embarrassment when Greg's voice, much whinier than usual, broke the silence.
"Gift enough or not, open the one I gave you!"
With a chuckle, Harry opened the flat package Greg had given him, revealing a handful of sketches.
Draco sat back down, out of the way. He knew how talented his friend was and had already seen some of the drawings. He was content to wait until later to see the rest. Instead, he concentrated on Harry's reactions to the gift.
He suspected he was the only one watching the other boy close enough to notice the tears that were quickly blinked away.
The blonde seeker started in surprise as Greg reached in at the end and grabbed one of the drawings.
"Sorry bout that." Draco took the picture automatically and his own breath caught when he realized what it was.
When had Greg found the time to draw this?
To one side, there was Harry, grinning brightly, dark hair all atangle. And leaning in close on the other side was his own face, more content and happy than he ever imagined himself.
He ran his finger over the image and looked down to see the Gryffindor doing the same.
Was this how his friend had seen them all week?
"Thank you, Greg. It's a wonderful gift." There was a catch in the smooth baritone and Harry smiled up at the larger Slytherin. Shifting back through the other parchments, he separated them into two stacks. Turning to the former professor who'd taken a seat a bit further down to give the boys some privacy, he held out one of the stacks. "Here, Remus. These are for you and.. well, these are for you."
The werewolf's usual placid expression was chased away by far too many emotions for Draco to sort out.
Mouth opening and closing a few times Lupin struggled in vain to find words before he finally gave up and pulled both Harry and Greg into a tight hug. "Thank you, boys. Thank you very, very much."
Greg grinned and returned the hug before pulling back. Harry, Draco was surprised to note, looked every bit as uncomfortable in his former teacher's embrace as he'd seemed to feel before. Thinking on it, the Slytherin realized that except for rare occasions, he'd never seen the dark haired seeker willingly maintain close contact with anyone for more than a moment or two- not even Granger and Weasely. He made a mental note to ask about that later- or at the very least, to ask Greg if he'd noticed it as well.
The dog at their feet started yipping and bouncing around Harry's legs, causing everyone to laugh.
Potter dropped to his knees and wrapped lightly tanned arms around the mutt's neck. "Sorry, Snuffles. I didn't have any pictures with you in them. Perhaps, Colin could-"
With a sudden 'EEP!', the younger Gryffindor- who'd obviously been hanging on every word-, jumped up and ran from the Great Hall.
There was a sudden silence as everyone turned from the door to Harry where he still knelt, his face buried in Snuffles fur. It didn't keep those close enough from seeing the red ears and neck.
"Now, now, Harry. You really shouldn't terrorize your fellow students so." Dumbledore's amused words added to everyone's merriment.
Well, everyone except Harry who groaned and seemed to try to hide behind the dog.
Draco snickered and nudged the embarrassed boy's hip with his foot. "You know, Potter, that dog is big. But it's not that big. You might as well give up using him as a shield."
Emerald eyes peeked over the dark fur to glare at him weakly for a moment before the rest of the Harry's face appeared with a sheepish smile. "I s'pose you're right."
"Of course I'm right. I usually am."
That pompous statement led to a playful argument that lasted all the way through the meal until Lupin broke in and reminded Harry that his visiting time was growing short. The disheveled pair of Gryffindors left the Great Hall, their four legged friend trailing happily behind.
After he'd watched them vanish through the doors, Draco scooped up his Christmas present and headed for the dungeons after he made his excuses to Greg.
He wasn't sure what was better- the fact that Harry Potter was happy and still on friendly terms with him, or the wonderfully insightful gift.
It didn't matter, he supposed.
Either way, winter break was certainly looking up.