ebethfic (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} ebethfic) wrote,@ 2009-01-11 17:42:00 |
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Ghosts, Part 1, Harry/Draco, PG
x-posted from LJ
Title: Ghosts (1/ a lot)
Rating: PG for now, R later
Prompt Set: 100quills table 100.4 (Harry/Draco)
Prompt: 005 - Start Over
Word Count: 1020
Summary: Returning to Hogwarts for his missed seventh year, Harry hopes to have a normal time at school for once. Unfortunately, the students are adoring, Hermione is righteous, and Draco Malfoy is suspiciously friendly. At least Voldemort is gone...
Notes/Disclaimer: I'm playing in JKR's sandbox for fun, not profit. Post-DH, so H&D are 18. Some concepts have been stolen from drabbles I wrote while trying to come up with a plot.
Harry stepped off the train at Hogsmeade station with trepidation. After a summer spent dealing with the trials, the media, and fan mail, he had been looking forward to being back at Hogwarts---until he'd arrived at King's Cross to find a swarm of students clamoring for his attention. The train ride had been miserable, with no place to hide from the barrage of questions. Harry, will you sign this photo? Harry, will you eat these chocolates? Will you touch my hand? Harry, did you really break into Gringotts? Did you really die? Did you really break up with Ginny? He'd finally managed to barricade himself in a compartment with Ron and Hermione guarding the door, letting only a few trusted classmates, mostly former members of Dumbledore's Army, inside.
For the moment, at least, he wasn't the center of attention. Hagrid greeted him with a bellow and a solid clap on the back that sent Harry reeling, but no one dove to keep the great Harry Potter from stumbling. The first years were nearly scrambling over one another in their haste to climb into the boats, and the older students huddled in small groups, clutching their friends and whispering, gazing at the Thestrals that most of them were seeing for the first time.
Harry ignored the tight feeling in his chest and started to follow Ron and Hermione towards a carriage, but before he got far, Hermione turned to him with an apologetic look. "Harry, we promised to join Ginny for a bit. You can come too, of course."
"She wouldn't mind, you know," Ron said, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other and not meeting Harry's eyes.
Harry winced. "No, thanks, I'll find another carriage." He wasn't avoiding Ginny, exactly, he was just...spending little time around her. They hadn't broken up, they'd simply never gotten back together after he'd left her to track down Horcruxes, and though there'd been no huge row, neither of them was particularly comfortable around the other. Harry supposed they'd get over it; it wasn't as if either of them were interested in anyone else. For now, though, he trudged alone to the last empty carriage, hoping the hordes of admiring students were still too distracted to notice his unprotected state.
Unfortunately, although the carriage was admirer- and Ginny-free, it was Malfoy-infested. Harry considered that thought for a moment and decided that, yes, one Malfoy counted as an infestation.
The boy in question raised an eyebrow at him. "Coming, Potter, or did you just want to stare?"
Sighing in frustration, Harry climbed in. Maybe the ex-Death Eater would keep Harry's groupies away.
The silence was pleasant. Too bad Malfoy had to break it. "So, Potter," he asked as they started to bump along the road, "Should I feel honored that you've chosen my company over that of the innocents offering up their bodies?"
Harry choked.
Malfoy smirked at him and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "Don't worry, I won't force myself on you. I must say, I am glad to get you alone; I neglected to send you a present on your birthday."
"Er," Harry said. "Thanks? And you've never given me a birthday present. Or any other present."
"No time like the...you know," Malfoy said cheerfully as he rummaged through his satchel, setting aside books and crumpled parchment and a half-eaten chocolate frog. He looked much better than the last time Harry had seen him, when he'd spoken in his defense at his trial. He was less gaunt and the dark circles under his eyes had faded, and although his school robes emphasized his pallor, they also made his hair seem to gleam in the dark carriage.
The only sign that Malfoy wasn't like the other returning "eighth years" was the unremovable, un-Glamour-able Ministry pendant hanging from his neck, designed to track his movements and his magic. Ron had been outraged when they'd read that Malfoy would be allowed---actually ordered, as a condition of his probation---to return to Hogwarts like any other student, but Hermione pointed out that it gave him a chance for reformation, which Azkaban certainly wasn't equipped to give him. Harry just thought it might make the year more interesting and tuned out her moralizing.
With a flourish, Malfoy produced a wrapped package and handed it to Harry. "You're supposed to open it," he said after Harry had stared at the Slytherin green paper and silver ribbon for a full minute. It was square and heavy, but not heavy enough to be a book.
"Right." Well, he had testified that Malfoy wasn't a killer, so he ought to behave as if he believed that opening the present probably wouldn't be deadly. Harry unwrapped it slowly, revealing the back of a silver picture frame. When he turned it over, he groaned. Malfoy had, somehow, acquired a photo of much younger Harry falling on his arse in a Hogwarts corridor. Colin Creevey must have taken it, he thought, and swallowed hard.
"And now you're supposed to say thank you. Really, Potter, have you never received a gift before?"
Harry wadded up the paper, trying to glare at Malfoy instead of thinking of Colin. "I don't usually thank people for insulting me."
Malfoy sniffed. "I'm trying to help you. With all the adulation in the papers, your ego must be close to a dangerous level of inflation. Consider it my way of thanking you for your help this summer."
Harry couldn't help laughing. "You need more practice at being nice to people. Why are you trying, anyway?"
The carriage jerked to a halt; Malfoy grabbed his satchel and headed for the door. With an unreadable look he turned to Harry. "I thought we could be friends." Then he stepped out and strode away.
Harry stared after him. Gratitude he could understand; he'd certainly been on the receiving end of a lot of it over the past several months. But an offer of friendship? Apparently it wasn't going to be a normal year after all: Malfoy was definitely up to something.
(TBC)
x-posted from LJ
Title: Ghosts (1/ a lot)
Rating: PG for now, R later
Prompt Set: 100quills table 100.4 (Harry/Draco)
Prompt: 005 - Start Over
Word Count: 1020
Summary: Returning to Hogwarts for his missed seventh year, Harry hopes to have a normal time at school for once. Unfortunately, the students are adoring, Hermione is righteous, and Draco Malfoy is suspiciously friendly. At least Voldemort is gone...
Notes/Disclaimer: I'm playing in JKR's sandbox for fun, not profit. Post-DH, so H&D are 18. Some concepts have been stolen from drabbles I wrote while trying to come up with a plot.
Harry stepped off the train at Hogsmeade station with trepidation. After a summer spent dealing with the trials, the media, and fan mail, he had been looking forward to being back at Hogwarts---until he'd arrived at King's Cross to find a swarm of students clamoring for his attention. The train ride had been miserable, with no place to hide from the barrage of questions. Harry, will you sign this photo? Harry, will you eat these chocolates? Will you touch my hand? Harry, did you really break into Gringotts? Did you really die? Did you really break up with Ginny? He'd finally managed to barricade himself in a compartment with Ron and Hermione guarding the door, letting only a few trusted classmates, mostly former members of Dumbledore's Army, inside.
For the moment, at least, he wasn't the center of attention. Hagrid greeted him with a bellow and a solid clap on the back that sent Harry reeling, but no one dove to keep the great Harry Potter from stumbling. The first years were nearly scrambling over one another in their haste to climb into the boats, and the older students huddled in small groups, clutching their friends and whispering, gazing at the Thestrals that most of them were seeing for the first time.
Harry ignored the tight feeling in his chest and started to follow Ron and Hermione towards a carriage, but before he got far, Hermione turned to him with an apologetic look. "Harry, we promised to join Ginny for a bit. You can come too, of course."
"She wouldn't mind, you know," Ron said, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other and not meeting Harry's eyes.
Harry winced. "No, thanks, I'll find another carriage." He wasn't avoiding Ginny, exactly, he was just...spending little time around her. They hadn't broken up, they'd simply never gotten back together after he'd left her to track down Horcruxes, and though there'd been no huge row, neither of them was particularly comfortable around the other. Harry supposed they'd get over it; it wasn't as if either of them were interested in anyone else. For now, though, he trudged alone to the last empty carriage, hoping the hordes of admiring students were still too distracted to notice his unprotected state.
Unfortunately, although the carriage was admirer- and Ginny-free, it was Malfoy-infested. Harry considered that thought for a moment and decided that, yes, one Malfoy counted as an infestation.
The boy in question raised an eyebrow at him. "Coming, Potter, or did you just want to stare?"
Sighing in frustration, Harry climbed in. Maybe the ex-Death Eater would keep Harry's groupies away.
The silence was pleasant. Too bad Malfoy had to break it. "So, Potter," he asked as they started to bump along the road, "Should I feel honored that you've chosen my company over that of the innocents offering up their bodies?"
Harry choked.
Malfoy smirked at him and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. "Don't worry, I won't force myself on you. I must say, I am glad to get you alone; I neglected to send you a present on your birthday."
"Er," Harry said. "Thanks? And you've never given me a birthday present. Or any other present."
"No time like the...you know," Malfoy said cheerfully as he rummaged through his satchel, setting aside books and crumpled parchment and a half-eaten chocolate frog. He looked much better than the last time Harry had seen him, when he'd spoken in his defense at his trial. He was less gaunt and the dark circles under his eyes had faded, and although his school robes emphasized his pallor, they also made his hair seem to gleam in the dark carriage.
The only sign that Malfoy wasn't like the other returning "eighth years" was the unremovable, un-Glamour-able Ministry pendant hanging from his neck, designed to track his movements and his magic. Ron had been outraged when they'd read that Malfoy would be allowed---actually ordered, as a condition of his probation---to return to Hogwarts like any other student, but Hermione pointed out that it gave him a chance for reformation, which Azkaban certainly wasn't equipped to give him. Harry just thought it might make the year more interesting and tuned out her moralizing.
With a flourish, Malfoy produced a wrapped package and handed it to Harry. "You're supposed to open it," he said after Harry had stared at the Slytherin green paper and silver ribbon for a full minute. It was square and heavy, but not heavy enough to be a book.
"Right." Well, he had testified that Malfoy wasn't a killer, so he ought to behave as if he believed that opening the present probably wouldn't be deadly. Harry unwrapped it slowly, revealing the back of a silver picture frame. When he turned it over, he groaned. Malfoy had, somehow, acquired a photo of much younger Harry falling on his arse in a Hogwarts corridor. Colin Creevey must have taken it, he thought, and swallowed hard.
"And now you're supposed to say thank you. Really, Potter, have you never received a gift before?"
Harry wadded up the paper, trying to glare at Malfoy instead of thinking of Colin. "I don't usually thank people for insulting me."
Malfoy sniffed. "I'm trying to help you. With all the adulation in the papers, your ego must be close to a dangerous level of inflation. Consider it my way of thanking you for your help this summer."
Harry couldn't help laughing. "You need more practice at being nice to people. Why are you trying, anyway?"
The carriage jerked to a halt; Malfoy grabbed his satchel and headed for the door. With an unreadable look he turned to Harry. "I thought we could be friends." Then he stepped out and strode away.
Harry stared after him. Gratitude he could understand; he'd certainly been on the receiving end of a lot of it over the past several months. But an offer of friendship? Apparently it wasn't going to be a normal year after all: Malfoy was definitely up to something.
(TBC)