"Apologiesss, we have not ssseen anything like that."
"Our memoriesss are not that long though,"
The snakes painted into the fourth floor portrait were apologetic enough, although the maiden sitting beneath the tree they were nestled in seemed oddly perturbed at their hissing, much less that Harry was talking to them. He was finding that paintings definitely had a bit of personality from whatever the subject matter was, however typically if a snake or two was painted in, it was usually for decoration and lacked any amount of personality or memory. Not that it was too surprising, as the painter was likely not a parselmouth and thought snakes to be, you know, snakes, so had painted them with boring, slightly dumb, animal-like personalities.
He was a little bummed as he'd had different iterations of this same conversation about forty times now and despite how many paintings and portraits Hogwarts had, they were almost out of ones with snakes in them.
He sighed audibly.
"Don't worry about it, thank you anyway."
"I mean I've been looking at the stonework but I don't see any snakes carved there either." Dean offered, at this point able to tell from Harry's reaction what the snakes had said even if he couldn't speak parseltongue himself. He was craning his neck as they walked to get a good view of the intricate architecture of the castle, the arching ceilings and various types of carved features here and there, of which there seemed to be many styles and types throughout the halls, clearly done in different eras throughout the thousands of years this castle had stood.
"Me neither," Seamus agreed, splitting the load to check out the baseboards and carved stone tiles on the floor through their journey. "Come to think of it, Slytherin hasn't been a popular guy in centuries. If he did carve snakes here and there, I bet a lot got destroyed over time."
Harry groaned, hating how realistic that sounded. Some young, reckless Gryffindors of years passed would definitely take a blasting curse to a carved snake, particularly if it were enchanted to move like the mantle snakes had been. Also now that they'd been paying close attention to the stone floors and hallway, it was very obvious that not all of Hogwarts was as old as the original foundation, as large portions were clearly renovated throughout time, even if those renovations were hundreds of years ago at this point. There were seldom few places that Salazar Slytherin's original carvings would be entirely intact.
"So this was a massive waste of time." He complained to no one, glancing around the empty hallway they were in.
"Well we at least tried—would've been a loose end if we never gave it a shot," Seamus shrugged. "The original plan was to wander around to see if you heard the voice again and that was never guaranteed to work."
"Guess you're right…" He sighed again, continuing the walk down the hallway and searching his brain for any place they hadn't checked yet. The dungeons and most of the west towers seemed to be the oldest parts of the castle where what they thought the original stonework seemed most predominant, but they'd already scoured that. The dungeons were actually first on this list given near the Slytherin dorm seemed the most likely for surviving snake carvings to be and was where he'd heard the voice before. It hadn't turned up anything this go round though. "I wonder where Biscuit went," He hummed and chose to ignore the scoffs his friends gave behind him.
"I still can't believe you named him Biscuit."
"What are you, Hagrid?"
"Oi!" He whipped around to stick his tongue out at them. "Hagrid calls terrifying things cute names—Biscuit really is harmless, I'm telling you! He'll be so put out that you're making fun of him like this!"
"Oh yes, please tell him I apologize," Seamus deadpanned and quickly dodged Harry's attempt to swat at him.
The other part of this search was to check out the passageways the mantle snake had told him about, and to do that he'd decided to practice his serpensortia a bit… and much to his delight, the same snake that Mr. Malfoy had conjured weeks ago now had reappeared. Harry was sure it had to do with his mental image of what he was trying to conjure somehow creating the same snake, but as they were already aquatinted and he realized he could keep summoning the same snake as often as he wanted, he decided to give his new friend a name.
He thus dubbed the gleaming, dark blue snake Biscuit and sent him off to check out if he could slither his way into those secret passageways collect some intel on them. Though he wasn't sure if Biscuit would remember details from the last time he was summoned if Harry let the spell lapse, so he really had to find him again before it wore off.
"It's getting late, we should probably head back to the dorm in a bit. Pretty much every teacher saw us wandering about by now so half of them probably suspect we're up to something." Dean offered that bit of sage insight and for some reason Harry felt like he was being called out personally even if he hadn't said it in so many words.
Glancing over his shoulder at the guy and seeing his smirk, he scowled because he was absolutely getting called out.
"I'm not that much of a troublemaker Dean. When have I ever been out after hours?"
"I dunno, you just give the vibe that you would in a heartbeat if there was something interesting enough to skip curfew for," He shrugged far too innocently, still pretending to look at the ceiling for any potential snakes despite them having gone down this hallway twice already.
Seamus didn't even pretend to be nonchalant and laughed loudly.
With a grumble Harry just stomped away, pretending not to see Neville's silent, but really amused grin as he followed suit.
"After all this, I'm kind of hungry though. You think the twins will have brought snacks back?"
"At this hour good luck, I doubt there'll be any left even if they did."
Harry paused, tilting his head as he realized they were still pretty low in the castle, so the kitchen entrance the twins once told him about was only a couple halls away. His only hesitation was…
He shook it off immediately. There was something unsettling about his apparent distrust of house elves—he knew damn well why but… he'd also met Turel and heard more about them by asking innocuous questions at the Slytherin table here and there. Dobby had been… odd.
Not normal.
An outlier.
He stopped walking, trying not to let it show how uneasy he was about it, but he was kind of hungry too and had been meaning to get over this at some point. Besides, he had all his Gryffindor mates around him right now, so if he couldn't be brave with this crew then he didn't deserve to be in the lion's house, probably.
"Actually… the twins told me how to get into the kitchens. It's not far if we wanted to check it out." He offered, turning and ensuring his face was as neutral and casual as he wanted to appear to be.
"Wait really!?"
"And you've been sitting on this information how long?" Seamus accused, mostly playfully since he now seemed way more excited about a late night snack than anything Harry might've been hiding.
"No comment," He dismissed, intending to never actually give voice of why he hesitated so long to do this. He was kind of a mess at the time so he didn't think when he'd trauma dumped all over Neville a couple weeks ago he'd actually voiced out loud 'oh yeah on top of all this I'm also kind of distrustful of house elves now' since it seemed… petty? Unimportant?
Like yeah, it was a hangup he had, but also he had more important hangups to actually worry about in a day. This one seemed stupid even to himself.
Particularly because despite having not enjoyed the entire experience of being trapped at Malfoy Manor, Turel had not been the worst part of it by far. He wasn't quite sure what was clouding his judgment right now, but the excitement of his friends and the promise of a late night snack was motivation enough to at least try.
He lead the way to the painting the twins had described, and tickled the pear. Even being so long in the magical world he still sometimes felt like an idiot doing weird things like this, but it passed in a moment when the entire painting swung forward at invisible hinges to let them slip around it (bit weird they needed a door five times the size of Hagrid to let creatures that barely came up to his knee in and out, now that he thought about it).
To say the scene was overwhelming, might've been an understatement.
Approximately a hundred elves all turned to them with huge, really inhuman eyes blown wide at the sudden arrival of some human children, and Harry felt every hair on his body stand on end like he was a cat.
And then they were all running at them in a huge mob—and it was only the fact he backed up right into Neville bodily when he reeled back, making both of them stumble awkwardly, that prevented him from fleeing the kitchen immediately.
"Misters!"
"What is young ones doing down here so late!?"
"Would you like some tea?"
"Crumpet, sirs?"
"Yous is Gryffindors?"
"You're out very late Misters!"
"Is there something yous be needing sirs?"
"Oh Merlin there's so many," Seamus eyes were spinning in his head too as he tried to take in the chaos going around but being unable to focus on any one thing with so many tiny beings speaking to him at once, but he had a big grin as he accepted the cup of tea that had materialized before him politely. "Oh thanks! My name's Seamus by the way,"
"Hello Mr. Seamus!" Three house elves nearest him chorus with big grins, clearly pleased to make his acquaintance.
Neville's hands on his shoulders and watching Seamus beam down at a cluster of little creatures that barely came up to his knees made Harry realize the… ridiculousness of this all, actually.
"You good?" Neville righted him awkwardly and Harry brushed it off quickly, glancing around and trying to absorb the chaos as quickly as possible. It wasn't as easy as doing it in Gryffindor tower though.
"Yeah… not exactly expecting a full army of them honestly,"
"No kidding. They say Hogwarts is the largest employer of house elves, given the size of this place." He allowed, not seeming to notice anything with his friend's behavior. He was probably attributing his jumpiness to any one of his other issues (of which there were plenty to choose from, honestly) and Harry was just going to let him do that.
As he turned, looking for something to focus on that wasn't the wriggling worms in his stomach, he had to do a double take at Dean.
Who, in the approximately ten seconds they'd been here was already sitting in a tiny chair by the fire across the room, mug of something in his hand already and happily picking out his favorites on the tray of salty snacks being presented to him—two elves holding the tray above their heads, on their tippy toes.
"Isn't he a muggleborn? How is he not more startled by this?" He blurted out, incredulously.
"Nothing ever bothers him, particularly not when promised food." Seamus rolled his eyes, seemingly suspiciously used to being abandoned but his self-proclaimed best friend in favor of snacks. Harry had not known this about his roommate and made a careful note of that given Christmas was coming up fast.
Also, it was very hard to take this as seriously as his nerves wanted to when Dean had his face full of crackers already, clearly more focused on the cheese cubes in front of him than the house elves handing them to him.
I mean he is the tallest of our year so far, maybe it's a growth spurt, Harry allowed, although he was kind of thinking maybe this was also just him too.
"Would yous be liking something to eat as well, sirs?" A house elf jumped and waved its little arms to grab their attention again out of the crowd of elves still grouping around them. "We have snacks or full meals, salty or sweet? Maybe just some tea or hot chocolate?"
"There's pumpkin juice as well!"
"Or butter beer!"
"Coodey that's too much before bed!"
"Oh, sorry sirs…"
"Do you guys have anything left over from supper tonight? I really liked that Shepard's pie we had." Seamus wondered, immediately getting swarmed and dragged over to where Dean was for a seat by a dozen tiny hands gently prodding him.
"Ah! We can makes you a brand new one!"
"That's alright, I don't need that much-"
"Sit here and we be right back Mr. Seamus!"
"Oh—well—thank you then," He chuckled, letting it go.
"Anything we can get you Misters?"
"Um… just some tea," Neville smiled down at them kindly and literally two seconds later they were pouring some for him that he thankfully accepted. Harry wasn't really hungry so he was kind of about to do the same thing when an elf ran right up to his side and offered him a bowl almost pointedly.
"For you Mr. Potter sir!"
He blinked, doing yet another double take at the colorful candy being presented to him—normally Hogwarts only ever had this out the weeks leading up to Halloween, so it was pretty unseasonal to see actually.
"Candy corn?" He blinked, but he did accept the bowl without thinking because… well, candy corn was great. Probably too much sugar for right before bed so he wouldn't eat too much but heck yeah.
And then he realized how weird this was and looked down at the little elf smiling up at him, startled.
"Wait a second, do you know me?"
"My name is Nodky, Mr. Potter sir! I works in the mornings when everyone else is preparing breakfast, for the early risers." The elf explained cheerfully and Harry reeled back in surprise.
Of course… from the beginning, when he woke hours and hours before everyone else and even to this day now that he was up a bit later with Neville, tea and small snacks would always appear to tide him over until breakfast was served. He'd obviously assumed it was the house elves, given it would magically appear at his elbow whether he was in the Great Hall or the Gryffindor common room, but it had never crossed his mind it was the same elf for the past year and a half now.
He hadn't questioned it when he got candy as a side with his tea at five in the morning right before Halloween, but in hindsight Nodky had learned his preferences somehow and since he was only on 'early riser' duties apparently, that meant he knew Harry's preferencesspecifically. Also, given that he'd been on potions to help his magical core issues for the past several months and they always appeared specifically in his goblet and not someone else's during meals in the Great Hall, it would make perfect sense there was one specific elf assigned to him and watching his meals and potion intake. Madam Pomfrey had even warned him she'd know if he didn't finish one of his nutrient potions, and he was now realizing he was stupid to not realize she had employed an elf to spy on him and what he ate.
He felt abruptly bad that he'd literally never given this possibility a thought before now, when Nodky had clearly been babysitting him this entire time he'd been at Hogwarts.
"Oh my god thank you—I had no idea. The morning tea is really appreciated you know," He told the little creature, who seemed to vibrate in excitement at the praise.
"I'm glad sir! If you'd ever like something in particular just call my names! There are only a couple early risers and I'm happy to be helping!"
"Thank you Nodky, that's very kind of you."
The elf seemed to vibrate with excitement and bounced around. "We have treacle tart here as well if you'd like some!?"
Another one of his favorites—so Nodky really did know. For some reason Harry was just warmly fond about it instead of perhaps more concerned he'd unknowingly been stalked by an elf. Particularly given his history.
"I probably shouldn't have too much sugar before bed—maybe I could have a bit of that Shepard's pie Seamus is having?"
"Right away sir—comes and sits!" Nodky lead the charge happily and the other elves parted way for him taking charge, much to Harry's amusement.
This… was not nearly as bad as he'd been fearing it'd be, and honestly he felt a little silly for putting it off so long. He also felt kind of thankful to have met Nodky, in a weird way: it felt better for there to be a person behind his meals if that made any sense. It was more comforting, somehow.
"We can't stay too long, it's almost curfew," Neville pointed out but still sat beside them at the tiny table by the fire the elves had already set for them.
"We've got a bit of time, it'll only take us like ten minutes to get back to the tower if we eat quickly—" But Dean was suddenly uninterested in soothing Neville's worries when the elves set down a new dish of steaming Shepard's pie and immediately heaped it onto their plates.
Harry snorted, blowing on his own serving since it was piping hot before tossing Neville a wink.
"If we're late and get caught, we'll just blame Dean's growth spurt."
"Yeah, I'm sure someone like Snape will buy that," Seamus rolled his eyes, but then watched Dean completely demolish the entirety of his serving and record time and reconsidered. "Actually… maybe he will."
With warm food and good company, Harry suddenly felt a lot more at home in a kitchen than he had since coming to Hogwarts.
000
"For Merlin's sake control your owl!"
"Aw, she didn't mean it, she was just saying hi," Harry defended his lovely snowy pet as she fluttered away from Draco's flailing arms in defense of his own. And owls didn't really have expressions exactly but by the way Bastian was on Draco's shoulder and leaning into his owner, he probably would've been cowering if owls could do such things.
"She's a menace!" The blond cried indignantly, shielding Bastian the best he could although the bird was comically larger than the average owl, so it was pretty useless.
Hedwig nipped at Harry's ear as she settled onto his own shoulder.
"Don't worry Hedwig, you come by it honestly." He stroked her feathers soothingly like she wasn't the bully in this situation.
Draco gave him a narrow look, but ended up just rolling his eyes in resigned exasperation.
"Bastian, you're like triple her size—just whack her next time."
"Don't do that!"
"She has it coming!"
Hedwig chimed in with a light cooing sound as if she agreed with the blond. Bastian just took off out the owlery window before she finished, and Draco slumped in defeat against the windowsill.
Harry couldn't help but laugh as he fed her some treats, which she happily accepted. "That's my girl, you tell him…"
"I hate you so much. Bastian is the victim here!" Draco pushed off from the window to walk back over and hand him the letter that was the original purpose of this entire game they were playing here.
They still sent letters to each other despite being in the same castle, picking up the habit from last year… somehow surviving the months long break they'd had over the summer. They… had not yet retouched their journals since the school year started, despite there being a decent amount of pages left in them. Blood didn't come out of enchanted paper like that so while Harry didn't know what Draco had done with his, Harry's own copy was at the base of his trunk. While he couldn't throw it out, he wasn't intending to write in it again.
Hence the letters game had started again, and the slower pace felt nicer in a way. If he wanted to go back and forth with Draco then he'd find his way down to the Slytherin common room and speak to him face to face. Their letter volley was much slower and less like they were looking for an immediate reaction to their words, more like they were trying to express everything that wasn't so easily said out loud or brought up in normal conversation, putting it onto paper in hopes the other would read it and be able to put it together.
Harry had… tried to tell Draco some things, but it never really felt like it came out right. He could at least admit that the potion that roasted him had fucking hurt like a snitch and about the scar on his cheek and all that… but not so many details that he knew the blond was sorely lacking. He wasn't quite sure what his hang-up was but he found himself talking about any and everything with Draco except some really important points that…
Well, maybe someday.
Maybe one day when he was writing one of his letters the words would simply come to him and spill out onto the page and it will be done. The hurdle of just… just telling him seemed insurmountable when looking into grey eyes right in front of him, so he kept writing letters and maybe one day it wouldn't be so hard anymore.
If anything, he had faith Draco would wait for him while he figured it out.
It was a comforting thought, and these days he could smile properly as he accepted the letter he was being handed, although he was rather curious about it. Draco had specifically told him to come to the owlery to get this letter himself, and despite them goofing off and trying to exchange letters via owls despite being in the same room, they hadn't ever hand-delivered their letters before.
"What is it?" He wondered, noticing immediately it was much thinner and stiffer than normal. Draco wrote novels worth of pages, and in hindsight it was a good thing he owned an Eagle-owl to carry those heavy letters constantly.
"Open it and find out—it's not a howler I swear."
"Well I wasn't thinking it was until you said that!" He complained, but dutifully opened it… surprised when the silver, thick-stock paper gleamed very magically up at him.
He blinked, realizing…
"And invitation?" He tilted his head.
Draco's cheeks turned a light pink, but he coughed to clear his expression quickly. "My family hosts a winter party at Yule every year—or most years I should say. Last year we went abroad." He explained, and Harry remembered… he had been sad he couldn't spend his first free Christmas with his closest friends but had still loved the first holiday break at Hogwarts—the first break where he wasn't required to do chores from dawn till dusk, he should say.
"Wait, I'm invited?"
"Of course," Draco gave him a funny look, shaking his head in dry amusement. "That's if you wanted to come. It is at my house," He pointed out and when Harry tensed as he put two-and-two together, he elaborated. "You don't have to worry about my mother, we've discussed it at length. She's hosting it for her own reasons and has plenty else to do, and besides greeting you she's going to be leaving the people I invite to me to handle."
Harry could tell he had worked hard to win that battle with his mother and whether you could trust her normally didn't matter—she'd give anything to her son so could believe she would keep her word on it. He at least believed she'd keep her word to her son now that she'd given it so…
He would be tempted… except…
Except… he'd already made plans.
Plans he hadn't told Draco about yet.
And… out of nowhere, suddenly he couldn't just lie and say he didn't want to go—not when Draco had put honest effort into making him feel comfortable at this party if he wanted to accept it. The guy really did not deserve to be lied to in return for his efforts… but Harry wasn't sure telling the truth would be that kind either.
"Harry?" Obviously, Draco could tell by his face something was off.
"I…" He bit his lip for a second before dragging in a breath quickly. "I didn't tell you something."
"What?"
"I didn't tell you something because I thought… you might not want to know about it."
"Okay…? And it has to do with Christmas?" Draco just tilted his head, seeming unbothered by this random direction.
Harry winced.
"Remember how we found out about my godfather? Or… godfathers, plural." He hedged, and watched Draco's expression flicker—before a calm neutrality fixed itself over his face.
"Sirius Black. Obviously I can't forget that. Him and…"
"Remus. The werewolf." Harry swallowed, watching him for any little reaction… but the jerk had really come into himself in Slytherin because he gave nothing away as he just nodded once, and Harry could tell it was 100% on purpose.
"I remember." Was all he said to acknowledge it.
The blankness was nerve-wrakcing as he had no feedback on what he was thinking right now… but on the other hand it was also kind of nice that there wasn't an outright rejection either.
"I reached out to him." He blurted out before he could chicken out, trying not to overanalyze the way Draco blinked rapidly a couple times at that. "I didn't tell you because… because I know it goes against how you were raised and Slytherin politics and all of it… I told almost no one and Remus promised to keep the fact we're talking a secret too. I mean I—I care about him after getting to know him, he's my godfather even if only unofficially. But still… I know, for example, Theo would never talk to me again and everything I did to get Slytherin house to accept me last year would be ruined if anyone knew."
It all came tumbling out in a deluge of word vomit, and there was something in his throat that made it hard to swallow as he ducked his head apologetically. "I saw your reaction at Gringotts and thought… that you might not want to know."
Draco just stood in silence for a full minute and Harry let him, trying to keep his own composure so Draco wouldn't see how nervous he was about this conversation.
And eventually…
"… of course I want to know." The blond decided, words particular as if he'd given them great thought already and meant every syllable in an articulate, purposeful way. Harry looked up to meet his gaze, daring to hope. He regretted it though when he was immediately flicked on the forehead hard enough that he yelped and clamped his hands over the new red mark he had—probably right next to his hidden scar though Draco didn't know it. "You don't need to edit yourself just because of my opinion, idiot. Weren't you the one who punched me in the face only a year ago for some similar reason? Why would you care what I think?"
Harry forgot the pain on his forehead in an instant as he realized how true that point was.
Except…
He smiled broadly despite feeling the beginnings of tears prick at the corners of his eyes.
"I don't think it works that way anymore. That was last year, when I'd known you two months… now what you think is a bit more important to me than that." He admitted, and to his credit Draco kept his composure despite his ears turning a but red. "I didn't want you to think I was betraying everything I'd built to be able to sit at lunch with you in peace."
The blond just gave a put upon sigh. "It's nice to hear, I won't lie… but I don't need you to change on my behalf. Although if you could be a tad less danger prone I'd be less stressed."
"Draco."
"I'm just saying."
Harry's smile slowly dropped as he returned to the point, feeling a bit more confident now that this wasn't going to turn into a trainwreck or an argument. "I mean I guess all this is to say…I think I'm going to spend Christmas with Remus. And given how I can't let anyone know what I'm doing or where I'm going, I probably can't make this party. I'm sorry."
He apologized, even if technically it was a halfhearted excuse at best. He probably could attend if he left Remus at home and didn't tell anyone where he was coming from… but he also didn't know yet what precautions Mr. Greengrass had in place for this holiday trip. He didn't know if there'd be wards or if being seen at a public event would catch Dumbledore's attention and have him tracking him back home at the end of the night…
No, it was safer to just stick with Remus unbeknownst to everyone, to stay in the muggle world away from magical eyes and ride out the break. Being with Remus was also part of Mr. Greengrass' plan somehow, and since he had no details he did not want to rock the boat and ruin something accidentally. Anything that jeopardized his placement this summer couldn't happen no matter how crushed he was to disappoint his friend like this. One party wasn't worth it, no matter how much Draco meant to him.
There would be other Christmases… so long as he wasn't forced to go back to the Dursleys, because in that case he really doubted he'd even see another Christmas, with or without Draco.
Thankfully his friend seemed to understand that the half-hearted excuse had a lot more behind it than he was willing to actually admit right now, and didn't call him out on it. Instead he just crossed his arms over his chest and gave him a long, muddled look.
"…"
"Draco?"
His thin lips pressed into a twisted line before he gave a weary sigh, seeming to decide something against his better judgement.
"Are you… sure that's a good idea?"
It took Harry maybe… a bit too long to realize what he was saying.
And when he did it felt like the run was ripped out from under him, and it was only by sheer instinct he managed to remain upright—but he felt really fucking off balance for a second.
And kind of paled in uneasiness, actually.
"You don't like werewolves." He realized aloud. Not so much asking… noticing more like, and he watched Draco's shoulders tense.
"Look, we're talking about this first, okay? Let's not…" He shook his head as he fumbled with his words in a way he hadn't done since last year. "Okay, okay, let's just… okay, admittedly…no, I don't. And I did think about it. If it was… how I was raised or… whatever." His eyes flickered away and the arms over his chest tightened, body language betraying his discomfort. "Look, I'm not going to give you a hard time about not wanting to be around my mother so I'll call you a hypocrite if you judge me for this."
He didn't even snap at him, although Harry could tell at any other time Draco would be spitting something sassily to be cornered like this. Right now… he wasn't though. He was distinctly uncomfortable but by the way he struggled to meet his gaze, Harry knew he was being honest… and he wasn't enjoy it any more than Harry had a couple minutes ago.
Fuck.
Maybe he was still in shock about it, but he didn't get automatically mad either. He did not like it… but his temper remained beneath his skin while his mind raced.
'Let's talk about it', he said.
So… okay.
"I'm not going to say I'm not upset. But… I get it. I think." Did he? Was he lying right now? How did he even start to being with this!? All he could think to ask was: "Can I ask why?"
Given the opportunity to explain, Draco still didn't seem that thrilled about it, but he went for it anyway.
"Werewolves are dangerous. Maybe not all the time, but they are. And maybe this one is different, I get that, but that doesn't change the fact there are a lot of bad ones too. I'm not saying it's right, but my family in particular has historically been… at odds with darker creatures." He gave a grudging huff, like even he knew this was bullshit but he didn't exactly have any other truths available to him right now. "If I've learned anything from being in Slytherin it's that time heals a lot, but not everything, and honestly I don't think it even should be expected to heal some things completely. Our grandparents could do shit and it'll still be my problem, right here today with my own peers for what their grandparents did. I get it. I had to think long and hard about it when my family changed alliances, and what that was going to mean for me interacting with people moving forward, given everything we've done in the past. We were aligned with the dark for generations, and that will never just go away. Malfoys have done people wrong. Those wronged people are owed their own hatred for us for it." He stated as if these were inescapable facts… and to him, they were. Not that he was thrilled about it, but he was never going to be dismissive of the potential threat long-held grudges posed to him. He was a Slytherin through and through, he wasn't that naïve or stupid to think there would never be consequences for not just his own actions, but from the actions of others before him.
Grey eyes finally met green ones as he embraced how unfomfortable this confession was, but knowing he had to be heard anyway. "All of that means, in my head, that werewolves have very real reasons to hate me and my family specifically, for nothing I've personally done. That means in return there are very real reasons to be wary of them. I can understand that they may hate us and to me, that means they'll always be a threat."
Harry… didn't know what to say.
"…nothing will ever get better with that line of thinking."
"There's also the fact I cannot shake the actual dislike too. I guess not of anyone in particular or because of their disease specifically, but of the sheer bad political choice it'd be to get caught dead consorting with a werewolf. You, given your fame, might be able to get away with it, but considering my goals in life, I never could. And frankly I don't want to." He put his chin up in that arrogant way of his, and Harry wilted. "I'm just being honest with you. I can cover for you about where you went so people won't find out, but my family is way too connected and watched for me to get away with going near him without it somehow getting out. Not without a lot more protection in place, at least."
He wasn't wrong—that was the very reason Harry himself was hiding the connection to Remus in the first place. Not only for his own future prospects, but just Draco being friends with a werewolf sympathizer would ruin his own ambitions. At this point everyone knew they were close—if Harry went down, he'd take Draco with him even if he never meant to put his friend in that position.
Obviously Draco was aware of this too, and he still chose to remain friends with his crazy Gryffindor friend. Even now that Harry was confessing he was doing something that would potentially devastate his relationship with Slytherin house and make both their lives hell if anyone ever found out… he was here. He wasn't running or telling him not to do it, he was accepting that Harry was taking a risk that would impact both of them… he just didn't want to take the risk himself.
Harry really wasn't sure what he was supposed to be thinking or feeling right now.
"Thanks." He started, because… he at least knew Draco had been honest with him, and he appreciated that. "I don't agree but it wouldn't change anything."
He made that abundantly clear though. It wasn't agreement it was just… tentative acceptance.
"I don't agree with you not liking my mother. And no, it changed nothing right?" Draco pointed out, eyes finally betraying how nervous he was when the minutes ticked by and Harry hadn't yelled or had a real reaction yet.
And his point was… agonizingly accurate in an infuriating way.
It was so muchharder the other way around… but that was exactly the reason Harry decided that he had to get over it.
"Right. Right that… yeah okay." He blew out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, still feeling kind of clammy. "In the spirit of honesty then, I will say that no matter what fears or dislike you have of him, Remus is my only chance to get away from my relatives right now. My only chance at a family, no matter what illness he has."
"I know." Draco frowned, his tone extremely heavy… he really did understand the gravity of it.
"And I went with your parents to do the blood test." Harry felt the need to point out, to which the blond let out a sigh and nodded along.
"I know. I know you didn't want to, but you did anyway. I can be just as polite if it comes to that, I promise. But that was an extreme situation, I didn't push it on you I don't think."
Harry wasn't so sure about that, he'd still felt very cornered but… he got what he was saying. Don't push Remus at him, but the times they had to be in the same room for one reason or another, he'd play nice. He did not hate Remus personally—he just didn't know the man and had no desire to know him either. In a lot of ways it wasn't personal at all, but that somehow made it feel uglier.
Given the… horrific nature of it all, this was already asking a lot for the Slytherin who was batting zero, considering he was friends with Harry Potter of all people. Harry had a partial control over the school now, and because of that people were leaving Draco alone… but if Harry tarnished his own reputation and Draco joined him in it, Harry might come out the other side alright, but Draco would be in an even worse position than he was last year. Because he wasn't just a clueless firstie anymore, he theoretically should 'know better' and… and it would hurt his politics a lot more than Harry would ever feel it.
He was suddenly vividly remembering the conversation with McGonagall about his mother's Slytherin friend… how they had fallen apart. How he'd understood exactly how it could've happened.
If Draco was ever caught being even slightly friendly with a werewolf or a werewolf sympathizer, he'd get ripped apart by his own house and… and maybe that would be the tipping point in deciding it wasn't worth being friends with a selfish Gryffindor who wouldn't even meet him halfway.
It was the gut-wrenching terror at the idea that he could lose Draco over this that made his decision for him. His hands felt ice cold and it had nothing to do with the unseasonable chill or the windy owlery, lips numbs as he just nodded his head once.
"Okay."
It was all he could do, and it came out kind of quiet. Not quite defeated but… more gentle than he normally was.
Draco gave him a searching look, as if silently asking him if he meant it.
"Really?"
"Yeah really. I said okay." He repeated.
He got another look… before his grey eyes softened noticeably.
"…look at us. Communicating and shit."
Harry couldn't help the surprised snort that ripped out of him, startled by the spike of humor after such an awful conversation. When Draco chuckled along, arms finally dropping from where they'd crossed and shoulders releasing their tension, Harry couldn't help but feel washed in a fondness he'd almost forgotten he had.
Without warning he closed the gap and tossed his arms around his friend to hug the life out of him, and if he was surprised, Draco got over it quickly to free his arms to hug him back. It was so cold outside but the cold that sunk into Harry's robes from the body in his arms was so much nicer, in a way that had nothing to do with the chilly wind.
Despite all the other emotions swirling around his brain right now, he just focused on the person in his arms right now, and the fact he had Draco here with him now. Everything else was secondary, because at the core of it all he couldn't lose people.
He wouldn't survive it.
But god damn, it was easy to be considerate of others when you agreed with their values.
To be considerate of someone else's belief when you fundamentally didn't believe in them… was way harder than he was expecting it to be, had he seen this coming. Which, he probably should've, but the idea that Draco could hold onto the bullshit ideals that, admittedly, most of the wizarding world also held had seemed so impossible to him he hadn't wanted to give it thought before. He didn't want to believe it was even possible, because it felt so fucking wrong and he loved Draco so why…?As a Gryffindor he felt this bone deep need to take a stand and fight for something if he thought it important. To speak out against things he thought were wrong, not to just let shit happen in front of him… but as someone whose best friend was a Slytherin, he also didn't actually know if this was the hill he needed to die on right now. He just didn't know if this was a battle that was actually wise to fight right now, since it would probably be the one that cost him the war in the end—and if he lost the war here, he also lost Draco. There had to be a better way to figure this out, but it would take time and planning like everything else worthwhile to Slytherins—he couldn't fight like a lion right now and win against a snake, it was completely pointless.
Maybe the real reason he wasn't just jumping into a screaming match right now is because he actually didn't know what he was supposed to be fighting for—his heart wasn't fully in it because he had no idea what winning even meant right now. That he got Draco to lie to him and say he liked werewolves when he didn't? Or did he want to change Draco, his best friend, because he really didn't like something about him right now?
He felt uneasy and flat just thinking about it.
Realistically, Draco wasn't going to hate on werewolves or go out of his way to make their lives hard, but he also wasn't going to go out of his way to help them either. He wanted to be hands off, to stay out of it entirely—which was probably him meeting Harry and is ideals halfway.
What Harry wanted to do was argue with him until he saw sense, but that… that wasn't him meeting Draco's ideals halfway. That wasn't compromise.
He was still kind of surprised how… well, polite they'd been. This easily could've been a blow-out fight, given his temper and Draco's pride… and a part of him still wanted it to be a blow-out fight because he honestly thought he could win that.
However… that wasn't compromise.
Maybe he would win that fight, but Draco was his friend, and beating him into submission seemed over the line even for him. It probably wouldn't actually be a victory. Just like going too far in a duel would've been hollow, sometimes you had to do it the hard way, the much harder way, to make it worth it.
And as he thought about it, Harry realized… just like the duel, Draco probably knew he wouldn't win this fight, if it had come to it. But he'd brought it up anyway and silently asked for peace and discussion, trusting Harry to be reasonable and have mercy despite the fact he already knew he was going to hate it.
He would be a terrible, terrible friend if he trampled over him anyway, completely disregarding the trust he'd just showed.
It was just… everything in him didn't agree. It did not compute how Draco could look at a man he'd never even met and think lesser of him because of something he couldn't change!? There was prejudice and something disgusting like classicism dripping all over it and it did not compute that clueless, malleable Draco was the one doing it.
Then again, like the Gryffindor vs Slytherin thing wasn't also pure prejudice and generational trauma? That was exactly what Draco was talking about here: avoidance and getting rid of the hate first was a decent first step even if it didn't feel like enough. This particular Slytherin was going to mind his own business and let Remus mind his—he was not going to hate him though… and that was… progress.
Progress?
Well, it certainly didn't feel like nearly enough, but it was progress none the less, maybe. It was one step, when they still had a continent to cross.
Thinking long term though… Draco was the future of the Malfoy family. Even his parents had hated werewolves, and here Draco was making the step to be indifferent about it. His children, the next generations… maybe they'd have a chance at acceptance instead. In a way, it meant more that he was even attempting this, as tradition and heritage meant everything to the snake house, and Draco was willing to change what that meant for his family line by starting today.
It didn't feel like enough, but Harry also recognized this was way better than the alternative. Draco could've decided to stand his ground and start demanding Harry begin to hate werewolves and non-human dark creatures too, and that would never happen. Flipping the script though… Harry realized that was exactly what Draco was willing to do for him now: to change, to make one step, to start believing in something he had never believed in before. For no other reason than that he knew Harry wouldn't be able to accept blatant prejudice the way he'd shown it before, and despite not being able to rid himself of it entirely, was making a shot at compromise and peace instead.
Despite everything else, Harry couldn't quite spit on that effort by telling him it wasn't enough.
It would have to be enough for now, because he decided wrong or right, he wasn't going to lose Draco over this—he just wouldn't.
It did further resolve him though. It cemented the fact that he needed to be in charge and he needed to be able to make brutal changes in this world, so bullshit like this didn't rip people apart anymore—more importantly it wouldn't threaten to rip his friends from him. Although he didn't agree, he couldn't dismiss Draco's concerns either, so he needed to be strong enough to stomp down those who'd treat others unfairly, but at the same time ready to stop even the past victims from going for blood. Just because Harry agreed with them honestly didn't mean children of hatred like Draco and other Slytherins were going to be prompted to change if they were just in danger.
Fuck, this was hard.
He didn't like it at all.
It felt just as wrong as keeping Remus a secret in the first place, the idea of needing to protect the people who'd been in the wrong all this time too.
But… things had changed. He hadn't realized it until this conversation, but now he could never do what he'd done last year, in punching Draco and walking away without a backwards glance because he didn't agree… he couldn't walk away anymore and Harry was not exactly sure when that had happened. He didn't want to fight, he wanted things to move forward differently because he didn't want to just throw a punch or a hex then walk away… he couldn't do it.
Draco was way too important to him to throw him aside just because of one fight.
One disagreement…
And it was a hell of a disagreement but Draco was right… he hadn't put up a fuss when Harry had confessed he didn't want to be around Lady Malfoy, and here he was saying he didn't care for Harry's own family. He'd only exchanged a couple dozen letters with Remus over the past couple months, he hadn't even met the man… but Narcissa Malfoy had raised this boy in his arms and loved him dearly, and Draco loved her just as dearly back… and still he hadn't made it an issue that Harry didn't want to be near her.
Reasons… the deep seeded reasons he didn't want to be near Remus aside, though it was so fucking hard to separate the reasons from the action… reasons aside, Harry could not hold this against him. He'd forever be a hypocrite, and the worst kind too—the one that refused to stretch even a little bit for someone he loved. Did you really love them if you weren't willing to treat them how they treated you?
He needed to shake these thought off before he spiraled, honestly.
Reasons he didn't like Lady Malfoy, reasons Draco didn't like Remus… that was a much bigger fight.
What they could do about it now was simple though: he didn't need to be near his mom and Draco didn't need to be near his godfather. The two of them were the friends here, and this was their life they'd agreed to spend partially together—everyone else were additional factors neither of them had agreed to if being friends were just another deal that Daphne was making for him. And changing variables after the agreement was a big no-no.
Harry had promised to be his friend… Draco agreed to be his friend back. Draco had never agreed to become a Gryffindor or sympathize with werewolves or anything else.
Harry himself was owed the same thing. He agreed to be Draco's friend, but he didn't agree to buy into werewolf prejudice or pureblood rhetoric or consort with the elder Malfoys or death eaters…
It was just so much harder the other way around, and he knew his Gryffindor was shining through in the ugliest way possible right now. It was so much easier to be understanding if you already agreed.
"I can hear you thinking." Draco commented into his hair, and Harry made a face into his shoulder that he couldn't see.
"I'm just reaching a balance here," He complained. "Readjusting and stuff."
"You're not mad?" Draco sounded genuinely worried about this as he let go, taking a step back to check his face again as if he could read the truth from his eyes alone.
Harry just gave a very tied sigh, letting him step back but not quite giving up the grip he had on his forearm just yet.
"No." He admitted, and was a bit surprised at how honest that was. "I think you of all people know how I'm not the most understanding person ever, but I'm working on it okay! Don't judge me while I get there!" It was half a joke but also not a joke at all.
Thankfully Draco did know that and in fact did not judge him. Instead, he smiled a smile harry had never seen on him before…and kind of took his breath away.
He was just so… so happy Harry was trying… for him.
It really broke his heart a bit.
He really was just a selfish person, wasn't he? If the one time he was making an attempt for someone else was considered so special that it made Draco smile like the sun was rising just for him today.
"Don't worry about Yule." The blond comforted him with a wave of his hand, dismissing that whole thing and giving an encouraging look as he changed the subject. A bit tactlessly, but Harry also eagerly grasped the chance to talk about anything else for now, and think these way deeper thoughts over some other day. "Will you be busy for Easter break?" He asked.
Bit of a weird direction change, but Harry was on board if it meant not worrying a hole in his stomach that he was going to lose his friendship with his best friend over prejudice. Literally anything but that was welcome right now.
"I thought people usually stayed at Hogwarts for that?"
"Usually yes, since most people have plans that can't be left alone. Besides, it's not that celebrated a holiday, not like Yule is." He agreed, but gave a bit of a shrug. "My plans have been going reasonably well though… I think. It won't impact anything if I stay or go, not this year at least."
Must be a long, long term plan then.
Harry was curious, but knew better than to ask.
He gave his Easter break a thought and realized he didn't have much of an answer unfortunately.
"Honestly, I don't know. I have some errands to run over Christmas break, which is another reason to need to visit Remus—ah!" He burst out, causing Draco to startle visibly for a second at his sudden shout. "I should call him Mooney… that's his nickname and it's more secure that way. Since I'll talk about him to you but for both our sake's no one should know in case we're overheard."
The Slytherin blinked before regaining his composure—not without a wrinkle to his nose though.
"Right… but Mooney?"
"Apparently my dad gave him that name, so it wasn't either of our ideas." He rolled eyes. "But anyway, my plans are starting to move a bit and I'm thinking Easter will be about crunch time. I'm actually working with someone and they're mostly in charge of things for now, so it'll depend on how fast things pick up. Maybe it'll be over by Easter, or maybe I'll need to use that break to assist with it or something—I don't know right now." He explained, feeling awkward not going into details, but it was also very par for the course in Slytherin house.
Slytherins made plans. Slytherins very rarely told people about their plans. No one really took their Easter break in that house because that was peak 'crunch time' for most plans to come about. Draco hadn't told him his plans and neither had Harry, but they'd been clear at the beginning of the year they were working on something on their own. Nothing about what he'd just said should be suspicious to a Slytherin, since that was precisely the game they played.
It still felt weird to be actively explaining something without giving any details about why, but technically it wasn't weird.
Luckily Draco had gotten used to how his house worked, so he clearly didn't think twice about it.
"That makes sense," He allowed, not pushing for details which Harry was thankful for.
"Why? Did you have another suggestion?"
"Have you ever been to a tea tasting?"
"A what?" He had in fact not, but he was certainly interested. "Like a tea party?"
"Not at all," Draco chuckled, "Really high-end teas are sold from specific sellers and you go to tea tastings to check them out. It's a bunch of people in a room who all taste it, then bid for the volumes they want, as there's only so much supply made in a year." He explained and Harry's eyes got wide at the very tempting distraction this was. "My family always participates as Mother's teas are really critical to that hosting thing she does—she sends father to do the bidding though, because he knows what she likes and he likes to make connections with the other people who attend."
It wasn't hard to see why he brought up Easter break then. "And you wanted to go?"
"Only kind of—just me following my father around would be a bit boring, but I think it'd be fun if we went together is all." He admitted, ears going pink again as he fidgeted. "Besides, events like this are super common, not just with tea… you've been learning about your finances and stuff, and learning the whole 'bidding for limited supply' thing is really big in pureblood society, in business in general. I thought you might like to watch how it's done first since you'll probably end up needing to do it yourself someday, if you keep your interest in business."
That… was actually a really, really good opportunity. It sounded like this was how purebloods did a lot of business, how large amount of money flowed—and Harry was sure there were tons of politics shenanigans happening behind the scene. The fact Mr. Malfoy goes himself and doesn't just send someone to pick up his teas for him with his wallet meant it was much harder than just buying some products, Hell, even the fact that you had this one chance to buy a year's supply of something… it was clearly a high stakes and critical event. He hadn't even known something like this existed thirty seconds ago but he already recognized this was a clear window into how a lot of pureblood society ran, and if he was going to get farther in the world he needed to be part of it… preferably now.
It was 90% for the introduction to politics, the connections he'd be able to make and the things he could learn by diving into something like this, but the other 10% was that it was obviously also a really good opportunity to make some serious profit. The Potter name was already quite wealthy, but he needed all he could get to be Minister someday, and it would be nice if he didn't just deplete his ancestor's earnings, but also generated something to add to it in his lifetime.
"That sounds really interesting actually… is it limited seating? Since it sounds restrictive." He asked immediately. Draco was probably right that he needed to visit this kind of event first, and then prepare actively for the next chance he got. Draco could tell how eager he was, but had already assumed he would be when he brought it up, so he just seemed vaguely amused at his reaction.
"Not technically, but there are restrictions on the number of bidders. I think anyone can attend, but you have to have an invite from the seller to actually bid, meaning you have to have a connection to them somehow. You can't just write to them outright asking to be invited, someone has to refer you and then the seller will need to invite you of their own free will any time there's something to sell. Which also means you need to be a valuable buyer or you'll stop getting invites."
"Wow," That is some serious pureblood shit. Well, whatever, using it to my advantage for now. "How hard is it to get a referral?"
"Not that hard, almost any pureblood could, and given you're a Potter the benefits of being the one to refer you would be better than whatever they could get from you." Draco shrugged.
A reputation boost, huh? That meant he really had to think about who he'd asked to give him the reference. What an interesting power play—and he had all the cards for once!
Draco could see his mind going a mile a minute and offered him a sly smile.
"The main seller for this tea tasting is a Greengrass. Getting an invite isn't the hardest thing but you do need to trade a bit—it's not that complicated though, so like interesting texts or even just flat out money can buy you the invite. Events like this are mainly money generators so it's very common to just buy the invite, but it can be pricey to do it several times a year. It's not looked down upon to trade favors or artifacts instead though, only if it happens occasionally."
"So you buy the invite, buy the inventory, buy excess inventory if necessary to ensure you keep getting chances to buy more invites later… the Greengrass family really has the market cornered, don't they?"
Draco snorted, but had to agree. "On foreign imports, for sure. Tea in particular comes mostly out of Asia—at least the stuff most purebloods bother buying is. Since that side of the world is so isolated even in the magical world, you need to take the trip manually which really only the Greengrass make a business of doing. Most families in Britain don't even have a single contact on that continent so they really can just do what they want in selling the goods."
"Some monopoly," Harry muttered, but he couldn't help but be impressed. At least Daphne was one of the most reasonable people he'd ever met: her deals weren't outrageous and while she always got an advantage out of her trades she never returned anything less than perfectly fair for what was being exchanged. If that was the tendency of her whole family, who obviously cultivated that reputation very much on purpose in order to secure safe business partners, then Harry bought into it immediately. He'd drop quite a few galleons in the name of securing his future political career with full faith whatever he bought from them was worth the money.
"Tempted?" Draco prodded.
"Very," He agreed instantly. "Unfortunately my plans come first so I'll have to see what's happening over Easter closer to the date, but if I can make it I'd really like to check it out."
"I thought you would," the blond smiled. "So don't worry about Yule… just enjoy your break. We might still have Easter, and if not then guarantee there'll be half a dozen gatherings over the summer we could go to. Most probably won't be for tea exactly but late summer is a popular time for selling inventory."
Harry couldn't help but feel a bit better at his reassurances, despite how many things Draco didn't know were wrong with that statement.
For one, if he couldn't get Sirius out of prison by summer then he wasn't going to be staying in this country for long.
But… let's not think about that for now. Maybe Sirius will be out by Easter and we can go look at some fancy tea with Mr. Malfoy like it's an actual break and we're just kids hanging out during our free time.
Or Hogwarts will close by Easter thanks to the monster turning kids to stone, and we'll have all the time in the world.
Harry shook those thoughts off quickly. He was definitely spiraling.
Instead he smiled pointedly and leaned into Draco side, trying to feel as cheerful as he wanted to be right now.
"Thanks Draco… I think I'd really like that."