*Unintended Consequences*

Unintended Consequences by Pseudonymous Entity

"...since we found out that anything could happen, anything could happen, anything could happen, anything could happen, anything could..."

Summary: Draco Malfoy was minding his own business in his compartment alone when a Gryffindor decided to fall from the sky and make their second trip to Hogwarts a bit more exciting than planned. Or the one where Harry isn't confident in Ron's capabilities to fly the car and makes a jump for it when they fly over the train, a little traumatized, and blurts out his problems to an unsuspecting Slytherin.

Characters: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter

Warnings: Any suggestions? I don't think it warrants them really, but if you think of any let me know and I'll consider them.

AN: Hi lads. Welcome. Or, if this is your first reading...welcome in general? Also 'hi'.

Ever Yours, Pseu [The clever, magnificent and ridiculously good looking]

"All I ever wanted was to reach out

And touch another human being

Not just with my hands but with my heart."

-Tahereh Mafi

Draco spoke the password and waited for the entrance to the Slytherin common room to slide aside and let him out.

There was enough time before curfew to go out for a walk. Which is where he would be now if it weren't for the unfortunate combination of Crabbe and Goyle. Draco had been forced to walk all the way down to the common room after dinner. The large pair weren't known for missing meals and Draco hadn't been able to avoid sitting beside them at dinner. Or rather, he hadn't found two people willing to risk the threat of pummeling if they didn't move from either side of him so the two could sit down.

They entered the common room and Draco walked as quickly as etiquette allowed down the stairs and straight to his dorm. He grabbed the first book he saw from the neat pile on his side table and made his way back to the common room, settling down in one of the couches. The common room was a menagerie of all seven years bragging on about their summer adventures. The novelty of new gossip had not, apparently, warn off just yet. He hoped desperately that this would not become a habit after every vacation.

He may have to intervene if so.

While everyone else did whatever it was gossiping twats did, Draco took advantage of the invisible bubble which seemed to follow wherever he went. Between three and ten feet of space depending on the circumstance where the other students dared not tread. If he wasn't so used to himself for company he might have felt offended. As it was, belonging to two notorious houses and an infamous father to boot was more than enough to fend off the sycophants and would-be bullies.

It did little to dissuade Crabbe and Goyle from tailing him most everywhere. It wasn't his fault his father and their fathers came up with the arrangement. If he were more whimsical he'd allow himself to daydream of an alternate timeline where he attended Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts and had actual personal space afforded him as a human being, and no babysitters.

The recent threat against his life didn't help matters any. Father was upset with mother because mother insisted on Hogwarts. And, being the son of the family the belonged to, came with risks. Those who didn't believe his father's story of imperious in the last war. Those who thought they were traitors. There was no happy medium. And the easiest way to get to his father? Threaten his only heir.

Yippee.

After an hour Draco closed his book and made the trek down the stairs to the long corridor at the bottom. To the right were the boys' rooms. He found his dormitory down the second year hall and cautiously cracked open the door. As expected both boys were enjoying their after dinner food coma. Draco tiptoed across the carpet to his side table, replaced the book, grabbed his shoes and made his way back to the common room.

Finally, time to himself.

He slipped on his shoes and made his way to the wall that served as the secret entrance to the Slytherin common room. The wall slide aside he stepped out.

He took two steps into the cool corridor and then stopped and stared. To the right across from him stood POtter of all people. The Gryffindor stood there in an oversized jumper and dirty trainers, staring at a crack in the stone on the floo like it was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen. Draco immediately zeroed in on the focused expression on the other boy's face and the stiffness of his posture. How his shoulders hunched in a bit and he was chewing fiercely on his bottom lip. Draco narrowed his pale eyes, sliding them to the two third years standing near to the boy.

From the looks on their faces, they were the most likely cause of Potter's discomfort.

Vexing.

"Potter," Draco called, looking for all the world as if he was expecting a lost lion to show up on Slytherin's doorstep.

Potter's head shot up. "Draco? Oh, I was, I was just wondering...because I saw your practice you know?"

While Potter rambled on, as Draco was coming to find was a thing with the Gryffindor, Draco walked up to him. He then turned to look directly at the third years who had stopped talking. He continued to stare them down while Potter rattled on in the background until the third years backed away and disappeared into the common room.

There was no good reason for either of them to harass a student who was visiting one of their Slytherin classmates. It wasn't unheard of, if rare for a Gryffindor, and picking on a younger kid was frowned upon by all four of the houses. Most especially when Draco was willing to bet Potter had done nothing to warrant the treatment.

He turned his head back to said Gryffindor and looked him over. He appeared otherwise in good condition. Draco put a hand to Potter's back and pushed him forward to get him moving. It seemed Draco would have company tonight.

Anything was better than Crabbe and Goyle...even if it was Potter.

They made their way to the end of the corridor and began up the steps leading to the first floor. Draco reached into his pocket and held out something wrapped in a napkin. Potter paused in his rambling to stare at it like it would bite him.

Draco rolled his eyes. He drank potions from Draco without a second thought but this he had an issue with. Riddiculous. "Go on. It isn't poisoned."

Potter took it carefully and unwrapped a bit. "Treacle Tart." Said Potter.

Draco thought that was obvious so he didn't confirm the treats identity. Instead, he answered some of the questions the boy had spewed at him. "I did make the team. Seeker. Thank you for asking. And no I won't need to utilize a school broom. Father sent along a package. I received it at dinner. I hardly need to unwrap it to deduce that it's a new broom. The 2001 I would presume."

As they reached the main floor and headed toward the main staircase, Draco glanced at Potter out of his peripheral vision. He was taking his usual route and Potter didn't seem to mind. Just an enclave on the second floor under the clocktower Draco favoured. No one else seemed to populate that area so it was ideal to Draco's needs.

"You don't like it?" He inquired. The other boy had stopped a couple of bites into what Draco knew was his favourite dessert. He brows were drawn together and he was frowning.

Potter flushed and looked at Draco. "That's not it. I like! It's only..." And then a curiously devious expression flickered across his face. He looked down at the desert and then up to Draco, took a breath and then said, "I missed dinner."

Draco turned his eyes forward. "Oh?"

That was hardly worth stopping to talk about. If anything it was all the more reason the boy should be eating his food instead of staring at it.

"Did you notice?" Potter asked, with the same odd expression on his face.

Draco nearly missed a step. Nearly. He scoffed. "As If I pay any attention to whether or not you've decided to starve yourself in a fit of dramatic angst. Honestly Potter, your ego is enormous."

Rather than getting offended Potter began eating the tart once more, a very large beaming smile across his face that Draco pointedly ignored. What a ridiculous notion. It wasn't Draco's fault the other boy was quite thin, his clothes drowning him. Really, it was much more interesting to ponder whether anyone else cared if the boy died of hunger. He can't have been the only one to notice.

Not that he was noticing anything. Not really. But if the boy was going to insist on following him around Draco could at least ensure he didn't drop dead in his presence. It was a simple matter of looking out for one's own interest. That he happened to have a slice of Potter's favourite desert in his pocket was mere coincidence. A happy accident.

Obviously.

"Hang on." Said Draco, slowly. "How long were you standing there? You never sent anyone to fetch me. We're you just planning on standing there until I decided to come out? What if I didn't come out tonight?"

Potter quickly took another bite and shrugged his shoulders.

Idiot.

PseudonymousEntity

2019

Notes: Thoughts, Theories, Questions, Comments and Limericks always welcomed

An: I have several more chapters lined up if you lot are still interested.

Ever Yours, Pseu