Alright, so, I've recently fell in love with this pairing, because it just makes so much sense, if one really thinks about it, and I just had to write it. Once I got the idea for it, it was just begging to be written out, and I finally relented, especially since I just wanted a light-hearted fanfiction involving the pairing, for once, and since I was having some problems finding one, I decided to write one myself, so here's the product of that! I hope you guys enjoy, and don't forget to R&R! (but if you're just going to review to complain, then please refrain from doing so, because I'm not forcing you to read the story, you chose to click on it).
Chapter 1- Detention in Potions
Detention with Harry was not something that Draco was looking forward to; in fact, he rather despised the idea of it. He may have been a changed man, since the war had ended, but that didn't necessarily mean that he got along swimmingly with his former enemies. In fact, he was 99.9% certain that Weasley stilled despised him, and Granger wasn't overly fond of him either. On a brighter side, the staff didn't seem to hold anything against him, and Blaise understood the darkness that surrounded his moods quite well.
In order to understand why he was so depressed most of the time, one only had to look at the way the student body treated him; he actively strived towards Professor McGonagall's goal of House Unity, yet the other students refused to acknowledge that. In fact, the Gryffindors went as far as to say that everything that he did to reach such goals had ulterior motives, which they didn't. Unless, that is, you counted the fact that he just wanted to be accepted by everyone.
Going back to the topic at hand, he still did not want detention with Potter, no matter how it might reach House Unity, or whatever crap McGonagall tried to convince him of. He scowled, as he picked his way through the dungeons. Stupid Professor Sylvian and her detentions. I don't see why it was such a big deal that we had been arguing... loudly... with our wands drawn. It wasn't like we were going to explode the potions classroom or anything. And really, it was all Harry's fault. He had been the one who started the argument. All Draco did was end it... or he would have, if Professor Sylvian hadn't stepped in to break up the fight. This is not how I wanted to spend my Friday night. Cleaning cauldrons with Potter, I don't think it could get an worse.
The potions classroom had went through a serious change in décor, after Professor Snape and Professor Slughorn. Professor Sylvian had Slytherin banners hanging from the ceiling, amongst brightly colored flowers and dark, leafy herbs. The scent made your head spin, worse than any of the greenhouses, especially when she had multiple potions brewing at the same time. Today was one of the days, unfortunately for the boys. Two rows of cauldrons, running along the length of the far wall, were brewing over a rainbow of flames, and a few of the vapors were suspiciously pink. Harry was already there, sitting on one of the wooden desks, his feet dangling lazily over the ground. "Malfoy." He greeted, with some annoyance in his voice.
"Potter." Draco acknowledged coolly, sitting on one the desk opposite of Harry's, so that he was facing him. "Has Professor Sylvian arrived, yet?"
Harry shook his head, his dark hair falling in his eyes. "I'm afraid not, but she should be here any minute, now."
Sure enough, they heard her footsteps outside in the hallway. Professor Sylvian was an interesting woman; she was surprisingly good at what she did, if a bit careless when it came to the safety. She also had an irritating habit of flirting with her more attractive male students, which Draco and Harry both fell under the category of. "Boys, I'm glad to see that you're both already here!" She was tall, with long legs, curling dirty blond hair, and clear blue eyes. The robes she wore hugged her figure tightly, showing off her curves, but neither Harry or Draco wanted anything to do with her. As far as they were concerned, she was a freak. "I feel bad about having to give you detention, but you two really created quite the ruckus during class." She frowned slightly.
Not true. The other groups were ignoring us perfectly fine, and you had been busy grading essays until you decided to take an interest in us and our argument. "I just need you boys to clean out some of the spare cauldrons, and to reorganize the ingredients scattered around over there by the brewing potions." She gestured. "Oh, and feel free to use your wands, if you'd like." She gave them a smile. "I'll just be in my office. If you need anything, just come and get me." She turned in a swish of her black robes, and disappeared behind the office door.
Harry and Draco exchanged a look. "The quicker we get this done, the less time we have to spend in the other's company." The blond said coolly, his gray eyes devoid of any emotion other than boredom. "You start on the cauldrons, and I'll handle the ingredients." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and despite the look he gave Draco, he didn't argue.
The ingredients were bizarre, if he were going to be honest. Jars of turkey feathers, bear hair, and turtle scales were prominent, but there were other vials filled with Merlin knew what. He was somewhat disappointed with the lack of organizational skills of the younger years, and of the teacher. "Who puts fairy wings in the same pile as belladonna? In what world are those two things the same thing?" He picked the delicate wings up carefully, setting them off to the side in their own little pile, before turning back to the mess of the tables. He started moving down the length to examine everything that was out of place, before he began to pick out the belladonna next, since he had already separated it from the fairy wings.
Harry was muttering 'scourgify' over and over under his breath, zooming through the used cauldrons, and Draco was finding that sorting through the herbs was somewhat enjoyable. Sure, the smell of the classroom could give anyone a headache, if they lingered there too long, but the work was simple, easy, and something that he personally felt was important. After all, you dump the wrong ingredient into a potion, and the whole classroom could blow up. He even came close to humming, as he worked, creating several large piles of the more common ingredients, and smaller piles of the uncommon ingredients. Harry eventually came to join him, when he called out to Draco. "Any idea why she as two jars of cat hair and the hair of a black jaguar?" He held both the vials up.
"No idea, nor do I particularly care." Draco replied from where he was wrapping a bundle of unicorn hair together. Potter muttered under his breath darkly, and didn't bother to talk to Draco as they both continued to sort through the herbs.
Everything had been going along swimmingly, and they were almost done, when they heard a cackle from in the air.
"Two naughty students are cleaning the potions classroom!" Peeves cackled again, zooming around in the air, moving dangerously close to the herb piles that they had just spent the last hour sorting.
"Peeves." Harry growled, drawing his wand. "Get out of here, now."
Peeves pretended to consider it, before he swooped down to lift the vials containing the black cat hair and the black jaguar hair. "Maybe I will." He sang as he uncorked the vials. "Or maybe I won't!" He dumped the contents into a line of potions towards the front, before tossing the vials to the side. A cloud of smoke poofed up loudly, before dispersing into the air.
"Peeves." Harry warned. "Get. Out. Now!"
Peeves shook his head, swooping down to grab a vial of reddish liquid. "Ooo, what does this do?" He waved the vial around, and to the horror of both of the boys, they realized that it was exploding fluid. If he so much as dropped it into a cauldron, it could set off a huge chain reaction that would end horribly for the pair.
Harry and Draco exchanged looks. "Peeves, just put the jar down." Harry tried again, hoping to get the ghost to cooperate.
Peeves looked at him slyly, and cackled again, letting the vial dangle from two fingers over a potion. "I wonder what would happen if I let it fall."
"Don't do anything stupid." Harry tried again. "Don't you have first years to torment, or something? Surely they'd be on their way back from dinner, by now."
Peeves tilted his head. "I can always go taunt the ickle first years." He was juggling the potion now.
"PEEVES!" The two boys yelled together, loud enough to draw Professor Sylvian from her office. Her face went pale in a matter of seconds, when she saw what Peeves was holding over the now black potions.
"Peeves, set the vial down and get out of my classroom, before you do something that you'll regret." She took a step forward, and Peeves tossed the vial up before catching it again.
They all winced, and Peeves cackled again, floating lazily over the potion. Finally, Draco lost his patience, growling under his breath.
"Peeves, put the vial down now, or so help me, I will get the Bloody Baron!" His gray eyes flashed with anger.
Peeves yelped suddenly, tossing the vial up into the air. "You'll have to catch me first!" He shouted as he zipped out of the room.
Draco watched the vial fall in slow motion, and he reacted on instinct alone, grabbing Harry by the arm and shoving him under the nearest table. Professor Sylvian did the same, but Draco didn't have enough time as, seconds later, the potions exploded, sending the black liquid everywhere in a cloud of dark smoke. The initial explosions sent off a chain reaction, before the entire classroom was coated with potion residue.
"Malfoy!" Harry shot out from beneath the desk, relatively unscathed. He searched for the blond wizard as the smoke cleared, but couldn't find him anywhere. Professor Sylvian looked at the disaster in sheer horror, before she realized that Draco wasn't anywhere to be found.
"Mr. Malfoy?" She called out, whipping out her wand to clear away the remainder of the smoke. Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped, staring at the pile of clothing that Draco had originally been wearing.
Harry's eyes widened, and he peered in curiosity as something began to move in the pile, and pretty soon, the black head of a kitten poked its way out, its gray eyes wide and confused. Harry couldn't help the laughter that escaped his lips, when he saw what had happened to Draco. The kitten narrowed its eyes, before it looked down at its paws. It let out a squeak of horror, and hissed at Harry as he doubled over from laughter. He yelped when something sharp dug into his ankle, however, and looked down in surprise to see Draco spitting blood from his little kitten mouth.
Professor Sylvian was looking perplexed and amused all at the same time. "Oh dear. Mr. Malfoy, I believe that the best possible course would be to take you to see Minerva right away. Ah, Mr. Potter?" Harry turned to look at her. "Could you take him, please? I have a right mess to sort out, at the present moment."
Harry took one glance at the classroom, one glance at cat-Draco, and readily agreed. "Of course, professor!" He crouched down to stare into the eyes of Draco. "Malfoy, are you going to be upset if I pick you up? Because there really won't be any other way to do this, unless you want to walk all the way to Professor McGonagall's office."
Draco seemed to seriously debate it, his head tilted to the side as he thought. Finally, releasing a cute little kitten sigh, he trotted forward closer to Harry, his ears folding back somewhat. Harry gingerly picked the kitten up, before glancing at his clothes. "I guess I should take those too, huh?"
Draco meowed, most likely in agreement, and so Harry set Draco down again, gathering the clothes to shove in his bag, before he swung it over his shoulder and picked Draco up once more. "At least you didn't bring a bag, Malfoy. I'd have a harder time explaining why I had your bag, then I would explaining why I have a kitten."
Draco meowed something, twitching a black ear. Harry had no clue what he meant, and he informed the cat as much, and was given a small swipe in return. "I take it that you insulted me, then?" He could have sworn that the kitten looked rather pleased. "You're a git, you know that?"
Kitten Draco twitched an ear, whiskers shoving up into a smile, and Harry scowled. "Of course you knew that, and of course you don't care. I should just leave you somewhere in the castle, and see how long it takes for someone to find you."
He took pleasure in the undignified squeak that came out of Malfoy's mouth. "If you don't want to be stranded in one of the hallways, then keep your insults to yourself." Malfoy hissed under his breath, but Harry decided to let that one slide. Doubtless, knowing Malfoy, there would be others he could call him out on.
The halls, it turned out, weren't as silent as they could be, and Harry had a hard time weaving through the crowd of students heading back to their common rooms after dinner. Draco took one look at everyone and disappeared beneath the fold of Harry's cloak, digging his claws slightly into the fabric. Harry bit back laughter at his reaction, and kept his eyes on the lookout for someone he might now. He wanted to avoid as many people as possible, so he could dump Malfoy off with McGonagall and go about his day.
He should have figured that fate wouldn't be with him.
"Harry, there you are!" Hermione plunged through the crowds to get to him, Ron and Ginny close behind her. "How was detention with Malfoy?"
"I feel bad for you mate, to have suffered through two hours of that git." Ron agreed, shuddering at the thought.
Draco evidently didn't care for his tone, because his black head appeared and he bared his white teeth, before disappearing back behind the cloak. Hermione took a step back. "Uh, Harry, why do you have a cat?"
Harry glared down at where Draco was hiding. "I found it, I mean him, in the dungeons." He said. "And, uh, thought that perhaps Professor McGonagall might, erm, know who it-he, belongs to?" The ending of the explanation sounded suspiciously like a question.
Hermione seemed confused. "Why would it matter who it belonged to? Surely the cat knows who its owner is."
Harry was inwardly panicking, as Draco slunk further into the shadows. "Right, well, it's only a kitten, you see, and it looked lost and lonely, so I figured that maybe I ought to try and find out who it belongs to, because nothing should have to be alone, and, uh, Malfoy was being a, um, jerk to-" He stopped when he spotted Professor McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall!"
The professor was striding towards them. "Mr. Potter." She greeted calmly. "Natalie mentioned that you had something to ask me, pertaining to a cat?" She raised an eyebrow in question.
"Oh, Professor Sylvian found you?"
She nodded. "Throwing a huge fit, I should mention, about the state of her potions classroom. Perhaps you would care to explain, in my office?" Doubtless she suspected he and Draco had gotten into a fight, by her tone, but she seemed genuinely confused about what a cat had to do with anything.
"Yeah, sounds good!" He really wanted to get away from his friends, who were given him suspicious looks. "I'll see you guys later tonight, alright?" He gave them a reassuring glance, before following hurriedly after Professor McGonagall.
The woman arrived to the statue, and muttered a password, before taking the winding stairs up into the office, Harry following after her, with Draco still crouched in the crook of his elbow, beneath the cloak. She took a seat in the chair, gestured for Harry to sit, and folded her hands. "Now, why was Natalie looking so flustered, when she found me in the halls?"
"Malfoy and I did nothing, I promise!" Was the first thing out of his mouth. "It was all Peeves's fault, truthfully! He dropped some exploding fluid into a one potion, which caused the potions around to explode, and, well..." He reached beneath his cloak, and drew Malfoy out, the cat hissing furiously at being held by the scruff. "Malfoy didn't get under a table in time, and this is what happened."
The look on her face was comical. "Mr. Malfoy?" She sighed. "That would explain why Natalie asked about a black cat. I'm afraid, however, that I won't be able to do much for you, as it must have been one of the potions that did this to you," Seeing the crestfallen expression, she sighed. "I'll speak with Professor Sylvian about this, and perhaps we can work something out. We'll have our answer by morning. In the meantime, I suggest that you stay with Mr. Potter, in order to avoid anyone else snatching you up."
Harry's jaw dropped, and he released Draco in surprise, the cat snarling as he landed on the desk. He didn't seem happy at the idea, either. "Professor McGonagall, you have to be joking! Why can't one of his friends take him for the night?"
She frowned down at him. "It would be a long explanation, wouldn't you think? Beyond that, I have no way to promise that we will be able to undo anything. It would be easier, if only a few handful of people knew the truth, so we could come with an excuse as to the lack of Mr. Malfoy's presence. I will not here any arguments," She raised a hand as Draco opened his mouth to protest in a series of meows. "From either of you. Now, hurry along to your dorm, so you aren't out past curfew, and I will wish to see the two of you in the early morning."
Both Draco and Harry continued to stare at her, shocked. "But, Professor McGonagall, he's a Sly-"
"Mr. Potter." She warned. "Go, now, before you earn yourself another detention. If you must, cover Mr. Malfoy's ears before you speak the password."
Looking for all the world as if he had been sent to his death, Harry stood glumly, scooping Draco up into his arms, as he dragged his feet to the door. Draco had his ears folded back, and he seemed quite upset about the whole affair.
Harry arrived to the Fat Lady looking like that, and he didn't even have the motivation to bother covering Draco's ears as he muttered "Phoenix Fire." Draco snorted at the password, lifting his head as Harry clambered through the portrait hole.
Everyone in the common room turned to watch him, as he entered. "Harry!" Ginny leapt to her feet. "Why do you look so upset?"
Harry waved a hand absently. "Just tired, Ginny. But I'm fine, honest." Draco raised his head again, giving a small mew.
Ginny seemed startled. "Why do you still have that cat? I thought you were taking it to Professor McGonagall to get rid of it?" She tilted her head, her ginger hair catching the firelight. Everyone else seemed significantly less interested now, and turned back to what they were doing. Evidently, Harry taking cats to Professor McGonagall didn't meet the same excitement level as Harry having detention with Draco. Speaking of the blond, he bared his teeth at Ginny, his ears flicking back and forth.
"Yeah, well, uh..." Harry was floundering inside his mind for an excuse. Well, there won't be anything better than something close to the truth, right? "She doesn't think that he has an owner. She said that it was more likely that he was a stray who somehow wandered in, and then she proceeded to request that I keep him for the night. I'm supposed to see her tomorrow morning, to see if anything regarding him has come up."
Ginny seemed disappointed, as if she had wanted to spend the night with him. "Well, alright, but perhaps tomorrow we could go for a walk or something?" She gave him a bright smile, and Harry bit his lip slightly. He cared for her, he truly did, just not in that way, not anymore. The war had caused him to do some rethinking, and after spending months with Hermione in the tent, he just didn't think that he could handle living with a woman for the rest of his life.
"I don't know, Gin, maybe. We can talk about that tomorrow, alright? It all depends on what happens with this one." He nodded his head to the cat in his arms, and Ginny sighed, but she seemed to understand.
"Oh, alright, Harry, but we really do need to talk." She gave him a quick hug, before allowing him to move off to the steps of the boys dormitories.
The moment he was safely behind the door of the 'eighth' years' dorm, he dropped Draco in an undignified manner, wiping his hands on his pants. The kitten hissed quietly under his breath, giving the Gryffindor a dark look. "I'm sorry, what was that, Malfoy?" Harry gave him an innocent look, as he went to his bed, opening his trunk.
Another quiet hiss, as he slid out from his robe, hanging it on his bedpost. He had just tugged off the gray vest, and was about to undo his tie, when he realized that the cat was Draco, and was watching him with a certain amount of interest. "Mind if you turn around?" Harry asked. He just felt weird, almost stripping entirely down in front of his former archenemy. "Unless you just can't help yourself." Harry added as an afterthought.
Draco seemed startled, before he realized that he had been staring. He gave a terrified squeak, and bolted under Harry's bed, probably to die from embarrassment. To be honest, Harry didn't blame him. That's just what he would have done, had he been in Draco's situation. He undid his tie, tossed it into his trunk, before stripping down to his boxers and tugging on pajama pants. He closed the trunk and locked the lid with a snap, before he knelt down to peer under the bed. "Everything's fine now, Malfoy." He said, but gray eyes took one look at him, and the cat pressed himself further into the shadows.
Harry shrugged, standing, and climbed under the covers of his bed, taking his glasses off and setting them on his bedside table. He closed the curtains on one side of his bed, but left the other side open. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to banish Draco to a night on the ground. He rolled over, closing his eyes, and before he knew, was fast asleep, the thoughts of the day blissfully gone, leaving him in a quiet, happy slumber.
Chapter 1 is done! Woo! I hope you guys enjoyed it, and don't forget to R&R!