When It Rains, It Pours (HP)(love triangle)(muggle au)

chapter seven: off

Harry awoke feeling off.

He went about the motions of the day- making the Dursley's breakfast, teeth gritted all the way through- getting dressed- packing his bag- slipping his knife into it's holder- setting off on the walk to meet Tom and Luna. All the while, the off feeling did not lift from his shoulders and Harry became resigned to his fate:

It would be one of those days.

The type of day that, no matter how hard he tried, he would not be able to write anything that sparked of creativity. Math would not flow through his fingertips and concentration would be difficult, if not impossible. Conversation would not flow. If he tried to read, his eyes would skim over the words and take nothing in.

It would be a lousy, unproductive day.

Harry knew that he had only himself to blame, though; he hadn't allowed himself any downtime in nearly two weeks, with studying for the spelling bee and all. He'd overworked himself, he supposed, and was now in he wonderful burn-out stage that he loathed.

Harry wondered if Draco Malfoy had days like this. He probably did, considering he worked ten times as hard as Harry.

An off day. Harry could handle that. He'd handled them before. Hs could do it again. But the idea was still overly unappealing.

At least he had Tom. And Luna. Idle banter with Tom wasn't work, and listening to Luna's newest OC's origin story wasn't tiring.

He would force himself through classes, trying his best to pay attention, and the second he arrived home, he would collapsed onto his bed for a well-deserved nap, and the Dursley's could make their own supper tonight. It would be an exhausting, unproductive day that ended with a twelve hour sleep.

That was the plan, anyway. But Harry was not counting on Draco Malfoy, who was also acting Off but in an entirely different way.

Draco Malfoy approached him after first hour, said nothing, and handed him a folded piece of paper before walking off. Harry, who was having enough trouble reading for class as it was, was not at all excited for anything thing to put effort in. He handed the paper to Tom. "Read me this," he said.

Tom patted him arm sympathetically, as Harry had told him of the Off day, and began to read, his talent in public speaking shining through, "Dear Harry Potter, do NOT let this letter reach anyone else's eyes but yours," Tom raised an eyebrow but continued uninterrupted, "It has come to my attention that this feud between us is utterly childish. And as such, I propose a truce," Harry scoffed. "I know my claim may seem impossible to believe, but I assure you this is not a trick or scandal and my intentions are in the right place. To prove so, I offer you a hint to the Secret. I know you don't particularly like the Ministry, so I've reduced the only reason you're looking into the position is for the Secret. I have information involving it that I am offering you, as a symbol of my change of heart, and to receive it meet me at our old dueling spot after school. Come alone. We can discuss things further there. Sincerely, Draco Malfoy."

Tom furrowed his eyebrows once he finished reading. "His writing style is so pretentious. Even his handwriting screams condescending," he said with a sigh, handing the paper back to Harry. "I don't buy it at all. He's probably just going hire a gang to beat you up the second you arrive."

Harry shrugged, walking toward his next class. "I'm going."

Tom blanched. "You cannot be serious! There's no way Malfoy, who need I remind you proudly declared himself your rival again just last week, would ever want to befriend you."

Harry did not reply.

Tom sighed, turning to Luna. "Tell him it's a bad idea!"

Luna smiled. "All ideas are good ideas if Harry thinks so. Don't you agree, Harry?"

Taking this as her roundabout way of showing support, Harry grinned. "Thank you, Luna," he said. Luna smiled in return while Tom remained hopelessly frustrated.

In actuality, Harry didn't trust Draco's proposal, either, but he was very much intrigued with the idea of learning more about the Secret. And, besides, maybe changing things up would help him get out of the funk he was in. Make him not feel so Off.

Harry could also admit that he was tired of losing to Draco, and then not having battles anymore would solve the problem entirely. He, too, was tired of their silly fued. But he was not tired of Draco. He could not deny that several times before he had been convinced that if things had been slightly different, that he and Draco could've made great friends. Perhaps this was the gateway for that dream to become a reality.

Tom was mad at Harry. He didn't say so, but he didn't need to. Harry could tell just by the narrow of his eyes and tense posture. He could understand unease and worry about Harry meeting Draco alone, Harry was feeling some of it as well, but could not understand anger. Harry hadn't done anything wrong, had he? Harry considered the thought, mulling it over in his mind, and came to the conclusion that, no, Harry did not do anything wrong. Not wanting to fight over every little achievement wasn't wrong, now was it?

So why, Harry wondered, was Tom mad?

He tried to ask, but Tom would dismiss him everytime, saying he wasn't mad at Harry at all. That, Harry decided, was true enough, but it raised another question; who was Tom mad at? Though, this question was answered rather quickly; obviously Draco Malfoy.

But why was Tom so upset at Draco for trying to un-burn some bridges? That wasn't wrong, either.

As the dreadful and Off school day came to an end and Harry slowly made his way to the abandoned playground on the far side of town, he supposed he'd have to ask Tom about it later.