𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓

Chapter 21

Previously...

Draco's Aunt Bella made an unexpected appearance at the annual Malfoy Thanksgiving, accompanied by her new fiance, Tom Riddle. This sparked a confrontation between Draco and his father which ended in Draco chickening out of his confession and Lucius making a deal that ultimately allowed his son to stay in the dorms. Later, Harry made a surprise visit to Malfoy Manor that ended in an even more surprising exit.

Mother Knows Best

Chapter Twenty-One

Like Bomb Threats

Back at school, it seemed Jack Frost had swept over Merlin with jumbo bag of powdered sugar, answering the call of an icy December. The entire town was covered by one thick sheet of glistening white, and in celebration of this beautiful season, Merlin was being decorated accordingly. Mistletoe and tacky Christmas lights, wreathes and even tackier lawn displays. Not one lamppost was missing a gaudy red bow. Jolly as it was, the climate was hell on Draco's hair. Thank God for leave-in conditioner.

There were only a few weeks left of the year, and it felt like a never ending Friday for Draco, like the bell couldn't ring fast enough. With a week of classes standing between now and the winter ball, and after that the impending threat of 'helping out with the campaign', as his father had put it, then Christmas and New Years, Draco just wanted the year to stop procrastinating and get over with already. He didn't want to deal with all the bullshit the last month surely had to offer.

But what Draco couldn't anticipate was that in the mist of all the crap that awaited him like a promise, something good would happen, marking the end of all of this stupid uncertainty and hesitation he'd been facing since the day he'd met Harry Potter. Sooner than Draco would expect, the feud between him and Zacherias Smith would reach it's climax, sparking a desicion the blonde should've made with arms open in acceptance the first time he noticed how perfect his hand fit in the raven's.

But Draco didn't know that yet.

The first night back at Hogwarts after Thanksgiving break, Potter was completely AWOL. The raven wasn't the type of guy to take off alone without telling anyone, and in knowing that, nobody was too worried. But when McGonnagal made her rounds at curfew and the roommates of dorm room number sixty-six had to cover for him, their expressions ranged from openly concerned to mildly agitated.

When the raven finally did make his appearence, his roommates were already asleep and it was only a handful of hours before he was expected to be in class. Being a naturally light sleeper and closest to the door, Draco was awoken to the sounds of someone struggling to get inside and the voices of more than one person. Pulling his curtains aside, Draco listened intently as a set of keys were dropped twice before the locked clicked and the door was nudged open awkwardly with a foot. Then there was Potter and the last person Draco wanted to see, laughing in the dark as the raven piggy-backed him into the room. Potter was wearing a cowboy hat.

"I don't know why so many people have a problem with breath play," Zach said in a slur, kicking his legs impatiently and making the raven's job of carrying him as difficult as possible. "That's why I like you so much, Harry. You're not afraid to tread the line."

"Oh, yeah, I'm real edgy," Harry said sarcastically in reply to his inhebriated companion. "Try to be quiet, would you? I don't want to wake everyone up to you listing your kinks."

"A little too late for that, Potter," Draco said, making his state of semi-consciousness known and standing up. It put him in a bad mood, how he was forced to be 'that guy' every time Potter and Smith were together, the designated bad guy, the one set out to kill any kind of fun to be had. Groggy, he took in the sight of the multiple stamps on both of their hands, one on top of the other.