A Trio of Serpents

58: The Boy Who Cried

Summary: Harry was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy; Ron Sees something; wand fight in the bathroom

Nothing. Not the smallest whiff that a Horcrux was nearby. And Ginny couldn't spend all her time helping look for them; the O.W.L.s were approaching for the fifth years, so she was often in the library or common room studying.

Ron, Hermione, Jayson, and Sid were also pouring over their notes; the sixth years had their own exams approaching. Harry, however, remained focused on Draco Malfoy. Moaning Myrtle had accidentally let it slip that a boy had been in the bathroom crying. It could've been any other boy in the school, yet Harry thought it might have been Malfoy. Although he had to admit the thought of Draco Malfoy being bullied sounded like something that would happen in another universe.

If Malfoy was the boy crying, it would explain one thing. He had been the one behind the necklace and the mead after all, and the fact that he failed in delivering them to the right person meant he was getting desperate. Harry wondered for a brief moment if there was a chance he could talk to him and knock some sense into him. Then he pushed the thought away. Malfoy would probably knock him out, more like.

Reluctantly, Harry turned his attention on reviewing his notes. He couldn't let his obsession with Malfoy distract him from his education, as Remus had warned him the night before.

"I'm not obsessed!" Harry had protested.

"Oh, really?" said Remus, raising an eyebrow. "Constantly whipping out the map and having Dobby keep an eye on him twenty-four seven is not obsessive to you?"

Harry had stared at him in stony silence.

"If certain people heard you were doing that, they'd think you were in love with him."

Sid, who was organizing his trunk, choked and dropped what he was holding. When Harry turned to him, he said feebly, "Just thinking about... horses."

Harry gazed at him for a few seconds before pointing his wand and mentally saying, Muffliato. "Now," he continued to Remus while Sid scratched at his ear like a dog, "where were we?"

Remus slowly blinked at him, evidently unimpressed with what he had just done. "Just focus on your exams."

Now, as Harry's eyes scanned his notes without really taking in a word, his mind drifted. Draco Malfoy... Professor Snape... Horcruxes... Voldemort... Somehow, they were all related. But Harry was no closer in figuring it out.

"Ron, you're making it snow." Hermione's voice brought Harry out of his thoughts.

He looked around. Large flakes were settling on the students' heads and shoulders.

"Sorry," said Ron, brushing some of it off Hermione's shoulder.

Harry flicked the snow from his own hair and turned to his flask. He was supposed to be turning the vinegar inside into wine. So far, Hermione and Jayson had succeeded. Ron's had made it to a halfway point and was reddish-brown. The vinegar in Sid's flask had froze, and he was now attempting to fix it. Instead, it exploded.

Unfortunately, Professor Flitwick had just made his way over. "Homework," he said, pulling shards of glass from his hat, "practice. Mr. Potter, you try."

Harry pointed his wand at his flask. The contents became a deep crimson red.

"Excellent," Flitwick squeaked.

Another week went by, and Sid's exploding flask was still the most exciting thing that had happened. Harry would have thought that, given the fact he was in the same house as Malfoy, it might've been easier to catch him, but alas, it was not. The snake that guarded the Chamber entrance that was connected to the Room of Requirements did not know what was happening, not that Malfoy would have been able to enter there anyway; the snakes had specifically been trained to memorize his face.