The Changing Lights by lazywonderland

chapter twenty three

Granger and Weasley led Draco up a floor and into an empty classroom, where Granger magically locked the door. It was with great hesitation that Draco pulled the Cloak off.

"What happened with Nott?" Granger asked quietly as soon as he appeared. Weasley was eyeing him impassively, but that was, Draco had to admit, a step up from revulsion. Besides, his head was throbbing and his mind was trying to sort out too many different things at once to be properly annoyed by his present company.

He stood close to the wall, a subconscious move that was steeped in uncertainty and self-protection. He knew it was okay to answer the question, that they were unflinchingly loyal enough to Harry they would never dream of repeating anything, but it went against every last one of Draco's instincts, and it was still hard to do. Beyond that, half his mind was back down in the entrance hall with Harry still; it was absolutely maddening not to be able to see what had transpired between him and Theo, and yet Draco knew being there was a dangerous idea. He would never have been able to stay hidden under the Cloak.

It occurred to him suddenly how much he trusted Harry on an instinctive level, leaving him down there to sort the situation out on his own.

"We just got back from Azkaban," he said finally.

"Harry told us you were going," said Weasley. "Why were you coming up from the dungeons? He said you were Floo-ing there from McGonagall's office."

"We did." Draco forced himself not to fidget. His eyes darted to the door and back. "We were going to my room when we ran into Theo." Blood rose to the surface of his cheeks; he tried to will it away and couldn't. "Potter was under the Cloak," he held it up limply in his hand, "Theo stopped me in the common room and asked whether Potter and I have been sleeping together." He glared at the both of them, waiting for a comment, but none came. "Then he said something about your sister." This he directed at Weasley, whose expression darkened. "And, well ... you know Potter."

"Did Harry hit him?" Granger asked apprehensively. Her voice was muffled behind one hand.

"He wouldn't've hit him," Weasley said, speaking to Granger but keeping his eyes locked on Draco. "He's hot-headed, not stupid. In the middle of the Slytherin common room?"

"He had his wand buried in Theo's Adam's apple when I pulled him away."

"Oh god ," Granger groaned. "It's ..." She paused, licked her lips, and went on, "Just after we got back to school, Parvati said something about ... she told us that ... she said she thought she'd noticed Nott sort of ..."

"Blatantly coming onto me?" Draco supplied bitterly. Granger shrugged, cheeks red, and Weasley looked down, clearly feeling uncomfortable. "I suppose not all Gryffindors are useless, are they?" He regretted the words almost instantly and was grateful when neither of them retorted. Weasley looked like he wanted to, but didn't. "However it was brought to his attention, Potter was already aware of the developing ... situation with Theo. And Theo has for some time been harbouring suspicions about Potter and me. It was his luck the prat happened to be invisible behind me when he confronted me about it again. I might have been able to salvage the situation if Potter hadn't jumped out from under the Cloak to play hero."

"He can't help himself, Malfoy," said Weasley grimly. "Injustice and slights against his friends make him completely irrational, he's been like that since we were eleven. He's not trying to play the hero, he's just ... defending his territory."

"What did Nott do?" Granger asked, steering the conversation back around.

"Didn't have time to do anything," Draco told her, eyes darting to the door again. "I pulled him out of the common room. I was trying to get as much distance between us and Theo as I could when you spotted us in the entrance hall."