Drarry : A Snake Life

Chapter 24 - Balderdash

Helping myself with pumpkin juice, I try not to look Draco in the face, who's sitting across the table. Yesterday, he wasn't satisfied with a round only, he kept me awake for a few more hours, until he got out of breath himself.

Just thinking about what he did to me, I can't help but blush! I didn't know he had it in him! He was really passionate, he kept whispering things into my ear, touching me, caressing me... It was so intense I couldn't remember my name once he was done with me!

I glimpse towards him, our eyes meet. He gives me a questioning look, I shake my head discreetly. He has been overly protective tonight, when we woke up. He asked me several time if I was hurt anywhere, if I needed help to dress up or if I wished to take a potion to make the discomfort disappear. He's being very considerate, I'm not used to it. He even joined the Gryffindor table to eat with us and to keep an eye on me, instead of going with his Slytherin friends.

Something brushes my feet, I spit out some pumpkin juice. That little... !

"Are you all right mate?" Ron asks, chewing some food.

"Yes" I cough. "I just- Nevermind."

Shooting dagger at Draco, I see him smiling behind his own glass. "You're going to pay me this later" I mouth out silently. He rises one his eyebrows playfully to provoke me. Sneaky little bastard...

"Hi guys" Hermione says, sitting next to me. "Did you sleep well?"

"Sure" I elude as Draco opens his mouth. "How was class? Did the teachers give you more homework?"

"Of course they did" Ron grunts. "Apparently, they don't care that we have our exams to prepare, they want us to work ten hours per day on their darn assignments." (He makes a greatly vexed face.) "I think this eighth year is going to be the end of me!"

Her girlfriend rolls her eyes to the ceiling.

"Come on, don't be such a drama queen! Everything is going to be fine!" (She rummages through her bag and hands me a bundle of parchments.) "Here are my notes of the day : as usual, they are ordered chronologically and I put a number at the bottom of each page so you don't mix them. Again."

She punctuates her last word with a threatening tone, I conceal a smile. Then she turns to Draco, handing him an envelop.

"Here is for you. I guess it's your mom."

"Thank you" he says.

Hermione fills her plate as he opens the letter. He reads it quickly and freezes.

"What is it?" I ask, alarmed.

"It's..." (He gulps.) "She's giving me bad news. Apparently, the people she knows at the Ministry can't support my dad." (He lowers his voice, Hermione, Ron and I lean over the table to hear him better.) "This is bad, it means that he won't be able to come back. He will have to stay hidden for the rest of his life, whatever we do, they'll keep considering him as a war criminal and a fugitive. If he reappears, he'll be arrested and sent to Azkaban right away."

Folding the letter in four and putting it into his robes, he starts nibbling the nail of his thumb, thinking intensely. I wince and look at my best friends. Ron doesn't seem really moved, but Hermione is a bit more involved in the distress of the Slytherin boy. I don't really appreciate my roommate's father, he was a sympathiser of Voldemort and he tried to Avakedevra my face when I was barely twelve years old. However, I'm feeling sad for Draco. He wrote dozens and dozens of letters with his mom to convince wizards at the Ministry and now everything is falling apart.

"If you need anything..." I murmur.

"Yes, if you need some help, we are here for you" Mione adds.