Hallows Game || HP X Squid Game (Draco Malfoy)

8 - Buzzcut Season

When I walked into an unlocked bathroom stall to find Nico sitting on the loo smoking a cigarette, I merely raised an eyebrow.

"Smoke?" He offered, holding up a battered packet.

"No, ta. Should I ask how you smuggled that inside?"

Smirking, he shook his head, blowing out a plume of smoke between his lips.

"What're you after, kiddo?" He asked. "Because as you can see, I'm having a bit of me time here."

I beckoned up to the grate in the air duct above our heads. "Reckon I could fit?"

He looked me up and down, seeming to consider it. "You're a bony little thing," he shrugged, "why not? Here, I'll give you a leg up."

Without questioning why I wanted to go through the air duct, Nico patted his shoulder, motioning for me to climb up.

"I'll stay here 'til you get back," he said, throwing me a wink as I ripped off the grate and pulled myself up inside the duct, "buy you some time if you need it."

Crawling through an air duct was a lot harder than they made it look in the movies. For one, it kills your knees and elbows. I could feel the bruises already coming up after just five minutes and I briefly worried that I was putting myself at a disadvantage by giving myself unnecessary injuries.

But I needn't have worried, because every bruise was worth it when I peered down into a room and spied the pink guards making all these different shaped metal wires.

"That's buzz wire, I'm telling you!" Nico said, crowing with delight when I relayed this information back in the bathroom stall. "Played it all the time when I was a little kid."

"Fuck, but don't you need a steady hand for that?" I pointed out, thinking of how nerve wracking that game is when you're not playing for life or death.

"Steady as a rock," Nico smirked, holding up a shaking hand. He glanced down at it, frowning. "Damn - must be the nicotine."

Quickly stubbing out his cigarette against the wall and flicking it away, he got to his feet, sighing.

"Well, kiddo, now that we have some idea of what the next game is, I suggest we go back and try and get some shut eye. We're going to need our wits about us if we're going to win this thing."

I followed him out, feeling slightly empowered about my little excursion. The lights were all out when we got back into the dormitory and most of the players had already settled down in their bunks.

Noticing Harry was still awake, I quietly approached him.

"Why are you telling me this?" He responded, looking at me with suspicion. "I thought you only worked alone."

"I do. But I'm not a bitch. I'm letting you know so that you can share the information with your army and save as many people as we can. Okay?"

He just stared at me, unblinkingly. After a long pause he opened his mouth and spoke in a slow and deliberate voice. "All right. As you wish."

Weirdo.

I moved along the rows of bunks, searching for Luna. But before I could locate her, I spied Draco, sitting up on his bunk and just staring into the distance as though deep in thought.

I hesitated. It would be easy for me to say nothing, to let him go into the game blindly. But he was right - I owed him one. He saved my life. And this way, I reasoned, I would no longer be in his debt.

He glanced my way as I approached him. His bunk was two beds up, and clearly sensing I wanted to talk to him, he swung his legs over and hopped down, landing in front of me.