•|Blood potion|• HP

Chapter 10: A fleeting moment

Draco was sitting on the stairs, leafing through a book. He was looking for a way to find the unknown person. It seemed ridiculous to him. As far as he knew, it had nothing to do with him. Anyway, he was clinging to everything. Of course, there was no progress. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed an imperceptible movement from Potter. The wandering ghost had a hippogriff feather behind his ear and, with his invisibility cloak and fresh smile, looked as if he had just returned from the Ministry and was about to announce the successful conclusion of his new case.

"How was your day, Harry?"

"Great! How did Quidditch practice go?" Potter answered Draco with unexpected passion.

Draco tried to remember the pattern of Ginny's smile and transfer it to his own lips. "Canceled. I got home early."

It had gone well so far.

"But you don't laugh like that, Ginny..." Harry had said last with an anxious look.

Potter took a step forward. His suspicious stance instantly turned into the kind of calm that did not jar Draco's memories.

"What are you reading?"

"Bullshit" Draco said with a laugh, and he closed the book.

Harry had been seeing every living and non-living creature as Ginny for some time. This made Draco happy rather than worried. Draco no longer had to force Harry to eat by hitting him.

"What about Hermione?" He tried to change the subject.

Draco remembered the ministry. Before all these events, he had seen Hermione in a distraught state at the ministry. He did not understand: why was everyone so upset that day?

"Terrible. She probably lost one of her papers again."

Unknowingly, Potter had answered Draco's mental question perfectly. It was the plain truth. Nothing could upset Hermione as much as work.

He snapped out of his thoughts at Harry's voice. "Why are you reading this?"

He noticed Harry glancing at the name engraved on the cover of the book. Of course, those silver letters on the crimson cover caught everyone's eye. Especially if the engraved phrase was 'love potion'.

With a flick of his wand, he quickly sent the book back to its place and stood up. He was still standing on the second rung of the ladder, looking taller than Harry. Harry's gaze waited for a response. Those eyes were slowly losing their artificial happiness. Draco's gentle nod of approval snapped him completely out of his reverie.

"You aren't Ginny." said Harry.

Draco gave Harry a meaningful look. "Thank you for the information."

Harry's gaze darted back and forth between Draco's eyes. It was as if the two gray eyes were announcing a conflicting reality.

"But I think I should say that you aren't Harry either!" Draco continued.

Potter took a step back. Draco's words were a heavy blow to him. He tried one last time to find out more, and when he failed, he took his heavy gaze and left. His mind was shattered one more time. A hippogriff feather slipped through Harry's hair and fell to the floor. The sound of his heavy and majestic footsteps echoed in the library hall. Perhaps, for a moment, he was the same Harry Potter everyone had described.

A fleeting moment.