Icicle Fingers (Drarry)

Chapter 11

•Draco•

The next day everything was back to normal, because he forced everything to be back to normal. It was like gluing a cracked egg back together. First, he would have to put the shell back into shape, piece by piece. 

Draco ignored the thick atmosphere at breakfast, pushing through it. Laying on his usual condescending sneer, drowning his heart in cold water until it turned numb. Hoping it would anesthetise him from Pansy's sad eyes and Blaise's pursed lips. He felt guilt gnawing at his charade, but ignored it. He was being a terrible friend, but that was a part of the normal he wished to return to.

He just had to push the attention to someone else. "Oh have you seen the state of Weasley! Does he find a dump to sleep in every night to remind him of home?" would do the trick. He just needed to show that he still was the one in control here.

Soon enough, most of the Slytherin table was laughing along with him. Giving him nothing but reverence, pity gone from their eyes. Pansy wouldn't stop looking at him, eyebrows furrowed with something he couldn't quite pinpoint. Disappointment? Worry?

She probably knew that he had lied to her now. Feeling started seeping in through his fingers, but he ignored it. He had to remain composed.

On the way to the Charms classroom, he purposefully bumped into two younger Hufflepuffs.

"Move out of the way, vermin!" Draco had yelled, causing them and many others to step away from him and his friends. It disgusted him to no end how relieved he felt to see dread back in their eyes from just the sight of him.

He paved the way through the oncoming flow of students, eyes sharp and back straightened. He would show every single one of them that he was to be feared. Draco was the one with the power to destroy, he could not be destroyed.

His shell was moderately whole again, now came the trickier second step. Putting back the egg yolk. If he was lucky, the thin membrane around it was still whole.

"Hey Potter!" Draco had called out to the short bespectacled boy after A History of Magic, causing a few heads to turn. "Come over here. We need to discuss some things in private."

"Okay." Harry followed him, looking slightly suspicious.

Draco led him to an empty classroom, and cleared his throat slightly before speaking.

"Erm, I would appreciate it greatly if you forgot everything that happened yesterday," he said, feeling his ears burn with shame. "And never tell anyone, ever."

He paused slightly before adding;

"Thanks for being there, it was very kind of you." Avidly studying the wall next to him.

His usual venom was gone from him, leaving him feeling awkward and bare. Like a snake without it's fangs.

"No problem, Malfoy." Harry said, eyes soft. Filling Draco with a peculiar kind of warmth. "I mean you're an ass, but I still wouldn't expose you like that. It'll be only between the two of us."

Harry laughed slightly. It seemed to echo infinitely within Draco's stomach.  

"Thanks again," he replied, feeling like he could breathe again. "See you around."

Then he exited, quickly. Feeling as if his insides were flopping around, causing him to feel slightly sick. Currently this was not important, so he ignored it. It was probably just nerves.

It was time for the most annoying part. Scooping the slimy egg whites off the table, and back into place.

 
Draco almost ran to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, hoping Lupin hadn't left for lunch yet. He was lucky and caught him in the doorway.