The Purest Kind of Magic

- fifty one -

"What are you lot doing here?" Weasley said with a scoff.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Weasley's reaction but remained composed. "We're here to talk," he replied calmly.

"Yeah, right," Weasley retorted, folding his arms across his chest.

Granger interjected, trying to diffuse the tension, "Ron, let's hear them out. They might have something important to say."

Weasley grumbled but didn't object further, allowing us to continue.

"We've heard about what you guys are doing," Draco continued as he put his hands in his pockets.

"What do you mean? I have no idea what you're on about," Harry responded with his eyebrows raised.

I huffed, "Yeah, nice try, Draco already caught you once."

Harry sighed, "Fine, you caught us, now what do you want? Hush money?"

"Do we look like we need money, Potter?" Draco scoffed.

"We're not here for money," Blaise chimed in, his tone neutral. "We're here because we want to join."

"Join?" Granger looked bewildered, "You want to join us? Don't be ridiculous."

Elmia huffed impatiently, "Can you just tell us yes or no? Some of us have things to attend to."

Theo raised his eyebrows, "What? You need to go smooch with Weasley behind a bush?" Elmia elbowed Theo hard and stomped on his foot.

"Harry, just tell them no, I'll even do it if you don't want to tell your cousin that," Weasley grunted.

Harry glanced at Weasley and then turned back to us, his expression serious. "Look, I appreciate that you want to help, but this is dangerous. You could get hurt, or worse."

"Like what? The blood quill? It's not like I can't deal with that pain, it's little compared to what I've..." My voice trailed off and I shook my head. "Whatever, just let us join, we've got two Prefects in our group and that's two less people you have to worry about."

"Hermione and I are Prefects too, Potter," Weasley stated bitterly.

Daphne sighed, "Look, there's two Prefects from each house, making that 8 Prefects. If you have half of all the Prefects in Hogwarts in your little group, wouldn't that be a benefit to you guys?"

Harry's eyebrows furrowed as he considered Daphne's point. "It's not just about the numbers. We need people who are genuinely committed and understand the risks involved. This isn't some game."

"Potter," Draco hissed, "Do we look that stupid to you?"

Harry's gaze met Draco's, the tension between them palpable. "No, it's not about that. It's just... this is dangerous, and I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

"Can we just have some sort of deal or something? You let us join and we do something for you?" Elmia suggested.

"Exactly," Blaise said with a nod, "And it's not like we'll tell Umbridge what we're doing."

Harry looked at us, his expression conflicted. "I can't promise anything, but if you want to join, you can. You just will... face some discrimination from the rest of the group."

"Discrimination?" Draco arched an eyebrow.

"Not everyone's exactly welcoming," Weasley briefly explained with a frown.

Blaise shrugged, "That's fine, we just want in."

Harry smiled and held out a hand, "You're in, alright."

--

Draco POV

I stared at the time turner necklace. What do I do with it? Should I go back in time and just kill Barty Crouch Jr. before he gets to Y/n?

I held the time turner tightly in my hand, feeling the weight of the decision I had to make. Going back in time to prevent harm from coming to Y/n was tempting, but I knew I couldn't take out Crouch Jr. with my level of magic.

But not everything has to do with magic.

"Blaise," I said as I turned to Blaise, who was falling asleep on the couch.

"Huh?"

"Make me a Weakness Potion. I need it by tomorrow night."

Blaise rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Why would you need that? Dueling is against the rules, you know."

"Don't question me, Blaise," I stated coldly as I put the time turner away.

Blaise grunted, "Fine, but I'll need more time than just a day."

I raised an eyebrow, "Why would you need that much time? The ingredients are simple."

"I have a date tomorrow afternoon! You know about that!"

I sighed, "Can't you just, rush it in the morning?"

Blaise rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll prioritize your stupid potion over my beauty sleep."

"Don't be a baby about it," I crossed my arms, "It's important."

"Yeah, yeah, everything you do is important, I get it," Blaise complained.

"Don't be like that," I said with a sigh, "I'm taking a huge risk here too."

Blaise sighed and stood up, "I know whatever you're planning is probably for the wellbeing of Y/n, but don't overdo it. Y/n can do things on her own too, she's not a toddler that needs assistance walking."

"I know that," I replied, feeling a bit frustrated. "But this is to prevent her from getting hurt, I can't tell you anything more."

"Is this part of you and Y/n's little secret keeping? Be glad I'm not nosy," Blaise said with an annoyed tone, "I'll make your damn Weakness Potion tomorrow morning alright?"

I stood up, my arms tense, "Don't be like that, Blaise, we're supposed to be close friends."

"Close friends," Blaise looked right in my eye, "Don't keep big secrets from each other."

"You don't understand, it's--" Before I could even finish my sentence, he walked off and disappeared into his room.

I bit the inside of my cheeks and punched the wall as hard as I could. I couldn't even feel the pain on my hand, I only knew I was frustrated. I grunted as I sat back down on the couch and toyed with Y/n's ring to calm me down.

"Draco?"

I instantly turn to the source of Y/n's voice, "Y/n. I thought you were asleep."

She rubbed her eyes sheepishly, "I was, yeah, but that was my wall you punched so it woke me up."

My heart sank at the realization that I had punched the wall right next to Y/n's room. "I'm sorry, Y/n," I said, trying to keep my frustration in check. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

She approached me with a concerned expression, "What's going on? You seem upset."

I shook my head, "Don't worry about it, go back to sleep, it's late."

Instead of heading back to sleep, she sat down next to me, "No, I'm fine with a bit less sleep. Tell me what's wrong."

I hesitated for a moment. Does she really need to know? I sighed and took a deep breath, "Blaise and I... well, we had a bit of a fall-apart."

"What? When? How?"

I dodged eye contact and looked at the ground, "Just now actually. Surprisingly, it was over you."

Y/n raised her eyebrows, "Huh? Why?"

"You know how your little Mark is a secret? He somehow realized that we're keeping a huge secret from everyone and got upset over it," I lowered my voice.

Y/n's eyes widened, "But... But he doesn't understand, it's not like a 'I accidentally snapped Dumbledore's wand in two' type of secret. This secret, we... we have to keep it from everyone."

I nodded, "That's exactly the case, I can't tell him, or anyone. But if this goes on, we can say bye to Blaise from our friend group."