Everything Remains

Chapter 8- All in the Family

Harry awoke once more. This time, the sun was up in the sky and Draco did not remain in the seat beside him. 
Harry stretched cautiously, feeling some soreness and tightness in his muscles from the fall.
'But nothing is broken or rattling around. So I guess I'm fine.' He got cleared one last time by Madame Pomfrey before heading to the Great Hall for breakfast. He actually found himself with an appetite this morning, which is unusual for him. 
Harry descending several flights of stairs and cross a few corridors to make it to the Great Hall. He looked around for Hermione and Ron, seeing them towards the end of the Gryffindor table. Ron, as per usual, was stuffing his face with eggs and toast. Hermione was reading the Daily prophet and sipping on her tea. It was so normal, he could cry. 

Harry began to walk down the walkway to them, waving. Hermione's eyes lit up with her smile and Ron waved back with a mouth full of food. 
"I take it you're feeling better, Harry?" 
"Ye, just a little sore is all. Is breakfast that good, Ron?"
"Shuff mup, Hrrry" was all Ron could muster with his mouth full. 
Harry began to pile his plate with eggs, a bagel, yogurt and granola, and a waffle or two. 
Hermione stared at him bewildered. "You.. you're eating breakfast?? That's GREAT Harry!!"
"Don't act like I'm dying now, it'll spoil my appetite." 
"She's right though, mate. You haven't eaten much in the past two months. I don't know how you do it."
"Well, Ronald, that's because you can't go more than two hours without food." Hermione chuckled, throwing a sugar packet at him. 
Harry laughed too, joining in and throwing a piece of waffle at him. 
"HEY! Quit it! You're wasting perfectly good food." Ron scowled, shaking his head at them. 

Harry began to eat, looking around the Great Hall as he did so. He tried to find people who were familiar and encode some of the faces of those he didn't know. Across the hall, he found Draco, sitting alone and drinking coffee, not eating anything. 
Harry got up and quickly made his way over to him. "Oi, where are you going?"
Harry ignored Ron, walking over to Draco and sliding onto the bench in front of him. 
"You aren't eating." Harry more so stated rather than questioned. 
"And?" 
"You need to eat something. You look.. frail. Like you haven't been eating for awhile."
"Excuse you? Have you looked into the mirror?" 
"I know, I know. But I'm eating today. Come join us?"
"Um... I don't know that I should...."
"Don't be a git. Come with me and we will get you something to eat." 
Draco darted his eyes around the room, looking nervous. Eventually he stood up and followed Harry back to his seat, figuring that he wouldn't stop until he followed him. 

Harry sat back down in his spot, Draco sitting across from him and next to Ron. Smiling awkwardly, he looked down at his bare plate. 
"What sounds good?"
"Um... I don't know. I guess whatever you're having.."
Harry fixed up his plate, towering it high with extras. 
He handed it to Draco, his eyes saying a silent "EAT". 
"Um.. thanks." Draco obliged, beginning to dig in. 
Hermione and Ron exchanged weirded-out looks, but didn't say anything. 
The four of them continued on, eventually falling into a regular conversation. 

After they all finished up, they began to head towards the first class of the day; Defense Against the Dark Arts, of DADA for short. 
As they ascended the stairs, Harry asked "I wonder who the teacher is this year? And if they'll stay longer than a year?"
"Oh, it's Bill. They asked him a few weeks after the war. What with his help during and his werewolf attack." 
"You were just going to keep that information to yourself?? That's your brother?!" Hermione scoffed loudly, looking bewildered. 
"Oi, I forgot! Bloody hell, you would have found out one way or the other!"
"That's kind of important information though, Weas- Ron. You just forgot to mention that your brother was here?" Draco quipped, laughing at his ridiculousness. 
"Oi! Will you all get off my arse? You'll see him in a few minutes!"
The trio continued to laugh at Ron until they approached the DADA classroom doors. Ron swung them open in frustration, nearly hitting a Hufflepuff in the process. 
"Vicious today, are we?" Draco smiled deviously, teasing him. 
Ron huffed as he sat down at a desk, sharing it with Hermione. Harry and Draco sat at one behind them. 

Everyone else slowly found their seats, as Bill had entered the room and was settling into his desk. 
"Good morning, class. I am Bill Weasley, the best looking Weasley brother at that." Bill laughed, looking over at Ron.
"Bloody hell, why won't anyone leave me alone?" Ron blushed, burying his head in his arms. 
Bill continued, "I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. And hopefully, for more years to come. 
Since you all are 7th, or 8th, years, we are going to jump right in and start identifying creatures that you may encounter out in the real world. Today, we are focusing on the Chameleon Ghoul. This ghoul gets it's name from its' ability to do what?"
As always, Hermione's hand went up in the air. "It disguises itself as common objects, hence the chameleon in its' name."
"Yes! 5 points to Gryffindor. The chameleon ghoul can make itself look like just about anything. From a teapot to a toolbox, and everything in between. Can anyone tell me what is the best method of dealing with these ghouls?"
Hermione came to the rescue yet again, "To detect them, you can cast 'Revelio'. And to combat them, you can cast the engorgement charm." 
"Right again! Another 5 points for Gryffindor. Now, I have set us up with a little 'field trip' if you will. We will be going to a larger space where I have set out chameleon ghouls around the area. Of course, they look like ordinary objects. The person who can identify and get rid of the most will win their house 10 points. Shall we?"

Bill lead the group of students down to the lawn in between the castle and the Quidditch pitch. He had enchanted the area to look like a giant room, filled with random objects. Hairbrushes, old toys, parchments, text books, chairs, so many different piles of objects were scattered about. 
"On my whistle, you can all traverse into the space and start your search. Remember, you can use revelio and the engorgement charm. But try not to use anything else. On your marks... GO!"
Bill blew the whistle, which led a hustle of the 7th years towards the enchanted room. 
Harry ran into the further most corner, aiming for a pile of chairs that intrigued him. 
Everyone else had aimed for piles closer, which led to some arguments. 
Harry cast revelio at the pile of chairs, not anticipating that there would be three in the stack. The three chair-ghouls began to morph and reveal their true forms; short, ugly, kind of like a small troll. Harry let his curiosity get the best of him. As he was observing them and figuring them out, one of the ghouls jumped up and began to tug on his cloak, which gave way for the other two to start going after his face and torso. 

Harry began to thrash, attempting to get the two off of him so he could see better. The third continued to yank on his cloak, choking him a little from behind. Harry lifted his wand the best he could and cast the engorgement charm on the one that was trying to ravage his face. The charm hit the ghoul, but because he cast it so close to himself, the charm also hit Harry's face, causing his cheek to swell. 
Harry turned his attention to the other one on his torso, aiming a little bit better and hitting it with engorgio. Before he could turn around and address the choker, he heard someone behind him call out "ENGORGIO," blasting the last one off of him. Harry turned around and was surprised to see that it was Draco behind him, a look of worry on his face. 
"Oh, um, thanks Draco. I didn't realize that there would be so many in this stack..." 
"Oi, your cheek look ridiculous Harry. Here, let me fix it." Draco stepped closer to Harry and lifted his wand to his face. Harry could see the look of concentration on his face as he cast reducio at his swollen cheek. Instantly, he felt better. 
"Oh. Thank you. It, uh, feels better now..." Harry realized how close Draco was to his face now. He could feel his breath. They locked eyes for a few seconds, but what felt like several minutes, before Draco backed up again. 
"Well, uh, should we get back to hunting ghouls?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned and headed into the northwest corner of the enchanted room. 

Harry swallowed hard, feeling his heart beating fast. 'What is this about? He just helped me out...'
Harry continued his search for ghouls, this time with more caution. Every so often, he would glance around the room for Draco, just to see how he was fairing...
Harry blasted off four more ghouls before Professor Weasley blasted his whistle again, signifying the end of the search. 
The students gathered back towards the lawn where Bill stood, tallying up their finds. 
"Now, did anyone manage to get more than five?" 
A handful of students raised their hands, including Harry and Draco. 
"Mr. Malfoy, how many did you get?" 
"Um, I got six, Professor." 
"Wait, he got seven! He got one off of me to help.." Harry called out, wanting him to take credit for his help.
"Alright, seven then. How many did the rest of you get?"
The rest that had raised their hands got six across the board. 
"Well, that makes Mr. Malfoy our winner! 10 points to Slytherin. Nice job everyone. Write me 12 inches of parchment on Chameleon Ghouls and their attributes by next class. Class dismissed!" 
Everyone in the group groaned, not wanting to deal with essays.

"Well, congrats Draco. You earned it." Harry smiled meekly at him, waiting for a response. 
"You didn't have to say anything, you know. It wasn't a big deal."
"Well, it was to me. If it had been something even more dangerous, I would be in huge danger." 
"I suppose..." Draco trailed off, looking into the distance. 

"Um.. would you... would you maybe want to go to Hogsmeade with me? I need to buy some supplies and get a new cauldron... but if you don't want to you don't have to.. I just thought.."
"Sure, Draco, I'll go with you. I could use a break. When do you want to go?"
"Uh, how about tonight after classes? Meet you back here?"
"Sounds good to me. See you then." 
Harry walked off, joining Hermione and Ron to walk back to the common room, excited for this evening.

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