tick-tock | a drarry tale

XIX.

Ron stabbed his fork into his sausage, splitting the link in half.

"Will you stop playing with your food?" Hermione scolded him from across the table. He looked up at her, smiling a little.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. Harry sat beside him, his chin resting on his hand. Hermione glanced over at him.

"You should really eat something, Harry," she said. "You barely ate anything yesterday." Harry continued to stare at his untouched silverware. It was Monday morning, and ever since Harry left Draco in his room last week, he hasn't seen him. He was worried.

"Don't push him, Hermione," Ron said, mouth full of food. Hermione grimaced and looked back at Harry.

"You're going to have no energy, Harry. Please, eat some eggs or-"

"Hermione," Harry cut her off, looking at her lazily. "I have no appetite. I'll be fine." Hermione sighed, fully knowing that she couldn't convince him otherwise.

"Have you talked to Malfoy-uh, Draco, since Friday?" Hermione then asked after a few minutes of silence. Harry shook his head.

"No, and I don't want to. He's keeping something from me," he replied gravely. Hermione and Ron looked at each other.

"You'll just have to find out what that is then," Ron suggested.

__________

"Open your textbooks to page 634," Snape said from the front of the classroom. Draco slid his textbook out from his pack and placed it on the table next to Crabbe's things. He flipped it open, landing on page 586. He flipped until he got to the right page and looked up at the professor. "The Befuddlement Draught," he simply stated. Draco frowned and glanced down at the page. Indeed, it said Befuddlement Draught at the top. "The drinker of this potion will become belligerent and reckless. Get with your assigned partners"- Draco's stomach dropped- "and retrieve the ingredients. I want to see a finished product by the end of class." As he finished, students sprang up from their seats and hurried over to their partners, discussing ingredients and where to work.

Draco stayed where he was, watching the back of Harry's head from across the room. It didn't seem like he was moving any time soon. Silently, Draco stood up, grabbing his textbook, and made his way over to Harry's table, where he sat alone.

"Harry," he said quietly, walking up to him. The boy looked up at him, and Draco's eyes widened. Harry's eyes were sunken in, his face was pale. Slowly, Draco set his open book next to Harry's unopened book and turned to get their ingredients: scurvy grass, lovage, and sneezewort. When he got back to their work space, Harry was still sitting. "C'mon Harry," Draco muttered, setting down the ingredients and picking up his wand to light the fire under the cauldron. After he did that, he looked down at the directions, then peered over at Harry. He looked back at the directions, and hastily did what was asked of him. He stirred a couple times and then let the contents simmer. He pulled out a chair from under the table and sat besides Harry. "Please say something."

"How about: I don't want to talk to you anymore," Harry snapped, glaring over at the Slytherin. Luckily, there was no one around them to hear what they were talking about. Draco's eyes widened, and he pulled down the sleeve of his robes, securing the fabric over his hand.

"You don't mean that," he said softly. Harry's eyes were blazing.

"I do." Draco shook his head. Something popped inside the cauldron, making Draco stand up and stir a couple more times. As he sat back down, Harry was looking away, distant again.

"Harry, you don't," Draco's voice cracked. Harry looked over at him.

"Then tell me why you're going to sacrifice me? To who? And you made a vow? What vow? To who-"