Opine

Chapter 9 ⚡ Exculpate

The sun blazed against the horizon, the wind continued pushing his hair out of his face. In a few minutes, Mortimer would come skidding across the lake, teasing whatever was held in those depths. The owl would then swoop up, drop a summons in his lap before taking off for a hunt. For right now, Harry sat silent, absent mindedly tracing the five puncture wounds on his arm.

He felt it, while taking the vow yesterday, the nails... no... the claws had dug into his arm. Draco's eyes had flashed, something dangerous in their depth had disliked the actions being taken. He sighed, leaning back and watching the sun sink down, Draco had been dropped off at the front gates that afternoon. They had met briefly in the clock tower, where Harry had been hiding all day.

Very little was said, but Harry had this feeling in the pit of his stomach, something was going to happen, he just prayed that it would be something that would hurt himself, and not Draco. Faint screeching caught his attention, the streak of black flew along the top of the water, claws dipping into the water, which shuddered and groaned in frustration as the bird angle higher and took off to land on the window. Mortimer dropped the envelope and pushed off the window again.

Harry never opened the letter, which was likely blank, he simply threw it on the bed and stood up, pulling his robes on again and leaving the Gryffindor tower. The whispers this time were not about him and Draco, but about the known fact that Harry was going to take the animagus registration today. A few people gave him thumbs up, eager to have a fully registered animagus in their dorm.

Despite this, he could barely bring himself to smile back. He made quick strides to the portrait hole and began the long treck to the classroom. His steps echoing around him, his fingers playing with the sleeve. He had warned Draco he would not be able to see him until the following morning, his own little secret was still being kept, a small notion that very few knew of, for there was no guarantee it would work out.

The marks on his arm stung again, and he was pulled from happy thoughts to the sinking realization surrounding his boyfriend. The haunting questions came back, could he do it? If Draco did not make it to the end of the school year, could he actually cast that spell? Could he actually end the Slytherins life?

His lips parted, words that he wanted to speak fell short, even in the silence of the hall, he could not speak of it. Alone he could not voice the words, he could not give life to the promise he made, not like Draco had. Another moment where Harry realized, just how much stronger Draco was. It had all worked out for Harry in the end, but Draco's price was much higher, one he would have to pay for the remainder of his days.

"Welcome, Harry.." McGonagall swept over to him, pulling him further into the classroom, raising his gaze, he met the startling purple haze of the ministries dog. "Potter." he nodded and bowed slightly before turning those shocking eyes to the headmistress.

"Just like we practiced Potter, let's prove you can do it before we start with the questions."

Harry nodded, stepping away, he focused on his body, changing the shape, willing taking on the form of his chosen animal. Purple eyes fixated on the boy turned wolf, jowls pulled back in a teasing growl, like the child was laughing, the black creature skulked around, strands and weaves of russet fur making the pelt all the more enticing.

The wolf turned back to a boy, the headmistress shot him an odd look, but he smiled, something made him stop there. Their secret had to remain a secret, neither knew that it would be wise, neither knew that the very secret they kept would ensure the safety of Harry in the near furture.

"Alright, the interview then?" the man murmured, moving to a seat and plopping down. "Right easy it is. Why'dya wanna become an animagus?" he was already writing and Harry looked down.

'Because of Draco.'

His own eyes widened for a moment but he cleared his throat and smiled "Because of someone close to me, someone who is no longer with us, was an animagus. This allows me a certain bond. A way to further preserve a memory I might have never been able to properly keep."

His reasons had changed, but he could not very well out Draco so easily. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder. The man finished writing and nodded.

"Very well then, I see no issue with registering you, no darker reasons for the shift." he stood up, brushing his clothing as he did. "I can see myself out Headmistress, you have quite the talented student."