Black lilies -a drarry fanfiction-

Chapter 2- The music box

Harry sat alone in the carriage, he had forgot that his friends were still prefects and on the Hogwarts express, all prefects had to check on the first years and had their own carriage. After all that had happened he couldn't believe that he would ever be going back. A feeling of unease washed over him, Voldemort has perished but will the death eaters still come after them? Would there be another attack? The trio sat at their usual space in the great hall watching all of the hopeful and nervous first years being sorted into their houses. Harry's eyes scanned around the room but there was no sight of Malfoy. Was he not coming back to school? If he wasn't, it was no surprise to Harry. He looked up at the teachers table and saw the familiar friendly faces of Slughorn and Hagrid. He caught professor McGonagall's eye and smiled at her. Since the second war she seemed to have aged drastically, her usual sparkling eyes had become dulled. She smiled warmly back at him and continued eating. Harry wasn't hungry at all in fact he didn't even put any food on his plate. Ron was as usual, stuffing his face with as much as would fit and Hermione looking at him in complete disgust. She looked over at Harry's plate, then to him. "You okay Harry?" she asked quietly so to not draw attention from the others around them. Harry tried to convince a smile at his friend "yeah, thanks, just not very hungry". Hermione raised an eyebrow at him but didn't press, she always knew when something was wrong with her friend but chose to keep quiet. Ron and Hermione had the duty of escorting the first years to their dormitories so Harry had a chance to roam the familiar hallways. He wandered around without any destination in mind, the paintings waving as he passed by. "Well past your bedtime" a voice came from behind him, Harry spun around and was surprised to see an empty hallway. He glanced over at the painting to his left and saw Dumbledoor within the gold frame, seating himself down at a long table surrounded by farm animals. The mews of a fluffy ginger kitten caught his attention and he lifted it up onto his lap, fussing behind its pointed little ears. "Professor Dumbledoor" Harry grinned "it's great to see you"

"as with you Mr Potter, but as I say, it is well past your bedtime. So off to bed with you" he continued to fuss over the kitten.

"Certainly Professor" Harry nodded his head and headed towards the Gryffindor dormitories.

"And where have you been?" Hermione huffed arms crossed "your supposed to be setting an example to the first years!" Harry looked from Hermione then Ron and couldn't suppress his laughter. Hermione stared daggers at the two cackling babboons. Even after everything they had gone through, Hermione was still her normal self. Class continued as normal, it was like the war never happened at all, which was actually very refreshing. The three friends were able to get on with their lives just like they all wanted to do. They sat together in their potions class, taking notes from the chalk board, Hermione scribbling down three times as much as everyone else. Something caught Harry's eye, the glow of ash blonde hair bowed over a book. He looked over and was amazed to see Draco sitting a few rows behind him, hunched over keeping his head down. His uniform always looked impeccable even with the sleeves rolled up. The dark mark that once inked his forearm had now disappeared along with the dark lord and was left with a scared outline of the skull and entwining snake. Lost within his thoughts Harry hadn't realised he was staring at Malfoy, who's head rose and matched Harry's gaze with a penetrating stare. Both daring the other to look away first. Harry has never noticed before how bright and piercing Draco's eye were. Harry shook his head and tried to return his mind back to his textbook. However he could still feel an intense, burning stare on his back.

That evening Harry lay spread on the cushioned mattress , curtains to the bed drawn and his wand illuminating the map in his hand. He searched through the pages in search for a familiar name to appear. As Harry thought it showed the embellished words within the dormitory in the dungeons. He stared at it but couldn't make heads or tails of what his mind was thinking. Harry found himself most evenings pouring over the Marauder's map and keeping a close eye on the dungeon. Every night the same, Draco's name would appear floating from the Slytherin dorm and loop through the endless hallways of the castle. 

"Harry, you sure you're feeling alrigh'?" Ron muffled, a face full of food. Once again Harry didn't feel like eating breakfast

"oh I'm fine, honestly Ron" Harry feigned a smile

"c'mon mate we know when summin's up" Ron piped up

"Ron leave him be" Hermione interjected "I'm sure if it was serious Harry would tell us. Right?"

Harry nodded in response. Days past in a trance of exam preparations. As the sun set over the school Ron and Harry decided they had had enough of revising and called it a night. Within minutes of his head hitting the pillow Ron was fast asleep and snoring. Harry rolled and fidgeted but could not get comfortable, so he took to looking once again at the map. Malfoy's name was once again seen wandering from the dungeon and up the staircase. As he turned a corner his name vanished from the map. Harry's eyes widened, he scrambled out of bed, threw open his trunk and grabbed the invisibility cloak. Even though Snape was no longer patrolling the hallways he still did not want to get in trouble by any other teacher. He threw the cloak over himself and made his way towards where Draco had disappeard.

Draco rounded the corner, his wand raised emitting a small light from the tip. The hallways seemed tranquil compared to the usual buzz of students rushing between classes. He always liked the solitude and company of his own. Yes Blaise and Pansy were good friends but whether they were around or not really did not concern him in the least. Malfoy stood before a large wall and watched as a large wooden door appeared through the bricks. He let himself in and made his way to the back of the hall. It was dimly lit and full of clutter. Mountains of unused furniture, books, cupboards and other weird and wonderful objects. At the very back of the hall stood a lone black armchair, meticulous carvings of wood framed the purple velvet cushion. Draco sat himself down and waited. It as ten past eleven, he has five minutes to spare. He glanced over at one of the heaps of rubbish within the room. A small glint caught his eye. Malfoy heaved himself up and went to investigate the shiny object. It was buried way at the bottom of the pile of shoes and handbags. He chucked them out of the way and appeared before him was a tiny trinket box. Draco snatched it up and returned to the chair. The box was made of a cheap silver and had very little detail on it. How boring Malfoy thought to himself but softly lifted the lid. The second the box was opened it shot from Draco's hand and landed on the ground in front of him, bursts of blue and white light engulfed him. Billowing smoke danced and curled themselves in the shapes of horses that galloped about the room. Within the box sat a tiny white dove twittering a mesmerising lullaby that filled the large hall. 

Harry ran down the hall where Draco had vanished from the map. As he thought there were no signs of anybody about. With a sigh Harry lent against the cold bricked wall. Suddenly the wall behind him jerked as if alive and he could feel the stone shifting. He spun round to be met with a grand oak door. The room of requirement, Harry mused and let himself in. He stood in amazement at the swirling white horses that danced around the hall and walking deeper into the mist felt a rush of warmth wash over him. That feeling was cut short as the squawk of an eagle resonated through the room. Harry caught sight of Malfoy jumping up from where he was slumped over and shoving something shiny into his pocket. Hovering above Draco's head was a beautiful bald eagle, a roll of parchment clutched in it's massive claws. Malfoy held out his arm for the majestic beast to rest upon. "Thank you Ezequiel" Malfoy lovingly rubbed the eagles head and took the scroll from it's claws. Ezequiel spread it's wings and pushed itself into the air and glided out of the window. Draco sat back in the chair and unrolled the scroll and read with an intense frown upon his face.