When the Snow Melts

A Cupboard?!

"What are you going to sic on us this time?" Draco sneered at Professor Hagrid.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Potter visibly tense up. He smiled at the prospect of further antagonizing the boy. He couldn't help himself; Potter was so full of himself. He really needed to be knocked down a few pegs.

The other parts of the Golden Trio moved closer to Potter protectively. Granger brushed her hand lightly over his arm to settle him. Potter gave her a weak smile before all three shifted their attention to Professor Hagrid once more. They formed a united front, smiling encouragingly at the bumbling idiot. It was quite a disgusting display - one that basically went unnoticed by the giant.

With a lot of nervous shifting of his feet, Professor Hagrid broke the unfortunate news.

"I'm sorry ter disappoint yeh, but the creatures we were teh be studyin' today haven't arrived yet."

Draco and many of the other students let out an audible sigh of relief. The giant frowned before continuing.

"Anyway, I ask that all of yeh open yer books ter page 17 and read all the way ter page 24. When yeh is done, yeh can leave," he finished.

A few of the students groaned at the announcement. Reading assignments were the worst.

"At least no one will be losing any limbs today," Draco concluded aloud, drawing chuckles from those closest to him.

The Golden Trio shot him dirty looks before seating themselves on a nearby log. He was close enough to them to be able to catch snippets of their conversation.

He never understood why everyone was so smitten with the boy. Draco was the only one who saw him for what he truly was - a threat to the students at this school. Ever since he arrived, bad shit had been happening. People had died. Potter was a homing beacon for disaster.

Draco needed to discover what kind of mischief they were up to this time. He took a few steps closer, posting himself up against a tree a few feet away. He didn't want it to appear as if he was trying to eavesdrop. Maybe if he discovered something, he could find a way to make the boy leave. Everyone would be much better off if he did.

"How bad was detention with Professor Slime last night?" Weasley whispered in a hushed voice.

Potter shrugged, face glued to the pages of his book. Weasley cast Hermione a worried look.

"You've been acting weird lately. What's up?" he prodded anxiously.

"It's nothing," Potter replied with an irritated sigh. "I'm fine."

Draco leaned in closer. It looked like the red-head wasn't going to let the matter drop. Draco was bursting with excitement to find out what could be bothering Perfect Little Potter.

"I still don't understand why you chose to stay with the Dursley's the whole time. We were really worried about you," he continued.

Granger placed her hand on the boy's shoulder. Draco fought against the urge to make gagging noises. All this lovey-dovey shit was too disgusting.

Glancing at the hand on his shoulder, Harry gave them both a pained expression. "Can we not?" he implored.

Weasley was like a dog with a bone. "No," he growled. "I am not going to drop this. We're your friends and we can't help you if we don't know what's going on."

Potter pursed his lips in aggravation, "I just don't want to talk about it. Nothing I say will change the situation, so let's just drop it."

"What situation?" Weasley cried in alarm, drawing a few glances from the other students. Draco quirked his eyebrow, curious about what they could mean. "What happened?" he pestered, much too loudly. "Did they lock you in that cupboard again? Is that why you didn't contact us?"

Potter's face hardened, a dangerous look in his eyes that made Draco shudder.

"That's not it," he replied coldly.

Granger nudged Weasley's foot and glanced around pointedly.

Finally noticing that all eyes were on the trio, the red-head crumpled in on himself. "Sorry, Harry."

Draco gave Potter an appraising look, studying his worn and hollowed features. Their eyes met. Potter scowled at him. Draco glanced quickly away, unnerved by the feral look in the boy's eyes.

Learning that Potter's own family treated him like a dangerous animal was worrisome. What did they know that the rest of the world didn't?

<<<<<    >>>>>

Draco had mulled a few ideas around in his head before coming to a decision on what he would do with his newfound knowledge. Pansy was the unofficial leader of the Slytherin Rumor Mill. If you needed to get incriminating information out to the student body, or really the whole world, she was the one to go to. All it would take was a nudge in the right direction.

"I heard something interesting today," Draco whispered conspiratorially in Pansy's ear.

Pansy's eyebrow arched, questioningly.

"It seems that Potter's family is so terrified of him that they keep him locked up in a cupboard."

Pansy's eyes widened dramatically. "Go on," she insisted.

Draco shook his head in disbelief. "Can you believe that the Headmaster just lets someone so dangerous roam the halls freely? I mean, what kind of person do you have to be for your own family to feel unsafe leaving you on the loose?"

The girl smiled wickedly. Draco knew he had given her everything she needed to put the information to good use.

The next day, the headlines read: 'Potter Deranged - Family Fears for their Life.'

Endnote: Typically, people try to use Harry's tragic backstory as a plot device to bring Draco closer to him. Personally, I think that Draco has very fixed ideas about who Harry is. Instead of reconsidering the type of person Harry might be, he would rather view new information through biased lenses.