Bitter Transmutation : Cruel Transformation || Drarry

Part 3

Draco opened the little tower's window to let in the brown delivery owl, quickly shutting it again before the driving rain got in. He untied the package from its leg, and the owl flew over to a chair by the small desk.

"You can't stay forever," Draco warned.

The owl lifted its wings slightly and shook the water from itself in a little shivery movement that left its feathers fluffed out and then settled back onto the chair, content with its place.

Draco shrugged and pulled off the twine and paper wrapped around the cardboard box, throwing the refuse in the small fireplace. He opened the box and took out a rather large bottle, turning it around to examine the label, nutrient potion, with dosage instructions below. Draco ignored that, pulling the cork out and taking a swallow, trying not to shudder at the taste.

There was another impatient tap on the window. Draco set the bottle down on the dusty table and went to the window, retrieving a second owl and package. This one carrying a revitalising potion. The second owl went and joined the first on the back of the chair, they ruffled their feathers and leaned into one another, beginning to groom one another.

Draco absently stroked their feathers as he walked past, "The shop owner won't be pleased with you staying here." He looked outside at the pelting rain, "Not that I blame you."

He sighed and went back to the little living area of his new room. He had been moved to a small tower in an unused corner of the castle as soon as classes started and the halls were empty. It was up a long narrow staircase that wound up the inside of a tower, to a wooden hatch that led to his rooms. The first floor had a couch and an armchair in front of the fireplace, with a small round table in the centre. At the back of the room, a simple wooden chair and desk sat between the two small windows.

The winding staircase continued on the wall up to the second floor, which had a bed, a wardrobe, and a small bathroom that had been enlarged to three times bigger than the small closet space it occupied. The only appealing thing about the room was a large pair of iron banded doors opposite his bed that opened onto a balcony overlooking the Forbidden Forest. Everything was currently grey from a thick layer of dust.

Draco could hear a house elf padding around above his head still cleaning. Once it was habitable, Draco intended to take dreamless sleep and just stay in bed as long as humanly possible.

He opened the second box and took a rather larger swallow of revitalising potion. He wasn't sure what he should do about being...what he was, but his body needed the extra energy and nutrients.

Draco set the bottle of the table and collapsed onto the couch, waving the dust away absent-mindedly. He could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, and he closed his eyes, feeling a gentle calmness wash over him.

"Hello, Potter," Draco said.

A few steps later Potter's black hair showed through the opening in the floor soon followed by the rest of him.

"How'd you know it was me?" Potter asked, looking a bit winded.

Draco looked back at the fire and lied, "I guessed. There are only two people who are allowed to see me."

"Oh, right," Potter said. He stood there for a few seconds more and then haltingly walked over to the table, "I have your notes."

Draco nodded, carefully not looking at him.

Potter set a strange notebook held together with a spiral of wire on the table and fished around in his bag, taking out two other books, "I got these as well. It's all I could find on veela, other than brief descriptions in magical creature books."