Because I Deserve It - Drarry

Chapter 29

Realizing that he was getting nowhere with questioning the woman, Wilson gave up and ordered four of the Aurors to take her to the Ministry to deal with later. Eventually, Harry got up and joined the others in searching for clues. He went to the room that he had broken into first, hoping Draco might have left something behind.

The room was quite spartan, filled with only the bare necessities. The bed was slightly rumpled, and the window was wide open, letting in the cold winter air. Upon approaching the bed, Harry caught sight of a relatively large book, and, with a jolt of surprise, realized it was the same book Draco had been reading in the Forest so long ago.

"Really, Draco? Transformation Magick for the Transfiguration Master? You hardly qualify as a Transfiguration Master."

Harry smiled as he recalled finding Draco in the Forest that day and the pleasant things that came after. But now, he had to focus on the book. Draco's nightly project, the task he had been working on nonstop for weeks into the early hours of the morning, sometimes with Harry as his sleepless companion.

"Animagus?"

Harry did not know how Draco had managed to acquire the book while trapped here, but he did know that his boyfriend had been incredibly close to achieving his animagus form. Was it so impossible to believe that he had finally done it while in captivity? His form was small enough to fit through the window.

Unwilling to give himself false hope until he had more to go off of, Harry looked about desperately for any other evidence that might corroborate his theory. A glint of light caught his eye.

The mirror he had given Draco was lying on the ground half underneath the bed, miraculously not at all cracked. Harry knew Draco would never have taken it off without reason. Could it be that it had fallen off when he had changed into his dragon form?

Harry had only seen it once from the eyes of a reindeer, but Draco's dragon form was a sight to behold. Though he had teased him at the time, Draco's animagus was an elegantly fierce creature, full of majesty and deadly weapons. But, the creature was small, only the size of a baby dragon, even though Draco was technically an adult. If he had transformed, the mirror easily could have slipped off his neck to the ground. The rules of keeping clothing versus accessories in animagus transformation was a complex and under-researched topic, but Draco might have accidentally left the necklace behind.

Harry searched the rest of the room thoroughly and then carried his finds to Wilson. At the last second, though, he remembered that Draco was unregistered and would undoubtedly not appreciate Harry giving him away. So, he quickly changed course and went to find McGonagall.

Harry approached the professor without fanfare, trying to stay discreet. He quietly explained his theory to her, supplying the necessary details to convince her that it made sense.

McGonagall sighed. "Mr. Potter," she began, "while logical, your idea is a bit far fetched. Self-studying to become an animagus is uniquely challenging, and while I have no doubt Mr. Malfoy is capable of it, that's an unlikely series of events. If you are correct," she surveyed him over he glasses, "then he will most likely return to Hogwarts at his earliest convenience, and we must wait for that to happen. It's more likely that Miss Biello sent him somewhere and refused to tell us where."

Harry got distracted by her last comment. "Miss Biello?" he asked.

"She is the woman you saw earlier, the one who screamed at you," the headmistress answered, looking faintly amused. Harry nodded. "Right," he said, mind already returned to the problem of Draco.

"It is time for us to return," McGonagall said as if reading his mind. "We can await Mr. Malfoy there if you are right; otherwise, we will let the Aurors find him. Put your mind at rest, Mr. Potter, he is no longer in immediate danger."