The Things No One Notices (A HP Fic)

Chapter eleven

The weather was warming nicely. The incident with Ron had a different type of backlash. The reactions Harry was getting were not violent. No. They were quite the opposite. Most of the female population looked at him with sadness, as if they had lost something. Most of the male population varied from disgust to a strange and disturbing sexual desire.

Due to these incidents Draco had taken it upon himself to always keep Harry in his line of sight as he started easing back into meals at the Great Hall and classes. This led to a series of rumors that neither boy decided to confirm or deny.

It was after one of these incidents that the unlikely pair found themselves sitting by the Black Lake with parchment, books, inkwells, quills, and robes scattered around them. Draco was laying on his stomach, wand behind his ear, and tie hung loosely around his neck. He was pouring over a copy of his Ancient Ruins textbook. He nibbled gently on the tip of his quill.

Harry had his legs lounged out in front of him. He braced himself on his elbows as he leaned back.

"Dumbledore wants me to start lessons with him again," he said off-handedly.

"Are you going to agree?" Draco asked, still focused on his Ancient Ruins textbook.

"I haven't given him an answer yet."

"Any particular reason?"

He allowed himself to fall in his back and slung an arm over his eyes to block the sun. "Do you remember what you said about him possibly knowing about 'the thing'?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"He keeps looking at me like I'm not the same person. Like as if he's intrigued by something. I don't like it."

Draco looked at Harry with a questioning gaze. "What are you going to do about it? Since Pomfrey thinks you'll be out of the Hospital Wing by next week, there's not much she can say on the matter."

"I know," he sighed. "I think I'm going to have to agree."

"You say that like you don't want to."

"I don't."

"Then what's the issue?"

Harry removed his arm and turned his head to look at Draco. "It's Dumbledore. He's going to send me on some guilt trip about how it's for the good of the war and what not."

Draco snorted, unable to help himself. "Then what do you plan on doing?"

Harry was silent for a long moment. He had always felt like there was a reason Dumbledore had Snape in particular to attempt to teach him occlumency. He had felt that the Old man must have known that it would not work out the way he had wanted. That Harry would never have learned properly because of the Professor's grudge against his father.

"Your mother is a trained occluments, right?" he asked finally breaking the long silence.

"Yes. What about her?" Draco asked, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"Did she ever teach you?"

Draco sat up so that he was staring directly at Potter. "When the Dark Lord decided to move into our manor. Why?"

Harry sat up so that he was making direct eye contact with the Slytherin. "Can you teach me?"

"You want me to teach you occlumency?" he asked a bit incredulously. "Didn't you already learn with Snape?"

"Not really. He kind of stopped after an incident with a pensive. Insulted me and my father as he told me to get the hell out of his office and that he would never teach me again."