Papillon

17 - la confiance

C H A P T E R 1 7

Draco

It was time to bring those shades of pale blue back; his finest robes with glitter and silver, gold. Draco brought the silk fabric up to his face, smelled a fragrance that reminded him of Beauxbatons. It felt so soft against his cheek, the material the finest of all. 'Shall this do for tonight?' he asked Harry, glancing over his shoulder at the boy.

Harry himself was wearing a normal black suit which a Muggle would wear, his hair a mess as usual and his glasses the only accessory the boy would ever need. 'Probably,' he replied, not even looking at the robes Draco held in his hands.

Tonight was Slughorn's Christmas party, and even though Harry couldn't care less about it — Draco knew a lot of important Wizards and Witches would be there. 'I heard he even invited a vampire,' he told Harry as he pulled his Gryffindor jumper over his head, exchanged them for the beautiful robes he had missed wearing so greatly.

'A vampire?' Harry's interest was triggered and the boy threw Draco a weird look with his eyes. 'Really?'

Draco nodded as a reply, brushed through his hair with his golden comb. It had grown ever since his difindo, but he had kept it at a length just under his ears. He liked the way it softly waved; something he hadn't noticed as it had always fallen down as straight as straight could be before. 'You shouldn't worry yourself too much about our guests — non, you should worry yourself about your task.'

Harry let out a sigh. The poor boy had tried already many times to talk to the potions professor; but it almost seemed as if the man didn't let any conversation go in the direction that Harry wanted to take it in. From the second Harry said a word about Riddle or even just a memory; Slughorn would change the subject dramatically and act like Harry hadn't mentioned anything about it at all. The Christmas party would be another opportunity for Harry to talk to the man and perhaps finally get something out of him. 'It'll probably be a failure once again,' the boy admitted with another sigh. 'Why has Dumbledore given me this task anyway? Isn't he more capable of it himself?'

Hanging a piece of pearl jewelry around his left ear, Draco turned around to stare at Harry; a sudden lost boy. 'I'm sure that Dumbledore has given you this task for a reason, Harry. Il croit en toi.' Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and giving him a kiss on the cheek, Draco threw him a smile and gestured for him to follow. 'We should go before we're late.'

Gold was draped over the ceiling to the floor; making it appear like Slughorn's office had transfigured itself into a tent. It was quite crowded and Draco had to push a few people out of the way to make sure he and Harry could pass. Holding his chin up high and throwing everyone a dissatisfied glance, he managed to get to the centre of the room with the elegance he had hoped to enter with. 'Here we are,' he heard Harry mutter — perhaps to himself, perhaps to Draco, perhaps to no-one at all.

As professor Slughorn suddenly passed by, dressed in the most awful purple robes, Draco gave Harry a little push. 'Go on then,' he said to him between his teeth, keeping a little bit of a smile on his face as he saw others glance in their direction. Harry threw him a glare before hurrying himself after Slughorn in the most clumsy way; leaving Draco behind with a weird Wizard staring at him with hungry eyes. The vampire, probably.

'Draco,' a voice then suddenly said. Turning around he saw Castor appear in front of his eyes; his hair combed neatly and wearing plain black robes which held his family's crest on the heart. 'Didn't know you were part of the Slug Club?'

'Didn't know you were either,' Draco answered, biting his teeth a little. He had to meet Castor enough times already; could he seriously not enjoy one single evening without the bloody bastard?