Thicker Than Blood | Drarry

Nineteen.

OH MY GOD- We hit 500 reads?? Honestly I was NOT expecting that until I had fully finished this, so thank you all so so so much! This means so much to me <3

Sorry for the missed update! I was moving apartments this past weekend and I haven't touched my computer since like Wednesday. But I'm here now! I'm actually going to be uploading two chapters at once to make up for it!

Enjoy <3

*~*

"Thank you all for coming today." Harry cleared his throat and spoke as he gazed around the room.

Two weeks had passed since their initial meeting in the Hog's Head, and here they were, finally having their first, practical meeting. Everyone who had been at that meeting was sitting alongside him in the Room of Requirement. He was both relieved and worried that no one had dropped out. He didn't know everyone there, so how was he supposed to know if he could trust his peers?

Umbridge had already disbanded all student organizations. What would the repercussions be for going behind Umbridge like this, for going behind the ministry? Would it be detention? Expulsion? Draco couldn't afford to be expelled. Hogwarts had his home, he had nowhere else to go. What would he do, live on the streets?

He swallowed a gulp as Harry continued. "So, today, um,"

Draco shot a knowing smirk at Hermione, who returned with a glaring eye roll. "Are you sure he's up for this?" He questioned.

"Just give him some time, Draco," she whispered. "He just needs a minute or two to get comfortable."

Draco sure hoped so. Harry's nerves were not helping Draco feel any better.

"So today we are going to learn, or rather, practice two spells I'm sure most of you are familiar with. We'll start with expelliarmus-"

Draco sneered as he cut him off. "Isn't that some pansy-ass spell? You're really going to waste our time with-"

"Thanks Draco, for leading me into my first point." He shot a sickly smile, and Draco kept his sneer plastered on his face. Could he be any more condescending? "First of all, I have literally used this against Voldemort himself a few months ago. But my point here is that you don't need fancy, intricate spells to protect yourself. We all already have the skills to keep ourselves safe, we just have to learn how to use them the right way. It's better to find one spell that you know that you can always turn to, that you can use without thinking, than to know twenty spells you haven't yet mastered."

His sneer fell as he realized Harry had a point. After a brief demonstration, he broke them off into pairs, Draco with Ginny. "I want you to practice with your partner to your comfort level. The point of this exercise is to get the wand movement and incantation as engraved into your mind as possible, so repetition is key."

Draco and Ginny took turns going back and forth, each of them disarming the other. It wasn't a particularly difficult spell, but Draco got exhausted easily. Their professors never had them practice a spell this many times in a row, and his head was starting to hurt.

"If you feel comfortable, instead of taking turns with your partner, see who can disarm the other faster. Speed can make all the difference in a real life situation," Harry called as he circled around the pairs, observing, stopping every now and then to correct someone or give advice.

"Scared, Draco?" Ginny smirked as they moved to an appropriate distance for their mini duel.

He scoffed. "Of you? Yeah, right."

He should have been.

"Expel-

"Expelliarmus!" She shouted. She was quicker than him, stronger than him, and his wand flew ten feet away before he could even get the word out of his mouth.