He returned as steady as the Mountain Wind

Chapter 8: "Haritsumeta Kuuki"

The moment Draco had set down his things in his dorm room, Daphne was there to drag him off. Through the common room, out of the dungeons, and up to the seventh floor. When they reached an abandoned hallway, she seemed to be lost for a bit, pacing in front of a bare piece of wall. Then she pulled him sideways through a door. A door that definitely had not been there before. But before he could ponder doors that appeared out of nowhere, his breath was taken away be the room they had entered.

It was a spacious study, the walls covered with book shelves and a crackling fireplace on the opposite side of the room. Surrounding the fireplace were several vintage armchairs and couches all upholstered with the same dark brown leather. The tallest was a winged armchair with the back turned to the door, disabling Draco to see who sat inside it. Daphne made her way over to sit down next to Hadrian Emrys-LeFay, Regulus Black, and Blaise Zabini. They filled the couch to the left side, while the couch on the right side contained a wild mix of houses. Draco recognized the Weasley twins and a Hufflepuff prefect. There were the Ravenclaws Hermione Granger and Theodore Nott, between them a blonde first year.

"What is this..." he found no words, so he skipped that question for the more important one: "What do you want from me?"

"Sit down, Draco" said Daphne, gesturing to the single armchair, "I promise we don't bite."

With care the blond sat down in the huge armchair, facing the roaring fire directly. The backrest loomed behind him like a disapproving parent, his stretched feet could not even graze the hardwood floor. He felt dwarfed.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Emrys-LeFay exchange glances with Daphne and Granger, but it was Cedric Diggory who first spoke: "Can I interest you in a cup of tea or some biscuits? I checked them, so rest assured that the twins didn't pamper with them."

Draco blamed it on the prefect's yellow tie that he found himself accepting both. Hufflepuffs were known for not having a single conniving bone in their body. He could only hope against all hope that the badger would step in before his younger friends tore Draco to pieces. He had expected retaliation ever since the second day of first year. Maybe they had waited so long to make him think he was running out of time. It had worked. But in the last months he had worse things to worry about

"Draco? Do you think you can tell them what you've told me?" Daphne asked. Her tone was unusually gentle, signalling him that if he really didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't have to. But he also knew that this group might be his only chance. He knew at least some of them had helped in saving the philosopher's stone last year. Maybe...maybe they could help him as well.

"When the attacks started, my father wrote to me. He said he knew who the culprit was and that I wouldn't have to worry. The Heir of Slytherin wouldn't attack purebloods. When I tried to tell him about what Salazar's portrait had said, he only laughed it off. He also said that only the true Heir of Slytherin would be able to control the monster."

"True Heir? That implies it hasn't got much to do with ideology, but more with family traits," Granger mused, "Which means it's parsel. Parseltongue is the only Slytherin family trait which enables the speaker to control something, in this case snakes. Ergo, Slytherin's monster is a snake of some sort. I need to –"

"Go to the library." Chorused the rest of the group. Draco felt taken aback. This casual friendship in between houses and years...it was weird yet felt very natural. And their behaviour was much more relaxed and happier than he felt with his own friends. Or rather, allies and minions. Was this group what true friendship felt like?

"Then I guess Hermione's on library duty. Theo, George, I need you to –"

"Wait." Draco interrupted, "I can help."