Percy Jackson and the Triwizard Tournament [Book 4]

79) Draco Totally Has Never Seen Anything Bad

"He sounds exactly like Moody," Harry tucked the letter into his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, nagging off the walls...."

"But he's right, Harry," Hermione said, "you have still got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means...."

I looked down, feeling Harry staring at me. I knew what the task was, and he needed to know. But I wouldn't tell him. That didn't mean I was going to leave him hanging. If Harry couldn't figure it out, I could always make a air bubble around his head. I planned on helping him through the actual task, anyway.

"Hermione, he's got ages!" Ron broke the silence. "Want a game of chess, Harry?"

"Yeah, okay," Harry said, then caught Hermione's look. "Come on, how'm I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot."

"Oh I suppose not," Hermione sighed.

We made small talk, eventually getting to the subject of our dance partners.

"I still don't see why you like Malfoy so much," Harry said to me. "He's rude, racist, and he's scared of being turned into a ferret."

"Well, being turned into a guinea pig was scary, so I can imagine being turned into a ferret is scary as well," I said.

Harry continued, "He's mean to everyone, Perce. He can't be good for you."

"He's not good for you," I corrected. "He's fine for me."

"Percy, he hates Muggleborns," Harry said. "He's not a good person. He doesn't deserve you."

"Maybe he's mean for the right reasons," I said, frowning. "Maybe you don't really know him, or what his troubles are."

"What troubles?" Harry scowled. "He's just a git with no reason to act the way he acts."

"Harry," Ron said warningly.

"What?" Harry narrowed his eyes. "You agree with me, right?"

"Sort of," Ron shrugged.

"Sort of?"

"Malfoy can definitely be a git at times," Ron said, "but as far as I can tell, he's great to Percy. Plus, Percy gets to choose who he loves. As his friend, you should support him."

"But it's Malfoy," Harry groaned. "The snobby boy with the perfect life."

"I'd bet his life is worse than yours," Ron rolled his eyes. "As one of the unofficial camp therapists, I get basic files of things."

"How is it worse?" Harry demanded. "He lives in a mansion with two loving parents."

Ron raised an eyebrow, "Who says he has two loving parents?"

"Huh?" Harry blinked.

"S'far as I can tell, Draco's got one rude father," Ron said. "Considering what he said to Pansy earlier, he doesn't care as much about his father as he lets on."

I was worried. Harry couldn't know about Draco's father. He couldn't.

I quickly shook my head at Ron. He seemed to get the message.

Thinking quickly, Ron came up with an explanation. One that was true, but wasn't one that would be damaging, "Basically, Harry, you've seen how Mr. Malfoy treats muggleborns and house-elves and all the other people he sees beneath him. Have you ever considered that maybe he doesn't treat demigods all that well?" Harry's eyes widened, and Ron continued. "Add in the fact that Draco grew up in a community where he could be killed for his heritage, and growing up with the knowledge that he didn't have many rights, and Id consider his home life pretty trashy. Did you know he ran away when he was seven? Found Thalia and Luke and Liam. Spent a year being attacked and tormented by monsters, until they were finally led to camp. Then Thalia got killed right in front of him. He spent four years at camp, training and training, and that's all he did. Then Hogwarts came up, and he had to head back home. I know he went on a quest to save the world from war, and to also save the life of Luke. That's a hell of a lot of pressure for a twelve year old to deal with. He survived monsters and gods and even the underworld. Then another quest, this one where one of his best friends was kidnapped, and he had to traverse the worst part of the ocean. He faced more monsters, some weird ladies on an island, and had to save his friend from a giant cyclops. Then, and I think you've forgotten about this, but he had been kidnapped. He also watched a girl die. And then to add to the pressure, he's facing a war unless his boyfriend dies. He also knows that he's most likely going to die before he graduates. So, tell me, Harry... is Malfoy's life really all that perfect?"