𝐉𝐈𝐆𝐒𝐀𝐖

Chapter 20

*******

Chapter Twenty:

Breathing Problems

*******

Draco was already showering when Harry woke up. He lay on his bed very quietly as Draco came out, half-naked and toweling his hair. Harry made it a point to stare at the ceiling until Draco was fully dressed and discarding his towel.

Harry silently got up and headed to the bathroom for his own shower. Draco sat on his bed and made a noise of irritation as Harry disappeared into the shower. Harry wondered why. When he came out, Draco was gone. Harry quickly got dressed and left the room, finding Draco in front of Contessa's room. Hermione and Ginny were standing by it, both looking rather put out. Draco was pounding on the door.

"Come on out, Countess. Honestly, it was just a Canary Cream. No need to be in such a strop about it. I'll give you some Medusa's Poison for him if you'll just come out," Draco called.

The door creaked open and Contessa peered out. She had circles under her eyes and looked like she hadn't slept a wink. She was wearing her nightdress, but Harry noticed she had a nasty cut on her neck and a burn on her hand. She caught Harry staring at her and frowned at him. She let Ginny and Hermione in and gave Harry and then Draco a glare for good measure before closing the door.

Draco's brow was furrowed. He looked over at Harry and then he looked away. He went downstairs and Harry followed at a distance, his eyes inevitably drawn to Draco's rear. It was very cute.

Harry smacked himself on the forehead, wishing it would all go away.

When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was complaining to Mr. Weasley while stirring some oatmeal at the stove. "Bloody inconsiderate. With this entire lot to cook for, you'd think that Lestrange girl could at least help. Locked herself in for no bloody good reason. Hermione and Ginny couldn't even get their things!" she was saying.

Draco gave Sirius a bemused expression. Sirius was standing by the counter, apparently taste testing the sausages. He grinned at Draco and then grinned broadly at Harry in greeting. Harry grinned back and couldn't resist hugging him again. It was almost like he'd never been gone.

After a bit, everyone else filtered in. Contessa was the last to come in--with her hand bandaged--looking very sour. Harry and Sirius kept up light chitchat that everyone participated in--except for Contessa, who seemed very odd today. She kept absently picking at her food and had a dark, brooding expression that could put the photos of Sirius freshly out of Azkaban to shame.

Sirius seemed to notice how she was behaving, too. As they all went out of the kitchen to head into the sitting room, he stopped her in the hallway. "Look, Contessa, I'm sorry about the Canary Cream. I had no idea you'd take it so hard. You know, it was just a joke thing. You do something to me, I do something to you. You know, I push, you pull," he said awkwardly. Harry stood just behind him and noticed Contessa gave him an almost incredulous look--like she just noticed he was there or something. It was very strange.

Then there was a sudden crack and Harry spun around to see Kingsley, Tonks, Rufus, Dumbledore, and Snape Apparate in. They all looked extremely unhappy. There was another cracking sound from Contessa trying to Disapparate, but when Harry looked over, Contessa was still there, looking a little nauseous and swaying on her feet.

"Idiot, we still have the Anti-Disapparition Jinx up," Kingsley said with a dark smile. He was in front and pointing his wand at her. Contessa grabbed Sirius by his shirt, yanking him in front of her before Kingsley could hex her. Kingsley swore.