A Brother To Basilisks (a Drarry fanfic)

Chapter 31: Conversations On the Brink of Summer

"You have to write to me every day so I know you're going to be all right," said Hermione, and leaned forwards and hugged Harry again. Apparently she thought the seventy times she'd already done it weren't enough.

Harry smiled tiredly at her. He was feeling exhausted from his meeting with Lupin and Snape yesterday, and even more from what had happened with Sirius. He wanted to collapse on his bed and sleep for a week.

But they never allow you to do what you want, do they? Dash coiled himself thoughtfully around Harry's neck. Sometimes I wonder if I should not threaten to bite them as well. It might be the only way to make them see reason.

Shut up, you're only saying that because I didn't let you bite Lupin or Sirius, Harry snapped back at him, and nodded to Hermione. "I'll do that. Do you want an owl every day, too, Ron?" he added, because Ron was standing behind Hermione and rolling his eyes a little.

Caught out, Ron flushed and said, "Just one every week will be enough, mate." He lowered his voice a little, although no one else was in the common room right now. They were upstairs, frantically packing for the Hogwarts Express. "That way, you get to write me longer letters with more details about what Sirius is doing."

"You have to write me long letters, too!" Hermione immediately objected, her face turning a little red.

Harry smiled at her, amused. "Every day?"

That made Hermione fumble a little, and Dash and Ron both chuckled, although Hermione could luckily only hear one. She glared at Ron, then said, "Do whatever you want to do, Harry. But write to me, and be safe."

Harry put one hand on Dash's coil. "He won't let me be anything but that."

Hermione hesitated, nodded, then hugged him one more time. Ron settled for clapping him on the shoulder and muttering something about best friends and how Harry could always tell him everything that was bothering him. Harry nodded and sat down again in a chair near the common room fire while Ron and Hermione both disappeared up the stairs, Ron to pack and Hermione to make sure she had all the books she wanted to take with her.

Harry felt...almost empty. It was going to be a better summer than he'd ever had before, within reach of the castle and without Dursleys, but it was also going to be strange and not the one he'd hoped he could have had when he first got to know Sirius. Perhaps he'd been silly to wish for anything that good, though.

You deserve anything good the world can offer. Dash sounded as angry as a hornet. I wish you would stop feeling otherwise. He twined himself firmly around Harry's neck and tightened there like a noose until Harry tapped him on the nose to get him to stop. I wish you would start feeling like I do, that nothing anyone can do is enough for you.

Harry snorted. That sounds like a good way to end up permanently dissatisfied.

Dash probably would have answered, but someone tapped on the portrait of the common room then. The Fat Lady immediately began to speak. "Just because you don't know the password is no reason to knock on me, young man!"

Harry stood up and went to open the portrait from the inside, curious. The Fat Lady swung open, but she was still talking about disrespect and all the rest of it.

Draco stood there, his arms folded and his nose in the air, probably because of the Fat Lady's rant. It took a long moment for him to put it down and consider Harry. "Is she always this rude?" he asked, gesturing at the Fat Lady.

That set her off again. Harry didn't think it worthwhile to listen to her, so he didn't. "Draco, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to say good-bye, of course." Draco leaned forwards and stared him in the eye. "I heard something about what happened earlier. Apparently a portrait saw you banish Black back to his rooms. It was all they could talk about."