No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Two: Draco keeps his word and Harry becomes a Babysitter

There is a saying about tension so thick it can be cut like a knife, making tension sound like a semi-solid substance close to butter or maybe play-doh.

Draco hadn't experienced this type of tension before today. As he sat between Ron, who was bouncing his leg as he just couldn't seem to sit still, and Harry, who'd grown eerily quiet lost in his own thoughts, he felt it. It was a clingy, heavy weight- like a pile of mud had been dropped on top of him- pressing down on his shoulders and chest, breaking a cool sweat out along his hairline and making the air around feel harder to breathe. 

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't anxious.

It didn't help that, despite her feeble attempts at distraction being only meant in kindness, Hermione just could not seem to shut up. At all. She kept blabbering about how tragic it was that so much of Hogwarts' architecture was in shambles and that it would take quite a decent amount of building to return the school to its once glorious state.

If anything, she was only making things worse. But at the moment, he didn't care to say so, because in truth, all three were making it pretty hard to stay calm. Thus, he decided just to suffer in silence.

Professor McGonagall had spoken to them when they'd first reentered the courtyard, and had promised Draco that she'd send some of the aurors straight over as soon as they arrived. After that, she'd said something that both surprised and puzzled Draco. 

"I'm so proud of you, Mr. Malfoy," She'd said, her eyes locking with his, containing that completely frightening intensity he'd grown very familiar with over the years. "You've grown into such a bright young man, much like, at one point, I'd truly hoped your father would. I honestly could never have expected it, but I'm very happy to see this change in you with my own eyes."

Her words, although kind and a bit inspiring, were also puzzling to him. Had his father been like him once? Had he been kinder? Smarter? The Lucius Malfoy she described sounded nothing like the one he'd grown to know.

His father was something he didn't really care to think about. Draco had spent years trying to follow every word his father said to the tee, from not befriending 'mudbloods'- god, that was such an awful term- like Hermione to ruling the school halls with fear and power. He'd studied his ass off in school, staying up 'til all hours of the morning making sure his work was absolutely perfect, knowing his grades had to be high and impressive; a thing to brag about. But none of that had mattered in the slightest.

The Lucius Malfoy he knew was a cold and unforgiving man. One word when he wasn't spoken to and Draco would go without eating dinner that night. One low mark and Draco would be beat as soon as he got home- the cane his father liked to strut around with left terrible bruises that Draco had long since learned how to cover up. Despite how much he made it sound like his father was at his every beck and call, Draco had hated going home and hardly ever spoke to his father out of fear of invoking his wrath. The only reason he didn't stay at school over holidays like Harry did was because he knew his mother would want to see him. He knew she still cared.

"She'll never forgive me for this," He murmured to himself, picturing the shock on her face, this morning on the bridge when he'd said he wasn't going to leave with them. 

"Who?" Ron asked, glancing over. Hermione had gone quiet at some point during his not-so-delightful reverie and was looking at him too. Sighing, Draco figured a slightly uncomfortable conversation was better than none at all.

"My mum," He said, looking down at his hands- were they shaking?- as he explained. "She wanted me at home. Safe with her and dad. None of this 'redemption nonsense'." At the last two words, he used air quotations, which for some reason made Hermione laugh. When he and Ron looked to her, she quickly apologized, but she was still smiling. 

It felt nice. Making her smile like that.

Before the group members could say anything more, Draco looked up to see the two aurors approaching. His heart leapt into his throat as he watched them, forcing himself to stand and praying his knees didn't buckle like they felt they might. After a moment, the other three stood too, Hermione dusting bits of marble from the broken pillar they'd been seated on off of her and Ron.

"Draco Malfoy, you are voluntarily turning yourself in?" The female auror said, her tone very cool and official. Draco nodded, already unnerved by the dark haired woman and her bearded companion. He wondered, momentarily, if they'd drag him out of here in hand cuffs.

"And you three are the witnesses to this?" The man asked. All three nodded, and for a moment, there was tense silence. Then, the woman spoke again.

"Go and gather your things, if you have any here," She said. "We'll put all four of you on a train with one of our staff as soon as possible, and they will bring you back to HQ. Your punishment- if any- will be determined there."

Draco thought she'd added 'if any' to help him calm down a bit, and surprisingly, it had somewhat worked. After a moment of discussion, it was revealed no one had anything to retrieve from inside the school. The two aurors called a third, a tall, brunette man with bright green eyes, and gave him orders to take all four teenagers to the train station immediately.

One tensely silent carriage ride and two hours in train station lines later, Draco found himself sitting in one of the train cabins, staring out the window.

The thought struck him that this might be his last view of the outside world ever. His eyes burned at that thought, and for a moment, panic welled in his chest as he realized there was absolutely no way out now. He'd gone too far to turn back.

"This was what you wanted, Draco," He reminded and scolded his reflection. "You don't get to be a baby about it..."

"It's perfectly okay to be scared, you know," A familiar voice said from the doorway. Draco quickly turned to see Harry standing there, his blue eyes studying Draco's expression. "It took a bit, but I convinced the guard to let me sit in here with you. As much as I love Ron and Hermione, it is absolutely no fun being their third wheel."

Draco smiled some. He had to admire that. The way Harry could so easily make it sound like he wasn't even the reason for Harry's being in here. But, there was something in Potter's eyes that told him otherwise.

Harry perched on the seat beside Draco, resting a hand on the blonde's bony shoulder. "Do you want to talk about what you think will happen when we reach HQ, or should I ramble about some bullshit from my childhood?" Harry asked, smiling some.

Draco thought for a moment, leaning back against the seat before he answered. 

"Rambling is nice, maybe I'll get lucky and fall asleep," he grinned to show Harry he was in part, only teasing. "Besides...your childhood must have been miserable..."

"Oh it was," Harry started. And as he talked more and more about the bedroom under the stairs, Draco just sat and listened. In what might be the last few hours he had alive, it was nice to learn all the things he hadn't known about his worst enemy turned best friend.