Protection (Drarry)

Chapter Six

That afternoon, Harry was forced to realise just how much he had relied on Ron and Hermione to keep him company. For someone who had grown up with no friends and no one's company but his own, he was surprised to learn that he didn't know how to be alone.

And particularly not how to be alone with an audience. Malfoy was sitting calmly on the sofa, his feet tucked up under a cushion, reading a book that looked hideously like a text book. Harry had brought down a deck of cards, but after four rounds of Electric Solitaire, he was getting pretty bored. He had already owled Ginny to make sure she didn't organise something for tonight, since he couldn't handle another night out, but he wondered if she would object if he invited her over for company.

Knowing her, she was probably out with someone else. Or having a family dinner.

Malfoy's owl flew in the window and dropped a letter on his lap. He unrolled it and read it with a frown.

"Shacklebot wants to speak to me at four," he said.

Harry looked at the time. It was nearly four. "Are you meeting, or will he use the fire?" Harry asked, shuffling his deck.

"He'll use the fire," Malfoy replied, still looking at the letter. "He wants it to be a private meeting," he said hesitantly, as if he expected Harry to object.

"Fine," Harry said. "I'll check on dinner." He picked up the cards and left to see what Kreacher was doing in the kitchen.

Kreacher was humming to himself, busy chopping carrots to add to the roast that was cooking in the oven. It smelled delicious.

"Can I help?" Harry asked, gesturing vaguely at the carrots.

Kreacher looked affronted. "Master can most certainly not help," he said with a glare.

"Fine." Harry held up his hands in a peace offering.

He sat down at the table and dealt out another round of solitaire. The fire crackled and he heard the quiet sound of voices. He ignored them and studied his cards. If he moved the stack to the right, he could check the biggest pile. But if the pile turned over something useless, he would get zapped again. He moved the stack to the right and flipped the top card on the pile.

"Argh!" he yelped, sucking his finger as the useless two of spades sat innocuously on the top of the deck. He went back to the draw pile.

After about five minutes, it occurred to him that he could no longer hear voices. He looked curiously at the door and wondered if Malfoy had gone somewhere with Shacklebot. After another five minutes and two zaps of electricity, he got up to check.

He found Malfoy sitting on the couch, his head bowed. He didn't look up when Harry entered the room. Harry looked around in alarm, wondering if Shacklebot had just told him that he had to live with Harry forever.

He moved into the room and cleared his throat. Malfoy lifted his head, and the look in his eye stopped whatever words Harry had been about to say. His eyes looked haunted, empty of all emotion except for a wild, almost feverish intensity. Harry stopped walking.

"What happened?" he said finally.

"He's getting the Kiss," Malfoy said, his voice flat.

Harry didn't know what to say. He wasn't surprised, but he hadn't really thought about what that would mean for Malfoy. And to be honest, even if he had thought about it, he would never have thought he would care. He moved further into the room and sat carefully on the couch next to Malfoy.

"When?" he asked.

"Dawn," Malfoy replied, staring straight ahead. "They haven't made a decision about my mother yet."