Marked

The Neighbor

Chapter 13: The Neighbor

Draco was the second to enter the room and Granger threw herself into his arms the moment he stepped in through the door, knocking him flat against the wall.

"Oof," he said fondly, smiling into her hair and placing one hand back to use the wall behind him for support. "Nice to see you too."

She pulled away quickly, her golden brown eyes scanning his face and then moving rapidly over his body as though checking for signs of damage. "You're okay," she said, sighing with relief. "You're okay."

"Yes," he agreed. "Albeit filthy."

"Heroic, though," Harry commented with a grin.

"Filthy heroic," Draco said smugly.

Granger's eyes darted between them, a curious expression coloring her face before she suddenly backed up, smacking a thin book against Draco's forearms.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, swatting her away. "What was that for?"

"You two!" she proclaimed shrilly. "I was worried sick - I thought something had happened to Harry - "

"What, you thought I couldn't take care of him?" Draco said, feigning an air of indignation. "How fucking rude of you, Granger."

"No, no, it's just that - " she took a deep breath, her eyes dancing excitedly. "Ron and I saw that the sword was out of its case - "

"What?" Harry said blankly, blinking with surprise before he suddenly launched himself towards his tent, practically shoving Weasley out of the way in his attempt to reach it and subsequently appearing to tumble headfirst through the opening.

Draco gripped Granger's hand, offering her a mirthful smirk before following quickly in the dark-haired wizard's wake. He brushed the tent flap aside and gestured her in first, inhaling sharply at the sight of the sword's former home, the glass shards splintered across the wooden floor.

"Oh," Draco said blankly, a lackluster choice of reaction for his genuine surprise.

"I know," Granger said back, her voice an excited whisper. "I saw the sword and I just knew Harry had to have done something absolutely stupid - "

But Harry was in a daze, crouching amongst the bits of glass. "It wasn't me," he commented grimly, taking the sword in his right hand. "I wasn't the brave one. It was Draco."

"Draco?" Weasley echoed distastefully from where he loitered quietly behind them. "Is that something we're doing now?"

"Evidently," Draco replied stiffly. "Though that's hardly the point - Ronald."

"What?" Granger asked, ignoring the exchange and rounding on Draco. "What do you mean? What happened? Tell us everything!" Her eyes instantly searched both his and Harry's hands, presumably for the diadem, before looking up in amazement. "Did you destroy it?"

"Yes," Harry said, nodding stonily. "And helped a ghost find peace, if I'm not mistaken."

"Though that fucking diadem very nearly took a piece of us on the way out," Draco pointed out with a shudder.

"We brought the horcrux to the Chamber of Secrets, to use a basilisk fang like I did with the diary," Harry explained at Granger's horrified expression, and both she and Weasley tentatively nodded their understanding. "We were with the Grey Lady, who, it turns out, is Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter - "

"Blimey," Weasley said, shaking his head. "Who'd've thought?"

"That one we owe to Felix," Harry said with a shrug. "But Helena wanted to touch the horcrux, to be with the piece of her mother that was still there, and Voldemort - er, well, Tom Riddle, in a sense - used her, somehow, to garner just enough power to try to kill off one of us - "