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Draco never expected he would befriend Harry Potter.
After Potter rejected his handshake in their first year, the two had become heated rivals, and the chance for positive interaction between the two was gone, much less friendship. Draco assumed it would remain that way until an incident earlier this year.
Draco was going back to the Common Room after visiting his godfather in his potions lab. With the Dark Lord’s return, tensions were high and Severus was concerned about his role in the upcoming war. Draco himself was unsure of how he would end up in this, but he knew he would have to follow his parents’ footsteps.
It was on his way back that he spotted Potter, who was walking with a grimace on his face. Draco could feel a smirk forming as he thought of the points he could take away for catching Potter out after curfew.
As he approached the other boy, he noticed that Potter was clutching his hand close to him, as if to hide it. Draco frowned as he wondered what Potter could possibly want to hide when he noticed something dripping down from the hand. Peering closer, Draco could see that it was blood.
One would normally be startled after seeing blood like that, but after knowing Potter for five years, Draco knew that the injury could really be from anything and dismissed it from his mind. Potter was always getting injured in some way, and that Mudblood friend of his and the Weasel would eventually persuade him to go to the infirmary.
“Out late, aren’t you Potter?” Draco taunted.
Draco heard a sigh from the other boy before Potter turned around to face him. The famed Boy-Who-Lived had a tired look on his face as well as annoyance, as if he didn’t have the patience to speak to anyone at the moment.
“What do you want, Malfoy?” Potter said, his voice sounding dead.
Draco quirked an eyebrow at that. “What’s wrong with you? Can’t I, as a Prefect, stop someone from roaming the halls?”
For a moment, Potter didn’t say anything. Draco was a bit discomforted at that but didn’t let it show. Potter almost seemed to be assessing him.
“If you must know,” Potter eventually spoke, his voice laid with sarcasm, “I just came back from detention with Professor Umbridge. That’s all.”
Something in Potter’s voice said not to push, but Draco couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“The Boy-Who-Lived got detention? Who would have thought the vanquisher of the Dark Lord was such a troublemaker? Do you have a note to excuse yourself?” Draco asked gleefully.
“No,” Potter spat out, “However, Professor McGonagall should know I was in detention so you can ask her.”
Knowing Potter, he was probably speaking the truth, but there was no way Draco was going to make the effort.
“But so late? Detention couldn’t have run that long,” Draco scoffed.
Potter glared and clenched his fist, making more blood rush out. It was almost alarming, but Draco continued to ignore it.
“Well, it did,” Potter said, his tone final. “Is that all?”
“I’m going to have to deduct points from Gryffindor. I’d say, about 20 points from Gryffindor,” Draco said contemplatively.
Against Draco’s expectations, Potter didn’t argue. He only nodded and turned to leave. Draco was disappointed by that reaction so he continued to taunt the other boy.
“You sure you don’t want something for that hand? Looks pretty nasty. What could have possibly caused that?” Draco questioned sarcastically.
Potter stiffened but didn’t rise to the bait. Draco frowned. Something must’ve really been bothering Potter if that didn’t get a reaction from him.
“Maybe I should assign you another detention with Umbridge? After all, you are out late and disobeying a prefect.”
That’s what finally got a reaction out of the other boy. Before Draco knew it, Potter had stalked towards him and punched him. Draco fell with a thump, clutching his face. Luckily, nothing was broken or displaced.
“Punching a prefect? I’m afraid that really warrants a detention,” Draco said in delight, despite the pain he was feeling.
However, from his new vantage point from the floor, Draco finally got a good look at Potter’s hand. The bleeding Draco saw earlier came from a scar that was forming. When Draco focused his attention on the wound, he saw the words “I must not tell lies.”
Instantly, Draco was alarmed. It was one thing for Potter to get into an accident, but this was clearly deliberate.
“Potter, what is that?” he demanded, pointing at the injured hand.
Potter quickly pulled the offending hand back. He looked nervous for a second before his expression became steely.
“None of your business,” Potter hissed.
Scoffing, Draco got up, still holding his face in pain.
“It is if someone is using an illegal blood quill,” Draco stated.
Potter looked confused. “Blood quill?”
“How do you not know what a blood quill is, Potter?” Draco asked in exasperation. “It’s the thing that is injuring you in the first place!”
“How could I know that?” Potter demanded. “I’ve never seen one before, much less used it for something!”
Draco groaned. Oh, how he hated the ignorance Mudbloods and people like Potter had.
“Look,” Draco said, staring at Potter seriously. “Blood quills are highly illegal. They are only used to sign contracts. I may not like you, Potter, but I like Umbridge less. We hardly learn anything in her class so if this can get her kicked out, then even I will go report it.”
Potter looked at him in surprise, which offended Draco. What he said was true after all. As much as he hated Potter, Umbridge was the most incompetent teacher they ever had, and Draco wanted to be able to pass his O.W.Ls this year.
“What does it matter?” Potter eventually says. “They’ll just replace her with someone else.”
That was surprisingly insightful from Potter. The Ministry always wanted to get a foot in Hogwarts and now that they had an in, they would want to keep it.
“It would still be better than getting tortured by Umbridge,” Draco said calmly, staring Potter down.
Potter stared back. He seemed to be contemplating Draco’s words, and Draco could only hope Potter would actually listen.
“I’ll think about it,” was all Potter said in the end.
Since that moment, the relationship between the two shifted slightly. They still fired barbs at the others, but it didn’t hold the same weight as it did before. Maybe it wasn’t exactly friendship, but it was as close as they would ever get in this lifetime.
Potter didn’t follow his advice in the end, considering Umbridge was still teaching. Sometimes, Draco caught Potter staring at him and Umbridge intensely, as if thinking back on Draco’s words.
Whatever the case, it seemed Potter was going to do something. Draco was already in Umbridge’s classroom for DADA when Potter walked in with the most mischievous look on his face. It felt weird to Draco, who only ever saw Potter looking serious and sad.
Class started off normal enough. Umbridge instructed them on what to read before leaving them to it. Draco was only half paying attention to what was on the page in favor of eyeing Potter suspiciously. The other boy had been more well-behaved than he ever did in Umbridge’s class, and Draco wondered what he was planning to do.
Soon enough, Potter sneakily brought out his wand and whispered something. He hastily put the wand away before pretending to actually be reading.
Umbridge was at her desk looking through homework when she suddenly screamed and jumped up from her chair. Everyone looked at her weirdly, not seeing the problem. There was nothing on her desk.
Umbridge seemed to realize that only she saw something and quickly put on a smile, an excuse ready on her tongue. She settled down again, and Draco saw Potter repeat his earlier actions.
This time, Draco paid attention to what was going on at Umbridge’s desk. Squinting his eyes, Draco saw several large bugs appear, from cockroaches to spiders.
This time, Umbridge truly screamed, and everyone noticed what was going on. A few people laughed, which only enraged Umbridge further. Draco coughed to hide the laughter that was bubbling up.
“Whoever is doing this is going to be in big trouble!” she screamed at them. “Who is it? Confess or you’ll face an even worse punishment.”
No one spoke to claim credit. Umbridge scanned the class as if that would make anyone speak up. Finally, Potter said something
“I don’t see what’s wrong, Professor,” he said, his voice filled with innocence, “We’ve only been reading this entire time.”
Several people nodded in agreement. Everyone hated Umbridge, and they wouldn’t rat out whoever did this.
“Do you not see the insects on my desk, Mr. Potter?” Umbridge asked in her sickeningly sweet voice.
Potter looked genuinely confused and replied with, “I honestly don’t see anything, Professor. Are your eyes okay?”
Draco bit back a snort at that. Potter sounded so innocent that it fooled no one. On top of that, the insects on Umbridge’s desk were already gone, as if they were never there in the first place. For all intents and purposes, Potter was telling the truth.
Umbridge quickly realized that as well as she instructed them to go back to reading. The room was quiet for a bit. Draco saw that Potter was about to make a move when he caught the other’s eye. They stared for a brief second before coming to a silent consensus.
Taking out his own wand, Draco silently cast the tickling charm on the person in front of him, causing uncontrollable laughter. He repeated it to a few more students and saw Potter do the same. Soon, the room was filled with people trying to control their laughter or just laughing outright.
Umbridge was red in the face with rage at this point, but she couldn’t stop the train from rolling. Draco cast Wingardium Leviosa on a few objects to make them float and made others drop to the floor.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Potter fiddling with something in his bag. Umbridge was yelling at everyone before an explosion stopped her.
It wasn’t an explosive but rather fireworks. Potter must have borrowed something from the Weasley twins. The fireworks only added to the chaos, and when Umbridge tried to stop them, more and more fireworks went off.
At this point, Draco made his way over to Potter, who was looking at more objects in his bag.
“Hey,” he hissed, “Anything I can borrow?”
Potter’s answering grin made him grin in return. Maybe he was becoming Potter’s friend after all.