now thiing for drao. “otter saved me?”
“apparently so, although the why of the matter still eludes me.”
& love me.”
“you’re so sure of that?”
&es me.”
luius looked at his son pointedly. he already k.
& isn’t going to hah of feelings.”
“maybe.” came luius’s respohe older malfoy was thinkihing in what drao had said had triggered a memory of a oion he’d had with the dark lord a month or so before the “department of mysteries” i. something about impulses… but he ouldn’t remember ortant at this moment in time so he returo drao, pushing the memory bak into the reesses of his mind to poer.
“you’ll have to see him today.”
“we have sses together.”
“not for sses, drao. you’ll s out with him today. he’s had loo mull it over anyway; you might as well talk about your situation.”
“what situation? and why has he had time to ‘mull it over’?”
luius’s eyebrow rose. “drao, exatly how muh of that book did you skim over?”
drao at least had the modesty to look bashful. “everything after—”
“after you found out about the aspetus and what it meant.” luius fih an air of disappoi. “you figured you would e a ly to you.”
&her.”
“well, drao, then you had better ask grahat book bak beause as of three days ago, whehe road to suiide, you gaie and now you must at aly.”
“three days ago?”
“you have been sleeping for three days as your body reovered. normal humans wouldn’t have beeo survive without air f as you did, and eveerms you were muh too lose to death to survive ahe m to py quiddith.”
his father’s sarasti to lost on him. “oh.”
“so, now you have a mate to deal with. a mate, who a few moments ago, you said does not love nor even like you.”
“oh.”
and that summed up drao’s feelings quite niely.
as luius had poi, harry had beehree days of time to mull over his urrent situati that book from over tiven him a lot of time to think…ae himself. well, he’d started beratier he’d met dra for them at the doors to the astle…or more like waiting for him to arry drao’s sleeping form to the doors of the astle. drao had exhanged hands and beeo wherever it was thought proper by luius to take him, and harry had to the boys dorm lost in thought. he’d en there. roing for him in the gryffindor on room. the oion had been awkward to say the least.
“you know, you ould have told me harry,” ron said, looking into the heerfully bzing fire. “i orted you. i told you that.”
harry frowned. “ron, i don’t know what tht alk about this ter?”
rohey both had goo bed, not saying another word. well, roo bed. harry had stayed up, reading and thinking. at about four in the m, he’d given up and had just sat ohinking. he’d do again, and this time he really ouldn’t say why. at the mome he had been dht thi looking bak o, he felt all ohe feelihis night and the now, and that night aheial…sort of. exept this time no oime…the st time harry had given in to his impulses like that…sirius had died.
i an’t believe i did that agaied himself. he didn’t know what to thi exatly 4:09 in the m. he really didn’t. he’d saved drao’s life, that muh he k why? now that the moment was gone, he ould look bak a he’d ated purely on impulse.
but a? his mind asked rebellihis questio ansith his analyzing.
without omplete khe information he ould have had, he’d taken the pluhere were somewhat “better” results this time, there was a bright side to look to. no one had died. no oe for the as what he had dohe right thing? harry didn’t know.
in fat, three days ter harry still didn’t know, and still hado grips with the strahat had prevailed that hat had told him to save drao’s life at all osts beause it ortant, neessary…eveory was the right word to use. whe of how he’d felt during that ually had to ome bak to those feelings that had driven his impulses, ahought of those…he hit a roadblok. beause he truly ouldn’t say he uood how he’d felt. he ould go over the exat same arguments er, in his head, a have the same ompellihat was beause drao’s life washis moment in time, maybe he was just being ignorant, but something inside him was dht gd that drao washe other parts of him that were mial were…dealing with the situatiohey ould.
ahree days that he’d been thinking, ron and hermiour, into shadows around him. ron must have told hermione of harry’s request to talk about it ter, as she ryiails. in fat, surprisingly, the whole shool ryiails. well, at least not from him. the eherin house was in a state of pani over drao’s urreh issue. of ourse they had been told that he was very sik, enough to be quarantined in his room (“the slytheriheir own rooms?” ron