Unlikely Beginnings

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Chapter Eighteen

Harry wondered if he did the right thing by completely ignoring Ron when
he\'d silently stormed up to his bed yesterday. Forget homework, and never
mind friends, he had some sulking to do. Or something. Ron had come up a few
minutes later, and had asked through the closed curtains of Harry\'s bed if
he was okay. Hermione had probably sent Ron to check on him, but Harry
hadn\'t said anything, pretending to be asleep. Ron left quietly and didn\'t
bother him again.

He\'d spent the rest of the day in his bed thinking. Harry almost couldn\'t
believe what he thought he was doing with Draco. For a brief period, he had
questioned how Draco could do something like he had, but then Harry recalled
their previous years, and stopped that line of thought. Instead, he wanted
to kick himself for thinking that Draco could be a nicer guy than what he
puts on as a show. But, he knew Draco had it in him; he\'d seen brief flashes
of it, and it intrigued Harry. Inexplicably, he was drawn to that side of
the Slytherin, and wanted to know more.

That morning, Ron had been gone when Harry got out of bed, as were all but
one of his room mates. Seamus was in the bathroom, but he seemed to pick up
on the fact that Harry wasn\'t in a very good mood, and wisely didn\'t say
anything. Harry washed up and went down for breakfast. He didn\'t really want
to see his friends, but he was a bit peckish. He pulled on his robe over his
clothes and made his way downstairs. He wondered if Draco would try to talk
to him again, or if he\'d find himself seeking out the blond for a second
time.

The Great Hall was half full of students, leaving many seats unfilled, but
enough to make the room look intimidating to someone who didn\'t really want
to engage in pointless conversation. Well, unless you were talking to
Hermione; she always had a point. As he walked, Harry\'s attention was drawn
to the staff table.

\"No, Severus, I\'m afraid that you must go,\" Dumbledore said, though well out
of Harry\'s range of hearing, especially as he spoke quietly to his Potions
Master. \"If you wish, all Potions classes will be canceled, rather than a
substitute teacher brought in to teach them in your absence.\"

\"But, Headmaster! I can\'t...\" Snape trailed off, halted by the stern look on
Dumbledore\'s face. It brooked no argument, and he knew he\'d have to go. He
sighed, resigned, and nodded slowly at the old professor before turning and
stalking back to his own seat at the head table. He attacked his breakfast
with apparent fury, and Harry watched curiously. He definitely would try to
stay out of Snape\'s way today.

\"Harry!\" \"Wh\"What?\" he asked, startled, and a bit confused at why the girl was shouting
at him.

\"I *said*,\" she said pointedly, \"you\'ve got a note.\" She gestured to the
table in front of him, in his usual spot, and there sat a note with his
name, Mr. Potter, scrawled across it in formal looking writing.

\"Who\'s it from?\" Harry frowned at it, almost like that would tell him all
the secrets of the universe. He sat down in front of the envelope and
continued to look at it. Hermione and Ron were waiting patiently, and Harry
noticed that a few others were as well. Over the years, they\'d come to
expect interesting things to happen to Harry. Amazing things could start
small, and this was no exception.

\"Well, if you\'d open it, maybe we\'d know. It was here when everyone came in,
no one saw anyone leave it here.\" And that was true. None of the students
had seen anyone bring it over, or one of the teachers, for that matter. It
was just there, laying on the Gryffindor table.

Harry had a brief thought that perhaps it was from Dumbledore, telling him
something secret, or that they couldn\'t be seen talking to each other for
some reason. Now eager to find out what was enclosed in the small envelope,
Harry picked it up and opened it quickly. He unfolded the piece of parchment
inside and let his eyes roam over it as he read. \'Can you meet me you know
where after breakfast? D.\'

His eyes widened as he finished, clearly noting the only person who would
send him a note saying what this one said, and he shifted the paper in his
hands to cover the D with his thumb. \"Who\'s it from?\" Hermione asked,
sounding a bit suspicious or concerned. Harry couldn\'t quite tell, but if he
had to guess, it was because of the other night when he\'d come back late
from supper. He honestly did look like he\'d just been shagged, now that he
looked back at the situation.

\"I dunno,\" Harry lied. \"Maybe it wasn\'t for me.\" He stood up from his seat
and climbed over the long bench, starting towards the huge doors of the
Hall. He barely heard Hermione call after him, \'But it was addressed to
you!\'

Snape looked up at the familiar voice shouting a slight bit above the rest
of the dull chatter in the Hall. For once, he\'d like to have a breakfast in
silence, but Dumbledore almost told the staff it was required to attend
meals in the hall, unless absolutely swamped with work. His forehead creased
as he frowned, scanning the Gryffindor table for Potter. He wasn\'t surprised
to actually see the boy already out of his seat and on his way towards the
doors.

What was amusing was that he saw the same thing happen at the Slytherin
table, minus the concerned call after the boy. Draco stood up from his seat,
seemingly nonchalant, though he must have been watching the other table, or
had the two of them planned to meet before hand? Snape supposed they would
have to \'get together\' when most other students were occupied.

Though, if he was not mistaken, it looked like he wasn\'t the only one
curious about Potter\'s recent expositions. Looking to the Gryffindor table,
Snape saw Ron and Hermione staring after their friend and his... accomplice;
the teacher sneered. He\'d find Potter and talk to him shortly, as soon as he
could find the boy.

Hermione was watching Harry leave when she heard a bit of a ruckus from the
other side of the room, from around the Slytherin table. \'No, I\'ve got to
go,\' Draco had said, though no one past the Slytherin table heard, leaving a
couple of his house mates angrily yelling after him as he almost stumbled to
get out from the table. \"Ron, look!\" Hermione said, pointing down the huge
room. \"You don\'t think...?\"

Ron looked in the direction she was pointing, having to lean over his
porridge to see. He scowled when he saw Draco Malfoy making a brisk path on
his way out the door. He started to get up himself, but he suddenly felt
Hermione\'s hands on his own, pulling him down. She didn\'t let go, Ron noted
absently in his mind, though that was far from what he actually said. \"Why
would Malfoy want to meet Harry?\" Ron spat out, clearly angry.

\"I don\'t know,\" Hermione answered him seriously. \"If it *was* from Malfoy,
remember what it said? \'You know where\'?\" Ron looked a bit blank, yet upset,
and Hermione continued anyway. \"They must have met each other somewhere
before, as well, if Harry was to know where to go.\"

\"What the fuck is Harry doing with that stupid prat?\" He wasn\'t stupid
himself, and he knew as well as Hermione did that Harry seemed to be
sneaking off to see someone. Now, it was all fitting together who that
someone was. Hermione frowned at his language and sighed, squeezing one of
Ron\'s hands under hers across the table. The fury faded from Ron when he
felt the pressure over his hand, and after that, he realized that she
*still* wasn\'t letting go.

They were silent for a moment, and he gently tugged one hand out of hers,
hoping he wasn\'t going to ruin the contact in its entirety; he just wanted
to eat his porridge in the meantime. If he wasn\'t having too active a part
in the formulating of some sort of plan, which Hermione seemed to be doing
judging by her distant look and slight crease of her forehead, he could
still eat his breakfast. He tried not to smile to himself when he
successfully freed one of his hands, and began to spoon some of his food
into his mouth. It was another minute or so before Hermione said anything.

\"I think I have an idea.\" She wanted to know what was going on with her
other best friend as much as Ron did, but she really didn\'t like the idea of
invading someone\'s privacy. Ron pleaded, and she agreed to stay. They
finished their breakfasts before they made the long walk back to Gryffindor
Tower. On the way, Hermione had explained what her idea was. She told Ron to
get Harry\'s map, and they\'d see where he\'d gone before they jumped to
conclusions.

What they saw didn\'t lift their spirits, though. Hermione had to take the
map from Ron before he crumpled it into an unsightly ball of parchment,
since Harry wouldn\'t be too pleased if something like that happened to his
map. They saw Harry just reaching the Prefects\' meeting room. Ron had wanted
to go down and ask their friend what he was doing, with Malfoy, no less.
Hermione held him back, and he reluctantly agreed. They sat and waited for
Harry to get back.

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