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Love by Numbers	By : Alexa Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 4767 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Love by Numbers

Chapter 3 - Planting seeds.

A/N: To my reviewers � Lee Kennedy, Thrnbrooke and
Princess2000204 - Thank you! You made me so happy! And you are the reason there
is a third chapter at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he informed his father, Draco decided against using any potion to advance his plans - there was too much danger that a potion or a charm planted on the "Savior of the Wizarding World" would be discovered and his whole mission might be compromised. And there were always antidotes and counter-charms to consider. The young Malfoy resolved to proceed without any direct magical interference. He would have to do it the hard way. At least for the most part.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If anyone ever undertook the tedious task of studying
Harry Potter's routine, one small mental weakness could be seen � the Savior of
the wizarding world was almost as forgetful as Neville, when it came to his schoolbooks.
At least once a week he would have to run off during the break to retrieve a
textbook from his dorm. These were the rare occasions on which the Golden Boy
disengaged himself from his French girlfriend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Tuesday, and Harry once again left his Magical History
book in his room. Josie (or as her mother insisted on calling her �
Joséphine) teased her boyfriend and promised to keep him a seat in class
if he's late; which he was bound to be.

She walked towards the schoolroom, with the rest of her
friends following just two steps behind. It seemed that Ron once again failed
to prepare for the lesson and was being lectured at by Hermione. Josie was just
wondering how the older girl was going to get the redhead to ask her out if she
kept nagging him on every occasion, but that thought was cut short when
something caught her eye in one of the moving paintings. As she turned for a
better look she kept moving towards the flight of stairs. She didn't notice
that the staircase was a couple of paces to the side, and she stepped
dangerously close to the edge of the platform. The realization of what was
about to come hit her too late, and she fell hearing the warning cries of her
two friends.

The fall seemed endless and at the same time frighteningly
short. Just as she prepared for the painful crash, a pair of strong arms tried
to catch her, and their owner fell as well, cushioning her fall. Both she and
her rescuer grunted as they hit the ground.

A few moments later she felt his arms steadying and
lifting her to a sitting position.

"Are you all right?" His arms were firmly but gently
holding her shoulders.

"Y-yes, I am fine." She tested parts of her body
and it seemed that, thanks to her cushion, she was unscathed. "Thank
you."

She turned to see who rescued her and stared in shock as
she realized that it was no other than Draco Malfoy. She flinched and her body
immediately tried to move away. As she shifted a sound of pain escaped his
lips. She stilled at once.

It was her turn to ask, "Are you all right?"

"I don't think so." He winced. "I think I
twisted my ankle when we fell over."

Josie started to slowly rise from where she was sitting � which
was precisely on one of his bent legs.

"We need to get you to the Infirmary." She
couldn't help but be concerned. Yes, it was Malfoy that she was concerned
about, but he saved her. And she didn't really have a good reason to hate him.
While Harry told her all about what Malfoy was and did, she was never on the
receiving end of his taunts. Actually, she hadn't noticed anything more than
teasing from Malfoy to her Harry from the beginning of the year, and it wasn't
a good enough reason to truly resent him. Now his father was another deal
altogether. Him she didn't need to meet to detest.

She started to help him to get up and pulled his arm
around her shoulder for support.

"Um� thanks." The boy didn't insult her and
didn't reject her help. Frankly, she was surprised.

"Josie! Are you o.k.?" Ron and Hermione finally
got down to where she landed. "You missed the steps! Did you break
anything?" Both friends were beside themselves with worry.

"And what is that Ferret doing clinging to
you?!"

"I'm all in one piece," she reassured her friends.
"Malfoy tried to catch me, and got the worst of the fall," she
explained motioning to his leg. "I'll take him to Madame Pomfrey."

"Are you sure he's not just faking it?"
Suggested the boy.

"Ron! Don't be such a jerk!" Interfered
Hermione.

Draco finally lifted his head and scowled: "Yeah,
Weasel, don't be such a git. How will that make your Holy Trinity look? I
thought you were all supposed to be saints?"

"Shut up Ferret! Speaking of families, compared to
your father, I could be a saint even if I ate children for breakfast!" Ron
scoffed. "And I'm only stating the obvious. You are probably faking it to blame
Harry for sending Josie to attack you, or something!"

"Ron! Really, are you hearing yourself? He helped me,
got hurt, and you're insulting him!" Josie was really taken aback at the
red head's behavior.

"He started it!"

"No he didn't." Even Hermione had to admit that
Draco didn't start with his remarks until Ron called him names and proposed his
conspiracy theory. In fact, Malfoy was unusually quiet until then. He must have been
hurt more than she thought. "Let's just get him to the Infirmary. If he's
faking it Madame Pomfrey will have him for breakfast."

"No, it's o.k., I can take him there, you don't have
to miss class, guys. I'm the one who got him this way." Josie didn't want
to keep listening to boys fight, and she didn't want to see any further into
this new Ron she had just met. As for Hermione, well, taking her from her
studies was just needless and cruel. "Hermione, will you explain why I
didn't show on time? Oh, and save a seat for Harry."

"Sure, Josie. Come on Ron." The head girl
drugged the stunned Gryffindor towards the classroom.

"How could you, 'Mione?"

"It was the truth, Ron."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they got to the Infirmary it turned out that Draco's
ankle wasn't twisted. It was broken.

After hearing what happened, Madame Pomfrey cautioned
Josie to be more careful when walking in Hogwarts, given that she was still
unfamiliar with the castle. It was the sort of thing that happened to
first-year students quite often.

She started her examination with Draco, since he seemed to
be in worse condition.

"Does that hurt?"

"Yeah."

The medi-witch pointed her wand at the boy's led and
muttered some spell.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, it's broken. Nothing too serious,
but you will need to stay here till it heals." With that she directed him
to lie on the bed.

Next the witch turned to the young girl. "Does
anything specific hurt?"

"No. I just have a bruise on my elbow."

"Let's see�" The wand honed in on that part.
"You're right � it's just a bruise. You're very lucky to have landed on
Mr. Malfoy. The fall could have ended up much worse."

Madame Pomfrey went to her cabinet. "You both should
have some chocolate; and Mr. Malfoy, here is your potion. Drink up," she
directed as she handed him the vial. Then she put some salve on the girl's
elbow. "Now sit down, and eat your chocolate. When you're done you can
leave for class."

Josie looked at Malfoy as she ate her portion. The boy
saved her, and got hurt in the process. And why would he try and help her in
the first place? She decided that she should just ask him. And while at it she
should probably thank him again.

"Malfoy�? Not that I'm not thankful, but why did you
try to catch me?"

"Why, is that too much of a good deed for the spawn
of evil, such as myself?"

"I never said you were that. But, you do have a
reputation, and I know about how you taunt everyone, especially Harry. What you
did is just a little out of character for you."

"First of all, I do love how you presume to know all
about who I am and am not, without even being properly introduced. You know,
something along the lines of, 'Hi, I'm so and so, nice to meet you, what is
your name?'" Josie cringed at a bit of truth in these words.

"Second, I didn't try to catch you. You just fell on
me, with your heavy, clumsy bottom. And I really don't want you going around
the school spreading your delusions in an attempt to ruin my reputation. Do I
make myself clear?" The boy was sneering menacingly.

Josie wanted to snap back but the memory of the fall held
her back. She knew that he did try to catch her � she remembered his arms
reaching to her, and remembered that at that moment he felt like salvation
itself; she was half sure that she would break her neck when she fell and was
saying her goodbyes to the world when he caught her. So she held herself in
check.

"You did�" She started to again.

"No I did not. Now go back to your little saintly friends."
With a wave of his chocolate holding hand he dismissed her.

Josie felt torn between wanting to protest, slap him, and
laugh at the comical way Malfoy looked when dismissing her with chocolate. She
settled for doing the right thing and having a bit of fun. She stood up and gave
him a mock bow. "Your highness, my name is Joséphine
de la Pagerie. What, I pray, is your name?"

The boy looked surprised, but his sneer changed to an
amused smirk. "My name is Draco Malfoy," he said with a tone indeed
appropriate for a king.

Josie was stunned when she realized that she didn't know
his first name until now. While the subject of Malfoy took up a considerable
chunk of her conversations with Harry, it was always "Malfoy" or
"Ferret". And other students she spent time with used the same
epithets.

"It's nice to make your acquaintance your
highness." She curtsied. "Thank you for your kind permission to leave,
your highness." She curtsied again. And almost at the door she turned
around and curtsied once more. "And thank you, your highness." With
that she left the room, happy to be the one to say the last word.

After she left Draco decided that the Girlfriend was
actually quite bearable to talk to. Well, she was a pureblood after all. Potter
turned out to have better taste than Draco expected.

A/N: Josie's name is Joséphine
Bonaparte's maiden name.

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Love by Numbers