Since Harry and Draco were so far ahead in all of their classes, they soon discovered that they had an inordinate amount of time at their disposal. Much of that time they dedicated to planning and exercising pranks, of course, but they made sure to spend some time in the library each day, locating new spells and potions, which they would practise in abandoned classrooms. They avoided Gryffindor Tower as much as possible, because Ron and Seamus tended to make trouble.
It was worse for Harry, because he could hardly go anywhere in the school without having people hiss insults at him. 'Death Eater spawn!' and 'Murderer's brat!' were two of the most popular. Thursday afternoon, after Harry's bag had been ripped by a Severing Charm on his way back from class, he hissed a vehement oath in Parseltongue out of sheer fury. Fortunately, the other students seemed to think he was just making incoherent sounds, and ignored him. Draco, however, was quite concerned.
'You really want to watch yourself, Aries,' he told his cousin as they got ready for bed that evening in their empty dormitory. (One side effect of Draco's propensity to wake them up before dawn was that they both tended to go to bed well before their Housemates.) 'If someone finds out about your gift, it will only make things worse for you.'
'It's hard to imagine that things could be any worse,' Harry spat. 'Maybe if they were afraid of me, they'd at least leave me alone.'
Draco rolled his eyes and Banished his pillow towards Harry. Harry flicked his wand and blocked Draco's pillow with his own.
'You shouldn't have done that,' he told his cousin. 'This means war, Malfoy!'
'Die, Black!' Draco roared in response, and the two boys launched into a fully fledged hex war. After ten minutes, Harry was purple with green hair and yellow polka dots, whilst Draco had elephant ears, a poodle tail on his backside and a pair of wildebeest horns growing out of his head.
'I'll kill you for that, Malfoy!' Harry shouted playfully, and fired a squirt of lurid red paint at the blond boy's chest. Draco stared at his 'wound' in feigned shock and fell to the floor.
'You've won this time, Black,' he gasped. 'But Lord Draco the Malevolent shall return!'
At this point, Ron Weasley walked in, just in time to hear Harry's response.
'I think not, Malfoy,' he crowed triumphantly. 'Lord Aries the Black will drink your pure blood from your still throbbing veins!'
Ron screamed and ran downstairs, shouting for all Gryffindor Tower to hear that Aries Black had murdered Draco Malfoy in their dormitory. Needless to say, Professor McGonagall was not amused when she arrived five minutes later to find Harry and Draco, both very much alive, rolling on the floor laughing.
'What is the meaning of this outrage?' she demanded. 'Do you think it amusing to frighten one of your Housemates half to death?'
'Yes, Professor,' Draco said honestly, still laughing.
'In any event, miss,' Harry broke in, giving his cousin a glare, 'we didn't mean to frighten Weasley. We were engaged in a private activity. Weasley came in and jumped to conclusions. He should have ascertained the truth of the matter first.'
McGonagall frowned. 'In that case, Mr Black, you and Mr Malfoy should have run after Mr Weasley and corrected his misapprehension, rather than sitting here laughing like a bunch of hyenas whilst the rest of your House was in an uproar. That will be two points each from Gryffindor. I do not expect to hear any more of this sort of nonsense in the future. Do you understand?'
'Yes, Professor,' Harry and Draco responded glumly. Weasley stood behind McGonagall, any embarrassment he felt at his mistake thoroughly recompensed by the sight of the two boys being scolded.
'Move along to your beds,' McGonagall commanded the large crowd that had gathered on the stairs, and left the room. Draco climbed into his bed and drew the curtains.
'Good night, Draco,' Harry said.
'Sleep tight, Aries,' Draco replied, and within minutes Harry heard the steady breathing that meant his cousin was asleep.
Harry, however, was not ready to go to sleep. He retrieved the mirror Sirius had given him from his trunk before getting into bed. He cast a Silencing Charm on the bed curtains, so as not to bother anyone else.
'Sirius Black,' he said, and within seconds his dad's face appeared in the mirror.
'Hello, son,' he said cheerfully. 'I got your gift. You're absolutely right. I showed him to Moony, and he agrees too. Well done! I think there's a certain poetic justice in your being the one to do the rat in, though I shan't deny that I'm more than a bit envious of you.' He stopped at the expression on Harry's face. 'What's wrong?'
'I hate school,' Harry complained, and for once his dad didn't tell him off for whinging.
'Why? What's the problem?' Sirius asked, concern on his features.
'The lessons are a total waste of time,' Harry began, and the complaints began pouring out of their own volition. 'Half the teachers don't even know what they're on about, and the other students can hardly tell a wand from a broomstick. Everyone in my House hates me, and people are always mumbling behind my back. Today, someone used the Severing Charm to cut open my book bag in the corridor.'
'Is it because of me?' Sirius asked quietly.
Harry didn't want to hurt his dad's feelings, but he knew better than to lie to Sirius. He nodded.
Sirius closed his eyes. 'I'm sorry, Harry.'
'It's not your fault,' Harry mumbled.
'Yes, it is,' Sirius sighed. 'In every possible way. All I can tell you is to hold on, Harry. Things will get better.'
'And if they don't?'
Sirius shrugged. 'Then we'll pull you out and send you to Beauxbatons. Or Moony and I can teach you at home. Just give Hogwarts a year. If you don't want to go back after the summer, we'll work something out.'
'Thanks, Dad,' Harry replied, nearly tearing up from gratitude.
Sirius smiled wickedly. 'Now tell me all about how you killed the rat. I want to hear every gory detail.'
.....
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