What a question. Harry almost wished he could comply, but it didn't seem a good idea to start any new intrigues. "Draco, we all need to be getting along better, I think. That won't help, not at all. Don't you see?"
Draco considered that and gave a jerky nod. For a long moment, Harry was sure the other boy wouldn't speak at all, but then he finally admitted what was on his mind. "Fine, let them hear. What do I care? I just wondered if you might lend me your invisibility cloak so I could..." he cleared his throat. "Go to her funeral?"
Harry knew how he felt. He'd had the same idea back when Aunt Petunia had died and he'd been told he couldn't attend the services. Snape had said no then... and now, Harry could understand the reasons why.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured, sitting down across from Draco, ignoring the intense way Hermione was studying the entire scene. Ignoring, even, the rather cynical look in Ron's eyes. "Severus took it away, and he's not going to let me borrow it just because I ask. He never did like me having it. And... well, now that I think about it, he was probably intending to keep you away from the funeral when he took it."
"I know all that," Draco said with a touch of impatience. "But you could get it, I'm sure. Your magic's amazing now--"
"Harry," Hermione said in a warning tone.
Harry waved a hand to tell her to let him handle it, then spoke to Draco. "I'm not doing wanded magic to break through my father's wards, not unless it's a life-and-death situation. And besides, if you get caught lurking around the funeral, it's just going to raise more questions about you and Pansy. That's no good."
"I know," Draco said again. "I had to ask. I didn't think you'd agree, especially not in front of your friends there. So, that's it then. Fine, whatever. I think I'll just go lie down for a bit."
"I thought you weren't tired?"
"Now I am." Draco wandered off with a lost, hurt air that really didn't suit him, and closed the bedroom door with a click.
Harry leaned back, frowning, wishing he'd handled that better.
"You think he's coming down with the Slytherin plague?" Hermione asked, staring at the closed door. "That was... well, a bit odd. Not like Malfoy."
"He's just really depressed."
"If you say poor thing I'll sick up. Just warning you." Harry and Hermione both gave Ron a disgusted look. "What?"
Harry didn't want to argue about it, so he said nothing.
"Let's just go," Hermione said, standing up and walking to the door. Ron jumped up too.
"You two go. I think I'll wait here for Severus, see how he's doing." And see what he can tell me about these sick Slytherins. When his friends looked a bit doubtful, Harry went on, "Really. Severus can walk me back, and if he doesn't come by morning, I'll sleep over and you two drop by before breakfast to get me, all right?"
They didn't want to agree; Harry could tell. But eventually they did.
After Harry saw them out, he went into the bedroom to talk to Draco.
The Slytherin boy was sitting on his bed, cross legged, staring into space.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you," Harry said, shoving aside the curtains so he could sit on his own bed. "I just... it's a bad idea, all around."
Draco shot him an irritated glance. "Stop apologizing. Makes you sound like a sodding Hufflepuff."
Well, at least that was more like his usual personality.
"Granger's wrong for once," Draco suddenly said, his silver eyes narrowing. "Every Slytherin hasn't been infected with this plague, or whatever. You and I are fine."
"Well, we didn't see those first Aurors who got sick, so maybe that's why; they brought it to Hogwarts, I guess."
"Oh, guess again, Potter. That's ridiculous. Severus saw them. Apparently he's fine. And I'm sure they talked to students from other Houses even if they did concentrate on Slytherin. Besides, these symptoms... the whole thing sounds more like a curse than a disease, to me. A dark curse, and believe me, I would know. You see a lot growing up where I did."
"Who would curse the entire house of Slytherin?"
Another irritated glance, as if he really should have figured it out by now. "Pansy. Who else? On her way down. Accidental magic. Wild magic, even, considering the amount of pure screaming.... fear she must have felt." Draco sucked in a harsh breath, pressing his lips together as if to calm a rebellious stomach. Then he continued, his voice more controlled. "But she didn't curse me. Because she loved me. And you and Severus were helping me, she knew. And you were going to help her, too. We talked about it, all of it, in that closet. And..." Draco closed his eyes. "In the end, when she knew she didn't have any time left at all... she cursed all Slytherin but kept me safe. And I can't even go to her funeral to tell her that I understand."
Draco kicked off his shoes and abruptly lay down on his side, facing the wall. When Harry made a restless motion, the other boy said, "Go away now. Just... I don't want to talk about it, Harry. Just... just go away."
Harry hesitated, but then he did as his brother had asked, and went to wait in the living room for Snape.
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Coming Soon in A Year Like None Other
Chapter Seventy-Six: Ceremonies
Chapter 76: Ceremonies
http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5036&chapter=76
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A Year Like None Other
by Aspen in the Sunlight
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Chapter Seventy-Six: Ceremonies
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Snape did come home that night. He looked pleased to see Harry there, though it was clear he had no time to talk and had mostly stopped by to check whether Draco had fallen prey to the Slytherin plague.
"Still fine, I see," the Potions Master pronounced, looking down at the sleeping boy. Beckoning Harry with a finger, he left the bedroom, closing the door so that Draco might continue to sleep undisturbed.
"I'm not so sure fine is the word, but I don't think he has whatever the other Slytherins are coming down with. What is it, Professor?"
"Harry, we are home."
It took Harry a couple of seconds to even follow that comment. "Oh. Sorry, it's hard to shift gears."
Snape raised an eyebrow. "What are gears?"
"Never mind. Speaking of class conduct, though, Dad, I don't need you prompting me to spread the story about my magic being weak."
Turning away to walk into his Potions lab, Snape merely said, "I shall remember that in future."
Harry thought it would be a little ungracious to say good, so he just nodded, though Snape no doubt didn't see. By then, the man was rummaging through his stores, gathering an eclectic assortment of ingredients into his hands.
"This Slytherin plague," Harry finally prompted. "Draco thinks that... ah, Pansy cursed them on her way down, and that's why he's the only full Slytherin to show no signs of illness."
"Unlikely."
"Yeah, I thought so too..." Harry's lips turned down. "I think he's just trying to convince himself that she really did love him. But then, what is wrong with all your students?"
"They defy diagnosis at present," the Potions Master murmured with a distracted air as he crouched down to rummage in a lower cabinet. "I am working on it. I regret that the present emergency will keep me from researching the matter of your eye and the Elixir."