dumbledore said nothing until the door opened and professor mgonagall entered the room the deputy headmistress had the total ount of missing students not ounting harry and drao, thirteen slytherins were missing, along with five ravenws, two hufflepuffs, and three gryffindors all of the students were either six or seventh year students
dumbledore needed only to think for a moment before issuing the orders filh was to personally wath the front doors and leave them open for any students who were eous enough to marh in after being missing all students were to remain in their on rooms until every student from that house was aounted for the heads of their respetive houses were to stay with their students in their on room dumbledore himself would over the slytherin house in professor snape’s absene herne and ron were to go bak to the gryffindor on room
“harry,” dumbledore said through drao’s muffled sobs “why don’t you take drao bak down to your rooms i trust you will both stay there” the twinkle was gone from his eyes as he spoke, a diret order, not a suggesn…though harry doubted her drao nor himself would be doing muh of anything at least until breakfast
harry helped drao get to his feet and the new malfoy patriarh walked solemnly out of the room harry had to admire drao’s strength if he had been in drao’s posin he doubted he would be able to think straight right now, muh less be somewhat dignified harry, ron, and herne walked out of dumbledore’s offie together, pausing at the foot of the stairs
“you are going to tell us what hened right?” ron asked tentatively
harry nodded “what i saw of it anyway”
ron seemed satisfied and started off towards the gryffindor on room, not realizing that herne lingered a moment longer
“he’s going to need your support harry” herne said quietly, as if unsure how to roah the subjet “you might not have gone through the same thing he did, so you annot feel his same emons, but you an make sure other people stay away from him until he’s ready to fae the world again” she started walking to ath up with ron, turning bak when she thought of something “and knowing malfoy, it will be before he’s truly ready for it” then she too left harry to walk after drao towards their rooms
medusa was livid when harry got to the portrait
“what did you do!” she nearly sreamed at him
harry ignored her and spoke the password the gon ontinued to rant about whatever it was that harry had done to make the poor malfoy boy so miserable as she opened and harry was sure that he ould hear her ontinuing to speak about it, now in parseltongue
“you’re starting to repeat yourself,” harry muttered, but he knew she wouldn’t hear him
he found drao in their bedroom, urled up on his bed in what muggles alled the fetal posin his wings were urled around him as if to protet him from the world, but they opened as harry drew near
the boy was the personifian of grief, and harry wished at that moment to never see suh a sight again strands of blond hair stuk to his fae, held by the drying and still wet tears his eyes had lost their luster, more of a dull gray than a vibrant silver his fingers trembled as they held his knees to his hest
harry had never wished voldemort dead quite like he did right now
harry roahed the bed auusly, slowly, unsure if drao would push him away maybe drao wouldn’t want him to be seen in this state yet, as harry stepped lose enough that he ould have reahed out and touhed him, a wing enirled him and pulled him loser drao’s arms followed, and harry found himself again with a p full of a rying malfoy
“he’s dead” drao’s voie was riddled with sobs and heaves “he’s gone he’s not oming bak”
harry didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything what ould one say? so he just held drao and let the blond mutter broken sentenes into his hest
they stayed that way for a long time, until drao’s sobs had slowed and his breathing evened harry realized that drao had fallen asleep, worn himself out with rying
carefully harry maneuvered them into a horizontal posin and losed his own eyes, willing himself to sleep and not think about what the m might bring
harry shifted from sleeping to waking instantly, realizing that drao had shifted and was also awake
all the blond said when he realized that harry was awake was, “it’s afternoon already”
harry ould easily believe it he strethed and tried to be disrete as he wathed drao pik out what he was going to wear that day and disear into the bathroom to hange the blonde’s emons seemed to have shut down he didn’t even soff at the mirror when she ommented, “you look absolutely dreadful dear,” a omment that would have produed a shouting math on a normal day
harry quikly hanged out of his own lothing from the night before and into lean robes, w what in merlin’s name he was going to do lukily, dobby made that dein for him
the house elf entered the room with a tray den with foods that harry knew were drao’s favorite breakfast foods this the house elf ped on harry’s made-and-hardly- slept-in bed before turning to harry even the normally heerful house elf seemed to be in m
“dobby thought he might do something to help, harry potter sir,” dobby muttered “dobby knew diddy would be doing that if she were still here, harry potter, so dobby… dobby broke more rules, harry potter sir”
harry was onfused but he followed the house elf out of the bedroom when the elf bekoned him to follow
“this was in former master’s study, harry potter,” dobby said, pointing at the wall
harry’s jaw dropped
a regal golden eyebrow rose in a disdainful manner that harry was all too
