Angels and Devils (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 19. Fallout

Harry had woken up on Sunday morning and found himself on a transfigured chaise in Remus' room. When he had fallen asleep was not clear, but he and Remus had spent long hours talking before he had drifted off. The old adage that things always look better in the morning was not true, and as Harry made his way back to Gryffindor tower after a leisurely breakfast with his friend, he neither felt more cheerful nor any more relaxed about the whole situation. If anything, he was more confused than ever.

His dreams had made it more than clear what his subconscious wanted from Malfoy. The images in his mind were graphic, strangely resolute and very difficult to ignore. The Seraphim in him was not ready to give up on Malfoy just because they were no longer controlled by the mating drive. Knowing what this really meant for the future was difficult. Harry could not shake the feeling that his life was much more complicated now.

He walked into the Gryffindor common room and found most of the seventh year gathered around the fire.

"Harry!" it was Neville who saw him first and alerted the others to his presence.

He tensed ready for accusations to fly and was most surprised when he found himself gathered into an enthusiastic hug by Hermione.

"Oh, Harry," she said, pulling back and looking him up and down, "when Malfoy was at breakfast this morning and you weren't, we were so worried. Are you okay? The arrogant prig didn't hurt you, did he?"

For a moment he just stared, quite overwhelmed by the caring in the faces around him.

"I'm fine," he said quietly, knowing that his internal dilemma was not exactly 'fine', but needing to reassure his friends. "Professor Dumbledore took me to see Remus last night, I had breakfast with him."

"So no ... uhm ... nasty side effects then?" Hermione was obviously the lead in the group and from the look in her eyes she had been researching again.

Harry shook his head.

"Just a bit sore," he replied and managed to call up a small smile from somewhere.

That made the boys grin and most of the girls blush to the roots of their hair. Hermione slapped him on the arm playfully for his trouble.

"For once in my life I do not want details," she said, matching his opening gambit beautifully.

It was probably quite obvious to his two best friends that they would need to talk about this, but Hermione seemed content to let it rest in front of the others. Harry was grateful because there were just some things he could not talk about in front of most of his year, even if they had all but adopted him as family.

As a group they dragged him back over to where they had been sitting and all but forced him into a chair. It seemed that the famous Potter brooding ability was being thwarted.

"So how was ... Malfoy at breakfast?" Harry asked hesitantly.

He was not sure if he really wanted to know, but at least his friends could give him an indication of what he was in for when he next set foot in the Great Hall.

"As arsey as usual," Seamus replied irreverently. "Actually, come to think of it, arsier than usual. Now that everyone knows he's part Veela the snotty bugger is flaunting it."

"Yeah," Ron agreed vehemently, "if I hear Pansy giggle at him one more time, I'll put the dozy cow out of her misery and save us all the pain."

"Ron!" Hermione did not seem to like that particular line of conversation.

It was scary how well she could sound like Molly when she wanted to. Harry for his part was fighting down a wave of what he could only call completely irrational jealousy. He tried very hard not to let what he was feeling show, and Hermione missed it thanks to her focus being on Ron, but Neville was looking at him in a very speculative manner. Maybe this was something he could not hide.