Chapter Text
"Cast another one, Harry!"
"Yeah, we want to see it one more time."
Harry heaves a sigh as the several excitable second-years grasp at the fading blue light. He had been casting the same spell for what felt like centuries. A spell that literally required joy and all things good was draining the living shit out of him.
"Fine. But this really is the last time, okay?" He says with a slight frown.
"Yes!" They exclaim in unison, so in sync, it seemed rehearsed.
"Expectro Patronum!" And with a half arsed wave, the familial stag leapt out and pranced round the small classroom.
Harry swore it gave him a dirty look.
"WOW!!" They yell out, chasing at it with small round fingers; faces painted with the same childlike amazement. Gradually, the stag turned around and took one final bow, fading into the frosty morning air.
"THAT WAS AMAZING!" Shouts the petite boy with mousey brown hair.
"YEAH!" Supplies the toothy grinned girl.
"Mr Harry Potter, sir, can you maybe... just do it one more time??"
"Pleaseee just for us."
Harry groans internally as they begin to give him the same glassy doe-eyed look that got him in this situation in the first place.
"Well, uh -" a snide snort cuts him off.
"My Potter, fan club giving you troubles, are they? Must say they're an upgrade from your usual crowd."
And as if to deliver the final blow of exhaustion, there stood Malfoy with the very same shifty smirk he sported since what Harry could assume, the womb.
"Oh bugger off Malfoy."
"Oh, don't worry, Potter. I'm not here to steal your beloved fans."
He says with feigned innocence.
Malfoy was just trying to rile him up. He knew that yet...
"You sure, Malfoy? With your two lackeys gone, I wouldn't be surprised if you're recruiting." Harry could never resist it.
He briefly saw Malfoy's eye twitch and smirk falter. But as fast it disappeared, he regained his arrogant facade once more, turning his attention to the puzzled second years.
"Did you know that your beloved hero only knows how to cast a patronus because he was so scared of dementors he fainted at the mere sight of them?"
Almost comically, the group of second-years faces grew blank. You could almost see the question marks appear over their heads.
"We-well, I don't blame Mr Harry Potter." One of them blurt out.
"Yea if-if he found it scary, everyone would!" Another exclaimed.
Maybe he would cast a few more patronus for them after all...
It hits him. As much as Malfoy makes fun of the whole dementor situation, he had never actually seen Malfoy produce a patronus anyway.
"How about you cast one then?"
An expression of displeasure ,or constipation, is now plastered on Malfoy's face; it was Harry's turn to smirk for once. Malfoy primly sniffs as..a shit eating grin begins to bloom. Wait, what?
"Very well, who am i to deny, the, Harry Potter after all."
And with that, Malfoy draws his wand and points to the ceiling,
"Expecto Patronum!"
Harry begged and sent pleas that Malfoy's patronus would be something stupid if it ever appeared at all that is because for a while, nothing seemed to happen.
It was short lived however as a bright explosion of light sprang from Malfoy's wand. The light contorted and swirled around them, the room dead silent as the animal became clear.
A peacock.
It looked directly at Harry, showing off its array of gorgeous, luminescent blue feathers.
Typical.
Just typical that Malfoy would get such a regal and pompous patronus.
The silence broke as a collection of gasps erupted from behind Harry.
He was so never casting for the second-years again.
He reluctantly turns to meet Malfoy's eyes as the peacock fades. Malfoy had never looked this punchable before, with a smirk so wide it could've torn apart Harry's already depleting confidence.
"What now, Potter? Want me to cast it again? Or would you prefer to?"
He's now face to face with Malfoy; green on grey. What was he even meant to say, impressive as his stag was, he had to admit that it was nowhere near as majestic as Malfoy's bloody peacock.
Just as Malfoy looked like he was about to open his mouth again, someone opened the door.
"Ah, there you are, mate! I was looking everywhere for you! I was gonna call you for breakfast, but you weren't in your bed -"
Ron. His saviour.
Ron's train of speech gets cut short, however, as he spots the blonde. His eyes darted between Harry and Malfoy as if trying to figure out what was going on.
"What are you doing to Harry, Malfoy?" Ron concludes, his brows furrowing in irritation.
Malfoy returns the look with equal annoyance,
"Well, Weasely, if you must know, I'm simply doing something that your leader suggested."
"My leader? What's going on, Harry?" Ron's irritation is replaced with at most confusion.
Great. Leave it to Malfoy to scramble his best mates brain.
"Nothing Ron, let's just get breakfast, yeah?"
Although not convinced, Ron seemingly decides Harry's excuse to be good enough.
"Yea- alright."
Ron begins to exit the room, and Harry trails shortly behind, taking a final look at Malfoy before he leaves.
Malfoy looked pissed.
Good.
He did also note that the second-years were still there, simply standing there gaping at the scene.
Oh well serves them right for gasping at Malfoy's not..cool patronus.
After exiting the room, Ron begins to speak again,
"You know i heard that they're doing pancakes today for something called pancake day. Is that a muggle thing?"
Ron, thankfully, doesn't bring up the Malfoy fiasco.
"Er, i think so, i never really experienced it, though."
"Shame, if i was a muggle, it'd be pancake day every day." Ron says with disdain.
Harry's relief must have been reflected on his face as Ron raises a ginger brow.
"I haven't forgotten what just happened, you know. I'm just waiting 'till we see Hermione."
Great.
_______
They make it to the great hall as Ron plonks down onto a seat, wasting no time to pile up several buttery pancakes onto his plate, dousing them in syrups and a selection of fruit and bacon. The fifth-year Gryffindor sat beside Ron looked frankly shocked and impressed at the same time.
"Nice of you two to finally come down for breakfast." A voice says from beside him.
"Sorry 'Mione would've been faster if someone wasn't fighting with ferret face."
Oh Ron, you son of a-
Hermione's brown eyes narrow with confusion as Harry turns to face her.
"Oh Harry," She starts with teacher like disappointment,
"I thought you were finally past your Malfoy obsession phase."
Harry splutters, Malfoy obsession? Him? No way! He and Malfoy fought, sure, but obsession??
"What? Hermione what-"
She shakes her head, "Oh Harry, don't deny it. You spent the whole of your sixth year staring at Malfoy's name on your map."
"What, no! He was up to something, remember? I was only -"
"Mate, i spent years listening to you whine about the bloke 'Malfoy left lesson early!', 'Malfoy looked at me funny', Malfoy this Malfoy that. If you didn't fight like bloody crups all the time, i would've thought you liked him or something." Ron chuckles with that.
Him. Like Malfoy?? Ron was mental.
"What were you arguing about this time then?" Hermione muses.
He might as well come clean. Even if he lied to Hermione, she'd find out somehow.
"Well, I was casting my patronus for some second-years, and Malfoy shows up and casts his."
Hermione and Ron exchange puzzled looks.
"What was his patronus? Please tell me it was a ferret or a flobberworm." Ron laughs, amused.
"No. It was a peacock." He mutters bitterly.
"Pfft," Hermione chokes out
This time, it was Ron and Harry's turn to exchange puzzled looks.
"What's so funny 'Mione?"
Hermione stifles a chuckle, her eyes containing the sort of shine she got when she knew something the other two didn't.
Which was often.
"Do you know what a peacock often symbolises?" She grins.
"Wealth?"
"Being a posh prick?"
"Close but not quite, peacocks are usually symbols for pride."
Hermione finally says with a pleased smile.
"HA, a prideful creature for a prat full of it." Ron laughs.
"Merlin, that makes sense. Here, i was almost jealous." Harry admits with a sigh of relief.
And with that, Hermione's frown is back,
"You need to stop letting Malfoy get under your skin, Harry. He's just trying to rile you up, you know?"
Harry sighs again, this time with little relief,
"I know, he's just such a prick that I can't help it."
Hermione stops as the cogs in her head rapidly begin turning.
"I've got it!" She exclaims,
"Be nice to him!"
...
Ron peels his eyes away from his stack of pancakes to give Harry a bewildered look, had Hermione absolutely lost her mind, kind of look.
"No, Ronald, I haven't lost my mind. Thank you. It's just that the two of you always bicker, right? Malfoy seems to gain from your reactions, so..deprive him of it! Be nice. Kill him with kindness if you will. You do that and leave everything else to me."
Hermione's face so full of cunning that Harry begun to wonder how she wasn't in Slytherin.
"But Harry would die 'Mione!" Ron cried out
"You or Harry? It would kill you if you saw him be nice to Malfoy, wouldn't it." She cuts him off with a sharp look.
Salazar Slytherin..you forgot one.
"I.. suppose i could try." It would be funny to see Malfoy's frustration.
"That's the spirit, Harry!"
"Save me..."
"Hush Ronald."
Wait what did Hermione mean by leave everything else to her? Must be nothing right?