Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Time. Time was always of the essence. That was the type of thoughts that raced through Harry’s head. Things were always the same. School in the morning. He always had to be there right at eight o’clock. What was the point? Harry sighed, dragging his feet, his clogs scraping the white tiles that lined the floor in an orderly pattern. The halls were mostly empty, except for a few groups of tenth graders. Doors were lined up on either side of the wall, each with a cracked halo-sign above it. The one he was looking for was biology, professor Lupin. When he found it, he stopped, waiting a moment before grabbing the brass door knob. He stepped into the classroom.
Before he had come to the “Hogwarts School for Challenged Children” (HSCC), he had lived with his abusive cousin, aunt and uncle. They had hated him for no reason at all, pushing him around and made him sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. Love was a stranger to Harry. His parents had died in a car crash, and all they had left him with as a lightning scar on his forehead.
Harry was greeted with the smell of dusty books and the rotting wood of desks as he entered the classroom, the old, worn-out floor beneath him feet creaking.
“Harry James Potter. You're late. Again,” said the voice of professor Lupin himself, standing in front of the Magnetic Glass Whiteboard, a thin expo marker poised in this hand, ready to write.
“Sorry, Remus,” Harry replied, not even looking at his teacher, and taking the seat next to his friend Draco, the boy he had known and met in summer school. He looked at him.
“I would prefer professor Lupin.” he corrected, his sharp eyes burning into her from behind rounded glasses, his thin hand clutching the book he was holding tight to his chest. Harry shrugged lightly and stared blankly at the scribbles of notes he had been writing.
“So, as I was saying,” he continued, “Today's lesson will be on dragons.”
Harry, ignoring him, exchanging a glance with his friend Ron. “As you hopefully know, they are massive and dangerous reptiles, with extremely large dagger-like teeth and claws that could kill you with one flick. Some of them have bat-like wings, allowing them the ability to fly.” He stopped dramatically, his eyes boring each student in turn before beginning his slow lesson again. “Avoid them at all costs. They will mutilate and slaughter anyone that tampers with them.” He raised a finger. “But luckily, I have created a guide to these beasts.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “‘They will mutilate and slaughter you,’” he mimicked, his face changing into a taunting expression.
“Mr. Potter, please allow me to teach. I know that in some time, this lesson will come in quite handy for you.” he said calmly, though his knuckles turned white as he clenched his book. He glared down at her from behind his glasses. “As I was saying, I have created a guidebook about them. you will each receive a copy,” he said, passing a huge stack of them to the people sitting in the front row, making dust swirl into a funnel cloud that smelled like old papers and dead mice, causing them to hack and cough.
When the dust had settled, the books were all passed back from the front row. Harry’s copy was shoved into his lap by a boy named Dobby, who was staring daggers at him, as if he had done something horrible. Harry glared at the back of Dobby's head as he passed the stack of books behind him.
“You will study chapter forty-seven, about Bloodmenaces, who are capable of controlling other dragons, making them the most terrifying of them all. They are also extremely large. A fifteen thousand word essay About the dragons' eating habits will be due Friday morning. That's two days from now. The reason I chose this to be the first lesson was because I want to show you how truly menacing they are, and why you should stay away from them.” Dobby raised his hand. Without waiting for acknowledgment from professor Lupin, he asked,
“Oh come on! Fifteen thousand word essay? That's way too much! Don’t you want us to have a good time at school and not feel stressed out about our homework?” reasoned Dobby, along with a couple of groans from the rest of the class. Mr. Finnigan let out a frustrated sigh.
“Fine, you have one week to finish the essay.” He grumbled, trying to hold in his anger.
“There are only fifty chapters. And only one human has ever lived to take a picture of a dragon. The next day, he and his camera were disintegrated by a mysterious white fire that enveloped his house.”
“Oh, that's too bad,” said Harry, fake sadness thick in his voice. Interrupting the uncomfortable silence that hung in the air, the muffled chime of the bells was heard from behind the oak doors that separated the classroom from the hall.
“well,” said professor Lupin, trying to hide his relief with a scowl at the student nearest to him. “I guess it’s time to go, class,” he said, letting out another long sigh. “Off to your dormitories with you. Oh, and remember that you will receive a detention if your blood menace report is late.” But his students were already picking up their stuff and pouring out of the doors in a mass of gossip and chatter. professor Lupin groaned, wishing he didn’t have Harry as a student. But even as he watched his raven hair bob out of sight, he was quite fond of him, he realized. He traced the spine of the dull book, smiling at the memory of Dragons. If only Harry knew...
❖ ❖
Students streamed up the grand stairway and towards their dormitories. Harry followed Ron, chatting with him about their classes. Draco trailed behind him, laughing with a couple of his friends. They continued down the long corridor that stretched out after the abrupt halt of the stairway. Soon, they were in one of the many Magnetic levitation elevators to the thirty-sixth floor. Harry tapped his foot on the pearly white floor, trying not to look out the glass walls that surrounded them. You could see the grounds from here.
Gym students were playing volleyball and tennis, and from this height, they looked like little specks. But Harry hated it. Whenever he looked down, he felt his stomach flip and his heart leap into his throat. If the elevator was to brake, or the magnetic fields were to suddenly fail, she would fall, fall all the way down to the ground. Harry shivered, trying to think about something else. When the ride was over, there was a sound of a little dig! And the doors slid open, revealing a long, carpeted hallway.
At the end of the hallway, large golden sliding glass doors stood. When Harry walked, it’s surface shimmered like it was water, and Harry felt like he should stick his hand into it. Suddenly, the doors in front of him slid back, revealing the Ninth grade dormitory behind them. There was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, casting bright and cheery shadows, dancing across the walls. He smiled. I don’t know why they would give this nice dormitory to the worst grade! He thought. He had been told by most of his teachers they were the worst grade in the biology of this school. Well, he guessed they’d have to live with that.

“What do you have done so far?” Dobby heard Draco ask as Harry plopped down next to him on the small, green dappled sofa. Next to them, the fire crackled and spat. Nearby, Dobby was doing his homework with Snape and Eren, while Heather and Connor chatted. He blinked to get the very wrong image out of his mind of a giant so called “Bloodmenace” ripping off his head with its pinky toe, and looked looked over at Harry and Draco. jealousy filled his heart, along with a new hatred that was boiling up inside him, a hatred for Harry.
“I’ve read the first three paragraphs and gotten no information on eating habits whatsoever.” Harry responded nearby on the sofa, pointing to the page he had read. He peered over his shoulder, looking at where he was pointing. His blonde hair was swept to one side and the fire light sharpened his features. He turned, and they were face to face now, their noses almost touching. Harry’s almost black hair brushed his rosy cheeks. They locked eyes, gray to green. One beat, two, three. and then they realized what they were doing and quickly drew away,blushing, each hoping the other didn’t know what they were about to do.
Dobby's eyes filled with tears as he stalked towards his dorm, trying not to look at the two. Great. He thought, now everyone in this room knows that they like each other. He glanced around, everyone was looking at Harry and Draco. Some had a look of disgust on their face, some looked awkward and went back to what they were doing, and others were giggling and elbowing their friends. “Uh,” Harry bit the inside of his eye. “That didn't happen,” he addressed the other people in the room. “Nope. You didn’t see anything.”
Exchanging raised eyebrows, each of them nodded. Well, they didn’t kiss, that's good, Dobby swallowed. And if they did, well, they’ve known each other since they were four. He stood, his brown heeled boots clinking on the red carpet that covered the floor as he trudged to his dormitory across the room. He opened the door, the bells it was decorated with jingled cheerily as he shut it.
He plopped down in the plushy chair that sat facing a body length mirror. Checking that no one was in the room, he gathered up his beautiful straight black hair and braided it so that it was curly when he woke up the next day. “I hate my life.” He groaned, wishing that he could just go back home. Yes. that would be much better than this dump. He thought, leaning back on her fluffy chair. But what Dobby didn’t know, was that the worst was still yet to come.

Chapter Text

Harry was standing on a cliff, overlooking a glimmering ocean, waves crashed under him, creating a peaceful sound. He looked out to the horizon, the sun was setting, warm waves of soft red and orange made their way Across the sky, causing it to turn a beautiful rainbow haze, and the clouds to be a light, fluorescent, pink.

It was the best sunset he had seen in a while. He heard footsteps behind him, clomping heels muffled by the soft grass that surrounded her. He turned to see Dobby running towards him, an terrified expression on his face. He stopped in front of Harry.

Behind her, the wind rippled through the trees that surrounded them, making a ghostly sound and causing Dobby's hair to whip around. The horror on his face replaced the calm air with a more eerie tone. Dobby looked back at Harry with terror in his eyes.

Harry stumbled backward. Something was dragging him. The shadows and darkness below were pulling him, wrapping themselves around him and bringing him down. Harry fell off the jagged edge of the cliff, wind rushing past him, the sting of sea salt against his skin. He could hear Dobby scream, and looked up to see him bending over the cliff, his eyes wider than dinner plates.

Harry was plummeting into darkness, the sound of churning waves that weren't so peaceful anymore under him, smashing against rocks that Harry new would smash and churn his body into a bloody pulp. He seemed to be falling in slow motion now. A wave of darkness flew over him, and a voice in his mind boomed a chant that throbbed in his head. His arms and legs filled with a pain so heavy he could barely move. All he could see was a hand, Dobby’s hand, reaching down towards him, but not close enough.

Let go of your differences. Band together. We Everbeings need a leader, and you just might be the perfect fit. In the distance, Harry could hear a roar of what sounded like a dragon. Then, as if everything had been swept away. Silence.

ۿ

Harry’s eyelids flew open, sweat clinging to his brow. His heart was pounding, fear clutching at his chest. It took him a second to realize where he was. A crackling fire. green-dappled couch. Professor Lupin’s stupid book about dragons in his lap. He sighed with relief, shaking all over. “Stupid dream,” he murmured, brushing sweat from his brow.

“Finally, your awake.” Harry started, and then recognized the voice.

“Draco! I thought you were done with your homework!”

“No, I was to busy helping you with yours.” he said playfully, nudging his arm as if he was angry. Harry sighed, but he could sense the sarcasm that hid behind his voice. He glanced down at the scroll of paper that was laid out in front of him.

They both stared awkwardly at it for a while until Draco said, “I’ll turn on the lamp, it’s pretty dark.” He walked over to the lamp and switched it on, casting a milky white light on them, illuminating the room.

Harry saw they were the only ones left. He looked at his watch. One o’clock. No wonder we’re the only ones still awake! Draco awkwardly approached him again. He sat down, moving his paper and pencil onto the coffee table.“Do you need help with your homework?” He asked, leaning over to look at his empty scroll of paper. “You can copy off of mine.”He turned, and was immediately staring into his storm-gray eyes.
They were breathing in unison, and Harry blinked. Draco was leaning closer, his eyes locked on his, then moving to his lips. Harry started leaning in too, and then they were so close Harry could feel his warm breath on his cheek.

Behind them erupted a sound that sounded like shattering glass. It was followed by an even louder shriek, which was high pitched and very distinctive. It was Dobby.

Draco quickly turned away from Harry, looking up at Dobby. Harry, who was still completely spaced out, was shook back to the present, they were sitting on a green couch, the milky white lamp illuminating the room. The fire was crackling and Dobby was staring, terrified at him and Draco.
Dobby blinked, then tears started to fill his big, round, blue eyes. They dribbled down his cheeks, black from all the mascara that had been plastered on in the morning, making stains on her face like in all of the sad romance movies Harry and Draco had seen together over the summer. He looked at Harry and gave him the most horrible look he could possibly master, then dashed out of the room, leaving a pile of tiny glass shards and a big black stain on the velvet carpet.

Chapter Text

Dobby ran, anger and pain blinding him. He threw open the door to his dorm, wiping his eyes on his sky-blue nightgown. He wasn’t the type that was balling, so everyone could see. But, so far, this was the hardest he had ever cried. He had caught Draco, the boy of his dreams, kissing Harry. And, to tell the truth, Dobby didn’t hate Harry, he just wanted Draco to like him, to kiss him, not the Beautiful brown haired boy with excited green eyes.

He wished he could switch places with Harry, so Draco would like him, and he would know how it felt to be the one that was being ignored. He collapsed into his bed, pressing his face into his pillow. Sadness had overtaken him. He took a big long sigh and blinked to get the tears out of his eyes. How had he ended up in this life? What was the point? He looked at the clock. Five past one. He had to get to sleep. He flopped down on his pillow, staring at the door until tiredness grabbed his aching body and dragged him into sleep.
ۿ

BARP, BARP, BARP. Dobby groaned. Some of the others were already moving around. He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looked around the big room.

“Ugh.” He scoffed, and put his head under his pillow, trying to block out the beeping of the alarm clock. I wonder what Harry and Draco did after I left, he mused, reaching for the small mirror that lay at his bedside table. He wrinkled her perfect nose at the sight of himself. His hair was tangled, and black makeup smeared the skin around his eyes. Dobby put his hand on the side of his bed and set his feet on the soft carpet that covered the floor. The alarm had stopped beeping, but he had been at this school for long enough to know it would start again in a couple minutes. The chatter from the people around him was background noise. He tossed his hair, examining his nails.

“Dobby! Oh my god, you look horrible. Wait, are you crying?” A girl about his age rushed over, her chestnut hair swishing softly through the air.

“here, let's go somewhere more private.” Dobby whispered, the brown haired girl’s blue eyes looked concerned. Dobby grabbed her hand, tugging her towards the far left side of the room, which was lined with doors. The girl with the blonde hair followed willingly, biting her lip.

As the pair of them made their way through the crowd of people, and, as they did, some people waved, said hello, and exchanged words. When they got to the doors, Dobby grabbed one of the brass knobs, opening the door to reveal a spotless room that had hooks lining the walls above clean, white benches. A sink was across from them. It was supposed to be a changing room, but Dobby didn’t care. He locked the door behind him.

“Eren, you know I like Draco, right?” The girl nodded,

“Dobby, I know everything about this school.” her storm blue eyes searching her friend’s face. Dobby continued,

“Well, last night, I had left my homework book in the lounge. I was heading in so I could find it, and I saw Draco about to kiss Harry!” Dobby stomped his bare foot on the wooden floor. Heather’s eyes grew five times their normal size. “I dropped my cup and screamed, obviously, and Draco quickly pulled away and pretend nothing happened!” Tears were starting to run down his cheeks. Heather put a hand on her shoulder. “Then I ran back here and cried into my pillow.”

He wiped a tear from his pale cheek. “And then I realized Draco isn’t the only boy in this school. If I act like I don’t like him, and start to agree with myself that I don’t, I’ll forget about him.” He sniffed, putting his head in his hands.

“Hey, that's a good idea. I know of a way to cheer you up. There are waffles for breakfast and I think I know of a way to bribe Connor into convincing them to give us the jelo they promised yesterday.” said Heather, with an enlightening smile. “And thanks for coming to me instead of anyone else.”

“You're welcome,” Dobby sniffled, staring at the door. “It’s because I know you keep secrets like nobody’s business.” Heather laughed, touching the amulet that she always wore. She lightly tapped her purple slipper that she was wearing. “I know of, like, seven boys that like you.” Dobby raised a eyebrow.

“Who is the most popular?” She asked. Heather tapped her lips, looking thoughtful. She opened her mouth to say a name, when the alarm went off that meant they should be all ready to go to breakfast and start finishing up any homework they didn’t have time to finish. Heather sighed. “Well, we should get ready.” Dobby grimaced. “don’t open the door yet. I need to wash my face.”

ۿ

Dobby was wearing an off the shoulders orange shirt and ripped jeans. His stomach was full of waffles, bacon, and Jell-O. He did his homework as he was walking to his first class, Foreign languages with Professor Papori.

This was normal, and most kids were tripped. But not Dobby. He had Eren, Snape, and Heather to watch his back. Her dark brown boots clomping on the polished marble floor. He was just finishing the last question when she heard Snape stammer,

“Dobby, watch-” Too late. He slammed into something. His head hit hard on the cold hard floor. Pain shot from his forehead to his toes.

“Ow! God, that hurts!” his hands went to her head, and his vision blurred, and he saw two faces. Or was it one? He couldn’t tell.

“Dobby! Are you okay? I didn’t see you.” The voice was oddly familiar, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. He blinked rapidly, and the face peering down at him was Draco. He clenched his teeth, thinking about him and Harry. He glared up at him.

Draco reached out a hand, his face concerned. Dobby turned, getting to his feet and leaning against the wall. His books and papers were a few feet away. His face shifted from sympathetic to confused.

“What? Why are you glaring at me?” Dobby snorted, pain erupting from his head again.

“You know exactly why,” He hissed. She glanced at Heather. She raised an eyebrow, shrugging. Dobby turned his gaze back to Draco. A horrified expression crept onto his face. Red slowly made its way up his neck. “Look, Dobby-”

“Don’t Look, Dobby me! I can’t believe you!” Draco jerked back, the hurt showing in his eyes. Dobby felt something crack inside him, but he ignored it. This is what he wanted. To show he didn’t like Draco anymore.

He strutted over to his books and papers and picked them up, shooting another smoldering glare at Draco as he started to finish the last question on his quiz. He turned, pretending he didn't notice him anymore, and walked away slowly, as if he didn’t care. But they both knew that was a lie.