How Fate Intended by hoboheartache on ao3

Life went on, with the only notable change being Harry's more constant lucidity and Draco's ever increasing levels of stress. The short boy was constantly and consistently at Harry's side, gripping the outer sleeves of his school uniform as if he was the only thing keeping Harry from running off to do something stupid that would no doubt make a mess of things.

In all honesty, he wasn't that far off in his assumption.

The first Hogsmeade visit of the year landed on the 20th of November, a Saturday that showed the full effect of winter on the school, with snowfall glancing of long eyelashes and temperatures ever dropping. Harry didn't bother wearing a jumper, settling instead for his trademark leather jacket that he had finally stolen back from Theo and a thin, distressed band t-shirt. His friends, alternatively, wore a good five layers and a frankly obnoxious amount of warming charms.

"You'll let me have that jacket of yours if I get too cold, yea?"

Blaise, seemingly trying to one-up Harry, was wearing a single black turtleneck and thin-looking black slacks, seemingly trying to blend in with the shadows. If that was his intention, the aggressive shivering was doing his stealth no favors. However, if it was an aesthetical choice, he appeared to be thoroughly regretting it by the time they had passed their permission slips off to Flitch and gotten onto the carriages.

"Why? So you can get away with being an idiot by profiting off my ingenuity?"

Draco snorted from under his scarf, his mittened hand fisting the thick leather of Harry's right arm sleeve. "Live with your hubris or die, Zabini."

The Italian grouched about English weather for the entire ride, tempting Harry closer and closer towards more murderous exploits. As it was, Draco's hold on his jacket was the only thing keeping him from at the very least lunging across the carriage to knock some decorum into the snooty boy.

Harry had certainly become more lucid after his 'conversation' with the wendigo, but that didn't mean he was in a particularly good mood now, as he had been feeling rather irritable ever since Snape had forced him into bed-rest on the first Saturday of the month. Ever since that day, the professor had been annoying and nosey, always watching him closely and jumping at any hint of strange behavior or whatever it was he seemed keen on watching for. Harry was starting to appreciate Tom's interference with the man less and less as the days dragged on.

The only plus side of the past week was that Granger was still stuck in a medically induced coma, and would stay that way for the foreseeable future. He was much more comfortable showing off in class without her there to make a fuss about him 'cheating', and the teachers seemed to appreciate the peace and quiet from her incessant showing off just as much as the students (though none of them would ever admit to that due to their professional positions as her professors, though the only way Snape could get any more obvious about his obvious pleasure was if he wore around a sign with the words 'Hermione Granger deserves to get her mouth sewn shut' painted boldly across it).

There were always downsides to these things however, as the girl's absence seemed to snap Weasley into high gear, as Granger was a good 85% of his impulse control. It was a feat in itself that Harry had managed to keep Draco on a tight enough leash to make sure he didn't maul the ginger, and an incredible act of self control to not do the mauling himself.

As it was, Harry felt that he had reason enough to have a short fuse.

On the part of short fuses, Draco seemed to become less and less held together as the days went on, and Harry was concerned the young teen would eventually snap and set fire to something-likely a big something, if he was going off the sparks dancing across the boy's exposed skin. Harry could attribute a good portion of Draco's stress to his own, as while they did seem to have a soul-bond, it had been only fully realized on Harry's side. This led Draco to naturally be a bit of a mess, which alarmed Harry incredibly, but he had no discernable way of fixing the problem, as he wasn't entirely sure why Draco wasn't just accepting the bond in the first place. Perhaps he didn't actually know about it? If that were the case, his parents were either making a considerable effort not to let him know (and considering their track record on keeping important things from their son, Harry really couldn't put it past them), or the Malfoys had never found it prudent to get the boy a bloody inheritance test.