Draco frowned, this time completely befuddled, "Why would you want to catch flies? What does that have to do with house elves?"
Harry sighed and shook his head, "Nevermind. I treat house elves well because they're thinking and feeling beings just like us. I treat them that way because that's what they deserve."
Draco frowned, clearly trying to work through what Harry had said. He was trying to understand, it was so different from what he had ever seen.
Harry however was ambivalent to Draco's internal confusion, instead was looking around at paintings. When he found the one he was looking for he turned to the nearest classroom, pulling Draco inside after him. This classroom had clearly not been used for some time, since it was nothing more than a blank area. Draco was a bit startled, but said nothing until Harry had cast several silencing spells and sealing spells around the room.
"What are we doing here?" Draco asked. "Closest room to a secret passage that exits Hogwarts. I had hoped to explore the chamber of secrets more completely today, because I'm sure there's a secret exit there as well, but we got side tracked." Harry replied, already pulling his trunk necklace over his head and setting it down to enlarge it.
Draco hesitated and then nodded slowly, "Do I need to bring anything?"
Harry glanced over at him with a dismissive roll of his eyes. "Not unless you happen to have a set of dragonhide or basilisk hide armor stored away in your trunk." When Draco shook his head, Harry nodded. "Right. I thought not."
Harry took the time to open his trunk and shifted to the appropriate lock to open the correct compartment. Then he glanced over at Malfoy and sighed, before he climbed into the trunk, digging deeply as he moved clothing around until he found what he was looking for. He scrambled back out of the trunk and tossed a pile of clothing and a pair of boots to Draco. "Put that on."
Draco frowned shaking out the pile of fabric that he had just been tossed. "Is this dragonhide?"
Harry was already half back in the trunk as he called out absently. "Yeah. It's pretty damn tough."
There was the sound of rustling fabric both inside and outside of the trunk before Draco replied, "Are you expecting to get into a fight or something tonight?"
Harry's snort was loud enough to carry from the trunk. "I always expect it. It's how my luck works. Murphy's law, the Harry addendum. It's part of why I'm letting you come tonight." "Why is that?" Draco didn't say anything to the Murphy's law comment, he didn't know what Murphy's law was, but instead concentrated on dressing.
Harry huffed, "I don't know anything about your abilities or lack thereof. I hope that I don't need you at all tonight, but better be prepared for contingencies… as long as you know to apparate the hell out if I tell you or at the first sign of trouble. I'm letting you come just in case… and because you asked."
"What does that have to do with anything?" He felt Harry was being paranoid, but he wasn't going to object to extra protection. He had no interest in dying again.
"I spent enough of my life being 'protected' because someone else felt I wasn't ready and that they were more capable than I was. I won't do it to someone else… unless you really irritate me." Harry said with finality, ending the conversation.
Harry was still out of sight inside the trunk when Draco had the top and the pants settled. He looked down to see that he was in a brand new dragonhide suit. He was in the process of trying on the boots when Harry called out, "How does it fit?"
"A bit loose but it fits okay. The hips are too wide and the chest too big, but only a little and I can manage. The boots are another matter though. They're too big for me to walk very well in. " Draco responded.
There was a sigh from Harry, "Damn Malfoy… how bloody small are your feet? Give them back and try these boots instead."
Draco pulled the boots off and then tossed them into the trunk, he was rewarded a moment later by Harry's irritated voice. "Damnit Malfoy!"
Draco snickered softly, "Revenge for the Chamber this morning." He called out to Harry.
His amusement was cut short when two more boots rocketed out of the trunk. One of them sailed cleanly over his head, but the other hit him squarely in the forehead.
"Ow! Damnit… Flamel!" he muttered as he rubbed the skin of his forehead before he bent down to grab the smaller boots.
Harry climbed out of the trunk carrying a pair of cloaks, and dressed in his own armor. In contrast to the armor Draco wore, Harry's armor was grey and looked worn. Here and there were splotches of discoloration where the armor was patched over haphazardly with newer pieces of skin. Draco glanced up and a puzzled look crossed his face. "Why did you give me the armor that looks new?"
Harry shook his head wryly and chuckled, "The armor I'm wearing was initially made for me, though I've had to patch it a few places this week and Perenelle helped me size it to fit my younger, not to mention non-crippled, frame."
Draco nodded, "Oh, so what… is this your spare armor or something?" he asked as he tugged lightly at the loose armor on his chest.
Harry shook his head with a small smirk on his face, "No, that was some backup armor which was made for a friend of mine."
Draco frowned as he considered that statement. "Oh… so who did it belong to? Longbottom? One of the Weasleys? No wonder it's loose on me." he asked as he flexed his arms, visibly imagining a male posing heroically in the armor.
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