Rating: Will probably rise to PG-13 or R.
Warning: Slash!! M/M!! Harry/Draco!! Run, people, run!!
Disclaimer: These pretty little characters obviously don't belong to me, you have no idea what they'd already have done if they did. I don't want to steal them from JKR - But I do!! I do!! They're mine!! They're... not mine - and I don't want to make any money with this story. Uhm... of course I'd like to but... no, I don't. Hope that satisfied you.
Author's note: This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction, and if I finish it, it'll be my first complete fanfiction as well. I warn you!! I'm slow. It'll take a while.
Author's very special chapter note: I have no idea why this suddenly looks so short. I swear it was longer when I wrote it. But 1124 words - that's a start. I like the first half better than the second, but all in all it's quite nice.
Here we go!! Enjoy.
The Power of Rumors
Chapter One: Suspicions
'Rumors', thought Ginny Weasley on the first day of her fifth year at Hogwarts. Students were still floating into the Great Hall, and the rumors were coming in with them, spreading, mixing and transforming.
'Rumors.' Hermione Granger slightly shook her head in disbelief when she accidentally overheard some younger students discussing a particularly odd one. Their amount seemed to increase just as fast as the number of people sitting down at the large tables. 'I wonder', she mused, 'If there are already enough of them to assign one personal rumor to each and every student?' Then the thought itself caused her to make the same gesture once again. It was nothing more than the usual after-holiday experience.
When Harry Potter, the famous Boy Who Lived and Hermione's best friend, slumped down on a seat opposite to Ginny, he had no idea that the two girls were actually having exactly the same thoughts as he had.
Nasty little things they were, these rumors. They could jump at you when you were least expecting them, but also appeared in the most obvious situations. Some picked victims to chase around all day, some stayed in the dark for ages, lurking, until someone walked into their trap and horrifiedly realized their fate. There were famous ones, stories that everybody had heard of, and minor ones that only exclusive groups of students knew about, and they came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, always changing.
Some of the rumors rivalled each other while others got along quite well. There were relations and enmities, dependences and contradictions. One day, a certain rumor started to rise higher and higher, gaining more popularity with every day and making everything else seem less important.
People were whispering. On his way to the Potions classroom, Harry Potter heard a little girl say something to her friend that made his jaw drop. He didn't know how much truth there was in it, he didn't know what to think about it, and he certainly didn't know in the slightest that this moment was going to turn his whole world upside down.
"That's Draco Malfoy, over there. Haven't you heard? He's going to die."
Potions was going to be different today. Professor Snape had just announced that for a change, they wouldn't brew anything during this lesson, as much as he seemed to dislike the idea. The reason for this unusual occurance was that they had to be taught about a few very dangerous potions that they weren't allowed to make on their own.
Neville Longbottom was delighted. If he didn't have to make a potion, he wouldn't be able to blow it up, and if that wasn't already good enough, he actually knew something about the forbidden potions. In fact, that was the only part of the book they had to read that he'd ever been slightly interested in - just because he had been so incredibly relieved that he'd never have to produce something like that. So it happened that, when Snape suddenly asked a question, Neville accidentally knew the answer. So he did the inconceivable and amusedly watched an astonished look appear on their professor's face as he slowly raised his hand.
Harry had been too busy watching a certain Slytherin to actually pay attention to Snape's question, and therefore he expected Neville's answer to be wrong, as usual. His gaze wandered back to his enemy and was surprised to find him staring at Neville irritatedly.
"That's right, Mr Longbottom", said their greasy-haired teacher through gritted teath, "I really wonder who told you about it as you apparently never bothered to read a Potions book on your own."
Some snorts and giggles could be heard, but they stopped abruptly when the Potions master glared at the class and continued with his lecture.
Ron Weasley yawned. Potions had never been more boring than today, he was sure. To his further displeasure he discovered that his ink pot was empty.
"Harry", he whispered, "Harry - let me use your ink, okay?"
Harry gave a sigh and nodded, "Yeah, but now I have no idea what he's talking about."
Ron shrugged. "Me neither", he replied, "but thanks."
"... very dangerous", said Snape, "and so complicated that I bet even if you were allowed to brew it, nobody in this class would be able to do it right. I myself have done it once, but that was a long time ago and shortly after that it was forbidden because it's poisonous. Can any one of you tell me how it affects the human body?"
Hermione and Neville raised their hands. "Yes, Ms Granger?"
She beamed excitedly. "The-"
At that moment, Ron bent over to his friend and mumbled, "What on earth is going on with Neville today?!" Harry just shrugged, now he had missed the name of the potion again.
"-is very dangerous indeed because used in the wrong way, it can lead to a person's death." Hermione took a deep breath. "In fact, that has become its main use nowadays because the ritual it was originally invented for isn't necessary anymore. It's a very... popular poison amongst criminals because it's flavorless and has the same color as red wine, so the victims usually don't even notice what they're drinking. That-"
She was interrupted by their professor. "Right", he said, "Now does anybody of you know why it's so important that the victim doesn't know about the poison? No? What about you, Mr Potter?"
About one hundred alarm bells began to ring in Harry's ears. How was he supposed to know that if he had no idea what they were talking about? (Which was not entirely his fault, as he noticed.)
"Uhm." He looked at Hermione pleadingly while he tried to come to a logical conclusion on his own - why could it be important? Why? "I - I think that's because..." He tried to speak as slowly as possible to gain more time for thinking. "... because of... time. The time... is what matters." Wait. Suddenly a thought occured to him - time, exactly!! He could be right!!
"The poisoned person might still be healed during the first few... hours after taking the potion. Therefore it's important that they don't notice it until it's too late."
Snape snorted. "Not exactly, Mr Potter, but time does matter indeed." He ignored Hermione, who raised her hand again, and continued, "They even have a few days left to save themselves."
Harry was so relieved that he drifted off into his own thoughts again. Then he looked over to the other side of the classroom and saw something that made him gulp uncomfortably - Draco Malfoy had gone remarkably pale and looked as if he was going to be sick.
Yup, that was it. Reviews would be a nice way to let me know if this is worth being continued. Suggestions will be appreciated.