Title: The Cobra Chronicles

Author: Gold-Snitcher

Chapter Title: A Slytherin in Our Midst
Summary: A new year at Hogwarts has Harry facing more challenges than any year previously. As he works to control his own rising powers and also to teach his most trusted friends, Harry is also forced to deal with the various demands of his headmaster, not the least of which is to accept his most bitter rival as a new ally.
Pairings: Draco/Harry, Ron/Hermione
Categories: Romance, Angst, Drama, Action

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Remus Lupin smiled faintly at the man in front of him. He watched as long fingers hooked around a teapot and carefully poured a cup. He smiled back at the twinkling eyes and tried to pretend he was more confident than he felt. "If you trust him, Albus, then I'll do it."

Albus Dumbledore smiled and nodded. "It is important. I have been thinking for a great while about the words of the Sorting Hat, just last year, and find that a similar warning at the beginning of this term means it cannot go unaddressed. This is a start. And I do trust him. But beyond this I cannot see who to trust."

Lupin sighed. "Okay. Do you want me to tell Harry in our next meeting?"

Albus shook his head. "I think the DA should be introduced to its newest member in the next meeting. It would not do to have Harry learn along with the others. He needs to be prepared. He needs to understand. And as their leader, he deserves notification of the changes we make." Lupin sighed and nodded. Dumbledore chuckled and watched as man across from him sipped his tea nervously. "I think it would be better if I were the one to tell him."

Lupin sighed in relief and then caught himself. "If you think so."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Now. How would you like a gumdrop?"

....................

Many things had changed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry within the span of a single year.

Hogsmeade had been garrisoned with fifteen well-trained reliable Aurors; but the students of Hogwarts were not aware of that.

Extra security had been placed around the school grounds itself; but the students were not aware of that.

A small group met weekly to train and practice spells under the leadership of one, Harry James Potter, but the students, except the ones directly involved, were not aware of that.

Of all the changes that had happened in and around the school, there was only one that the students were really painfully aware of, and that was the change within Harry Potter himself.

Quiet, dark moments that left his closest friends worrying about him; an intimidating conviction and defiance of many; a sometimes bitter and usually painfully accurate understanding of his role in the wizarding world. All this was small and subtle when compared to the biggest and most blatant change of all.

His temper.

"WHAT?!" Dumbledore sipped his tea calmly and watched the boy pace. "You can't be serious, professor! I mean. It's not right! He's lying! It's obvious that he's lying!" He muttered a few choice curses and Dumbledore put his tea down, sighing softly and smiling at the boy who he had become so fond of.

"Harry. Please sit. Have a lemon drop."

The boy scowled but snatched the lemon drop, popping it in his mouth with another snarl and scowling darkly at the man before him, the man who was both father and grandfather, advisor, headmaster, guide, friend and ally.

"I understand your feelings about this." A derisive snort, and Dumbledore smiled to himself. "I do understand your feelings, Harry. But you must also look at this logically. You and I both heard the Sorting Hat this year. And I know you recall a similar warning just last year. You are as familiar as I am with the plans of Voldemort at this moment in time. If he is working ceaselessly to build his army of Death Eaters, we must work just as hard to make certain of our allies."

"Professor. I understand this but ... but you can't be serious! I mean, he could never..."

"He has offered us irrefutable proof, Harry. I find myself confronted with a most impossible task: uniting a world that is divided. But I think it is always better to start small, so I believe that it is better to unite a school than the world."

"And it's better to unite the DA than the school. But Slytherins are notorious for..."

"Harry. You must try. It is most essential that this work, if not throughout the school, at least in your group. I am entrusting you with a very great task. Not only in choosing the people you lead, but also in leading them. Will you do this?"

Harry sighed. "I always do."

...............

Harry looked at his schedule and let out a long-suffering sigh.

"What?" Ron asked, and in answer, Harry thrust the schedule to him. "Bloody hell," his friend muttered, and Harry felt vaguely satisfied that there was someone else who agreed with him. "I mean..." Ron tried to look encouraging but it lasted only a second before his face fell and he handed the schedule back to Harry. "Bloody hell."

"Oh really. It won't be that bad," Hermione said, munching on a bran muffin and smiled in a way that she thought calmed people. Harry didn't have the heart to tell her that it never really worked on him. It was a nice thought though.

"I mean," Hermione continued, "I'll help you. In every way I can. And I'm sure the teachers will be easier on you. They must know." Harry wasn't so convinced. He couldn't imagine Dumbledore assigning him all sorts of extra classes to develop secret abilities only to announce it to the faculty. It would defeat the purpose.

"Thanks, Hermione," he said, and tried to look convincing in return. "Well, at least it's Friday." His extra classes would be starting on Monday, and they would be starting at full-force. Between normal classes, Quidditch and this extra training Dumbledore had prepared for him, not to mention the DA, Harry wasn't sure if he would ever have time to breathe.

"Aren't you forgetting, Harry? The DA is having a meeting tonight." Harry sighed and put his head in his hands. He was the only one who knew why Lupin, the authority figurehead attached to his little band that had been sanctioned by Dumbledore himself, wanted to meet with them. He did this every so often, but he had already checked-in on them. Harry couldn't bring himself to tell his friends.

"Great," he said. "Care to join me on my slow descent into hell?" he offered. "Potions to start and Divination to end, and a DA meeting to top it off. I'll go mad, I swear," he said as Ron laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, Harry. We'll work it out. It will be fine."

Harry repeated this to himself throughout the day.

It became his mantra.

He told himself that it would be fine when he added the essence of murtlap before stirring his cauldron twenty times counterclockwise. He told himself that it would be fine when Snape shot off another string of comments about his fame and his scar and how he was apparently so conceited, and then removed twenty points from Gryffindor just because it was his house.

He tried to tell himself it would be fine when he nearly choked his tri-headed wombat in Care of Magical Creatures when his thoughts had drifted to the war and to other such unpleasantries. He tried to tell himself that it would be fine when he accidentally transfigured his teakettle into a Creeping Cactus that proceeded to shoot thorns at everyone.

For a moment he believed it would be fine when one of the thorns caught Malfoy square in the nose and he suddenly felt better about life in general, but then Malfoy had thrown a fit and had skulked off to the Hospital wing with a promise of revenge, and Harry had reminded himself that it would be fine.

Harry tried to tell himself that it would be fine many times throughout the day. But he was never convinced. He didn't eat much at dinner, and declined working with Ron and Hermione in the Common Room in favor of a solitary study time in his bed, glaring at his Potions essay and trying to figure-out why he cared. He was still there, glaring at his Potions assignment when Ron came in and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you coming?"

"What?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, I was just wondering if Dumbledore's Army would require a leader at this very important meeting that was ordered from on high, or if we were just supposed to ... you know. Wing it?"

Harry cursed. "I forgot."

"No you didn't. You were avoiding it." That was true, but he couldn't tell Ron that. To admit it would mean that there was something particularly unpleasant about tonight's meeting, and that would beg the question: What was it?

"Come on. We're late," he muttered, adjusting his cloak and hurrying through the halls.

Dumbledore's Army had been made official, but was kept on the down low. Dumbledore had spoken with Harry over the summer about the Order as well as the DA and they had come to the conclusion that, though with the Dark Reign of Umbridge over, it was still important to maintain the DA, not just for random practical DADA knowledge, but to train a group of students to work together and to work well together. They were the leaders to the school itself, though they were the unknown and unrecognized leaders. They were the representatives, even more important, in some ways, than the prefects themselves.

"Harry, glad you could join us," Lupin said, smiling at Harry and Ron when they stumbled in. Ron took his place by Hermione, and Harry took his place opposite Lupin at the head of the table. "Now. I've called you here to discuss a very important issue. Many of you recall the warning of the Sorting Hat at the beginning of the year." There was a murmur of acknowledgment. "The task at hand is to unite."

Everyone looked around. They were an assortment of Ravenclaws, Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, but up until now, no Slytherin had ever heard of the DA in terms of joining. No Slytherin thought the DA had outlived Umbridge, and no Slytherin didn't feel at least a hint of pride at that knowledge.

"I must tell you that things within the DA are going to change. Hopefully for the better. Tonight is the beginning of that change. I am here to introduce your latest member." Harry gritted his teeth and tried to refrain from slouching in his chair. "Draco Malfoy."

There was a collective gasp that ran through the table. Harry felt Ron and Hermione's startled gazes fix upon him, but they were soon diverted when Lupin opened a side door to the room where they were meeting and Draco Malfoy - tall, slim, grey-eyed and albino-like Draco Malfoy, walked confidently into the room.

"You can't be serious!" shouted Ron, jumping up from the table, face already going red. Hermione grabbed his arm, desperately trying to calm him down.

"He's a notorious bastard! Who's tried to hurt Harry on more than one occasion!" This was Seamus, who was also glaring.

"He's horrible!" shouted Luna Lovegood, frantically looking around her as if expecting either a revolt or to wake-up.

Harry wished he could wake-up, but he knew that wasn't an option. He gritted his teeth, listening to the squabbling of the people he had been training and working with. Listening to Lupin trying to calm them down, and hating the fact that Malfoy was seeing them like this. Seeing them startled and in uproar and disorganized. Malfoy would see it as weakness, and Dumbledore's Army was anything but weak.

"QUIET!" he shouted and stood up.

Everyone's mouth snapped shut and every head turned to face him. Even Lupin. Even Draco, who looked startled and curious. "I don't like it anymore than you do, but this wasn't my decision. This came from Dumbledore, and if Dumbledore, who we all follow, who is leading the war against Voldemort, a war which, just by being here tonight we are actively taking a part in, says that Draco Malfoy is going to join the DA, then that's what he's going to do. If you question this, you're questioning Dumbledore, and if you're questioning Dumbledore, you're questioning me, as well as your position as an opponent of Voldemort." He ignored the fact that the DA, including Lupin, still winced when he said Voldemort's name, but he noted with interest that Draco did not wince.

He left the table and stood in front of Draco, eyeing him closely. He was still seething but managed to control it. Yelling at Malfoy didn't get anywhere; if he wanted to get through to the blond he needed control. So instead, he spoke in a lethal whisper. "I know what you did and it's appreciated. I want you to know that I'm saying this not because I trust you, but because I trust Dumbledore. I want you to realize that you need to earn my trust. And you need to earn the trust of everyone in this room.

"I don't know what happened to change your mind. I don't want to. Just make sure that you don't ever change back." It was a quiet threat, and, standing this close, Harry saw the flash of respect, and determination warring with a haughty defiance and something that Harry could not put his finger on. In a moment, the eyes closed-off and Draco smirked.

"How very Slytherin of you, Potter." To Harry's surprise, Draco snaked-out a hand from his robes and quirked an eyebrow. "This is the second time I'm offering you my hand, Potter." It was a whisper, just between them, and Harry saw that Hermione and Ron were leaning forward, trying to hear.

"Only this time, Malfoy, you're pledging allegiance to me, not the other way around." Draco smirked at him and nodded, and only then did Harry take his hand.

Harry stepped back and fixed Lupin with an intense look, then he nodded and Lupin, still with a dazed look in his eye, moved back to the table. He waved a hand and a chair dropped beside Hermione, and Draco, looking hesitant, accepted it.

"Good. Now, this is not the only change. Harry?" he asked and Harry looked up from where he had been glaring at his hands.

"I'm going to need a representative from each house. Luna, Ernie, and Malfoy. I need to see you after the meeting today." He looked back at Lupin and Lupin smiled softly.

"Right. Then the only other thing I can think of to say is to keep working. The task I'm leaving you with until I see you again is to work together and to get to know everyone. Thank-you. Good-night." Everyone got up, still talking. Luna and Ernie and Draco made their way over to Harry, but Hermione and Ron got there first.

Before they could say anything Harry raised a hand to stop them and then rubbed his eyes. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm tired. I have a headache. Yell at me another time."

They stopped, looked at each other, then him, and then laughed.

"Sorry, Harry. It's just, we would have liked a warning."

"Well, nobody else got one." Ron looked affronted but Hermione caught him and glared.

"It's okay, Harry. We'll see you back in the common room." Harry nodded then turned to the three people who were waiting for him.

"In case you haven't realized it, the DA has been kept small. Most of its members were members last year. Well, things have to change. I asked you to stay because I'm going to enlarge the group, and since I don't know all the houses very well, I'll need your help." They nodded and sat down.

Harry rubbed his eyes again and sighed. "Okay, I'm asking you now, but if you are not absolutely, without a doubt certain then do not mention the name. Is that clear? If you can't think of anyone, tell me, and I'll ask you to keep an eye on your house and come back with the name of anyone you think could be possible." When they nodded again Harry whipped out his wand, muttered a spell and a piece of parchment, a quill and ink appeared before him. Ernie gaped, but Harry ignored it.

"Okay. Luna, who is possible from Ravenclaw?"

She frowned and tugged at a stray strand of hair before looking at him. "Well, I would suggest Cho, but there must be a reason why she hasn't come back this year."

Harry nodded, remembering how the girl had sobbed on him just last year, and how, at the beginning of this, his sixth year, she had sobbed again and told him that she really didn't want to think about You-Know-Who anymore. "She wanted to take a break," he muttered.

Luna nodded. "Okay, then. We already have Terry Boot, but Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin are trustworthy." Harry nodded and wrote the names on a grid he had made. "Other than that, I can't be certain."

"That's good. We don't want too big a group. Ernie?" Ernie MacMillan sat back. He was young, but he was trustworthy, and he absolutely loved being a part of the DA.

"Uhm. Emma Dobbs, and Partick O'Connolly." Harry recorded the names. He didn't like the idea of a huge group, they were harder to keep track of, and yet the more they had, the better it was.

"Malfoy?"

Draco fixed him with an odd look. "Blaise Zabini." Harry nodded, wrote the name down and then looked back at Draco. Draco shrugged. "We're Slytherins." And Harry nodded again, rolling up the parchment.

"Thanks, that's it." They headed out the door, but just as they were leaving something occurred to Harry. "Malfoy!" Draco stopped and fixed him with a nervous stare. "Here." He flipped a galleon at him, which Draco caught with typical seeker reflexes. "Don't use it."

He left Draco staring at the coin and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. He was exhausted, and it was only going to get worse from here.

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TBC

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Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.