Chapter One
Three crystal glasses filled with pumpkin juice rattled on their tray as Effie the house elf climbed her way up the badly lit staircase of her master's house. She seemed tiny next to the width of the stairs and with each strained step the glasses would slide back and forward on the tray, juice spilling slightly over the edges. The house had an ominously high ceiling and there were haunting rips and cracks in the walls which gave the impression that the house wasn't aging well. Even though the whole house smelt of expensive wood polish, it was obvious that the staircase Effie was climbing had not had its railings polished in who knew how long. Every time the elf disturbed another step, a small cloud of dust would rise and fall around her foot.
"Oh," she squeaked as she reached the top and saw a particularly large droplet of the orange liquid slop onto the floor. She rushed off down the hallway her lips quivering in distress and a mind reeling with guilt over the state of the floor behind her. The voices of her master's son and his guests were echoing down the hall. As the tray chattered in her hands she made her way towards a darkly painted door at the end of the corridor. Her master's son and his friends sounded as though they were deep in an important discussion and she deliberated as to whether she should enter the room or not. Maybe she should wait for them to finish discussing their business? Or maybe she should try to slip into the room without being noticed and put the tray somewhere discreet? Or maybe she should leave the tray of drinks outside the door and hurry away again? She had been told to take them drinks but not to be a nuisance as they were "dealing with important matters." Instead the elf decided to stand and listen to work out whether it was safe to go inside the door.
"The Dark Lord has chosen us," came a boy's voice. "He has chosen us and we ought to feel honoured."
"I still don't understand why he wants us to do this," a second voice sounded, belonging to a boy also, although slightly deeper than the first.
The first voice spoke again, "I told you! I told you that he needs us because he can't get inside himself."
"See that is what I don't understand," the deeper voice spoke, "Why can't he find a better way of breaking in without having to use us?"
"Honestly, you're going on like you don't appreciate the fact that the Dark Lord himself has trusted us with this," the first voice snapped. Then Effie heard the sound of her young master speaking.
"Think of how well we may be rewarded if we succeed with our plans," he declared with a hint of smugness in his voice. "Think about what this could mean for our families. We'll be known amongst all of the Dark Lord's followers as the three boys who finally managed to do what so many others have attempted to do before us." Effie's ear was now pressed up against the door, the tray balancing dangerously in one hand as her large pointed ears strained to listen in on the three boy's conversation.
"The castle is protected with all kinds of spells and enchantments. Powerful ones. That's the reason the Death Eaters can't just walk into the school. That's why he needs us. We're the only people who can attack from within Hogwarts without being suspected," the first voice began again.
"But people might start to suspect us?" protested voice number two. "What if we get discovered? What if we get caught?"
"Stop bloody worrying so much!" the young master hissed. "We're not going to get caught because we're going to have it all planned out perfectly." There was a loud creak in the floor boards as someone in the room stood up and began to pace. "Everything is going to be fine. All we have to do is make sure we're careful. We have to go about school as normal as much as possible. People will have no reason to suspect it's us."
"What happens if we fail? The Dark Lord will kill us! I know he will. I don't know if I want to do this," the second voice continued to argue.
"You really don't get it do you?" the young master growled, "If we refuse to attempt what the Dark Lord has asked us to do then he'll kill us anyway. We don't have much of a choice!"
"Either way we're going to die basically" grumbled the second voice.
"For fucks sake, we're not going to be killed because we are going to succeed. Just think about the good side of this situation. Think of the praise we'll receive from the Dark Lord and our parents and the rest of the Death Eaters if we're the ones to finally do this. Right now the other Death Eaters won't take us seriously. Our parents still think we're just kids and that we can't join the Dark Lord's followers properly yet. I can't wait to finally be able to wear a dark mark and to join in with the killings and the raids. I can't wait to torture muggles and…"
"Don't you think that we'll be the first to be suspected? After all, our parents are known Death Eaters. If Voldemort's work is being done from within the school, of course we'll be the first to blame."
"That is why we'll be sneaky. We'll think of a way, I know we will."
Now the first boy spoke again, "The Dark Lord gave this to us himself. Personally I'm looking forward to killing some mudbloods."
Suddenly Effie's whole body froze and her fingers forgot to grip the bottom of the tray. Her heart was racing and her already large eyes were even wider than normal with panic. An almighty crash rang through the hall as the tray and glasses smashed to the floor and shards of glass sprayed in all directions and pumpkin juice splashed into the cracks of the floor.
"What was that?" one of the boys yelled. Effie stood fast, terrified, her smock covered in juice as she heard her master's footsteps approaching the door.
"I don't know. Go and check!"
Harry's entire body was coursing with rage and panic. He stood fast staring at the black door behind which he could hear the footsteps of one of the three boys making their way closer. Just as the door flew open Harry was thrown backwards which a nauseating lurch. Then he cried out loudly in pain as, with a deafening crack, his head slammed against the ground behind him.
"Harry!"
The tall ceiling of the hallway he'd been staring at spiralled away from him and he could see only darkness.
"Harry! Harry!" a familiar voice was calling his name. Harry's eyes flew open and his lungs rushed full of air as he blinked in the harsh sunlight.
"Harry, are you ok?" Hermione was leaning over him with an alarmed look on her face.
"Hermione…what..?" Harry groaned loudly as he pulled himself off the floor only to feel his head scream in pain. He felt himself begin to fall down again when Hermione's arms caught him around the waist and prevented him from hitting his head a second time. He felt Hermione stagger slightly under his weight before another pair of arms were grabbing his shoulders and lifting him back on his feet again.
"Bloody hell Harry! You need to sit down," Ron's voice exclaimed. Harry felt his friends let go of him as he was landed upright on the seat of the compartment. Harry finally peeled his eyes fully open and soon found that he'd managed to keep his glasses on because he could clearly make out his two best friends crouched in front of him. Hermione looked completely panicked while Ron looked almost amused.
"Honestly Harry, we leave you alone for five minutes and you can't even keep yourself from cracking your head open on the floor," teased Ron as he sat down in one of the seats opposite him.
"Don't be ridiculous Ron! Harry's head is not cracked open. He'll be ok, he's probably just a bit concussed," Hermione reassured, more to herself than anyone.
"I don't understand," Harry began, "how…why…"
"You fell asleep mate. The train must have moved suddenly and you fell off your seat and hit your head on the floor," Ron started to explain.
"Oh right," Harry tentatively rubbed the back of his head and sucked in air through his teeth as he winced in pain. His cheeks began to pink-en in embarrassment as he realised what he'd done.
"I guess I must have fallen asleep as I was waiting for you guys to get back," Harry mumbled trying to hide his face with his hands. Hermione leaned forward and placed a hand gently on Harry's knee.
"Should I go and find a teacher or something Harry? I'm sure there's an adult on this train that could help you."
"No Hermione! Its fine," Harry assured her more forcefully then he'd meant to.
"Are you sure? Would you like me to have a go at healing it for you?" Harry pulled his hands away from his face only to have Hermione gasp at him.
"Harry, you're bleeding!" she cried. Even Ron looked worried now.
"No, I'm not," Harry insisted. "I'm actually…" Harry stopped mid-sentence as he realised the inside of his hand was covered in his own blood. Hermione rushed forward and carefully grasped the sides of Harry's face for a closer look.
"You've cut your forehead," she announced. Carefully she brushed back a section of Harry's dark hair her eyes narrowing as she inspected the damage.
"It's not really that bad. It's only small. There's just a lot of blood because it's a head wound. Here just let me…" she trailed off as she stood up and pulled her wand out of her right pocket. She aimed at Harry's head and with a look of concentration on her face and began to utter a healing charm under her breath. A strange warm feeling swept across Harry's forehead and the pain he'd felt at the back of his head moments ago started to fade away. After a few moments Hermione stopped muttering and lowered her wand.
"There," she murmured gently, "does it feel any better?"
"Loads," Harry traced his fingers over the cut on his head and could feel no more than the last remains of a healed scratch.
"The blood is mostly cleared up," said Hermione looking pleased. "It's not as well healed as it would have been if a professor has done for you. My healing charms are still a bit iffy. If its still hurts then maybe…"
"Hermione, I promise it doesn't hurt at all. You did a wonderful job. Thank you," Harry insisted, smiling feebly at her.
"Your healing charms are excellent Hermione," Ron persisted, "You're the only witch or wizard our age that can heal cuts as well as you can."
"Well, thanks you two but I really think you're being generous. I still can't heal things completely. You can still see the mark where the cut was," Hermione babbled on but I hint of pride was creeping onto her face at the praise she was receiving from her friends.
"Do you think anyone will notice?" Harry asked, brushing his hand over the side of his head again.
"Probably not. It's alright mate it's not that obvious now that the bleedings stopped," said Ron.
"If you leave it alone, it'll disappear soon," Hermione stepped back from Harry to take the seat next to Ron.
"So anyway, how was your prefect meeting?" Harry suggested trying to change the subject.
"Oh you know the usual. We met the new prefects for this year and we patrolled the train for a while making sure all the first years were ok," began Ron.
"Yeah, we broke up a gang of second year Slytherins who were terrorising another Hufflepuff girl. They'd stolen her wand and were trying to pretend they hadn't seen it. She was really upset…"
"…And then Hermione was amazing," Ron cut in, "she told them all off and they're all terrified of her."
Harry nodded only half listening as Ron and Hermione continued recounting the events of their prefect patrol. Inside his head Harry was trying to come to terms with what had just happened to him. He hadn't even remembered falling asleep in the first place but Hermione and Ron had been gone for ages so he must have drifted off in his seat waiting for them to return. Before he'd woken up Harry could remember seeing a large black door and a tall, dark hallway. Then he'd fallen backwards and hit his head and woken up on the floor of the train. The thing that Harry was most confused about was that he had the peculiar notion of dreaming about something that had made him incredibly scared just before he'd woken. It was something important, he knew it was, but he honestly couldn't remember what. He felt incredibly frustrated by his inability to recall exactly what it was that had sent his heart racing moments before he'd woken up. He also couldn't believe that he'd been stupid enough to fall off his own seat while he'd slept.
"…and then you wouldn't believe what Hermione said to them next, she told them that if they didn't…"
"…Harry..? Harry what's wrong?" Hermione cut Ron off. Ron stopped talking and looked up to catch Harry staring out the window with a pained expression on his face.
"Oh, nothing, I must just be a bit drowsy from hitting my head," Harry said, "I think I'm just going to go for a walk actually…"
"Are you sure that's a good idea Harry?" Hermione said concerned. "Maybe you ought to stay sitting down for a bit longer, at least till you're feeling better." Harry made an attempt to ignore her.
"I won't be long," he said and before Hermione could pull him back into his seat Harry wrenched the door to their compartment open and stumbled out into the aisle of the Hogwarts Express. The door clicked shut behind him as he started to make his way down the train, unsure exactly of why or where he was heading to, only knowing that he needed some space to himself for a while. He continued trudging down the train glancing into the windows of the compartments filled with other Hogwarts students. In one cabin he saw some of his other Gryffindor friends talking excitedly amongst themselves. Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas were sitting with Ginny. As Harry passed their slightly ajar compartment door he heard snippets of a debate over which house was going to lose the Quidditch cup this year.
"Of course it'll be the Hufflepuffs," he heard Ginny insisting. "They haven't won the cup, well, ever."
"You're probably right, but I really hope its Slytherin. I'd love to see them lose. Imagine their faces if they found themselves losing to Hufflepuff," scoffed Dean.
"It's never going to happen guys. Their team is too good," Seamus said.
"Not as good as ours will be," Ginny laughed as she brushed her ginger hair out of her eyes. "We've got Harry as seeker. We can't possibly lose with Harry."
Harry felt his stomach tighten at hearing this. He wasn't afraid to admit that he was good at flying but to hear Ginny talking so confidently about his abilities made him feel nervous. He hoped the rest of the Gryffindoors didn't think the same way. He didn't want to think that he'd be blamed if they lost to Slytherin this year. Harry gritted his teeth and kept walking down the corridor. All he had to do was make sure there was no way he lost to Slytherin this year, no god damn way! he thought to himself. He'd make sure he trained really hard this year he decided. He'd make sure he wouldn't get into any more trouble that would make him miss practices.
Before he realised how far he'd walked he'd reached the end of the carriage. He stood there for a while staring back down the aisle of the train and wondering whether he ought to return to Ron and Hermione. He began to walk back down the train when he stopped and changed his mind. He spun around again and suddenly he felt light-headed. Clutching his forehead he sunk to the floor and sat with his head buried in his knees and his back leaning up against the door to the next carriage. For several minutes Harry sat clutching his own legs and allowing the rattle of the train around him to shake him gently from side to side. He willed desperately for the dizziness in his head to clear and tried to focus on the click-clacking of the train on its tracks beneath him. He was just beginning to feel better when…
"…Potter!" It was the last thing Harry wanted to hear, the painfully familiar voice of the Slytherin student he'd hated for years.
"Well, well, what do we have here? Having a little snooze are we Potter?" spat the voice of Draco Malfoy. Harry opened his eyes to see Malfoy standing over him already dressed in his house robes and glaring down with a smirk on his lips.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it was rude to block doorways?" Malfoy sneered. Harry couldn't move, he just sat and gaped at Malfoy completely stunned. "I'm serious Potter you'd better move or else I swear I have no problem standing on you and breaking both your legs." Harry just stared at the other boy taking in the shocking changes in his appearance. Harry was sure that Malfoy hadn't looked like that at the end of last year. He hadn't been as tall as he was now. His hair was much lighter blonde than it has ever been before and there was something about his eyes that had changed. It was almost as if…
"Get the fuck out my way!" Malfoy shouted angrily at Harry who was still on the floor. Harry finally came to his senses and hauled himself off the ground just in time as Malfoy lunged towards him. Instinctively, Harry drew his wand from his pocket and pointed it straight at the Slytherin.
"Just leave me alone," Harry screamed. The blonde boy staggered back, suddenly looking scared as he realised he was defenceless against Harry.
"Are you really going to hurt me Potter?" Malfoy jeered, "You wouldn't do it. You don't have the guts."
"You wanna bet?" Harry snarled taking a step closer to the other boy, his wand still pointed threateningly towards is chest. "I'll blast you to fucking pieces. Now just leave me alone, please!"
"I'll leave you alone as soon as you stop blocking the door I want to go through," said Malfoy trying to sound unconcerned by Harry's threat.
"Fine then," Harry snapped, slowly lowering his wand. "Go past, if that's what you want." Harry stepped to his left allowing Malfoy the room to pass him.
"I certainly will," said the other boy walking forward with a triumphant smirk on his face. As he passed by him he purposely bashed his shoulder into Harry's causing Harry to lose his balance and stagger slightly. Malfoy laughed menacingly in Harry's ear.
"Can't even stand up straight, can you Potter?" Harry glared up at Malfoy with a look of utter loathing.
"Most people can as long as they're not being pushed around by arrogant cowards like you Malfoy!" And with that Malfoy grabbed the front of Harry's shirt and slammed him backwards against the door.
"Fuck you Potter! Fuck you! I am not a coward!" Malfoy exploded his angry face only centimetres from Harry's. Harry tried to lift his wand up to protect himself but found that Malfoy had his hands securely pinned back.
"Let go of me!" Harry roared. Malfoy just continued to pin Harry against the door and scowl at him. His eyes were blazing with intense anger and were boring into Harry's with a force that made his stomach feel queasy. There was something so different about Malfoy's eyes. Harry couldn't think what it was, but it was there. They were usually so…so…grey? And now, now they were… almost silver? Harry was locked so deep in thought about the colour of Malfoy's eyes that that he was surprised when they suddenly stopped staring into his and roamed to glare at Harry's forehead.
"What happened to your head Potter?" Malfoy snarled, his eyes now staring at the place where Hermione had healed Harry's cut.
"Nothing."
"What did you do to yourself? Couldn't stand up properly could you? Did you trip and fall?" Malfoy began to taunt unkindly as he laughed at Harry's head.
"Shut up!" Harry yelled and wriggled under the Slytherin boy's tight grasp, trying to free himself. Malfoy continued to jeer at him.
"Guess what Potter? You have a matching set now. You've got two scars on your forehead. You look even more ridiculous than you did before." Harry exploded in anger and managed the strength to push Malfoy off him and send him stumbling backwards. Now that he was free his hands flew up automatically to pull his fringe down over both his famous scar as well as his fresh one. He hated people pointing out his scar. He hated people talking about the mark that Voldemort had left. He especially hated it when it was Malfoy, one of the people he despised most in world. He raised his wand angrily again.
"Out of my way!" Harry shouted and he shoved angrily past the blonde boy and stormed off down the aisle of the train.
"Running away Potter?" he heard Malfoy call after him, "Who's the coward now?"
Harry balled his fists and ignored Malfoy's taunts as he continued to storm back down the train towards the cabin where Ron and Hermione were.
"What the hell happened to you?" Ron said as Harry burst back into the compartment. He was still seething with anger and was holding his wand in his hand.
"Nothing. It's just Malfoy," Harry said crossly as he put his wand back in his pocket and sat back down in his seat.
"That git!" Ron exclaimed, "What did he do to you Harry?"
"Oh, don't worry," Harry scowled, "It's nothing he just threatened to break my legs and teased me about…" Harry trailed off as he lifted his hand to his forehead, "…Never mind."
"You need to learn to ignore him Harry," Hermione began leaning forward. "He's just a coward. Don't let him get to you."
"Cheers Hermione," Harry smiled weakly up at his best friends. A thought suddenly struck Harry.
"Actually," Harry said, "neither of you have seen Malfoy today yet have you?"
"Um, no," Ron said.
"I haven't either," nodded Hermione.
"In fact," Ron said, "He wasn't at the prefect meeting earlier, which is odd because he loves abusing his position by terrorizing the younger students on prefect patrol."
"He was probably just terrorizing first years in a different carriage to us," suggested Hermione.
"Or fixing his hair in a mirror somewhere," added Ron bitterly.
"Why did you ask Harry?"
"Oh, it's just that, well, he looked…" Harry muttered trying to think of a way to explain to his friends the change he had noticed in Malfoy. "…He looked, he looked really different."
"What do you mean, different?" Hermione asked, sounding curious.
"I don't know. He just was…" Harry shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "His eyes, there was something different about his eyes…"
"His eyes?" Ron scoffed.
"Yeah...they were just….they were just…different," Harry struggled. Just then they were interrupted but someone opening the door to their compartment.
"Hey Ginny," Hermione smiled, looking up. Harry's gazed followed and he saw Ron's younger sister standing in the doorway wearing her Gryffindor robes and smiling at him.
"What are you lot still wearing your clothes for?" she exclaimed, "We're almost there, you need to change into your uniform!"
As the three Gryffindor friends were hurriedly pulling their school robes on Harry's thoughts couldn't help but stray back to the way Malfoy's eyes had looked as they'd glared into his own. Could Malfoy's eyes really have changed colour? Harry suddenly winced as he pulled his jumper on, only to have the back of his head re-flood with the pain of hitting it on the floor. Harry rubbed the back of his neck and squeezed his eyes shut hoping that nobody else was going to notice the second mark on his forehead the same way that Malfoy had.