Title: Harry Potter and the Ability to Trust
Author: Jessica Jewell
Summary: What if Voldemort had some sense of love? Not of understanding it, but of manipulating it. What if his orders to Draco had been something completely different?
Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is just a work of fiction based upon a work of fiction.
Notes: Deathly Hollows never happened, and neither did the end of Half-Blood Prince. And for simplicity sake, Harry and Ginny never kissed or dated. It was merely a hug in which Harry wished he had kissed her.
Seeing Malfoy pointing his wand at Dumbledore enraged Harry. How dare Malfoy threaten the man offering him protection! Yet, Harry felt that even if he could move, he still would not have moved. Dumbledore showed no fear of Malfoy; he looked at the boy with a mixture of kindness and pity. Dumbledore was perhaps the only man Harry knew who could pull off that face.
"Now, Draco, lower your wand," Dumbledore stated, "I can help you, have you protected. You and your family. I understand, Draco-"
"Understand!" Draco sounded scared, "How could you possibly understand? You don't know what he's capable of, what he'll do."
Dumbledore merely looked at Draco, kindness and pity mixing with amusement. "Of course I understand, Draco. I was alive when Voldemort was at his peak, when he believed he had no weakness."
"Don't say that name!"
The silence that followed was thick, heavy, and harsh. It seemed to extend on forever, neither Draco nor Dumbledore speaking. They weren't staring each other down, though. They simply watched each other, like wild animals unsure if the passing will be silent, or if one will turn and attack the other. Finally, Dumbledore spoke. "Find Harry, Draco. Harry will help you. The Order will help you. I can promise you that no harm will come to you." Dumbledore let his gaze slide beyond Draco and to Harry, who remained hidden from sight.
Harry felt his breath hitch. Surely that wasn't a direct order from Dumbledore to protect Malfoy? One that Harry would be held accountable for, since he promised he would listen to everything Dumbledore told him.
"And how does that work? What do I have to do?" Draco demanded.
"Leave," Dumbledore replied softly, "turn and leave this tower as though you had never been here. Rest assured, Draco, that I can handle whatever will be coming my way."
More time passed, time that lasted an eternity. Harry watched Draco intensely. He was waiting for the slightest bit of movement to give Draco away, whether that be flinging a hex at Dumbledore, or taking him up on his offer.
Suddenly, Draco dropped his arm, no longer holding Dumbledore at wand point. "Swear to me. Swear that if I... if I betray the Dark Lord, no harm will come to me or my family."
"I can not swear," Dumbledore replied, "but I can assure you this - no harm will fall you or your family for your betrayal. However, Draco, with your absence and not because of your actions, I can not say what Voldemort will do to your parents. But whatever happens to them will be a result of their own choices, not yours."
Draco's hand twitched, as if to bring his wand up again, but instead he shoved the wand into his robe pocket and turned on heel, fleeing from the Astronomy Tower as quickly as his legs could take him. Once more Harry felt angry. How could Malfoy Disarm Dumbledore, then leave without offering assistance? The prat certainly had it coming...
Except, Harry realized, that he didn't. Malfoy wasn't going to have any consequences because Dumbledore had made Harry swear to obey him, and Dumbledore had ordered Harry to protect Malfoy.
Footsteps. Harry heard them, and certainly so did Dumbledore.
"Ah, Bellatrix," Dumbledore saw the group before Harry did. And it most certainly was a group. "What a pleasure."
Bellatrix laughed, "Oh, yes. Pleasure. Tell me, where's Draco? He was suppose to be here. He went ahead, he should be here." She looked around, as though Draco would magically appear from the shadows at her request.
"Draco," Dumbledore spoke softly, "ah, yes. Draco. Oh, he was here. But as you can see, he is not now. Interesting, isn't it?"
Bellatrix looked at him as though Dumbledore had insulted her intelligence. "Interesting? It bloody well isn't interesting? Where is he, Dumbledore? Where is Draco!"
"Do you care so much for your nephew, Bellatrix?" Dumbledore gave a smile, but his face faltered as pain over took him. He stepped backwards, seeming surprised by the sudden pain, and braced himself against the railing of the Astronomy Tower. He looked beyond Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters that had gathered to focus on a different being. "Ah, Severus. I knew you would come."
Harry's mind reeled. Knew he would come? Had Dumbledore summoned him somehow, even though he'd originally sent Harry for that task? Or... or had Dumbledore known that Snape was coming anyway? Or had Dumbledore suspected the Severus' loyalties might not be placed with Dumbledore? That thought turned Harry's stomach.
Severus walked forward, and none of the Death Eaters made a move to stop him. Harry's stomach could only sink further when he heard Dumbledore plead, "Severus, please."
Snape raised his wand.
"Avada Kadavra."
To be completely honest, Harry hardly recalled everything that happened after that. He remembered, but it was blurred and vague. Dumbledore falling, following Snape, Snape was the Half-Blood Prince, finding Dumbledore on the ground, Bills injuries from Greyback. He understood it all, recalled it, but a part of his mind refused to bring it all to surface. Which was slightly okay with the Boy Who Lived, as he didn't want to think about it much anyway.
Just like he didn't want to think about Malfoy being housed in Grimmauld Place.
But that was the only thing on his mind. Malfoy. In Grimmauld Place. Sirius' house. Harry's house, by default. The meeting place of the Order of the Pheonix. It was suppose to be secret, unknown and un-findable to anyone outside the Order. And... And they'd just let Malfoy walk right into it. Because Harry had given them permission.
And now Harry was forced to spend his final summer (before "going back" to school) between the Dursley's house and Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. All for the purpose of 'entertaining' Malfoy.
Harry grimaced into his pillow, as he had fallen face first onto his bed, willingly of course, to moan into his pillow for frustrations sake. The Dursley's had gone out, leaving him alone to the house, so Harry could have thrown a temper tantrum if he had wanted, but truly, he saw no point. It wouldn't change the fact that he had to visit Malfoy five days a week. Of course, a small part of Harry knew he had no right to be upset about the whole ordeal because he didn't have to see Malfoy. In fact, the only reason he was was because it had been Dumbledore's final words, and Harry felt that he had to be the one to protect Malfoy.
That was Harry's entire life, wasn't it? Doing things because it was the right thing, not because it was something he truly wanted to do. Harry did want to do the right thing, always did do the right thing, but sometimes the right thing just annoyed him. Harry knew that the Order would take care of Malfoy without him, that Malfoy would be safe and secure at Grimmauld Place without Harry there. But... but Dumbledore had told Malfoy to seek out Harry. That Harry would help. And Harry... Harry couldn't just let someone else do it.
Because that's not who Harry is.
Groaning, he rolled over on his bed to stare up at the ceiling. Why was he complaining? He'd practically begged Mr. Weasley into talking the Dursley's into allowing Harry to come and go as he pleased. Mr. Weasley had been more then willing to be one of the people to check-up on Malfoy, but Harry had insisted. If Tonks hadn't been the hero...
"Harry," Mr. Weasley sighed, "Tonks, Remus, or I are perfectly capable of," he paused here, obviously searching for the right word, "of visiting Draco."
Harry had sighed in response. "I know. Believe me, I do. But... but Dumbledore had told him to seek me out. I feel that I need to be here. Make sure he is okay."
"Dumbledore told him to find you so he could be found by the Order. It wasn't an order to you to watch over him."
"I know!" Harry had snapped, tensing, making Mr. Weasley raise a concerned eyebrow, but Harry quickly smoothed his features, forcing himself to relax. "I know, I understand. But it's still... Dumbledore told him to find me."
Tonks, who had been leaning in the doorway during this conversation, finally stepped in and spoke. "I understand what you mean, Harry. Arthur, let the boy visit Draco. Besides, Draco might get bored to death with only adults around. He'll need peers, and Harry's his only option. Harry will be fine." Mr. Weasly gave a stern look to Tonks, as if she had spilled some important information Harry wasn't suppose to hear. "What? That is what you're afraid of, isn't it, Arthur? That Draco will try to hurt Harry in some way?"
Harry looked to Mr. Weasley quickly, wondering if what Tonks said could be true, and by the look on Mr. Weasley's face, it was.
"Draco won't harm him," Tonks continued. "Draco did seek him out after all. Asked for help. He didn't harm him then, when they were alone in the corridor at Hogwarts. What makes you think he'd try to harm Harry in a house protected by the Order that one other member will always be present in?"
"Tonks-"
"Arthur. This is something Harry must do," Tonks cut him off, looking to Harry, "It's the right thing to allow."
Mr. Weasley sighed, giving in. "Yes. Of course."
"Which," Harry piped in, "brings me to my next request. I need someone to convince the Dursleys to allow me to visit. Normally they don't... allow me to do anything really. But I'm almost of age, and this is my final summer. Perhaps with some push from the Order, they'd be more willing."
"Yes, yes. I shall talk to them myself. Explain the situation."
Harry remembered asking Tonks why she had stepped in and argued for him. She'd merely smiled and told him 'I believe in family.' This made Harry frown in question. Was Tonks somehow related to Harry himself? Or was she related to Draco? This deepened his frown as he thought. He vaguely recalled some comments from Sirius about family and being related to the Malfoys and Tonks (actually, if he remembered correctly, it was something about all pureblood families being related). Related how?
A loud crack made Harry jump, sitting up straight. He looked to his left at the clock upon the wall. Four fourteen. Of course. Where had the time gone? Harry stood from his bed and headed down stairs just as the knocks on the back door rang out. Three knocks, all in a row. It was a signal of sorts that someone was here to Appaperate Harry to Grimmauld Place.
Hurrying past the cupboard under the stairs, Harry entered the kitchen and soon was out the back door. He was greeted by Tonks.
"Ready, Harry?" Tonks greeted him with a smile.
"Of course," Harry responded with a smile of his own, though he wondered why she'd asked if he was ready. Was he preparing for some... battle?
Little did Harry know, he was.