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A Crack in the Ice

"And with that, let us eat!"

Headmaster Dumbledore finished his start of year speech with usual flair, clapping his hands and signalling the start of the feast. Ronald Weasley wasted no time in grabbing vast amounts of food and piling his plate impossibly high, whilst a disapproving Hermione Granger looked on with a mix of despair and disgust.

Harry Potter laughed to himself as he saw this. All through summer Ron had eaten with wild abandon, and he showed no sign of slowing down any time soon. Harry was sure Hermione had tried to curb his vulgar eating habits, but to no apparent avail. He pulled a piece of chicken onto his own plate, poured a goblet of pumpkin juice, and settled in to eat.

"Harry, have you had any thoughts on how we are going to get to the people on our list?" Hermione said from his right. Over the summer, all three of them had sat down to discuss what could be done now that the Wizarding World knew Voldemort had returned. It was the students at Hogwarts which captured their concern, more specifically the children of known Death Eaters. Ron had been entirely sceptical at first, his temper getting the better of him, and they had argued for days before Hermione made him see reason.

"Ere 'Arry, wa bou' Veri'aseru" Ron said, through a mouthful of sausage and mash.

"Ronald Weasley that is disgusting! Don't you ever STOP eating?" Hermione glared at him.

"Sorry Mione" he murmured, having finally swallowed his food.

"Veritaserum wouldn't persuade them Ron, that would just let us know who was really with Voldemort" Ron looked a little defeated at that, and proceeded to shove another sausage in his mouth.

"I've had an idea Harry" Hermione took a piece of parchment from under the table. Harry looked over it, and found it to be an invitation for a neutral meeting, as per the pureblood code of conduct. Harry passed it on to Ron.

"That's a good idea, but they would never agree to a meeting if they knew it was US organising it. And for the ritual to work properly, we would need to identify ourselves in the invite." Ron passed the invitation back to Hermione, who in turn looked defeated. Harry could see some potential in the idea.

"Hermione, is there a spell to discretely message someone, and keep your identity hidden?" If he could arouse the Slytherins collective interest, they would meet out of sheer curiosity.

Hermione quickly took out a heavy book of charms and began to rifle through. Ron tutted about her reading at the dinner table, something he had been trying to curb her of during the holidays. Harry just laughed.

~x~

Harry snorted in frustration. He was trying to crush a living Hive Beetle to add into a particularly tedious potion that Snape had assigned the class. Taking a quick peek around the room, he noticed that Hermione was already four steps ahead of him, and that Malfoy had already finished. His workstation was now bare as he packed his things away. Harry was sure that Malfoy got special treatment in potions, not least because Snape was his head of house and Godfather.

Malfoy noticed Harry looking, and sent a sneer his way. His eyes flitted to the still scuttling Beetle on Harry's desk, before turning back to his own desk and taking out a book to read. Harry glared after him for a moment, before turning his attention once more to his Beetle. He noticed that it had stopped moving, though the legs were still trying to move. Did Malfoy just help him? He crushed the Beetle and carried on with his potion.

Towards the end of the lesson, and once Harry had finally finished his potion, he took another look around the room. Hermione had gotten stuck on adding the lacewing flies in correctly, and Neville – how had Neville even gotten into Advanced Potions? – Neville's cauldron had exploded. Malfoy still had his head in his book. His book. Harry had an idea.

He took his wand and potions book out, and then scribbled a message on a blank page.

Meet me, Owlery, midnight tonight. Come alone. We need to talk. I won't tell your father.

Tap this with your wand to accept.

Silently thanking Hermione, Harry cast the spell she had spent the previous evening teaching him. As the person who knew Malfoy best, and even Ron had to admit that his best friend was interested to the point of obsession, Harry was the best placed to know when to send the message. He tried to feign disinterest whilst looking round the room. Malfoy had to have got it by now. Looking at the Slytherin, he couldn't see anything that even resembled recognition or comprehension. That must be his mask. He looked back at his book and found the note glowing green. He hadn't even seen Malfoy reach for his wand! Underneath Harry's writing, a new set was appearing.

I accept. Destroy this evidence.

Harry snorted. That was typical Malfoy. He was brought out of his musings by a voice at his ear

"I trust your little love notes are not distracting you from your studies Mr Potter." He made to turn around, only to have the potions master continue, "No boy, there is no need to interrupt your classmates with your inane babbling. As it happens, Dumbledore did inform me of your little list. Yes Potter we know about it, don't go getting your wand in a knot," Harry could feel him smirking, "and you could do worse than to follow Malfoy's instructions. There are certain things that would best be kept secret. Do you know what that means?" Before Harry could answer, Snape was standing before his cauldron. In a voice loud enough for the class to hear, Snape graded his attempt 'barely passable' and 'not completely without merit'. It was the closest to a compliment that he could hope for in this particular subject.

~x~

Harry sat waiting under his invisibility cloak in the eaves of the Owlery. He cast a quick Tempus and it told him that the time was five minutes past midnight. Malfoy was predictably late. Perhaps he had only accepted to trap him; that any minute now Lucius and a whole group of Death Eaters would come around the corner and turn him over to Voldemort. He shook his head. He knew Malfoy, and had watched him closely enough to know that wasn't the case. The way his eyes would widen whenever his father's Eagle Owl landed on his table, and how he would hesitate before opening the various missives. Even those who shared his house didn't know him like Harry did. He heard the sounds of footsteps making their way up the staircase. It must be Malfoy. But what if it wasn't? Suddenly Harry felt unsure. Had he made a mistake in adding him to the list? Dumbledore would approve of the outreach to be sure, but he doubted that he could be as persuasive as the headmaster. But he had to try, and as Hermione put it, he had to have faith.

"Potter I know you are in here. Most probably under that stupid cloak of yours. There's no need to freak out, I'm alone." Came the smooth drawl of Draco Malfoy. He stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, locking it with several secrecy charms. "We can't have anybody interrupting us, can we?" Harry slid his wand up his sleeve, just in case, and removed his invisibility cloak.

"How did you know it was me?" Harry was sure that he had covered his own tracks. Malfoy actually sighed under his breath.

"I'm not an idiot. I can tell when you are planning something Potter, you get this look in your eyes. And as for your little note in Potions, I saw Mu..Granger researching the spell yesterday afternoon. You really should learn how to keep things secret. Though I guess Gryffindors really ARE as stupid as they look!"

"You don't fool me Malfoy. This whole arrogant act is just an act. Leave it at the door, I want to talk to you, not Lucius!" Harry smirked as Draco seethed. He took a moment to shrug it off, before once more his customary mask slipped over his face.

"Then please start talking, I told the other Slytherins I was going to find Pansy on her prefect rounds if you know what I mean," He punctuated this with a wiggle of his eyebrows, "imagine what they would say if they knew who I was really meeting!" Harry rolled his eyes.

"I'm not sure how to go about saying this, so I may as well just come out with it. I see how you react when you get letters from your father, how you hesitate before opening them. You're afraid of him. I want to tell..."

"You want to tell me there is another way Potter? There is another choice perhaps? I don't think you know me at all if that's the case. I certainly know my options. Like any Slytherin, I am perfectly aware that there are two sides in this war. And Dumbledore is a Muggle-loving fool who thinks that integration is the only way to save the Wizarding world!" Draco walked over to the window and looked out into the night, "What you don't get, what nobody on your side gets really, is that there is an order to Voldemort that isn't obvious unless you are looking for it. Dumbledore and the Order are too busy reacting to his attacks that they can't see it. Even my father," Draco gulped and placed his hand on the windowsill, "even my father cannot see it. But I do. There is no stopping him, no changing his mind or no tempering him. But there is still an order. A new order. One that I will be a part of." Harry simply looked on as he traced the brickwork with his hand. Did Malfoy even know what he was talking about? He suspected that this was all a part of his mask.

"Malfoy, that is the most delusional piece of rubbish you have ever come out with! I don't believe it for a second and I don't think you do either!" He had the grace to momentarily look abashed before he caught himself.

"Potter, you can never understand how it feels to live in your father's shadow. Don't try to understand me, and don't try to change me!" He tried to walk past Harry, but the Gryffindor flung his arm out and caught him. This was not going the way he had planned it! Harry wanted to grab him and shake him until he saw sense, until he agreed that what he was saying was lunacy.

"Why do you even care so much Potter? You have your side and I have mine. Did you choose your parents? Did you choose to be the Boy-Who-Lived?" He had tried to school his face into a blank canvas, but Harry knew him better. Malfoy had a look of despair in his eyes.

"I didn't choose those things then, but I choose it now. I choose to be my parent's child, I choose to be the one Voldemort couldn't kill. There is always a choice Draco. I could just lie down and let Voldemort finish me off, or I could deny my parents and refuse to fight, but what would that make me? Where is the honour in not fighting for a good cause? The question is do you choose to be your father's son? Do you choose your own life or Lucius' plans? Do you choose to honour a man who would kill you without a moment's hesitation or honour those that have died with goodness in them? Are you your father's son?" With each word Draco was paling more visibly. Harry had him. It was clear that Draco was scared, that he wanted his own life, but the power that Lucius held over his son was dividing his conscience.

"But, what about Voldemort's new order? If we allow mudbloods into our society there will be nothing left but weak magic, too weak to defend ourselves!" Draco was desperately clinging on at this point, and Harry knew that it was just for show. His own feelings were skyrocketing too, his hands were sweaty and his heart was racing. Why was he so passionate about this?

"Voldemort will tear down everything until there is nothing left! No Wizarding world, no society, no Gringotts, no purebloods and no Magic! Can you not see that? There will be no 'New Order' just his order! Even a Slytherin must see how terrible that will be, and I refuse to believe that you don't care. You do care Malfoy, you care a hell of a lot more than you are willing to admit!" Draco sniffed at this, "You have friends in Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff! Yes friends! Don't look so surprised! Friends, good friends who wouldn't be here under this 'New Order'.You are nothing like your father, despite what you want everyone else to believe. I want you to join us Draco, I need to believe that there is something worth saving. I have to kill Voldemort and I will, I just want to do it on my own!" Harry was shouting now, his face red and eyes alive with passion, "You are not your father."

"I..I.. I have to go Po… Harry. I have to go." Malfoy staggered back to the door, flicking his wand as he did so. It opened and he ran out of the room, leaving Harry on his own in the deserted Owlery.

Harry slumped and sat until he lost track of time. If he couldn't persuade somebody who wanted to be persuaded, how could he persuade everybody else to follow him? After a while the sun rose through the window, the amber hues warming him, throwing light off his sparkling cloak. The dawn, providing a poignant counter to his melancholy. The sound of flapping wings brought his attention to an owl landing nearby. It was Hedwig.

"Hey girl" Harry smiled at her, and she hopped onto his leg. He stroked her beak and she gave it an affectionate nip. Then she held her leg up, showing a tiny roll of parchment. Surely Hermione wasn't worried already? He opened it, but it was blank. He turned it over, but the other side was also writing free. He took his wand out and tapped it to the parchment. Sure enough writing started to form.

Potter. I hate myself for writing this, but you are right. I am my own person. The only order is one that I want to create for myself, and I choose not to be what Lucius wants. But I also choose not to be what you want.

Next time, let's start by saying hi. The Three Broomsticks, midday, next Hogsmeade weekend.

I'd like to get to know you. Who knows, maybe I'd like you.

Get that silly grin off your face Potter you're making me smile at the table and Malfoys NEVER smile in public.

Tap this with your wand to accept.

PS: Destroy this.