Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter, it's all J.K.Rowling's… but one of these days, I may ! evil laugh…
A/N: hello, my fellow authors/readers! So, as I promised, this is a sequel to 'one great adventure'… it takes place two weeks after the cure has been administered and Harry and Ron are now feeling better…
Harry and Ron had been administered the cure shortly after the return of the four teenagers. One week after, they were both safe and on their feet, and Hogwarts was waiting for the return of the Golden Trio.
As Harry entered the Great Hall, all eyes were on him, but he only had ones for a certain redhead.
Ginny was at the Gryffindor table, eating breakfast all alone (Hermione and Ron had kind of disappeared an hour before) and looking slightly mournful.
Harry had wanted to surprise her, but he didn't had a chance. The Hall was already buzzing with whispers, and at the sudden amount of noise, Ginny raised her head from her pancakes.
Her eyes looked in wonder, then in surprise and finally in pure delight at the boy that stood only feet away from her.
She stood up in slow motion and began taking hesitant steps then, before Harry knew it, she ran to him and practically engulfed him in a bear hug.
She buried her head in his chest and held on tight, as tightly as she could. Harry smiled fondly.
He enjoyed having Ginny in his arms again. These past few weeks had been pure torture for him and Ron, and now he was again breathing the scent of the living. It made quite a change.
Finally, he slowly pushed Ginny away and looked down at her, his green eyes boring into her soft brown ones.
'I missed you' he whispered softly.
Tears sprung to Ginny's eyes as she answered him in a whisper too 'I missed you so much, Harry, you have no idea.'
The, her temper seemed to get the best of her as she suddenly slapped him –not hard –on the face.
Harry raised his hand to his cheek and wondered why she had done that. He received his answer soon enough.
'You inconsiderate little----- Do you realize how worried I've been? I – you could have died and now I would be all alone and—'
Ginny didn't have time to go one as Harry pulled her close to him and gently kissed her on the lips.
Cheering erupted from the Great Hall as the two Gryffindors kissed, and Harry blushed as he pulled apart.
He bent over and whispered into Ginny's ear 'We'll continue this later in the common room' then, he took her hand and sat down at the Gryffindor table and poured himself a big glass of pumpkin juice.
Not long after Harry and Ginny had kissed, Ron and Hermione entered the Great Hall hand in hand, and another series of applause erupted. Blushing, the two hurried to Harry and Ginny and sat beside them.
'Well, it's good to be back' Ron said as he dug into a pile of pancakes.
Harry nodded and began eating too, laughing with his friends and just enjoying being alive.
It was as he reached for another bagel that he saw, out of the corner of his eyes, a flash of blonde hair quit the Great Hall.
He turned his head to the Slytherin table and he met the black eyes of Blaise Zabini. The two looked at each other for a moment, then nodded in recognition.
Harry knew what the Slytherins had done for him and Ron, and he had been quite surprised. He had planned to talk to Draco one day or another, but didn't have a chance until now.
He looked uncertainly at the doors of the Hall, then back at Blaise. As if understanding, the latter mouthed 'lake' to Harry, and then went back to talking to Pansy.
Harry nodded, then turned to his friends. He saw that Hermione had been watching him all along, and so he smiled.
'I'll be right back, guys' he said to them.
Ginny looked expectantly at him 'Where are you going?'
'I need to finish something. Have a talk with an old enemy.'
Hermione and Ginny nodded –Ron was still absorbed in his pancakes –and after a quick kiss to Ginny, Harry went out of the Great Hall and onto the Hogwarts grounds.
Draco had been sitting under a large oak tree near the lake when he heard footsteps coming his way.
He turned around and saw Harry walking towards him. As the latter took a seat next to him, Draco didn't acknowledge him, he simply stared at the lake some more.
Finally, Harry spoke.
'Malfoy, could I talk to you for a minute?'
'Talk, I'm listening' answered Draco of a cold voice.
'I just wanted to thank you for actually saving my life and Ron's, I know it wasn't easy. And, well, I just wanted to say thanks.'
Draco remained silent for a few seconds, then spoke, his voice slightly softer than before. 'You're welcome, Potter.'
After another peaceful silence, Harry went on 'I was just wondering, why did you do it?'
Draco turned his head towards Harry, who was seated a meter away, on a dead tree by the lake. 'All my life, I've had to live up to what my father expected of me, I believed his lies and everything else. And now, I find out that all that is just another huge lie. That the one I'm supposed to worship will undoubtedly kill many and that his thirst for power is so great he won't eve care if he kills his servants or his enemies.'
Harry nodded, and waited for the rest to come. Draco's gray eyes were slightly foggier than usual, almost dark with emotion.
'And now, I've just helped his enemy get better. I have to admit, I'm a bit confused. Yep, for the first time ever, Draco Malfoy, Prince of Slytherin is confused.'
The last part had come out quite bitter, and Harry cringed.
'Malfoy, I know this is not my place to say, and I may be wrong, but I can't help but to understand what you feel. When Hagrid first brought me to Hogwarts, I also had to live up to something: my name. Wizards would just look at me and expect me to do really advanced magic and such, and just didn't know what to do. And besides, don't believe I haven't thought of Voldemort' Malfoy shuddered at the name, but said nothing 'I sometimes wonder if maybe I allied with him, then all of this wouldn't happen. But you know why I haven't done it? Because he killed my parents. And the hatred I have for him will never die, unless he dies with it.'
Draco looked dumbstruck at what Harry had just said, but didn't have time to say anything. From the edge of the Forbidden Forest came out five Death Eaters, and in a matter of seconds they were beside Harry and Draco.
'Well, well, look who's here. Malfoy and Potter?' said a croaked voice.
Harry and Draco had stood up and were now facing the Death Eaters wand in hand.
'What's the matter, Draco?' asked one of the Death Eaters, and with a shiver, Harry recognized Lucius Malfoy's voice.
He stole a glance at Draco, who seemed paler than usual.
'You have greatly upset the Dark Lord, Draco' said Lucius 'But he has however decided to give you one last chance. Come with us and you'll be spared.'
Harry could almost see Lucius' smirk underneath the mask as he said the last words.
Draco had lowered his wand for a split of second, then with a determined look in his face brought it up again. Smirking the infamous Malfoy smirk, he said coldly 'I'm sorry, father, but you'll have to return without me. But please, do present my regards to Voldemort.'
Harry grinned as he heard the gasps of the Death Eaters. He would never had thought Malfoy capable of it, but it turns out you really shouldn't read a book by its cover.
'You dare speak his name?' asked a very angry Death Eater.
'Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself' answered Draco, and Harry grinned even more.
'You dare---?' Lucius asked, but he didn't get to finish his sentence.
Harry had cast a Stupefix spell on him, and now Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Balise were hurrying their way.
The six teenagers stood there, Draco and Harry leading them, their wands at the ready and just waiting to curse the Death Eaters.
Seeing that they were outnumbered, they finally turned their backs and ran back to the Forest.
Harry then turned to Draco grinning from ear to ear. 'Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself, eh?'
Smiling sheepishly, Draco answered turning a bit to Hermione 'A wise person once said that, but it took me long to catch on.'
Harry nodded slowly, then extended his hand 'It was about time!' he said smiling.
Draco shook Harry's hand, and just by that simple gesture, the two both knew that from that day forth, they were no longer old enemies, but old friends.
Dumbledore smiled as he watched the two out of his office. 'And so, Gryffindor and Slytherin have finally called a permanent truce.'
Well, I hope you enjoyed this… It's the last part of Slytherin versus Gryffindor One great adventure A permanent Truce.
Review on you way out!
Tigerlilystar