Chapter Two: House Migration, Along With Barbs and Mobbing of the Broods
"Malfoy!"
"Potter."
Harry already had his wand raised, poised to attack the person who he had seen standing on the Tower, prepared to kill Dumbledore, just days before. Before Harry could actually mutter a spell, Vladimir had shaken off the two Malfoys clinging onto him, and had wordlessly Disarmed Harry after whipping out his own wand.
"What are you doing, Vlad?! That guy was going to kill Dumbledore!"
"But he didn't, and that's the important part, 'Ry. I have remaining orders from Dumbledore as well as you do, and they're related. Your job, my job, and the Malfoys, I mean." Vlad gestured to the two shocked blondes.
Draco was surprised to see Potter standing in the hallway they had just Apparated into, as well as hearing his brother had defended him with such conviction, let alone actually knowing what happened on the tower. Even Potter knew, and that was startling enough. Narcissa merely looked shocked out of her wits, since she didn't expect Potter either, let alone finding out what truly happened while Draco was on the tower…prepared to kill Dumbledore.
Harry appeared extremely reluctant to actually let the Malfoys further into the house, but with no wand, and being the only other person in the house that day, he had no choice.
"I want answers after this, Evensong. From your remaining orders, how the hell you Apparated into the house, and why the bloody hell two thirds of the Malfoy family are here!" Harry spat out the words, and a new voice spoke up when he finished ranting.
"CUT OUT THE RACKET!" screamed a voice from behind a black curtain that hung from the wall. The curtains flung themselves aside, and everyone in the hall turned to the portrait of the old, gnarled woman. "Is that you, Narcissa, dear? It's been such a long time since I last saw you." The portrait's face held mild surprise at seeing the Lady Malfoy née Black.
Narcissa's eyes practically lit up with delight when she heard the old familiar voice. "Auntie Walburga! It has been a long time."
Harry was staring at the portrait in shock. The old woman never spoke to anyone in a conversing tone, except for Vlad, which was strange itself, since Vlad was not a pure-blooded wizard. 'Was he?' was Harry's lingering thought, as the two women chatted.
He began to make his way to the living room, but stopped mid-step when he realized the others were not following him. Turning around, he blinked owlishly as he saw Vladimir's eyes briefly flash blue-grey, still looking at the portrait with a knowing stare.
"Vlad, Malfoy! Are we going or not?" Harry called. The others snapped to attention, and they left the hallway deserted except for Walburga, who had finally gotten some tidbits of what was happening in the Wizarding World. The good thing was that Narcissa was smart enough to not tell her the Order-important things, as she worried what would happen to her second son if she gossiped too much.
The four of them had settled down onto some new comfy, black leather sofas to talk. Vladimir had agreed to have a discussion, but some things he would have to speak with Harry alone about.
"Well?" said Harry impatiently, wanting answers fast. Vladimir sighed.
"You might take this badly, but it all eventually leads to Dumbledore, so if you have any problems, blame him." Harry snorted at Vladimir's words.
"I can Apparate into the house because I can raise and lower the wards."
Harry stared at the red-head. "But…only the Secret Keeper can do that! And he's dead, which makes all the people who know of this place Secret Keepers. And you weren't one of them, so I have no idea how you even found your way here."
The Malfoys sat silently as the Saviour of the Wizarding World argued with their glamoured kin. Vladimir continued.
"I…met up with Dumbledore a few nights before he died. He…changed the position of Secret Keeper to me. Have you realized that no one else can tell where this place is?"
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before his gaze darkened.
"There's a reason Harry, but I can't tell you now." Vlad said before Harry could start. The younger boy nodded silently, before asking his next question.
"Why are…the Malfoys here? You know full well, Vladimir, that they are part of the Inner Circle of the Death Eaters." He stopped to glare at Draco. "And that this bastard let his evil buddies in to harm our school, our home."
Narcissa looked like she was about to walk over and slap the dark-haired wizard, but Draco put a hand on her shoulder. The look he gave her clearly said 'I'll handle this, Mother.'
"If you were…on the Tower with me, Potter, you would know that I did not expect the other…Death Eaters to find their way in and wreak havoc. Indeed, even I think of Hogwarts as my second home; you have no right to assume I do not care for it. You don't even know why I did what I did, or do you?" Draco sent a challenging look Harry's way.
"The Dark Lord was going to kill my parents. He assigned me this as a punishment to my Father, to have my Father watch me fail. But I didn't fail, so I didn't die. Both my parents live and the only loss is our late Headmaster, muggle-loving he was."
Harry looked like he was about to retort with a scathing remark, but paused when he watched Draco yawn gracefully, and something in his mind told him not to bother the older boy until everyone was settled. He looked slightly disturbed at the mere implication, but when Vladimir yawned as well, mimicking Draco, Harry raised an eyebrow.
"How about…we go to bed now? I'll have to suppose you don't have anywhere to go, Mrs. Malfoy and…Draco." He spat out his rival's name like it was something extremely foul.
Vladimir nodded for the Malfoys, as his brother looked a bit out of it. "They are at risk of being found out by the Ministry, as well as Voldemort." Both Malfoys flinched at the name. Vlad chuckled lightly at Harry's amused look.
"We'll go to bed, then. I'll escort Lady Malfoy, if that's alright with you?" Vladimir raised an eyebrow at his mother. She nodded, and they made their way up the stairs to the few clean guestrooms.
Harry glared at the place where his friend and his rival's mother just were. "Idiot, not even being able to take his own housemate." He muttered, and then glared at Draco. "Well, hurry up! If you want the room next to your mother, then let's go!"
Draco followed Harry silently, feeling fear and excitement for what was to happen for the next few days.
"Harry? Oi, mate, wake up!"
Harry coughed and rolled over, landing onto the ground with a thump. Groggily, he opened his eyes to see a blur of red moving around him. He groaned as he got up slowly, feeling the sores that he received from sleeping on the couch in an awkward position. Oh, and did he mention falling onto the floor?
"W'ere's m' 'lasses?" he murmured aloud. Someone shoved the spectacles into his hands and he put them on, blinking in shock as he saw his best friend's face looking at him with a goofy grin.
"Why'd you sleep down here on the couch, mate? You do have your own Master room." Ron grinned at Harry.
Harry stared at his best friend. "Wait, why are you here? I thought you were still at the Burrow…"
"Just checking up on you, Harry. For a fact, the rest of the family is going to come later this evening for dinner…I'm mainly here to inform you of that. Now, would you care to tell me why you were sleeping on the couch?"
Harry blinked in amazement before it dawned on him. "I was really tired last night, having to deal with –" He froze at what he was about to say. "Oh no. Oh no. Ron, stay down here; don't you dare go up stairs!"
"With what? Harry?" he called, watching the Golden Boy sprint up the staircase as if the devil was after him.
He frowned. Harry was hiding something, that was easy enough to tell. Moving quickly after his friend was out of sight, he stealthily followed Harry up the stairs.
Draco quietly closed the door to his brother's room. When he had woken up in the morning, lying in an unfamiliar bed, he was shaking with terror ("No, I was cold!"), trying to determine what had happened to him. When he had remembered that he had Apparated with his mother and brother to the Saviour's house, he had gone looking for his brother, just to make sure that it was all real, and not simply a dream, a nightmare.
He turned around when he had heard thumping noises of a person running up the staircase. Wand out, prepared to attack any intruder, he nearly visibly faltered when Harry arrived, taking ragged breaths, his face flushed.
"What – what are you pointing that at me for?! I may not trust you yet, but I would never attack a guest in my own house!" Harry whispered harshly at his rival. Draco at least had the decency to look ashamed, cheeks tinted with pink.
When Ron found them though, all hell was set loose.
"Malfoy!" Ron fumbled for his wand, wanting to hurt the blonde-haired boy so badly after what he had brought upon his family.
"I swear, that was the exact same thing Potter said when I arrived in the main hall of this Black House." Draco drawled coolly, though slightly worried with the fact that both his mother and brother were sleeping, and that he could not take on the two Gryffindors at once.
Harry grimaced at the scene. Ron had followed him up, probably out of curiosity, but that had ruined his whole plan of hiding Malfoy and his mother until he was ready to tell the rest of the Order.
"Ron, he's here because, well…" he didn't know what to say. Why did the Malfoys come here anyways? 'Oh, wait, Vladimir.' Harry thought.
"Vlad brought them here. Something about them included in Dumbledore's remaining orders."
Ron had looked immensely angry when Vladimir's name was mentioned. "Evensong? That little Slytherin sneak, you actually listened to him and allowed his buddy into the house? Like, how did he even know where this place is? He's fooling you, like how Dumbledore got fooled and this bloody git allowed his buddies into the school!"
"Vladimir is on our side, Ron! It was sworn; even you were there! And Malfoy actually didn't kill Dumbledore; Snape, that double-crosser, killed Dumbledore!" Harry said, trying to save their hides in case a duel began.
"But that's where you are wrong, 'Ry. Well, not completely, but wrong in a sense."
Harry, Ron and Draco whirled around, different coloured hair swishing. Draco looked like he was about to say something, since his mouth had dropped into an 'O' shape, whilst Harry and Ron looked very confused, both wands drawn into a fighting stance, wondering who to aim at, Draco or the new-comer.
Draco's replica stood at the door way to 'Vladimir's' room. He smirked, and Draco himself had to grimace at seeing his duplicate again.
"Alright, who's the real Malfoy?" Ron snarled, his wand swinging from Draco to Cygnus and back. Cygnus chuckled, took out his wand (Harry stiffened his even more at the gesture), and said, pointing the wand at himself,
"Finite."
The look of a pure Malfoy drained away to leave behind the red-head with green eyes that had accompanied the Order since who knows when. Vladimir laughed at the shocked looks from Harry and Ron, while Draco just twitched his eye, traumatized at what should have been impossible.
"Did you have to simply scare the shit out of us?" Harry cried, while Ron looked all the more angry than before.
"No, but I wished to see how you would react at two Draco's in one room. Or something in the likes of that. Good morning, Ron Weasley, are you staying for lunch? I could always have Dobby or Tipsy cook up some food for us." Ron couldn't help but perk up at the mention of food.
"Tipsy's here?" Draco whispered, eyes hopeful, as he had forgotten to tell his house-elf that they were leaving the Manor.
"Yes, he is here; you should never forget your house-elf, Draco, with the idiot Ministry people tailing Lady Malfoy and you like this. And for no good reason as well. Harry, I suppose we'll be talking after Ron has left with his fill of lunch?"
Harry grinned stupidly at the visualization of a bloated Ron going home to Mrs. Weasley and Hermione, before frowning slightly at Ron. "So…are you staying? If you are, you're going to be nice to…the Slytherins."
'They're changing you, Harry. So fast, too.' Ron thought, before answering quietly, "I'd like to stay. You've been alone too long; the silence must have driven you nuts to allow these guys in." Ron sneered, but in a very light teasing way.
Harry smiled. Gryffindors and Slytherins together, eating lunch. The mere thought of it almost made him laugh. Oh, and they were going to be civil, too! The afternoon was going to be very interesting indeed.
Ron had left, but not completely bloated. Actually, he didn't leave bloated at all. He was too worried that his mother would catch him eating at his best friend's house.
Draco had left the table after eating a satisfying lunch, since he did not eat much when he was on the run, and barely ate any better when he got back to the Manor. He went exploring, the final House of Black that he had yet to visit before.
Harry and Vladimir settled themselves in the library, as Narcissa had decided to talk with Walburga again, once her youngest son had given her a miniature lecture about what she could tell the painting. Really, a lecture!
They were facing each other slightly, both in a plush armchair. Harry actually looked hesitant, if not scared and worried, about what he was about to learn from his Slytherin friend.
Vladimir took out the bottle of potion that he did not manage to use at the Manor. Harry's eyes widened at it; he could fully remember when Snape had threatened to use it on him.
"Who's that for?" he finally coughed out, still focused on the little vial.
"It would be for me to take, as whatever I'm telling you may startle you so much that you won't trust a single word out of my mouth." Vlad said evenly.
Harry's state of shock rose even more as his heartbeat slowed down to a calm thumping. "You're going to allow yourself to be administrated Veritaserum?"
The red-haired boy nodded solemnly. "It will be very disturbing for you to find out, and this truth potion would in reality be better than a calming potion for you."
Harry shook his head after thinking about what he could do. "I'd like to trust you without the potion. I think it's my Gryffindor instinct that's telling me you're okay. Like, good okay."
Vladimir smiled. Harry would trust him, even without the Veritaserum. Now he wouldn't have to waste one of his last bottles of the wondrous liquid.
"I suppose I should start from the beginning, but that might take too long. Where would you like me to start? Dumbledore's plans, the truth about me, or what we should be doing other than talking about the past?"
"I'd like you to start with the plans, I think. You could break the…the truth about yourself as you go along, as I suppose your real…– identity? – is not Vladimir Evensong."
The other boy smiled even more. "You're getting better at this, Harry. Okay, on with Dumbledore's plans.
"I know of the Horcruxes, and we need to find and destroy them. I know that you've gotten rid of the diary, whilst Dumbledore got rid of the ring. I also know you have the fake locket, which means we need to find the real locket, but I already know where that is."
Harry stared at Vlad. "You know a lot for a low-ranked Order member." He managed to splutter. Vlad chuckled.
"I'm a Slytherin for a reason, and a good one at that. Now…Dumbledore, he said that there must be at least one Malfoy helping you destroy the Horcruxes. He has a weird mind, really, since you hate them and all, but it would prove very helpful to you. He said that…while chewing thoughtfully on a lemon drop, crazy muggle candy."
"Dumbledore was crazy, in a weird way. But, do I seriously have to work with Draco?" Harry tried to sound casual, instead of alarmed and pissed off.
Vlad shook his head, ponytail swishing. "Though it would be best for you to work with your rival, as I think the old coot planned you to do, but there is one other true Malfoy that you could trust and work with."
Harry blinked confused. "You just ruled out his father. Who else do you mean? I know Lady Malfoy is a Black at heart. There are no more of that blood-line –"
There was a hazardous crashing sound downstairs, and loud yelling ensued with curses.
Fred and George Weasley stumbled out of the fireplace, followed closely by their sister. Maybe it was too closely, because Ginny crashed into them and they fell down before bursting into curses of not moving out of 'line of fire' and such, before they collapsed weakly into fits of laughter.
It was not what the Golden Boy and his Slytherin friend had expected, but it was loads better than a fight or Death Eaters. Harry shuddered at the mere thought.
The Weasley twins and the only Weasley daughter got up and brushed themselves off, just in time for Ron and Hermione to come through. Harry swore he did not mean to feel like the way he did, but seeing his best friends since age eleven grasping each other tightly in an intimate way made him slightly queasy, not to mention a touch jealous.
"Hello, Harry!" Hermione cried as she removed herself from Ron and hugged Harry before he could say a word in reply. Vladimir stood back and watched with a light smirk on his face. Oh boy. For his brother to see this…
"What is this, a Weasel family reunion?" Speak of the devil. Seven heads swivelled around to see Draco Malfoy at the top of the steps, adorned with a white silk t-shirt and black jeans, leaning against the handrail.
They all gaped for several reasons. One, Harry now finally took in how wonderful Draco Malfoy looked, rival or not. Two, the Weasleys (with the exception of an angry-looking Ron) and Hermione were shocked at his sudden appearance. Three, Vladimir had yet to fully register the fact that Draco had put on the most muggle-like outfit he could find.
Draco smirked, loving the way he could simply make himself known and have such a huge reaction out of people. That is, until all four Weasleys snapped. Three wands had swung towards Draco, all letting out a different spell. Ron still seemed angry, but did not raise his wand, even with Hermione looking unusually scared.
There was a horrible yell had Draco jumping down from the stairs to his brother. One could suppose the three spells fired had definitely hit their mark, but with a horrible reaction. Vladimir Evensong had the bat-bogies all over him, and there was blood and horrendous shaking. Ginny stifled a scream when she saw what she had done, while the twins looked guilty, confused and shocked at the same time.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered, not taking her eyes off the twitching form next to Malfoy. "Who did they just hex?"
"A highly important Slytherin Order member." Everyone's face paled at the information the Golden Boy gave, while Draco was muttering something along the lines of 'episkey', 'medisalus' and 'damned Weasels'.
"You shouldn't be asking for a fight when you go to your friend's house, if you even know what I mean." Draco said when his brother was cleared of some blood. He couldn't use 'finite' to counter the hexes as it might remove the glamour charm Cygnus had put on.
"Well, you're the one who suddenly appeared in a place you're not wanted, ferret-face." Ron shot back, and Harry just shook his head and groaned. He definitely couldn't side with Malfoy, and he could side with Ron either, or else the Malfoys would leave and tell the Death Eaters where their Headquarters were.
"Weasel." (All the Weasleys twitched.)
"Girl!" (Everyone looked at Draco in anticipation.)
"WHAT?!" (Everyone winced at Draco's horrendous screech of outrage.) "Blood-traitor!"
"Yourself, Malfoy. Such a snobby snake." (Narcissa is awake and is also at the top of the stairs, looking shocked.)
"Gryffindork!" (All Gryffindors twitched in annoyance.)
"Bloody git!" (Hermione looks like she wants to admonish Ron for swearing.)
"Frecklie!" (Narcissa is now down the stairs, and all eyes widen in amazement as Draco says the childish insult with a pout.)
Fred, George and Ginny burst out into laughter, and even Hermione couldn't help a small smile. Harry just tried to resist the churning at the bottom of his stomach. He didn't know Malfoy could pout, no less than acting like a little kid. He looked too cute for his own good.
"Draco, what on earth are you doing?" was the first thing Narcissa cried. The next thing that happened caused chaos in the room again.
Molly and Arthur Weasley tumbled out of the fireplace with a flash of green fire, and wands were raised to attack for the third time that day.
In truth, the two ladies got along quite well after Narcissa's situation was explained. They had moved on to worry about Vladimir though, and Molly gave her sons and daughter a good scolding.
"How dare you attack one of Harry's guests, even if they used to be one of your enemies! You should be ashamed of yourself that an Order member had to interfere and get hurt in the process!"
"But Mum! We didn't know that he was one of Harry's guests –"
"You should have told them, Ronald Bilius Weasley! Your father and I are horrified to know that you knew poor Draco was there and meant no harm; you should have stopped your brothers and sister!"
Before Ron could complain himself, their mum had left the room they usually stayed in, slamming the door with a bang. She hurried over to the next room where Harry was leaning against the wall, watching his rival wave his wand occasionally to rid Vladimir of blood. The bogies still covered the long-haired boy, and Molly tsked at Draco's supposed stupidity.
"Here, let me." Draco was gently brushed away and Molly waved her wand. He was about to protest in mild anger when she said the spell.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Draco closed his eyes, knowing that though the bogies would disappear, and maybe that the blood would stop flowing, there would be a carbon copy of himself lying in the bed instead of his glamoured brother. Molly Weasley's muffled scream and the sound of Harry quickly walking over after shutting the door quietly was all he needed to hear that what he predicted had come true.
Two of which who were not suppose to know of Cygnus' existence yet had seen his face, blood-covered or not.
A/N: Medisalus - combination of medicor (to heal/cure) and salus (health).
Thanks to all who reviewed last time. I hope Cygnus isn't too perfect-like; I'm dragging in too many good traits, aren't I? That doesn't give me a good excuse though. Next post should be in November; I found time last month to type this chapter up.
Silvaer, signing out.
Later...
I need a beta - yes, but I can leave dear Cyggie as he (so close to perfect) is. I'm an idiot, but can you just leave me to type up the third chapter? Thanks to those who reviewed...
