Trinity: (sigh) I have no humor this time...
Harry: Toilet humor is always a classic.
Trinity: No, just...no
Draco: Whoo, update!
Trinity: Don't get too excited now...
Chapter 4: Secrets, Stalkers, and Whispers
How odd. The two Shadow Knights are as different as night and day, and yet…and yet they work so well together. I really didn't expect this from the two of them, not so soon. No matter. Even if it is odd, this is very, very good. Their studies are going very well, and for the moment, I can concentrate on my own "research." I must find out more about one my knights; see if he has already sworn to the Dark One, the enemy of the Order. If he has…If he really will not join the Order…
I'll be the one who has to destroy him.
Harry stared at the Marauder's Map, hardly believing his eyes. The dot representing Draco was in a room that had no noticeable door or any secret passage into it. He was pacing back and forth in the room, stopping next to a little miniature fireplace from time to time. When Ron snorted and shifted in his sleep next to him, Harry watched him nervously, not wanting him to wake. Ron returned to his normal snoring, and Harry sighed. The mystery was too good to pass up.
Harry folded up the map without wiping it and stuck it, and his wand, into his pocket. He snuck quietly up the stairs for his Invisibility cloak, and ducked out of the portrait hole. He reached the door to Snape's office within minutes and squatted down next to the wall. Harry pulled the map out of his pocket and saw that he was right next to the room Draco was pacing in, but it didn't show him how to get into the room. Harry sighed in frustration and started running his hands over the stone wall in search of a clue.
His hand came over a suspicious stone that jutted out farther than the rest with a smooth know, like a handle. Harry gripped the knob and pulled, and a force pushed. He was pushed into the wall, through the wall, and he found himself standing inside the hidden room. Fashioned after the Slytherin's common room, there were greenish lamps hanging from chains off the stone ceiling, with three squishy chairs and two high-backed ones, placed in a semicircle around the fireplace. Behind him was the blank stone wall he just passed through. In front of him, Draco paced in front of the fire place with his head down and hands clasped behind his back.
The clock on the beautifully designed marble mantel chimed midnight. Harry was a bit startled by the sound and gave a little jump. Draco stopped his pacing and stared into the dancing flames of the fire. Harry moved away from the wall, incase Draco decided to leave then. He stood in a shadowing corner and quietly watched Draco as the clock chimed ten more times.
"What have I gotten myself into to?" Draco's said quietly.
For the first time, Harry heard distress and anxiety in his voice. Harry made a move, as if to comfort him, and his foot hit the corner of wall. He scrapped it, just barely, creating a faint sound that would have normally gone unnoticed. Draco somehow heard it. He spun around and eyed the shadowy corner. Harry stood frozen with battered breath, hoping against hope that Draco wouldn't realize his presence. But-
"Who's there? Show you're self!" Draco shouted, glaring into the corner, as if he could somehow see him. Draco reached behind him and pulled a knife off of the mantle and unsheathed it. "Well?"
"It's not a good idea to kill you project partner." Harry said quietly, pulling the cloak off his shoulders. "It would raise…complications."
Draco stared at Harry, stunned. Harry walked forward cautiously. Draco still had the knife in his hand and he felt slow movements would be best at the moment. He casually draped his Invisibility Cloak over the back of one of the chairs, his eyes never leaving Draco's. He saw the flicker towards his cloak, so he kept a protective hand on it.
"I knew you had one," Draco said quietly, referring to the cloak, "but I didn't know you still brought it to school."
Harry felt like asking if he was alright. Draco seemed distraught, and slightly out of it of it at the moment. Harry truly felt like he should be comforting him, like it was his responsibility to keep his rival in top form. Harry didn't like how weary Draco looked in the fire light. He had never seen Draco so worried about anything before. What ever it was he was trying to do now, it was really starting to get to him.
"Aren't you going to ask?" Draco said suddenly, eyeing Harry. "Don't you want to know what it is I'm doing this time?"
"Um, no. I-I don't think I really care," Harry said uncomfortably. The truth was, he didn't want to pry into his personally business so openly. Draco gave him a little smile.
"You would care. If you knew, you would care," he said quietly. He swayed a little, as if tittering on his decision.
"I don't want to know," Harry said quickly. "Keep it to yourself."
"Harry, how did you find me?" Draco asked suddenly, straightening himself and sheathing the knife. He placed the knife back onto its little stand on the mantle place.
"Wha? I-I don't know. I was wondering around and I just did," Harry lied quickly. He didn't look to see if Draco bought it.
"Okay. But then why are you still here? What do you want?" Draco asked with a note of suspicion. Harry shrugged.
"I guess I feel you need company. Do you want me to leave you alone?"
"No," Draco sighed, "you can stay, but just for awhile. You'll leave when I leave, okay?"
"Yes sir," Harry said, rolling his eyes. He suddenly grinned at Draco. "Why, is there something in here you don't want me to find?" Draco threw him an angry glare. Jackpot. "What is it? Love letters? Baby pictures? Sex pictures?"
"Sex pictures?! What kind of person do you think I am?!" Draco burst out.
"The kind who would keep something that embarrassing and personal in a secret place! A secret place like this room…" Harry glanced around mysteriously, searching for some clues toward his hiding place. "So, where are you hiding them?"
"Don't you dare!" Draco shouted, whipping out his wand. "Try anything funny, and I'll hex you into next week!"
"Come on! I won't even look at it, promise!" Harry shouted back, grinning like mad. "I just wanna know where you keep all the fun stuff!"
"Oh, no you don't!"
It was too late. Harry jumped back from the chair and tossed his cloak over himself. Draco's eyes darted about, searching desperately for some sign of Harry's location. His ears picked up muffled snickers as Harry made poor attempts to hold in his laughter. Draco resisted hexing Harry then and there, and let him believe he was safe for the moment. So Harry got bold and crept toward him, crept almost right beside him, trying hard not to breathe on him.
When he got too close, Draco's free hand whipped out and caught hold of the cloak. Harry stumbled backwards in surprise and tripped into a chair. His cloak, caught in Draco firm grip, slid off him. Harry sat crumpled in the squishy chair gapping up at Draco, who held Harry's cloak tight in his fist, looking triumphant and smug.
"Sorry, Harry. No black mail for you," he said with a smirk.
"Aw, why not?" Harry whined. "I bet you have loads on me…"
Draco snickered then doubled over with laughter. Harry stared at him in alarm and growing worry. Harry started to think Draco had cracked and lost it when Draco knelt on the floor, clutching his sides with the cloak draped over his thighs. It took several moments for him to calm down enough to get in a few gasps of breath.
"What are you laughing at?" Harry said.
"You!" Draco gasped between his laughter.
"Me? What's so funny about me?!"
"It's you and you're 'starving puppy' face," Draco said, threatening to start up again.
"I do no look like a starving puppy!" Harry snapped, starting to pout again. Draco shriek with uncontrollable laughter again when he caught a glimpse, tears rolling down his checks. "Damn it, Malfoy, you said you wouldn't laugh at me again!"
"I said there was no guarantee!" Draco said after catching his breath and pulling himself into a chair. "Besides, I'm not making fun of you. You're just too cute."
"Gah!" Harry scowled at Draco. "I don't want to be cute! I wanna be manly!"
"Yeah? Good luck with that," Draco said with a small chuckle. "I'm no where near manly, and yet, we are supposedly the hottest guys in the school."
"Really? Oh yeah, Ginny and Hermione talked about that. But how would they know?"
"Perhaps all the girls have banded together to decide such things," Draco said, putting his fingers tip together as if he was contemplating it. "Maybe they have some sort of underground betting ring or something that's centered on the sexist boys of the school."
"They've banded together? Wouldn't that make them some sort of mega fan girl organization?" Harry shuttered fearfully. "That is a very scary thought. You shouldn't joke around about that."
"But think about it. If we are at the top of their organization, their lives are centered one us. We basically rule this place!" Draco said, becoming excited. "We have our own personal army composed of the entire female body of the school."
"An army?!" Harry said skeptically, but he began to grin all the same. "Then what about the professors? Should we start an uprising and lock them in the dungeons?"
"My, what fabulous idea!"
They started planning their uprising and ended up talking for hours. It was just a little over an hour before dawn when they finally left. Suddenly very sleepy, Harry only noticed how tired and weak he was as he forced his legs to drag his body up the stairs to the tower With only the reward of a warm, cozy bed on his mind, Harry conquered one step after another. Finally, Harry flopped onto his mattress.
Wow, I can't believe we actually stayed up so long just to talk, Harry though as he kicked off his shoes and started wiggling out of his pants. We didn't even fight and argue like usual. I wonder, are we really starting to get along? Harry tossed his shirt next to his shoes and pants and sighed, finally able to relax and sleep. His last thought before drifting off was: Are we becoming friends?
When Harry woke up much later that morning, the dormitory was filled with silence. The other boys had gotten up shortly after Harry fell asleep and rushed off to finish their reports. Hermione was sitting by herself reading when Harry entered the common room, so they went to breakfast together. The Gryffindor table was almost completely empty, the Great Hall almost completely deserted. Harry and Hermione kept their voices low as they shared intelligent conversation, but Harry's quiet breakfast didn't last long.
"Morning Mr. Potter!"
Colin and Dennis Creevey suddenly popped up at Harry's elbow, equipped with their usual camera gear. Harry, who was sure he hadn't seen either of the brothers at all that year, promptly choked on his pumpkin juice. The mousy-haired brothers just grinned their matching, cheerful grins at Harry as he coughed and patted his back. Harry glared over his shoulder at the Creevey brothers.
"Hello Colin, Denis. I haven't seen you all year," Harry said darkly, hinting that he preferred it that way.
"Really, you haven't? Excellent," Colin said, his grin broadening into a somewhat malevolent smile. "Our training has paid off."
"Erm, what training?" Harry asked nervously.
"Stealth training!" Dennis squeaked.
"Yep!" Colin said, swelling with pride. "The truth is, we've already gotten loads of pictures of you already! We've had lots of fun tailing you and getting all the good pictures. Lots, and lots of excellent pictures."
"WHAT?" Harry's temper hit the cloud-covered roof. His fingers itched to strangle the boys on the spot. "You-you've been stalking me?!"
"Sorry, boys, but we have class now!" Hermione said, leaping to her feet and dragging Harry out of the doors. "Don't want to be late! Bye!" Hermione kept her firm grip on Harry's arm until they were deep in the dungeons. "Don't be so angry with them, Harry. They're just having a little fun."
"What do you mean? Of course I have every right to be angry! I have tow ninja photographers stalking me and taking pictures of me!" Harry shuddered. "They even hinted they have embarrassing pictures. They have blackmail, loads of blackmail! If I ever gat my hands on those pictures, I'll-!"
Harry's ranting was interrupted by low, dreadful moaning. As they turned the corner, Harry saw the source of the sound gathered in front of their Potions class. Most of the students had a look of trepidation about them that seemed to suck the happiness and light out of the air in the same manner as dementors. They mostly moaned like the living dead, but little mutters of "I've blown in," "This is the end," or "T for Troll" escaped from them every few seconds.
Harry picked out Ron from the dismayed and dismal group and waved a hand in front of his face. Slowly, Ron raised his eyes and looked at Harry blankly before breaking down into dry wails. He threw himself in Harry's arms and wept on his shoulder. Harry looked around awkwardly, but everybody else was too deep in their personal anguish to pay any attention to them. Harry patted Ron's back with uncertainty.
"There, there?" Harry said nervously.
"I'm done for! It's worse that a Troll, it's a negative Troll!" Ron moaned, wiping his runny nose on Harry's robes. Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust but couldn't bring himself to push Ron away.
"It can't be that bad," Harry said, ignoring the glistening snot-spot on his shoulder. "He didn't say the project was going to be worth a lot to our final grade or anything."
"Harry, it is!" Hermione said over the increased volume of Ron's cries. "It's worth a third of our grade."
"What? He never told us that!"
"He failed to mention it in our class, but if you had a partner in another, they should have told you. But you have Malfoy…"
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for that terrible wailing," came and oily voice.
Professor Snape stood in the doorway, staring at Ron with great distaste. Ron lowered his sobs to whimpers immediately and glared back. Thus satisfied, Snape beckoned his students into the room, and Harry swore he saw a twinkle in his eyes as he looked down on the broken students. Snape swept into the room after the last student shuffled through the doorway and pointed to the clear corner of his desk.
"Turn in your reports now. There will be no late work," he said. Harry swore he heard the glee in his voice as the class groaned again.
Draco, Harry, and Hermione happily placed their completed reports on Snape's desk. The rest of the class slowly pulled out their reports and shuffled to the front of the class, tossing flimsy pieces of parchment, some defiantly less than a foot long, onto the three extra long reports. One student put a little square piece of parchment- a plea note by the looks of it-onto their short report. Snape quickly tossed it into the fire, and the student burst into tears.
For the rest of the class, the students were covered by a dark cloud as they worked on (which means destroyed) their potions. Ron's depressed mood continued all through Divinations, and when lunch came by, he skipped eating all together and went to mope alone in the tower. Hermione inhaled her lunch at lightning speeded and bolted for the library for something she claimed she had to study. For all but five minutes, Harry was alone for his two hour lunch break.
Without anybody to talk to, Harry simply wandered around the castle, which was starting to become a routine. He usually took the time to wander when he needed time to think alone. As he walked down silent corridors and pass noisy classrooms, and his mind skipped to the Creevey brothers. He remembered the confession of their new found ninja skills, and hoped to god they weren't around to take pictures of all the embarrassing things he did that year. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering where they were at that very moment.
The hairs on the back on Harry's neck prickled. Harry stopped and stood still as he recognized the unmistakable feeling of being watched. His first thought was one of the Creevey brothers were following him. Then a strange, unearthly sound moved through they air, too soft and wispy to be heard over his own footsteps. That sound, Harry thought. Where have I heard it before?
He remembered. It was when he was walking alone in the hallways a week or so ago. Before, Ron had distracted him from it and he chalked it up to his imagination. Harry spun around and stared down the hallway. The corridor was lined with doors that led to empty classrooms. There was no one around, but Harry was sure that whatever made the sound was the thing that was watching him. The strange voice that drifted around him in an inhuman manner made him shudder.
"Oh! H-hello sir."
Harry blinked and turned around. Jared Higgins was standing at the corner peaking nervously around the stone wall. Everything about the boy's posture screamed his timid shyness. His brown eyes were down cast as Jared was staring down at his feet. He stood with his toes pointed inward and he was wringing his robes in his hands nervously. Jared glanced up at Harry, the looked quickly back down at his feet.
"Hello," Harry said. He glanced one last time down the empty corridor, but the voice had disappeared. Harry turned his attention to Jared and tried to act causal. "Are you going somewhere?"
"Um, no sir," Jared mumbled.
"Don't call me sir," Harry said, a tad too forceful, causing Jared to jump. "I mean, you don't have to. You can just call me Harry."
"O-okay s-…Harry."
"Yeah, that's fine. What are you doing?"
"I was just-well to say I was-" Jared stammered. His eyes darted around nervously to avoid looking at Harry as he struggled to find the words to say. "I'm just walking around. I have no one to spent time with today."
"Well, let's walk together then. No one wants to be with me either."
"Oh! But I couldn't…I couldn't impose myself-! It wouldn't be-!"
"Impose yourself?" Harry said. He chuckled at Jared as he became increasingly flustered. "Don't worry about. Let's just walk together, since our friends are too busy for us. Let's get to know each other."
Harry liked the boy. Jared was extremely shy and polite, always worried about getting in the others way and "imposing himself" on them. He was a small thing, as short as, if not shorter than, Harry and his soft voice was pleasing to the ears. To Harry, he was as interesting and mysterious as he was shy, because nobody knew a thing about him.
Harry grabbed Jared's hand and tugged him gently down the hall. The timid boy protested as best as he could, but he eventually gave in. Harry led Jared through the halls and chatted away, happily trying to pry Jared out of his shell. Along the way, Jared became just a little less timid, and Harry was rewarded with full, comprehensible sentences.
While Harry talked with Jared, the eerie voice spoke to him in the back of his mind.
Harry: Oh yeah, voices. I almost forgot about them...
Draco: How do you forget voices in your head that never shut up?
Harry: Meh, you learn to ignore them. I guess I didn't realize they really left me for a while...
Trinity: And now their back!
Harry: (grumbles) Oh joy...
