Chapter Six: "two persons"
Cursing his clumsiness, Harry picked himself off the ground, straightening his robes meticulously before acknowledging Malfoy. The blond raised an eyebrow and watched him curiously. Potter was taking a bit too long fussing over his robes, though, Draco couldn't remember Potter ever straightening his robes. Who knows how long this could take.
"Potter?" Draco said incredulously. "Were you using your head to knock on the door?" Harry stopped fussing and looked at him haughtily.
"Of course not! I hadn't expected the door to open at all seeing as how I couldn't get in before. What is this room and what are you doing in here anyway?" Harry said trying to sound authoritative. Draco was unimpressed and he took a moment to study the Boy Who Lived to ruin his day. Potter looked nervous, as if Snape had just announced a pop quiz and he had forgotten his quill. Interesting he thought taking a mental note.
"This place, Potter, is where I plot all sorts of evil and mischief. How to rid the world of Gryffindor and the like. Would you like to see my current project or perhaps stupefy me then drag me to the Headmaster's office?" Harry looked startled by the answer and the smirk on Draco's face. Maybe Malfoy had cracked under all the pressure?
"What? That's not… what I meant was what is all this stuff? But now that you mention it, I suppose I should ask you the same question. You want to show me you evil plot or should I drag you to Dumbledore's office?" Draco shrugged and walked away from the entry.
"It's all the same to me." He said motioning for Harry to follow him. Harry did so reluctantly and tried to keep him eyes on the exit should he need to sprint. "This is just a room of forgotten things, most of which should never have made it into Hogwarts. It serves as a very good place to scheme away from prying eyes.
"Oh, you must be in heaven," Harry quipped. Draco stopped and looked at him intensely for a moment.
"More like guarding the gates of hell." He said off handedly. "So what do you want anyway Potter."
"I want you to let us help you and your Mother." Harry said quickly before he lost his nerve. Draco's face remained intense with a look Harry could not interpret. After a moment, Harry was not sure whether or not Malfoy understood him so he decided to expound. "I thought about what happened this morning; actually I couldn't get it out of my head and Snape had a few things to say to me after you left." At that Draco's head snapped up and his face flushed.
"Snape! Snape was there?! Damn it!"He ran his hand through his hair and began to pace. Not good! Not good! Not good! He chanted in his head.
Harry mentally kicked himself for mentioning Snape. Smooth Harry. Real smooth.
"Look I know you're cross but I didn't know he was 'lurking' until after you left. Snape is just looking out for you! He wants to help and so does Dumbledore. I do too." Draco shook his head.
"He's a Death Eater spy and he wants all the 'glory' of killing the old coot himself. The headmaster is a fool to trust him," Harry had to agree to a point. He was still weary of the potions professor but he could push that aside for now.
He walked away from Potter heading over to the broken chase lounge and plopped down on it. Harry heard him mumble something but couldn't make it out seeing as Malfoy's hands were covering his face. Not knowing what else to do Harry followed him and waited.
Draco's emotions had now run away with his sanity twice in one day. He was so angry that Snape had witnessed him crying and confessing to Potter. He's going to tell the Dark Lord. That's it! Mother's not going to live through the night. I failed. This day was officially the worst day of his life. He was almost glad there wouldn't be too many of these days left. Almost.
No soon did those pessimistic thoughts cross his mind, and then his Slytherin instincts kicked in. Dumbledore wanted to help? What does that mean? Get clarification!
"What does Dumbledore know?" Draco groaned, not looking at Potter.
"Well, he knows about your mission," Swallowing hard he told Draco about the conversation he had previously with the headmaster. Draco took several deep breaths before looking up at Potter.
"What did Snape say after I left?" He asked. Harry hadn't expected the questions to head in that direction. He picked up a footstool and set it in front of Malfoy, who gave him a slightly puzzled look.
"He confirmed that in the past I have a prejudice, hypocritical arse and in doing so I robbed myself of potential allies. I made enemies of people I never made an effort to get to know. That was the jyst of it. I was young and I know that some things couldn't have been different, but a lot of things might have been." The blond stared at for a while.
"Merlin, Potter. Between sneaking up on me in the loo, your apologies and mature self assessments, one would think you are trying kill me with shock. What have you done with Scarhead?" Draco teased shaking his head. Harry let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding when he noticed Malfoy scratching his left forearm.
"I don't know if you believe you have a choice. So I wanted you to know, you don't have to do this." Harry finished. Draco looked away from him, running his hand through his silky blond hair again. His face was flushed with emotions Harry couldn't read.
"Look Potter, I told you this morning. There is nothing you can do for me. I appreciate your attempt to be my knight in shining armor, but frankly unless you're riding in on one really pissed of Griffin, there is no chance of saving the damsel in distress." He finished pointedly.
"Malfoy did you just call yourself a damsel in distress?"
"Of course not!" Draco snorted."I was referring to my mother!"
"Right, I knew that," Harry sighed. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. Ten point to Gryffindor for recognizing the blatantly obvious! Wait a minute, he thought. As if I had forgotten everything I ever learned about my favorite Slytherin. Time for a new tactic.
"So what is your plan to save her, since we are apparently short one pissed off Griffin?" Harry asked with a smirk of his own set in place. Draco cringed at the question. Seeing Potter so smug gave him the sudden urge to go for his wand.
"Honestly Potter, smirking doesn't suit you." He said turning away.
"You didn't answer my question, Malfoy. Your Mum is at the mercy of that maniac and you are turning down a chance to save her. So I ask you, how are you going to save her?" Harry questioned.
Harry could almost feel the room go cold. Malfoy whipped around, wand out pointing it directly at Harry. His eyes were a stormy grey color that Harry had never seen. It sent a chill down Harry's spine. He fingered his own wand at his side.
"My mother is none of your concern. I think you should go Potter. Worry about your own problems." His voice was low and cold, emotionless. Harry stood firm against it. He knew that when backed into a corner a Slytherin would strike out.
"Sorry Malfoy, I can't do that. I need to know how you are going to save your mother. I notice she hasn't sent you any packages of foreign chocolates lately. Do you think she's well? When was the last time you spoke with her?" Draco's face gave nothing away but the lamp on the side table behind him exploded. There we go, now we're getting somewhere! Harry thought triumphantly.
"Damn it Potter! You have no right to meddling in my business! What gives you the right to ask for help for me? I don't need your help!" Draco yelled.
"You need someone's help! Voldemort is going to try to kill your Mum and you're too scared to ask for help from the one person who He's afraid of!" He yelled back stepping closer to the enraged boy, pushing aside the wand pointed at him.
"I will not hide behind your skirt just because you're the bloody Chosen One!" he said pushing Potter against a book case, pinning the smaller boy there by his shoulders.
"I was talking about Dumbledore, not me you prat!" Harry said finally grabbing Malfoy's wrists. He could feel the torque under his hand through his robes. Draco saw this. Immediately he released his grip and tried to pull away but Harry wouldn't let him. The blonde's face had turned from anger to fearful and pleading. Something in Harry's stomach clenched at that and made him want to ensure he would never see his face like that again. He loosened his grip on Draco's wrists but did not let go.
"Just listen to me for a minute, please." He said just above a whisper. Draco lowered his eyes to the floor but nodded. "I don't what exactly Dumbledore can do for you, I don't know if we can fix this mess or get this thing off your arm, but I know that I want to try. There has to be something we can do. The headmaster knew I was coming to find you and I don't think he would have let me leave his office with false hope. He wants to help you Malfoy. So does Snape." Draco gave him a skeptical look.
"Look I know it doesn't make sense but Dumbledore knows the Death Eaters think Snape's a spy. Really he is more like a double agent…er, but he's on our side. Not the point. The point is that he trust's Snape." Harry gave a small squeeze to Draco's left wrist that caused him to shiver. "Let us help you and your Mum if we can. And if I have to kill the bastard to save the damsel in distress, then so be it. I am a Gryffindor after all."
Harry puffed up his chest slightly. Draco chuckled. "Please, just trust me." Harry pleaded.
Draco kept his head low but Harry could see fresh tear tracks running down his cheeks. Without a second thought Harry pulled Draco in to a tight embrace with no resistance from his rival. They stayed that way for several minutes. Draco made several attempts to calm down so he could speak without his voice cracking with emotion.
"I …I don't think...I can," he answered quietly, trying to hold back from sobbing in front of Potter twice in one day. He felt totally exposed and vulnerable being held by Potter. It was a far too intense feeling.
"If you don't, I'll just stupefy you and drag you up to the Headmaster's office," Harry teased trying to lighten his spirits. Draco smirked and pulled away from Harry.
"You might want to start there and work out the details as you go," Harry chuckled softly. He watched Draco retrieve an old book from the broken chase lounge across the room.
"I don't want pity or to be saved like a bloody girl. I don't want anyone to know about our deflecting because I don't want my motives to always be in question by idiots I couldn't care less for. I want to help and I want to be involved in what happens to me and Mother. I have to take care of her now. There is no telling if and when Father will be coming home." He said as he turned back to Harry.
"I don't think that's too much to ask for. I can't speak for Dumbledore or Snape, but for you and me, I don't see why we can't start from scratch. We don't have to be the people we were."
Draco nodded. He took a deep breath, clutching the book and gave Harry another intense look. He handed the book to him. Harry briefly wondered what the looks meant then glanced at the text. Illustrations of Immortality by Mary GrandPre .
"What's this?" Harry asked.
hpdm
A/N: Okay not a long note. It has to do with the chapter titles. I hate titling stories. In my own documents they are labeled totally differently like this story was originally called "Why my husband is a homosexual gamer" (he is by the way, I'm just waiting for him to come out). When I had to fill out the line labeled 'title' it just didn't seem to go with the story. My point, I named this "Invitation Will Follow" because I had a 'save the date' for my cousin's wedding on my desk (red and gold colors). Hence most of the chapters have wedding invitation phrases. By the way…Nathan, if you're reading this know that I thought of you while writing a slash story… mauhahahaha!!
Sorry for that bit of randomness. Any who, for those of you who didn't know I copied you a little something:
"The California Senate has approved a plan to replace "man and woman" in state references to marriage with "two persons," establishing a same-sex marriage procedure in the state that just seven years ago voted to limit marriage to one man and one woman.
The bill now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his signature or veto. He has given ambiguous signals about his support for the latest proposal, but earlier vetoed a similar proposal."
Yeah!! Exciting times folks! So this chapter is dedicated to everyone who had to wait this long to come this far!
ps(I almost called it Queerly Beloved, but I think maybe I will keep that one up my sleeve.)
To the Christians who are going to flame me for this:
1 John 4:16 (did you read your Bible today?)
"God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."