A/N: So, just where have I been? Well, it's a little void called waitressing. Yes, that's right. During my absence I was making lousy tips, on my feet 9+ hours at a time (without breaks, people), and generally finding new ways to piss people off in the horrifying world of food service. Now I'm a free woman. The first thing I got around to was getting this chapter out. I apologize for taking so long and can only offer you this advice, never EVER take a job as a food server.

Again, much thanks to my very speedy beta, Clara Minutes.

Chapter Ten

Number Twelve Grimmauld place looked as grimy and desolate as it had been the first time Harry had laid eyes on it. It led him to wonder if there wasn't some sort of curse over the place. One pertaining to dirt and filth and the general aura of gloom that washed over its visitors as they forced the door open and did their best to make themselves at home. It was this initial malaise that left him ill-prepared for what they found inside.

"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks slapped him on the back as he and the others trudged their way into the drawing room.

Kreacher seemed to still be at Hogwarts, for which Harry was particularly thankful as he noted the cheery lighting in the room. Each lamp burned soft and steady, making even a place like this feel much more cozy than it had any right to be.

"What's all this then?" Ron was the first to form any sort of response. Some refreshments had been arranged on the table and, from where he stood, Harry was sure he smelled the sweet scent of butterbeer.

Tonks frowned when it became clear that no one planned on returning her initial cheer. "I just thought you lot could use a break. Of course, if you don't want me around… "

"It's not that," Hermione said quickly, managing a puzzled sort of smile as she carried her bag over to the sofa and sat it down. "I'm just… surprised you had the time for something like this."

"Well, the Death Eaters have retreated for the time being and what with all of you being nearby – Tomorrow I'll have to be back at the base." Tonks went to the table, busying herself with filling a hot mug of butterbeer. She did seem to be in better spirits. Harry was pleased to note that her hair was more vibrant than ever, canary-yellow in the lamplight.

"So it was Lupin who told you we would be here?" Harry asked, not entirely against a night to just relax. Even Hermione looked as if she was enjoying the prospect as she accepted the warm mug offered to her.

Tonks pressed a cautionary finger to her lips but gave Harry a knowing smile. "You'll all be perfectly safe here for the time being. You can worry about where to go tomorrow. Maybe I can even talk it over with you before I have to leave. In the meantime-"

The room fell silent and faced Hermione as she choked on her butterbeer and held the mug at a distance as an expression of mild alarm came across her face. "Tonks, I don't think this is…"

For a moment Nymphadora looked puzzled, but a sheepish smile came across her face as she took the mug back from Hermione. "Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten where I brought this from." She took a sip from the mug and her smile widened. "No, I'm not sure you would want this."

"I wouldn't say that yet. Let me taste it." Ron took a mug and filled it a little too eagerly.

Hermione shot him a dirty look, which he only ignored. "Ron, really. What would your mother say?"

"Well," Ron began, taking a drink from the mug, coughing, then taking another, "nothing, because mum's not here. Want some Harry?"

Harry wasn't quite as eager as Ron, but he was curious. Just the same he looked to Tonks first. "Can we?"

Tonks looked a bit torn, clearly not keen on the role of responsible guardian. Harry watched as she seemed to mentally tally up the pros and cons of potentially getting a handful of teenagers drunk. They were close to the drinking age. "Not too much. If you're old enough to strike it out on your own like this, I suppose you're old enough to have a drink or two… But too young for me to have to give out cures for a hangover in the morning!" she added the last bit as she spotted Ron refilling his mug.

Harry tried not to laugh as he crossed the room. He had actually become a little used to the hand on his arm. Malfoy kept pace with him as he led the way to the sofa. He said nothing, but Harry could tell he wasn't exactly pleased with their guest. At the moment, he was oddly silent. Harry wasn't sure what he was trying to accomplish, but then again, he hadn't understood Draco a lot lately.

If Malfoy wanted to be left alone, Tonks wasn't helping matters. She poured several more mugs of butterbeer, looking surprisingly cheerful under the circumstances. "So, Malfoy, you seem to be feeling better."

Hermione passed on the butterbeer, and Harry accepted it instead. "I'm feeling fine," Malfoy said grudgingly, jerking slightly as Harry took his hand. He relaxed somewhat when he realized he was only being handed a mug.

"All of his injuries have healed completely. It's really quite amazing," Hermione said, still frowning at Ron, who was looking as if he was seriously contemplating having another refill once he had finished what was in his hands.

"Your eyes are still bandaged though," Tonks pointed out, settling back in an armchair once she had handed the last mug off to Harry.

When no one said anything, Harry spoke up, "Well, the scars haven't all healed. That'll take more time." Even if magic could be used, it was far too late to heal the scars now. He had a feeling that Draco and the others knew that, but no one said anything more on the subject.

Instead, Tonks slipped her wand from her pocket. "You know," she began, using her free hand to search for something else tucked away somewhere in her clothing, "most Muggles use canes or, ah-"

"A seeing-eye dog," Hermione offered helpfully.

"Right, right, that." Tonks drew her hand back triumphantly, a silver coin held between two fingers. "A dog."

Harry wasn't surprised to hear a slightly offended sniff from Draco, who took a sip of butterbeer rather than responding. He hadn't exactly accepted the fact that he had a handicap yet, much less given much thought towards the matter of compensating for it.

"I thought as much. Well, I didn't have time to get everyone a little something special, but you might appreciate this-Refero Sanus." She flicked her wand at the coin then tucked her wand away. Harry squinted, but still saw nothing remarkable about the glint of silver Tonks palmed before leaning forward in the armchair. "I thought-oh." Tonks closed her eyes and shook her head as if trying to clear it. She quickly placed the coin on the table just next to the refreshments. "Well then, pick it up."

She was speaking to Malfoy and it took him a moment to realize this. "No!" he said quickly, obviously not sure where whatever Tonks had been holding now was, but leaning back on the sofa for good measure anyway.

Harry couldn't blame him. While Tonks hadn't sounded as if holding the item had brought pain, she certainly hadn't seemed comfortable when in contact with the metal. "You pick it up then, Harry."

Hermione beat Harry to the only question on his mind. "What did you do to it?"

"You'll see, pick it up," Tonks urged, her dark eyes twinkling with a mirth Harry could only connect to the sadistic pleasure she was drawing from watching them speculate over the baneful nature of a simple coin. Surely she wouldn't put them in any real harm; though, he was expecting something along the lines of a nasty electrical shock as he picked it up.

Nothing happened. The coin laid in his palm looking as extraordinary as any piece of pocket change can look. He wasn't sure why, but he was the tiniest bit disappointed.

Ron put down his butterbeer long enough to lean forward and get a good look at the coin. When nothing continued to happen he glanced back to Tonks. "Well?"

Harry nearly dropped the coin as the words left Ron's mouth, and quickly spidered their way across the room. The lines they made were invisible, which was one of the many things that was causing Harry's head to spin. The sound traced the table and the plates and bowls sitting there. It outlined the sofa and Hermione and the lounging shape of Tonks in vibrations and noise. This all happened very quickly, yet Harry still had the presence of mind to set the coin down before Ron could say anything else.

"What happened?" he asked eagerly, leaving Harry at a loss for words.

"I don't know," he managed at last. The only thing he could really compare it to was having someone sit behind you and quote a movie as you're in the process of watching it on screen. He wasn't sure that would be helpful.

Hermione picked the coin up when neither Tonks nor Harry attempted to explain. The creak the loveseat made as she settled back down on the cushions seemed to be noise enough to generate the desired effect. "That's interesting." She closed her eyes this time.

"What is it?" Ron was getting impatient now and Harry noticed that Malfoy was leaning forward slightly, sitting a bit straighter.

"It's sort of like… echolocation…?" Hermione glanced to Tonks, who only shrugged and charmed a second coin.

"Here, Malfoy, try it." Tonks handed the second coin to Harry, who quickly passed it on to Draco.

Hermione had since passed the coin to Ron, who, upon realizing what it was the coin did stood from the loveseat. "I don't see how anyone could get used to this," Ron said, closing his eyes and taking a hesitant step forward.

"I never said it wouldn't take practice." Tonks shrugged. "I just thought it would be a nice alternative."

"Now what is it that uses echolocation?" Ron asked, having gained a bit more confidence as he traversed around the room with his eyes closed. "Bats right? Rodents with wings? Well that suits-" But Ron didn't get a chance to finish the sentence as he tripped over an ottoman.

Harry made no attempt to hide the fact that he was laughing, and was somewhat surprised to find that Draco didn't either. "Impressive, Weasley." He stood then, slipping the coin into his pocket and heading for the stairs. "Now, if it's all the same to the rest of you, I'll skip this little party of yours."

"Careful." Harry started to rise as well. Grimmauld Place wasn't somewhere he would have Malfoy, blind or otherwise, wandering around on his own.

Tonks looked disappointed, but shook her head. "It's okay. Second door on the left; that bedroom should be fine."

Suddenly Harry wasn't quite as at ease as he should have been. He watched Malfoy disappear around the corner and felt the urge to follow. This certainly wasn't a rational urge. Draco had gone upstairs to get away from Ron and the others. A visit from his least favorite of the bunch would surely be unwelcome.

"We came here to see if we couldn't find – Oh, Ron, just get up."

"Tomorrow, Hermione. There'll be time to worry about that in the morning. Ron, are you all right?"

Harry put Malfoy to the back of his mind and tried his best to enjoy the occasion. Tonks kept conversation away from the war and Voldemort. Like the rest of them, Harry was sure she was growing weary of all the chaos as well. Despite their surroundings, Ron and Hermione seemed just as at ease. Of course, through it all Hermione ridiculed Ron for becoming increasingly more intoxicated as Tonks mused aloud that she was, "sure Hermione was old enough to drink legally by now."

When the butterbeer was long since room temperature and the cookies were almost all eaten, they made a fire in the hearth and joked, making pleasant conversation. Harry contributed when he felt it was appropriate, but kept an eye on the clock. Eventually, the conversation died down. Ron fell asleep on the sofa – or passed out, Harry wasn't entirely sure – and Hermione began to drift in and out of a waking state before following suit.

As if knowing exactly what was on his mind, Tonks stood and stretched. "It's okay, Harry. You can go check on him if you want," she said warmly, taking a throw from the back of the chair and, carefully, placing it over Ron and Hermione.

"Thanks." Harry began to go upstairs but, as an afterthought picked a napkin up from the table. "For your help, I mean."

The lanterns cast a hazy green glow over Tonks as she rolled her eyes. "Go on, Harry."

Doing his best to hurry things along, Harry lit the end of his wand and climbed the stairs. Second door on the left, he reminded himself, slipping his wand back into his pocket and knocking lightly on the door before opening it. Malfoy appeared to be pacing inside but stopped either at the sound of the door opening or perhaps as an effect of the odd sort of limited vision the coin allowed.

There were several lamps in the room but none of them were lit and the windows were much too dirty to allow much light. Harry could just make out snowflakes on the other side of the foggy glass pane.

"Potter?" Draco didn't sound as if he was particularly happy to have company.

Harry went inside anyway. "How did you know it was me? The coin Tonks gave you, it isn't that powerful is it?"

"Oh, come on. You're the only one who feels the need to stalk me." Harry wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Malfoy smile faintly as he flicked his wand in the direction of one of the lamps.

"That's better." Harry joined Draco at the window once the room was a bit brighter, if only due to one lonely lamp in the corner. "Why didn't you stay downstairs?"

Malfoy shrugged, taking a step forward and, after getting a feel for his surroundings, sat down on the window seat. "I'm not an idiot, Potter, and neither are you. Your friends don't want me around. I don't know why you insist on hanging around me like this. It's not as if I can escape from the second floor, especially without a wand."

That was true enough. Hermione was too polite to say anything negative, but Harry had a feeling she shared Ron's opinion of Malfoy. "I guess but– Did you just say I wasn't an idiot?"

Another smile tugged at Draco's lips. It was a bit more obvious this time. Harry sat down beside him. "Right, well I guess I'll take what I can get." He unfolded the napkin he had brought up with him and nudged Malfoy with his elbow. "Are you hungry?"

Malfoy seemed weary of arguing and merely shrugged. "What do you have?"

"No real food, I'm afraid." He handed Draco one of the cookies and bit into the other as he did his best to look out the frosted window. "I'll check the kitchens tomorrow, or count on Ron to find something. If anyone can…" He wondered if Tonks had put some sort of charm on the bedrooms. Though they were sitting near the window, Harry felt no draft. "Well, does the coin work?"

"Hmm?" Malfoy dusted the crumbs from his hands and reached into his pocket to retrieve the coin. "It'll take a while to get used to, I'm sure. I'd sooner just be able to see again."

Harry did his best to ignore the pang of guilt in his chest. "It's still better than nothing. I'm not sure I could see you with a dog… or trust you with a cane."

Draco smirked again. "I'd settle for my wand," he said quietly, knowing Harry was getting tired of hearing about this.

Harry reached into his pocket, finding the wand beside his own. Surprising even himself, he took Malfoy's wrist and placed the wand in his palm. "I just hope you don't plan on using it until you get a hang of that coin."

At a loss for words, Malfoy only closed his hand around the wand and, after a moment, tucked it away for safe-keeping. "Thanks…"

It was the fact that he hadn't had to fish for the thank you that lifted Harry's spirits the most. All too quickly, the feeling changed to one of embarrassment. He busied himself with wadding the napkin in his hands.

"So," Malfoy began, obviously knowing without seeing that things had suddenly become a lot more tense. "Either this means you trust me, or you don't think I'm much of a threat."

"A little bit of both." Harry was quick to bring an end of a very awkward silence. "I think you've realized there isn't anywhere else you can go right now."

"Unfortunately." Malfoy leaned back against the window frame slowly, making sure his back was actually against wood before relaxing. "So did you get the Horcrux?"

Harry realized he had forgotten to so much as take a look on the shelf and see if it was still there. "I should probably go check, huh?"

"Probably," Malfoy agreed, but not without a bit of sarcasm. His bandaged eyes seemed to follow Harry to the door.

Harry heard a draft on the stairs and hesitated once his hand was on the handle. Malfoy had stood, one hand out as if he intended to stop Harry or at the very least say something. "What is it?" Harry asked, looking back just in time to register the look of alarm that came over Malfoy's face.

"Potter, get away from the door!"

There was little time for Harry to register that the draft on the stairs wasn't a draft at all. He stumbled back in alarm just in time to see the door bow inward. He felt Draco grab him awkwardly from behind as whatever was outside continued to press on the door.

Something told Harry his wand wouldn't be much help. As the door burst open, he quickly put his back to the mist-like darkness pouring in. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco as the thing forced its way between them. He felt Malfoy do the same just as he was pulled away.

Harry suddenly felt weightless as he was thrown through the air and against a wall. The darkness was magic, he knew that now. It pressed against him, pinning him firmly several feet above the bed as it began to fill the entire room. He struggled to spot Malfoy, but the wispy, smoke-like energy surrounding him was simply too thick. It began to swirl and form shapes.

The tendrils of magic traced a round face and the crooked bridge of a nose. Lips of smoke twisted in agony and opened impossibly wide as the mouth became a host of robed figures. Harry had a good idea of what was going on, but had little time to place the images as the darkness dissipated and he fell to the mattress with a bounce and a creak of the boxsprings.

Taking a moment to compose himself, Harry sat up quickly and looked about desperately for Draco. He spotted him quickly enough, pulling himself up from the ground with quite a dazed expression. Confident that Malfoy was all right, Harry hurried to the door, intent on checking on his friends.

Ron and Hermione were there first, both looking frightened and breathless. "Harry, come on!" Ron said quickly, pulling Hermione into the adjacent room.

Harry could see from where he stood that there was still residual magic. Following his friends seemed a bit out of the question. Hermione appeared to gather as much and, as a draft-like noise rushed up the stairs again, both slammed their respective doors.

Locking the door, Harry could feel more mist swirling around his ankles. Startled, he made a run for the bed and jumped onto the mattress once more. He was about to call out to Malfoy when he noticed someone was already under the covers. Any joke he could have cracked at this left his thoughts as the remaining mist began to float upwards.

"I thought you would go with your friends," Malfoy said as Harry scrambled beneath the covers as well.

"I've left you behind a lot this week, have I?" Harry heard the door shudder slightly and gripped Malfoy's arm.

Draco didn't pull away. If anything, he moved a little closer. "What the hell was that?"

"I think… Well, we'll see in the morning, won't we?" Though Harry was relatively sure that they were safe now, he doubted he would get much sleep. Instead he simply lay there, listening to the muffled sounds outside of the sheets. When Malfoy asked no more questions, Harry could only assume he was asleep. With a sidelong glance to Draco, he pushed the covers back a bit and looked around the room.

It appeared that the mist had finally stopped. Harry was thankful to be able to kick off the sheets and took a deep breath of the cool air. Sweat dampened his hair and the skin beneath his clothes, which, he noted, consisted of the outfit he had worn that day.

The bleary light creeping in between patches of frost on the window kept the room lit well enough. He could make out Draco's still sleeping form on the mattress beside him and made a point to remain still as he began to unlace his trainers. Kicking both shoes off the bed, he seriously considered removing his shirt.

"You awake, Potter?" Malfoy moaned, kicking off the covers as well and stretching out languidly on the mattress.

Harry wondered if Draco hadn't had his shirt on before but decided not to dwell on it. "I'm awake," he said, removing his own shirt and lying back down. He watched with faint interest as the scars along Malfoy's torso faded and reached out, tracing the now smooth skin with his fingertips.

Stopping one hand at Draco's hip, Harry reached for his face with his free hand. He began to untie the bandages around Malfoy's eyes, curious to see just how far this miraculous healing had gone. "You look good," Harry said, meeting the light gray eyes gazing up at him.

"Of course I do." Malfoy smirked, moving his arm so that Harry could just make out the lack of a Dark Mark. He moved back as Blaise Zabini leaned over the bed and kissed Draco.

Malfoy seemed a little surprised at first, but brought his hands to his former classmate's bare shoulders as he went along with the kiss. It was this that woke a familiar beast within Harry. He slammed sideways into Blaise, shouldering him roughly out of the way. Adrenaline ran through him as he pressed his lips to Draco's instead. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out Blaise's amused expression, but was too caught up in the moment to truly care.

It was difficult to place just why he couldn't pull himself away. His emotions were carnal and passionate and all rather wild. He couldn't think of a thing that mattered more than quenching this sudden longing.

The mild alarm that was already paired with these emotions, became slightly more pressing when a sharp pain in the ribs was almost immediately followed by a hard, cold, lurch into wakefulness. Harry groaned then coughed as he inhaled a generous layer of dust from the floor. This was, of course, followed by a wince and a general feeling of confusion.

"God, you're disgusting, Potter. If you're going to fantasize about the Weaslette, take it to the bathroom and let me sleep." Draco threw a pillow at Harry for good measure. It hit him in the face with surprising accuracy, and Harry was still a bit out of sorts as he watched Malfoy settle back onto the mattress. Putting his back to Harry, he pulled the remaining pillow over his own head. "If only I was deaf too…"

Between the pain, nausea, and sudden fear, Harry was still trying to sort out his thoughts. "Well," he breathed at last. This could certainly pose a problem.