Notes: I know, I know...I'm a terrible person...but it's not my fault! Like you may have known, I was going to my cousins house for the weekend...oh...two weeks ago... my cousins who don't have a computer! (which is a very sad thing, i know) Now, I was planning to be there for three days, and then come home and update by Wednesday! Then, on Sunday, my mother breaks it to me that we're actually staying for two more weeks! And I of course, didn't have a computer, there (well I did for a little while when my Dad brought up his laptop, but not for long enough to write a chapter D: ) so I couldn't update or inform anyone that I would be taking longer...but now I'm back at my house with my lovely, albeit very annoying, computer! I finished this as quickly as I could, and I'm not very pleased with the chapter. This is one that I'll definitely be editing a lot when i go back to edit everything! Sorry it's kind of bad, the next chapter should be better! I'm not lying now, I literally have a whole ton of plot stuff coming up! Like, a lot!
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Harry Potter xD
Keep your friends
close, and your
enemies closer
-Sun Tzu, Chinese General and Military Strategist
(This doesn't REALLY match the chapter, but my friend suggested it, and I owe her, so... xD)
Chapter 9: Sworn Enemies No Longer
Deep in the bowels of a dark manor house in Wiltshire, two figures stood in the dying fire light. The taller figure, a thin man masked in the shadows, sat in a throne like chair. His back was straight as he stared down the second figure, a small stumpy man who was cowering below him. The first man leaned against the back of his throne, piercing red eyes staring at the flickering fire only feet away.
"Are you certain, Wormtail?"
The second figure, the cowerer, flinched as the slippery voice met his ears, asking a question. The answer to this question could spell doom or praise for the accursed Wormtail.
"Positively, my Lord. Your spy confirms it, the girl has returned, she is in hiding no longer. And what's more, she is a Slytherin, best friend to Lucius's boy."
The man in the high-back chair seemed to smirk, his thin lips curling back to reveal sharp teeth.
"This is excellent news, Wormtail. Perhaps, she can be persuaded to join our cause. Tell Lucius to send a message to his son, Elizabeth will be mine!"
Wormtail cowered once more as his master's voice echoed throughout the dungeon room, cruel and venomous like the snake wrapping around the arms of his chair. Then the cowardly, cockroach of a man bowed low to the ground.
"It shall be done, my Lord."
Wormtail jumped to his feet, and with another hurried bow, fled the room in search of Lucius Malfoy. The man, who most know as Voldemort or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, stared into the fire, his ruby red eyes darkening in evil expectation. With a flick of his wand, the flames in the fireplace died, and he was left in darkness.
He turned to his snake in the dark, stroking her head lovingly.
"How will poor Potter react when I turn his dear sister against him, hmmm Nagini? I will do everything in my power to get her on my side, by force or not. With her and the Malfoy boy, I believe we have the leaders of our next generation of Death Eaters."
He laughed, loud and cruel, his hand still petting the snake.
"I will win this war Nagini, I'm sure of it."
Elizabeth sat upright in her bed, eyes wide. She glanced around hurriedly, as if wondering where she was, before bringing a hand up to scratch the back of her neck where small hairs were standing upright.
She had just awoken from an intense dream, that she was sure of. The contents of that dream, however, were as clear as trying to see the bottom of a pool of muddy water. So basically, she had no idea what she had dreamed about.
Aggravated at the information that she just couldn't grasp, Elizabeth pushed her silk sheets aside, and placed her feet on the cool dungeon floor. Realization of yesterday's events came hurtling from her memory and she stumbled, falling to one knee on the floor. She stared at the carpet, eyes flicking side to side, as if she would find some kind of escape in the fine thread below her. Finding nothing, she stood with a loud grumble and started rummaging through her trunk.
"Go back to sleep, it's 4 a.m!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked from the other side of the room while Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrass grunted their disapproval of Elizabeth's morning wander. Elizabeth ignored them, grabbed up her clothes, and moved into the bathroom to change, rolling her eyes at their glares as she went.
When she first entered the common room it appeared to be empty, but on second glance she noticed a shock of white-blond hair peeking up over one of the chairs facing the abnormally cold fireplace. She shook her head at Draco's choice of seating, before sliding to stand behind him.
"Are you nervous?"
He didn't appear to have heard her at first, but after a moment,
"No. I've been reassuring myself that no matter what happens, it isn't actually my fault."
She pouted and leaned farther over to poke his head.
"I said I was sorry about that, really, really sorry! You're not still mad at me are you?"
He spun around slightly, looking up at her over his shoulder, and she felt herself melt a little like she always did when he stared at her like that, with those eyes...His expressions morphed to a smirk and he tugged on a lock of her hair.
"Nothing to worry about, Lizzy, I'm just pulling your leg. I'm just gonna face the day like it's any other, regular day."
"But it's not any other, regular day."
He turned away from her, his silver eyes staring at the heatless fire. He did this often; she wondered why.
"I know, but I'm trying to forget that."
Elizabeth moved around the side of the chair and sat beside him on the floor, reaching up to clasp her hand with his.
"Whatever happens, you'll always have me."
"I know."
Once again, there was more that could have been said. Elizabeth knew that truthfully Draco was worried about the outcome of Elizabeth's actions. If Harry didn't believe her words he might make a giant scene about how she and Draco were liars or confront them both in public. But if Harry did believe her, he might do something that would show Lucius Malfoy that his son was a "traitor," which would have terrible consequences for Draco.
She tightened her grip on his hand and stared into the fire. Now she knew why Draco did this so often. The flickering flames were weirdly calming, and the lack of heat kept her mind sharp so that she could zone in on precise thoughts. Before she knew it, though, the clock was chiming seven o'clock and it was time for them to make their way down to breakfast.
Neither said a word as the exited the common room, but as the wall slid open to let them through, Elizabeth shot a glance at Draco and he met it with a half-hearted grin.
By breakfast, the complete reality had finally sunk in for Elizabeth: Harry's actions throughout the day would spell out the fates for both Draco and herself. She had decided that she would watch him like a hawk; every movement would be documented so that hopefully before nightfall, she would know whether or not Harry had decided to believe her.
He had walked into the great hall with both Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, but upon reaching the Gryffindor table, they had parted. Ron went to sit with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, while Harry and Hermione sat next to Ginny and the other Weasleys. The latter half of the Golden Trio immediately fell into a deep, and seemingly hurried conversation, occasionally glancing over toward her and Draco, confirming Elizabeth's theory that they were the subject of Harry and Hermione's conversation. Hermione and Harry were still following this pattern at 8 o'clock but Elizabeth had no clues as to what Harry had decided.
She turned back to her plate of eggs and sausage, content to push the food around on the plate, all plans to watch Harry constantly completely forgotten. A moment later she felt Draco stiffen beside her. Glancing up just as a shadow fell over her food she came face to face with a stony faced Harry Potter. He was staring at Draco with his harsh expression, but she swore that she saw him wink at her out of the corner of his eye.
Draco spun in his seat, rotating so that he was sitting facing Harry directly. The entire room stopped what it was doing to watch the two arch rivals and see what would happen next.
"Potter, what do you want?" Draco sneered. "Can't you see that I'm eating? I don't have time to deal with you and your stupid muggleborn sidekick. Where's the Weasel?"
Harry sneered right back, his eye flicking over the Slytherin Table in disgust. Elizabeth couldn't tell if it was real or fake when it landed on her and Draco.
"Ron didn't agree with me on my decision. I'm tired of fighting childishly with you, it bores me. I'd like to actually enjoy my seventh year without having to worry about you all the time. Don't make a mistake, this doesn't mean we're best friends all of a sudden, but I'd like to make a truce." Harry answered after a moment.
The entire room held it's breath, everyone waiting for Draco's reaction. Said boy was sitting there, his mouth hanging open, as if he had just received a Bludger to the face from one of his own teammates. Suddenly he came back to life.
"Excuse me?" he questioned loudly, his voice filled with disbelief, as if he were waiting for someone to jump out and shout "APRIL FOOLS!" Harry looked amused.
"You heard me Malfoy, Harry Potter wants a truce. A truce in which we will be cordial to each other and cease to hex one another in the hallways anymore. So what do you say?"
Draco looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing and Elizabeth wasn't sure she was fully awake at the moment either. She glanced around the room to see the reactions of the other tables.
The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had gone back to their lunches, not wanting to be involved as was usual, but Elizabeth noticed them glancing over out of the corner of their eyes. They wanted to see what would happen just as much as anyone else.
The Gryffindors were giving Harry shocked looks, all of them obviously wondering what was going through their Boy Wonder's head. Ron was shaking his head back and forth. He leaned over toward Seamus and said something that Elizabeth couldn't hear, which made Seamus then turn to glare at Harry and mouth a single word: "Backstabber!"
Elizabeth turned away from the betrayed looking Gryffindors and instead focused on the staff table. Dumbledore had tears shining in his eyes, but all the other teachers seemed just as shocked as everyone else in the room.
Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief; people were taking it much better than she had thought. She had automatically assumed that there would be lots of shouting involved(if this was the way Harry would go about responding to her story), but now that the moment had come, there was dead silence. Nobody had expected any of this.
Elizabeth returned her gaze to Draco and saw that he was mimicking her motions, scanning the room to see what everyone else thought of the situation. Now his eyes searched the Slytherin table, looking for something. Elizabeth followed his glance and saw that the entire Slytherin table was looking at Draco, their thumbs pointed down, silently pressuring him with an the "DON'T DO IT" in their eyes.
She saw her best friend, the boy she had connected with perfectly and slowly begun to fall for in a little more than a month, begin to break under the pressure. His eyes looked to Blaise desperately, but the Italian shook his head. Elizabeth knew what Blaise was thinking: If you do it, your Dad will know. She knew Blaise was right. The Draco Malfoy that Lucius had raised would never give in to a truce with Harry Potter, never ever in a million years.
Then Draco had turned to her, his silver orbs showing complete resignation. His eyes pleaded with her, and she knew: her next actions would finalize everything. She took a moment to think her decision over, but then smiled at him, all doubts suddenly gone from her mind. She pictured him as his usual proud, joking self and the answer was clear. She nodded. Once. The smile never straying from her face.
Confidence returned to his gaze and he thanked her with the single shimmering flicker in his eyes. Then he turned back to Harry, sticking his hand out.
"I agree, Potter. This childish rivalry is far below both of us, and I'd enjoy my year much more if I didn't have to insult you every time I saw you."
Harry grinned, and it was obvious to Elizabeth that this would most likely be the start of a beautiful, if not awkward and rocky at the beginning, friendship. Harry reached over to grab Draco's outstretched hand and shook it. There was silence for only a minute more as everyone took in the sight before them. Sworn enemies Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, who, up until apparently right now, had scrunched their noses at the mere mention of the others name, were shaking hands and had just agreed to push their rivalry behind them. It was a lot for most to try and take in.
Suddenly a loud but lonely clapping broke the silence and all eyes flicked over to the Staff Table.
Albus Dumbledore was standing, his hand smacking together simultaneously to create a low applause as tears rolled down his cheek. The room watched for a moment before scattered members of the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor tables stood up and began clapping as well. They didn't really seem to know why they were clapping, or really want to, but if the Headmaster was applauding, they would join in as well.
The Great Hall was suddenly filled with the echoing drum beat that is applause and Elizabeth felt like her mouth would break, the noise had her smiling so hard.
Glancing around, Elizabeth saw that other students had joined in on the clapping from their seats. Not wanting to be one of them, Elizabeth stood abruptly and clapped like her life depended on it. As she did this she noted that she was the only one clapping at the Slytherin table, unless you counted Blaise who was patting his hands together lightly, as was his duty as Head Boy, while still shaking his head.
Ignoring the lack of acceptance from her house, Elizabeth continued to applaud with most of the rest of the room until a moment later when Dumbledore quieted the room with a single raised hand.
"That was an excellent show of House Unity. Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, if you two would meet me in my office at precisely 8:30 tonight, I would be ever so pleased. Now students, you may return to your meals. I'd hurry up, you only have so long until classes start."
The hall quieted as the uproar from before faded and students became interested in their breakfast once more. Harry sent a small smile in Elizabeth's direction before going back to the Gryffindor table with Hermione. The pair looked at Ron(who, Elizabeth noted, had not clapped at all) with pleading glances, but he ignored them, choosing to talk with Lavender Brown instead. Elizabeth took this moment to spin completely in her seat so that she was facing a still slightly shell-shocked looking Draco Malfoy.
She knew that he was now reveling in the fact that he and Harry Potter had just made a truce. A truce that "Draco Malfoy" would never make. She was sure that he was dreading the owl, or worse, visit, from his father that would no doubt come within the next few days.
Allowing her features to betray none of her own worry, excitement, nervousness, elation, confusion, and dread, Elizabeth reached over and pulled him into a tight hug, murmuring quietly that everything would work out right in the end, cause she would be there to help him.
Up at the staff table, Albus Dumbledore was watching the pair, his eyes twinkling in delight. Beside him, Minerva McGonagal dropped her fork onto her plate with a small clang. Leaning towards Dumbledore, she hissed, "Albus, should you really be letting Elizabeth get close to that boy? I know what we just witnessed, but is it really smart? With that to think about?"
Dumbledore glanced at the Transfiguration professor sadly.
"I know what you're thinking, Minerva. It is cruel of me to allow a love to be born that will only result in death and suffering, but we must go through with our plans for Mr. Malfoy. It is critical if we want the future of the Wizarding World to be bright. Elizabeth will be good for him in his darkest times, and I believe that those two can overcome the hardships that will come to them. I have to believe, for their own sakes. That is actually what I plan to discuss with Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter this evening, along with the reasons behind their wonderful act just now."
Minerva looked confused.
"Act? Does that mean they haven't really made a truce?"
Dumbledore chuckled.
"Oh, they have made a truce, but not for the reasons they spoke of just now. You will understand soon my dear, but for now, we must watch and wait."
Elizabeth didn't get a chance to talk with Draco alone until after lunch when they both had a free spent five precious minutes searching for him, but finally found him sitting alone on the shore's of the Black Lake, staring into the dark waters.
She briefly wondered what it was with him and staring into things, but swept the thought aside and sat down beside him quietly. She knew he had registered her presence, he always did, but respected his need for silence when he didn't immediately greet her. He continued to observe the gently lapping waters for while, obviously contemplating something or other.
Elizabeth was content to just sit beside him and leave him to his thoughts, basking in the warmth of his presence. She knew that he needed time to ponder all the things that could come of today's events, and she wouldn't bother him until he was ready to speak.
When he finally spoke, it wasn't what she had been expecting.
"I've always loved this lake. Some of my best memories of Hogwarts from before you came consist of me simply sitting here, lost in the constant movement of the waves."
Taken aback by the arbitrary statement, Elizabeth had to catch herself and think over her response before actually speaking. She peered at the lake, watched as the resident Giant Squid raised a single tentacle, as if waving, before pulling the tentacle back, causing the waves washing against the shore to come up just a little bit farther.
"It seems like a great place for thinking."
He laughed without humor, his eyes lowering to the rocky sand below them.
"Yeah, a great place for thinking. Or for escaping. We have a pond in the woods behind our Manor House in Wiltshire. I don't have access to all of it because of the protective wards my father has put up, but there's one point on the Western edge where it's impossible to be seen from the house. It's like my sanctuary."
Elizabeth took in his words with a sad smile.
"Maybe, if all this terror from your father and Voldemort ever settles down, you can show me some day."
Draco nodded, though Elizabeth could tell his mind wasn't completely in their conversation at the moment. He was thinking about something else, something that was troubling him.
Knowing that he probably wouldn't say anything to bring up the things they really needed to converse about, Elizabeth cleared her throat, causing Draco to glance over at her with more attention than before.
"Do you think what happened at breakfast was good or bad?"
Draco shrugged slightly, his shoulders sagging as he realized that he couldn't back out of this conversation.
"In some ways it's good. Your brother has chosen to believe that I don't wish to be one of Voldemorts followers and having a truce with him will allow me to be more of myself around everybody..."
Elizabeth bit her lip, trying to decide whether or not she should reply to that the way she wanted to. She had added another phase to her overall Hogwarts unity plan, and she knew that to suggest it to Draco was a terrible idea(as he would probably say no before she even finished explaining it to him), but hoped that he would trust her seeing as all her other plans had worked out...in one way or another.
"...Though in others it's bad because obviously someone is bound to tell Father."
Here was her cue to begin the persuasion.
"Then we might as well go the whole nine yards."
He looked at her strangely, and she grinned at him. A whole speech was building up in her mind, and she was going to get it out.
"Well you said that the truce is a good thing because you can be more of yourself around everybody, but if your father's just going to find out your a traitor anyways, why not be your entire self!"
"I don't think I like what you're suggesting..."
She groaned in annoyance, here came the refusal. She wasn't going to have any of that, so before he could continue, she shushed him with a hand over his mouth.
"Shut up for a second and let me finish. Now, think about it for a second. You and Harry made it look like you were only doing the truce because you were tired of fighting with each other, and I'm sure almost everyone at this school thought that was why you're making the truce. But when your dad finds out, he'll know that's not why you're doing it! The son he thought he raised would never truce with Harry Potter! He'll know that you've "betrayed" him and switched to the light side. So what is the point in still pretending to be someone you're not if Lucius is still going to know!"
Draco seemed to be considering the idea and Elizabeth grinned. A few minutes longer and she would have him hooked like a drug addict.
"Think of the possibilities! You don't have to be the nasty, pompous, Slytherin ass anymore! You can be the Draco that I know! The Draco that has come to be my best friend!"
His face lit up at the prospect of revealing the real him, but then his expression fell again.
"There's a few problems with your plan though, people will never believe that I've just changed completely!"
Elizabeth waggled her finger at him.
"Don't you think I've thought of that? We don't do it right away, we build up to it! We wait a couple days, having you and Harry acting civil around each other, and then maybe a week from now, you, me, and Blaise will go over and ask to sit with Harry's group at lunch! We'll have to continue acting for that lunch, and make it seem like we're just doing it to try and show that we can put up with each other...but then we can make it seem as if we found a common interest conversation and then it just progresses from there!"
Draco shook his head at her, but his lips were upturned in a wide smile.
"Have you even talked this plan through with anyone else?"
Elizabeth pretended to think it over for a moment before she grinned and answered, "Nope~"
Draco rolled his eyes and glanced up at the castle where they could just barely make out the large clock(1).
"Free period is over in half an hour, is there anyone we can go talk to now?"
"I always see Ginny and Luna on my way to our Charms class. They won't mind if I make them a tad late for Divination by talking with them for a moment. And Blaise shouldn't be too hard since he sis next to us in Charms; We can talk to him this afternoon. Oh! You can talk to Harry tonight when you go meet with Dumbledore! You'll have to ask him to talk to Hermione if he says yes..."
Draco chuckled slightly, then put a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder to stop her before she started a long rant.
"Lizzy! Take a breath, will you?"
She smiled at him softly, thanking him with her eyes.
"Sorry, I'm just getting really into it! I know it will work!"
"As strange as it is to say this, I think you might be right. This plan seems like it could come through in the end."
A thought seemed to cross his mind, because his head snapped up to look at something far away and his eyes filled with worry.
"What about Father. He's going to go insane when he finds out."
Elizabeth put a finger to her chin and moved into a cross legged position to think of a solution.
"Well...Hogwarts is probably the safest place for you right now. You'll have to talk to Dumbledore about that too tonight. I'm sure he'll understand...Or better yet, tell him about the whole plan! We'll have to see if Ginny, Luna, and Blaise are willing to do it...But if they are, and Harry is-which I'm sure he will be-you should tell Dumbledore! It'll be good to have a teacher that knows what's going on! In fact, maybe we should tell someone else too...who do you think we-"
She was cut off as Draco suddenly reached over and pulled her into a tight hug. She stuttered for a moment, surprised at the action, but her gaze softened as he spoke.
"Thank you, for everything. For telling Harry Potter my secret even though I told you not to, for figuring out a solution to all these problems, and for being the best friend I've ever had."
She struggled slightly against his arms to place her hand on his back in a caring gesture. She let the moment stay as it was, knowing that it could be one of few if her growing feelings were one sided.
"You're welcome Draco," she murmured quietly.
They stayed that way on the shore of the lake until the bell tolled, signaling that it was time to return to classes. Elizabeth felt excitement building in her stomach and she and Draco made their way through the halls toward Charms. It was time to really put her plan in action.
1: I don't think they can actually see the clock from the shores of the lake, but we'll pretend they can because I say so~
Notes: Hurrah~ Another chapter? Aren't I great? Please don't be angry! I WANTED to update, but I swear I couldn't! -dodges as rotten tomatoes are thrown- So, once again, sorry for the EXTREMELY hurried, and therefore absolutely dreadfully written chapter(I went over it quickly with Spellcheck...but I know a bunch of grammar is screwed up). I'm very ashamed of this chapter, because i know i could have written it much better, but I'm not going to rewrite it now, because I'm super late in updating...Rereading it now, I also rushed the dialogue a bunch...I left out so much that I wanted to include D: Okay, I'll stop there before I rant on and on...Please Review! I'm telling you, reviews DO make me update faster, unless I go somewhere without a computer -_-
Love Snowflake!