Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to JKR, anything you don't is mine.
A/N: Thanks to Blizzen and Lady Isabelle Black for the reviews!
This is a nice, long chapter that I feel is actually pretty good. So, if you don't usually, you should definitely review!
After a moment of silence, I stood up to run after Harry.
"Nicole." I looked toward the source of the soothing voice – it was Scarlet. She shook her head slightly at me. "Leave him be, hun. Whether he is or isn't the other spy, he obviously needs some time to himself." I sighed as I slowly sat back down, staring at the door as though waiting for Harry to come back through and be like, "Just kidding! I am the third spy!"
"I think we need to take a break," Dumbledore said suddenly. "Everyone meet back here in an hour, alright?" Everyone nodded and most made to get up. A few people flooed home or to work and a few left the room but stayed within Hogwarts. I sat where I was, still staring at the door. I felt Regulus, Draco, and Severus all staring at me. I turned around and waved them off, telling them I needed to speak to Dumbledore alone. They went to talk to Fabian, Gideon, and Bill Weasley.
Kingsley and Sirius were talking to Dumbledore at the time, so I waited for several minutes until they were finished and went to talk to Mad-Eye and Mr. Weasley. I jumped at the chance before anybody else could.
"Professor – "
"I've told you to call me Albus," he said distractedly, watching Scarlet, Mary, and Lily playing with Daniela, Leah and Parker, who had just been brought in. Daniela must have been babysitting in the other room.
"Albus," I corrected. "Please, tell me –" I lowered my voice, looking around to make sure nobody was listening. They weren't. "Is Harry the third spy or not?" He turned to look at me finally.
"Whether he is or isn't the spy, the third spy will come out when they're ready." He turned to watch Sirius, Remus, and James now. I stepped to the side to block his view – even though he was taller than me, I blocked his gaze enough for him to turn to look at me.
"Look, he's my brother. I won't tell anybody. Just...tell me. Please." He shook his head, smiling ever-so-slightly at me.
"I've already told you that I promised I wouldn't tell. Go talk to Harry yourself if you want to, but I don't break a promise." I sighed angrily.
"Fine," I said snottily. "I will go talk to Harry." I slumped back into a chair at the table. "Accio map!" It didn't take long for the map to fly onto the table. I opened it and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I saw his name almost instantly – he was on the nearest staircase, probably sitting, not moving, sulking. I stood up and walked to the door, looked around to make sure nobody was watching and slipped out at the moment when everybody had their back turned.
I saw him almost instantly. He was sitting with his back to me, hunched over with his face in his hands. I instantly felt bad for yelling at him for lying – he looked like he was under a lot of stress, even if he wasn't the spy – which he so obviously was. I walked slowly and quietly up to him and sat down beside him. He glanced up at me before he looked away, turning his back on me. I noticed he looked about ready to cry – or maybe he was crying. I sighed.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Harry," I muttered, deciding it would be best to start with something other than the third spy issue. "It's just... Worry makes me testy, and I'm worried about tomorrow, is all. Stressed, nervous, apprehensive, scared – "
"You're scared?" He looked up at me, his eyes wide and wet. "You always seem so...so confident. So sure, and ready for everything. So courageous and brave and...unafraid." I laughed humorlessly, shaking my head.
"I can assure you, I'm none of those things. To this day I don't understand how I managed to get into Gryffindor and not Slytherin." He opened his mouth to say something, looking confused, but I interrupted. "I'm not brave. And Slytherin isn't about being cruel, it's about being cunning, and there's no denying that I am cunning."
"I can't believe you think you're not brave," Harry muttered, looking away again. "You march right into Malfoy Manor knowing you may well never come back out because you think it might help somebody. And tomorrow you're just going to show up willingly to watch Voldemort be brought back so Malfoy isn't shown to be a traitor. You're not even afraid of Voldemort himself – "
"Me not afraid of Voldemort?" I sighed and shook my head, smiling slightly from disbelief and looking up at the roof. "Voldemort is honestly my biggest fear. He murdered me, Harry, of course I'm afraid of him. But I've learned from experience that fear gets you nowhere and you have to face your fears or your just...stupid."
"That's what bravery is," Harry said. "Facing your fears. That's what you do, that's what you've always done, even before the real you came. That's why you're so brave, that's why everyone I know, even people who are older than you, look up to you so much." I shrugged. I honestly hadn't known how many people looked up to me.
He looked back up at me finally. "I know you're dying to ask if I'm the third spy." I smiled at him.
"You know me too well." Harry sighed and hesitated before he answered. He swallowed.
"Yeah – yeah, I am the third spy," he said quietly, nodding. "I only denied it because, for a moment, I kinda hoped that it wasn't true. I hoped that I was in some crazy-ass dream. But I'm not." His voice faded slowly as he spoke the last sentence, and I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Harry, you're not being forced into this, are you?"
"No," Harry answered quickly. "Not technically. I guess Dumbledore pulled the same trick on me as he did you. Made me see why it had to be done, why it had to be me – "
"And why, exactly, is that?"
"Because I'm one of the few people who could convince them that I really am on their side," he answered quietly, his eyes averted again. I noticed a silent tear slide out of his left eye slowly. As far back as I could remember, I had never seen Harry cry. Not in this life, at least. I didn't know what to do.
"Harry," I said quietly, setting my hand on his shoulder soothingly. "If you don't want to do this, you don't have to – "
"It's too late," he said, his voice breaking.
"No – "
"Yes it is!" He looked back up at me, more tears running down his cheeks. "I've already been to Malfoy Manor, and..." He paused before he rolled up his left sleeve.
Upon his left forearm blazed the Dark Mark.
I could only stare at it.
"Dumbledore applied the same one you have on a few days ago," Harry said quietly after a few moments of silence. "You were at Malfoy Manor earlier today, right? When Bellatrix was talking to Rosier about the potions?"
I nodded slowly as I continued to stare at his arm, unable to take my eyes off of the green, permanent tattoo.
"Did you see the masked Death Eater?" I finally looked up at him.
"That was you, wasn't it?" His eyes met mine again and he nodded slowly, pulling his sleeve back down. Tears were pouring out of his eyes now.
Never before, in either life, had I felt like the older sibling. But now I did. As I wrapped my arms around his waist, trying to comfort him, I felt myself wanting to cry. I held it in, if only for Harry's sake, and rested the side of my face on his shoulder.
"I...I'm so scared," he said quietly, the fear and sadness evident in his voice. "Tomorrow...they want me to be there. Y'know...when he comes back."
"It'll be okay, Harry," I tried to assure, even though I was about just as scared as him about that, but because I knew I would be tortured and maybe even killed. Although I doubted I would be killed. "I think when he comes back, he'll be focusing more on me, not on you." He looked up at me again, his eyes wet from the tears.
"That's what I'm scared about." I took my head off the side of his shoulder to look at him better. "I read your book, Nicki, no matter how convinced you are that I didn't and I just lied. I know what they did to you, and I know what they can do to you. You're lucky they didn't do some of that to you. I have to agree that it's too much of a risk – but," he added quickly, for he saw me about to protest, "I understand why you feel like you have to because I feel the same exact way. I just...I don't want to see you get hurt. You're my little sister, I'm supposed to protect you, and to not be able to do that...That's what I'm most afraid of." I rested my head on his shoulder again.
"You know I love you, right?" He laughed slightly.
"Yeah, I know. And you know I love you more, right?"
"Nah," I replied. "That's not possible."
"Sure it is." I laughed a little but said no more. I had something I really wanted to say, but I didn't want to hurt Harry. But I decided it was important to tell him...
"Don't get mad when I say this, Harry, but I really think you should tell them. And either today or tomorrow before it happens." Harry sighed, looking up at the ceiling.
"I know," he said quietly. "But I'm afraid of their reactions."
"I was too," I replied just as quietly. "But you have to get it off your chest. If anything, only tell Lily and James." Only a few people, including him and Regulus, knew I still had a habit of calling Mom and Dad Lily and James. "And maybe Remus and Sirius, and Kingsley, and – "
"So basically everybody in there?" I smiled and nodded slowly.
"Basically."
"Well somebody already knows."
"Who? Ron? Hermione?"
"Regulus." I looked at him suddenly, shocked.
"Regulus?"
"Yeah, after I talked to you about how I 'hated' – " As he said "hated" he used his fingers to make air-quotes. "- him just because Mom and Dad seemed to pay more attention to him than me, I took your advice and started talking to him more," he explained slowly. "And one day, I was upset, and everything just sorta...spilled out. He promised not to tell anybody, even – especially – you." I sighed but said nothing more.
"Will you help me if I do it now? Tell them I'm the third spy? " Harry asked suddenly. "You have more influence over them, don't deny it – " I shrugged modestly, though I have to admit that it's true, "- and that's something I could use if I tell them today. And I want to. I need to. So I can get it off my chest and not have to hide something so big."
I sighed. I didn't want to tell him what I really thought, but I knew he needed to hear it, though he wouldn't like it.
"I think," I started slowly and quietly, "that this is something you need to do on your own. I – "
"But Dumbledore did it for you," Harry said, sounding slightly annoyed and very upset...although that could have been left over from earlier still.
"I know, I know," I said, nodding and rubbing his back lightly and soothingly. "But – and don't hold this to me 'cause it comes and it goes – I would have rather done it myself. I didn't realize it until afterward, and even now it's hard to understand exactly why. If it gets too bad, yes, I will help you. But no guarantee that anybody will listen to me, especially Lily."
We sat in silence for another moment before I wrapped my arms around Harry's waist in an embrace again, and he hugged me back. We sat there for a few moments before we pulled back and stood up simultaneously. I looked up at him and rose my eyebrows.
"Ready?" He sighed.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
I lead the way up toward the Room of Requirement.
"When tell them, don't be slow. Just do it quickly, like ripping off a band-aid." I just realized that, since he grew up in the wizarding world this time, he wouldn't know what a band-aid was. I expected him to say something about it, but when he didn't, I turned around. "Harry?"
He was still standing on the stairs. I sighed before I marched slightly angrily back to him, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him after me.
"Don't be a wuss," I said as I passed the wall three times and saw the door. I turned to face him before I opened it and took his hands in mine. "Now, as I was saying, you want to do it quickly. Don't piddle. It'll be easier that way. Just get it over with, okay? And if you don't say it right away, I will, and you don't want me to because I'll say something stupid and embarrassing." I wiped the few tear tracks still left on his cheeks off with my fingers and smiled up at him. "Here we go." I pushed the door open and led the way in.
Everybody turned to stare at us. And I mean everybody. Those who had left had come back already. I assumed it had been nearly the hour we had for break because everybody had taken their seats again except Lily, James, and Dumbledore. Lily and James were probably trying to convince him to use somebody else by using Polyjuice Potion or something crazy like that, but I knew he wouldn't budge.
I waited for Lily and James to take their seats, watching me, and Dumbledore lean his hands onto the edge of his seat before I said loudly. "Harry has something he would like to say." When he stood there blankly I stepped behind him and pushed him forward lightly. I saw him glance nervously around before he bit his bottom lip. While he stood there quietly, I made my way around to my seat beside Draco and Regulus and sat down slowly.
Harry's eyes met mine. He looked desperate, trying to get me to say it. I rose my eyebrows, secretly saying, "Nope, not happening. Do it yourself." Finally, I saw him swallow and close his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he blurted so quickly his words ran together,
"Nickiwasright. I'mthethirdspy." A few people, who didn't understand him, stared at him blankly. But most people understood exactly what he said. From shock, nobody knew what to say, until finally Lily said quietly,
"No." She started shaking her head, looking at the table. "No, that can't be. There must be a mistake. You and Nicole can't both be spies. One of you has got to be lying."
"I'm sorry, Mom, but neither of us are," Harry said. "It's the truth. And...we don't care if you don't want us to, because we both are going to anyway." He looked desperately to me, and I sighed. Here we go again.
"Harry – " James started, but I cut him off.
"Did you ever think that the reason we told you guys was because we wanted you to be supportive? Did you know that neither of us planned on telling you ever? Did you ever wonder if you weren't the only ones that are afraid of what could happen to us undercover?"
"Then why are you doing it?" Lily asked.
"I have to," I said. "Remember? If I don't, Draco will be given away. And we can't let that happen."
"Then why is Harry?" James asked. "Isn't two spies enough?"
"No, two spies are not enough, James," Dumbledore interjected. "We've talked about how after what Nicole did to him last time, and even before that, I have come to the conclusion that it's highly unlikely Voldemort will tell everything to a single person. With two spies pretending to fight their way to be in his top ranks, acting like they hate each other because they both want the same position – which I'm sure will be easy for them to do – " Draco and Harry laughed lightly. I furrowed my eyebrows in thought as Dumbledore continued talking, but I tuned him out.
I suddenly realized that Draco and Harry weren't that different. Both were highly protective of their loved ones, they were both brave and cunning, and smart and care about things more than either cared to admit. Then why didn't get along? Oh right, because Harry was in Gryffindor and Draco was in Slytherin. So, naturally, they have to hate each other.
Well, I was going to change that.
James pulled me out of my sudden inspiration by James saying,
"I understand that you need two spies, and that Nicole needs to do it because otherwise it'll give Draco away, but that doesn't make me any happier about both of my children taking possibly the most dangerous job in the entire world."
"We'll be okay, Dad," Harry said soothingly, sitting down in his seat again. "We'll take care of ourselves, and each other, and Malfoy," he added the last part grudgingly, rolling his eyes, "and I'm sure he'll take care of us too – or at least Nicki – " I saw Draco roll his eyes, but smile at the same time. "We'll be okay, alright?"
"It just worries us," Lily added quietly.
"We know," I agreed just as softly. "It worries us, too. But you have to trust us, alright?" Lily and James sighed, but I saw them both nod slowly.
"Now that we have that all worked out," Kingsley said suddenly, "Can we get down to business before I have to leave soon to go back to work?"
"You know, during break, I was thinking," Tonks said suddenly, "And shouldn't Draco or Harry or Nicole or Severus know where the potion is? They can just go and knock it over, or steal it, or light it on fire or something, right?"
"Don't you think Bellatrix would be smarter than that?" Fabian pointed out.
"She probably has, like, ten Death Eaters guarding it, not counting herself," Gideon agreed with his twin.
"Plus spells on it that prevent that sort of thing from happening," Frank agreed. Tonks sighed.
"Yeah, I suppose you're all right."
Before long, the meeting was called to a close. Before he could slip out, I turned to Draco.
"Want to get a drink with Regulus and I tonight? There's still time before it gets too late." Regulus, who Draco had his back turned to, gave me a weird look, as if asking, "Since when is this going to happen?" I shook my head almost imperceptibly.
"Well," Draco said thoughtfully, "yeah, I suppose that'd be nice."
"Great! Meet you at the Three Broomsticks in half an hour?" He nodded in agreement and left the room. Regulus came up to me when he was gone.
"What just happened?" I was too busy looking for Harry to answer. I found him walking toward the door with Ron and Hermione.
"Hang on, I'll explain in a minute," I said distractedly to Regulus as I quickly ran to catch up with Harry. "Hey, Harry!" He stopped by the door, and Ron and Hermione followed suit. "Hey, would you like to join Regulus and I at the Three Broomsticks in half an hour for a drink just for the hell of it?"
"Well, I suppose, but can Hermione and Ron come?" Harry asked.
"No!" I answered quickly. Hermione and Ron glared at me. I grimaced at my stupidity. I would have to get used to not being stupid. "It's just – you know, some brother-sister and, uh, fiancé bonding time." Harry gave me a weird look but shrugged nonetheless.
"Alright, fine. Half an hour, right?" I nodded. He turned to leave, followed by Hermione and Ron. As they passed, I whispered so only they could hear me,
"Sorry guys, I really just need Harry to be there. No hard feelings, right?" They both nodded, understanding, but only Hermione seemed to mean it. Whatever, I didn't care at the moment.
"So now we're having a drink with Draco and Harry in thirty minutes at the Three Broomsticks?" Regulus asked. I shrugged and smiled mischievously.
"I've gotta plan."
A/N: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review to tell me your opinions! Constructive criticism is appreciated! You can even tell me what you'd like to see happen later in the story if you want. Please review!