Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
...
Harry leaned against the wall close to the entrance to the Grand Hall. Behind him were Hermione and Neville who had come earlier on the Hogwarts Express. When they had arrived they had immediately tracked Harry down to inform him that Draco and his goons had pulled their wands on them on the train. Yet it seemed not a single spell had been fired and Draco had effectively demanded a meeting between himself and Harry that evening.
As a couple of older Hufflepuff students walked past him on the way to dinner, Harry was contemplating just why Draco had instructed to meet in such a public place. When they had duelled (and subsequently lost to Harry) it had been in an isolated corridor that was forbidden for students to be on. Why the corridor was forbidden didn't matter in the slightest but what did matter was the fact that there was little chance that they would have been disturbed there.
Here however they would be in the open. A majority of the students attending Hogwarts were currently located on the other side of the wall he was leaning against. From that alone he believed that there would be no physical or magical contact made. This would be negotiations.
"Here they come," stated Neville.
Taking in a deep breath, Harry's eyes focused down the path before him to see the three Slytherin boys marching towards them. Crabbe and Goyle were lagging that step behind Malfoy which seemed to be the norm before the three of them stopped a handful of feet away from where the trio of Gryffindors were stationed. Several tense moments passed before Draco looked over his shoulder towards where his companions were standing. "Head inside and find a seat, I will join you shortly," he instructed.
Goyle looked as if he wanted to argue but Crabbe knew not to disobey an order and gave him a steady pat on the shoulder as if to reassure Goyle that everything would be alright.
"Hermione, Neville, you can head in," stated Harry keeping his eyes on the blond Slytherin in front of him. "Meet me in my room once you're done."
"Right," said Neville before he and Hermione made their way into the Grand Hall leaving the two first year students alone.
"Shall we walk and talk?" suggested Harry.
"Lead on," said Draco being far more civil than Harry had expected. For nearly a minute the two of them marched through the near empty corridors, the only ones they saw were a couple of fifth year students trying to take advantage of the isolation. Their attention had been that focused on each other that neither paid attention as Draco and Harry walked past.
"I feel like I must warn you Harry," said Draco, Harry hiding his surprise at the fact that Malfoy hadn't called him by his surname. "During the holidays my father took it upon himself to train me. He watched our scuffle on the third floor corridor and felt that I needed to improve. His lessons...were harsh."
"I imagine that's putting it lightly," said Harry, feeling like it was best to be civil in this situation noticing that Malfoy was refusing to look in his direction. He figured like with most of his peers Draco still couldn't associate with him while looking at his disfigured skin and opted not to speak up about it.
"Indeed," said Draco as he came to a stop in the opening to a corridor. Harry walked a few more paces before turning around to face the Slytherin. "My progress however, while decent, was not up to my father's standards."
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Harry.
"He felt as if you need to be taught your place, to know your position in the grand scheme of things," stated Draco, stealing a small glance in Harry's direction before turning his attention elsewhere. "Since my father believed that with my progress over the holidays was insufficient, he sought other methods. My father has enough contacts that he asked a few of his associates with students in the upper years to get what he wants done."
"I see, so what do you want for this information?"
"At this stage, nothing," said Draco with a shrug of his shoulders. "I should hope though that were you to come into any information that may or may not be beneficial to me you wouldn't hesitate to tell me."
"There will always be hesitation," stated Harry, his voice becoming colder with every passing word. "For the past pains you have inflicted upon my friends, I will call us even."
"I suppose that's good enough," said Draco casually. "Part of me was hoping for more but considering our past differences I'll take what I can. Be seeing you around Potter."
With that, Harry found himself alone before he bit at the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out everything that had just been laid down for him. For several moments he pried out everything he could from the brief conversation he had had with Draco before allowing a small smile to trickle over his face.
Draco had actually acted like a Slytherin!
Harry had merely been given the intel that he would be attacked, that was all. No indication of when, where, who or even how many. Heck, there may not even be an attack coming at all and this was merely a ploy to keep him on his toes. He had to give it to the blond-haired boy, he actually came up with a plan. Though such praise was diminished somewhat under the pretense that it probably took the entire festive season to think up said plan provided it wasn't gifted to him by his father.
Regardless though, it didn't change his agenda and as he turned and started heading towards his room, Harry felt it necessary to let Hermione and Neville in on what he and the twins had been up to over the holidays.
...
"Harry, why is there a flying key in a birdcage?" asked Hermione as she spotted the usually inanimate object fluttering around the small confines it was trapped in.
"That is the key that opens the door through a passageway that rests underneath a healthy amount of Devil's Snare which in itself is used as a cushion from the fall from the trapdoor which is protected by a Cerberus. Any questions?" said Harry, a bemused smirk crossing his face with every passing word.
For several seconds both Neville and Hermione stared at him, processing everything that the boy had just said before both bombarded him with questions. Harry calmly put his hands up and told them to slow down and that he would explain everything and he did, from how the Weasley twins had ambushed him one night and taken him on an adventure. He explained how after the first time they went underneath the three-headed beast and subsequently blown up the door they had fled fearing they had triggered an alarm. Then they explained the harrowing process on their second attempt where Fred had mounted the broom and a multitude of the other flying keys that wouldn't grant them access had attacked them. George and Harry had done their best to protect the flying Weasley and it had taken the better part of half an hour for Fred to have found and captured the right key after several failed attempts and a lot of bruises and scratches.
Once in the next room, the three of them had discovered the next task to be a set of Wizard's chess, a game that the three of them had no real skill in. While the Weasley twins brother was quite incredible at the game, none of the three really wanted to bring him into the danger that surrounded them. More for the fact that he probably wouldn't keep his mouth shut and subsequently tell everyone he knew more than anything else. Hence they had retreated and chosen to keep the key necessary to grant them access to the chess room, preventing them from having to go through that harrowing experience once more. Since then, George had been getting his arse handed to him by Ron on a daily basis but his skill in the boardgame was slowly growing.
"So what's at the end?" asked Neville.
"We don't know," answered Harry truthfully.
"Well, Dumbledore did say at the beginning of the year to stay clear of that corridor and it's clear that it is dangerous. But, the fact that two second year students and a first year are able to make their way through as much as they have is pretty astounding," said Hermione before noticing the glance being sent her way. "Don't look at me like that Harry, I know you're not just any first year student."
"On the subject of Dumbledore announcements, he did mention tonight that there would be a duelling tournament taking place in March," stated Neville. "Eight students compete, two from each house in years one through three, four and five and finally six and seven."
"A duelling tournament," repeated Harry, raising his hand to cusp his chin in his palm.
"From what I know, this seems to be a new event that he wants to make an annual thing but I could be wrong," said Hermione. "None of the other students at dinner had any real clue what to make of it."
"I think it's a trap," said Harry. "Everyone knows what I did with the troll, or at least they know their own version of it. Dumbledore probably expects me to compete then, or at least McGonagall will try to make me compete. He wants to see what I'm capable of and, as bad as it sounds, I think he wants me to go overboard."
"What makes you say that?" asked Neville.
"Other than you guys and Flitwick, Dumbledore was the person who visited me the most when I was in the hospital wing," stated Harry. "Every time he came in he told me what I did was reckless, dangerous and should have looked at alternative options to killing the troll. So yea, I think he wants me to enter and subsequently injure someone in order to restrict my progress even more."
"As far fetched as it sounds, that's actually quite possible," declared Hermione. "Whether that's true or not doesn't matter when the fact of the matter is this; do we play into his hands or do we choose to ignore it altogether?"
Biting at the inside of his cheek, Harry turned towards Neville. "What do you reckon Nev? Is it worth getting caught up in this mess or do we continue making inroads with the paths we already have?"
Neville's hands came up and massaged at his temples as he mulled it over. "We don't really know any normal duelling rules and while it wouldn't take too much to learn we have to remember that you might be fighting third year students. When you're restricted with what spells you can use it changes the fighting style completely. As much as you could probably just overpower them Harry I don't think it's worth it. Also, you'd have to get onto the Gryffindor team in the first place, meaning tryouts. Ousting ourselves from the rest of the house by muscling our way onto the team will probably have more of a negative impact than anything else. Even if you were just gifted the position I think you should refuse, taking anything would probably make Ron boast about blatant favouritism and whatnot. While many of the other Gryffindors don't pay too much attention to those sort of claims, any who may look at joining us down the line this would have a negative impact on."
There was silence as Hermione and Harry absorbed all of that in before both nodding in agreement. There was no rush after all, they still had quite a number of years left in Hogwarts and isolating themselves any further would be problematic. It was Hermione however who had an immediate brainwave that she couldn't help but share. "What if we got someone else to fight on our behalf?"
Now that got Harry and Neville thinking.
...
"Hey Hermione," said Neville as he and the bushy-haired girl walked back to their common room, intent on getting back well before curfew.
"Yes Neville?"
"I saw the present you got Harry for Christmas, it looked pretty cute on his bedside cabinet."
"The fudge looked cute?" asked Hermione unsure just what Neville meant by the word.
"Fudge, no, I was talking about the stuffed bunny."
"I didn't send Harry a toy animal," clarified Hermione.
"Wait, so if you didn't send it, then who did?" asked Neville and despite Hermione being the smartest witch of their age she was unable to give an answer.
...
Draco sat in the confines of the Slytherin common room as he mulled over what he had accomplished today. He, alongside Crabbe and Goyle had managed to threaten the Mudblood and Blood Traitor into giving him a meeting with Potter, the filth that he was.
Filth though he may be, he couldn't deny that Potter was powerful. Scarily so. The Boy Who Lived wasn't somebody that he could take on and in the upcoming tournament were Potter to enter there was little doubt that he would win. Even with the progress he made over the Winter Solstice, he doubted that he had bridged the gap between them at all.
With that thought in mind he knew that it would be better to use Potter than go against him, even if it meant standing side by side to someone so hideous. Even in their brief meeting he had been sure not to see him eye to eye, he doubted that he would have been able to maintain his composure. He needed to be cunning in his actions from here on out.
His father had been teaching him the aspects of policies and while he would need these things once he took over his father's seat in the Wizengamot he needed to put such skills into place now. While the first idea would be to unite Slytherin house behind him it would be a long term goal. Those in their OWL years and above wouldn't listen to him, at least not until he was out of school and making deals with them. He would establish a base contact with them and try and seal some potential alliances but his focus needed to be on those his own age.
That included those in other houses. He was a member of the Dark where someone like Weasley was a part of the Light. Potter sat somewhere in between and Draco knew he could use that. There was a technical Gray faction of the Wizengamot but they were mostly Lords who sided with noone unless it benefitted themselves. Here in Hogwarts, Potter's faction would unite those that didn't know where they wanted to sit. It would be far easier manipulating someone who didn't know their place than someone who was rooted in the Light. Draco knew he couldn't corrupt someone straight from the Light, but someone who sided with Potter, now that was far easier game.
For now though, he needed to cause some unease amongst his peers and he knew his first target. For there was one other faction he could converse with, and he imagined Heiress Bones would have much to say about a young wizard who would be the target of an attack happening next weekend.
...
Daphne sat in the confines of the Great Hall the following morning, Tracy talking into her ear as she had been since she had stepped foot back into Hogwarts after having visited her family. While it was a much welcome distraction from the silence which had surrounded her over the festive season, it didn't really help that during the break she had been unable to speak to Harry.
It wasn't really through lack of effort on her part but more on the fact that he never seemed to show up to any of the meals during the day, he never visited the library in order to check on his homework and he seemingly lived solely in his room. That was another thing that she wanted to ask him; why did Potter have his own room?
Taking a bite from the crispy bacon that rested on her plate, momentarily grateful for the silence which came with Tracy taking a bite of her buttered toast, Daphne glanced around the Great Hall towards the Gryffindor table. Lo and behold, Harry Potter had come out from isolation and was socializing once more with the outside world. She could feel her teeth grind ever so slightly in frustration before the screeching of the mail owls caught her attention.
She wasn't expecting anything and assumed that most of the mail arriving today would be from families who had discovered that their child had left something back at home over the holidays. For a letter to gracefully land on top of her plate garnered her attention and she couldn't help but wonder who it was from. A quick peek over at the Gryffindor table showed Harry raising his goblet of pumpkin juice while his eyes were locked on hers.
Heat swiftly generated in her cheeks and she grabbed the letter off the table before anybody else noticed she had gotten mail, her fingers clenching the parchment as if they were a lifeline. The giggling from beside her informed Daphne that indeed someone had seen and she flashed her eyes at Tracy with a blazing fire in each pupil. "Not a word," she threatened but the way Tracy brushed it off showed her that her friend wouldn't say anything in public.
Teasing in private however would likely still be on the table.
Grumbling something incoherent, Daphne opened up the parchment to read the message inside. It was short, sharp and to the point, no mincing words and no hidden meaning. It wasn't even offering her anything or even really giving her a chance to reject the invitation that wasn't really an invitation.
It was an order.
Daphne,
Come to my room tonight for dinner, I'll provide food.
Harry
The main thing which frustrated her was that Harry refused to make any sort of mention as to what this was all about. Was she meant to bring books for a study session? Was this meant to be a date and she was expected to wear something nice? Could she bring her friend who had thankfully returned her attention to breakfast as opposed to looking at her?
Raising her eyes, Daphne looked over at where Harry was sitting. Or had been sitting, the place where he had been now void of anybody. A low growl escaped her lips before Daphne drove her knife through the bacon on her plate once more.
She would be there but for now she had to regain some manner of composure before classes began. With Professor Binns speaking about the Goblin Revolution however she didn't feel like that would be much of a challenge.
During said lesson though she came across one pivotal problem that she hadn't thought about.
Where was Harry's room?
...
Harry sat on his armchair that rested by the fireplace, his eyes glancing into the red and orange flames which danced over burning wood. His elbows were placed on his knees and his fingers were linked and positioned underneath his chin.
The assignment he had been given today from Professor Sprout had already been completed months prior with Hermione having gathered the information about said assignment from a few older classmates. He, Hermione and Neville had completed the curriculum for the year other than the Defence Against the Dark Arts assignments but with the time they had at their disposal that wouldn't be too difficult.
On the table in the middle of the room were two plates of food that he had prepared earlier down in the kitchens before having the House Elves bring the meals to his room. At first they had been quite adamant that they were more than happy to cook whatever he wished until he had said it was for someone special and they had quickly backed off.
A knock on the door caused a devilish smile to momentarily spread across Harry's face as he turned away from the light of the fire. He knew his goals, he knew what he had to accomplish and silently hoped that Daphne would stay with him through what he had to say. While Hermione and Neville were comfortable chatting with him, he was more than aware that his presence made it difficult for others.
Swallowing down his inhibitions, Harry got to his feet and made his way to the door, scarred fingers gripping the doorknob. Taking one final intake of breath, he opened the door.