Switching Sides

Chapter 14
The Truth

~~~~~Last time~~~~~

He reached down to pick it up, and found it was the most recent edition of The Quibbler. The front cover had been ripped off by his shoe, and the headline of the first page jumped out at him. He read it, his eyes widening in shock.

Sprinting back to the tent, careful to ensure the invisibility cloak was still covering him, he burst in to find Ron and Hermione at the table.

"I've got news," he said, holding up the magazine.

Harry's POV

"Look at this," he said, pushing the article towards them. He watched as they put their heads together and begun to read, their faces turning to shock.

'MINISTRY'S ATTEMPTS TO CAPTURE POTTER FAILS

Yesterday, a group of workers at the Ministry of Magic, led by Dolores Umbridge, Senior Under-Secretary to the Minister, attempted to ambush Harry Potter and his companions at his location in London.

The Ministry had discovered his location after capturing Mundungus Fletcher, an ally of Harry Potter, who was forced to tell them all he knew after taking Veritaserum. It appears that Harry and his companions have been living in a house in London which he inherited from his late Godfather, the infamous Sirius Black (who has now been cleared of all charges). The House had been protected by the Fidelius charm, and it seems that Fletcher was a secret keeper – perhaps he was trusted by Potter, or perhaps the original secret keeper passed away – therefore, he was able to pass on this information (however unwillingly) to the Ministry. Fletcher is now in Azkaban.

The Ministry then used this information to break the other protective charms that were warding the house – believed to be put in place throughout the years, by both Black's family and the previous secret keeper. They launched an attack using a large group of Ministry workers, which they used to their advantage by attacking from multiple places simultaneously.

However, the Chosen One and his companions managed to escape from right under their noses, by Apparating – which they were now able to do in the house after the protective enchantments were taken away. Their current location is unknown, but as we have had no bad news regarding them, it appears that they are safe.

The Ministry may not have captured Potter, but they did manage to discover more information on his companions. Potter is known to be travelling with Muggle-born student Hermione Granger. However, the Ministry officials also found there were two other people – their identities are not confirmed, but there is speculation amongst the Ministry. One of them was red-headed, which led the Ministry to believe he may be a member of the Weasley family, who are known as friends of Potter. A search will be carried out of their residence to ensure no communication has occurred between them and Potter. The fourth companion was a young male, but is unidentified - there are no leads, so the official stand is that he was an old school friend, or perhaps another person in hiding who met up with them.

Whilst we may not know who all of Potter's companions are, we urge everyone to make helping them their top priority. They have escaped the Ministry at least once, and their elusiveness serves only to show that our will to triumph over the Ministry is all that we need to win. The Ministry's failure to report this only shows their reluctance to allow the public to know what is really going on. Together, we can cast off their controlling regime.'

"Oh," Hermione said in a small voice, whilst Ron looked queasy.

"I guess…I guess this means he didn't really do it," Hermione said. "He didn't betray us after all. And...and…"

"We've been treating him awfully?" Harry suggested, "We didn't even listen to his side of the story. We didn't give him a chance." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"It's not your fault," Ron said, "I mean, the evidence was very convincing against him. We would have been stupid not to act on it."

"I suppose," Harry said. "But I guess this means we need to tell him the truth. And we need to make it up to him, somehow. We've been treating him like a traitor all this time, and he never even did anything wrong. He even put himself in a lot of danger to get the locket for us, and he doesn't even know what it is."

"Are you saying we should tell him?" Hermione asked.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Ron asked. "I know he didn't betray us, but can we trust him?"

"I think we can," Harry said. "He might be able to help us. His dad was close to Vol-"

"You-Know-Who," Ron cut across him. His recent encounter with the Ministry seemed to bring back his fear of the name. "I don't think we should call him that."

"Okay, sorry. His dad was close to You-Know-Who, so he may know some more information that we don't."

"But what if he doesn't? His father fell out of favour after he failed to get the Prophecy two years ago," Ron countered.

"He may not, but I think we should still tell him," Hermione reasoned. "He's as much a part of this as we are now. And like Harry said, he was the one who got the locket. I think we owe it to him after the way we have treated him recently."

"Then maybe he can wear the locket sometimes, too. We all won't have to wear it for as long," Harry said, knowing Ron would probably welcome less time with the locket. Ron was wearing it now, and Harry knew he wouldn't be arguing as much if he wasn't wearing it – although he still wouldn't be happy with their decision.

"Okay, if you think we should," Ron said, not sounding entirely convinced. "But if it goes wrong, remember what I said."

Draco's POV

Draco lay on his bed, thinking about the past few weeks. The others had been ignoring him for a while now, and they did not even listen to his side of the story. He didn't try to tell them; he knew that they wouldn't listen, and that Weasley would twist his words. It annoyed him that he had put himself in danger to get that blasted locket – whatever it was – from under the Ministry's nose, and this was how he was thanked for it. He had tried to think about what the locket was, but he came up blank. All he knew was that the others took turns to wear it, and when they did they became more unpleasant than usual.

He had half a mind to leave, but there was nowhere to go, and somewhere he knew he wanted the Dark Lord gone. He wanted his family back how it was. He wanted his life back to normal. He wanted to be able to go to school and take his NEWTS, and follow his father into a high position in the Ministry. He didn't want to be hiding in tents with people who hated him and eating cheap Muggle food forever.

A cough from outside his room brought him out of his daze. He groaned and sat up, wondering what they could possibly want to say to him.

"Um…Malfoy?", Potter's voice tentatively called. He somehow knew it would be him, which was surprising; out of all three of them, he had treated Potter the worst at school.

He got up from his bed and pulled the flap, which separated his room from the rest of the tent, to the side.

"Oh look, the famous Harry Potter has decided to grace me with his presence," he said, a little more viciously than he intended. "What do you want?"

Potter cleared his through. "Well…"

"Oh, spit it out," Malfoy said, annoyed.

"We know it wasn't you."

"What?"

"Well, um… I found an article, and it turns out it was actually Mundungus who gave us up. You know, the man that told us it was Umbridge who took the locket. He was forced to tell them with Veritaserum. I guess I'm trying to say that I'm – we're – sorry for thinking it was you without even asking you."

"Oh," Malfoy said, shocked. He wasn't counting on them to find out the truth, and even more so, he hadn't expected them to swallow their pride and actually apologize. When Potter first came in, he had expected an argument.

"I didn't want to believe it was you," Potter continued, "but it really did seem that way. I really am…"

"Stop, stop," Draco said, holding up his hands. "You've already apologized. Don't get all sappy on me."

"Okay," Potter said, shuffling his feet on the floor. "The others wanted to apologize too. And they – we – decided to tell you something. About why we're here."

"Fine," he said. He wasn't sure how the others would act. The fact that they sent Potter ahead indicates that he was the one who really wanted to tell him, and the others weren't so sure.

"Hi, Draco," Granger said brightly. He repressed a scowl. He hated the fact that she always called him by his first name. She even did it when they were back at school and not even on speaking terms.

Harry took a seat next to Weasley, but Draco stood behind a chair, not quite wanting to sit down. He couldn't say he wasn't intrigued by what they would tell him, and whilst he wanted them to admit they were wrong – a wave of smugness rolled over him – he didn't want them to get all cheesy on him. He hated that. He tapped his foot, impatiently, and crossed his arms. It didn't matter if he annoyed him now – they owed him. He had been right all along.

"I'm sorry for not trusting you. You really helped us out with getting the locket." She sent a meaningful glance at Weasley, who was avoiding looking at him. He caught her gaze and looked up.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, in an entirely unconvincing way. Seeing Granger's look again, he continued. "Thanks for helping us."

Draco sighed. "I guess it is okay. But next time, try listening to me before you jump to conclusions."

"We will," Granger said, far too happily. "Anyway, Harry decided that we should tell you what we're looking for. It's unfair for you not to know, when you've been helping us all this time."

He said nothing, but sat down in the chair opposite the three.

Granger looked at the other two, but neither was about to speak, so she decided to.

"Have you ever heard of Horcruxes?"

He was thoughtful for a minute, not wanting them to know he knew that's what they are looking for, but that he wasn't sure what they are. "I've heard the term, in passing," he said, neglecting to mention that he had heard it from them.

"Well, that's what we're looking for," she said, looking around. When Potter nodded to indicate that she should continue, she explained it.

"A Horcrux is a part of someone's soul – there's a way of splitting your soul and hiding it in an object to keep it safe. If you have Horcruxes, you cannot die, unless all of the pieces of your soul have been destroyed."

"So…you're saying the Dark Lord has split his soul?" Draco asked. "We're searching for pieces of it?"

"Essentially, yes. That's why he didn't die after his curse rebounded on Harry. His body was destroyed, but his soul lived on. Then Pettigrew managed to restore him to a human body."

"Is the locket his Horcrux?" Draco asked, looking at the locket around Weasley's neck. "Wait…Horcruxes you said? How many has he got?"

"Six. Well, he split his soul into seven, but the last piece is in his body. There's not six left, though."

"You've already destroyed some? Why haven't you destroyed the locket, then?" he asked.

This time, it was Potter who decided to answer. "His diary and a ring have already been destroyed. We've got the locket, so there's three more. We think one of them is his snake, Nagini – he seems strangely attached to it for someone as cold as him, doesn't he?"

"I guess," Draco said, realising something. "How are we supposed to find the rest? They could be anything at all…"

"That's what I thought, but they aren't. All the Horcruxes so far have been something important, something of great value. That locket is Slytherin's Locket – it shows his heritage. The diary was linked to the Chamber of Secrets, and the ring was also about his heritage. He had a particular interesting in the founder's items, too. We think Hufflepuff's cup may be one – it suspiciously went missing after he saw it."

"So…we're looking for a cup, another item we're not sure of, and his snake?"

"Yeah," Harry said. "The snake will be the hardest, I think, so we're leaving that until last. We're a bit stuck on the others though, so we were wondering if you might know anything."

He frowned. He racked his brain, trying to remember what his father had taught him about the founders of Hogwarts.

"What about the diadem?" he suggested. "It belonged to Ravenclaw. Or Gryffindor's sword, perhaps?"

"The sword definitely isn't," Potter said. "In fact, the sword is one of the few ways of getting rid of a Horcrux, as it has Basilisk venom in it. But the diadem… I didn't know about that, it could be one."

"But the diadem is lost," Granger explained. "No-one knows where it is. Many have tried, and failed, to find it."

"Okay, perhaps not. I don't think I know of anything else. Why haven't you destroyed the Locket?", he asked again, realising they never answered that question.

"Like I said, there are few ways to destroy a Horcrux. The sword has Basilisk venom in it, so we could use that, but it's in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts."

"Well, it doesn't look like we have much choice. We managed to get you into the Ministry undetected, I'm sure we can somehow get into the castle," Draco said.

"Be quiet!" Ron said. Everyone looked around in surprise, he had been quiet for so long. "I hear voices outside. I think they've been going for a while, but I've only just noticed they were voices."

Sending each other alarmed glances, the four of them pulled out their wands and crept to the entrance of the tent. Granger rummaged around in her bag, pulling out four flesh-coloured strings.

"These are extendable ears," she whispered. "Put this end over your ear."

Following Granger's instructions, he found he could hear the people outside. They stood there for what seemed like ages, listening to the group outside prepare a meal of fish from the river, and then their conversations whilst they were eating, which was mainly focused on their blood status and why they were on the run. The group appeared to be made up of two goblins and three wizards, two of which the group recognised: one was a boy in their year, a Gryffindor called Dean Thomas, and the other one was the husband of his aunt Andromeda, Ted Tonks, who he had met a few months ago after they retrieved Potter to take him to the Weasley's house.

The conversation caught their interests when the goblins began talking about the sword of Gryffindor. He pressed the extendable ear closer to him, and listened intently to what they were saying. Maybe they knew something about it that could help them?

"Snape, most likely on the orders of You-Know-Who," one of the goblins said, "got it sent to Gringotts." The two goblins chuckled together.

"I don't see the joke," Ted said.

"It's a fake!", the same goblins said. "It's an excellent fake, but it's definitely not real."

"I see," the wizard said again. "I guess you didn't tell them that?"

"I didn't see any need to," the goblin replied, and they all laughed together.

"Best move off again, I think," the wizard Draco didn't recognise said.

He listened to them putting out the fire and packing their stuff away, thinking about what they had just found out.

"Well," Potter said, after they were sure the others had gone. "It looks like we don't have to break into Hogwarts, after all."

Sorry for the wait! My laptop suddenly broke, and I had to wait a couple of weeks for it to be fixed ):

I know the article doesn't sound much like the Quibbler, but since it's more serious now, it makes sense to write in a more normal way – and I couldn't get it to sound like the Quibbler did!

Thanks again to ToxicRainfall, and I'd also like to say a special thanks to AlineDaryen, who has reviewed every chapter :)

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