Fact 1: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling
Fact 2: I am not her.
Conclusion: It isn't mine
A/N: What do we have here? Could it be? Yep... I know.. it's ridiculous that it took this long. I genuinely am sorry, but I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one is already about half finished, so I'm hoping to have it up relatively quickly. The story WILL be finished... promise!
Even though we spent most of our time scheming, planning, and worrying, I tried to enjoy the clam before the storm. Despite all of Draco's assurances, I couldn't stop myself from worrying that everything was going to be changed after all of this was over, and I wanted to memorize as much of our time together as possible. Still, our conversations seemed to always lead to the same place.
We were upon the astronomy tower, wrapped up in coats and blankets, enjoying the heat and soft glow of the fire he had conjured.
"You really think that's the best way to go?" He asked, turning my hand around in his own, as if he were studying it.
I nodded, even though it was probably missed in the dark. "I think it gives us the highest chance of it working. I still think the key to this whole operation is the control factor- it's all going to come down the element of surprise; if we can get that on our side, we may have a shot."
"But how is Dumbledore going to react? What if he tips them off that he knows, it would blow everything and put you in danger."
I squeezed his hand and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. "I love that you are trying to protect me Draco, really, I do, but this has to be about more than just keeping me safe. I don't think you are giving Dumbledore enough credit. We will have to explain all sides to him, obviously, but when we do I really think he will see how important it is for him to act discretely and not send up any red flags. As much as you want me to be safe, I'm just as determined to get you out of this without you having to look over your shoulder for the rest of your life. We need for it to look like we tried to do what we were told, but that it was too late, Dumbledore already knew what was coming."
"Okay." He finally agreed, but I could still hear the reluctance in his voice. He probably still wanted to go with his first plan- buy Polyjuice potion on the black market, make someone drink it to look like me, and send me off to Peru to hide. I had laughed until my sides hurt when he told me, but he hadn't even cracked a smile. As ridiculous as it was, and as desperate as our situation was, my stomach still tightened pleasantly at the knowledge that he was so desperate to keep me safe.
Draco elbowed me, shaking me from my thoughts, and I looked up to see a quizzical look on his face. "Daydreaming again?" He asked, half teasingly. I had always had a tendency to slip into my own train of thought, but it definitely got worse when I was preoccupied.
"Sorry." I mumbled, and was glad he couldn't see the blush rise up on my cheeks. No need for him to know I wasn't actually thinking about Death Eaters or impending doom, but rather his feelings for me.
"When should we go to Dumbledore?" The tone of his voice made me think it wasn't the first time he had asked that question.
"Soon." I said, thinking it over in my mind. "As soon as possible…. As soon as he's back, if he ever left. Does he leave for Christmas, ya think?" I felt Draco shrug against me. "Your dad will be waiting for the room location, I'm sure, and I want to run everything by Dumbledore before we finalize our plan."
I yawned and slumped against his shoulder.
"Alright, let's go in." He pulled me to my feet and pulled the blanket more tightly around me as he put the fire out.
We headed back down the stairs of the tower and toward the center of the castle. He turned back to the left, toward Gryffindor tower, but I hesitated. He turned to look at me and raised one of his pale eyebrows.
"What's wrong?"
"I thought maybe I could sleep in your room tonight?" After each of our two nights in the castle, we had said it was the last one we would sleep together. I knew people were bound to start trickling in any day now, and that we would probably be in big trouble were we caught, but I just couldn't stand the thought of sleeping alone in the big empty castle. It seemed so hallow and cold with so many people missing.
He shook his head in amusement, but then nodded and changed our direction. I shivered as we started the descent down toward the dungeons and he tightened his arm around me.
"Why don't we go back up to your room? It's warmer." He said, starting to turn around, but I shook my head.
"I want to sleep in your bed." I said stubbornly, trying to pull him down to the next step with me.
He looked at me curiously, but gave in. Once we got into the common room, it wasn't so bad. The fire was still burning, and the room was quite warm from being closed up all day. His room was warm as well, and I dropped my blankets on the floor, kicked my shoes under the bed, and climbed in, pulling the soft green cover up to my chin before he had even taken his shoes off. He chuckled at me and I grinned.
"Your bed smells like you." I said, too content to even be embarrassed.
He looked over his shoulder at me from where he was pulling clothes out of his dresser and smiled. "I'm surprised." He said as he threw a t-shirt at me. "I haven't slept in it in a while."
I was eager to get out of my jeans, sweater, and coat, but I waited to change into his t-shirt so that I could watch him change. By now he knew it to be one of my favorite hobbies and to my huge amazement, seemed a little embarrassed to know I was watching him. He smirked at me as he pulled his sweats up over his hips and climbed into bed beside me as I worked to wiggle out of my clothes without getting out of the bed.
Just as we had both gotten settled down into the bed, and he had turned the lights off, there was a tap at the window. We both stayed perfectly still, no doubt hoping it would go away on its own. The second set of "tap, tap, tap", however, got Draco out of bed. He went to the window and let the jet black owl in. It dropped a piece of parchment on the window sill and instantly turned and flew away.
"Nice manners." I said more to myself than anyone, as I knew my voice was muffled in the pillows. I glanced over and saw the thought spinner on his bed side table, spinning slowly. I smiled and watched it spin faster as Draco crawled back in bed quietly, bringing the parchment with him. He laid back and drew me against his side before lighting his wand and unfolding the parchment.
I turned toward him but didn't bother looking at the letter. I knew it was from Lucious, but still a small part of me hoped it would be from someone more pleasant….a wedding invitation from an old friend or something, maybe.
Yeah, right.
Draco,
I look forward to seeing you on at 11pm on the third day of January, at a location of your choosing.
LM
I groaned out loud and buried my face in Draco's chest. He put his wand out, tossed it and the parchment on the floor by the bed, and pulled us both down further into the covers.
"We knew it was coming." He reminded me, running his fingers gently through my hair. I just nodded against his chest.
"We knew it was going to be soon." I nodded again. I knew that; of course I knew, but there's a big difference in knowing something is coming soon and actually having a date to write on a calendar.
"Four days." I said quietly. Just four days until January 3rd. "That's the first day back at classes." I said, as soon as it entered my mind. "The train will get here the day before."
"So, I guess we'll hope Dumbledore isn't one for long holidays." He said, hugging me tighter against him.
The same trains of thought ran circles around my mind for hours before I actually fell asleep. My whole life I had prided myself in being able to think of solutions for problems, but I just felt stuck. I kept thinking there had to be a better plan out there, but I couldn't come up with one. It didn't help that we weren't even sure what the Death Eaters were planning to do when they got here… or how they would get here… or how many of them were coming… or how prepared they were for a fight. We knew nothing outside the fact that the goal was to take over Hogwarts, they intended to kill Dumbledore, and they were coming January 3rd. Just enough information to get us killed.
I did eventually fall asleep, though, and slept surprisingly well until I woke up shivering. It didn't take long for me to realize why- Draco was gone. I sat up groggily and looked around his room. There were no windows for me to judge what time of day or night it was, and my head felt heavy and dull… like I had either had way too much sleep, or not nearly enough. I buried myself back in the cover, curling myself in a ball in an effort to keep warm. After a few minutes, though, the door opened and Draco pulled the covers back off my slightly and slid in the bed, pulling me up against him.
"Sorry." He whispered in my hair. "I hoped you wouldn't wake up." I snuggled up against him and hoped he would tell me where he had gone without me having to ask. I still didn't feel quite awake enough for questions.
"Dumbledore's back."
That perked me up, at least a little. I looked up at him expectantly.
"I told him that you and I need to talk to him about something. Hope that's okay, I know you wanted to talk to him first, but I kind of thought we should hurry, and I didn't want to wake you."
I nodded and yawned. "That's fine. What time is it?" I shook my head, trying to shake the sleep out. I still felt like my mind was working at half its normal speed. I sat up and leaned against the headboard, hoping being partially vertical would help me wake up.
"About ten." He sat up beside me. "He has to go out this afternoon, so I told him we would meet him at eleven."
"Well, in that case, I will definitely need a shower." My stomach growled as I climbed out of bed and shivered. "And maybe some food?"
He chuckled and nodded. "I'll try to go find you something to eat. You can take a shower in here." He motioned toward his bathroom as he headed for the door. Just before he got there, though, he turned back and took me by the hand, pulling me toward him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me lightly on the lips. "I'm glad you slept well." And then he was out the door.
I took my time in the shower, letting the warm water wake me up. Briefly, I wished I had my own shampoo and soap, but then I realized Draco's smelled like him and that made me smile. I rolled my eyes at myself for being such a girl, but then poured more shampoo in my hand and went about my business.
Draco walked in as I was pulling my jeans on. He had a big tray of food in his hands and set it down on the bed.
"Those elves really love you." He said as I sat down.
I grinned and grabbed a piece of bacon off the tray.
"Apparently they've noticed you haven't been eating enough lately." He gave me a look of reproach.
"I eat plenty." I argued, through a mouthful of eggs.
He chuckled and shook his head. We ate silently for a while, and once I felt like I had sufficiently kept myself from starvation, I got up and traded Draco's t-shirt for the sweater I had worn the day before. I picked up my wand and muttered a spell, pointing it at my clothes. The wrinkles instantly released and the sweater regained its shape.
"So, what are we going to tell him?" Draco asked as I straightened my hair with another flick of my wand.
"I guess everything." I said, sitting on the bed to pull my shoes on. "Unless you can think of a reason that we shouldn't." I stood up and turned to look at him; he was shaking his head.
"Everything is best, I guess." He said, waving the tray of food away. "You ready?"
I nodded and we started off for Dumbledore's office. "Did he seem concerned when you talked to him?" I asked, considering it for the first time.
"Not really concerned… just intrigued, I guess, curious." He shrugged and then smiled. "He did ask how long we had been back at the castle… made it seem like he thought we just wanted to be here together."
I smiled, too, easily picturing the twinkle in Dumbledore's eye as he had asked Draco about us. No doubt, he had been just as surprised as anyone about our new found liking for one another, but was probably more amused about it than most people.
"I hope this works." I said after a while, voicing for the first time the possibility that Dumbledore might not be able to make everything better.
"It has too." The firm set to Draco's jaw made me think he had been thinking about the same possibility. Knowing he shared my concern made me feel worse.
When we got to Dumbledore's office, we were let in immediately, and he was sitting behind his desk waiting for us. He motioned toward two plush arm chairs across from his desk and we both sat down. I wondered if Draco had a million butterflies in his stomach, too. I looked over at him but couldn't tell anything from his expression.
"Miss Granger, how nice to see you. I hope you had a nice Christmas." He greeted me pleasantly. I nodded in response, afraid if I opened my mouth I wouldn't be able to stop talking.
"I understand you and Mr. Malfoy have something you would like to discuss with me, something of importance from what Draco has told me." I nodded again and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. "Well, I assure you I am here to listen." He smiled calmly again and it occurred to me he probably thought we were wanting to ask for something trivial and personal… permission to eat meals together or something. I waved the thought off quickly though, I hoped Dumbledore knew me better than that.
"Umm, I guess I'll start." Draco said, looking over at me for confirmation. I nodded for a third time, relieved.
And so, he told Dumbledore everything, with me occasionally interjecting things he forgot or adding clarification. Finally, the whole thing was out and Dumbledore, though still calm, was visibly more concerned than he had originally been.
"And you are quite sure they are coming Monday?" He asked, but he seemed to already know the answer before we nodded. Draco leaned across the desk and handed him the letter from the night before.
"Have you given them the location yet?" Dumbledore had barely glanced at the parchment, but I had no doubt he had read every word.
"No, sir. We wanted to talk with you first, see if you thought the Room of Requirement was the best way to go or not." I almost hoped he would offer up a better idea… a plan that I could have more confidence in.
"On the contrary, Miss Granger, I think it will be our best ally."
We discussed each of our options, as few as they were, and went over every aspect of our plan, until finally, we all understood what needed to be done. Draco would owl his father and tell him we had found a room that was rarely used and easily accessible, that Dumbledore would not be suspicious of. Dumbledore would call in the troops (though, of course, he didn't word it quite like that) and have as many people from the Order in the castle as possible, citing different reasons for their visits if anyone were to ask. He would also inform the professors to be on high alert for an invasion for the beginning of the new term, though he said he would not go into detail with those not involved with the order. He seemed quite confident that we could not only stop the attack, but also make it look like I, and Draco especially, had done what we were told, and therefore would not be in any more danger than necessary.
Dumbledore also seemed to know how the Death Eaters planned to enter the castle, and though he wouldn't explain it to us, he didn't seem overly concerned about stopping them quickly. If any of them did make it to the Room or Requirement, they would find Professor Dumbledore waiting to hex them as soon as they walked in the door. None of them were actually capable of killing Dumbledore in a duel; as soon as he knew to expect them they lost any chance they had.
It still seemed to me that any number of things could go wrong, but Dumbledore was confident in his plan, and that made me feel better. He assured me that all students would be confined to common rooms and that they would each be guarded. Draco and I, on the other hand, would be under protections spells of Dumbledore's own doing. He agreed, after Draco's insistence that he would not leave my side, that we would all three stay together long enough for Lucius and his band of not-so-merry men to see that Draco and I had done our parts, after which Dumbledore seemed to have a plan to get us out. Most importantly, at least to me, he also said that if things went wrong and we felt we were in any danger, the order could protect us both. That alone made me breathe a sigh of relief, I had tried to keep my concerns from Draco, but one of the things I worried about most was how we would ever be able to feel safe from his father if we gave Lucius any reason to blame him for the plan's failure. I had known, of course, I would always be able to find protection with the order, but I hadn't been quite so sure of Draco's chances.
"Do you feel better?" Draco asked, wrapping his arm around my waist as we walked through the castle, heading away from Dumbledore's office.
I thought about it before, answering, weighing my still-there concerns against those Dumbledore had eased. But, I realized, all things considered, any of my concerns being eased was an improvement.
"I do. I'm still nervous, but Dumbledore seems to think it will work out, and that makes me feel less scared."
Draco nodded and turned us toward the staircase. "You think he has more in mind that he is telling us?"
"Definitely." I could only imagine what else Dumbledore had up his sleeve, but I was certainly glad he was on my side.
"Hey…" I stopped walking and turned to face Draco, having just remembered something I wanted to ask. "How are you going to get the message to your dad… that everything is ready to go, if you are still with me?"
He had been vague about it, and I had been assuming that when the time came, we would likely have to separate, but he had been adamant about it with Dumbledore, claiming he refused to have any part in a plan that meant he had to leave me. No matter how many warm little bubbles of happiness that had sparked in me, it still made me a little curious.
Draco just shrugged. "I'll send a patronus; I can do that from anywhere."
I nodded, a little embarrassed that a patronus hadn't occurred to me. It seemed so obvious now that he had said it.
"You have a quil?"
I rolled my eyes. "I don't keep school supplies with me all the time, Draco."
He smirked in response and turned off at the top of the stairs and led me into the library and over to the reference desk, where there were always quils and small pieces of parchment.
He grabbed a small wrinkled piece of parchment and wrote the basic location of the room of requirement on it messily. He signed it with a simple "D" and folded the paper in half.
I raised an eyebrow at the sloppy letter. "Only the best for dear ole dad." He smiled and I couldn't help but laugh. If it made him feel better to send the directions written in chicken scratch on an old, wrinkled piece of paper, who was I to argue?