A/N: Alright, this is my last chapter for the day. Hopefully these have made up for my absence these past two months. I believe this story will be finished tomorrow. At least I hope it is. This is part 1 of the press conference. Enjoy!
Chapter 29: Just Like That
Harry stood in front of his mirror, trying to adjust his robes to look presentable enough. He had a pocket on the side that held some Weasley tricks to help him if he needed it at the press conference. They were mainly distracters, but anything to bide him some time. The aurors often used stuff from George Weasley's shop because it was good at distracting and often times it got them out of binds that typical auror stuff wouldn't do.
Draco had gotten up before him and Harry assumed he was down in the basement working on a potion as he hadn't seen him all morning. He also figured he was trying to avoid him since he wasn't pleased about what Harry was about to do and was doubly unpleased with having to stay home. Harry wasn't going to budge on that. He couldn't lose Draco. He wanted to believe that he'd make it out of his situation alive and he planned on finding Draco immediately after to whisk him away to their remote island.
As Harry was looking over his appearance one final time, Draco walked into the bedroom. He looked disheveled and had smudges of things on him that Harry couldn't begin to decipher. Harry looked over at him and felt his stomach turn. He loved Draco so much and seeing him like he was in that moment made him love him even more.
"You've got a little something here and here and here," Harry told him as he pointed to several different spots on his clothes. Draco glanced down and saw all the smudges. He blushed slightly, but smiled.
"I've been working on some potions this morning. Now I just need a shower. Are you flooing over to Weasley's office soon?" Draco asked.
Harry nodded. Draco was being far too calm which made him wonder what changed. "Draco, you seem really calm," he pointed out.
Draco shrugged as he began to shed his clothes. Harry watched him hungrily. He had a feeling he was doing this on purpose. "Well, I can't change your mind about allowing me to go so why even try? I'm going to try and be as calm as can be and hope that you will be kept safe by all your auror people," he stated matter of factly.
Harry lifted an eyebrow at him. He wondered if Draco was up to something, but he couldn't figure out what it would be. "Draco, are you up to something?" he asked uncertainly.
Draco shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm doing as you ask because I love you and I want you to be focused. Now, I expect you to be home by eleven at the latest. I hope that Aubrey is caught for good and we can get on with our lives. I have so many things in mind for us and we can't do them if we are running from someone." Draco had approached him and was standing in front of Harry in all his naked glory. Harry was finding it very hard to not shed all his clothing too and scrap the press conference and ravage him, but he knew he couldn't do that because Aubrey needed to be taken care of before they could move on together.
Draco wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him against him. He buried his face into his neck and Harry could feel him shaking slightly in his arms. He tightened his embrace and inhaled Harry's scent deeply. He was a nervous wreck. He could barely hold himself together. He couldn't believe how much he loved Harry and he didn't even want to think about that being snapped away from him. He calmed his mind, stopping the tears that were threatening to fall. He stepped back slightly so that he could kiss Harry deeply. He tasted every part of his mouth that he could. If something were to happen to him, Merlin forbid, he wanted to remember this for the rest of his life.
After a few more moments of them kissing each other, more desperately as the time went on, Draco stepped back and looked down at Harry. His eyes were watery from the tears that didn't want to stay. "You're going to be late, love. Be careful," Draco whispered to him. He leaned forward and kissed the top of Harry's head.
Harry closed his eyes and felt his own eyes begin to water. Draco stepped away and turned towards the bathroom. His hand was on the door knob when Harry called out to him. "I love you," he said.
Draco bit his lip as the tears began sliding down his cheeks. "I know," he whispered before he slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Harry stared at the closed door and let his tears slide down his cheeks for a moment. He took several deep breaths before he left his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He didn't hear the sob that Draco let out as Harry walked towards the untraceable room and flooed to Ron's office.
XXXX
Harry tumbled out of Ron's floo and resized his cane that he had been carrying. His leg wasn't bothering him much, but he knew that when Aubrey was close, it would begin hurting and very badly at that.
Ron was pacing in his office looking far more stressed than Harry would have liked. He looked up at him and then past him for a moment before he looked back at him. "Malfoy actually stayed behind?" he questioned in disbelief. Harry nodded. Ron looked surprised, but continued talking. "Okay, so I'm going to take you to the conference room where we will all be briefed on the plan. The head aurors know that we believe that Cassius and Malcolm Aubrey are the same person, but they have yet to reveal that to anyone higher than them. They've actually suspected that something was amiss with him for sometime, but they were never able to prove it. Anyway, let's go." Ron turned and walked briskly out of his office. Harry knew this side of Ron. This was the side that showed him how afraid Ron was for what they were about to do and his way of handling it was to be all business.
Harry followed as well as he could. He arrived at the conference room shortly after Ron and was greeted joyfully, but somberly by his fellow aurors. The boss walked in shortly after Harry. "Ah, Auror Potter, it's nice to see you up and moving around. Let's hope that this mission goes well and we can all get back to our lives, eh?" he said.
Harry nodded feeling a bit out of place. He hadn't felt like much of an auror since he was injured and he didn't feel too sad about that. He wondered if that was a sign that he should take McGonagall up on her offer. He pushed that thought away and sat down, ready to focus on the plan.
The head aurors explained it quickly and it turned out to be more of a haphazard plan than a solid one. Harry was to be up on the podium with several aurors around him as well as several undercover aurors in the crowd. They had the two identities of Malcolm Aubrey that they needed and Harry was sure to inform them of what the reporter looked like as well. They were to all be keeping an eye on the crowd for any of those identities as well as anyone that seemed suspicious. Harry found this to be a plan with so many possibilities of mistakes that he felt himself becoming instantly more worried than he already was.
"I'm sorry, but this plan seems very, um, well, not very thought out or well planned. There are so many ways that could go wrong. I mean, we are essentially going to be watching every single person in the crowd. Aubrey is bound to know that we know his identities. He is not going to show up as either of the three. The only one he might show up as is the reporter, but even then, I would think he would believe I figured it out. He knows what happens when he is close. I just don't see how this is going to work where we don't have casualties," Harry stated.
Everyone exchanged glances around the room and Harry looked at each of their faces and finally at Ron's. That was part of the plan or a drawback to the plan. "Harry, there is no other way for this to work," Ron said quietly.
Harry shook his head. "I'm not going to let you people die for me because we want this guy. He only wants me. Its better that one of us dies, me, than several of you. I'm not going to go through with this," he responded, his tone showing his anger.
"Harry, we don't plan on having any casualties. We are going through with this. We are going to get Aubrey and then we can be done with all of this. We need to go. The press conference is going to start soon," Ron stated. He stood, as did the rest of the aurors. Harry knew that he wasn't going to win this and he knew that this was their best chance. He just hoped that if there were casualties it was either Aubrey or him and no one else.
He stood reluctantly and followed the others out of the conference room. Those who were going to be undercover left in a different direction than those who would be clearly in front of the crowd. Harry followed them to the lifts that led to the atrium where the conference would be held. As they began heading down the lifts, he focused on his leg, but there was no pain. He frowned and wondered if Aubrey was even going to show up. That would be the worst.
They arrived at the atrium and Harry was instantly surrounded by the aurors as they made their way to the stage. Harry glanced around, seeing a rather large crowd. His leg was still not bothering him. He pushed his alarm to the side and focused on the crowd and making his way up to the stage. He took a seat, flanked on either side by an auror and one behind him as well. Ron sat two seats down from him, his blue eyes searching the crowd. Harry scanned the crowd as well, but saw no one he recognized or looking suspicious. He felt a shield form around him and knew that one of the aurors had cast it.
Ron leaned around and looked at Harry. "You are going to talk about your injury and how we believe that Cassius Alof is responsible. You will also talk about him being with the Deputy Minister of Magic and that you're not sure if it's a kidnapping situation or they are working together. Someone else will then step in and reveal our concerns about our Deputy Minister," Ron told him.
Harry nodded and focused back on the crowd. After a few more moments, one of the head aurors stood and approached the podium. He welcomed and thanked everyone and then talked about the auror departments responsibilities to keep all witches and wizards safe. He droned on for quite some time and Harry tuned him out as he scanned the crowd. No one stood out to him and his leg was not bothering him whatsoever. He was getting discouraged when the crowd erupted in applause. He looked up to see the auror who had been speaking looking at him. He blushed slightly as he stood and used his cane to approach the podium. He didn't need it at the moment, but he knew if Aubrey showed up, he would.
He smiled at the crowd and cleared his throat. "Good morning. Thank you for coming today. I realize that I have not spoken too much about my injury to the public and as many of you know, I'm not big on being in the public's eye," the crowd chuckled at this. Harry smiled again. "My recovery has been difficult. I would make much progress and then there would be a set back. My healer, Draco Malfoy, has done a tremendous job trying to heal me. Unfortunately, the man that did this to me, added a curse that we are having a difficult time breaking. I don't think that I will be able to fully heal until he is caught. The auror department believes that Cassius Alof is with Deputy Minister of Magic, Malcolm Aubrey. I do not agree. I believe that they are the same person." The crowd gasped at his news and began murmuring. He heard similar noise behind him. He was not following what he was supposed to say.
Harry raised his hand at the crowd and they silenced. "I know that you probably don't want to hear that because that would mean we'd have a situation reminiscent of Voldemort's time of power," the crowd gasped loudly and looked around fearfully. "You wouldn't be exactly wrong. Recently I had what I will call a run-in with Cassius Alof or Malcolm Aubrey, the real Malcolm Aubrey as he called himself. He explained to me why he wanted me dead. He said it was because he didn't like me and some other nonsense like that, but he also said that the main reason is because I killed the only true leader our world could ever have. Voldemort. He was a follower of Voldemort's and he is your Deputy Minister of Magic. He has been fooling all of us for two years. He must be stopped and I fully intend-" Harry stopped mid-sentence. His leg was burning. He gripped the edge of the podium and stared out into the crowd. His vision was blurring and he was in the most excruciating pain.
Ron caught the change instantly and all the aurors were on their feet and standing next to him. Harry breathed deeply and scanned the crowd. He saw someone moving through the crowd and he had dark brown hair. He didn't move through easily which confused Harry until he saw a shock of blond hair that he knew so well being dragged along with him. Harry's breath caught in his throat and he felt his legs begin to shake.
"Ron, he has Draco," Harry bit out through his clenched teeth.
Ron focused on Aubrey and Draco. The other aurors had seen them and the undercover aurors waited for direction from the others.
"Potter, you just had to go and ruin a good gig for me, didn't you?" Aubrey called out to him as he approached the stage, dragging Draco roughly next to him. Harry looked down at Draco who had one eye swollen nearly shut and blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. He looked like he had been run over by a hippogriff.
"Leave Draco alone," Harry called down to him. He moved around the podium, the aurors following him, the pain in his leg was intensifying if that was even possible.
Aubrey glanced over at Draco and shrugged. He threw him down on the ground and pointed his wand at him. "Very well then. Avada Kedavra." The green light shot out of his wand and hit Draco square in the chest before Harry could even blink. The crowd screamed in terror and tried to run away, but it was as if their feet were glued to the floor. They couldn't move. Harry stared down at Draco's blank stare in disbelief. It wasn't possible. Just like that, Draco was gone.
