Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
A/N: Thanks to MiaCara, who is my beta for this story.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Draco's Request
"I don't understand why we're doing this," Ron grumbled. "Or why we have to use the Invisibility Cloak … my neck is killing me."
"Shush," Hermione hissed. "What's the point of the Cloak if you're going to talk?!"
"Someone's coming," Harry said in barely more than a whisper cutting off Ron's response. They continued to walk down the hallway on their way to the Room of Requirement. Harry was keeping his eye on the marauders' map as they walked and even though they had passed the only person on the seventh floor as far as he could see, he didn't let his friends know the coast was clear. Dumbledore had told him it was important that no one was seen on this adventure and he didn't want to disappoint the headmaster. That was why he made sure that no one was close as he thought of a meeting place for the Order, as Dumbledore had instructed him to do, standing outside of the Room of Requirement.
"It looks like we're the first here," Hermione noted as Harry pulled off the Cloak.
"So … why did we have to come here, Harry?" Ron asked.
"Not sure, Dumbledore just said that we should be here at least a half an hour before ten," Harry shrugged. "I think he wanted to tell us something."
"Then why didn't he just call us to his office?" Ron huffed. "And why are we here an hour early then!"
"You know you wouldn't be so grumpy if you weren't so tall," Hermione pointed out to her boyfriend, who was now making a face at her. "And it's better to be prompt than late."
"Whatever," Ron rolled his eyes.
"It looks like Ginny is coming," Harry said as he continued to watch the map. "And McGonagall and Dumbledore seemed to be making their way here. It looks like whatever Dumbledore has to say is going to be important."
"Maybe this means they made progress on either the cup or the snake," Ron supplied.
"Maybe," Harry said doubtfully. "But it's only been two weeks since we got back here and Sirius hasn't mentioned anything about trying to get into Gringotts, so I doubt it's the cup."
"Hey guys," Ginny said as she come into the room.
"Hey Gin," Harry smiled at her, "looks like you snuck you're way over here easily enough."
"Please, you don't need and Invisibility Cloak to get around unseen," Ginny rolled her eyes.
"I told you we didn't need the Cloak," Ron grumbled.
"Oh, I'm sure you guys do … you're horrible at sneaking around without it," Ginny said and chuckled at the glare she got from her brother and the pout Harry had. "Anyways, I was just thinking that if we had to think of this as an Order meeting place, does that mean that we're actually in the Order?"
"Maybe," Harry shrugged. "Though, officially I still think not. Dumbledore just wanted to make sure that we're all able to get into the room at the same place. Huh?" he added as he glanced back at his map. "It looks like Snape is coming too … and perhaps Draco with his two body guards."
"He's going to bring Crabbe and Goyle here?" Ron said and then groaned at what he had said. "Forget I said that … there just going to be his normal guards for when he's working on the cabinet."
"That must be why we had to get here so early," Hermione reasoned. "It was the only way for all of us to come in here without anyone knowing that we're in the same place."
"Precisely what I was thinking, Miss Granger," someone said at the doorway and everyone jumped when they realized that it was Dumbledore. "Though the situation is more extreme than you may have guessed."
"Sir?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrow.
"I will explain more when everyone gets here," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "However, you might want to know that Mr. Malfoy is the one that wanted to have this particular meeting."
Harry grimaced at this, wondering what Draco might want to say that was important enough to get everyone together. He had to wait until ten as McGonagall, Snape and Draco came to the room at separate times.
"Ah, it seems that everyone is here," Dumbledore said as Draco sat down on the chair that had just appeared for him. "I know that you have something important to say Mr. Malfoy, but I have a few announcements that need to be said before you start."
Draco nodded his head, his attention however seemed to be on whatever it is he had to say because he looked like he was planning something.
"First of all, since what happened over the holidays, Voldemort has become more active," Dumbledore said, his voice was grave and he looked tired. "As you all know, Thickness has now officially taken over as Minister, just like he had in the other reality. We had kept a close eye on him, and unfortunately we fear that he is under the Imperius Curse as well judging by the few policies that have been made in the last week."
"He's not hunting down Muggle borns is he?" Ron asked in alarm.
"Not like it was done in the book, however, there have been a few laws made that restrict Muggle borns rights," Dumbledore sighed. "Though they are only minor ones, it's still not an encouraging development. Nor is the fact that Thickness has decrease the number of Aurors trying to find Voldemort and his Death Eaters, stating that they need to look into other matter more. His reasoning behind this is that the attack on the Ministry never would have happened if there had been more Aurors watching the patterns of the Death Eaters."
"But that's stupid, how could they have known about the attack if the Death Eaters didn't even know of it until that day," Harry said frowning.
"That is what Kingsley had said when he was given his new orders," Dumbledore sighed. "He is to organize all the information that comes into the Ministry and pass on what he finds to his supervisor, who will then direct the Aurors to what they should do."
"They're making Kingsley a paper pusher," Hermione groaned.
"Yes," Dumbledore sighed. "Though given his injuries, it's not that uncommon that he would have been given less field work, it's still a blow against us. We are sure that he's going to be watch closely and is unlikely able to do anything for the Order for a while now. It also hurts us that Tonks is no longer in the Auror department right now, though she is doing well as our Defense ..."
"Hey that's right, why isn't Tonks here? Shouldn't she be part of this meeting," Harry said.
"She is overseeing a detention at the moment and couldn't make it here," Dumbledore said thought Harry thought there was something about that he wasn't saying. "Still the troubling matter is that most of the people we have inside of the Minister are known to be in the Order or that they are close to me ..."
"It sounds like you're saying that the Ministry is our enemy now," Harry grimaced.
"Not quite," Dumbledore said. "Things aren't as bad as they were in the book. For one thing I'm still here … so Voldemort is afraid of making it too obviously that he's in control of the Ministry."
"And people probably aren't as afraid as they had been," Harry added, "knowing that you're here."
"Perhaps," Dumbledore allowed with a smile and then sighed. "But it is true that things are not going well in concerns of the Ministry and we can no longer consider them an ally."
"Have we made any progress in getting the cup or getting to the snake?" Ron wanted to know and he didn't like the silence that came after what Dumbledore had just said.
"As for the Hufflepuff cup, I believe that Sirius, Narcissa, Emmeline and Remus are having a meeting for that tonight," Dumbledore said. "I'm not sure how they are planning on proceeding with that but I have confidence that they will figure it out.
"As for Nagini," Dumbledore sighed. "Voldemort is keeping her close to him and I'm unsure if he suspects that his Horcruxes have been destroyed or he just wants her near him. Either way, it will be hard to get to her for the time being."
"Do you really think he might know about his Horcruxes, Albus?" McGonagall asked looking worried.
Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a few minutes before he said, "I don't believe that he is consciously aware that his Horcruxes are being targeted, however, he might be aware on a subconscious level.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy, I believe that you have something to say," Dumbledore concluded, looking at Draco expectantly.
"Right," Draco said grimacing as everyone's eyes turned to him. He took a deep breath and prepared himself of the hospitality that he was sure to come from the others. "I'm sure you are all aware by now that my father has been freed from Azkaban …"
"Which I'm sure you had been happy to do your Death Eaters duties to free him," Ron grumbled under his breath though it had been loud enough for Draco to hear.
"Actually, it probably would have been better for all of us if he hadn't been freed at that time," Draco frowned. "It's not like I can tell Father that I'm helping the Order fight the Dark Lord … and when the Dark Lord finds out that I'm not on his side, Father is going to be in more danger than anyone."
"Good," Ginny huffed; she had not forgotten that Lucius Malfoy was responsible for giving her Tom Riddle's diary.
"I know that my father has done regrettable things in the past," Draco started to say, his cold eyes on Ginny for what she had just said.
"Regrettable!" Ginny snorted. "You think he regrets anything he did. He doesn't care about all of the trouble he caused in the first war nor what he's done since then. And he will do more now that he's freed form Azkaban."
"Actually, the Dark Lord had made it quite clear that Father does not have any standing in the ranks of the Death Eaters," Draco said, he had no argument for the first two things that Ginny had said.
"Awe, poor L …" Ginny started to say.
"I believe we should let Mr. Malfoy say what he has to say before we interrupt him anymore," Dumbledore said, sensing that things would become bad if he allowed the two to argue more. He also could sense that what Draco had to say would make things even more tense, but he could do nothing about that until Draco had finished.
"I want my father to be pardon for all his crimes …" Draco started to say.
"You ca …" Ginny tried to interrupt again but a look from Dumbledore stopped her short, though once Draco was finished she was going to give everyone a piece of her mind.
"For all of the help that I have given your side … for everything that my mother and I are still doing to help you defeat the Dark Lord," Draco continued, "I want my father to stay out of Azkaban."
"Are you done?" Ginny asked.
Draco nodded his head. He wasn't looking at the girl, it didn't matter what she thought, but the three Professors in the room, especially Dumbledore, were the ones that could give him what he wanted.
"So not only do you want your dad to get away with the horrible things he's done in the past, you also want him to have a blank check to do anything in the future and not pay for his crime," Ginny said in a deadly even voice. She turned to the Professors, all of which looked thoughtful. Then she turned to her friends and noticed that only Ron looked like he was on her side. Harry and Hermione both looked thoughtful about what Draco was asking. "You really think that's fair …" she asked Harry.
"No … it's not fair," Harry said and Draco glared at him. "But if I was in Draco's place, I probably would be asking the same thing. Wouldn't you … if it was your dad's freedom was on the line."
"My dad isn't a criminal!" Ginny said hotly. She was not going to agree to this no matter what reason anyone gave. "And it's not fair to let someone get away with murder … which I'm sure Lucius has commented … just because his son helped our side."
"There are other ways to punish someone, than putting them in Azkaban," Draco said. "I'm not suggesting that Father should get away with his crimes. I'm asking that you to show him some lenience."
"Like he showed len …" Ginny started.
"Gin, just drop it," Hermione said and Ginny turned to look at her mutinously.
"You agree with him?" Ginny snarled.
"I think that it's up to the Professors to decided at this point," Hermione said not being able to look at her friend. Though she didn't really want Lucius to be shown any leniency, she couldn't help but think that if it wasn't for Draco, her parents would likely have been killed.
"The truth of the matter is that Lucius Malfoy had already been found innocent of his crimes during the first war," Dumbledore said frowning. "As it was in the wizengamot that he was declared innocent, he cannot be accused of those crimes in the future. As for being caught at the Ministry with other Death Eaters and being convicted of using the Imperius Curse on Sturgis, I can see what I can do about that … changing the sentence that he had gotten. However, I will not agree to allow anyone, not even for your sake Mr. Malfoy, that has committed a crime without having to face sufficient punishment for his actions."
"I understand sir," Draco said scowling, that wasn't the answer he was looking for, though it was better than he had before he had brought up the matter.
"I believe that is all that we have to discuss for the moment," Dumbledore started to say.
"Sir, you still haven't explained why we had to get here so early?" Harry reminded him.
"Indeed I haven't," Dumbledore said frowning. "Thank you for reminding me of that Harry. Severus, I believe you have the best explanation for this."
Snape nodded his head before he focused on Draco. "I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but the Dark Lord had made it a priority to all the Death Eaters that their children should report what is going on here at Hogwarts."
"Are you saying that I'm being watched?" Draco asked, he had noticed his dorm mates have been acting oddly the last few weeks.
"In a way," Snape said. "I don't believe that they have been told to watch you, but the Dark Lord has been dying to know more about what Albus is up to, and he is now using all the spies that he has available to him for another conc ..."
"Does that mean that he doesn't think you're doing a good job?" Ron asked and then added when Snape glowered at him. "Er … Sir."
"The Dark Lord understands that I cannot hear about everything that happens," Snape said in his cold voice, not being mollified at all by Ron's attempt to appease him. "He is now worried about what Potter is doing, and knows that a Professor is a poor spy for a student."
"So now the Slytherins are spying on me," Harry groaned. "That's why you wanted me to make sure that no one saw us coming here. That no one knew that all of us are in the same place."
"Precisely," Dumbledore smiled. "It would not be good for us if Voldemort learns that Mr. Malfoy has been in a meeting with the rest of us. It would be best if we didn't have meetings like this in the future, though if need be we will find a way to get the message out."
"What about our lessons, Professor?" Harry asked. "Are we going to continue with those … does Voldemort know about them?"
"Sadly, I believe he does know about them," Dumbledore sighed. "Either way, it is important for us to continue with our lessons, Harry. It's more important for you to learn what I can teach you, than it is to keep our meetings secret. Besides, Voldemort has no means to find out what is going on in our meetings, so we can be thankful for that."
"Well there's a small favor," Harry sighed. It wasn't long after that that Harry was walking back to the Gryffindor common room with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. They had asked the Room of Requirement for a different exit and had ended up on the fourth floor. They were all too caught up with their thoughts to talk as they walked.