Some time later, the Pensieve spit the two boys back out on the floor of Severus' office. Severus, himself, was nowhere to be seen, for which Harry was thankful. Had he been, Harry would have been sorely tempted to make himself invisible again. As it was, Harry sank to his knees, hiding his face in his hands, glasses forgotten on the floor.
Draco surveyed his friend in concern. The dark-haired boy probably had so much spinning in his mind that he'd likely be in a state for some time. Draco checked the clock. It was nearly dinnertime.
"Dobby," he said softly, in an attempt not to disturb Harry, "Please ask the professors for permission to skip dinner in the Great Hall," he asked the elf, a finger to his lips to indicate the elf should remain silent. "And let the other three know we'll meet them in the common room later. Once you've done that, would you please bring a plate of sandwiches or whatever's for dinner back here?"
Dobby nodded, disappearing quickly. That done, Draco waited patiently for some indicator that Harry would accept interruption to his thoughts. When Dobby returned some time later with a tray of food and Harry still had not moved, Draco was beginning to get worried. Ignoring the dinner the house elf had brought except to put a stasis charm on it, he sheathed his wand and knelt next to the other boy.
"Harry?" he said softly, his gray eyes alight with concern. There was no response. He remembered Ginny had told him that Harry, like himself, was highly uncomfortable being touched without warning, but he decided this was an emergency. Tentatively reaching out, he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. He could feel Harry's muscles twitch slightly at the contact, but did not remove his hand.
The two sat there like that for a while, Draco just attempting to let Harry know someone was there for him, until Harry straightened, replacing his glasses.
"Thanks, Dray," he said horsely, his eyes suspiciously bloodshot, clapping the blond on the shoulder. Slightly embarrassed at Harry's display of emotion, Draco waved him off.
"Whatever, Harry," he drawled, shoving a sandwich into the other wizard's hand. "Eat, Potter, or you won't be able to beat me when we duel tomorrow. Not that you will anyway, come to think of it…"
Harry choked out a laugh. "Nice Dray," he said, rolling his eyes. "A little humility could get you places, you know."
Draco smirked. "Yeah, right. Like that's a thing."
The two boys ate in silence for a bit. Draco didn't know if Harry wanted to talk about anything relating to what they'd seen, and he wasn't sure if he himself had the emotional maturity to handle it well. This sort of thing would be better left up to Ginny, he was sure. Ginny could reach Harry when no one else could, it seemed. However, after the way things had gone today, maybe he was all there was at the moment.
"So, Potter," he said awkwardly. "If you…you know…want to…talk or…anything, I'm…I can be your captive audience," he offered. "Hermione tells me it's good to…what was it she said? Oh yeah…'talk out your feelings.' Or something."
Harry snorted hollowly at his friend. "How's that working out for you?" he asked. Draco grimaced.
"Better than a spell to the head, I suppose," he remarked, before he sobered. "Seriously though. I don't know if I'm any help, but I am good at shutting up while people talk. I've had lots of practice."
Harry sighed. "I don't know, Dray," he moaned suddenly. "I mean, there was a lot of information in that…memory-movie thing."
"Pensieve," Draco corrected. "But, yes. Go on."
Harry clapped his hands to his head as though trying to stave off a headache. "Ok, so, short story is- Mum and Severus were friends as kids, and they both grew up with Muggles to some degree. They grew apart after they were sorted into rival houses. Dad bullied Severus, and Mum did not like him, thought he was mean, arrogant, and spoiled. Severus and Mum had a falling out. Severus fell in with the Junior Death Eaters and eventually joined You-Know-Who. Sometime after that, Mum and Dad got together- goodness knows how that happened. Severus heard part of a prophecy, which he told to the Dark Lord, that You-Know-Who thought meant I was destined to kill him, so he went after my family. Severus asked Dumbledore to hide my family and turned spy for our side. Pettigrew betrayed my parents, and Mum and Dad died anyway. And I went to live with Aunt Petunia….who hates me because she was jealous of Mum," Harry said, just barely putting the last part together.
Draco stared. "It sounds pretty bad when you say it like that," he said finally.
"I guess that explains why the Professor wanted me to burn those notes," he muttered. Draco looked confused, but Harry took no notice as his mind hopped from one point to another. "The question is, does that prophecy actually make me the one who's supposed to defeat You-Know-Who? Or maybe he got it wrong, and it's really supposed to be Dumbledore or someone…I don't know…older? More experienced?"
Draco looked at him, eyebrow raised.
"How many older wizards do you know that can do even half the things you can with magic?" he asked. "Even Dumbledore can't create unbreakable wards or do a patronus without a wand, Harry." He shot his best friend a look. "This might be a bad time to mention this…but there have been rumors about you being "The Chosen One" for years."
Harry stared at him incredulously. "You didn't think that would have been important to mention at some point?"
"Never came up," Draco said casually. Harry threw up his hands in exasperation.
"Fantastic," he muttered. "The whole world knows I'm supposed to beat You-Know-Who except me. You'd think someone would at least notify me before just assuming I'm going to be around to save the day…"
"They must figure it's your destiny or something, so there's no way you would have the audacity not to," Draco shrugged.
Harry shot him a look. "Not helping, Dray."
"Sorry," said the blond, looking like he wasn't actually the least bit sorry.
Harry sighed. "I can't believe Severus was the one who gave the prophecy to You-Know-Who. I know he didn't know what the outcome would be, but…it still hurts."
Draco sighed too. "Harry, one thing you have to understand- once someone joins the Dark Lord, they very rarely feel like they really have a choice in their life anymore. The Dark Lord dictates where they go, who they associate with in order to further the Dark Lord's aims, whether or not someone breaks the law, or hurts someone, or betrays their friends and family. If that person does not follow his instructions to the letter, they die a very painful death, or someone they love does."
"Severus seems to have found that out the hard way," Harry remarked sadly. There was a pause. "Wow," Harry said suddenly. "He probably feels terrible." Draco looked at him questioningly. "Think about it," Harry said. "He made a series of choices that led to the death of the woman he loved."
"Loved?" Draco asked skeptically. "I know it's your mother, Harry, but-"
"There's not really any other explanation as to why he was so upset, even so many years after their friendship dissolved. Really if you think about it, it makes sense. It sounded as though she was really the only genuine person in his life, and that included his family. It only makes sense he'd be drawn to her that way," Harry said. "It would also help explain why he hated my dad so much- he was jealous. Anyway, didn't you see the look in his eyes when he mentioned my mother earlier?"
Draco gave Harry a deadpan look. "Just exactly how much experience do you have with relationships?"
"Only the ones I've read about in books," he replied sheepishly. Draco nodded, eyebrow raised.
"My point exactly. Uncle Severus won't thank you for jumping to conclusions."
Harry processed this. "I still say he was in love with her," he said stubbornly.
"Speaking of," Draco said, gray eyes shining mischievously as he attempted to shift the subject a different direction, "when are you going to admit that you and Ginny are a thing?" Harry flushed, but kept his composure.
"Right after you admit you like Hermione," he shot back. Now it was Dray's turn to blush.
"I do not," he muttered. Harry grinned.
"If that were true, you wouldn't be bright…well, not red. More like pink. Must be something with your skin." Harry smirked. "Are you albino, Dray?"
Draco rolled his eyes, studying the other boy. "Harry, are you sure you're alright? This conversation is a lot more ridiculous than normal."
Harry smiled, looking at his friend seriously. "I will be. It's just been a lot to take in." They sat for a moment, then Harry clapped Draco on the shoulder again. "Thanks a lot for being here, Dray."
Draco looked at him for a moment. "Thanks for letting me come along with you. This is really your private family information, for the most part. But I learned a lot about Uncle Severus, about you, and how important it is to hang on to the true friends you make. The ones that aren't just…useful for their connections, skills, money, or for getting people to do what you want. The ones that care about you, and you for them. That's all new to me." He sighed. "Slytherin is full of relationships of convenience or gain. It's rare to have someone really like you for who you are, as opposed to what you are."
Harry looked over at the blond. "That sounds…really depressing."
"It is," said Draco. "Trust me, Harry, it is."
Upon returning to Paracelsus common room, it was apparent that Ginny, Neville, and Hermione had been waiting for them. Harry, who had only been seen by Neville and Dray that afternoon after Sirius' departure, was instantly greeted by Hermione. Ginny, now seeing the young man in front of her, hung back. She was ashamed of her part in what had happened with Sirius; she knew she'd overstepped. She was also unsure as to whether or not Harry wanted to see her.
He stepped through the portrait hole with Dray, looking as composed as ever. Draco himself, was much the same, his expression cool and collected. While the others converged on Harry, Draco slid silently past them to bury himself in a book.
"Harry, what did Professor Snape want to see you about?" Hermione asked, Neville just behind her looking on with interest.
Harry only shook his head. "I will explain, Hermione, but not now," he promised. The raven-haired teen extricated himself from his friend, summoning a book- Ginny was surprised to see the title mentioning divination, as she thought he'd needed to focus on catching up in the core subjects first- before taking a seat on one of the sofas and hiding his face behind it.
Ginny sighed. Harry had not even acknowledged her. She was getting better at reading his nonverbal cues, but this time was a little different because she knew he'd been upset at her actions earlier.
Come on, Weasley, she reprimanded herself. Are you a Gryffindor, or a Hufflepuff? So, summoning her Gryffindor courage, she took the seat beside him, taking out the pen he'd made for her and beginning to doodle on a scrap piece of parchment. She was encouraged when she noted that Harry stayed where he was, not getting up and walking off in a huff as though offended by her presence.
Each of the other students found something to work on individually, and the common room, Ginny realized, was extremely quiet for a common room. Probably due to the difference in numbers, she thought. She found she kind of liked it.
"Wow, Ginny, that's really cool," Neville said, looking over her shoulder at the kneazle she'd been drawing. "Where'd you learn that?"
"Dean taught me," she replied, not really thinking about it.
"Thomas?" Draco asked, looking up from his book. Ginny couldn't quite read his expression.
"Yes," Ginny said.
Neville was frowning. "Dean Thomas…he's in our year, right? Ron's best friend, the dark-skinned Gryffindor? You two are dating, right?"
Ginny froze. She'd completely forgotten to reply to Dean's letter. And coincidentally, forgotten to break up with him.
The redhead jumped as Harry closed his book with a snap, getting swiftly to his feet and heading for the boys' room without a word. Neville was still frowning.
"Did I say something wrong?" he wondered, before the Hufflepuff got to his feet and disappeared into the boys dorm, intending to put things right. Hermione shot Ginny a look.
"You forgot to write him back, didn't you?" she said, not really asking. When Ginny didn't answer, she sighed. Draco, too, was looking at her, nearly staring her down, his gaze holding something accusatory within it.
"Geez, Weasley. Couldn't you have picked a better day for this?" He asked. Ginny looked down. Draco was right; she'd evidently hurt Harry again, though she hadn't meant to, and after that thing with Sirius this morning, he really didn't need this right now. Why, oh why, didn't she listen to Hermione and write back to Dean immediately?
"I really screwed up this time," Ginny said aloud.
"You think?" the Slytherin muttered, before getting to his feet and following Neville from the room, leaving the two girls alone. Hermione didn't make any comments thankfully, but silently held out a blank roll of parchment to her best friend. Unfortunately for Ginny, her gaze was reproachful. Ginny sighed. What a mess. The was exactly the kind of scenario Hermione had wanted to help her avoid.
Pulling out her maroon pen again, she quickly wrote a reply to Dean's letter, being very clear about the fact that she wanted to break up and that there was nothing Dean could do to change her mind. She sealed it up, placing it on the sofa beside her. She would send it in the morning, she decided. Taking a trip up to the Owlry to hand off the letter to her owl, a tawny called Pax, at this hour would probably be more likely to land her in detention than anything else. Hermione had gone to bed while she'd been writing, it turned out, leaving Ginny alone on the sofa. It wasn't long before she'd fallen asleep.
Harry was lying on his bed, curtains drawn, staring at the canopy. He felt like an idiot. Of course a girl like Ginny would have a boyfriend. It was ludicrous to think she wouldn't. She was smart, beautiful, funny, and had an intriguing mischievous streak she could only have picked up from Fred and George. She was fiery and passionate, determined, a wonderfully skilled flyer…and he had to admit he liked her.
He trusted her. She could see him, his real self, better than most people. She could pull him out of his head when he needed it. She would tell him straight up when he was being stupid about something. And…and he'd thought she'd liked him. Stupid, he berated himself. You were obviously wrong. Seeing what you wanted to see.
"Harry?" Neville's voice called. "Did I say something wrong?" There was a shuffle as Neville moved around the room a bit. Harry was thankful that Neville did not speak again. After a moment, he heard the door open again, then close behind the newcomer, who could only be Draco.
"Dray, what happened?" he heard Neville say.
"It wasn't you, Nev," Dray said softly. Harry couldn't hear anything else, so he assumed Dray had made a gesture of some sort.
"Ohhh," Neville said aloud, sounding as though he understood now. Harry grimaced. Not really wanting to hear any more, he concentrated. His wards came up, with a new sound-blocking feature, effectively ending Harry's eavesdropping.
Draco grimaced as Harry's bed completely disappeared from view.
"Well, at least we know where he is this time," Neville remarked dejectedly.
With a sigh, the two boys turned toward their trunks to gather pajamas. Perhaps this would all be sorted out in the morning.