Veritas 12
Oooh – I'm impatient. I have actually been working on future chapters (which get pretty intense…) and had to force myself to get back here to lead up to them. Writing tip – working backwards may help your style and continuity, but it busts your blood pressure. (trust me, I'm surrounded by med students eager for anything to diagnose….)
So- just what happened in detention??
Harry's POV in this one, but then back to Sirius for the remainder – I promise.
***
Harry was having a horrible dream.
He woke up, not sure where he was. Looking about he suddenly realized he was in his room at 10 Privet Drive….
There was a noise downstairs. Terrified that Uncle Vernon would wake up, Harry jumped out of bed and ran as quietly as he could down the stairs. He stopped when he saw a glow of light coming from the living room. Slowly, as quietly as he could, he crept forward. But he could hear he own heart pounding; surely everyone else could too?
He stepped into the living room, unable to stop himself. It was bathed in an odd blue light. Three figures were in front of the fire. Harry stepped forward, in a trance. Suddenly he found himself looking into Peter Pettigrew's eyes.
"Foolish little boy…" whispered Pettigrew, his eyes breaking Harry's gaze and looking down. Harry looked too…. Sirius was sprawled on the floor, his throat…his throat split….
"Always thought he was so much better than me…but it was all his fault you see. Just because he wasn't man enough to do what they asked him…." whispered Pettigrew in Harry's ear. "That one too,,,,"
Harry suddenly realized that the other body sprawled at his feet was Remus. And Remus was very, very dead.
"Done everyone a favour, haven't I?" continued Peter; Harry couldn't move, couldn't even scream. "Disgusting, evil creature that he was…."
Harry tried to strike him; tried to reach out to Sirius…to Remus… Remus didn't deserve to die like this… he was needed at home; Katie needed him, Malcolm needed him….
Draco Malfoy suddenly stepped up in front of him, kneeling down and poking absently at Sirius' head; ignoring how it just seemed to loll there…
"Idiots…."
Fire suddenly enveloped the room; but Harry couldn't feel the burning. He just stood there, Sirius and Remus dead at his feet, staring at Malfoy. Malfoy said nothing, never moved as the flames burned his white hair, and engulfed him.
Harry stood there, watching Malfoy burn. Suddenly he seemed to realize what was happening, reached out, and felt his arm stopped. He turned. Cedric stood there, pale and saddened.
"Too late."
***
Harry did manage to stop himself from actually screaming as he woke up for real, clutching his sheets so intensely his fingers hurt. Dream… Hogwarts…just a dream… but he felt tears burning his eyes. Sirius… Remus….
Harry finally, in the aftermath of this terrible vision, admitted to himself how much he needed them. The idea of living the rest of his life without them was too much. He was terrified that this latest incident would take them from him; and that was unacceptable. He lost his parents; all he had was them. I'm not invincible. I can't…I won't… He tried to stop thinking like this. It didn't do any good. He wasn't a baby; he would manage…
He felt like he was going to cry; no, I won't. I can't bear it if…. The images flashed through his mind again, now made worse with other more conscious memories. Remus, looking so sad and lost when he told Harry that Sirius would always blame himself for his parents' deaths. Sirius, weeping as he confessed to Harry that someone killing Remus simply because was a werewolf had always been his greatest nightmare….
It's just a dream. Stop it.
Suddenly Harry felt something moving near his feet; it was Crookshanks. Blasted cat… but even though he was surprised to find that Crookshanks was there he felt oddly relieved. The cat jumped up from where it had been sleeping and came up to stand on Harry's chest. Blindly, he pushed at Crookshanks so that he sat down next to him. Crookshanks began to purr heavily, and curled up next to him, stretching happily up against his chest and under his chin. For once, Harry was very, very grateful to have the cat with him. A solid reminder of the real world; not the horrifying visions in his dreams.
"Gods, Crookshanks. For once I'm glad you ignored me when I threw you out of here."
The last thing he thought of, before he fell asleep again, was Sirius, back all those years ago in the Shack…. "Cleverest of its kind I've ever met…."
***
Harry woke up again as someone shook him.
"Come on Harry! We're going to be late getting to Hogsmede!"
Harry blinked at Seamus. Then groaned. He felt as though he hadn't slept all night, and although he couldn't remember the images from his nightmares, he still felt sick and saddened.
"Bug off, Seamus. I'll be up in a bit."
"Look you, we've already been to breakfast. You told us to but off then, too, but now you're going to get up. Up! If you don't get up, I'm not goin' ta give you the letter you've got…"
Harry jumped up. "Letter? Give it here!"
"Oh now you suddenly wake up. Lazy thing; here ya go." Seamus tossed a letter at him and went to grab his cloak.
"Look, Harry, if nothin' else it's a chance to get out of here for a bit; you've been lookin' like you could do with a change of scenery. Come on, right?" Seamus looked at him, expectantly. Harry had to smile.
"Right. Let me get dressed at least. Where's Ron?"
Seamus grinned rather wickedly. Looks like Sirius with that smile….
"Oh, down in the common room trying very hard to ignore Miss Granger. Seems a bit in a tiff over something. Any suggestions?"
"Well, it's Ron. Who knows; could be anything."
Seamus grinned even more. "Very elusive answer. It has been suggested that the bastard Malfoy said something unfortunate…"
Oh my God; Cecelia is a gossip. Who would have guessed?
"Really?"
"Aye. Well, get downstairs quickly. We'll wait for you." Seamus left.
Harry tore open his letter. It was from Katie.
Harry-
I know I already wrote to Hermione, but I thought I'd just get a note to you, too. Fear not, Remus and Sirius are not upset over the change in plans. If anything, Sirius is feeling upset with Ron, as you know his opinion on people who drag these things out. We love him anyway.
Do be careful. I don't know if this offers any solace at all with what you are about to do, but I do appreciate your hesitancy over this issue. I know what it's like to have someone let you down, especially when you really needed something important from them. Remember, you always have me if you think that Remus or Sirius won't understand, and I do not break confidences for anything.
Malcolm seems to be getting the hang of actually sitting up, and he genuinely smiles and laughs now. Five months! Who would have thought, right? This is actually normal development, and don't let Sirius tell you otherwise. Remus has started to dream about when Malcolm starts to walk. He's got a while to go on that one… but then Remus suddenly gets sad at the idea that Malcolm is going to change at all. Please, Harry, when you are a father yourself, try to be rational about it. (Yes, I am laughing as I write that.)
As always, I look forward to having you here with us again. But as I'm hardly the sentimental type, you know, I won't go on about it.
I will say that everyone here sends their love.
- Katie
Harry had to smile as he read Katie's letter. She is sentimental, she's just not overt about it. She thinks we don't notice when she gets teary because Remus left her a note or some flowers just casually around the house? Harry put her letter in his trunk. Remus and Katie were hardly a conventional pair, but Harry hoped that one day he would be lucky enough to love someone as much. Now that's needlessly sentimental….
***
Saturday night, and their detention with Malfoy, arrived too quickly. The day had been a bit of a waste anyway. Ron was barely speaking to Hermione; not only was he furious with her for getting them a detention, he was mortified over what Draco had said and refused to look Hermione in the eye. Harry thought he was being an idiot. Draco may have been blunt, but he was right. Still, Sirius had warned him to stay well enough out of it, so Harry said nothing.
Harry and Ron left the tower and made their way to the front hall. Peeves met up with them about halfway there and taunted them for getting caught out all the way to the front doors. He shot over and cackled at Draco, too, when he stepped out of the door leading down to the dungeons. But Draco completely ignored him and walked over to where Harry and Ron stood with a blank face. He didn't even flinch when Peeves doubled his efforts, getting no response.
"Bit of a disgrace at your age, boy!" Called Peeves. "Fighting! Ha!"
Draco didn't so much as twitch. But he gave Ron a venomous stare. Ron went red and just stepped forward to open the doors.
It was pitch black and freezing cold when they all stepped out of the castle. They set out down the path to the greenhouses in silence. Fresh snow had been falling all afternoon, and Hagrid had not yet cleared the paths. He had been preoccupied with making certain that the lake would not actually freeze over. As they trudged through several inches of wet loose snow, Harry suddenly remembered the terrible dream he'd had last night.
He glanced at Draco. He could see the image of Draco, engulfed in fire, burning, but unmoving. Is it too late? Maybe what he did at Christmas was an experiment; why would he possibly…. Sirius is right; I'm trying so hard not to believe Draco can be trusted that I can't see that maybe I am wrong. And that might make me make the wrong choice….
Harry and Ron had actually discussed not going through with all of this that afternoon. They had wracked their brains trying to think of some other way to set Sirius and Remus' plan in motion, one where they did not have to rely on Draco.
"What if he just tips them all off? What if he helps set a trap?" said Ron, miserably.
Hermione, who had been unusually quiet, finally said in a soft voice, "Ron, please. I honestly think that Draco has made the right choices. He's…he's different. Really. Something is up with him. Cecelia tipped me off first, you know. She says he's, well, it's hard to say…."
Ron still wouldn't look at her. "You think one Slytherin is trustworthy because of something another Slytherin said? That's no improvement, Hermione." But his voice was not as harsh as it had been.
"Actually, Cecelia has never been all that bad. I actually wondered why she wasn't in Ravenclaw. That seems more appropriate." Harry ignored Ron glaring at him.
Hermione smiled. "She's very self-sufficient. And very ambitious. You can be ambitious, you know, without being evil about it. Not every Slytherin graduate went bad, you know."
"But every single one of the Death Eaters' inner circle is."
"You're forgetting Wormtail," mumbled Harry, poking at his lunch.
Hermione sighed. "Look, just give Draco a chance. So what if he doesn't take it? We already know he's aware that Remus and Snuffles know about the whatever. So if it is a set-up, that damage has been done. Draco deserves a chance," she repeated in a very determined tone.
Ron finally glanced at her, but just as quickly looked away again. "Hermione, why, why, after everything he's done, especially to you, are you so bloody determined that he should be given the slightest benefit of the doubt."
"Because, Ron, if he is trying to decide, and makes the wrong choice because nobody ever offered him an option, that's shame on us. If we think we're better, if we think we offer better choices, then we better be willing to put up or shut up. You not giving him a chance is not a good thing to do. Doing the 'right' thing means willing to take a chance for it."
She's right of course. But what if the price for doing the right thing is too high?
They finally reached the greenhouses. They went in to the main greenhouse, still not speaking or looking at each other. Harry risked a glance at Malfoy in the bright light of the lamps. Still a total blank. That's certainly a change.
Professor Sprout walked over, wiping her hands off on the apron she wore.
"Well, an interesting group I get sent tonight. I need the beds in greenhouse three turned and re-mulched. No magic. Not so much as an Accio shovel, understood?"
They all nodded. It would have to be the greenhouse with the carnivorous vines, wouldn't it?
As if reading Harry's thoughts, Professor Sprout continued as she led them back outside. "The vines are in hibernation, so they should give you no worries. I will permit you to keep you wands, however, just in case. But let me be very clear; if the wands are used for any purpose other than holding off a vine, this detention will be the least of your worries for a long time."
She opened the door to greenhouse three and waved her wand to light the lamps down the centre of the greenhouse. The lamps on the side stayed dark, so the place took on a rather ominous look. "I'm not going to light the other lamps so that they don't disrupt the vines. Keep all conversation to a minimum. You may work together or split the tasks between you. However you do this, I expect it to be completed by the time this detention ends. I will be back in four hours. If you need anything, I will be working in greenhouse five."
She left. Draco finally looked at Harry and Ron.
"I have no intention of teaming with either of you. I suggest we each take a third of the beds and do the work ourselves." Not waiting for an answer, he turned to walk to the far end of the greenhouse and collect the tools he needed.
Ron looked at Harry. "You know, when we do this with Katie and Remus, it's fun. Maybe we should pretend we're doing it for them." But the joke sounded flat and Harry didn't smile.
They all worked in silence for about two hours. Every now and again a vine would shudder, causing Harry to stop what he was doing and stare at it for a while, trying to decide if it was awake. He could see that Ron was working his way across the beds, while he and Draco actually worked them up and down. Harry wracked his brain trying to decide how best to 'talk' with Ron. Finally, they finished turning and started to walk back and forth from the shed, carrying buckets of mulch out. Disgusting.
Ron stopped Harry as they passed, glancing back to Draco, refilling his own bucket. "Well? It's got to be now or never…."
Harry nodded. "Suddenly I feel trapped in this. How are we going to make this sound at all…." He stopped as Draco went past, glaring at them.
"Move it. I'm not being kept late because you two can't shut up for a few hours and just get some work done."
Ron went a little red. "Shove off, ferret."
Draco continued on and Harry glared at him. "Let's try not to work so hard on our 'cover', shall we?"
Ron picked his bucket back up and went back to the beds he was working on. Harry returned himself, thinking again how this would work without looking stupid, or planned, when suddenly Malfoy appeared next to him.
"What?"
"Is it just me, or are the vines closer?"
Harry looked up. When they started, all of the vines had been completely dark, totally out of the light cast by the lamps in the centre of the greenhouse. Now, a few leaves were in fact bathed in light. All up and down the greenhouse.
"Think we woke them up?"
"Actually, I think they just sort of sense we're in here. I'm going to go get Professor Sprout. You and Weasely better keep an eye on them. And stay out of reach. A rather unglamorous end for you that would be."
Harry bit back his retort and walked over to Ron as Malfoy left.
"Where is he going?" said Ron, indignantly. "He's not done!"
"He's gone to get Sprout. Look at the vines."
Ron turned from glaring at the front door to glance at the vines. Then he did a double take. "They've moved."
Harry nodded, and took out his wand. Ron followed suit. Harry suddenly shivered, both from the cold and the stress. What a night. I'm standing here, ankle deep in mulch in a dank greenhouse trying to see if some man-eating vines are slowly creeping out of the shadows at me. And I've still got to trust the lives of Sirius and Remus to Malfoy. He smiled at Ron.
"What?"
"This is just all so ridiculous, isn't it?"
Ron gave a snort. "Somehow I always envisioned fighting the powers of darkness to be a bit more glamorous than this, yeah."
They stood there for a long time, staring into the gloom at the vines. Where the hell is Malfoy?
"Think he's stalling hoping they'll have eaten us before he gets back? How long does it take to walk 500 feet anyway?"
Harry sighed. "I'll go see what's keeping him, okay?"
"Fine."
Harry got back on the path, keeping well to the side away from the vines, and went out the front door, grabbing his cloak as he did. He looked in the direction of greenhouse five, but saw nothing. What is that git doing now?
He set out through the snow, noticing Draco's prints on the path. Suddenly though, the tracks stopped. Harry stared. They didn't actually stop, he realized, but went off into greenhouse four instead. What is he doing? Oh my God, what if he's meeting with… who? His father? Dumbledore has practically banned Lucius….
Thinking in the back of his mind that this was a reasonably stupid thing to do, but unable to stop himself, he held his wand in front of him and went up to the door. He tried to look inside, but it was pitch black. But the snow in front of the door was disturbed; Malfoy had definitely gone inside. He strained to try and hear anything, but the only sounds he could make out were the usual unsettling odd calls and groans that came out of the forbidden forest. He suddenly thought of Aragog, deep somewhere inside the forest, which made him think of Ron. Better get a move on; or Ron might have a bad night….
Very slowly he pushed the door open soundlessly, and stepped forward. What's in this one again? I can't keep track. At least it's warmer.
"You took your bloody time, Potter," he heard Malfoy say. "What if I'd been attacked by something from the forest? It'd have a damn good head start by now wouldn't it? But that wouldn't be such a tragedy for you, would it?"
Harry couldn't actually see Malfoy, but could tell from his voice that he was standing off to the left of the door. He resisted his urge to light his wand, as Sprout would catch them, and took a step towards Malfoy.
He sighed. "Malfoy, I wouldn't be very happy if anyone got eaten by a god-knows-what from the forest. Even you."
Malfoy gave a small chuckle. "Really? And why is that? Your Gryffindor heart can't resist the urge to save someone and he the hero again?"
Harry said nothing. There was a long silence. Finally, Draco sighed.
"Professor Lupin told you what happened, I assume."
"What are you talking about Malfoy?"
Suddenly Malfoy appeared on the far side of the small pool of light coming from the door. His face finally had an expression. Is that … sadness?
"No games, Potter. I'm tired of them. I've had a lifetime of them; only now they aren't really games any more, are they? Now people are dying. Not a game."
Harry stared at him. He actually felt ready to scream in frustration. Talk about put up or shut up time. Please, Sirius; please be right about this. Still, he said nothing.
Malfoy gave a smirk and shook his head before continuing. "Of course he told you. Him and Black. I'm not going to justify myself to you Potter; I'm not even sure I'm willing to be your friend in some remote way. But I'll tell you what I told them. I'm not going to let anyone else die if I can help it. Let's just stay out of each other's way. At least, thanks to Weasley's continued lack of self-control, nobody would ever guess we were on 'the same side' as it were. Idiot. I doubt either of you got into quite as much trouble as I did for this."
"Malfoy…."
"I'm not interested, Potter. Just keep out of my way, and I'll keep out of yours. I'm not about to take up some mystical crusade with you. I just…. I'm not going to live up to the 'expectations' set for me. I want no part of it. I have my own reasons that are none of your business."
He stepped to move past Harry, but Harry reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. Malfoy actually flinched and jumped away from him, sneering. "Don't touch me, Potter. I just told you…"
"Draco, stop it!"
Draco froze, stunned to hear Harry address him by his first name. He at least stood where he was and looked at Harry with an expectant, and now tired, expression.
"Yes. Remus told us what happened. And let me tell you something. I have been very, very reluctant to agree with his interpretation of that event. Specifically that you…you willingly and of your own volition let them go. I have been more inclined to believe that you did that as a set up."
Draco actually said nothing, but nodded at him once.
Harry crossed his arms and stood there, glaring at Malfoy. "I've actually been told off for my bad attitude on this, you know. And Remus nearly bit Ron's head off when Ron made one to many snide remarks. That's the only thing that even convinced me to try and trust you. Remus doesn't trust people without a damn good reason, obviously. And for whatever reason, he seems to trust you."
Draco looked at the floor. "You don't trust me, you trust Lupin. And Black."
"I don't want to even hear you mention Sirius' name."
"Sorry."
Harry froze, and Draco looked back up at him. Did he just apologize?
"Potter, we need to be getting back. Just say truce and we'll…."
"No. There's something else. Remus needs you to do something, if you truly are set on doing the right thing."
There was a long pause, until finally Draco spoke in a very quiet, very surprised voice. "Really?"
He actually sounds...pleased. But a good pleased or a bad pleased? Am I about to give Draco a chance to do the right thing or deliver Sirius and Remus right into the Death Eaters' hands? Draco could see that Harry was struggling with something, and, much to Harry's surprise, gave a small sad smile.
"I really did let them go on my own, you know. I had the whole thing worked out; I wasn't going to let my father kill them, and that's exactly what he was going to do. He actually sounded…Gods, he was relishing the idea of killing Professor Lupin. He really, really hates him. He wouldn't dare touch him without a good, socially acceptable reason, but there he was, breaking in… father would just be defending his family against a werewolf. Who would say anything? And I know…I know that, " he hesitated before going on. "I know your godfather is innocent. I've seen Wormtail."
Harry finally stepped forward towards him. "You know where he is?"
Draco shook his head. "No, I've just seen him. He came to the house once last summer. It wasn't a pleasant visit. He was in trouble over something. The man is mad, Potter. I mean worse than most of them. Nutters."
"Well he'd have to be, wouldn't he?" muttered Harry.
Malfoy sighed. "I'm not going to beg you to trust me, Potter. I haven't given up my pride. I'll do whatever Professor Lupin wants. I'll send him a note, shall I?"
Harry nodded. I'm not saying anything else to him. He can just talk to them directly; maybe if he's lying they can tell, since they have a lot more experience with this.
Draco nodded. "We really need to be getting back."
"Yes. Let's get Sprout. Did you do anything to the vines? To get me out here?"
Draco shook his head as they stepped back out onto the paths connecting the greenhouses and turned towards number five.
"No. I'd been trying to find a way to talk with you all night. When I saw what was happening, I volunteered to get Sprout hoping you'd follow me. I know you can't trust me as far as you can throw me. I was actually surprised you didn't follow me outright."
Harry gave a mirthless laugh. "I was tempted, I'll tell you."
Draco nodded and stopped just before he opened the door to greenhouse five.
"What's Lupin's little boy like?"
Harry was very surprised by this question. Why should he care?
"He's about five months old. He's…he's a baby. Quiet. Looks like his mum. Why?"
"What's his name?"
"Malfoy…." Why does he care?! Harry stopped though, and forced himself to calm down. Just give him a damn chance. What harm can it do if he knows Malcolm's name?
"Malcolm," he said, finally. "He's named after Katie's grandfather. Why do you care?"
Draco smiled sadly again. "I just always thought that Professor Lupin would make a good dad. I'm happy he got the chance. Mr. Malcolm Lupin is lucky, don't you think? Snape thinks a werewolf having a family is insane, but personally between you and me I think you can have a lot worse things for a father than a werewolf."
He opened the door and went in, calling for Professor Sprout. Harry just stayed on the steps, willing himself to think about nothing, because he'd had about all he could take for the night.
***
Professor Sprout sent them on their way after having a look at the vines. Draco went on ahead, and Harry hung back, walking at a slower pace with Ron.
Once Draco was out of earshot, Ron turned to Harry.
"Where…"
"I was talking to Malfoy. Seems he wanted to talk to me."
"And?"
"And Snuffles and Remus seem to be right about him. I told him they needed his help, but that's it. It's up to them now."
"Unbelievable."
"Well, maybe. He's got his chance. At least Hermione will be satisfied we did that."
Ron sighed. "Yeah."
Harry couldn't stop himself, despite Sirius' warning. "Ron, why don't you just talk to Hermione?"
"I don't know. Honestly, I don't. And I really don't want to talk about it."
"Fine."
Back at the castle, Harry stopped and turned in the direction of the owlery. "I'm just going to get Hedwig. Open the window in the tower, would you?"
Before he went to bed, Harry wrote to Sirius.
Sirius-
I've had my 'chat'. Not quite as I had planned – he actually came to me. Seems you were right. Seems – keep that in mind. He will write to Remus.
Love,
Harry
He gave Hedwig the note.
"Take that to Sirius, would you?" he whispered. "I'm sorry it's so late. It's important."
Hedwig just gave him a light nip on the ear, then soared into the night. Harry fought the urge to sit there and wait for her to get back with a reply, and the urge to leave the window open. Everyone will kill me for freezing the place up. Even Ron.
He finally fell asleep. The next morning, Hedwig arrived at breakfast with a reply from Sirius.
Harry-
Interesting. Thank you. Remus is reading something a large eagle owl dropped off as I write this. Actually, now he's writing something. I recognize the bird. I am also amused to note that Hedwig has turned her back on it. Where did you get such a grumpy, opinionated, and loyal pet?
More later. Good luck with next week's Quiddich match. As always, I expect a play-by-play description.
Love-
Sirius
Harry showed the note to Ron and risked a glance at the Slytherin table. Malfoy's owl was perched on the back of his chair. Here we go.