Harry Potter and the Face of Destiny
By Bronze Eagle
Chapter 4
Thank you all for reviewing!!! By the way, I didn't put a disclaimer on the previous chapters, but J. K. owns everything that you've heard of. (Except for Puck, that name's from Shakespeare. The character is all mine, though! ^_^) Sorry this took so long to get out! I had to go to school, so I had homework and stuff. I actually have a free afternoon now, so I decided to take you all out of your misery and get this chapter up!
*****
*Draco shifted uneasily. There was someone following him. Puck was walking in front of him, laughing and chatting happily with Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry and Ron were walking beside them, talking in low voices about Quiddich. Suddenly, he felt no resentment toward any of them, it was as though he was ignoring them completely. In fact, he felt no emotion at all, there was just a contented blankness in his mind ... This isn't right! thought a voice desperately in the back of his mind. He paid it no mind. "Potter is right in front of you, do it now ..." whispered a voice. Yes, that seemed like a good idea ... Pulling out his wand, Draco pointed it casually at Harry. "Have some fun first," said the voice. He smiled. Sure, fun, this was going to be better than he thought ... "Crucio!" he hissed. Harry jerked in pain, then fell to the ground, screaming. All the others turned in surprise, then horror dawned on their faces. "What are you doing?!" shrieked Puck. Draco realized that there was a demented gleam in his eyes, which were glowing a bright crimson. "Are you having fun, Potter? The Dark Lord doesn't like it when people get in his way, and you have done that far too many times to live." Harry, curled up in pain, stared at him imploringly. Draco stared down at him, aware of the helpless figures around them, aware of the minutes ticking by. "The great Harry Potter, are you going to beg for mercy now? Or are you too proud ... I told you once that you would die like your parents ... that time has come." He could hear Puck screaming at him. He lifted the curse at last, and Harry lay gasping on the ground. "Aren't you going to stand and fight, Potter?" Draco asked innocently. "Well, you won't get the chance, it's too late even to die an honorable death, like your parents ... You are a shame to their memory, you deserve to die." Harry groaned, and tried to stand. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron were at his side, supporting him. "If you put your trust in that fool, then you deserve to die as well!" he snarled at them. "Avada Kedavra!" Puck screamed again. The four lay dead on the ground. "And now," Draco said, whirling on Puck, "It's your turn!"*
"NO!" Draco sat up suddenly. His heart was pounding. Only a dream, it was only a dream ... He shivered. He had been walking along a road in Diagon Alley, just like yesterday ... only the streets were deserted, and all the shops were locked. There had been someone following them, and then there was a shadow over his brain ... the Imperius Curse! He was absurdly relieved. He may not have exactly been on Potter's side, but he'd never do one of the Unforgivable Curses ... But you enjoyed it, didn't you? said a nasty voice in the back of his head. Even through the Curse, you enjoyed having Potter roll at your feet ...
"Draco?" said a concerned voice.
He looked up, startled, then realized where he was. He forced a laugh. "Sorry, I fell asleep doing my homework, I guess." Puck was looking at him as she stood by the door.
"I know, you've only been asleep for a little while. I didn't want to wake you up, so I was just going to leave."
"And let me wake up with ink all over my face?" Draco asked in mock indignation. "I'm a pretty sound sleeper, you know, I would have slept till morning."
"Why didn't you?" she asked, coming back over. "That must have been a really bad nightmare, to wake you up like that ... you looked terrified."
"Oh, um, I'm just fine," said Draco quickly, cursing himself. He shouldn't have let her start on what woke him up!
"Right, yeah, that's why you were all pale and you woke up screaming 'NO!' Sorry, but I can't help thinking that there's something you're not telling me."
Draco sighed and opened his mouth. 'Tell her, and I'll rip your heart out with my bare hands,' hissed a cruel voice in his head. Years of showing no outward emotion helped him keep his face straight, but it was a close thing.
"Really, it was nothing important," he said to Puck, thinking furiously, 'Who are you, and why are you in my head?'
'You really don't want to know,' the voice laughed. A cold chill went down Draco's spine.
'Wha ... what do you want with me?'
"Hello, Draco?" Puck was waving her hand in front of his face. "Earth to Draco!"
"Oh, sorry, I just spaced out for a minute, I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go to bed!" said Draco, and, gathering up his homework hastily, he sped out the door.
"Well, what was that about?" Puck wondered aloud. "Draco sure was in a hurry to get out of here ... he looked like he just saw a ghost." Laughing to herself, Puck wandered off to find her room.
*****
*"Avada Kedavra!"*
Harry Potter sat up, gasping. Malfoy ...
"What is it?" asked Ron, from his seat on the couch with Ginny and Hermione. The two girls wore concerned expressions. Harry realized that he had dozed off in the chair he'd been sitting in.
"Oh, um, nothing, I just, well ..." Ron narrowed his eyes, and Harry sighed. "I had a nightmare, that's all."
Hermione's eyes widened. "You know Harry, if it was about You-Know-Who, it could be serious, I mean, you don't know, it could be happening right now, and since you're sort of, well, connected to him ..."
Harry shook his head. "Trust me, it's not happening now," he said firmly, "Voldemort wasn't even in it." I don't *think* he was, anyway ... he thought to himself.
"What was it about, then?" asked Ginny curiously.
"Uh, I'd really rather not talk about it," said Harry. "It wasn't important."
"Well, I think we should get to bed," said Hermione bossily.
"Just because you've been made a prefect doesn't mean you can boss *us* around," groaned Ron. Hermione had told them all the news earlier that evening.
Harry grinned. "Look on the bright side, Ron, if Malfoy starts mouthing off, she can take points!"
Ron, instead of looking happy, frowned. "Yeah, I guess. Although, he was acting, well, less evil than usual at Diagon Alley today."
Ginny snorted. "He was just making an effort for Puck," she said. "He probably doesn't care what we think, he just doesn't want his new sister to think that he's a big bully."
"Yeah, that's probably why he wasn't making cracks about us the whole time," added Harry.
"Well, if he does any of that this year, he's going to pay for it. I'll get him with that slug curse I tried in our second year. I don't have a broken wand anymore ..."
Harry chuckled. "Yeah, that would be priceless, Malfoy burping slugs all over the school ..." They all looked at each other, and started laughing.
*****
Harry woke some hours later in Ron's room. The other boy was sound asleep, judging from the soft snores coming from the top bunk. Harry shifted. He hadn't told the others, but his scar had been bothering him since their trip to Diagon Alley. He didn't know why, but he'd had the feeling that they were being followed. He had thought he was just being paranoid, but maybe not. He frowned. It couldn't have been Voldemort ... someone would have noticed him! The streets were so crowded, and all it would take was one person to notice him. But what if that person didn't know what they were seeing? asked a voice in his head. He shook that thought aside. It had only been fourteen years, surely the entire wizarding community hadn't forgotten what it was like with Voldemort trying to take over? But the nasty little voice told him that was exactly what had happened.
*****
Draco couldn't sleep. He felt sick. Where in the name of Heaven had that dream come from? He was almost sure that he had seen the Dark Lord in Diagon Alley; could he have somehow sent it? Lucius was a Death Eater, but what did that have to do with Draco? His father had told him to keep his nose out of the Dark Lord's business enough times over the past summer for Draco to know that You-Know-Who did not want the families of his Death Eaters involved, except for a promise on pain of death to keep their mouths shut. So what did he want with Draco?
Draco shut his eyes and thought, 'I don't know what you want with me, but giving me dreams about killing people with illegal curses is not a good way to get me around!' He waited, nearly forgetting to breathe, for some sort of response.
'So, Draco, are we having doubts about being the little villain of Hogwarts?' He nearly jumped out of his skin. There was a voice speaking inside his head!
'Who are you?'
'Haven't you guessed, boy? I always knew you weren't top of every class, but I didn't think you were stupid ...'
Draco swallowed hard. 'Why are you speaking to me, my Lord? I ... I would have thought that my father would be the one you wanted to speak to ...'
Voldemort laughed harshly. 'Your father is a fool, as are all mortals, but I thought his son might have more intelligence than he ...' the voice trailed off. 'I do not believe that I was wrong in thinking so.'
'Do ... do you wish me to serve you in some way, my Lord?'
'No, I will contact you later, but you are not to speak a word of this to ANYONE; is that understood, Draco? Because if you mention this, it could prove awkward, and I might have to ... dispose of someone.'
Draco's heart was beating so fast it hurt. 'Yes, I understand, my Lord.'
'Good, that's very good.' The voice seemed to be getting distant. 'Oh, and Draco, I will know if you tell someone, so I wouldn't try anything. Displeasing me can be a very painful experience ...' the voice faded out. Draco lay still as stone, staring at the ceiling. He was really in for it this time.
*****
"Harry, are you all right? You look pale," said a concerned Mr. Weasley the next morning.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine Mr. Wesley, I just didn't get much sleep last night. We stayed up pretty late." Harry had been staring at his toast, thinking about his dreams after he had finally drifted off last night. They had all contained a pale, silver-haired figure torturing someone that had looked horribly familiar, though he couldn't remember who it was.
Arthur chuckled. "Yes, I remember when I was going to Hogwarts, we would always do our homework on the last day of the holidays. Do you have it all done yet? You fifth years got a lot, according to Ron."
Harry made a face. "Yes, I got it done. I think we got so much because of the O.W.L.s that are coming up."
Mr. Weasley grinned. "Ah, yes, the O.W.L.s. I hope you all do well on them, goodness knows Molly will throw a fit if Ron does poorly. I hope you all will study, for your sake."
Ron groaned as he walked into the kitchen. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad. I'd almost forgotten about them, *finally*, Hermione's been bugging us all summer-" he stopped abruptly as she walked into the kitchen.
"What were you saying about me?" she asked suspiciously. Ginny followed her in, yawning.
"Oh, er, nothing, Herm," he said quickly.
Harry grinned and turned to his toast as Hermione started berating Ron about keeping secrets. His friends got into fights so often that he was surprised that they ever spoke to each other at all. Despite this, they were very close, though Harry suspected that their feelings for each other went a little beyond 'friends.'
His thoughts turned to his dreams, and he shivered. Why was he having dreams about Draco all of a sudden? Did it have anything to do with his scar? It *had* started hurting lately, though he didn't mention it to anyone. He didn't want to worry them, and it wasn't that bad. It had gotten worse after they had gone to Diagon Alley, too ... I hope that person I thought I saw following us doesn't have anything to do with this, he thought. I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me ... again. His eyes narrowed. I don't want what happened to Cedric to happen to someone who's just trying to protect me. Too many people have died because of me already, and it's going to stop.
He didn't notice Ginny looking at him, eyes wide, taking in his determined and angry expression. I hope he's not thinking about doing something stupid, she thought to herself.
*****
Harry's grey mood vanished somewhat when Hedwig arrived that afternoon. She was hooting happily to see Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys, though she wasn't impressed with Pig, Ron's tiny owl. She was also holding a letter from Sirius, which was good news for Harry. After debating with himself for a little while, he asked Mrs. Weasley if Fred, George, and Ginny knew that Sirius was innocent.
"Well, I suspect that Hermione told Ginny, but I don't know about Fred and George. You'll have to make sure they won't tell anyone if you want them to know, though. Dumbledore won't be happy if he hears us spreading rumors and causing the matter to surface again in the Ministry. He's been trying to keep it quiet."
"Okay, thanks, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry cheerfully. He went to find Fred and George. They deserved to know the truth, and it sometimes got tiring hiding things from them. He'd have to make sure Ginny knew, too. He didn't want the Weasleys to be in the dark about this, and he trusted them not to tell anyone.
*****
"What do you mean, innocent?" asked Fred, flabbergasted.
"Black?! But, but he tried to KILL you, Ron, and Hermione in your third year!" said George, not trying to hide his disbelief.
"I know it sounds strange," sighed Harry, "but you've got to believe me. Look, I even have a letter from him, asking how I am. It's hard to be a godfather and be on the run from the Ministry at the same time, but he *cares* about me, so he tries to write whenever he has a chance."
"But if he's innocent, why is he on the run from the Ministry?" asked George suspiciously.
"Yeah, and why was he put in Azkaban in the first place?" added Fred.
"I told you that already! Pettigrew was the one who was working for Voldemort" (the twins winced) "and Sirius was wrongly accused and put in jail without a trial! Pettigrew hid out here as Scabbers until two years ago, when he went back to his master. That's how Voldemort managed to come back last year; he had help!"
"All right, we believe you," said George shakily.
"But will you stop saying that name?" said Fred.
"Er, sorry, I know most people don't like it, but Dumbledore thinks that 'fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself,' so he told me to always say his name." said Harry, a bit sheepish. He shouldn't have shouted like that, he'd just gotten a bit worked up ...
"It's okay, Harry, we understand," said Fred airily, now recovered from the shock of the news Harry had told them.
"We won't tell anyone, don't worry," assured George. "By the way, guess what we got Ron in Diagon Alley?" he added in a low voice.
"What?" asked Harry, completely mystified.
"New dress robes!" said Fred triumphantly. "We're going to give them to him before we leave for school, but we thought you'd want to know."
"Thanks! I'm glad you two remembered ..." Harry had given his thousand Galleon prize to the twins when he'd won the Triwizard Tournament last year. "Are you going to open that joke shop soon?"
"Yeah, we've got some plans for it," said Fred mysteriously. "We were thinking about talking to the owners of Zonko's to see if they'd mind us setting up in Hogsmeade. We're not sure if they'd object to competition, though."
"That's great!" said Harry enthusiastically.
"Guess what else?" said Fred.
"What?"
"Alicia, Katie, Angelina, and Lee have all decided to invest and help us out!" burst out George, unable to contain himself. "We're all going to stay in Hogsmeade next summer to work on it, so it'll be open in the next year or so, if all goes well!"
Harry frowned slightly. "Does your mum know about this?"
"Er, well ..."
"Not yet, but we'll tell her ... eventually."
"Once we're rich and famous with loads of money and we actually have a shop set up."
"But what are you going to tell her next summer, then? Won't she be suspicious?"
"We're telling her that we're going to Lee's, and Lee's parents think he'll be coming here. It's all worked out," George added, seeing Harry's dubious expression.
"Well, I'm happy for you all the same ... If you set up in Hogsmeade, you would have a ton of Hogwarts students out to see you every time they visit."
"Yeah, that's why we're not sure if Zonko's would want us there," said Fred gloomily.
"Why not set up a partnership?" asked Harry.
"What?"
"A partnership with Zonko's."
"You know, that's a pretty good idea," said Fred thoughtfully.
"Just might work," added George.
"Thanks! We'll think about it!" they said together.
"Any time!" said Harry cheerfully. "I'm just glad to know that you'll be able to do what you've always wanted."
"Mmm. George, can you come upstairs for a minute? I was thinking about owling Zonko's ... The sooner we get started, the better."
"Yeah, thanks Harry. You know, we should let the others know too ..."
Harry grinned. He was glad something was going right.
*****
Draco Malfoy didn't get much sleep that night. He was thinking about his dream, and what Voldemort had said to him. He was scared, there was no way to get around that. He believed what the Dark Lord had said about knowing if he told, too; he'd heard his father talking about his almost psychic ability to know what others were thinking. He shivered. It looked like Puck wasn't the only one he was after.
I wonder if Father knows that his master is interested in me, thought Draco. Probably not, or he'd have brought me to the Dark Lord like some sort of gift, telling him he could have me. He sneered. That would be just the sort of thing his father would do; he was desperate to gain power. Probably thought it would make him rise in his master's eyes somehow ...
'Thinking about me, Draco? How touching. I didn't know you cared.'
'Get out of my head,' Draco hissed.
'Now, now, my boy, if I were you, I would watch my tongue. I'm sure you don't want me to punish you ...'
'What do you want, anyway? Because if you're just going to gloat, I'd rather get some sleep.'
Draco could almost feel Voldemort's eyes narrow, and his voice lost all traces of humor.
'Do you really want to be punished, Malfoy? Because I can arrange that ... Go shut your door.'
To his horror, Draco found himself standing and walking over to the door of his room. He tried to fight it, but it was no use.
'What are you doing to me?!'
'You can't break free. Once I'm in your mind, you can't get me out unless I choose to go. I haven't left your mind completely since I first talked to you. I can control you any time I chose.' Voldemort enjoyed the panic he felt racing around Draco's brain. 'Now, I'm going to have you cast a spell. Don't worry, this one won't hurt.'
Draco felt himself draw out his wand, and watched helplessly as he cast a spell he'd never heard of. Green light spread around the room, covering the walls, floor, and ceiling completely. It shone brightly before sinking into the stone.
'I suggest you put your wand down. You don't want to snap it accidentally.' Suddenly able to move on his own, Draco stumbled. He set down his wand shakily on the floor, and stood up.
'Don't even think about it,' said Voldemort lazily as Draco glanced towards the door. 'You won't be able to open it or the windows unless I let you. You're helpless. I suggest you get used to it.'
Rage and despair suddenly sank down on Draco, and he sank to his knees. What could he possibly do against the greatest sorcerer of all time? No, said a tiny voice, not the greatest, he was scared of Dumbledore even in the height of his power ...
'I don't think so,' hissed the voice. 'That batty old Muggle-lover has no power against me. Nor does that boy, who I believe you were consorting with yesterday ...'
'It *was* you that I saw!' thought Draco.
'Yes. You see, even in Diagon Alley, no one even noticed me. I could be in your house at this very moment, and you would have no idea ...' Draco was chilled at the thought. 'I am getting more powerful by the day, Draco. Soon, I will be able to take over the world, and no one will stop me! You have told Potter that he could have been on the winning side, with you ... do you still believe that?'
Draco grimaced. 'I had no idea what you were when I said that. I don't belong to you, Voldemort, so get out of my head!"
'So ... you dare defy me? I'll punish you for that, Malfoy! You should have listened to me ...'
Draco gasped. 'And how are you planning to punish me? Not even you can do a spell across such a distance ...'
"Not as much of a distance as you might think," said an ice-cold voice from the doorway.
Draco froze, and turned slowly, not wanting to see what he knew was there. And sure enough ...
"Hello, Draco. We meet at last."
It was Lord Voldemort, standing in front of the closed door, sneering down at him. "You should have realized what you were in for when you said that, Draco. I'm going to have to keep an annoyingly close eye on you now. But you must be waiting for your punishment ..."
With that, he drew a wand out from his long, black robes. "Crucio."
Draco fell to the floor, screaming in agony. "No one can hear you, Draco. I made sure of that before I came. We wouldn't want your dear little sister finding out about you before the time was ripe, now, would we?" Voldemort said softly. Draco barely registered his words. It felt like every nerve was on fire, he was jerking around on the floor, he was sure his head would bust open; he hoped it would, maybe then he would die and this awful pain would go away ...
After a moment more, Voldemort lifted his wand. Draco lay on the floor, gasping.
"Hm. That was interesting, Draco. You didn't beg for mercy like most do ... Neither did Potter," he said, almost to himself.
"You still haven't told me what you want me for," said Draco, pulling himself up to a sitting position.
"And I won't now, either," said Voldemort, his eyes narrowing. "I don't make any attempt to hesitate on punishing those who disappoint me, and you will certainly be punished if you continue to ask about things that do not concern you."
Draco wanted to say that whatever the Dark Lord wanted to be able to control him for probably did concern him, but thought better of it.
"As before, Draco, you are not to speak of this to anyone. If you do, you will not like the consequences. As it happens, I have discovered a way to send that particular spell over great distances, so even when you are at Hogwarts, you will not be safe. Nothing can protect you from me."
*****
A/N: Ooooh, a cliffhanger! Sorry, I just had to end it there, partly because it's a good ending point, and partly because I couldn't think what to write next. ^_^ I'll try to get the next part up soon!