Harry Potter and the Face of Destiny

By Bronze Eagle

Chapter 10

A/N: Once again, I'm extremely sorry to be getting this out so late. I promised myself I'd get it out by the end of April, and I have (just barely). Also, I owe an apology to everyone I told I would get this out by ... well, almost two weeks ago. If it's too much trouble to check back here every so often to see if there's a new chapter (which I totally understand), e-mail me or ask me in a review, and I'll send you an e-mail notification every time a chapter comes out. It's my way of saying thanks for reviews, I guess. Thanks to everyone who did!!!

The chapter dedication goes to kittyluver87 again. She reviewed every week until I made her stop, because I really didn't deserve all those reviews. A big hug to you, though, kittyluver. I appreciated those reviews so much! And now, on to the story. (Dum dum!)

*****

Puck had to half-jog to keep up with Harry's long strides as they hurried down to the Great Hall.

"So, it's not really Draco' fault he was so mean in the library?"

Harry hesitated, then stopped walking. "Well, let me put it this way. In my last four years here, we hated each other. I wouldn't have put anything past him. But now I know him a bit better, and he seems to have changed, at least a little. And I'm sure he wouldn't want to do anything to hurt you. He really cares about you, you know."

Puck looked at him suspiciously. "So, if he wouldn't do anything to hurt me, who was I talking to in the library?"

Harry cursed himself. He couldn't tell her the whole truth; Voldemort would know. He had a sixth sense about things like that. But what could he tell her? He certainly didn't want to lie.

He decided on as much of the truth as safety would allow. "I can't tell you. It was Draco's body, though."

"Someone else's mind?" Puck mused for a moment. "But he's not like that all the time. So someone out there is taking over his body and can do it at will, right? And he knows it, but can't do anything about it." Harry gaped at her. "Am I right so far?"

He snapped his mouth shut. "I really can't tell you. I wish I could." He started walking rapidly toward the Great Hall, leaving a very confused and annoyed Puck behind.

Harry's mind was whirling. Would Voldemort carry out his threat if Puck figured it out herself? He hoped not. She was extremely quick. He had to be careful not to let too much slip.

'Hey, Malfoy, you back yet?'

'Ow.'

'Huh?'

'I have a headache.' Harry could feel Draco wincing. It was a very strange sensation. 'Could you come, uh, here?' Draco showed him where he was in a combination of pictures, sensations, and sounds. Harry found he had a very clear "map" in his head to where Draco was.

'Oh, that room near the Charms corridor ... yeah, I know where you mean.' He started off in that direction. 'Puck's okay. I told her it wasn't really you who was saying those things.'

'You told her? What the hell did you do that for?!'

'I didn't tell her who she was talking to; just that it wasn't you. She's figured out that someone can take over your body, though, so don't let anything slip.'

'I won't.' Harry thought he must be getting more sensitive to Draco's mind, because he "heard" some "muttering" that he didn't think Draco had meant for him to sense.

'I said I was sorry,' Harry though in an injured "voice."

'No, you didn't.' He paused as what Harry had said sank in. 'Did you just, uh, "hear" what I was thinking?'

'You mean how you hoped that my broom would - '

'Yes! Er - '

'Or how - '

'Shut it, Potter. I didn't think you'd pick that up, so, uh, sorry.'

'Did you just apologize to me?'

'Yes. Don't get used to it.'

'YOU, apologizing to ME?'

'Yes.'

'I think you must be getting soft, Malfoy. Getting more - '

'If you were going to say "sentimental," I will hurt you in the most painful way I can think of, Potter.'

'Is that a threat?'

'No, it's a promise.'

'Getting more, uh, what I meant to say was, um - '

'Never mind. I'd start running, if I were you.'

'Whatever happened to "sorry"?'

'Very funny.'

Harry was silent for a few minutes as he jogged down the corridor. Then suddenly, something occurred to him.

'Hey, Malfoy, what do you want to see me for, anyway?'

There was a pause as Draco tried to decide what to tell him.

'Well, I guess I wanted to talk to you.'

Harry stopped, and rolled his eyes at the nearest suit of armor.

'Draco,' he thought slowly, 'we're talking right now. We don't need to be face-to-face to have a conversation.'

'I know that, Potter. I'm not stupid. I just don't quite ... trust this mind-speaking stuff, I guess.'

'Care to explain?'

'When you get here, I'll explain out loud,' Draco thought pointedly.

Harry decided there was no point in drilling the other for information until he got the meeting place. It seemed to be taking forever to get there, though, especially since he was being careful to avoid other students. Finally, he arrived and knocked quietly on the door of the empty classroom Draco had showed him. The door opened almost immediately.

"Well, there you are. Took you long enough."

"Sorry I wasn't fast enough for you, your majesty." Harry ducked under Draco's arm and into the dusty room. "Not exactly first-class accommodations, huh?"

Draco turned to him, shutting the door with a click. "We have to talk."

"I gathered as much. So, tell me, why don't you trust out little mind-speaking thing?"

"Because this isn't the first time I've hard of it. Most wizards have the ability. But they only use it if they absolutely have to. Ever wonder how the prefects always know the password to the common room? They can use mind-speaking to ask the head of the House. But ... well, that's about all they can do. The conversations we've had? Over long distances, for so long? Only a really good wizard, like Dumbledore, can do that. At least, that's what I thought. But we're fifth years."

'Harry, I shouldn't be able to do this.'

Harry stared at him. "Well, some prefects are fifth years, right?" he asked weakly.

"Right, Potter. Do you really think Justin Flinch-Fletchly could strike up a casual conversation with you right now, without talking?"

Harry had no reply to that.

*****

Puck forked her cold spaghetti from one side of her plate to the other. She'd been starving at breakfast and lunch, but it seemed her appetite had deserted her. And anyway, Crabbe and Goyle were hogging the meatballs. (They seemed to have large bumps on their heads, and kept scowling at her between helpings of lasagna.)

She sighed to herself and set down her fork. She had to look for Draco, she decided, to see how he was doing and ask him a few questions. She would have gone over to ask Harry if he knew where her brother was, but the Gryffindor table seemed to be missing one of its usual occupants as well. She rose, ignoring the stares and whispers of her House-mates. Well, she could find Draco on her own.

*****

"Okay," Harry said, unsuccessfully trying to calm down. "If we do have some sort of special ability, or something, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"Hasn't Weasley ever told you about speaking mind-to-mind?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, ah, actually, I didn't really start thinking about it until recently. Voldemort, when he was talking to me at first, was really close by. Then, when we were going to King's Cross, I just started talking to you. I didn't even know where you were, but it seemed natural, because I'd been talking with Voldemort so much. It just - well, to be honest with you, it seemed like when I was expecting to be able to get in touch with you, and forgetting that I shouldn't be able to, I could. I don't know if that makes any sense, but ..." he shrugged.

"So Voldemort was the first person you ever spoke to mind-to-mind?"

"Yeah, but he always started the conversations. I wasn't exactly jumping for joy when he came to visit, you know."

"You mean he actually came to see you?" Harry straightened, excited.

"I tink he likes watching people scream," Draco replied thoughtfully.

"But he never cast the Cruciatus Curse on you when he was on the other end of the building, did he?"

"N ... no. I don't think so."

Harry grinned triumphantly. "Then he can't hurt you here! You're safe."

Draco didn't seem to share the Gryffindor's confidence. "But if he figured out how to cast the Imperious Curse over that long a distance, then he can probably figure out how to cast the Cruciatus Curse over that long a distance. And anyway, he said he could."

Harry shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think so. He was probably bluffing when he said that. Do you remember when Moody did a demonstration of the Unforgivable Curses last year? Well, I don't know about you, but I got the sense from him that you need a lot of anger, or something, to cast Crucio and Avada Kedavra. And the Imperious that Voldemort casts on you isn't even as strong as if he'd cast it normally. That's why you still kind of know what's going on when he's in your head, I think."

Draco looked at him thoughtfully. "You know, you may be right. When my father - well, yeah, I think you're right about the anger thing, at least."

Harry looked at him closely. "When your father what?"

Draco looked away. "Nothing."

"Malfoy, your father hasn't used any of the Unforgivable Curses on you, has he?"

"None of your business, Potter."

But Harry wouldn't give up. "I always thought your parents spoiled you rotten. But that was an act, wasn't it?" Draco said nothing. "God, your own father ... I'm sorry."

"I didn't want you to come here to discuss my life story, Potter," Draco continued after a moment. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Well ... It's about Puck. Have you ever thought that she's not just what she says she is?" Harry raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Not normal?"

"Now that you mention it," Harry mused, "she does kind of seem like she's hiding something. Why do you ask?"

"During Divination, I found something out. She's a, a seer, Harry."

If Draco was expecting him to be impressed, he was disappointed.

"A seer?" Harry scoffed. "Like Trelawny? You must be joking."

"No, a real seer. Not like Trelawny. I don't know if even she realizes it, but she knows things. She read my teacup practically without looking at her book. And she's never taken a Divination class in her life. I asked."

"So she did some extra homework. I don't get it, Malfoy, what's the big deal?"

"It was more than that, though. I got a feeling rom her, like she knew exactly what she was doing. And there was one symbol that wasn't in the book, but she still had a guess as to what it meant. Did you do that in your first day of reading tea leaves? I don't think so."

Harry sat down on a creaky old desk. "This is all a bit much, you know. It's only the second day we've been here, and already it's Voldemort this, seers that. Why can't I ever have normal life?"

"Because you're not normal?" Draco suggested innocently.

"Shut up, Malfoy. I got enough of that from the Dursleys to last me a lifetime." Harry sighed, and leaned back on his elbows. "Why did Voldemort come to see you in the first place, at your house? I kind of got the sense that Death Eater's families were expected to stay out of their business."

"So did I, but I guess he was making an exception for me. All he ever said was he'd kill people if I told, and how he thought I might have had more intelligence than my father. I dunno what he meant by that, though ... " he trailed off. "Harry," he croaked, "you don't think he killed Lavender's parents because I told you, do you? He wouldn't have, would he? I mean, you already knew that he was controlling me from that vision you had, when he was, you know, torturing me. He wouldn't consider if telling if you already knew, would he? Would he, Harry?"

But Harry just sat on the desk, shaking. "I don't know. But I wouldn't put it past him."

Outside the classroom, Puck slid silently down the wall, her mouth open in a silent "Oh."

*****

Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were now very worried about Harry. After Ron admitted he had left Harry in the library, they all expected him to come running into the Hall at any minute, as Harry usually spent as little time as possible there. When he hadn't shown up by the end of dinner, they were seriously concerned. They threaded through the buzzing crowd, and finally emerged in the Entrance Hall.

"Wait a minute," Ginny said, tugging on the back of Ron's robes. "Where're Puck and Draco? Did you see then over at the Slytherin table?"

"I saw Puck leaving the Hall about half way through dinner, but Malfoy wasn't with her," said Ron.

"I didn't see him at all, actually," added Hermione.

"We should probably find them, too, Ginny said firmly.

"Do we have to?" yawned Ron. "I'm really tired, and we have Potions homework."

"They're probably with Harry anyway, Ron. And if we don't start now, we won't find any of them before you fall asleep on us. Literally and metaphorically." Ginny grinned at her brother. "C'mon, lazybones. Let's start looking."

They had just barely begun to walk toward the library when they ran into Puck. "Ron, Hermione, Ginny! Thank goodness I've found you. I have to tell you something. There's ... just come into this room. I don't think anyone else should hear this."

Looking perplexed, the three followed Puck into an old broom closet. "Puck, what ...?"

"This is really important," she said, ignoring Ron. "I was going to look for Draco, because he wasn't at dinner and I was a little worried, only I got lost. I was wandering around, looking for something I recognized when I heard voices. I went toward them, and it turned out to be Harry and Draco. They were in a room with the door shut, so they didn't know I was there. I was going to knock, but when I hear what they were saying ... " she took a deep breath. "You-Know-Who can take over Draco whenever he wants to. He started doing it when he was at the Malfoy's house sometime this summer, I think. Harry found out about it somehow - through some kind of vision or dream, I'm not sure. Anyway, You-Know-Who threatened to kill people if Draco told anyone, so he didn't until Harry found out through - whatever. After that, Draco told him all about it, but now they think maybe You-Know-Who killed that girl Lavender's parents because of then. I left after that. I wanted to let you know."

The three others stood stock still, trying to process what they had just been told. Finally, Ginny broke the silence. "So, if he can control Draco, then it was probably You-Know-Who on Platform 9 3/4 trying to get us mad at Draco. And that's why Harry seemed to be hiding something - because he knew."

"But how?" asked Hermione. "How could he know about Draco? They didn't say anything about it on the train before Harry defended Draco - I bet he knew then. And they couldn't have talked when we were all in Diagon Alley; we were with them."

"There must be something else," Ron said, finally seeming to pull himself together. "Those two must have something else they're not telling us. And we have to find out what it is."

*****

Draco suddenly gasped and squeezed his eyes shut. "He's coming ... Get away - " Harry barely had time to jump to his feet and pull out his wand before Draco's eyes opened. Harry wasn't the least surprised to see that Draco's grey eyes had taken on a reddish hue.

He cast the same spell Harry had seen on the train; greenish light insulated the room against any intrusion.

"What're you doing here? Don't you know Dumbledore can tell when you're around? He'll be here any minute."

"I don't think so, Potter. He can't sense my aura through this field I have up. Incidentally, that also means that any Dark detection spells won't work here either." His smile turned crueler. "And even if I don't hurt this boy here, I can still do considerable damage to you." Harry stepped back, and Draco/Voldemort laughed mirthlessly. "No, not now, Potter, not yet. Your time will come soon enough. I wanted to see your face when you found out there would be more deaths like that couple last night and - Diggory, wasn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, I thought you knew." The cruel smile was back. "Or didn't you realize Goodfellow was outside this room when you were talking with young Malfoy here about myself?"

"No," Harry whispered. "That - you can't - don't hurt anyone else!"

"Ah, but you see, she told. Now all your other little friends know, and I can't have that. We'll have to think of a suitable punishment, won't we? No one disobeys Lord Voldemort."

Harry was shaking again, this time with anger. "What do you want with him, anyway? If you're using him just to get to me, don't. I'd come willingly, but I know you wouldn't stop hurting him."

"Not everything is about you, Potter."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Miss Goodfellow has been keeping secrets, I see. Such a shame. Well, I believe your friends are waiting to see you." With that, the red in Draco's eyes faded, and he fell backwards to the floor. Harry caught him by the shoulders, then became aware of an insistent pounding on the door.

"Harry! Draco! Are you in there?"

Harry set Draco down on the floor, and cautiously walked to the door of the classroom. The spell Voldemort had cast seemed to have left with him, for he could hear his friends quite clearly.

"Puck, are you sure this is the right door? It's the third one already ... "

"I thought I had it this time.' The pounding stopped, and Harry imagined that she had put her ear up to the door. "I don't hear anything, though. Maybe you're right."

Harry had made up his mind. If Puck really had told, then they all knew anyway. He crossed the room and opened the door. Puck, who had been going to try one more time to get a response from the uncooperative door, nearly took his left eye out. He gave a yell and jumped back.

"Harry! There you are. Uh, sorry about that. Why didn't you answer before? And where's Draco?"

"I was a little busy. And Draco's ... " he glanced back into the room. The blond boy was still out cold. "He's ... Well, you might as well come in."

The four others filed into the room behind him, looking with shock at Draco. "He doesn't take very well to being possessed," Harry said, with a failed attempt at a grin.

Ron looked a bit thunderstruck. "You mean it's actually true," he whispered. "Puck told us, but I just couldn't picture Malfoy and you cooperating."

Harry dropped his eyes to the floor. "So, you told?"

Puck gulped, suddenly apprehensive. "I heard you two talking when I was in the hall ... and, well, I guess I thought you shouldn't have been keeping something that big from the rest of us. You-Know-Who is really dangerous."

"Exactly," Harry said in a hopeless sort of tone. "We couldn't tell you. He said he'd hurt - kill - people. I think he might have killed Lavender's parents because I found out. I don't know what he'll do now that all of you know. And Draco keeps getting worse - " he broke off. "Just promise that you won't tell anyone. Not even Dumbledore."

They were silent for a moment. Then Ginny said, "But, Harry, won't Dumbldore be able to help? I mean, he knows much more than any of us about Dark magic ... " she trailed off at the look on Harry's face. "Oh, okay, I promise."

Eventually, the others promised as well. Ron, white as a sheet, swore fervently, as did Puck, who looked stricken. Hermione was the hardest to convince. "Harry, Dumbledore could be your greatest ally! He's had experience battling You-Know-Who - "

"I've faced Voldemort before!"

"And the last time, you escaped by the skin of your teeth. He's stronger now, Harry. Much stronger. You can't do this by yourself."

Harry's hot reply was cut off by a groan from Draco. Puck was at his side in an instant, raising him from the floor with surprising gentleness.

"How are you?" she asked.

"My headache's back," he whispered, squinting. "And - What're you all doing here?!"

'They know,' Harry thought quickly. 'Puck was outside the room when we were talking about Voldemort. She told them about him, but I don't think any of them know about the mind-speaking. We have to keep it that way. The less they know, the better.'

Draco was staring at Harry intently, meaning to reply. However, Ron's eyes were snapping back and forth between the two of them. He suddenly looked hard at Harry. "Okay, what were you just doing?"

"Nothing," said Harry, a little to quickly. Draco rolled his eyes. Harry had never been a convincing liar. "I wasn't doing anything." Ron raised his eyebrows skeptically.

"Oh, give him a break, Weasley," Draco said, wincing a little as he pulled himself to his feet. "It's not like we're hiding anything else from you now."

"Nothing?" Hermione asked, sounding as though she were anything but convinced.

"Nothing," Harry and Draco replied together.

*****

A/N: Again, sorry about taking so long. Hopefully, the next chapter will take less than two month to get out. ^^;; Remember, e-mail me or tell me in your review if you want notification of a new chapter. (My e-mail is BronzeEagle13@hotmail.com.) 'Til next time!

~Bronze Eagle