Author's Notes: Wow, yet another chapter - that makes four in two days.
I'm so proud of myself!! Anyway, I'd just like to reiterate that this is
SLASH for those of you who may not have caught on yet.
Disclaimer: See part one.
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When it was finally time for lunch, I almost stumbled out of my cell; if I had not been claustrophobic before, I was afraid I would be now. Two plates of food - warm, steaming food -and two cups of water sat on the small table laid against the wall opposite the cells.
I heard Harry's isolation cell opened, and the two of us sat down at the table. A guard watched us from near the door, but other than that we were completely alone.
I realised that I had made it through the entire morning without cracking. I smiled down into my mashed potato.
"Why are you in here?" Harry asked me quietly after a few minutes in which I had seen him play about with his food. "You're too smart to get into any fights, and I know you've avoided isolation."
I raised one eyebrow. So he was talking to me. That was novel. "The same reason you're in here," I told him. "I, uh...I attacked him. The Dark Lord. I knocked him to the ground." I reddened a little on his sharp look. Then he whistled, and began to eat.
"Well done," he said, as if giving me praise. "You're one of the few to ever try the physical approach." I hadn't known that - I wondered if Harry had ever tried to attack Voldemort physically.
"Why didn't your spell work on him?" I asked suddenly - that had been nagging at me all morning. "I mean - you're really powerful, Harry. Why didn't your spell work on him?"
His eyes were bleakly fixed upon mine, and I shivered. Maybe I shouldn't have asked...but I'd wanted answers, and I hoped that perhaps he would give them to me in here.
Then he shrugged uneasily, and that lazy confidence returned to his posture. "Not everything works on everyone, Draco," he told me. "Some things cancel each other out."
But what he meant by that, I had no idea. Or at least, I had some idea, but not enough to know what was going on with him. After all, I don't think anybody knew all that was going on with Harry - except Harry himself, of course.
He was still watching me, green eyes flashing occasionally as he appeared to be thinking hard. Finally he spoke. I wished he hadn't.
"Why are you here, Draco?" he asked me seriously. I froze, but then managed a shrug.
"I told you," I answered lightly. "I tried to beat up the bastard."
He shook his head. "You know that's not what I mean, Draco," he said warningly. "Answer me."
I looked away from him. I couldn't answer him - how could I tell him just exactly what I'd done - and yet I couldn't *not* answer him. This was Harry, after all. But I...I didn't have words to say it yet. I looked up at him again, and shook my head silently.
"I know you were working with the resistance," Harry reminded me in a low voice. Oh yes - that short conversation we had had on my first day in the tapping code that all resistance fighters knew. All I had told him was that I had been working with the resistance movement, nothing more.
"Yes," I said slowly, finding my voice. "I was working with them. But I can't..." I shook my head. "If I tell you why I'm here..."
"Fine," he said quickly. "I understand. Some things are not meant to be told." A shadow crossed his face for a moment, and I remembered the things he had half-said to me before...half-spoken words about Ron, and Granger, and something suddenly clicked.
"You and Ron," I breathed. He looked up at me, his eyes piercing through me like arrows. "You were with Ron."
"Shut up," he snapped. "You don't know anything about it, Malfoy."
I ignored his warning. How could I have been so blind to it? Ron and Harry, Harry and Ron, it was the most obvious thing in the world. They'd been inseparable at Hogwarts, and afterwards, in the year when the war had been won by Voldemort, they had together led the resistance in a series of furious attacks on Voldemort and his supporters.
Then Ron had been captured. He had been prisoner number one in Talsgate.
...Voldemort tortured and killed him to get to me...
...Were you expecting me to welcome you with open arms? Even if it hadn't been six years without seeing you, you're a collaborator, Hermione...
...Why do any of you care?...
...He's got stronger since I last fought him. Draco, don't kiss me again....
"My God," I breathed. "My God, Harry." He sipped his water, then slammed the cup down onto the table. It clanged, and a small echoed reverberated around the isolation block.
"Be quiet," he hissed.
I ignored him. "You...and Ron - and Granger, she gave them Ron...why didn't I see it before?" Yes, why hadn't I seen it before? It was so obvious - and Harry was now absolutely furious.
"Keep quiet about things you don't have a chance in hell of understanding, Malfoy!" he snapped. I realised, with a vagueness that shocked me, that I hadn't yet heard him yell in Talsgate - and everyone else did it frequently.
But I didn't see why I hadn't realised it before. Harry and Ron had been together. Granger, who had been a collaborator ever since Voldemort had won - I'd heard through the gossip vines that she'd been told to either cooperate or die - had given them Ron, inadvertently or not, I wasn't sure. That was why Harry hated her so much, that was why Granger hadn't visited, that was why she had seemed to feel that she was worthy of his forgiveness.
I met Harry's eyes again; he was watching me inscrutably.
"Well," he said simply. "Now you know more about me than most others." He rose, finished with his meal. "Share it with anyone, Draco, and I will make sure that your life is worse than hell."
He turned swiftly and retreated into his cell; the guard hurried up and bolted it, shooting strange glances at me.
I was dumbfounded. I'd confronted him with what had happened, and I wasn't dead.
Inanely I wondered how Blaise Zabini fitted into all this, for I was sure he fitted into it somehow. Although I supposed that it didn't really matter. Not at the moment, anyhow.
The guard approached me to return me to cell 'E-2'. I looked up at him.
"How long am I in here for?" I asked quietly; I needed to know, as much for my sanity as anything else.
His eyes seemed to hold a small glimmer of sympathy. "Until the beginning of next week, for you and one-oh-two both," he told me. "Then you're both locked for two weeks."
Alright. I supposed that wasn't so bad. Although I didn't have a clue in hell what day of the week it was...and I wasn't stupid enough to ask the guard - he was a guard, after all, and I was an inmate. Some things just weren't done - even by me.
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To be continued.
Replies to reviews:
T.K. Yuy. (of chapter eight) - again, thanks for your comments. If chapter eight took your 'holy shit' award, I'd hate to think what chapters nine and ten might do...
Kitori - thank you! I update as fast as I finish writing...I guess I just haven't had much to do today! Yes, I won't tell - you will find out.
PVipertooth - Thank you - don't wildly guess at who hurt Harry, you'll only be disappointed!
Derelictus - again, you'll find out what Draco did eventually. Not yet though, this chapter and the one after are Harry's. Random guesses...yes, everyone is making them, aren't they? Well, go ahead, be my guest...just be prepared to be disappointed!
black_ink - thank you - the length will be...many chapters. As long as it takes, basically. I don't have a story plan, just a plot plan. Does that make any sense? As to where it's headed...no-one knows except me, and that's the way I'm keeping it for the time being. *evil grin* You'll find out how Draco can 'change the balance of power in England' soon enough. Or not.
Colibi - thank you! Harry and Draco are 24/25 years-ish. Six years after their last year at Hogwarts.
kit - all the answers to your questions will be coming, eventually.
Mauve Lipgloss - Thank you! Although I've never said that it's Harry/Draco...And it wasn't Hermione, as you have read above. As to his fear of heights...it doesn't really have much to do with why he's in prison...you'll see.
XaXona - thank you!
AnnePhoenix - potential typos excused. Thanks for your honesty about how you felt about Chained up until chapter nine - I appreciate that it takes all kinds of interests to keep the Harry Potter fic rolling in. Yes, Chained is very...out of character for Potterverse, and all the characters are more human - less magic, certainly, since they've had to live without it. Anyway, thanks for your comments.
chrisseee667 - Thank you!
EnigmaDesdemona7 - Thanks - and you shouldn't say that about Blaise! There're reasons why he acts like he does. Partly, yes, it's the reason he landed in Talsgate...and I can't tell you that yet. Sorry. Actually, not, but...Anyway, I've been writing very fast today, but don't expect them to always be this fast!!
Disclaimer: See part one.
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When it was finally time for lunch, I almost stumbled out of my cell; if I had not been claustrophobic before, I was afraid I would be now. Two plates of food - warm, steaming food -and two cups of water sat on the small table laid against the wall opposite the cells.
I heard Harry's isolation cell opened, and the two of us sat down at the table. A guard watched us from near the door, but other than that we were completely alone.
I realised that I had made it through the entire morning without cracking. I smiled down into my mashed potato.
"Why are you in here?" Harry asked me quietly after a few minutes in which I had seen him play about with his food. "You're too smart to get into any fights, and I know you've avoided isolation."
I raised one eyebrow. So he was talking to me. That was novel. "The same reason you're in here," I told him. "I, uh...I attacked him. The Dark Lord. I knocked him to the ground." I reddened a little on his sharp look. Then he whistled, and began to eat.
"Well done," he said, as if giving me praise. "You're one of the few to ever try the physical approach." I hadn't known that - I wondered if Harry had ever tried to attack Voldemort physically.
"Why didn't your spell work on him?" I asked suddenly - that had been nagging at me all morning. "I mean - you're really powerful, Harry. Why didn't your spell work on him?"
His eyes were bleakly fixed upon mine, and I shivered. Maybe I shouldn't have asked...but I'd wanted answers, and I hoped that perhaps he would give them to me in here.
Then he shrugged uneasily, and that lazy confidence returned to his posture. "Not everything works on everyone, Draco," he told me. "Some things cancel each other out."
But what he meant by that, I had no idea. Or at least, I had some idea, but not enough to know what was going on with him. After all, I don't think anybody knew all that was going on with Harry - except Harry himself, of course.
He was still watching me, green eyes flashing occasionally as he appeared to be thinking hard. Finally he spoke. I wished he hadn't.
"Why are you here, Draco?" he asked me seriously. I froze, but then managed a shrug.
"I told you," I answered lightly. "I tried to beat up the bastard."
He shook his head. "You know that's not what I mean, Draco," he said warningly. "Answer me."
I looked away from him. I couldn't answer him - how could I tell him just exactly what I'd done - and yet I couldn't *not* answer him. This was Harry, after all. But I...I didn't have words to say it yet. I looked up at him again, and shook my head silently.
"I know you were working with the resistance," Harry reminded me in a low voice. Oh yes - that short conversation we had had on my first day in the tapping code that all resistance fighters knew. All I had told him was that I had been working with the resistance movement, nothing more.
"Yes," I said slowly, finding my voice. "I was working with them. But I can't..." I shook my head. "If I tell you why I'm here..."
"Fine," he said quickly. "I understand. Some things are not meant to be told." A shadow crossed his face for a moment, and I remembered the things he had half-said to me before...half-spoken words about Ron, and Granger, and something suddenly clicked.
"You and Ron," I breathed. He looked up at me, his eyes piercing through me like arrows. "You were with Ron."
"Shut up," he snapped. "You don't know anything about it, Malfoy."
I ignored his warning. How could I have been so blind to it? Ron and Harry, Harry and Ron, it was the most obvious thing in the world. They'd been inseparable at Hogwarts, and afterwards, in the year when the war had been won by Voldemort, they had together led the resistance in a series of furious attacks on Voldemort and his supporters.
Then Ron had been captured. He had been prisoner number one in Talsgate.
...Voldemort tortured and killed him to get to me...
...Were you expecting me to welcome you with open arms? Even if it hadn't been six years without seeing you, you're a collaborator, Hermione...
...Why do any of you care?...
...He's got stronger since I last fought him. Draco, don't kiss me again....
"My God," I breathed. "My God, Harry." He sipped his water, then slammed the cup down onto the table. It clanged, and a small echoed reverberated around the isolation block.
"Be quiet," he hissed.
I ignored him. "You...and Ron - and Granger, she gave them Ron...why didn't I see it before?" Yes, why hadn't I seen it before? It was so obvious - and Harry was now absolutely furious.
"Keep quiet about things you don't have a chance in hell of understanding, Malfoy!" he snapped. I realised, with a vagueness that shocked me, that I hadn't yet heard him yell in Talsgate - and everyone else did it frequently.
But I didn't see why I hadn't realised it before. Harry and Ron had been together. Granger, who had been a collaborator ever since Voldemort had won - I'd heard through the gossip vines that she'd been told to either cooperate or die - had given them Ron, inadvertently or not, I wasn't sure. That was why Harry hated her so much, that was why Granger hadn't visited, that was why she had seemed to feel that she was worthy of his forgiveness.
I met Harry's eyes again; he was watching me inscrutably.
"Well," he said simply. "Now you know more about me than most others." He rose, finished with his meal. "Share it with anyone, Draco, and I will make sure that your life is worse than hell."
He turned swiftly and retreated into his cell; the guard hurried up and bolted it, shooting strange glances at me.
I was dumbfounded. I'd confronted him with what had happened, and I wasn't dead.
Inanely I wondered how Blaise Zabini fitted into all this, for I was sure he fitted into it somehow. Although I supposed that it didn't really matter. Not at the moment, anyhow.
The guard approached me to return me to cell 'E-2'. I looked up at him.
"How long am I in here for?" I asked quietly; I needed to know, as much for my sanity as anything else.
His eyes seemed to hold a small glimmer of sympathy. "Until the beginning of next week, for you and one-oh-two both," he told me. "Then you're both locked for two weeks."
Alright. I supposed that wasn't so bad. Although I didn't have a clue in hell what day of the week it was...and I wasn't stupid enough to ask the guard - he was a guard, after all, and I was an inmate. Some things just weren't done - even by me.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To be continued.
Replies to reviews:
T.K. Yuy. (of chapter eight) - again, thanks for your comments. If chapter eight took your 'holy shit' award, I'd hate to think what chapters nine and ten might do...
Kitori - thank you! I update as fast as I finish writing...I guess I just haven't had much to do today! Yes, I won't tell - you will find out.
PVipertooth - Thank you - don't wildly guess at who hurt Harry, you'll only be disappointed!
Derelictus - again, you'll find out what Draco did eventually. Not yet though, this chapter and the one after are Harry's. Random guesses...yes, everyone is making them, aren't they? Well, go ahead, be my guest...just be prepared to be disappointed!
black_ink - thank you - the length will be...many chapters. As long as it takes, basically. I don't have a story plan, just a plot plan. Does that make any sense? As to where it's headed...no-one knows except me, and that's the way I'm keeping it for the time being. *evil grin* You'll find out how Draco can 'change the balance of power in England' soon enough. Or not.
Colibi - thank you! Harry and Draco are 24/25 years-ish. Six years after their last year at Hogwarts.
kit - all the answers to your questions will be coming, eventually.
Mauve Lipgloss - Thank you! Although I've never said that it's Harry/Draco...And it wasn't Hermione, as you have read above. As to his fear of heights...it doesn't really have much to do with why he's in prison...you'll see.
XaXona - thank you!
AnnePhoenix - potential typos excused. Thanks for your honesty about how you felt about Chained up until chapter nine - I appreciate that it takes all kinds of interests to keep the Harry Potter fic rolling in. Yes, Chained is very...out of character for Potterverse, and all the characters are more human - less magic, certainly, since they've had to live without it. Anyway, thanks for your comments.
chrisseee667 - Thank you!
EnigmaDesdemona7 - Thanks - and you shouldn't say that about Blaise! There're reasons why he acts like he does. Partly, yes, it's the reason he landed in Talsgate...and I can't tell you that yet. Sorry. Actually, not, but...Anyway, I've been writing very fast today, but don't expect them to always be this fast!!