Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. J.K. Rowling does.
A/N: This chapter was really fun to write, mainly because there's some dueling. Also, Draco makes his appearance, and he's going to be a good guy though it's probably going to take him a while. I guess he might seem out of character at some point, but oh well.
I also changed some points about the Animagi, mainly because I realized that in the third book, Lupin mentions it takes them almost three years to complete the Animagi transformations. The least I could do was make Harry's, Hermione's and Ron's about the same amount of time. But don't worry, I'm going to be skipping through the months rather quickly from now on, and only following main issues.
One question though, should I make Ginny and Neville important characters, or should I just stick with Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco?
***
"And the Reflectage's been wearing off or something and so this is the real me." Harry finished off quickly. He was staring at the floor, and couldn't bring himself to look up at his friends' faces.
"You mean Snape is your dad?!" Ron yelled in disbelief.
"Yeah." Harry replied, then reminded of the conversation with the usually formal Snape, he smiled.
"AND YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY TOO?!"
Hermione stepped in after finally receiving a logical answer. "No Ron. But it's perfectly logical – "
"IT'S NOT!"
"Yes it is, Harry just explained it, and stop yelling like a teacher."
"I'M NOT!"
"Shut up Ron." Harry finally said. "Just…just face it ok? I have, and it's me who's really his son."
"His son! His son. Snape's son." Ron murmured, apparently still in a state of disbelief.
"YES!"
"Mate," Ron finally said. "If you have told me yesterday that Snape had a son, I would've probably started pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. But now. YOU'RE Snape's son. Are you sure this ain't a joke?"
Harry nodded. Hermione frowned.
"And you're absolutely, definitely, undeniably OKAY with it?"
"Yeah, I guess."
Ron shrugged. "Well, I guess if it's okay with you, then it's okay with me. I mean, if you're still you and all."
"Thanks mate."
Hermione was still frowning. She shrugged too. "I guess I can't hate you for what you can't change, can I?" She said with a small smile.
Harry shook his head and laughed, not long after, all three were practically in hysterics. The result of a build up of tension.
"Man, you even have Snape's nose!"
"It's ugly." Harry had commented while looking in one of the four mirrors.
"I reckon," Ron had replied.
"Thanks a lot, Ron. I'm sure Harry appreciates that you know," Hermione had intervened.
"Well, it's only the truth."
Harry would've probably changed into a Treskiyn and bit him if the portrait door hadn't opened at that exact moment.
"Wha…?" Ron had exclaimed, turning around.
Draco Malfoy and his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, all climbed inside [For Crabbe this was rather difficult].
"Look who's here." The blond Slytherin remarked with a sneer. "Granger, Weasel and Potter."
"Malfoy." Harry said dully.
"What's with your face? Charm gone wrong? Seems to remind me of someone… But I have to say it's even uglier than your old face, Potter."
"It's not POTTER!" Ron had yelled back, but before he could say anymore, Harry had shut him up with a glare and a shake of his head. No one was supposed to know.
"Oh?" Malfoy mocked surprise. "Then what is it? Potty? Potthead?"
Harry looked him in the eye. "What happened is none of your business. And you know Malfoy, your name-calling reminds me of Muggle schools. When kids were about seven, they used to call each other names like that. But then again, maybe you never learned to grow out of kindergarten habits."
Draco's eyes narrowed, and Harry, not sure if the boy knew what Kindergarten was, smiled. "So anyway Malfoy, what you here for?"
"None of your business," Malfoy scoffed. "And you three better get out. This is our room."
"No sign of 'Property of Ferret and his two Dumbasses' here, Malfoy." Ron added.
"No sign of 'Property of The Dream Team' either, Weasel."
"Well, we never claimed it did we?" Hermione stepped in.
"No one asked you, Mudblood!"
But Hermione, who was expecting the remark, didn't even flinch. Ron did though. "So you got no right to kick us out Ferret."
"Who says you got to have rights Weasley? But I have to say, I was surprised how smart this room is."
Malfoy's wand was out before his last word, and immediately Harry knew what he meant. This room was unlike the Dueling Paths they had in second year. This was a full scale Dueling Arena – meaning things could get interesting.
Hermione understood as well. Unlike Ron and Harry, who had never seen an actual Dueling Arena before, she had read about them many times. Their special uses in training. The items placed inside and their unique properties.
Harry and Hermione pulled their wands out together, but it took Ron a moment longer. And it was bad enough luck to have Malfoy aim his spell at Ron. The red head ducked the Expelliarmus, and his wand was out.
"Rictusempra!"
Silver light shot from his wand and it hit a fumbling Goyle. The poor boy was knocked off his feet and couldn't find the strength the stand back up. Now he looked like an insect squirming on the ground, thought Ron.
"What's up Weasley?" Malfoy had taunted, "We learnt those spells in second year!"
Hermione on the other hand, had moved away from the shooting sparks of light coming from Harry's and Draco's wands, and was mildly surprised to see a rather large figure coming towards her. From the looks of it, Crabbe had somehow lost his wand in the commotion and was now trying to take Hermione down by tackling her.
"Oh Merlin!" She had sighed before turning and running to a corner in the room. She knew that even if she stopped, turned and cast a spell, Crabbe's momentum would probably cause him to plow into her.
"Stupefy!" She finally yelled as she reached the corner, but she didn't turn around. Crabbe faulted for a second when he realized she hadn't aimed the spell at him. But instead, the burst of light from her wand was aimed at the mirror. It hit, rebounded, curved a smooth arc around Hermione and hit Crabbe in the chest. He fell instantaneously.
Hermione spotted Ron being crushed by Goyle in a sort of bear hug, who had seen Crabbe's tactic and decided it just might work. But because Ron was the one facing her, she couldn't hit Goyle without them spinning around. Then she saw the mirror behind them. Figuring the shape underneath was a triangle, she moved to her left. Pointing her wand at an angle, she cried:
"Petrificus Totalus!"
The light once again shot out from her wand and hit the mirror she had aimed it at, but this time, instead of an arc, it rebounded at an angle and hit...
The two struggling figures spun, and the redhead stiffened as the spell hit him. Hermione moaned in frustration, and Goyle was so surprised that he tripped over the frozen Ron.
By now, Malfoy and Harry were both panting and sore from dodging some spells and absorbing others. So when Goyle hit the ground with a large 'THUMP,' both took the chance to point a wand at themselves and cry:
"Finite Incantatem."
Then, at the same time, their wands dropped to their sides and they both glared at each other. Hermione paused to look at them with curiosity, before moving to help Ron. With the spell taken off, he got up and pointed his own wand at the chest of a blank-looking Goyle.
"Ron, the fight's over…" Hermione whispered.
"Yeah, but I still haven't hit him. Just one spell. I won't hurt him."
Surprisingly, Goyle just stood confused during this short conversation. Surely, even someone as stupid as that could realize they were talking about casting a spell on him.
"Well…"
"Too late. Petrificus Totalus."
Goyle hit the ground.
*
"Okay, so why have you got this room?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting on the floor opposite Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. If another person had walked in, they probably would've found it amazing these six students could sit quietly for a minute, let alone for a conversation. But then again, if that same person had walked in a few minutes before, they would've found absolute chaos.
"We found this room ages ago, Potter. We're using it for…well…certain experiments."
"Illegal?"
"What do you think?" Sneered Draco.
"Well I think your using it for either dueling purposes or… let's say… animal transformations." Hermione said rather slyly.
All five looked at her.
"What makes you think that Granger?"
"Well. You said yourself the room was smart, and therefore you knew the room could change. When we first found this room, it was most probably used for another purpose. Then, one day, it suddenly had changed into something a beginner animagus might have needed – most likely for you." Hermione said this with absolute surety, though inside she knew there was every possibility that she was wrong because the room might have changed for Harry, Ron and herself.
But Draco's eyes narrowed. "Shut up Granger."
"Guessed right in one, Malfoy?" Ron added laughing despite the other boy's expression.
"Shut up Weasley." But Harry could've sworn he'd seen the ghost of a smile.
"So what animagi are you, Malfoy?" He tried.
"What Potter? Not going to tell the Ministry on me?"
Harry shook his head. "What animagi?" He repeated, a strange curiousity in his tone.
Malfoy stared with an indecipherable expression, then, surprising everyone, he smirked. "Not until after you tell me your animagi."
Harry tried a puzzled look. It didn't work.
"Lion?" Malfoy mocked. "Pure Gryffindor-ness?"
"Snake, Malfoy." Harry said tolerantly. "You?"
A shocked Malfoy could barely mutter an answer. "Snake? I mean, what? Oh. Cat. Don't know what it really is yet, but some sort of cat."
"Cat?" Echoed Hermione. She turned to Ron and Harry with a knowing expression.
Ron didn't look happy. "No way."
"What?" Draco said, not liking being left out of a no doubt interesting topic.
"Yours magical then?" Harry finally said.
"Maybe," Draco allowed, hatred no longer dripping with every syllable. "So, what's you Weasley? Mudb – Granger?"
Hermione took Malfoy using her surname instead of 'Mudblood' as a peace offering. "Some sort of fox. Not quite sure, probably magical."
"Ron's a spider. Magical." Harry added.
"Spider? Ain't you scared of spiders, Weasley?"
Ron shot Harry an annoyed look, then turned back to Malfoy. "Yeah," he muttered, a slow red creeping up his neck.
Malfoy nodded. "So how long did it take you?"
"Started a few months back, but we're not finished yet. Think it's gunna take us at least a year. Maybe more." Harry added, remembering when Lupin had told him it took Sirius, Peter Pettigrew and his dad nearly three years. Then he remembered that James Potter was no longer his dad.
"Um… Potter? Did your transformation keep changing every time you did it? Like, more some days and less others?"
"Yeah." Hermione stepped in, interested. "Same thing happen to you? Do you know why?"
Draco almost gave her a 'I was talking to him, not you' glare, before deciding against it. "Yeah, no idea though."
By now, Harry had sensed no sarcasm and assumed the conversation was going alright. "So what about you two?" He indicated Goyle and Crabbe.
Draco laughed and raised his eyebrows. "Goyle? Crabbe?" Then gave them a look to say 'You're not serious are you?'
Harry got the message and what followed was a probable once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco sat laughing – though it was slightly nervous laughter – while both Crabbe and Goyle sat looking on, unconscious of the fact they were the ones being laughed at.
But it was only for a few seconds before Draco Malfoy shook himself off and stood up. What ARE you doing? A voice inside him said. This is Potter, Weasley and a MUDBLOOD. Imagine what Lucius would do if he knew.
Draco knew the voice was right. He couldn't converse with these sorts of people: Gryffindors for one, and Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers for another. And despite the fact that maybe, just maybe, he didn't hate these people as much as he might have only yesterday, there was still the reality he couldn't change. That he was a Malfoy, a Slytherin, and when put together: a sworn enemy of Harry Potter.
"Yeah. Well. That's it right. And if you three spread anything about the Animagi…" He left the threat hanging, before turning around, pushing the portrait open and stepping out. Goyle and Crabbe followed.
Harry, Hermione and Ron were left sitting, looking rather shocked at what had just happened. Not only had they just had a mostly decent conversation and a laugh with a Slytherin, it had been with Draco Malfoy.
"What's all this?" Ron said. "That WAS Draco Malfoy wasn't it?"
Harry nodded, slightly dumbfounded.
"What's all this?" Ron repeated. "First you and Snape, now us and Malfoy. What's wrong with us?" He had moaned so tragically, Harry could do nothing but laugh.
***
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And, another note. Unfortunately, I'm going to be busy in the next week or two, so you won't be seeing another chapter of Unleashed Shadows for about two weeks. Sorry!
