A/N – Hi guys!!! Substantial authors note at the bottom, please read !!!
Draco was alone.
He laughed bitterly to himself. It had been inevitable of course. Potter had come back, and suddenly everyone had forgotten about useless Malfoy. He sat in the Slytherin Common Room glaring at Crabbe and Goyle who were cowering from him at the opposite side of the room.
There was an airlessness of the Slytherin Common room served to add to the rising tension amongst the students. Most of them were waiting anxiously for letters from home. News of Harry Potter defeating the Dark Lord in a duel had not gone down well with the Slytherins.
Draco didn't really care about Voldemort or the Death Eater's cause. He was too busy thinking about how strange it had been being involved in the whirlwind of activity that surrounded the world of Harry Potter. A world outside of the Slytherin facades. It was something unlike anything he'd experienced before.
His glare intensified as he thought of the way he'd been cast aside as soon as the boy-hero had returned.
They had used him. In the same way that he had watched people getting used by his father. Angrily he slammed his fist against the cushioned arm of the chair.
He was surprised to find someone hovering next to him.
"What is it Zabini?" He grumbled hotly.
"You've got a letter from your father Malfoy." Replied his fellow Slytherin, shortly, shoving the parchment into his hands and storming off.
Draco started with surprise. Lucius Malfoy never sent letters. Draco had never received even one thing from his father by owl-post. Of course, his mother wrote often, but his father…
Feeling suspicious and suddenly aware of the many eyes that were trained on him Draco slunk into his dorm to read the mysterious note.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Harry flung his arms around his Godfather tightly unwilling to lessen his grip in the slightest should he in any way be separated from Sirius again.
"Whoa, Harry!" Exclaimed Sirius unable to keep the happiness from his voice.
Harry lifted his face to look at him and Sirius had to clear his throat carefully before trying to speak.
"Are you okay?" He asked hoarsely.
Harry wanted to burst into tears, there were so many emotions trying to choke him. Instead he nodded slightly and managed a faint smile.
"Perhaps you two should come to my office for a moment." Suggested Dumbledore from behind them.
Harry sighed in relief and Sirius nodded.
In the end, it was when Dumbledore, Harry and Sirius congregated in the circular office that Harry finally allowed himself to cry.
He sobbed into Sirius' robes for a full minute, just allowing all of the tension and pain that he had been through to fall from him. Then he forced back the torrent and wiped his face dry with a handkerchief he found in his hand.
"Sorry." He mumbled, realising that the two adults had been watching him in silence.
"No, Harry. You really have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing in the world." Said Sirius assertively.
Harry managed a grin seeing the determination in Sirius' face. Then turned to Dumbledore who was regarding him closely.
Harry suddenly knew what they were waiting for.
"I suppose you need to know what happened." He said.
Dumbledore leaned forward.
"Can you tell us Harry?"
"Yes. I remember everything now. Where do you want me to start?"
Dumbledore sighed.
"Probably best to start at the beginning. We know some of what must have happened but I want to hear it from you."
Harry nodded and went on to describe everything that had happened from the night of the full moon when he'd left Hogwarts, it all felt like such a long time ago, and yet the memories that he had were still freshly imprinted on his mind. Relaying everything to his headmaster and godfather meant that he was forced to recall everything in a vivid detail that sent chills down his spine.
When he'd finished he relaxed slightly trying to ignore the shooting pain in his back as he leant against the chair.
"Thankyou Harry. I wont ask for any further explanation now. There are others who need my assistance at this time. You and Sirius are quite welcome to make use of my office and Dobby will be along shortly to give you anything you might require." Said Dumbledore, standing up.
"Thankyou sir." Said Harry quietly, and Sirius nodded. With that Dumbledore left the room.
Harry looked down at his hands unsure of what to say. He noticed the rather soggy handkerchief and blushed,
"Sorry about your hanky Sirius." He mumbled.
"That's not mine." Said Sirius smiling.
Harry frowned, "You mean its Dumbledore's?" He asked eyeing the bright red square of material dubiously.
"No Harry! You mean you don't remember conjuring it?" Said Sirius grinning.
"Oh, wait, you mean, I conjured it? Without even realising it?" Said Harry absentmindedly cleaning his glasses with the hanky.
Sirius nodded.
"Look, Harry. Do you want to talk about anything, I mean, if you do, I'm here." Mumbled Sirius lamely.
Harry swallowed.
"It's just enough that you're here. I don't want to think about what happened."
Sirius sighed,
"I know you're not used to having someone around who you could tell anything, I blame myself for that, but you can tell me anything you know. It doesn't have to be important."
Harry rubbed his back gingerly thinking about too many things all at once, but then he remembered what had happened when he'd regained his memory.
"Sirius, do you remember a particular photograph. One that my mother took of me sitting on my father's lap on my first birthday?"
Sirius' brow creased in thought and then he grinned and said
"Yes of course! I was there when it was taken, I offered to take one of you with both your parents but Lily said they would probably end up with another headless wonder."
"Do you know what happened to it?" Asked Harry.
"No. Wait, you mean you haven't got it? But then, how did you know about it?" Asked Sirius confused.
"The memory restoring charm must have been very strong I guess." Said Harry with a shrug.
Sirius leant over and hugged him,
"You deserve more memories of your parents, but I suppose you'll have to settle for some of mine." He said suddenly grinning.
Sirius went on to describe some of the pranks he'd pulled with James and the marauders…
"Then there was that time when James turned into a stag and pretended to be wild so he could get Lily to stroke his head, it was a bet they made see, she said she'd never touch his hair, all because of something I'd said I think, anyway, James won that bet, though he didn't need to pull the prank in the end. Lily always loved his messy hair." Sirius grinned eyeing Harry's own mop.
Harry however was thinking about something else.
"I wonder what they would have thought of my animagus form." He said, "You should have seen Hagrid's face when he first saw me transform!" He laughed, but Harry soon sobered when he saw the cloud over Sirius' face.
"What is it?" He asked nervously.
"Harry, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this but…" Began Sirius,
"Hagrid's dead isn't he." Said Harry slowly, recognising the feeling of his insides turning to stone.
"Yes." Said Sirius gently.
Harry barely heard him though, the room seemed to be spinning, the memories still fresh in his mind of things that Hagrid had said and done. They first time he'd met the giant man, and he'd rescued him from the Dursleys and taken him into the wizarding world, their adventures with baby Norbert, and the Buckbeak and the screwts, the look on Hagrid's face when he had been proud of him, the way he was so open about everything, so honest. Harry knew that he would never see Hagrid again, but somehow he couldn't believe it. It was the first time he'd lost someone like this. He'd been a baby when he'd lost his parents, and in truth he'd hardly even known Cedric Diggory. It felt more like the times he'd fallen out with Ron, as though there was a sudden void that no one else could satisfy.
"Harry!" Shouted Sirius,
"Oh sorry." Said Harry realising that Sirius had been calling his name for a while.
"It's alright Harry, I know you'll miss him, but it will be alright." Said Sirius holding Harry's gaze for a moment.
"Yes." Harry nodded, noticing the way that Sirius' eyes were shining he added, "We'll all miss him."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Draco scowled as he scrunched up the letter. In the end he grabbed his wand and used a spell to burn the letter to ash.
How dare he! He thought bitterly. I might have let the professors push me about but I wont let my own father use me.
He flung himself down on his bed burying his face in the emerald green covers. He was a mess but for once he didn't care, composure would have taken too much effort at that moment.
"I wont become one of You-Know-Who's puppets. I wont become my father." He growled determinedly into his pillow.
"Oh, but you will Draco, of course you will."
The voice was such a surprise to Draco that he jumped onto his feet in a flash brandishing his wand menacingly.
"Who is that?" He shouted talking into the empty room.
"That's not important right now. What you decide to do about that letter is important."
Draco whipped around and saw for the first time the cloaked figure in the corner of the room.
"How do you know what was in the letter?" Asked Draco angrily stepping towards the intruder.
"You know that the only way you'll ever succeed in life is by being a proper Slytherin, not all of this sucking up to the teachers and getting friendly with the Gryffindors, after all look at where that has got you. They don't care about us Slytherins, even Snape is only pretending really. Think about it Draco."
The cloaked figure sat down and as a bar of sunlight lit up his face.
Draco froze when he saw for the first time who it was he was talking to.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N
Okies… Hi! It's great to be back innit!
Sorry this chapter wasn't terribly long but I thought
I'd post it as it is rather than make you wait ages while I write the next bit.
Thankyou for all the reviews, I can't believe there
are over 700, that's just craaaaazy, but I guess this fic is getting pretty
long now. I reckon it could end up
being about 80 chapters… but that depends on something pretty important about
the plot, which I haven't yet decided… It might get even longer than
that!!! Coz we haven't even had
Christmas yet in ficcy land! *Giggles
whilst dreaming of getting a new elfin toadstool as a present*
I had to re-read this coz I got very confused and it's
massive! I think if I re-did the whole
thing I'd cut out a lot of it, but then, most of it's important. *sighs*
Anywasy… nxt part has Draco's mystery intruder, Snape,
Voldywarts and Fletcher's mystery ministry helper!
Oooooh the intrigue!
Love you all!
Keep writing everybody!
Love
Jona
xxx