In Every Darkness
Chapter Eighty Two: Decisions
30.1.1997
Over the next few days, security at Hogwarts was very noticeable. As in Harry's second year, teachers were accompanying students to all classes and restrictions were made as to when students would be banned from the hallways.
Harry was quietly informed by the Headmistress that if he thought it was absolutely necessary, he could leave his House Common Room and go looking around, but only if he promised to not put himself at risk.
Grypis promised her that he would not let Harry do anything stupid, and Harry assured the Headmistress that the griffin was perfectly capable of keeping him out of trouble.
"That's what Dumbledore gave him to me for," Harry pointed out matter of factly. "To try and protect me, since it is well known that griffins are very loyal to those they befriend, or regard as family."
McGonagall nodded slowly. "Very well. If you believe it is necessary – and I trust you enough not to disabuse the privilege – you may leave the common rooms after lights out."
Harry smiled. "Thank you," he replied.
McGonagall nodded. "Dismissed, Potter."
Harry left quickly, happy to have made this concession. Now if only Tatsu would return with his friends so that the wards around the school could be redone – Harry was very distrustful of the power that the wards had, because Death Eaters had come in several times already. Besides, he wanted his training master back – he was quickly becoming bored with simply practicing, he wanted to learn more techniques, especially with the katana.
'Relax,' Grypis advised, 'he will return in time, and none of your wishes will bring him home faster, or with the company that is required to reinforce the wards on the castle.'
'I know,' Harry replied quietly, 'but knowing doesn't stop my hopes.'
'It wouldn't,' Grypis agreed. 'Hope is necessary, but letting hope rule your life, without giving your hopes any reason to succeed, is just plain stupid, so go and practice to take your mind off everything!'
'Immediately, your highness,' Harry replied.
'Good to see that you have finally realised my rank,' Grypis feigned a contemptuous sniff. 'Just don't go forgetting it any time soon.'
Harry laughed quietly as he walked.
"Harry?" It was Blaise Zabini, the only Slytherin above forth year to have joined DA.
"Hi Blaise," Harry greeted, because he was fairly sure that no one else was within hearing rang – if there was anyone about who wasn't from DA, there would be trouble … mainly for Blaise, since none of the Slytherins were likely to try and get at Harry.
"Harry, I think that Malfoy suspects something of me. He's always watching me in the Common Rooms in the dungeons, and he often looks as though he's going to say something to me, then doesn't … I don't understand it."
Harry blinked. "Neither do I. You've been pretty careful in who you tell that you've joined DA, and none of the younger students would betray you – they all seem to like you well enough."
"I don't know," Blaise shrugged, "but I thought it might be important, so I thought I'd let you know."
Harry nodded, "Thanks. Maybe you should stop coming to every DA meeting, just a few of them, to try and throw Malfoy off-scent."
"I'm loathe to give up on all this training and the friendships that I've made within DA," Blaise admitted, "but I think you're right. It's probably more important that I keep my alliance with Gryffindors a secret, especially with the build up in Death Eater activity. I'd rather not be targeted myself."
"I wouldn't want you to be hurt because of me," Harry said. "I hate it that people get hurt, or even killed, simply because they were my friends."
"They chose to be your friends," Blaise informed him calmly. "Whether or not that led to their death, it was obviously a choice they were willing to make."
Harry shrugged slightly.
"Where were you going?" Blaise asked him.
"I don't know," Harry replied, shrugging. "I'm waiting for Tatsu to come back from an errand he's on, so that we can continue with training. Practice is getting quite repetitive now."
He hadn't told anyone the errand that Tatsu had been sent on, not even Ron and Hermione, or Lily, who he knew was very good at keeping a secret.
"Ah. Well, I'll leave you to it and head back down to the Slytherin common rooms," Blaise told him. "Absences are suspicious, and with so many people thinking of joining You-Know-Who, I'd rather not be suspected in regard to anything."
"I wish you well," Harry remarked absently, as Blaise headed off in another direction. Harry didn't know where he was going, but eventually ended up in the Room of Requirement.
'Grypis, do you ever wish you were back with your parents and had never met me?' Harry asked his friend.
For a long while there was silence, and Harry thought that maybe he'd asked too serious a question of his friend, and had in some way offended him.
Finally, however, Grypis spoke, 'No, I do not wish for that,' he told Harry. 'We are tied together, Gryfas, in ways that I cannot explain to you now, nor will be able to explain for a long time. No matter what, we would have been drawn together, and this way was the best. All has worked out well, and though I miss my parents, I prefer to be with you. We were meant to be together, friend.'
Harry smiled. 'I'm glad you're here, Grypis. I've never had a friend like you, and I never knew what I was missing out on. Ron and Hermione are great, but they are different.'
'Do not try to explain it,' Grypis told him, 'I know what you are talking about, but you do not … not yet, at least. But you will know, one day.'
"One day?" Harry spoke aloud now, smiling at his friend. "One day doesn't interest me too much now, my friend."
'When the day comes, it will interest you,' Grypis assured him, and Harry rolled his eyes, seeming rather disgusted with the way the conversation had gone.
*
"So, what is it that we need to take with us?" Hanako, a short, slim Japanese woman with black hair, slanted eyes and something of an attitude demanded, staring hard at Tatsu.
"Easy Hanako-san," Tatsu smiled at her, a little nervously. Hanako was one of the best martial arts practitioners in the group, he wasn't sure if he could beat her, and he didn't fancy finding out, either. "You won't need much, just your weapons and clothes. Everything else will be taken care of."
Hanako looked at him for a moment, as if determining that he spoke the truth, and that he hadn't been in any way, shape or form condescending when he spoke to her, then nodded firmly, once, before turning and striding away.
Tatsu let out a quiet breath of relief. "You know, Tatsu, I think she likes you," a cool voice spoke in English behind him.
Tatsu glanced over his shoulder. "And what brings you to that conclusion, Samu-kun?" he asked, sticking to Japanese.
"You can speak in English you know, Tatsu," Sam pointed out.
"It would be insulting to our hosts," Tatsu replied. "I will speak in Japanese, thank you."
"You always did take to the language more than I," Sam remarked, himself still using English.
"That's all well and good, but would you care to explain the reasoning behind the comment to the effect of 'Hanako-san likes me'?"
He didn't let Sam in on the fact that the woman they were discussing was standing with hearing distance, and was definitely listening. He didn't much like Sam, who had come from America only a few years before Tatsu had stopped spending all his time with the group of Modifiers.
Sam was often rude, most of the time refusing to speak Japanese, even in the presence of those who couldn't understand English. To Tatsu, and most of the other people in the group who had been Japanese born, this was just about as disgusting as picking your nose in public, and meaning to.
Tatsu was not sure why Sam had been allowed to stay and train as a Modifier – probably because he had the talent, and it would be rude to turn him away. The Japanese people on a whole abhorred rudeness of any way, shape, or form.
"Dude, she teases you, makes you think she's gonna attack you and insults you – of course she likes you!" Sam replied, only to suddenly lose his breath when Hanako kicked him –hard- in the small of his back, sending him to his knees with an 'oof' of surprise.
… There were some notable exceptions to the not being rude rule, and Hanako was definitely one of them. "For the record, Tatsu-kun, I feel no romantic attachment to you at all," Hanako told him with a slight smile, "though I am honoured to count you as an associate and sometimes friend."
Tatsu smiled and bowed slightly to her. "Your feelings echo those in my heart," he told her firmly.
"I look forward to seeing the land of your birth, for you have been courteous in learning our ways and customs –and abiding by them- and I would like to see if there are others like you," Hanako bowed and walked off.
Tatsu headed away –in a different direction- as well, leaving Sam to scramble, with a little difficulty, to his feet.
"It's really time someone did that to Samu-kun," another woman remarked. She was nicknamed Neko, which meant Cat, because she was very graceful and always appeared perfectly balanced. No one knew what her real name was, anymore than they knew Tatsu's own.
"I know," Tatsu muttered. "I'm really regretting that we let him join us now."
"As are most of us. But he has our power, and we must train him – we are honour bound to do so."
Tatsu sighed. "Well, let's hope he decides to leave one day very soon," he remarked.
"We all hope this. Let us hope that our combined prayers will be heard, and the Gods will create some event which will take Samu-kun from our midst."
Tatsu nodded. "When do you think we'll be ready to leave for Hogwarts?" he asked, looking around the organised chaos that surrounded them as the Modifiers got everything they thought they would need.
"Some point in the future, and one not too distant, I would hope," Neko replied. "I know you want to return to your young ward, the boy Harry Potter, but there is no use going unless we are fully prepared for what we must do."
"Of course," Tatsu replied. "I must strive to put aside my impatience, and achieve a proper balance within my mind," he bowed in farewell to Neko, who had her own preparations to make.
"Tatsu-kun, do you think we should take our own food?" a voice asked behind him, and he turned to see Birukani, one of the older members of the Modifier group.
"No, Birukani-kun," Tatsu replied, with an internal sigh, for this was the fourth time he'd been asked this question today. At least it was by different people, not just the same one forgetting what he'd said. "Hogwarts has house-elves, who'll be able to cook just about anything you ask for."
"Good. Thank you, Tatsu-kun," Birukani bowed, waited for Tatsu to bow in return, and headed off himself. Tatsu stood with his back against a wall, and watched everyone milling around, all somehow managing to not get in each others way.
He was looking forward to returning to England. Much as he loved Japan, and, in all honesty, would really rather make his home there, he wanted to get back to Harry's side, because he didn't want his young friend and ward to be harmed in any way while he was away.
Relax, Tatsu ordered himself, slowing his breathing to try and enter a meditative state to calm himself. Harry can take care of himself, you taught him to, remember?
Tatsu slipped out of the meditative state when he realised that someone standing next to him, leaning against the wall and watching the scene below. "Neko-san," he greeted, pleasantly surprised.
Neko had been one of those who'd first shown Tatsu the roots of his power, and how to use it. He and she had developed a fairly close relationship ever since, for Neko was the sister that Tatsu wished his young brother could have been like, and Tatsu was a brother for Neko, who had no family outside of the Modifier group.
"Tatsu-kun," she greeted calmly.
"Have you finished getting ready?" he asked her.
"Yes," was the simple reply. The pair of them lapsed into silence as they watched the rest of their friends getting ready to move to England for a short period of time.
*
Draco Malfoy sighed tiredly. He was sitting on his bed in the Slytherin boys dormitory, thinking, as he often did these days, about what he wanted to do with himself, and who's side he wanted to take.
He had noticed that Blaise Zabini, a quiet girl in his year, had been hanging around with Harry Potter more often than she should be, since Potter was a Gryffindor and Slytherins shouldn't associate themselves with Slytherins.
He wondered if she had chosen Potters side in the coming war? How had she made the decision? Draco realised that he didn't know much about Blaise, apart from that she was a pure-blood and had a strong ambition, even though she was quite quiet about it.
She was also a good witch and a quick learning, but made sure to never do too well in class, because she didn't want to draw much attention to herself.
She'd never shown any real alliance to any of the Slytherins, had no true friends, though she'd been hanging out with a girl in third year for some time now – but this had soon been explained, as the girl was her cousin.
Draco wished that he knew more about her. He was counted was one of the top dogs of Slytherin both because of his fathers political power and wealth and because he was good at finding out information. Also, Crabbe and Goyle were perfectly ready to beat up anyone Draco told them to, and not many people wanted to mess with these two goons.
Idly, Draco wondered where said goons were at the moment – probably out stuffing their faces somewhere. He'd told them were the kitchen was last year, because he was annoyed by their continual whining about being hungry, even an hour after stuffing their faces at dinner, when he was trying to study for the OWLs.
But despite the fact that he was good at finding things out about people, Draco had to admit that Blaise Zabini was a professional when it came to keeping things about her quiet.
He knew that she had done well in her OWLs, in the higher group of scores, definitely, but not quite anything to brag about. She'd done better than anyone had expected her to, yet not enough to draw attention to herself.
He wondered what plan she had for keeping out of the spotlight so well…
There had been a few times when he'd been about to ask her whether she now favoured Potter above Voldemort, but had each time decided not to, because if he did accuse her, and she hadn't, then it could reflect badly on him.
He sighed. How he wished life in Slytherin could be easy. The Gryffindors seemed to get on just fine, and they never had any troubles with asking questions that they probably shouldn't, though most of them avoided asking for help.
What would it have been like, if I had been sorted into Gryffindor? He wondered. Would he have been like Potter? Would he have been one of Potter's friends, or fan club? He didn't think so, but anything was possible.
Draco had to make his decision soon. It was only eighteen days until his father took him before Lord Voldemort to have him marked a Death Eater, after all.
Well, he still had a bit of time left to decide.
***
Well, that chapter WAS a little longer than the last one! Holidays have arrived, and a very happy Easter to everyone (it's already Easter in Australia, so everyone from the Northern Hemisphere, take that in advance!)
Thanks:
HermioneGreen, Shadowface, Songbreeze Swifteye, Wynjara, TuxedoMac, Naurien, MikiBaby, athenakitty, uNoeWho, Luny, Stix-the-Rebel, misty43, Rachie, Charmed88, telpesir, r, Nasser Himura, Nphipps, torifire126, Gryffindors-Light, Gryffindors-Light, Carolina06, Jaded Angel8, hp4all, texasjeanette, dnd4ever, Sammy Solo.
~WolfMoon~