In Every Darkness
Chapter Eight Five:
4.2.1997
Draco, meet me at that room you took me to before. I have to talk to you,
Blaise.
Tying the short note to the leg of her owl, Blaise told it softly who she wanted it to deliver the letter to, and watched as Storm, her dark grey owl, swooped out into the afternoon light.
She didn't want to draw attention to herself by seeking Draco out, and she didn't think that he would want to have any chance at being overheard.
With a faint smile, Blaise nodded her head and strode quickly from the owlery.
*
"Harry!" Ron called from the far side of the common room as Harry stepped through the portrait hole. Smiling, Harry walked over to join his friends.
"What did she want?" Ron asked. He rarely ever referred to Blaise by name, and if he did, called her Zabini, rather than Blaise.
"She wanted to talk about something regarding the reactions of the Slytherins to her joining DA – she thinks they are getting suspicious of her," Harry replied. He didn't think that his friends would want to hear that Blaise thought Draco Malfoy might be turning from the Dark Side – Ron would only say that it proved Blaise untrustworthy, that she was probably reporting to Malfoy anyway, or that Malfoy wanted to get close to them in order to report back to his master.
Harry wasn't sure what to believe. After all that had happened between himself and Malfoy, he couldn't be sure that the Slytherin boy meant what he said – Ron could be right, at least on the last accusation he'd make.
But Harry knew that not all Slytherins were bad, and he knew that people's attitudes and ideas could change – after all, hadn't Snape turned his back on the Dark Side once? And if anyone Harry knew was made for the Dark, he'd immediately have picked Snape, with Malfoy a close second.
He'd talk to Malfoy, and see what happened after that. If he thought that Malfoy could actually be telling the truth, then he would have to think of some further action to take. If he thought that Malfoy was lying, then he would have to find some way to prove it, and to make sure that Blaise would not get hurt because of her involvement with DA. He didn't want anyone hurt over him.
"Oh, OK. I don't think you can trust her though," Ron said.
"I know Ron, you've told me that before. But until she does something that can prove that she is untrustworthy, I'm not going to do anything. Anyone who says they want to help the light, no matter what their background, is accepted in DA, until and unless there is proof that they aren't who they say they are."
Ron scowled, and Harry sighed. It was a pity that Ron couldn't be as open-minded about Slytherins as Harry was becoming, after meeting and talking to the younger Slytherins, but Harry knew that he couldn't change Ron, no matter how much he wanted to sometimes.
"Did you sort something out?" Hermione asked.
"Not yet," Harry sighed, "We'll have to think about it some more … hopefully we'll think of something soon though – I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me."
Ron, Hermione and Lily all winced, but Harry smiled, to show that he wasn't going to be in a bad mood over it. "Don't worry, I've gotten over blaming myself," he told them, "at least for the most part."
"Good!" Hermione said.
Harry had been talking to Sirius less often lately in his dreams, but he found that he didn't mind. He was beginning to be able to cope with Sirius's loss of life now, and the lack of Sirius in his life so often.
Knowing that he could still sometimes talk to his godfather helped a lot, but he knew that Sirius wouldn't always be around in his dreams, as he had found out the night before.
***Flashback***
"Harry, there's something I need to talk to you about," Sirius said to his godson, as they stood in the boys dormitory in the Gryffindor tower.
"What?" Harry asked – Sirius was rarely serious, but when he was, you knew that there was something major going on. He hoped it wasn't anything bad.
"This time that we can spend in the Realm of Dreams? It won't last forever," Sirius told him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I will fade from here eventually. I think I might have another ten years of time as it is in this realm to spend with you, then the magic that has allowed me come here –because it doesn't believe I'm dead yet- will wear thin, and I won't be able to come through any more."
"Why not? I thought you said that while you were in the Realms of the Dead, because you aren't dead yet you can come here … you didn't mention a limit then."
"I didn't think that there would be one," Sirius said sadly, "but it turns out there is. The magic that governs the Realms is ancient, and rarely takes form in the Realm of the Living, but in the other Realms, sometimes you can see it, in forms that you can communicate with."
"Is that were religion came from?" Harry asked.
"Yes, in a way. There are godlike beings, but they are impervious to mortals and their troubles, they govern the Realms as they were created to do, and do what must be done. Nothing else enters into it. Not prayer, not anything. But people need hope, and that is how religion started, to give hope."
"Are there Wizarding religions?" Harry asked.
"A wizard or witch can chose to be part of any religion they chose to be," Sirius replied, "but it is magic that is our religion, we pray through our spells, as Muggles pray in church, but there is nothing to say that a wizard cannot worship the Christian god, or Buddha, or any of the other religions of the Muggle world. I don't think that there any real religions like that that are solely for wizards though.
"But to get back to what I was saying, one of these beings, these governing bodies of the Realms actually spoke to me a few days ago, and told me that I had only a little time left. They have no explanation of why, it just is, that is how they are. There is what must be, and nothing else, as far as they are concerned."
"Oh," Harry said softly. "How much time has passed in the Realms of Dream and the Dead since you first started talking to me?"
"Some ten years," Sirius replied with a shrug, "I told you that time passes differently, it changes all the time, and we don't really think about it's passing, because it does not affect us in the least."
"Ten years?" Harry said slowly, "so you've aged ten years in the space of less than one?"
"I can't age," Sirius reminded him with a lopsided grin, "but ten years here have passed, yes."
"So you won't be able to talk to me for much longer at all?" Harry asked, sadly.
"No, not much longer now, my godson, but the reason for me to talk to you has passed now, you have accepted my death, which was what I had been worried about, that you would blame yourself all of your life for something that I had done. I have greatly enjoyed being able to get to know you properly, and spending time with you, teaching you, doing all the things I'd hoped to be able to do when I escaped from Azkaban …"
"I've enjoyed it too, Sirius, more than you could ever know," Harry whispered, though he knew that Sirius had heard him.
***End Flashback***
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Draco asked Blaise, after checking that no one had followed them and was listening.
"I talked to Harry today," Blaise said, keeping her voice low anyway, just in case.
Draco looked at her intently with his grey eyes, "What did he say?" he asked, also very quiet.
"He wants to talk to you about it," Blaise replied, "I don't think he fully trusts you, but I told him that I thought you were speaking from the heart, and he's willing to give you a chance."
"Really?" Draco was totally amazed – he'd never thought, when Blaise told him she would talk to Potter, that the Gryffindor boy would do any more than laugh … one of the reasons that he'd allowed her to do so, actually. He didn't particularly relish the idea of going to his long-time rival for help.
"Really," Blaise replied, smiling slightly. "If it works for you, he said you could meet him tomorrow, at a place of his choosing. I'll take you there, I know where."
"Why does he want to chose the place?" Draco demanded.
"Because one of you has to," Blaise said, sounding a little exasperated, "and he told me where – it's nowhere dangerous, I promise!"
"How do you know that Potter won't make it dangerous?" Draco enquired.
"Because you know as well as I do that he doesn't think that way," Blaise said, "but he knows that you do think that way, and therefore is taking precautions."
"You could almost think he belongs in Slytherin, sometimes," Draco remarked, "rarely, of course, but sometimes …"
Blaise remembered Harry once telling her that he'd nearly been sorted into Slytherin, but decided not to say anything about that to Draco – it was Harry's business.
"I suppose," she said, "he's too trusting though, and rushes into things without thinking quite a lot … but I suppose in some ways that's a blessing."
"Hmph," was Draco's only response. "What time tomorrow?"
"Midday," Blaise replied promptly. "Meet me at the suit of armour on the fourth floor, and I'll take you to the meeting place."
"Can you go and examine it first? In case of any tricks?"
Blaise nodded. She knew that there would be no tricks, but she understood that Draco wouldn't be comfortable if she didn't, and she understood why.
"Sure," she told him.
"Thanks, Blaise," Draco sounded as if the words did not come naturally to him, and she knew very well that they didn't. In all her time at Hogwarts, she'd never heard him thank another student for anything. Teachers, yes, but no one else.
"You're welcome Draco," Blaise assured him, a slight smile playing at her lips.
"Have you studied for that test for potions?" she asked, on a whim.
"No," Draco admitted – the test would be on Friday.
"Want to study with me?" she suggested, wondering if she was overstepping the bounds. Draco did seem to need a friend, a real friend, not someone who liked him for his connections.
Draco looked startled, but before Blaise could take back the invitation, he smiled, a very small, true smile, "Yeah, OK," he replied.
*
"Good morning, Harry," Neko smiled at the boy. It was four thirty in the morning, and so far Harry was failing to see anything good about it, though he returned the greeting politely.
"Get your katana," she told him, grinning wickedly.
Harry groaned softly. Though he was used to waking early, and practicing some, Neko's work-outs were strenuous, because he wasn't used to wielding the wooden sword that was his weapon for this morning's combat.
"What's the matter, tired?" she teased him.
"Don't worry," Tatsu drawled from an armchair which he was draped across, "she does this to all of her students, including me, when I trained with her."
"That makes me feel so much better," Harry drawled sarcastically, picking up his weapon and going to the centre of a suddenly clear room.
"So it should," Tatsu said. "Wake me when you've finished," he added, and closed his eyes, evidently intending to go to sleep.
"Let him, we can wake him with cold water later," Neko advised Harry, and drew her own sword. "Just the same as yesterday," she told him quietly, firmly. "I'm teaching you speed and grace – you picked that up well yesterday, by the way."
"Thank you," Harry replied.
"Let's begin," she said, bring her katana up into a starting position. Harry quickly followed her, and the pattern dance began.
Two and a half hours later, Harry was very relieved to set down his weapon, letting aching arms fall to his sides, and now harsh breathing began to ease. He eased himself slowly into a chair which obligingly appeared. He loved the Room of Requirement.
"Tired?" Neko grinned wickedly. She wasn't in the least bit out of breath, and held her katana in her hand, perfectly balanced, not seeming to need to rest her arms at all.
Harry admired this, and he nodded in agreement with her question. "Totally worn out," he remarked.
"Only to be expected," Tatsu said, opening one eye – Harry hadn't realised that the man was awake at all.
"It'll pass," Neko assured him. "Just like your initial difficulties with the martial arts Tatsu has been teaching you passed with time. You are dismissed for the day now, but come tomorrow night, if you have finished most of your homework."
Harry bowed calmly, "I'll see it to it, Sensei," he assured her. "I have only an assignment for Tonks, and I've already done the written part of it. Presuming that no one gives me any more work due in tomorrow, I'll be fine to come tomorrow night."
"Good," Neko said. "I'll see you then."
Harry nodded and left silently, heading downstairs for breakfast.
"'Arry, you look tired," Gabrielle remarked, meeting up with him at the Gryffindor table.
"I feel tired," Harry said, "I've been up since four-thirty."
Gabrielle smiled prettily, "I don't think I could manage that," she admitted. Her accent had been improving a lot since she had come to England, and there was now only the barest traces of French when she spoke.
"Well, it seems that I must – I think I'd rather not," Harry remarked. "Tatsu is training me to fight, and he wanted me up at four-thirty this morning."
"Poor thing," Gabrielle remarked pityingly, then a group of her friends called her and she waved goodbye to Harry, hurriedly going over to join them.
"Hard time?" Lily asked sympathetically as Harry joined his friends at the Gryffindor tower.
"Yup," Harry replied wearily, dropping into his seat and piling food onto his plate, digging in with a vengeance.
"Maybe you shouldn't talk to him until he's finished eating," Hermione remarked wisely, and Harry grinned faintly around a mouthful of toast.
Indeed, once he'd finished eating, he was much more interactive and happy to be so. "You don't have to do this, you know," Hermione pointed out.
"I know I don't, but it's important, and despite the occasional grumble, I like the training," Harry replied.
Hermione nodded and subsided immediately. Harry wondered why she didn't approve of this method of fighting, when it had been her idea, the year before, to start DA.
Well, maybe he'd find out sometime, it probably wasn't the best time to ask her, now.
"What will do this morning?" Lily asked the little group.
"Maybe we should go and visit Hagrid?" Hermione suggested. "After all, we don't go to see him much."
Care of Magical Creatures classes had been subdued for some time, since the Hippocampi had gotten a disease before Christmas, and most of them were now dead. Classes were usually spent trying to take care of them, but it didn't work the best.
"Yeah, I suppose," Ron agreed.
"Lets," Harry and Lily said almost simultaneously.
Together the group walked out of the Great Hall and down the sloping grounds to Hagrids' house.
"Well 'ello there," Hagrid said, opening the door and peering out at them. "You'd best cum in, I s'pose …"
"How are the hippocampi?" Harry asked, though he didn't really want to talk about them.
There was a look of momentary enthusiasm on Hagrids face, which quickly turned to sadness. "They don't seem t'be gettin' any better," he remarked sadly.
"Oh, Hagrid," Lily said, padding forward to lay a hand on the half-giants' arm.
"Down t'only three now," he remarked, with a heavy sigh. "Still not sure what's wrong with them in the first place thou'."
"Maybe you just have to let them go," Lily said quietly, "I know you love them, and I'm sure that they love you, and it's very sad that they are all dying … but maybe it's meant to be."
"You aren't going to start sounding like Trelawney are you?" Ron asked Lily, looking worried.
"No, that bat is a lot more morbid than our Lily," Hagrid told Ron, smiling, his depressed expression lifting slightly.
Harry checked his watch. "I'll have to leave in an hour," he told his friends, "I'm going to talk to Blaise, and see what can be worked out."
Not completely a lie, he told himself virtuously.
Very close, Grypis remarked, But not a lie, no.
***
Hehe, I'm having fun waylaying the talk with Malfoy – I know that's what you're all waiting for *grins*, just I like I did with Tatsu's identity, remember? Boy, that was a LONG time ago …
Well, NEXT chapter will be talking with Malfoy …
It is my sad duty to announce that After the Dawn: The Philosopher's Stone is momentarily on HOLD. This is because of pressure from school, and different writing things I'm doing. When I finish this story, I'll work on AtD, then start the sequel to this one, as well as Chamber of Secrets … Sorry about this, but I don't want to divide my time and not update EITHER story for ages …
Thanks:
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