Harry lie in his bed, staring out the window. It had been nearly an hour and Hedwig still hadn't returned. Of course, it did take at least an hour to fly to the Burrow...and at least an hour back...not to mention the time to read and write a reply. Harry wished Ron could learn to use the telephone properly, and then communication wouldn't take this long.
It had to be tonight, he couldn't take this house anymore. If only Uncle Vernon had agreed to let him leave...to go straight with the Weasleys at the station. He would never have to see their faces again. The idea of him leaving, flying away of course, looking back on Number 4 Privet Drive and knowing it was the last time brought an immediate smile to his face.
However, Harry was still stuck in this God awful room. The walls were completely bare, and barely anything was lain out for his use other than the essentials. Everything else was piled into his closet as usual; only now it stayed completely packed away as it was on his first day back. Harry had never bothered to unpack his things at all this summer; he was expecting to be leaving any day, but for some reason Mrs. Weasley was having trouble letting Ron allow Harry to visit. Why?
Harry turned his head from his window and looked to the door. His Firebolt stood propped in its usual corner so that when the door was opened it was completely hidden from view. Only Harry stayed in the room with the door closed so only Harry was the one who could look at it. Harry let out a sigh as if it were painful to look at now. He wished he were back at Hogwarts...with friends and people who mattered, back flying that broomstick and feeling the cold wind in his hair.
Harry felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier until he felt himself gliding on that broomstick. He was no longer on the Hogwarts pitch, but he was somewhere else. The stadium seats towered high over him. The green field was cleaner and much better kept than the one at Hogwarts. The grass squished silently under his boots as he walked along side Oliver Wood.
"Good catch that was at last game, Harry," Wood was saying as they walked to the center of the pitch.
"Thanks, Wood," Harry smiled, pleased with himself, as he mounted his broom. "Then again, Krum wasn't there was he?"
"Oh, don't worry about that...or at least for a few more matches that is," Wood replied.
TAP TAP TAP
Harry shot up in his bed, startled by the sudden interruption. He fixed his glasses back on his face and eyed his window. Hedwig's brilliant white wings were fluttering just outside the glass, a black night sky painted behind her. Harry peered at his wristwatch as he placed his feet on the floor and went to open the window. It was close to ten o'clock now.
He flew open the window and let Hedwig flutter inside the room. As Harry was pushing the window closed again, a hand flew under it and pushed it back up. Harry stumbled back, caught off guard by the intrusion. He wondered quickly were his wand was and looked to his night table. He scrambled to his feet and dove for the wand, pointing it immediately to his window.
The arm became visible and gave Harry a little wave before an entire head entered the room. Harry let out a laugh and lowered his wand when he saw the flaming red hair of his best friend.
"And what exactly were you planning on doing with that?" Ron smiled.
"Take off one of your ears I think...I hadn't thought it that much through," Harry smiled as he went over the help Ron into the room.
Ron stumbled slightly, creating a few thumps on the hard wooden floor.
"Shh!" Harry warned him. It was ten o'clock; Uncle Vernon was just below the room watching the evening news.
"Are you ready?" Ron asked, looking around the room, searching for something.
"Ready?" Harry asked, perplexed.
"Read the note on Hedwig," Ron replied as he went to Harry's closet and threw open the doors. "I can't get all my stuff to fit in my entire room, how do you get it in one closet?"
Harry went to Hedwig as Ron spoke and gently removed the letter tied to her foot. He gently stroked her feathers as he read.
"Harry-
Rescue mission to commence at ten o'clock, be ready.
-Ron"
"Well," Harry smiled, "that's informative isn't it?"
Harry helped Ron gently pull all of his belongings out of the closet and throw the 'essentials' around his room into his trunk.
"Well...guess I got a little excited when mum finally said 'yes'... I should have said eleven or twelve since I sent her off at nine. I just couldn't wait," Ron smiled as he threw Harry's comb into the trunk. He took a stack of pictures from the night table and quickly went through them.
"It's ok...as long as I get out of here, I don't care what time it is," Harry smiled as he through a few dirty pajama tops into the trunk.
"This is a good one of Hermione," Ron smiled as he held up a familiar picture. Harry moved closer and recognized the picture immediately. It was his favorite too, not of Hermione but of Ginny. The two girls were a bit younger than now, and whispering idly to each other and giggling occasionally. "Ginny too," he added quickly when his eyes trailed form his girlfriend and finally acknowledged that his sister too was in the picture.
He slid the picture to the bottom of the pile and continued to flip through the pictures.
"Have you used your camera?" Ron asked as he went to the trunk and carefully placed the stack on the top of the dirty pajama tops. Ron and Hermione had given him a camera for Christmas the previous year, this was the first time he had mentioned the gift.
"Yeah," Harry replied, "Remember Hermione got a hold of it while we were napping in the common room? I can't develop the film here...I need to go to Diagon Alley and develop them."
"We'll make a stop some time," Ron replied as he slammed the trunk shut.
"Hold on," Harry said as he peered around the room. There were a few things he had left untouched. He looked under his bed and found an old shoe box filled with little things Ron could not imagine having any value at all.
"Do you need that?" Ron inquired as he peeped in the box.
"Not really, but I better take it," Harry replied as he opened the trunk and slipped it inside. "I don't think I'll be coming back for it."
Ron opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it and nodded his head.
"Ok, Mr. Genius," Harry began, "how are we getting out of here?"
"Oh, that's easy," Ron replied. "Tie your trunk to your broomstick, and we fly."
"And no one will see us?" Harry asked.
Ron untied a piece of rope he had tied around his waist and handed it to Harry.
"Course not, we'll go above the clouds," Ron replied as if this answer were obvious.
Harry went to his Firebolt and attached it to on of the handles on his trunk. He dragged it next to his window and gave a final glance around the room.
"You should leave a note, shouldn't you?" Ron asked as he watched Harry get close to the window.
"No," Harry decided. "I don't think they'll miss me."
Harry mounted his broomstick and carefully glided out of the window. He saw Ron's broomstick lying on the roof and handed it to him in the room. Ron mounted the broomstick and followed Harry out of the bedroom window and into the night. Harry looked back for the last time on number 4 Privet Drive and smiled to himself. After this year at Hogwarts, he was free to go where he pleased and he couldn't wait.
The wind whipped pleasantly through Harry's hair and he was tempted to start doing barrel rolls and heart racing dips as he flew next to Ron. However, he soon remembered he was still flying over the Muggle world and thought a teenage boy dipping from the sky would be something to notice. He peeped through the clouds every so often and caught a glimpse of the cities below his dangling feet. Millions of tiny lights matching millions of people. None of them knew he was flying miles over their heads.
"How much further?" he asked Ron, as he glanced down at the headlights sprinkled over the road.
"Not much," Ron smiled. "Just passed the next city."
Harry nodded his head and began flying a bit faster, although not quite as fast as he could go. He remembered Ron's Cleansweep was no match for his Firebolt, but Harry's excitement at seeing the Burrow again was too much to handle calmly.
"C'mon, Harry," he heard Ron exclaim a few feet behind him. "You'll be sitting on the lawn by yourself if I'm not there to bring you in!"
"Then hurry up!" Harry smiled as he darted forward a little.
"You're lucky you have a Firebolt or I'd catch up with you and knock you right off!" Ron replied as he pushed his broomstick to the limit.
With all the racing and teasing going on, Harry and Ron arrived at the Burrow immediately. All the lights in the house were dim if on at all. Harry looked at his watch and saw it was close to eleven o'clock.
"Your mum knows I'm coming, right?" Harry asked Ron as they began to drag his trunk up to the front door.
"Of course...it's just that things are a bit quieter with Zora here now," Ron replied as he opened the front door.
"Zora's here?" Harry asked with surprise.
"Only a few days, but she needs rest or something, mum insists on having the house quiet while she's here," Ron said as he rolled his eyes.
They entered the living area where Mrs. Weasley was sitting on the couch and reading a Gilderoy Lockhart book. Harry peered at the cover of the sickening smiling man and felt himself roll his eyes.
"Oh, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley smiled quietly.
She set the book down and rushed over to Harry and wrapped her arms around his thin body.
"Those Muggle relatives of yours!" she exclaimed, but then quickly quieted herself as she looked up to the ceiling. "We'll have you in the right shape in no time at all."
"That's fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled. "Is it true Zora's here?"
"Yes, poor child. She's sleeping now."
"All she does is sleep," Ron intervened with a smile.
"Well, you would too, Ronald, if you had gone through all she has. Poor dear, lost her strength and her powers," Mrs. Weasley said with a mournful shaking of her head.
Harry looked up to the ceiling and wondered if Zora had lost her hearing as well. She had heard a whispered conversation between McGonagall and Snape from the other end of her room at least the size of half a Quidditch pitch. He hoped for Mrs. Weasley's sake that she had lost the ability and could not hear what Mrs. Weasley was saying.
"I am sorry we could not have you sooner, Harry...we were waiting for Zora to arrive and then we'd take you on for the summer as well. That's what Dumbledore told us to do, anyway...although I don't really understand it. Well, there's food in the kitchen if you two are hungry. Try not to stay up too late...and please keep it down. Poor girl needs at least twelve hours rest a day, you know?"
Mrs. Weasley gave each boy a kiss on the cheek, stretching upward as much as possible to reach for each. Harry had forgotten how short Mrs. Weasley was and wondered if she were shrinking or if it were possible he and Ron had grown even taller. She gave them a smile before quietly tip-toeing up the stairs.
"Is that true about Zora? She needs all that sleep?" Harry asked as he moved into the kitchen.
He took a cookie from a plate in the center of the large wooden table and greedily ate the whole thing.
"Well...not exactly," Ron smiled. "I'm sure she probably needs all the sleep, but she doesn't get it...mum only thinks she does."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he reached for another cookie.
"Psst," Harry heard from behind him.
Harry and Ron turned their eyes through to open kitchen doorway and to the staircase. A familiar red haired girl was peering around the living room and then back to the kitchen.
"She's just gone up, Gin...come on down," Ron said as he reached for another cookie.
Ginny smiled and walked to the kitchen. She was followed quickly by the bright eyed girl Harry shared a scar with; Zora really was at the Burrow.
"Yes! She made cookies," Zora said excitedly as she reached across the table to the plate.
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Harry asked as he eyed the familiar bright smile.
"Yes, sir, I am, Mr. Potter," Zora replied with a smile before she took a large bite out of the cookie in her hand. "C'mon, Harry...I sleep all day, how can she expect me to sleep all night as well?"
"It's probably better if you stay in bed the day and sleep the night," Ginny replied in a very motherly tone. Zora gave her a slight smile before taking another bite of her cookie.
"Well, I for one don't sleep all day and I'm very tired," Ron said as he finished his cookie. "I'm off to bed."
"Me too," Ginny yawned. "Night all," she said with a wave of the hand before following her brother up the staircase.
"How's your aunt and uncle?" Zora asked once the silence began to annoy her.
"All right I guess, they're going to get a big surprise when they wake up," Harry smiled.
"You didn't tell them you left?" Zora asked curiously.
"No," Harry replied when he realized that Zora was truly asking a question. Most of the time, she had a gleam in her eye or a smile as she asked a question which told him she already knew the answer, but now she was curious and trying to read him. She must truly have lost her powers if she was no longer dreaming.
"How's it here? You like it?" Harry asked politely.
"Sometimes...Mrs. Weasley's nice and all, but she's fussy," Zora said with a kind smile. "And Ginny and Ron are great, they put up with me at least."
"You stay in your room all day? Pretending to sleep?"
"Most of the time I am sleeping, but I can't sleep for more than eight hours. Trust me, I tried and it's a curse."
"A curse? Not being able to sleep?"
"Yes! I actually like sleeping now and as soon as eight hours hit BAM, I'm awake again," she replied.
"Do you feel any better? Anything...coming back?" Harry inquired curiously.
"No...I've been looking through Ginny's potion books trying to see if I can potion my way through magical life, but they aren't much help."
"Zora, can I ask you something?" Harry blurted out after a long pause.
"No...I know what you're going to ask," Zora replied.
"How do you know if I don't ask?" Harry chuckled.
"I'm weak...powerless...hopeless perhaps, but I am not a dumbass. I know it's not about your dreams, because I already explained a absolutly can't tell you about those. There's only one question left and I know what you want to ask because I've darted the topic before and I know you want to know. I'll tell you when I'm ready, I promise," Zora replied.
"But...I just...why can't you tell me?" Harry stammered out.
He had been dying to know about Draco and there were too many questions to sum up in just one. He wanted to know everything, the whole history. She just looked at him with a sad expression, reminding Harry of her mother's portrait. She gave him a small smile and rose from her seat at the table.
"I'm off to bed, see you in the morning," she said as she turned and went to the door.
"Not even a little hint?" he called after her.
She waved her hand at him before trotting soundlessly up the stairs. Harry let out a frustrated sigh. Was it really that big a secret that she didn't want to tell him? It seemed unfair somehow that she wouldn't tell him, despite the fact that Harry could think of no life altering secret he had shared with her. It seemed they were beyond keeping secrets from each other somehow. With everything that had happened to them in the past year, couldn't she trust him now?
Harry took one last cookie from the table and ate it as he trotted all the way up the stairs to the fifth landing and went to bed.
Zora opened the door to Percy's old bedroom and closed it quickly behind her. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to calm herself down.
"I guess I'll have to tell him sometime," she whispered to herself. "But not now...I don't even want to think about it now."
She walked over to the bed and dropped onto it, making the mattress squeak uneasily. She was actually feeling a bit tired as she lay down on the comfortable mattress. Her eyes began to drift closed subtly until the ceiling disappeared into black.
"Severus," Lara called up the staircase.
"I'll be right down," he called back as he finished up his talk with Dumbledore.
"Whenever she's ready...do not stand in her way," Dumbledore said in a hushed voice.
"But isn't there...something we can do? Anything at all? Why can't she stay here? Does she really not have any other choice?"
"He will find her here...he already knows she is with us," Dumbledore insisted. "Severus, I know how you feel about her, but I cannot guarantee the safety of her or of the child."
"A Secret Keeper? Something?" Severus asked desperately.
"She has refused one, you cannot protect someone unless they want to be protected," Dumbledore added with a bit of sorrow in his voice. "I'm sorry, Severus...there's nothing we can do. She wants to leave...you have to let her."
At that Dumbledore turned and left the entrance to the room. Severus watched after him before turning and walking down the cold stone staircase. He admired the tall windows for a moment before he hit the floor of the elaborate room.
TAP TAP TAP
Zora's eyes fluttered open. She lie in agitation before she sat on her bed, she was hoping he wouldn't know what room to pick and that maybe he would give up. But of course...he would know. She casually walked around her night table and to the window and opened it. The graceful legs entered and landed smoothly on the floor, followed by the torso and head of matching elegance. He wore a pleasant smirk that would have weakened Zora's knees...about four months ago that is.
"I was out there nearly five minutes," he complained although he was still smiling.
"I would've left you out there longer if I had known," she replied.
"Dreaming?" he asked as he sat comfortably on the bed. She hated how he could always look perfectly at home anywhere he pleased.
"How'd you guess?" Zora asked as she folded her arms and looked at him.
"I could hear you saying my name repeatedly, of course," he said casually as he patted a spot on the bed nest to him.
"I wasn't dreaming about you if you must know," she said coldly as she walked around the bed and to the rocking chair in the corner. She sat in it and gently rocked back and forth, the rhythm easing her mind a bit.
"Quite a dump they've stashed you in isn't it?" he said as he looked distastefully to the walls and furniture.
"It's supposed to be a place where no one can find me...but I guess we see how well that works," she added with a sneer.
"So unhappy to see me? Didn't miss me at all?" he asked.
"Not really," she replied.
"Ouch!" he said as he placed his hand on his chest. "You're cold, you know that?!"
"If you're not quiet...you'll wake the Weasleys and then we'll both be in trouble," she said as she sat straight in the chair and glared at him.
"Then I can take you from here...you can stay at the mansion if you wish...no one needs to know you're there," he replied quickly as if he'd been waiting to say it.
"And Lucius won't notice a strange girl sitting at his dinner table eating his food? Please, Draco...he'll tell Voldemort where I am. Draco, you have to understand I need to stay away from him until I start school...if I start school...if I get my- never mind. I need you to be quiet about where I am, understand?"
"Of course...I won't tell," Draco insisted. He lay his bed back on Zora's pillow and closed his eyes.
"So why are you here?" Zora asked as she settled back into her rocking chair.
"You know why," he replied as he dug into his pocket. Without looking, he tossed the contents of his pocket towards the corner she was sitting in. She caught the green wrapped box in her left hand and peered at it cautiously.
"Where's my present?" he asked casually with his eyes still closed.
"What makes you think I got you anything at all?" she asked coldly as she eyes the green paper.
"Je vous connais. Où est-il ?" he asked casually, the words rolling gracefully from his mouth.
"Dans le tiroir du nightstand...Oh mon Dieu ! Je parle français !" Zora exclaimed as she rose to her feet.
"Of course you speak French!" he replied as he looked at her with a curious expression on his face. He reached over to the night table and opened the drawer as she had told him to, "You've always spoken French."
"But I never learned how! Don't you see?" she said practically jumping up and down. "I can speak French...I might have some powers after all!"
"That's good...right?" he said as he pulled the long box from the drawer.
"Of course it's good...I have something, it's better than nothing," she said as she walked over and sat next to his feet on the bed, placing her apprehension of him aside for this happy moment.
She looked at him intently as he removed the lid of the black box and removed his gift. He smiled as he removed the object and studied it carefully. A dagger like he had never seen before. The handle was formed smoothly of a dragon's body, it's tail reaching out over the middle of the blade, which extended into a deadly point. The detail was extraordinary, each scale carefully carved and the blade itself perfectly formed. It was absolutely gorgeous.
"Do you like it?" Zora asked, a hint if worry in her voice as she studied his face.
"I love it," he chuckled as he ran a thin finger across the scales on the handle.
"It's Muggle, I know...but I still thought you'd like it. I had a few spells put on it, the blade's indestructible and can slice through just about anything," Zora smiled.
"I love it," he repeated with a gleam in his eye. His look made Zora grow suddenly uncomfortable and she rose from the bed and returned to the rocking chair in the corner.
"Your turn," he smiled and carefully set his dagger back into the black box.
She looked uneasily once again at the box before tearing off the green wrapping paper, laughing inwardly when she thought of how she would never escape those colors...green and silver. She removed the lid of the box after a brief pause and stared at what she saw in her hand. A necklace, but quite possibly the most gorgeous one she had ever seen. It was a delicate and very thin silver chain with a diamond snake charm attached to it.
"You don't like it?" he asked as he peered at her face.
"I...I...I absolutely love it," she stammered with a big smile.
She carefully undid the clasp and wrapped the chain around her neck.
"Let me help you," he said as he rose from the bed, the mattress squeaking slightly as he did so, and walked over to the chair. She leaned forward a little to give him easier access to the clasp. He quickly linked the two ends together and lowered the chain smoothly onto her neck, his fingers briefly touching her skin, sending shivers down her spine.
She rose from the rocking chair the moment she felt his cold fingers come in contact with her skin. She took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes; she now hated having that feeling every time he touched her. She looked around and walked to the mirror, pretending she did not care if he touched her or not.
The gleaming charm hung just over her heart she noticed as she looked in the mirror. Even in the dull lighting, the diamonds sparkled wildly over the mirror's surface.
"It looks great on you," Draco smiled from behind her shoulder.
"Merci," she said as she gave him a small smile in return.
"Il est tard et vous avez besoin de repos. Je vous verrai plus tard," he said in his graceful tone as he motioned towards her window.
She smiled as she listened, enjoying the sound of his voice as he spoke. She wished suddenly that she had not told him how much she liked the language before, maybe he would speak plainly as everyone else and she could hate him without admiration for his speech.
"Good night," she said as she watched him leave.
"Je vous adore," he said before he slipped through the window.
He sat there, waiting for her to reply. She looked at him and smiled, "Good night."
He nodded his head, wounded as he slipped from the window and left her. She turned back to the mirror and looked admirably at the snake charm.
"Happy Birthday, Zorina," she whispered to herself as she tore her eyes from the image and climbed back into bed.
"Je vous connais. Où est-il ?" -"I know you, where is it?"
"Dans le tiroir du nightstand...Oh mon Dieu ! Je parle français !" - "In the drawer of the nightstand...Oh my God! I speak French!"
"Merci," - "Thank You"
"Il est tard et vous avez besoin de repos. Je vous verrai plus tard," - "It is late and you need rest. I will see you later"
"Je vous adore," - "I adore you"
It had to be tonight, he couldn't take this house anymore. If only Uncle Vernon had agreed to let him leave...to go straight with the Weasleys at the station. He would never have to see their faces again. The idea of him leaving, flying away of course, looking back on Number 4 Privet Drive and knowing it was the last time brought an immediate smile to his face.
However, Harry was still stuck in this God awful room. The walls were completely bare, and barely anything was lain out for his use other than the essentials. Everything else was piled into his closet as usual; only now it stayed completely packed away as it was on his first day back. Harry had never bothered to unpack his things at all this summer; he was expecting to be leaving any day, but for some reason Mrs. Weasley was having trouble letting Ron allow Harry to visit. Why?
Harry turned his head from his window and looked to the door. His Firebolt stood propped in its usual corner so that when the door was opened it was completely hidden from view. Only Harry stayed in the room with the door closed so only Harry was the one who could look at it. Harry let out a sigh as if it were painful to look at now. He wished he were back at Hogwarts...with friends and people who mattered, back flying that broomstick and feeling the cold wind in his hair.
Harry felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier until he felt himself gliding on that broomstick. He was no longer on the Hogwarts pitch, but he was somewhere else. The stadium seats towered high over him. The green field was cleaner and much better kept than the one at Hogwarts. The grass squished silently under his boots as he walked along side Oliver Wood.
"Good catch that was at last game, Harry," Wood was saying as they walked to the center of the pitch.
"Thanks, Wood," Harry smiled, pleased with himself, as he mounted his broom. "Then again, Krum wasn't there was he?"
"Oh, don't worry about that...or at least for a few more matches that is," Wood replied.
TAP TAP TAP
Harry shot up in his bed, startled by the sudden interruption. He fixed his glasses back on his face and eyed his window. Hedwig's brilliant white wings were fluttering just outside the glass, a black night sky painted behind her. Harry peered at his wristwatch as he placed his feet on the floor and went to open the window. It was close to ten o'clock now.
He flew open the window and let Hedwig flutter inside the room. As Harry was pushing the window closed again, a hand flew under it and pushed it back up. Harry stumbled back, caught off guard by the intrusion. He wondered quickly were his wand was and looked to his night table. He scrambled to his feet and dove for the wand, pointing it immediately to his window.
The arm became visible and gave Harry a little wave before an entire head entered the room. Harry let out a laugh and lowered his wand when he saw the flaming red hair of his best friend.
"And what exactly were you planning on doing with that?" Ron smiled.
"Take off one of your ears I think...I hadn't thought it that much through," Harry smiled as he went over the help Ron into the room.
Ron stumbled slightly, creating a few thumps on the hard wooden floor.
"Shh!" Harry warned him. It was ten o'clock; Uncle Vernon was just below the room watching the evening news.
"Are you ready?" Ron asked, looking around the room, searching for something.
"Ready?" Harry asked, perplexed.
"Read the note on Hedwig," Ron replied as he went to Harry's closet and threw open the doors. "I can't get all my stuff to fit in my entire room, how do you get it in one closet?"
Harry went to Hedwig as Ron spoke and gently removed the letter tied to her foot. He gently stroked her feathers as he read.
"Harry-
Rescue mission to commence at ten o'clock, be ready.
-Ron"
"Well," Harry smiled, "that's informative isn't it?"
Harry helped Ron gently pull all of his belongings out of the closet and throw the 'essentials' around his room into his trunk.
"Well...guess I got a little excited when mum finally said 'yes'... I should have said eleven or twelve since I sent her off at nine. I just couldn't wait," Ron smiled as he threw Harry's comb into the trunk. He took a stack of pictures from the night table and quickly went through them.
"It's ok...as long as I get out of here, I don't care what time it is," Harry smiled as he through a few dirty pajama tops into the trunk.
"This is a good one of Hermione," Ron smiled as he held up a familiar picture. Harry moved closer and recognized the picture immediately. It was his favorite too, not of Hermione but of Ginny. The two girls were a bit younger than now, and whispering idly to each other and giggling occasionally. "Ginny too," he added quickly when his eyes trailed form his girlfriend and finally acknowledged that his sister too was in the picture.
He slid the picture to the bottom of the pile and continued to flip through the pictures.
"Have you used your camera?" Ron asked as he went to the trunk and carefully placed the stack on the top of the dirty pajama tops. Ron and Hermione had given him a camera for Christmas the previous year, this was the first time he had mentioned the gift.
"Yeah," Harry replied, "Remember Hermione got a hold of it while we were napping in the common room? I can't develop the film here...I need to go to Diagon Alley and develop them."
"We'll make a stop some time," Ron replied as he slammed the trunk shut.
"Hold on," Harry said as he peered around the room. There were a few things he had left untouched. He looked under his bed and found an old shoe box filled with little things Ron could not imagine having any value at all.
"Do you need that?" Ron inquired as he peeped in the box.
"Not really, but I better take it," Harry replied as he opened the trunk and slipped it inside. "I don't think I'll be coming back for it."
Ron opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it and nodded his head.
"Ok, Mr. Genius," Harry began, "how are we getting out of here?"
"Oh, that's easy," Ron replied. "Tie your trunk to your broomstick, and we fly."
"And no one will see us?" Harry asked.
Ron untied a piece of rope he had tied around his waist and handed it to Harry.
"Course not, we'll go above the clouds," Ron replied as if this answer were obvious.
Harry went to his Firebolt and attached it to on of the handles on his trunk. He dragged it next to his window and gave a final glance around the room.
"You should leave a note, shouldn't you?" Ron asked as he watched Harry get close to the window.
"No," Harry decided. "I don't think they'll miss me."
Harry mounted his broomstick and carefully glided out of the window. He saw Ron's broomstick lying on the roof and handed it to him in the room. Ron mounted the broomstick and followed Harry out of the bedroom window and into the night. Harry looked back for the last time on number 4 Privet Drive and smiled to himself. After this year at Hogwarts, he was free to go where he pleased and he couldn't wait.
The wind whipped pleasantly through Harry's hair and he was tempted to start doing barrel rolls and heart racing dips as he flew next to Ron. However, he soon remembered he was still flying over the Muggle world and thought a teenage boy dipping from the sky would be something to notice. He peeped through the clouds every so often and caught a glimpse of the cities below his dangling feet. Millions of tiny lights matching millions of people. None of them knew he was flying miles over their heads.
"How much further?" he asked Ron, as he glanced down at the headlights sprinkled over the road.
"Not much," Ron smiled. "Just passed the next city."
Harry nodded his head and began flying a bit faster, although not quite as fast as he could go. He remembered Ron's Cleansweep was no match for his Firebolt, but Harry's excitement at seeing the Burrow again was too much to handle calmly.
"C'mon, Harry," he heard Ron exclaim a few feet behind him. "You'll be sitting on the lawn by yourself if I'm not there to bring you in!"
"Then hurry up!" Harry smiled as he darted forward a little.
"You're lucky you have a Firebolt or I'd catch up with you and knock you right off!" Ron replied as he pushed his broomstick to the limit.
With all the racing and teasing going on, Harry and Ron arrived at the Burrow immediately. All the lights in the house were dim if on at all. Harry looked at his watch and saw it was close to eleven o'clock.
"Your mum knows I'm coming, right?" Harry asked Ron as they began to drag his trunk up to the front door.
"Of course...it's just that things are a bit quieter with Zora here now," Ron replied as he opened the front door.
"Zora's here?" Harry asked with surprise.
"Only a few days, but she needs rest or something, mum insists on having the house quiet while she's here," Ron said as he rolled his eyes.
They entered the living area where Mrs. Weasley was sitting on the couch and reading a Gilderoy Lockhart book. Harry peered at the cover of the sickening smiling man and felt himself roll his eyes.
"Oh, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley smiled quietly.
She set the book down and rushed over to Harry and wrapped her arms around his thin body.
"Those Muggle relatives of yours!" she exclaimed, but then quickly quieted herself as she looked up to the ceiling. "We'll have you in the right shape in no time at all."
"That's fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled. "Is it true Zora's here?"
"Yes, poor child. She's sleeping now."
"All she does is sleep," Ron intervened with a smile.
"Well, you would too, Ronald, if you had gone through all she has. Poor dear, lost her strength and her powers," Mrs. Weasley said with a mournful shaking of her head.
Harry looked up to the ceiling and wondered if Zora had lost her hearing as well. She had heard a whispered conversation between McGonagall and Snape from the other end of her room at least the size of half a Quidditch pitch. He hoped for Mrs. Weasley's sake that she had lost the ability and could not hear what Mrs. Weasley was saying.
"I am sorry we could not have you sooner, Harry...we were waiting for Zora to arrive and then we'd take you on for the summer as well. That's what Dumbledore told us to do, anyway...although I don't really understand it. Well, there's food in the kitchen if you two are hungry. Try not to stay up too late...and please keep it down. Poor girl needs at least twelve hours rest a day, you know?"
Mrs. Weasley gave each boy a kiss on the cheek, stretching upward as much as possible to reach for each. Harry had forgotten how short Mrs. Weasley was and wondered if she were shrinking or if it were possible he and Ron had grown even taller. She gave them a smile before quietly tip-toeing up the stairs.
"Is that true about Zora? She needs all that sleep?" Harry asked as he moved into the kitchen.
He took a cookie from a plate in the center of the large wooden table and greedily ate the whole thing.
"Well...not exactly," Ron smiled. "I'm sure she probably needs all the sleep, but she doesn't get it...mum only thinks she does."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he reached for another cookie.
"Psst," Harry heard from behind him.
Harry and Ron turned their eyes through to open kitchen doorway and to the staircase. A familiar red haired girl was peering around the living room and then back to the kitchen.
"She's just gone up, Gin...come on down," Ron said as he reached for another cookie.
Ginny smiled and walked to the kitchen. She was followed quickly by the bright eyed girl Harry shared a scar with; Zora really was at the Burrow.
"Yes! She made cookies," Zora said excitedly as she reached across the table to the plate.
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Harry asked as he eyed the familiar bright smile.
"Yes, sir, I am, Mr. Potter," Zora replied with a smile before she took a large bite out of the cookie in her hand. "C'mon, Harry...I sleep all day, how can she expect me to sleep all night as well?"
"It's probably better if you stay in bed the day and sleep the night," Ginny replied in a very motherly tone. Zora gave her a slight smile before taking another bite of her cookie.
"Well, I for one don't sleep all day and I'm very tired," Ron said as he finished his cookie. "I'm off to bed."
"Me too," Ginny yawned. "Night all," she said with a wave of the hand before following her brother up the staircase.
"How's your aunt and uncle?" Zora asked once the silence began to annoy her.
"All right I guess, they're going to get a big surprise when they wake up," Harry smiled.
"You didn't tell them you left?" Zora asked curiously.
"No," Harry replied when he realized that Zora was truly asking a question. Most of the time, she had a gleam in her eye or a smile as she asked a question which told him she already knew the answer, but now she was curious and trying to read him. She must truly have lost her powers if she was no longer dreaming.
"How's it here? You like it?" Harry asked politely.
"Sometimes...Mrs. Weasley's nice and all, but she's fussy," Zora said with a kind smile. "And Ginny and Ron are great, they put up with me at least."
"You stay in your room all day? Pretending to sleep?"
"Most of the time I am sleeping, but I can't sleep for more than eight hours. Trust me, I tried and it's a curse."
"A curse? Not being able to sleep?"
"Yes! I actually like sleeping now and as soon as eight hours hit BAM, I'm awake again," she replied.
"Do you feel any better? Anything...coming back?" Harry inquired curiously.
"No...I've been looking through Ginny's potion books trying to see if I can potion my way through magical life, but they aren't much help."
"Zora, can I ask you something?" Harry blurted out after a long pause.
"No...I know what you're going to ask," Zora replied.
"How do you know if I don't ask?" Harry chuckled.
"I'm weak...powerless...hopeless perhaps, but I am not a dumbass. I know it's not about your dreams, because I already explained a absolutly can't tell you about those. There's only one question left and I know what you want to ask because I've darted the topic before and I know you want to know. I'll tell you when I'm ready, I promise," Zora replied.
"But...I just...why can't you tell me?" Harry stammered out.
He had been dying to know about Draco and there were too many questions to sum up in just one. He wanted to know everything, the whole history. She just looked at him with a sad expression, reminding Harry of her mother's portrait. She gave him a small smile and rose from her seat at the table.
"I'm off to bed, see you in the morning," she said as she turned and went to the door.
"Not even a little hint?" he called after her.
She waved her hand at him before trotting soundlessly up the stairs. Harry let out a frustrated sigh. Was it really that big a secret that she didn't want to tell him? It seemed unfair somehow that she wouldn't tell him, despite the fact that Harry could think of no life altering secret he had shared with her. It seemed they were beyond keeping secrets from each other somehow. With everything that had happened to them in the past year, couldn't she trust him now?
Harry took one last cookie from the table and ate it as he trotted all the way up the stairs to the fifth landing and went to bed.
Zora opened the door to Percy's old bedroom and closed it quickly behind her. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to calm herself down.
"I guess I'll have to tell him sometime," she whispered to herself. "But not now...I don't even want to think about it now."
She walked over to the bed and dropped onto it, making the mattress squeak uneasily. She was actually feeling a bit tired as she lay down on the comfortable mattress. Her eyes began to drift closed subtly until the ceiling disappeared into black.
"Severus," Lara called up the staircase.
"I'll be right down," he called back as he finished up his talk with Dumbledore.
"Whenever she's ready...do not stand in her way," Dumbledore said in a hushed voice.
"But isn't there...something we can do? Anything at all? Why can't she stay here? Does she really not have any other choice?"
"He will find her here...he already knows she is with us," Dumbledore insisted. "Severus, I know how you feel about her, but I cannot guarantee the safety of her or of the child."
"A Secret Keeper? Something?" Severus asked desperately.
"She has refused one, you cannot protect someone unless they want to be protected," Dumbledore added with a bit of sorrow in his voice. "I'm sorry, Severus...there's nothing we can do. She wants to leave...you have to let her."
At that Dumbledore turned and left the entrance to the room. Severus watched after him before turning and walking down the cold stone staircase. He admired the tall windows for a moment before he hit the floor of the elaborate room.
TAP TAP TAP
Zora's eyes fluttered open. She lie in agitation before she sat on her bed, she was hoping he wouldn't know what room to pick and that maybe he would give up. But of course...he would know. She casually walked around her night table and to the window and opened it. The graceful legs entered and landed smoothly on the floor, followed by the torso and head of matching elegance. He wore a pleasant smirk that would have weakened Zora's knees...about four months ago that is.
"I was out there nearly five minutes," he complained although he was still smiling.
"I would've left you out there longer if I had known," she replied.
"Dreaming?" he asked as he sat comfortably on the bed. She hated how he could always look perfectly at home anywhere he pleased.
"How'd you guess?" Zora asked as she folded her arms and looked at him.
"I could hear you saying my name repeatedly, of course," he said casually as he patted a spot on the bed nest to him.
"I wasn't dreaming about you if you must know," she said coldly as she walked around the bed and to the rocking chair in the corner. She sat in it and gently rocked back and forth, the rhythm easing her mind a bit.
"Quite a dump they've stashed you in isn't it?" he said as he looked distastefully to the walls and furniture.
"It's supposed to be a place where no one can find me...but I guess we see how well that works," she added with a sneer.
"So unhappy to see me? Didn't miss me at all?" he asked.
"Not really," she replied.
"Ouch!" he said as he placed his hand on his chest. "You're cold, you know that?!"
"If you're not quiet...you'll wake the Weasleys and then we'll both be in trouble," she said as she sat straight in the chair and glared at him.
"Then I can take you from here...you can stay at the mansion if you wish...no one needs to know you're there," he replied quickly as if he'd been waiting to say it.
"And Lucius won't notice a strange girl sitting at his dinner table eating his food? Please, Draco...he'll tell Voldemort where I am. Draco, you have to understand I need to stay away from him until I start school...if I start school...if I get my- never mind. I need you to be quiet about where I am, understand?"
"Of course...I won't tell," Draco insisted. He lay his bed back on Zora's pillow and closed his eyes.
"So why are you here?" Zora asked as she settled back into her rocking chair.
"You know why," he replied as he dug into his pocket. Without looking, he tossed the contents of his pocket towards the corner she was sitting in. She caught the green wrapped box in her left hand and peered at it cautiously.
"Where's my present?" he asked casually with his eyes still closed.
"What makes you think I got you anything at all?" she asked coldly as she eyes the green paper.
"Je vous connais. Où est-il ?" he asked casually, the words rolling gracefully from his mouth.
"Dans le tiroir du nightstand...Oh mon Dieu ! Je parle français !" Zora exclaimed as she rose to her feet.
"Of course you speak French!" he replied as he looked at her with a curious expression on his face. He reached over to the night table and opened the drawer as she had told him to, "You've always spoken French."
"But I never learned how! Don't you see?" she said practically jumping up and down. "I can speak French...I might have some powers after all!"
"That's good...right?" he said as he pulled the long box from the drawer.
"Of course it's good...I have something, it's better than nothing," she said as she walked over and sat next to his feet on the bed, placing her apprehension of him aside for this happy moment.
She looked at him intently as he removed the lid of the black box and removed his gift. He smiled as he removed the object and studied it carefully. A dagger like he had never seen before. The handle was formed smoothly of a dragon's body, it's tail reaching out over the middle of the blade, which extended into a deadly point. The detail was extraordinary, each scale carefully carved and the blade itself perfectly formed. It was absolutely gorgeous.
"Do you like it?" Zora asked, a hint if worry in her voice as she studied his face.
"I love it," he chuckled as he ran a thin finger across the scales on the handle.
"It's Muggle, I know...but I still thought you'd like it. I had a few spells put on it, the blade's indestructible and can slice through just about anything," Zora smiled.
"I love it," he repeated with a gleam in his eye. His look made Zora grow suddenly uncomfortable and she rose from the bed and returned to the rocking chair in the corner.
"Your turn," he smiled and carefully set his dagger back into the black box.
She looked uneasily once again at the box before tearing off the green wrapping paper, laughing inwardly when she thought of how she would never escape those colors...green and silver. She removed the lid of the box after a brief pause and stared at what she saw in her hand. A necklace, but quite possibly the most gorgeous one she had ever seen. It was a delicate and very thin silver chain with a diamond snake charm attached to it.
"You don't like it?" he asked as he peered at her face.
"I...I...I absolutely love it," she stammered with a big smile.
She carefully undid the clasp and wrapped the chain around her neck.
"Let me help you," he said as he rose from the bed, the mattress squeaking slightly as he did so, and walked over to the chair. She leaned forward a little to give him easier access to the clasp. He quickly linked the two ends together and lowered the chain smoothly onto her neck, his fingers briefly touching her skin, sending shivers down her spine.
She rose from the rocking chair the moment she felt his cold fingers come in contact with her skin. She took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes; she now hated having that feeling every time he touched her. She looked around and walked to the mirror, pretending she did not care if he touched her or not.
The gleaming charm hung just over her heart she noticed as she looked in the mirror. Even in the dull lighting, the diamonds sparkled wildly over the mirror's surface.
"It looks great on you," Draco smiled from behind her shoulder.
"Merci," she said as she gave him a small smile in return.
"Il est tard et vous avez besoin de repos. Je vous verrai plus tard," he said in his graceful tone as he motioned towards her window.
She smiled as she listened, enjoying the sound of his voice as he spoke. She wished suddenly that she had not told him how much she liked the language before, maybe he would speak plainly as everyone else and she could hate him without admiration for his speech.
"Good night," she said as she watched him leave.
"Je vous adore," he said before he slipped through the window.
He sat there, waiting for her to reply. She looked at him and smiled, "Good night."
He nodded his head, wounded as he slipped from the window and left her. She turned back to the mirror and looked admirably at the snake charm.
"Happy Birthday, Zorina," she whispered to herself as she tore her eyes from the image and climbed back into bed.
"Je vous connais. Où est-il ?" -"I know you, where is it?"
"Dans le tiroir du nightstand...Oh mon Dieu ! Je parle français !" - "In the drawer of the nightstand...Oh my God! I speak French!"
"Merci," - "Thank You"
"Il est tard et vous avez besoin de repos. Je vous verrai plus tard," - "It is late and you need rest. I will see you later"
"Je vous adore," - "I adore you"