Helllllo! Sorry I missed last week I got extremely invested in my NaNoWriMo piece (Marked by the Moon) and literally forgot, but here we are with your Wednesday chapter! Back on track! I hope you enjoyyyy! See you next week!
February, 1998
Theo
When they'd returned to the castle the following day, Draco seemed lighter. It seemed like his agreement to spy had changed his outlook on life. There wasn't anything they could do until they updated the equations with the updated variables. And until they got Draco under the vow they couldn't do that.
Classes were tough, and it wasn't even the subject matter. Where there used to be competition in classes to get the best grades, now there was competition to not be seen. Fortunately, Theo was excellent at this. He'd been flying under the radar from his Father since his mother's death.
He found Neville one day after a particularly gory Muggle Studies class. "Nev, I have a potential spy in the works. Someone who could get us real information. I'm still working on his conditions, but can you get word to the Order about the spy? I think this might really help wrap up this war."
"Sure Theo, I'll talk to Remus and see what we can do. Do you have any concept of what his conditions would be? Who is it?"
"You know I'm not going to let on who it is until we're certain!" Theo scoffed playfully, "I have a feeling their going to be really specific conditions. I'll let you know as soon as I know, let me know when you hear back from the Order." Neville placed his hand on Theo's shoulder and squeezed. "Tell Aunt Gussie that I miss her something terrible and hope this War ends with my father in prison so I can come and have some of her fruitcake."
"I will not tell her that. That stuff is bloody awful and if she thinks you like it, she's going to make it more!" Neville guffawed, wrapping his arm around Theo's neck. "I miss you, Theo. How are things in the Snake Pit?"
"About how you'd expect. Everyone is watching over their shoulder to see what the next person is doing. Constantly trying to get into favour. Draco's the only one who I can be myself around, but even he has other people to answer to. I wish I would have pulled a Sirius Black and gotten sorted into somewhere other than Slytherin. I think I'd have made a bloody good Ravenclaw."
"You would have, Theo," Neville said fondly, letting Theo go. "I'll see you later this week, hopefully with news from the Order."
After he left Neville, Theo started to make his way down to the Dungeons when he was stopped by Amycus Carrow. "Just who I was hoping to find. You and Draco do such a good job at the Cruciatus, and this little menace has been disrespecting me. I'd like you to perform for me. Let's consider it extra credit."
Theo tried to hold back a shudder. He didn't want to look down at the boy in question. He bit the inside of his cheek and pulled out his wand. He made eye contact with the boy, who gave him a small nod. There was nothing he could do, and a poorly executed Cruciatus was worse than a good one.
"Crucio," he murmured and tried to ignore the screams of the boy on the ground. Amycus laughed in a sick sort of glee next to him. When he'd held the spell for what he deemed long enough, he stood, staring at the boy.
"That will teach you, you little miscreant," sneered Amycus who turned on his heel and stalked away. Theo fell to his knees next to the boy, scooping him up and rocking back and forth. He cast the muscle relaxing charm and waited until the boy's whimpers faded.
"I'm so sorry, so so sorry," Theo kept muttering.
"It's not your fault," the boy whispered. "If it wasn't you it would have been someone worse." After a few more moments of silence, the boy continued, "I think I'm alright to get to the Infirmary. Thank you."
Theo watched him limp away still on his knees, replaying scenes from his childhood over and over again.
The following week, Neville found Theo before he got a chance to exit Arithmancy. Draco raised an eyebrow and waited in the hallway. Neville cast Muffliato, "I've just spoken with Remus, he's interested in your idea about spying. Have you talked to your friend, what are their conditions? Can they come and meet Remus and I later this evening? Room of Requirement, at nine."
Theo nodded to Neville's rapid-fire questions, "We'll be there."
When he'd left the classroom and began to walk with Draco, he let out a sigh. "We're meeting them tonight. I know it's not what you thought you'd be doing, but we can really change things, Drake."
Draco ran his hand over his face, "So I need to ask for Granger to be my handler, it's the only one I'll have and she has to come up with the language of the Vow. In exchange for spying, my Mother will be protected, and you and I will receive immunity. Anything else I need to ask for?"
"Not that I can think of. Can you get Thorfinn out, do you think? Or stage something so that he can be freed?"
"Not while I'm here, I can't and until we have some support, we can't do anything. Tell me what it's really about with him."
"He was… is? My first and he's nothing like you'd expect. You'll really like him, Draco. At minimum you can talk about Quidditch and being forced to side with him."
Draco snorted, "I'll see what I can do. Once we get Granger on board we can start making actual plans, then we can talk about Lover Boy."
They made their way to dinner and sat at the Slytherin table, ignoring the rest of the hall. They ate as quickly as they could, they'd discovered that staying long in the Great Hall always led to some new hellish chaos. When they'd finished, they went to the library to work on homework until they were required in the Room of Requirement.
When it was close to 9, they made their way up to the 7th floor. Neville was standing outside the room waiting for them, in that casually conspicuous way he had. If he was surprised by who Theo'd brought, he did a good job of hiding it, ushering them into the room.
Draco
When he entered the room, he was held at wand point right away by his former professor. "Mr. Malfoy," he said softly. "Are you willing to take Veritaserum?"
Draco nodded, trying to play aloof. He knew just how dangerous Lupin could be, so he didn't want to press him. After his cousin had died in the final battle, Lupin had gone half mad, he'd destroyed Greyback brutally. The Dark Lord was impressed enough to entertain recruiting the former professor. Of course Lupin would rather die than join the Dark Lord, but that didn't stop him from attempting to capture the wolf.
Draco was handed the vial, which he sniffed, as Severus had always taught him to do. It didn't smell like anything, so he swallowed the small amount.
"What is your name?" Lupin asked.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy," he had to hold himself back from the story about how he'd gotten his name. This stuff was bloody strong.
"How did you get in contact with the Order?"
"I'm bond brother's with Theo, and he's cousins with Longbottom so he helped us connect."
"Why do you want to spy for the Order?"
"Well I don't want him to win. We'll all just be killed and tortured. I want to protect my Mum and the Dark Lord could care less about the Malfoy name. I want this all to be over just as much as you do. I don't enjoy torturing my classmates and I just want to be a normal teenager."
"What would cause you to betray the Order?"
"If the Order betrayed me or didn't follow through on their promises."
"What are your stipulations for being a spy?"
"Granger has to be my handler, my mother must be protected, and Theo and I receive complete immunity for anything done by our Fathers or the Dark Lord's orders. If I find my Soulmate I want her protected as well," he found himself adding before he could stop himself.
Remus looked at him curiously, "Why Hermione Granger?"
"She's the Brightest Witch of Our Age and the Golden Girl, if I have her vouching for me, nothing can go wrong, can it?"
Lupin turned to look at Neville who nodded. "The other things should be mostly doable, although I can't make any promises about the Soulmate if you don't know who she is. I'll see what I can do about Hermione. Would you consider anyone else?"
"No."
With that Theo and Draco were excused and sent on their way. Now they just had to get the vow started so the plans could really ramp up.
Hermione
Hermione was sitting in the kitchen with Harry when Remus' wolf Patronus appeared, it didn't say anything, but after a few seconds disappeared.
Hermione conjured her own otter, and sent a silent patronus back.
Moments later, the wolf returned. "Hermione, I know that you all have your own mission going on, but we have a potential spy and they will only agree if you are their handler. Could you meet to discuss the potential?"
Hermione looked at Harry who just blinked back at her. "A spy could be really good for the Order, Harry. I think it would be a good thing to have some help too. I know that Dumbledore wanted you to do this, but don't you think letting Remus help would make this easier?"
Ron poked his head out of the bedroom. "I agree with 'mione, I think we should connect with him to at least see what he has to say. It wouldn't hurt anyone to at least hear them out. And when I was with Bill and Fleur, the Order was having a rough go with no inner man."
Harry looked between the two of them and nodded slowly. "Alright, I think we should go and meet him."
"I'll go and suss it out, and send a Patronus when it's all clear, because you're the Secret Keeper, we can bring Remus here to talk. How does that sound?" Ron said much to Hermione and Harry's surprise.
"That's a great idea, Ron. I'm-I'm impressed," she responded.
"Always the tone of surprise," he said with a smirk.
Hermione conjured her Patronus and let Remus know that Ron would be meeting him tomorrow morning and that they had a secure location.
The next morning, Ron went to meet them, and sent a Patronus. Hermione popped away and apparated Ron and Remus back to the cabin.
"A Fidelius," Remus whistled, impressed. "Alright let's get down to brass tacks. We have someone who's a marked Death Eater who has agreed to spy. His requirements were that Hermione be his handler, that his family is protected, and he and his co-conspirator gain full immunity from the Order. It would be quite a boon to gain this ally. Would you all consider it?"
Hermione looked at Harry and Ron. They'd discussed this in depth the night before, agreeing that it was in their best interest to get some support from the Order and that gaining a spy would be worth it.
Harry cleared his throat, "We talked it over a bit last night and we're feeling a bit at a loss with the mission. It seems like it would be in our best interest to work with you all to end this war."
Remus looked between the three of them. "Alright, I'll let Kingsley and Minerva know. Now Hermione, what do you think about being the handler?"
"Who is it?" she asked, knowing full well that it was Draco Malfoy.
"Draco Malfoy-" Ron cut him off with a roar.
"I will not have that snivelling ferret interacting with my 'mione. He's a snake and cannot be trusted."
"I'd like to answer for myself, Ronald," she sniffed, annoyed. She'd seen more things than he had in this war and would not have him or anyone else speaking on her behalf. "Thank you very much. I'll do it. If you're in as much need as you say, there is nothing to be done. How are we going to guarantee his support?"
"An Unbreakable Vow was what he asked for, between the two of you," Remus added softly.
Hermione nodded. "What were his exact conditions, I've been researching-"
"'mione, you cannot be serious," said Ron, looking wildly between her and Remus. "He's a Death Eater. It's dangerous!"
"Oh! Is he!? Is it dangerous, Ronald?" Harry and Remus took a few steps back from Hermione's growing ire. "What would happen if you were to roll over and apologise to Tom? He'd welcome you with open arms and maybe a few cruciatus', but do you know what he'd do to me?"
Ron had paled, but hadn't stepped down yet, crossing his arms over his chest, "They probably start with the Cruciatus, then they'd rape me until I bled and if by some miracle they killed me then, it would be over, but I have a feeling that because I'm Harry Potter's Mudblood, I'd have to live to see everyone I know die and I'd have to endure more torture than we could imagine."
Ron went to speak, but Hermione continued. "I am fully aware of just how dangerous this all is, Ronald. Harry and I were alone for months, starving, planning, and fighting the fucking snake, while you what? Gallivanted around and then were protected by your family?" She turned back to Remus. "As I was saying, I've been researching the language of an Unbreakable Vow. It can be quite tricky but as long as I know the stipulations, we should be secure."
Remus briefly glanced at Ron who was gaping at Hermione like a fish, before he launched into some of the plans they'd been making and how Malfoy could be most useful. The two of them sat at the table and drafted the wording of the vow to be the most ironclad they could make it. When they'd finished, Harry was serving them all lunch, Ron was sitting outside keeping watch while he ate his.
"I'm sorry if I've caused trouble, Hermione," Remus said sheepishly.
"Oh it's not you, Remus. Some of us just seem to forget that just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm weak."
With plans to meet up that weekend to complete the vow, Remus left, after briefly talking with Harry about how he was.
Hermione ignored both the boys for the rest of the day, but knew that they'd have to have a conversation at dinner. When she served up some of her rice and beans, she looked at the two of them.
"You won't be able to talk me out of this. It's brilliant and there isn't much of an alternative. You have the rest of the day to air your grievances, then we will start to plan on how we will involve the Order in the hunt. Is that fair?"
Ron looked quite annoyed, but Harry just nodded. The remainder of the meal was fraught with the boys pestering her about her choice and how it was dangerous. They reminded her again and again how cruel he'd been.
When she'd heard the argument for the thirtieth time, Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry, who was your first black friend?"
Harry swallowed heavily. "Y-you?"
"Is that a question?" When he shook his head, she continued. "From the moment I was able to understand, I never belonged. In the Muggle world, it was for my skin, and in the Magical one it was for my blood. Now that being said, we need to allow people the opportunity to change. You were able to bridge the cultural gap between me and you and you and Ron with time, now we allow the same opportunity to others. Draco Malfoy was raised in a home that didn't allow for any dissension. Let's give him an opportunity to change, shall we?"
Harry, finally seeing her logic nodded. Ron, on the other hand, could not let it go. When she finally stomped out to do her watch, she warded the door against him coming out without her permission. Finally sitting in the quiet, Hermione was able to think. How did she really feel about working so closely with Draco Malfoy?
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