Chapter 8- A Little on the Dark Side

Panic was the first and foremost reaction of the Order upon hearing the Muggles had run away. Blame was then thrown in every direction until Dumbledore insisted it was the fault of no one and that Fear would be expected in Muggles if they ever found out about Magic. Especially ones who found out like Alex and Willow had.

It was decided the order would go out and look for them in groups, hoping one would find the Muggles before the Dark Side even found out they were on the loose and up for grabs.

This meant most of the Order would be out and about for the next however long, including Lupin and Snape.

"But what about our training?" Draco asked, slightly miffed that they BOTH had to go. He didn't want training to stop, he had learnt so much, but there was more he still had to know.

"I think you and Harry are more than capable by yourselves" Remus smiled softly "I know you two swot up when you think we're not looking"

Draco smirked, so what if he'd learnt more with and from Harry than both the professors put together?

And so the Order left.

Weeks went by and things carried on as usual. No bad word had been sent back from any of the small groups but then Draco had received no good news either. He tried his hardest to believe that No News Was Good News but he was having some difficulty.

Training with Harry was still on Mondays but they now met in the Library, agreed what to practice and then took all the books they could find to the Room of Requirement. Alex and Willow were never mentioned, and they avoided the subject of the war altogether unless it was directly linked to what they were teaching themselves.

Sometimes they gave up training for a few hours and just talked.

By now, Harry and Draco were very accomplished. They could practically do anything they set their minds to. Wandless magic was a doddle, apparition was like second nature and both were caught on numerous occasions suddenly appearing in the Three Broomsticks or somewhere else around Hogsmeade when their friends could have SWORN they had been at the complete opposite end.

Together they were even more powerful. Dangerously so. Nothing was too difficult. Everything was too easy.

They could read each others thoughts, and they knew they could read everyone else's if they had wanted to but they didn't. It was far too personal, but they could still do it. Harry had insisted he could read a bit of raw meats mind if he tried hard enough. Draco had scoffed and said he was getting a little ahead of himself and he wasn't sure that a bit of raw meat even had a mind of it own.

"Meat vision indeed" he had snorted

He had then added that if it DID have a mind of its own it surely wouldn't sit around being raw and waiting to be cooked and eaten, it would grow itself a pair of legs and run off...

Harry had just laughed and told him he was losing a few marbles...

Draco had asked what marbles were...

But still weeks were still passing by without news and Draco was becoming very worried.

"Dumbledore must know something, anything!" he thought to himself.

He knew about his fathers reaction to him refusing to come home. He knew people were out to get him, but none of it worried him. He was worried for Alex and Willow, and of the members of the Order that had gone to find them.

Harry received an owl one morning, Draco watched as he opened it and noticed that the small smile he had on his face fell slightly and he sighed.

He saw Harry look up at Hermione and then shake his head sadly, but he was still smiling.

He put the letter back in its envelope and shoved it into the pocket of his robes.

A thought suddenly occurred to Draco.

Harry and Lupin were close, nearly family. Of course he would write to Harry or Harry to him, despite the fact it was dangerous.

Harry was probably receiving all the information Draco had wanted for weeks now, and Draco was angry. Angry that he wasn't being told anything, angry that his friend was leaving him in the dark about something he KNEW he wanted to know about, angry because people still didn't trust him.

Angry that Harry may not trust him either...

Harry moved into their new room that week. He was reluctant and didn't want to leave the comfort of his own dorm with his friends but he had to admit, having his own dorm was kinda cool and he was sharing with Draco. Sharing with Draco.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he thought as he dropped down onto his new bed "Mmmm comfy!"

Well...he liked Draco a lot, as a friend obviously which made it a good thing.

"There could be worse people to share with" he shrugged, flinging his legs up onto the bed and laying back to wait for Draco to come back from dinner.

"But do I like him MORE than a friend?" Harry shook himself slightly and made sure that thought stayed firmly wedged at the back of his brain. If he started thinking things like that he was sure to act on them, and it was ok when Draco wasn't near him, but now they would be together nearly all day...anything could happen. And that's where the problem lay...he COULDN'T keep those kind of thoughts shut out no matter how hard he tried.

"Im just going to have to try harder" he thought, frowning "That or throw Draco out of the window...and that REALLY isn't an option right now"

That's when he walked in, in his beautiful glory wearing the robes from earlier which were unbuttoned and showing the tight muggle shirt and pants he wore underneath. Harry had to admit it was a sight for sore eyes. He blinked, coughed slightly and smiled at Draco as he walked over to his bed that sat opposite his own.

"Evening Draco" he greeted, watching him as he threw off his robes and grabbed a few things from beside his bed.

"Harry" he nodded back without so much as a glance

"I moved in, I'm officially yours" Harry teased, hoping Draco was in the mood to play their usual games

"No thanks, Potter, I've got better things to do"

"Obviously not then"

Harry pulled a face and watched as Draco grabbed what he needed and stormed out of the room without saying anything else.

"Weirdo" Harry grunted and went back to thinking about non-Draco like topics. He didn't have much to think about...

Draco practically ignored Harry after that. Training was like usual but it didn't have the jokey edge to it that it usually did. They went in, worked for a few hours and then went back to their room in silence.

Harry just assumed this was one of Draco's long lasting bad moods and he would be over it in a few days, but a few days passed, and then a few more and he was still ignoring him.

Harry tried to talk to him like usual but he was always blown off, and his attempts at asking what the matter was were even more futile. He resolved that he would just have to wait it out.

In the meantime he decided to spend a lot of his time with Hermione and Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors. Ron was still sore that Harry had to move out and with MALFOY of all people but they were as normal and Harry was disappointed when he had to leave at night. Of course he stayed till they all went to bed and used the invisibility cloak to sneak back to his room after hours.

This particular night however he was so caught up in Draco's behaviour as they both left the dorm, he forgot it and was all the way up outside the Fat Lady when he remembered.

He couldn't be bothered to go back and get it and would rely on magic to get himself back safely later on.

And so when he left the common room at nearly midnight on that Thursday evening, he cast a spell on his shoes and clothes to make them silent as he walked and kept to the shadows, not bothering with a disillusionment charm to hide himself.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and began thinking about Draco again. It was becoming habit now, when he was talking to Ron and Hermione he kept tuning out and missing snippets of conversations and having to ask what they were talking about.

They had got quite agitated with him after the 6th or 7th time and had thrown him out.

"Stupid ponce" Harry thought to himself "Mucks up everything, why cant he just be happy for once in his life? Has to ruin my life as well as his own with his stupid bad moods. I should-"

"UUMPH" Harry walked into something solid and landed with a thump on his arse.

"Sodding hell, NOW what?"

"For Merlin's sake Harry! What the hell are you doing?" It was Draco, on his patrol of the corridors. Thursdays were his night, and he enjoyed them. They gave him time to think and be alone with no one to disturb him except snoring portraits. That's why when anyone was caught out of bed by Draco they were really for it, disturbing his thinking time would be punishable with death if it were up to him.

"Going back to the room Draco, you know I usually come back around nowish" Harry winced as he stood up and rubbed his bum.

"Where's your sodding cloak? God, I swear you get stupider day by day!" Draco scowled into the dark shadow that was Harry

"What the hell...is he...touching his arse?" Draco gulped at tried to locate his eyes so he could concentrate on them, but it was no good, it was too dark and all he could see was Harry feeling up his own behind. Great!

Draco gave up and turned to leave. He was supposed to be avoiding him anyway, so he swung round and attempted to patrol a Non-Potter filled corridor but Harry grabbed him back.

He was sick of this, he was going to get to the bottom of Draco's behaviour so he could concentrate on something OTHER than the blonde for a while.

"What do you want? I have things to do!" Draco grunted, pulling Harry's hand off his clothes.

"I want to know why you're being all weird with me" Harry growled, trying not to raise his voice in fear of being heard.

"Im not, go to bed Ha-"

"You are, you're ignoring me, or blanking me out. What's wrong with you?"

"Lots to do Harry, sorry" he turned to leave again but Harry followed him round and stared at him.

"Tell me what's wrong Draco. I cant do anything if you don't tell me!"

"You shouldn't NEED telling, you should KNOW Harry. I would have thought you trusted me enough to do it automatically!" Draco snapped, suddenly feeling all his anger boil up inside of him

"Wha- Draco! I cant read minds-"

"Crap I can!"

"Wait...Scratch that" Harry corrected himself and carried on, hoping Draco was about to break. "but...I need you to tell me Draco, otherwise I'm really at a loss"

Draco gritted his teeth at Harry's insolence

"You've not been telling me ANYTHING. You knew how much I wanted to hear news from the order about the Twins, and you've been receiving letters for Merlin knows how long from them and not told me how they are!"

"I-" Harry stopped, amazed at Draco's compassion "I didn't know-"

"Yeah you did Harry, you knew I wanted to know. If not for myself, for them, their safety as well as my own" he said, his tone softening slightly at the look of guilt on Harry's face. Maybe he had been a little hasty.

"You- you could have asked Draco, its not like they're private"

"No well, you told the Weasel and the Mudblood. Obviously I'm not to be trusted with information like that" Draco hissed, some of his anger returning at the thought of how much time Harry liked to spend time with them. Sometimes he felt he would rather be with them than spend any time with Draco, he felt like a spare part, useful when needed but when there were other more useful parts he was forgotten.

"Is this what its all been about? Ron and Hermione?" Harry sighed

"No!" Draco scoffed "Its...its about-"

"Tell him...not tell him...tell him..."

"Shit Draco, someone's coming!" Harry had grabbed him and was tugging him into a classroom to hide before he got the chance to decide whether or not to confess to Harry his feelings. He was just beginning to come to terms with them himself and he was finding it hard to keep them secret.

But, when he was on the verge of telling him he was roughly pulled into a room before he had time to register the fact he didn't NEED to hide...he was SUPPOSED to be out in the corridors. But he let Harry pull him anyway, if they were found then he could protect Harry from Filch.

"Quickly, in here" Harry hissed, dragging a limp Draco over to a cupboard and stuffing him inside.

"Harry, there really is no-"

"-need" Draco finished his sentence in his head as Harry covered his mouth with his hand and listened intently for any sign someone had followed them in.

Draco sighed and decided it wasn't all bad. He may be in a cupboard hiding from someone he didn't need to be but he was hiding there with Harry, and it really wasn't big enough for two people, so personal space was minimal meaning they were squashed against each other. No part of their bodies were free from each others touch and so Draco was perfectly content for the time being.

Harry removed his hand from Draco's face and swallowed. Someone was in the room, but they would never find them in here, especially since Harry had now placed the Disillusionment charm on them both, that he had not bothered with before.

"So...what now Houdini?"

"Shut up Drake, you don't even know who he is"

"Ah, that's what YOU think..."

"Teasing me again now are we? Now that you've got your little rant off your chest" Harry wasn't happy. His arse hurt, his leg was going to sleep and he had the object of his affection shoved right up against him in the most undignified manner.

"For some reason, my mood has suddenly sky rocketed" Draco mused quietly "Cant imagine why!"

"Shut up" Harry grunted and he shifted his leg so it could regain the feeling again. This meant he was even closer to Draco however, but pleasantly so. It was less undignified now and they were nose to nose, rather than upper thigh to inner thigh.

"Tell him? Not tell him? Tell him? Not tell him? Show him...ah..." Draco was still fighting his inner battle and was on the verge of a break through when they heard the classroom door slam, meaning it was safe for them to get out of the cupboard, but neither moved. They stared at each other instead, Emerald locked onto silver, neither blinking, not wanting to break eye contact in case the moment was lost.

"Show him...Show him...SHOW HIM! Showhimshowhimshowhimshowhim"

Draco began to lean forward slightly, never losing eye contact with Harry whose eyes seemed to have opened wide in realization.

They were so close now that Draco had his head cocked to one side, ready to fit his lips to Harry's any second, and they could feel each others sharp intake of breath as Draco came ever closer. Harry felt Draco's eyes flutter shut, his eyelashes brushing his cheek lightly, as he got ready to close the last tiny gap between them.

And then...

"OH JESUS FUCK!" Draco shot backwards as Harry collapsed onto the floor, pulling the contents of the cupboard with him.

Draco dropped his head and smiled to himself, eyes still closed

"Typical" he thought "Trust Harry to ruin the moment with his clumsiness"

A whole shelf of things cascaded down on top of Harry, hitting him in all manner of places when finally the shelf decided to follow suit and it landed with a loud clunk on Harry's head.

The last thing he remembered before passing out was Draco pulling him out of the mess of things and carrying him back to their room...

Severus was fast asleep when the dark mark on his arm had begun to throb with pain. He cursed the day when Tom Riddle was born as he pulled himself up and took in his surroundings

"Stupid bugger, always in the middle of the night! How anti social can you get?"

He crawled out of his tent he was sharing with a few other members of the Order and stretched. He would have to hurry if he didn't want to be late.

He had certainly considered whether or not to go when he was called, after all, he was in the middle of a mission to foil the Dark Lords plan so why on earth would he bother going to a Death Eater meeting? But there was a reason, and a good one too. He had to know what they were up to, without that information the war was practically lost.

So he dressed quickly, trying to not disturb the other sleepers and left a note for Remus to find in the morning when they were ready to begin searching for the Muggles again. He hoped he would be able to get back before they woke, he hoped he would be able to get away unscathed but he knew that was unlikely.

He apparated quickly to the usual meeting place and raised his hood to enter. Death Eaters were still turning up when he had taken his place in the circle and was beginning to notice who was there and who was not.

The usual people were there: Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Lestranges etc. Voldemort entered soon after most of the circle was assembled with Wormtail hurrying along in his wake.

Snape knew what this meeting would be about. Word and rumour had spread quickly at Hogwarts about the Muggles. Zabini's ever carrying voice had informed the entire great hall of his suspicions about the new comers and so obviously they couldn't contain it as long as they had hoped.

He also knew there was not only him as a spy for the dark at Hogwarts, there was someone who was really a spy for Voldemort. Unfortunately he had no idea who it was, and even if they had not informed the dark lord of the rumours, then a death eater with gossipy children would have. If not, he would have to do it himself to prevent himself being suspected of spying for the light.

The meeting began in its usual manner, Voldemort going round the circle of death eaters one by one; punishing some for unacceptable behaviour, rewarding others for loyalty. He watched as he bypassed some, threw the cruatius at others and merely warned the rest. Then it was his turn.

Voldemort stopped in front of him, staring him down for what seemed like hours, his piercing gaze penetrating the deepest darkest places in Snape's mind, searching for what he wanted, for what Snape wouldn't give him.

Finally he spoke:

"Any news from Hogwarts Severus?"

He paused for a minute, sussing out whether it was his cue to talk. Voldemort watched the potion masters expressions go from blank, to thoughtful and back to blank again. He remained silent and so he continued:

"Tell me of the new comers"

As far as Snape knew, no one was aware of their absence yet. They had not been seen for a while but he could account for that easily after the scene in the great hall. But otherwise he decided against telling the Dark Lord of their departure from safety.

"They are keeping a low profile due to the rumours spreading around the castle about their identity My Lord" he replied, hoping this would be enough to satisfy him. It wasn't.

"Do YOU know of their identity Severus? Surely Dumbledore has not kept his precious Potions Professor in the dark about such matters?"

"He...he hasn't" Snape stumbled but quickly recovered. He would have to tell Voldemort the truth this time, it wasn't as if he didn't already know so lying would be out of the question.

"They are Muggles My Lord"

"Do they still reside with the old fool? Or have they been sent back home?"

These questions were slightly unnerving but not as worrying as the closeness of the evilest Wizard ever known, to Snape. His mind began to work in all different directions trying to figure out a way of getting Voldemort out of his face...literally.

"They are still at Hogwarts My Lord" he said "They are well protected and looked after"

"My servant has informed me that they have not been seen recently around Hogwarts, why might that be Severus?"

"I hate that...why SEVERUS? Not Sevvy? Snape? You! would do... Severus though? Bugger what was the question?"

"I er..."

"You don't know? Have you seen them yourself?"

"No...wait...oh crap had to say that out !"

"No, I have not"

"Well it's the truth...cant see them when they aren't there!"

"They have been keeping a low profile, as I said-"

"DO NOT, Severus, take me for a foolish man. I know when I am being lied to. Especially when I have been receiving different news from a different source."

"He's a MAN? Jesus Christ!"

"I have been informed that they were seen leaving Hogwarts...ALONE"

"Damn that's a dent in the record..."

Snape blinked once...twice...

"I have not been informed of such activities. If I had, I can assure you I would have-"

"It is no matter, I have been informed anyway."

Snape began to wonder why the hell he cared so much. He hated Muggles after all. But then Dumbledore's words came back to him:

"They will be needed to draw others to the castle, to overthrow it. Muggles are renowned for destroying things they do not understand"

OK so he wanted them to lead others to the site when the spell was complete. But he needed Draco, and Draco wasn't about to leave Hogwarts any time soon...

"What of the traitor, the Malfoy boy?" Voldemort asked then. Snape heard an audible growl from the other side of the circle indicating Lucius was there...listening...

"He wasn't initiated yet...My Lord...he cannot-"

"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HE WAS OR WAS NOT! He was meant for great things! And still is, whether he is willing to be or not" Voldemort was becoming increasingly agitated, Snape could tell. But why he hadn't been hit with any kind of curse yet was something he couldn't understand.

"I understand you were close with the boy but I must insist you forget this...relationship...you had. He is a traitor, nothing more. And soon he will be dead, there is nothing more to be done"

Snape angered greatly at his blasé comments about Draco's death, brushing it off as a necessity rather than an act of pure evil. He managed to calm himself down however and continued to wait for the point of Voldemort's questioning.

He turned to the whole circle and began to speak then, Snape noticed that Lucius seemed rather put out that he had missed out on a bit of torturing unlike himself. Snape returned the smirk and listened to the Dark Lord

"I am under the belief that there are two Muggles, wandering the Wizarding world alone, unprotected"

The general chatter amongst the Death Eaters made it clear that each and every one of them had their own ideas.

"I am asking that all of you keep an eye out for a young boy and girl of about 15 years of age. Do not go looking for them outright, that will cause suspicion, but those who bring them back here UNHARMED will be greatly rewarded"

He paused for a moment longer before continuing;

"I have decided that a small select group of you shall go out to locate the missing Muggles however...we cannot leave them out there to be found by the wrong sort and I do not believe just any of you will find them without really looking, but I ask it anyway. A precaution if you will. I need everyone on the lookout." Voldemort stated, turning to see the entire circle of Death Eaters "We shall then work out a way of removing the Malfoy Traitor from Hogwarts, when the Muggles have been taken, I'll be trusting you with that Severus"

And he turned, his red eyes narrowed to slits, accusation running through the emptiness behind them.

Snape nodded his understanding and said nothing. It would do no good to protest, and no good to thank him. He had a feeling he would be receiving a just reward for his lack of useful information anyway.

No more was said to him on the matter, and shortly they were all dismissed. They each kissed the hem of his robes and departed hastily. Snape's turn came and he bent to kiss the hem, as he'd expected Voldemort liked to kick a man when he was down and so caught him with the Cruatius as he bent low. Snape fell to his knees, pain wracking his body inside and out, clenching his fists, not caring that his nails drew blood from his palm. He grimaced and bit into his lip, not wanting to scream or cry out, not daring to show a weakness, especially when he could see Lucius grinning wildly to himself as he walked away to join the rest of the inner circle through watery eyes.

The curse was lifted after what seemed like an eternity, but in fact was only a minute

"That is for the casual attitude you take toward your work, a little more spying from the spy wouldn't go amiss"

He looked down at Snape who squinted back

"I shall give you one last chance. While you await your duty, question the keepers of the Muggles...and the traitor. They will know of their whereabouts I am sure. If you do not bring back any useful information I will be forced to do things I may regret" Voldemort sneered then, well aware that he had never regretted killing anyone in his life and he wasn't about to start now.

And so he left him to pick himself up and wander back to the apparition point of the meeting place.

"I need a hot cup of tea" he thought sadly as he mustered enough energy to apparate back to the camp site and collapse into his tent.

"So Voldemort knows EXACTLY what's going on. Shame he isn't as thick as he looks" Snape thought moodily.

Snape knew they had to find the Muggles before he did and he knew Draco would be hunted down, drawn out of Hogwarts to where they could reach him if he didn't do as he was told. But they needed both to succeed. And that was something Snape wouldn't let them get. Especially when Draco was the one in danger.

He found the note he had scribbled to Lupin and burnt it, before resting off the pain in his limbs and the wariness in his mind, and giving in completely to sleep.

I know its a day or two early, but its my bday 2morro so no internet for me, and saturday and sunday im out ALL day. Better early than not at all.

Anyway, who thinks im evil? i think im fairly evil...hehe...silly clumsy Harry. Sorry if the meat vision wasnt what u expected...but it fitted pretty well so thanks for the idea!!

Next chapter: Harry gets a nice wake up call...twice. But then Harry does the usual Harry thing and is an idiot about it, Harry annoys Ron, we get a glimpse of what the order and the Death Eaters are up to and we find Alex and Willow out alone together. If you read between the lines you get a clue as to what is going to happen. If someone guesses tell me...