Spoiler Warning: This story is a sixth year fic that follows on from the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As a conseqeunce this story contains *major* spoilers for book 5. You have been warned.
SNAKE HEALER: THE MALFOY MUGGLE LOVER
CHAPTER 18: APOLOGIES
There were seven elves in total, of which Harry recognised three, namely Ron and his biological parents. He presumed that another of the elves was Olessë, the husband of Ron's mother. Which of the two tall blond haired elfish men, both of whom Once Harry's rage had passed, guilt and worry overcame him, guilt for acting towards his friends in the way he did and worries that his friends, Ron and Hermione especially, now hated him. Therefore, it was a relief when a house elf appeared at twenty past seven telling Harry that Ron or 'Lord Caranthir' as the elf called him, was in the entrance hall and wanted to speak to him urgently. That Harry and the Malfoys were about to floo out of Malfoy Manor to Hogsmeade for the Slytherin Council meeting that was to be held at Hogwarts was of no concern. Pausing only to tell Lucius that he would be five minutes, he rushed off without a second thought.
It was a very nervous Ron that awaited Harry in the grand entrance hall to Malfoy Manor. The elfin boy was pacing the entrance hall looking extremely pale as Harry sprinted in from the left-hand doorway. Harry felt a little nervous too, but it was nothing compared to how Ron must have felt.
Upon hearing Harry's footsteps, Ron turned to the direction where they had come from, finding himself staring straight at the nervous visage of his best friend. Seeing Harry acting so nervously shocked Ron, he had been almost manage to convince himself that the blond Gryffindor hated him now. Buoyed by the falsity of his worst fears, Ron spoke, however, his new found confidence was not reflected in his voice, "I came to apologise for what I said to you earlier. I don't know what came over me, what I said was stupid, I regretted it the moment I said it. I wanted to apologise right then, but you ran off. Merlin, Harry, I thought you hated me," Suddenly, his confidence cracked and in a very nervous voice he asked, "You don't hate me do you?"
Harry was shocked by how unconfident Ron sounded, and how little faith he had in the strength of the bond of friendship that existed between Harry and Ron. The very idea of him hating Ron seemed strange to Harry, even after their argument and the words which had riled up Harry so much. Even at the height of their falling out in fourth year Harry had never disliked Ron. "Of course I don't hate you!" Harry exclaimed, sounding both offended and surprised at him suddenly hating his best friend after such an argument, "If anything I should be the one apologising to you, for treating you and Hermione so badly…"
"Harry…" Ron began to protest, but he was cut off by Harry, who wasn't going to let his best friend take the blame for their earlier argument.
"You were merely reacting to my awful treatment of Hermione. I may not like people using it, but to yell at them for not knowing better is unforgivable. I was the one who started it, because I overreacted to that comment of yours about the Slytherins," Harry stated guiltily. At this point Ron again tried to interrupt, but Harry wouldn't have it. "Let me finish Ron," he pleaded before continuing. "I shouldn't have shouted at you because of it, because you don't know better. How could you? You don't know any Slytherins."
"Harry, it doesn't matter what you did. I still shouldn't have said the things I did." Ron responded. It was almost as if the elfin boy was pleading to be held blamed for his words and held responsible for Harry running off. The blond Gryffindor, however, was having none of it.
"Ron, you prat, I've already forgiven you. You didn't mean what you were saying, whereas I did." Harry replied light-heartedly. Despite his good humour, his best friend's stubbornness was beginning to annoy and concern him. Thus it was much to Harry's relief that Ron suddenly seemed to accept Harry's forgiveness and turn his attention to Harry's own guilt.
"And I've forgiven you, even if you did mean what you said," Ron replied sternly, looking and feeling a lot happier now that he had been forgiven, "I know that you can't always control your temper, I'm the same. I just want to know why you suddenly seem to think that the Slytherins aren't all bad and why me saying that they are made you angry?"
Harry couldn't help but grin at his friends conciliatory words, not least Ron's newfound willingness to try and understand what the Slytherins were really like. Although he couldn't help but be a little surprised, given his best friend's earlier intransigent belief that all Slytherins were evil, "Is that you speaking or did Hermione ask you say that?" He quipped curiously. The thought that his best friend might be offended by the comment didn't occur to him until it was too late; by which time Ron had grinned in response and let out a short snigger.
"She might have said something and she was desperate to come with me, but her parents dragged her away. But seriously Harry, I know that you trust Malfoy, but we're worried that he might hurt you," It was the wrong thing to say because a lack of thunder suddenly crossed the young Malfoy's face. Worried that he had set off Harry's temper again Ron hastily tried to calm his best friend down. "We're not saying that you're wrong to trust him, it's just that we don't and we want to find out why you do. We're your friends, it's our job to look out for you, it's what friends do." This was accompanied by what Ron thought was a reassuring grin, which did nothing to help calm Harry. His words, however, were extremely effective.
"Fine, I'll try and arrange something so that both you and Hermione can be there to meet him. I would suggest you see him now, but we're about to go out." The blond Gryffindor was relieved that his friends were actually willing to make a genuine effort to get to know Lucius. He had been worried that his friends were going to judge Lucius according to their preconceptions rather than the man he actually knew.
"You're going out? Isn't Malfoy supposed to be under house arrest, or is he allowed to go out if he has a patrol officer with him like earlier?" Ron asked, sounding surprised and concerned, of which the later sentiment irritated Harry immensely.
"Technically, he is supposed to be under house arrest or at least he must be accompanied by a Magical Law Enforcement Patrol Officer at all times, when outside the manor grounds. In reality though, he can do what he likes as long as he tells Fudge what Voldemort's plans are, after all he can't be an effective spy if he's been tracked everywhere by the ministry. The Officer accompanying him earlier was just for show." Harry explained, telling Ron the gist of what he knew. There was a lot more to Lucius' parole conditions than this, but his explanation conveyed the most important details.
"Bloody hell. Surely the aurors know better than to let a convicted death eater do what he wants, even if he was supposed to be their spy?" Ron exclaimed, hastily phrase hastily added, so as to avoid upsetting Harry by presuming Lucius to be loyal to the dark lord.
"The aurors have nothing to do with Lucius, the minister didn't trust them to leave him alone so he appointed the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol to monitor him instead. It's a case of the Slytherins sticking together." Harry answered, half-expecting Ron to make against the arrangements in place. Surprisingly though the elfin boy didn't, although he looked as though he didn't approve of them, his words, however, were less than approving.
"Typical, Malfoy's parole officers happen to be just the people who would let him get away with murder." Ron muttered distastefully, before asking, "Where's he going anyway and when are you leaving?"
"The Slytherins are meeting to discuss ways to oppose Voldemort, and for some reason they invited me too. We were supposed to leave five minutes ago, but you turned up. Now that everything's sorted I really ought to be going," Harry replied, checking his watch. He made to leave, stopping only to listen to Ron's goodbye and then add something he had thought of earlier, but only just remembered.
"I'll let you go then," the elfin boy said hesitantly. It looked as though the last thing he wanted was for Harry to go.
Harry, who was already half way down the corridor only heard the reluctant tone. Upon hearing he turned and made a suggestion, to his friend, one that he hoped would help Ron overcome his prejudices against Slytherins. "You know you said, were having problems making friends among the elves because you have nothing in common with them?" He asked, producing a hesitant but affirmative response, "What about Zabini, have you tried becoming friends with him?" As Harry expected the answer was no.
"But he's a Slytherin!" Ron protested Slytherin, sounding as if that was a reason to avoid him at all costs.
"I know he's a Slytherin, but he's also a Hogwarts student. If anyone can help you he can." Harry replied trying to sound diplomatic. Judging from the look of protest it didn't really work in convincing his friend, but he continued anyway, "I'm worried about you not making friends among your own kind, Ron and I'm sure both Mrs Weasley and Aranel are too. If you don't like it, do it for me and for them." Without waiting for a response to his plea, he rushed off back to the waiting Malfoys.
Surprisingly neither Lucius nor Draco even commented on Harry's disappearance, making Harry wonder whether the later even knew that the 'Caranthir' Harry had been so desperate to see was really Ron. The former certainly didn't. Instead they flooed to Hogsmeade, Lucius leading the way, and walked up to Hogwarts, where Professor Snape was waiting in the entrance hall, greeting or at least monitoring the arrivals. Although, given that he was engaged in a conversation with the Minister of Magic he couldn't have been doing a good job. He did, however, break off briefly to speak to Lucius.
"Your seat is next to mine at the high table, as you'll be speaking first. You should also know that the counter-proposal is being presented by Ellanora Lacetter rather than her husband, which makes me wonder whether Julius was one of the ones you killed last night. She speaks second and Harold Jacobson will speak third," he whispered hurriedly, provoking a question from Lucius.
"Jacobson? Why isn't Celadrim Zabini arguing for neutrality this time?" Lucius exclaimed, sounding genuinely surprised and slightly concerned. Unsurprisingly, Harry was not aware of the reasons why Celadrim's actions were so significant.
"He's making a long speech after the allegiance issue has been decided, so he's saving himself for that. His grandson, Blaise, won't be speaking either, he says he doesn't want to influence the decision," Snape replied. Lucius merely nodded in acceptance and the two men parted company. Snape returned to his conversation with the minister and Lucius, along with Harry, Draco and Narcissa, walked into the great hall, which had been rearranged for the occasion.
The high table was still there, even if the headmaster's ornate chair had been replaced with a plain wooden high backed seat, the house tables, however, were nowhere to be seen. Instead rows of chairs had been throughout the entire hall, many of which were already occupied and the rest of which were being gradually filled by the stream of people entering the great hall. Harry merely followed the Malfoys as they strode to the front of the hall, where they found three seats waiting for him, Draco and Narcissa, which had been reserved for them by Lucas and Maria, Lucas' Mother. Lucius stopped only to great the pair before taking his seat at the high table.
"Hello Gorgeous. How's your life as the second most beautiful person on the planet," Lucas drawled cheerily as Harry sat down next to him and Draco.
The Gryffindor's initial response was to roll his eyes in annoyance, whilst he had a certain fondness for his cousin, he had not missed the egotistical comments that Lucas was so fond of. "You know," Harry replied cheekily, determined that for once he was not going to fall to Lucas' level, "Here I was wondering why no-one seems to like the Malfoys, and you know what? With you two as examples, it's no wonder, you're both unbearable."
There was a giggle from behind Harry, who turned round to see Pansy Parkinson sitting in the seat behind him. "Pansy!" Draco cried, outraged that his girlfriend seemed to find Harry's comment. He took her reaction to mean that she agreed with the Gryffindor.
Lucas was far less aggravated by Harry's words. "Relax, cousin," he said placatingly, "Your girlfriend was laughing at the utter absurdity of Leo's suggestion. As for your half-brother, he is obviously not yet used to the extreme jealousy us Malfoys experience in our everyday lives. He is merely taking out the anger and frustration that such attention generates on us." Even Harry knew that Lucas did not seriously believe what he was saying, but was simply trying to calm Draco by feeding his ego. It worked like a treat.
"If only it were jealousy, rather than ignorance and prejudice," Harry muttered to himself taking up Lucas' comments. He was still disgusted and annoyed by what he had seen and learnt at Diagon Alley earlier that day.
"That is why the two of us are better than they are," Lucas said firmly, without any hint of humour. Harry looked quizzically at his cousin and found that not hint of mischief in his eyes or in his facial expression. It was strange to see Lucas so intensely serious. Seeing Harry's look of curiosity, Lucas explained his words, "It is not our better looks or superior intellects that make us better than the average wizard, although they certainly help. It is our more enlightened beliefs and the fact that we can see not just that prejudice is wrong, but that it is dangerous too. My father always said that too is prejudice, but I don't care."
"He's right, but I bet you just like to think you're superior to everyone else, you arrogant git," Harry replied sternly, knowing that his cousin's retort would be accompanied by his normal mischievous demeanour and it was.
"That is because I am superior to everyone else, with you my cousin, a close second." Lucas retorted. Harry rolled his eyes, but made no response, he had already made his disgust at Lucas' arrogance clear. Even if he had, Lucas would have not had the time to respond due to the loud bang that accompanied a call for silence so the meeting could begin. Professor Snape, who was sitting at his usual seat at the high table, rose to speak.
"Before I begin, I wish to express my apologies for calling a meeting at such short notice. However, recent events have indicated to both the high council and myself that it is time to decide our relationship with the dark lord once and for all. Tonight we must decide whether Slytherin house resolves to support the dark lord or oppose him. We had wanted to meet tomorrow night, but due to the urgency of the situation Celadrim insisted we meet now, even though he cannot attend the first half-hour of this meeting. He will be here later and he will speak once we have resolved where we stand. First though we must debate the two motions put before us, as we do so I want each of you to consider Celadrim's closing remarks at this morning's meeting of the High Council. 'Tonight we decide not just our attitude to the dark lord, but the possessor of Salazar's Legacy. Two paths lay before us, the first is the dark lord's way: we destroy those that oppose us. The second is the way of his enemies: we destroy the prejudices of those that oppose us and show them the stupidity of their stereotypes. The later is less likely to succeed but if the dark lord achieves his goals, we risk the future of the entire wizarding world. The status quo is not an option.'" It wasn't a long speech nor it was particularly passionately delivered, even by Snape's cold, emotionless standards. However, it certainly got the Slytherins muttering among themselves. So much so that Lucius had several minutes for the commotion to die down before he could get up to make his speech, which repeated what he had said the previous night directly to Voldemort, adding only a description of the night's events and an explanation of his successful attempt to provoke a death eater revolt.
The speech which followed Lucius' was made by a dark haired women of about Lucius' age whose good looks were marred by the disgusted sneer, which was far more pronounced than the looks of superiority some Slytherins would give those they regarded as their inferiors. Together with her glare of cold fury, which seemed to be directed mainly at Lucius, it was a look of sheer hatred. Her speech, which was delivered as a rant against Lucius' betrayal of Voldemort, angered Harry immensely due to the amount of hostility to muggles and muggle-borns contained within it. Even Lucas, who claimed to be used to such displays of anti-muggle prejudice and thereby unaffected by them, looked annoyed by it.
The speech that followed was as notable for its pessimism as the previous speech was for its hostility to muggles. It was delivered by a balding man of about Professor McGonagalls age, who seemed to think that any attempts to make Slytherin a respected house were doomed to failure. He followed this up with some reference to the 'dark legacy of Slytherin', which Harry, who was thoroughly bored by the speaker, didn't really pay much attention to. All he paid attention to was the conclusion, which was to assert that to force someone to either oppose or support Voldemort was 'unslytherin'. All Harry needed to know was that Draco, who had paid attention, regarded the argument as flawed and invalid.
Equally uninteresting was the flow of death eaters who Snape called upon to speak after the balding man. Each of them was fiercely critical of Voldemort and at first Harry was intrigued by what they had to say, but as they kept on repeating each other proceedings soom became dull and Harry lost interest, until that is Benvolio Montague stood up to speak.
In case you've forgotten Harry is 'Jason' and 'Leo' whilst Ron is 'Caranthir'.
Thank You to all those who reviewed chapter 18, your reviews were most appreciated. If you want me to e-mail you when I update this fic leave your e-mail address in your review.