Chapter 5

Draco

A couple of people have began to notice
that the Weaslys aren't coming to classes. Me and
Hermione are going now to take them to Pomfrey.
They haven't been seen for three days now. It will just
be more trouble to wait longer. It's getting harder to
convince the others not to bother them. Ginny, his
sister, is convinced that something is wrong.

With love,
Harry


They levitated them up to the ward as quickly as possible, in order to not be questioned by students coming in from lunch. Harry knocked on the door, then they waited a few minutes.

"I'm coming!" Came a voice from the other side of the door. The door opened to reveal Madam Pomfrey. "My goodness! What happened here?" She exclaimed. "Never mind. Just get them on a bed. Then you can explain."

"Can we come?" A voice came from behind them as Pomfrey started to lead them inside.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Zabini, What business do you have here." She questioned them.

"We're with them." Blaise said simply, pointing.

"Fine. Come along, then." She led the four of them into the infirmary and told them to seat themselves while she got the Weaslys on the beds.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked from his spot beside Draco.

"We couldn't just leave this to you two. We were there too."

"My, how Gryffindor of you." Harry teased.

"Shut up, Harry."

Pomfrey turned back around from here task and was surprised to see Potter and Malfoy on one couch and Miss Granger and Zabini on the other. Potter and Malfoy even looked like they were actually having a civilized conversation. Oh well, there was time to think about that later.

"Ok, now. What happened to them?" For a minute no one said anything.

"It was a stunning charm." Harry was the first to speak up.

"How long ago was it cast?"

"Four days ago." Pomfrey was surprised at that. It was unheard of for that charm to last this long.

"Who was it that cursed them?" None of them looked like they wanted to say anything to that question. "Come now. I can't help less my questions are answered.

"We did." Hermione said quietly from her place besides Blaise.

"As in..." She waited for them to say more.

"All of us."

"Talk about over-powering a spell." Pomfrey muttered, sounding exasperated.

"We would rather you didn't ask anymore questions." This came from Draco, of course.

"It's part of my job to ask questions, Mr. Malfoy. Whether you like it or not. It's also part of my job to not give away information given to me."

"It's isn't medical related, Madam Pomfrey." Harry said. "It has nothing to do with them. We just want to know what's wrong with them."

"Well, from what you say, which isn't very much, mind you, I think it's because more than one person cast the spell." She saw the blank looks on their faces and decided that it was best to elaborate. "Each of you have your own power, and it combined and became several times stronger. If I'm correct, they should wake by the end of the week."

Harry and Hermione looked relieved that their friends would be ok.

"They should stay here where I can watch them. I'll send an owl to you when they wake up." With that she made her way out of the room.

"Well, that's a relief." Blaise said.

"Yeah." This was from Draco.


(a couple days later)

"He's awake!" Harry said to Hermione once he saw her in the Gryffindor common room that morning. It's was Friday and the Weaslys had finally woke up.

"Really!" Though she sounded excited mixed emotions went across her face. This meant she would have to tell him. She frowned for a second. "I just thought of something," she whispered.

"What is it?"

"What if they remember something!? We forgot to cast obliviate! Now it's too lat-"

"Something like you two sneaking off to lie with the snakes of Slytherin?" Harry's head snapped around at the angered voice behind him to see Ron and his brothers standing behind him, much the way Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle used to.

"Ron! You're awake!" Hermione ran over to him and wrapped her arms around an unresponsive body. She looked up in surprise to see him glaring at her. He then removed himself from Hermione's arms, rather roughly. Ron pushed her away, causing her to fall back to the floor.

"Ron! What the hell is the meaning of this!?" Harry near-yelled at him. The others in their dorm were still sleeping.

The five of them stood there is silence for second, trying to understand what was going on. Harry knew that something wasn't going right.

"We followed you down to Slytherin last Friday." Fred spoke up first, his voice barely above a whisper.

"But we were stopped. By you. I also think that Malfoy was there. And that other guy, Zabini." George glared at them as if he thought they were no better then him. "We saw your names on the map."

"That isn't any of your business!" Harry glared back.

"Not any of our business! It's not any of our business if you hang out with that prat Malfoy. And Merlin knows what else! Or what you could have been doing out there!" Ron accentually looked hurt for a moment. "You two used to tell me everything. Now I barely know you," he dead-paned. But a split second latter the anger had returned. "I'm beginning to think that you're no better then that faggot, Malfoy! For all I know you've gone and joined Voldemort by now."

Harry had had enough of this. He could usually hold himself in check when dealing with Ron, but he had taken enough of this for one morning. He lunged at Ron and connected a fist with his face. He would have continued, but George and Fred grabbed him before he could. Ron picked himself up off of the floor. "Why don't you just go join Slytherin? You would fit in just fine there!" He spat.

"Shut it, Ron!" Hermione quietly said to him. She looked like she wanted to hit him as well.

"Wait, Hermione! I have something to say to him." He pushed the twins off him. "Relax. I'm not going to hit him again. He isn't worth the effort. I just have something to say." Harry's voice had turned soft and his eyes glittered, a secret held behind them wanting to be told. He even had a small smile on his face. /this is going to be greatly amusing.../

"Ron do you remember back in first year, during our sorting?"

"Yeah, why." Ron was feeling a little uneasy at this change. He had seen Harry angry, but this was something knew. He was too calm, strangely so, like he was playing with him. Ron knew that he didn't want to hear this, though he knew that he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"I wasn't supposed to be in Gryffindor." Harry mocked. A playful smile graced his face. (1)

Ron looked puzzled over this. "What do you mean?" He was still mad, but he wanted to know what Harry was getting at.

"I would be in Slytherin right now, if I hadn't begged not to. And guess what? The only reason why I even cared at the time was because of you!" Harry stopped a second to watch the almost scandalized look in Ron's eyes. His mood switched to resentment. "I wanted to be in Gryffindor because I thought you were my friend. Guess I was wrong."

/Harry can't be a Slytherin./ That would make him a bit too much like Voldemort in Ron's mind. His life was already almost a parallel to Voldemort's, without this, and it was a little scary when he thought about it. And besides, Dumbledore had already said that he was a true Gryffindor. /Why would the heir of Gryffindor belong in Slytherin?/

Harry could practically see the wheels turning is Ron's head. Over and over, in a big circle, in the end getting him nowhere.

"That's right, 'Ronny'. I can't believe that I actually cared that much about you're opinion. Every time something good happened that I've done on my own, you said it was just luck! You were supposed to be my friend! But, you had to always put me down, in your own ways. I've noticed! It's always been about you. You. You. YOU! Now, if it wasn't for Hermione I wouldn't even want to here. Slytherin seems so much more like home these days! In fact, I am confident that I should be a Slytherin! It doesn't seem like such a bad thing. And as for being your friend, I'm not sure if I even like you anymore." Harry's steam finally seems to run out after his little speech. Maybe that would satisfy Ron for a while.

"Why, Harry? Why do this? We have been best friends for over five years, more or less, and you're going to through it all way. For nothing!?"

"Because I want to. That's reason enough." Harry then backed away from Ron and went to the door. "Hermione, are you still coming with me?"

"...Yes." She was still trying to process this knew information. She grabbed her robe, threw it on over her clothes and raced out the door after Harry.


...what in hell's name are you doing...GET BACK THERE!!!


"I didn't know, Harry." She said as they made their way down the stairs. "You never told me that." /you could have trusted me, Harry/

"Not very many people do. Dumbledore advised me not to tell. Also, I always thought that my friends' opinions of me would change, although Ron's doesn't really matter that much to me anymore. Beside it's not really any of their business." He looked back at her to see if she was ok. She sent him back a small smile. "I'm going to sit with the guys today. I don't really feel like dealing with Ron and his stupidity."

It got to her a little that Harry could speak ill so easily of Ron; he had wanted to be their friend. "I'll be over there in a little while. I want to speak to Ron real quick. I can't just leave things like that with him."

/when is she going to realize Ron only befriended her because she was booksmart? I'm begining to think he only wanted to date her so he could could get her before me. Not that I would be interested in her that way.../ "Suit yourself," was all that Harry said right before they reached the Great Hall. They separated once they got in.

The other occupants of the Great Hall went quiet as Harry made his way towards the Slytherin table. Even the Slytherins were a bit tense. There was a bit of an uproar among the Hufflepuff table when Malfoy told Crabbe and Goyle to make room for him. Blaise changed seats and Harry then sat in between him and Draco.

"Well, what made you honour us with your presence this fine morning?" Draco teased. He found it a bit amusing watching the idiots around him making such a spectacle of themselves over something so small.

"And amusing the rest of the hall with such a vulgar and deviant display. Honestly, a Gryffindor sitting with slytherins; it's just not done." Blaise added wryly.

"Well, since you asked. You'll be pleased to note that Ron and I are no longer friends." He said lightly.

"Yes, I am. I told you that he was below you and only wanted to use you, and I meant it," Draco sighed rolling his eyes heavenwards.

"As much as I would like to say 'I'm sorry' over your loss of a friendship... I can't bring myself to as it involved Weasly." Blaise looked a bit more sombre that Draco did. "Is Hermione going to come over, also?" He glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw that she seemed to be waiting.

"Possibly. She wanted to talk to Ron." With this Ron and his brothers made there ways to their table. Draco was pleased to note that Ron seemed to have a darkening bruise on the side of his face.


Hermione looked up from her plate when she heard Ron sit down. He had chosen a spot at the other end of the table, as far away from her as he could get. Hermione left her plate as she got up and walked over to him.

"Go away!" Ron hissed through his teeth. He looked at her as if she were something vile. Like she was lower than the dirt under his shoes. At that moment Hermione forgot about what she ever saw in Ronald Weasly. He simply no longer mattered.

"I just wanted to say that we are through, Ron." Hermione understood that he was upset, but she could never be friends with someone who hurt someone that she cared about. Ron may have once been one of her best friends and then her bestfriend... but Harry was her brother. As she started to walk away from table another stir went through the other houses.

"I don't care if you whore yourself over there!" Ron yelled after her when he saw that she was really leaving. "You're probably sleeping with them all. After all, that's all you ever were! A whor-"

Hermione slapped him hard across the face before he got then chance to finish, the same cheek that had been bruised earlier. "Never speak to me that way again." Her eyes watered as walked to the Slytherin table, where Blaise Zabini drew her into his arms.

He watched the jealousy that flitted across Ron's face before it was gone. Blaise simply stared him down until he looked away and held Hermione tighter.


Ever since that day Hermione and Harry sat at the Slytherin table. Ron would no longer speak to either Harry or Hermione, and neither would they speak to him. They were even considered traitors of their house by some for consorting with the likes of Slytherin. Though they were unexpectedly accepted among most of the Slytherins.

...but, perhaps in Slytherin, you meet your true friends...

-,---, -,---, -,---, -,---,
there's a green hill far away
in a land I know so well
and the sun it shone so bright
in the fields where once we did lay

as we walked that winding road
I remember oh so well
the times we spent together
in the fields where once we did lay

how we laughed and carved our names
and declared our love forever
on that old oak tree we found
in the fields where once we did lay

there's a green hill far away
in a land I know so well
and the sun it shone so bright
in the fields where once we did lay
-BWitched
-,---, -,---, -,---, -,---,


(saturday)

"I have an idea." Draco said on night at dinner. He finally quit pestering Harry to eat more, when an idea occurred to him. It had been about a month since the blow up between the Gryffindor Trio. Most people had begun to get used to seeing Hermione and Harry there. Most of the Slytherins had been rather silent about the whole scandal, though some were silently approving. The one didn't, mostly kept quiet as well.

"What is it?" Hermione inquired, from her seat beside Blaise. It was now publicly known that she and Blaise were going out.

"Let's go downstairs. Then I'll talk."

They left the Slytherin table, oblivious to the curious watching from the Headmaster.


"Ok. What is it?" Harry said from Draco's lap. He had sat himself there immediately upon getting to the Slytherin common room. Draco loved when Harry was affectionate. If only they could do this in public... He was half tempted to just say the hell with everyone else, but then there would be Dumbledore to deal with. Draco held him tighter and Harry snuggled further into his firm embrace.

"I've been thinking for a while."

"I thought we talked about that." Harry loved to tease him, he couldn't help it. He received little pinch for his efforts, causing him to squirm a little bit.

"Harry, this is important. Now listen. As I said, I've been thinking... we seem to be a lot stronger when we all work together."

"I wouldn't have guessed that. Thank you for being so kind to have told me." Harry replied, sarcastically.

"I think you had something new to say." Blaise said.

Draco glowered at the two. "As I was trying to say, if you would let me continue, I was sent a letter recently, from my father. It was about Voldemort." An oppressive air covered the room. "He's planning something. Something big."

"So he's finally decided to start the war." Harry said quietly.

"Yeah. But, I don't think much of a fight will be put up. It won't matter if we tell Dumbledore, Fudge, or even if we stood before the entire ministry. They won't do anything but sit on their asses and plan. By the time they get around to doing anything it will be too late."

There was a silent agreement between them. They had all seen evidence of that. "Fudge and the ministry will ignore anything and act like nothing's wrong. And Dumbledore will do a lot of talking and use everybody, without doing a single damned thing."

"We know this already." Hermione injected. "What does this have to do with us?"

Draco glared slightly at her. "It's well known that Harry is one of the strongest wizards in the world. And the rest of us aren't exactly among the weaker half. I think we could do something."

"We would more than likely get ourselves killed or worse, Draco." Hermione said.

"I think we have a chance. And he must not be as strong as we think he is if he wants Harry dead so badly. Besides, Dumbledore would have had him fight Voldemort anyway. Why not give him a fighting chance." He squeezed the boy in his lap tighter. /Harry will be alive at the end of this, I swear it.../

"Sure, this sound like a good idea now, but how would we win?" Blaise said sceptically. "I don't think that the stunning curse would do much against Voldemort. He's a bit stronger than the Weasly's, don't you think," He grinned.

"I know. That's part of why I waited before I spoke to you about this. If we do this... we're going to have to learn more than what this school is willing to teach us."

"Dark magic." Hermione suddenly caught on to what Draco not saying. But he couldn't be serious about this! He was talking about using dark magic on someone. Never mind, that this was Voldemort. Or maybe that's what the point was.

"Possibly. The way I figure it, it's time for us to do things our own way. No one else is doing anything! If it takes dark magic, then so be it. We could also learn some of the stronger white magic spells, for that matter."

"I'll do it, Draco." Harry said. /there's not much left for me to loose.../ Harry wanted this fight with Voldemort to be over.

"Harry, let's think about this some more." Hermione pleaded. "This is serious!"

"I know, and I don't care Hermione. I want the war over. But why is it dark magic, really?" Harry stared right into Hermione's eyes.

"I never really thought about it." She admitted.

"I think it's referred to as 'dark' because it contains the stronger spells. People are afraid of the power in them. That's why most people who are strong enough to perform these spell and do are charged as dark wizards and witches. Even if they have good intentions." Blaise went quiet after this. His parents had been sentenced to Azkaban because they had been suspected of useing forbidden magic.

Though he had been told that his parents hadn't joined Voldemort, they were not strangers to the Dark Arts. They had planned to over throw the Dark Lord, but the ministry received an unsigned letter about their use of the dark arts and they were thrown in Azkaban when he was still little. He still suspected that the letter had been from one of Voldemort's deatheaters, or maybe even 'Voldie' himself.

"I guess you have a point. But what if the same thing happens to us?"

"What's more important to you, finishing off Voldemort, or your reputation?" Blaise asked her.

She sighed. "Fine."

"So, are we are all agreed." Draco asked. He leaned back on the couch.

"I'd say so." Harry replied. He cuddled back into Draco's side.

"Why do you what to do this anyway, dragon?" Harry asked.

"Because I was going to tell you about the letter anyway, and I knew that you wouldn't be able to leave things at just knowing what was going to happen. Besides, I plan on living, and I have even less of a chance of that on Voldemort's side." He had already turned Voldemort down several times. Draco was surprised that The Dark Lord hadn't killed him yet.

"Draco," Blaise started, "how much time do we have anyway."

"'Till the end of the year. He told me to be ready for my initiation by then." Draco couldn't stand the thought of becoming a Death Eater. "I guess we can master some of the more useful things taught here, and work our way up."

"What do you suggest?" Hermione asked.

"The basics, the 'white magic', 'then we'll work on the harder things. It'll require a ton of work and study from all of us."

"Well, that's my field of expertise." She gave a small smile. "What should we do first?"

"The ever popular choice of becoming animagi. For most people this takes at least two months up to a year. I think if we work hard enough we'll secede in doing it sooner."


Chapter 4
Chapter 6