Reaching Maturity
Disclaimer: not mine. Ditto for Narnia. Really. Honestly. Verstehen Sie?
A/N: yes, I do have all the Quidditch scores worked out. I may not be that good at maths, but I did manage this lot, and I checked it. So there. Oh, and I'm really not that good at writing Quidditch matches, so please be kind.
A/N 2: as this is essentially AU, I'm taking this opportunity to state that in this universe, Lucius Malfoy did not recognise Sirius for what he is at King's Cross.
Easter holidays from 3.30pm on Monday! YAY!
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Chapter 20: Outcome of an Excursion
Hannah walked confidently into the hospital wing and up to Madam Pomfrey. "How's Draco?"
"More than ready to go. This is the first night he's had a solid night's sleep without either waking up or having any nightmares," Pomfrey informed her with a smile. "Still not much of an appetite so he's not eating much, but it's a start. Go on; get him out of my hair. Now he's brightened he's started to drive me up the wall!"
Hannah grinned at her and went to find Draco, who was, once again, sketching. It appeared to be his favourite occupation. When Hannah approached, he hurriedly slammed it shut. "Are we going out?" he asked, grabbing his cloak when she nodded.
"Don't forget your scarf –"
"Gloves, hat, I know, I know," he cut in impatiently, rolling his eyes. "I already got that lecture from Pomfrey. Has she put you up to this?" He eyed her suspiciously.
Hannah shook her head violently, her high bunches hitting her in the face. "No. I'm doing it because I care a lot about you and want you to get better. She told me to get you out of her hair." She reached up and straightened his hat, as she had done the previous day. "Come on; let's go."
As the previous day, it was a slow journey, with Draco stopping several times to rest and get his breath back. Eventually they got outside and went to sit down by the lake to revise. They weren't the only ones there – some fifth-year Ravenclaws were showing off about how much their knowledge of Potions was. One boy was reciting the procedure for a potion. "…add the porcupine quills five minutes before the rose petals –"
"That's five minutes after the rose petals," Draco corrected, cutting in sharply. "And what about quantities of the ingredients? What mass of rose petals? What mass of porcupine quills?"
The fifth-year stared at him in disdain. "Before the porcupine quills. And who the hell do you think you are – Oh. You're a Malfoy. Should've known you'd try to humiliate me in front of my friends by showing off. Shame you don't listen in Potions." He marched over to Draco and shoved his notebook under the Slytherin's nose. "I wrote it down in Snape's lesson – when he was talking about it."
Draco arched one eyebrow in an uncanny resemblance to Snape. "It would appear that you haven't been paying attention in lessons," he replied calmly. He nodded at something just behind the fifth-year and the younger boy spun round, coming face-to-face with McGonagall, who regarded him mildly.
"P-P-Professor," he spluttered. "I – I didn't see you there."
"That is perfectly obvious," replied McGonagall drily. "Ten points from Ravenclaw for not paying attention in lessons. Mr. Malfoy is correct in informing you that it is after the porcupine quills. If you were to add them before the rose petals, all your hair would fall out and your skin would turn scarlet for about a month." She turned swiftly on her heel and strode briskly off. The fifth-year glared at Draco, who shrugged, and, picking up his books, turned to his friends. "Let's get away from the Death Eater's son. He might murder us if we stay here too long." A sneer distorted his face.
Hannah reached out and grabbed his arm warningly. "Don't," she cautioned. "You'll only aggravate the situation." She narrowed her eyes at the Ravenclaw and, wand out, muttered the Leg-Locker Curse so quietly that not even Draco could hear her properly.
The Ravenclaw stumbled and fell to the ground, flat on his face. His friends laughed at him. Rolling himself onto his back and forcing himself into a sitting position, he glared at Draco. "I am going to get you for that, Malfoy!" he snarled furiously.
"But it wasn't me!" protested Draco, bewildered.
"I'd watch your backs if I were you," said Hannah, smiling sweetly at them. "Constant vigilance." She released the boy from the hex and the four fifth-years scuttled off, scared. Her wand was pocketed with a flourish.
"You did that!" asked Draco, astounded.
"I did. It comes from hanging out with a very cunning, smart person."
"You think flattery will get you anywhere!"
"I don't think; I know," she replied smugly.
"What happened to the sweet, innocent Hannah I used to know?" teased Draco.
"Oh, I'm still her. I just happened to have learned a few things since." She winked at him.
Draco sobered. "There's a lot you still haven't learned, though. Things you need to know, in case – in case you're ever in danger."
"I don't get you."
Draco glanced down at his hands, then turned his steel-grey eyes onto her, staring intensely into her blue eyes. "The Dark Lord. The Death Eaters. My father."
"Why? What's your father got to do with anything? I mean, I know he's a Death Eater, but…"
Draco ran his fingers through his blond hair, a clear sign that he was nervous and stressed. When he spoke, his voice was tinged with fear and worry. He'd forgotten just how much Hannah didn't know. "I have three friends. One – Hermione – will be targeted because she's Muggleborn. Another – Harry – well, that's pretty obvious. And the other – you – because you've got a Muggle grandmother and therefore aren't pureblood. And you're a Hufflepuff. And you're all fighting for Dumbledore; that's reason enough, even without anything else."
"You are as well, aren't you? Fighting for Dumbledore, I mean."
Draco nodded. "Which is why I'm a prime target. I'm not sure if my father's realised that I won't be joining him on the Dark Side, that I'll be going against him – maybe even fighting him personally. Probably, knowing my luck."
He gripped her wrists tightly, eyes burning into hers. "We don't know how much longer it'll be before the Dark Lord mounts an attack on the school. He may already have sources inside the school. Moles, if you will. And if we're not prepared enough, you can kiss life goodbye. You need to know a lot more about the Dark Arts than you do at the moment. Lupin and Figg can teach us so much, but they can't prepare you for the power of language or voice – mind manipulation, to sound posh. I know how the mind of a Death Eater works; I grew up with one, after all. Shields and defensive magic can only do so much. The trouble with defence is that it only holds back the attack; it doesn't destroy it. It can only be destroyed by turning defence into attack, and I don't know how willing Dumbledore and his followers are to resort to darker stuff." Speech ended, he released her wrists and moved away from her.
"You've really been thinking about this, haven't you?"
He shrugged wearily. "I s'pose being holed up in the hospital wing does that to you. I have more than enough time to just sit and think about things. I know how my father's evil mind works, and I'm far from stupid. Plus I'm a Slytherin. 'Know thy enemy' and all that. It's not really that difficult to work out if you have the time." He leaned against her, not bothering to hide his exhaustion, thin, pale hands idly playing with the ends of his green and silver scarf.
Hannah gazed out over the calm lake, deep in thought. She hadn't really understood before about just how much danger Draco was putting himself in by defying his father. Now she was getting a much better sense of it, although she could never truly understand, as she had never been in a situation like that. It amazed her that, despite all this, he was still determined to fight for what he believed to be right. She couldn't help but respect and admire him greatly.
She wondered how he'd react to the notion that this kind of action could see him being mistaken for a Gryffindor, but then caught herself. No other student could even come close to his sharp mind and shrewd, calculating nature that were Slytherin qualities. Well, perhaps not the part about the 'sharp mind', she thought wryly, images of Crabbe and Goyle popping into her mind. No matter what was to happen to him in the future, she was convinced that he would always manage to survive, probably through some ridiculous means. She laughed quietly to herself.
"What's so amusing?"
Draco's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she smiled. "I was just thinking of all the possible ways you might wriggle out of dangerous situations."
"Ah. I see. That rather depends on whether you're in danger," he told her seriously. "Or Harry. Or Hermione. If it comes down to either me or one of you, if I had to die to save you, I would. Especially you." That intense, earnest gaze again. He took her hand gently. "That's a promise."
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Snape swore loudly as he tripped, entering the building that Sirius perceived as a roofless, derelict, half-burnt old farmhouse partly covered in ivy. Snape, however, saw a blackened, imposing, two-storey stone building whose windows glared down at the intruders. He shivered involuntarily. This place held dark memories for him. He was abruptly snapped out of his morbid thoughts by Sirius in his Animagus form nudging his hand with a wet nose. The former Azkaban prisoner gave him a questioning look.
"I think it's empty," muttered Snape, raising his wand. "Lumos."
Silently the two explored the rooms in the house, Sirius making the most of his heightened sense of smell. Now he was inside the building, he saw what Snape saw it was just Muggles that would still perceive it as an abandoned, slowly collapsing farmhouse. The search was intense, thorough, but they found absolutely nothing, either upstairs or downstairs. Defeated, they departed the building – with great relief, it must be said – and slipped, wraithlike, into the safe cover of the woodland. Once there, Sirius transformed. "No luck?"
"They were here, I'm sure of it," growled Snape. "Could you sense anything?"
"I picked up a few scents, including Narcissa's, but I couldn't tell how long ago the people were there."
"Something feels wrong about all of this."
"How do you mean?"
"I don't know!" Snape angrily kicked a stone out of his way as they walked. "I wish I did. I know I'm not one for going with intuition, but the atmosphere in that place…" He glanced back in the general direction of the house as he spoke about it. "I wish I had a Perception Potion. That way I could tell."
"What if you were to go back to Hogwarts, make one and then come back?" suggested Sirius, ducking under a low tree branch.
Snape shook his head firmly. "That is not possible. I wasn't involved in the setting up of the safe-houses, so I don't know what sort of security measures were placed around them. It is more than likely that they already know of my visit here."
Sirius looked alarmed. "Do you think my identity will be discovered?"
"No. You will have been perceived as a dog and nothing more. So it is not exactly infallible security."
Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. They walked on in tense silence for a few more minutes – until they were out of range of any detection spells that could have been put in place – and Apparated back to Hogsmeade. Sirius, back in his Animagus form, trotted alongside the Potions Master as they made their way back up to the school to be met by Lupin in the Entrance Hall. "Any luck?" the werewolf inquired.
"No," answered Snape briskly. "Get hold of Potter and Granger and bring them up to Dumbledore's office."
Lupin obligingly did so, and a few minutes later they were all eating hot teacakes and drinking tea in the headmaster's office. When everyone was settled, Dumbledore turned to Snape, who was standing, tensed, in a corner. "I understand you had no luck, Severus?"
"None at all. But we do know that Narcissa Malfoy was there, along with some others, presumably her captors," Snape informed them. "There was a strange feel to the place. It felt…hostile. Tense. Malicious. Mocking."
"Better get Trelawney down from that tower of hers, then," commented Lupin lightly.
Snape snorted scornfully. "I would rather not get her involved, if you don't mind."
"I am wondering if perhaps Narcissa is not as helpless as we assume her to be?" mused Dumbledore, interrupting the two before the squabble could escalate.
"It is possible," said Snape. "All we can be certain of is that Narcissa was there at some point and is not there now. And that there is something wrong with this whole situation."
"She was penpals with someone called Marie-Jeanne Lenoir," piped up Hermione nervously. "Does that mean anything?"
Snape whirled round to face her. "They ended their friendship fifteen years ago!"
"Marie-Jeanne did," Harry informed them. "As far as we know. But what if she actually remained in touch? She's been seen with Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew, and recently. Don't you think that this is all a bit suspicious? A little too conven –"
He was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Dumbledore motioned for Lupin, who was nearest, to open it. Hannah and Draco tumbled in, frantic and shocked expressions on their faces. Draco immediately collapsed to the floor, coughing violently. Snape was swift to his side.
"What has happened?" asked Dumbledore, his tone brisk.
In response, Hannah held out a piece of parchment to him. "This…fell out of…Draco's…book," she told him. Dumbledore took it from her and read it out to everyone gathered in the room.
Lucius –
The date is set. No negotiations. That boy of yours has shown far too much indecisiveness. However, there are ways in which he can be persuaded. Narcissa dies unless he pledges allegiance to me and joins my ranks.
May 24th. 11.30pm. The ceremony will take place atop Scafell Pike. Lateness will not be tolerated.
"Where's Scafell Pike?" asked Hannah.
Silence fell for a moment until Hermione spoke. "Harry, your atlas! It'll be on there! Go and get it!"
Harry promptly shot off to retrieve the atlas from his dormitory, and Dumbledore turned to face Draco, who was still struggling for breath, despite Snape's best efforts to help. "How exactly did you find this, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked.
"Found it…cellar floor…Christmas holidays…Thought it fell…out of…my pocket," Draco told him between wheezes. "Didn't bother…looking at it…Thought it was…old scrap of…parchment…Used it…as a bookmark." He collapsed against Snape, coughing and wheezing even worse than before, tears streaming down his face. Snape exchanged looks with Dumbledore, who summoned Madam Pomfrey. She stepped out of the fireplace and dusted herself down, immediately turning her attention to Draco.
Harry returned soon after that and opened the atlas on the correct page after Hermione had ordered him to use the index. As the book was laid flat on Dumbledore's desk, the contours rose out of the page, forming the relief of the land they represented. Harry tapped his wand on the page. "Scafell Pike," he commanded. The peak of the tallest hill on the page began glowing red.
"That's clever," said Sirius admiringly.
"Not that far from us; it's in the Lake District," said Harry.
"Your geography leaves something to be desired, then, Mr. Potter," Snape told him coldly.
"So are we going to actually do anything?" demanded Hermione impatiently.
"I believe you have important exams coming up?" inquired Snape mildly.
Dumbledore sighed. "It's the start of April. The students come back to school on the eleventh. I suggest starting exams on the thirteenth, the following Monday. I'm sure the examiners will agree with me."
"What?" Four seventh-years stared at him in horror.
"My revision timetable will be messed up!" wailed Hermione in dismay.
"You'd only have another two weeks of lessons anyway," Lupin told them. "They'd all be revision; the contents of the exams have all been covered and I understand the exam papers have been prepared and will be brought to the school in the next few days. I agree with the headmaster."
"Severus?" asked Dumbledore.
"I agree. Owl the students at home immediately, and inform the staff and students that are here, at dinner tonight."
"Very well."
Sirius, now in human form, nodded his agreement. "I think it's a wise move. I've heard rumblings that Voldemort is planning an attack on the school, with the aid of his inside source."
Hannah looked confused. "What inside source?"
"We have a Death Eater among the student body," Lupin informed her. "Unfortunately, despite our best efforts – including the whole sleeping in the Great Hall thing – we have not discovered their identity."
"Joseph Flint's father and brother – Marcus – both went down for being Death Eaters," Hermione said, "but I saw Joseph's arms right up to the shoulders the other day when I was supervising his detention for Filch – scrubbing the walls he'd graffiti-ed. No Dark Mark. It can't be him." She leaned wearily against the wall and slid to the floor, resting her arms on her knees.
"Couldn't he have used some kind of concealment charm or something?" asked Harry.
"There is nothing that will truly conceal a Dark Mark," Snape informed him shortly.
Draco nodded his agreement. "I've seen my father try often enough, when he's convinced Aurors are coming for him." He pulled his hat off his head, causing his blond hair to stick up every which way, and coughed weakly. "I can't believe he and the Dark Lord are actually serious in their method to try to get me to become a Death Eater! I'd rather die!" This outburst triggered another bout of coughing from its violence, and Hannah, alarmed, was quick to his side to support him.
"I shall send owls out to students at once," announced Dumbledore. "The most you four can do is revise for your exams and be as prepared as you possibly can. I would be very wary of any attempts to rescue Narcissa Malfoy, however good an idea it may seem."
"How – how do we know it isn't all a trap?" asked Draco hesitantly. "Think about it. My father is adamant that I should become a Death Eater – basically a younger version of himself. I doubt my mother has ever actually loved me, no matter what she may have said or done to persuade others otherwise – though I do believe she felt something for me. The Dark Lord senses my indecisiveness and informs my father, who is essentially his right-hand man, and he tells my mother. So they fake Mother's disappearance, I presumably will get a letter from my father in the near future, probably with similar wording to the letter I've just given you, Professor, and I'm assuming Father will come here to take me. By force if necessary, knowing him. And then I either join the Dark Lord or else I don't. Mother gets killed – possibly – and I get killed – almost definitely." He pushed his still-messy hair out of his eyes. "I'm going to have to do what he wants. I have no choice – not if I don't want innocent lives to be under threat."
"That depends on when and where Voldemort decides to attack," said Harry quietly. This was a sobering thought, and the room fell silent. Finally, Dumbledore cleared his throat. "We should wait and see whether you receive such a letter or not, Mr. Malfoy. Now, it's been a tiring day for you all; you may go now."
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TBC
Author thanks:
CloudofDreams: I'll ring you Tuesday or Wednesday evening, once I get back home. I can't wait to see Finding Neverland! I had great fun writing the Sirius-Severus part! Sirius just loves to wind up Severus (although as I've said before, because this was written pre-OotP, Sirius is a lot nicer than he would otherwise have been). Harry's really not very perceptive about things like relationships. One of my friends reckons that Ron and Hermione have been going out for the whole of OotP; Harry just hasn't twigged. Ron isn't among my favourite characters and in this they're drifting apart now – mainly because of his attitude towards Draco. I could be linking him up with Parvati…
I'm not saying if I'll kill off Sirius or Severus because that would rather ruin the plot! Stop gloating about the end of term! At least I didn't have Cups and Colours on Friday afternoon!
Lucidity: I am saying nothing about Draco's condition; you'll have to wait and see. Yes, amazingly Sirius and Severus are actually working together without killing each other! As I've said before, it isn't just Harry, Draco, Hannah, Hermione, etc. that are reaching maturity.
Rioblip: I felt it was about time we had some lighter stuff happen; it's been so dark. You'll have to see about Harry/Hermione. Of course, they may already be together and I just haven't been obvious about it…I had very much the same image of Dumbledore; I'm glad I conveyed that to my readers! The drifting-away of Ron is important to the plot later on; you'll just have to wait and see what exactly it is. I'm not commenting on Draco and his exams. "Are we there yet?" is a perfect summary of Sirius! I love it! Personally I don't know how Severus manages to keep such self-control! End-of-term symptoms are completely understandable!
Rebell: I like sweet fluffy stuff. If you do, read the first fic I ever posted: The Arithmancy Equation. Good luck with your tests! I'm glad to finally have all my exams out of the way (unless, of course, we discover that once again our lecturers have lied to us and we do actually have exams in our 3rd year) The Dream Team is indeed drifting apart, big time.
Samhaincat: I had to get Draco out of the hospital wing – he would have gone mad otherwise! And Sirius and Severus – NOT the best of friends!
TinorialPeredhil: Yay! I've converted you to the DMHA ship! All aboard, me hearties! Now, bring me that horizon! (Oh sorry; wrong story!) There's NO way Draco's NOT doing his NEWTs this year! He's very determined about that! I'm not having Hannah kill Justin; she's too sweet/kind/gentle to do anything like that. Watch your spelling of Pomfrey's name. And I think I may well have been eating my lunch when I wrote the scene you mentioned. Did you get yourself an apple?
Dark Lady Arantraneth: don't hold out too much hope for a miraculous recovery, though.
Kelsey: I'm continuing! Just for your information, puppy eyes don't work on me! It won't make me update any faster! Thankies for the cookie! What kind is it? If it's got chocolate in it, it'll have to wait till Easter Sunday (Lent and all that).
