A/N: Goodness me! Finally managed to get my hands on a computer. My other computer is still out - I'm waiting for word on a part for an Intel 2000 motherboard part that only costs 10 $. If they can't find it - damn discontinuation - I gotta cough out 300 for an upgrade. Now that sucks. Between that, worrying about tuition, OSAP and getting a job, I actually looked forward to writing this chapter. Barring the part where I must deal with QuickEdit.
Anyhow, I said I would last time and here it is! Replies to reviews! Yay! Finally! I moved my lazy, procrastinistic butt! This is so long overdue. lol
Signeus: .o Ouch. Hope your neck is better. That's one of the things. I am contemplating writing something of a mirror fic for Chapter 7, going into detail of just what happened in Dumbledore's office. Contemplating, not for sure though.
SiLvErFaTeD: Glad you liked it.
xikum: Updated and continuing on! Tally ho! Erm, that's the Coke. I don't (and can't) quite answer any of your questions regarding Snape's behaviour at the moment. It will be explained later on, believe me. What happens to Valencia is not found out until a later chapter. But you will find out. I rather liked her too. In no way could I kill her off, but she sure is one stubborn lady. The 2 day thing will be explained as well; it certainly was risky, but a necessary, calculated risk. Fudge, in my personal opinion, is an idiot. And at during such a time in the country, he'll do whatever it takes to get his job done, even if it is by rather questionable means. It's rather interesting how information during a war has the curious ability to appear, disappear or materialize right out of nothingness to conveniently back up a particular government stance on an issue. Percy's reactions will be explained as well, don't worry.
Jazzylady: Updated on my site. As well, I've posted this fic at www. foreverfandom . com. They allow NC-17, so it is posted in its entirety there as well, completely uncut (I love that word). Same penname if you care to check it out. I've also started writing some Harry/Draco ficlets as well.
Plastraa: Well (and this is where I am in danger of sounding like Dumbledore), the mind is a very curious thing. But yes, good good loving happened in Chapter 8. the next update should be in a few days. I'm hoping to post two more chapters before I go back to my mom's computerless house. I'd do this at my friend's house, but he keeps reading over my shoulder and it drives me nuts. Besides, if he read half of my rough stuff, he'd want me to write smut for him.
Mistress Malfoy: Glad you like it.
Shinigami Liliz Black: Yes, Ernesto responded surprisingly well. Alcohol in the right amount, has a cushioning effect. I'm debating writing something of a mirror fic that would show just what happened in Dumbledore's office. Could happen, might not.
LusikiThanatos: Hope you liked Chapter 8 and I hope you enjoy Chapter 9. Nah, why would I be mad if you didn't review? Reviews are nice but they're not the reason why I'm writing this fic. I've gone to places where there's no accessible computer in a 100 km radius. Some of the best days in the summer. Hope you didn't have to look after some little terrors. Anyway, what exactly happened to Valencia, isn't found out for a few more chapters. And if someone saves her... well, read to find out.
Soft Willow: Updated!
Bookworm: Oh yes, yes, yes. But just what happens to Valencia and what Voldemort may know will be addressed in another chapter. I'm terribly sorry about the formatting; I only had time to post and not see if it turned out right. QuickEditis supposed to be quick; it's not bloody quick at all. Since I actually have a spot of time, I'm planning on going back and using and instead of the slashes.
Rachel: Glad you're enjoying it. I didn't use quotation marks for the Spanish because I didn't want it confused with the English and add unnecessary words. Plus, I found it helped the dialogue to flow easier. However, automatically removed the slashes I was using in place of that, so it just looks like plain text. I'll be going through the chapters to see what needs editing and be using and from now on. Sorry for any confusion that caused you.
Lucius sikilmituile: Man, I'm still surprised at how much people like this fic. Next chapters should be coming out really soon, in the next few days.
Siren of the Darknessflame: Updated!
Come the Maëlstrom
Chapter Nine
Harry was in an extraordinarily good mood this morning. He had been for the past two days. Ernesto was thoroughly puzzled by it. Happy that he was less irritable but thoroughly puzzled. He was just as puzzled by what appeared to be Harry's sudden tender arse and the way he sat on cushions on the couch and at the dinner table. Not to mention that fact that he had a definite swagger to his walk or the goofy grin that accompanied his replies for a day. Harry almost wanted to tell him but they were in Hogwarts; things always seemed to have a way of getting back to the Headmaster. The less Dumbledore knew the better. And that was why he had asked Ernesto to not refer to Lucius by his real name, as Moody said, constant vigilance. Although, Dumbledore seemed rightly wary of Ernesto; he had torn a rather large strip off the Headmaster in a very audible fashion. The other Order members that had been in the room at time were gawking in total shock, more than likely because they had never seen anyone yell at Dumbledore so.
While it had been rather loud and a bit hard on his ears, he had been hard pressed to not smile somewhat. It was somewhat comforting to have someone who was quite able to let him be on his own rise up and rip someone to shreds for him. Mrs. Weasley would have simply coddled him the entire time, not listened to a single word he said and insist that she knew what was best for him. Once Ernesto found out that Harry was all right, he simply left him be; it was as simple as that. Plus he listened when Harry raised an objection and didn't question it endlessly. It was that carefree and easy trust that he valued from Ernesto.
And that was why he had asked if the older man wanted to have breakfast with him in the Great Hall today. Ernesto had declined, preferring the quiet of Harry's room as to what he had seen as a large echoing room of voices. In retrospect, that was a fairly correct assumption on his part. Voices did tend to echo slightly in the Great Hall if they were loud enough. Even now there was a murmur from the teacher's table up at the front of the room. He glanced up to find a few of the teachers looking at him curiously. Remus was the only one who was giving him a grin, probably from relief of not having Hermione pester him anymore. Snape was, thankfully, absent. If he was gone long enough, Harry didn't have to invite him for tea. Harry grinned back and turned his attention back to his breakfast.
There were a few students here as well, some pointing at him and whispering, while others just stared. At this point, he couldn't really care less. He was hungry. He had just put some bacon in between two pieces of toast when the doors opened. He looked up to see a rather solid wall of black robes with scarlet and gold crests and ties. The resounding cry of, 'Harry!' filled his ears and the next thing he knew, he was surrounded by a large press of people, his bacon sandwich mysteriously vanished from his hand. He looked around in confusion, trying to figure out where to start first.
Thankfully, Ron seemed to grasp this easily enough. "Oi!" He yelled as he clambered up onto the bench. "Pipe down! Sit down! Be quiet and one question at a time! Harry can't talk if you all badger him at once!"
That seemed to shake some sense into people and they started making their way to sit down. Hermione popped through the crowd and pushed aside a third year girl who was making googly eyes at Harry. Ron came over and pushed aside another third year girl, telling her it was his right as Harry's best friend to have the seat beside him when she started to protest. At the moment, Harry couldn't have been gladder to have Ron and Hermione there. He probably would have been drowning under the press of people. Though, he had to admit, he had never seen so many people pressed together in one spot. Everyone was trying to get as close to Harry as possible. He could quite literally see the barely restrained questions on their tongues.
"All right," Hermione began after a moment. "Let's have one question at a time. And if you have a question make sure it's not one that has already been asked but worded differently. We don't want Harry losing his voice from talking too much."
There was a chorus of agreement at Hermione's words. But the murmur had barely died down before Seamus had blurted out the first question.
"What happened? All we heard," the look in Seamus' eyes made it quite clear that he meant he had seen it himself. "Is that you had disappeared."
Harry shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "I honestly don't know what happened. I was there, and then I fired a curse at someone and something went wrong. Next thing I knew, I was somewhere else."
"Yes, but where did you end up?" Lavender asked as best she could, wedged between Seamus and Dean.
"Spain." Harry replied easily as he made himself another bacon sandwich.
That earned a flurry of excited whisperings from the girls before Dean roared at them all to be quiet so Harry could talk.
"What part of Spain?' Dean asked.
"Yeah, can you speak Spanish?" Padma asked immediately in an eager voice.
Harry paused as he took in Dean and Padma's question. I was in Extremadura; it was and beautiful, especially at night, he said with a faint smile as he remembered the river. And yes I can speak Spanish.
Padma giggled ecstatically along with a whole bunch of other girls. Harry could see the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws making their way over to hear. The Slytherins seemed to be the only one not bothered or interested and that suited him just fine. Dean cleared his throat loudly before speaking again.
"So that's a yes?"
"Yes." Harry said with a grin.
Seamus snickered while Dean shook his head. Harry quickly made another sandwich and was just about to take a bite of his sandwich when Colin jumped in.
"I heard a rumour that Lucius Malfoy was down there as well. Is that true?"
Harry watched Colin for a moment. The boy was clutching his camera tightly in his hands. He should have known something like this would come up. How some things circulated around the school, or found out, Harry would never know.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I thought I saw him. I mean, he's blond and practically everyone where I was had brown or black hair. And they were smiling and very friendly, so him and his usual scowl and sarcasm would have stuck out like a sore thumb."
That earned quite a few chuckles all around. Harry hoped that was the end of that particular subject.
"So what exactly did you do down there?" Ginny asked, peering over Padma's head.
"Worked on a farm while I figured out what to do." He said simply going for a bite of his sandwich.
"And what was that?"
Harry put his sandwich down at the sound of Zacharias Smith's voice. He couldn't see him, but he could hear him "As I'm back, I think that's rather obvious, isn't it?"
Zacharias squeezed his way through the crowd. "You mean to tell me you didn't once think of staying down there and vanishing away into obscurity?"
"I did; if only to be free of you and your mostly silly questions," Harry replied. "Seriously, why are you so cynical? Get a grip on yourself..."
Zacharias went bright red at that as everyone snickered with laughter. At least that threw them off for a bit. Harry took the moment to wolf down a bit of his sandwich before Neville asked the next question.
"So just how did you get back Harry?"
Harry deliberately chewed his food before swallowing it. They didn't need to know about the whole fight in the attic. He swallowed and took a drink of pumpkin juice before replying. "I don't know how exactly, it was really confusing, but I got a Portkey and I ended up in Dumbledore's office."
Everyone stared at him for a moment before Seamus chuckled. "Really Harry, how did you get back?"
"That's how," he said. "I don't know how exactly or why. All I know is I touched the Remembrall and next thing I knew I was back in Dumbledore's office."
"You mean, Dumbledore got you back?" Ginny tried.
"I'm guessing so." Harry replied. "I grabbed the Remembrall and..."
"Wait a minute!" Neville exclaimed. "That must have been my Remembrall!"
That seemed to fuel enough conversations and speculation for a bit and left Harry free to eat for a little bit in peace and leave Ron just enough time to whisper a hurried, 'We need to talk later. DA stuff' in his ear and him to reply 'Midnight?'. Ron nodded his head slightly and the questions started up again a few minutes later and Harry found himself answering more and more. Finally, he stood up and excusing himself. Everyone started to protest but Harry told them that he needed to get going and that he'd come by the common room later. He had practice with Moody in about 10 minutes and he needed to go up to the seventh floor today. Moody didn't say why but obviously he had something planned; undoubtedly with aerial attacks or the like; just Harry's luck.
"Phew... didn't think they'd ever stop." He breathed in relief as the door behind him closed shut and he closed his eyes.
"What? Hero doesn't like the attention?"
He opened his eyes to find Draco standing a few feet away from him, arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
"I've got somewhere else I've need to be at the moment." Harry said easily as he pushed himself off from the door and started walking towards the staircase.
"Typical Potter," Draco sneered, heading for the door.
Harry didn't say anything for a moment before he looked around. "Have a good breakfast," he paused, unable to resist the momentary urge. "Duckie."
Draco's head whipped around at that, eyes narrowed malevolently. "Oh, did buck-toothed Granger tell you? Or was it the raggedy Weasel?"
Harry turned around and regarded Draco for a moment. He could keep playing this game with Draco. But he was getting kind of tired of it. Seven years of animosity wouldn't be buried overnight but he was sick of trying to insult Draco or the like. There was only so much a person could take after awhile and it all seemed so... idiotic now that he looked at it. He was throwing in the proverbial towel.
"You know," he began in a weary voice. "It's no small wonder why you only have Crabbe and Goyle as your friends."
Draco didn't say anything, simply glaring at him.
"Honestly, I'm sick and tired of this between us Draco."
Draco looked like he'd been slapped hard in the face a few times. "Wh- What?"
"You heard me. The games and everything... it was fun while it lasted but honestly... I'm ready to move on and leave it behind me."
"What?" Draco shrieked. "You can't do this to me! If anything, I'm supposed to do this to you! It's not supposed to be this way!"
Harry paused for a moment in surprise. "Things change Draco and-" he began.
Harry was completely unprepared for the fist that connected with his face. The fleeting thought of irony passed through his mind as he noted it was roughly in the same spot as the hidden scar left by Lucius' ring. Harry thought he heard the door creak open, but he wasn't sure. He was too busy prodding his injured face gently with a finger. That would definitely bruise later on. Draco was glaring at him still, furious rage in his grey eyes, fists clenched and trembling. Harry couldn't help but notice all of this as Draco was so close to him.
"What do you want from me now Draco?" Harry asked quietly as he let his hand fall away from his face.
"I don't know now!" Draco snarled. "Punch me back, insult me, insult my father, insult my mother, I don't care at this point! Just bloody well do something that you normally do! Don't you bloody well dare end this!"
Harry watched Draco for a long moment before he shook his head. "Sorry Draco. It's been fun... in a twisted, perverse sort of way for the past seven years, but it's over now." Harry walked past Draco and up a few stairs when Draco spoke again.
"Potter! You can't do this!" Draco ground out.
"I can Draco. Just because you want it to keep on, doesn't mean I have to cater to your whims. Consider it over as of today."
There was a shocked gasp and Harry looked back to see a whole crowd of people standing at the doorway of the Great Hall, looking between him and Draco. Harry didn't say anything after a moment, continuing up the stairs silently. Wonderful, everyone now probably thought he and Draco had an illicit affair and Harry had just broken up with him. By the time he got to the classroom, he was 5 minutes late and facing a rather peeved Moody.
"What took you so long?" Moody said gruffly. "I let you start later because you asked me and you were making good progress."
"Got held up." Harry said, wincing at the slight pain from his lower jaw.
Moody's eyes darted to Harry's face for a moment but he didn't comment on it. "Fine then. Make sure it doesn't happen again. Now then, today we'll be dealing with advanced aerial attacks. Got us a good room today too; lots of windows and the like. I tried getting the top of the astronomy tower, but they're doing something or the like, so this will have to do. So, let's get started, and remember, constant vigilance! Should be your daily mantra..."
Harry nodded his head and took his wand out, feeling peculiarly puzzled. Just why had Draco reacted that way?
- Aren't you hungry Harry? -
Harry looked up from his plate, startled by Ernesto's words. - Hm? No, not really. Thinking... - he continued pushing around his scalloped potatoes.
Ernesto glanced at Harry for a moment. - Him? -
- No, - Harry said. - Something else. -
- Or someone else? - Ernesto asked, poking at his chicken. - Who made this again... those little... creatures, right? -
- House elves. They usually knock themselves out silly when they have to look after people. - Harry said. - And yeah, it's someone else. -
- What? - Ernesto's fork stopped moving. - Don't tell me you like someone else! -
- What?! - Harry looked up at him in surprised. - No, no. That's not it at all. Honestly. It's just that he's just so weird... -
- Did something happen during breakfast, Harry? - Ernesto asked before taking a sip of pumpkin juice. - Hm, this stuff really isn't half bad... - he commented to himself before taking another sip.
- Kinda...it was really after I was done eating breakfast and I was going up for my lesson with Professor Moody. -
- All right, - Ernesto nodded. - Some ex-boyfriend of yours caused some big scene? -
- Scratch out ex-boyfriend and that's pretty much what happened, - Harry sighed. - But the way it sounded and from the way he acted, everyone's going to think we had some sort of secret affair. -
Ernesto gave a chuckle and a low whistle. - No wonder. That's not so bad though. You said this is your last year here, right? -
- Right. And it wouldn't be such a big deal if he and I hadn't hated each other from day one. It's pretty much legendary how much we hated one another. Well, used to. -
- Well, what changed? - Ernesto asked.
Harry shrugged. - I don't know. But we started doing our usual thing... and then I was looking at him... - he trailed off for a moment. - I couldn't really find it in me to insult him any more. It suddenly seemed so childish and petty compared to some other things, you know? I just couldn't. -
Ernesto nodded his head and continued eating, with a thoughtful look on his face. - It sounds to me like you should talk to him. - He began.
- Draco just freaked out; nothing else. - Harry replied with a shrug.
- No, - Ernesto said slowly as he tapped his fork against the plate. - I think you should go talk to him. -
Harry chuckled in faint amusement. - I don't want another one of these thank you. - He gestured vaguely to his bruised jaw.
- You know, you may be surprised if you take the time. - Ernesto paused for a long moment. - Let him rage and storm. Then talk it out. -
- If you think I'm going down into the very heart of Slytherin territory to talk to Draco of all people, then you've got another thing coming. - Harry said.
- Yeah, I don't blame you; that place is creepy, - Ernesto admitted. - But look at it this way. You two have been enemies for how long? -
- 7 years. - Harry replied.
- Exactly. Draco looks like one miserable kid. You two have been enemies for so long and then you went and took that away from him. Maybe he needed it somehow. -
- Miserable? - Harry gawked at him. - Draco doesn't have a miserable bone in his body! -
Ernesto paused for a moment, brow furrowed in thought. - Sounds like you still see him as if you met him for the first time. Get over it. Now, it's great that you did something to try and end the hate but he's still a person. He's got ...whatchamacall it. -
- 'Whatchamacallit'? - Harry asked a puzzled voice.
- You know... - Ernesto paused for a long moment. - Feelings! That's it. Lord, I am horrible at this stuff. -
- You got the point across, didn't you? - Harry chuckled softly.
Silence came as they both started eating, keeping their eyes fixed on their plates.
- At least give it one try, will you? - Ernesto asked quietly.
Harry simply grunted in reply, picking at his dinner.
Ernesto was good Harry had to give him that. Otherwise there was no way he would be doing this right now. It wasn't manipulation; Ernesto may have put it rather baldly but it was still a perceptive and accurate judgement. He hadn't thought Ernesto would be capable of something so decidedly sneaky; hell, he'd referred to feelings as 'whatchamacallit' and had trouble talking to Lucius about protection and safe sex; looks were very deceiving.
"He could have been a psychologist instead of a farmer." He groused under his breath.
As he turned a corner, he stubbed his toe, biting his lip hard to muffle a curse. He was walking through the hallways at eleven at night, under his Invisibility Cloak, peering at the Marauder's Map by the moonlight streaming in from a nearby window. All of this headache for the express purpose of finding Draco. If anyone had told him that this is how he would have been spending his night, he would have asked if all their wits were still about them. So far, he'd been wandering about for the past hour and there was still no sign of Draco.
"Damn it, I have to meet 'Mione and Ron at twelve!" Harry cursed under his breath. "Just sneak out already! I know you're gon- aha!"
A small dot had appeared on the map, labelled 'Draco Malfoy'. Harry walked along slowly until the dot came to a stop. Of course, the library wasn't the place that Harry had thought it would stop at. But the library was the perfect place to sneak off to if you wanted some time alone after curfew; practically no one went in there unless they had to. He tapped the map with a 'Mischief managed!', rolled it up and tucked it into his pocket before starting for the library. It hadn't taken him long to get there and thankfully, he hadn't run into Mrs. Norris. The door to the silent room opened with a barely audible creak. It hadn't struck Harry before but there was something decidedly creepy about this library at night. It seemed to lose its vitality and all that remained was a dead husk.
"Draco?" he called out hesitantly.
His voice seemed abnormally loud and he half expected Madame Pince to materialize out of nowhere and start berating him as to why one did not sneak into the library at night. The only sound he got in response was that of a muffled curse and someone getting to their feet. A few minutes later Draco appeared between two bookshelves, leaning against the side lightly.
"What do you want?" he demanded in a cold voice. "Come to act all high and mighty again?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I came to talk to you."
"I think you did all your talking already, Hero," Draco sneered as he turned to leave.
"I know," Harry said slowly. "Someone said I should talk to you... unfortunately, they were right."
"Oh, how kind," Draco said in exasperated sarcasm. "Now I'm your little charity case for pity. And just what could they have possibly said to make you seek me out?"
Harry didn't say anything for a long moment. "Essentially that my view of you is... one-sided and faulted." He paused as Draco gave a sardonic snort at that. "They also said they were miserable."
Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Then they're a bigger fool that you think Potter. Now why don't you go run off and save something with gory messy heroics, hm? I'm sure everyone will be thrilled and dote on you."
"Yeah, doting, just what I need," Harry grumbled. "More of that."
"What's wrong? Trouble in paradise?" Draco asked mockingly. "Everyone coddles you, everyone adores you, you can never screw up and you always get exactly what you want."
Harry felt the immediate cold grip of rage clench around him. "You think my life is fun and games Malfoy?" he spat out spitefully. "How about you take it then, because I sure as hell don't want it."
"Nice front you put up there-"
Draco stopped talking as Harry slammed his hand flat against the wood beside his head with a resounding bang.
"You coddled little brat," Harry said quietly after a moment. "Do you want to know what my life's really like? Every one watches me, every one always tries to decide what's best for me. I set one foot outside Hogwarts and... that hellhole of a house and someone is always hounding me. I can't live my own fucking life Malfoy. You try living with Muggles that fear magic and refuse to let you do so much as touch a textbook on any subject and make you..." he paused for a moment, getting a grip on himself. "You try living with Voldemort crawling around inside your head making you see sick, twisted things every time you try to sleep for months on end. You try living with that twisted deluded fuck rampaging through your head, making you think you're slowly going insane. Or maybe you'd like the fact that you know he's saving the Dementors just for you because of all the shit in your past..." he took a steadying breath. "Go on, take my life. But you can sure as hell keep it because I won't take it back."
Draco didn't say anything for a moment, glaring at Harry for a long moment. "What, you think my life's all that too? You're not the only one with a shitty life Potter. Get over your own damned self."
"I can just imagine," Harry said coldly. "Designer robes not filling the hole in that place you call a heart?"
Harry was half expecting the blow to his face. He caught Malfoy's wrist, staring him hard in the eyes.
"You try living with an eternally distant father," Draco finally said after a few moments. "And a manipulative mother who's hell-bent on leaving your father and taking every single penny he has; a mother that isn't above blackmailing her own son to get her way in addition to a wide assortment of...things. You try living with completely conflicting requests from every one around you, while trying to survive in Slytherin. In case you haven't noticed, being 'nice' isn't exactly an option there; being 'nice' can leave you on the fringes and subject to...things. You try to keep off the others who try to get you to join You-Know-Who's cause; you think they're all in Slytherin...they're everywhere Potter; they just using Slytherin in the school as a smokescreen. There's a lot in Ravenclaw and few from Hufflepuff and Gryffindor."
"Liar," Harry hissed, his ear shifting as he heard a noise coming from the door.
"Don't like the truth, Potter?" Draco sneered, jabbing him pointedly in the shoulder. "You wouldn't last one day in Slytherin. Now try going through all of that shit in the course of four months. You wouldn't be too happy either. You were the one fucking thing in my life that wasn't supposed to change at all! I hate you and you hate me! That's the way it's supposed to work! You're not supposed to take the high road and-"
Harry glanced back at the door before pushing Draco back between the bookshelves, following after him. Draco overbalanced and fell with a hard thud before he opened his mouth to start yelling at him when Harry shook his head ominously. And as if to further validate Harry, hoarse words echoed gently through the library.
"Heard something in here, did you my sweet? Well, I just heard something too..."
'Fuck! Filch!' Draco mouthed as he scrambled up.
Harry caught Draco's arm, his Invisibility Cloak half draped around him already. Draco glanced back reluctantly in the direction in which he could hear Filch's footsteps coming from before he ducked under the Cloak and Harry swirled it shut to hide them both..
"No groping me." he said under his breath.
Harry shot him a nasty look but didn't say anything as Filch's grizzled face appeared, oddly luminous from the lamp in his hand. Filch's watery looking eyes darted around, while Mrs. Norris mewed in confusion.
"Must have been Peeves. Come, there're other troublemakers afoot," Filch said after a few minutes.
Harry held his breath as Mrs. Norris sat there a bit longer, staring directly at them. After what seemed like forever, she rose and padded away after Filch. It wasn't until long after they heard the door close that Harry breathed a sigh of relief, swirling the cloak off them.
"What do you mean grope you?!" he spluttered. "I wouldn't grope you if Voldemort had a wand to my head and threatened to kill me! And that's after a few rousing rounds of torture and the Cruciatus!"
"Come on, I've seen you looking at me from across the tables, Potter. Especially this morning." Draco said with a self-assured air.
Harry snorted. "Or I was looking at that dark-haired Slytherin you sit beside. Namely one Blaise Zabini." He'd just managed to actually resolve something between him and Draco. Saying that he was thinking of Lucius would undoubtedly destroy everything and set it back to an irreparable state.
Draco looked horribly affronted. "Him?!"
"Yeah," Harry said as he draped his cloak. "What?"
"Since when were you a ponce?"
Harry stared at Draco for a moment. "I heard rumours that there was someone who didn't know. Guess I know who that is."
Draco snorted as he walked back out into the main walkway. Harry followed after him and found that he was looking at the end of the bookshelf curiously. Oh yeah, they had been busy yelling at one another. Harry glanced over at Draco for a moment, meeting his eyes before looking back at the simple wood end, mulling over what Draco had said. No doubt Draco was thinking over what Harry had told him.
"So, neither of us knows anything remotely normal." Draco said after a few minutes.
"And I doubt we ever will." Harry didn't say anything for a bit. "Did we just have a moment?"
"Morgana, I hope not. Why on Earth would I want to have one of those with you?" Draco sneered as he slipped a hand into his pocket and made his way to the door.
"Likewise," Harry said as he headed for the exit as well. "That could lead to worse things... like getting along."
"And we all know where that could lead..." Draco trailed off.
"Friendship. Merlin forbid..." Harry finished off. He paused at the door. "You know, if anything, I owe you for this."
Draco's eyes flitted to Harry's jaw for a moment. "So? Just what are you gonna do abo-"
Draco's word disappeared as Harry's fist connected with the paler boy's cheek.
"Bloody hell!" Draco hissed as he held a hand to his face hard. "When the hell did you learn to punch so damned hard?!"
"Somewhere," Harry said vaguely as he settled the cloak around his shoulder. "I think we're even now. If you do want to start over properly, I can't say that I'd be against the idea."
And with that, he slipped his cloak over his head and made disappeared from the library. At least he'd be a bit early for once.
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. "This is important!"
"Hm?" he looked up from Advanced Jinxes for the Inept, trying to not look too startled. "What is?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know as well." Ron added as he looked up from a copy of Hermione's old DADA notes.
Hermione sighed threw up her hands. They had been in the Room of Requirement for about an hour now, revising an intensive two-week curriculum for DA students. Once sixth year had rolled around and Dumbledore was back as Headmaster, the club had been whole-heartedly approved and swelled to include a surprising number of students. The original terms of the club were maintained and entrance wasn't as selective. The three of them still ran it but had at least ten others to help them handle the sheer amount of people, set up on a rotational basis. Curriculum content was left in Hermione's overly capable hands. Although Harry thought that the Ravenclaws didn't dare suggest they do it as Hermione had given them rather murderous glares when one had started to speak.
"Harry!" Hermione snapped again. "Honestly, why do I even bother!" she sighed heavily a moment later.
"Sorry," he said flushing a slight red. "You were saying."
"I was saying," she began pointedly. "It's probably a good idea that we should open this only to the students that haven't joined the DA yet; that's still quite a significant number. I just can't figure out why they weren't interested before.
"I'll bet they are now." Ron added darkly.
Hermione nodded her head in resigned agreement. "Besides, you saw how many unprepared students snuck out to fight; it was –"
"Appalling." Ron said.
"Precisely. But we still have to make sure that we aren't just training people who will end up attempting to kill us."
Harry nodded his head as Draco's words ran through his mind. If Death Eater wannabes were in practically every house, they had more than likely failed in that regard.
"So basically, we teach the ones that aren't banged up and stayed inside cowering?" Ron asked.
"In a manner of speaking," Hermione said delicately in a displeased voice.
"We'll still need the others to cover them all properly."
"In two weeks though?" Harry rubbed his forehead. "It took us awhile to even get the basics of some things. Granted there was heavier emphasis on general wand movement and such a good while before the attack –"
"And that is precisely why it won't take as long," Hermione said firmly. "All we have to focus on is the actually spell, jinx, curse or whatever. Flitwick has done a marvellous job of teaching correct wand movement and improving the sloppy ones." She glanced at Ron.
"Oi! You fixed that for me long before Flitwick did!" he protested with a grin.
"Anyway, as we will be teaching completely fresh, we should have a particular emphasis on the Patronus charm, defensive and offensive spells and a few nasty hexs, curses and jinxes. We all know that Voldemort has the Dementors on his side now; only he hasn't used them yet. When he gets desperate enough –"
"Something wrong, mate?" Ron asked, peering at Harry.
Harry looked up to find both Ron and Hermione staring at him. He was still rubbing his forehead absently.
"Is something wrong Harry?" Hermione asked quietly.
"No, I'm fine." He lied, snatching his hand away.
"Aw, come on Harry," Ron groaned. "You really have to stop doing that."
"Ron's right. I know you don't want to worry us but you were rubbing your scar without realizing it."
Harry cursed mentally; that's what he got for zoning out like that.
"Was it You-Know-Who?" Ron asked in a quiet voice.
"No. Yes." Harry said in a rush, confusing himself. "I don't know."
"Think for a moment Harry. It will come to you." Hermione said quietly.
Harry sagged against his seat, hand returning to rub his forehead absently. Zoning out used to be a very dangerous thing for him to do; it allowed Voldemort right inside his head. But since he had, thankfully, managed to master Occlumeny under Snape's tutelage it never occurred again. His defences were unconsciously maintained now but he could sometimes feel some faint detached emotion that he supposed was Voldemort's. Taking a deep breath, he allowed his defences to drop for a moment.
In that one moment he was lashed with white-hot rage. It struck hard and fast, startling him out of his seat to spill to the floor. He winced and pressed his palm to his scar, immediately raising the barriers in his mind once more. It stemmed the flow but now he could feel it lashing against them, as if seeking to possess him. Ron and Hermione were beside him in a moment, helping to sit back up.
"What was it Harry?" Ron and Hermione both asked at the same time.
He stumbled for words. "Voldemort... furious... Dumbledore... MacNair..." he was having trouble making sense of the chaotic words and images that had assaulted him like a vortex.
"Dumbledore?!" Hermione said sharply. "Ron can you –"
"On it!" Ron replied.
Harry watched as Ron's magical eye swivelled up and away to the back of his head. It was quite nauseating to see. It was a good thing there wasn't much of dinner left in his stomach, otherwise he would have brought it all back up.
"There's some sort of commotion in Dumbledore's office." Ron frowned as if concentrating. "There's someone in there and they look like hell. They're bringing them down now." His brow furrowed once more. "Bloody hell, get out of the way Snape," he mumbled. "They're clutching... it looks like a spoon."
"Clutching a spoon?" Harry mumbled. "Why would they..."
He sat up stiffly. It was two days later, just what Lucius had said. He scrambled from the chair suddenly, bolting from the room with his Invisibility Cloak forgotten with Ron running right after him and Hermione attempting to stuff everything in her bookbag while following them. By the time he reached his quarters, he found Dumbledore and Snape standing outside it attempting to get inside.
"I'm telling you that Harry is –" Bucephalus began.
"Open!" Harry bellowed, startling both Dumbledore and Snape.
Bucephalus swung open immediately. He ran right past them, looking around the parlour before bursting into his bedroom. Ernesto gave a small squeak of surprise from the window.
- Sorry! I just wanted to look outside and – - his words were cut off as Harry bound forward, seized his hand and started dragging him behind him.
Snape and Dumbledore were in the hallway when he came back out as were Ron and Hermione while Ernesto was struggling.
- Wait one moment! - he dug his heels in. - Just what the Devil is going on?! I want some Goddamned answers! Now! -
- She's here. - Harry said simply.
Ernesto didn't say anything for a moment. - Here? -
- That's what they, - he jabbed his thumb at Dumbledore and Snape. - Were here to tell us. Only my friends, - he gestured to Ron and Hermione. - Told me first. -
"Valencia?" he asked haltingly, looking between Dumbledore and Snape.
Dumbledore nodded his head gravely and gestured to the door. Ernesto was out of it before anyone could really say anything. Dumbledore followed after him, leaving Harry, Snape, Hermione and Ron alone. What surprised him was that Hermione and Snape were pointedly not looking at one another. Hermione was able to meet Snape's gaze before. He looked at Ron in puzzlement before Snape spoke.
"You two, leave. And you Potter, are you just going to dither there like a simpleton or are you not going, you heartless creature?"
Harry scowled slightly at Snape while Ron and Hermione gave him an apologetic look and quickly made themselves scarce. "That's a bit rich coming from the likes of you."
Snape glared at him for a long moment but didn't dock points or say something nasty. He simply motioned curtly and started walking. Harry left the room and quickly overtook him. He didn't bother to see if Snape was coming to the infirmary and he didn't really care. But if Valencia was damaged in any sort of way, he'd make Voldemort completely regret every single thing he did.