Disclaimer: I don't own it (obviously)
WARNING: This is SLASH. If you do not like slash or don't know what it is then
LEAVE NOW!
AN: Okay, first of all I am sooooooooooo sorry it took me so long to update this chapter, but I have a good reason I SWEAR! Before you kill me hear me out.
My stupid, brainless little brother BROKE OUR COMPUTER! We just got a new comp a few weeks ago but I was doing final projects and studying for my exams so that's why I haven't updated until now.
Also, I just got back my trip to Nova Scotia. So before we left, I was packing for like 5 days and cleaning up the house. The only time I got to do something I actually wanted to do was the night before we left. So I thought that since we were leaving at 5 in the morning that it would be pointless for me to go to sleep because it was 11 o clock then. So I was typing up this chapter but when it was like 1 o clock, I knew I wasn't going to finish typing it, plus I was dead tired. Instead I posted my 'little product of insanity', Just Thought you Should Know, because I could type it in like 5 mins tops.
Chapter 4: The Imposter"MALFOY!"
Said blond haired boy looked across the large room to the bed that Harry was currently occupying. "Oh, you're awake. Since you didn't answer I thought that you were still asleep."
Harry stared at his long time enemy with his mouth hanging open and the boy walked further into the room. He was totally speechless. Where the heck was he and why, wherever he was, was Malfoy there too. But what shocked him the most was that his rival was actually speaking to him without insulting him.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry growled finally as Draco walked up to the bed and placed a tray onto the bedside table.
"What am I doing here?" Draco said sarcastically. " I live here, Harry. That's what I'm doing here."
'WHAT? He was in Malfoy's house? How the bloody hell did that happen?' Harry gaped openly at the boy standing next to him and tried to remember how he could have ended up here. 'Maybe I was kidnapped and Malfoy is holding me here until Voldemort comes. Or maybe whatever is on that tray, Malfoy is going to use to kill me. Or…Wait…did he just call me HARRY?'
"Here, eat this. It's already past noon and you're probably starving." Harry was dragged out of his thoughts as a tray, with what looked to be soup was placed on his lap.
Harry's earlier thoughts popped back into his head, and Harry wondered whether the food was poisoned. 'Well I'm not going to take any chances either way. Even if I haven't eaten in five days.'
Harry's stomach growled loudly as the delicious aroma of the food sitting in front of him filled his senses. Draco just raised one blond eyebrow as Harry's stomach proved his earlier statement.
"Well, aren't you going to eat?"
"I'm not eating anything you give me Malfoy. Who knows what you could have done to it. Why don't you just kill me off now, or are you waiting for Voldemort to come and finish me off?"
"Why would I want to kill you when I'm on your side?" Draco asked with a hint of a smile on his face. Deciding he didn't want to stand anymore, Draco hopped onto the bed and sat cross-legged facing Harry.
"WHAT!" Harry yelled, leaning against the headboard, trying to get as far away from Draco as possible. "That's bullshit Malfoy. Everyone knows your father is a Death Eater. You prance around the school preaching Voldemort's views on muggles and ways to kill them. You can't seriously expect me to believe you're on my side."
"Tsk, tsk Potter. Is that any way to treat your savior?" The familiar sneer was back on Drano's face as he tried to gauge Harry's reaction to what he had said. 'This may be harder than I thought.'
"My what?" Harry spat, glaring at Draco again. "Since when did you save…"
Images of a beautiful pale face leaning over him, flashed through Harry's mind as he remember the events before he passed out.
'Oh. My. God.' Thought Harry scrunching his face as the images passed. 'Those gates must have been the gates leading to Malfoy Manor. Dammit! Of all the places I could have ended up it had to be where Malfoy lived.'
Draco watched Harry's face as a series of emotions flashed across it. Harry was so easy to read it wasn't even funny.
"If you are referring to the person who found you half dead, sprawled in front of their gates, and brought you home so you wouldn't die…yeah that's me." Draco responded, ticking the facts off in his fingers.
Harry was once again speechless. 'Half dead? I'm not that badly hurt, am I?' Harry gingerly touched the wound on the back of his head thoughtfully. 'Maybe the wound is worse than I thought.'
When Harry turned his attention back towards the gray-eyed boy, Draco was staring at Harry as if expecting a reply. Harry frowned at the boy sitting across from him, and crossed his arms across his chest in defiance.
"Well that still doesn't mean I'm going to eat anything you've given me," Harry sneered at the blond. "Even if you don't want to kill me, your father is still a Death Eater."
"My father is not a Death Eater. He is a spy for Dumbledore and the order." Draco explained, matching Harry's gaze calmly. "He just pretends to hate muggles. It's all an act."
Harry snorted at Draco's response. "Ya right Malfoy. Like I'd believe anything you, or you father, says."
Draco sighed loudly and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Well what would it take for you to believe me?"
Harry glared at the blond and tried to decide why Malfoy cared whether he believed him in the first place. 'It's probably some major plan to make me an easier target for Voldemort.'
Draco tilted his head back down and raised an elegant eyebrow at Harry. "Well?"
"Proof," Harry responded. "I want proof that your father isn't a Death Eater."
"Is that all?"
At Harry's slight nod, Draco laughed and got up off the bed. "Well then that's easy enough."
Draco walked over to the fireplace where a bright fire was dancing merrily. He reached on top of the mantle, searching for something behind some of the larger artifacts.
"Ahh ha!" Draco exclaimed once he located what he was searching for. He pulled out his arm and in his hand he held a little clear glass container that glittered in the light from the fire. Draco then turned back towards Harry with a triumphant smile on his face. "Would Dumbledore's word be enough proof for you?" He asked Harry sarcastically.
But before Harry could respond, the gray-eyed boy lifted the lid off of the clear container and pulled out a pinch of powder which he threw into the fire.
The flames leapt higher and turned a bright green in response to the powder and the blond cried out, "Albus Dumbledore!"
A couple seconds later, the familiar face of the Hogwarts headmaster appeared in the flames. "Why hello, young Mr. Malfoy. How are you this fine day?" The headmaster's blue eyes twinkled behind his half moon glasses at the boy in front of him and a warm smile graced his features.
Draco knelt down to be at the old man's level and replied with a smile of his own. "Very well thank you, Headmaster."
"And to what, Draco, do I owe this visit?"
"Well…" Draco started as he sat more comfortably on the hard wood floor, "you were informed about our visitor, am I correct?"
"Ahh yes, Mr. Potter I believe." Dumbledore frowned, twinkle in his eyes dimming slightly, and craned his neck around as far as his could while his body was miles away. "How is Mr. Potter doing?"
"He just woke up actually," Draco responded as he glanced back at Harry who was listening intently from his position in the bed. "In fact, he is the reason I firecalled you."
"Oh is it now?" the Headmaster asked, the twinkle dimming even more and the worry he felt for Harry showing clearly on his aged face.
"Yes. It seems Potter over there didn't believe me when I told him that my father was innocent," Draco explained. "He seems to want proof. So I thought, 'Well why not get the Headmaster's word. That ought to be proof enough for him.'"
The headmaster chuckled from his place in the middle of the fire as the twinkle in his eyes returned, before fixing his gaze back on Draco. "Yes, well Mr. Potter always was one not to trust too quickly. Am I right Harry?" Dumbledore said, now directing his question across the room.
Harry snorted at the obvious understatement. ' 'Not one to trust too quickly…' ya, and Snape's hair isn't that greasy,' Harry thought, but out loud he said, "Well how else am I supposed to act when Voldemort's death eaters could be anyone."
Dumbledore nodded his head at Harry's response and turned towards the bed that he now knew Harry was on. "Well you don't have to worry about Lucius Malfoy being a death eater, Harry." Draco nodded his head in agreement to Dumbledore's words. "Lucius had been a spy for me since the first war. The only reason he has been acting so cold all these years after Voldemort's downfall was because I knew Voldemort would rise again and that I would need Lucius to spy for me once again."
Harry just stared at the head of Professor Dumbledore in suspicion. 'I guess that makes sense…' Harry scrunched up his face in thought, trying to fir the pieces into place. 'Dumbledore wouldn't lie to me about something of this magnitude. Unless this isn't really Dumbledore.'
"How do I know you're the real Albus Dumbledore?" Harry voiced his suspicion.
On the floor, Draco rolled his eyes and grinned at the situation. 'Dumbledore wasn't kidding about Harry being slow to trust people.'
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brightly at both Draco's amusement and Harry's suspicion. "Well then Harry, why don't you ask me a question that only the real Albus Dumbledore would know?"
It took Harry awhile to think of a good question to ask, if he really wanted his question to prove whether or not Dumbledore was an impostor, he knew the question had better be good. At first he was going to ask the headmaster about the Prophesy because only himself and Dumbledore knew the full prophesy. But that idea was shot when Harry really thought about it. Asking about the Prophesy wouldn't be a good idea for two reasons. The first being that: if this was Dumbledore or not, both he and the death eaters would know at least some of the prophesy because Voldemort knew about the prophesy too. The second was that if Harry did ask Dumbledore about the prophesy, Malfoy was sitting right there, and for all Harry knew, Draco could be a death eater as well as his father. So left with no other choice, Harry decided to ask this 'Dumbledore', if that's who he was, something that he himself had long forgotten.
Harry looked back over at the pair who had been watching him for the past five minutes. One was blissfully unaware of anything around him as he hummed a happy tune, (Harry suspected that if he had the use of his thumbs, Dumbledore would be twiddling them) and the other was sitting cross-legged on the floor staring lazily at Harry through half-lidded eyes.
Harry glared at this person, then turned to the man in the fire and broke the silence. "I've made my decision."
This brought Dumbledore back to the present. He turned his head towards Harry expectedly and the boy beside him threw his arms into the air as he cried out, "Finally!"
"Well, what is your question Harry?"
"If you are really Dumbledore, then you are aware of the events of my first year, right?" Harry asked while carefully examining the Headmaster's facial expression.
Dumbledore's face immediately sobered, clearly remembering the events Harry was referring to. "Ah…I believe you mean the philosopher's stone."
Harry nodded his head but Draco responded first, snorting in disbelief. "That, was your question! It took you that long to think up of that pathetic question!"
Harry rolled his eyes and snorted as well. "No! I'm not that stupid, despite what you may think." Turning back to Dumbledore he said, "My question is, 'How did I retrieve the stone from the Mirror of Erised?' If you are really Dumbledore, you should know the answer since it was you who explained it to me in the first place."
Dumbledore nodded his head solemnly but Draco stared at the other two wizards in the room with an expression of pure confusion on his face. He turned to gaze questionably at the headmaster but the aged man just shook his head at Draco and faced Harry once again.
"You were able to pull the stone from the mirror because only someone who wanted the stone but wouldn't use it for their own selfish needs could obtain it."
Harry nodded his head, happy with the response, and leaned back against the headboard to get into a more comfortable position after sitting so tense for the whole conversation. "Fine," Harry responded in a monotone voice, "so I guess you are the real Albus Dumbledore"
"Okay…" Draco said, getting up from his position on the floor. "Now that that's over with, you…" he pointed at Harry, "have your proof and you also know that this man…" Draco paused as he then gestured to the headmaster, "is the real Albus Dumbledore and not an imposter. Do you believe me yet?"
Harry stared at the blond and rolled his eyes at Draco's stance. He was standing by the fire with the funniest look of exasperation on his face, and was gesturing wildly with his arms as he spoke "Ya, sure whatever," Harry responded finally.
From his place in the fire, Dumbledore's face lit up as he exclaimed, "Brilliant! Well then, I'll just be going now. Much to do you know?"
"WAIT!" Harry shouted, sitting straight up in his bed, praying that the Headmaster hadn't yet disappeared from the fire.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Take me with you!" Harry pleaded, hoping beyond hope that the Headmaster would agree. But his face fell when the Headmaster responded with a look of amusement in his eyes.
"I'm sorry Harry, but you will be safe here and I'm sure the Malfoy's will take care of you."
"But why can't I go to the Burrow?" Harry questioned in disbelief. 'I do not want to spend the rest of my summer here!'
"Once again. I'm sorry Harry," Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eyes disappearing, "but the Weasleys are at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and I'm sure that that is the last place you want to be right now."
Harry froze the instant that the Headmaster said, 'Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix'. He threw his hands over his ears and tried not to think about Sirius. 'Shut up, shut up, shut up! Don't think about Sirius! Don't think about the Order! Don't think about Sirius being stuck there and how trapped he felt. Don't…'
"Aghh!" he groaned. He couldn't help it. The more he tried to not think of Sirius, the more thoughts of his godfather popped into his head. Tears once again prickled at the corners of Harry's eyes, threatening to fall if he didn't stop thinking of Sirius soon. Harry rubbed his hands over his eyes furiously, trying to stop them from falling, but it was no use. The tears fell and nothing Harry could do would stop them. He put his head in his arms, trying to salvage the little dignity he had left. 'I can't let HIM see me cry. I can't!"
Meanwhile, the other two occupants of the room were staring at Harry, worry in both their eyes.
"Uhh?" Draco murmured quietly, as he watched a lone tear slip between Harry's fingers before his face was blocked form view by his trembling arms. "Is he going to be alright?"
Dumbledore sighed as he too wondered the same thing. "I hope so Draco. I hope so." With that said, the Headmaster nodded his goodbye to Draco and disappeared from the fireplace without a sound.
Draco stood in front of the slowly dying fire awkwardly and desperately wishing that Dumbledore hadn't left him to deal with this situation alone.
The only sounds in the room, besides those coming from the fire, were the occasional strangled sob in the direction of the bed where Harry was trying get his emotions under control.
After some time, when Harry's sobs had dwindled down to only a few, Draco moved from where he was standing and walked cautiously towards the bed. When he had reached the bed, Harry lifted his head from his arms. He looked at Draco with one watery eye then placed his head back on top of his arms.
"Is Dumbledore gone?" came a muffled question from the vicinity of Harry's arms, that broke the silence.
Taking this as an invitation, Draco slowly lowered himself onto the end of the bed before responding.
"Ya." Draco paused searching for a reaction from Harry. But when the green-eyed boy didn't move an inch he continued his quiet response. "He left about ten minutes ago. After…well, you know," Draco ended, awkwardly glancing at Harry.
Harry snorted and lifted his head to wipe away any stray tears, then placed his chin atop his arms instead. "Ya I know."
Draco watched Harry as his breath returned to normal and the red in his green depths lessened. But the silence still stretched on, unwavering in its intensity. Even the fire seemed to have stopped crackling as much and was soon to be completely extinguished.
Draco fidgeted in his place on the bed and twisted his hands nervously in the sheets. Harry still hadn't moved from his position, let alone said a word, while his eyes gazed unseeingly at nothing that was in the room.
Tired of the unending silence, Draco looked around the enormous room desperately trying to think of something to say. Anything to break the tension in the air. His eyes then landed in the bowl of soup that was on the bedside table, still steaming because of the warming charm that had been placed on it.
"Are you going to eat your soup?" Draco asked the unresponsive boy who didn't seem to have heard. Draco looked worriedly at the black haired boy sitting morosely in front of him once again. When Harry showed no signs of having heard Draco's question, the silver-eyed boy prodded lightly at Harry's shoulder, saying his name softly.
This time Harry looked up into Draco's face and their eyes met. One set full of worry and the other full of immense sadness.
"Yah?" Harry responded quietly, breaking eye contact and moving on to stare at the obviously very interesting bed sheets.
"I said, 'Are you going to eat your soup?' I'm not sure how long the charm will last so you better eat it before it cools down."
"I'm not hungry," was Harry's response.
Draco looked unbelieving at the depressed boy. 'Not forty minutes ago his stomach was growling and not he's "not hungry" ya right.'
"Come on, Harry. I know that that's a lie. You haven't eaten all day. I'm even hungry and I just ate lunch a few hours ago." Draco said, trying to convince the other boy to eat.
"Well then you eat it."
Draco suppressed a growl at that. Harry was really starting to annoy him. Here he was, all worried about the boy's sanity and Harry was either giving him half-hearted responses or ignoring him completely. Draco opened his mouth, about to give Harry a piece of his mind when there was a knock on the door.
MGAMGAMGAMGAMGAAN: Yeah for me! Another chapter done!
Now down to business. This is obviously OOC now. I mean can you really imagine the Draco in the books hoping onto a bed let alone actually being somewhat nice to Harry. Also when I wrote this I was just guessing at how Harry would react to Sirius' death, but now that the new book is out, how Harry reacts is OOC too. And I hadn't even meant for Harry to start crying again, it just kind of happened that way.
Oh, and just out of curiosity, how many people got the new book and read it all the first day like I did. ; Though I did have a 30 hour car ride with nothing to do but listen to music.
THANX to all who reviewed, I like getting reviews. And so far NO FLAMES! I'm so proud. )
Master-of-Wind - as you can tell from this chapter, Draco had a reason to bring Harry inside. He's not evil!
MSII – Thanx for the tip. I hadn't even realized that I wasn't allowing anonymous reviewers
Tink – all I have to say is: Ouch!
princess kyra – Hee, hee. Harry kinda freaked out didn't he.