Chapter 6: Dinner with the MALFOYS
Back upstairs in his room, Harry told Ron what he just had heard from Snape. They were both amazed, that their Potions Master was a spy.
Then, Harry thought about his disagreement with Ron, from the night before.
"Hey Ron." he began. ".listen. I´m very sorry I didn´t trust you with my problems - "
"Forget about it Harry. Let´s just forget it."
"Thanks", said Harry with a broad grin, to Ron.
After a moment of silence, Harry asked Ron: "What about your holidays with Hermione? Where they fine? I mean. what did you do, ´cause Ginny told you´d been busy all day."
"Ehm. actually. I was just helping Hermione a little with her S.P.E.W. stuff. You know, making badges, drawing posters, knitting clothes and other things like that."
"But Ron, since when are you interested in S.P.E.W.? You always laughed about it!"
"I-I just understood the meaning of it now."
Harry looked into Ron´s eyes, but Ron tried to avoid Harry´s gaze. Now Harry understood! "You´ve fallen in love with Hermione! Of course, how could I´ve been so stupid?"
Ron´s face changed into deep purple and his answer came much too fast. "No!"
Harry grinned at his blushing friend and knew at once, that he was right. He didn´t ask any further, because he didn´t want another raw with his best friend.
They went downstairs together and headed for the kitchen, where the breakfast was ready. A small table, full of bread, jam and cheese, was waiting for them. There were only tablesets for two persons, but neither Harry nor Ron cared. After a wonderful tasty breakfast, the two boys started inspecting the house. Downstairs, they found two large dungeons, one containing ingredients for potions and the other looking very similar to Snape´s office at Hogwarts. Then on the ground, there was the kitchen, a bathroom and the Entrance Hall. On the first floor, where their bedroom was, were another empty room and a second bathroom. On the second floor, every door was locked. Harry and Ron were sure, that the doors lead to Snape´s dormitory.
At ten o´clock, Harry and Ron were lying on their beds, finishing the last part of their homeworks. They heard footsteps coming upstairs and suddenly, Professor Snape entered the room.
"Potter! Come down with me! Your Occlumency lesson starts now!"
Harry quickly said ´Goodbye´ to Ron and followed Snape downstairs into the dungeons.
The procedure was the same as every time. Snape´s thoughtw were once again transferred into the Pensieve and he was pointing his wand at Harry.
"Now. you know what you´ve gotta do! Close your mind, free yourself from emotions and clear all the thoughts in your head!"
Snape raised his wand high in the air and said: "Legilimens!" Harry expected to see memories inside his head, as usual when the spell lasted on him, but to his own surprise, nothing happened.
Snape shot a shocked look at Harry. "Well done, Potter. That war surely just luck. I wasn´t concentrating hard enough. Let´s try again!"
Pictures were floating in front of his eyes once more. Snape´s cry came too suddenly and Harry didn´t have a chance to prepare for the attack. It was as if Harry had a movie inside his head and now he saw the two dreams he had, very clear in front of his eyes.
The sight of these pictures was unbearable and with a loud yell, Harry found himself lying face down on the floor. A strong hand put Harry back to his feet and Snape´s voice roared angrily:
"Potter! Please, try at least to concentrate!"
"Yes, Sir", said Harry.
And for an hour, the Occlumency lesson was going on. Sometimes, Harry succeeded in throwing the spell off after several moments and for the last few minutes, Snape wasn´t able to enter his mind at all. "Well Potter, enough practise for today. Upstairs with you know! I´ll call you for lunch."
Harry went upstairs to his room and opened the door without a noise. He didn´t believe what he saw there. Ron was lying on Harry´s bed, reading the answer Harry wrote for Ginny. The other letters he got from Ginny, were lying on the pillow.
"RON! What the hell are you doing?" Harry was very angry and tried hard not to hit Ron in the face.
"Oh. hi Harry! I-I was j-just wo-wondering what you could tell my sister", stumbled Ron with redening ears.
Harry went over to him, took the letter out of his hand and tied it to Hedwig´s leg.
"It´s none of your business!", said Harry. Hedwig soared through the open window with out-stretched wings, appearingly happy to escape from her angry owner.
Harry felt disappointment closing around his heart. He thought he could trust Ron, but now this was impossible. With all his might, he ignored Ron´s attempts to apology.
"Anyway, what are you so angry about? There wasn´t anything private in that letter! But maybe. Harry, I saw you write this answer. It´s just, well you had an odd look on your face."
"How come? Tell me!" asked Harry surprised.
"Well. every time you read one of Ginny´s letters and every time you´re writing an answer, you smile and your eyes are shining. It was just the same thing as you liked Cho. You wear the same expression on your face."
Harry felt his face become very warm and he knew he was blushing.
"Why do you have to mention Cho now? I´ve forgotten her, okay? It didn´t work between us, do you understand? I don´t wanna talk about this anymore."
"Yeah, but it seems to work between you and Ginny, right?"
"Right - er, NO!" How stupid Harry felt now, he stepped into Ron´s trap. Yes, there were odd feelings when he thought of Ginny. But she said to Hermione that she had given Harry up.
Ron was grinning. "So, is my little sister more than just a friend to you?"
"Listen, Ron! I don´t know. And even if it was so, it wouldn´t have got anything to do with you, alright?"
"Hey! You´re talking about my sister! Of course that´s got something to do with me."
"Well, think of it what you want!"
After this statement, they were both silent and each tried to avoid the other one´s look. Harry snatched his copy of ´Hogwarts: A history´ and began reading, while Ron read a magazine.
After some time, there was a knock on the door and Snape called them for lunch. Without speaking, they followed him downstairs, into the kitchen. The table was once more just made for two persons. Harry and Ron began to eat and still nobody dared to make a start to clear their raw out.
Just as Ron and Harry wanted to leave the kitchen, Snape entered and said:
"Just stay for a moment. I want to tell you a few things! First of all, Molly Weasley has already bought your schoolbooks in Diagon Alley and sent them here by Floo Powder. Then of course, you´ll return to platform nine and three quarters to take the Hogwarts Express. The second thing is, you might´ve been wondering, why I didn´t join your meals. Well, I think neither you nor I would´ve had much fun. So, I rather left you alone. And the last and most important thing I want you to know is, that today Lucius Malfoy and his family will come to dinner. I want you to stay in your room and pretend you´re not there. It´s very important they don´t notice your presence, otherwise we will all be in great danger!"
"But how is that possible? Lucius Malfoy is a prisoner in Azkaban!"
"The Dementors left Azkaban, to serve the Dark Lord. So his Death Eaters were able to escape."
Harry and Ron understood the importance of this matter. If Malfoy´d notice something, Snape was running danger to be killed, because he´s betraying Voldemort.
When they were back in their room, they had come to a silent agreement, that their quarrel was over. There were more important things to do. They spent the day playing wizard´s chess or Exploding Snap.
At dinnertime, Snape sent two plates with Sandwiches up to their room. Harry was wondering, what had become of Kreacher, the Black´s houselve, now Sirius was dead.
"Hey Ron! What if Kreacher tells the Malfoys about the Order or their Headquarters?"
"Oh, that´s never going to happen, because Snape used a charm and modified Kreacher´s memory. Kreacher is now working for the Malfoys."
"Ok, that´s fine. So the Order is still secret and safe."
And they both began eating. At eight o´clock in the evening, they heard the doorbell ring and the door being opened.
"I would like to hear what they´re talking about", said Harry hopefully.
"Frend and George gave me these" and Ron took out two pairs of Extendable Ears.
Harry put one of them in his ear and the other crawled under the door. Now they were able to hear every single word of the conversation.
"Hello Severus" they hear Lucius Malfoy say.
"Good evening!"
"How´s business going on?"
"Fine, couldn´t be better."
"I guess you know my wife Narcissa and Draco, my son."
"Of course I do. Draco´s my best student. Please, follow me into the living room."
During dinner, there wasn´t much conversation. Around ten o´clock, Lucius Malfoy said:
"Please Narcissa, take Draco home. Severus and I have to discuss something very important!"
Harry and Ron were now listening very eagerly, not to miss a word. After Draco and his mother left, Malfoy said to Snape:
"Well Severus, you know, now that our weapon is ready, your Mr.Potter might be killed very soon. You as a Hogwarts teacher might become very useful for the Dark Lord. You´ll be rewarded of course!"
"I will help our master if he wants me to do so. I want to see this boy dead as quickly as possible!"
And both laughed very loud.
Ron and Harry were shocked. They were looking at each other and had a frightended expression on their face. What were they going to do now? Would Snape really kill Harry? And was he now spying on him for Voldemort? Could Snape betray Dumbledore? So many questions were appearing inside Harry´s mind as he was sitting on his bed. He was breathless and didn´t move. Ron cast a fearful look at Harry.
"Don´t look at me like that. I´m not dead yet!"
Ron turned away from Harry and decided to leave him alone and not talk.
Back upstairs in his room, Harry told Ron what he just had heard from Snape. They were both amazed, that their Potions Master was a spy.
Then, Harry thought about his disagreement with Ron, from the night before.
"Hey Ron." he began. ".listen. I´m very sorry I didn´t trust you with my problems - "
"Forget about it Harry. Let´s just forget it."
"Thanks", said Harry with a broad grin, to Ron.
After a moment of silence, Harry asked Ron: "What about your holidays with Hermione? Where they fine? I mean. what did you do, ´cause Ginny told you´d been busy all day."
"Ehm. actually. I was just helping Hermione a little with her S.P.E.W. stuff. You know, making badges, drawing posters, knitting clothes and other things like that."
"But Ron, since when are you interested in S.P.E.W.? You always laughed about it!"
"I-I just understood the meaning of it now."
Harry looked into Ron´s eyes, but Ron tried to avoid Harry´s gaze. Now Harry understood! "You´ve fallen in love with Hermione! Of course, how could I´ve been so stupid?"
Ron´s face changed into deep purple and his answer came much too fast. "No!"
Harry grinned at his blushing friend and knew at once, that he was right. He didn´t ask any further, because he didn´t want another raw with his best friend.
They went downstairs together and headed for the kitchen, where the breakfast was ready. A small table, full of bread, jam and cheese, was waiting for them. There were only tablesets for two persons, but neither Harry nor Ron cared. After a wonderful tasty breakfast, the two boys started inspecting the house. Downstairs, they found two large dungeons, one containing ingredients for potions and the other looking very similar to Snape´s office at Hogwarts. Then on the ground, there was the kitchen, a bathroom and the Entrance Hall. On the first floor, where their bedroom was, were another empty room and a second bathroom. On the second floor, every door was locked. Harry and Ron were sure, that the doors lead to Snape´s dormitory.
At ten o´clock, Harry and Ron were lying on their beds, finishing the last part of their homeworks. They heard footsteps coming upstairs and suddenly, Professor Snape entered the room.
"Potter! Come down with me! Your Occlumency lesson starts now!"
Harry quickly said ´Goodbye´ to Ron and followed Snape downstairs into the dungeons.
The procedure was the same as every time. Snape´s thoughtw were once again transferred into the Pensieve and he was pointing his wand at Harry.
"Now. you know what you´ve gotta do! Close your mind, free yourself from emotions and clear all the thoughts in your head!"
Snape raised his wand high in the air and said: "Legilimens!" Harry expected to see memories inside his head, as usual when the spell lasted on him, but to his own surprise, nothing happened.
Snape shot a shocked look at Harry. "Well done, Potter. That war surely just luck. I wasn´t concentrating hard enough. Let´s try again!"
Pictures were floating in front of his eyes once more. Snape´s cry came too suddenly and Harry didn´t have a chance to prepare for the attack. It was as if Harry had a movie inside his head and now he saw the two dreams he had, very clear in front of his eyes.
The sight of these pictures was unbearable and with a loud yell, Harry found himself lying face down on the floor. A strong hand put Harry back to his feet and Snape´s voice roared angrily:
"Potter! Please, try at least to concentrate!"
"Yes, Sir", said Harry.
And for an hour, the Occlumency lesson was going on. Sometimes, Harry succeeded in throwing the spell off after several moments and for the last few minutes, Snape wasn´t able to enter his mind at all. "Well Potter, enough practise for today. Upstairs with you know! I´ll call you for lunch."
Harry went upstairs to his room and opened the door without a noise. He didn´t believe what he saw there. Ron was lying on Harry´s bed, reading the answer Harry wrote for Ginny. The other letters he got from Ginny, were lying on the pillow.
"RON! What the hell are you doing?" Harry was very angry and tried hard not to hit Ron in the face.
"Oh. hi Harry! I-I was j-just wo-wondering what you could tell my sister", stumbled Ron with redening ears.
Harry went over to him, took the letter out of his hand and tied it to Hedwig´s leg.
"It´s none of your business!", said Harry. Hedwig soared through the open window with out-stretched wings, appearingly happy to escape from her angry owner.
Harry felt disappointment closing around his heart. He thought he could trust Ron, but now this was impossible. With all his might, he ignored Ron´s attempts to apology.
"Anyway, what are you so angry about? There wasn´t anything private in that letter! But maybe. Harry, I saw you write this answer. It´s just, well you had an odd look on your face."
"How come? Tell me!" asked Harry surprised.
"Well. every time you read one of Ginny´s letters and every time you´re writing an answer, you smile and your eyes are shining. It was just the same thing as you liked Cho. You wear the same expression on your face."
Harry felt his face become very warm and he knew he was blushing.
"Why do you have to mention Cho now? I´ve forgotten her, okay? It didn´t work between us, do you understand? I don´t wanna talk about this anymore."
"Yeah, but it seems to work between you and Ginny, right?"
"Right - er, NO!" How stupid Harry felt now, he stepped into Ron´s trap. Yes, there were odd feelings when he thought of Ginny. But she said to Hermione that she had given Harry up.
Ron was grinning. "So, is my little sister more than just a friend to you?"
"Listen, Ron! I don´t know. And even if it was so, it wouldn´t have got anything to do with you, alright?"
"Hey! You´re talking about my sister! Of course that´s got something to do with me."
"Well, think of it what you want!"
After this statement, they were both silent and each tried to avoid the other one´s look. Harry snatched his copy of ´Hogwarts: A history´ and began reading, while Ron read a magazine.
After some time, there was a knock on the door and Snape called them for lunch. Without speaking, they followed him downstairs, into the kitchen. The table was once more just made for two persons. Harry and Ron began to eat and still nobody dared to make a start to clear their raw out.
Just as Ron and Harry wanted to leave the kitchen, Snape entered and said:
"Just stay for a moment. I want to tell you a few things! First of all, Molly Weasley has already bought your schoolbooks in Diagon Alley and sent them here by Floo Powder. Then of course, you´ll return to platform nine and three quarters to take the Hogwarts Express. The second thing is, you might´ve been wondering, why I didn´t join your meals. Well, I think neither you nor I would´ve had much fun. So, I rather left you alone. And the last and most important thing I want you to know is, that today Lucius Malfoy and his family will come to dinner. I want you to stay in your room and pretend you´re not there. It´s very important they don´t notice your presence, otherwise we will all be in great danger!"
"But how is that possible? Lucius Malfoy is a prisoner in Azkaban!"
"The Dementors left Azkaban, to serve the Dark Lord. So his Death Eaters were able to escape."
Harry and Ron understood the importance of this matter. If Malfoy´d notice something, Snape was running danger to be killed, because he´s betraying Voldemort.
When they were back in their room, they had come to a silent agreement, that their quarrel was over. There were more important things to do. They spent the day playing wizard´s chess or Exploding Snap.
At dinnertime, Snape sent two plates with Sandwiches up to their room. Harry was wondering, what had become of Kreacher, the Black´s houselve, now Sirius was dead.
"Hey Ron! What if Kreacher tells the Malfoys about the Order or their Headquarters?"
"Oh, that´s never going to happen, because Snape used a charm and modified Kreacher´s memory. Kreacher is now working for the Malfoys."
"Ok, that´s fine. So the Order is still secret and safe."
And they both began eating. At eight o´clock in the evening, they heard the doorbell ring and the door being opened.
"I would like to hear what they´re talking about", said Harry hopefully.
"Frend and George gave me these" and Ron took out two pairs of Extendable Ears.
Harry put one of them in his ear and the other crawled under the door. Now they were able to hear every single word of the conversation.
"Hello Severus" they hear Lucius Malfoy say.
"Good evening!"
"How´s business going on?"
"Fine, couldn´t be better."
"I guess you know my wife Narcissa and Draco, my son."
"Of course I do. Draco´s my best student. Please, follow me into the living room."
During dinner, there wasn´t much conversation. Around ten o´clock, Lucius Malfoy said:
"Please Narcissa, take Draco home. Severus and I have to discuss something very important!"
Harry and Ron were now listening very eagerly, not to miss a word. After Draco and his mother left, Malfoy said to Snape:
"Well Severus, you know, now that our weapon is ready, your Mr.Potter might be killed very soon. You as a Hogwarts teacher might become very useful for the Dark Lord. You´ll be rewarded of course!"
"I will help our master if he wants me to do so. I want to see this boy dead as quickly as possible!"
And both laughed very loud.
Ron and Harry were shocked. They were looking at each other and had a frightended expression on their face. What were they going to do now? Would Snape really kill Harry? And was he now spying on him for Voldemort? Could Snape betray Dumbledore? So many questions were appearing inside Harry´s mind as he was sitting on his bed. He was breathless and didn´t move. Ron cast a fearful look at Harry.
"Don´t look at me like that. I´m not dead yet!"
Ron turned away from Harry and decided to leave him alone and not talk.