Chapter 29
The next morning, Ron, Blaise and Pansy were extra chipper as they left their room. It had been a very... eventful night. Blaise had made good on his muttered promise, grabbing up Pansy as soon as they had gotten back to their room after dinner and spanking her soundly as she giggled and shrieked, wriggling around wildly. When that was done, he and Ron set about the task of shagging her over and over again until she could barely move anymore as 'punishment'. Somehow, Ron doubted this would discourage her from breaking Blaise's confidence again in the future, but he kept his opinion to himself.
When they got out into the Common Room, Ron was shocked to find his father waiting for him. "Dad..." He glanced over at Blaise, who was on his arm again. He blushed but made no move to remove his arm from Blaise's grip.
His father got up and came over, giving him a hearty hug. When he released him, he looked over at his companions. "You must be Blaise and Pansy..." He said, smiling at them genially.
They both nodded, looking a bit sheepish. Arthur shook Pansy's hand, then she grabbed Blaise's arm and lifted it a bit. He got the hint and held it out to be shaken, blushing a bit darker.
Arthur shook his hand heartily. "I heard what you did for my boy... I can't thank you enough..." He said earnestly. Ron grinned. He had only ever seen Blaise quite that shade of red when his mum had been doting on him.
"I don't mean to make you uncomfortable... but... could I...?" Arthur asked hesitantly.
Blaise got his meaning, releasing Ron's arm and taking off his glasses, letting Arthur see his eyes. Arthur examined them with a grim look on his face. As Blaise slipped the glasses back on, he gave a little smirk. "Why does everyone insist on seeing my eyes? I mean from what people tell me, there's nothing really spectacular about them..."
Arthur looked suddenly decidedly uncomfortable.
"Dad!"
Arthur turned, seeing Ginny standing behind him, looking far more relieved than he should have as he greeted Ginny with a hug. The other Slytherins were already gathering to head out for breakfast.
"All right, gather up." Snape said briskly, "I won't be accompanying you today, but I'll be along shortly. Your escort is waiting outside."
They were all looking at Mr. Weasley. It wasn't often that people from outside their House entered the Dungeon. When Snape opened the door, they were all even more surprised. The one standing there was about the last one they would ever have expected to be accompanying them. Hagrid!
The Slytherins stood there for a moment, looking a bit stunned.
"A'right then!" Hagrid said in a booming voice, "Move along. Don' have all day to be about it!"
The Slytherins quickly filed out of the door, many of them giving Snape furtive glances as they passed. He just waved them on, then closed the door behind them, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall, obviously waiting.
Ginny was still looking at the door, looking a bit confused. "Why would they pick Hagrid to take the Slytherins? I mean no offense, but he can't even do magic, can he? How could he protect them against a Demon?"
Ron shook his head. "Imagine him possessed by that thing... it gives me shivers."
Draco let out a derisive snort of laughter. "Oh please... the Demon wouldn't touch him. He's half giant!"
Arthur set his jaw, "Well not everyone is so picky about the purity of someone's blood." He said sternly.
Draco smirked. "Are you kidding? Giants absorb magic like a sponge. Not even Demon magic can effect a full blooded one all that much, and it probably wouldn't do too much damage to Hagrid either... And if that thing entered him it wouldn't stand a chance! Not to mention even in a good host they are susceptible to physical attacks... I mean please! If I had to pick someone to help me take down one of those things, I'd pick Hagrid over Dumbledore!"
"Ah... I see... not really my field to be honest... sorry..." Arthur said contritely.
Draco grinned.
"It's... nice to see you again Draco." He said, sounding as if he had to force the sentence out of his mouth. The only times he'd met Draco previously had been under somewhat less than pleasant circumstances, during one of which he'd gotten into a scuffle with Draco's father. It was obviously a bit of an effort to return the smile to his face.
Snape sighed and rolled his eyes, "Oh do get on with it. I'd like to get them to the Great Hall before lunch time." He said in exasperation.
Arthur sighed and gave Snape a dark look then waved his hand towards the couch, "Let's have a seat then, shall we?"
They went over, Ron, Blaise and Pansy sitting on the longest couch next to Arthur. Draco sat in his usual seat and Ginny sat beside him, her legs draped across his lap as usual. She was so used to sitting like that by that point that she only belated realized there was anything awkward about doing so in her father's presence. Arthur looked at them for a moment, but then forced his eyes back over to Ron.
"What's this about then?" Ron asked curiously.
Arthur sighed. "It's about Harry actually." He said a bit grimly.
"I've been wondering about him... what did you find out?" Ron asked, getting more interested.
"Well... we did extensive tests of course... nothing comes up... but... we're pretty certain it was, in fact, him that attacked you.
Ron rolled his eyes, "We knew that." he said a bit impatiently.
"Well... as I said, the test didn't show anything, as is normal in these cases... we only know it was him because... well because of him... after a while he became convinced it was indeed him, though he still can't remember more than fleeting glimpses."
"So... you're holding him then?" Ron asked.
Arthur looked surprised at the suggestion. "Of course not. We offered to let him go a few hours after I got here. That's the problem. He refuses to leave his cell. Seems he feels guilty about it all. We thought he'd get over it if we left him alone, but he doesn't appear to be..."
"Well after what he did..." Ron said, sounding like he didn't disagree all that much.
Arthur looked very disappointed in his son's reaction. "He was possessed, Ron! I was hoping you would help convince him to come back out."
Ron looked at him, obviously shocked at the request. "But... I mean... after what happened... I mean possessed or not, I'm still not sure I can...." He trailed off, shaking his head. His father hadn't seen Harry... not when that thing was in him. How could he look at him the same again?
"Now that's a pretty shitty attitude!" Draco said scornfully, looking at Ron like he'd just insulted him. "Especially from someone who was supposed to be his best friend."
Ron's jaw dropped, then his cheeks colored, "What are you going on about? You hate Harry! Why would you even think about defending him?" he retorted indignantly.
"Oh, I hate the bloody prat, don't get me wrong," Draco admitted openly, "but I've hated him for years. It has nothing to do with what he did while possessed. I forgave him for that the second I figured out what had control of him. He was possessed Ron. You can't hold what someone does in that situation against them!" Draco said evenly.
Ron's tempter flared. How dare Draco lecture him? "Even if he was possessed, he still..." He trailed off as Draco cocked his head slightly to one side and glared at him venomously, as if daring him to finish that sentence. Ron's eyes darted over to Ginny, who was also glaring at him, her arms folded angrily across her chest. He swallowed a lump in his throat, the connection suddenly dawning on him. If Harry was responsible for what the Demon did while in him, Ginny was responsible for what she did in her first year when Voldemort possessed her...
He dropped his eyes, feeling properly ashamed. Harry had been his best friend since the first day of school... how could he hold something that was beyond his control against him? It really chaffed that it took Draco to point that out. His throat felt dry. He took a deep breath and sighed it out. "Fine. I'll talk to him." he finally conceded.
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Draco approached Arthur as they waited for Ginny to finish chewing Ron out on the far side of the Common Room. Arthur was gazing up at the picture of Ginny above the mantle. He glanced over as Draco came to a stop beside him, then looked back up at the picture. "Should have known they'd have one of these here as well. Still can't believe that's my little Ginny..." He mused aloud, "See the way she's pinning his arms with her knees so he can't fight back? The twins taught her that after her first couple of tussles with Ron..." He said with a reminiscent smile.
He sighed, looking back over at Draco and noting the look in his eye that told him he had come over there for a reason. "If you're looking for my blessing..."
Draco gave him a little smirk. "A blessing would be nice, but I don't require one. Ginny and I..." He said, glancing over at her and smirking at the flush that rose to her cheeks when she was angry, "Well... I think that's a forgone conclusion now. The only way you're getting me away from her is by killing me. You're free to try, but I'd rather not upset her by fighting with you." He said guilelessly.
Arthur eyed him for a long moment, surprised by his candor... not to mention the almost thoughtless devotion towards Ginny. Having known Lucius for so long, he would have never thought his son capable of such attachments.
Draco looked back over him, his smirk slipping away. "I came over here because I overheard you talking earlier, before you noticed us... and I want to know why you all keep looking at Blaise's eyes. I could understand it right after it happened, even though you should have been able to take Snape's word for it... but there's no reason that I know of to do it now, and you started looking awful dodgy when he asked you about it." He said, folding his arms over his chest and setting his jaw stubbornly.
"It's nothing." Arthur said a bit too quickly, "We should get going..." He said, glancing over towards Snape.
"Not until you tell me!" Draco replied evenly.
Arthur's cheeks colored. "This is neither the time nor place." He said in a low voice, glancing over to make sure no one was within earshot.
"This is exactly the time and place. Enough bureaucratic bullshit!" Draco said, his voice rising and drawing the attention of the others, "That's our best fucking friend and you're going to tell us what you're looking for in his bloody eyes!" he all but yelled, brown swirling through his pale eyes as Darien's anger joined his own.
"Good lord... there really is two of you in there, isn't there?" Arthur asked, surprised by his eyes. He glanced over, seeing the eyes of the others on him and snapped out of it, dropping his voice again. "Draco, please. Not now."
"I'd like to know the answer to that question as well." Snape said, having approached silently.
"Me too!" Ron said, coming over.
Arthur looked between the three men and sighed deeply. "I was checking to make sure the rims of his eyes were pink."
"Why?" Snape asked, his eyes narrowing.
Arthur let out a belabored sigh, "The potion you used to stop the curse... we've checked the records... it is very effective... except... there were a couple of cases in the records at St. Mungo's with that spell, cast by Shadow Demons in specific, in which it eventually... failed. The progress of the curse would first be noted by the color draining from around the eyes... and after that... slowly progressing as it would have without the potion..."
"Well then we need to break the bloody curse as soon as possible!" Draco said with obvious concern.
Arthur sighed. "Fudge is using this as another little power struggle to prove he has more power than Dumbledore. He simply won't condone it."
"Fudge can go shag himself!" Draco snarled.
Arthur sighed, "Listen, I agree with you... I want to see him cured too... but the ingredients are hard to come by... Demon's don't cast easy to break curses! The twins have managed to locate four of the ingredients, and I don't want to know how... and officially, I have no idea of what they're up to... but there are still over half a dozen more ingredients that we need that are shady or outright illegal to obtain."
Draco sighed, looking around. He snatched up a spare bit of parchment somebody had left on one of the coffee tables and snatched up a loose quill. He quickly scrawled a note on it, then flipped it over and wrote a name and address on the back. He tossed aside the quill, folding the paper and returning to Arthur, holding it out. "Give this to the twins. Tell them to give it to this person." He said, pointing to the address as Arthur took the note.
Arthur flipped open the paper, then furrowed his brow. "What's this?" he asked, peering at the incomprehensible jumble of squiggles.
"That would be elvish. I don't think you want to know what it says. You work for Fudge after all. If those ingredients can be found, that... man... will find them. Try not to let the Ministry find out about him. If they go after him, he'll know how they found out and he will kill me."
Arthur paled slightly. He had no doubt Draco wasn't joking. The address was a particularly bad part of Nocturne Alley. "And how much does this... person usually charge?" he asked delicately. He certainly didn't want to send his sons down to meet this questionable person without enough money.
Draco shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He has my account number at Gringotts."
Arthur looked at the note one last time, then looked over at Blaise. He slipped the note in his pocket and nodded.
He patted Ron on the shoulder. "You go eat with your friends. I'll pick you up outside the Great Hall to go see Harry after. Then I guess I should pay the twins a little social visit." He said, forcing a grin. He nodded to the others and headed towards the door, pausing to give Ginny a little kiss on the forehead on the way out.
Ron looked over at Blaise. He was standing there, looking slightly stunned. Pansy was holding his arm, watching him with concern. Ron immediately went over to him. "You ok?" He asked worriedly.
"Draco actually called me his best friend!" Blaise said in wonder, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
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A/N - the scuffle between Arthur and Lucius only happened in the book when they met in the bookstore and Lucius slipped Ginny the diary and started degrading the Weasley family. Arthur's hot, red-headed Weasley temper that was passed down to his children was toned down in the movie (actually the term castrated came to mind.... at least they didn't make Molly a doormat or I woulda been ticked!).