Oblivio Nex

Chapter 15

"Gummy Bears," Harry said dubiously to the Gargoyle in front of him, amazed when it jumped aside at the words.

"Weird," he muttered as he hopped onto the stairs that took him up to Dumbledore's office.

He found the headmaster already waiting for him at the top of the stairs and he was uncomfortably aware of how unusually serious the wizard looked.

"Ah, Harry, you're here, good. If you'll just come in and have a seat?" Dumbledore asked, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

Harry frowned, wondering what this was all about. After all, if the professors didn't want to 'panic' the students about his and Draco's memory loss, then why was Harry suddenly allowed to roam the corridors with only Hermione and Ron as companions? Why didn't Dumbledore come to the Hospital Wing instead of causing possible problems, had Harry run into any other students?

"Am I in trouble, sir?" Harry asked as he sat down where Dumbledore had indicated.

Dumbledore chuckled as he settled into his own seat and said, "What? No, no. You're not in trouble, Harry."

"Oh, then why did you ask me to come here?" Harry asked again, a frown of confusion etched on his face.

The headmaster sighed, all traces of merriment gone while he seemed to ponder something.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I have recently discovered a situation that yet again concerns you. I have heard this from a most reliable source, so I ask you to take that into account."

Harry shifted uncomfortably, wishing the wizard would get to the point.

"Is this about Draco?" Harry blurted out, his anxiety about the boy growing as the time went on. "About whatever that git Lucius did to him?"

Dumbledore's bushy eyebrows rose at that.

"In a way. Did Mr. Malfoy say something to you?"

"No, I just – I know something happened, but he won't tell me what. What did Lucius do?" Harry asked frowning, a protective anger rising inside him as his brain conjured up many horrible things that Lucius Malfoy could have done.

The headmaster watched the boy until he thought Harry had calmed down enough to hear what he had to say, and when Harry gestured for him to continue the professor did so with a nod.

"Lucius gave Draco his memories back." Harry's eyes widened as he heard this; it was something he had most definitely not been expecting, but what came next shocked him even more.

"He did this after repeatedly subjecting the boy to the Cruciatus Curse," Dumbledore said finally, his face devoid of any emotion.

Harry stared at the old wizard in front of him and could feel his cheeks flushing in anger at the thought that– all he could think was that Draco had been in such pain and no one had–

"Why didn't you stop it?" Harry asked, his voice trembling with anger.

It was white hot.

The rage bubbled up inside him. Why had no one helped? How could they have left Draco in that room, alone, with that, that Death Eater, not even helping as his love's voice very likely screamed for help… how could they?

The objects on Dumbledore's desk began to shake and Harry was deaf to Dumbledore's attempt to soothe him - the words were just washed away by his fury.

Harry could just imagine it, Draco held helpless on the floor, desperate to escape the pain that racked his body, eyes fixed on the door, hoping and pleading for someone to come – for Harry to come, but no one did… it was no wonder the boy hadn't allowed Harry to touch him, he must have been in such pain…

"HARRY POTTER!" A voice boomed, breaking into his rage filled world at last.

Harry looked up, blinking in his shock when without warning there came a number of crashes as Dumbledore's furniture and belongings fell to the floor. Dumbledore whispered a spell and the room was hurriedly put back into shape.

Harry frowned at a sense of déjà vu, but ignored it and the feeling of guilt at having lost his temper.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Harry growled, his glare directed at the now weary looking wizard.

"I wish I could have, my boy, I wish I could have," Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "But after the whole Fudge debacle and the question of the Minister's dubious loyalties I'm afraid it was too much of a risk for us to take as it would only call attention to the Light, especially since I would have had no right to interfere."

"No right?" Harry yelled suddenly, standing up and slamming his hand on Dumbledore's desk. "It was your bloody duty! Draco's your student! Lucius Malfoy, a known Death Eater, was using an illegal curse to harm Draco, and it doesn't matter if the git is his father, he doesn't have the right to do that, especially to his son!"

Dumbledore regarded the angry young wizard over his half moon spectacles and sighed again. "I'm afraid you've missed a lot, Harry, while you've been immobilised as it were. The Minister decided that seeing as the Voldemort rumour had proved true, it was time to put more drastic measures into action. One of these was the legalisation of the Unforgivables."

"Wha-" Harry's mouth dropped open as he heard that. What was the stupid git thinking, legalising Dark curses? Had he gone insane?

"If I recall correctly, Minister Fudge explained how we had to 'fight fire with fire', Mr. Malfoy Sr. was of course all for the notion and even made a statement to the press saying how, as a long-term former victim of the Dark, he knew it was a good move, as now they had less obstacles in their path to victory."

Harry's fists clenched, his fingers digging almost painfully into his palm when he heard that.

"But this is not the main reason why I called you here," Dumbledore went on, ignoring Harry's exasperated glare as he continued with his bout of bad news.

"I'm sorry, Harry but it appears that Draco Malfoy is acting with nothing but bad intentions." Harry frowned at Dumbledore. "As soon as Mr. Malfoy remembered everything it seems that he entered into a plot to end your life."

Harry just stared at the man.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I know you've been getting along with-"

A bark of laughter interrupted the headmaster and he watched calmly as Harry carried on laughing, shaking his head at the old wizard.

"Okay, I get it now. What was it? Some kind of lesson, 'do not lose your temper' or something along those lines?" Harry asked with a grin. "You nearly got me, Headmaster. Though, I should have wondered when you said the bit about the Minister legalising the Unforgivables, it was stupid of me to fall for that, but considering the Ministry's incompetence it was at least plausible. But you should have known that I'd never believe that about Draco. He would not betray me, he loves me."

Dumbledore evenly watched the boy as Harry started to laugh again and shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Harry," he whispered before speaking a little louder, "Would you care for some tea?"

Harrynodded as he occasionally chuckled, accepting the cup that Dumbledore had pulled out from his desk, drinking it quickly.

His nose crinkled as the liquid seeped down his throat and when he looked in the cup he noticed the liquid had a faint bluish tint to it.

"This doesn't taste like t-"

A warm tingle swept through his body, and seemed to flush through his blood, making Harry's cheeks redden at the pleasant sensation. Then images started to trickle into his brain, and one after the other, little scenes unfolded in his mind.

A small raven haired boy gasping in fright as large hands pushed him into a tiny closet and shut the door, leaving him in darkness; the child, a little older now, surveying a family as they passed through the window outside his house, watching as the children were picked up and played with by their smiling parents; a new image, a towering giant of a man with dark wild hair sweeping him up and away from his horror; two more friendly faces, a redhead and a brunette, smiling at him, looking up to him as though he was the saviour of the world… it was now his duty to protect them and others like them, as it seemed he was indeed a saviour of some sort; and then there were the mocking grey eyes, the only ones that didn't stare at him as though he was some kind of god, the only ones which reminded him that underneath The Boy Who Lived was Harry Potter…

The Gryffindor hero, Harry Potter, now looked into Dumbledore's kind eyes with something akin to horror.

"It's true." It wasn't a question but Dumbledore nodded all the same.

"And I, and he – wha-"

Harry's breathing started to speed up as his memories suddenly filled his mind, merging with the memories of the past few weeks. Draco Malfoy. He'd actually fallen in love with Draco Malfoy… Harry's eyes screwed closed and he frowned as he tried to gain control.

"What, what's he done?" he asked, his voice only cracking a little.

"He met with another Slytherin, Mr. Zabini I believe, who then gave him some ingredients to add to your antidote which were designed to kill you when the antidote to Oblivio Nex was given you. I was told on good authority that Mr. Malfoy went along with it after terrorising the other Slytherin in his usual style."

Harry stared at the desk in front of him and felt his anger bubbling up yet again.

"And he's had his memories since yesterday?"

'I love you.'

The words taunted him as he remembered. They were no longer sweet, and now served only to provoke an anger that he felt he was drowning in.

Harry looked down, surprised, as he saw that the cup in his hands was broken, his blood mingling with the left over blue liquid.

"I know you're upset, Harry but we-"

"No," Harry whispered. "No, you don't know, you have no idea!"

Harry threw the pieces of china to the floor, ignoring the smash as they fell.

"Why did you allow me to carry on like that? Like a fool! What is this, another thing that'll make me more human, to feel love and to be loved only to have it taken away – again! Why did you let him near me! Where was that bloody interfering paternalism then?" yelled the boy as he stood up and paced the room.

Harry felt hot liquid trickling down his cheeks but ignored it in favour of kicking his chair furiously aside. All he could think of were those three words and the lying pair of lips that had spoken them. That traitorous little snake!

How could Draco have done this? Harry raked his hair back furiously as he continued to pace around the room. How could he have made Harry care for him and then throw it all back in his face?

Despite the past, recent and old, Harry couldn't help but care about the little git. The love that Draco had made him feel was certainly still there, yet around it twisted that old rivalry and a new hatred for how the Slytherin had manipulated him to such lengths. It didn't really help Harry's frame of mind that before this interlude with Draco he had been practically obsessed with his rival; he'd seen the boy as everything he was fighting against, yet his school-boy status made the feud seem safe somehow and it was almost like his rivalry was a pleasant break from his true enemy. He had poured so much attention into his hatred of Draco Malfoy that Harry now irritably wondered if his subconscious had been having different thoughts about the mini Death Eater all along.

Draco's absolute incompatibility as his partner made Harry snarl in anger and bitter regret. Draco Malfoy, a servant of the Dark – what the hell had he been thinking?

He was so bloody sick of this! If it wasn't one thing it was another, and Harry's fists clenched harder as he realised with a shuddering breath that it was always his own fault. Harry had had no reason to have drunk the potion that started all this, and later on, he could have controlled himself around Draco, he could have stopped their relationship after he'd found Draco was very likely on the Dark's side, or even halted their relationship before it got out of control but no – Harry Potter, as always, had to jump into danger. This time, proving to be vulnerable to both emotional and physical danger, and now he was paying for his mistakes. He shook his head feverishly, wiping away the few angry tears. Hadn't he learned by now?

He sighed as he tried to rein in his anger. He could do nothing about it now, although his heart screamed a denial that the blonde haired boy he'd been with these past few weeks could ever hurt him; his head cut off the denial as he remembered just who Draco Malfoy was – the sneering little brat that had made his life hell ever since the first year and who now had hurt him possibly worse than anyone had ever hurt him in his life. Was that the plan? Just before Harry was to have died was Draco to reveal his betrayal as a final cut to his heart?

"What are we going to do about this?" Harry asked between gritted teeth, finally coming to a halt in front of the headmaster.

Dumbledore looked up at him sombrely and then began to explain.

-

To be continued…