BROKEN
Author: Harikari (Formerly Known as Nox2)
Notes: This didn't turn out as well as I would've liked it to but...Finally! The end is near, and important stuff happens this chapter. Surprised? Disappointed? Confused? Knew it all along? Let me know! Feedback is my life. Virtual chocolate chip cookies to everyone who reviewed last time! And if you don't like cookies I'll bake you something else...
Part Ten:
An intense, unpleasant feeling was creeping slowly up Ginny's spine and tickling at the back of her neck. She grabbed ahold of Harvey's elbow and held on, grateful that the Ravenclaw had agreed to come on a late night walk across the school grounds with her. "I don't know," she finally said, squeezing her boyfriend's arm so hard it would likely leave light bruises.
Harvey clenched his teeth, as if trying to hold back a cry of pain. "What?"
"I don't know about this. Maybe we should go back to the dance." The odd feeling at the back of her neck was getting worse. The already dark sky seemed suddenly more ominous. She'd quickly gotten tired of all the smoke and noise at the dance, and her thoughts had continued circling back around to Draco and Ron's weird relationship, so she'd finally pulled Harvey away from the crowds and was now strolling along, yellowed grass crunching beneath her feet. She was, however, rethinking her decision to take a walk. "Something feels...wrong. Creepy."
"You're the one-" Harvey began to argue, but Ginny cut him off.
"I know, sorry. Let's turn back." She squinted around the dark grounds; towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest and across the expanse of the moonlit lake. Her eyes stopped at Hagrid's hut. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she could make out movement in the darkness. She tensed and lifted her glowing wand in order to see better. "What is that?" she asked. "Harvey, point your wand there."
The Ravenclaw did as he was told, and they both squinted into the slightly illuminated night. "Ron!" Ginny shouted. "It's Ron and Draco! I thought Malfoy said..." She trailed off and lowered her wand. "What could they possibly be doing over there?" She failed to notice Harvey, who had grown pale at her side.
"Who cares?" he whined. "Probably just making each other eat slugs or something. Come on." And if there was somewhat of a desperate edge to what the teen said, Ginny failed to notice it.
"I'm just wondering what in the bloody hell they're doing," she said, not moving.
Harvey tugged at her arm. "Let's go, Gin." Finally, reluctantly, she nodded and moved to turn. But just as she was doing this, there was a bright explosion and a ring of fire rose up, as if from nowhere, to surround the spot where the Slytherin and her older bother were standing.
Ginny let out a surprised cry. Harvey gasped. And then they were off, shouting and running as fast as their legs would carry them. Harvey pulled off the pieces of his costume armor, which was weighing him down, as he ran, leaving a shiny zig-zag trail of metal behind him.
"Ron! Ron!" Ginny shouted shrilly; she was half sobbing. Both she and Harvey stared at the tall wall of flames surrounding, maybe engulfing, Ron and Draco for a horrified moment. Then, almost as one, they both lifted their wands and let out a shout.
"Finite Incantatum!"
The spells hit their mark and the flames abruptly rose to frightening heights before completely disappearing. The two seventh years were sprawled on the ground, Draco half on top of the redhead and both of them covered in slimy pumpkin innards. The ground surrounding them was scorched.
Ginny let out a cry and fell to her knees; reached for the fallen teens. There was no blood or burns to be seen, but they were both so still-
Malfoy coughed. Very slowly, he rose to his hands and knees. Still hovering over Ron's body he opened slightly unfocused eyes and spoke. "Ron? You okay?" He coughed again and nudged the redhead's leg with his knee while Ginny and Harvey looked on in wide-eyed horror.
"Ugh..." Ron grunted. His hand came up to bat at Draco's arm. The blonde got his meaning and moved out of the way; he grunted and stood, breathing heavily. With the Slytherin out of his way Ron coughed and stood himself.
"God," breathed Ginny. "Are you okay?" She moved to hug her brother, then suddenly stopped and seemed to reconsider. She reached up and picked a chunk of slimy pumpkin guts out of his hair. "You're okay, right?"
"Oh," replied Draco. "We're bloody brilliant." He flicked some orange goo off of his shoulder and frowned at the stain it left behind.
"Uh, guys-" began Harvey, but Ginny cut him off.
"What happened? What was that?" She eyed them both wildly, as if she couldn't quite believe they were still alive.
Both Ron and Draco seemed to snap to attention at her words. Ron glanced up at the blonde. "Well," he said. "Do you believe something weird is going on now?"
"Hey, Ginny-" tried Harvey.
"Something weird? What do you mean?" Ginny shot looks, back and forth, at the two seventh years. Her eyes grew wide. "You don't mean something like your fifth year...?" Her older brother and the Slytherin, still looking a little shocked, just stared at her. "Tell me!" she demanded. "Tell me what's happened!"
"Er, I really think-" Harvey began again.
"Remember that spider attack? The train station massacre?" Ginny nodded and Ron continued. "It's Snape. He was responsible for the station, and he's been trying to kill me and Draco."
"What?" shouted Ginny. "What!" She paused to catch her breath; narrowed her eyes. "This time," she said, "we're telling Dumbledore right away. We're telling him now." She was breathing hard and gripping her wand tightly.
"Okay," said Ron. "We weren't even sure something was really going on until the explosion a second..." he trailed off, his face going white. Both Draco and Ginny turned just as pale. Snape was out here now. Snape had just attacked the Slytherin and Gryffindor, and they'd all been too distracted to realize they were still in danger. All three teens swept the grounds with their eyes, wands at the ready.
"Never mind," said Harvey. "He's gone now."
"What?" Ginny spun to face her boyfriend. "Who's gone?"
Harvey gestured to the forest beyond Hagrid's hut. "I tried to tell you guys. You said it was Snape who was doing everything, right? Well then, I saw him. He was standing right there, staring at us." The four teens stared at the spot where Harvey had seen the dark, hooded figure for a long, silent moment.
And then they all turned and ran, heading for the castle, and for Dumbledore.
oooooooooo
"Snape must have followed us when we left the party." Ron, realizing he was still in his now rather slimy Quidditch clothes wiggled out of the robe and threw it to the floor.
They'd made it to the Entrance Hall from Hagrid's hut in what must've been record time, and could now clearly hear the steady pounding that was The Wicked's music. A few people were slowly trickling out of the dining hall, either ready to go to sleep or to tuck into the piles of candy they'd swiped from the party.
"I thought you said Potter was watching him," growled Draco, looking none too happy. Ron shrugged and ran a slim hand through his hair, trying to clear it of any pumpkin guts.
"Never mind that," put in Ginny. She was standing by a nervous-looking Harvey and kept jumping whenever any students came strolling out of the hall. "We'd just better get to Dumbledore. He's probably in his office."
"Okay," agreed Draco. "Let's go." He'd already turned to leave when Ron grabbed his arm. "What?"
"I'm kind of worried about Harry," said the redhead. He looked over at his little sister and her boyfriend. "Will you guys go check on him? You can follow us to the Headmaster's office after you explain things to him."
Ginny sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Okay..." she trailed off. "Wait. Harry? What does he have to do with anything? How does he know about this?" Her eyes grew wide. "He doesn't know about Winter Break? About...Macnair?"
"Well, yeah," replied Ron, "he knows everything."
"Thanks to your big mouth, he knows everything," said Draco. Ginny gasped and looked for a moment like she was going to retort, but then she vaguely recalled the conversation she'd had with Harry at the beginning of the year - the conversation where she'd let it slip that something decidedly bad had happened Ron's fifth year - and shut her mouth. /Oh. Damn./
"Harvey, you're sure you saw Snape?" Ron asked this, and the Ravenclaw turned to face him.
"Well you said it was Snape that was doing everything, right? It was dark, and he was wearing a hood and a cloak, but it must've been him." The sixth year still had his wand out and looked ready to use it at any second.
The redhead shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Cloak?" He looked up at the blonde Slytherin. "What is it with us and people in dark cloaks?"
"Let's go," Draco said again, ignoring his question.
"And holidays," continued Ron. "Last time it was Christmas, now it's Halloween-"
"Come on." Draco tugged at Ron's arm and began dragging him away, towards the marble staircase. The two seventh years had made it up the stairs and disappeared around a corner before Ginny turned away.
"Okay," she said. "Let's go find Harry."
oooooooooo
Harry was fuming. He was staring up at the band playing on the stage, but wasn't really seeing them. His mind was on Cho. Stupid, stupid, evil Cho Chang. She and Harry could've just left their relationship as it had been; eventually they would have drifted apart without any foul words having been spoken between them. That would've been the ideal break-up. And that's the break-up that had been in progress.
Until the Ravenclaw had made it official. "Harry," she'd said, after getting his attention. "Harry, we've got to break up."
/Well, no duh./ Harry had known this, of course. Had known he was much too preoccupied with becoming and Auror and with preventing another devastating attack against muggles and wizards. Had known he was much too busy with worrying over the inevitable battle with Voldemort he would have to go through to have any sort of girlfriend.
But she could've been nicer about it.
The Gryffindor ran a hand through his messy, temporarily orange hair and sighed. He shot a look over at Cho. She was sitting at a round table with some of her friends, laughing out loud. Her eyes seemed to be glittering. She looked good.
/Well. Maybe she isn't evil./
There was a tap on his shoulder and Harry spun around, surprised to see both Ginny and her boyfriend Harvey. "Er...Hey, Ginny. I haven't seen Ron. He-"
"Are you alright?" The scarlet-haired teen eyed him critically. Behind her, Harvey seemed to be bouncing on his toes.
"I'm fine." Harry shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously. "Why?" he asked.
"It's Ron and Draco. They were attacked. It was Snape."
"Snape!" Harry shouted, suddenly remembering what he was supposed to have been doing. His eyes darted around the dining hall; the greasy-haired professor was nowhere in sight.
"They're both okay," Ginny continued. "They told us about you knowing about...everything. But they've gone to tell Dumbledore. We should go, too." She paused and narrowed her eyes. "How did Snape get passed you?"
Harry shrugged, feeling idiotic and more than slightly guilty. "I got...distracted."
The sixth year nodded. "Okay. Let's go." She reached for his sleeve, but Harry backed away.
"Wait," he said. "Did you say they went to get Dumbledore?"
"That's right." Harvey looked worried and anxious. His wand was in his hand, and he was gripping it so tightly his knuckles were white. "Why?"
Harry gestured to a spot in the dining hall next to one of the long refreshment tables. "Because Dumbledore's not in his office. He's here."
oooooooooo
"Do you think Dumbledore's in his office?" asked Ron, just as he and Draco rounded another corner.
Draco didn't turn back to answer. He hurried on, his mouth set in a grim line and his expression one of determination. "He wasn't at the dance earlier. Where else would he be?"
Ron, who didn't appreciate the blonde's pissy attitude, didn't bother to reply.
Noticing his silence, the blonde suddenly stopped. Ron ran into his back and let out a little 'oomph'. Sighing, Draco turned around and put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. The warmth of it was evident even through the cloth of Ron's t-shirt. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just..." He trailed off, his voice soft and his eyes desperate, and Ron was reminded of that first day of their seventh year all over again. The way Draco had apologized, the way he had practically pleaded for forgiveness, the way his hair and his eyes and his lips had looked...
"Forget it. We're here." And they were. They were standing in front of the ugly stone gargoyle statue that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office. The statue glared at them both suspiciously, and Ron's stomach began to do little flip-flops. Why hadn't they thought of this? How were they going to tell-
"Sugar quill," said Draco, suddenly, and the gargoyle grunted and jumped aside. The Slytherin stepped casually onto the escalator-like stone steps that would lead to Dumbledore, and Ron followed dumbly.
"How did you know the password?" he asked. He didn't like the tiny prick of suspicion that had so suddenly appeared at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite help it.
The steps jolted to a stop and Draco shot him an unconcerned look. "I'm in the Order, Ron. Remember?"
"Oh," said the redhead, and the prick of doubt disappeared. He was being ridiculous, and paranoid. But really, who could blame him?
The two seventh years stepped forward into Dumbledore's office.
/It's too quiet./
Ron shot a quick look around the office. The pictures of all the former Headmasters were snoring in their frames, and the patchwork sorting hat sat atop a shelf as if it had been carelessly thrown there. Fawkes, who was looking quite sad and ruffled, stared at them morosely from his perch next to Dumbledore's desk.
"Headmaster," began Draco, stepping closer to the desk. Dumbledore's chair was turned away from them, the back of it so tall that even if he was sitting there they wouldn't be able to see the top of his head. "Headmaster? We have something important to-"
"I've been waiting for a chance to get you two alone," said a voice, cutting the blonde off.
Draco stopped talking. The chair turned, and Ron took a startled step back.
Sitting there, behind Dumbledore's desk, was Snape.
oooooooooo
/Bloody fucking hell./
Draco blinked disbelievingly at the Professor, his mind taking a few seconds longer than usual to catch up with what was going on. Could he and Ron seriously be that unlucky? Was it possible for someone to be that unlucky?
The edge of Snape's mouth turned up into some weird parody of a smile.
/Apparently so./
Snape stood slowly. The contrast of his terribly pale face against his dark robes was such that he looked almost unreal; like a strange specter. The man's hand rose and Draco realized he was pointing his wand at them...again.
"Let's get this over with," he said sharply. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, his wand still aimed threateningly at the two seventh years. Draco didn't take time to think.
"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, but Ron had yelled the same spell at the exact same moment. Snape's wand flew violently out of his hand, spinning until it clattered against a bookshelf and landed on the floor, and the Professor was thrown back into Dumbledore's chair. The man blinked once, his eyes glazed and unfocused, before sliding off of the chair and onto the carpeted floor in an ungraceful heap.
They'd knocked Snape out.
"Yes!" shouted Ron, giving a little jump of joy. "Yes! We cursed Snape." He stepped to Draco's side and peered at the lump of dark robe, pasty face, and greasy hair on the floor. "Wait. But that means..." The redhead shot a worried look at the blonde.
Ron didn't have to finish his sentence. Draco knew what he was worried about. Snape was a Death Eater. That could only mean that Voldemort and his father knew he was a spy for the Order.
The Slytherin took a deep breath and tried to ignore the tightness in his throat.
"We still have to find the Headmaster," he said. "Let's go."
The two seventh years turned away from the unconscious Snape and hurried out of the office.
oooooooooo
Draco's eyes were stinging. Ron was jogging along beside him, the sound of their combined footsteps making a racket as they hurried through the corridors and back towards the dining hall.
The blonde had a strong urge to just reach out and pull Ron close to him; to kiss that full mouth until it was bruised. Instead, he kept running.
He tried to ignore the odd tightening in his chest and the twisting knots in his stomach. He was a Malfoy, goddamit. No matter how bad things got, no matter what happened to him, he musn't let his true emotions show.
/A Malfoy. Right/ Draco thought bitterly. If it was true that Snape was still on the dark side of the fence, and it certainly seemed like he was, Draco wasn't likely to be anything for much longer. Except for, maybe, a corpse.
"Draco," pleaded Ron from beside him, still jogging, and judging from his desperate tone of voice he'd said the blonde's name more than once. "Drac-"
"What?" snapped the Slytherin, coming to a sudden stop. He leaned against the stone wall behind him, panting slightly and taking in the sight of Ron, all flushed and heaving. "What is it?"
The redhead chose to ignore his annoyed tone. "Draco," he began, sounding serious. His eyes were hard. "I know you're worried about Snape being a Death Eater, but -"
"Worried?" shouted the blonde, pushing away from the wall and moving to crowd Ron. "Of course I'm bloody well worried, you git! He's a fucking Death Eater, Ron. That means that my father...It means that Voldemort knows everything!"
"Draco," said Ron, in a calm voice, but Draco didn't want to listen.
"Shut up, Weasel. 'I know your worried.' What kind of dim observation is -"
"Malfoy!" shouted Ron, suddenly and loudly. And that made Draco stop, his mouth still hanging open, because Ron didn't call him by his last name unless he were really mad. "Listen to me, will you?" He paused, stepping closer to Draco and putting a comforting hand on Draco's shoulder. "I was just going to say that I know you're worried about Snape being a Death Eater. I am too. But no matter what happens, I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you, Draco. I'll...I won't let anything bad happen."
His voice broke a little on that last part. Draco looked down at Ron with wide eyes, feeling a little stunned and extremely guilty. God, Ron. Here he was, freaking out and being a total git, and Ron was thinking about protecting him. God.
Without really thinking about it, the blonde reached out and put his arms around Ron's slim waist; pulled him closer. Draco rested his chin on the top of Ron's head and let out a breath he hadn't even been aware of holding. "I love you," he said, quietly. At first he didn't understand the shudder that went through the redhead's body, or the little intake of breath. But then he realized...he'd never told Ron that before. He'd never had the guts to tell Ron that before.
The Gryffindor let out a strained little laugh. "I love you, too." He pushed away from Draco's embrace and wiped at his face.
"Something in my eye," he muttered, when he saw the blonde was looking. Ron turned and began walking again, motioning for Draco to follow. "Come on," he said. "We'd better hurry."
Draco smirked at the retreating form of his boyfriend for a moment, just admiring the view, before hurrying to catch up with him.
oooooooooo
Ron's eyes were stinging. He blinked hard, and that helped a little, but the sting didn't completely go away.
/He loves me/ Well, he hadn't expected Draco to say that. He'd expected more ranting after his speech. Maybe a punch in the face for being such a dullard. After all, how in the hell was he going to protect Draco when things really got serious? He'd try, of course. But...
/He loves me./ He couldn't believe Draco had said that.
They turned another corner, and the marble staircase that led down into the Entrance Hall was suddenly before them. Good. Professor McGonagall would be in the dining hall, still manning the party. They'd tell her what was going on, and she'd probably know where the Headmaster was. No more of this 'let's not tell anyone' crud that Dumbledore had pushed on them. Ron was going to make sure Draco was going to be okay, and screw what anybody else wanted.
A group of fourth year Gryffindors ran passed the duo, laughing and popping Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans into their mouths. Ron and Draco dodged them, before starting down the staircase.
"Excuse me," said Ron, when he bumped shoulders with a student who had been trailing the third years. The student, who was dressed as a Dementor as far as Ron could tell - a black cloak and a dark hood - didn't answer. Ron stepped to the side to let the kid pass; the Dementor wanna-be stayed where he was. Ron took a step forward to pass the kid himself; the Dementor wanna-be moved to block his way.
"Hey," said Draco, stepping to Ron's side and looking annoyed. "You heard what he said. Move out of the way."
/Dark hooded figure/ thought Ron, almost absently. /Dark hooded figure? No. It was Snape. We got Snape.../
"Out of the way!" shouted Draco, impatient. He grabbed Ron by the forearm and looked as if he was ready to plow through, but Ron's mind was suddenly full of questions and concerns. Something wasn't right. Something was...
"We don't have time for this Halloween prank crap. Get out of our fucking way!" Ron could almost hear Draco's teeth grinding together. The blonde moved to push the student out of the way, but stopped cold when he found a wand, another damn wand, aimed at both he and Ron.
"I don't think so," came a soft voice from beneath the cover of the robes.
A pale hand emerged from the cloak and reached for the hood then slowly, slowly pulled it off - but, of course, it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even a Slytherin.
It was Hermione.