Summary: When Draco sees his rival being tortured and raped by his father, he is revolted. He has to make a decision that could alter his life forever. Save Harry Potter from the clutches of his father and risk his life, or walk away and pretend he never saw it, letting the Gryffindor die at the hands of his father.
Disclaimer: I don't own a single thing that has already been mentioned in any one of the Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowling owns all that. I own everything that's not in her books.
CHAPTER SIX-The Angel and the Traitor
Dumbledore appeared out of the fire and into the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. He walked over to where the others were already sitting and waiting for him. He took his seat in a large armchair.
"Lucius was not at the manor when we arrived, however, we think young Mr. Malfoy may know of his location." Moody informed Dumbledore.
"Mr. Malfoy has already brought me a vial containing Lucius' blood. He does know where his father is, though it will be a while before he tells us, if he does tell us at all. Severus, how long will it take to brew the potion?"
"I can have it done in two hours time."
"Good, then that just leaves us the matter of Draco to deal with. He will need our protection if he does not wish to die, but he refuses to join our side. How can we be sure that we can trust him?"
Snape answered the question." We can't be."
Draco was awoken from his slumber by the door to Harry's ward being opened. He debated whether or not to go back to sleep, seeing as how he was so tired. His sleepy mind disagreed with his logical side and it won. He stayed curled up and closed his eyes. He was just slipping back into sleep when he heard the voices of others in the room.
"We can't stay long Molly, we can come back later. He won't be awake until some time after the potion is administered anyways. And when he does wake up, he will surely want to rest." This voice was unmistakably Dumbledore's.
He opened his eyes to see what was going on. The Weasels were standing near Harry, along with Dumbledore, an orange haired lady, and Professor Snape. 'Great. This lot had to be the one to interrupt my sleep.' They were still talking but he had tuned them out. He was still so tired. He looked at the clock in the room. He had only been asleep for roughly 2 1/2 hours. He groaned and closed his eyes once more, intent on ignoring the other wizard and witch's chatter. He jumped and growled when someone lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
"What?" he asked irritably, glaring at the person who had bothered him, which happened to be Dumbledore.
"Will you please alert us when Mr. Potter wakes up? We have other matters to attend to, but will need to question and explain some things to Mr. Potter."
Draco glared at him. "No. I'm tired. Leave me alone." He shut his eyes once more, but without any real hope of being left alone.
"Well, surely you don't want to sleep in a chair then? You would be quite sore when you woke up if you did. Perhaps, since you won't be helping us staying in here, you would like us to fix you up a room at Headquarters?"
"I'm fine here," Draco all but snarled at him.
"Well, I don't think if Mr. Potter-"
"Fine, I'll stay in here and alert you, just stop talking!" Draco was getting extremely annoyed, and was also getting a headache.
"I beg your pardon, but if you are asleep then how will you know when Harry wakes up?"
"Well, I suppose he will look around, see me here, and scream 'Death Eater' at the top of his lungs won't he?" he snapped. This old man was really pushing it. 'Doesn't he remember 'Never Wake A Sleeping Dragon? really...'
"Yes, I suppose he will, I just thought that perhaps-"
"God Dammit!" he was really annoyed now. He grabbed his wand from out of his cloak. "Silencio."
The Headmaster fell silent, but instead of looking angry, he looked slightly amused. Draco curled himself up again and was asleep in a matter of seconds.
Dumbledore looked at the others in the room with a raised eyebrow. Mr. Wesley ended the spell. Dumbledore smiled. "Very irritable thing when he's tired isn't he?"
The others laughed, except for Snape, who did not looked amused at all.
"Yes, well, this has all been fun, but we need to get back now, don't we?" he said.
"Yes, yes, let's be off now." answered Dumbledore. They all left, heading to the Healer's Office. Dumbledore looked back at Draco's sleeping form and frowned slightly. He left the room and shut the door behind him, wondering when Harry would wake and how long it would be until Draco informed them of it. He knew that if Harry was wary of Draco, he wasn't likely to wake him up to tell him that he was awake. The thought was ridiculous, really. He wouldn't have left Draco to watch him at all, but they needed all the help they could get with finding Lucius, as Draco wasn't likely to give them information on his location. Although they didn't want to resort to it, if they didn't find Lucius within the month, they were willing to give Draco a truth potion.
Draco awoke several hours later. He stood up and stretched, finding his body to be very sore. He groaned and flopped back down into the armchair. He looked at Harry, who was still asleep. 'He's going to be out of it for a while. I still want to know how Lucius got a hold of him. What am I going to do until he wakes up?' He had absolutely no means to entertain himself whatsoever. He looked over at Harry again. He still could not place that nagging feeling at the back of his mind, that kept insisting there was some secret reason he had saved Harry. He decided the best course of action was to ignore it. He had always been taught to ignore emotions at all costs. Emotions made a person weak. Malfoys were never weak. 'Yes, and that's why the Malfoys crawl on hands and knees and beg for forgiveness for petty things. Because we are strong, emotionless people.' Draco thought sarcastically.
He sighed, sat down in his armchair and conjured a book. 'Mein Kampf'. It had been written by Adolf Hitler. He had become quite interested in finding information on the ex-ruler of Germany, even though he was a muggle. He had the same ideas with the extermination of the inferior race as Voldemort, although Hitler had enough sense to actually take over the country and make everything he was doing legal before doing it. There was no one except the other countries to stop him. It was really funny, the similarities between the two. It was fun to name the differences between the two as well. He had been reading the book when he heard the sheets move in Harry's bed.
He put his book down and went over to Harry's bed, bending over him to see if he was awake yet. He was really getting tired of all this baby-sitting business. He watched as Harry's sleepy green eyes opened and he squinted at Draco. He looked around as though trying to place where he was. For a minute, Draco feared for Harry's sanity, or at least his memory. Then he remembered that without his glasses, he probably couldn't see very well at all. Harry looked back up at Draco.
"Angel, am I in Heaven?" he asked softly. Draco couldn't help but smile a little bit. Harry looked so innocent right then. He then thought about the question.
"Why…do you want to be?"
Harry closed his eyes. Then he tried to move his arm as though testing it. He inhaled sharply from the pain, but bit his lip from letting any other sound out. "Damn. I was hoping that this time there would be an escape from the pain." Draco frowned.
Harry tried to sit up, but winced and bit his lip again and lay back down.
"Don't try to move. It will just cause you more pain, as you have undoubtedly found out already. I am going to get Dumbledore."
Harry bit his lip again, but more as though he was concentrating than in pain. "Your voice is familiar. What's your name?"
Draco debated whether or not to tell him. He decided that Dumbledore could tell him that piece of information. He doubted whether Harry would take the news as well if he told him. 'I doubt if he remembers what happened right now. It'll probably take a little bit before it all comes rushing back. I don't think I'd want to be here when it does.' "You'll find out later. Just lay back down. Dumbledore will be here in a minute."
He left the room reluctantly. He didn't think Harry should be left alone for long. He ran down to the Healer's Office to fire-call Dumbledore. He suddenly realized he didn't know where he was. "Stupid bloody Headmaster doesn't even tell me where to find him." he muttered. Then he thought of another way to try this.
"Albus Dumbledore." It worked. Dumbledore came over to Draco's floating head.
"Is Mr. Potter awake?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, get here quickly, he probably shouldn't be left alone for very long."
Draco withdrew his head and hurried back to Harry's room.
"Dumbledore will be here in a moment."
Harry stared at him, as though trying hard to remember something.
"What?" Draco asked warily.
Harry shook his head. "Nothing, I was trying to remember your voice as someone won't give me my glasses." Harry replied pointedly.
Draco sighed. "Really, it is for the best that you wait for Dumbledore, but if you want your glasses now, I can give them to you."
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he replied, "I would like my vision back now." Draco walked over and picked up Harry's glasses, then hesitantly handed them to Harry.
Harry put them on and then looked at Draco. Harry held a strange expression on his face then. After a few seconds he nodded. "Yes, I did recognize your voice at the very least, and thought it might be you, but I had a hard time believing that you would really save me from your father. Why did you do it?"
'So Harry does remember then.'
"I don't know." he replied truthfully. "Maybe I'm not as much of a bastard as you thought I am" Draco sneered.
Harry almost looked apologetic, then quickly changed his mind. Harry looked angry suddenly. His voice was slightly raised now, and he was glaring at Draco. "Why shouldn't you be? You've given me every right to believe you are so far. How do I know you don't have an ulterior motive for saving me. I doubt that you would-"
However, he cut off at the sight of Dumbledore coming through the door. "Ah, Harry, I see you have been informed of the circumstances in which Mr. Malfoy is here."
Harry looked at Dumbledore. He was quite angry by now. "I know that he took me from Lucius, but as to why you would put Malfoy alone in a room with me remains a mystery." he said coolly.
Draco felt his own temper rising. "Oh, so you'd rather me have left you for my father to murder? You would have preferred another few rounds of torture? Or perhaps you liked the feel of my father invading your arse?" he asked heatedly.
Harry attempted to glare at him, but he could tell it looked less than threatening. He looked away from Draco and down. "No." he muttered so quiet that Draco wasn't sure he had spoken at all.
Dumbledore looked between the two. "Draco may I have a word with Harry alone please?" he asked politely. Draco nodded and walked out of the room.
Dumbledore walked over to Harry, and sat down at the foot of his bed. "Are you feeling alright, Harry?" Harry nodded, a bit ashamed at blowing up at Draco. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong.
"Harry, do you feel like telling me how you came to be at Lucius' home? I had Mundangus Fletcher watching your house this whole summer. Surely he would have seen someone, especially a Death Eater trying to abduct you. You didn't, by any chance, happen to have left your relatives house did you?" he asked Harry patiently, while watching him over his glasses. Harry shook his head. "I-" he began, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I was outside of the house, but I was still on the street. Then he grabbed me and-" Once more, his voice cracked. "He grabbed me and he drug me into the house, and port keyed me to Lucius' home." He was now shaking slightly.
Dumbledore looked at him softly. "Harry, who grabbed you? Who took you to Lucius? Where was Mr. Fletcher?" Harry hissed.
"Mud doesn't deserve a Mr. in it's name." Harry said angrily. Dumbledore looked shocked, then very grave.
"It was Mundangus that did this then?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
Harry nodded. "Yes."
Dumbledore stood up. "Thank you for telling me this. The Order will be able to track Fletcher down soon, I think. We are also looking for Lucius. Draco is the only person that has information on his location. He is not prepared to divulge that information to us at this time. Seeing as how we are so busy, Harry, we do not have an extra member to look after you tonight. Would you mind if Draco stayed here overnight to keep an eye on you and make sure nothing happens?"
Harry thought he had heard him wrong for a moment, then assured himself that he had heard right. He felt his temper rising. "How do you know that Draco isn't a Death Eater himself! He could be waiting for a chance to finish me off. That's probably why he saved me in the first place. He wanted the glory of being the one to defeat the boy that Voldemort himself couldn't! Why can't Ron, Hermione, or even Ginny watch me? Why can't a trusted Order member stay here! WHY MALFOY OF ALL PEOPLE!" During his ranting, he had sat up and was now glaring fiercely at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore stood up and put a hand on Harry's shoulder, forcing him to lie back down. "Harry, I would put one of your friends with you, however, Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger are currently in America with Mr. Kingsley tracking Bellatrix Lestrange. Miss Weasley, Mr. Longbottom, and Miss Lovegood are helping Bill Weasley identify and locate other Death Eaters, and the rest of the Order is following leads on Lucius Malfoy. We really have no other choice but to leave you under Draco's care. I must be on call at every possible moment, and I really would have no way of telling every member of the Order that I would be staying overnight at St. Mungo's."
Harry slumped back into his bed and nodded. He now felt rather as though he had been being childish about the whole matter. He also felt useless. 'Of course the Order is busy. Voldemort is back. I would have been stupid to think that they are just sitting back and relaxing this whole time.' Then he felt resentful. 'Everyone else is out there risking their necks, and Dumbledore isn't even keeping me informed of anything, let alone letting me help. Why is he letting Neville, and even Luna do more work than me? Haven't I shown that I can defend myself along with others in battle. Or maybe he thinks I am too rash. I did go and get Sirius killed didn't I? That must be it. He thinks I'm too much like Sirius to be any help. But didn't keeping Sirius locked up prove to be a major factor in his death?"
He stopped that train of thought before he wound up depressed.
He saw Dumbledore staring at him with an odd expression. He felt it would be even more foolish to throw a tantrum about not being able to do anything useful, and being left in the dark again, so he merely lay there. "Well, I believe I need some rest. I probably shouldn't have gotten angry. I am now exhausted." He turned over on his mattress as though he was going to sleep. In fact, he was not very tired right now, he just wanted to be left alone so he could sort through his emotions and thoughts. Dumbledore nodded. He stood up and swept across the room. He opened the door and turned towards Harry.
"Mr. Malfoy should be coming in here soon. Please try not to lose your temper with him. Goodbye." He left the room. Harry turned towards the ceiling. 'Great. I get stuck at my relatives house all summer while the other members of the Order, and even people who weren't members of the Order track Death Eaters, and help the cause. They're all keeping busy with that, and I'm staying home doing nothing. Now I know how Sirius must have felt. Then I had to go and get myself kidnapped by Fletcher and be raped by Lucius. Now I am sitting here in a St. Mungo's ward and being babysat by Malfoy of all people, not to mention the fact that I've now added more work to all of the work the Order already had to do. I feel just great. I also owe a life debt to Malfoy don't I? Come to think of it, why did Malfoy save me?' That question had been gnawing at him since he found out that Malfoy had been the one to rescue him.
'Did Malfoy have an ulterior motive for helping me? If so, what was it? I don't think that even Malfoy would have pulled this stunt just for the fame of defeating me by himself. Even if he did, that plan would have had way too many holes in it to be true. He's most likely not any happier than I am that he has to baby-sit his worst enemy. Well, okay, I'm probably not his worst enemy. I'm sure he hates Dumbledore more than me, at least. He's definitely not my worst enemy anyways. He pales in comparison to Voldemort for one. His father is also worse. And Lestrange, that bitch.' He did not know how much longer he would have continued these thoughts (probably 'till he fell asleep) but he was interrupted by a pale boy around his age entering his room.
Author's Notes: Oh gods, I am so sorry! This took forever to write, and it's not even spectacularly long or anything. I've just been adjusting to school starting, and my dad's left to go to training because he's going to Iraq and I might not see him for a year, and things have been kinda hectic and now I'm babbling. deep breath Anyways, I hope you liked this one. Dunno how good I made everything. I think it was a bit too anti-climatic but I was trying to finish this chapter before everyone gave up the hope that I would update it within a month, so it was a bit rushed. Anyways, I plan to make the next chapter better, and not take so long with it. Once again, thanks to all my reviewers and readers. Hopefully all of my readers are reviewers, but I doubt that.
P.S. There were 3168 words in this chapter. If you want chaps longer, request a number of words and I will average the requests out and that will be my new quota. Or a number of paragraphs, but that won't be as accurate cause some of my paragraphs are longer than others.