"How could you not tell us!" Ron asked with demand. "We are your best friends!"
Harry thanked Heavens they were in an abandoned hallway. "Because it is supposed to be a secret. Why can't you understand, Ron?"
"But why keep it a secret even to us, Harry? We have a right to know where you disappear to every day after classes."
"Well, you two also disappear somewhere after classes and I don't ask you about it, right?" Harry said with a wryly smirk.
Ron and Hermione both turned pink. "Yes, but this is another thing, you know we are together," Ron muttered.
"What Ron is trying to say is that we were worried about your regular absence and thought that Voldemort could be involved," Hermione summarized.
"Of course Voldemort is involved." Ron and Hermione looked at him with shock from his admittance and felt instant fear. "Voldemort is involved in everything now. If it hadn't been for him, you wouldn't have been together. Ever thought about it?"
They shook their heads. The realization wasn't a pleasant one. But they were together now. Because of Voldemort's cruel plans or not, it didn't matter anymore. Only something very drastic could come to break them apart; and if it did come they would fight for a relationship which was so hard to build. Ron instinctively pulled Hermione closer to him.
Harry was a bit surprised by such closeness of his friends. When did it happen? He surely must spend more time with them. 'I promise we'll spend together this weekend. No training, Voldemort, lessons or what not.' Walking down the hallway, Harry continued, "There were actually two reasons I couldn't tell you anything about my Dueling lessons, guys. The first one was pretty simple: there could be spies at Hogwarts."
"Here? At Hogwarts?" Ron interrupted. "Are you nuts?"
"I am not, Ron. You, of all people, must know this from first hand experience," Harry said with reproach.
Ron looked down ashamed. The 'girlfriend incident' would always be a mark of shame on him. He endangered the lives of his friends and the whole wizarding society. He'd never forgive himself for that. Ron's glance met Hermione's. She looked at him tenderly and smiled as if saying, "Everything is fine. I am here and won't leave you." Her squeeze of his hand returned him his confidence. "What was the second reason, Harry?"
"Malfoy," Harry only answered.
"What about him? Is he a Death Eater?" Hermione asked conversationally. Now she couldn't be surprised by anything, after hearing that Malfoy was teaching Potter.
"Exactly the opposite."
"You mean, he isn't a Death Eater!" Ron asked bewildered. Malfoy – a Death Eater was the natural state of things for him. Well, as for everybody else.
"Yes, he isn't. I was even more surprised than you. That's why his presence must've been kept in secret."
"But now the secret is uncovered. He is a professor and everyone's seen him," Hermione stated. "What could've brought such a state of events?"
"Who knows? Malfoy is unpredictable." Harry remembered Draco's statement that slytherins were an unpredictable crowd. 'He surely can say it also about himself.'
"We still don't know what happened to Snape," Hermione remarked.
"Well, 'Mione, we can find everything from the first hands today."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked with confusion.
"We decided to accompany you to your Dueling lesson today, Harry," Ron answered cheerfully,
"I am sure, you'll regret it, guys," Harry said, shaking his head.
After the classes, or as it was 'the same time', the Dream Team reached the same place. Harry opened the door to the Dueling Room and the sight that met them was even more surprising than the news that Malfoy wasn't a Death Eater. Draco was sitting in his wooden armchair, but to Harry it looked more like a throne, and was… sleeping?
After the forest expedition, he had returned to the laboratory to prepare the ingredients he gathered for the potion. It must be brewed during three days. He had only two more days to get the other needed ingredients. The preparation and first stages of the potion took almost all night and then three Potions classes in the morning; and two of them being gryffindors made them a living Hell. That's why Draco was absolutely exhausted and decided to take a nap before his next class, which promised to be very exiting due to his plans for it.
Ron, taking into consideration the situation with a sleeping and defenseless Malfoy, decided to play a prank on him; as always. He took out his wand and pointed it at Draco.
"Don't do it, Ron," Harry whispered, knowing that Malfoy couldn't be taken off guard. 'Even asleep.'
"He can't do anything, he is asleep," Ron whispered back, mischief all over his face.
Hermione said nothing. Of course she was against hexing students, but it was Malfoy. It was always good to see his butt kicked. Ron opened his mouth to say the hex, but was stopped by a gag, which was thrown by Draco.
"I warned you, Ron," Harry snickered from the sight of Ron with wide eyes and the gag in his mouth, which made him look really pathetic.
"You've read my mind, Potter," came a voice from the armchair, where Draco sat still with closed eyes. "I wanted myself to ask you to bring your friends to join us today. But they came on their own free will, how nice of them," Draco said in a tone, which promised nothing good. He stood up fully awake now. "But we still have a little problem, I have only two arms and there are three of you." Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. What the Hell was he talking about? Maybe he meant only one arm – his wand-arm? Little did they know, but we can't accuse them of that. "I think we should call professor Halflife, what do you think?"
"You want us to duel a professor?" Hermione asked with indignation. She still couldn't forgive herself for attacking Snape during her third year and now she was again proposed to do it. No way!
"And what would've happened, if I'd asked you to duel me?" Draco asked with a sly grin.
Hermione was lost. He was a professor, but still a seventh year and Draco Malfoy who made her life a living Hell. It was a dilemma, the exit from which couldn't be found by Hermione.
"Never mind," Draco made a dismissive wave with his hand. "You won't receive such a pleasure today. But I still have an interesting lesson planned," he whistled and an eagle owl came from somewhere above. It had a parchment and a quill attached to its leg. Draco wrote a short message and sent the owl to Halflife.
'So there must be a window somewhere near the ceiling.' Harry thought.
"And you won't duel her. She will attack and you'll defend." Draco didn't wait for this information to sink in and went on, "Till professor Halflife's arrival, I want to torture you a bit…with a lecture," he touched the desk with his wand, muttered a spell and the desk became so big that it could fit in three chairs. "Sit yourselves."
Harry sat automatically, as if already waiting for the command. Ron and Hermione did it grudgingly because they weren't prepared for it. They became Malfoy's students even without being asked for their agreement to do so.
"Today's lecture is devoted to yesterday's encounter. Especially to the moment of Potter loosing his concentration because of the alien's interruption. It'd better be aliens, but we weren't so lucky. It was the voice Potter recognized and that's why he reacted to it. And that, my dear students, was absolutely unacceptable. That's why we are gathered here. To block Potter's mind from you two."
"You can't do it. They are my friends, I can't simply ignore them," Harry said not with objection, but in a way of discussion.
"I said nothing about ignoring them in your life. The point is, when you are in the middle of the fight with Voldmort, you can't ran away to help your friends. You must finish him off and then do whatever you like, understand?" Harry nodded. "Still you are not heartless and can bale your friends out of trouble, but during battling on a regular basis, so to say."
"Then not everybody is present here," Harry remarked.
"You want to call the whole Gryffindor House!"
"Of course not, Ginny is absent," Harry stated.
"She isn't your concern," Draco threw. 'Oops, shouldn't have said that.'
"What are you implying?" Ron cut in into the conservation, standing up.
"I meant that she has a brother to look after her." 'Whew, that was close.'
Ron wanted to comment, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in, professor. You are right on time," Draco invited.
Halflife entered. Her mood was far from good. Her face was grey, her arms dangled lifelessly and her steps were uncertain and weak. 'Just like Snape,' the thought came to Draco's mind. "We decided to have a fighting session here, professor. Do you accept to participate?"
Such simple words made a miracle for her: her face lightened, her whole body gathered and became one unbreakable stone, the wand was firmly held in her right hand. "A fighting session, professor Malfoy? I am more than willing to participate," she said with the devilish sparks in her eyes, which were always there when fighting was brought up.
"Perfect. We'll use the second level, I suppose, professor?" Draco suggested. "For a start," he added, seeing Halflife's face fall.
"For a start," Halflife said, smiling with conspiracy.
"What do you mean by the second level?" Ron asked not so happy about his decision about coming here.
"You know the Jelly Legs hex?" Draco asked. Ron nodded. "The second level of it is Jelly Skin. There is the third and so on," Draco explained.
"And what is the third level of Jelly Legs?" Ron asked cautiously.
"Jelly Bones. If you want, we can try it on you when we reach the third level," Draco said with mock seriousness. Ron violently shook his head. "Now, a change of decorations is in order." With a flip of Draco's wand all the furniture disappeared – the room became absolutely empty. "I suggest you to go to the balcony, professor, to make it more realistic. The entrance is behind the portrait on the left from the door." Halflife nodded and exited.
Draco looked at his guinea pigs. "I bet you all think, what the Hell is going on," he read the positive answer in the eyes of the Dream Team. "Everything is simple. Professor Halflife will attack Ronald and Granger from the balcony. You won't see her or hear what hexes she sends because it'll be exactly like this on the battlefield. I will attack Potter in my own way. Is everything understood?" Harry nodded.
Hermione looked deep in debating with herself, or the circumstances or anything else. But Ron looked skeptical. "Why are you calling me Ronald all the time?" This was quite an inadequate question in such a situation, to any mind.
"It's your name, right?" Draco said with irritation. He couldn't be bothered with the ethical questions right now, especially because they needed avoiding answers.
"If so, call Hermione and Harry by their names also," Ron said, cornering Draco.
"It isn't the matter at hand," Draco slid out, but he knew it would come up eventually. "I'll discuss the rules with professor Halflife and you better prepare or she'll smash you into pieces. And, Potter," he waited until Harry's glance found his. "Concentrate."
After a few seconds, Draco appeared on the balcony where he said something to Halflife, who nodded a few times. Draco returned with the words, "Take your positions. Potter, you're standing quite close to them, so you'll be able to see them." Draco quickly crossed the room and took the spot near the wall opposite the door and Halflife. Harry was standing in front of him, facing Halflife with his back.
"How will he see us? He doesn't have eyes on his back," Hermione said with slight trembling in her voice. She liked reading and researching, but this was the practical part, that's why she couldn't help but be afraid.
"Does he?" Draco only said with a conspiracy smirk. Draco came close to Harry and whispered, "Your personal instructions, Potter. Concentrate. I'll repeat it again and again until I make a hole in your skull or until you start doing it properly. I'd choose the latter, but it's your choice. Right now I am Voldemort, nothing serious as you see."
Harry gave him you-are-crazy look which held fear and desperation. "Deep concentration. Nothing matters in this world now. Just you and me. You and Voldemort," he started to go, but then turned and also said quietly, "Remember, they won't die today. It's just a rehearsal, but the real performance will be a flop if this rehearsal isn't done properly. Let the battle begin!" Draco announced after a pause.
Harry was nervous, a bunch a nerves. Why? He didn't know. It was just another lesson. Yes, but other people were involved – his best friends. He couldn't put them in danger. His pessimistic thoughts were interrupted by a bucket of icy water that started flowing down his head to his toes. The chilly feeling brought him down to earth, where he supposed to be fighting Voldemort. Harry activated his Vision and faced the silver aura. He noticed that there occurred some changes: the bleeding holes turned into scars, and in the center was a large "M". But Harry didn't spend any more time on observations. He attacked.
His first move was arctic cold. He thought it would be effective and knock Malfoy out for a long time, but a moment before he released it, Harry saw a tiny fireball in Draco's aura. A second later, the arctic cold and fireball collided with each other sending parts of them towards both of them. Harry smelt the burning of something, but didn't pay much attention to it.
He needed to find a weak point in the silver aura. He looked at it more closely, trying to find it, while blocking fire streams and flows of lava. Then there was a sudden change: all his insides were shaken up by a tornado. His head was spinning; he couldn't find a solution because all his thoughts seemed to be running a marathon.
And then he heard it. The moan of Ron. He felt his pain through the orange aura on his left. Strangely, it didn't distract him, but rather he gathered himself and at last he found the weakness of his opponent. In his opinion, it was pretty lame, but he tried it. He threw salt into the scars and was rewarded with a stuffed groan. A picture of a blond woman on her knees and a man towering over her flashed in front of his eyes, then nothing.
And then another scream. It was Hermione. Harry wanted to turn his head to see what was going on. But then stopped himself. Concentration. That was everything that mattered. He started to feel weak from all the blows, but then collected all his power and started to throw burning hot iron hoops, which were supposed to fell on a person, paralyze his movements and burn him in the process. Surprisingly, it wasn't enough to finish the duel. As if for punishment, he received an unbearable pain in his stomach, as if some organ was roughly taken from there and then returned, but in the wrong place.
Another pitch scream and then a loud moan. That was it. Harry wasn't thinking straight already, he made a mess of everything: lightning, storm, fire, hot steal, and threw it with all his hate and indignation at his opponent. The brightness of the aura suddenly faded and it became simply dull grey. "Enough!" came Draco's loud but tired yell.
Harry blinked a few times, so his surroundings could came into focus. Hermione was sitting on the floor. Her hair covered her face. Ron was breathing heavily and looked as if a train had run over him. Harry noticed that there were three or four hexes on each of them, but they didn't bother to lift them at the moment. Then Harry inspected himself: robes a bit torn here and there, a few burns, his insides hurt still, all and all nothing fatal.
Only then he looked at Draco who was smiling like mad. That Harry was taken aback from such a view was an understatement. Who can smile after a fight? Only a madman. But with Malfoy, it's hard to say if he is sane or not at some point. After coming to his senses, Harry noticed large burns on Malfoy's neck and arms. He was paler than usual, his robes were torn badly in several places, but he was smiling from ear to ear. "Any suggestions, comments, reprimands, professor?" Draco asked in cheerful mood. "We almost reached the fifth level."
"I'm coming down and then we'll continue," Halflife answered also smiling from satisfaction.
While Halflife was on her way down, Draco beckoned Harry with his finger. When Harry neared him, Draco asked him whispering, "Do you want to know what knocked me out?"
"Of course, I do."
"Not your iron rings, which were cool by the way, not your fire or storm, but your hate and indignation." Harry looked at him, confusion all over his face. "You see, the point of the Dragon Fang isn't fireballs, lightening and other stuff like these if you are fighting humans. All you need is emotion and psychological pressure."
"But that's unfair."
"Maybe. It's like a staring contest and who'll break first. Who is weaker? In our case, who is more unstable? Physical violence is for fools. But mental… you can't even see the borders of your capabilities," Draco said with admiration.
"So you want to say that you were all happy, because my hate and indignation hit you?"
"Well, yes. But the point is that they hit me, affected me. Voldemort won't be destroyed by your hate - he'll become even stronger. I am glad that dark emotions affected me in a negative way; that means I am not that bad after all," Draco finished with a tired smirk.
He left the wall he was learning on and went to professor Halflife, who had already returned from the balcony. Harry trotted behind him. Ron was fussing over Hermione, who was remarkably weaker than him. She was learning on him like there was no tomorrow. She was damaged more mentally than physically because she'd never thought it would be like this.
Hexes were flying so fast and she couldn't even identify them, because she didn't hear the incantations. There was only time to block or revise the spells. No time simply to lift the hexes that hit her. On the whole – bloody Hell. And the worst was that Hermione knew it had been only the beginning.
"How do you assess the situation, professor?" Draco asked, looking over exhausted students.
"On the whole I am satisfied with the progress, but you wanted to have the second round?" Halflife answered all businesslike.
"If you think they are ready and still in good shape, why not? I am sure Potter can get through another round."
"You've gone mad from my indignation! Another one? I am barely standing!" came Harry's tormented voice from behind Draco's back.
"You wanted to protect your friends, didn't you?" Draco asked turning to Harry.
"You'll receive an extra credit for the next session," Halflife continued to persuade.
Harry sighed. "Ron! Herm'! Can you do another one?"
Ron shrugged then nodded. Hermine shook herself. She was really tired and only wanted a bath and a bed, but the extra credit… was tempting. Hell with credit! They need practice to be ready for the battle, not receive extra points! It's childish! Hermione nodded firmly in acceptance.
"Merlin, at last I'll have some fun," Draco said impishly. The Dream Team gave him a you'll-never-change look, Draco only shrugged.
"Now to the rules of the second round," began Halflife. "This time, professor Malfoy and I will be Death Eaters who attack you. That's why we'll step to the fifth level."
"The fifth level? The first level of Dark Magic?" Hermione asked with wide eyes.
"Yes, why not? We always use it in classes."
"Welcome to reality, Granger. Death Eaters won't attack you with leg biding hexes, they'll use something more effective to knock you out for a longer period of time, maybe for the whole eternity. Death Eaters like to use Dark Magic, it gives them power, confidence in the rightness of their deeds. And don't worry about your immortal soul, Potter knows how to clean everything up," with that Draco went to the furthest part of the room.
He took out his wand. He'd not used it for something like this for so long. But that didn't mean he'd forgotten how to do it, the knowledge had been buried too deep into his mind so there was no way to escape them or just forget. "It's the perfect opportunity to hex the crap out of me, so don't waste your chance," Draco said with a smirk.
"We will, I assure you," who else but Ron could say that.
After Halflife's signal, the battle between Death Eaters and the Dream Team began. To the outsider, especially a muggle one, it must have looked like a great firework show: sparks of all colors were flying back and forth. Still, those sparks weren't bringing entertainment, but pain and nasty things like burns, blisters and warts all over the body and even worse stuff that makes you throw up only at the sight of it.
Still nothing happened to our Dream Team. They were blocking every curse with skill and self-confidence. Ron also did all he could to reverse the curses on Draco, but to his utter disappointment, Draco was saying counter-curses as fast as he cursed in all directions.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing back to back and from time to time, Ron pushed Hermione to one side or another so the curse could simply miss her. 'He is watching her back all the time, even if he is heavily attacked,' thought Draco, not understanding Ron's reasoning. 'Well, she is his girlfriend,' such a statement satisfied his confusion.
Their 'battle' continued not more than twenty minutes, but they were all exhausted to no end by this round. Still, the eyes of the trio were focused and ready for another blow. They looked like driven animals, breathing heavily and looking from Draco to Halflife, but they weren't scared of the outcome of the curses hitting them. They were prepared for everything.
Halflife looked more alive than ever, as if the match gave her the strength and something worth living for. It was really difficult to determine Draco's condition. He looked pleased. With what? Who could say? From the opportunity to curse his enemies from head to toe to win? This wasn't correct because nobody was cursed to unconsciousness.
The explanation was formed in his next phrase. "I wish I could attend your lessons, professor Halflife," Draco said with a deep bow. "They'll kill fifty Death Eaters each and won't mess themselves up."
"Thank you, professor Malfoy. I'm very proud of them myself. Each gets fifty points today. A point for a Death Eater," she said the last words with disgust, as if wishing that they indeed made so many Death Eaters disappear today. "Your student isn't bad himself. I am sure you have a talent for teaching," Halflife said with a small smile. Draco silently bowed again. "I hope you'll inform me about the other…matters," her face fell again, becoming at once grey and lifeless.
"Sooner than you imagine," Draco said mysteriously. For a moment Halflife's face lighted up, but then returned to its graveness. She nodded and left. Draco turned to his 'students' for today. "Class dismissed. And, Potter. Forty points for your indignation. I've taken ten points for disturbing my scars. Don't you ever do it again," Draco finished dangerously.
Harry nodded, not wanting to even ask where they came from because he was sure no answer would be received. "We wanted to know when professor Snape would be back," mentioned Hermione on their way out.
"I can't tell you anything for certain. It depends on several things, which I am not supposed to reveal."
"Well, maybe I can help. To do some research on his illness, if I know what it is…" Hermione said uncertainly.
"I am provided with all the help I need. Still, you wouldn't be able to help with this particular illness. It's a virus actually, which is spreading like a tsunami now." On all three faces appeared a frightened expression. "Its name is Voldemort," Draco paused for a second. "Prepare yourselves, there isn't much time left."