"Harry," Hermione began once they had apparated from Grimmauld place to the Leaky Cauldron, "Who exactly are we meeting here?"
"I bet you've been dying to know, haven't you?" Harry asked, smiling slightly as he recovered from the unpleasantness of apparating (flying, unfortunately, was just impractical with the time limit they had today, and Harry's broom had been shrunk and placed inside his shrunken trunk). Ron and Hermione both nodded eagerly, realising that Harry was about to tell them whom he had been corresponding with for over two weeks.
"We're meeting someone who wants to help us, and I expect he will be quite useful. To begin with, he has some interesting information to share with us," Harry said, opening the door and nodding a greeting at Tom before beginning to climb the stairs to the private meeting rooms.
Ron and Hermione followed, glancing at each other, as confused as ever. Hermione began to pester Harry for more details.
"Harry," she whined, "that's still not telling us. It could be anyone!"
"Oh, could it now, Hermione?" Harry asked, clearly amused as he stopped outside a closed door. Before she had a chance to answer, Harry continued his teasing. "Wasn't it you who was saying just the other day that the only useful information we would be able to get would be from-"
"A Death Eater," Ron cut in, eyes wide, "But Harry, you didn't…"
"I have successfully tracked down, requested, and been granted, by way of owl, a meeting with one Draco Malfoy," Harry said flippantly, enjoying the shock on the faces of his two best friends.
Unsurprisingly, Hermione was the first to recover. Ever the rational one, she put the childhood hate aside, and said, "but Harry, he wasn't exactly in You-Know-Who's favour. What could he have to offer us?"
"You're right, Hermione, he wasn't in Voldemort's good graces, but his father was."
"Lucius? He died in Azkaban; what's he got to do with this?" Ron snapped, annoyed that Harry had kept them in the dark about something as big as this.
"Draco has access to his father's old notes and letters from his Death-Eater days." Ron and Hermione were silent for a few moments.
"And now," Harry said, breaking the silence, "it is time to meet the last member of the new generation of marauders," Harry opened the door with a flourish.
A cloaked figure sat at the end of a long rectangular table, hunched on a stool that was perched near the fireplace. At the sound of the opening door, Draco Malfoy looked up sharply, the hood falling from his pale face. He narrowed his eyes slightly, motioning for Harry to close the door.
Harry walked in confidently, beckoning Ron and Hermione to follow. Hermione closed the door behind her, and stood very close to Ron.
"Draco," Harry said amicably, "Thank you for coming."
"The pleasure is all mine," Draco said through his teeth as he glared at Ron, sounding as if he couldn't be lying more.
Harry sighed, glancing at Ron and Hermione apologetically. "Look, Malfoy," he began, noting that Draco flinched at the sound of his own last name, "It took me a lot of effort to be here now, so the least you can do is be civil."
"Really, Potter? I'm touched you think I'm worth the effort," Draco sneered, quickly covering his disappointed expression that hearing the hatred in Harry's voice had caused. Harry to turn and address his friends quietly.
"Sorry, guys, I was expecting this to be a little easier, given the circumstances, but apparently, Malfoy has decided to be as difficult as ever. Do you want to go downstairs for a drink while I sort this out? I'll call you up when he's ready to talk nicely." Ron and Hermione nodded and left, Hermione silently indicating to Harry that she was carrying her DA coin and Ron sending one last glare at Malfoy for good measure.
"Now," he growled, turning to Malfoy angrily. "Just what was that all about? After all I've done for you, the least you can do is treat my friends and me civilly. Particularly considering you are going to be spending the rest of the school year with us and not at school where that attitude of yours is actually appreciated by some half-wits!"
"All you've done for me?" Draco reiterated, sounding surprised. "I got myself here. All you've done for me is allow me to meet you here."
"And after six years of nothing but hatred and animosity between us, I think that's quite a big achievement," Harry growled, losing his temper quicker than usual. He wondered why he felt so disappointed in Draco's behaviour. Perhaps he was expecting too much of the boy.
"I wouldn't say nothing," Draco mumbled barely audibly.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Forget it. Let's just… try and be civil to each other, at least."
"Look, I'm sorry, ok? It's just… my situation isn't exactly easy right now, as you know… And… I am very grateful for your time."
"Yeah, well," Harry mumbled, looking down, "when you sent me that letter asking for help, I was kind of expecting to find you a changed person. Obviously that was naïve of me."
"Not at all, Harry." Harry looked up, surprised. "Look, I just… I am the same person I have always been, but I have still changed. I don't have the same beliefs now. I'm not a clone of my father, Harry."
"I know." Draco noticed that Harry was looking at him with a slightly softened expression, and looked hurriedly away, feeling his cheeks go warm as they made eye contact. He cleared his throat, and decided to break the awkward silence.
"Now… I gather, from what you said before you came in, that you have not told them that I initiated contact?"
"No," Harry said, "I figured you'd want to try and retain some of your dignity. Besides, telling my best friends that you wrote to me begging for my protection and help kind of makes you seem weak. Not that I think that," Harry added hurriedly, seeing the shame on Draco's face, "It's just… I'm trying to convince them that you should come with us, and I want to make sure they know, like I do, that you are an advantage, not a burden."
"You – you want me to come with you?" Draco asked, genuinely shocked. He felt an unfamiliar warmth spread through his chest.
"Of course. Why else did you think I bothered to come? Why else would I bring Ron and Hermione with me? If not to test whether or not you'd be able to work with us."
Draco suddenly understood Harry's tenseness earlier. He had acted terribly to Harry's friends, and clearly Harry was beginning to regret his decision.
"I'm sorry I was so grouchy before. I just… it's a rough time, like I said."
"No, you were fine. I know Ron and Hermione will tolerate working with you… and I may even enjoy it, if your personality in letters is anything like your real personality."
"That's me when I'm relaxed. This is me when I'm tense."
"Well then I like you a lot when your relaxed and a little less when your tense," Harry said, gripping Draco by the shoulder in a reassuring manner and feeling warmth spread through his fingers.
"Thanks, Harry," Draco said, looking at the floor rather embarrassedly.
"No problem, Draco," Harry smiled genuinely, and fished a galleon out of his pocket. "Now, if you'll agree to working with me, shall I call them up?" He asked, flipping the coin and catching it again.
Draco nodded, returning to his stool and briefly wondering when Harry had let go of him, for he still felt warm. He gazed at Harry, feeling nervous as Harry rubbed his thumb over the coin a few times before returning it to his pocket.
"Pumpkin juice?" Harry asked, turning to pour some pumpkin juice from a jug on the table into four glasses.
"Are you calling them up, or what?" Draco asked, confused.
"Already did," Harry replied, grinning as he realised Draco had completely missed the significance of the fake galleon. Before Draco could open his mouth to disagree, the door opened.
Hermione and Ron walked in, glancing cautiously at Draco before catching Harry's smile and relaxing. Draco, meanwhile, was gaping at Harry.
"He's agreed," Harry said, by way of greeting Ron and Hermione before turning amusedly to Draco. "Something wrong, Draco?" Harry asked.
"How – How did you – you didn't do anything! You didn't even whisper, or – or use magic or anything." Ron grinned, understanding what Draco was confused about.
"Ah, but I did," Harry said cryptically, pulling the galleon out of his pocket and tossing it to Draco. Draco inspected it, and tossed it back to Harry.
"It's a galleon. What's your point?"
"Here," Hermione said, pulling her fake galleon out of her own pocket and handing it to Draco, "Harry, activate yours." Harry obliged, pulling his out and running his thumb over it twice. Draco's eyebrows shot up as the galleon he was holding suddenly became warm.
"Impressive, Potter," Draco commented, grinning at Harry.
"Actually, it was Hermione," Ron said, looking at Hermione proudly.
"Good job, Granger," Draco said, nodding at her and returning the coin.
"Harry, isn't it about time we got down to business?" Hermione asked, taking a seat at the table and sipping a pumpkin juice.
"Yes, of course. Before we begin," Harry said, in a manner reminiscent of Dumbledore, "I have a couple of ideas I want to throw out in the open. That reference to the marauders before was not unintentional. I've been thinking recently how useful it would be if we were actually animagi ourselves. Don't interrupt, Ron," Harry said, catching sight of the incredulous look on Ron's face and the open mouth, "we can just practice in between gathering information, but, to start off with, a lot of our work will be able to be done from the one place. And, secondly, it isn't as hard as it sounds. Ron, if Pettigrew could do it, we certainly can." Harry paused, draining the rest of his pumpkin juice. Now for the hard part.
"And… I've also been thinking… these coins won't be enough. We're going to need a better system to get in touch with each other."
"What have you got in mind, Harry?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"Well… I… sort of… found this book, in the library at Grimmauld place," Harry said, ignoring Hermione's frown and gasp, "and… it seems to be… I mean, that is, it… it seems as if the Dark Mark spell was adapted from a spell in that book."
"Harry, you're not suggesting-" Hermione began hotly.
"No, just hear me out, Hermione," Harry said, pulling a folded piece of parchment from his pocket, "I thought we could adapt the original spell a bit… so basically what would happen is we magically tattoo ourselves, so that when any of us presses on our own tattoo, all the others feel the tattoo warm up, and depending on who presses it, a certain area of the tattoo will change colour."
Intrigued, Draco leaned forward, nodding. "Harry, you realise we can combine this with the lieuthas spell to include the location of whoever is pressing the tattoo. The location will come to the minds of all the others as they feel their tattoo warm up."
"Good thinking, Draco, but I have already incorporated it. This is the design I came up with," Harry said, unfolding the parchment and showing it to the others. It was quite simple, just a circle with three letters inside it. H, R and D.
"So our initial changes colour when we press our tattoo, and the circle changes when you press, Harry?" Ron clarified.
"Yeah," Harry muttered, blushing.
"Pffft, don't be modest, Potter, it's an effective symbolism. You are the one holding this all together, after all." Draco said.
"Hermione?" Harry asked: she had been oddly silent throughout the discussion.
"Ok. Let's do it," she said, surprising them all.
"The thing is, I can't cast the spell on you all. You have to do it yourselves."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"The reason Voldemort can tell when his Death Eaters are lying is because he cast the spell on them himself. It allows you access to the other's mind, regardless of how strong their Occlumency is."
"Wow. That's really clever. I suppose the original intent of the spell was that?" Hermione said.
"Yes. Actually the spell I've devised is based more on the Dark Mark than the spell in the book, but the main differences are it won't hurt when the tattoo warms up and I'm not casting it so I wont have access to your minds."
"So… will you show us how it works?" Ron asked, looking curiously at Harry.
Harry rolled up the sleeve on his left forearm, revealing a few nasty looking scars. "Failed attempts at devising the spell," he said rather sheepishly. He pointed his wand at his forearm and muttered "markis revelo lieuthas persona" concentrating hard on the image on the parchment before him.
The others gasped as the design Harry had drawn on the paper became visible on his forearm in black. The three letters were placed in an upside down pyramid design within the circle, with the H and the R on top and the D in the centre underneath.
"Does it hurt?" Ron wondered, grimacing as Harry nodded.
"Only for a couple of hours, then it will never hurt again. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't have to – it's for our own safety," Harry said. "You have to concentrate on the design. Stare at it, if you need to."
Hermione rolled up her sleeve and, taking a deep breath, cast the spell. Ron followed shortly after. They all looked expectantly at Draco, who blushed.
"Harry, I want you to cast mine," he said, looking at the floor, "so you know you can trust me."
Ron and Hermione, who had expected Harry to protest, were surprised when he just nodded and motioned for Draco to roll up his sleeve. In that moment, when Harry and Draco made eye contact, an understanding passed between them. The only way Draco would agree to help was if he was sure Harry trusted him. And Draco knew that Harry had understood that. Although Harry already trusted Draco, he knew that Draco needed certainty. He knew Draco thought he might kick Draco out of the deal if he didn't trust Draco.
Harry whispered the spell and pressed his wand tip to Draco's forearm. Draco flinched in pain when Harry lightly touched the black design with his finger. Ron and Hermione didn't notice, choosing instead to gaze at their own tattoos.
"Right," Harry said after a moment of silence, "First thing's first. Is anyone hungry?"
Despite the slightly spiritual atmosphere from the marking of the tattoos, everyone laughed.
"I'm starved!" Ron exclaimed.
"Actually, I am a little hungry," Draco agreed.
"Me too," Hermione admitted, "shall I order some food up from Tom?"
"No, it's ok, Hermione, I think we should go have dinner at home."
"Home?" Draco asked, confused. Hermione didn't seem to know what Harry meant either. Only Ron was unsurprised, a smug look on his face.
"The base. I've found a place for us, it's in muggle London but there's all sorts of protection charms and things on it, like Grimmauld, except this will be all our own and we won't have any Order members interrupting us." Harry explained, rising from his chair.
"We'll have to do side along apparition, as I'm not authorised for a portkey and they can be tracked. The fireplace isn't safe to use, it's too easily monitored. So, who wants to go first?"
"Take Draco, Harry," Hermione said, "Ron and I will clear things up here while we wait for you to get back."
"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said.
"See you in a few," Draco said, causing both Ron and Hermione to raise their eyebrows at the casual tone.
"Shouldn't be too long. Ten minutes? I'll have to get him inside, obviously. Ready, Draco?"
Instead of replying, Draco stepped up to Harry and gripped his arm tightly. Harry concentrated on his destination and with a crack, both he and Draco disappeared.
They arrived on a grimy street looking much like Grimmauld place, and were standing facing what appeared to be an empty block. Harry bent close to Draco's ear and whispered, "the marauder's base can be found at number forty-four Sinker's lane, London." Draco watched, fascinated, as a rather shabby looking house popped up out of the ground.
"Come on, let's get inside," Harry suggested, grabbing Draco's arm and pulling him towards the house.
"But- how?" Draco asked, once they were inside.
"Let me get Ron and Hermione first, then I'll explain. Dobby!" Harry said, looking around expectantly.
"Yes Harry Potter sir?" Dobby asked breathlessly, appearing in the room with a crack.
"Would you be so kind as to show Draco to his room?"
"Which room would that be, Harry Potter sir?" Dobby asked, looking at Draco with a hint of recognition in his eyes. He nervously crept closer to Harry.
"That would be my room, Dobby," Harry said, adding to Draco, "there's only two bedrooms, and Hermione and Ron will be sharing the other."
"Yes Harry Potter sir," Dobby said, nodding, "is that all?"
"Not quite, I just want you to know, Draco is here because I trust him: he is under oath and he is going to help me fight Voldemort. So don't be afraid, and please try and help him to feel welcome. I will be back shortly with Ron and Hermione."
"Oh! Harry is bringing his Weezy!" Dobby said, nodding eagerly to show he understood.
"Yes, that's right," Harry said, catching Draco's raised eyebrow and grinning in response. "Now, I must go, but I will be back momentarily." He left through the front door, apparently to apparate from the street.
When Harry returned with Ron fifteen minutes or so later, he noticed that Draco had not come down from their shared room yet.
"You're sharing with Hermione – I figured you guys wouldn't mind," Harry said slyly, "it's the third door on the left up the stairs. Bathroom's next door and Draco and I are sharing the room directly across. Library opposite bathroom. Back in a bit," Harry said, quickly making his way back out the door.
Harry and Hermione made their way into the house.
"It's nice not to have a nasty old portrait screaming at us," Hermione commented, referring to Mrs Black's portrait at Grimmauld place.
"Yeah, it is."
"Harry, how did you find this place?"
"I'll tell you all later," Harry said dismissively.
They walked into the kitchen and Harry was surprised to find Draco and Ron sitting at the kitchen table, apparently talking rather civilly over some butterbeer. Spaghetti bolognaise stood in a steaming pot in the middle of the table.
"Um…" Harry said confusedly.
"Oh, Harry, you're back," Ron stated.
"I asked Dobby to prepare some lunch for us. It looks quite marvellous," Draco said simply, looking at the food with an appreciative gaze.
Dobby, who stood in the corner, was obviously pleased with the praise.
"I is doing my best, sir," he said, bowing.
"Yes, it does look wonderful, thankyou, Dobby. That's all we need for now. Please go enjoy yourself for a bit," Harry said, sitting down next to Ron and helping himself to a plate of spaghetti.
"Yes, Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said, and disappeared with a crack.
"So, I thought we should work out a bit of a routine, and also assign jobs to people," Harry began, looking to Ron for the expected protest.
"Chores?" Ron asked, dismayed.
"No, Ron. Dobby is happy to do the chores for us. He enjoys it, Hermione," Harry added, seeing Hermione's scowl and remembering her S.P.E.W. club. "I mean projects. For example, I want Hermione to research animagi so that we can begin practising as soon as possible. Ron, you'll be looking into some of Dumbledore's memories. I've got his pensieve from McGonagall. And Draco will be showing me his father's memories and notes."
"Right," Ron said, looking excited. Finally, they were taking some action.
"We'll have some form of training or practice every morning at six o clock for two hours before we eat breakfast," Harry began outlining their schedule.
"Six? I can't get up that early!" Ron said, stopping the flow of food into his mouth just long enough to protest.
"You can, and you will," Harry said, not leaving room for argument, "then, after breakfast we will all go our separate ways to work on our assignments or projects, then we meet for lunch. No discussion of work at meals. Then we work for another couple of hours, have the rest of the afternoon off, and have dinner together. After dinner we have a meeting to discuss the day's progress."
"I think that will work very well, Harry," Hermione said approvingly.
"Me too. I like the 'no work at lunch or dinner' rule. We need to have some socialising that does not involve work." Draco said.