Disclaimer: Nothing that you read and recognize belongs to me. It all belongs to the wonderful mind of J.K. Rowling
A/N: Hey, all! If you read my first fanfic about Oliver Wood, I thank you, but I've had to put it on haitus, due to a severe case of writers block and lack of reviews/fellow writer's interest. If you'd like to help me cure it, please check my other fanfic and leave a review saying that you like it or something to that effect. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy the slashy goodness of my latest fanfic.
Harry Potter rolled over in his bed. He'd been sleeping fitfully through out the whole night. No, wait, scratch that, he'd been sleeping fitfully the past two days since he'd come to 12 Grimould Place. Two days ago, he'd left Hogwarts, for good. After Dumbledore's funeral, he knew that he had to defeat Voldermort. He'd almost wished that he hadn't left and come to 12 Grimould Place. He'd almost wished that he had gone to the Weasly's house so he could spend the summer with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He almost wished that he hadn't told Ginny that they couldn't be together.
But the past was the past, and he had to let it go, he knew that he'd see his friends again. He thought back to Dumbledore's funeral and wondered about the future of the Order of the Phoenix. No one had bothered to to send him an owl. No one had even bothered to see if anyone had made an attempt to revive the Order of the Phoenix. Harry was, in fact, very lonely here and wished that someone, anyone would come to check on the place and give him some company.
Harry shook his head. No, he hand't come here for company. As a matter of fact, he'd come here for direction and guidance. He knew he had to defeat Voldermort, but he didn't know how. He had come to the house in hopes of finding some direction. Dumbledore had always been there to give him some form of guidance. Even if it wasn't out and out telling him what to do, he always gave him some wise advice that he could think about and it always came in handy in a tight spot. Life was too confusing right now and he'd come in hopes of eliminating most of that confusion.
A knocking at the front door interrupted his thoughts. Groaning, Harry rolled out of bedand headed down the stairs. He wondered who could be knocking at this bloody hour of the night. In any case, it was company, so it really didn't matter. He assumed that it was one of the members of the Order who had come to check on the place. Harry looked through the peephole at the front door. He paused for a moment upon seeing who was at the door. He blinked, assuiming that the lack of sleep was playing games with his mind. When he looked out through the peephole again, it was the same person, Draco Malfoy.
Harry's first instinct was to just go back to bed and pretend like no one was home, but that didn't happen. Against his better judgement, he opened the door for him. Harry couldn't believe that Draco was actually in 12 Grimould Place. Less than a week earlier, Draco had put Harry under a freezing spell. Now, here he was standing in the doorway of his temporary home. Draco shut the door and Harry turned on the light in the entranceway. Now that he got a better look at Draco, it was a bit more obvious why he had come. He was in horrible shape his neck and arms looked bruised. And he had the beginnings of a black eye around his left eye. Another noticeable difference was that he wasn't wearing the usual smug face that he carried around. It had been replaced with one of pain and shock.
"Harry, please you have to help me," Draco began timidly, breaking the stunned silence between the two of them.
Harry paused for a moment, Malfoy had never called him Harry before, it had always been Potter. Harry knew that he must really be desperate, but Harry quickly regained his composure, this was Malfoy we were talking about, here.
"Malfoy, whatever mess you've gotten yourself into is not my problem," Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Harry, you don't understand. I'm in trouble with the Death Eaters. They think I'm dead and if they find me, they'll kill me"
"Malfoy, if you stay here, they're going to find me and you supposedly know the prophecy. They'll kill me too"
"But Harry, you've got to help me, I've got no other place to go!"
"Again, Malfoy, not my problem!" Harry said, heading for the door to kick Malfoy out.
"Harry, please!"
Harry stopped and sighed. He knew that this could potentially turn into a dangerous situation. Malfoy could still very well be working for the enemy. And as he told Malfoy, it was dangerous because the Death Eaters knew the prophecy. They could be looking for him. By finding both the house and them, they had the power to accomplish both things. Harry mulled over all of this for a few seconds. His good nature ultimately won over.
"Alright," Harry said. He knew that this was not a good move.
Draco looked relieved after Harry had said this. "Is there a loo where I could get cleaned up?"
Harry pointed down the nearest hall, "Second door on the left. And, Malfoy, are you hungry?"
"Yeah," Dracon called as he was walking down the hall. Harry was a bit shocked at himself. It was like it just came out and he had no control over it. Now that he had said it, he had to do it. He knew that his parents would most likely want him to do, but he didn't know that it would be this hard. He continued to let these thoughts mull around in his head as he made a quick meal for Malfoy.
Ten minutes later, Malfoy came back from the bathroom, all cleaned up. Harry looked at him and served himself the food. He was now regretting the decision to let Malfoy in. As Harry sat down, he began to look at Malfoy's injuries more extensively. There was a big scar on his arm that looked like it was healing. He had bruises all over his body and he just looked like a mess. Wait, what did I just say, he though to himself. Great, now I'm was feeling pity for my archenemy, he thought. Harry nodded over to the counter where the food was, Draco served himself. Malfoy then sat down at the table and began to eat.
"Malfoy, if you don't mind my asking . . .," Harry began.
"You want to know what happened, right?" Draco responded and sighed.
Harry nodded.
"Well," he sighed, after taking a bite. "After I left you and Dumbledore, Snape and I headed to the Forbidden Forest to meet Lor – him and other Death Eaters
"He obviously knew that I hadn't killed Dumbeldore. Snape tried to explain that he made and Unbreakable Vow that if I was unable, that he would do it, but he wouldn't hear it. I tried to derend myself, but he called me 'weak' and 'inept'
"Then he told the Death Eaters to Crucio me, but obviously he wasn't happy with that. Then, Voldermort," saying the Dark Lord's name was like having the taste of slugs in his mouth and he just wanted to get it out. "He performed an Imperius Curse on me. So, many of the injuries you see are self-inflicted. After that was all done, they just left me for dead in the middle of the forest"
"How did you know to come here, did the Death Eaters send you here?" Harry interrupted. He still found it hard to believe that Draco had just all of a sudden given up his Death Eater ways and had miraculously become good.
"I really don't know how. It was really rather weird. I was passed out and I woke up and I heard this voice in my head saying, '12 Grimould Place'. I just couldn't get that voice out of my head. so, I figured I might as well go to this place. And three days later, here I am," Draco said.
There was a pause, "Malfoy, I'm gonna have to be honest with you. I don't believe a damn word that you said."
"Potter, please, you've got to believe me. This place is the only chance of survival I have"
"Oh, c'mon, Malfoy, let's be real here. Less than a week ago, you had me and the closest person I've ever had to a father, at wandpoint on the roof of Hogwarts. Then, to make matters worse you put me under a Petrificus Totalis and then taunted me. Now you show up at a place, that's supposed to be secret, and give me some rediculous story about being tortued. So, for give me if I'm not being as as naïve as you think I should be"
They both sighed. Draco put his head in his hands and rubbed his face. They ate in silence for awhile. Both were content with the silence until a knock on the door interrupted the quiet scene. Harry threw down his fork and got up to answer the door. He looked through the peephole and quickly opened up the door. In from the sticky, summery air was Ron Weasly with a girl he didn't recognize.
Harry laughed, "Ron! What are you doing here?"
Ron looked at Harry gravely, "I think we'd better sit down for this one"
They headed into the kitchen with Harry leading the way. Ron stopped in his tracks when he saw Draco sitting at the table.
"Why is he here?" Ron said, pointing at Draco.
"Ron," Harry said in an effort to calm him down.
"No Harry, I want an explanation. Why the bloody hell is he here?"
"Ron, please, it's not worth it," the girl said, putting her arm on Ron's shoulder. She was trying to calm him down, just as Harry had done.
Ron threw off the girl's hand and began shouting, "Yes it is! Why in the bloody fucking hell is he here?"
"I came here because I needed help, alright, Weasly?" Draco said, throwing down his fork and standing up.
"Oh yeah? You needed help, eh?" Ron said.
"Yeah, and Potter was kind enough to give me some," Draco retorted.
"Well, maybe he won't be so kind and helpful after he finds out what your lot did to my family," Ron said, now starting to fight back tears.
"Ron, no, not now," the girl said, warningly.
"What? What happened?" Harry said, "Ron, what happened?"
Ron looked Harry with tears welling in his eyes and said, angrily, "Thanks to his lot, my parents and Ginny are dead"
With that, Ron began crying and he slowly sank to the ground and the girl got down on the ground with him and held him. Harry blinked. Ginny? He felt a lump form in his throat. Ginny? Dead? Tears began to run down his cheeks. Ginny? Dead? How? Why? He looked at the girl, who was still holding Ron. She, also trying to fight back tears, said,
"Yesterday evening we were sitting around after dinner and a band of Death Eaters broke in. Ron and I were upstairs and Ginny was downstairs with his parents. His parents were in the kitchen and killed instantly. They didn't see Ginny, so she ran to tell Ron and I to leave and that she was going to take them on herself. We ran upstairs to grab our wands. When we got downstairs, it was too late"
"It doesn't make any sense, Harry. I've thought about it a thousand times. It doesn't make sense," Ron said trying to regain composure.
" 'A wise man attacks the body, but the cunning attacks the heart,' " Draco said.
Ron and the girl looked at him quizzically.
"He's right," Harry said, "Ginny was my girlfriend and she meant more to me than you, Ron. No offense, but she did"
"Seeing as you're such the expert, why kill my parents?" Ron asked.
"You-Know-Who probably gave them orders to kill anyone who got in the way," Draco responded, "he does that sometimes, on important missions"
"But, then, why not search the house for anyone else?" Harry questioned.
"To shake you up, to give you the message that he's ready to answer your challenge," Draco explained.
Harry sighed, "Fair enough. Now Malfoy, Ron ,and?" he said pointing at Ron's guest
"Oh, this is Kristine," Ron said.
"Hi," she said with somewhat of a worn-out smile.
"Kristine is my girlfriend," Ron said, wearily smiling.
"Well, now, Ron, Kristine, and Draco, I'm sure everyone is completely wiped out, so if we could head upstairs, that'd be just wonderful," Harry said.
"We can show ourselves up," Ron said, heading for the stairs with Kristine.
"Malfoy, let me show you to your room," Harry said walking out, with Draco getting up and following behind him.
They went up the stairs and Harry gave Draco the room next to him. He opened the door and switched on the lightfor him. He was about to walk out when he heard,
"I'm sorry about Ginny, Potter," Draco said. This made Harry stop in his steps.
"Malfoy, I said you could stay, that doesn't make you my friend"
And with that, Harry left the room and slept fitfully, yet another night