Tiger & Dragon
By loverstouch
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to J.K Rowling. The story is based on Rowling's work, but the plot of 'Tiger & Dragon' comes from my own sick brain.
Summary: In the summer after his fifth year Harry is taken from the Dursleys to live with the Malfoys. The next day the Daily Prophet's headline read 'Boy Who Lived Died In Death Eater Attack' …
Rating: R
This is my first "Slash" fanfiction and the first fic I have published at all, so please go easy on me.
The story begins in the summer after Harry's fifth year, which means yes; it is post OoTP, but has nothing to do with HBP.
/-
/-
/-
I'd like to thank Draeconin for being the beta for my story. I'm really grateful for your help.
/-
/-
/-
Hope you enjoy it!
/-
/-
/-
Chapter 12 – Veritaserum
/-
/-
/-
"I knew he was a troublemaker. With his lack of respect and his rebellious behaviour, this boy must be involved with You Know Who." A furious Cornelius Fudge paced back and forth in front of the group of five Aurors, all the Weasleys and Hermione, Professors Dumbledore, Lupin, Snape, the Malfoys, and Tiger - who was still bound, and was strongly watched by the Aurors. They were the only ones left at the graveyard. After the attack of the Dementors and several Death Eaters - which was successfully beat back, and every Death Eater had been arrested - the graveyard had been evacuated except for that group. Fudge was beside himself, because he had insisted that Tiger should be arrested as well, but Dumbledore wouldn't let the Aurors take him away.
"I am the Minister of Magic, and you all saw how he spoke to me, and what he said about Harry Potter. He is a Death Eater and I will personally see to it that he will be punished. He…"
Tiger stopped listening to Fudge's tirade about him being a threat and taking him to Azkaban, and what not. He wasn't afraid of Fudge, though he knew he couldn't do anything against him; not with what Tiger just did. And with Dumbledore there he wasn't in any danger of being taking away. But what he was afraid of was the looks of Lucius, Dumbledore and Remus.
Since Lucius had saved him from falling he hadn't spoken a word. He had let Dumbledore speak to Fudge, and 'convince' him that it wasn't necessary to take Tiger to the Ministry. Instead, he had glared at Tiger in a way that made the black-haired teen wish the occupant of the newest grave wasn't a transfigured frog, but the real Harry Potter.
After speaking with the Aurors, Dumbledore had joined Lucius in watching Tiger, but his look made the boy even more uncomfortable. Tiger could clearly see the disappointment in the headmaster's eyes, and it pained him that it was his fault that the older man's eyes had lost their famous twinkle.
But what caused Tiger to really wish for a hole to open up in the ground, where he could jump in and disappear, was Remus' look of disbelief, pain, and…hope? He had fallen to his knees after he had realized what was about to emerge from Tiger's wand, and had clutched Sirius' journal even tighter to his chest. He was mumbling to himself while studying Tiger's every move. The teen refused to look at the man, for fear of his own breakdown.
Instead, he looked around, searching for any support. His eyes fell upon Ron and Hermione, who were surrounded by the other Weasleys, who tried to calm them down. Hermione had fainted when she had realised what would have happened if the Aurors hadn't stop the Dementors in time. She still was a little pale, and Ron wasn't any better. He was visibly shaking, but he tried not to show it, to give his girlfriend the comfort she needed right now. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were speaking reassuringly to the two teens, while the other Weasleys were trying to figure out what really had happened.
When Tiger's gaze wandered on, he found Professor Snape talking to an Auror Tiger didn't know, who was staring at him angrily.
He now searched for Draco, and found the blond in a heated discussion with his mother, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. It seemed as though Draco tried to come over to him, but his mother held him back with a firm grip at his wrist. They glared at each other, neither one giving in. Tiger never found out who looked away first, because his attention was caught by the Auror who had spoken to Snape, and who was now talking to Fudge.
"…and with the Veritaserum we could prove right here if he is a Death Eater or not, and what his intentions were."
"Veritaserum?" Tiger asked a little nervously, glancing from the Auror to Lucius and Dumbledore.
"Is that really necessary?" Lucius spoke for the first time since Tiger's capture.
"Of course it is, Malfoy," Fudge snapped, angry about the outburst. But he flinched when he saw Lucius' look, and added quietly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but yes, it is necessary. I don't blame you for this boy's behaviour since he hasn't lived with you until recently, but it is my duty to do everything to stop criminals, especially Death Eaters."
"I'm not a Death Eater," Tiger exclaimed angrily. "Why can't you see that I just wanted to help Ron and Hermione? I would never hurt anybody."
"Then it wouldn't be a problem for you to prove your word while under the influence of Veritaserum." Fudge smirked provokingly, grabbing a small bottle of the truth serum from one of the Aurors, and stepping up in front of Tiger.
"You can't force him to take it," Draco shouted from where his mother still held him back. "Don't do it, Tiger! You don't have to do it!"
Tiger looked at Draco for a while, then he smiled at the blond before adopting a serious expression, and turned to the Aurors, ignoring Fudge on purpose.
"Take the spell off me and I will take the potion willingly. I have done nothing to deserve such treatment, and I will prove my innocence right here, right now." Tiger stared at the Auror who had cast the binding spell on him. It wasn't long before he was freed. He grabbed the potion from Fudge's hand, ignoring the Minister's protest, and turned back to Snape.
"Professor Snape, as everybody knows, you are Hogwarts Potions Professor, and one of the best Potion Masters alive-" 'I can't believe I'm actually praising the greasy git,' Tiger thought when he paused for a moment, waiting for Snape to nod in confirmation, "so you can confirm that Veritaserum is a Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have everybody spilling their innermost secrets for everybody to hear?"
"That's right," Snape nodded again, not in the least surprised that Tiger knew about this potion.
"Good. Thank you, Professor." With that, Tiger downed the whole contents of the small bottle, which was supposed to be for at least four portions.
Everybody gasped when Tiger closed his eyes, and sank to his hands and knees.
"Tiger!" Draco broke away from his mother and ran to Tiger, who tried to stand back up. He put an arm around the other boy's waist and helped him up. "Are you all right?" He asked when he stepped back to look into Tiger's unfocused eyes.
"Just a bit dizzy, but I think this is the normal effect of the potion."
"Why did you do that?" Draco asked in a whisper, but Tiger's answer was loud enough for everybody to hear.
"I wanted to prove that I'm not a Death Eater and that I have no intention to harm Ron and Hermione." A murmur went around the small group, and Tiger looked at the Auror who had cast the binding spell on him, and nodded. "I'm awaiting your questions, Mister…"
"Mourin," the man supplied.
"Mr. Mourin. You've seen me drink the potion, so you know I'll answer truthfully."
"Very well." Mr. Mourin looked at Tiger, who was now standing alone in front of him. Draco had stepped back, and was now standing beside his father. "Please tell us your full name, birth date, and today's date."
Silence fell upon the group as they awaited Tiger's answer. Remus, who had got back up to his feet a while ago, looked expectantly at Tiger.
"Why doesn't he answer?" Fudge blurted out all of a sudden. "When he is really under the influence of the Veritaserum, then he must answer right away. So why don't you answer?" The last question was directly asked to Tiger, who looked at Fudge and smiled sheepishly.
"I haven't answered right away because I had to think about what date today is." He bit his lip slightly and turned back to Auror Mourin. "Since I haven't done anything special in the last few days which has required me to know the specific date, I haven't kept track of it. But I now know that since the birthday party four days have passed, so today must be August first."
Mourin nodded. "That's right." Out of the corner of his eye, Tiger saw Draco and Lucius breathe out in relief, and on his other side he saw a small smile creep upon Dumbledore's face, and his eyes were twinkling slightly.
"He hasn't answered the other questions." Fudge once again interrupted the 'hearing'.
"Minister Fudge, I'd appreciate if you wouldn't interrupt the questioning." Mourin looked at him, a bit annoyed.
Fudge wanted to retort, but when he caught the look being given him by Lucius Malfoy, he closed his mouth and listened to Mourin questioning Tiger.
"Please tell me your full name."
Tiger turned to Draco and smiled at the blond, who was biting nervously on his lip. "My name is Tiger Emerald Ryan," he said, without taking his eyes off Draco.
The Slytherin's eyes went wide when he realised what the other boy had said. He gave Tiger a questioning look, but the black-and-blue haired boy ignored him, and went on.
"A very nice name, by the way, which was given to me on the 28th of July." He turned back to the Auror. On his way, his gaze fell upon Remus, who looked a bit confused, but there was a knowing look in his eyes that made Tiger shiver.
"I presume that is your birthday, then?" Mourin asked.
"That's right."
"One last question before I ask about the incident. What is your original hair colour?"
"Black with blue tips." Tiger smiled, and moved one hand up to stroke his hair.
"That's nonsense," Fudge exploded, and stepped in front of Tiger. "You haven't taken the potion! You're lying! You must have tricked us, somehow."
"That's not true," Tiger replied calmly, turning to Mr. Mourin, searching for support. "I drank the whole bottle, and I haven't lied." A mischievous smirk came upon Tiger's face when he turned back to Fudge. "Black with blue tips is my original hair colour. If you don't belief my word while under the Veritaserum, I can show you that it is the truth." With that, Tiger opened the button of his trousers and grabbed his zipper. Fudge's eyes widened in horror, when Tiger pulled down the zipper.
"Stop," Mourin said firmly. "There is no need for this kind of proof, Mr. Ryan. Minister, for the last time, stop interfering with my questioning!"
Tiger smirked his 'Malfoy' smirk at Fudge, while he zipped and buttoned his trousers. With one last angry look, Fudge walked back into the circle that had formed around Tiger and Mr. Mourin.
"Mr. Ryan." Mourin got Tiger and everybody's attention back with his next question. "Why did you still have your wand after you entered the graveyard? Hadn't the Aurors told you to hand it over before you enter the graveyard?"
"They had, but I had told them that I didn't have my wand with me."
"Why did you say that? And why hadn't the Aurors asked about your wand pocket on your right thigh?"
"A wizard once told me that a wizard always has his wand with him." Tiger took a quick glance at Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was one of the other Aurors who watched over him. The Auror glared at him angrily, but Tiger ignored it and continued. "I never give my wand away, and as for the pocket, it is an invisible pocket. Until the wand is fully out of the pocket, it is invisible to everyone but the owner."
"I see. Can you tell me why you had pulled out your wand?"
"I saw the Dementors approaching Ron and Hermione, and I just did it. They weren't looking at the forest so they didn't notice anything unusual. I thought this was the only thing I could do to save them. It wasn't my intention to scare anybody, let alone harm anybody."
"So you aren't working for He Who Must Not Be Named?" another Auror asked shyly.
"No," Tiger said firmly. "I am not a Death Eater, nor do I serve Voldemort in any way." Everybody gasped when Tiger had said the Dark Lord's name.
"Why did you say You Know Who's name?" Shacklebolt asked, confused.
"Because it's his name. Why don't you call him by his name?"
"Because…" Nobody had an appropriate answer for this question.
"You know, a wise man once told me that the fear of a name increases the fear of the thing itself." Tiger looked at Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling like mad.
"I think it has been proven that Tiger is not a Death Eater, and that he hasn't attacked anyone in any way," Dumbledore said, when nobody replied to Tiger's last comment.
"I still have a few questions," Fudge once again spoke up. Tiger growled silently but then he turned to the Minister and smiled sweetly.
"Please go on, Minister. I have nothing to hide."
"While you don't have any intention in hurting people, and you are no ally to the Dark Lord, then why are you happy about Potter's death."
"I never said I was happy about his death."
"But you don't care if he's dead or alive."
"That isn't true."
"But you said his death isn't a loss to you."
"That's right." A gasped came from the Weasleys (not all of them had heard Tiger's first statement about Harry's death). "It's right that I said that his death isn't a loss to me, and like I've explained to Ron and Hermione, it's because I have my own loss to mourn. I lost my uncle; my only family. I can't mourn about someone I never met. I'm sorry for all of you that you have to go through all of this, but I think it was for the best."
"How could you say that?" Ginny cried out in disbelief.
Tiger gave her a sad smile, and continued.
"For you, Harry's death might be a big loss. But for all I know about Harry Potter, his life was nothing but hell. He grew up with people who hated him. He lived a lie for ten years. Then he found out that he was a wizard, and 'The Boy Who Lived'.
From day one in the wizarding world, he had to live up to your expectations; and whatever he did, it was never good enough. I don't doubt that he had a lot of good days in his life, but the few really bad days would have broken anyone. He had lost so much - so many people - and all because they knew him. If that was my life, I don't know if I would have survived this long." Everybody was silent, so Tiger went on. "I know what I've done today was wrong. I lied to the Aurors, and I have knowingly put a lot of people in danger by keeping my wand. But my uncle told me from the first day on, that I should never ever go out without my wand, and always keep an eye on it. It was the first and most important promise I ever made to my uncle, and it was the last words I ever spoke to him." Small tears rolled down his cheek, and he dropped his head.
"That's enough," Molly Weasley demanded, stepping up to Tiger and pulling him into her arms. The teen bit his lips to prevent himself from smirking intriguingly when Molly glared at Fudge. He knew this was the point where he had won everybody's trust.
"Yes, that's indeed enough," Mourin said. "We've all heard what he said. He had no intention to attack anybody and his use of magic was to protect people. Mr. Ryan, you're free to go." With the last sentence, Mourin turned to Tiger and held his wand out to him. With a polite smile he took it, and put it back in its pocket, where it vanished from view.
"I'm glad that the truth came out and that nobody was hurt. I'm sorry for the turmoil I've caused," Now he turned to Ron and Hermione, and smile slightly, "but I'm not sorry for alarming the Aurors, and therefore preventing the attack."
The two teens smiled back, and before Tiger knew what happened, he was again wrapped in a tight embrace, his face buried in the crook of the person's neck.
"Thank you," he heard Mrs Weasley sob into his hair. "Thank you for saving my babies."
Tiger closed his eyes and bit his lip hard, willing himself not to show how much he'd miss this sort of embrace. After his little act he was glad for this second embrace, which he felt a lot more comfortable with than the first. He stayed a few more minutes in the embrace, and then he gently pulled away and smiled down at Mrs. Weasley. With one thumb he carefully wiped away the tears which were running down her cheeks.
"Please don't cry. Everything is okay, and nobody got hurt. There is no need to cry. Nobody will hurt your family anymore." He put a stray lock of her hair behind her ears. He bent down and gave her a kiss on the head, then he smiled again. "You know, I'm still under the influence of the Veritaserum, so I can't lie to you." Mrs. Weasley took a deep calming breath, and smiled at Tiger.
"Hermione was right. You're wonderful with this calming thing."
"Did she say that?" Tiger asked, while his cheeks coloured slightly.
"The way you talked to her soothed her better than any comforting embrace could."
Tiger looked over to Hermione, who had calmed down and was now walking over to them.
"That's true." She smiled at Tiger when she stopped beside him. "I don't know if I'd have gotten through all this without our conversations. Thank you for everything." She gave him a quick hug, then she went to the side so the other Weasleys could approach him. One by one the Weasleys thanked him for saving Ron and Hermione's life. Mr. Weasley and his elder sons shook his hand, while Fred and George pulled him into a tight group hug, which made Tiger slightly suspicious. After the two pulled away he looked down at himself, searching for any sign of a prank.
"Don't worry mate-"
"we wouldn't harm the one-"
"who saved our little Ronnykins." The twins smiled innocently at Tiger, and took an embarrassed and suspicious looking Ron in their arms.
"I've heard about you two, and I don't believe you one bit," Tiger stated calmly, and pulled out what seemed like a lemon drop from his pocket.
"Fred and George Weasley!" Mrs. Weasley roared, starring daggers at the twins. "How dare you try to prank him? And today, of all days!"
"But mum-"
"we haven't."
Tiger smirked at the disbelieving faces of the twins, unwrapped the candy, and put it in his mouth.
"Tiger, no!" Seven Weasleys and Hermione exclaimed at once. But Tiger just smiled, and continued to suck on his candy. Everybody held his or her breath in anticipation of what would happen to him, but it never came. The twins looked at each other, puzzled, and then stared back at Tiger.
"What?" Tiger asked, as if a bit confused. "Is their something wrong?" The twins shook their head no. "Do you two want a drop? I have a lot of them." Tiger pulled two more drops from his pocket, and gave them to the twins. They hesitated, but when they saw Tiger's bland look, they took the drops and slowly unwrapped them. "They are really good." Tiger smiled knowingly at the twins. With one last look at each other, Fred and George put the candy in their mouths, and waited for the inevitable.
Not ten seconds later, hiccups and small soap bubbles emerged from their mouths. They tried to stop them from escaping by putting a hand over their mouths but to no avail. Everybody fell silent, and stared at the twins. Tiger slowly approached them, and whispered in their ear.
"Don't believe everything you see." He smirked, and then held another drop up.
"But-" Fred began, but he had to hiccup again, so George continued.
"we just gave you three." Tiger's eyes twinkled mischievously when he unwrapped the candy and led his hand to his mouth, the same way he'd done when he first seemed to eat the candy. But just like the first time, he didn't really put the drop in his mouth. Instead, he wrapped it back in the paper, and sucked on thin air.
"You cheated," Fred exclaimed, hurt.
"And you wanted to prank me," Tiger replied calmly.
"How did you know?" George asked interestedly.
"I've heard a lot about you. And I know your merchandise. Draco's twin cousins seem to be your best customers."
"Twins?"
"How old?" The twins' eyes gleamed excitedly, their soap bubble hiccups forgotten.
"They will be new first years."
"New pranksters at Hogwarts." The twins smiled at each other.
"It's a shame that the Marauder's Map is lost," George said sadly.
"Yeah. But I know Harry used it well."
Tiger had to turn away to hide his knowing smirk. That's when he noticed everybody staring at them. They were all trying to stifle their laughter for Fred and George's newest prank. But when Tiger smiled at the Weasleys, they all burst out into fits of laughter. Even Mrs. Weasley couldn't stop herself. She approached Tiger, and embraced him quickly.
"Thank you. We needed a good laugh, dearly."
"And if it's at the expense of the twins, it's just twice as good." Charlie smiled, and put a hand on Tiger's shoulder, squeezing it lightly. They held eye contact for a while, and Tiger felt a comfortable warmth spread through his body.
"And if it is at the expense of a Weasley, it's the best you can get," an arrogant voice said, which broke the eye contact.
Tiger turned to the voice, and smiled. "Draco."
"Malfoy," Charlie spat at the same time. "How dare you insult my family?" He glared at Draco hatefully, who countered with his own death glare.
"Don't let it get to you, Charlie. He doesn't mean it."
"The hell I don't," Draco growled at Tiger, who was a bit taken back by his glare.
"Stop it, Draco," Tiger pleaded. "I know you aren't… umph."
Draco cut him off by putting one hand over his mouth, and the other in a firm grip on his arm. He took a step forward so that their noses nearly touched each other.
"I dare you," he hissed angrily. "One more word, and I will kick your arse back to your filthy muggle friends in America."
Tiger's eyes widened in shock at the hatred which lay in Draco's voice. He slowly closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths. When he opened them again, they glittering with suppressed tears. Draco's face immediately softened, and he loosened his grip on Tiger.
"Tiger, I'm sorry. Please don't." Tiger took a step back, turned around, and walked over to Lucius, a small smirk playing on his lips.
"Can we go home, now? I think I need a bit of alone time after what happened today."
"Of course," Lucius said with a nod, then he went to Dumbledore to say goodbye.
"Tiger?" Tiger turned around, to come face to face with a nervous looking Remus, who still held Sirius' journal in a firm grip in front of his chest.
"Re… Professor Lupin." Tiger kicked himself mentally for this slip, and looked unsurely at the older man.
"Can we talk for a moment?"
"Okay." The two walked a few meters away from everybody else before Remus turned around, and faced Tiger with a hopeful smile.
"You didn't drink it, right?" he asked all of a sudden.
"What?" Tiger looked a little lost. "What do you mean?"
"The serum. You didn't drink it. You spilled it on the ground, and just licked up the last drop to have the unfocused affect in your eyes."
"How?" Tiger felt his knees getting weak, and he sat down on the bench at his side.
"I could smell the serum on the ground, after you stepped up to the Auror," Remus said proudly.
"You-"
"You will hear it anyway, so I can tell you the truth right away. I'm a werewolf, and therefore I have a very good sense of smell."
"Oh. I hadn't thought about that." Tiger said, more to himself. But when he heard Remus gasp, he noticed his mistake and looked up slowly. The older man was looking at him open-mouthed, and trying to say something. Tiger wanted to interrupt him, to bring him out of his thoughts, but he couldn't say anything.
"So then it's true. You are Harry Potter."
Tiger's eyes widened, then he adopted a sad look, dropped his head, and shook it slightly.
"Harry Potter is dead," he said softly, before he looked up at Remus, who was torn apart between hope and fear. "He died even before I set a foot on this continent."
"But you're so much alike," Remus argued, in a pleading tone. "You act like him, you have the same patronus as him - I saw the antlers of your stag. You even smell like him. Please, if you really are Harry Potter, say it, because I don't think I could live with the idea of you not being him. It's as if Sirius, Harry and James were combined in you. Everything you say reminds me of James' cunning comments, every time you're playing with your charm, I see Sirius' smile in your eyes. And when you're comforting someone, you're just like Harry. That was one of his greatest gifts. His mother, Lily, had that gift, and besides his emerald eyes, that was Harry's biggest inheritance from his mother."
Tiger was biting his lower lip nervously, and his eyes were gleaming at what Remus told him. He was like James, Sirius, and Lily.
"Tiger, are you ready?"
Tiger's head snapped up, to see Draco standing in front of him.
"Er, sure. I'll be right there." Draco nodded and walked back to his parents, who were standing at the entrance to the graveyard.
Tiger stood up and turned to Remus. He laid a hand on the older man's shoulder, and squeezed it slightly. "I'm sorry, Remus." He gave him a sad smile, then ran to catch up with Draco.
Remus sat for a long while on the bench and watched after Tiger. Just when the black-haired teen vanished, he remembered something.
"You never answered my question."
/-
/-
/-
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
/-
/-
/-
A/N – That's it for now. What do you think?