Friend or Foe?
Snape came into view, but Harry couldn't see who he was talking to. "He should be fine." Harry sat up to discover the one thing that could make the whole situation worse. "Malfoy?" Draco smirked, "Well spotted, Potter." Before Harry could even think about anything, his arm went flying through the air. His fist crashed into Draco's face catching him unawares. Snape didn't look all that surprised. He merely told Draco to leave the room. How can he take his side? What side are they on? What side am I on? Does it matter anymore? "What did you see?" "What?" Snape looks like he is getting impatient again. "From the vision. The images you saw. What did you see?" Harry looked down suddenly fascinated with his shoes. "I don't know."
"As you may recall I have ways of getting the truth out if you will not give it freely. I'm coming back in an hour. You better have your story straight by then." I don't want to tell him anything. Why is Draco here? If he is taking sides with him, I don't want anything to do with him. Harry looked down at his fist after Snape left. It was red and throbbing with pain. He had been too angry earlier to even notice it. As long as I hurt Draco, it will be worth it. Harry got up and stretched thinking that he should try to organize his things. It all looked like a mess at the moment. Harry grabbed a bag and just dumped everything out on the floor. He decided to place the twins' necklace in a small wooden box he had. He didn't think he would be needing it for a while.
His clothes looked like a hopeless pile of rags. He didn't know why he bothered folding them, they had so many wrinkles in them from being stuffed into a bag. Harry was somewhat surprised to see the potions book in his bag. From staying at place to place, he had no idea where all his stuff was. He figured as long as he had something to wear and his wand that would be good enough. Still he had to give Snape credit. He was pretty clever in making all those notes and spells in the book. Harry knew he wouldn't have even done half as well in potions without the book. Picking the book up, some old parchment fell out of it. Harry bent down and picked the paper up off the floor. What could this be? I thought I had already looked through the whole book.
xXx
Is power really such a great thing? Power is corrupt. Corruption is a bad thing. Why would anyone willingly seek this? To rule the world. More likely to rule what is left of it anyway. Corruption causes panic. Panic causes chaos. Within chaos comes the destruction of us all.
What makes a person good or evil? Is it something we are born with? No. It is an acquired trait. But from where does this come from?
-one who has not loved only knows hate
-hatred of what they could never achieve
-they've never been given a chance
But why choose immortality? Is that not a fate worse than death? Ah?
But he is not exactly human is he? Something went wrong. Something must
have went wrong…
My time is short. I have survived the first war, but I fear I will not live to see the second.
The Dark Lord is not pleased to say the least. Another of our clan has been suspected. I of course already knew this…I hoped to one day join his cause….To buy some time I have taken his place. I altered the evidence to point to me. I am very much the traitor of both sides…but within this I know I will prevail. Given its course of time all will be healed. He's coming now…
xXx
The last part was somewhat difficult to read. The handwriting got steadily worse as the page went on. What Harry was most surprised to see was the signature at the bottom. Dante LeBurn. How the paper got stuck in the potions book, Harry had no clue. It seems like Dante may have known Snape. Did Snape put the paper there? Did he know about the ghost or whatever it was that was Dante? "He was a friend of mine, yes." Harry spun around, his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest. I wish he wouldn't do that!
"I figured I would have to give you the paper myself, but it seems you have found it. To hate me so much, you seemed to be really attached to that book." "Why is Malfoy here?" "He is here because we need his help. That is if he is still willing after receiving that blow." That can't be right. How could he possibly help any? He was working for Voldemort. "He isn't on my side." "Our side. And yes he is on this side. You can't possibly think the Dark Lord would take him back after failing his task." That is true. But why didn't Voldemort just kill him then?
"Tell me about this vision you had." "Well some guy told me he would show me what would happen if I chose another path..." Wiping his hands on his jeans Harry continued. "And I became friends with Malfoy..." "How did you see yourself once you decided to befriend Draco?" "How do you know…well I was, I was… a monster. I wanted to be the next Dark Lord. The people…they were…" "You do know it's not real though, right? Pipsquittle juice has been illegal in the wizarding world for centuries. I suspect that the Weasleys were going by outdated material. Otherwise they would have contacted the ministry to dispose of the creatures. I'm sure your friend Granger took care of that though." "Why is it illegal?"
"Had you paid any attention to your schooling you would have known that they are dangerous. People have killed themselves as well as others because of it. It changes the way you think. Blends reality with fiction. It's enough to drive people mad. I need to know that you understand this. That none of it is relevant to you. You, even though born an arrogant little brat, are meant to be good. People worship you, though I do not know why." So the vision doesn't matter? Does it work the same way with prophecies? "Although Draco may be on our side, he doesn't particularly like either of us. If you can pull yourself together for a while, we can go ahead and get this over with."
I don't like Snape that much, but having Draco around is even worse. Is this why we had to go to his house? So Draco wouldn't discover the old headquarters? Harry looked up at Snape and realized that he was waiting for an answer. "Okay." Harry followed Snape to a room that had various boxes in it. Draco was standing in the corner of the room. From the looks of it, Harry hit him pretty hard. He could already see a pretty sizable bruise developing on Draco's face. Any harder and he would have punctured his skin. Harry was glad to see that Draco no longer wore his usual smug expression. Draco's eyes darted across the room as he began to speak. "The Room of Requirement has a book in it. It has the most advanced spells I have ever seen. I didn't really get a chance to look at it, but I think that if you were to have the slightest chance of winning you would need this. Naturally I don't have it, since the school is somewhat off limits." A book? That is our big help? What could a book possibly do?
Snape walked up, "Very well. We appreciate your help." Snape handed Draco a small bag of what sounded to be money. Draco seemed to be satisfied by this and walked over to the door. "Don't think I'm on your side, just because I am no longer on his." And with that being said he left. "Can we trust him?" "Yes, he wants to feel safe again just like anybody else. And I believe he is angry about how his family was treated after he failed his assignment." Oh, I guess that makes sense. "How are we supposed to get into Hogwarts? Are the barriers still up?" "I don't know yet. Yes, they do not want the castle to be invaded again. They are going to be very careful from now on. But I think you can get in."
