A/N: I haven't really decided on what ships are going to take place in my fic…so for now I just went with it, there might be something of a love triangle at one point, I haven't decided yet. I really want to go with what I assume JKR meant to happen, but I also really want to experiment with a different pairing. Since you can probably assume who is going to be involved in this triangle, I would be grateful for your opinion on this issue. Just fyi: Harry is not involved in this love triangle. Harry 3 Ginny forever:) Read on!
Chapter 15
The Golden Trio, Interrupted
Harry's legs felt heavy as he climbed the set of stairs up to the second floor landing of Godric's Hollow. The hallway's richly wallpapered walls reflected a small amount of light that was coming from the bedroom several doors down. Good, Harry thought. Hermione's still awake. Thoughts of what he had read in Myra Murble's book swam through his head as he made his way across the landing and he studied the book as he walked. When he was aware that he was nearing the doorway of the lit room, he tucked the book back under his arm and rounded the corner to enter the room, stopping abruptly.
Hermione was in her room at the foot of the large bed in the center, but she was not alone. Harry spotted Ron's red hair in the room, too, and he thought it odd that they were sitting in silence. But he only gazed at the scene for long enough to see a flash of red hair very close to the bushy brunette…too close. He blinked, slightly mortified that he had walked in at such an untimely moment, and tried to hurry away from the doorway as quietly as possibly as he realised what was going on. Walking down the hallway, Harry flinched as he stepped on a particularly loud and squeaky floorboard and tried to walk even faster before he was caught. But it was too late.
"Harry!" Ron's voice called after him. Harry cringed with embarrassment as he turned to face his friend.
Ron jogged toward him, tripping clumsily over the edge of the large maroon rug that was laid on the smooth wooden floor. He was grinning, his fiery hair disheveled, as he came to a stop in front of Harry. Harry tried his best to look puzzled.
"Why are you looking so happy?" he asked, trying to be convincing, but not meeting Ron's eyes. Ron began to turn pink, but continued to smile sheepishly.
"I dunno, I just—," he began, but Harry cut him off.
"I saw," said Harry, watching Ron's face carefully for any signs of irritation. He had to stop Ron from explaining—he didn't want to hear the details. "Sorry, mate, I didn't mean to, I thought Hermione was alone…and…"
"S'alright," said Ron, still smiling. "I dunno how it happened though, it just…did." And the redhead, though still looking at Harry, seemed lost in his own thoughts, staring straight ahead. Harry, beginning to feel uncomfortable with Ron's odd reverie, was half relieved and half embarrassed when Hermione emerged from the room on the left.
"Oh, Harry," she said, walking toward them. "We were wondering where you'd got to….I read a few books today with some excellent spells in them, I really think you should try and learn them Harry, I think they'd come in useful later on…" She glanced at Ron, then back at Harry and patted her hair disconcertedly.
The discomfited silence continued for a few more moments. Then, before Harry had a chance to make a phony excuse to escape to the third floor bedroom and clear his head, several loud raps from the front door resonated up to the second floor landing, making all three of them jump.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Potter?" repeated Draco incredulously. "Harry Potter? Wow, I can't wait to see what's in store here." His voice was thick with animosity and sarcasm. Snape gave the boy a harsh look, and Draco quickly mumbled, "Sorry, sir. I just don't see how this is going to work."
"Just trust me, Draco. Do you remember everything I said?" Snape asked as they walked quickly though the cool night air. Draco could see several stars in the inky sky through the branches of the trees surrounding them.
"Yes," he said, looking back at the man next to him.
"Good," said Snape softly. "Just do exactly as I told you."
"But, sir…" Draco looked out over the sprawling lawn from behind the trunk of a particularly large maple tree. There were ambiguous figures moving inside as he could see through one of the second story windows.
"And remember," Snape said, reclaiming Draco's attention, "if all three of them aren't at the door when it opens, don't expect me to untransfigure you until they are all there. Remember—your main goal is to convince Potter and company not to kill you as soon as they can."
Draco said nothing, turning his head back toward the enormous house. He squinted at the silhouettes moving in front of the window and sighed. This was the last place on earth he would have expected to have landed himself at.
"Draco!" hissed Snape, staring with hard eyes down at him. "Are you ready?"
"Yes, sir," said Draco, trying to mask the skepticism in his tone.
He held very still as Snape pointed his wand and muttered something very softly. Immediately, Draco felt what was without a doubt the oddest sensation he had ever experienced. It was a tingling feeling over his entire body; suddenly, each of his extremities was rendered useless as he felt himself shrinking into one solid unit. It seemed as though the world was growing around him to mammoth proportions. Snape's hand was three times the size of Draco's entire body as it swooped down upon him, carrying him upward. They were then covered by a vast, silky invisibility cloak, disappearing into the night.
"Remember," Snape muttered in a very hushed voice, "I will Disapparate as soon as I curse them and untransfigure you…so I am expecting you to be able to fend for yourself once I am gone."
At first Draco tried to answer, but, in realizing that rocks did not have mouths, realised that Snape wasn't anticipating a reply from him. He felt distinctly odd, almost nauseous, being cradled in Snape's palm as they made their way undetected down the sprawling lawn. He imagined he felt something like a bug must feel flying above the ground, or a bird, looking down at the dark green rushing beneath him. They steered clear of the stone path leading up to the front door; Draco assumed this was so because Snape didn't wish for their presence to be announced by the tapping of footfalls on the hard surface.
They approached the elaborately carved front doorway, and Draco felt himself being lowered down onto the stone step, blending right in with the rocks around him. He heard Snape reach around and lift the knocker, rapping hard four times. He then must've swiftly stepped around, not too far from the door, judging by the slight rustling of the ivy leaves that were crawling up the brick wall next to the eave.
Within a few a moments Draco heard several pairs of footsteps nearing the door from inside and he breathed a sigh of relief, if rocks did that sort of thing. From the sound of it they were all arriving at the door at once, making his and Snape's job much easier.
And sure enough, the heavy door swung open seconds later, accompanied by three voices.
"Impedimenta!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Each of their curses flew in different directions. Draco saw the face of Potter, his black hair a mess as usual, glasses crooked, though looking a little more sickly and pallid than he had seen him last. And the mudblood, Granger, her face flushed, and what Draco thought to be an overly confident expression plastered on her face. And of course, the Weasel, adorned with his usual tatty assortment of secondhand clothes, including a pair of faded blue jeans which were several inches too short for him. Draco would have sneered if he could.
Potter was the first to exit the house, the sole of his shoe coming dangerously close to where Draco sat, camouflaged. He stretched his hands out in front of him, groping the empty air like a blind man, and finding nothing. Weasley was next, imitating what Potter had done, as, of course, he had always done in canon. Granger then followed, aiming another curse into the darkness. It hit the trunk of the oak tree some thirty metres away, causing the wood to emit a loud crack and begin to smoke. Then they all stood in silence for a long moment.
"There's no one here," stated Weasley, straining to see into the darkness like an idiot.
"There's got to be," retorted Potter in a low voice. "You heard the knocker as well as I did."
Granger was the first to turn around and head back in through the doorway. Weasley glanced at her and followed, standing next to her a few feet short of the doorstep. Potter frowned into the darkness and, walking backwards, made his way slowly back inside. Draco then heard Snape move behind him and hiss a spell in the quietest of whispers.
"Petrificus Ultimus!"
At once, each of the three just inside the doorway froze, each the likeness of a statue. Draco felt himself growing back to his normal size, his arms and legs emerging, function returning to all the parts of his body. Seconds later he heard the loud crack of Disapparation and knew that Snape had left him. He looked ahead of him at the immobile forms of the three people his disliked most in the world…excluding the Dark Lord. He scowled and sidestepped Potter, entering the house and closing the door behind him.
"There we are, Potter," he said, smirking, as he turned the Boy-Who-Lived around so that he was facing the foyer instead of toward the door. "Can't afford not to see your pretty face." Draco stopped for a moment, looking over the trio. He was going to have to cut the sarcasm and sneering remarks if he wanted them to treat him with civility when they regained movement. Weasley rocked precariously on the spot, threatening collapse.
"Listen," Draco began, taking a deep breath, "I'm not here to kill you or trap you or anything like that." He hoped there was sincerity in his voice. "But why should you believe me, right?" Draco pondered for a moment, seating himself on the bottommost step of the elephantine staircase. He figured he might as well tell them everything…after all, what did he have to lose? There was nothing left for him. Both of his parents were dead, Hogwarts was closed, and the most powerful wizard the world had ever seen wanted him dead. "I know you hate me, all three of you. But I'm here to ask your help." Draco's throat tightened as he showed an extremely uncharacteristic display of submission. "I've nowhere to go, nothing left to lose. The Dark Lord…he killed both of my parents."
His stomach twisted itself into an uncomfortable knot as he felt his mouth begin to take off, leaving his brain, and rationality, in the dust. "I'm an orphan now, just like you, Potter, and I never had any idea how much it…I never expected…well I never knew that it would…hurt…so much….But I still know you probably aren't too keen to trust me. Just believe me when I say that I've lost everything, and I wouldn't be here if I hadn't. The Dark Lord wants me dead. I never wanted to kill Dumbledore. I don't think I would have ever been able to, so I guess it's always been my fate to be murdered. Watch." Draco removed his wand from the pocket of his cloak and threw it across the cavernous foyer. It landed with a wooden plunk, and slid straight underneath a large curio that sat in the far corner; Draco felt his pulse quicken a bit, feeling slightly horrified. "See? No wand, no protection. I'm alone. I've got nothing to live for anymore, but I'm doing my best to keep myself alive. I figure it's what my mother would have wanted…she wouldn't have liked it if I'd just given up and let myself be killed."
Draco let silence fill the room for a moment. He thought about what to say next. "Remember—your main goal is to convince Potter and company not to kill you as soon as they can." Snape's words came back to him, and he thought he might as well go all the way to try and keep Potter from jinxing him on the spot.
"Listen…this isn't school anymore. This is the real world. I'm sorry for…well, for everything I did back at Hogwarts…acting like a prat and all that…" He trailed off, realising that he had been speaking through clenched teeth, with his hands balled into fists. He relaxed them straight away, hoping that his body language didn't give away the fact that he really wasn't all that sorry, and what he would like most at the moment would be to give each of them a good, hard kick in the shins.
But Draco's time for persuasion had been short lived. Potter was the first to regain enough movement in his limbs to raise his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
For the second time that evening, Draco felt his limbs submit to immobility.
A/N: -shrug- I tried to do my best to keep Draco in character, though I'm not sure he'd actual say some of those things…oh well. Review if you please: the good, the bad, and the ugly!