Harry Potter and the Curse of V'Ardian
Chapter 34
Of Pleasure, Pain, and Preparation
Standard Disclaimers Apply
oOoOo
Harry rose early, before the others, and surveyed the dorm that had nearly double in size in the last few months. Where once there had been five, there were now eight Gryffindors. Harry watched in amusement as Draco woke, looking around first in surprise, then disgust, then realisation. Harry laughed softly and rose from his leaning position against the wall.
"Better get used to it," he said, grinning. Draco scowled and swung himself out of the bed, batting away the disgustingly red hangings. He dressed in silence, and once he was done, Harry held a finger to his lips.
"Don't wake the others. I got something I want to show you."
Draco tossed his hair that no longer took well to being tossed, and instead settled for raising his nose in the air and sniffing disdainfully.
"What do you have to show me that is so important that we must be late for breakfast?" he asked. Harry rolled his eyes.
"I doubt we'll be late for breakfast, Draco. Besides I think this is someone you'll want to meet." Draco raised a disbelieving eyebrow, and Harry went on. "There's two people, actually."
"Two students?" he asked. "Surely there's no one that I don't know about?"
"Well you know about Katherine, obviously, but you haven't met her properly, have you? And I'll let the other person be a surprise."
Draco looked intrigued now, and nodded. At his nod of assent, Harry pulled a small locket from his pocket and tapped it with his wand. He slipped it back into his pocket and turned to see Draco's questioning gaze.
"So I can contact her. You know we're not allowed up the girl's dorms."
Draco smirked.
"Are you introducing me to your girlfriend, Potter? I didn't know you were seeing anyone. Surely news like that would have been all over the Daily Prophet."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Dear Merlin," he said. "Why does everyone always assume that she's my girlfriend? It's completely ridiculous."
"Whatever," replied Draco, giving a short shrug. He looked up to the girl's dorm, and whispered to Harry. "Though if you ask me, I wouldn't mind snogging her, even if she is a Gryffindor. She's-"
"Not another word," interrupted Harry stiffly, suddenly understanding Ron's protectiveness. He followed Malfoy's gaze to see Emily descending the stairs, looking distinctly tired.
"Draco, I'd like you to meet Emily. Emily Potter."
Draco blinked, and his mouth dropped open.
"Potter? As in son of Lily and James Potter?" he asked weakly.
"Nice to meet you," said Emily brightly, extending her hand. Draco snapped his jaw shut and regained his composure. He took Emily's hand and bent over it, brushing his lips on her knuckles. Harry rolled his eyes.
"A pleasure," he said smoothly.
"Enough theatrics, Draco," said Harry. He lowered his voice and looked at Emily. "Draco, as you can see, is under a glamour. His name for now is Alex Grey. Make sure you don't slip…"
"Alex Grey?" Emily asked, arching an eyebrow. Harry shrugged.
"Best I could come up with on short notice," he replied. "You want to come see Katherine?"
"Definitely," she nodded.
"Katherine and Emily were friends in Italy before they transferred here. And don't ask about the details- it's a long story."
Draco shrugged, and together the three of them set off to find Katherine.
oOoOo
"This is where you went last night?" hissed Ron, shoving the paper in front of Harry as he sat down for breakfast. Alex and Emily sat across from him. Harry glanced briefly at the front page of the Daily Prophet, which was taken up entirely by a full-page picture of him standing next to Draco at the trial.
"Yes," he replied simply.
"You stood up for that…that slimy Slytherin? Why? I thought you hated Malfoy?"
"He killed Dumbledore, Harry!" added Hermione. "How could you stand up for him?"
Harry turned coldly to them.
"Draco was a spy," said Harry quietly, trying to keep others from hearing.
"The Order only had one spy," hissed Ron.
"He wasn't spying for Dumbledore, Ron. He was spying for me."
"What?" asked Ron, shocked.
"Draco was passing me information, Ron. He was doing it while he was still at Hogwarts, and after he left with Snape." Harry turned back to his breakfast.
"Really?" asked Hermione, her eyes wide. "I never knew…"
"Yeah, that's because he didn't tell us!" growled Ron. Harry turned angrily to him.
"Listen, Ron! We are not going to have this conversation here where everyone can hear us. If you must know though, what happened was between Draco and I, no one else. It has nothing to do with you and Hermione, or with your petty fights with Slytherin. Draco was on our side, and that is what matters."
"Hmph," said Ron, seemingly unable to come up with a proper response.
"I didn't tell you guys, but I didn't tell anyone else, either. It had to be a secret."
Hermione sighed.
"We understand, Harry," she said eventually. "Where is he now?"
Harry shrugged.
"Somewhere safe. I'm not exactly sure where; the Order took care of it."
Hermione nodded, and she looked around. Her eyes lit up as they landed on Draco.
"Oh, a new student!" she held out her hand. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger."
Draco smiled somewhat stiffly and took her hand.
"Alex Grey."
"Are you a seventh year?" she asked, intrigued.
"Yes. I arrived last night."
Ron nodded.
"We met him already," he told Hermione, who looked disappointed at this.
"What subjects are you doing?" she asked, smiling once again. Draco blinked, and Harry realised that he couldn't very well take exactly the same classes as he had before.
"He hasn't got his time table yet," Harry supplied for him.
"Oh," said Hermione, her attempt at discussing school work having been abruptly cut off.
Breakfast ended and Professor McGonagall still hadn't arrived with a time table for Draco, so Harry decided that he would simply have to attend the same classes as him.
"Come on, Alex," Harry said. We've got Defence first." Harry led him out of the Great Hall.
"Who's the new teacher?" asked Draco quietly. Harry looked sideways at him, hearing the undertones in his voice. He missed the way it used to be, just like Harry did. Snape had been close to him, Harry realised.
"Eliza Schwartz. German, if you can't tell. I suspect she was once a follower of Hitler."
"Hitler?"
"Muggle dictator. Evil man. Schwartz seems to believe a lot of his crap."
"What did he do?" asked Draco, intrigued.
"Much the same as Voldemort," replied Harry. "Killed all the Jews; thought they were scum."
"Interesting…" replied Draco, nodding thoughtfully. "I always thought of it as Purebloods, Mudbloods, and Muggles. It never occurred to me that there were different classes of Muggles as well."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yes, well, they aren't really a different class, you know."
"Yes, I know, Potter. I don't think that way anymore."
"I know, Draco, I know."
oOoOo
"You never really told me how this whole vampire thing works," said Draco, eyeing Harry critically. Harry shrugged.
"I don't like talking about it," he said simply.
"How long have you been one?" Draco asked.
"Since my sixteenth birthday. Summer before sixth year."
Draco shook his head in amazement, taking a swig of Firewhisky straight from the bottle.
"Don't let anyone catch you with that," Harry warned. "They're not nearly so lenient in Gryffindor."
"Don't change the subject, Harry. I remember something about you being a Lord of V'Ardian."
"Because I'm a wizard," Harry explained. "Most vampires, unless they're part of the original bloodline, aren't magical. They have the basic vampiric traits, of course, but nothing compared to what a Lord can do. There are very few Lords. And of course, if they knew I was turned by the Prince of V'Ardian, well- I suppose I'd be considered a direct part of the bloodline then."
"The Prince of V'Ardian turned you?" Draco burst out. "Merlin! What a scandal! And I thought-"
"Draco, how much do you really know about vampires?" Harry interrupted. Draco hung his head. "That's what I thought. Now if you don't mind, I really don't want to talk about me. Frankly I hate the fact that it ever happened and if it weren't for the fact that I need blood to stay alive, I would rather just forget the whole thing."
"What does it taste like?"
"Draco!"
"Fine, fine," muttered Draco. "You can't blame me though, you know. After all, it was quite a shock to see Harry Potter off the good Headmaster and then proclaim that he's a vampire."
"A little discretion would be wise, Draco. The walls have ears."
Draco rolled his eyes.
"Alright, I get your point. Let's talk about something else. I'm thinking about trying out for Gryffindor seeker."
"You'd never beat me," Harry stated. "And the team's full anyway, so there won't be any trials, I don't think."
"Knew you'd say that," Draco said glumly, downing another mouthful of Firewhisky and letting out a loud belch. Rather undignifying and un-Malfoyish, Harry mused. He sighed.
"Look, it'll all be over soon, and you can go back to being Draco Malfoy, and go back to Slytherin, okay? Just bear with me, all right."
"Are you serious?" asked Draco. "Is it really nearly all over?"
"Well, I guess. I hope, anyway."
"You're going to kill him?"
"Yes."
"Because you're the Chosen One?"
"Merlin, Draco! Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?"
"But its true isn't it?"
"If you're referring to me being the subject of the Prophecy, then yes. I already told you about that, I thought. You're just trying to annoy me."
"It is amusing."
"I think you've had enough Firewhisky, Draco."
"You're right. I'm losing my edge, aren't I?"
"What edge would that be?"
"You know- my 'cool, superior, suave, sexy, all-the-girls-would-die-for-me' edge."
"You are pissed. Totally and utterly wasted."
"The wastrel and the Dark creature," Draco sighed. "What a pair."
Harry rolled his eyes and muttered a sobering charm that he'd used countless times on Dean.
"What was that for?" asked Draco. "I was feeling quite good about myself then."
"I'd rather you didn't go mouthing off about anything we've talked about," replied Harry.
"Hmm. You know that Schwartz woman really is a piece of work, isn't she?"
"How so?" asked Harry wearily, glad for a change of topic.
"Well, for one, she's utterly obsessed with you, but seems to be at least a half-way decent teacher. Don't you think that's odd?"
"Not really," said Harry, the reference to Defence reminding him of something. "Do you want to join the DA?"
"Ah, the woes of being Harry Potter," mocked Draco. "Having aging women drooling over you…and as for your stupid little tête-à-têtes, no. Seems like a poncy little club, if you ask me."
"You'll be all alone tonight if you don't," said Harry, knowing Draco's words weren't heartfelt. The young Malfoy was simply trying to hang onto the dregs of the life he had lived in Slytherin.
"Well, if I must," said Draco airily. "Look, I'll see you in Potions. I've got somewhere to be."
"Where?" asked Harry suspiciously. "You're not supposed to know your way around yet."
Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry as he stood and waltzed to the door.
"If you must know, I'm meeting someone."
"Who?" burst out Harry, surprised. Draco stuck his head back in the door, a sly look on his face.
"For me to know and you to find out," he said, winking, and he disappeared down the stairs, ignoring Harry's entreaties for a name.
For goodness sake, thought Harry. He's been here two days.
oOoOo
Potter,
The Dark Lord is moving quickly. Now is the time to prepare.
oOoOo
My Lord,
Action against the Dark Lord is strongly advised and highly encouraged. Your aid is accepted with great gratitude.
Lord V'Ardian
oOoOo
King Variel,
The time when your services will be needed is drawing ever closer. Should you need it, you are always welcome at Hogwarts.
Harry Potter
oOoOo
Harry leant against the cold stone wall, looking out at the view of the lake. A cool wind drifted smoothly around him, caressing his bare skin. He sighed. It was so peaceful up here. The full moon made his pale skin glow in stark contrast to his hair, reflecting in his eyes.
"You spent far too much time up here, Harry," said a voice from behind him. He turned around and Katherine slipped her arms around him.
"It gives me time to think," he replied.
"At one o'clock in the morning?"
"I don't sleep much," he said. She knew that. "What are you doing up here anyway?"
"I couldn't sleep either. I'm so worried about my father. And I knew you'd be here."
Harry wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair.
"Everything's happening so quickly," he murmured. "I feel like I'm losing control of the situation."
"I heard that there was an attack against the Dark Lord yesterday. Apparently vampires were responsible. That doesn't sound like you're losing control to me."
Harry shrugged.
"I feel like any day now, someone's going to find out that it was me who killed Dumbledore and it'll all have been for nothing."
Katherine sighed and pulled back to look him in the eye.
"It will all be fine," she said emphatically. "I'm sure of it."
Her encouragement did nothing to assuage his fears, but he was grateful nonetheless. He slipped his hand under her chin and tilted her head, pressing her lips to his. She stepped closer to him, her arms twining around his neck.
This, Harry thought, was bliss. He felt her body, so close and warm, and wanted nothing more than to show her how much he loved her, but he knew that this wasn't the time. When it was all over, if everything turned out; that would be the time. After he'd told Ron and Hermione, and they didn't have to hide anymore.
Her lips were so soft under his, and she tasted so sweet, and he wished he could stay like this forever.
"Do you need-"
"No," Harry murmured, cutting her off. "I just want to kiss you."
Katherine smiled and drew his mouth back down to hers.
oOoOo
A/N: This chapter was short, but it's more of a filler than anything else. It's all starting to come together, though. Only a few chapters to go! Thanks to everyone who's review. You're support is greatly appreciated. I apologise for the slow updates recently but I have been so unbelievably busy. But it's here now, so please review! And read my new story, Darkness Be My World. I think it's quite good- Wujjawoo
Chapter 35: Of Discoveries and Draco