Chapter two
"I didn't realise you had a sister." Harry said as they left the headmasters office, he had only just realised how little he knew about Draco Malfoy and he was suddenly feeling very sorry for that.
They were heading to Draco's allocated rooms next to Gryffindor common room, Harry was hoping that they would pass no one as it would be hard to explain why they were not in class, all the teachers and students were in class, all bar one but Harry wasn't aware of this. He faltered at the sound of footsteps, he knew the headmaster well enough to know that he wouldn't be coming after them and he knew no other teacher was free in this period.
He slowed the walking pace down as they neared a corridor that branched off to the right, Blaise was right behind them and as he drew his wand out and muttered a curse under his breath Harry had thrown Draco round the corner and dived after him. He quickly erected a wall of glittering silver that repelled most basic curses, hexes and spells.
He jumped out to face his attacker and sent nothing more than a mild stunner his way however Blaise dodged the well aimed spell by dropping to the floor, he had been there no more than a fraction of a second when he fired the jelly-legs jinx which was repelled by the shield, enraged Blaise prepared to cast something more damaging.
As he prepared himself Harry fired more stunners and though well aimed Blaise moved fast and dodged them all, before opening his mouth and yelling "CRUCIO!" Knowing all to well how his former friend thought Draco dived for Harry knocking him to the ground, sending the curse to hit the stone wall behind them.
Gathering his senses together Harry pointed his wand at Blaise and yelled "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Still stunned by what Draco had done he was not quick enough to dodge the spell and his limbs went straight to his body and he fell flat on his arse. "Thanks" Harry said getting up and then pulling Draco up as well.
"No problem, it's the least I could do seeing as your helping me and all." Draco said with a smile, "What do you suppose we do with him?"
"Expecto Patronum." Harry said with a wave of his wand and a silver stag shot out from the end, "Go and fetch Headmaster Dumbledore." Draco watched entranced as the silver stag galloped off to do as his master had instructed.
It was mere moments before Dumbledore came running into view, wand at the ready, "Harry, what is it?" He said sounding slightly panicked, he was a little out of breath and Harry felt slightly guilty about worrying the old man so much.
"Zabini attacked us, a duel commenced and ended when he attempted to cast the cruciatus curse on myself, Draco bears witness to this, it should be suitable grounds for explosion Headmaster, it would rid one of Voldemort's spies from the castle. However if that course of action is taken we risk his loyalty to Tom growing uncontrollably." Harry informed him.
"I see where you are coming from, I will take up the matter with Severus Snape, we will decide a suitable punishment for him, now though I must ask how did you bind Mr Zabini?" To Draco this seemed an odd question but Harry was unfazed by it and answered without so much as a single hesitation.
"With my wand, there was no real need to do anything further so I have not; I did not think that it was time to reveal my true talents Sir." The headmaster nodded and with a wave of his hand Blaise was free of the body bind.
"I believe that we have something to discuss Mr Zabini, if you would kindly follow me, Harry would you please resume showing Draco his new rooms, if this attack is anything to go by then I am reassured by my decision to allocate them to him."
"Yes Sir." Harry replied with a nod.
"Sir, I'm not sure that Professor Snape is one to be trusted with this matter, I know him to be in constant contact with both my father and of the Dark Lord." Draco said hoping that Dumbledore would see the truth about his godfather.
"Bite your tongue traitor!" Blaise snarled glaring at his fellow Slytherin, "The Dark Lord will hear of your treachery and he will want your blood spilt."
"He'll have to get through me first." Harry retorted, Blaise just glared at him.
"Harry, I think for Mr Malfoy's peace of mind that you should explain to him about Severus and while you do that I will arrange a memory modification for Mr Zabini so he does not repeat this conversation to those who may use it against us and also I think a punishment of some sort or another, although you are right, I wish to see my students remain at this school for some time to come, whether they hold Tom's mark or not."
Harry nodded and motioned that Draco should follow him, the headmaster headed off in the opposite direction with Blaise in tow while Draco walked next to Harry in silence. The duel was just the beginning of it all and Draco knew that all too well, the other Slytherin's would never follow in his footsteps, they would remain loyal to the Dark Lord no matter what, they believed in his strength.
The thought that his fellow housemates that he had known since childhood were going to die, even though he knew nothing of this 'special talent' that Harry had mentioned or the truth about his Godfather he knew that the trust of two great wizards such as Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore was hard to gain and impossible to get back if lost, they would not trust Severus if there was reason not to.
"I suppose you want some answers." Harry said as they neared the entrance to Gryffindor tower and then strolled right past it to a suit of armour that stood tall and proud. "Sugar rush" He said to the suit of armour, it bowed graciously to him and stepped aside. Draco watched as Harry walked right through the stone wall and vanished and then followed him.
"Answer's would be nice although you don't have to give them too me, I mean, I don't expect it or anything." Draco said trying to make sense of the words that seemed to spew out of his mouth without any control.
The room that they had entered was small with only one door leading off of it, there was a four poster double bed nicely made with white bed linen, a roaring fire with a comfortable looking cream sofa placed before it, a simple chest of draws along with a desk and chair in the corner right next to a book shelf crammed full of ancient tomes, some in languages that Draco couldn't understand and that was saying something as he was fluent in three.
"To start off with this room was unofficially mine, I would come here and think, occasionally to sleep if it all got too much in the tower, I love my friends but the pressure of war is wearing us all down, it is nice to get away for a bit. So, please make yourself at home, you can change the password as well but make sure you let me know what it is in case something goes wrong."
"Where did 'sugar rush' come from?" Draco asked, referring to the password that Harry had used to get them into this cosy little room to begin with.
"It was one of the few still hidden rooms that no one had ever been able to find, it was after Ron and I had overdosed on sugar and we were practically bouncing off the walls last year that we were mucking about and I fell right through the hidden doorway." Harry explained, "It was my idea to put a suit of armour in front of it and password protect it."
"I never realised that you ever relaxed enough to overdose on sugar." Draco said with a smile, there was a lot to Harry Potter that he hadn't realised before and every new bit of information that he absorbed only made Draco love him even more. The two of them settled down on the sofa, sinking into its cushions and relaxing.
"It was last year, when things weren't so tense, it isn't easy and you have to know who to trust, but I believe that you are genuine and I'm pretty good at judging people. This is why I am going to do my best to make sure that no harm comes to you from Tom or even from your fellow Slytherin's. As for Professor Snape he is our spy though he is very good at what he does and for so many years I believed that he was truly a deatheater but he helps to train me nowadays."
"But he helped to raise me, threatened me, beat me, he attended every single meeting with my father, I have seen him torture and kill countless muggles and he has done so without even a flicker of emotion in his eyes." Draco said unable to believe that his Godfather was a good man.
"You may have seen the deaths but I have seen the scars." Harry said with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Everyone has scars from the Dark Lord, even me, he is no exception." Draco replied not fully understanding what Harry was saying.
The Gryffindor shook his head, "No, I do not mean scars given to him by others, for even I have those, what I mean is the self inflicted scars, each time he kills he feels as if he must hurt himself, only to myself and to Dumbledore has he ever shown these scars and you must never mention them to him or to anyone else. I know that Professor Snape is a good man though somewhat misguided, he has sacrificed so much already and unfortunately there is so much more to come."
"I never knew, all those years and I never saw the good in him, he was so much like my father." Draco said unable to look Harry in the eye, Lucius was a cruel man, his heart had iced over many years ago, he was incapable of feeling.
"I know that its hard but you always knew that this war was never going to be easy, but I will win, I've worked so hard with Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore and we've discovered some hidden talents that no one knew that I had." Harry explained, "That was what Dumbledore meant when he asked me how I had bound Blaise."
"You mean wandless magic and stuff like that?" Draco questioned, when it came to things like this it was clear he was very naïve despite how he had been raised and the fact that his family was so closely linked to the Dark Arts.
"That and more, have you ever heard of ancient magic?" Harry asked, the term sounded familiar to Draco but he wasn't sure of the details, he explained this to Harry and watched as he gave a faint smile. "That was the same reaction I got from Ron, though as usual Hermione was all knowledgeable and excited about it."
"What is it?"
"It is the ability to connect to the earth and to use it's natural resources to your advantage, in simple terms control the elements although it is so much more than that, not many can say that they even have the smallest trace of talent needed to be able to begin to learn it. There are very few magical families that have, it is a gene past down through the generations, undetectable of course. Professor Snape is another who is blessed with the gene, he is not as strong as me but he has tutored me well, I have out grown my mentor in this case but he helps me to focus it perfectly."
"You have such a great strength no wonder everyone has so much faith in you."
Harry checked his watch and realised that they had been talking for hours and it had turned from breakfast into lunch time, changing the subject drastically Harry asked, "Perhaps it would be best if you didn't go to the Great Hall for lunch, it might cause too much of a fuss if you went to sit at the Gryffindor table before I have the chance to explain to my friends, I have to make an appearance, there will be talk if I don't go seeing as I have not been in classes all morning, will you be alright on your own, I can send you up some lunch if you like."
"That would be nice, and I'll be okay, is there any way that I can contact you if I need anything?" Draco asked.
"Can you conjure a patronus at all?"
"Ever since my father found out that you processed the ability he made me practice the spell until I perfected it." Draco explained.
"What form does it take?"
"A unicorn"
"The symbol of pure magic, interesting," Harry mused to himself, "That is how you will contact me, it is how we communicate with each other, send your patronus to find me and I will come to your aid."
"Thank you."
Harry nodded and said goodbye before leaving, Draco sank back down onto the sofa burying his head in his hands, this morning he had been all prepared to sacrifice his happiness and live the life that everyone expected of him but by lunch time he was sitting and talking to the man he loved with the prospect of being guided back to the right path.
There would be a lot of challenges against his sudden change of elegance, some were more than likely to object and ask proof that his loyalty had indeed changed, something that he did not have. He was unsure how far Harry was willing to go to keep him safe, was it really fair to burden the teen with more troubles than he needed.
Suddenly Dobby, his old house elf, appeared before him carrying a tray with ham and cheese sandwiches and pumpkin juice. "Harry Potter Sir asked Dobby to deliver lunch to my former master; he says that Dobby should make sure you were comfortable."
"Thank you Dobby, this is very nice of you, there will be nothing else, but thank you all the same." Draco said gratefully accepting the meal, Dobby bowed his head to him and vanished with a pop. Draco needed to be alone to gather his thoughts together, he wasn't sure how everything had changed so quickly, he hadn't even been back at Hogwarts a full day and his entire life had been tipped upside down.
He was unsurprised that the cause of this dramatic change was Harry Potter, with his mesmerizing green eyes and addictive laugh, his outstanding courage and unique ability to love everyone no matter their faults.
It was just as lunch was due to finish that Harry returned to him, Draco had moved to the bed after he had finished lunch and had lain there thinking, when Harry had returned it had shocked him to such an extent that it had made him fall unceremoniously off of the bed and onto the floor with a graceless thud.
Harry couldn't help but grin as he went to help the Slytherin up, "Sorry" He said holding back laughter, "I honestly didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay" Draco said as Harry pulled him up off the floor, their hands were linked for a moment and it was the most heavenly moment in all of Draco's life, it made him want more, he wanted to kiss those gorgeous pink lips that were smiling at him, but he held himself back.
"What were you thinking about?" Harry asked, but Draco couldn't exactly be truthful as his thoughts had mainly consisted of him so he just shrugged in reply, not really knowing what to say. "We have Charms this afternoon and even though I'd love to skive off class a bit more we can't really afford to do that with our N.E.W.Ts coming up this year."
Draco nodded to show that he understood, "And I've also spoken to my friends" Harry explained, "And even though a couple were a little reluctant they are happy to get to know you and watch your back when I can't be there, despite past prejudice we are willing to accept you and allow you to earn our trust."
"And that is more than I could have hoped for after all that I did to you and your friends, thank you Harry." Draco said with a genuine smile on his face.
"How about after tea you repay me by helping me start the plan on raiding Malfoy Manor, the sooner we start the better I say." Draco nodded his agreement; he didn't want his father out wandering the streets any longer than was necessary. He wanted the man away from his mother and sister as soon as possible.
Draco was surprised that as he neared the Charm's classroom with Harry his nerves began to build, outside Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were all standing outside.
There was a chorus of greetings aimed at Harry and a few mumbled hello's aimed at Draco, it certainly didn't make him feel welcome and he stuck very close to Harry as they entered the class room and were greeted by Professor Flitwick.
At first Draco thought that he was about to be abandoned by Harry in favour of his friends, but instead he sat next to Ron who had plonked himself down beside Hermione, which left a space for him at the end of the row of chairs. The others sat either in front of behind them. The Ravenclaw students sitting quiet happily on the other side of the class room, although many waved and smiled at Harry and the other Gryffindor's.
Draco sat very quietly not saying a word as he removed the standard book of spells grade seven from his bag along with his wand and writing materials. The atmosphere with the Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's seemed to be so much more relaxed than it was with the Slytherin's, it was one of the first things that he noticed, they were all chatting quiet happily amongst themselves until Professor Flitwick cleared his throat to begin the lesson.
Draco had been given the exact timetable as Harry's for the time being to assure his safety but he was sure that Dumbledore knew how he felt about the boy-who-lived. The class went along smoothly enough and by the end of it the other Gryffindor's were starting to relax around him a little, however it was never to last, they had an hour and a half of potions this afternoon with the Slytherin's.
All too quickly the hour of Charm's was over and they were being dismissed, Harry hung back and waited as Draco very slowly packed his things away while the others walked ahead.
"Are you okay Draco?" Harry asked sensing that something was wrong and as always he was right.
"We have potions Harry, with the Slytherin's, with Professor Snape!" He said clearly panicked, he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself but it wasn't going to work.
"Do you trust me Draco?" He didn't even need to consider the answer to this, he trusted Harry above all others, he nodded in response. "Then be reassured that your one of us now, no matter how long it takes them to get used to it you are one of us and I'll make sure that the Slytherin's can't touch you." Once again Draco nodded and grabbed his bag so he could follow Harry down into the dungeons.
As he descended the steps his stomach began to churn nervously with anticipation of what was to come, this wasn't going to be easy or pleasant. Surely Blaise would have told the other Slytherin's of his treachery by now. However once they were at the class room door they saw that it was not Severus Snape there to great them but Professor McGonagall, she looked grim faced as the students gathered around her.
"Professor Snape has been called away on urgent business and has asked me to inform you all that he expects a two foot essay on the urgent need for care and attention during potion making. He expects it in by next class without any excuses, you may do as you wish with the remainder of your afternoon."
There was instantly and out break of whispers as to what business Severus had been called away to attend to, it was just as professor McGonagall went to leave Pansy Parkinson shouted, "Where's Blaise, Professor?"
"I do not believe that that is any concern of yours Miss Parkinson, Mr Zabini will rejoin his class mates soon enough I am sure." Professor McGonagall said before sweeping up the stairs and out of sight. It was not long before the Slytherin's noticed that something was amiss.
"The last time we saw him he was going to talk to you Draco and now your hanging around with Gryffindor's, how convenient." Theodore Nott shouted out startling the Gryffindor's who had been heading for the exit.
"What are you implying Theo?" Draco asked turning away from the Gryffindor's to face the group of Slytherin's that stood behind them.
"I'm implying that what Blaise was telling us last night was true, your betraying us, your family and the Great Dark Lord for them, pathetic and weak Gryffindor's."
"I hope you're proud to wear that mark upon your forearm Theo, be proud of it until the day that it kills you because it will be all you have." Draco retorted, the confrontation had made the others stop and turn; Harry had come to stand right beside Draco to reassure him of his presence.
"You will regret it Draco, you may stand proud next to Harry Potter now but when it comes to the final battle you will show your true colours and they will be silver and green, not red and gold." Pansy said.
"That is of course if the Dark Lord hasn't killed you before then which is more than likely, your new body guard won't be around to protect you forever." Theo snarled maliciously.
"If you want to challenge him or any one of my friends for that matter then you go through me first, if you desire to wear his mark and suffer his cruelty then by all means crawl back to your master and tell him that Draco was brave enough to fight for what is right, but if you want to find your way again then I will help you but if you think that Tom Riddle can save you then you are very much mistaken."
"If you think that any one of us would ever fight for you Potter you are more of a fool than I ever thought, we will forever be his loyal servants in this great fight and not even you can stop us now." Theo said as he withdrew his wand, everyone followed suit, every Gryffindor and every Slytherin prepared to fight.
Out of the corner of his eye Draco saw a silvery animal that looked as if it could have been an otter sneak up the stairs unnoticed and disappear from sight. It was then that Draco noticed that Harry was the exception, he had not drawn his wand and where everyone else looked serious and focused he was smiling and quite relaxed.
"Are you really stupid enough to fight me?" He asked, there was a definite tone of mocking in his voice, "Blaise was and it didn't do him any good, I let Blaise off lightly but I won't be so kind again." Harry warned.
"You haven't even drawn your wand, I think your bluffing and it's about time you were put in your place." Theo said with a wicked grin as he fired the entrail-expelling curse towards Harry.
This was no house rivalry the war had spilt into the corridors of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, the hatred between the great houses of Slytherin and Gryffindor had reached such a point that the only way it was to be settled was for the same thing to happen that had happened when the school had been founded. Slytherin was to leave the school.
As the curse flew towards Harry at an alarming rate Harry raised his hand to great it and with a muttered Latin verse the curse rebounded off the palm of his hand and hit the stone wall, if he could help it he would not hurt the Slytherin's but he would do what had to be done in order for himself and his friends to survive.
For a brief second no one did or said anything, it was clear that Harry had been holding back but now he was all too prepared to defend his friends, those he considered to be family, this would not be a battle that the Slytherin's would win and it seemed that even they knew it.
Suddenly Draco felt a painful surge in his left forearm where the Dark Mark was branded into his flesh. "Harry" He warned as he clutched at his arm, the pain worsened, it felt as if it were on fire, "The Mark, it burns."
Harry watched powerless as the Slytherin's pressed there Marks and vanished in wisps of black smoke, Draco however remained, Harry took Draco's left arm in his hand and muttered a cooling charm and immediately it went back to normal. As he did this Professor McGonagall and Tonks, the new Defence Against the Dark Art's Professor arrived wands drawn ready to fire.
"Its okay, they were called by their master and they left, I do not want them to set foot back in this castle, they are too far gone to save now, we all bear witness to that fact." Harry said bitterly to the two Professors. "What of Professor Snape and Blaise?"
"Albus has just informed us that both are gone, that is why it took so long to respond to Hermione's call, what happened here?" Minerva asked.
"The beginning of the end," Harry responded as he walked up the steps and out of sight, as the Gryffindor's turned to each other to debate what he had just said Draco slipped unnoticed after him. He didn't want Harry to be on his own right now.
Draco followed him all the way to the astronomy tower where he watched as he collapsed next to the battlements surrounding the open space and began to cry. Draco was more than a little taken aback at this development, he knew that this was not the time to disturb him but as he turned to leave a voice called him back.
"You can stay if you like," Harry said, "I could do with some company." Draco did as Harry had suggested, he went and sat next to him, he was even more shocked when out of his pocket Harry brought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "You don't mind if I smoke do you?" He asked at the expression on Draco's face.
"No, not at all, I just didn't expect you to smoke is all," Draco replied truthfully, Harry offered him one and he accepted and allowed him to light it. For a minute they sat there in silence occasionally taking drags from their cigarettes.
"Are you surprised?" Harry suddenly asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you surprised by how I act, what I do?"
"A little, I certainly never saw this coming."
"Not many do, do you want to know a secret?" Draco nodded and Harry lifted up his shirt a fraction and then exposed his hip so that Draco could see that in beautiful italic lettering was the word 'Death'. "Not even Ron and Hermione know about it, there would be too many questions."
"Then can you keep my secret?" Draco asked, Harry nodded and took a drag from his cigarette as he watched Draco roll up the sleeve of his shirt on his right arm and saw that on his wrist was a tattoo of a small black dragon with emerald eyes, Harry took a closer look and saw that underneath the beautifully drawn creature were two different scars.
"What did you do?" Harry asked, knowing full well what the likely answer was to be but he couldn't just assume, he had to hear it from Draco.
"Two years ago, I felt as if there was no way out, that no one was going to save me from the life I was destined to lead, I couldn't handle it, I needed to know that there was something better than that but when I found nothing I gave up hope."
"There is always something better Draco, I often dream of doing something with my life other than fighting, I know that option will always be there for me when I win this war and that is the thought that keeps me strong, you need to find your own strength otherwise you'll never make it."
"Your strength is the thoughts of a better life?"
"Yes, a life away from war and fighting, to be normal."
Draco had never realised that Harry wanted nothing more than to be normal, he had of course known that he did not enjoy the recognition he got but he lived with it, this was a whole new side to Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world.
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