Chapter three
The afternoon passed slowly and pleasantly, once they had finished their cigarettes and Harry had calmed himself down they made sure that there was no trace of the smell of the cigarettes on their clothes or breath and headed to Gryffindor common room.
The Gryffindor's were all sat in their common room playing some form of muggle card game, they called it Black Jack. Draco surprised them all when he asked them if they had ever played Poker before, that was of course a muggle game and they hadn't thought that he would have lowered himself to such things. They then surprised him when they replied that Poker was for the evenings when they could sit and drink unnoticed playing strip poker.
They all seemed unfazed by his presence and they seemed to except him readily into their group, they played both wizarding and muggle games to keep them entertained through the evening, they all laughed and joked with each other with not a care in the world or so it seemed. Draco could not remember being this relaxed in a long while.
When the time came they all headed down to dinner together, the other Slytherin's had not tried to gain entry to the castle again, however waiting in the entrance hall was a most unwelcome guest. Lucius Malfoy stood with his cane in one hand and a menacing look in his eyes as he eyed his son walking down the marble staircase with a large group of Gryffindor's.
"Draco, a word if you will," He said motioning for his son to come with him into an empty class room so that they could talk. Harry placed a hand on his wrist as a sign not to go anywhere. "Draco?" Lucius questioned when his son did not move.
"No" Draco answered very simply, "Anything that you want to say can be said here." In front of witnesses Draco added in the back of his mind, he knew that look all too well, it was just before his father gave him a beating and he refused to put up with that any longer.
"It will not take long Draco but it is of a personal matter, now please accompany me on a walk, we must talk." Lucius said insistently, this time there was a forceful tone of warning in his voice.
"If you want to ask me why I did not attend the deatheater meeting then the answer is simple, I refuse to be one of you, I thought I knew my place in this war father, I thought it would be right next to you and the Dark Lord but I was wrong, I can't do it, my place is right here, I stand proudly next to Harry Potter knowing full well that when this is all over he will stand triumphant and you will be dead."
"Then let the war commence." Lucius said with a smirk, he turned on his heel and swept from the entrance hall out into the night, Draco however did not support a look of triumph but a look of pure horror.
"What's wrong Draco, you got rid of him." Harry said trying to figure out why Draco was looking so worried.
"We have to raid the manor tonight, he gave up too easily, I'm scared for Alexandra, I know him Harry, he would never just give upon matter what I said." Draco said practically begging Harry to see the truth.
"It's okay Draco, we'll do it." Draco's face lit up at Harry's words but Hermione just frowned, as did the other Gryffindor's.
"Harry, don't make me remind you of the night at the ministry, we cannot just run into things without a plan just because …"
"Just because what Hermione?" Harry snapped, "This is nothing like that, we know for a fact that Draco's sister is in real danger and if we do nothing then we are allowing a young girl to suffer, could you live with that on your conscious because I know I couldn't."
"If you want to run off into what could be a trap then by all means go, you know who that is, he's a Slytherin and a Malfoy, he's asking you to raid his own home, for all we know he doesn't have a sister Harry, he may want you dead as much as Voldemort does."
"I can see where your coming from but do you really think that I'd do this if I was one hundred percent sure that we could handle this, I trust Draco and I am all too aware of his past but people change, look how far we've come in the past few years."
"There's change and then there's miracles, there is no way that he could have changed that much that quickly, if you go then don't expect any help from me," Hermione said her brown eyes alight with anger.
"Or me" Ron said, "I don't' trust him mate, I'm sorry but I don't. He has been nothing but horrible to us from the very beginning and I don't think that any of us are ready to trust anything he says yet."
"I thought you guys could put the past behind you, it wasn't an hour ago that we were all quite happily playing cards together." Harry pointed out.
"There's a difference between playing cards and trusting someone not to lead you into a trap Harry," Seamus said backing up Ron and Hermione much to the horror of Harry and Draco.
"Neville, Dean have you got anything to add, come on make your choice are you with me or against me, you too Parvati and you Lavender, what is it going to be?" Harry asked, Draco knew he was putting a lot on the line for him and for that he was grateful.
"We're sorry Harry" Neville said, "We've nothing to gain from it, there isn't any point in going and risking our lives."
"So be it, come on Draco, we can do this ourselves." Harry said, he took a hold of Draco's wrist and dragged him out of the grand oak doors and into the grounds. Startled by this action he allowed himself to be dragged along by the determined teenager.
"Can you apperate?" Harry asked as the walked straight out of Hogwarts grounds and into Hogsmead, Draco nodded, "Good because I have no clue where Malfoy Manor is so you're going to have to take me with you." Draco had done this with Alexandra before to get to Diagon Alley.
"I have to ask, why are you doing this Harry, your friends, they don't trust me."
"But I do Draco and I'm going to prove them wrong, we both are," Harry said taking Draco's hands in his own and relaxing as they were apparated away from Hogwarts school witchcraft and wizardry, away from safety and right into danger.
Draco watched as Harry looked around their new surroundings, "Where are we?" He asked, they were not inside the manor itself nor were they in the grounds; they were in fact in a forest not a mile from the manor house, as Draco explained this Harry's face grew serious as if he was expecting a trap. "Why" he asked, "Why are we here?"
"Because," Draco began to explain, determined not to prove Harry's friends right, "when I was a child I loved to explore the manor and as every ancient manor house or castle Malfoy Manor has secret passages. This one leads into one of the cells in the dungeons, I assume that it was used as an escape route at some point or another, now the entrance is overgrown, you have to know where to find it to use it."
"That's a much better plan than barging straight in, how long before we're detected do you reckon?" Harry asked as Draco began to search for the hidden tunnel.
"My father doesn't know about this tunnel and the wards he put up around the Manor do not cover under the ground so as long as we're not seen we can get in and out without being noticed at all. It is usually just my parents and my sister but with the other Slytherin's not being permitted into the school you never know."
"Then we expect the unexpected, it shouldn't be too long before my friends inform Dumbledore of my disappearing act and they will come, trust me, I'm never alone, we're going to be fine and so is your sister."
"Ah, I've found it, let's go." Draco said, "I'll go first and lead the way." He pulled pack the under growth, dropped to his hands and knees and began to crawl, Harry followed suit and did the same.
The tunnel in question was small and awkward to move in, it was also pitch dark but Draco had warned that any trace of magic underneath the ground could trigger the alarms up above so it was best not to risk it. Every so often Draco's knee would land on a sharp stone and the roots of various plants would brush against him and send a shiver down his spine but they kept moving without making a sound.
Finally after what seemed like an age they reached the way into the dungeon, the only problem was that they could hear someone above them, so keeping very still and very quiet they listened.
It was not the sound of voice that they could hear as they sat in the dark but the sound of someone crying, Draco knew that cry, it was his mother, he had heard this cry long into the night as a child for he knew her not to be happy with Lucius, her only joy were her children, he knew that and he hated his father even more for it and now he had locked her down here.
Draco allowed an unnoticed tear escape from his eye and trail down his cheek; forcefully he wiped it away and whispered ever so softly that he knew it to be safe. Just to be careful Harry cast a sensing spell to discover how many occupants were in the room, there were two a woman and a young girl.
Carefully Harry helped Draco to push open the entrance in the wall and clamber out of the tiny tunnel, a very stunned Narcissa Malfoy looked in astonishment as her son and the boy-who-lived climbed into her cell.
Draco put a finger to his lips, Alexandra was asleep in her mothers arms and made no sound, Draco beckoned for her to come over but she shook her head. Very quietly Draco tip toed over to his mother and whispered, "You'll be safe mum, you and Alex will be safe."
She gave him a watery sort of smile, "I'm sorry my dragon but I am just as guilty as your father when it comes to being a deatheater, please, take your sister for she is better off with you, but I must stay." She told them both, she then looked to Harry, "You are such a brave child, I know that my family have done wrong to you but for you to forgive my dragon so readily, it is inspired, take care of my babies Harry Potter."
"I will do my best Madame." Harry replied as footsteps sounded above them, Narcissa looked suddenly horrified, hurriedly she handed her only daughter to her son and motioned for them to go, she had a pleading look in her eyes that made Draco want to cry.
"We'll come back for you mum, I promise." Draco said in a hushed tone as he pulled his mother into a tight hug while Harry climbed gracefully back into the tunnel taking Alexandra with him, Draco soon followed dragging the stone back with him leaving Narcissa alone to her fate.
Alexandra was slowly waking up and realising that she was no longer with her mum, and being only five she did not like being hurried along a tunnel at full speed between two people she couldn't see.
"Alex, listen to me" Draco said as she began to cry, "It's your brother, I've come to take you to a save place, where daddy can't touch you, I'm going to take you to where I go when I'm not at home."
"Draco" Alexandra snivelled, "Draco?"
"Yes, it's me, but you have to keep moving otherwise Daddy will catch us and he'll punish us both." This he knew would terrify his baby sister and he hated to do it but he knew that it had to be done, they had to hurry, Lucius would soon noticed that his only daughter was missing and he'd know who had taken her.
They exited the tunnel and were blinded by the light, the sun was setting in the distance, the dimming light making the forest look magically beautiful, however none of them had time to appreciate this, Draco took hold of Alexandra's hand and apparated her back to Hogwarts while Harry followed on his own.
They landed dirty and tired, their muscles aching back in Hogsmead, it was unfortunate that their goal had not been reached but having Lucius arrested in Draco's mind was only an added bonus, having his sister out of harms way was more than enough, his father could be dealt with another day.
"We have to get back inside the grounds, back into the castle, we're not safe yet, come on, get up." Harry urged pulling himself up, "I'll carry her if you like." Harry offered, "We'll move quicker that way."
However Alexandra was stubborn and Draco was forced to carry her as they hurried back into the castle grounds, up towards the grand oak doors and into the entrance hall where they collapsed unceremoniously onto the floor breathless, filthy and exhausted.
It was minutes before Albus Dumbledore hurried into view, a frown etched upon his elderly face as he looked sternly at the two boys; he was clearly unimpressed with the course of action that they had decided upon but his annoyance at this seemed to be overridden by how grateful he was that Harry was alive.
"How many times have I told you Harry, it is too dangerous to leave this castle unsupervised and as much as I give Mr Malfoy here the benefit of the doubt your friends had a valid point that you dismissed without even considering. You understand how disappointed I am, especially after the incident in the department of mysteries."
"Why does everyone keep reminding me of that, do you not think I don't feel bad enough as it is, it was two years ago, I made a mistake but I'm only human and I know what I'm doing." Harry protested as he climbed to his feet. "We're both more than alright and we have Alexandra."
"That is beside the point, you needlessly put yourself at risk again, whether the outcome was good or bad does not matter, you promised me that you would not do it again and still you jump in feet first without thinking. As it happens you were fortunate, Tom and his followers were causing trouble in a muggle neighbourhood near by, I sent Severus to fetch your mother and sister."
"Well maybe if you kept me better informed then I wouldn't do these things, I am old enough to realise the consequences of my actions and you know perfectly well that without me you'd be nothing in this war, I realise your trying to protect me but just stop and think about it Professor, if you protect me forever how am I going to learn?"
"You learn by us training you Harry not running off into danger, as it is I think that Mr Malfoy should be put into someone else's care as he seems to be having a bad effect on you and I won't permit your focus to be divided." Dumbledore said sounding decided however Harry looked mutinous.
"You do that and your only hope to win this war will bow out gracefully, from now on we play this my way, I'll be attending Order meetings and in return you will get the peace of mind that my plans will be discussed and then back up sent with me as I carry them out but it's your choice Sir, so what's it to be?"
"You are still a student at this school Harry and as you remain so you will do as you are told, we may be in the middle of a war but you cannot be treated any differently than any other student."
"A quarter of the students at your precious school have left to join Tom and his army of deatheaters, not to mention the dark creatures he has on his side, you know full well that I am far more than a student and the fact that you even pretend that you treated me the same as everyone else is ludicrous. I've surpassed my mentors in every given subject I'm being taught and you still pretend that I'm dependent on you." Harry raged, Draco was still sat on the floor, leaning against the cold stone wall with his baby sister sat on his lap.
"It is time that you learnt to respect your elders Harry, I will not tolerate such actions towards myself or any of my people, it is mutinous behaviour and will be dealt with." Dumbledore warned but Draco could clearly see that Harry was more than willing to challenge the headmaster's words and warnings.
"Then deal with it Sir, but are you willing to deal with the consequences?" Harry asked almost innocently, "You have kept me controlled in this school of yours for too long, every year I've been put directly in harms way and the one time that I make a mistake it's thrown back at me at every opportunity you have and I'm sick of it." Harry said heatedly.
"If you had even taken the time to have anyone inform me of what was going on then none of it would have happened, I had a right to know about the prophecy as it involved me and prophesised my death, you have treated me as a child for as long as I could remember, I haven't been anything close to a child since that night in my first year when I battled for the Philosopher's stone. From that night I was a warrior, a fighter and you knew it but you just pretended that you were doing the best for me, protecting me when really all you were doing was pushing me into more dangerous situations."
"Anything I did Harry was to maintain your innocence as long as possible, my decisions may not have always been for the best in the end but they have kept you alive." Dumbledore said trying desperately to regain his patience.
"Barely" Harry snapped, "Your old and past it, it's about time someone else took over the Order, maybe then a war that's been dragged out since I was one would be over and a man who we've just allowed to live without even attempting to track him down would be dead and as for 'trying to maintain my innocence' as you put it, how innocent did you want me to be, I have to kill a man, not braid his hair."
Dumbledore looked dumbfounded at his words, a first for the headmaster Draco was sure, he didn't look best pleased that his saviour was rebelling against him and he was all too aware who was going to be blamed for this little outburst, Draco was one hundred percent sure it would be him.
"You said that you sent Professor Snape to fetch Mrs Malfoy, where is she now?" Harry asked trying desperately to keep his patience with the elderly man; Draco could tell that Harry was gripping tightly to the last shreds of his tolerance for the Headmaster.
"We have arranged accommodation for her in Hogsmead at the three broomsticks Tom has assured me that she will be safe there." Dumbledore replied.
"Come on Draco, I think that Alexandra would like to see her mother again, we'll go down together." Harry said now ignoring the headmaster who looked as if he was about to protest, Draco hoped for the old mans sake that he did not.
"Harry, I do think …"
"Does it look like I care what you think at the moment?" Harry snapped as Draco pulled himself up off the floor while still holding Alexandra, who he put down as she was fairly heavy despite being small for her age.
"Where are we going now Draco?" She asked her brother sweetly looking up at him with adoring eyes, up until this point she had not spoken a word and now that she had Harry was surprised at how grown up she sounded, it was not something that he has expected.
"We're going to see mummy, she's staying in a hotel nearby and hopefully you're going to stay there as well." Draco said taking his sister's hand within his own and headed for the grand oak doors with Harry leading the way, Headmaster Dumbledore making no further move to stop them from leaving.
"Who is that?" Alexandra asked, referring to Harry, who was walking a little ahead of the other too obviously in an extremely foul mood after his confrontation with the headmaster.
"That's Harry Potter," Draco told his sister in hushed tones, "The one that daddy doesn't like, he's going to save us." Draco watched his sister's face light up as he said that and he wished that Harry could have seen it.
Harry however was far too irritated to really notice anyone but himself; he seemed to be mumbling softly to himself as they walked but Draco dared not approach him as he was somewhat afraid of the teen.
They reached the village just as it was nearing dusk but before they entered the three broomsticks Harry pulled Draco and Alexandra to one side out of sight of passing witches and wizards.
"If we just walk in there then there is bound to be questions, so I'm going to make you look different, Tom knows both myself and my alias Cameron well, it seems a shame to make you look different seeing as your so perfect but it has to be done I suppose. Any preferences?"
Draco was a little taken aback with what had just been said but decided that all thoughts on the entire day could wait until later on the evening, when he was tucked up in bed and there was nothing else taxing his brain. He shook his head in response to Harry's question and watched as the other teen got to work.
There was no mirror to look himself over but he trusted Harry not to have made him horribly disfigured, however when he looked at the other teen he seemed so different, his eyes were now a dull blue and his hair a dusty blonde that fell in bangs around his face, the legendary scar of course hidden by magic.
Alexandra looked adorably confused but Harry hadn't bothered to change her appearance, it wasn't needed, unlike the other two she hadn't made proper public appearances yet and therefore would go unnoticed anyway.
As Draco pushed the door to the three broomsticks open he noticed that the Dark Mark had also been covered with magic, he hadn't realised that any magic was strong enough to cover it; he sent a questioning look to Harry who just smirked in return and slipped into the pub.
"Good evening Tom." Harry said inclining his head to the barman who did the say in return and responded with:
"Good evening Mr Shan, how may I be of service?"
"I need a quiet word with one of your guests, the one brought it not long ago, do you know who I speak of?" Harry asked looking the man directly in the eye, Draco watched the two interact and knew that there was certainly more going on than met the eye but he knew when not to ask questions.
Tom nodded, "This way please Mr Shan," Tom said motioning for the three of them to follow him, Draco led Alexandra by the hand through to the back of the three broomsticks and up the stairs to the first floor and knocked on the third door on the right.
A cautious Narcissa Malfoy opened it and peeked out of a gap about three inches wide, "Who are you?" She asked addressing Harry and Draco, she had not spotted Alexandra, who at that moment chose to run up to her mum.
"It's okay mummy, it's Draco and Harry Potter." At her daughter's words she looked at the two teenage boys with interest and realised what had happened, she opened the door and motioned for them to enter.
"You go ahead Draco but I feel like a drink, feel free to join me later," Harry said as Draco tried to enter with Harry in tow.
"Be safe mum," Draco said as Tom and Harry began to leave, "And look after Alex but I have business to take of, I'll see you soon, I promise."
"Be safe my Dragon, be safe." Narcissa said giving her son a kiss on the cheek and then pulling him into a tight hug that almost suffocated the boy.
When Draco finally caught up with Harry he was sitting at the bar, cigarette in hand and drink in the other, Draco slid into the bar stool next to Harry and placed his order.
I'm glad that you are enjoying this story, I can't believe that I'm currently writing the fourth chapter and it's only the night after the first day, I have only eight days before I go to University and a whole day off this week so hopefully I'll write really quickly and have another chapter posted for you soon. Phoebe.