Thank you to the beta of this chapter- songofstars

Chapter Thirty Seven – The Secret Meeting

It was hitting one in the morning as Harry passed back and forth in his room, Hedwig turning her head from side to side as Harry made his way from one side of the room to the other and then back again. Harry fiddled with a letter that arrived an hour and half ago, opening it up and reading it before folding it back up, only to repeat the action five minutes later as he tried to decide what to do. He never thought that his school enemy, Draco Malfoy would ask to meet with him in the Room of Requirement but here he was trying to decide if it was a good idea to go. He didn't even know how Malfoy knew about the Room of Requirement and he didn't care. It was obviously a trap...but then again...Draco's parents were Death Eaters, with his father in the top ranks. Was it possible that Malfoy wanted to tell him something about Voldemort? Was Malfoy choosing his side? Was Malfoy betraying everything he knew in order to help the light side?

Harry didn't know what to think. Letting out a long sigh he flopped down on his bed before looking up at Hedwig. "What do you think, girl? Should I go?" Harry asked, wishing that he was able to understand owls instead of snakes. He could really use someone to talk to right now.

Hedwig let out a small hoot, ruffling her feathers before jumping down on Harry's open suitcase and started to dig through his items.

Harry smirked as he watched his beloved pet. "Sorry girl, no more treats for tonight," Harry spoke, believing he knew what his owl was looking for. "Plus Snape said no more—" Harry stopped mid-sentence as he watched Hedwig pull out his invisibility cloak from his suitcase before looking up at him and giving another small hoot in his direction.

Harry's smirk turned into a smile. "You think I should go? But what if he doesn't need help?" Harry questioned, still feeling uneasy about going but as he watched Hedwig give him a glare that even his Professor would be proud of he knew he had to go, he couldn't hide away for the rest of his life, not when someone might be asking for his help.

"Alright, you win," Harry said, quickly getting up and rearranging the pillows under the blankets to make it look as if he was sleeping before grabbing his wand and cloak. "Make sure Snape doesn't pull back the blanket!" Harry ordered as he pulled on his sweatshirt, tucking his wand inside before wrapping himself in his cloak and left the room.

Noticing that his Professor was still in his private lab Harry was extra careful not to make any noise, even sliding his feet on the floor until he made it out of the portrait hole and out into the cold dungeon.

Harry took in a shaky breath, feeling his stomach tighten up the moment he stepped out of the safety of his Professor chambers. "One step at a time," Harry told himself over and over again as he made his way to the Room of Requirement, waiting as the door slowly appeared in front of him.

"Please let this be the right decision," Harry prayed before he opened the door and stepped inside.

The room was no longer set up for training for the DA, but rather a cozy living room set which strangely reminded Harry of the Gryffindor common room. The room was dark, the only light coming from the fireplace as two leather armchairs set in front with one occupied by Draco.

"I know you're here, Potter," Draco spat. "Are you alone? I asked to speak with you alone." Draco said before standing up from his chair and scratching his limbs. "I almost thought you wouldn't come," Draco added as he looked out into the empty space of the room.

Harry bit his bottom lip a little, there was no going back now. With a moment of hesitation, he allowed his cloak to fall to the floor. "I'm alone," Harry said once he was revealed to Draco. "Why did you ask to see me?" Harry inquired. "It's not like you."

Draco didn't reply right away as he picked up a copy of the Daily Prophet from the armchair and tossed it to Harry with Harry catching it. "I want to know if it's true." Draco spoke in his usual demeanour.

Harry turned over the paper to read the front page, feeling anger swell up inside of him before tossing the paper back onto the chair. "Is that why you ask me here? To find out if the papers are true so you can confirm it for everyone else?" Harry questioned.

"I don't care about everyone else…"

"Then you want to confirm it for Voldemort, then?" Harry accused. "Why? What does he have planned?" Harry demanded.

"I don't know what the Dark Lord has planned," Draco said with sorrow in his voice. "I want this information for me. I am willing to swear on my magic if that would make you feel better. I just want to know the truth."

Harry paused for a moment, his thoughts catching up with him as he came to the realization as to why Draco might be asking.

"...Draco? Did...Did Lockhart do something...to you?" Harry asked, a bit timidly.

"...I'm...I'm not sure," Draco admitted "I know I had detention with Lockhart during second year but I can't remember the detention itself," Draco explained. "And some things don't add up during that year. I had bruises that I couldn't remember getting and some nights...I would find that my boxers were on backwards. I couldn't add it up before, but then I saw that," Draco said as he gestured to the paper. "I started to have this feeling...I don't know how to explain it and sometimes I have these dreams…I just need to know if what happened to you is true because I think...I think it might have happened to me."

Harry couldn't believe it. All this time he thought that he was the only one, he didn't even consider that Lockhart had more victims. "This feeling you get, it feels like goosebumps have covered your entire body? You feel as if someone is touching you even though you are alone? You feel the need to peel off your skin because you have this disgusting feeling about yourself?"

"Exactly...I just don't understand how I can't remember anything."

"He obliviated it, is what Lockhart did. He would...he would do his thing and then use a memory charm to take away the memoirs...just like it never happened. You don't remember because he took away your memories," Harry explained.

"How did you get your memories back, then?" Draco questioned.

"...It doesn't matter how I got them back, the point is I did," Harry replied.

"I want you to tell me how I can get my memories back!" Draco ordered.

"You don't want them back, trust me, you don't. Getting your memories back feels as if it's happening all over again and you don't know how many times...you don't know what it's like. It's a blessing that you can't remember. Do yourself a favour and don't go looking for the memories. You'll regret it," Harry explained.

"What if it's too late for that? I can feel it in my head. It's like a headache at the surface and no matter how much I try, I can't get rid of it. I'm afraid," Draco admitted. "And as much as I hate to admit it, you are the only one who can help."

Harry didn't know what he could do, as much as he wanted to help Draco.

No one should have to go through what he did, no should have to relive those memories.

The only thing was how do you stop memories, how do you keep yourself from picking at the surface of the wall in your mind? It was like a scab, you couldn't help but to pick at it until it bled, the only difference was that it was much more dangerous to pick at this scab.

"I will talk to Hermione in the morning. Tomorrow is Saturday, so we will be able to spend our time in the library. Don't worry, I keep your name out of it," Harry reassured before picking up his cloak from the floor. "I'll meet you back here, same time, '' Harry added before leaving the Room of Requirement.

….

Sneaking back into his Professor chambers was easy enough for Harry. By the time Harry got back, Severus had gone to bed so the fear of being seen was out. Harry slid his feet across the floor once more until he got back to his bedroom and closed the door.

As Harry turned around his stomach dropped when he noticed that the blankets on the bed had been pulled back, revealing that Snape knew he left the chambers. "What did I tell you?" Harry spoke as he addressed his owl who seemed to be disappointed on her perch.

Seeing a small bit of parchment laid out on his pillow, Harry picked it up to read it.

"We will talk in the morning," Harry read.

"Can't wait for that confrontation!" Harry muttered to himself before sitting at his desk and pulling out his journal that he got from the Mind Healer.

Harry opened it up to the front page, seeing a small inscription saying that the person who writes in the journal would be the only one who would be able to read it.

"Smart," Harry thought to himself as he took his quill out and a bottle of ink from the draw. Dipping the quill into the ink he brought it to the page and started to write.

"Lockhart Victims

Harry Potter

Draco Malfoy

More ?"

Harry tapped the quill on the page for a few minutes, making little black dots of ink as he thought about how many people might have suffered at the hands of Lockhart and how many were feeling the same way as Draco and why? Why now, after all this time? Harry had his memories forced out so why was Draco experiencing the feelings he described?

Harry found that he couldn't get to sleep that night, unable to get Draco and Lockhart out of his thoughts and the idea of having a conversation with Snape about sneaking out last night didn't sit well with him. He knew he couldn't betray Draco's trust and tell Snape the real reason he was out last night. He would have to come up with a story and hoped he didn't get into too much trouble. The fact that Snape didn't stay up waiting for him was a good sign, Harry thought, though it was possible that Snape was coming up with ways that he could use Harry's parts for potion ingredients.

Whatever tomorrow brings, Harry knew that he needed to figure out what was happening to Draco and if there were any others suffering the same thing.