Chapter 21 - Moving Forward

There were several things in the eyes of The Boy Who Lived as he rushed back into the tent to greet Hermione once she returned. For one thing, evident relief that she had come back unharmed, despite the scared panic she had given him earlier. Also, there was unconstrained curiosity at all of the details regarding that little escapade, which Hermione would of course have to fill him in on. To a minor extent, there was slight puzzlement at her sudden and rather uncharacteristic change of attire in that grey dress; and lastly, there was overarching concern for his friend and what she had gone through, all contained within dozens of questions that Harry didn't voice.

Setting her bag of wet clothes down, Hermione stepped forward and threw her arms around Harry in a tight hug which, though confused, he eagerly returned. While holding on to him even for the span of a few seconds, the thought crossed Hermione's mind that this felt quite different from how she had felt in Draco's arms, but she didn't linger on that thought now; for the present, she kept her wits about her for what was likely to be an even more complicated discussion than the one she had just had on horcruxes.

"Harry, there's...there's a lot I have to tell you," she began rather breathlessly, to which Harry interpreted that he should at least give her a chance to unload and wind down before questioning her. With a nod, he made himself scarce in another part of the tent to make tea, leaving Hermione alone to change back into her own clothes and then put Harry's cloak back in its spot near his cot.

Once everything was settled and the friends were seated across from each other at the table though, there was nothing left to hold back explanations.

Starting at the very beginning as it was the only way to ease into the conversation in a way that made sense, Hermione described her first encounter with Draco in the woods and how he had let her go unharmed. Like Hermione had been at the time, Harry was instantly suspicious as to Draco's motives but made no comment as, obviously, this was weeks ago and practically history by now. He sensed that what Hermione had to tell him, especially about more recent developments, was sure to be more shocking, so he reserved his questions for now.

The further along Hermione went into the narrative though, the more visibly shocked Harry was. Not just on Draco's actions and how things had progressed of course, but also with...with Hermione's reactions to everything and how this had been going on all the time even before Ron had left. In going over her trip to Diagon Alley, he had to admit that it was pure chance that she had come across Draco a second time, but that, compared with how she had almost gotten caught by Greyback, was enough to make him feel ready to confront her there and then—and not in a pleasant manner.

Sensing the direction his thoughts were taking, Hermione held out her hand for the locket, which until now she had neglected to take her turn with. Smiling sheepishly, Harry handed it over, and then visibly relaxed once it was around Hermione's neck. From then on she continued her explanations, leaving out only the most personal of details like how many of Draco's vulnerabilities she had seen—how much she had felt. More or less, she restricted everything to letting Harry know that Draco was in fact on their side, and that in giving him the benefit of the doubt, she had uncovered his own rather mysterious task that was working towards the same end as theirs, though exactly how she didn't know.

Harry's interest was also piqued with regards to the list, partly perhaps from habit of following Draco's actions all of last year, but he remained silent until Hermione came to the most recent events: namely, his trip to the Black Lake and how it had almost cost both their lives. At this, Harry's expression darkened as he realized how much of her own safety Hermione had seriously compromised, not just with the merpeople but with going that close to Hogwarts, and so she stopped short of mentioning to Harry just what had happened after and how she had more or less told Draco everything about their mission.

It was a lot to take in, and already she was wondering if maybe she hadn't told her friend too much all at once.

Harry, though, was remarkably tolerant when it came to understanding things that were difficult to grasp and at times unbelievable. After all, his own past was practically full of examples wherein what he'd had to say, true or not, hadn't been taken at face value and he'd been left all alone to deal with it. Hermione was one of the few people whom he trusted fully and so, despite the hurt he felt at how she hadn't told him any of these things earlier, at the same time he trusted her judgement and caught on to her reasoning that neither him nor Ron (in fact, especially Ron) would've believed her to be in her right mind if she'd broken the news to them before. Not only would they have disregarded the idea of Draco Malfoy as a potential ally, but they would have taken drastic measures to prevent against Hermione meeting with him.

Now, whether those measures would have worked or not was anybody's guess, but in any case they would have made their lives even harder than they already were in trying to keep Hermione from doing something that she so strongly felt was right.

And, if her own recent saving of Draco's life and his reciprocal saving of hers wasn't enough proof that her chance paid off, then Harry didn't know what was. Draco Malfoy was an ally of theirs now—that was the only conclusion.

Sure, for years he had bullied them and gone up against Harry as an enemy directly, but if Hermione, who had received worse insults and torment, had been able to see past that enough to give him a chance, then Harry had no choice but to do the same. And as for his actions all of last year in attempting to kill Dumbledore, well...

Harry had been there throughout the confrontation. Draco's hesitation and reluctance to do it had been clear enough. Harry hadn't been surprised at the time to see Draco reveal himself as a Death Eater, but he had realized, perhaps for the first time, that despite everything, Draco was just a boy their age. He was no more ready for the role that had been thrust upon him than Harry had been to find out the Prophecy back in fifth year. For the briefest moment, though later overshadowed by Dumbledore's death at Snape's hands, Harry had realized that Draco wasn't fully to blame...

For Hermione of all people to be confronted with this honest truth and to see it for what it was though...it was surprising. More so, to have it prompted by Draco's actions said a lot about what had been going on inside his head since then, and how his shifting alliances had to have started before Hermione prompted him in his final steps.

Taking all these things into consideration, Harry thus accepted the truth of that more easily than he would have if Hermione had just introduced this idea to him out of nowhere. It had never been just her own suppositions and, though it was hard to say if Harry would have accepted this had she told him about it earlier, he was glad that she finally revealed the truth to him now.

And it definitely means a lot to her, he concluded, noting that she wouldn't have kept it secret so long or been so conflicted about it otherwise. Besides which, the further along she got in telling him everything, Harry had noticed a slight change coming over his friend and how she spoke, how she looked. For the first time practically since Ron had left or perhaps even before, he saw Hermione show...hope. Or...no, it was something else as well, but Harry couldn't pinpoint it just yet.

"And then what happened?" he prompted, encouraging her to finish the explanation before he started with his questions.

Harry's noncommittal manner being just what she needed to go on, Hermione then proceeded to relate all of the non-personal details of what she and Draco had just discussed—ending off on a particularly strong note at how he was going to set to work seeing about the horcrux that Bellatrix most likely had. She stressed more than once how that had been the essential fact behind her revealing everything, but Harry deduced that it was more than that; Hermione trusted Draco now, that was plain to see, and for some reason or other she wanted him to work alongside them in this.

Much as he would also appreciate the extra help, Harry couldn't push away the thought that Ron being out of the picture had something to do with Hermione's desperation—would she really have included Draco in something this important if only they hadn't run out of options? Or were they really just that incompetent on their own?

Rubbish, Harry, he thought. Accept help where you can get it, no matter where it's from.

And so, with trying his best to keep an open mind, Harry thus listened to the rest of Hermione's retelling and then sat in silence to contemplate his own thoughts. Finally, after thinking things over, his silence giving Hermione ample cause to be nervous, he spoke.

"I can't deny that this is taking longer than even I thought," he began. "And I have to admit that I don't understand everything of what Dumbledore intended when he started us on this path. I never could have foreseen what happened with...Ron, and nor could I have foreseen this change in Draco."

Sighing heavily, Harry swiped a hand through his dark hair, that, as usual, always looked messy and would not stay put. "But despite that, I think I can accept what's happened. Look, the important thing is that we have a new ally, someone who can move around and find out things and do things that we cannot. So...even though it's Draco of all people, I'll take your word for it on...everything you've said." He paused. "But maybe check in with me before telling him any new information from now on."

It was as fair a compromise as any that Harry could offer, and much more than Hermione had hoped for. She had been fully prepared to re-justify herself as many times as it took, but it was evident that Harry saw the reason in everything after going through it only once. His brief mention of Ron brought to mind how their redheaded friend wouldn't accept things at face value like that, even with Hermione's word, but fortunately he wasn't there to voice an undoubtedly negative opinion. Harry might need some more time in private to think it over, of course, after which he would have more questions for her, but for now...it was enough.

All in all, it had gone over far better than it otherwise could have, and for that Hermione was grateful. Thanks to Harry's acceptance, for the next few days she thus was able to breathe easier. Such is the way of the calm before a storm...

After Hermione left, Draco remained alone at the lakehouse for quite some time, deep in thought. The information that Hermione had told him was complex enough, but Draco found himself doubly awed by the fact that she had told him, thereby displaying the trust that she now had for him. Draco wanted to be worthy of that trust, and he saw the best way to do that as taking in Hermione's information and acting on it in...well, the way that she more or less would.

First, this involved conducting research on Hufflepuff's Cup in order to know what to expect before he actually set about looking for it. Then he could start making plans as to where he might find it, since there were many places in his house that he could look, never mind that it might not even be there. Aunt Bellatrix was definitely a mad witch, no doubt about it, but she wasn't stupid—with something as important as an object given to her by the Dark Lord to safeguard, she would be careful.

Knowing its history would be a good idea, and I also need to know what it looks like first, so a diagram would be helpful, Draco thought, his mind drifting to the many history books that were sure to help him on both scores. As such, the first thing he did after depositing the goblin-made sheath in his family's vault at Gringotts was to head to the library at Hogwarts, prepping himself for another night of reading.

He was experiencing a lot of those lately.

However, before he got to the library, he received a summons from Severus to go immediately to his office. Nervous that Severus was going to confront him about his actions at the Black Lake today—because, especially with all that noise they'd made near the end, someone was bound to have reported something—Draco shielded his mind as best as he could before making his way up to the Headmaster's Office.

Reminding himself over and over again that Severus had nothing to berate him on since he'd set Draco on this mission to begin with, the young Slytherin thus entered into what he expected would be a stern interrogation.

To his surprise and fitting in with Severus's unpredictable personality in general, the Headmaster did not in fact question Draco about anything with regards to the Black Lake. Instead, he announced that this was to be another occlumency lesson, which was almost just as bad. And...unprecedented, but it wasn't like Draco had the choice to refuse after he'd asked his godfather for these lessons in the first place.

Determined not to give away anything compromising, especially with how much he knew, Draco dueled mentally with his godfather as he had never done before. Already, he had been deemed an adequate student by Severus when guarding his mind, especially with regards to thoughts about Hermione; but now, with all the new information stored there about horcruxes, Draco put in the extra struggle so as not to give anything away. Much as Severus hadn't made a comment regarding what he had glimpsed about Draco's new meetings with Hermione, the revelation of horcruxes would be too important to ignore.

And Draco had promised to keep that a secret.

The Slytherin headmaster didn't go easy on him, either. Using a complex series of nonverbal penetrations into Draco's mind, Severus tested the boy to his limits, mimicking many of his interrogation methods that he had to perform for the Dark Lord. Draco felt as if someone was grating sandpaper against his skull, the pain of the assault continuous as he tried to block every avenue that might be used to penetrate deeper. He sent false images and thoughts Severus's way to distract him; he built up mental walls against which penetration would take up more of Severus's energy to break; and lastly he even pushed back against Severus's probing, stopping just short of entering into a legilimens state himself and thus penetrating Severus's mind.

In the end, two hours had gone by with Severus unsuccessfully managing to uncover Draco's thoughts—though one might question whether the older wizard had really been giving it his all—and by the end of it Draco felt as physically drained as if he had just escaped a dementor's Kiss.

Severus stepped back, looking slightly tired himself. He gestured for Draco to take a seat as he did the same. "Well enough," he drawled.

Draco took it as a compliment, aware that Severus wasn't one to give even words of semi-praise easily. Panting heavily and wiping the sweat from his brow, he managed a small smile. "Thank you, sir."

Severus waved his wrist and levitated a cup of warm tea onto the table for Draco. "I've added restoratives to that. Drink unless you want to spend the next two days in deep sleep," he said when Draco hesitated to take it. "No doubt the combined exertion of your morning activities and our lesson now has tired you considerably."

Ah, so he did know!

Draco shrugged away any worry regarding that as he started drinking the tea. After all, if Severus knew what Draco had done, then he certainly couldn't object to it. Unless...

"How much did you see?" he asked, trying to push down the rising panic at whether Severus had seen Hermione's involvement. Part of the fear was irrational, of course, since Severus was on their side; but then again, if anyone else knew and Severus was expected to do something about it...

"I have no interest in discussing that," Severus said, cutting off that possible discussion entirely. "There are other things that will require your attention in due time."

Draco looked up, curious but also a bit wary.

"Apart from occlumency lessons, I also summoned you here so that you might know," Severus continued, leaning back in his chair as casually as if what he was about to say was an update on the weather. "Within the next week, the Dark Lord will be returning to Britain."

Draco set down his cup, glad that he hadn't been sipping any tea at that moment or he might have choked on it. There was no way such news could be taken lightly, no matter how Severus said it. The Dark Lord was finally coming back and would be in close proximity, after all this time...

Does that mean he's found Grindelwald and gotten what he wanted? Draco wondered. He'd have to let Hermione know about this as soon as possible so she could warn Potter...

"We...await his return," Draco said, giving the typical answer that a death eater should give, never mind that he didn't want this at all. Things had been winding down, even if only a little, while the Dark Lord had been away. His father, for all that he slunk around the house drinking most of the day, was at least able to move about freely, whereas before he'd confined himself to his room most of the time while the Dark Lord was about, save for when they would be summoned to meetings. Now, especially depending on the Dark Lord's mood, it was anyone's guess what was going to happen.

And not to mention that this would be enormously problematic for Draco's plan to go after the horcrux possibly hidden in his house...

"We will no doubt be summoned soon," Severus said. "I expect you to be ready, Draco."

Draco swallowed. "Ready for...what, sir?"

Severus's expression was unreadable. "For whatever he may require. The Dark Lord has been away for a long time, Draco. He will undoubtedly be curious as to the goings-on of his followers since that time. Some of us may face...questioning."

That explained the occlumency lesson, at least, and why Severus had been so harsh on him. But while deflecting his godfather's probing, for all that Severus was a skilled legilimens, was one thing; with the Dark Lord, Draco couldn't be as obvious about his defenses.

"Will we meet until then for more lessons?" the boy whispered, meeting his godfather's eyes. Now, more than ever, he felt the urgency for more practice—there was far too much that he had gone through that the Dark Lord shouldn't know about. Draco had a notion that his father's failure and disgrace would be nothing in the Dark Lord's eyes compared to what Draco was now doing.

Severus gave one curt nod. "And perhaps for the time being you should remain in Hogwarts," he said. It was more a warning than a suggestion, and though Draco grasped the hidden meaning beneath that casual remark as it applied to his mission on the list—and Hermione, possibly—he didn't at all like how constricting it felt. If anything, it felt like a week of confinement before awaiting what would possibly be a death sentence, depending on how the Dark Lord received him. And much as he wished he had more courage to face him, Draco was scared. Certain images, like how quickly and easily the Dark Lord had killed Charity Burbage right before him a few months before, remained prominent in his memory.

To Severus though, there was nothing further that he could say. Like Draco, the Headmaster obviously had little say in the matter of what they had to do.

Bowing his head in respect, Draco finally left Severus's office, headed directly for his chambers now instead of to the library. The exhaustion of the day had caught up with him, and now more than anything, he needed to rest. There were many things coming up ahead, and even if Draco only played a minor role himself, he needed to be ready.

For his own sake, his family's, and...Hermione's and Potter's, he had to be ready.

A/N: I figured that since Hermione has already spilled the beans of everything regarding her and Harry to Draco, it was only fair that she tell Harry everything as well—finally! As for Harry's acceptance of it, I tried to reason my way through it as well, but basically what his reaction is based off of is more or less his interactions with Draco in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I know that that takes place years and years after the events of Deathly Hallows, but basically that cued me in to the fact that Harry can be very forgiving and reasonable, and with everything that's happened in this story so far and how Hermione of all people is presenting Draco to him, I thought it would be reasonable to assume his acceptance of Draco more than pushing him away. Ron's reaction will...definitely be different, but we'll worry about that when we come to it. :)

As for Draco's portion of the chapter, it's to cue in more of Rowling's original storyline, since obviously the next big thing that Voldemort does in the story is send Nagini out to attack Harry and Hermione once they visit Godric's Hollow. So, yes, timeline-wise we're nearing that stage, and can expect more frequent mentions of what readers of the series will already know. I won't be re-writing the encounter of Harry and Hermione with Nagini in itself, but let's just say that I have plans for what happens after. Ahem, but we'll get to that when we get to that.

Please expect exciting things up ahead and continue to review, follow, and favourite!