Chapter 23 - An Ally Gained

December 22 - just after Godric's Hollow scene (for those of you who don't read A/Ns at the end of chapters. :3)

On the bright side, it could have been worse, since at least Nagini hadn't bit either of them. If she had, then it was doubtful that they'd still be alive, in which case two of the major obstacles to Voldemort's complete victory would have been annihilated. Hermione herself had survived relatively unscathed apart from a few cuts from glass; Harry had several of those, as well as bruises and exterior wounds from when Nagini had briefly fought him before Hermione had rushed upstairs to help. Otherwise though, physically they were okay. However, all in all, things were bad, and Harry's injuries and his unconscious state weren't even the worst parts.

No, that distinction went to the exceedingly bad development of Harry's wand getting broken in the all the action. Now, that left only one working wand between them.

Unable to focus on any of this while she was getting them out of Godric's Hollow and saving their lives, Hermione instead quickly got them back to camp, relieved that at least neither of them had gotten splinched this time, as had been the case with Ron in their escape from the ministry in September. There was no time to waste though. Quickly, Hermione packed up all of their things, and then grabbed ahold of Harry and disapparated them yet again.

This time she landed them right on the porch of Draco's lakehouse, and then did her best to carefully drag Harry inside. Luckily, none of his injuries were bleeding too badly, and her first aid would be better served in a place where they would have a roof over their heads.

Apart from summoning the Dittany that she now knew the lakehouse supplied, Hermione also levitated Harry onto the couch and started up the fire with a quick Incendio charm. Her first impulse after that was to send a patronus to Draco, to let him know that she and Harry were using his lakehouse if nothing else, but right now healing Harry took priority even over that.

Hermione only hoped that word wouldn't get out too quickly to the death eaters about her and Harry's near-escape, otherwise Draco might worry about them anyway. This time, Hermione didn't even question her instinct that Draco would worry, because she already knew.

She only wished that, when he finally came around, as he said he would, he wouldn't be too disappointed, as she was, with the fact that they hadn't found a horcrux at the hollow.

Meanwhile, for the next several minutes, she kept occupied by tending to Harry's wounds, relieved when The Chosen One finally opened his eyes and even managed to sit up enough to drink the restorative tea that Hermione had brewed for him. He was a bit pale, perhaps from the fright of the experience as well as from blood loss, but there was no doubt that Harry Potter was used to pulling through in tough situations.

"So this is the lakehouse you've been telling me about," Harry said at last, once he had drank half the cup, grimacing at the semi-bitter taste all the while. "I might have guessed even if I didn't know we were due here anyway." The snakes outlined in the fireplace, the white, black, and dark green colouring of everything, and of course the luxuriousness of all the furniture more or less gave it away whose house they were in.

Hermione nodded, finally allowing herself a moment to relax and calm down from her own ordeal. She had tended to her own injuries as well, but otherwise hadn't had a chance to get a proper rest. Now that Harry was awake though, she would wait only a little while longer before sending out a patronus to Draco—or, was it better to wait for him to contact her, given that even now he might have been summoned along with death eaters to serve at Voldemort's displeasure?

He'll be waiting to hear from me though, she thought.

Harry, picking up on her train of thought, gave Hermione a sympathetic look. "I think it's only fair that you let Draco know we're here a bit earlier than planned," he said.

Hermione reached for her wand, but then thought better of it and shook her head. "I don't want to risk it, Harry. If he's with the other death eaters right now, it'll look suspicious. Maybe wait a bit longer until he contacts us, and if he doesn't, then it can wait until tomorrow." Much as her fingers were practically twitching to do otherwise.

Harry shook his head, looking grim. "I guess that's right." Then, after a pause, he brushed a shaky hand through his hair. "Blimey, what a mess that was! I should have followed Malfoy's advice and not gone at all..."

"Harry, we had to go!" Hermione snapped, surprised at Harry's sudden pessimism. True, it had ended in disaster and they hadn't found any horcruxes, but...even if only for their time in the cemetery, when Harry had finally got to see his parents' graves after all these years, it was worth it. Sometimes, even if it was only in snippets and brief moments, they had to focus on something other than their search for horcruxes and this whole bloody war. Hermione knew how much they needed them, especially considering how much she craved her own personal moments, with someone in particular...

Harry sighed. "It was useless, Mione. We didn't find anything and I endangered both of us."

"Stop that," Hermione admonished. "You had no way of knowing what was going to happen, and don't try to convince me otherwise." Her expression softened a tad. "And also, it wasn't entirely for nothing. I found something that may be of help to us."

"Really? What is it?"

Hermione reached into her bag, fishing through the many contents until she finally got what she was looking for—her copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that Dumbledore had willed to her. The cover was getting worn now from how many times she had read through it, but Hermione knew that there was one story in particular that she needed to get to. Flipping through the pages until she got to "The Tale of the Three Brothers", she went to the end where, as she remembered, the symbol of the Deathly Hallows was drawn.

Holding out the book so Harry could see, Hermione described that she had seen that exact same symbol of the Deathly Hallows in the cemetery at Godric's Hollow, on Ignotus Peverell's gravestone.

"I think he was also a wizard," Hermione said, since the cemetery in the hollow wasn't exactly exclusive to wizards. "And furthermore, I think he may have had some connection to whatever it is Dumbledore wants me to figure out from this."

Harry, who had read through the book a few times himself at the insistence of Hermione in case he recognized something within its contents that she herself wasn't privy to but that may have been relevant in Dumbledore's eyes, knew the story well enough; though, like Hermione, he had questioned what a bunch of old wizard's tales could help them with in their mission. Considering that she had seen the symbol come up at a cemetery in Godric's Hollow though...it had to be more than a coincidence. Named after Godric Gryffindor himself, the hollow was a significant place in the Wizarding World, for all that it wasn't exclusive to wizards alone. As such, certain things, like the symbol on the gravestone, couldn't be ignored.

"But what does it mean, Hermione?" Harry mused, studying the symbol in the book closely as though it had all the answers.

Hermione sighed. "I wish I knew, but..."

And that was when Harry noticed the tiredness hanging over Hermione like a second skin. There were bags under her eyes, she was almost as pale as he was, and, in all the frustration of his own mistakes regarding going to the hollow, he had badly neglected to think of his best friend.

Reaching out, Harry drew her to him in a friendly hug. "Let's leave it for now. I think we both deserve a rest and we can always discuss it later." He placed his hand over Hermione's and closed the book. "You saved my life, you know. Again. If I didn't have you with me there..."

Hermione shook her head, leaning in to Harry and taking the chance to tuck the book away, out of sight and out of mind for the moment. For once, she really wasn't in the mood to do further research or discuss more tactics and strategy. She was just tired in the aftermath of everything that happened, and now, in the Malfoy lakehouse of all places, she was finally relaxing and wanted nothing more than to sleep.

There was only one thing that could make her feel even more contented at the moment, but of course it wasn't possible. Yet.

"You would have done the same for me, Harry," she sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned against his shoulder. "I'm just glad it's over and that now...maybe for a day or two we could..."

But Harry didn't need to hear it said, as he already agreed with her to the greatest extent possible. They both needed their rest and had truly been exerting themselves for far too long.

Giving Hermione a light squeeze, Harry shifted a bit so that he could share some of his blanket with her. It was likely they could both fall asleep sitting upright at this point. "Yeah, I know. We'll wait here for a bit, Hermione. Think Malfoy will show up anytime soon?"

I hope so, Hermione thought, even as she outwardly shrugged. "He'll send a patronus first as soon as it's safe, I think. I wouldn't be surprised if he's going to be displeased about what happened though."

Harry snorted, almost jolting Hermione awake out of her sleepy state. "Wouldn't he be more angry than anything else?"

Hermione considered the notion for a moment, but she honestly didn't think Draco capable of anger at this point. For all that he had been insulted, hurt, irritated, and snappish with her at times since they'd met back in September...he had never gotten angry, she realized. He had mellowed out far more from how he had been before and, somehow, this new calmness to him, for all that he was constantly on edge and held in a lot of things beneath the surface, was doing a lot of good in making him a more reasonable person to talk to. So, he would be worried and might confront them about everything perhaps, but he wouldn't get angry.

He was a good person, after all, and underneath it all...

But then, too weary to continue the thought, Hermione trailed off into sleep, with Harry fast behind her.

Guesses about how Draco was going to react aside, how the young Malfoy did react was with panic. No one even among the Dark Lord's closest followers had known that his plans had changed with regards to when he was going to send Nagini to the hollow, but they had. The only explanation Draco could come up with for the change that was the Dark Lord was yet again becoming more attuned to Potter's thoughts and thus must have caught on to something, like how Potter had been keeping an eye on him all these months. That in itself was worrisome enough.

Upon being summoned almost immediately after Nagini's return to Malfoy Manor though, everyone soon learned of Potter's escape and everything that had happened. Nagini herself, of course, wasn't reprimanded for it, but instead Voldemort practically cooed over her to make sure that she wasn't injured. That didn't mean that he wasn't ready to take out his frustrations and anger on someone else, and currently was just waiting for a target.

Draco, standing near the back of the room and for once away from all the action, didn't see who it was that the Dark Lord had chosen or what he had chosen to do. All he heard was the sound of screams that didn't sound quite human, combined with the full force of the Cruciatus Curse being cast over and over and over again. Draco had wished himself away from the Dark Lord and his fellow death eaters many times before, but never as much as now.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity that left Draco feeling dead inside even though he wasn't at fault for anything that happened, they were allowed to leave. Draco walked alongside Narcissa, surprised to feel her hand on his arm once they were out of sight of the others, heading upstairs instead of outside. His mother's touch, and the look on her face, communicated to Draco all the worry she felt for her son after what he had been forced to witness. Draco sensed that it was on the tip of her tongue to say something of significant comfort, but apart from the fact that the Malfoy family was awkward with their words and weren't used to offering much comfort to one another, there was nothing that she could say to help the situation. Even away from the room where it had happened, Draco still smelled the sweat, blood, and burnt skin of the wizard who had just been tortured to near-death; he could still hear the screams, dying down to hoarse whimpers, in his head. Nothing that Narcissa could say would change that.

Draco shrugged away from her, flashing her a quick look that he hoped communicated that he would be alright. He just...needed to put as much distance as possible between himself and this place, which no longer felt like his home, as soon as possible. Since the holidays had already started, he wouldn't be going back to Hogwarts, unfortunately, but thankfully his mother didn't ask him where he would be going. Draco doubted that she'd even ask when he'd be back, which was a relief since he didn't want to answer her that he intended to be away for several days.

It would be their first Christmas apart, but Draco found that just the guilt of that wasn't enough to hold him back. He needed to get away from him, and from what had become a house of horrors, more run-down and tainted by dark magic and death every day.

"I—" Draco began, feeling that he ought to at least say something before he, for all intents and purposes, abandoned her, but Narcissa stopped him there.

"Go, Draco," she whispered, her eyes conveying a mother's love better than words ever could. "We'll discuss things with your father when you return."

It wasn't anything to look forward to, but then, no aspect of coming back ever was.

With a brief nod and absolutely no discernible expression on his face, Draco thus disapparated, leaving Narcissa lonesome for her son, but ultimately knowing that it was better for him to be far away. The farther the better.

Draco didn't expect that Potter and Hermione would be at his lakehouse already, especially since, like Hermione, he was used to receiving a patronus from her conveying the news beforehand. But when he made out their figures on the couch by the fireplace as he stood outside and peered in through the glass, he revised that thought and determined that it was better that they didn't contact him just yet. After all, he had been in no fit state to receive a patronus earlier on anyway.

Smart. But then, he was used to Hermione thinking ahead that way.

Quietly, Draco stepped through the doorway and then checked the protective charms that were automatically set up around the house. It was a good thing that most of them were mainly for making the house invisible to muggles, otherwise Hermione and Potter would have had a harder time getting inside. Still though, now that he had "The Chosen One" under his roof, Draco supposed that more complex charms were necessary, so he set a couple of the strongest ones he knew. For several days at least, however long they decided to stay, it should be enough.

Then, casting his eyes towards Hermione and Potter, Draco stilled a moment as he caught sight of...how they were seated. Both asleep, obviously, but leaning into each other quite closely and even sharing a common blanket. Hermione's head was against Potter's shoulder, whereas Potter rested his head atop of Hermione's, among those soft curls that were, as always, barely tamed. They looked...in better shape than he had expected, which was a relief, of course, but Draco also felt his pulse quicken and his mind darken with an unpleasant sensation as he focused on how close they were.

Well, obviously they were close since they were inseparable friends and all, and Draco had known this, but something about seeing them that way didn't sit right with him...

He shrugged off the notion and kept his face blank as soon as Potter opened his eyes though, waking up before Hermione did.

Harry hadn't tasked himself nearly as much as Hermione had in rescuing them, and also Hermione hadn't slept the previous night since it had been her turn on guard duty. As such, she was far more tired than Harry and didn't wake up even when he slowly shifted away from her and lowered her gently onto the couch so that she was lying down. Tucking the blanket around her, Harry finally turned and faced Draco Malfoy, seeing him face-to-face for the first time since the Astronomy Tower. Or...that was the last time that Harry had seen him, anyway, but the last time that Draco probably remembered and was aware of involved that incident in the bathrooms, wherein Harry had almost inadvertently killed him. Harry flinched a bit at his initial sight of his former classmate, but otherwise hadn't given any reaction that might suggest what he felt in seeing Draco again.

There were things that needed to be said between them, but not here while Hermione was asleep. Draco gestured to the far doorway in the room, which led out into a hallway and then a front room and kitchen beyond. Nodding, Harry followed Draco's lead through the house, both casting a quick backward glance at the sleeping Hermione without the other noticing. This was going to be a discussion that they preferred to have alone, both for their own sakes and for hers. Neither expected it to be pleasant but, unbeknownst to the other, they were both more willing to put forth an effort than they let on.

Once in the front room, they both remained standing, facing each other in what could only be described as an awkward manner. They recognized that things had changed since they last time they'd met and that they were now technically allies, but without Hermione to sort of mediate between them, it was hard to know where to start with how much they had to say. In the end, it was Draco who made the first move.

"I'm glad you got out of there, Potter," he said. "From what I've been told, it was a close one."

Harry gave a nod of acknowledgement. "It was Hermione who realized what was going on before I did. She saved me, saved us both."

Draco couldn't help but give a small smile at that, having figured as much and yet nevertheless feeling almost...proud? It didn't make sense for him to feel that way, perhaps, since Hermione's accomplishments—of which there were many—weren't exactly his own, but regardless he did feel something positive in praise of her.

"And no horcruxes, I take it?" It was just a guess on Draco's part, but the grim look on Harry's face confirmed as much.

"Afraid not, and I almost thought our trip was wasted, but we may have a new lead of another kind."

Draco quirked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"

Harry shrugged. "Hermione would be better at explaining it than I am. We haven't exactly had a chance to discuss it yet."

Outside, it was just getting close to dawn, the end of a night that had been both nightmarish and long, for all of them. It was hard to believe that only a few hours ago everything had taken place, and yet they were all ready to move past it.

"Give her a chance to rest and then you can tell me what you know," Draco said. And then, he added, "In case I may be of some help."

Harry blinked, looking at him as though seeing him for the first time. Draco was rather uncomfortable under the scrutiny of those green eyes, but nevertheless he faced Harry directly. He had a lot to account for and be ashamed of in his own right, but whereas before he might not have even been able to look Harry in the face, after all that he had talked about and was beginning to believe following his interactions with Hermione, Draco felt himself to be more than he had previously thought. And he was doing his best to prove it now, so that should count for something.

Harry as well tried to judge Draco based on his actions and words now rather than in the past, but it wasn't easy. Most of Draco's "change" was something he only knew about secondhand from Hermione, and he hadn't been familiar enough with the idea to fully trust it. But still, if Hermione truly hadn't found him lacking and was willing to even risk her own safety for him, then...that had to hold weight with Harry; even if he didn't fully trust Draco, he did trust Hermione's judgement.

And besides, considering what had happened with Ron, people weren't truly what they seemed on the surface...

"We'd...I'd appreciate any help you could give us...Draco," Harry said.

The sudden familiarity took Draco aback a bit, but he was more than ready and wiling to respond to it in kind. "It's a good thing I mean it then...Harry."

The two reached across and shook hands, a bit awkwardly, but nevertheless it was welcome on both parts for them to have officially declared a truce of sorts. Granted, this was only the beginning, but with Hermione having paved the way for them through the difficult parts, they certainly had more willingness to give it a chance than they would have otherwise.

Finally, they both sat down, after which Draco set an Incendio charm for the front fireplace. He asked Harry if he wanted any refreshment or something to eat, but Harry was still calming down after last night's close call to feel hungry yet. They agreed that once Hermione woke up, the three of them could partake in an early breakfast together. Draco didn't know whether he'd feel up to food at all for a while, considering what he'd just witnessed at Malfoy Manor. It would take a while to get it out of his head, he knew, but it was nothing he hadn't been traumatized about before.

To move past it, Draco prompted Harry with another question. "So far, I'd say that I'm caught up to what's happened on your part, Harry, but there is one thing that I haven't...well, I haven't asked Hermione yet."

If Harry felt any surprise at Draco's casual mention of both of them on a first-name basis as though they were all suddenly chums or something, he didn't show it. Keeping an open mind, he instead replied, "Why haven't you?"

It was a bit surprising for Draco that Harry wasn't directly in asking him what question that was, but nevertheless he answered Harry's inquiry first.

"Because I felt that it would hurt her to talk about," he said, his voice a bit lower. Then, looking at Harry seriously, he added, "It might hurt you too."

Harry smirked just a bit. "Better me than her, you mean?"

Draco pursed his lips. "It's about Weasley." Harry stilled. Meanwhile, leaning forward on his knees, Draco folded his hands. "I'm not an idiot, Potter. I know how she felt about him back in school." He sniffed, since he had been trying not to give it much thought recently. "In fact, I'm sure everyone except Weasley himself probably knew.

"But this isn't about that," he added, when Harry looked about to say something. "What interests me is why Weasley left. It was a shock when Hermione told me the first time, but it was obvious that she was uncomfortable mentioning it. She gave a few reasons, but they all didn't tell me enough." Draco sighed. "Am I wrong in thinking it would hurt her more than you to tell me about it, considering their past?"

Personally, Harry wasn't sure how much of a "past" Hermione and Ron had, but it wasn't his business to explain that to Draco. Besides which, especially recently, how Hermione felt about Ron or if she had even thought about him at all was quite a mystery to him; however, from an outsider's perspective like Draco's, it truly must be something unexpected for Ron to have just up and left them that way, so of course he'd want to know. And since Draco—and apparently everyone else—had already known about Hermione's crush in sixth year, maybe it wasn't going to be as awkward as Harry expected for him to mention what set Ron off.

Thinking back that what had set him off was Hermione going off to meet with "their new ally", which had in fact been Draco, maybe the young Malfoy was also partly involved in that and thus deserved to know.

"The things Hermione told you all probably played a part in it," Harry began, "but things fell apart when Hermione wanted to go off on us again and...well, to meet you."

Draco stilled. He had wondered before if maybe it wasn't his fault—and whereas he wouldn't have felt guilty in the past or even cared, now he very much did—and having it confirmed made him feel worse. Especially considering that he'd begrudged their close friendship ever since he first knew them, to know that his own new friendship with Hermione had sort of ruined that didn't make him feel as good as it previously might have; now, he cared too much about Hermione's feelings to ever want to gain anything for himself if it meant that she would be hurt in the process.

Not that he said any of this aloud to Harry, of course. If Draco felt the need for apologies—and again, he had rarely ever apologized in his life, and therefore didn't feel the need for it almost at all—then he would give them to Hermione directly.

What Harry said next stopped that train of thought entirely.

"But really, that was just the last drop of water in the cup to make it overflow. The things before that, beneath the surface, those were worse." Harry ran his hands through his hair. "Ron felt that we were getting nowhere and he blamed me for it—that's one thing. The horcrux that we have, Slytherin's locket, was always hard to resist, but for Ron more so than for me and Hermione—that's another thing. Then there was the worry for his family, the fact that he wasn't used to camping or being alone so often, and..."

And here, Harry paused, looking...embarrassed for some reason? Draco was confused at how to match the expression to what they were walking about, but Harry confirmed the reason for that in a moment.

Sighing, he confessed, "And Ron had got it into his head somehow that Hermione and I were together. It was completely mental, of course, but we couldn't convince him otherwise. I hadn't realized it was such a big deal to him until he confronted us about it. Things went to hell after that."

And suddenly, just as he finished saying that, something clicked into place for Draco. He was surprised at the abruptness of it, but it was a sure and certain feeling nonetheless: that he could understand Weasley's jealousy. Maybe he was more reserved and wouldn't go "mental" over it, but he sensed that same feeling within himself. It made itself known almost every time he even thought of Weasley and how much he tried not to think about his past with Hermione; and even now, just as he had walked in and saw how close Harry and Hermione were together, he had felt that same unpleasant twinge.

Jealousy was nothing new to Draco, as he had felt it every time Hermione had aced a test with a score above his, every time he noticed how many friends and how much support Harry constantly had around him; but this was different, stronger. Oh yes, it was most definitely stronger and not something he could calm down as easily, not even with his years of practice.

Noticing the dark look on Draco's face, Harry raised an eyebrow. "Are you mad?"

"Hm?" Draco only half heard him.

"Are you mad at Ron leaving?" It was the only thing Harry could think of to explain how Draco looked.

Blinking and brought back to the awareness of the present moment, Draco shrugged, attempting to looking indifferent. "Like I said, I was surprised when Hermione first told me about it, especially since I would've thought that nothing could break the three of you apart. But, then again, this war's changed many things and many people. I can speak to that, if anyone can."

Harry nodded. "I'm glad you're on our side. For a while even I was starting to think that this was an impossible task, but now it feels like we have a chance."

Draco shifted uncomfortably. "If this is about the cup, then don't count too much on my getting it for you anytime soon. I'll try, of course, but now that the Dark Lord's back, I don't see how I can do so without him noticing. And that's assuming that it even is in my house, in my aunt's possession. There's still a lot of factors that come into play."

Harry nodded. "I wouldn't want you to risk your own safety, Draco. I never wanted Hermione to risk hers for me either. If it was up to me, I would've gone through all this alone."

Draco couldn't help himself—he snorted in derision. "Yes, and then you'd be dead, Potter. You told me so yourself that it was Hermione who saved you just now."

Harry nodded, smiling softly. "Yes, and many times before that."

The nostalgic look on Harry's face set off a wrong nerve with Draco, though he wasn't going to elaborate why. Instead, he just asked directly, "So, between you and Hermione...were Weasley's thoughts really mental and based on nothing?"

Harry blinked, looking at Draco in unrestrained surprise. When Draco didn't look away or even blink, it was clear that he cared more about the answer than about keeping anything hidden from Harry. And though the question might mean any number of things, Harry began to have suspicions of his own. Draco looked neutral and noncommittal enough, so it was hard to tell, but Harry had a feeling that nothing that Draco said was meant lightly.

However, it wasn't his business to pry, especially when doing so would involve going behind Hermione's back while she literally slept in the next room. It was, for now, a question for another time.

"No, Draco," Harry replied seriously, looking the other young man in the eyes. "It wasn't based on anything in reality. Hermione's like a sister to me—nothing more."

And although that answer should have relaxed Draco, he found that it didn't. Looking away from Harry and into the flames of the fireplace, Draco reflected that it wasn't nearly enough. Knowing that nothing was going on between Harry and Hermione was well and good, but they were still close, enough for Hermione to have utter and complete trust in him and even be able to sleep relaxed on his shoulder. Draco wanted the same thing for himself, and more, though he had no right to expect it from her. It was...a complicated and frustrating muddle in his own mind, to say the least.

No more was said between the two boys for the time being, and when the sun came up, Draco went ahead to get some breakfast ready. Hermione slept on, as they both agreed not to wake her, and remained unaware of any of what had transpired. And while Harry was content to let her sleep on and on...Draco found that he wanted nothing more than for her to wake up as soon as possible.

A/N: *winces* So sorry that there wasn't any fluff in this chapter, and I swear that initially I had planned at least one or two moments, but...gah, let's face it, I really had to prioritize the Harry-Draco interactions for this one! I mean, you've got these two as exact opposites and adversaries for most of the HP series, so I couldn't downplay the switch from enemies to allies, now could I? I promise not to include anything like this for when Ron finally comes back into the picture and finds out about Draco or when any number of other characters do, but for Harry in particular, it was pretty important.

Next chapter will be all that Dramione fans could ever ask for though, so please be patient for that!

And, as always, please review, follow, and favourite!