Chapter 7: Old Plot New

They decided to take a break. Potter volunteered to put a couple sandwiches together, so Draco tried to mentally let all their work go. An attempt to lay in the hammock didn't go so well when the sun beat down right from above. Draco had to magically extend the edge of the overhang for some shade.

Potter came out not far behind him. The two of them ate in more of that comfortable silence. It ended as they used the rest of the afternoon to parse over their cover story, getting into character by referring to each other as Mulder and Scully. Draco figured Potter would need that more than him. Potter's Auror training showed through, though. He was just as accustomed to answering to aliases.

The evening promised more comfortable silence. Draco pulled a book off the shelf in the sitting room. Potter took a look afterward as Draco headed back to his hammock.

"Any recommendations?" Potter asked from the door.

"Depends." Draco looked up over the top of his. "What are your tastes?"

Potter shrugged. "I'm honestly not much of a reader."

"Fiction or non-fiction?"

"Fiction."

"Trash or literature?"

"Definitely trash."

Draco glanced at Potter again to see him grinning. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "I imagine there are one or two books there with some burly man and well-breasted woman clutching each other on the cover. Prepare for the most creative euphemisms for body parts that you've ever read."

Potter reemerged a few minutes later. "I'm torn between Hot Elven Knights and Sinful and Sinuous."

"Do either have vampires?"

"Don't think so."

"Those ones are usually queer-coded, if not cock-slap-you-in-the-face gay. Elves sound fun."

Potter settled in his hammock, with that. A soft snort occasionally interrupted the relative silence of rustling leaves and chirping birds. At one point, Potter started laughing quietly to himself.

Draco couldn't resist. "What?"

"Found my favourite character, is all."

"Who's that?"

"Sylva's tits. They do more to advance the plot than the plot itself."

"Truly the marking of a masterpiece." Draco snorted. "Give us an excerpt, then."

"Hold on, let me find this one part. . ."

Draco ended up resting his book face down on his chest, listening to Potter. It hadn't taken much more than a 'well, keep going' to encourage him. Potter's stiff discomfort with reading aloud rapidly disappeared after pulling a few laughs from Draco. Some theatrics bled into the dialogue, Sylva getting a sultry voice and Viric, the love interest, a gruff one.

Potter stopped at the end of a chapter. "I s'pose I ought to get started on dinner."

"Aw."

"You could always take over while I cook."

"Prepare to be outdone, in that case."

Draco had the added advantage of range of motion, since he no longer laid in a hammock after they'd relocated to the kitchen. Whenever Potter reached points in making dinner where he didn't need to actively do anything, he leaned against the counter and watched Draco. His grin would broaden whenever Draco emphasized a particularly salacious line.

"All right," Potter said when Draco paused for a drink of water. "Dish up."

More of the comfortable silence was back as they sat down across from each other at the table.

"Sylva's tits, this is good," Draco said.

He'd timed it well enough that Potter started to choke on ill-combined laughter and chicken. "Thanks."

The evening carried on much the same way, with them passing Hot Elven Knights back and forth between their hammocks. Draco was rather disappointed to call it a day once it grew too dark to see the pages anymore. He'd successfully pushed work out of his mind, and looked forward to coming at it fresh in the morning.

Draco rose first, and had breakfast on the go when Potter's bedroom door opened. They debated while they ate whether they ought to go in uniform or plainclothes to Borgin and Burke's. They opted for the latter. Uniforms, even if they didn't belong to those of Magical Enforcement, might spook the proprietors. Draco dressed in his lightest long-sleeve shirt with that, and he and Potter Flooed to Diagon Alley.

It was already packed with shoppers. Draco and Potter turned off the main street at Gringotts. A minute later, a decrepit bell jingled above their heads as they let themselves into Borgin and Burke's' empty storefront.

They were immediately greeted by a problem: no Vanishing Cabinet sat where it had during the nineties in their own universe.

Potter hummed, his lips pressing similarly to Draco's. "Is this new to you?"

"I don't know," Draco said just as he realized it. "I never come here."

Some shuffling sounded near the counter. A younger—although still old—Mr Burke emerged from the back room. "Ah, Mr Malfoy. What a pleasure to—oh, my mistake."

Mr Burke narrowed his eyes slightly in study as he regarded Draco. He removed his glasses and took to wiping them on his robes.

"That seems to be a common mistake to make," Draco commented. "That would be three times now I've been referred to as a Malfoy. The name is Mulder, actually. And this is Scully."

Potter dipped his chin at Mr Burke just as he put his glasses back on.

"Regardless," Mr Burke replied. "What brings you to my shop today?"

"We're looking for something, and were recommended to check here." Draco approached him. "A cabinet."

Mr Burke lifted an eyebrow. "Care to be more specific?"

"A Vanishing Cabinet." Draco slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. "A pair, ideally, although one would do just fine."

"I can't say I have any in stock," Mr Burke replied.

"Price is no matter, if that's the concern. I assure you I can afford it."

"Lovely, but that doesn't spawn one in my inventory."

Draco worked his mouth in thought as he and Mr Burke studied each other. "Have you ever tended to the repair of one? Seen one, at a client's home, perhaps? Been inquired in their regard?"

"I apologize, but that is between my patrons and I."

"Very well." Draco backed off. "Thank you. Come on, Scully. We'll try the next shop."

Draco led Potter back out onto the street. They moved far enough away from Borgin and Burke's for Mr Burke not to see them if he happened to look out the front window.

"What do you reckon?" Potter asked. "I don't think he was lying. There's a certain caginess that comes with that. Unless—well, he's rather smooth, isn't he?"

"Well-acquainted to protecting his clientele, I assure you," Draco confirmed with a nod. "That said, Vanishing Cabinets aren't inherently illicit by any means. Why lie, especially if I'm willing to pay whatever lofty number he cared to toss out?"

With a hum, Potter leaned against the wall beside Draco. "So the Vanishing Cabinet that was in Borgin and Burke's in '92 hasn't made its way there yet. Do you think it's worth trying to figure out where it came from? Or are we looking at breaking into Hogwarts to gain access to that one?"

"Maybe it's not there either."

"Only one way to find out."

"So you're suggesting we break into Hogwarts on a Saturday, with students crawling all over the place," Draco drawled. "Sounds delightful."

"I brought my Invisibility Cloak." Potter paused. "Problem is, it isn't infallible. A Praesentia Charm sees through it. I also have no idea when my dad and his friends made the Marauder's Map. We'll be marked on there, Cloak or not. And with our real names, at that."

Draco turned his head toward Potter. "They created it?"

He nodded.

"They're quite young, and that's an impressive bit of magic," Draco replied. "If they're already Animagi, do you really think they've also had time for that?"

"Maybe we shouldn't assume anything either way." Potter shrugged. "I don't know for sure."

While they fell into contemplative silence, Draco idly watched people pass them by. He hummed eventually.

"We would only really need to get inside the castle doors," he said. "There, we could use the Spacetime Turner to essentially halt time. I'll have to use it anyway, to do any sort of work on the Cabinet."

"Right."

"This is hardly ideal." Draco sighed. "If we have to make multiple visits to the Cabinet, that increases the chance we'll get caught. We could potentially make just one visit. Rather than toy around with that Cabinet, I could discern the other end's location. We could track it down ourselves."

"What about taking the Spacetime Turner inside Borgin and Burke's and sneaking into the back to look at his records?" Potter asked. "That's another option."

"There are limits on interacting with objects outside of a time dimension. Everything goes solid, unable to be manipulated," Draco told him. "We can't guarantee it's in their records, anyway."

Potter grunted. "Hogwarts it is, then."

They returned to the cabin. While Potter headed into his room, Draco went to their board to alter what he could. He erased the bit about solidifying their cover story, as well as acquiring a Vanishing Cabinet. He was just changing it to Break into Hogwarts to see about Vanishing Cabinet when Potter returned with a glossy, silver cloak folded over an arm.

"So, bad news," Potter said.

Draco balled his chalkless hand into a fist on his hip. "And what's that?"

Potter shook out the Cloak. "We won't both fit underneath."

Nerves fluttered in Draco's stomach. "Surely there must be a way for both of us to go. Disillusionment Charm, perhaps? Invisibility Potion?"

Potter raised an eyebrow. "Do you happen to have one?"

"Well, they're not hard to brew." Draco waved it off anyway. "You're certain?"

"I can go by myself first to find the Cabinet, then tell you where it is for your part. Not much for sneaking around, or what?"

"I prefer to hide in plain sight."

"I'm comfortable with it, but there's no way I'll be able to do anything with the Cabinet," Potter said. "As for a Disillusionment Charm, all we'd need is one well-placed finite incantatem and we'd be fucked."

Draco let his face fall as far as it cared to go. He knew he was pouting, and that there was nothing Potter could do about the situation. Potter was right. It was much easier for Draco to just watch his step under the Cloak than it was for him to give Potter a rundown on what to do with the Cabinet.

"Oh, come on." One end of Potter's mouth flickered toward a smile. "I would have thought you'd be happy to be back on your own for a while."

Draco shrugged. "I don't like this sort of thing."

"You told me back in Kingsley's office that you're never out of your depth."

The withering look Draco gave Potter was met by a grin. "I didn't expect to be sneaking around like this under Dumbledore's nose again. Nothing gets by that man, and I sincerely doubt he'll be as kind as he was yesterday if we disrespect his wishes about staying away from Hogwarts."

Potter returned to seriousness with a hum.

"This does not sound like Auror protocol," Draco remarked, sighing. "How will we even know if the other's been caught or injured?"

"I can't say we would." Potter folded his arms. "Sorry, I'm used to partnering with other Aurors. Things like this don't normally require any extra thought. Maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves."

"No, I'll do it. Just not very happily. And if I run into trouble alone, it's entirely your fault."

"We could wait for night, or when everyone would be in lessons again on Monday."

"And do nothing for two days?" Draco asked. "No, let's just get it over with. What's the best way to sneak onto the grounds?"

Potter studied him. "You're sure about this?"

"Yes."

"Cutting through the Forest is probably the best bet."

"Er, let's just say crossing paths with centaurs as dimensional travellers is ill-advised," Draco said. "It's not a mistake I've made twice."

"What if you halt time—? Oh, but that's probably no better if everything's gone solid. Right?"

Draco nodded, smirking slightly in pride for that limitation to have stuck in Potter's mind.

Potter thought for a moment, running a hand through his hair. "There's a secret passageway through the cellar in Honeyduke's that comes out on the third floor then, or else the Shrieking Shack. It comes out under the Whomping Willow. If you touch a certain knot there, it won't try to pommel you."

"Goodness. How will we ever choose?"

"The Shrieking Shack is probably the better option, so long as we can find a way in."

"That's that, then."

Draco fetched what he needed, and they headed off for Hogsmeade. Draco's nerves worsened with each step. He had a feeling like they were forgetting something. He kept touching his chest, as if maybe he'd only imagined hanging the Spacetime Turner around his neck. His omni-specs were bundled within the Cloak under Potter's arm. Draco's journal was in his pocket.

Just as Hogsmeade came into view through the trees, Potter spoke. "I've an idea."

"Oh, good," Draco said.

"We could get in together if we had two Cloaks," Potter replied. "I could snatch my dad's if I find the Cabinet."

Draco scoffed in disbelief. "You want to sneak all the way up to Gryffindor Tower on a Saturday morning."

"Sneaking is my specialty, see." Potter bumped their shoulders. "And it's all familiar ground. I would only need to sort out which dorm is my dad's."

"What if all five of them are in there?"

"I'll figure it out. Trust me."

A breeze picked up while Draco studied Potter. It rustled Potter's hair, giving Draco a glimpse of his scar. This sort of mission was probably quite low on Potter's difficulty scale, all considered.

"If you insist," Draco resigned to say.

Hogsmeade had about the same amount of traffic as Diagon Alley. Everyone was so preoccupied with themselves that Draco and Potter passed through virtually unnoticed on their way to the Shack. Up there, Draco donned his omni-specs to see about the boundary of Hogwarts' Anti-Apparation Charm. Only the periphery covered the Shack, leaving gaps. Draco took hold of Potter's elbow within one and jumped them both through a heavily boarded wall.

The Shack was no more welcoming than before Draco knew it wasn't actually haunted. A thick layer of dust did little to dissuade him to the idea of spotting a malevolent ghost.

"Make yourself comfortable, I guess." Potter threw the Cloak around his shoulders. Only his head floated there, narrowing Draco's eyes with déjà vu. "I'll be back as quickly as I can be."

"Just forget about it if it turns out too risky," Draco said.

Potter gave a jerk of the chin, which Draco didn't know how exactly to read. "See you in a while."

His head disappeared when he threw the hood up. The floorboards creaked again. Draco looked down. The dust flourished away from Potter's step. Light footprints were left in his wake. A piece of the floor in the next room opened and closed, and then Potter was gone.

Draco stood in silence until a breeze passed through the cracks of the Shack and created a small howl. He folded his arms tightly against himself.

Half an hour later, the passageway Potter headed down opened again. He was fully visible.

"Found the Cabinet," he said with a smug grin. "And I got the Cloak."

Draco approached. "Any trouble?"

"Nah. Too nice of a day again, so everyone's outside. The common room was next to empty. The hardest part was waiting for someone to show up so I could follow them in."

Draco joined Potter in the passageway. His back ached slightly from his stooped walking position by the time they reached the other end. Potter unbundled the mass of glossy material under his one arm. Draco put his omni-specs on his forehead before throwing the Cloak handed to him around his shoulders.

"Er. . ." He faltered. "How are we going to keep track of each other? We'll both be silent and invisible."

"Touch, I guess," Potter replied. "Give me your hand."

Draco blinked. The passageway was suddenly warm.

"God, is that what this was really all for?" he asked. "So we could hold hands?"

Potter rolled his eyes. "Clutch your pearls all you want. I'm not the one blushing."

"Shut up, Potter!" Draco spat. He threw the Cloak's hood up over his head.

"Give me your stupid hand."

"My hand is not stupid," Draco muttered.

His face was warm, though. Draco felt rather stupid for that as he held his hand out. Potter's brushed it, searching just as blindly, before their fingers caught each other. Draco was suddenly happy for the fact two layers of fabric separated them. Potter wouldn't be able to tell that Draco started to sweat.

"Great," Potter said. "Come on."

Getting out from underneath the Whomping Willow was a little awkward. They stopped once Draco was above ground to make sure they remained covered.

"I think we're good," Potter's voice came from somewhere to Draco's right.

"Lead the way, I suppose."

Potter's grip became more certain on Draco, leading him toward the garden gate. "What do we need to do for your Turner?"

"Find an empty classroom, or something," Draco whispered back. "We'll need the door to stay open, so somewhere isolated."

The further away from the Whomping Willow they got, the more students they neared. Draco fell quiet for that, spare the sound of his breath and his heartbeat thumping in his ears. He wasn't accustomed enough to sneaking around like this to suppress the anxiety that went with it. His fingers entwined with Potter's really did not help. Potter hadn't even grown awkward. The two of them had cooled off as they got into the swing of things, but that—whatever—still silently lingered between them. Merlin help him.

They walked side by side through the gate. Potter pulled him toward a door leading into the bottom of the north tower. They stopped inside with the door shut behind them. Draco strained his ears, and heard nothing and nobody.

Potter moved closer, making Draco swallow again. "Acceptable?"

"I think so," Draco replied. "In here."

Classroom One was empty. Draco left the door open and pulled Potter over to a corner.

"All right," he said. "We'll have to take the Cloaks off so that you can wear the Turner with me. Let's go quickly, shall we?"

"Count of three."

Draco dug the Spacetime Turner out from underneath his shirt. On go, he pulled his Cloak off, let it fall, and held the chain aloft. Potter stepped up closer. There was nothing for it. Their cheeks had to situate against the other's in order to make this work. Draco held the Spacetime Turner behind Potter's head, turning it with trembling hands. All the sounds of conversation, laughter, and birds from outside stopped.

"That's it?" Potter tried to stand straight, but came up against the chain pulling taut.

"Yes." Draco wet his lips. "Come closer for a second, so I can release you."

Potter's chin found Draco's shoulder again, followed by the brush of breath. Draco had to hold himself against a shiver when that washed up slightly against his neck. Potter looked around the classroom once free, distracted. Draco was able to take a full, steadying breath. It did nothing to stop his heart making quick work against the inside of his rib cage.

"We won't need to be quiet or stealthy anymore," Draco said as he headed for the classroom door. "Where's the Cabinet?"

Potter pointed left at the stairs. "Up here."

It was in the anteroom outside Classroom Fifteen. Draco donned his omni-specs. Golden bands and waves obscured the Cabinet's path to the second of its pair. Just like Draco had found in sixth year, it tangled up in Hogwarts' magic. It was otherwise a clean connection.

"You might as well get comfortable," Draco told Potter. "This will take a short while."

Draco had to start by cutting into the path. Once he had, he made himself comfortable in the tangles of space. He situated in a reclined, floating position underneath the breach.

"How do you do that?" Potter asked.

"Give it a shot, and I'm certain you'd figure it out."

Whatever Potter did in Draco's periphery fell completely away. Draco teased the nick apart, searching for the signatures that would be translated into an address. Most of it came easily, since the pair remained in the same universe. It only took about an hour of careful work before Draco had a series of runes written in his journal. He closed the breach and cleaned up the repair.

"All right." Draco eased himself upright. "We're done. Er—Potter?"

The room was empty, or so Draco thought. He resisted the urge to rub his temples when he looked up. Potter had tangled himself up near the ceiling, climbing like a child on a Muggle playground's monkey bars.

"Are we having fun?" Draco dryly asked.

"Yeah." Potter started descending. "Hold on."

He managed not to fall, which was a mild disappointment to Draco. They headed back the way they had come, down the stairs and to the right into Classroom One. Draco stopped beside where their Cloaks lay. He fumbled with the Spacetime Turner's chain as Potter stepped up close. Their cheeks brushed again as they prepared to tilt back.

The world ticked back into motion around them. Draco untangled with Potter as fast as possible, wrapping himself in the Cloak before bothering to tuck the Spacetime Turner away. Potter was prodding around for his hand again.

They hadn't been there long enough for the Whomping Willow to start moving again. Draco still eyed it with caution as they neared the passageway opening. He felt much better to be back down below, especially when he could pull the Cloak off. Potter dropped down after him and reappeared as well.

"What are we going to do with your father's Cloak?" Draco asked.

"I'll take it back," Potter said. "If you want to start for the cabin, I'll catch up to you."

"I'll mark where you can Apparate through the Shack wall on my way out."

"Cheers."

Part of Draco wanted to wait, but he also wanted to get on this as quickly as possible. It wasn't like he would be any help to Potter if he lingered here. The walk was rather lonely, though. The cabin was too quiet when Draco reached it.

He'd just about finished translating the runes when footsteps came up the cabin's front steps. Potter slipped through the door and laid his Invisibility Cloak over the back of a kitchen chair. It half-vanished.

Potter dropped down in the sitting room chair with a huff. "Well?"

"Nearly there," Draco said. "Grab the map book off the bookshelf."

Potter moved over beside Draco on the sofa with it. Draco pretended to be thinking for a moment, to cover the stilting of his mind at new proximity.

"Well," Draco said as he looked at the final coordinates. "It's in London somewhere. That's certain."

Potter flipped through the map book for a page that had Greater London spread across both sides of the spine. As soon as they narrowed it north of the Thames, Potter sighed.

"Anywhere but Grimmauld Place," he said. "Come on."

"Oh, even better," Draco replied as it ended up further north within Islington. "There you are, Potter."

Potter ran a hand back through his hair as Draco circled the closest approximation of the address. They didn't need to get it any closer, because both of them were well aware which wizarding home was located near the Woodbury Wetlands. Until it had been seized, along with everything else to their name in 1982, it had been the marital home of Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange.