IWSC Summer Camp 7- Time for teamwork. Write about a group having to work together to solve a mystery puzzle.
Word count: 3499
Cabin: Weasley
Warnings: minor threats of and alluded violence, failed assassination attempt
Author's Note: This was written with the amazing support of the rest of the Weasley cabin (Charbo2567, DrarryMadhatter, and Hummus and Peeta). This time we linked our stories with the phrase "Any more bright ideas!" and we all used it in a different way with different characters. Their stories are brilliant and you should absolutely go read them.
The ballroom was full of life. The colours were hurting Draco's eyes, the women's dresses were too bright, trying too hard to impress someone; him, probably. He was slumped on the throne, one leg swung over the arm and his chin in his hand. Severus was standing off to the side looking disapprovingly at Draco but wisely chose that it wasn't the time to say anything. He knew the little prince didn't have any weapons on him and Severus was able to content himself with that knowledge for now.
Draco thought the guests were announced with a sickening amount of importance. Lady La-Dee-Da of Fantasyland and Lord Draco-Couldn't-Really-Care-Less. Each one took a place around the walls of the room, leaving the centre for the official first dance to begin. Despite his best efforts, Draco did actually remember all the names of his guests for the night, he also remembered that he was supposed to be choosing one of them to make his co-ruler. If Draco was being honest, it wasn't making the night any more bearable.
Two knocks of a cane marked the end of the guests' arrivals and prompted Draco to stand from his seat. He held his hand out to Pansy who was standing at his left side. He knew protocol demanded that his first dance should be with the highest ranking Lady in the room, but he was also much less likely to hate his spymaster. Pansy cleared her throat a little and glanced at Severus. She saw him huff a little but he didn't make any moves to stop them.
"You have your knife with you." She scolded. "Let me get rid of that for you." Draco tensed but didn't protest. "We can't have you stabbing the nobles now, can we?"
"Are you sure about that?" Pansy smiled at him like you would a small child and efficiently removed the knife from under Draco's sleeve. Draco glared at her and excused himself quickly after their dance ended and slipped out of the servants' door.
Harry's heart was stuck in his throat. He didn't remember getting here but he knew the single minded thought of 'don't let them kill him' drove him. There were so many things at stake for him to intervene, but he couldn't stand by and do nothing. He shot forwards and knocked the knife out of Luna's hand. He hoped Draco would take the cue and run, but he knew he was always one for wishful thinking.
"Stop." Harry pleaded. He could see the conflict in Luna's eyes, could see them look to the dagger on the ground, calculating if she would be able to reach it again before Harry could stop her. They both knew she could. Luna dove for the dagger and Harry dove for Draco, pushing him to the floor and out of Luna's reach. "I can't let you do this."
"They will kill you for this." Luna said. Harry flinched. He knew it was true.
"Run."
"I can't." Luna launched at Harry, not to kill, but to incapacitate. Harry parried with his own blade, aimed at Luna's dominant hand and missed by millimetres. It didn't take too much back and forth before Harry had his knife at Luna's throat.
"He'll kill me."
"Then run." Luna didn't move. "Now!" Her pulse bounced against the metal blade and she swallowed. There was a nod and Luna was gone.
Harry closed the gap between him and Draco. He pushed the blond against a wall and pressed his knife against Draco's neck. "You move, you die."
"You just saved me."
"I saved my friend. Endanger her and I won't be so nice." Draco brought a hand up to knock down Harry's hood. Harry caught him before he could. "What did I say about not moving?"
"People will look for me." Harry snorted and rolled his eyes at Draco's comment. "Let's make a deal."
"You have nothing to offer me." Harry snarled. Draco paused.
"Take off your hood, and I won't leave."
"Why do you want that?"
"I'd like to see the face of the man who saved my life."
"I take down my hood and you don't show your face in that ballroom till midnight. Got it?"
"Midnight. You have my word. And I want your knife."
"My knife? No."
"Then your friend is dead and so are you. You don't seem like the kind of man who'd like to die for nothing." Harry clenched his jaw, but what choice did he have? Luna had to be safe.
"You get the knife at midnight."
"I get the knife at midnight." Draco nodded. Harry used his free hand to take down his hood, keeping his knife steadily in place against Draco's throat. "We should go somewhere a little more private."
Harry wasn't sure how much he trusted Draco but the situation called for a little blind faith. Not something Harry had a lot of practice with. Harry was led through corridors in a series of turns that others would have trouble remembering, but Harry kept his bells rang when they approached a dead end, and Harry wondered if he should run. Only Draco didn't stop walking, he pressed his palm to the wall and pushed.
Draco turned back to look at Harry and arched an eyebrow, daring Harry to turn away. When Harry didn't move Draco took one of the torches off the walls and handed it to Harry. He took it warily and kept his eyes on the blond.
"You like heights?" Draco smirked and stepped into the wall. Harry folded his arms over his chest but followed, stepping in front of Draco to let him close the door behind them.
The passage consisted of a staircase, spiralling upwards to what Harry assumed was one of the towers. He pushed the wooden door open and was met with a small paved area of a tower. He watched as Draco moved in front of him and hopped onto the wall, dangling his legs over the side of the castle.
They were at the highest point on the structure and Harry quirked an eyebrow at Draco's apparent lack of self preservation instinct. But instead of pushing the prince off the tower, which someone might suggest was actually the best course of action, Harry joined him.
They sat like that for a long time. Both staring out over the kingdom beyond, looking up at the stars, looking at each other. It was the most at peace either of the pair had been for a long time, though neither would be willing to admit that.
"What are you smiling about?" Draco asked. Harry had almost managed to forget that he wasn't on the roof alone.
"Nothing to do with you."
"Well I didn't think it would be. But tell me anyway."
"And what will I get in return?"
"Truth for a truth."
"I was thinking about my parents."
"Are they dead?"
"Not your turn." Harry took a minute to breathe and think of what he wanted to ask the prince.
The old clock tower stood in the palace gardens behind them and when the clock struck the first stroke of midnight, both boys jumped. They had been lost in thought and having been suddenly been brought back to reality they remembered their deal. Draco wasn't going anywhere without his knife, and Harry wasn't going anywhere without giving it to him.
Though he knew it wasn't his best idea, possibly his worst idea yet, the knife was something he could give Draco to remember him by. Since he would probably be dead soon, he didn't think much of handing over that knife with the small Potter crest on the hilt. He didn't think about the fact that he was giving away the last piece of his family to a man he barely knew.
Draco pocketed the knife and walked back into the ballroom. Harry turned away, pulling up the hood of his cloak, and took his leave through the nearest exit. He dodged the guards and wandered to Riddle's waiting carriage, knowing that Riddle would be out in a few moments in a fury at seeing the prince alive and well.
Draco wasn't sure what to do with himself. The ball had been a disaster, in Severus's terms. Draco hadn't found a suitable partner and had managed to offend almost every political ally they had with his disappearing act.
Draco had been spending most of his evenings since the ball staring at the crest from the knife. He hadn't told anyone the truth yet, he left them all to their assumptions.
There was a knock on his door and Draco flicked his eyes upwards. Blaise, his bastard brother had a grin on his face and a sword against his side. Draco's curiosity was piqued.
"We're going hunting." Blaise announced as he stepped into the room.
"No we're not."
"Yes," Blaise dropped down on top of the table, "we are."
"Blaise, I do not have time for this." Draco sighed and lent back in his chair. Blaise almost had the nerve to roll his eyes, but decided it wasn't worth having his head taken from his body.
"No, you're too busy being all monogamous with a knife. Live a little."
"I'm not being monogamous with a knife." At which point Draco slid the knife into his drawer and locked it. Blaise made a point of staring at the drawer when Draco looked up. "Stop staring before I put you in a monogamous relationship with a knife."
"Curb the violence, dear brother." Draco rolled his eyes. "You need to get out of this damn room." Blaise wandered over to the windows and pulled open the curtains. "When did you last open these?"
"I don't know. I banned all the servants from coming in."
"Hunting. Now. Let's go, ."
"And in return for going on this hunting trip I get…?"
"I don't know. I'm sure you'll think of something."
"I go hunting, you help me figure out whose family crest this is." Draco pulled the knife back out of the drawer and threw it onto his desk.
Blaise picked it up and studied it.
"Fine, we have a deal."
Two weeks later Blaise and Draco had drafted Pansy and Hermione to their cause. Their little team had been scouring through the family histories in the castle library.
"It doesn't look like there's a single family crest with a snake and a doe on it anywhere." Blaise had been trying to get Draco to drop it since the fifth time looking through Names and Crests but Draco had yet to be persuaded.
"Wait! I think I found something." Hermione called. "It's not this symbol but it says here that snakes are common on family crests in Salazar's kingdom… I don't think I've ever heard of a king Salazar." Hermione frowned.
"He's a myth." Pansy sighed. "A king who could speak to snakes. The legends says that he charmed every snake he came across and ruled his kingdom with them as his spies. It's probably nothing." Hermione quickly deflated.
"Probably someone making a reference to that then. Maybe we should focus on the doe?" Hermione suggested.
"A doe is very common. I feel like we'd never get to the bottom of that. The key is definitely the snake. It has to be. Maybe we're just looking in the wrong place?" Pansy tried to sound hopeful.
"Where else is there to look?" Blaise said. "We've been through nearly every book in the castle, and it's not like princey here can go waltzing into the nobles' houses without raising too many questions."
"I could use my network?" Pansy suggested.
"No! We will solve this. No one else can be involved." Draco insisted. He hadn't been able to take his mind off the boy who had saved him at the party, obviously at some kind of peril to himself. He couldn't think of what kind of person would risk themselves for someone they'd never met. Draco was used to nobles seeming to be willing to fall on their swords for him, when they weren't plotting to overthrow him, but clearly the mystery man hadn't felt any royal loyalty given the lack of respect and titles. So Draco was at a loss.
"Draco, you might have to face that we won't." Pansy said from her own books.
"Failure is not an option." Despite his words, Draco went to bed that night frustrated again that he had failed to find anything about his mystery man. A knock on his door stirred him from his half slumber.
"Who is it?"
"Heard you were looking for me." Harry had his hood pulled over his head again.
"How did you get in here?"
"Stop looking for me. It won't end well."
"You don't know me at all, do you?"
"You're the prince, I don't need to know you. Not in my line of work."
"And what's that then?" Draco got out of bed and walked to where Harry was leaning against the wall.
"Assassin, spy, all round bad guy." Harry shrugged.
"And you just admitted that to the prince? I could have you thrown in the dungeon, you know."
"You could try." Harry said in a tone of confidence that spoke of someone with experience of tight situations.
"I'd like to try a lot of things with you. Mostly I'd like to know who you are."
"Good luck with that." Harry left as quickly as he arrived.
"Dammit. Guards! Guards!" Draco shouted. "Raise the alarm!" A sudden burst of movement overtook the castle as the bells began to chime. Draco had little hope of catching his mystery man but he felt he at least had to try.
"Draco!" Blaise sped into his room. " What is it? Are you ok?"
"What?" Draco pushed Blaise's probing hands off him and stepped back. "Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine. Stop fussing."
"Well if you're fine why did you raise the alarm?" Blaise demanded.
"I found a clue. So let's go." Draco threw a coat over his shoulders.
"What? Are you insane? It's the middle of the night and you raise the alarm for a clue!"
"No! I mean, yes, technically. But you don't understand. We have to go."
"Draco…" But Draco had already left. Blaise had no choice but to follow him out of the room and down to the stables.
"This is a terrible idea." Blaise muttered for the seventh time from atop his horse.
"Shut up or go home, Blaise. I don't have time for your negativity right now. I need to find out where this knife came from."
"He's going to get us all killed." Blaise whispered to Hermione. She couldn't find it in herself to contradict him because she agreed. She would help her prince and do whatever he asked of her but she did not always agree with him.
"We should ask someone at the next tavern." Draco decided.
"I really don't think that sounds like a good idea." Hermiona cautioned.
"Well, what do you suggest then? Because every trail we had has disappeared and we're too far from the castle for it to be worth going back. But do enlighten me if you have something better in mind."
"... tavern it is." Hermione mumbled.
"Any more bright ideas? Preferably ones that won't get us killed." Hermione hissed. Asking people at the tavern had turned out to be a terrible idea. The first man to spot the crest had left immediately but when Hermione, Draco, Blaise, and Pansy had tried to do the same they had found their exit completely blocked. Outnumbered, the group had tried to fight their way out but the tavern goers had more swords than them and a lot more brute force on their side.
"We don't know my idea will get us killed yet." Draco protested.
"Draco, no offense, but your bright idea got us tied up. Now if you'd like to get us out of this I'd be very appreciative." Blaise glared.
"None of your knights have a clue where we are. I'd say that's a recipe for getting killed." Hermione added.
"Ok fine, but we found the mystery man." Draco pointed out. It had taken them six weeks of riding and searching and using Pansy and all her spymaster skills to get to where they were but they had made it. Completely by accident, but that wasn't something Draco wanted to think too much about.
"Who is also tied to a pole." Hermione pointed out.
"I did tell him not to look for me." Harry drawled. He looked far too comfortable for someone in such a hopeless situation. Harry had learned to embrace the idea of death very early on in his life. For as long as he could remember he had been in a kill or be killed world. He ran into a girl once, Lydia, who asked him where his soul had gone. Harry had shrugged and said he didn't believe he had ever had one. Lydia's face had fallen so far that Harry had decided in that instant that he wouldn't allow himself to get close to anyone ever again.
And then he met Draco.
It was from a distance, during one of his royal parades through the citadel for some celebration or other. Harry had been loaned to another lord by Riddle to assassinate the king's right hand, Severus Snape. It had been the first time that Harry had failed his objective, and the first time he found out the kind of pain Thomas Riddle was capable of doling out to those who failed him. He understood better than anyone why Luna had been scared to disobey him during the ball, even if it meant she was likely going to be given up. The castle couldn't have no one to take the fall for the death of the prince, and Riddle had set himself up so well that one word from him would be all the evidence needed to condemn Luna to her execution.
"That's not helpful right now." Pansy rolled her eyes.
"Ok." Harry shrugged and rubbed at his wrists. Hermione did a double take.
"Wha- have you been untied this whole time?" She demanded.
"No. I just didn't have much motivation to free myself until now." Draco studied Harry as he made his way over to him. This was definitely the man who saved him but he also seemed to be someone else and Draco couldn't quite put his finger on what that was. "Still have my knife" He whispered as he untied Draco. Draco's mouth dried up as he tried to answer and no words came out. Harry sighed. "Figured."
"What's your name?" Draco eventually managed to say.
"Harry."
"Your family name." Harry hesitated.
"Potter." Draco's jaw dropped.
"No. It can't be, you're all dead."
"Clearly, I'm not."
"What happened to you?"
"Doesn't matter now, it's all in the past."
"But the fire…" Draco frowned. The Potter Kingdom fire had engulfed the castle and the citadel and spread into the surrounding forest. It had destroyed everything in its path. And everyone.
"Killed everyone. I wasn't home."
"And the crest on your knife?"
"Made by my mother for my father. Oh." Harry realised. "You want to know about the snake."
"I'm curious, yes." Draco admitted.
Harry looked around once he had freed everyone and looted what he could from the site. "Ask me anything you want, but we need to leave here first." Draco nodded and motioned for Harry to lead the way.
Harry led them through the trees, weaving and ducking to hide as much of their tracks as he could. A few muttered words under his breath did the trick as well. If anyone noticed the sudden increase in snakes around them then no one said a word. They walked for nearly a day before Harry brought them to a stop.
"We'll be safe here. For a while at least. We should start moving again when it gets dark. Find a village, horses maybe. I'll take you back to the borders and then I'll leave you."
"You can't!" Draco blurted.
"No, you can't. He's been pining after you for months now. You can't leave now he's finally found you." Blaise said. Harry gave them a mysterious smile.
"Draco has a way to contact me, he just doesn't know it yet."
"How am I supposed to use it if I don't know it?" Draco frowned.
"You will, when the time comes." Harry said. "Sleep." He hissed in parseltongue. One by one each of his companions fell asleep. Satisfied, Harry went to procure horses for them and set them up for the journey home. He would not reach the borders with them. It was not his destiny to make a home in the castle yet but it would be soon. He would just have to be patient in his waiting to see the blond prince again and it would be all the sweeter for doing so.