This summer has been boorishly slow, Snuffles. I have nothing to do but sit around the house all day and listen to my mother drone on about her and her friends from France. I hoped that the conversation of France might have led to a holiday in said country, but alas it seems my Father has much business to attend to over this summer—elections are coming up you see.
Things have been a bit weird in the house since our adventures last year. Father is paying a lot more attention to me than he used to. A lot more than I would like. I even have to get my house elf to sneak these letters out of the house. I'm the only one that's remotely nice to him so he generally listens to my demands. Glad to hear that your summer is getting on, I hope you are doing your summer homework, leaving it to the last second will do you no good.
Sorry I must end this letter short, Father is calling me and if I leave him waiting any longer he might just demand what I am up to. I may be a good liar, but I'm his son, he can see right through me.
Only one more month Snuffles!
Your most handsomest friend,
Draco.
When the whisperings of the household finally reached the ears of Draco Malfoy, he had a decision to make. Protect his family, or protect his friend.
How did one decide? And how do you choose both?
Chapter 1
Harry became worried when the letters stopped two weeks ago. He wasn't sure why, but for each of his letters that he sent with Hedwig, she had returned with empty talons.
Harry rubbed the feathers on Hedwig's head absentmindedly. She had been Harry's birthday present and quickly the bond between the two had become unbreakable. Hedwig nipped at Harry's finger fondly when his hand stopped petting.
"I just don't get it, Hedwig, I've read his last letter over and over and I can't see anything in there that suggests something is wrong. Maybe his dad found out that he was sending these letters to me and is stopping him, or maybe I offended him somehow?" Harry sighed, he just couldn't think of any explanation to the suddenly ceased letters.
"I wish I could just go to his house like with Ron, but that wouldn't be the brightest idea." Harry frowned and looked out the window.
He decided to distract himself with his holiday homework, and by the time he resurfaced, Remus was calling him down for dinner.
"Harry if you don't get your butt down here for dinner, Sirius is going to eat it!" Remus called again.
Harry rushed down the stairs, his stomach rumbling as he went. Remus' cooking always put him in a good mood.
"Shepherd's pie tonight." Remus ruffled his head as Harry rushed past, seating himself at the table.
"Thanks Uncle Remus!" Harry quickly served himself a heaping portion of the food and dug in. Sirius smirked as he watched, some papers in his hand as he ate.
"Sirius, what have I said about bringing work to the dinner table?" Remus grumbled, snatching the piece of paper out of his hand.
"Remus!" Sirius whined, but there was nothing that he could do to get those papers back so he resigned himself to eating his food and making idle conversation with Harry.
"Any new letters today?" Sirius asked, shoving a spoonful of mince into his mouth.
A frown formed on Harry's face. "No he still hasn't replied, I hope he's okay." Harry frowned even further and Sirius gave Remus a worrying glance.
"I'm sure he's fine Harry, only two weeks left and you'll be back at Hogwarts," Remus comforted. Harry nodded and brightened up a little at the reminder.
"Are we still going to Diagon Alley tomorrow with Ron?" Harry asked with a mouth full of food.
"Swallow before you speak, Harry, and yes, the plans are still going forward. Hermione's parents sound very delighted to be meeting us all."
"Still can't believe you can talk to someone through a…what is it called Harry?" Sirius rushed excitedly.
"A telephone Sirius," Harry sighed.
"Yes! A telephone! Arthur was ecstatic when I brought him over to set it up. Remus you really should have been here, Muggles really are creating so many interesting things these days."
"Yes Sirius, we know you're excited about muggle inventions, you remember I grew up in the muggle world too right?"
"Oh right, sometimes I forget," Sirius chuckled and Remus rolled his eyes.
Harry finished his dinner as quickly as he could. He was going over to Ron's that night for family game night with the Weasleys, Sirius and Remus rarely joined, but they always invited them anyway.
"Are you sure you guys can't come?" Harry whined, although secretly he didn't mind if they didn't.
"I have work," Sirius mumbled.
Remus cleared his throat, a blush washing over his cheeks. "Yes and I have some gardening to take care of."
"Right of course." Harry rolled his eyes, but he knew that they really were going to use this time to spend time together without him.
"You better bring honour to our name!" Sirius smacked him on the shoulder, that competitive streak in him shining through.
"Sirius…" Remus sighed with a soft smile on his face.
Harry rushed to the fireplace, Remus watched on as he waved goodbye, the powder swallowing him as he yelled, "The Burrow!" and then he was gone.
Sirius came up from behind him, his arms slithering around his waist.
"Hello Remus," Sirius murmured into his ear.
Remus shivered. "Hello Sirius."
When Harry returned the burrow the next morning after being fed Mrs Weasley's bountiful breakfast, Harry rushed to his room to drop off his bag of clothing, Sirius he knew wasn't home—out at a meeting—and Remus was probably sleeping or attending to his greenhouse.
Harry grabbed a book from his bookshelf and curled himself into his favourite armchair that he had named as his reading corner. Harry was so immersed in his tenth reread of The Hobbit that it took him a moment to react to the resounding crack of an apparition.
When two large rounded eyes met Harry's, he yelled, "Ahh!" and threw the book at the face.
The book hit the elf that Harry had now identified with a thud. The elf barely reacted, his eyes blinking slowly as he came to.
"Mr Potter sirs, I'm so sorry, Dobby didn't mean to frighten sirs!" Dobby whimpered, blood began trickling down his nose.
"No, I'm sorry!" Harry rushed, he quickly leapt off the couch and grabbed a tissue on his bedside table, wiping the blood dripping down the elf's pointed nose.
"Sirs said sorry, sirs is too kind!" Dobby then began sobbing, big fat tears rolling down his face, mingling with the blood. Harry then decided shoving the tissue in the elf's nose would be the best course of action. After plugging his nose, he sat back, assessing the situation.
"Dobby is it?" Harry asked, giving time for Dobby to calm down.
"Yes sir." Dobby sniffed, but the tissue blocked this action.
"Why are you here Dobby? Are you here for Kreacher?" Harry looked around, but the grumpy old house elf made no show.
"No not here for Kreacher sirs, here for Mr Potter." Dobby shook his head, he seemed to have calmed down now.
"For me?" Harry tilted his head, confused.
"I have been sen—" Dobby cut himself off, his eyes widening like he had nearly said something that he shouldn't have.
"Dobby knows something sir, something that Mr Potter should know too!" Dobby began to shake now, Harry watched, not knowing how to soothe the elf. "Harry Potter is in danger sir! Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts!" Dobby wailed, throwing himself against the floor. Harry gave the elf the most perplexed look that he had ever given. He must not return to Hogwarts? But why, none of this made sense.
"Dobby please calm down, you need to explain to me why I can't return to Hogwarts, is something going on?" Harry lifted up the elf, who was lighter than a feather. He had tears running down his face again and Harry grabbed another tissue.
"Sir is too kind," Dobby said as he took the tissue, he replaced the bloody ones with the new one and Harry gave Dobby another second to compose himself.
"Can you tell me why I can't go back to Hogwarts, Dobby? Does your master know that you are here?"
Dobby shook his head, he averted his eyes from Harry, his lip wobbling.
"So you are here on your own?" Harry began to feel nervous now, an elf disobeying their master was rare and it took extreme situations for them to do so.
Dobby shook his head again, his face anguished, but his mouth shut.
"Okay, so someone sent you here, but I guess you can't tell me who. Someone told you to warn me not to go to Hogwarts this year?"
Dobby's face relaxed a bit which meant that Harry had gotten his guess correct. But who had sent Dobby against his master's wishes? And what danger was there at Hogwarts?
"Dobby, look at me," Harry demanded softly. Dobby turned to him, his eyes watering again.
"Tell whoever sent you that I have to go to Hogwarts, but if they tell me more about what the danger is than we can figure it out together."
"Harry Potter must not go to Hogwarts!" Dobby cried, and Harry sighed.
"Dobby please…okay how about this, I won't go to Hogwarts if your master can tell me more. I promise okay, so please stop crying."
Dobby sniffed again. "I will send the message, no Hogwarts!" he wailed, and then with a crack he was gone again.
Harry sat back, trying to digest everything that had just occurred. He wasn't sure who this person was and why they were trying to warn him about Hogwarts, and he also wasn't sure if he should tell Sirius and Remus what had occurred. They would probably not let him go to school until they could prove themselves that Hogwarts was safe, but Harry had been looking forward to the start of the year for so long that he didn't want to postpone it.
When he heard the back door open and close Harry made the decision that he would keep this new information to himself until he was sure that it was something to worry about. As of right now he didn't even know what the danger was and he didn't want to start a fuss over nothing. When Remus knocked on his door to ask if he wanted lunch early, Harry opened it with a bright smile on his face, betraying nothing of what had just occurred.
"Sure, thanks Remus!"
Harry cleaned away all the tissues and hoped that Kreacher would dispose of them without a fuss. Also where was Kreacher? Shouldn't he be aware of all the ins and outs of this house, especially if an unknown elf managed to break past the wards.
Something he remembered Sirius telling him when he was younger popped into his mind. "Never underestimate the power of an elf Harry, they may seem fragile and small, but they're magical creatures, which means they can possess some of the most powerful magic."
"Then why are they slaves?" younger Harry had asked.
"Because they need a lot of magic to sustain them, living in a magical household is the best place for them to sustain their lives since wizards and humans keep destroying their magical forests."
"So they made a deal with wizards?"
"Yep, they traded their magic and freedom to survive."
Harry from then on treated Kreacher with much more respect than before. He didn't think he would ever be able to sacrifice the control of magic and life just to survive, the elves had quickly earned his respect.
Harry returned from his memories and his awe of elves continued to grow. He truly knew now to never get on the bad side of a house elf.
Harry managed to keep a straight face throughout the day, but by night he was itching to tell someone what he had been told today. Maybe he could floo Ron, but he didn't want to risk Sirius and Remus overhearing him, or Mrs Weasley. Sure he could send a letter to him, but Hedwig was sleeping now and he didn't want to disturb her.
So Harry replayed what had occurred over and over in his mind until he finally fell into a fitful sleep. He dreamt of a snake slithering through the undergrowth of a dark forest, its hissing did not scare him however, somehow it soothed him. Harry reached for the snake but it slithered away, its black scales reflecting the white of the moon. Harry gave up on trying to catch the snake, letting the hissing that echoed around the forest comfort him into a deep sleep.
Harry awoke in the morning feeling refreshed and ready for the day. Finally it was the day where he and Ron, along with Hermione, would be shopping for their school supplies at Diagon Alley.
Harry walked along with Ron and the Weasleys as they bustled through the thick crowds of wizards. Remus stuck by his side, warily eyeing everyone around him; he never did well in large crowds. Finally they made it to the ice cream parlour where they would be meeting Hermione and her parents.
Ron, being the taller of the two, was the first to spot Hermione, making her way hrough the thick crowds. She had grown over the summer, her face seemed to suit the size of her eyes more and she had grown taller too.
Ron waved, calling out her name excitedly, "Hermione over here!"
Hermione looked around hearing her name being called out, and finally she spotted the waving hand. A bright smile broke out on her face and she waved back, bouncing excitedly.
"Hello!" she called out, pushing past shoppers to get to her friends, her parents anxiously following behind.
Finally they made it to each other, Hermione pulling Ron and Harry in for a hug together. They hugged her back and quickly began conversing away, catching each other up on things that had happened throughout the summer that they hadn't already shared in letters.
Hermione's parents, Mr and Mrs Granger, introduced themselves to Ron's parents and Remus. They shook hands with shy smiles, but soon warmed up to each other with Arthur's easy personality. They walked towards their first destination of the day. Harry took in his surroundings as Hermione and Ron caught up. Diagon Alley was packed with shoppers, mostly parents and their children who were attending Hogwarts, but of course there was last minute holiday shopping to do before everyone had to go back to work. Diagon Alley had an aura of true magic society, with the old cobblestone weather and well worn buildings stained with time and chipping paint flaking from the cold wind.
Diagon Alley was truly a place where one would come to understand that a world of magic existed, and looking at Mr and Mrs Granger's face, Harry could see they felt that effect too. After giving a quick tour of most of the popular shops to the Grangers, it was time to start ticking off their shopping lists. Harry was given a small pouch of coins by Remus and was sent along with his friends to go buy their stationary whilst the adults went and picked up their uniforms from Madame Malkins.
They jumbled together as Harry and Ron pointed to their favourite shops to Hermione; of course they're most favourite shop was Broomstix, where they displayed the most recent and expensive broomsticks in their shop window. Hermione feigned excitement, but Harry knew she was most excited for the stationary and bookstores.
When they made it to Scribbulus Writing Instruments they immediately lost Hermione in the cluttered shelves. Harry and Ron just shrugged and walked along trying to find the items that they needed. Ron had a small amount of change to buy the things that he needed and would be reusing most of his stuff from last year, whereas Harry was buying all his supplies fresh. Sirius would never let him go to school with old supplies. Harry still felt bad for Ron's lack of funds when he seemed to have a never ending flow of cash, but Ron was used to his situation and would never take an ounce of sympathy or charity.
Finally they found Hermione again with her head stuck in a book that she had somehow found.
"Hey look at this old book I found. It's a potions book and it has some handwriting on the sides that seem to make some pretty good comments. Shame it's a sixth year potions book," Hermione sighed and went to place the book back where she got it from. Harry picked it up after she had placed it and leafed through it, he decided that maybe this would be a good gift for Remus, he liked finding books like this. Books with personality he said.
"You going to get it Harry?" Hermione asked, placing her basket on the cashiers desk.
"Yeah, thought Remus might like it," Harry said, closing the book shut and placing it into his own basket.
"Aww, that's so sweet," Hermione gushed and Harry looked away awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
Hermione paid for her things, Ron had to help her a little with the payments, as last year she got her items delivered to her house since her invitation to Hogwarts came so late notice and she wasn't used to using wizard money.
Ron paid for his things next, just a few bits and pieces that he needed to restock for the year. Harry gave a slight breath out in relief when Ron had enough for his total. Harry paid for his things, the shopkeeper made a small comment about the book, something about how it had been in his shop for years but no one seemed to want to buy a written-on potions textbook. Harry asked how it had ended up in the shop, but the shopkeeper just shrugged, he couldn't recall how.
Their meeting place was back at the ice cream shop and they all decided to get ice cream, Ron gave a frown at his purse, Harry quickly interjected before he could decline.
"I've got plenty left over, let me pay for you all." He smiled casually, Hermione steadily agreed but Ron gave him a wary look.
"You don't have to." Ron glared.
"Well I want to." Harry glared back.
Ron sighed, conceding. "Fine but I'm paying for the next round."
"Let's get in line shall we?" Hermione interrupted before the boys got too heated up. They sat on a table outside the ice cream shop eating whilst they waited for their parents to return with their new robes.
"I have to wear Fred's old uniform, but at least I'm getting a new robe!" Ron licked his ice cream excitedly, it wasn't often when he got new things, especially clothes. They were usually knitted or hand me downs which he detested.
"I hate getting fitted for new clothes, Sirius makes me go every year, I guess some pureblood traditions never leave you."
"Is that a pureblood tradition?" Hermione asked, for of course she knew all about the pureblood families and the history behind it, but she didn't know much about the realities of them.
"Well I don't really know. Sirius hates most pureblood traditions, but some I guess are so deeply ingrained in him that he keeps them around. Purebloods have to show their status with their looks, so they never wear clothes that are years old, the only old things they keep around are relics and family antiques."
"So they get a new wardrobe every year?" Hermione's eyes brightened with curiosity.
"I don't get a new wardrobe every year, I just get fitted for dress robes in case we have to go to some fancy function that Sirius can't get out of."
"Oh, do you go to those often?"
Harry barked out a laugh. "No, I think I've been to like, two in my life. Sirius always manages to wiggle himself out of them or just goes on his own, he hates showing me off and Remus doesn't like crowded spaces."
"Have you met Draco at them then? Surely he and his family go to them all the time?"
"Hm now that you mention it, I probably do remember him there, but we never spoke. Kept to our own circles; even at a party you keep to your own."
Hermione shook her head with a perplexed look. "Rich people are weird."
Ron laughed at this. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
They all chuckled together as they finished the rest of their melting ice creams. Finally their parents sidled up and they all quickly rushed to them to relieve them of their bags. Harry sighed down at his clothes, Sirius had ordered new dress robes against which he will have to try on at home to show him.
"I know you hate it, but it's like the only thing he asks of you," Remus laughed, patting him on the shoulder.
"We don't even go to those fancy parties, I don't understand why I need them."
"You never know Harry, and now that you're friends with Draco, you might just find yourself attending one this year."
"Draco would have to drag me by the back of my hair to take me to one of those," Harry grumbled, but he resigned himself to his fate and did not give the dress robes another look. The next destination was Flourish and Blotts where they would get their school books for the year. Unfortunately for Ron's family, most of Ron's books couldn't be bought second hand and Mrs Weasley kept giving the store an anxious glare.
"Molly if you need some help…" Remus began, murmuring into her ear.
She turned to him with a shining smile that outwardly said, nothing was wrong, but Remus knew internally she was worried. "Don't be silly Remus, Arthur got a raise this year. I'm sure it will be fine, it's only three new books that I need to buy, the rest I have at home or can get second hand."
"If you're sure," Remus replied, his pouch of galleons suddenly felt a lot heavier in that moment.
Hermione quickly became more excited the closer they got to the bookstore, a long line awaited them but Hermione didn't seem too bothered by it at all.
"Who is this Gilderoy Lockart anyways?" Ron asked, looking down at his shopping list.
"You don't know who he is?" Hermione rushed, giving Ron a shocked look.
"Am I supposed to know him?" Ron gave Harry a side eye look that Harry only shrugged at. He had no idea who Gilderoy Lockhart was either.
"Gilderoy is one of the best wizard adventures of this decade, he's practically making up the booklist this year. I heard that there's a book signing for his new autobiography today." Hermione was practically jumping up and down with excitement. Her parents gave her an exasperated look, they knew all too well how Hermione could get when talking about famous people, especially if they wrote books.
"Well all I want is my books, then I'm out of here," Ron grumbled; speaking about expensive things always put him in a bad mood.
The line thankfully was for the book signing and not for the register. They all quickly ducked into the bookstore, finding their required books as quickly and quietly as possible. The flashing of cameras suddenly made Harry more aware of who he was and he lowered his head, brushing his fringe forward and making sure that it covered his scar.
By the time they had made it to the register, everything went smoothly, but when Harry placed his books on the counter, the shop attendant gave a light squeak and blushed.
Harry sighed, he had known that everything was going by too smoothly.
"Are you Harry Potter?" The lady asked, her face brightening with excitement. Remus stepped forward, ready to ward off the lady, but the damage had been done. Whispers spread. Harry Potter was here.
Harry lifted his head now, he would have to take the press on quickly, let them take their photos then rush out of there.
The cameras turned to him, Remus put his hand on his shoulder and began to push him behind him but Harry resisted.
"Uncle Remus it's fine, let them take their photos, it will go easier that way."
"I don't like it," he growled lowly and his grip tightened.
"Uncle Remus, I'm fine I promise," Harry soothed him. Harry knew in that moment that Remus was fighting the overbearing protectiveness that his wolf experienced. Harry was a part of his pack and if anyone tried to hurt his pack they would pay. That was the simple life of a wolf. Remus continued to take deep calming breaths, the cameras continued to flash which he knew wasn't helping at all. Then the cameras parted and a man with shining blond hair dressed in forget-me-not blue robes. The man strode up beside him and looked down at him with that too-bright smile.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" he asked, the cameras flashed desperately.
"Erm, yes?" Harry replied. He really wanted to get out of here now and Remus was beginning to squeeze his shoulder again—if only Sirius was here.
"Nice to meet you Harry, I am Gilderoy Lockart." Gilderoy extended out his hand for Harry to shake, Harry took it hesitantly, the man shook his hand vigorously and Harry smiled a forced smile.
"Now, isn't this just the perfect opportunity, Harry Potter is here for my book signing, just when I was about to make the big announcement!" Gilderoy spoke loud and clearly now and the journalists quickly scribbled away at their notepads.
"Now, time for the big announcement, you see this year I will be taking a break from my travels, for this year I have accepted a position at Hogwarts—as the new Professor for Defence against the Dark Arts!" Gilderoy bellowed, and the cameras flashed again, the quills running against paper with excitement.
Finally, Gilderoy released him from his strong grip and Harry quickly shuffled out of the spotlight.
"Wait a moment Harry, here take these." Gilderoy waved over a young lady, who must have been his assistant and whispered something in her ear. She nodded in understanding and quickly dashed away. Remus was giving Gilderoy a death glare and Harry could see Arthur's hand holding his elbow.
The lady finally returned with a stack of books which he took with effort.
"Take these Harry, all the books that I have written are there, I'm looking forward to teaching you this semester." He beamed and Harry smiled politely back and waddled away with the books. Ginny was holding her cauldron as he walked back to his group and he placed the books into it.
"Here Ginny you have them, I already bought mine."
Mrs Weasley made to stop him, but he plopped them down into her cauldron and he knew that she would take them against her own wishes now.
Harry strode up next to Remus now and took his hand. Remus looked down to him and instantly his shoulders sagged in relief. Harry knew from experience and watching Sirius that physical touch was the most efficient way to calm the wolf when they thought their mate or pack member was in danger. He squeezed Remus's hand, reminding him that he was here and Remus squeezed gently back, a smile finally washing through his suddenly tired face.
"Think it's about time to call it a day?" Remus asked tiredly.
"Yeah, I think it is," Harry replied with a soft smile.
But of course, nothing could go as they wanted, for just as they were about to step out of the room they were stopped by a tall man with a cane. Harry felt Remus stiffen next to him and he looked up to find Lucius Malfoy glaring at them. Harry somehow kept his composure as Lucius Malfoy, head of Malfoy house and alleged ex-Death Eater gave each of them a scrutinising gaze.
"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley," Lucius said first but his gaze dropped to Harry with a venomous glare. Harry shivered.
"Lucius," Arthur replied and Harry had never heard such a cold tone come from Arthur before.
He looked around, a slight hope that maybe Draco would be here accompanying his father, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Mr Malfoy must have noticed his searching gaze, his lip curling as he looked to Harry, but he refrained from commenting, seeming to choose to ignore the existence of Harry and turned back to Mr Weasley who was beginning to go red.
"I hear it's been busy at the Ministry with all those raids and such, I hope that they are paying you overtime." He dipped his hand graciously into Ginny's pot and pulled out a second hand potion textbook. "Or perhaps not," he said with a tone of disgust as he dropped the book back into her pot.
Ron fumed, he stepped towards Mr Malfoy but Mr Weasley, who was now almost as bright as his hair, pulled him back by the shoulder.
"You have no right to speak to me that way Malfoy, now if you will excuse me." With that Mr Weasley dragged his still furious son by the shoulder and pushed past a Mr Malfoy, who when Harry looked back had an almost triumphant expression on his face. When he noticed Harry staring, his expression soured. Harry quickly looked away and rushed to catch up with the now marching group, the air crackling with an outraged tension.
"That man thinks he's above all the rest just because he has money and ministers in his pocket," Arthur grumbled. Harry had never seen the man in such a sour mood in his life. He kept his mouth shut, frightened that if he said anything it would ignite the fumes in the air.
"I can't believe that—! That—!" Ron began, the tips of his ears still red.
"That is Draco's father?" Harry finished for him. Ron gave him a slightly sheepish look but Harry understood what Ron meant.
"Not everyone is who they were raised by Ron," Hermione commented, which surprised Harry. He didn't know Draco and Hermione were close enough for her to defend him.
"Yeah, just remember that Ron, he may have been a bit horrible in the beginning but you know by now that he isn't anything like his father."
"Yeah, I guess you're right, it's just…his father is a right git." Ron ground his teeth, his face still etched with anger.
"You're not wrong there buddy," Harry replied, bumping him on the shoulder.
Finally Harry made it back to Grimmauld Place, a little worse for wear, but in one piece. Sirius emerged from his study at the sound of the floo and instantly he knew something bad had occurred.
"What's wrong, is everything okay?" he rushed to them, Kreacher popped in and out taking their bags.
"Yeah, I just had an interesting afternoon, so to say," Harry replied, flopping onto the couch with a sigh.
"What happened?" he asked Remus, who sagged onto his shoulder with a sigh.
"Well, firstly, Harry got ambushed by the press which made my wolf super upset, and then right after we ran into a particular Lucius Malfoy," Remus summarised, Harry sighed into his cushion.
"I knew I should have gone today," Sirius hissed. He pulled Remus in for a comforting hug which Remus accepted gratefully.
"Are you okay though?" he asked Remus, who nodded his head slowly.
"And you Harry?" Sirius asked over Remus' shoulder.
"I'm fine, just tired," Harry replied, waving his hand lazily in the air.
Sirius bustled around the kitchen to make them dinner whilst Remus refreshed himself with a nap. Harry went to his room to let Sirius stress cook and digest the occurrences of the day. First things first, Harry expected to find himself on the cover of the Daily Prophet and secondly, Dracos father was a right arsehole. Harry wasn't sure how Draco hadn't become so much like his father but he was instantly grateful to whoever had made sure he hadn't. Then he digested the information of his new DADA professor. Last year's teacher had not been all that great, with what being a vessel of Voldemort and all, and now they had a celebrity who liked to smile too widely and grab children to take press photos with. Harry was beginning to think perhaps this was what Dobby had been warning him about. Harry sighed into the air once again, he was doing a lot of that this evening.
"I miss Draco," he whispered. Draco would be able to sort these thoughts out, would be able to help him come to a definite realisation of something. But no, he was stuck with these tormenting thoughts and an absent Draco Malfoy.
Harry awoke in the morning with a feeling that he was being watched. Which in fact was correct for Dobby the elf with his two large eyes was watching him sleep. Harry startled and made a noise of exclamation; he nearly flopped out of the bed but somehow managed to not make too much of a fuss to cause his parents to rush into the room.
"Dobby, what are you doing here?" Harry hissed, his heart pounding against his chest.
"Harry Potter said that I should give you a reply, they have sent me their reply now," Dobby spoke, he stepped back and gave Harry some room to sit up.
"So what do they say?" Harry leaned over to his bedside table for his glasses, once he had placed them on Dobby began speaking.
"Sir has said that you must not go to Hogwarts, the plan has already begun, Hogwarts is not safe anymore." Dobby wrung his hands together nervously, perhaps afraid of an outburst from Harry, but Harry remained motionless.
Harry thought over and over, perhaps it was true and Hogwarts was no longer safe. But what was this person's definition of safe? Was it not safe just for him or for the entire population of Hogwarts? Why was he only warning him and not the Headmaster or at least a Professor?
"Okay, thank you Dobby, I'll think it over," Harry replied carefully, he didn't want to start another of Dobby's weird outbursts.
"You will not go to Hogwarts sir?" Dobby smiled excitedly. Harry didn't want to lie to the elf, but he hesitated with his answer. How was he to say this the nicest way possible without upsetting him?
"Dobby, I said I will think about it, alright? I'm going to have some breakfast now so you should go."
Dobby gave him a dejected look which pained Harry, but there was nothing that he could. He had to go to Hogwarts this year.
Dobbys lip wobbled, but he did as he was ordered to and apparated away. Harry sat back onto his bed, thinking that perhaps this was a bad decision to make.
"I'm sorry sir, but he doesn't want to listen to me, he says that he will think about it, but I think sirs knows what that means already."
Draco sighed into his hand. "It's fine Dobby, what was I expecting from him?"
Draco stared out at the gardens, his back still stung from the cane hits, but that was nothing to worry about now. Father had planted the book, which meant Harry was in danger once again. A danger that Draco didn't know how to protect him from.
Draco shivered as a breeze blew by; the manor seemed so cold these days, his Father even colder. Their master was returning and Draco felt terror wrap around his soul. Soon his home would no longer be safe for him either.