A Message from Hplover4ever3: Yep, your calculations are correct. The next chapter is going to be the special, which is great. But two things...we've been pretty busy lately so the special might be one day late. Either way, it will be updated within the next two days.
Also, that's going to be our stopping point for the time being...and a cliffhanger too. Sorry about this, but as you know, real life comes first. Not sure when we're going to get back, but hopefully soon. Don't complain, there's been 4 updates in the last week and a half. Try to find more authors on this website with school and work who have time to update as much. Seriously. If you find them, PM me because I want to talk to these amazing creatures. Anyway, enjoy the chapter but save some of that enjoyment for the special which is going to be EPIC!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks
CHAPTER 19: KALEIDOSCOPE
Draco frowned at the piece of paper in his lap and chewed on the pencil, his brows furrowed. The curtains were drawn around his bed, but even so, he could see the sunlight slowly starting to come in through the window. The Marauders were sound asleep, with Peter's faint snores being the only sound in the room. The day was young, but the chilly air of the morning was definitely present. Draco turned his attention away from the marauders and back to the paper. Who was missing?
He eyed the lines that he'd drawn, carefully connecting Harry Potter to the Weasleys and James Potter to Sirius Black and Sirius Black to Regulus Black and Regulus Black to Wilkes. He'd written Severus just above Regulus because by now he'd gathered they were closest to each other within that group. But Wilkes was at the center of the page, with various lines pointing at his name in all directions like a spider web and a big question mark slapped right down the middle.
Draco's eyes wandered to Lily, who also seemed to have many lines connecting her, first to James then to Remus, Mary and Alice, and finally to Severus. He eyed Alice's and Frank's lines and frowned at Mary's. He couldn't remember any reference to her from his previous life, not that there would be. He had no reason to have known her, and from what he gathered, she had no connection to Wilkes other than the Mulciber incident. And somehow, Draco doubted Wilkes had played any part in it.
Sirius shifted in his bed and sighed deeply. Draco watched him through the bed curtains. He then circled his name on the paper and wrote 'Azkaban' below it, feeling his throat tightening up. Having now gotten to know Sirius, he could never imagine a life where he was free and Sirius was not. His eyes wandered to Bellatrix's name and he wrote 'Lestrange' and then 'Azkaban' under that too. He paused now, heart beating rapidly. He'd completely forgotten about this. Hand shaking slightly, he drew a line connecting Bellatrix to the circle that was Frank and Alice at the corner of the page, and wrote 'torture curse' along the line. He had no idea why she'd done it, other than perhaps it was fun for her. But he knew now that if she even tried going after them, he'd do something stupid. Frank and Alice were two people he did not want to see dead anytime soon.
He frowned now and drew a line from Bellatrix to Barty Crouch Junior, wondering how those two even got on a first-name basis in the first place. She was years and years older than him so there must be a reason why they were connected more so than the other death eaters would be. Draco leaned back on the bed. So the only way to make sure Frank and Alice were untouched was to eliminate both Bella and Crouch. That should be easy. They were only two of the most notorious sadists in Draco's time. No big deal.
He sighed and turned back to the calmer portion of the paper. Remus was pulled to the side with the word 'teacher' on one side and 'disappear' on the other, since Draco had no clue what ever happened to him. Last he'd heard, Remus was part of that Order of Phoenix thing that his parents had talked about. But Draco had never seen him again after he'd left Hogwarts in third year.
Peter was crossed out, and so was Rosier, who Draco knew would die at some point during the war, before Draco would ever be born. Regulus was also crossed out, which made Draco cringe slightly. He had no idea how Regulus had died or where even. All he had was an approximate age and that wasn't much to go on. Still though, he wouldn't have to worry about it until next year, when Regulus would be in his sixth year.
James let out a cough and turned over in his bed. The sun was shining slightly brighter now, but it was still relatively dark out. Draco leaned back against his pillow and closed his eyes.
He had woken up at 5 that morning to plan and strategize. But no matter how many charts he made, he couldn't figure out a single flaw in the plan. There was nothing he could think of that would affect the future if Wilkes died right now. Today. Draco hadn't even heard of him back in his own timeline, so he'd naturally assumed upon meeting him here that this person just died sometime during the war and thus the Malfoys had never known him. But if Draco was the one who actually took care of his death, that wouldn't exactly be called interfering, would it?
He'd woken early that morning to see if Wilkes presented any problems, but he hadn't expected to run into several more problems during the chart-making process. Like Regulus, for example. He had to now figure out what it was that led Regulus to his demise. He also had to choose between wiping out Bella or Crouch...or maybe both if necessary. And Peter was a dangerous one too, though Draco couldn't see it yet...how a boy like that would end up betraying his best friend...
If only he could go back in time, er, forward, to the moment when Severus told him that story, and actually ask this time, exactly how Peter Pettigrew had betrayed the Potters?
Draco's eyes suddenly widened slightly and he wrote a name he'd forgotten completely in the corner of the page. He grinned now. Sure, his arrival in this timeline had changed things. He doubted, for instance, that Sirius and Regulus would continue to hate each other for much longer now. But there was nothing stopping time from bringing Hermione Granger to Hogwarts eventually. She was muggle-born. Her family was not connected to anything happening here now. So being around as an adult by the time she arrived (if he was even still alive by then) would be mighty hilarious and definitely something to look forward to.
The sun suddenly shined brightly through the window, and like an alarm, Sirius let out a loud and dramatic yawn. The rest of the boys started to stir and groan and mumble. Draco tapped the piece of paper in his lap with his wand and then sat up once it disappeared and drew open the curtains.
"Morning," he said to Sirius, who was slowly sitting up, clutching his head tightly.
"I feel like I'm swimming with a shark's arse for a head," he groaned.
"Yep, that sounds about right," said Draco.
"After the night we had, I don't really blame you, Sirius," said Remus, rubbing his eyes. He frowned at Draco. "How long have you been up anyway?"
"Not long," Draco shrugged.
"Ugh, I feel like we got buggered but never went to the party," James groaned.
"Well, if you count Wilkes' little massacre party, then we kinda did," said Draco.
The boys stared at him.
"Too early to joke about it?" he asked.
"Little bit," said Sirius, grinning. "But your dark sense of humour is much appreciated."
"That's not what James thought last night," Draco muttered.
xxxxxxxxxx
"Hey! HEY! DRACO, GET BACK HERE, WE'RE NOT FINISHED!"
"Uh, yeah, we are."
James turned him around and kept a firm grip on his arm. "No, we're not."
"Get off me," Draco muttered, darkly.
"Guys, stop," said Sirius, getting in between them. They remained rooted to the spot. "James, look he's right, okay? Let's just go back to the common room and we'll talk there."
"I'm sorry, were we not hanging out in the same hall tonight? Did we not witness the same bloody massacre?!"
"He's right, you guys," said Remus. "We can't just ignore this. I mean we've done some really low stuff in the past, but this..."
"Actually, we didn't do anything here," James contradicted, his eyes on Draco.
Draco sighed.
"Well no one's turning themselves in," Sirius declared.
"Oh yes he is," said James.
Sirius moved to stand before Draco and looked at James. "No, he's not."
"Sirius—"
"Guys, stop!" Peter shouted.
The boys all turned to look at each other in the dark corridor.
"I'm sick of this fighting!" Peter said.
"He's right," said Draco, his eyes on James and then Remus. "Turning ourselves—myself—in won't do any good."
"Don't you feel even a little guilty about what you did tonight?" James said, his voice full of accusation. "He bloody set off torture curses because of what you did to him! What would you do if that curse had hit Alice? What about Lily? What about—"
"Hey back off, James! There's more to this story than you know!" Sirius cried.
Draco's head slowly turned to look at him. "Exactly what do you mean by that?"
Sirius ignored him.
"Look," he said to James now. "We've stood by each other in the darkest of times. We've covered up each other's tracks for like all of fourth year. Are you seriously telling me that you're willing to throw Draco into the dirt because of this one little prank?"
"Watch me," said James, moving ahead towards the hospital wing.
Sirius grabbed his arm.
"Could you just stop for maybe a second and think about what you're trying to do here?"
James opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.
"Has it crossed your mind that there's more going on here?" Sirius said to him through gritted teeth.
"Sirius," said Remus, quietly. "What are you talking about?"
"Yeah, what are you talking about here?" Draco said.
Sirius turned slightly in his direction but said nothing.
"Sirius," Draco prodded. "What do you know?"
Sirius sighed.
"Regulus and I talked, okay?"
"You did?!" cried James, Remus and Peter.
But Draco's face had suddenly changed.
"H-he told you?" he said to Sirius.
Sirius let go of James' arm and nodded. "Yeah, he told me."
"Told you what?" said Remus.
"I...can't believe he told you," Draco went on. "When did you guys even...?"
"Yesterday," Sirius said. "I knew somethin' was going on with you...you've been acting weird all week, mate. I just needed answers."
"Answers about what?" said James.
"You noticed?" Draco said, slowly, ignoring the others and watching Sirius only.
"Of course I did," Sirius said. He then grinned for the first time that evening. "Family always knows when something's up."
Draco grinned back.
"Guys," said James, snapping him back to the reality that he and Sirius weren't alone. "What's going on here?"
Sirius glanced at Draco, who sighed deeply and turned to face all of the boys.
"There's...something I haven't told you guys," he began, hoping desperately that that'd be the only time he'd ever have to say those words to them. The boys waited, curious looks splattered on their tired faces. "Wilkes tried to have me poisoned."
It took a while for the words to sink in. The marauders exchanged strange looks and Remus even looked to Sirius for confirmation. Sirius only nodded.
"What are you talking about?" said James.
"I'm talking about Wilkes trying to have me killed," Draco told him. "He...he's got something on Regulus...and he was upset that Regulus and I were in touch, or actually he was upset that I wasn't afraid to talk back to him..."
"Wait hold on a second, back up there," said Sirius. "What does he have on Regulus?"
Draco silently kicked himself. That was far more than he'd wanted to reveal.
"I don't really know," he answered, slowly. It was the truth, anyway. "I...it's just something that Snape let slip..."
"What could he possibly have on him?" Sirius muttered.
"I honestly don't know," Draco repeated. His eyes wandered back to James, who was watching him with an expression he couldn't quite read. "I hoped I wouldn't have to tell you guys."
"Well why the hell not?" said James.
"Because of how I knew you'd react!" Draco blurted out. James' eyebrows rose.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Draco sighed. "Look guys, you're like my best friends here. I would never wanna jeopardize that." Peter smiled slightly. "But you're all bloody spontaneous too and I knew you'd cook something up...something real bad...if I told you, and that's why I decided not to tell you. Because it wasn't important."
"That Wilkes tried to poison you?!"
"Are you kidding?!"
"It bloody well is important!"
"I KNOW," Draco interrupted their protests, "I know and I'm really grateful that you lot think so...but I doubt each of your parents will agree...and if Dumbledore expelled you guys, I don't know how I'd be able to live with it. Me, he won't expel but you guys, what with your reps here and everything..."
"Dumbledore would never expel us, he loves us," said James.
"It's not always up to him," Draco whispered, in his mind thinking of this mysterious board that Dumbledore was so afraid of.
James sighed, and then looked at Draco again.
"Man, you still should've told us," he said. "Do you have any idea how much my opinion of you has changed in the last eighteen hours?!"
Draco smirked. "Well then clearly you guys don't have that much faith in me."
"That's not true," said Remus. "We just...well we..."
"I can't blame you for it," Draco told him. "After all, I am quite mysterious."
The boys grinned at him.
"So what are we doing here then?" Peter said finally.
"Nothing," said James.
Remus nodded.
They turned away from the hospital wing and began walking in the other direction.
"Seriously?" said Draco. "Wait, what happened to all your morals and your values and how this was one step too far and how the right thing to do is—"
"Screw the right thing to do," said James. "Look, that was back when we thought you were a psycho with a sick sense of humour, looking to attack random Hogwarts students—"
"Wilkes is not random," Draco corrected.
"—but this changes things."
"Why? 'Cause I explained that he started things and so that makes it okay?"
James stopped walking to look at him.
"No," he said, "Because you're one of us. And we protect our own..." he glanced at Sirius, "...even through the messy stuff."
Sirius looked away.
xxxxxxxxxx
The boys stayed up in their dormitory for another couple of hours, discussing all of what had happened the previous night, until they heard noise downstairs and decided it was time to head to breakfast. The Great Hall was fairly packed by the time they got there, and most conversations were centered on one specific subject. But thankfully, no one suspected the marauders of having anything to do with what had happened. People didn't believe they were capable of this kind of dark humour.
"But we know now that it wasn't dark humour, it was revenge," Sirius told the boys.
"Yeah, and next time…" said James, turning to look at Draco, "…we'd like to be included in the planning process."
Draco grinned. "Yes, sir."
He glanced over James' shoulder at the Slytherin table, where the gang was sitting in its usual edge of the table. All of their eyes were on their plates and not a word of conversation was exchanged for the entire duration of breakfast. Both Severus and Regulus were missing from the table. Somehow, this didn't make Draco feel any better.
The worst thing that had come from last night was yet to happen. Draco had not seen Dumbledore yet, and from what he'd overheard the teachers saying last night, Dumbledore was out of the building when the incident occurred. And Draco had a lesson scheduled with him tonight.
"…he's obviously gonna get a court hearing, I mean there's no way that the ministry is gonna let this drop…"
"…are you kidding? With the state that our country is in right now, they'll for sure say that it was an attack made by the death eaters…"
"…how thick are you?! He is a death eater! Or at least on his way to becoming one! Why on earth would the death eaters attack him?"
"Attacking your own men publicly is the best alibi ever."
"Yeah, no one'd suspect you!"
"It shows you have the guts to do something like that even to your own!"
James sighed and looked at the other boys. "They're right, you know. Draco, you should've told us you were a death eater!"
Draco let out a nervous laugh and then took a sip of his tea.
Remus suddenly leaned forward. "I heard Professor McGonagall say that whatever Wilkes was on before the ghost show was only part of the reason why he went mental in the end."
"What do you mean?" Draco asked.
"Well according to her, the substance and the show somehow played a permanent trick on his mind."
"Permanent?" said Peter, quietly. "You mean he'll always be like this?"
Remus shrugged at Draco.
"Well we don't have to care anymore about Wilkes," Sirius added after a while. "He's gone. For good."
"Well, not for good," said Remus.
Sirius groaned. "Do you always have to kill the fun here, Moony?!"
"Hey, it's what I'm here for," joked Remus.
"He'll be back though, won't he?" said Peter. "Soon, I mean."
"No, he won't," said Draco, though he wasn't quite sure of that. He doubted Dumbledore would let that bloodthirsty beast back into the castle anytime soon, but you never knew these days…besides, Dumbledore might still be mad at him for doing exactly what he'd told him not to…all would become clear tonight.
"So," said Remus, changing the subject. "Hagrid's invited us to tea this afternoon."
"Sweet," said Peter. "I've missed him."
Draco frowned. "You guys went to see him just last weekend."
"Which reminds me," said Remus, leaning forwards, "That you promised to join us next time."
Draco froze.
"D-did I? Huh…funny you mention that…"
"You still haven't met Hagrid?!" cried James.
"Whoa, you have to come with us," said Sirius.
Draco looked from one to the other.
"I…" he said. "I mean, I…it's just that…well…"
"Hey, you did promise," said Remus.
"You didn't…like tell him that I promised to come next time…or anything…d-did you?" Draco asked him.
"Of course I did!" said Remus.
Draco groaned.
"Hey, what's wrong with Hagrid?!" cried Sirius.
"He's brilliant, you'll really like him," said James.
"And he's our favourite person here," added Peter.
"And we're not taking no for an answer, not this time," finished Remus.
Draco had no choice but to forfeit. He had no choice but to follow the Marauders after lunch down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's Hut, just on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He had no choice but to wait with them outside Hagrid's door until the miserable oaf opened it and let them in. Draco took a seat at the edge of the large round/rectangular table which stood at the center of the room, and crossed his arms. On either side of him were James and Sirius, both of whom had put their feet up and their hands behind their heads. Remus was helping Hagrid prepare the tea and Peter was setting the plates down for some large and disgusting cake thing that Hagrid put out.
"Ain' it nice ter finally see ya all!" said Hagrid, who slumped into his large chair and looked around, his great big eyes landing on Draco. "An' it's good ter finally meet ya!"
"Likewise," Draco muttered, keeping a fake smile. "I've…uh…heard lots about you."
"Well how funny, so have I!" beamed Hagrid.
Draco turned to James. "Oh is that right?"
"Yep," said Sirius with his mouth full of whatever Hagrid had put out. "We talk about you all the time, mate."
"You're like the highlight of our conversations," James nodded.
"How charming," said Draco, who was trying hard not to think about the gross smell of the hut or the weird noises that were coming from the pots at the back.
"How's Quirky doing?" Peter asked.
"Oh he's doin' jus' fine now," said Hagrid. "He's really lookin' forward ter seein' some snow for the firs' time."
"Who's Quirky?" Draco dared ask.
"One of Hagrid's many wondrous pets," Remus explained. "He's gamekeeper at the school."
"Quirky was born jus' this last summer," Hagrid explained. "I've been keepin' him 'ere with me, jus' for the time being, until I can figure out where ter send him."
With that, Hagrid moved from the table to the back of the room and moved a blanket off of some round object which Draco finally came to realize was alive. A look of disgust on his face, he eyed the hideous beast, with its spiked ears (or was it eyebrows?) and overall greyish mandrake-like appearance.
"That's…lovely…" Draco mumbled.
"Ah, he's a beauty, that one," said Hagrid, beaming down at the creature before carefully placing the blanket over it again and taking his seat at the table.
"So you…like pets then…" said Draco.
"Yep, always have an' always will," said Hagrid, proudly.
Sirius began mumbling a bunch of stuff with crumbs falling out of his mouth, and the only words Draco got was "care of magical".
"Ah, I dunno," said Hagrid. "It's not really… I mean I can't jus'…Dumbledore wouldn'…"
"Yes, he would!" said James. "I keep telling you to talk to him and you just won't do it. I don't get why."
"Guys, leave him alone, if he doesn't want to, it's his choice!" said Remus, shooting James and Sirius disapproving looks. He sipped his tea and then turned back to Hagrid, a kind expression on his face. "Have you heard about what happened last night?"
"With that Wilkes bloke in Slytherin?" said Hagrid. "Yeah, I've heard about that, alrigh'. Definitely not somethin' ya see every day."
"Definitely not," said James. He leaned forward. "Hagrid, you know we had nothing to do with it, right?"
Remus looked away and Sirius made a face, but Draco watched the exchange between James and Hagrid intently. Somehow, James felt it his duty to assure Hagrid that the marauders had not been responsible for Wilkes' fate.
"Of course I know!" Hagrid answered. "You lot are jokesters but not evil."
"Right," laughed Remus. "Yep, that's true. Yeah. Totally."
There was silence.
"So…what about…care of magical creatures?" Draco asked the table at large.
Hagrid made a face.
"We keep trying to convince Hagrid to take Professor Grubbly-Plank's place," James explained.
"Yeah because she doesn't know shit about what she teaches," said Sirius.
"Actually, I've heard that she's a pretty good teacher," said Remus, thoughtfully.
"Not the point," said James, giving him a dark look.
Remus shrugged.
"We want Hagrid to tell Dumbledore that he's interested in teaching it," Peter told Draco.
"Because you so are and you know it," Sirius said to Hagrid.
Hagrid shrugged. "It doesn' even matter, ya know he's goin' ter say no."
"You never know, Hagrid," said Remus. "You never know unless you try."
Draco watched Hagrid carefully. He was a lot shyer than he remembered. A lot less loud and less obvious. And a lot, lot less aware of his size.
"Whoa!" cried Sirius.
Draco's eyes snapped to him. It was then that he realized his hands were wet. And burning.
"Shit!" spat James, whose lap was soaked, and Remus moved to start wiping the table on which Draco had spilt his tea.
"S-sorry," he mumbled, helping Remus.
"No worries," said Hagrid. "It's only tea, it'll clean off."
James was now hopping at the back of the hut and trying desperately to dry off his pants.
"Are you okay?" Remus whispered to Draco as they finished off cleaning the table.
"Fine," he mumbled. "I'm, uh…gonna just…"
He moved around the big table and let himself out of the hut. It was freezing cold out but he didn't care. He looked around, shivered slightly, and set himself down on the grass next to the big patch of pumpkins that was just behind the hut. Draco cursed out loud. If his parents, or his friends, or even Potter and his lot, ever, ever found out that Draco had just had tea with fucking Rubeus Hagrid, they'd lose it. It was the most embarrassing thing, and Draco only hoped that Severus wouldn't find out. Or Regulus. He'd for sure lose his respect that he'd worked so hard to get.
"Hey," said Remus, making Draco jump.
"Sorry," he laughed. "Mind if I join you?"
"Yeah, go ahead," Draco mumbled.
Remus moved to the side and took a seat next to Draco on the grass. They stared off at the crimson shade surrounding the sun in the distance by the lake.
"What was that back there?" Remus asked.
"I…don't know…" Draco admitted. "I suppose I just sort of…forgot where I was."
"Look I know you've had a lot to deal with lately," said Remus. Draco turned his head to look at him. "Finding out that some git was out to get you must've been really nerve-wrecking. And I realize that Regulus is probably like a little brother to you by now. You were just doing what you thought you had to do to protect him."
Draco looked back at the sun.
"You've been through a great ordeal in the last week," said Remus. "You should cut yourself some slack."
Draco sighed. "Why are you so nice to me? Why do you keep defending me after all the shit I do?"
Remus shrugged. "It helps that you're Dumbledore's adoptive son."
Draco laughed, stopping only when he noticed Remus wincing and holding his hip.
"You okay?" Draco asked slowly, watching him with concern.
"Fine," said Remus, quickly. He looked at him and smiled. "All is well. Come on, let's go back."
When the Marauders got back to the castle later that evening, they realized that everyone was still talking about Wilkes and last night's incident. That was all anyone anywhere seemed to be thinking about, which made it slightly difficult for Draco to put the whole thing behind him. He'd gotten the outcome that he'd wanted—Wilkes out of Hogwarts—but yet he still felt a little regretful and somewhat ashamed…like perhaps he could've gone in another direction.
"Mate, you have nothing to be ashamed of," Sirius told him once he expressed this concern at dinner (to Sirius only). "You've been here for like five minutes. You haven't seen all the shit he used to do to students when we were younger. I wasn't just defending you because we're related. I was defending you because you were right in doing what you did and if it were me, I would've done the same thing. That git had to be put in his place and you did just that. You don't have anything to regret here."
Draco nodded at these strangely comforting words. It somehow mattered to him more what Sirius thought than anyone else.
Finally, the time had come for Draco to excuse himself from the company of the Marauders for the evening and do just the thing he'd been avoiding all day—go and talk to Dumbledore.
Sirius gave him an encouraging nod as he rose from the table and made his way out of the Great Hall. Before he reached the door, Draco's eyes landed on Severus at the Slytherin table, who was watching him with a stranger's eyes, almost like he didn't know who Draco was anymore.
Draco groaned and moved quickly from the Great Hall to the Headmaster's Tower. The entire way there, he thought about what to say to Dumbledore; how to explain; how to make him understand. But when he finally reached the office and took his seat across Dumbledore at the table, Dumbledore simply said, "Good evening, Draco. Let us begin right away. Wands out."
Draco stared at him.
"What…?"
"Wands out, Draco," Dumbledore repeated, his own wand slowly rotating in his fingers.
Draco hesitantly pulled out his own wand and set it on the table.
"Now concentrate like we practiced," said Dumbledore. "You need to get a sense—a feel—of my mind, before you can even start thinking about the incantation."
"I…"
"Let your mind become mine. Let them connect. Let them be bound by something very strong and very common, be it emotion or memory."
"But…"
"Don't let your own emotions or memories blind your way into my mind," Dumbledore continued. "If you are going to hold onto something, it has to be something that we have both shared."
"WAIT!" cried Draco.
Dumbledore paused.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Draco shouted.
"I beg your pardon?" said Dumbledore, calmly.
"I…but…we…I BLOODY ATTACKED A STUDENT YESTERDAY!"
Draco was on his feet now, glaring down at Dumbledore and wanting nothing better than to hex him for being so bloody calm and unaffected.
"No you didn't," said Dumbledore.
"YES I DID!" Draco shouted. All of the portraits on the walls were now watching him but he ignored them. "I MANIPULATED A LOW SELF-ESTEEMED GHOST INTO DOING THINGS FOR ME. I TALKED A MISERABLE HOUSE ELF INTO SPIKING A PITCHER OF JUICE. I BLOODY STOLE FROM THE PRIVATE STORES OF ONE OF YOUR FAVOURITE PROFESSORS! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY TELLING ME THAT YOU DON'T CARE THAT I DID ANY OF THAT?!"
"Draco, calm down," said Dumbledore, raising a hand. "Take your seat."
Draco stared at him, unbelieving of what he was hearing, but nonetheless forced himself back down.
"What's going on?" he breathed.
"What's going on is that I specifically asked you not to go seeking revenge and you went out and did just that, so now, we shall not speak of it again and we shall go ahead with the lesson planned for today," said Dumbledore, simply.
"What—aren't you gonna ask why I did it anyway?" Draco said. "Aren't you gonna ask me which house elf and which ghost and which professor were unknowingly part of my big plan?"
"No," said Dumbledore. "I will not investigate because I know exactly who you are."
"I don't understand," Draco mumbled.
"I told you not to protect your family," said Dumbledore, his hands together on his desk now, "And you betrayed my instruction to protect your family. I see nothing wrong with that."
"But—"
"I must say, I didn't expect you to go about it in this particular way, but the important thing that came from last night was that no one was hurt and Mr. Wilkes is now getting the help that he needs."
"You mean you bloody tested me?!" Draco hissed. "IT WAS A FUCKING TEST?!"
Dumbledore stared at him, shocked, because for a second, just a second, Draco had forgotten who he was talking to.
"I'm sorry," he said, quickly. "I didn't…m-mean that…"
"That's alright," said Dumbledore, still calm. "I am a Headmaster—I can't say I'm not used to it."
Draco bit down on his lip to prevent from saying anything else he might regret later.
"I wasn't testing you," Dumbledore said now. "I was merely curious to see what you would do in a situation where I told you not to do something but you knew better."
"But that's...gambling with people's lives," Draco muttered.
"Not the way I see it," said Dumbledore. A hint of a grin crossed his face now. "Why do you think none of those curses hit anyone?"
Draco gasped. "What did you do?"
"I set up a blocking Charm in the Entrance Hall, the Great Hall, and several other adjacent corridors that same morning, long before you and the boys even woke up."
Draco stared at the grey-haired man in front of him, unable to accept it. Believe it. Understand it.
"You didn't really think I'd risk my staff and students' lives, did you?" Dumbledore continued.
"How did you do it?" Draco breathed.
Dumbledore shrugged. "Let's just say, timelines combined and all, Myrtle...and Manny...and Slughorn have known me a lot longer than they have known you..." Draco's eyes widened and Dumbledore smiled again. "And we'll leave it at that."
"Yes sir," said Draco, nodding slowly.
"Good," said Dumbledore, his voice changing. "Now, let us put it behind us and get on with today's lesson. I have somewhere I need to be later tonight."
"Professor," Draco said before Dumbledore could continue, "Where were you last night?"
Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow at him.
"I mean, I…I heard Professor McGonagall say that you weren't in the school," Draco added.
"Ah," said Dumbledore. "I was meeting with the Minister last night."
"What for, sir?"
"He was trying to convince me to allow his Azkaban guards to invade the school grounds," said Dumbledore.
"W-why?"
"Because it seems that Hogwarts is no longer safe, now that the war is heavily progressing," said Dumbledore, who was now tilting his head slightly to look at Draco.
"Well I'm sure he'll be writing to you soon about how he was right, unless for some strange reason he doesn't hear about what happened," Draco mumbled.
"Let me worry about that," said Dumbledore. "Now…the lesson, Draco."
Draco sighed and picked up his wand.
He should've bloody gone with a memory charm instead.
At the end of the lesson, Draco decided to take a shortcut back to the common room, and was glad he did because he found Regulus waiting for him in one of the side corridors that led to Gryffindor Tower. Regulus was sitting on a bench up against the wall with a book in his lap and a concentrated look on his face. When he saw Draco approaching, he jumped up and shut the book quickly. Draco frowned at the title.
"Magick Moste Evile?" he said.
"Uh yeah," said Regulus, looking down at the book and then up at him.
"Where did you get that?" Draco breathed.
"One of the guys," said Regulus. "Why?"
"It…you…" Draco took a step forward. "You realize what I've gone through to protect you?!"
Regulus' mouth fell open slightly.
"You realize what I've done to keep you safe?!" Draco hissed. "Why the hell are you voluntarily throwing yourself back into the dirt?!"
"I'm not," said Regulus.
"Well then what the fuck is this?!" cried Draco, grabbing the book from him and holding it up.
"It's nothing!" said Regulus, taking it back. "Jeez, what has gotten into you?" His eyes then went round. "Wait a second, it was you, wasn't it?!"
"DID YOU BLOODY THINK IT WOULDN'T BE?!" Draco shouted, grabbing the book again.
Regulus shushed him and they both looked around the silent corridor.
"Why did you do it when I asked you not to?!" Regulus hissed.
"Because someone had to put that bloke in his place and it sure didn't look like you were going to anytime soon," Draco hissed back.
"But I—"
"Look, I did what I did to protect you, okay? A little gratitude would be bloody nice."
"I don't need protection!"
Draco's mouth opened but nothing came out. He stared at Regulus in the darkness…the young version of himself blinked back at him angrily.
"Fine," Draco muttered. "I'll leave you alone."
"Yeah, you do that," said Regulus, still heatedly.
"I will," said Draco. "I mean it's not like Gryffindors and Slytherins should even talk to each other, right?"
Regulus said nothing, but only looked away.
"Yep, you got your philosophy straight," Draco told him.
Regulus sighed.
"Look, I…maybe we should just…not talk for a while."
He didn't wait for Draco to answer. With an awkward glance at him, he grabbed back his book and walked away.
"Fuck," Draco muttered.
This was probably exactly what Wilkes had wanted. He'd set Draco a trap and Draco had walked straight into it, allowing his own ego to get the best of him. And now, Regulus would never trust him again.
Over the next couple of days, Draco noticed four important things. The first; the talks about Wilkes were only getting more exciting. Everyone was now raging about what would happen to him and when the Minister would set a hearing with the Wizengamot and what would happen to the Hogwarts ghosts. Meanwhile, the teachers were assuring students that nothing could possibly happen to the Hogwarts ghosts as they were merely performing an entertaining show, and that Wilkes had been influenced long before the ghosts had taken any part in that night. And, indeed, the evening hangouts in the Entrance Hall had been put to a stop for the time being. What fun.
The second; Wilkes' little army of followers was actually very quiet nowadays. The gang didn't bother anyone, didn't say anything to anyone, and didn't even talk to anyone except to each other. It was as though they were afraid to act without their little puppet masters ruling the halls.
The third; Remus was starting to show signs of an upcoming transformation as October slowly drew to an end. His mood was up and down again, and every now and then, Draco caught him wincing at some new pain in his body.
And the fourth; the Marauders weren't doing anything to cover up this full moon. They weren't coming up with any excuses as to why Remus would be gone or why they would be wherever they planned on being that night. They hadn't mentioned Sirius' birthday or Halloween, both of which were going to take place that weekend. Everyone was pretending like nothing was happening, and this to Draco was far worse than listening to the Marauders' fake excuses. He'd rather they lied than this.
On Wednesday at lunch, they disappeared again, but this time Draco had proof that they weren't secretly meeting somewhere. James had gone to talk to his team about some important Quidditch stuff up in the common room, Peter had run to catch Professor Flitwick so that he could ask for an extension on an important essay, and Remus had gone to the Hospital Wing, apparently in search of some sleeping aids. It was just Draco and Sirius at the Gryffindor table, which made it slightly difficult for Draco to squeeze in a talk with Severus.
They had of course met on Monday during their free period, and thankfully, that exchange had been less damaging than the one with Regulus on the weekend. Severus knew all about it, and told Draco that he ought to just give Regulus some time and that he'd come around to talking to him again. He claimed that the boy was just too proud for his own good and didn't want any help.
"He came to you," Draco had pointed out.
"Yeah, but Reg and I have a special relationship," Severus explained. "We have since his first year."
Now sitting in the Great Hall, Draco watched Severus at the Slytherin table with a kind of longing to walk over and talk to him and beg him to maybe get through to Regulus. Draco hadn't spoken with the kid since Saturday night and it was killing him.
"What's on your mind?" Sirius asked him.
Draco turned away from Severus and shrugged. "How's Remus doing?"
"Fine," said Sirius. "Why, should he be anything else?"
"I dunno," Draco shrugged.
Sirius eyed him carefully.
"What?"
"I know you know something."
"What makes you think I know something?"
"You clearly do."
"Well what is it that I know?"
"You tell me."
They stared at each other.
The bell sounded across the castle grounds then and Sirius looked up at the staff table where most of the teachers were now getting to their feet.
"Come on, lunch's over, we'll be late," Sirius mumbled.
The next day, James had to go meet with Frank for something so the rest of the group decided to hang out outside after lunch since it was a surprisingly warm day (and probably the last for that year). But once they got to the spot by the tree and took a load off, Draco spotted two people sitting on a rock in the shade several feet away from them…two of the unlikeliest people, that is.
Sirius followed his eyes and frowned.
"Since when are those two talking again?"
Draco shook his head and stared at Lily, who seemed to be quite sad as she listened to Severus say whatever it was that he was saying to her.
"Just be glad James is not here," Remus muttered. "If he was, there'd surely be a scandal now and we don't need another one of those."
Draco made a face but said nothing. Ever since the Wilkes incident, it had definitely been hard to try and get back to normal with the Marauders.
"Let's agree not to tell him," said Peter, suddenly.
"Agreed," said Remus, Sirius and Draco together.
After that, Draco tried to find a time to talk to Severus when others wouldn't be around, or maybe even to Lily, but the marauders were with him every single hour so he decided it would have to wait.
On Friday, the boys awoke to surprise Sirius by throwing a bucket of water over him.
"What the hell!" he shouted, jumping from his bed and shivering from the cold.
"Happy birthday, mate," James told the soaked Sirius.
Sirius shook his head to get the water out of his ears and made a mixture of a groan and a laugh.
"It's one of our weirdest birthday traditions ever," he said.
"You got that right," Draco commented.
When James, Remus and Peter had told him the previous night, he almost didn't believe them. Almost.
"Whatever man, you know you're jealous because I'm now of age," Sirius said.
James made a face, but Draco didn't answer. He wasn't sure when it would be the right time to tell the boys that he was actually already 17. Maybe another day...
"Oh come on, Jamesy," said Sirius now, "Don't tell me it doesn't make you feel terrible! Your old pal Sirius can do magic outside of school and you can't!"
"No comment," James muttered.
The boys laughed.
Seeing as how it was Friday, the boys decided they couldn't celebrate until evening. But at about 3 o'clock that day, Professor McGonagall spoiled those plans. Or rather, Sirius and James did.
They had decided that it would be funny to play a joke on Martha Pollington, a Hufflepuff in their year and a loud-mouthed know-it-all by making her books talk back to her. Professor McGonagall decided that enough was enough.
"Detention, tonight, both of you," she declared.
James and Sirius stopped laughing.
"But professor!" cried James.
"It's my birthday today!" cried Sirius.
"Well then we'll celebrate with some lines, won't we?" said McGonagall.
Sirius groaned.
Once she'd left, Draco hissed, "Why the hell did you guys do it?!"
"Yeah, now you're gonna be stuck in detention for the night," said Remus. "Way to go."
"This sucks," Sirius spat.
"Yeah, so much for a big birthday celebration," James muttered.
Sirius' face lit up. "What'd you guys have in mind?"
"It doesn't matter now, it's over," said Draco.
Sirius groaned again.
At around dinnertime, Remus had his first muscle spasm and hurried off to the hospital right away, so that none of his classmates would notice. Draco, on the other hand, found that Remus didn't even try to hide it from him. Strange.
So, now that it was just Draco and Peter together at the Gryffindor table, Draco decided this night wouldn't be as fun as he'd hoped it would be. But just when he was prepared to do something about it and maybe suggest to Peter that they go to the common room and play cards or even Wizard's Chess, Professor Flitwick stopped by their table to remind Peter that he had an essay to finish.
"My office, right now, Mr. Pettigrew," the little professor told him. "This is an unacceptable late."
Peter sighed and followed the professor out of the Great Hall. Draco bit back a groan. Well this was just bloody perfect. Could this night get any duller?
He decided to go back to the common room himself and maybe read or something. But once he'd gotten as far as the Entrance Hall, he stopped at the sight of Severus lurking by a pillar, watching him. Draco took a deep breath and approached him.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," said Severus. "Where are your friends?"
"I dunno," shrugged Draco.
"Really?" said Severus. "You have no idea?"
Draco stared at him. "W-what's going on?"
"You really don't know where they are?"
"Sirius and James are in detention and Peter's upstairs with Flitwick," Draco mumbled. "What's up, Sev?"
"What about your friend Remus?" said Severus, who seemed to be in a foul mood.
"I…don't know…" Draco said. "What happened earlier with Lily?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh so who's lying now?" said Draco.
Severus looked up at him, his expression broken.
"What's going on, Sev?" Draco tried again.
"N-nothing!" cried Severus. "I just hate your friends, OKAY?!"
And he marched off into the dungeons, leaving Draco to stare after him.
What the hell was going on with everyone tonight?!
Draco returned to the common room alone and settled himself in his favourite armchair at the back near one of the windows from which he could clearly see the full moon up in the dark sky. The common room was fairly crowded and noisy, since no one was hanging out in the Entrance Hall tonight. Draco pulled out his copy of Hogwarts: A History and turned it to some random page, though he didn't feel like reading tonight. His mind was wandering back to his last lesson with Dumbledore…how crucial of a moment it had been. He'd actually allowed Draco to swear in front of him! This so was not the same Dumbledore that Draco had previously known. Actually, now that he thought about it, he hadn't even known that Dumbledore. Not really.
Getting bored now, Draco pulled out the Marauder's Map, which James had stashed in his bag after breakfast because Claybrook was passing by, and folded it out over his book.
I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good, he muttered, his wand pointing at the cover.
The ink spread out across the map like a spider web and Draco began to fold and unfold various corners and watched random students walking about the castle.
It was the strangest week of his life, yet sitting here and spying on people with this map seemed to be about the most normal thing he'd done in a long time. He sat there, wondering how it could be that his life was so different this time around. It was the same Hogwarts year, the same castle, and the same houses. Sure, it was some of the same teachers and it was definitely the same headmaster. But it was completely different on this side.
"Hey," said Lily, taking a seat on the chair next to Draco's.
"Hey," he said.
"You still haven't finished that?" Lily said, her eyes on his book under the map. "I see you reading it like all the time."
"Yeah, I guess not," he mumbled, folding up the map a little bit more but keeping it in his lap.
Lily smiled at him, and then her eyes landed on the window behind him and a sad expression crossed her face.
"Hey," said Draco, suddenly realizing that this was his golden moment. He shut the book and leaned forward. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah sure," said Lily, looking somewhat excited now.
"What were you and Severus talking about the other day?"
Her expression changed instantly. "H-he told you?"
"No, he didn't," said Draco. "He didn't tell me a thing."
"Well then—"
"I saw you two talking."
"Oh."
"So what were you talking about?"
Lily sighed.
"We decided it was time we talked about what's going on with us…I basically told him everything that I think of him and…he apologised…again…and again…"
"So what ended up happening?"
"I ended up telling him what kind of person I'd always reckoned he'd be," said Lily. "I told him that ever since we'd met I always imagined he'd turn out a lot like Remus or Peter are today.
"You did what?!" Draco hissed.
Lily stared at him. "What?"
"You compared him to my friends?! He hates them."
"Yeah well I don't really see why he can't just let it go, it's not like they bother him anymore," said Lily. "Anyway, the talk ended with us just deciding that we're not friends but we're also not enemies."
"So you've forgiven him then?" said Draco. "For what he called you last year?"
Lily cocked an eyebrow at him. "You say it like you were there."
Draco rolled his eyes and looked away from her. Her flirting was so neither here nor there and Draco really didn't have time for this nonsense. He eyed the map again, his lit wand slowly moving along the sides as he spied on the various labelled dots moving around like tiny ants. Now everything that Severus had said made sense. It was Lily's fault.
Wasn't it always? Draco thought.
"…so what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I judged you," Lily concluded.
Draco looked up at her, startled. He hadn't even noticed that she'd been talking.
"Oh," he said. "Right. Yeah. It's fine."
"So we're good then?"
"Yep. Totally good."
"Good!"
There was silence, and Draco's eyes wandered back to the map, evidently trying to ignore Lily in her attempt to have a conversation with him. He'd been feeling a lot more like his old self lately, especially with Regulus' request that they not talk for a bit, and so ignoring Lily seemed like the perfect way to start that equation.
But as she went on rambling about some prefect stuff now, Draco's eyes finally found something on the map that could make this night a little more interesting.
And perhaps dangerous.
The dot labeled Remus Lupin was seen moving around in the Shrieking Shack at Hogsmeade, and a little dot labelled Severus Snape seemed to be slowly making its way through the tunnel in the Whomping Willow, also headed for Hogsmeade.
Draco jumped from his seat, letting his copy of Hogwarts: A History drop to the floor with a loud thud. Several second-year girls nearby gasped and Lily looked up at Draco, alarmed.
"Whoa, is everything okay?" she said.
Draco didn't answer right away, but continued to watch the map…to watch Severus' dot making its way closer and closer to Remus. That couldn't be right…Severus would never…would he?
And then Draco remembered the story of how Severus had almost gotten hurt the previous year when Sirius had tricked him in hopes that Remus would attack him in his wolf state.
Oh he totally would.
Panicked, Draco folded and refolded the map until he spotted James' and Sirius' dots, stationed not far from McGonagall's. And Peter's dot was with Flitwick in his office. And then an even greater thought occurred to Draco. None of the boys had any way of knowing that this was happening right now. He was the only one that knew.
"Draco," said Lily, who'd gotten up and placed her hand on his arm. "What's going on?"
Draco looked up from the map and met her emerald green eyes.
"I've got to go," he whispered, and before she could answer, he was gone.
One of three things happens in the next chapter... but you get to guess what:
Either..
a) Draco finally confronts Remus about his wolf condition
b) Lily gets terribly hurt and Draco has to rescue her
or
c) Wilkes returns and is going to be very revengeful...too bad Remus is in his transformed state, eh?
Anyyyway, you won't have to wait long. Like previously mentioned, the special will be updated within the next two days. Hopefully.
