Guide: "Speech", Thoughts, ~letters and other written things
Beta: Destiny1195. All remaining errors are my own.
AN: Sorry for the delay. Getting the chapter beta-ed took longer than expected.
-~-~- Toujours pur, toujours du sang de Black -~-~-
-~-~-by Stillwatersaredeep-~-~-
-~-~- Chapter 7 -~-~-
Monday, 4th August 1997
When Ron entered the kitchen on Monday morning, he wanted nothing more than a good cup of freshly brewed coffee to wake him up. Last night had given him a scare. He'd been dreaming of enjoying a picnic with Hermione in the field behind the Burrow when he'd heard Harry's scream, the loud cry of pain invading his dream.
While he was happy that Harry was sleeping peacefully now, Ron was too anxious to go back to sleep. The second star that appeared on Harry's back had made the situation even more real to him. It was like the Tri-wizarding tournament again. Ron had had to see the dangerous situation Harry had found himself in first hand, before he could fully comprehend what was going on.
And Malfoy doesn't seem to be off any better, he thought as he poured himself a cup of the now ready coffee. At times, his screams seemed to have been even louder than Harry's and lasted longer...—No! I will not feel sorry for the ferret. Ever!
Sitting down in his usual spot at the kitchen table, Ron absently rolled out the Daily Prophet. Let's see what Voldemort has done now. Yesterday they announced the start of reassigning Wizengamot seats. What will it be today? Umbrigde being proclaimed the Head of the Magical Creature Department? Ron was about to swallow his first sip of coffee when his brain processed what his eyes were seeing. He coughed, spitting small droplets of coffee all over the newspaper and table. When he could finally breathe normally again, he rubbed his eyes. No, the Prophet is still saying what it said a minute ago.
~HARRY POTTER ENGAGED!~
"WHAT THE FUCK!" he angrily proclaimed.
"RON!" Hermione yelled out as she sprinted into the kitchen, wand at the ready. "What happened?" she asked when she saw no obvious danger.
"This happened!" Ron said and shoved the Prophet right into Hermione's face.
With wide eyes Hermione took in the title. Needing to sit down, she lowered herself into the nearest chair and read the whole article.
~HARRY POTTER ENGAGED!
An article by Rita Skeeter
My beloved readers, he has not held the title of Lord Black for more than four days and already he has gotten himself engaged. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, currently better known as Undesirable Number One, became Lord Black on his seventeenth birthday last Thursday. Faithful to the Black family motto 'Toujours Pur' the young Lord Black decided to take a pureblooded Black as his spouse. After the death of Harry's godfather Sirius Black, who is also responsible for Harry obtaining the Black Lordship, there is no wizard or witch with the name Black left. All three Black sisters are married and of their two offspring, Draco Malfoy is the only one of Black ancestry left who is single. And this is exactly the person Harry Potter intends to marry.
Unexpected, isn't it, my dear readers? The last persons Harry Potter has been romantically involved with were Cho Chang and Ginerva Weasley, both definitely female. But there is one thing that all three of Harry's love interests have in common: They play Seeker for their respective houses at Hogwarts.
The first to congratulate the couple on their engagement is none other than You-Know-Who, as you can see in the add below this article. He is also the one who revealed the planned wedding day as September 2nd, the day of the next new moon.
Yours Sincerely,
Rita Skeeter
P.S.: If you know how to contact either Harry Potter or Draco Malfoy, do not hesitate to forward the information to us at the Daily Prophet. Like many other wizards and witches we would like to send our well wishes directly to them.~
Hermione looked down at the add below the article, and indeed, it was proclaiming that none other than the Dark Lord congratulates Harry on his engagement and wishes him a sunny wedding day on the 2nd September.
"I think it is safe to say that Bellatrix informed the Dark Lord about the curse," Hermione said as she put the newspaper on the table.
"I expected as much," Lucius suddenly announced. Ron's and Hermione's scream had made him curious as to what was going on. After quickly getting dressed, he went down to investigate the situation, leaving his wife to watch over Draco in case they were in danger. "When we left the manor yesterday, the Dark Lord just arrived. Bella had called him because she'd important news to share with him."
"Couldn't you have told us this yesterday?" Ron asked.
"Narcissa already told you that Bellatrix is aware of the curse. It makes no difference when she remembered it."
"But why would he publicly announce the wedding?" Hermione wondered out loud. "Aside from asking the citizens to help look for Harry and Ma-Draco."
"Let me see the article first," Lucius said and read the paper himself. Once he was done, he had a good idea what was going on. "It seems to me that the Dark Lord currently believes that we're not in contact with Potter and that Potter is also unaware of the curse. The emphasis on Draco being the last unmarried individual of Black ancestry and mentioning the first half of the family motto should be enough to remind Andromeda of the curse. It looks like he wants her to inform Potter about the existence of the curse," he analysed the article.
"But why would He do it?" Ron asked. "Shouldn't he be happy that Harry will die soon without him having to lift a finger?"
"No, quite the contrary," Lucius said to the redhead. "The Dark Lord will not allow anyone but himself to kill Potter; family curses included."
"But he does not mention the curse," Ron stated, finally having read the article too.
"He does not want everyone to know about it, less the public claims that it was not him but the Black curse that finally killed Harry, if he should succeed," Hermione said.
Lucius confirmed her thesis and added, "The Order is another matter though. He will suspect that Andromeda will inform her daughter about it, who in turn will alert the Order."
"And while the Order is busy trying to save Harry by looking for Draco," Hermione went on.
"They'll have all the time in the world to finish the Ministry takeover while the Order is sufficiently distracted," Lucius finished.
"He's good," Ron had to admit.
"But it's too late," Hermione pacified him. "Andromeda already knows that we know about the curse and that Narcissa and Harry are in contact. She'll see no reason to inform the Order about it."
"If I may suggest that you still contact Andromeda and tell her to remain silent on the matter," Lucius said.
"But how to explain the article?" Hermione asked. "The Order will wonder about it."
"I have an idea," Ron announced. "Tell your wife to write a letter to her sister, telling her that your family has changed sides and is in hiding. It's essentially true and would explain why He is looking for you. As for Harry…. We can say that he tries to anger Harry into showing his face in public. It's well known that they do not get along. So we can tick it off as him trying to kill two birds with one stone."
"That's brilliant," Hermione praised. "This way, the Order will not attack the Malfoys right away if they should meet."
Since everyone was happy with the plan, Lucius went to his wife so that she could write the letter that Dobby would once again deliver, while Hermione wrote her own short letter to Andromeda which explained Ron's idea. With two letters, Andromeda could show Narcissa's letter to the Order if they demanded to see it for themselves without giving anyting away.
-~-~- Toujours pur, toujours du sang de Black -~-~-
Severus laid down today's Prophet with great satisfaction. He congratulated himself on a job well done. Since not all occupants of Grimmauld Place were complete dunderheads, they should be able to read between the lines of Skeeter's article to figure out what the Dark Lord did or didn't know about their current situation.
Too bad I can't see Potter's face, Severus thought. It must be a sight to behold when he reads the well wishes of the man who wants him dead on his upcoming marriage. I wonder how the Order will react to it…
-~-~- Toujours pur, toujours du sang de Black -~-~-
Because Ron read the newspaper around seven, Narcissa's and Hermione's letter reached Andromeda before she had read the Prophet herself or even had the time to get dressed. Forewarned, she did as Hermione, or rather Ron, had suggested and kept quiet about the Black curse. She did, however, show Narcissa's letter to her husband and daughter, telling them how relieved she was that at least one of her sisters had come to her senses.
When the excitement about the Malfoys' one eighty finally died down, Tonks was the first to open the newspaper. "What the fuck!"
"Language, Nymphadora," Andromeda admonished her daughter. Recently married or not, she was still her child.
"But they're writing that Harry is engaged!" she answered like a petulant child.
"When has the Prophet every written something that is true?" her father asked rhetorically, and looking at the article he added, "Especially when Skeeter's the author."
"Hmph," was all Tonks said before she read the full article. "That makes more sense," she finally announced. "Looks to me like they are looking for Draco already. But why they are proclaiming that he is marrying Harry, I've no idea. And the well-wishes from You-Know-Who? Clearly they are a joke!"
Taking the newspaper from his daughter, Edward quickly skimmed the article. "Maybe it's a pore attempt to confuse the Order?" he offered as a possible explanation of Harry's involvement in the marriage.
Andromeda smiled into her cup of tea. Looks like they are doing the work for me.
And indeed it was her daughter who went over to the Weasleys to explain the front article for them. She took Narcissa's letter with her and when both the twins and Ginny assured the rest of the family that Harry would certainly be mad about Skeeter claiming that he was marrying Draco, the article was treated as nothing more than a more or less desperate attempt by Voldemort to lure Harry out while letting the public look for Harry and the Malfoy's at the same time.
Ginny though, could not help but wonder. Harry and I will get back together, won't we? He would never consider marrying someone else, least of all a man and even less so Malfoy.
The twins, on the other hand, were taking the article and the add as a prompt to create an add of their own. Couldn't let such a good opening go to waste, could they?.
-~-~- Toujours pur, toujours du sang de Black -~-~-
"Shall we burn the paper before Harry wakes up?" Hermione asked.
"Nay, since they are getting married," Ron still could not fully believe that this was happening, "he should not blow up about it. And if we tell him what we found out about You-Know-Who's plans first, I don't think he'll even be interested in reading it himself."
"Does he expect an invitation?" Harry sarcastically asked once Hermione and Ron finished their report.
"Obviously," Hermione dead-paned. And all three Gryffindors laughed.
Lucius caught his tongue just in time before 'Sorry, you killed my owl. Can't send an invitation without her, can I?' escaped his lips. That certainly would not have gone over well.
Draco did not say anything at all, but wondered why the Dark Lord had chosen a marriage announcement. Was Severus somehow involved? He knew how Hermione communicated with us and the article gives us a good idea about the Dark Lord's plans without raising suspicions, Draco wondered. But what mattered most to him was Weasley's idea to have his mother write a letter to Andromeda. This would certainly come in handy at a later point.
Harry had to agree with Skeeter, the one thing all of his previous love interests and Draco had in common was that they played as Seeker for their respective house team. His traitorous mind had come to the same conclusion yesterday. But still he loved Ginny. However, if he wanted to live, he would have to learn how to tolerate Malfoy. And if he wanted at least a small chance at a happy family of his own, he would need to more than tolerate the blond. Calling each other by their first names would be a small step towards this goal. Both the research on a possible divorce and the events of last night had made it clear for him that there would be no 'Harry and Ginny' in the future. Not as a romantic couple anyway.
"Do you have some moments?" Harry asked Draco. He felt like all the weight of the world was on his shoulders. And maybe it was. Everyone and their mother were expecting him to vanquish Voldemort.
"What for, Potter?" Draco asked. The Unbreakable Vow Harry had sworn the day before gave him new self-confidence while the combined pain from yesterday's call and the appearance of the second star during the night had made him grumpy.
"To talk," Harry said. "And maybe you could start calling me Harry. We're getting married after all."
"Call me Draco then," the blond answered and followed Harry upstairs.
-~-~- Toujours pur, toujours du sang de Black -~-~-
AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. In the next one Harry and Draco will have a nice chat to clean out the air between them. The question is will they be able to talk with words alone or will a fist or two be involved? What do you think?