A/N: I'm sad more people don't like this story. It's one of my favorites. I might end up having to completely cut out the parts about Mnemosyne and repost it as just a Harry/Draco fic, because I think she's turning a lot of people off. Thoughts? Enjoy the new chapter. Adios!
-CatJetRat
Chapter 10
Seamus
HBP
Normal POV
Mnemosyne heard about Dumbledore's death on accident. She had, as Dumbledore had suggested, been assisting the Order, though mostly anonymously. However, his idea of "help" seemed to mean putting her in the most dangerous situations possible. She was about to leave a Death Eater meeting site, which had been boringly empty, when several Death Eaters Apparated to the scene. A moment later, Lord Voldemort did so too.
"Well?" he said in his cold, high-pitched voice.
One of the Death Eaters stepped forward and threw his cloak back. Severus Snape's face came into view, sallow skin pale, hair greasier than normal. "It is done, my lord," he said respectfully. Only Mnemosyne caught the tremor in his voice.
"By whom?"
Severus hesitated.
Voldemort laughed cruelly. "Do not be coy, Severus. Tell the truth. Who killed Albus Dumbledore?"
Mnemosyne inhaled sharply. Though she had known to expect it, it still hit her like a blow.
"I did," Severus said softly. "I killed him."
The Death Eaters all cheered. "Silence!" Severus snarled. They fell silent almost immediately.
"Why, Severus," Voldemort said with an icy smile. "You command almost the same respect that I do. But I am curious. You were not assigned with that particular task."
"My lord, I can explain," Severus said quickly.
"But I do not want you to explain," Voldemort said coldly. "I want the young Malfoy to explain. Tell me, Draco," he said, now addressing a so far unnoticed smaller figure standing next to Severus, "Why did you not finish him? It was your glory, and, after all, you were the one who managed to fix the Vanishing Cabinet, which I applaud you for. Why did you not take the final glory?"
Draco pushed back his hood with shaky hands. His face was even paler than Severus's, and his eyes were bloodshot. "My lord," he began, and though his hands were shaking, his tone was even. "Dumbledore was behaving in a strange fashion. I worried that he might have tricks up his sleeve that I was unaware of. I thought it best to wait for back up, but when they got there, they were little more than a distraction, as they began to converse with Dumbledore. Then Professor Snape arrived, and killed him first."
Voldemort smiled. "That's almost a convincing lie, Draco. But I know the truth. I don't need to see into your mind to know that you were unable to bring yourself to kill another human being. It doesn't surprise me. You are far too soft for that, and indeed, I have been far too soft with you. Tonight, that ends."
The fear in Draco's eyes nearly broke Mnemosyne's promise to not interfere with the goings on of Death Eaters. But she remained resolute, though she was furious. Voldemort rolled up his sleeves, and Mnemosyne knew what was coming, though she didn't want to.
"Crucio," Voldemort cried, and Draco was thrown to the ground by the force of the curse. His screams tore through the night countryside as he endured the Torture Curse for the first time in his life. Mnemosyne closed her eyes and left. She knew that Voldemort wouldn't kill Draco. Just the last part of him that was still a child.
DH
"Where are we going?" Harry said, more than a little exasperated. He and Seamus had been walking for more than fifteen minutes, and with no visible end in sight, Harry was starting to grow cranky.
"Just a few more…ah. Here." Seamus stopped suddenly, and Harry collided with him.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled, stepping away quickly, suddenly embarrassed.
"It's okay," Seamus said, smiling at him, and Harry's chest constricted in pain again. He was starting to worry that something might be wrong with his heart.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, looking around. They were in an empty corridor. Only one painting was on the wall, and there were no rooms to be seen.
"Shh," Seamus said, pressing a finger to Harry's lips. He really needed to see Madam Pomfrey about that chest issue. Seamus turned to the painting, which contained seven ugly gnomes and a pretty albino lady.
"Queen's apple," Seamus whispered.
"Why would you mention such a horrid thing?" the albino lady demanded, and then the painting melted away to reveal a wooden door.
"Come on," Seamus laughed, and, taking Harry's hand, led him through the door.
There was darkness at first, and then a torch was lit, and the room was bathed in light. Harry's eyes widened as he took in the sight around. He had stepped into paradise. They were in a garden filled with rosebushes and various beautiful, colorful flowers, and an apple tree growing on the edge of a blue, lovely stream. Little fairies slept on leaves and in flowers, or twittered around, laughing and playing. Sunlight filtered down through trees that looked to be hundreds, if not thousands of years old, and there were patches of sunlight on what appeared and proved to be, after Harry sank down upon it, the softest grass in the world.
"I don't understand," Harry whispered. "It's night time, and winter, and we're indoors. Where are we?"
"Think the Room of Requirement," Seamus said, sinking down next to Harry. "It's kind of like that, but rather, it shows the people who enter it their ideal world. This is mine."
"It's incredible," Harry said. "I've never seen a more beautiful place." He laughed softly. "It's full of fairies."
"Yes," Seamus said, and when Harry turned to look at him, his face was suddenly serious. "Yes, it is. Does that bother you?"
Harry frowned slightly. "No. No, it really doesn't. Should it?"
"I would hope not," Seamus grinned. "Otherwise we might have a problem."
"What do you mean?" Harry's mouth went dry suddenly, and for some reason his heart was beating very quickly.
"Do you not know?" Seamus smiled again. "Here. I'll help clear it up for you."
"What—" But Seamus was putting his finger over Harry's mouth again, and Harry couldn't have spoken if he wanted to. Seamus ran a finger down Harry's jaw line and gripped his chin.
"Don't worry so much, Harry," Seamus whispered, and he closed the remaining distance between their lips. At that, Harry's heart exploded within his chest, and he knew he wouldn't be seeing Madam Pomfrey about any heart condition.
Nothing could have prepared him for the kiss he was receiving. No chaste pecks with Cho or eager smacks from Ginny compared to this, this, exploration of his mouth Seamus was conducting gently. Harry didn't know what to do, how to handle what was happening, and, after a moment, began kissing back as if his life depended upon it, terrified that if he stopped for a moment, the dream would end.
Seamus ran his fingers lightly down Harry's arms, raising his hairs as goose bumps erupted along the skin that was touched. After another few moments of kissing, Seamus gently and kindly broke the kiss, resting his forehead against Harry's.
Harry's hands were shaking, and Seamus gently held them within his, keeping Harry grounded for a moment.
"I—don't—" Harry stammered, but Seamus hushed him again.
"I told you, Harry," he said with another brilliant smile. "Don't worry so much."
Then they were kissing again, and Harry was lost in pleasure, and for once, took someone's advice, and stopped worrying so much.
Summer
Mnemosyne watched Draco Malfoy be continually tortured and tested for weels before she finally broke. Though she was by no means pleased at Dumbledore's death, it was still his fault that Draco was in this predicament in the first place, and she would not stand to watch someone she loved dearly being tormented for no good reason. At the beginning of August, after a full night of watching him being tortured, she went to him.
He lay curled in his bed, alone and wandless, staring at the wall. She cloaked herself in darkness and sat down beside him. He jerked up almost immediately.
"Who's there?" he asked, voice cracking. It wouldn't be the first time the Dark Lord had tortured him in his sleep.
"Shh, Draco, I'm with the Order of the Phoenix," Mnemosyne whispered. "I've come to offer you sanctuary, if you so wish."
Draco blinked slowly at her, the terror fading from his eyes to be replaced by suspicion. "No. No, I'm faithful to the Dark Lord."
"Don't be an idiot. I see how he tortures you. I'm a spy. Now come with me. I know you don't want to be here, and you don't have to pretend to be loyal to him in front of me. I'm not his bitch." Mnemosyne's patience was fading, and if the stupid boy wouldn't come willingly, she would simply drag him to Grimmauld Place and show him that she was telling the truth.
Draco looked around nervously. "Even if you're telling the truth—which I don't think you are—it doesn't matter. I can't come with you. I've already taken the Dark Mark. It has curses on it you can't even imagine. The Dark Lord would find me, kill everyone I care about in front of me, and torture me to death. I'm starting to get on his good side again. I can't go with you."
"Stupid boy!" Mnemosyne spat. "Do the lives of the innocent people he kills mean anything to you? If you stay here, you will eventually have to do what you could not do to Dumbledore, and it won't be an old man you're required to kill this time, either. He'll make you rape women and murder their children in front of them all in the name of purification. And if you don't he'll kill you without a second thought. Is that the life you want?"
"It's not about what I want!" The look in Draco's eyes went from scared to desperate. "I have to protect my family!"
"Do you remember what Dumbledore said at all? You can't betray the Dark Lord if you're already dead. Come with me. We can de-curse the Dark Mark and make it look like you were murdered by members of the Order of the Phoenix. You'll be a hero to the Death Eaters and an ally to us. You haven't hurt anyone yet. Draco, it's not too late. Please, please come with me."
Draco stared up at Mnemosyne, and, for some strange reason, trusted her. "Okay," he said hoarsely. "Okay. I'll come with you."
"Good boy," Mnemosyne smiled, and wrapped her arms around her old friend, who remembered nothing of her, and took him away into safety.
DH
P-
I can't believe you bought me firewhiskey. Don't tell Granger, though. I'm sure she'd disapprove. I do appreciate it, though getting drunk alone isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. There's nothing for me to do that I can regret the next day, no loose women to take advantage of.
Athena's growing so quickly. I've been trying to teach her some tricks, but cats are far too clever, opportunistic creatures to do things simply because it makes their masters happy.
Nothing new about Horcruxes, sadly, the same old things. Easy to destroy, hard to find, contain half of whatever's left of a wizard's soul, blah, blah, blah. Nothing useful, and honestly, I can't say that I think there's anything left to discover about them. I think the best thing you can do now is to just start looking for the Horcruxes themselves.
Happy Halloween. Hope the rest of your term is going well.
-D
M-
Too late. Hermione was with me when I was wrapping up the bottle of firewhiskey, and you're right. She wasn't terribly happy, but I didn't really care too much. I'm sorry that you didn't like getting drunk alone though. It makes sense. I probably wouldn't have too much fun getting drunk alone either. And you're right, half the fun is in the stuff you regret the next day, though you're alone with the thing about the loose women.
I'm glad to hear Athena's doing well. Yeah, the annoying thing about cats is that, unlike dogs, if they don't see a treat in your hand, they'll just stare at you like you're an idiot if you ask them to sit.
I think you're probably right about the Horcruxes, but as long as I'm stuck in school I can't exactly go looking for them, and honestly, I'm not entirely sure where I would even start.
Hope you're doing okay in isolation. I'm not sure if you know what a television is, but I would recommend asking Professor McGonagall for one. They can be quite comforting. Computers are also pretty cool, as are video games, though that might be stretching it a bit with Muggle items.
Happy Halloween to you too.
-H
Harry finished writing and rolled up the letter, tossing it to Hermione, who caught it expertly and unrolled it, looking at its contents. It vanished from her hands.
"You know, I wonder what happens if the letter gets to Malfoy when his hands are full," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Or if he's in the shower?"
Harry rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "So I guess you're going with Ron to the Halloween party?"
"Aren't we all going together?" Hermione said absently, looking back down at her Transfiguration essay.
"Well, yeah," Harry said awkwardly. "But isn't it kind of a date thing?"
Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyelids. "I guess."
"So are you going with him?"
"He asked me," Hermione said, in an unresponsive tone. "But I don't…I'm not really sure if I want to go with him. Harry…." She stopped, and looked down at her hands.
Harry frowned. "What's wrong, Hermione?"
She sighed again. "Nothing. I just don't feel that way about Ron."
Harry grimaced. "Did you tell him that?"
"No, I said I'd think about it, but I think he just assumes that I'm playing hard to get," Hermione said in annoyance. She shook her head. "Whatever. Are you going with someone?"
Harry paused and reflected upon a conversation he had had earlier that day.
******************
Flashback
******************
"So the Halloween party's coming up," Harry said. He and Seamus were sitting side by side on the grounds during lunch, watching the first years play hide-and-seek.
"Yeah," Seamus said, still watching the first years.
"It's kind of a date thing, isn't it?"
Seamus looked up at Harry and grinned. "Do you want it to be a date thing, Harry?"
"I-I don't know," Harry stammered. "I just—I'm new to this whole thing."
"Being gay?" Seamus asked empathetically.
"Dating," Harry muttered. "And I'm not even sure that I'm gay. I might be bi."
Seamus snorted. "Okay, Harry."
"And whether I am or not, I don't know if I'm ready for the whole school to know that I'm dating a…a guy," Harry finished.
"You brought it up," Seamus said, turning his gaze back to the first years. "I wasn't going to press the matter."
"You weren't?" Harry said hopefully.
Seamus laughed. "Merlin, no. You're still accepting who you are for yourself. I wasn't expecting you to be ready for the whole school, not to mention the rest of the world, to start accepting you as well."
"I don't know if the world will ever accept me for who I am," Harry sighed.
"Their loss," Seamus smiled.
Harry stared at him, fear swelling in his stomach, before he said, "I want to go with you. If you want to go with me. I mean, do you?"
Seamus's smile widened. "I would love to go with you to the Halloween party.'
*****************
End Flashback
*****************
Harry grinned. "Yes, yes I am."
"Who, then?" Hermione said, looking interested suddenly.
"You'll just have to wait and see."
A/N: I will finish this fic if it takes me ten years to do it! Lol. Hopefully not that long. I hope you guys are enjoying this. I know I am. But do tell me your thoughts about reposting this and doing something other than my uber-awesome OC. 'Cause I like her. But whatever. I know she bugs people. And you peeps best review! Adios!
-CatJetRat