A/N: Right, totally forgot I had a story going, which I guess tells you how much work I've gotten done on it recently, yeah? Oh well, I'm not convinced anyone is actually reading this anyway so whatever. If you haven't figured it out yet, the only character that I own is Ren, I'm just borrowing the rest.
Chapter Three
The following week passed rather slowly, nothing particularly exciting happened, Ron taught me to play chess and began to accept me little by little, I summoned my house elf, Matty and sent her to check on the house. Matty had been with me since Hermione's SPEW campaign began, I tricked the headmistress into freeing her only to discover that she had no desire to be free. Turns out house elves can't be rebound to the same person so I ended up with her, not that she's ever given me reason to be upset about that. Our personalities are a lot alike and she's never backed down from a fight, in fact she's the only being I know that can out stubborn me. During our time together she's taught me about house elf culture, it seems very odd to me but they actually enjoy serving wizards, and believe that we need them to take care of us but in some cases that's actually rather true. Ten minutes after I sent Matty to the Estate she returned with twelve young elves in tow, and promptly informed me that they would be under her direction preparing the Estate for visitors. Truthfully this didn't surprise me because I already knew that house elves determine their ranking by age and Matty was clearly at least twice the age of the next eldest, still Hermione seemed quite affronted. However she managed to remain silent about it long enough for us to learn their names, Tilly, Lexi, Rex, Mic, Bonni, Zoe, Gabe, Yue, Leo, Sky, Zekey, and Lini. Only instants after they finished the list, bowed and popped back out Hermione started her rant. Figuring it was best not to let her build up any steam I cut her off and immediately launched into an explanation of Elf Culture as I knew it, she still didn't seem happy when I finished but she promised not to try to free any of my elves, so what more can you ask for.
Truthfully it came as no surprise that I was thrilled when my birthday rolled around, we finally had a busy day, Mr. Weasley was taking Harry, Ron and I to take our apparition tests, and then we had a trip to Gringotts so Harry and I could gain access to our full inheritances. Poor Ron nearly keeled over when he realized just how much money each of us possessed. I was given the keys to my family estate and Harry was given the option to repair his family home at Godric's Hollow, but opted to wait until after the War, as he couldn't stay there anyway. Unfortunately, midway through discussing Harry's accounts I had another vision.
A cloaked figure stumbled up the hill toward Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he was moving slowly and erratically, either drunk or injured. As the figure neared the gate it open and Minerva McGonagall strode out to meet him. He fell to his knees pushing back his hood and revealing blonde hair and silvery eyes. The teacher's lips pressed together as she surveyed the young man before her. "Draco Malfoy, you are under arrest you are to be turned over to the Ministry of Magic, and imprisoned in Azkaban until you can be tried before the Wizengamot." The boy attempted to protest but his former professor cast a stunning spell at him and he slumped to the ground.
Time jumped forward, the same boy, though he appeared years older, stood wasted and dead eyed before the Wizengamot, the chairperson pronounced him guilty and a dementor was lead into perform the kiss. He accepted his fate, to lost in his own worst memories to care about the imminent loss of his soul. As the Dementor leaned down to perform the Kiss, a woman screamed and a cloud of black hair covered her face as she fainted into the arms of the red-haired man standing next to her.
Time skipped again, this time in the opposite direction, a woman stood holding a young child in her arms, before a grave, tears streaming down here face, the child looked lost unsure how to responded to the grief surrounding her. A younger Minerva McGonagall approached the grieving pair, and paused next to them staring at the grave. "Thomas was a good man, I owe him my life several times over, if there is ever anything I can do for little Rendylin all you have to do is ask." And with that she walked away.
When the vision ended everyone in the office was staring at me, apparently I'd zoned out longer than usual, in my defense it was actually three visions not one, but still they all seemed rather concerned. I turned to Mr. Weasley hoping to get the answers I needed while everyone was still confused, "McGonagall, Where can I find Minerva McGonagall?"
He stared at me for a moment, unsure what to do before answering, "She should be in the heads office at Hogwarts."
I jumped up, pulling Harry with me, "Harry and I have to go to Hogwarts; we'll meet you later at the Burrow." I apparated us both out, leaving Mr. Weasley and Ron to finish up with the Goblins, we arrived at the edge of the wards still a long way from the main gates. I could almost feel the confusion and curiosity rolling off of Harry, as we began to walk toward the castle, but to his credit he did not say anything. I sighed might as well try to get him on my side now, rather than convince them both at the same time. "Harry, do you remember that first breakfast? The day that you all arrived at the Burrow, I told you all that I had visions of two people, from the time I was a very young child, but I never told any of you who he was?"
"Yeah, that rings a bell."
"Well the other guy, he's in trouble, or at least he will be very soon, so were going to get him out of it, but its probably not going to go over very well, with him or anyone else."
"So, what you're saying, is that we are going to piss off McGonagall, to help some one who is going to be pissed off that we're helping them? Did I miss anything?"
"Yes, I think its going to piss you off as well, I know that it will piss Ron off, and probably other people, I just don't even want to think about the number of people who are going to be pissed about it."
"So, why bother?"
"Because in the end it could make all the difference, because it's the right thing to do, because no one can be a good person if they never get the chance to try."
"Alright, I'm with you, so who are we saving?"
I stopped and turned to face him, terrified that he would change his mind "Its Draco Malfoy."
He looked at me, looked deep into my eyes searching for something, he seemed to find it, "You believe that he will side with us?"
"Yeah, I believe so."
"Then we'll go with that, see what happens."
"Thanks." We finished the rest of the walk in silence; I was amazed at my luck, before our conversation I was certain that he wouldn't accept what I had to say. Having friends was certainly turning in to a strange experience. Once we reached the front door I allowed Harry to take over and lead me toward the headmistress's office.
We stopped in front of a stone gargoyle and froze, "I don't know the password."
I blinked at him several times, "Well shit." We continued to stare at the gargoyle, "Tell me about the Professor."
He looked at me strangely, "I don't really know much about her, she's a Gryffindor, and a cat animagus, she teaches transfiguration, that's all I know."
I started pacing, "Okay, let's think, cats…ummm…lions…kitty litter…catnip…ball of yarn…no…come on…Holy…Hairball!" The gargoyle swung open, we glanced at each other, turned to the now open passageway and rushed up the stairs. When we reached the top, we paused at the door and knocked, a startled voice told us to enter. Harry glanced at the walls as we entered the office looking for Dumbledore's portrait, it wasn't there, according to Hogwarts: A History it wouldn't be there for another two years.
The Headmistress seemed startled to see us, but quickly rose to greet her guests. "Hello, Harry what a surprise to see you here, and who is this?"
I stepped forward and offered her my hand, "Hello Professor, my name is Rendylin Brooks."
She started, "Great Merlin, Thomas' girl?" I nodded, "What can I do for you?"
"You told my mother once, that if I ever needed anything all we had to do was ask, I'm here to collect that favor."
She stared at me and then looked to Harry, "You certainly don't beat around the bush do you?" I shook my head. "I'll see what I can do, what do you need?"
"In about a week, Draco Malfoy will show up at the gates of the school, instead of turning him over to the Ministry, I want you to bring him to me, at my family's estate."
"I can't do that, I won't do that, even if I don't agree with the Ministry I won't break the law by letting a known Death Eater escape."
"There's no proof that he's committed any crimes, and I'm not asking you to let him go, I'm asking you to let me keep him at my house, give me three months, if you still think that he should be in Azkaban then I'll let you take him."
"No, I can't do that."
"You owed my father multiple life debts, this hardly compares to that, and it's the only favor I'll ever ask of you."
"My answer is no."
Harry spoke for the first time since entering the office, "Professor, you know that I've never liked Draco Malfoy, but I was on the Astronomy tower that night with him and Professor Dumbledore, he's not a killer. Dumbledore wanted him to have a second chance."
We watched the conflict as emotions battled for dominance; finally she gave a defeated sigh, "Who else knows about this?"
I took over the conversation again, "Every one who knows is in this room. The Weasley's probably know something is going on but don't know what it is."
"I'll do it, but I have a few conditions."
"Very well, let's hear them."
"One, for as long as you can keep it quiet, no one finds out who I bring to you. Two, I want to inspect the area you plan to keep him in to make sure he won't be able to get away. Three, this is it, no more favors."
"Done," I offered her my hand for a second time, she took my hand after a moments hesitation, and we sealed our deal.
Several hours later Harry and I returned to the Burrow, we agreed to tell the Weasleys that McGonagall would be bringing someone to stay in my house with us but not to tell them who and why. Harry seemed to be accepting the situation well but I made a mental note to try to talk to him about the situation later. The Weasleys accepted the situation with minimal questions, largely because Molly, as she had asked us to call her at dinner that night, refused to allow them to ask any questions, that didn't convince me that Ron, Hermione and Ginny wouldn't begin asking questions the minute that they got us alone. I figured that I would head them off if I could, Harry had done enough for me for one day, well really more like enough for a lifetime but can't win 'em all.
Sure enough the instant dinner was over they shooed us up the stairs into Ron's bedroom, which was the farthest from the kitchen where Molly was doing dishes. I jumped in before they could start, "Okay, I know that you all want to know exactly what our impromptu trip to Hogwarts was about but we can't tell you all of it, so here's what I'll do, I'll tell you everything I can know and when its okay for you to know the rest, I'll answer any questions that you have. That work for all of you?"
They all grumbled but agreed, I guess their curiosity won out. "Right, so this whole thing is really my deal, I needed Harry's help so I had to bring him in on it but I would have avoided it if I could have. Basically I had a series of visions today, the first two were about the guy, other than Harry, that I used to have visions of, they showed him being captured and then later being Kissed by Dementors. Up to this point he hasn't really done anything to deserve this fate, but without help he most likely will, unless he gets his soul sucked out of course. Hopefully I'll be able to help him turn his life around before that happens, because he has tremendous potential for good, he's just never had the chance to tap into that potential."
Ginny scowled, "What exactly is this guy doing that gets him caught?"
"Surrendering to McGonagall, unfortunately in the vision she never bothered to find out what he was doing before she stunned him."
Ron snorted, "I don't really get why we want to help this guy."
"Because with out his help, two people in this room will die."
Ron turned red, a really spectacular shaded of it, "Okay good reason, Harry do you think, that he can be convinced to help us."
Harry bit his lip, and turned his eyes away from me, "I have faith in Ren, but I'm not entirely certain this will work."
Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her spot on the floor, "Professor McGonagall just agreed to this? I mean that's a little odd, don't you think?"
Now it was my turn to be uncomfortable. "She…ummm…she didn't just agree there might have been some extortion involve."
Harry broke in, "I won't say it was so much extortion, as a massive guilt trip."
"Fine, I guilted her into it, with a bit of help from Harry. And its on something of a trial basis, I have three months to convince her that he's a changed man or she gets to pack him off to prison."
We were silent for several seconds until Ginny whispered, "You want to make a former Death Eater do a one-eighty in only three months."
"It's not really a complete one-eighty, he just needs to know its okay to be true to himself, that's frowned upon where he comes from. Look, he's a good guy, he doesn't need to change, he just needs to realize it for himself."
"What do you lose of she sends him to Azkaban?'
"Three months of trying to help him."
Harry grunted indignantly, "And an open ended favor from McGonagall."
I sent an evil glare his way, "Don't be ridiculous, I've already lost that, and I wouldn't have given it up, if I thought the effort was wasted."
"I'm not so certain that you know him as well as you think you do."
"I know him as well as I know you, and I know that in a lot of ways your life has been a picnic compared to his, and I'll thank you to consider that, you don't know him."
"But unlike you I've actually come face to face with him."
"Whoppty-freakin-doo. Harry I know that you believe people should be given a chance after all, does one successful dark spell make a wizard dark?" Okay it was a low blow and I knew it, but I couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction as I stormed out of the room. I mean, who exactly did he think he was, I knew more about Draco then he did, I understood why Draco behaved the way he did but did Harry care oh no, all he trusted was what he could see, not what I could see. Uh-oh moment of self realization, yuck, so I am a major self-absorbed bitch, I think I have some apologies to make. In answer to my thoughts there was a soft tap on my door, "Come in."
Harry stooped in the doorway uncertainly, "That was a little harsh, don't you think?"
I ducked my head too ashamed to look at him, "Yeah, it was I had no right to say that, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry for blowing this out of proportion; I understand why you don't trust him, why you're hesitant to give him a chance."
"That's okay, but I don't really understand why you believe so strongly in him."
"Harry, sometimes I forget just how much knowing the future, even a possible one changes things but I have to trust him, because I can't even begin to contemplate the consequences of not begin able to trust him."
"What's that mean exactly?"
"I can't tell you that now, it could change everything."
He laughed, "you're not very good at the whole keeping the future to yourself thing are you?'
"I've never had to be, I never had anyone to tell before, and that never really bothered me but in the last week getting to know you guys seems to be changing all that. Its like I have the chance to be me for the first time, because for the first time there are people who care who I am. Does that make any sense?"
"You're saying it's the same for him, huh? He never could be the person that he wanted to be, because no one cared?"
"Not quite, his parents cared that he be like them, his life hasn't been easy, Harry, his parents hurt him more than the Dursleys ever hurt you, maybe more than my step dad hurt me. I have to give him a chance because I need to believe that he can be the person he's buried for so many years."
"Alright, I'll do what I can to accept that."
"That's all that I can ask for."
"There's more to this than you're saying. I want to know the truth."
So I told him everything, well, maybe not quite everything.
