Chapter 8: Loyalties

Woot! Reviews! Seriously, I need these, people. By the dozens!

Aliesha: I am so embarassed that I didn't catch that! Anyway, the previous chapters will be modified to include Buffy's mild wiggins over Draco. I'm starting to think I need a beta....As for the Sn-uffy, if enough people REVIEW and request it, I'll put it in.

Dannii: Thank you! If you're a fan of the H\D ship, you're going to love this next little bit, I promise.

Dawnmescher: Mwahaha! Another victim! XD And thanks a lot. This is my first major foray into drama and I wasn't sure if I was sounding good or not.

ennui2: Don't worry, her reaction will be...interesting. As with anything to do with Dru, expect craziness. Also, I'm glad this isn't turning into one long, unmitigated angst fest. I try to put in subtle humour, a la Joss, so things don't get too heavy. *watches as the "Hogwart's Version of Once More With Feeling" plot bunny hippity hops on by*

Just a few warnings:

1. I still own nothing. If you think I do, you must enjoy all that time with Gilderoy Lockheart.

2. This chapter contains mild to moderate slash. Love it or leave this fic.

3. Things are going to get really bad, really fast for Ginny once she leaves Hogwart's, so I'm toying with the idea of writing a Bloopers chapter, just so things don't get too heavy. Review with your thoughts!

4. This chapter contains homophobic slurs and few swears. Just wince and move on.

Harry watched with trepidation as the infirmary door shut. In spite of Draco's revelation, he still reacted to the other boy with apprehension, and was still partially waiting for him to sneer and make another snide comment on Harry's appearance\parents\sexuality. So, he blinked hard twice and forced himself to face his former enemy. "So what happens now?" he asked cautiously.

            Draco sighed. "I don't know, P - Harry. It's going to take a little time to get used to calling you by your first name - if you'll let me, of course. You don't have to. I'm not expecting over-night changes..." He blushed and ducked his head. "Look at me, first free thoughts in years, and they're all just running right out of my mouth." The boys smiled nervously.

            Harry looked down to where his fingers were unconsciously fiddling with Draco's blanket. "You can call me Harry if I can call you Draco." the Gryffindor offered. "Draco. Dra-co. It feels weird to me, too."

            The blonde smiled. "Thanks. I mean, for everything." he began quietly. "I know it can't be said enough but I'm so sorry about everything I've said, done, and or thought for the past five years."

            Harry continued fiddling with the covers. "I know, and it's alright, I guess." He looked back up at Draco. "But there's something I have to say. This plan of yours, sending Ginny to Voldemort as a double agent, I'm sorry but I don't like it." Harry crossed his arms. "What information could she find out that could be useful to us? I don't think the key to bringing down the Dark Lord is finding out what he wears to bed." He paused, and made a face at the mental image of how Ginny would find that out.

            Draco sighed, exasperated. "Well, then, if my plan is so flawed, then what brilliant schemes have you come up with?" He crossed his arms and looked expectantly at Harry, who was staring down at his lap.

            "I don't know." He murmured. "These situations usually come to me. I honestly don't have a plan for this. For now."

            Draco shrugged. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Ginny hasn't agreed to anything and you know Dumbledore won't force the issue. Nothing is for sure." He smiled and looked searchingly at Harry. "So what do you think will happen to me now?"

            Harry shrugged. "I guess you'll go back to your dorms, resume the life of Slytherin, only this time, you'll be in control of what you say and do. Sound good?"

            "You've got to be kidding me." Draco moaned. "I can't go back there; they'll kill me!" He glared at the foot of the bed. "It was bad enough when they found out I was gay, bloody bunch of homophobes. What?"

            Harry's eyes took on saucer-like proportions. "You're gay?" he whispered.

            "Oh right, the Muggle thing. It's a sin, it's immoral, blah blah blah." He sneered at Harry. "I know more about Muggle beliefs than people think. I know what you must have been raised to think. That it's - "

            Harry cut him off, holding up his hand. "No no. God, no. I could never believe that." he said, and breathed deeply. "I'm kinda gay too." Harry chuckled wryly. "Look, I'm not what you'd call introspective. It took a whole disaster of a relationship with Cho Chang to wake me up." He shook his head. "No one knows, ok? Not even Ron and Hermoine, and it's going to stay that way."

            Draco was confused. "But I thought you three were bosom buddies until the end of time and all that sap. Why not tell them something as important as this?"

            Harry frowned. "Ron." he said quietly. When Draco said nothing, he elaborated. "Ron actually knows about it, even if he can't remember. He heard me...um...say a guy's name at a sort of inopportune moment one night and he completely lost it." He looked guiltily down at his shoes. "So I was forced to take a page from Gilderoy Lockheart's book and Obliviate him." His eyes closed and he exhaled roughly. "He was just so disgusted. The look on his face - I'll never forget it."

            Draco smiled sadly, and he touched Harry's hand lightly. "I know how it feels." He let go and sank back against the headboards. "I guess I must have said something during one of my black-outs and the whole common room just stopped. Of course, I couldn't remember but Pansy was more than happy to fill me in on what I'd admitted to. Soon, the whole common room was one big wave of "faggot" or "pansy-ass"." Draco's eyes narrowed. "I had to threaten them with the Killing Curse just to get them to shut up. Then I snuck some memory potion out of class and slipped some into all of their drinks at the party a few days later." Draco smirked. "Some of them couldn't even remember their own names the next morning, and anyone I didn't get with that, I used stolen Veritaseum to get blackmail material out of." He turned to Harry, who was listening with grim recognition. "So you see, I think we have some things in common."

            "People just don't understand." Harry said quietly. "Alright, you can't go back to the dungeons." He furrowed his brow. "You could always be resorted. Who knows? You may end up a Gryffindor."

            Draco considered. "Well, I'm not an air head or a stuck-up brain, so I guess Gryffindor it is. Of course, Dumbledore will have to approve of it."

            Harry smiled. "I think he will. And this way, we can keep an eye on each other. You know, catch each other if we start to give ourselves away." He took Draco's hand and shook it vigorously. "Welcome to Gryffindor, Draco Malfoy. And if anyone doesn't like it, I believe they can go to hell."

            Draco rolled his eyes. "My hero!" he mocked, fanning himself.

            "Oh, shut up." Harry laughed, playfully punching Draco in the arm.

            "Hey! Be careful, Harry." the other boy protested. "I bruise easily you know!"

            Suddenly, a mischievous glint came to Harry's eye. "Really?" he said innocently. "Well then, I'll just have to tickle you to death!" Draco yelped and tried to roll out of the bed, but Harry was fast and had him pinned and squirming in less than five seconds. "Do you submit?" Harry cried.

            Draco gasped between giggle fits. "Yes! Yes! You win! I'm yours!"

            Suddenly, both boys stopped moving, and a tender look crossed Harry's face. "Mine?" he asked coyly.

            "Always." Draco whispered as Harry's mouth descended softly onto his.

*

            The next morning, Hermoine, Ron, and Ginny made their way down to the Great Hall, talking animatedly about Draco's conversion.

            "So, he was cursed all this time?" Ron asked, incredulously. "Sounds like a Slytherin trick to me."

            Hermoine was thoughtful. "It would explain a lot." she said slowly. "But how can we be sure? Snape pulled that potion off of second years, right? That's far beyond them - it may have been faulty somehow."

            Ginny sighed, exasperated. "And what about people who brew Polyjuice in their second years?" she asked pointedly. "Anyway, if Harry and Dumbledore believe him, I..do..too. - " Ginny trailed off. In the distance, she could have sworn that she saw Tom lean against the wall before turning quickly and disappearing into the crowd of Hufflepuffs.

            "Ginny? Ginny! Hogwart's to Ginny Weasley." Ron joked, waving a hand in front of his sister's face.

            Ginny started. "What?" she asked defensively.

            Hermoine frowned. "You just trailed off, and - " Suddenly, she nodded understandingly. "You're still having trouble sleeping, aren't you?"

            Ginny made to disagree, but thought better of it. "Yeah, that must've been it." she said absent-mindedly. "Let's get going. I'm starving."

The three took their seats at the Gryffindor table and started piling on the food.

            "I'll believe it when I see it." Ron said, before spearing a sausage bit and cramming it into his mouth.

            "Me, too." Hermoine said as she deposited a Knut in the Daily Prophet owl that was waiting for her. "If he and Harry come in together like their friends, it'll prove that Draco is genuine. He wouldn't have the guts to pull off a lie like that in front of the whole school; it would damage his precious reputation."

            Ginny, who had been busy looking around for further signs of Tom, cocked her head to the side as she sipped her pumpkin juice. "Umm...will that do, Moine?" she asked sweetly.

            Hermoine and Ron whipped around just in time to see Harry and Draco nervously walk through the Great Hall doors together. Both boys still had their wrinkled clothing from the previous night and Draco's famous hair was a bed-headed mess, but neither seemed to care. They seemed far more preoccupied with trying to maintain a non-descript distance between themselves; it was a task at which they were failing miserably.

            "Morning everyone." Harry said shyly as he sat down, Draco beside him.

            Hermoine was the first to speak. "I don't believe it!" she murmured. 

"Are you sure he's not lying?" asked Ron, while eyeing the blond suspiciously.

            Draco ground his teeth but Harry put a steadying hand on the other boy's elbow. "Dumbledore came in this morning and said it would be alright with him if Draco was relocated to Gryffindor with us. So, you guys are going to have to get used to the idea of Draco being our housemate." He finished defiantly.

            Ginny cocked an eyebrow and caught Harry's gaze, dragging it down to where his hand still rested comfortably on Draco's arm. Harry blushed and hastily returned it to his side before continuing. "So, I hope nobody has any objections because they won't be heard."

            Ron opened his mouth to lay a seething reply but was cut off by Pansy Parkinson, who was followed by Crabbe and Goyle.

            "Drakey-poo?" she asked, trying to pout her thin lips. "Can we ask what you're doing over here? The Slytherin table is on the other side of the Hall."

            Draco took an uneasy breath and stood up. "I know where I am, Parkinson." he snapped. "And I happen to belong over here now. So, you and the apes can just sod off." He folded his arms and sneered at Pansy's shocked expression. "I've decided you're all too impossibly banal for the likes of me." He gestured to Harry. "At least the Golden Boy does something besides simper at the feet of the powerful. Go back to your slop, Parkinson, and never speak to me again."

            Pansy's lower lip trembled but her eyes hardened. "Fine." she spat. "Throw away what we had, but mark my words: you'll pay for this. No body crosses a Parkinson, not even you, Malfoy." She turned on her heel and returned to the Slytherin table.

            Ron, who had been watching the exchange with his mouth open, broke into a wide grin. "Welcome to Gryffindor!" he said, enthusiastically shaking Draco's hand. "If there's anything you need, be sure to ask either Hermoine or myself and we'll be glad to help you out!"

            Draco looked down at Ron's hand in extreme discomfort. "Um...We- Ron?" he asked. "Can I ask you to stop that? I'll need that hand later."

            Ron blushed and released Draco. "Sorry, mate. But I meant what I said. Glad to have you on board."

            Hermoine reached out her hand, and gently patted Draco's (much to his relief). "Welcome, Malfoy. Call me Mudblood and I'll flatten you." she said sweetly before turning to her morning paper.

            Draco looked over at Ginny. "Well, don't I get a hug or something from you?" he joked.

            But Ginny's bulging eyes were trained on a spot just in front of the teacher's table. "No." she mouthed. "Don't do it!"

            Harry, Hermoine, Ron, and Draco regarded her strangely. "Ginny?" Harry asked. "What are you looking at."

            Ginny didn't seem to hear him. Instead, her gaze was moving steadily from the high table to where Parvati and Lavender were chatting with Seamus and Dean. "I'll go." she whispered. "But you have to back off." She glared. "Alright, fine. Do it; see if I care." She glared again and made a show of turning airily and nonchalantly sipping her pumpkin juice.

            Her friends were alarmed. "Ginny!" Hermoine whispered, nudging her friend. "What the hell is going on?"

            Ginny would have replied but Parvati's voice, low and gravely, suddenly commanded the attention of the entire school. "Virginia." she said. "Voldemort waits for no one. If you are not by my side by midnight tonight, then Hogwart's will burn. You have 13 hours to comply." Then Parvati's stiff form went limp and she collapsed on the floor.

            The teachers instantly swung into action. Willow, Buffy, and McGonagal went to Parvati's side while Dumbledore calmed the students. "Everyone, please calm down." said the Head Master. The students quieted to a dull murmur. "What you have seen may have been a true vision but I don't want anyone to take it as such until we can verify it."

            Suddenly, a third year Hufflepuff stood up. "What's there to verify?" he asked, shaking. "That was You-Know-Who, calling one of us out! You all heard what he said! Whoever it was he was talking to should get out now!"

            He was met by a chorus of cheers, and Ginny shrank further in her seat.

            "Yeah!" echoed a Slytherin. "If she doesn't get out, we'll all fry! I say we find out who it is and send them packing!"

            Harry shot up from his seat. "Back off! All of you!" he shouted. "If Professor Dumbledore says we wait, then we wait. It could have been a hoax."

            Pansy Parkinson stood up. "Of course you'd say that, Potter! You've survived him, what, five or six times now? The rest of us aren't as confident. If the Dark Lord want us dead, we'll be dead, but he says that she can save us then she has to go!"

            Dumbledore held up his hands. "That's enough!" he bellowed. The hall was instantly quiet; none of the students, besides Harry, had see Dumbledore anything other than calm and cheerful. "Ms. Summers - kindly take Ms. Patil to the Infirmary. Ms. Rosenberg, you go with her, and see if you can verify what she said." He turned back to the students. "Now, all of you are to go about to your classes and start the year off right. If measures need to be taken, we will notify your house Prefects immediately. Enjoy you day." he said solemnly.

            The students moved grudgingly towards the door.

            "Excuse me, pardon me, coming through, hey! watch the boots!" Buffy's voice rose about the students' as she carried Parvati out of the Hall. She stopped when she reached Draco and looked over at Willow. "See?" she said and the witch nodded, surprise written all over her face.

            "What?" Draco asked, folding his arms. "You both look like you've seen a ghost."

            Willow simply shook her head as she left.

            Behind Draco, Ginny was hastily throwing her book bag over her shoulder. "Well, I guess I won't be needing these." she griped as she headed for the door.

            Hermoine caught her arm. "What are you talking about, Ginny?" she asked. "You're not going anywhere except to Muggle Defense."

            Draco rolled his eyes. "What breakfast were you at, Granger?" he asked sarcastically. "Once the school finds out Ginny's the one Voldemort was talking about, she'll be lucky to -"

            "Thank you for that, Draco." Harry cut in. "But nobody knows it's Ginny. And for all we know, he could be bluffing." He patted Ginny's arm. "Don't worry, Gin. You don't have to go anywhere."

            Ginny shook him off. "You really are naive, Harry." she spat. "If you think that people aren't going to put it together that it's me, or that Voldemort won't raise the castle, then you obviously haven't learned anything from the past couple of years."

            Harry's eyes blazed with fury. "Of course I have!" he yelled. "I've learned that Voldemort will manipulate you and use you with lies specifically tailored to your weaknesses." He grabbed Ginny by the shoulders. "He's using your history together and you're care for your fellow students to force you to his side. And we don't even know why!"

            "Does it matter why?" she yelled back, pushing off his arms. "What really matters," she growled, "is that everyone here is in danger unless I go through with Draco's plan. I don't have a choice in this, Harry. All I can do is make sure he thinks that I've joined him willingly and then divert his attention away from Hogwart's for as long as I can."

            Ron paled. "And have you thought about what 'distracting' him will entail?" he asked, disgusted. "Think about mum and dad, and what they'd say if they knew you were going to do something this daft!"

            "I have been thinking." Ginny replied. Closing her eyes, she added quietly: "It's a small price to pay for keeping people I love safe."

            The four others gawked.

"You can't be serious!" Hermoine exclaimed.

"Gross!" cried Ron.

"I think I'm going to be ill." Harry moaned.

"Didn't think you had it in you!" Draco said, grinning. "To be that stupid, I mean." he hastily amended off his new housemate's looks.

Ginny glared. "Look, you're not going to stop me, so why not just let me go quietly?"

"Off to play the martyr, Virginia." came Pansy Parkinson's voice from the top of the stairs. The thin crowds of students nearby were all silent.

Ginny whipped around. "What did you say, Parkinson?" she asked, eyes narrowed.

Pansy smiled sweetly. "What? Did you think we wouldn't figure it out? You're the one He-Who-Must-Not-Be -Named is looking for. You know what he wants and yet you're selfishly hiding out here, trying to pretend that it'll be your fault if we die." She pointed a pudgy finger at Ginny, who was vibrating with rage. "You don't belong here anymore; you belong with Him. For the greater good!" she cried.

"Get her!" someone cried, and Ginny suddenly found herself ducking hands and throwing punches, trying to get out of the crowd.

"Stop it!" Ginny yelled. "I was going to anyway!"

"Sure you were." came an anonymous reply, as more hands and bodies pressed into her.

Ginny growled with frustration, and sent everyone in front of her flying with one huge push. "I said I'm going!" she hollered. "I'm leaving Hogwart's so you can all just back off, right now!"

Students stood around, murmuring their agreement.

Ginny turned back to Harry. "Didn't I tell you?" she asked. "This is why I have to go."

The other four Gryffindors were silent, none able to look her in the eye.

"I'll see you when I get back." Ginny said quietly as she walked away.

A/N: Phew! That makes this the seventh version of Chapter Eight. Seriously, if anyone wants to be my beta, either sign in or leave a link to your work. I seriously need to get these plot holes under control!

As usual, let me know what you think. There's a 4 review minimum to get my muse's butt in gear!