Harry heard the collective gasp of his friends and knew they'd seen it
too, but he was not worried. The crystal appeared to have been
destroyed, but Harry knew for a fact it had not been, he could still
feel its aura in the space around him. A golden haze was floating in
the air above, and he didn't need to be told, it was the essence of
the crystal.
"What happened?" Ron asked, his voice on the verge of panic.
"How did it break?" Ginny asked, her tone matching her brother's.
"It didn't break," Harry replied calmly, a faint smile on his lips.
"But we saw it." Hermione began.
"It looked like it shattered, but it didn't," Harry said.
"Well then where." Hermione started again, but stopped as Harry held up his hand.
"Give me one moment," he said seriously, his eyes alight with interest, following the golden mist that was now swirling, lazily, around him.
'What now?' He thought.
'Call the others,' his voice replied to him.
'How?'
'The same way you are now speaking to me, but direct your thoughts to them.'
Harry's gaze fell upon the thirteen remaining crystals. He wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, but was so drawn to completing the task he'd already begun, that he didn't think he'd be able to stop if he wanted to.
Focusing all of his energy, he brought his hand down to the next crystal in line, brushing his fingers across it gently.
'Come,' he thought almost casually.
He felt the warmth emanating from the stone at his touch, and did not even need to lift it, as it levitated itself out of the chest and seemed to burst apart, much as the courage crystal had done. Instantly a pale green mist spiraled up and around him, merging with the gold one, and Harry recognized it as the essence of the psychological crystal.
"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked, loudly, but Harry didn't even acknowledge her question, he was reaching down for the next crystal in line, when he heard a voice speak to him, and he knew it was from the psychological essence.
'Are you sure this is a good idea?'
The warning in the voice was very clear, but Harry didn't want to stop. He hesitated for just a second, before lowering his hand to the surface of the next stone, brushing against it gently. Again, he watched the shattering, and saw the essence float up and around him, this time it was copper, and he shuddered slightly as he remembered this stone.
Resolve.
This was the stone that had made him feel ruthless, and he wasn't fond of being near it again now.
'This is taking too long; he heard the new voice say at once. You can do this much faster.'
'No don't,' came the reply from the psychological essence.
Harry felt entirely uncertain. He was dimly aware that his friends were speaking to him, but wasn't listening. He was torn between wanting to continue, but not wanting to take any advice from the resolve crystal, or ignore the psychological one.
'You should do it now, best to be done all at once; the courage crystal spoke up again.'
'But faster,' resolve added.
Harry's eyes flickered between the two, before settling on the pale green haze.
'Why do you think I shouldn't do this?' He asked.
'Because you are not ready.'
'How else will he learn?' courage asked.
'He must move slowly.'
'No! It must be done now, there isn't much time!' resolve nearly shouted, causing Harry to jump. The three voices kept up their argument for a moment longer, but Harry's mind was already made up. Ignoring the spat, he put his hand down towards the next stone, and he became aware of a hushed silence, which fell over the essences.
'All of them,' resolve said firmly. 'Now.'
Harry let his hand hover above the next stone in line, before steeling his resolve. He ran his fingers along all eleven remaining stones.
'Come.'
Immediately each crystal rose up and burst, letting the essence into the air. The colors mingled in front of him, swirling around him, giving the appearance of a prism. Harry sat, staring in fascination at them, smirking faintly, but his expression faltered, as the voices began to fill his head speaking fast.and loud.
'Stop!'
Harry shut his eyes tightly, wishing the voices would end. He could barely hear his own thoughts, let alone try to figure out what each individual stone was saying.he wasn't even entirely sure if they were talking to him or not. His head began to throb from the noise and he brought his hands up to it, trying to massage away the pain, but it did no good.
'What are you saying? Please slow down! I can't understand.'
Harry pleaded with essences, but either they couldn't hear him, or they were ignoring him. He wished very much that he hadn't listened to the resolve crystal, and was wondering why he'd been so quick to follow its request, as he really hadn't intended to.
A hand fell on his arm and Harry opened his eyes slightly to see Ron kneeling next to him. He felt his heart skip a beat, however, when he glanced at the others and realized all three of his friends were trying to talk to him.but he couldn't hear their voices. Ron was looking directly at him, talking to him, probably asking him what was happening, but Harry couldn't make anything out beyond the sounds of the crystals.
He began to signal to his friends, frantically, to make them understand that he couldn't hear anything, all the while trying desperately to get the stones to be quiet. They weren't listening to him, and he had no idea why. He shut his eyes against the pounding once more, praying for it to end. The voices grew steadily louder, speaking faster. He covered his ears almost instinctively, but couldn't block out noise that was already inside of him. The swirls of color in the air were moving about randomly, no pattern or scheme to it at all. Harry reached out a hand, trying to grasp hold of it, but it slid over his fingers like water, the stones could not be physically touched in this form.
Glancing up once more, his vision now blurring in and out, he saw Ron, Hermione and Ginny had been talking, urgently, by the expressions on their faces, and Hermione was just now standing up. She nodded once at the others and started for the door, but just as she was about to grasp the handle, it turned itself. She took a step back to avoid being hit as the door swung swiftly open, and Harry was both shocked and relieved to see Neville enter the room, followed by Cole.and Malfoy.
Cole rushed to Harry's side, glancing briefly into the trunk before looking into his eyes. Neville and Malfoy were on either side of him, and the others were a few feet behind them. Harry again had to motion that he couldn't hear, as Cole began speaking to him rapidly. He strained with all he had, but couldn't make out anything past the jumbled voices of the crystals. The pain in his head was growing so intense he wanted to scream, but held it in.
Harry watched as Cole realized what he was trying to say, and turned to Malfoy. It was only then that Harry noticed the expression on the Slytherin's face. Draco was hurting as much as Harry was, and then some, tears were streaked down his face from the pain, and he was nodding faintly at Cole while the older man spoke, an agonized grimace stretched across his features.
After a few more moments, Draco finally turned to face Harry, looking sick and pale. He opened his mouth to speak and Harry began to shake his head, why didn't they understand he couldn't hear? But he stopped immediately, as Draco's voice cut through the others.
"Do you know if one of the crystals shares your voice?" he asked in a strained tone.
Harry looked at him in shock. Never in his life would he have believed anyone that told him he'd ever be relieved to hear Malfoy's voice, but here he was. He nodded once, glad he had picked up the courage crystal first. If it had been one of the later ones to come, he never would have been able to distinguish it from the others.
"You have to call out to that one," Draco continued evenly.
Harry nodded again and began to do just that, searching for the essence of the courage crystal, trying to single it out. It wasn't working, he couldn't even hear his own thoughts anymore, and had no idea if he could get through to the stones. His eyes were burning now and his vision was coming in and out. All he wanted was to let go, fall asleep and let it pass. His head rolled on his neck as the urge to give in became almost overwhelming, but he jerked up again as he felt himself being roughly shaken back to consciousness, to see Malfoy holding his arms.
"Harry," he said, his voice filled with pain, "You need to listen to me, do not fall asleep."
Harry nodded weakly; feeling exhausted, but forced himself to stay awake. He lifted his eyes to meet Draco's, waiting to hear what he had to do.
The screaming in Harry's head continued, pounding as if trying to break out through his skull, but he wasn't going to give in. Malfoy was looking at Cole, who was speaking urgently to him, before turning again to Harry. He could see his pain reflected in Draco's eyes, and actually, felt a bit sorry for him, knowing what he was feeling was worse.
"Okay," he began, his voice wavering from how badly his head hurt, "You have to find that crystal; you have to make it answer you."
Harry held up his hands looking at Malfoy in exasperation.
"They aren't." he began, trying to keep his voice steady; glad he could hear himself speaking at least.
"Listening, I know," Malfoy finished for him. "You have to try harder."
Harry closed his eyes, wishing he had never opened the chest in the first place. He started to concentrate, listening to the voices. It sounded as if he were in the great hall during the Halloween feast, when everyone is always overexcited and loud.only magnified. He called out to the courage crystal repeatedly in his mind, praying for any response, whatever it might be. Panic was threatening to set in, he didn't know if the crystal was ignoring him, or if it had been answering him the entire time and he had been unable to hear it.
Harry sat straight up as a searing pain shot through his head, biting his lip hard to stop from crying out. Malfoy, however, hadn't been able to hold it in, Harry heard his scream, echoing in his mind, and was truly ready to give up, when suddenly, he heard his name.it was being called out from what sounded like a great distance, but it was his own voice talking to him.
He felt relief swelling inside of him as he began to signal to Malfoy, opening his eyes, slightly.
'Don't go anywhere,' he called to the crystal, 'I need your help.'
"You found it?" Malfoy asked, urgently. Harry nodded once and Draco spoke quickly. "Tell it to withdraw, now!"
Harry didn't hesitate. He concentrated on the sound of his own voice, still barely above a whisper, calling out to him.
'If you can hear me, I need you to withdraw, now! Please, can you hear me? I need you to withdraw!'
He kept repeating this again and again in his head, hoping it was working, not knowing what to expect, when at last the mist around him began to separate. The part of it that was gold started to draw into itself, forming a tight ball of light, before it flashed brightly. Harry had to shut his eyes from the glare, but it lasted less than a second, when he opened them again, the crystal had reformed. It hovered in front of him for a moment, before lowering itself back into the trunk, and remaining still.
Harry turned again to Malfoy, about to ask him what next, when the voices in his head began to diminish. The shimmering haze of essences began to pull apart completely, and one at a time, each crystal reformed itself. It all happened so quickly, Harry could barely believe it when he sat staring at all fourteen crystals in the chest. They were making no noise now, not even the whispering as they'd done earlier.
Breathing an inaudible sigh of relief, still feeling the dull ache in his head from what had just happened, Harry raised his head to gaze around the room.
Ron, Hermione and Ginny stood motionless near the other end of the dorm, their expressions full of concern. Neville was near them, looking uncertain and Malfoy appeared just as drawn and exhausted as Harry felt.
He turned at last to Cole, to hopefully get some answers for what had happened, but his voice wouldn't come out when he saw the man's face.
Cole was furious.
Harry swallowed hard as he looked at Cole apprehensively. He could see the anger in his features clearly, and could almost picture smoke coming out of his ears.
"What exactly did you think you were doing?" Cole asked in a deadly calm voice.
Harry cleared his throat quietly, before speaking, his eyes fixed on the floor.
"I was showing the crystals to my friends," he began, "and they were whispering.so I."
"You what?" Cole spat, his eyes flashing.
"I picked one up.that's all," Harry explained quickly. "I only wanted to try and understand them.I never knew this would happen."
"Exactly," Cole hissed. "You did not know, so you should not have done anything. Are you always this stupid?" he asked, angrily. Harry looked up sharply.
"I'm sorry," he said, feeling humiliated and confused. He didn't dare look towards his friends, and wished they weren't there to see this right now, he could feel himself turning red as his face grew hot.
"You don't have to yell at him," Ron spoke up, defensively.
"I'll thank you to keep out of this," Cole spoke harshly, looking over his shoulder at Ron. "It's none of your business."
"But it was just a mistake!" Hermione said, stepping forward. "You can't blame him for."
"I said," Cole said in a strained tone, his eyes glaring daggers at Harry's friends "to keep out of this."
They looked back at Cole indignantly; apparently very ready to continue the argument, but he merely turned his attention back to Harry.
"Next time you get the urge to try and use the crystals," Cole began, his tone still dark, "don't. Honestly, I wonder how you've survived this long, what you did was incredibly foolish and could have seriously hindered any chances you have of learning about your powers quickly."
"I said I was sorry," Harry spoke, feeling his own anger begin to grow. "If I'd known what was going to happen."
"You should have come to either Allison or myself!" Cole cut him off loudly. "If you're unsure of anything concerning those stones you come to us, and that's it! You don't try to figure it out on your own.obviously you aren't very good at it."
"Look," Harry said, heatedly. "I admit I was wrong, I shouldn't have done it the way I did."
"That's right, you should not have," Cole said flatly, standing up abruptly. He turned where he stood and started for the door.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked, looking after him.
"Don't touch the crystals anymore Harry," Cole spoke harshly. "I will come for you when it's time to do so."
Without another word, Cole yanked the door open hard, and stalked out into the hall, letting it slam behind him.
For a few moments, no one spoke; everyone seemed a bit taken back by Cole's reaction. Harry brought his knees towards him, and slowly stood up. He stepped forward, reaching out and closing the lid of the trunk softly, before turning to face the others.
Draco was still kneeling on the floor, looking stunned.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked him, Malfoy looked up.
"This is insane," he said quietly. "I can't do it.I can't." he trailed off, shaking his head.
"You don't have a choice," Neville spoke up, coming up beside Draco. He looked from Malfoy to Harry and back.
"I know," Draco hissed. "If I don't want to feel pain every time Potter does, I have to do this." he trailed off, looking up at Harry. "What did you do anyway?"
"I honestly don't know," Harry replied with a shrug. "I was hoping Cole would answer some questions.but I didn't exactly want to ask him, seeing how he reacted."
"He never should have treated you like that," Hermione spoke up, walking forward, the others following her.
"You should tell Dumbledore, Harry," Ron said. "Or Sirius."
"Well, I'd like to know what exactly I did first," Harry replied. "If it was truly so dangerous.then I can understand his anger."
"But that's the point!" Hermione said, throwing up her arms. "You didn't know! And if they knew what just happened was a possibility, they should have warned you!"
Harry nodded, but still wanted to know what had been happening before he said anything about Cole. He turned his attention back to Draco before speaking.
"Did Cole tell you anything? Were you with him when you first felt the pain?"
Malfoy nodded, standing up at last.
"Yes, we were training."
"And there's another thing," Hermione spoke up again, interrupting Draco. "Why is he concentrating more on training Malfoy then you, Harry? He wasn't even there for your first session!"
"Well, he was, actually," Harry replied. "Or at least he said he was, but I didn't see him." he trailed off.
"That really doesn't make sense," Ron said. "If he's so anxious to have you learn about the crystals quickly why isn't he bothering to spend as much time training you as he does with Malfoy?"
"Allison said they needed time to prepare," Harry replied, "something about the crystals needing a reason to train me."
"What reason?" Hermione asked.
"She didn't say more than that," Harry answered with a shrug.
"Still doesn't explain why Cole would train Malfoy personally," Ron commented, "and not even show up at yours.or let you know he was there."
"Can you stop talking about me like I'm not standing right here?" Draco asked, irritably, glaring at Ron.
"Well you shouldn't be!" Ron quipped. "Why are you here, anyway? Shouldn't you be going now? Or is your training done for today."
"Fine," Malfoy replied, "I'm leaving." He stepped back and turned, heading for the door.
"Draco, wait," Harry said, moving past his friends and following him. Malfoy looked over his shoulder, looking annoyed. "Tell me what you do know at least, please? What happened today.?"
Draco eyed Harry suspiciously, before glancing over at the others. Sighing exasperatedly, he turned his gaze back to Harry.
"Fine but I'm not staying here any more," he said evenly.
"Alright, I'll go with you then. C'mon," Harry replied, reaching past Malfoy and opening the door.
"Harry," Neville began.
"I'll be right back," Harry cut him off, seeing the look on all of his friends' faces. He would have asked them to come, but he didn't trust them, Ron especially, not to get into some sort of argument with Draco. Right now all he wanted was to hear what had happened and be done with Malfoy for the time being.
The two of them left the room together, and headed downstairs. Upon entering the common room, a hush fell over the Gryffindors milling about, all eyes focusing on Draco.
"Keep going," Harry whispered, nudging Malfoy who had come to a halt upon seeing all the angry, suspicious faces. "We're just leaving, don't worry," he called out to his fellow Gryffindors, not sure what else to tell them, but feeling the need to say something. They moved towards the portrait whole, feeling all eyes on them, until they were out in the hall, the door firmly shut behind them.
"Well that was certainly not fun," Draco stated as they began walking. "Don't ever get hurt in your tower again, alright? I don't think your friends would let me through."
"I hadn't exactly planned on it," Harry replied.
"If what you were feeling was even half as bad as what I was," Draco began, "then I believe you. No one would intentionally do that to themselves"
"Well of course not!" Harry said. "Did you think I ever wanted to get myself hurt?"
"It hurts me too, doesn't it?" Malfoy asked.
Harry stared at him for a moment, confused, before realizing what Draco was saying.
"You think I've been letting myself get hurt so you'd feel the pain?" he asked, too stunned at the very idea to be insulted.
"Why not?" Draco retorted.
"Why not?" Harry repeated incredulously. "How about why so? That's ridiculous!" he said, throwing his arms up into the air.
"Look I said I believed you, didn't I?" Malfoy asked, annoyed. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head in disgust.
"Alright, yes, you did," Harry said quickly. "Let's just forget about it. Now what happened earlier? What did Cole tell you?"
"Like I said," Malfoy began, "we were training. We'd only been going at it for about an hour, when I my head started to hurt. At first, I ignored it but it only got worse, very quickly. Cole saw what was happening, and figured it must be related to you somehow, so we went to find Neville. Luckily you were only upstairs when we got to your tower, because I couldn't have made it much further."
"You could hear everything though?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Malfoy nodded. "My head hurt something awful, but I could hear everything that was said."
"Did you hear any voices? Other than those of Cole and my friends?"
"No," Malfoy answered. "Just a lot of pain."
"And what about Cole?" Harry continued. "Did he say anything about what was happening?"
"He didn't say much," Malfoy replied. "When he realized you couldn't hear him he seemed to recognize exactly what was happening. He told your friends to back up and asked me to talk to you, to tell you exactly what he was telling me."
"So then, what I heard from you.that was it? That's all he said?" Harry asked.
Malfoy snickered.
"Well that.and a few choice words for you. You really hit a nerve with him."
"I could tell," Harry said with a sigh. "I just wish he would've taken a minute to explain what happened.no matter how angry he might've been."
Malfoy shrugged.
"I don't know what to tell you.but I'd wait a long while before speaking with him again."
"Yeah, I hadn't planned on looking for him just yet," Harry replied, remembering Cole's reaction. "It's just that it doesn't help me any to not know what I did wrong. I'm definitely not opening the chest again without Cole or Allison, but I'd still like to know."
"Like I said," Malfoy began, "can't help you Potter. And unless you want to see the reaction when you walk into my dorm, I'd suggest you start heading back now, because we're almost there."
Harry looked up, shocked to see they were already deep into the corridors that led to the dungeons.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry said. "Thanks for telling me what happened.what you knew of it, anyway."
Malfoy didn't reply. He looked at Harry for a moment, before nodding upwards once and turning away. Harry looked after him for just a second, before heading back the way he'd come.
Walking slowly, he tried to sort out the thoughts in his head. He wanted to know what would have happened if he hadn't been able to get the crystals to withdraw, and why no one had warned him of this possibility. Draco had been hurt worse than he had, and Cole was definitely not angry with him, but hadn't told him anything either. Or at least anything that would help.
Turning the first corner, he began to pick up the pace. He didn't know why but suddenly felt very uncomfortable being down here alone. Moving quickly, he kept looking around, hoping to see a teacher or student, but there was no one.
Stop it, he told himself. If someone was nearby it probably wasn't anyone he needed to worry about. The Inquisitors would be able to sense an intruder, and still being early in the day, it wouldn't take long to send someone after them.
However, his uneasy feeling wouldn't go away, and all he could do was keep moving. The hallway dragged on for what felt like miles, and Harry just kept his eyes ahead of him. More than halfway there, he told himself, just keep going, two more hallways, then you're out of here.
He was moving so fast now it was just short of trotting, and the next corner came up quickly. But the feeling that someone was watching him was far too great now, and he forced himself to stop for just a second. He leaned up against the wall, and listened. Someone was following him, and they weren't far behind.
Harry decided against waiting to see who was behind him. If it was anyone who needed to talk to him, which he thought to be a highly unlikely possibility, they could do so out of the dungeon area. Turning away, he again began moving up the hallway, quickly. He'd gotten halfway down the corridor, when a familiar voice rang out.
"Lentus Pedis!"
Before he could turn around, Harry's feet became stuck to the hard stone floor of the corridor. He tried to wrench himself loose as the footsteps behind him grew closer, he even tried to pull his feet out of his shoes, but his effort was in vain. There may as well have been heavy stones weighing his feet to the floor. He couldn't budge.
Glancing over his shoulder and catching only a glimpse of a dark cloak, Harry shoved his hand into his robes, searching for his wand, but the person came up behind him, and took hold of his wrist, pulling his hand back out. Harry winced in pain as his arm was twisted up behind his back, and someone leaned their face very close to his ear.
"What were you talking about with my son?" Lucius Malfoy whispered, fiercely.
"None of your business," Harry spat, his eyes fixed on the floor in front of him. He glanced down when he felt a hand in his robes, however, and saw that Lucius had taken his wand out. The death eater released Harry's arm and stepped around in front of him, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"You're quite wrong, Potter. My son is my business, and you are going to tell me what you spoke to him about.now."
"No I'm not going to tell you anything," Harry answered evenly. "And you may as well just let me go.you can't hide here so easily anymore."
"Can't I?" Lucius retorted, sneering. "Well no one's found me yet, now have they?"
Harry didn't respond, but he was beginning to wonder why the Inquisitors hadn't sensed Lucius, or if they had then what was taking so long.
"As usual, Potter, you always want to do things the hard way." Lucius spoke casually, raising his wand.
"If you want to know what I told Draco so badly, why didn't you just ask him?" Harry asked quickly, his eyes fixed on the wand aimed at him. Why was Lucius spending time talking to him? Harry expected he would have just tried to take him, rather then stop him in the middle of a hallway where anyone might see them.
"I intend to," Lucius said crisply. "As soon as I finish speaking with you."
"I'm not telling you anything," Harry said flatly. "You're wasting your time."
Lucius smiled wickedly.
"We'll see," he spoke softly. Tightening the grip on his wand, he spoke again.
"Ustulo Manus!"
Harry's eyes were fixed on Lucius' wand. As the curse was spoken, a tirade of bright red sparks exploded from the tip of it, crackling like electricity in the air. They sped towards him, slamming into his chest; even if he'd been able to move there wouldn't have been enough time, the curse moved too swiftly. Harry's knees buckled momentarily as the force of the spell pushed him back, but he regained his balance quickly, his chest burning from the impact.
Looking up again at Lucius, Harry opened his mouth to speak, but another voice cut him off.
"Dad, stop!" Draco called from down the hall. He was moving rapidly up the corridor towards them, stopping just beside Harry. He looked from one to the other, before setting his gaze on his father. "You have to undo it! Please!"
"Draco," Lucius smiled, ignoring his son's request. "You've arrived just in time. Potter here was just about to tell me what he spoke to you about."
"But that curse will hurt him! You have to take it off."
"What are you talking about?" Lucius asked, his expression growing dark. "Why would I want to.?"
"Please." Draco cut him off. "Please just listen to me."
Harry followed the tense conversation anxiously, all the while feeling a tingling sensation running down his arms, towards his hands. He knew it wouldn't be long until the curse reached its destination, and then Lucius would know for sure, if he didn't already, exactly who the defender was.
Lucius eyed Harry suspiciously for a moment, before returning his gaze to his son.
"What lies has he been feeding you?" he asked, nodding towards Harry as he spoke.
"No lies, sir," Draco responded, paling slightly. "I need you to do this for me though," he spoke quickly, pulling his wand out of his pocket, "or I'll do it myself."
Lucius' eyes widened in shock for a second, before turning angry. He glared at his son furiously, his own wand still gripped tightly in his hand.
"You dare speak to me that way?" he asked in a deadly calm voice. "Your own father?"
Malfoy didn't reply, and Harry could see how white his face had become, but he still stood his ground, standing up to his father.
"What did he tell you?" Lucius asked, his eyes flashing dangerously at his son.
Draco held his father's gaze momentarily, before turning to glance at Harry. He almost seemed to be pleading with him for a moment, a look of helplessness on his face, before turning his gaze again, meeting his father's eyes.
"If you hurt Harry, I'm going to feel it too," he said evenly, his voice quiet.
"What do you mean?" Lucius demanded, glaring at Harry. "Did he put some kind of curse on you? What was it? If he did so help me I'll."
"No, he didn't," Draco cut him off. "He didn't curse me."
"Then what could possibly cause you to." he trailed off suddenly, realization dawning in his eyes.
Draco nodded faintly, continuing just above a whisper.
"I'm." he began, glancing once again at Harry, having no other choice. "I'm the defender."
For a brief moment, no one spoke. Lucius' jaw dropped open in stunned silence, and he stared at his son in disbelief.
"That." he began, his voice very faint, "that can't be."
"It is," Draco replied quickly. "It's the truth, I."
"No!" Lucius screamed, suddenly enraged, causing Draco to step back. "No you are not the defender! Whoever told you that was lying!"
"It's not a lie," Harry spoke up finally, looking defiantly at Lucius. "He is the defender and if."
"You be quiet, Potter!" Lucius spat, vehemently, his anger radiating off of him like heat. "I'm sure you find it very amusing, tricking my son like this, but I assure you."
"I'm not lying!" Harry yelled loudly, cutting him off. "And if you don't." he began, but stopped abruptly. The tingling in his arms had reached his hands, and they had been growing steadily warmer, when suddenly it had become overwhelmingly painful. He gritted his teeth as his fingers began to burn, white hot agony searing through them, barely hearing Draco cry out in pain next to him.
There was no relief to be found, he balled his hands into fists, then stretched his fingers out as far as he could, rubbed his hands together, and against the material of his robes. He tried squeezing them together and keeping them apart, but nothing worked, all the while trying fiercely to move his feet, needing to make the pain end. He glanced up slowly at Lucius; his vision blurring, to see him staring in horror at his son, whose reaction was quite similar to Harry's. He could see Draco had dropped his wand and it had rolled a few feet away, but it was still out of Harry's reach.
After what felt like an eternity, Lucius raised his wand again, but pointed it at Draco
"Strigo Ustulo." he spoke faintly and a stream of blue sparks flew from the tip of his wand. They flittered gently through the air, falling gently towards Draco's hands and arms, but upon coming into contact, promptly fizzled out, having no effect.
"What did you do to my son?" Lucius roared, turning fiercely on Harry. He grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him roughly, but Harry could barely find his voice to answer, too consumed by the pain in his hands, it was unbearable.
"Answer me!" Lucius shouted, louder this time, but Harry couldn't. He could barely manage to think let alone speak. His knees buckled underneath him and the only thing keeping him upright was Lucius' grip on his arms.
They stood this way only seconds, before Lucius let out a cry of rage. He released Harry, who immediately slumped to the floor, clutching his hands to his chest. Raising his wand again, he spoke the same words he had a moment earlier, and the blue sparks again flew from its tip, but this time, floating towards Harry.
The counter-curse flittered through the air, falling softly onto Harry's hands and the relief was instantaneous. The burning immediately dissipated and the pain eased. Harry blinked a few times as his vision cleared, and awkwardly pushed himself back up. His feet were still fixed to the floor and he struggled back into an upright position. Looking around quickly, he saw Lucius standing over his son, appearing disgusted.
Draco had been sitting against the wall and was now using it to help himself back up. He stood shakily and turned cautiously to meet his father's gaze. Lucius did not move or speak, merely glared at his son, contemptuously. When Draco lowered his eyes, Lucius' temper took hold; he lashed out at his son, striking him hard across his face. Draco's head whipped around harshly, and his hands slapped against the wall as the momentum from the blow caused him to overbalance. He turned quickly, blood trickling slowly down his face from his nose and glared at his father.
"How did you let this happen?" Lucius hissed at his son, looking murderous.
"Let this happen?" Draco repeated angrily. "You think I wanted this? I didn't let anything happen."
"Well then how?" Lucius shouted. "Who did this to you? You cannot be the defender."
"Nobody did anything to him." Harry spoke up, hoping to distract Lucius. He could do nothing to get his wand at the moment but if Draco could reach his own. "He was born the defender."
"You," Lucius spat, whirling on Harry. "I bet you did this to him, didn't you? You chose him to defend you as some twisted form of payback."
"I didn't get to choose the defender," Harry said, calmly, holding Lucius' gaze as Draco watched, motionlessly behind him.
"My master will straighten this out," Lucius said in a vicious whisper. "You will."
"He'll kill Draco," Harry said flatly. "Voldemort will kill your son."
"No." Lucius began; worry edging its way into his voice. "No.he'll see.he'll fix it."
"Fix what?" Harry asked harshly, glad to see Draco was finally moving towards his wand. "You can't change who the defender is.you can't pass it on.you're born that way.and you die that way. You saw what happened a few minutes ago.if I'm in pain, Draco's in pain. You can't just."
"Enough!" Lucius shouted suddenly, his eyes flashing. He stepped up close to Harry, their faces only inches apart. "I don't trust you to tell me the truth.you're still upset over your girlfriend being killed and this is your way to take revenge.well it's not going to work. I don't know what curse you used to make my son feel your pain.or to make him believe your lies, but I'm going to end it. My lord will see to it that this is straightened out.and then we will find your true defender."
Lucius moved back, raising his wand again and Harry watched, helplessly.
"I'm going to have to take you to Voldemort," Lucius spoke almost mechanically, "both of you.it's the only way to straighten this out."
"But." Harry began.
"No," Lucius cut him off, crisply. "I don't want to hear another word from your lying mouth." He paused a moment, glaring hatefully at Harry, before opening his mouth to speak.
"Expelliarmus!" Draco's voice rang out, before his father could utter a word. Lucius' wand was ripped from his grasp and flew to his son's waiting hand. Harry breathed an inaudible sigh of relief, despite Draco's worried expression, but it was short lived. Lucius whirled to face his son, fury etched on his features.
"Just go dad," Draco said weakly, holding tight to his own wand while putting his father's in his pocket. "Please."
But Lucius merely smiled darkly, staring daggers at his son.
"You are going to regret your disobedience," he spoke icily. He reached slowly into his pocket and Harry felt his stomach flip as he saw his own wand in the death eater's hand.
Lucius raised Harry's wand slowly, training it on Draco.
"I'll give you once chance," he began in a deadly calm voice, "to give both wands over to me now. If you do this, your punishment will not be too.painful." he spoke quietly, a faint smirk on the corner of his lips.
Harry watched as Draco seemed to shudder involuntarily, but held his ground against his father, keeping his wand aimed.
"I'm sorry," he began, obviously struggling to keep his voice steady, "but I can't do that. Please just leave, if someone finds you."
"No one is going to find me," Lucius spoke evenly, his eyes narrowing. Harry was sure he caught the slightest glimpse of sadness in them, but it was gone in the next instant, and his expression was once again stony. "You disappoint me," he continued, gravely.
Lucius began to tap on Harry's wand with his forefinger, almost absently, before tightening his grip on its base and speaking.
"Hemocrit hyponis!" he yelled and a burst of blue light emitted from the tip of the wand. Harry recognized the spell immediately as one Draco has used against him during their duel at the end of last year. It was the blood-freezing curse, and Harry remembered the pain it caused all too well.
Draco's eyes widened in shock as he heard his father speak, but he didn't try to dodge. Instead, he held his wand up in front of him, seeming to concentrate intensely. The curse sped towards him, illuminating the dark hall, bathing it in blue light, and just as it neared him, he shut his eyes tightly. It slammed into his wand full force, but did not pass. The wand absorbed the blow, sucking the luminescence into it and terminating the curse.
Draco's eyes sprang open instantly, and his breathing had become quick and shallow. Harry knew this must be some of what he was learning during his sessions with Cole, but obviously, he hadn't yet mastered it.
"How did you.?" Lucius began, a stunned expression on his face. He stopped mid question however, a dark look in his eyes. Tightening the grip on Harry's wand once more, he spoke again.
"Languidus brachium!"
This time a dark green bolt shot out of the wand, speeding towards Draco, and once again, he blocked it successfully.
Harry was trying fervently to move his feet, but they refused to budge in the slightest from the cold, damp, dungeon floor. Draco was holding up, but tiny beads of sweat were now quite visible along his hairline, small trickles of it were running down his face. Harry could see how much energy the defensive magic was taking out of him. He wasn't going to last much longer, and Lucius could see it too.
"You're only making this worse for yourself," the death eater spoke tauntingly, glaring at his son. "I'm beginning to lose my patience."
"Then leave!" Draco cried suddenly, with a fresh burst of anger. "Just get out of here! But I can't let you take us to Voldemort. He'll kill us both."
Lucius glared menacingly at his son, but instead of trying another curse, he lowered the wand. Draco looked at him questioningly, knowing his father too well to think this meant he was giving up, when Lucius began to move towards him.
Harry watched as the color drained from Draco's face, helpless to do anything but stare.
"Stop," Draco said, his eyes pleading with his father. "Please.don't come any closer."
"I'm afraid," Lucius began, ignoring his son's request, taking slow measured steps across the hall, "that this school has now had far too much of a bad influence on you. You're using strange magic.which is obviously quite powerful as it stopped both of my curses. The question is, however, can you use it on me? Because I'm taking my wand back.now."
Harry didn't think it was possible, but Draco seemed to grow paler still. Lucius moved closer at a steady pace, and Harry was sure he was going to be able to take his wand back without a problem; Draco was looking panicked, his eyes were frozen, staring at his father in fear. Lucius stopped moving less than two feet from his son, sneering down at him triumphantly.
"If you truly are the defender," he began tauntingly, "then you are doing your job quite poorly. You're nothing but a weak, frightened little boy."
"I am not," Draco said, his voice strained. "I just.I.please dad, I don't want to hurt you." he trailed off. Harry could see him shaking slightly, but his wand was unflinching, trained directly on his father.
"Hurt me?" Lucius asked, beginning to laugh. "You couldn't, you have no backbone and will never fail to act like the coward you are.it is your nature."
"Like father, like son," Harry spoke up from behind him. He had no other choice, Draco was making no move to stop his father, he had to distract him.
Lucius, predictably, spun to face Harry, eyes flashing.
"Say that again." he spoke in a dark, quiet voice.
"You heard me," Harry replied, glaring straight back at the death eater, willing him to move away from Draco. Lucius merely smirked at him smugly.
"I'll deal with you in a moment," he muttered, turning to face his son again, realizing what Harry's intention had been.
Harry could only watch in frustration, wondering how much longer until the curse on his feet wore off.
But the look in Draco's eyes was different now. The small distraction Harry had provided seemed to give him a moment to draw his courage, and he was now glaring at his father, a determined look in his eyes.
Lucius noticed the change in his son's demeanor immediately, and decided not to waste another minute. He lunged forward, reaching for the wand, but Draco was faster.
"Stupefy!" he cried angrily and the curse hit Lucius full force. His body went limp and he fell onto his son, as the momentum of his attack carried him forward. Draco caught his father awkwardly, before stepping backwards, letting him slowly crumple to the floor in a heap, out cold. He stood over Lucius' still form, looking down, a stunned expression etched on his face. Shaking his head almost sadly, he stepped gingerly around his father and over to where Harry stood, looking very relieved. Raising his wand almost mechanically, he spoke the counter-curse softly.
"Absolvo Pedis."
Harry felt as if a large weight was lifted from his feet and he cautiously stepped forward. He looked up at Draco, wanting to thank him, but he'd already turned away, and was heading back to his father.
Clearing his throat softly, Harry followed him, unsure of what to say. He came up beside Draco and waited.
"He's going to kill me when he wakes up." Draco spoke softly, looking fearful once again.
Harry opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again quickly. He honestly couldn't argue that statement, as he wouldn't put it past Lucius to do exactly that. Instead, he glanced up and down the hallway, for some sign that anyone else might be nearby.
"Why do you think no one came?" Harry asked, straining to see down to the end of the corridor.
"I don't know," Draco answered with a shrug. "Maybe you're out of Neville's range."
"I didn't know there was a range," Harry said, looking at Draco questioningly.
"I'm just guessing," Draco replied quickly. "He probably doesn't have one." He sighed loudly then and bent down beside his father. Reaching over his back, he plucked up Harry's wand from Lucius' slack grip and stood up.
"Here," he muttered, handing the wand to Harry.
"Thanks," Harry replied, quite relieved to have his wand back. He knew Lucius would be out for a long while.but still.better not to take any chances. Glancing up the hallway once more, seeing no one coming, he took a step forward.
"I guess we should find." he began but stopped abruptly as he looked over his shoulder. Draco was raising his wand again, aiming at his father.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked nervously, turning back to him quickly.
"Well I can't leave him here," Draco replied in a tone that implied it should be obvious. "Someone might find him."
"So you're going to move him somewhere?" Harry asked.
"I'm going to wake him up," Draco answered.
"No!" Harry yelled, a bit harshly. Draco looked at him angrily and Harry continued quickly. "You can't wake him! He might try something.we have to get Dumbledore and."
"I'm not handing my father over to Dumbledore. He only did what he did because he was surprised. Once he's used to the idea.of me being the defender.you'll see.he'll be fine." he trailed off uncertainly.
"Draco once he's no longer doubting you're the defender he's going to kill you.that curse he tried.you know what it would have done. If he cared about you at all."
"Don't assume you know how my father feels about me Potter!" Draco cut him off, a dark look in his eyes. "I wouldn't expect you to understand anything about it.seeing as you never knew yours to begin with."
Harry was taken aback by his comment, feeling fresh anger swell within him, but didn't take the time to think about it. He had to make sure Lucius was not woken up.
"Draco, listen to me," Harry began evenly, "If you do this he'll."
"He doesn't have a wand," Draco interrupted curtly. "He can't do anything without one. If he tries something.we just knock him out again."
"And then what?" Harry asked, throwing his arms out to his sides. "We keep waking him up and knocking him out until he just gives up and leaves? Somehow I don't see that working."
Draco looked at Harry, the expression in his eyes going from anger to sadness.
"I can't." he began, his expression hardening, "I won't.turn my father in. He'll disown me.he'll.he'll."
"Draco, listen to me for a minute," Harry began, urgently. "If we wake him up and he is able to get one of our wands, he's going to take us to Voldemort. We'll both be killed."
"But we can keep our distance, not let him near us," Draco argued, almost pleading.
"Okay, so we are able to keep away from him and he escapes. If he goes to Voldemort and tells him what's happened, assuming Voldemort doesn't already know you're the defender.he'll now know who to go for. Sooner or later, no matter how strongly the school is protected they're going to get in."
"And they'll head straight for us." Draco finished for him, sighing.
"Don't you see?" Harry continued. "This is the only way to ensure he doesn't say anything.to keep our secret even if only for a little while longer."
"What will they do to him?" Draco asked, his eyes fixed on Lucius' still form.
"They won't hurt him," Harry replied sincerely, "the same, however, cannot be said for Voldemort."
"But Voldemort wouldn't."
"Remember when I went for the crystals.and you felt the effects of the Cruciatus curse that your father used?"
"Yes," Draco replied with an involuntary shudder.
"He did that because of what Voldemort did to him. When Neville helped me get away that night, Voldemort took it out on the death eaters.something that he does quite often. This time was apparently one of the worst. Now just think for a minute.if he was that angry at them for my escaping.think of what he'll do to your father upon learning that he let both of us get away.especially when he finds out you're the defender."
Draco looked up slowly as Harry spoke, realization dawning in his eyes.
"And just for the record," Harry continued, feeling the need to go on. "I do know what it feels like." he nodded towards Lucius, "why you want to give him the chance to escape. I feel the same way for Sirius.I helped him escape when Fudge was going to give him to the dementors."
Draco met Harry's gaze evenly and Harry waited. He could see the struggle going on behind his eyes and felt sorry for him, but if it came down to it, he was not going to allow Lucius to be woken up, and would do whatever was necessary to stop Draco.
"I still don't like this," Draco began quietly, looking ill. "But I think you're right.if he goes back to Voldemort.he'll be killed." He glanced down once more at his father, before waving his wand quickly. At once Lucius was floating lazily in the air beside them, his head rolling limply on his neck.
"You better be right though Potter." he continued menacingly, "if they hurt him."
"I promise you they won't," Harry said quickly. "Even if Sirius or Remus wanted to.Dumbledore wouldn't let them." he paused, making sure Draco was looking directly at him, "and neither would I."
Draco looked at him skeptically for a moment, still seeming very uncertain, but nodded at last.
"Let's get going then," he said, directing his father's body in front of him. Harry smiled with relief and fell in step beside Draco, the two of them moving swiftly through the corridors.
Harry and Draco walked quickly through the halls, looking over their shoulders every few seconds. Harry was sure at one point that he heard someone behind them, but the corridor was too dark to see very far down it. He was quite relieved when they stepped into a brighter area, and passed the doors to the great hall. Several students were milling about, and stopped to stare as the two boys emerged from the hallway, most of them eyeing Lucius' floating form warily. Neither Harry nor Draco paid any attention, moving quickly past the students who stared after them, confused and alarmed.
When they reached the stone gargoyle, Harry gave the password and proceeded to lead the way up the narrow staircase. When he reached the top, he tapped gently on the door, before pushing it open slightly. Dumbledore and Cole were seated on either side of the desk, talking in hushed tones. They both looked up questioningly as they heard Harry knocking.
"I'm sorry," Harry said urgently before either of them could speak. "I don't mean to interrupt.but this is important."
He stepped fully into the office as he spoke, allowing Draco room to maneuver Lucius through the doorway, before stopping beside Harry.
Both men were out of their seats in an instant, crossing to the students.
"Set him down here," Dumbledore said firmly, gesturing to a nearby chair. Draco did as he was told, taking care not to hurt Lucius in any way as he lowered him gently. He stepped away as Cole moved past him, examining Lucius, while Dumbledore turned to face them.
"How did this happen?" he asked gravely, looking from Harry to Draco.
The two students exchanged a glance, before Harry began to explain. He started from leaving Draco as they neared the Slytherin dorms, and realizing someone was following him. He spoke quickly, and neither Cole nor Dumbledore interrupted him. When he finally finished talking, he took a deep breath, waiting for Dumbledore to say something, but Draco spoke first.
"You're not going to hurt him, right? I can't let you."
"Your father will not be harmed, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said gently. "We will need to question him, however. Now that he knows you are the defender it may be too risky to let him go."
"But you can't just." Draco began, ready to argue, but Dumbledore held up a hand.
"I need to speak with Lucius before anything can be determined. Please do not worry yourself over this. I promise, whatever the decision, he will be treated hospitably."
Draco nodded faintly, looking at his father, and Harry could see he was now doubting his decision to have brought him here. Deciding to try and change the subject, he glanced up at Cole.
After what had happened that morning, he was in no rush to speak with the man anytime soon; however, there was one question that needed to be answered.
Clearing his throat, he took a tentative step forward.
"Cole?" he asked, cautiously.
"Mmm?" he mumbled, looking up. "Yes Harry, what is it?" he asked.
"I know this will probably sound like a silly question.but I need to ask you.shouldn't Neville have known what was happening? Why didn't he try to find us?"
"What happened?" Ron asked, his voice on the verge of panic.
"How did it break?" Ginny asked, her tone matching her brother's.
"It didn't break," Harry replied calmly, a faint smile on his lips.
"But we saw it." Hermione began.
"It looked like it shattered, but it didn't," Harry said.
"Well then where." Hermione started again, but stopped as Harry held up his hand.
"Give me one moment," he said seriously, his eyes alight with interest, following the golden mist that was now swirling, lazily, around him.
'What now?' He thought.
'Call the others,' his voice replied to him.
'How?'
'The same way you are now speaking to me, but direct your thoughts to them.'
Harry's gaze fell upon the thirteen remaining crystals. He wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, but was so drawn to completing the task he'd already begun, that he didn't think he'd be able to stop if he wanted to.
Focusing all of his energy, he brought his hand down to the next crystal in line, brushing his fingers across it gently.
'Come,' he thought almost casually.
He felt the warmth emanating from the stone at his touch, and did not even need to lift it, as it levitated itself out of the chest and seemed to burst apart, much as the courage crystal had done. Instantly a pale green mist spiraled up and around him, merging with the gold one, and Harry recognized it as the essence of the psychological crystal.
"Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked, loudly, but Harry didn't even acknowledge her question, he was reaching down for the next crystal in line, when he heard a voice speak to him, and he knew it was from the psychological essence.
'Are you sure this is a good idea?'
The warning in the voice was very clear, but Harry didn't want to stop. He hesitated for just a second, before lowering his hand to the surface of the next stone, brushing against it gently. Again, he watched the shattering, and saw the essence float up and around him, this time it was copper, and he shuddered slightly as he remembered this stone.
Resolve.
This was the stone that had made him feel ruthless, and he wasn't fond of being near it again now.
'This is taking too long; he heard the new voice say at once. You can do this much faster.'
'No don't,' came the reply from the psychological essence.
Harry felt entirely uncertain. He was dimly aware that his friends were speaking to him, but wasn't listening. He was torn between wanting to continue, but not wanting to take any advice from the resolve crystal, or ignore the psychological one.
'You should do it now, best to be done all at once; the courage crystal spoke up again.'
'But faster,' resolve added.
Harry's eyes flickered between the two, before settling on the pale green haze.
'Why do you think I shouldn't do this?' He asked.
'Because you are not ready.'
'How else will he learn?' courage asked.
'He must move slowly.'
'No! It must be done now, there isn't much time!' resolve nearly shouted, causing Harry to jump. The three voices kept up their argument for a moment longer, but Harry's mind was already made up. Ignoring the spat, he put his hand down towards the next stone, and he became aware of a hushed silence, which fell over the essences.
'All of them,' resolve said firmly. 'Now.'
Harry let his hand hover above the next stone in line, before steeling his resolve. He ran his fingers along all eleven remaining stones.
'Come.'
Immediately each crystal rose up and burst, letting the essence into the air. The colors mingled in front of him, swirling around him, giving the appearance of a prism. Harry sat, staring in fascination at them, smirking faintly, but his expression faltered, as the voices began to fill his head speaking fast.and loud.
'Stop!'
Harry shut his eyes tightly, wishing the voices would end. He could barely hear his own thoughts, let alone try to figure out what each individual stone was saying.he wasn't even entirely sure if they were talking to him or not. His head began to throb from the noise and he brought his hands up to it, trying to massage away the pain, but it did no good.
'What are you saying? Please slow down! I can't understand.'
Harry pleaded with essences, but either they couldn't hear him, or they were ignoring him. He wished very much that he hadn't listened to the resolve crystal, and was wondering why he'd been so quick to follow its request, as he really hadn't intended to.
A hand fell on his arm and Harry opened his eyes slightly to see Ron kneeling next to him. He felt his heart skip a beat, however, when he glanced at the others and realized all three of his friends were trying to talk to him.but he couldn't hear their voices. Ron was looking directly at him, talking to him, probably asking him what was happening, but Harry couldn't make anything out beyond the sounds of the crystals.
He began to signal to his friends, frantically, to make them understand that he couldn't hear anything, all the while trying desperately to get the stones to be quiet. They weren't listening to him, and he had no idea why. He shut his eyes against the pounding once more, praying for it to end. The voices grew steadily louder, speaking faster. He covered his ears almost instinctively, but couldn't block out noise that was already inside of him. The swirls of color in the air were moving about randomly, no pattern or scheme to it at all. Harry reached out a hand, trying to grasp hold of it, but it slid over his fingers like water, the stones could not be physically touched in this form.
Glancing up once more, his vision now blurring in and out, he saw Ron, Hermione and Ginny had been talking, urgently, by the expressions on their faces, and Hermione was just now standing up. She nodded once at the others and started for the door, but just as she was about to grasp the handle, it turned itself. She took a step back to avoid being hit as the door swung swiftly open, and Harry was both shocked and relieved to see Neville enter the room, followed by Cole.and Malfoy.
Cole rushed to Harry's side, glancing briefly into the trunk before looking into his eyes. Neville and Malfoy were on either side of him, and the others were a few feet behind them. Harry again had to motion that he couldn't hear, as Cole began speaking to him rapidly. He strained with all he had, but couldn't make out anything past the jumbled voices of the crystals. The pain in his head was growing so intense he wanted to scream, but held it in.
Harry watched as Cole realized what he was trying to say, and turned to Malfoy. It was only then that Harry noticed the expression on the Slytherin's face. Draco was hurting as much as Harry was, and then some, tears were streaked down his face from the pain, and he was nodding faintly at Cole while the older man spoke, an agonized grimace stretched across his features.
After a few more moments, Draco finally turned to face Harry, looking sick and pale. He opened his mouth to speak and Harry began to shake his head, why didn't they understand he couldn't hear? But he stopped immediately, as Draco's voice cut through the others.
"Do you know if one of the crystals shares your voice?" he asked in a strained tone.
Harry looked at him in shock. Never in his life would he have believed anyone that told him he'd ever be relieved to hear Malfoy's voice, but here he was. He nodded once, glad he had picked up the courage crystal first. If it had been one of the later ones to come, he never would have been able to distinguish it from the others.
"You have to call out to that one," Draco continued evenly.
Harry nodded again and began to do just that, searching for the essence of the courage crystal, trying to single it out. It wasn't working, he couldn't even hear his own thoughts anymore, and had no idea if he could get through to the stones. His eyes were burning now and his vision was coming in and out. All he wanted was to let go, fall asleep and let it pass. His head rolled on his neck as the urge to give in became almost overwhelming, but he jerked up again as he felt himself being roughly shaken back to consciousness, to see Malfoy holding his arms.
"Harry," he said, his voice filled with pain, "You need to listen to me, do not fall asleep."
Harry nodded weakly; feeling exhausted, but forced himself to stay awake. He lifted his eyes to meet Draco's, waiting to hear what he had to do.
The screaming in Harry's head continued, pounding as if trying to break out through his skull, but he wasn't going to give in. Malfoy was looking at Cole, who was speaking urgently to him, before turning again to Harry. He could see his pain reflected in Draco's eyes, and actually, felt a bit sorry for him, knowing what he was feeling was worse.
"Okay," he began, his voice wavering from how badly his head hurt, "You have to find that crystal; you have to make it answer you."
Harry held up his hands looking at Malfoy in exasperation.
"They aren't." he began, trying to keep his voice steady; glad he could hear himself speaking at least.
"Listening, I know," Malfoy finished for him. "You have to try harder."
Harry closed his eyes, wishing he had never opened the chest in the first place. He started to concentrate, listening to the voices. It sounded as if he were in the great hall during the Halloween feast, when everyone is always overexcited and loud.only magnified. He called out to the courage crystal repeatedly in his mind, praying for any response, whatever it might be. Panic was threatening to set in, he didn't know if the crystal was ignoring him, or if it had been answering him the entire time and he had been unable to hear it.
Harry sat straight up as a searing pain shot through his head, biting his lip hard to stop from crying out. Malfoy, however, hadn't been able to hold it in, Harry heard his scream, echoing in his mind, and was truly ready to give up, when suddenly, he heard his name.it was being called out from what sounded like a great distance, but it was his own voice talking to him.
He felt relief swelling inside of him as he began to signal to Malfoy, opening his eyes, slightly.
'Don't go anywhere,' he called to the crystal, 'I need your help.'
"You found it?" Malfoy asked, urgently. Harry nodded once and Draco spoke quickly. "Tell it to withdraw, now!"
Harry didn't hesitate. He concentrated on the sound of his own voice, still barely above a whisper, calling out to him.
'If you can hear me, I need you to withdraw, now! Please, can you hear me? I need you to withdraw!'
He kept repeating this again and again in his head, hoping it was working, not knowing what to expect, when at last the mist around him began to separate. The part of it that was gold started to draw into itself, forming a tight ball of light, before it flashed brightly. Harry had to shut his eyes from the glare, but it lasted less than a second, when he opened them again, the crystal had reformed. It hovered in front of him for a moment, before lowering itself back into the trunk, and remaining still.
Harry turned again to Malfoy, about to ask him what next, when the voices in his head began to diminish. The shimmering haze of essences began to pull apart completely, and one at a time, each crystal reformed itself. It all happened so quickly, Harry could barely believe it when he sat staring at all fourteen crystals in the chest. They were making no noise now, not even the whispering as they'd done earlier.
Breathing an inaudible sigh of relief, still feeling the dull ache in his head from what had just happened, Harry raised his head to gaze around the room.
Ron, Hermione and Ginny stood motionless near the other end of the dorm, their expressions full of concern. Neville was near them, looking uncertain and Malfoy appeared just as drawn and exhausted as Harry felt.
He turned at last to Cole, to hopefully get some answers for what had happened, but his voice wouldn't come out when he saw the man's face.
Cole was furious.
Harry swallowed hard as he looked at Cole apprehensively. He could see the anger in his features clearly, and could almost picture smoke coming out of his ears.
"What exactly did you think you were doing?" Cole asked in a deadly calm voice.
Harry cleared his throat quietly, before speaking, his eyes fixed on the floor.
"I was showing the crystals to my friends," he began, "and they were whispering.so I."
"You what?" Cole spat, his eyes flashing.
"I picked one up.that's all," Harry explained quickly. "I only wanted to try and understand them.I never knew this would happen."
"Exactly," Cole hissed. "You did not know, so you should not have done anything. Are you always this stupid?" he asked, angrily. Harry looked up sharply.
"I'm sorry," he said, feeling humiliated and confused. He didn't dare look towards his friends, and wished they weren't there to see this right now, he could feel himself turning red as his face grew hot.
"You don't have to yell at him," Ron spoke up, defensively.
"I'll thank you to keep out of this," Cole spoke harshly, looking over his shoulder at Ron. "It's none of your business."
"But it was just a mistake!" Hermione said, stepping forward. "You can't blame him for."
"I said," Cole said in a strained tone, his eyes glaring daggers at Harry's friends "to keep out of this."
They looked back at Cole indignantly; apparently very ready to continue the argument, but he merely turned his attention back to Harry.
"Next time you get the urge to try and use the crystals," Cole began, his tone still dark, "don't. Honestly, I wonder how you've survived this long, what you did was incredibly foolish and could have seriously hindered any chances you have of learning about your powers quickly."
"I said I was sorry," Harry spoke, feeling his own anger begin to grow. "If I'd known what was going to happen."
"You should have come to either Allison or myself!" Cole cut him off loudly. "If you're unsure of anything concerning those stones you come to us, and that's it! You don't try to figure it out on your own.obviously you aren't very good at it."
"Look," Harry said, heatedly. "I admit I was wrong, I shouldn't have done it the way I did."
"That's right, you should not have," Cole said flatly, standing up abruptly. He turned where he stood and started for the door.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked, looking after him.
"Don't touch the crystals anymore Harry," Cole spoke harshly. "I will come for you when it's time to do so."
Without another word, Cole yanked the door open hard, and stalked out into the hall, letting it slam behind him.
For a few moments, no one spoke; everyone seemed a bit taken back by Cole's reaction. Harry brought his knees towards him, and slowly stood up. He stepped forward, reaching out and closing the lid of the trunk softly, before turning to face the others.
Draco was still kneeling on the floor, looking stunned.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked him, Malfoy looked up.
"This is insane," he said quietly. "I can't do it.I can't." he trailed off, shaking his head.
"You don't have a choice," Neville spoke up, coming up beside Draco. He looked from Malfoy to Harry and back.
"I know," Draco hissed. "If I don't want to feel pain every time Potter does, I have to do this." he trailed off, looking up at Harry. "What did you do anyway?"
"I honestly don't know," Harry replied with a shrug. "I was hoping Cole would answer some questions.but I didn't exactly want to ask him, seeing how he reacted."
"He never should have treated you like that," Hermione spoke up, walking forward, the others following her.
"You should tell Dumbledore, Harry," Ron said. "Or Sirius."
"Well, I'd like to know what exactly I did first," Harry replied. "If it was truly so dangerous.then I can understand his anger."
"But that's the point!" Hermione said, throwing up her arms. "You didn't know! And if they knew what just happened was a possibility, they should have warned you!"
Harry nodded, but still wanted to know what had been happening before he said anything about Cole. He turned his attention back to Draco before speaking.
"Did Cole tell you anything? Were you with him when you first felt the pain?"
Malfoy nodded, standing up at last.
"Yes, we were training."
"And there's another thing," Hermione spoke up again, interrupting Draco. "Why is he concentrating more on training Malfoy then you, Harry? He wasn't even there for your first session!"
"Well, he was, actually," Harry replied. "Or at least he said he was, but I didn't see him." he trailed off.
"That really doesn't make sense," Ron said. "If he's so anxious to have you learn about the crystals quickly why isn't he bothering to spend as much time training you as he does with Malfoy?"
"Allison said they needed time to prepare," Harry replied, "something about the crystals needing a reason to train me."
"What reason?" Hermione asked.
"She didn't say more than that," Harry answered with a shrug.
"Still doesn't explain why Cole would train Malfoy personally," Ron commented, "and not even show up at yours.or let you know he was there."
"Can you stop talking about me like I'm not standing right here?" Draco asked, irritably, glaring at Ron.
"Well you shouldn't be!" Ron quipped. "Why are you here, anyway? Shouldn't you be going now? Or is your training done for today."
"Fine," Malfoy replied, "I'm leaving." He stepped back and turned, heading for the door.
"Draco, wait," Harry said, moving past his friends and following him. Malfoy looked over his shoulder, looking annoyed. "Tell me what you do know at least, please? What happened today.?"
Draco eyed Harry suspiciously, before glancing over at the others. Sighing exasperatedly, he turned his gaze back to Harry.
"Fine but I'm not staying here any more," he said evenly.
"Alright, I'll go with you then. C'mon," Harry replied, reaching past Malfoy and opening the door.
"Harry," Neville began.
"I'll be right back," Harry cut him off, seeing the look on all of his friends' faces. He would have asked them to come, but he didn't trust them, Ron especially, not to get into some sort of argument with Draco. Right now all he wanted was to hear what had happened and be done with Malfoy for the time being.
The two of them left the room together, and headed downstairs. Upon entering the common room, a hush fell over the Gryffindors milling about, all eyes focusing on Draco.
"Keep going," Harry whispered, nudging Malfoy who had come to a halt upon seeing all the angry, suspicious faces. "We're just leaving, don't worry," he called out to his fellow Gryffindors, not sure what else to tell them, but feeling the need to say something. They moved towards the portrait whole, feeling all eyes on them, until they were out in the hall, the door firmly shut behind them.
"Well that was certainly not fun," Draco stated as they began walking. "Don't ever get hurt in your tower again, alright? I don't think your friends would let me through."
"I hadn't exactly planned on it," Harry replied.
"If what you were feeling was even half as bad as what I was," Draco began, "then I believe you. No one would intentionally do that to themselves"
"Well of course not!" Harry said. "Did you think I ever wanted to get myself hurt?"
"It hurts me too, doesn't it?" Malfoy asked.
Harry stared at him for a moment, confused, before realizing what Draco was saying.
"You think I've been letting myself get hurt so you'd feel the pain?" he asked, too stunned at the very idea to be insulted.
"Why not?" Draco retorted.
"Why not?" Harry repeated incredulously. "How about why so? That's ridiculous!" he said, throwing his arms up into the air.
"Look I said I believed you, didn't I?" Malfoy asked, annoyed. He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head in disgust.
"Alright, yes, you did," Harry said quickly. "Let's just forget about it. Now what happened earlier? What did Cole tell you?"
"Like I said," Malfoy began, "we were training. We'd only been going at it for about an hour, when I my head started to hurt. At first, I ignored it but it only got worse, very quickly. Cole saw what was happening, and figured it must be related to you somehow, so we went to find Neville. Luckily you were only upstairs when we got to your tower, because I couldn't have made it much further."
"You could hear everything though?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Malfoy nodded. "My head hurt something awful, but I could hear everything that was said."
"Did you hear any voices? Other than those of Cole and my friends?"
"No," Malfoy answered. "Just a lot of pain."
"And what about Cole?" Harry continued. "Did he say anything about what was happening?"
"He didn't say much," Malfoy replied. "When he realized you couldn't hear him he seemed to recognize exactly what was happening. He told your friends to back up and asked me to talk to you, to tell you exactly what he was telling me."
"So then, what I heard from you.that was it? That's all he said?" Harry asked.
Malfoy snickered.
"Well that.and a few choice words for you. You really hit a nerve with him."
"I could tell," Harry said with a sigh. "I just wish he would've taken a minute to explain what happened.no matter how angry he might've been."
Malfoy shrugged.
"I don't know what to tell you.but I'd wait a long while before speaking with him again."
"Yeah, I hadn't planned on looking for him just yet," Harry replied, remembering Cole's reaction. "It's just that it doesn't help me any to not know what I did wrong. I'm definitely not opening the chest again without Cole or Allison, but I'd still like to know."
"Like I said," Malfoy began, "can't help you Potter. And unless you want to see the reaction when you walk into my dorm, I'd suggest you start heading back now, because we're almost there."
Harry looked up, shocked to see they were already deep into the corridors that led to the dungeons.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Harry said. "Thanks for telling me what happened.what you knew of it, anyway."
Malfoy didn't reply. He looked at Harry for a moment, before nodding upwards once and turning away. Harry looked after him for just a second, before heading back the way he'd come.
Walking slowly, he tried to sort out the thoughts in his head. He wanted to know what would have happened if he hadn't been able to get the crystals to withdraw, and why no one had warned him of this possibility. Draco had been hurt worse than he had, and Cole was definitely not angry with him, but hadn't told him anything either. Or at least anything that would help.
Turning the first corner, he began to pick up the pace. He didn't know why but suddenly felt very uncomfortable being down here alone. Moving quickly, he kept looking around, hoping to see a teacher or student, but there was no one.
Stop it, he told himself. If someone was nearby it probably wasn't anyone he needed to worry about. The Inquisitors would be able to sense an intruder, and still being early in the day, it wouldn't take long to send someone after them.
However, his uneasy feeling wouldn't go away, and all he could do was keep moving. The hallway dragged on for what felt like miles, and Harry just kept his eyes ahead of him. More than halfway there, he told himself, just keep going, two more hallways, then you're out of here.
He was moving so fast now it was just short of trotting, and the next corner came up quickly. But the feeling that someone was watching him was far too great now, and he forced himself to stop for just a second. He leaned up against the wall, and listened. Someone was following him, and they weren't far behind.
Harry decided against waiting to see who was behind him. If it was anyone who needed to talk to him, which he thought to be a highly unlikely possibility, they could do so out of the dungeon area. Turning away, he again began moving up the hallway, quickly. He'd gotten halfway down the corridor, when a familiar voice rang out.
"Lentus Pedis!"
Before he could turn around, Harry's feet became stuck to the hard stone floor of the corridor. He tried to wrench himself loose as the footsteps behind him grew closer, he even tried to pull his feet out of his shoes, but his effort was in vain. There may as well have been heavy stones weighing his feet to the floor. He couldn't budge.
Glancing over his shoulder and catching only a glimpse of a dark cloak, Harry shoved his hand into his robes, searching for his wand, but the person came up behind him, and took hold of his wrist, pulling his hand back out. Harry winced in pain as his arm was twisted up behind his back, and someone leaned their face very close to his ear.
"What were you talking about with my son?" Lucius Malfoy whispered, fiercely.
"None of your business," Harry spat, his eyes fixed on the floor in front of him. He glanced down when he felt a hand in his robes, however, and saw that Lucius had taken his wand out. The death eater released Harry's arm and stepped around in front of him, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"You're quite wrong, Potter. My son is my business, and you are going to tell me what you spoke to him about.now."
"No I'm not going to tell you anything," Harry answered evenly. "And you may as well just let me go.you can't hide here so easily anymore."
"Can't I?" Lucius retorted, sneering. "Well no one's found me yet, now have they?"
Harry didn't respond, but he was beginning to wonder why the Inquisitors hadn't sensed Lucius, or if they had then what was taking so long.
"As usual, Potter, you always want to do things the hard way." Lucius spoke casually, raising his wand.
"If you want to know what I told Draco so badly, why didn't you just ask him?" Harry asked quickly, his eyes fixed on the wand aimed at him. Why was Lucius spending time talking to him? Harry expected he would have just tried to take him, rather then stop him in the middle of a hallway where anyone might see them.
"I intend to," Lucius said crisply. "As soon as I finish speaking with you."
"I'm not telling you anything," Harry said flatly. "You're wasting your time."
Lucius smiled wickedly.
"We'll see," he spoke softly. Tightening the grip on his wand, he spoke again.
"Ustulo Manus!"
Harry's eyes were fixed on Lucius' wand. As the curse was spoken, a tirade of bright red sparks exploded from the tip of it, crackling like electricity in the air. They sped towards him, slamming into his chest; even if he'd been able to move there wouldn't have been enough time, the curse moved too swiftly. Harry's knees buckled momentarily as the force of the spell pushed him back, but he regained his balance quickly, his chest burning from the impact.
Looking up again at Lucius, Harry opened his mouth to speak, but another voice cut him off.
"Dad, stop!" Draco called from down the hall. He was moving rapidly up the corridor towards them, stopping just beside Harry. He looked from one to the other, before setting his gaze on his father. "You have to undo it! Please!"
"Draco," Lucius smiled, ignoring his son's request. "You've arrived just in time. Potter here was just about to tell me what he spoke to you about."
"But that curse will hurt him! You have to take it off."
"What are you talking about?" Lucius asked, his expression growing dark. "Why would I want to.?"
"Please." Draco cut him off. "Please just listen to me."
Harry followed the tense conversation anxiously, all the while feeling a tingling sensation running down his arms, towards his hands. He knew it wouldn't be long until the curse reached its destination, and then Lucius would know for sure, if he didn't already, exactly who the defender was.
Lucius eyed Harry suspiciously for a moment, before returning his gaze to his son.
"What lies has he been feeding you?" he asked, nodding towards Harry as he spoke.
"No lies, sir," Draco responded, paling slightly. "I need you to do this for me though," he spoke quickly, pulling his wand out of his pocket, "or I'll do it myself."
Lucius' eyes widened in shock for a second, before turning angry. He glared at his son furiously, his own wand still gripped tightly in his hand.
"You dare speak to me that way?" he asked in a deadly calm voice. "Your own father?"
Malfoy didn't reply, and Harry could see how white his face had become, but he still stood his ground, standing up to his father.
"What did he tell you?" Lucius asked, his eyes flashing dangerously at his son.
Draco held his father's gaze momentarily, before turning to glance at Harry. He almost seemed to be pleading with him for a moment, a look of helplessness on his face, before turning his gaze again, meeting his father's eyes.
"If you hurt Harry, I'm going to feel it too," he said evenly, his voice quiet.
"What do you mean?" Lucius demanded, glaring at Harry. "Did he put some kind of curse on you? What was it? If he did so help me I'll."
"No, he didn't," Draco cut him off. "He didn't curse me."
"Then what could possibly cause you to." he trailed off suddenly, realization dawning in his eyes.
Draco nodded faintly, continuing just above a whisper.
"I'm." he began, glancing once again at Harry, having no other choice. "I'm the defender."
For a brief moment, no one spoke. Lucius' jaw dropped open in stunned silence, and he stared at his son in disbelief.
"That." he began, his voice very faint, "that can't be."
"It is," Draco replied quickly. "It's the truth, I."
"No!" Lucius screamed, suddenly enraged, causing Draco to step back. "No you are not the defender! Whoever told you that was lying!"
"It's not a lie," Harry spoke up finally, looking defiantly at Lucius. "He is the defender and if."
"You be quiet, Potter!" Lucius spat, vehemently, his anger radiating off of him like heat. "I'm sure you find it very amusing, tricking my son like this, but I assure you."
"I'm not lying!" Harry yelled loudly, cutting him off. "And if you don't." he began, but stopped abruptly. The tingling in his arms had reached his hands, and they had been growing steadily warmer, when suddenly it had become overwhelmingly painful. He gritted his teeth as his fingers began to burn, white hot agony searing through them, barely hearing Draco cry out in pain next to him.
There was no relief to be found, he balled his hands into fists, then stretched his fingers out as far as he could, rubbed his hands together, and against the material of his robes. He tried squeezing them together and keeping them apart, but nothing worked, all the while trying fiercely to move his feet, needing to make the pain end. He glanced up slowly at Lucius; his vision blurring, to see him staring in horror at his son, whose reaction was quite similar to Harry's. He could see Draco had dropped his wand and it had rolled a few feet away, but it was still out of Harry's reach.
After what felt like an eternity, Lucius raised his wand again, but pointed it at Draco
"Strigo Ustulo." he spoke faintly and a stream of blue sparks flew from the tip of his wand. They flittered gently through the air, falling gently towards Draco's hands and arms, but upon coming into contact, promptly fizzled out, having no effect.
"What did you do to my son?" Lucius roared, turning fiercely on Harry. He grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him roughly, but Harry could barely find his voice to answer, too consumed by the pain in his hands, it was unbearable.
"Answer me!" Lucius shouted, louder this time, but Harry couldn't. He could barely manage to think let alone speak. His knees buckled underneath him and the only thing keeping him upright was Lucius' grip on his arms.
They stood this way only seconds, before Lucius let out a cry of rage. He released Harry, who immediately slumped to the floor, clutching his hands to his chest. Raising his wand again, he spoke the same words he had a moment earlier, and the blue sparks again flew from its tip, but this time, floating towards Harry.
The counter-curse flittered through the air, falling softly onto Harry's hands and the relief was instantaneous. The burning immediately dissipated and the pain eased. Harry blinked a few times as his vision cleared, and awkwardly pushed himself back up. His feet were still fixed to the floor and he struggled back into an upright position. Looking around quickly, he saw Lucius standing over his son, appearing disgusted.
Draco had been sitting against the wall and was now using it to help himself back up. He stood shakily and turned cautiously to meet his father's gaze. Lucius did not move or speak, merely glared at his son, contemptuously. When Draco lowered his eyes, Lucius' temper took hold; he lashed out at his son, striking him hard across his face. Draco's head whipped around harshly, and his hands slapped against the wall as the momentum from the blow caused him to overbalance. He turned quickly, blood trickling slowly down his face from his nose and glared at his father.
"How did you let this happen?" Lucius hissed at his son, looking murderous.
"Let this happen?" Draco repeated angrily. "You think I wanted this? I didn't let anything happen."
"Well then how?" Lucius shouted. "Who did this to you? You cannot be the defender."
"Nobody did anything to him." Harry spoke up, hoping to distract Lucius. He could do nothing to get his wand at the moment but if Draco could reach his own. "He was born the defender."
"You," Lucius spat, whirling on Harry. "I bet you did this to him, didn't you? You chose him to defend you as some twisted form of payback."
"I didn't get to choose the defender," Harry said, calmly, holding Lucius' gaze as Draco watched, motionlessly behind him.
"My master will straighten this out," Lucius said in a vicious whisper. "You will."
"He'll kill Draco," Harry said flatly. "Voldemort will kill your son."
"No." Lucius began; worry edging its way into his voice. "No.he'll see.he'll fix it."
"Fix what?" Harry asked harshly, glad to see Draco was finally moving towards his wand. "You can't change who the defender is.you can't pass it on.you're born that way.and you die that way. You saw what happened a few minutes ago.if I'm in pain, Draco's in pain. You can't just."
"Enough!" Lucius shouted suddenly, his eyes flashing. He stepped up close to Harry, their faces only inches apart. "I don't trust you to tell me the truth.you're still upset over your girlfriend being killed and this is your way to take revenge.well it's not going to work. I don't know what curse you used to make my son feel your pain.or to make him believe your lies, but I'm going to end it. My lord will see to it that this is straightened out.and then we will find your true defender."
Lucius moved back, raising his wand again and Harry watched, helplessly.
"I'm going to have to take you to Voldemort," Lucius spoke almost mechanically, "both of you.it's the only way to straighten this out."
"But." Harry began.
"No," Lucius cut him off, crisply. "I don't want to hear another word from your lying mouth." He paused a moment, glaring hatefully at Harry, before opening his mouth to speak.
"Expelliarmus!" Draco's voice rang out, before his father could utter a word. Lucius' wand was ripped from his grasp and flew to his son's waiting hand. Harry breathed an inaudible sigh of relief, despite Draco's worried expression, but it was short lived. Lucius whirled to face his son, fury etched on his features.
"Just go dad," Draco said weakly, holding tight to his own wand while putting his father's in his pocket. "Please."
But Lucius merely smiled darkly, staring daggers at his son.
"You are going to regret your disobedience," he spoke icily. He reached slowly into his pocket and Harry felt his stomach flip as he saw his own wand in the death eater's hand.
Lucius raised Harry's wand slowly, training it on Draco.
"I'll give you once chance," he began in a deadly calm voice, "to give both wands over to me now. If you do this, your punishment will not be too.painful." he spoke quietly, a faint smirk on the corner of his lips.
Harry watched as Draco seemed to shudder involuntarily, but held his ground against his father, keeping his wand aimed.
"I'm sorry," he began, obviously struggling to keep his voice steady, "but I can't do that. Please just leave, if someone finds you."
"No one is going to find me," Lucius spoke evenly, his eyes narrowing. Harry was sure he caught the slightest glimpse of sadness in them, but it was gone in the next instant, and his expression was once again stony. "You disappoint me," he continued, gravely.
Lucius began to tap on Harry's wand with his forefinger, almost absently, before tightening his grip on its base and speaking.
"Hemocrit hyponis!" he yelled and a burst of blue light emitted from the tip of the wand. Harry recognized the spell immediately as one Draco has used against him during their duel at the end of last year. It was the blood-freezing curse, and Harry remembered the pain it caused all too well.
Draco's eyes widened in shock as he heard his father speak, but he didn't try to dodge. Instead, he held his wand up in front of him, seeming to concentrate intensely. The curse sped towards him, illuminating the dark hall, bathing it in blue light, and just as it neared him, he shut his eyes tightly. It slammed into his wand full force, but did not pass. The wand absorbed the blow, sucking the luminescence into it and terminating the curse.
Draco's eyes sprang open instantly, and his breathing had become quick and shallow. Harry knew this must be some of what he was learning during his sessions with Cole, but obviously, he hadn't yet mastered it.
"How did you.?" Lucius began, a stunned expression on his face. He stopped mid question however, a dark look in his eyes. Tightening the grip on Harry's wand once more, he spoke again.
"Languidus brachium!"
This time a dark green bolt shot out of the wand, speeding towards Draco, and once again, he blocked it successfully.
Harry was trying fervently to move his feet, but they refused to budge in the slightest from the cold, damp, dungeon floor. Draco was holding up, but tiny beads of sweat were now quite visible along his hairline, small trickles of it were running down his face. Harry could see how much energy the defensive magic was taking out of him. He wasn't going to last much longer, and Lucius could see it too.
"You're only making this worse for yourself," the death eater spoke tauntingly, glaring at his son. "I'm beginning to lose my patience."
"Then leave!" Draco cried suddenly, with a fresh burst of anger. "Just get out of here! But I can't let you take us to Voldemort. He'll kill us both."
Lucius glared menacingly at his son, but instead of trying another curse, he lowered the wand. Draco looked at him questioningly, knowing his father too well to think this meant he was giving up, when Lucius began to move towards him.
Harry watched as the color drained from Draco's face, helpless to do anything but stare.
"Stop," Draco said, his eyes pleading with his father. "Please.don't come any closer."
"I'm afraid," Lucius began, ignoring his son's request, taking slow measured steps across the hall, "that this school has now had far too much of a bad influence on you. You're using strange magic.which is obviously quite powerful as it stopped both of my curses. The question is, however, can you use it on me? Because I'm taking my wand back.now."
Harry didn't think it was possible, but Draco seemed to grow paler still. Lucius moved closer at a steady pace, and Harry was sure he was going to be able to take his wand back without a problem; Draco was looking panicked, his eyes were frozen, staring at his father in fear. Lucius stopped moving less than two feet from his son, sneering down at him triumphantly.
"If you truly are the defender," he began tauntingly, "then you are doing your job quite poorly. You're nothing but a weak, frightened little boy."
"I am not," Draco said, his voice strained. "I just.I.please dad, I don't want to hurt you." he trailed off. Harry could see him shaking slightly, but his wand was unflinching, trained directly on his father.
"Hurt me?" Lucius asked, beginning to laugh. "You couldn't, you have no backbone and will never fail to act like the coward you are.it is your nature."
"Like father, like son," Harry spoke up from behind him. He had no other choice, Draco was making no move to stop his father, he had to distract him.
Lucius, predictably, spun to face Harry, eyes flashing.
"Say that again." he spoke in a dark, quiet voice.
"You heard me," Harry replied, glaring straight back at the death eater, willing him to move away from Draco. Lucius merely smirked at him smugly.
"I'll deal with you in a moment," he muttered, turning to face his son again, realizing what Harry's intention had been.
Harry could only watch in frustration, wondering how much longer until the curse on his feet wore off.
But the look in Draco's eyes was different now. The small distraction Harry had provided seemed to give him a moment to draw his courage, and he was now glaring at his father, a determined look in his eyes.
Lucius noticed the change in his son's demeanor immediately, and decided not to waste another minute. He lunged forward, reaching for the wand, but Draco was faster.
"Stupefy!" he cried angrily and the curse hit Lucius full force. His body went limp and he fell onto his son, as the momentum of his attack carried him forward. Draco caught his father awkwardly, before stepping backwards, letting him slowly crumple to the floor in a heap, out cold. He stood over Lucius' still form, looking down, a stunned expression etched on his face. Shaking his head almost sadly, he stepped gingerly around his father and over to where Harry stood, looking very relieved. Raising his wand almost mechanically, he spoke the counter-curse softly.
"Absolvo Pedis."
Harry felt as if a large weight was lifted from his feet and he cautiously stepped forward. He looked up at Draco, wanting to thank him, but he'd already turned away, and was heading back to his father.
Clearing his throat softly, Harry followed him, unsure of what to say. He came up beside Draco and waited.
"He's going to kill me when he wakes up." Draco spoke softly, looking fearful once again.
Harry opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again quickly. He honestly couldn't argue that statement, as he wouldn't put it past Lucius to do exactly that. Instead, he glanced up and down the hallway, for some sign that anyone else might be nearby.
"Why do you think no one came?" Harry asked, straining to see down to the end of the corridor.
"I don't know," Draco answered with a shrug. "Maybe you're out of Neville's range."
"I didn't know there was a range," Harry said, looking at Draco questioningly.
"I'm just guessing," Draco replied quickly. "He probably doesn't have one." He sighed loudly then and bent down beside his father. Reaching over his back, he plucked up Harry's wand from Lucius' slack grip and stood up.
"Here," he muttered, handing the wand to Harry.
"Thanks," Harry replied, quite relieved to have his wand back. He knew Lucius would be out for a long while.but still.better not to take any chances. Glancing up the hallway once more, seeing no one coming, he took a step forward.
"I guess we should find." he began but stopped abruptly as he looked over his shoulder. Draco was raising his wand again, aiming at his father.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked nervously, turning back to him quickly.
"Well I can't leave him here," Draco replied in a tone that implied it should be obvious. "Someone might find him."
"So you're going to move him somewhere?" Harry asked.
"I'm going to wake him up," Draco answered.
"No!" Harry yelled, a bit harshly. Draco looked at him angrily and Harry continued quickly. "You can't wake him! He might try something.we have to get Dumbledore and."
"I'm not handing my father over to Dumbledore. He only did what he did because he was surprised. Once he's used to the idea.of me being the defender.you'll see.he'll be fine." he trailed off uncertainly.
"Draco once he's no longer doubting you're the defender he's going to kill you.that curse he tried.you know what it would have done. If he cared about you at all."
"Don't assume you know how my father feels about me Potter!" Draco cut him off, a dark look in his eyes. "I wouldn't expect you to understand anything about it.seeing as you never knew yours to begin with."
Harry was taken aback by his comment, feeling fresh anger swell within him, but didn't take the time to think about it. He had to make sure Lucius was not woken up.
"Draco, listen to me," Harry began evenly, "If you do this he'll."
"He doesn't have a wand," Draco interrupted curtly. "He can't do anything without one. If he tries something.we just knock him out again."
"And then what?" Harry asked, throwing his arms out to his sides. "We keep waking him up and knocking him out until he just gives up and leaves? Somehow I don't see that working."
Draco looked at Harry, the expression in his eyes going from anger to sadness.
"I can't." he began, his expression hardening, "I won't.turn my father in. He'll disown me.he'll.he'll."
"Draco, listen to me for a minute," Harry began, urgently. "If we wake him up and he is able to get one of our wands, he's going to take us to Voldemort. We'll both be killed."
"But we can keep our distance, not let him near us," Draco argued, almost pleading.
"Okay, so we are able to keep away from him and he escapes. If he goes to Voldemort and tells him what's happened, assuming Voldemort doesn't already know you're the defender.he'll now know who to go for. Sooner or later, no matter how strongly the school is protected they're going to get in."
"And they'll head straight for us." Draco finished for him, sighing.
"Don't you see?" Harry continued. "This is the only way to ensure he doesn't say anything.to keep our secret even if only for a little while longer."
"What will they do to him?" Draco asked, his eyes fixed on Lucius' still form.
"They won't hurt him," Harry replied sincerely, "the same, however, cannot be said for Voldemort."
"But Voldemort wouldn't."
"Remember when I went for the crystals.and you felt the effects of the Cruciatus curse that your father used?"
"Yes," Draco replied with an involuntary shudder.
"He did that because of what Voldemort did to him. When Neville helped me get away that night, Voldemort took it out on the death eaters.something that he does quite often. This time was apparently one of the worst. Now just think for a minute.if he was that angry at them for my escaping.think of what he'll do to your father upon learning that he let both of us get away.especially when he finds out you're the defender."
Draco looked up slowly as Harry spoke, realization dawning in his eyes.
"And just for the record," Harry continued, feeling the need to go on. "I do know what it feels like." he nodded towards Lucius, "why you want to give him the chance to escape. I feel the same way for Sirius.I helped him escape when Fudge was going to give him to the dementors."
Draco met Harry's gaze evenly and Harry waited. He could see the struggle going on behind his eyes and felt sorry for him, but if it came down to it, he was not going to allow Lucius to be woken up, and would do whatever was necessary to stop Draco.
"I still don't like this," Draco began quietly, looking ill. "But I think you're right.if he goes back to Voldemort.he'll be killed." He glanced down once more at his father, before waving his wand quickly. At once Lucius was floating lazily in the air beside them, his head rolling limply on his neck.
"You better be right though Potter." he continued menacingly, "if they hurt him."
"I promise you they won't," Harry said quickly. "Even if Sirius or Remus wanted to.Dumbledore wouldn't let them." he paused, making sure Draco was looking directly at him, "and neither would I."
Draco looked at him skeptically for a moment, still seeming very uncertain, but nodded at last.
"Let's get going then," he said, directing his father's body in front of him. Harry smiled with relief and fell in step beside Draco, the two of them moving swiftly through the corridors.
Harry and Draco walked quickly through the halls, looking over their shoulders every few seconds. Harry was sure at one point that he heard someone behind them, but the corridor was too dark to see very far down it. He was quite relieved when they stepped into a brighter area, and passed the doors to the great hall. Several students were milling about, and stopped to stare as the two boys emerged from the hallway, most of them eyeing Lucius' floating form warily. Neither Harry nor Draco paid any attention, moving quickly past the students who stared after them, confused and alarmed.
When they reached the stone gargoyle, Harry gave the password and proceeded to lead the way up the narrow staircase. When he reached the top, he tapped gently on the door, before pushing it open slightly. Dumbledore and Cole were seated on either side of the desk, talking in hushed tones. They both looked up questioningly as they heard Harry knocking.
"I'm sorry," Harry said urgently before either of them could speak. "I don't mean to interrupt.but this is important."
He stepped fully into the office as he spoke, allowing Draco room to maneuver Lucius through the doorway, before stopping beside Harry.
Both men were out of their seats in an instant, crossing to the students.
"Set him down here," Dumbledore said firmly, gesturing to a nearby chair. Draco did as he was told, taking care not to hurt Lucius in any way as he lowered him gently. He stepped away as Cole moved past him, examining Lucius, while Dumbledore turned to face them.
"How did this happen?" he asked gravely, looking from Harry to Draco.
The two students exchanged a glance, before Harry began to explain. He started from leaving Draco as they neared the Slytherin dorms, and realizing someone was following him. He spoke quickly, and neither Cole nor Dumbledore interrupted him. When he finally finished talking, he took a deep breath, waiting for Dumbledore to say something, but Draco spoke first.
"You're not going to hurt him, right? I can't let you."
"Your father will not be harmed, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said gently. "We will need to question him, however. Now that he knows you are the defender it may be too risky to let him go."
"But you can't just." Draco began, ready to argue, but Dumbledore held up a hand.
"I need to speak with Lucius before anything can be determined. Please do not worry yourself over this. I promise, whatever the decision, he will be treated hospitably."
Draco nodded faintly, looking at his father, and Harry could see he was now doubting his decision to have brought him here. Deciding to try and change the subject, he glanced up at Cole.
After what had happened that morning, he was in no rush to speak with the man anytime soon; however, there was one question that needed to be answered.
Clearing his throat, he took a tentative step forward.
"Cole?" he asked, cautiously.
"Mmm?" he mumbled, looking up. "Yes Harry, what is it?" he asked.
"I know this will probably sound like a silly question.but I need to ask you.shouldn't Neville have known what was happening? Why didn't he try to find us?"