Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Hiya! Thanks for all your fab reviews!! This chapter is dedicated to Dilandau-is-My-Boyfriend as she asked me to update before the 21st. I hope you enjoy this chapter and that everything goes well for you. Good Luck! Enjoy everyone!
Chapter Twenty Six
"He broke up with you?"
Ginny could only nod her head. Her throat was starting to hurt now because of all the crying. Hermione was sitting next to her, clutching one of her hands in her own, wearing a horrified expression.
"He can't just…I mean it wasn't your fault! You didn't want to lie to him. We made you do it! He should understand that!" she said, tightening the grip on her hand.
Ginny sniffed back her tears. How much more could she cry anyway.
"That doesn't matter to him. All that matters is that I lied to him and now he can't trust me. It makes sense. Why be with someone if you can't trust them?" she said in a dry, hollow voice.
"But Ginny, it's not fair!" Ron added as he looked empathetically at his little sister.
Ginny let out a strangled laugh, it sounded more like a sob.
"Nothing ever is. Look at Harry. What happened to him wasn't fair. Anyone he ever trusted ended up hurting him."
"How can you still defend him? After he blew you off like that?" Damien was the one asking the question.
"I don't blame him. If I was in his shoes, I would probably do the same." Ginny whispered sadly.
They stayed in the common room, talking about Harry and Ginny's break up. It seemed really silly now, that no one had realised this was the inevitable after Harry learned the truth. Hermione felt horridly guilty. She was the one who forced Ginny to lie to Harry and to keep the truth hidden from him. She was the reason Harry broke up with her.
"Ginny, I'm so sorry! I had never thought things would get this bad. I never thought he would break up with you over this. I should have, I see that now. Please forgive me!" she begged, tears springing in her eyes.
"I shouldn't have listened to you. I should have made my own decision to tell Harry everything. It's done now, so there's no point in going over the 'what ifs'. It's over now." She said sadly, willing back the fresh tears that were forcing their way through.
Damien sat with Ginny, trying to think of something to say that would make her feel better. He couldn't think of anything. Everything was falling apart. Harry was still in Hogwarts but it seemed like he was far away from them. He was in front of their eyes but kept his distance. Damien felt like he had gone back in time, back to last year when they had first met Harry. But things were so much worse than last year. At least back then, Damien never knew what it felt like to be close to and loved by Harry.
xxx
The different coloured jets of lights were flying in the air again. Harry watched the scene, just like he had done numerous times before as the Death Eaters and Aurors fought each other with vigour. Harry had had this dream so many times now, he could tell what was going to happen next. He searched the images before him, looking for her. She usually came just before he woke up. Her manic laughter would ring through the air, the image of her removing her mask so the Aurors could see who they were duelling with. Bella would then disappear, lost in a whirlpool of blurred images and colours. Her laughter would stop abruptly before a pained gasp left her. Harry always woke up right after that.
Harry actually liked this dream. He preferred it greatly to the nightmares of watching Voldemort burn and die. Every time he had this dream, he would try and figure out why he was witnessing an event that he himself wasn't a part of. How could he see a memory when it wasn't his? He never got a chance to think about it when he woke up. There was always one thing happening or another to distract him.
Harry watched as Bella emerged from behind the mask, laughing, her eyes shinning with pleasure. She attacked the Aurors with a kind of passion he had never seen in her before. She was really enjoying the duel.
Harry watched her with a breaking heart. He missed Bella so much. He again noticed, as he did every time he had this dream, that she looked different. What it was exactly, Harry couldn't pinpoint but there was something about her that was painstakingly different.
Harry watched in awe as Bella fought of three Aurors and turned to hex another two approaching men. This was when things started getting blurry. Harry tried desperately to concentrate, to try and see what happened next but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't grip onto the images and found them sliding away from him. Everything spun around him, Bella's laughter was cut off, as if someone switched off the volume. Then, in the midst of the spinning colours and blurred images he heard the pained gasp leave her. He knew it was Bella. That gasp had to belong to her. She was the only female there.
"Bella! Bella!" Harry couldn't help himself. He called out to her every time, hoping some day she might call back to him.
A brilliant flash of white and Harry found himself staring into his dad's worried looking face. Harry jumped a little at the sight but relaxed almost instantly. He had woken up in his dad's living quarters. James had obviously heard him talking in his sleep and had come over to see if he was alright. Harry sat up in his bed and looked at James with a guilty expression.
"Sorry" he muttered, diverting his gaze.
"For what?" James asked, genuinely confused.
"For waking you up." Harry said.
"Don't worry about it. I wasn't sleeping. I had a lot of assignments to mark so I was busy with them. I heard you, it sounded like you were having a nightmare, so I…" James trailed off, not sure of what to say.
Harry had been so difficult to judge these last few weeks. James had thought that Harry sleeping in his quarters was a blessing in disguise. He had thought he would be able to look after him and work out their recent problems. But Harry was difficult to get a hold of. He usually left very early in the mornings before James got up, the day was spent in classes and meal times weren't the best times to have heart to heart talks and the evenings were taken over by Harry's detention. That was thankfully finished. James still couldn't believe a month had already passed. He still didn't understand what it was Harry was required to do every night but it tired him out. James had asked Harry after his first day what it was McGonagall asked him to do but Harry only shot him one of his glares in response. Harry would come back from his detention and head straight to the bathroom. He would spend ages in there, James assumed he was having a bath, to soak away the day's aches maybe. By the time he emerged into the living room, it was past midnight and before James could say anything, Harry was heading for his bed thoroughly exhausted.
At least now that his detention was over, James would have more time to talk to him. James knew how awful a time Harry was having. He was still not speaking to Damien and James knew how much that affected both of the boys. They may have only met last year, but they had grown very close and they depended on each other, even if Harry didn't admit to it.
James had learnt that Harry had broken up with Ginny as well. He wasn't going to interfere in his son's personal matters but he knew that Harry missed her. It was one of the rare times Harry had ever looked happy when he was with Ginny. It was a shame Harry broke up with her. He was too stubborn to admit anything though. He wouldn't admit that he was missing Damien or Ginny or even Ron and Hermione.
James realised that he had been staring at Harry, while all these thoughts were running through his mind. He hastily looked away as Harry was looking quite uncomfortable by his unblinking gaze.
James cleared his throat.
"Um, are you okay, now?" he asked, not sure of what else to say.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine!" he answered a little harshly.
James cast around for something to talk about. He wanted to talk about so many things but now wasn't the right time. James wanted to talk about Damien. He needed Harry to stop being so hurtful towards him.
The other day, Damien had tried to talk to him just after dinner and Harry had just pushed him aside, literally. It was embarrassing enough having your friends there to witness something like that, but the entire school was there. James would have said something to Harry right there and then but he wasn't in the hall at the time. He found out about it afterwards from Professor McGonagall.
Damien didn't say a word to him or Lily about it. He just disregarded it but that was hardly the point. That type of behaviour was not acceptable. However, before he could say anything to Harry, the raven haired teen turned to his bed and pulled his covers over his head, obviously hinting to James that he was to be left alone.
Figuring that now wasn't the best time to annoy Harry anyway, James turned back to his desk. Harry had just had a nightmare, it wasn't right to talk to him now. But James was going to talk to Harry about Damien. Just like all the other things he needed to talk to him about.
xxx
Hermione and Ron quickly darted into an empty classroom.
"Hurry up, Hermione!" Ron whispered.
"Okay, calm down. You're so impatient." She reprimanded as she pulled off her bag from around her shoulders.
"You know you'll get in trouble for that!"
She turned at the sound of the voice to see Draco standing at the door, leaning casually against the doorframe. The smirk he usually wore was worn proudly today as he stared at the two Gryffindors.
"Go away, Malfoy!" Hermione said, not in the mood to hear anything the Slytherin had to say.
She finished pulling out the glass orb from her bag. It was midday and the rest were having lunch. She and Ron were planning on checking the orb before grabbing a bite to eat.
Draco's smirk deepened as he saw how his presence annoyed the other two. He walked further into the room, closing the door behind him.
"Can't you understand the meaning of 'Go away!' Malfoy!" Ron hissed at him.
"I think you may want to hold your tongue, before you land yourself in more trouble." Draco replied, looking smug.
The fact the Harry now favoured him over them was immensely satisfying and Draco was going to take any and every opportunity to rub it in their faces. Ron didn't say anything but glared at him.
"Why are you here?" Hermione asked tiredly.
"Well, since you guys pretty much suck at trying to figure things out, I thought I would lend a helping hand." He replied.
Hermione looked at him in shock and disbelief.
"Did I hear you right? You want to help us?" she asked. Ron was staring at him, obviously not believing a word.
"Just tell us the real reason you're here and then get out!" he said to Draco.
The blond raised an eyebrow at him but ignored him and turned to Hermione.
"It's not a case of wanting to help you but more having to help you." He said. He moved closer to them and then fixed them with a hard stare. "You know more about the situation involving Harry and the Sedare Potion. I want you to tell me all you know." He said seriously.
"Why?" Ron asked.
"So I can figure out who it is, idiot!" Draco spat at him, his annoyance coming across now.
"We told Harry everything we knew, didn't he tell you anything?" Hermione asked.
"Well, you see that's the thing. He tends not to remember much when he's in a spitting rage. Everything you told him was probably forgotten when he calmed down." Draco said, enjoying the way Hermione flinched when he mentioned Harry's rage.
"So, he sent you?" Ron asked. Draco glared him as he responded.
"He doesn't need to send me anywhere! I'm his friend not his servant!" with a calmer tone he continued, "He doesn't know I'm here. I had to come since you two royal idiots can't be expected to figure this mystery out by yourselves."
Ron moved towards Draco but Hermione was quick to stop him. She looked at Draco with a measuring stare. Finally she spoke to him.
"Alright, we'll tell you what we know. I'm only telling you this because I know that you're trying to help Harry." Hermione said.
In a quiet voice, she told him everything about how they discovered the Sedare potion in the butterbeers. She told him everything as quietly and as quickly as she could. Lunch would be over soon and she didn't want anyone to catch them in the classroom. When she finished Draco looked at her, a serious look on his pale face.
"How were you planning on catching this 'traitor' then?" he asked.
Hermione held up the small glass orb that she and Ron were supposed to be viewing right now. Draco stared at the glass ball for a moment, looking lost. He met Hermione's eyes and sneered at her.
"A crystal ball? You were planning on gazing into a crystal glass ball to see if you can spot the person spiking the butterbeers? I thought you had more sense than to believe in such things as 'the third eye' and divination!"
"Actually, I was rather hoping to see the person spiking the drinks in this. It's an image recorder." She explained. She couldn't help the smile at Draco's reaction.
"So, did it work?" he asked, eyeing the ball curiously.
"Yes, yes it did, Malfoy. We've seen who it is but we're deciding to just sit around and not do anything about it!" Ron snapped at him.
"I wouldn't be surprised!" Draco snapped right back.
"Alright, alright. There's no pointing fighting. Malfoy, we've been checking the orb every twelve hours, but whoever it is hasn't made any moves. I'm actually wondering if there's any point to this anymore. Harry's hardly ever in the common room now, so I don't know if the butterbeers will be spiked again or not." She said, trying to focus on the problem at hand.
Ron and Draco stopped glaring at each other long enough to pay attention to Hermione.
"So the solution is obvious then." Draco said, still eyeing Hermione rather distastefully.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, ignoring the way Draco was looking at her. Draco let out a frustrated sigh.
"Think about it! If everyone knows Harry doesn't spend time in the common room anymore, then the 'traitor' as you put it, wouldn't have any reason to spike the drinks. You have to try something else. Create a situation in which the person responsible will react and get caught." He explained.
"What rubbish are you talking? What can we do?" Ron asked him.
"Wait! That actually makes sense." Hermione said with a thoughtful look on her face.
"It does?" Ron asked turning to her. He had not understood what Draco had said.
"Yes, Malfoy is right. We have to create such a situation that makes the traitor feel that they have to act. Whoever it is must be getting frustrated that he's not able to get to Harry anymore. He's waiting for the right opportunity and we have to create that opportunity." Hermione had that look on her face, the look that suggested she was scheming something.
Ron looked at Draco and then back at Hermione.
"Err, so what are we going to do?" he asked her. Hermione turned to him, an inane smile on her face.
"We're going to send Harry a 'cheer up' present."
xxx
"Is everything set?"
"Yes"
"Did you make sure that Parvati and Lavender heard you?"
"Yes"
"Are you certain?"
"For the love of God, Hermione, yes!"
"Okay, don't yell, Ronald. I was only making sure."
"Shh! Keep it down you two!" Damien hissed at them. He looked back at the glass orb that was sitting on the table before them. His eyes were glued to it, not wanting to miss anything.
The four Gryffindors were sitting in the Room of Requirement.
Hermione's plan was perfect. Well, sort off. She had arranged a huge basket filled with sweets and drinks and flowers and all sorts of things to be placed in the cabinet in the common room. Ron was talking loudly with Damien at breakfast that he and Hermione were making a peace offering to Harry, to make up with him for the recent arguments.
He told Damien that he was going to take the basket filled with treats to Harry tomorrow. He was going to leave it in the common room so that Ginny, Hermione and Damien could add their own peace offerings to it. He made sure that Parvati and Lavender, the two gossip bags of Gryffindor, heard him. They were sure to deliver this news to everyone in Gryffindor. If the traitor was indeed in Gryffindor, then he or she wouldn't want to waste this opportunity to spike Harry's food or drink. Well, Hermione hoped so anyway.
The four sat watching the glass orb that showed the common room. Hermione had cast complicated spells on one of the orbs so that it would show what the other glass orb was recording. That way they would be able to grab the traitor, as soon as he made himself known.
Hermione was watching the orb nervously. This had to work. It was a good opportunity for the traitor to spike Harry's drink. She was certain it was going to work.
A few hours passed and the glass orb showed the common room emptying slowly as the students headed to their bed. Damien sat watching the glass orb, an expression of anger on his face. He had made himself a quiet promise that he was going to make the person responsible for this pay dearly. Harry was distant from all of them because of this person. Harry had gone through so much, the addiction, the painful withdrawals, the undue guilt, all of this was his fault, the person who was working with the Dark Prince, the traitor in Gryffindor!
Soon it was past midnight and no one had gone near the cabinet. Hermione let out a frustrated sigh. Why wasn't this person making a move! This was a golden opportunity for them. What was wrong?
Ron sighed and stood up. He had to stretch his legs. He had been sitting for too long. Ginny, Damien and Hermione stayed where they were. Each was silently praying for this to work. They had to find out the identity of the traitor. That was the only way Harry was going to forgive them, if they handed the traitor over to him.
"How much longer do you think we should wait?" Ron asked.
"I'm not leaving until we get him." Damien said with a growl.
"We should wait. The common room has just emptied. This is the chance to spike the drinks." Ginny pointed out.
Ron sat back down. They waited and waited but no one showed up. It was now three in the morning. Ron had fallen asleep and Ginny seemed to be dozing off as well. She was trying to keep her eyes open but they were shutting of their own accord. Hermione and Damien were the only two that had managed to fight their sleep and were fully awake.
"He has to come. He just has to." Hermione said in a whisper.
Damien nodded his head to show his agreement.
"Damy, do you think…if we do catch this person and hand them over to Harry, do you think then Harry will forgive us?" she asked.
Damien thought about it for a moment.
"I really don't know, Hermione. He's really mad at us. I think it'll be a long time before he's okay with us."
Hermione's face fell. She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them tight.
"I miss him." She said softly. Damien looked over at her and saw the unshed tears in her eyes. "I really miss him. I never realised how much he means to me until now. If I had known my foolishness would result in this I would never have lied to him."
Damien looked away from her. It was hard not to blame Hermione for what happened with Harry but at the same time, he felt sorry for her.
"It wasn't all your fault. We're all to blame." He said softly.
"It's just…I wish he would have understood that I never meant for him to get hurt. I hate that he broke up with Ginny. I feel like it's all my fault! And the way he's been acting towards you, it breaks my heart." She went one, giving Damien an apologetic look.
"Don't worry about it, Hermione." That was all Damien could say. Yes, Harry was being awful to him and it hurt, but that wasn't Hermione fault.
"I can't help it, I just…" Hermione trailed off. Damien looked up to see her looking at the orb before her. Her eyes were slightly popping in surprise and her mouth was still hanging open.
Damien felt his heart leap as he quickly turned to the glass orb, still sitting on the table. He saw a figure, dressed in his pyjamas reaching into the cabinet and pulling out the basket. The figure looked around the common room, as if checking the he was indeed alone.
"Ron! Ginny! Wake up!" Hermione hissed, eyes still glued to the orb.
Ron and Ginny were up like a shot and seeing the other two's expressions, they focused their attention on the glass orb before them. They all watched as the figure pulled out the bottle of firewhiskey from the colourful basket and opened it. He reached into his robes and pulled out a small vial and carefully added a few drops into the bottle.
"Oh God!" Hermione exclaimed as the figure turned around to place the bottle and the basket back into the cabinet. As he moved, his face came in a clear view and all four let out a gasp in surprise.
"Dennis!" Ginny whispered.
There was no mistaking it. The mousey haired Gryffindor was hurriedly replacing the basket back into the cabinet, shooting nervous glances around the room.
Damien and Ron shot out of the door, racing down the corridors. It didn't seem to occur to them that it was now three in the morning and the sounds of their feet could wake up the castle. All that mattered was to get to the common room and pummel Dennis uncontrollably.
Damien felt his heart beat painfully fast as he raced to the common room. Dennis? It was Dennis Creevey! The one who had been hurting Harry was the very person that had been worshipping the ground Harry walked on. Why would Dennis do that? Why would he turn on Harry?
Damien wasn't quite aware of the other three that were racing alongside him. He shouted the password out to the portrait of the fat lady and threw himself into the room. He caught sight of Dennis jumping in fright and looking at the four Gryffindors piling into the room.
Damien didn't know exactly how it happened but the next instant, Dennis was on the ground, curling into a ball while he and Ron were punching every inch of him they could reach. Damien wasn't aware of the words he was shouting but was told afterwards that he had called Dennis every name under the sun. Hermione and Ginny pulled both boys away from the hurt fourth year and Hermione had to literally step in front of Dennis to stop the other two from throttling him.
Ginny cast secrecy spells around the room so no one would come downstairs and see them. Dennis stood up, shaking. He had a split lip and a bruise was already forming on his cheek and eye. He was staring at them in a mixture of fear and confusion.
"What the hell!? What's wrong with you!?" he yelled, staring at the two boys.
"You're asking us what's wrong?! You little…" Ron made to move towards him, his wand pointed at the younger boy.
"Ron, stop! Damien, no, stay where you are!" Hermione yelled, fighting away the two boys from the trembling Dennis.
She turned and grabbed Dennis and dragged him to the chair nearby, "Sit!" she pushed him onto the chair rather harshly.
"What's going on? Why the hell did you pounce on me like that?" Dennis asked, his fingers touching his face gingerly. "Have you both gone mad?"
Hermione stood with the other three, her anger boiling furiously at listening to Dennis fake innocence.
"You know well enough why we attacked you!" she said angrily.
Dennis was stunned, he had never heard Hermione talk with such venom. He didn't think she was capable of it. He looked up and saw four wands trained on him.
"What…why are you acting like this. What have I done?" he asked staring at the four and their wands incredulously. He had left his own wand on his bedside table.
Damien was trying to stop himself from hexing Dennis, he was so angry his hand was shaking. Hermione lowered her wand and walked over to Dennis. She pulled out the glass orb she had snatched from the Room of Requirement and tapped it with her wand. She stood with the orb in her hand as everyone in the room watched the images flash that showed Dennis spiking the bottle of fire whiskey, only moments before.
Complete silence rang through the room. No one spoke until Hermione had lowered the orb, glaring all the while at the boy sitting in the chair before her. Dennis looked like he was one step away from fainting. His face had gone pale, his eyes slightly bulging out from their sockets. He gaped at Hermione, looking at her and then at the orb.
"How…how did you…I don't understand." He muttered more to himself.
"Can we hex him now?" Ginny asked, her wand shooting out small sparks. It was clear that she was barely restraining herself from hurting him.
Hermione glared at Dennis, who in turn looked at Hermione with fear.
"Why, Dennis? Why did you do it?" she asked.
Dennis was in tears now, his fingers nervously twitching, searching the empty air for his wand.
"I…I, it's not…I didn't…I..." he couldn't get out a simple sentence. His breathing was quickening, his face awfully pale. It looked like he was going to have a panic attack.
"Why are we wasting time? Let's take him to Harry and let him do the questioning!" Damien yelled.
Dennis let out a squeak and looked at Hermione at once with a pleading look.
"Please, I…I never meant to…to…"
"Shut up, Dennis!" Ron said as he stalked over and grabbed Dennis from the collar and pulled him up. "You can blabber all you want in front of Harry!" he began dragging him to the door.
"Wait, Ron!" Hermione yelled. Ron stopped in his tracks looking back at her.
"Why?" he asked her.
"I want to know his reasons." She turned to Dennis who was looking around at the four who stood surrounding him. "Why did you do it, Dennis? Why did you betray Harry like this? Why did you spike his drinks?"
Dennis looked up at Hermione, tears making their way down his face. He shook his head, trying to form words to answer.
"Who is it?" Damien asked, drawing everyone's attention.
"What?" Dennis asked, the question came out with a sob.
"The Dark Prince! The one who you've been working for. The one who gave you the potion! Who is it!" Damien asked, his anger was making it difficult to speak properly.
Dennis's expression changed. He looked confused, startled even. He looked from Damien to Hermione.
"I…I don't know what you're talking about?" he stammered.
"Stop trying to protect him!" Ron hissed at him.
Dennis shook his head. "I really don't know what you're talking about."
"Did he give it to you?" Hermione asked, drawing the tearful boy's attention. "The Sedare potion? Was it the Dark Prince who gave it to you or did you come up with that yourself?" she asked.
"S-sedare potion? What are you talking about?" he asked, his hands trembling.
Damien had had enough. He stormed towards Dennis and roughly pulled out the vial from his pocket. The bottle was unlabelled. He pulled out his black book and tipped the contents onto the page. At once the liquid disappeared into the bowl and the ingredients appeared on the opposite page. Damien looked up from the book, Sedare Potion written in clear, dark letters.
"This is Sedare potion! You've been mixing this into Harry's drinks!" he told him.
Dennis shook his head and made to grab the vial back, but Damien swiped it out of reach.
"No, you've got it all wrong. I haven't been sedating Harry! I swear!" he cried.
"Stop lying! We saw you with our own eyes!" Damien yelled back.
"No, no you've got it all wrong!" Dennis argued desperately.
"So you've not been spiking the butterbeers?" Ron asked sarcastically.
"No, I mean, yes, I have but…"
"But what?" Damien hissed at him.
"But it's not Sedare potion!" Dennis cried.
"Really? Then what is it?" Hermione asked, in a disbelieving tone.
"It's Friendship potion!" Dennis cried.
The four friends stared at Dennis in obvious disbelief. Finally Hermione spoke.
"It's what?" she asked.
"Friendship potion! This is Friendship potion, I swear!" Dennis said looking at the four, hoping they would believe him.
"There is no such thing as a 'Friendship' potion!" Ginny snapped.
"Yes there is!" Dennis argued. He turned to Hermione. "Hermione, you have to believe me, please!"
"Explain what's going on right now!" Hermione ordered him, looking slightly confused.
"Hermione, don't listen to him. He's obviously going to make up things now. Let's hand him over to Professor McGonagall." Ron said, still pointing his wand at Dennis who by now was shivering from head to foot.
Hermione was looking torn between dragging Dennis to Harry and Professor McGonagall or giving him a chance to speak. She finally turned to him and cleared her throat.
"You've got two minutes, Dennis, and don't even think about lying to us!" she warned.
Dennis eyed the wand she was pointing at him and shook his head, gesturing that he wouldn't lie. He took in a deep breath and started to explain.
"It's true that I've been spiking Harry's drinks. But I've not been sedating him! I don't know where you got that from. I've been using a few drops of Friendship potion. It works similar to the Love potion but instead of making the drinker fall in love, it makes them want to be friends." He explained in a shaky voice.
"Where did you get this 'Friendship' potion from?" Hermione asked.
"I saw a pamphlet that came with the Daily Prophet near the start of last term. It was advertising it. Someone had left it on the Gryffindor table."
Hermione shared a glance with the other three. She remembered that day. There were all sorts of pamphlets that had arrived, advertising all sorts of potions and helpful things. Ginny was the one who had actually left them at the table. Hermione saw the guilty expression she was now wearing.
"I didn't even notice it at first." Dennis was saying. "I was too upset. That was the day Harry had yelled at me just because I had asked for his help. I know that I had annoyed him. I never meant to but somehow I managed to irritate him. I saw the pamphlet sitting amongst others, and I thought that maybe if I used it, Harry would be nicer to me. All I ever wanted was him to be nicer to me, if not my friend." He said in a sad voice.
Damien was listening to him and trying to remember the pamphlets. He was certain there wasn't any advertising a friendship potion, was there? There were so many that it was possible Damien never noticed it.
"Where did you buy the potion from?" Hermione asked, her voice was quiet and filled with dread.
"I had to send away for it. The pamphlet said to send a letter, requesting the potion and describing who you wanted to use it for. I gave as much information on Harry as I could. The Friendship potion has to be brewed differently for every individual, you see. I received my supply and a plan specifying exactly when to give it to Harry."
Damien felt his blood run cold. He had to repeat what Dennis had just said in his mind. He was given a plan, a plan which told him when to spike Harry's drinks! He looked outraged at the boy before him. His eyes met Hermione's panicked ones and both knew at once what had happened.
Dennis wasn't the traitor. He was being used by the Dark Prince.
"I felt bad spiking Harry's drinks, after I did it the first time, I didn't want to do it again. But it said clearly that once I started I couldn't stop. It may be dangerous to stop in between doses so…so I kept going. I never intended for him to get hurt. I swear it." Dennis finished emotionally.
"You were given a plan?" Hermione whispered. She seemed to not have heard the rest of the conversation. "Show me it!" she demanded.
Dennis reached into his pocket and pulled out a parchment. Hermione was quick to grab it from him. Damien had walked over to her and was examining the parchment for himself. It looked like an official letter, drawn up with all sorts of dates and symbols. Damien noticed Harry's name and date of birth at the top of the parchment. There was a table drawn up in the middle with dates listed next to the number of doses to be given.
Hermione scanned through the dates. The first date was indeed the night of the Christmas Ball. The last one was dated to be a week from now. She looked up at Dennis, anger coursing through her. How stupid could he be?
"How could you do this?" she asked him, holding up the timetable. "Didn't it strike you as odd that the nights you spiked Harry's drinks were the nights that the Dark Prince carried out attacks? Didn't that seem suspicious to you?" Hermione yelled, losing her calm.
Dennis looked at her dumbly, it was clear that that thought had never crossed his mind. He looked over at her and then the others.
"I…I did notice but there were other days that had nothing to do with the attacks. I never thought it was more than a coincidence." He replied.
Damien remembered that Harry had told them he had some nights where he couldn't remember a thing and feared there was an attack but everything was normal.
"I can't believe you would give Harry an unknown potion! What if someone had given you poison! You know that there are plenty of people ready to kill Harry!" Ginny yelled at Dennis.
"I would never give Harry an unknown potion. The day I got it I spent the entire day testing it and running all sorts of test on it. I never gave it to Harry until I was certain it was safe." Dennis argued, shooting Ginny a horrified glance.
"When did you get it?" Ron asked suddenly.
"The day Harry was to help the Duelling club. Everyone was away to see him at the club and I had the dorm to myself. I ran all sorts of diagnostic tests but I didn't see anything in it that would be harmful." Dennis replied.
"You didn't see 'Sedare Potion' listed in the ingredients?" Ginny asked.
"No, I swear. I would never give something harmful to Harry. I couldn't even dream of doing something like that!" Dennis said.
Damien believed him. He knew Dennis for four years. He knew if he was lying or telling the truth. But that didn't mean he wasn't angry with him. Dennis was the reason all this happened to Harry. Whether he meant to or not, he hurt Harry.
"You may not have meant to hurt Harry but you did. You've been giving Harry harmful doses of Sedare potion. Because of you, Harry's addicted to sleeping potion! Because of you, Harry's been going through painful withdrawals, he's been ill and coughing up blood because of you! He's been fighting with dad and mum and everyone because of this, because of you! The Ministry think he's behind these attacks, Harry thought he was behind these attacks because of you and your stupidity!" Damien shouted, unable to stop himself.
Dennis looked horrified. He had tears running down his face and at every accusation, he was shaking his head, a soundless 'no' escaping him. He couldn't believe he was to blame for all this.
"I never meant for Harry to get hurt. I could never hurt him! Never!"
Damien moved away from Dennis, not wanting to lash out at him. He was too angry to do anything else. Hermione stepped forward.
"You have to come with us." She told him. Her voice was gentle but it was clear that she wasn't going to be sympathetic with him.
Dennis didn't fight it. He walked with them, miserably sniffing back his tears. Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Damien walked along the deserted corridors, guiding Dennis with them. They came to Professor McGonagall sleeping quarters and knocked on the door. This couldn't wait until the morning.
xxx
The four teens didn't go back to sleep. They were sitting inside Professor McGonagall's office. The Professor had dragged a tearful Dennis to the Headmaster as soon as the full story was told. She took along the timetable plan for the 'Friendship' potion, the glass orb and what remained in the vial of potion with her.
They were all sitting in silence. The full impact of what had happened hadn't quite hit them yet. They were so sure that once they caught the traitor, they would feel better. But they didn't feel better. In fact, they felt worse.
Dennis Creevey, who would have thought. But that was what was wrong. Dennis wasn't really the traitor. He was tricked by the Dark Prince into sedating Harry.
"I never really thought much about the Dark Prince." Ron said, breaking the silence. "I just assumed he was some wannabe who had taken over. Never did I think this was a careful thought out plan to get to Harry."
Damien shivered at the thought.
"I know." Hermione said quietly. "I was sure that whoever was drugging Harry was doing it on the Dark Prince's command. I never thought it was this complicated."
"You do know what this means, right?" Ginny asked.
"We're back to square number one." Damien answered. "We have no idea who it is that's trying to hurt Harry and we are no closer to revealing who the Dark Prince is."
"There is one thing for certain though, someone in Hogwarts is in league with the Dark Prince. Someone had to plant that fake 'friendship' potion pamphlet at Hogwarts. I've got a feeling that it wasn't luck that brought Dennis' attention to that particular pamphlet. If he didn't pick it up himself it would have found its way to him. Someone is helping the Dark Prince!" Hermione said worriedly.
The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours. Each lost in their thoughts of who the Dark Prince and his 'helper' could be.
xxx
The air was warm but the skinny boy pulled his cloak tighter around himself. He waited patiently for him to arrive. He looked curiously around at his surroundings. He had no idea where he was. As always, he had been brought by portkey. Just as the seventeen year old reached out to examine a particular portrait, a familiar voice stopped him.
"Don't touch anything!" it hissed.
Nott turned around in fright but relaxed as he saw him standing at the door. Nott didn't know how but it seemed as if the shadows followed the figure standing before him. He never got a chance to see him properly. Not that he could anyway as the man always had his face covered by that silver mask.
Nott felt the uncomfortable tingle of dread creep down his spine. He hated that awful mask. The dark haired man moved further into the room. His sharp eyes, behind the mask never leaving the skinny Slytherin, not even for a moment.
"So?" he asked quietly.
"The plan is working." Nott said with a smirk. "He's all alone now. For some unknown reason, he's had a fight with his brother and friends. He stays away from them and doesn't even talk to them. I've heard that he's even broken up with his girlfriend."
Nott didn't know if it was a trick of the light or what but something shifted in the Dark Prince's eyes. It brought a shudder to him. He carried on, regardless.
"His relationship with his parents is still rocky, especially with his dad. They've had loads of fights and he's left the castle before because of it. All in all, Harry's pretty much all alone." Nott finished.
"Perfect." The man replied. His voice deep and full of hate. "Does he know about the potion?" he asked.
"I don't think so. The idiot I told you about, Creevey, he's pretty much making sure Harry receives his doses on time. I told you it would work." Nott replied, proud of himself for noticing the worshipping idiot and the way Harry treated him. Creevey was perfect for this job.
"So, no one suspects you?" The Dark Prince asked.
"No, since I pretty much act like I'm still afraid of him. Ever since I provoked Harry to attack me, everyone thinks I'm scared shitless of him."
"And you're not?" the Prince asked, amusement clear in his voice. Nott's expression darkened.
"He's the reason I lost my father. My father was killed because of Harry Potter! I don't care how powerful he is, I want him destroyed!"
The dark haired man before him didn't reply. He moved towards the window, watching the morning approach.
Nott looked at the man in detail. He was clad in dark robes, his hair dark and just as unruly as Potter's. He couldn't make out anything of his face as it was always hidden behind the sliver mask.
"Can I ask you something?" Nott asked.
The man only nodded.
"You could have given any potion to him. I mean, wouldn't it have been better to slip him some poison rather than Sedare potion?" Nott couldn't see how the sleeping potion was doing any damage.
The man turned around to face him.
"Harry's ability and skill regarding potions is not to be underestimated. He would be able to detect the presence of poison instantly. Sedare potion is the only potion that can't be detected once mixed into a substance. It would take a very powerful device to be able to detect its presence." He explained.
Nott looked at him closely.
"You do want to kill Harry, don't you?" Nott asked. He instantly wished he hadn't.
The man turned around and glared at Nott, his anger making Nott's skin crawl.
"Of course I do!" he hissed at him. He turned to face the window again. His eyes gleaming in the sunlight, an intense hate filling them as he spoke,
"But I want to break him first!"
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Okay, now I gave you all a long chapter, so please review and tell me what you thought. Cheers!