Hello lovers! I have some very exciting news for you all! Yes, I've done it, I've broken my beta-cherry and I couldn't have done it with anyone more worthy! So thank you muchly Digitallace (who does fantabulous work! Go forth and read her brilliance you will not regret it!)...
Okay, well I hope this answers most of your questions, if you still have more please review and ask me that way I can make sure I tie up all the loose ends by the end of this story. Only 2 more chapters to go.
Take a deep breath this chapter is long. In fact go make yourself a cup of coffee before you continue...
Enjoy.
Chapter 18
Harry couldn't believe how quickly things turned around on him. It was impossible to describe with any accuracy the rapid change in his mental state and the effect it had on him. Within minutes he went from feeling like his bliss made him indestructible to feeling dead inside and as much as he wanted to blame Draco for everything, he knew it was at least partially his fault. Against the advice of the smartest people he's ever known, he let himself get involved with and become vulnerable to a potentially dangerous person without looking too deeply into their motives.
The worst part of all of this was that he was still undeniably, totally and completely in love with Draco Malfoy; cat-killer and heart-breaker. True whenever he thought of Draco touching him the way he had last night, he felt as though he would be sick again because it only served to remind him what else those perfect hands were being used for. The image of Mrs. Norris seemed burned into his brain and it was all he saw when he closed his eyes trying to escape the cruel truth of his worst nightmare; he had lost Draco.
He didn't remember much of that day, looking back sometimes he felt like someone else had lived it, he remembered the actual events just not how he experienced it. He remembered clear as day what it felt like to stand in front of the man he hoped to share his life with and feel him rip his heart out, but after that he just recalled the events.
Classes were cancelled until lunch time and everyone went back to their common rooms, but he, Hermione and Ron hid in one of Hogwarts' courtyards away from all the questions; neither of his friends asked him anything, they just sat with him and it helped.
Everyone saw his exchange with Draco and now their secret relationship wasn't so secret anymore, the whole school was buzzing about it; the hottest gossip since Harry's Quibbler interview last year.
Lunch was excruciating with all the staring and the whispers; Ron made a show of pulling his wand from his robes and placing it right next to his plate on the table where it was easily accessible. He sent glares to everyone who dared to look, challenging them, 'go on, say something, I dare you'. Harry was just grateful to have a friend like Ron. Hermione just held his hand tightly and never let it go, only to switch sides when their hands got sweaty. He protested but she insisted and he didn't have the to energy to argue; the feel of her dainty hand in his held him up all day and kept him steady.
He didn't remember anything about the classes he attended that afternoon, only that Draco wasn't in any of them, much to his relief. He wondered whether he'd been expelled, although no one had any proof that he'd killed Mrs. Norris, it was only speculation and the only reason he knew was the look in Draco's eyes; a look he could hide from anyone but Harry.
The only questioning Harry ever put up with during this time occurred that night in the darkness of his dorm room with his room mates, each of them in bed attempting to sleep while listening to Harry's muffled sobs. He had held himself together all day and most of the night, but once he heard Ron's faint snoring he lost it and began to weep unrestrained. His life felt so empty and his future had never looked so bleak now that he knew it didn't – couldn't – include Draco Malfoy.
The boy looked like an angel with his otherworldly white blonde hair and stormy grey eyes, which was probably why he was so dangerous.
Harry hadn't realized Ron's snores had stopped until he heard the young man speak, breaking through the darkness and Harry's hiding place.
"Harry, are you okay mate?" he had asked.
"Sorry I'll try to be quieter," Harry whimpered.
"That's not what I meant," Ron said softly.
Harry didn't reply, he just tried to rein in his tears.
"It's not like anyone is surprised, I mean if you didn't expect this Harry you're a bigger idiot than I thought," Seamus said harshly through the darkness.
Harry had almost forgotten the other boys were in the room, he was so lost in his own world things like who was around him was hard to remember.
"Seamus!" Dean scolded his best friend.
"Although you were actually with Malfoy so you're already dumber than I thought you were," Seamus snapped again, he seemed not to care how his words would hurt Harry.
"Keep that up Finnigan and I'll cut your tongue from your mouth," Ron threatened dangerously.
"He's right I should have expected it," Harry mumbled softly.
"Harry!" Ron reprimanded him. "Don't be so hard on yourself!"
"Yeah Harry," Neville pitched in, backing up Ron. "You fell in love! You can't decide who you love!"
"Yeah but you'd think 'Death Eater' would be an immediate turn off no matter how hot he is!" Seamus scoffed.
That went a little too far for Harry's liking. Harry thought Seamus could attack him as much as he wanted, at this point he felt like he deserved it for his stupidity, but to attack Draco with serious accusations like that was too much.
"He's not a Death Eater!" Harry snapped back showing his first spurt of energy since it happened.
"Who's gonna hold him down while I get the knife?" Ron asked angrily.
"I'm not trying to make him feel worse," Seamus said defending himself. "He obviously just needs a harsh dose of reality to kick him out of this Malfoy-love phase he's in!"
"I think reality has been harsh enough on Harry already today, Seam," Dean said telling off his best friend for his brash behaviour towards their fallen comrade. "Stop beating on him coz you're pissed about Alice Hopperfield."
"I saw her crying today," Seamus snapped finally revealing the source of his anger towards his friend. "Now she knows you've been with Malfoy for months! She's the best girl around and you just-"
"Shut up Seamus!" Neville shouted into the darkness. "Alice knew about Harry and Malfoy the whole time! She was helping them cover it up!"
"What!?" Seamus gasped.
Harry had a similar reaction, but he kept his silence.
"I overheard her telling Elise Goldsmith and Tanya Dolby in the common room," Neville explained.
"Really? She knew?" Seamus asked a little taken-aback at this revelation, obviously directing his questions to Harry.
Harry wasn't a good liar at the best of times and Ron knew he would never be able to do it now. Alice was obviously cutting Harry some slack to make this time easier for him; Seamus was right Alice Hopperfield was one of life's truly special women.
"'Course she did!" Ron answered harshly so Harry wouldn't have to; he didn't bother hiding the fact he was furious with Seamus right now.
"But you knew I liked her…" Seamus grumbled.
"Not until afterwards," Harry confessed which was actually true.
"That was real decent of her," Dean whispered in awe.
Yeah, it was, Harry thought to himself.
Nobody said anything for a while and eventually Harry decided to voice a question he'd been asking himself over and over again all day.
"Why am I such an idiot when it comes to him?" he said not hiding the anger and disappointment in his voice, he knew better than his and he wondered how he'd let it go this far. "Why didn't I ask? I've known for ages that there's been stuff he was hiding from me! Why the hell would he do that!?"
"You were in a secret relationship and it's not like you got heaps of time together to chat," Dean said generously. "I can't imagine how you kept it a secret for so long around here."
"That's still no excuse!" Seamus argued, he was obviously still not going easy on Harry. "Whether they had heaps of time or not, he still should have asked."
"Back off, Finnigan!" Ron barked.
"No he's right," Harry said defending Seamus; he didn't want anything sugarcoated, he'd fucked up and he needed to face it. "I knew I wouldn't like it. I didn't ask because I didn't want to know, not if the answers I got were going to end our relationship."
"Self-preservation Harry," Seamus said almost kindly. "You have to protect yourself, even in relationships."
"Especially in relationships," Dean added, "particularly with a Slytherin. You should have made him sign a full disclosure statement before you even thought of dating him."
"It's not a business transaction Dean!" Neville replied, jumping in again. "It's love! It's complicated! Haven't you ever heard that 'love is blind'?"
"That doesn't make it okay," Seamus retorted. "Harry can't just say 'well, love is blind so I didn't have to question him'. I mean the dude was a fucking Death Eater for God's sake! I think that warrants a little background check before you go jumping into a relationship!"
"He's not a Death Eater!" Harry shouted, feeling fiery again for the second time that day. "That I asked him about!"
"See it's not Harry's fault," Neville stated supportively. "He asked!"
"Not his fault he was slipping it to a Death Eater!? Come on!" Seamus scoffed.
"He's not a Death Eater!" Harry huffed; he'd had just about enough of these 'Death Eater' accusations.
"Seems like it to me," Seamus grumbled so quietly the others only just heard him.
"Finnigan, shut up before I shut you up!" Ron growled.
"You agree with him though, don't you?" Harry asked Ron sadly. It didn't escape him that while Ron was fervently telling Seamus to shut it, he never once told him he was wrong.
"Um – Well, er-" Ron stuttered at a loss for words. He didn't want to lie, but the truth would hurt his best friend.
"Its okay," Harry said before Ron got too tongue-tied. "I can see why you'd think that, but he's not a Death Eater, I know that much."
"Seems to me like you didn't know much at all," Seamus stated.
Harry gaped into the darkness as he felt like Seamus had just slapped him. After all the harsh remarks the Irish boy had made that night, it was this one that hurt the most. It hurt because it was true.
Harry had asked Draco about his involvement with Voldemort and the boy had told him he 'stayed away from that stuff as much as he could.' But what did that mean now? Nothing. There was every possibility the Slytherin had been lying. There was every possibility he had lied about everything.
"I should have forced him to tell me," Harry sighed in self-pity. "But I didn't want him to think I didn't trust him."
"You shouldn't have trusted him," Seamus reminded him.
"The relationship was probably too focused on sex," Dean offered sounding knowledgeable. "How often did you guys do it?"
"Dean!" Neville gasped in shock.
"What!?" Dean shouted defensively. "I'm just trying to help him figure this out!"
Harry sighed. He didn't think Dean was right, he knew there was more to his relationship with Draco than just sex; he loved him. Then again, they had been doing it a lot lately; perhaps he let himself get distracted by the physical side of Draco so as not to think too much about the other side of him – the side he didn't know.
"I dunno," Harry sighed. "Three, maybe four times a week – lately anyway. At first it was whenever we got some time alone together which was barely once a week, then we found this room - well, he did and-"
"Wait you guys had a private room?" Dean asked excitedly. "You won't be using it anymore, will you? Maybe Ginny and I could-"
"HEY!" Ron yelled at Dean. Harry could hear him sit straight up in bed at that suggestion and he could almost make out his shadowed outline in the dark.
"Look, I know she's your sister," Dean replied defensively, "but she's a big girl and far from innocent, trust me! She's taught me more-"
"STOP IT!" Ron yelled. "That's enough!"
Harry couldn't really see him but he could imagine Ron pressing his hands over his ears willing away the knowledge of his baby sister being sexually active with Dean Thomas.
"Yeah I agree, that's probably enough," Harry reiterated. "Gryffindors' honour that nothing leaves this room?"
Back in their early years at Hogwarts the five boys had made a pact never to let their conversations continue outside of their dorm circle. This was done mostly for Harry's benefit to keep his life and living habits private and to his delight the boys had remained loyal to him; even when their relationship was shaky.
"Gryffindors' honour," they all repeated in sync.
The room fell silent again and the darkness seemed to swallow them up, but Harry's grief returned full force even though for those few minutes he thought it may have released some of its hold over him.
"Hey, Harry," Ron whispered again, sleepily. "Do you still want to know the truth?"
Ron could have been referring to anything, but Harry knew it was about Draco. Everything was about Draco now.
"I dunno," he replied.
"Well, think about it," Ron said gently. "I was talking to Hermione and we've come up with a plan to question him if you want to."
"Yeah, okay. I'll think about it."
After that Harry drifted off into an uneasy sleep riddled with dreams about Draco chasing him through the castle covered with blood repeatedly screaming 'I killed her Harry!'.
In the morning, Harry would wake up to find himself clutching the emerald ring still clasped around his neck and for the first time he wouldn't find it comforting.
At breakfast the next morning Hermione explained her plan to a very tired looking Harry.
"Obviously there is more going on with Draco than he's let on," Hermione stated.
"Obviously," Harry reiterated dryly.
"We probably need to know what it is," she continued, "and not just because of what he did to you. I agree with your suggestion a few weeks ago, about the photos, this feels bigger than it seems."
"You want me to talk to him?" Harry choked out, horrified at the suggestion.
"Well, no not if you really don't want to," Hermione said biting her lip. "It would be easier with you there though, you will probably be able to ask the right questions. But if you don't feel up to it…" Hermione trailed off.
"I'm not sure, I can't even think about him right now," Harry replied sadly, although the opposite was in fact true, he couldn't stop thinking about Draco.
"You don't have to mate," Ron reassured him. "Hermione and I will manage."
"How will you know if he's telling the truth?" Harry asked.
"Veritaserum," Hermione whispered. "I stole some from Snape's storeroom last night."
Ron grinned at her looking proud and threw Harry a wink; it didn't make him feel better.
He just nodded and continued pushing his eggs around on his plate; he wasn't hungry despite the fact he hadn't eaten at all yesterday.
Harry had deliberately positioned himself to face away from the Slytherin table, so it wasn't until Seamus started raising his voice that he even knew anything was going on. He hadn't noticed when nearly everyone around him tensed; he hadn't noticed the worried stares from the girls or the fist crunching from the boys.
"Get out of here, Malfoy!" Seamus growled.
Harry froze at these words. Draco was trying to approach him. He didn't dare turn around. Ron was up on his feet and directly behind Harry shielding him from his ex-lover.
"Get out of my way," Draco demanded.
"There is an entire table full of angry Gryffindors behind me Malfoy, we all know what you did to Harry and don't think for a second we aren't all itching for a reason to beat the shit out of you!" Seamus hissed.
"Go ahead, I won't fight back," Draco replied casually.
Draco might have not let it show, but he was terrified. He was betting a lot on Harry still holding even a small flicker of compassion for him; if he won, and Harry still cared, he might walk away from this fight and he might just survive the day, if not, well, what would it matter if he was murdered by Gryffindors or his father; it would be the same end.
Draco took another two steps forward and Seamus threw the first punch, hitting him hard in the abdomen, forcing all the air from his lungs in a choked cough and making him double over on himself.
"Seamus!" Harry barked without turning around. "Leave it."
"Harry," Draco wheezed.
"You have thirty seconds, Malfoy," Harry instructed him.
"Can we talk privately?" he asked gently.
"No."
Hermione glanced around them to see the other students practically salivating at the opportunity to eavesdrop on such a conversation. She frowned and swished her wand so the four of them – herself, Harry, Ron and Malfoy – were in a silencing bubble. No one else would be privy to this conversation; she even thought Malfoy had thrown her a look of gratitude for her trouble.
"My father is coming to take me back to the Manor," Draco explained. "He has heard about our relationship and he's furious. I'm not sure what he will do, but I'm sure it won't be pleasant."
Draco paused; he was waiting for Harry to offer his help, to offer his protection. It never came and so he had to ask for it, he had to beg.
"You know what he is capable of," Draco pleaded. "I need your help."
"Go to Dumbledore," Harry advised coldly.
"I have, he's done all he can, there's no proof my father wants to harm me and until I am seventeen he is my guardian," Draco explained.
"I'm sure you can provide proof," Harry answered, resisting the urge to look back at Draco.
"Not without incriminating myself as well," Draco confessed.
"Then you have a choice to make," Harry told him bluntly. "You can face your father or you can face me and Dumbledore and tell the truth."
"Is that your condition?" Draco asked weakly. "If I tell you everything you will protect me?"
"If you tell me everything I will consider protecting you," Harry corrected him.
"If I tell the truth I will go to Azkaban," Draco admitted fearfully.
"I'm not sure if I can protect you from that," Harry stated, still not facing him.
"In any case, don't you think Harry deserves to know the truth?" Hermione prompted Draco.
Draco nodded. "I should have told him from the start."
"When does your father arrive?" Hermione asked.
"During lunch."
"Well then, we'll have to do this now," Hermione stated. "Harry, is there somewhere private we can talk to him?"
At these words Harry stood up and faced Draco for the first time since the previous morning. Draco looked rather similar to Harry; forlorn, with tired, droopy eyes that were red raw from tears.
"You know where," Harry said to him. "Be there in fifteen minutes."
Harry stalked from the Great Hall popping Hermione's silencing bubble as he passed through it and headed for and outside courtyard for some fresh air. He had to think for a moment about what Draco told him and how he could best protect him, he had to compose himself for his meeting with the Slytherin boy and mentally prepare himself for what he was about to hear.
After a few deep breaths he gave up, how could he possibly prepare himself for anything Draco would tell him? He could barely prepare himself to eat breakfast in the same room as him despite the fact the room was enormous enough to comfortably fit every member of the school.
Well, here goes nothing, he thought as he walked back into the castle to fetch Hermione and Ron.
For the first time ever he thought how much he would rather be going to Potions that morning, anything but this.
Draco was already there when the trio arrived in Salazar Slytherin's old quarters; Hermione and Ron allowed themselves a brief moment of astonishment at the elegance of the rooms before fixing their gaze on the blonde boy sitting at the small table across the room.
"Where do you want me?" Draco asked flatly demonstrating his submission.
"Where you are is fine," Hermione instructed him. "You'll need to drink this, it's Veritaserum."
"Sure, I'll do whatever it takes," Draco agreed diverting his gaze towards Harry; an animalistic snarl from Ron had him look away.
Hermione walked over to him with the small vial of clear liquid and spilled four drops of it onto Draco's outstretched tongue.
"It should last for about 2 hours which should be more than enough time," Hermione explained to Harry.
Harry just nodded and for a moment all four teenagers were silent, none of them really knowing where to begin.
"Shall we get on with it?" Draco prompted.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "I guess I'll start with the obvious question, just to get it out of the way while you are under the Truth serum. Did you kill Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris?"
"Yes," Draco answered shamefully.
"You're a sick fuck!" Ron shouted angrily as though he couldn't restrain himself.
"I didn't want to!" Draco shouted back.
"Did it have something to do with me?" Harry asked sadly.
"No."
"Then why?"
"It was for Dumbledore; a message, a threat," Draco replied.
"Is that why you took those photos of Harry and sent them to Dumbledore?" Hermione asked.
"Yes."
"So you admit it? You did stalk Harry taking pictures?" Ron demanded.
"Yes."
"What was the message supposed to convey?" Hermione asked Draco.
"It was a warning, to make him nervous," Draco responded tonelessly. "To show him that the school isn't safe."
"Was that all you did to convey that message?" Hermione questioned. "The photos and Mrs. Norris?"
"No."
"The shattered glass in the Great Hall!" Ron exclaimed, he bounced around in a mixture of disgust and excitement as he made the connections. He didn't realize how ill it made Harry feel. "Was that you too?"
"Yes."
The messages to Dumbledore were not confined to these three events, however Draco was all too aware of the thin line he was walking with Harry right now and he thought it best not to elaborate unless he was prompted. Harry knew the worst of it and Draco was smart enough to know that adding more fuel to Harry's fire was unwise and would achieve nothing.
"How isn't the school safe?" Hermione asked. "What exactly were you trying to tell him?"
"That the Dark Lord's arm reached all the way into Hogwarts," Draco explained briefly.
"Did You-Know-Who ask you to do this?"
"Yes."
Harry who was content just listening and trying not to cry couldn't stop himself from voicing the next question. Seamus' words had rung in his head all night and he needed to ask this while he knew Draco couldn't lie.
"Are you a Death Eater?" he asked.
Draco choked for a second while he tried to carefully word his answer so it would hurt him less, hurt Harry less; unfortunately there was only one true answer to this question.
"Yes."
Harry seemed to choke on Draco's answer too as he gasped and tried to steady his breathing. "But I've seen you," Harry said, his voice cracking with emotion; he felt like Draco was betraying him all over again and in a way he was. "Your arm I've seen it, there's no tattoo."
"The Dark Mark is the highest honour the Dark Lord can bestow," Draco explained freely. "Only those in his inner circle have that. I'm not marked but I've been initiated. I would have been marked had I been successful in my task."
"You told me you kept out of all that!" Harry shouted still shocked at Draco's admission, shocked that he let a Death Eater touch him that way, love him that way. "You said that was your father's thing, not yours!"
"I lied," Draco confessed sounding almost apologetic.
"How long?" Harry whimpered. "When did you join him?"
"Over the summer."
"Did they force you?" Harry asked tightly as though he already knew the answer. "Or did you choose?"
"I chose," Draco replied as the Veritaserum forced him to answer honestly before he was allowed to elaborate. "My father encouraged me to join certainly, but ultimately it was my choice. I regretted it almost as soon as I did it, more so after I met you – after I knew you…"
Harry couldn't hold back his tears any longer as the depth of Draco's betrayal was revealed and so he let them flow to show Draco the damage he'd done. Harry wondered if the pain Draco had caused him would distress the Slytherin or please him.
"Was it a lie?" Harry asked feeling like a masochist as he knew the answers he would receive would only hurt him more. "With me – were you lying then too?"
"Not the whole time, not at the end," Draco replied. "At first, I felt it – the attraction, the connection –and it scared me. It was easier to hate you. I decided to let myself get close to you because I thought you might prove to be a useful bargaining chip with the Dark Lord. He made no secret of the fact I was expendable."
"A bargaining chip? That's all I was to you!?" Harry screamed, outraged and horrified at what the blonde had done to him, what he had let him do.
"At first, yes, but not for long! I fell for you," Draco shouted back, trying to convey the intensity of his feelings with his tone. "As soon as I realized I was having genuine feelings for you I wanted to end it but I couldn't help myself. I'm addicted to you. I need you. I love you!"
Draco had been desperate to say those three words to Harry while he was under the influence of Veritaserum, he thought Harry would have to forgive him if he knew without a doubt the Slytherin loved him.
He was wrong.
"Just shut up!" Harry yelled. "You can't love! You're a monster! A psychopath - you mutilated her!" he hissed cruelly.
"I didn't mutilate her! I poisoned it, that's all! The others they cut it like that and displayed it."
Harry still had vivid images of Mrs. Norris' body flashing through his mind and so the fact that Draco had help with this act of cruelty was an issue he left for Hermione to address; he was too angry to think logically.
"Did you let them?" he asked. "Did you know what they would do?"
"Yes," Draco answered. "And yes."
"Then you're just as bad!" Harry snapped. He turned from his ex-lover and sat on the edge of the bed – their bed, where they had made love a thousand times – to grieve.
"What exactly were your orders from Voldemort?" Hermione asked, once she knew Harry had questioned him all he could.
"To scare Dumbledore," Draco responded. "To let him know we were in Hogwarts and no one was safe; to make him nervous and then at the end of the year to kill him."
"Kill him?" Ron spluttered. "Kill Dumbledore?"
"Yes."
"Who else had these orders?" Hermione asked finally addressing Draco's earlier confession.
"Teddy Nott, Mark Dobs, Henry Shepherd, Jimmy Brown, Ethan Fry and Gavin Phillips."
"Is there a leader?" she inquired.
"Yes, I'm the leader."
"You're the leader?" Hermione repeated in surprise. "Why you? Most of those boys are seventh year, you're only sixth year."
"Yes, I'm the leader," Draco reiterated. "I believe I was put in charge because the Dark Lord wanted to make a point to my father. He set me this task because he knew I would fail, he knows I can't kill Dumbledore – he can't even do it! He's letting my father know he can and will do what he wants with me. He is threatening my safety – my life – to control my father."
Draco offered his theory willingly; he needed Harry to understand how dangerous the situation he was in really was so he might believe him when he said he felt confused and that he didn't have any choice but to follow the crazy snake Lord. He couldn't say this under Veritaserum of course because deep down he always knew he had a choice, a difficult one but a choice nonetheless – Harry or his parents.
"And to control you?" Harry asked softly from the bed.
"My life and my family," Draco replied.
"Was that what happened at the beginning of the year?" Harry asked making a connection Draco never expected he would make. "That night I found you bleeding in the Room of Requirement? Was he exercising his control over you?"
"Yes."
"What did you do?"
"Nothing, that's the point," Draco said almost laughing bitterly at the memory. "The Dark Lord thought I was taking too long getting started on my task so he encouraged the others to give me a jump start; they went a bit overboard."
"Why?" Hermione asked, horrified as she remembered seeing all of Draco's stitches all those months ago.
"They think I am unworthy of the leadership position I was given and they're jealous because they think the Dark Lord favours me and my family," Draco replied. "My father is still in his inner circle despite his disloyalty when the Dark Lord first fell to Harry and his many mistakes since. I'm surprised all of England didn't tremble from the Dark Lord's rage when he discovered that Father lost that prophecy to you. There are many who think my father should have been killed for his incompetence; instead the Dark Lord had him released from Azkaban using his inside men. The others think they are more qualified than me to lead this task, they think they are more deserving of the Dark Lords favours; that night they showed me just how much they thought this."
"Do you still plan on killing Dumbledore?" Hermione asked after an uncomfortable silence.
"No," Draco replied, relieved to be able to say something he knew Harry would be pleased to hear.
"What now then?" she asked.
"Try to stay alive is the main plan right now," Draco admitted.
"Do you want out of the Death Eaters?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Draco replied desperately. "But no one gets out of the Death Eaters; once you join you're a member until they kill you – or until the Order does."
"What about Snape?" Hermione asked.
"He's still loyal to the Dark Lord; he's spying on the Order," Draco assured her.
"Would you be willing to switch sides?" Harry asked.
"I can't," Draco said helplessly. "He'll kill my family."
"He'll kill you!"
"I know!" Draco snapped. "He was always going to kill me one day, Harry. I've always known I would never survive this war," he said regretfully.
Harry didn't look at him. He couldn't.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I never should have let our relationship go so far," Draco apologized. "I always knew I could never give you the kind of life you wanted with love and a family, kids and all that. I never wanted to hurt you."
"You used me!" Harry accused him.
Harry was so thoroughly confused at Draco. The words he spoke couldn't possibly be lies because he had taken the truth serum, but his actions had never been so contradictory to what he claimed to be true.
"Yes, I did," Draco agreed.
"You took photos of me!" Harry said angrily.
"Yes, I did."
"If he found out and asked you to, would you have turned me over to him?" Harry whispered he tensed in anticipation of Draco's answer; he was sure he wouldn't survive if the teen said yes.
"No," Draco stated firmly and Harry sighed in relief. "I could never," he continued. "I'd rather die myself than condemn you to death."
"I have to ask you again because I can't help you if you won't," Harry said looking straight into those deep grey eyes that could catch and hold him so thoroughly. "Will you switch sides? It's the only way I can protect you."
Hermione and Ron were silent. Hermione was feeling nervous for Harry as they anticipated Draco's answer and Ron was outraged Harry would even offer; he remembered all too clearly what Harry looked like on the bathroom floor the previous morning.
"Yes, I'll switch if you can protect me," Draco said finally.
Draco knew he would be condemning his family with this action, but his refusal was his certain death. Besides, if he stood with Harry against the Dark Lord his chances of winning him back were better than if he stood opposite him. Much better, he thought.
"Will you be loyal to me – loyal to the Order – if we take you in?" Harry asked.
"Yes," he replied surely. "I would be loyal to you under any and all circumstances."
Harry expertly ignored Draco's declaration and focused on Hermione; he had to be careful around the Slytherin or risk falling for him all over again.
"Is that everything?" Harry asked Hermione.
"That's all I can think of," she replied.
"Okay, he'll be affected by the serum for another hour," Harry said out loud as he checked the time with his wand. "Let's take him up to Dumbledore."
Draco walked silently up to the Headmasters office with the three Gryffindors, all the other students were in class so nobody but the portraits bore witness to Draco's solemn steps as he shuffled fearfully towards his fate. His hands became damp with sweat as they climbed staircase after staircase and he wondered what Dumbledore would do to him. Would he protect him? Hand him over to his father? Or send him to Azkaban for Death Eater activities? He was nearly seventeen; would they try him as an adult?
Once they arrived he was made to wait in Dumbledore's sitting room with Granger and Weasley while Harry went to speak to the Headmaster in private. Draco wondered whether Harry was putting in a good word for him; it was doubtful after the way he treated him, but some part of him hoped the Gryffindor might still care enough to do that.
So how do you all feel about Alice now? Still hate her? Or has your hatred transferred to Seamus? Poor Harry, Seamus was a bit awful wasnt he, but if I was in Seamus' position I'd be pissed off too (I'd probably be a bit more tactful with Harry though... poor guy has had enough heartache to last anyones lifetime).
Still have questions? Press the little blue button below and send me a review and I'll make sure I either address it in the last few chapters or send you a message.
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