Hello everyone! Sorry for being a little late with updating, but there's been a lot of things going on this week, so I haven't been able to write as much as I wanted to. Anyway, this chapter is a little longer than the previous chapters. Reason being that I won't be able to update for a while (summer vacation, going to a place without internet connection), but I'll write and then upload when I get back! Maybe I'll be able to write a chapter before I leave, who knows )
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter. The Harry Potter books belong to J.K Rowling and not me...
When Harry woke the next morning, he jumped out of the bed, grabbed his clothes and hurried into the bathroom. He quickly took a shower and then got dressed. He looked at himself in the mirror. His black,unruly hair was now wet and dripping, making his black robes wet, though Harry paid it no mind. He had more important things to think about at the moment.
Last night, he had decided to make Ron his 'partner in crime'. If Ron would help him, then it would be easier for him to get information. Maybe Ron could ask Snape, since the red-head lived with him after all. But then again, Snape wasn't exactly the person to gossip abut others feelings, and Harry doubted that if Lucius liked him in a way more than friendship, then he wouldn't tell it to everyone.
"I wonder if this is wasted time" Harry said to himself, still glaring at his reflection in the mirror.
He dried his hair off with a towel, before walking back into his room. When he looked up at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was still about thirty minutes left until Lucius expected him in the office. He decided to just pass the time eating breakfast.
"Chiri." Harry said, unsure of whether he should shout or just say it calmly, he didn't have to worry about it though, because the little elf appeared with a 'crack' in front of him, bowing so deeply that the large ears touched the floor.
"What can Chiri do for Master Potter, sir?"
"I just want some breakfast, egg and bacon, and some tea, is that okay?" Harry asked.
Chiri nodded, before hurrying to wherever the kitchen was. It didn't take too long before she came back again, carrying a large tray with Harry's food on it.
When he was done with his meal, which didn't take too long, Harry once again took a quick look in the mirror, before he left, on his way to Lucius' office.
A couple of minutes later, Harry stood before the door to the study, he raised his hand to knock and then he stopped. The reason why he stopped was that he could hear voices from inside the room.
"What do you think, Severus? Am I not in a difficult situation here?" Harry could hear Lucius' voice say.
"That depends on whether Potter feels the same" Snape replied.
'If I feel the same? What are they discussing?' He decided to listen for just some more minutes.
"I guess, but why should he? I haven't really been that nice to him before now"
Harry could hear Snape sigh, as if he couldn't believe how difficult Lucius made the matter.
"Just ask him about it, try not to just ask him about it head on though, try to make him understand how you feel" Severus said.
"I'm still not sure if this is going to work though" Lucius sounded like he was tired or just thought it hopeless.
Harry chose this moment to disrupt the conversation and knocked on the door. After a couple of seconds, the usual 'come in' could be heard and Harry walked in, careful to hide any facial expression that could show he had been listening in on their conversation.
Snape was sitting in the chair Harry usually sat in when he worked and Lucius was sitting in his usual seat, looking up at Harry when he came in.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter. I hope you have slept well" he said and Harry nodded.
"Severus brought your friend, he's in the living room across the hall from the largest bathroom. I showed you the way when you arrived" Lucius said, making Harry light up in happiness.
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy! Can I go see him now?"
"Of course, I want you to take today off, I'm sure you have a lot to discuss with Mr. Weasley." Harry once again thanked the man, before running off to find Ron.
When he found the right door, Harry hurried inside without bothering to knock, he lived there after all, and saw Ron sitting in one of the armchairs reading a book.
'Ron, reading?' Harry thought, a little confused. His best friend never read anything if he wasn't forced into it. But here he was, reading a really thick book. It looked old, if you could judge it by the paper that had gone yellow around the edges.
"Um, Ron?" Harry said, growing even more concerned when Ron hadn't noticed that he had come in, he hadn't really been quiet either.
When he heard the sound of his name, Ron's head shot up and when he saw Harry, his face lit up and he placed a little piece of paper in the book, so he could find where he was later.
"Hi mate! How are you? Have Malfoy senior been too harsh on ya?" Harry smiled and shook his head. "No, he's been rather nice actually! But that's the thing I wanted to talk to you about! Do you mind helping me out?"
"Help you out? You in trouble or something?" Ron asked, now it was his turn to get concerned.
"No, it's not that. It's just" Harry was suddenly at a loss for what to say. He wasn't sure how Ron would take it that he liked Lucius, the red-head was rather well-known for his narrow-mindedness when it came to something that was out of the ordinary.
Ron gave Harry a questioning look when the black haired boy didn't continue. "Well mate, what is it? Whatever it is, I promise not to laugh or anything!" he said, making Harry a little more comfortable with telling him.
"Promise you'll not laugh or get disgusted with me?" Harry asked and nodded, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Okay, well, it's just that I've felt rather, um, attracted to Malfoy lately" Harry said, before shaking his head "no, scratch that, I've been attracted to him for a long time actually." Ron just blinked, then he gave Harry a what-the-hell look "You're in love with Ferret-boy?!" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry.
Harry shook his head violently. "No, not that Malfoy! Lucius Malfoy!" he said, hoping that Ron would hold his promise and don't get disgusted or laugh.
Ron was quiet for a little while, his face scrunched up like he was thinking very hard on something, but then he finally broke the tense silence.
"Well Harry, I can't really say that I like that you, my best friend, is in love with our ex-enemy, but, as I said, I am, after all, your best friend, so I accept your decision" he said and smiled. Harry was so happy he almost hugged Ron, but he stopped himself and gave him a pat on the back instead.
"Thanks Ron, I wasn't really sure how to put it" Harry said sheepishly while rubbing his hair.
"Don't worry about it mate! Now, what was that favour you wanted me to do?"
"Since you live with Snape, who is Lucius' closer friends, I wondered if you could ask him what Lucius think of me, I really need to know!" Harry begged, giving Ron a pleading look.
"Sure, I can help ya, but I doubt that stubborn git is gonna tell me anything." the red-head said, laughing a little. Harry nodded, that was true, Snape was probably going to either tell him to find it out himself, or tell him that it was none of his business. He still wanted to try though.
Ron and Harry spent the next two hours talking about their new lives and what they could do to make it work out fine, they also talked about their old lives and friends, in Ron's case family. They also talked a lot about Hermione. They both wanted to see her and missed her terribly.
Their conversation was interrupted when a loud knock on the door could be heard. After a few seconds, Snape came in and nodded curtly to Harry and then turned to Ron.
"It's time for us to leave, Mr. Weasley. Say goodbye to Mr. Potter." he said, before leaving, but not going further than just outside the door.
"Well mate, I'll see you around?" Ron said and turned to Harry, giving him a weak smile.
"Of course! And I'll send a bunch of letters too!" Harry said, returning the smile.
Ron grinned and gave Harry a hug, while whispering "I'll try to persuade the old git to tell me something that's of importance to you" in his ear, then Ron hurriedly went after Snape, who had started walking down the hall, obviously too impatient to wait for the two to say their goodbyes.
When Ron had left, Harry returned to his room to think his situation over once again.
It troubled him that he didn't exactly know what Lucius thought of him, even though the conversation between the older man and Snape had made him think that the man maybe liked him more than he let on. Harry certainly wished he did.
The a thought struck him, maybe he could ask the Dark Lord about it? He seemed to know what it was Lucius was hiding from him and maybe he would tell Harry.
He wasn't too sure if he wanted to ask Voldemort though, the wizard was smart and would probably use Harry's feelings to his advantage, or just to have some 'fun', as he called it.
Harry couldn't for the life of him understand what was so funny about watching two wizards where one was trying to hide his feelings, if that was what Lucius was doing, and the other one trying just as hard to find out what the other was feeling.
It was a rather complicated matter, Harry concluded. He bit his lip, trying to decide whether to send Voldemort an owl and ask for his help or just find out himself. After thinking a lot, Harry decided for the first option.
He grabbed some parchment and some ink and started to write down a short letter. When he was finished, he looked trough it once more, to be sure he had everything.
Voldemort
I understand that you know what Mr. Malfoy is feeling when it comes to me, and if it's not too much trouble, I'd be delighted to know what those feeling were.
I know that this may sound like a rather impertinent request, but I still ask you to tell me if you know.
Harry Potter
Harry sighed, he wasn't too sure about it, but it was the only thing he could think of at the moment.
He folded the letter and walked out of his room, down the corridor to Lucius' office. Maybe he could use the older man's owl to send the letter, saying it was to one of his friends.
Some more minutes later, Harry found himself standing outside the door to the office. He took a deep breath before knocking, and then, when he heard Lucius replying that he could come in, he pressed down the handle and walked in. Lucius seemed a little surprised to see him, not very weird, since he had given Harry the day off, but he then hurriedly replaced his confused look with an indifferent one.
"Yes, Mr. Potter? What is it?"
Harry focused on not letting his face show that he was not telling the truth when he said "I have a letter I want to send to one of my friends, and since I do not have an owl nor a window in my room, I wondered if I could use yours." He was fairly certain that he had managed to play his role perfectly and this was confirmed when Lucius nodded.
"No problem, just give the letter to one of the house-elves and tell it to send it with an owl." Harry thanked the man and didn't waste any time getting out of the office. When he reached his own room, he called for Chiri, since she was the only house-elf that he knew the name of, and told her to send the letter to Voldemort.
"And remember, don't tell Mr. Malfoy about it. If he asks you, say that I sent it to Hermione Granger."
Chiri nodded, and disappeared, seeming quiet pleased to be of help to him.
When the house-elf had left, Harry sighed and let himself fall down onto his bed. Even though he hadn't been awake for long, he already felt exhausted and tired. He decided to read a little more in the book he had started reading and then go to sleep, if only for just a little nap.
So, please review guys! Cookies to everone who does!