Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or ideas which you recognise as being from JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. The plot of this story is my own, but I have no intention of making any money from it.
Chapter 2
"What the hell is he doing here?"
"You realise he's the child of the man who's going to take over the UK?"
"He's evil!"
"He's going to betray us all!"
"You've put the whole bloody cause in jeopardy!"
Harry waited, looking impassive, until a hush fell. Seven people had risen to their feet, wands pointed directly at Malfoy. Harry's crossed arms and stiff posture indicated that he was not amused by this reaction. This seemed to quell the sound somewhat, if not the tension, since none of the wand-brandisher wanted to go against him in a duel. Hermione's was the only other wand not pointing at Malfoy. Still sitting, it was twisted in her hands which rested on the table. She looked interested in proceedings, but not hostile, as though she hadn't quite made up her mind whether Malfoy was a threat or not.
"Right, now that you've all quite finished," Harry said angrily, eyes blazing. "How dare you, Dean Thomas, accuse me of putting the whole cause in jeopardy when I have suffered more for this cause than anyone else. Do you know how painful it was to get my scar surgically removed, to watch Ginny die in my arms, to have to live my life in the spotlight so I can manage to infiltrate the muggle world in the only way I can, to follow this bloody plan of Hermione's, cutting myself off from the entire wizarding world, having to start alone again?"
Ron stood up. "I know, mate, I know. We've all suffered, had to make sacrifices..."
Harry hissed, angrier than any of them had seen him in a while. "So I'd thank you to remember that before questioning my judgement." He looked around. "All of you."
There were various degrees of embarrassment and shamefacedness around the room. Hermione still sat serene, her short, straight hair flickering with a myriad of colours under the halogen lights, and her fingers curled around the long, thin piece of wood in her hands.
"So, if you would all sit down," seven pairs of legs found themselves automatically bending, Harry could be very authoritative when he felt like it, "I will explain.
"Draco Malfoy has been one of our primary sources of information in his father's campaign for over five years. He has been on our side for longer than that – many of our sources reported him 'accidentally' passing on crucial information to them, which has helped us to survive and to plan. And now, we need him in a more direct manner, because the end is coming. Lucius Malfoy cannot be allowed to take control. Another battle is coming, and we need to be ready for it. And to be ready for it, we need Malfoy."
There was silence in the room.
Seamus, "But how do you know he's not betraying us, not an agent of theirs in deep cover? You know they've been searching for us for years – it's only thanks to Hermione's plan that we never got caught. I mean, come on, you had to dye the famous Potter hair red! And plastic surgery!" He shuddered.
"Draco has his own reasons for helping us," Harry stated with equanimity. "Malfoy?"
The blonde stepped forward. Ten years didn't appear to have changed him much, the blonde hair was still as silky as ever, the nose was just as sharp, and the icy grey eyes still gave nothing away.
"Eight years ago," he began, "my father found me with my then boyfriend in a room at the Manor."
"What?" Ernie looked nonplussed. "You're gay, too? What the hell? Why didn't we know about this?"
"Bisexual, actually. And you didn't know about it because it's none of your damn business, paper boy." The blue eyes flashed.
"So why are you telling us now? I don't like you or trust you, and I couldn't care any less about your sex life, Malfoy. We're trying to win a war, here." Ron had turned purple at the insult to his friend.
Harry, who had receded to the relative safety of his seat, stood up again. "Let him finish, guys. You need to know the story."
With a shrug of the blond tresses, the story continued. "Well, father is... how shall I put this... concerned with the honour of the Malfoy family name to a ridiculous extent. We had thought he'd be away at Flobberworm's... honestly, that is potentially the most ridiculous euphemism in the history of the planet... strategy meeting all day, but he came back early, and, well, decided he wanted to talk to me about what had transpired."
What came next, was said quietly, in a monotone.
"Father found us sitting on my bed, kissing. Nothing more. We didn't hear him come up – he always had a way of moving quietly, and he disabled the wards I'd placed around the room. When he came in," there was a pause. Malfoy's eyes, if possible, became even colder and more flinty. "He saw what was happening, and immediately became furious. I suppose that he was still in the mood for Unforgivables from the meeting, because the next thing I knew, there was a flash of green light, and Perseus was lying dead across me. Father shoved him aside like an animal, and began crucioing me. I can't remember much through the pain, but I remember that Mother came in when she heard my screams, and started begging him to stop.
"He turned the wand on her, instead. Mother had never been very strong, and wasn't used to torture in the same way that we were from the Flobberworm meetings – it took only a few minutes for her mind to break. When I tried to intervene, Father stupefied me. I think he was blinded by rage, or he would have seen what he was doing.
"She was gone from then on – it took me two months to come to terms with the fact that the blank woman staring into space from the armchair wasn't her any more.
"When Father, too, realised that she wouldn't be able to come back and be his perfect hostess any more, he took measures to save the family name. He forced me to kill her while he watched, and the world was told that after a long convalescence, she had died of consumption.
"Father made me swear a Wizard's Oath not to kill him or harm him in any way as revenge for what he had done, and to spend the rest of my life protecting the Malfoy name. But frankly, I cannot see how it can be brought any lower than serving that evil bastard, so in memory of my mother, I have been and will continue to do everything I can to help you bring them both down. And even though I may not be able to wield a wand to attack him myself, I intend to be standing right beside whichever lucky person is the one to kill Lucius Malfoy."
The room was still, silent.
"And besides," Harry stood up. "If that's not enough of a reason for us to trust him, we all know that our very own Hermione, Queen of the Secrecy Spell, has placed a very nasty curse on the doorway we all walked through to get here. Anyone who betrays the secrets of this room to someone outside without my permission will find themselves deaf, dumb and blind before they can say anything which might endanger us. So bringing him here tonight has a negligible risk, even if he hadn't been helping us indirectly for nearly a decade, and directly for over five years."
There were some nods at this.
"Okay," said Ron slowly. "We all remember Narcissa Malfoy's death, the story fits, and I can see why he'd be angry. Besides, as you say, it's not like he'd be able to reveal anything. I trust your judgement, Harry." Harry nodded in acceptance.
"But what I don't get," interjected Susan, "is why now? We didn't need to know about this, and we all know that Harry only ever shares information on a need to know basis."
"Ah," said Harry. "Now we come to the crux of the matter. You're hearing the story now, because we're going to infiltrate Lucius Malfoy's campaign, and Draco here's going to be our way in. And precisely six months from now, on election night, we're going to kill both Malfoy and Flobbers."
Author's Notes:
I realise that unfortunately this chapter is another one of the wordy, setting-up-background ones. There's only a couple more to go, I promise - by chapter 4 we should be at the plot. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed and/or enjoyed the story so far - hopefully it'll meet your expectations!