Sorry about this being late. One problem with summer vacation, you lose track of days ^_^. You get two chapters in this one to make up for it.
Mythic Alliance by Jendra
"You're manifesting!" Draco said in a delighted squeal. He quickly checked himself over but didn't see anything different and turned a pout on his friend. "Why are you manifesting and I'm not?" he mock-growled.
Harry's eyebrow went up. He never would have expected Draco to act like that in front of his father.
Lucius was feeling exactly the same. He never would have expected Draco to act like that in front of Potter.
"I'm losing my patience," he growled. "What is going on here?"
Harry watched as Draco's face immediately turned blank. He turned and glared at the older man and started stalking towards him, his new tail swishing agitatedly behind him. Once close enough, he began to speak, his voice low but clear to everyone in the room. "Draco trusts you, Snape likes you. I'm not either one of them. If you ever do anything to hurt one of them, I'll make you wish Voldemort got hold of you. Do you understand?"
"Harry!" Draco gasped. It took all of Severus' self-control to keep from reacting. Harry was defending him. It had been a long time since anyone had bothered to do that.
Lucius glared right back. "Oh, I understand completely. And if you ever do something that gets either of them hurt, I will give you to Voldemort myself."
Harry and Lucius just stood there glaring at each other for a long moment, but Harry's tail was settling down and waving lazily by this point. Finally, he backed down and smirked. "You can try."
Lucius smirked back and made one sharp nod in acknowledgment. Although they were both backing down, their eyes never left each other and never became less wary. "Well? Are you at least going to explain the tail?"
"Step 7 of becoming an animagus, inadvertent manifestation of aspects of your form brought on by high emotion or stress," Harry explained easily.
"So your animagus form is a black lion," Lucius stated more than asked.
"Um... nope," Harry smirked back.
"Now that the requisite posturing is out of the way, can we get on with this?" Snape drawled.
"If he takes the Veritaserum you've got with you," Harry answered. "I'm not talking to him without it."
"What, boy, you don't trust me?" Lucius smirked.
"Not as far as I can throw you," Harry replied.
"And why, exactly, do you think I would even consider taking Veritaserum?" Lucius asked. "I have no desire or intention that any secrets I happen to be holding be spread out over the entire student population of Hogwarts."
"You're going to take it because I'm asking you to," Draco spoke up. "And if you don't, I won't ever be able to go back home."
Lucius looked at him in well-concealed shock.
"And what's to keep me from just taking you home right now and forgetting this nonsense?" Lucius asked.
Harry and Severus whipped out their wands immediately.
"They are," Draco answered with a small smile.
Lucius considered the choice he had been given. "No," he finally answered. "I will not justify my past decisions to a couple of children."
"Who's asking you to?" Draco asked in surprise. "I don't want to know what you've done." He ignored Harry's quick "I do." "That's not why we're asking you to take it, and if you want, everyone here will swear not to ask you a single question about things that happened in the past. At least as much as we can avoid it."
"Hold on," Harry spoke up. "I want to know what he thought he was doing during Second Year."
"And I will not answer," Lucius replied.
"And we won't ask," Draco turned to glare at Harry. "Is that really as important right now as what we really need to ask him?"
"Because of him, Ginny almost died," Harry responded angrily. Then he sighed and got himself under control. "But no, I suppose it's not as important *at this moment*."
"And I'm supposed to just take your word that you won't ask?" Lucius asked silkily.
"Do you want me to stay out of it?" Harry asked, meaning it. He wasn't entirely sure that he'd be able to keep from asking some of the questions he really wanted answered. "I can have a muting charm placed on me while you're being asked. If I think one of them is missing something, I'll write it down."
Lucius looked at him in surprise, and for the first time realized the magnitude of what was going on here as well as getting a glimmering of what it was truly about. Slowly, he nodded. "Under those conditions, I will agree."
Harry and Draco rose together, and everyone noticed that Harry's tail had disappeared at some point during the talk. They started placing every silencing and privacy charm they knew on the circumference of the room while Severus pulled out the vial of truth potion. Severus and then Lucius checked the spells before approving them. Then Lucius sat down at the table. Draco placed the muting charm on his friend, and Severus carefully placed three drops of the serum into Lucius' open mouth.
They started with innocuous questions to make sure the potion was working correctly; then Snape got down to business.
"Do you serve the Dark Lord?" Harry kicked him hard in his shin and glared back when the Potions Professor turned to look at him.
"Detention Potter," Snape snarled.
Harry just rolled his eyes and continued to glare.
"Harry's right," Draco said with amusement. "You can't get accurate results by using nonspecific data."
"Fine," Snape growled. He turned back to Lucius who had already answered in the affirmative, but asked again. "Do you serve Voldemort?" His voice didn't even shake at saying the forbidden name. Harry smiled at him proudly.
"Yes," Lucius replied.
"Do you wish to serve Voldemort?"
"No."
"Why haven't you broken away from him?"
"It is not possible to remove the Dark Mark, and I will not risk my son to his madness."
"Do you wish Voldemort was still dead?"
"Yes."
"Will you betray your son to Voldemort?"
"Never!"
"Will you betray me to Voldemort?"
"No."
"Will you betray Harry Potter to Voldemort?"
"Perhaps."
Draco looked quickly at Harry, but that response didn't seem to bother the other boy at all.
"Under what circumstances?"
"If he were a threat to my son, or if it came to a choice between them."
Severus also looked at Harry, asking if it was okay to go on. Normally, he wouldn't have bothered asking a student for permission to do anything. However, this was obviously more dangerous for the boy then either of the other two. Harry nodded in response.
"Would you work towards the destruction of Voldemort if you could do it with minimal risk?"
"Yes."
"Could you work with Harry Potter without animosity towards the destruction of Voldemort?"
"Perhaps."
"Will you try?"
"Yes."
The three inquisitors looked at each other, trying to think of something that they seriously needed to know before trusting Lucius and couldn't think of anything. Severus gave Lucius the counter-potion while Draco removed the muting spell on Harry.
"I thought the betraying thing would put you off of it," Draco said quietly.
"There's no way he could betray me about this without betraying you two," Harry muttered. "Besides, if he'd agreed with that bit, I would have been really suspicious."
"I suppose," Draco admitted, though he still wasn't happy about it.
Lucius considered the questions he had been asked and realized there was only one reason they would ask him those particular questions.
"So what is this plan?"
The three of them explained the plan, with the younger two occasionally sidetracking into mages, animagus forms and essays.
Lucius sat back and considered everything. "I will think about it and give you my answer in a few days," was all he would finally commit to.
"You're not leaving here without swearing not to speak of this to anyone else," Harry warned him.
"And how do you plan to enforce that?"
"A memory charm might work. Of course, I'd probably mess it up like Lockhart did, and take away all your memories, but that's a chance you will have to take," Harry smirked.
"It's okay, Harry," Draco calmed him down. "He's already said he won't betray me or Severus and there's no way he could tell anyone about this without doing that. No one would ever believe you could do it by yourself."
Although Harry agreed with him, he didn't take his eyes off of the older blonde.
Lucius smirked. He could almost get to like the feisty boy. He snorted softly to himself, *like that would ever happen*. "I won't speak of it to anyone," he promised, before sweeping out of the room.
Part 18/?
The next week was... interesting. Since all three had begun animagus training at about the same time, it was no real surprise that they all would start manifesting. Therefore, Draco didn't freak when he suddenly sprouted scales during an argument with Parkinson. Severus didn't even notice his hair changing to black feathers in the middle of a harangue against Ronald Weasley on the pure stupidity of adding dragon scales whole instead of crushed. Luckily, as far as they could tell, no one had noticed except Harry and Draco.
However, the other manifestations weren't expected at all. Nor could they figure out what brought them out. Harry's was a bit obvious. After all, having everyone in the Gryffindor Tower unable to tell a lie for a night was hard to hide. Most people thought it was a new prank of the twins, and since no one else was taking credit for it, Harry encouraged that line of thought while he and the twins worked hard on finding a way to make it happen. Harry wanted to find a way to recreate his animagus' effect as well, feeling that that ability would be quite helpful, if only he could do it without having to completely switch to his animagus form. Unfortunately, for some reason once a person learned to transform all the way, they would no longer be able to transform part way. At least, that was the way it worked for regular animagi. Sure, it might be different for magical creatures, but he didn't want to take that chance. Therefore, the very last vestiges of his free time were taken up by the twins and their work on an answer.
Draco hadn't even known his power was manifesting until one morning when he went to turn off the shower. And realized that he'd never bothered to turn the hot water on. In his fully human form, his sudden imperviousness to cold temperatures disappeared, and he gave a shout as it was suddenly borne into him just exactly how cold the water at Hogwarts could get. He was shivering for most of the day.
Any ambivalence Severus might have had over his own form disappeared after the next time he was called. Of course, almost everything changed after that meeting.
Severus grabbed his arm and cursed silently. He hated when he was called while the boys were there. They both knew the signs of his being called. And they would worry. The last time he'd been called he had come back during the night to find Draco curled up in a chair in Severus' sitting room and Harry having been caught by Filch out after curfew. He wasn't used to people worrying about him, and it surprised him to realize that these two, one of whom had been nothing but an annoyance not too long before, would be seriously concerned.
Even Dumbledore seemed more concerned about the information than his survival. Not Draco and Harry, though. Even if they didn't wait for him, the next morning their eyes would go to him as soon as they reached the Great Hall, raking over him to see if he was hurt in any way. Why they bothered, considering he would have either healed or hidden any such signs, he wasn't sure, but it left a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest, to know that if he *didn't* come back one of these days, there were at least two people who would care.
The rest of the world would probably dance around in glee, but he was quite used to being universally hated.
With a firm warning to the two students to put everything away and get to bed at a reasonable hour, he went back to his room to pick up his robe and mask and headed out the nearest secret passageway towards the edge of the Apparation wards of Hogwarts.
Happily, he was not the last to arrive. Voldemort had the tendency to make examples out of those who didn't come with enough celerity when called. After some minor business, the Dark Lord ordered both Severus and Lucius to come before him.
Hiding his worry behind admantium shields, Severus walked up and knelt before the snake man. He and Lucius gracefully bent down to kiss the hem of their Lord's robes before settling back onto their knees.
"It has been brought to my attention," Voldemort hissed, "that Severus Snape and Lucius' son, Draco Malfoy, have been spending time almost every day with Harry Potter. And yet, neither of you have bothered to tell me this yourself, nor have you brought Potter to me. Would you care to explain that?" His tone emphasized the fact that the explanation had better be good, which the two men in front of him were already well aware.
"My lord," Severus said immediately. "Are you also aware that Potter has withdrawn from his friends and does not seem to trust Dumbledore any longer?"
"Really?" Voldemort mused, his interest caught by those words.
"I believe there is a chance that he can be turned, my Lord. He is already civil to both myself and young Malfoy. We are working on him very slowly, I admit. After the past four years he does not trust easily. But I do believe we are making progress."
"And why did you not tell me of this earlier?" Voldemort asked menacingly.
"I did not want to bring this up, in case it all fell through," Severus explained. "He still does not trust either of us enough to leave Hogwarts' grounds with us, but I do believe his faith in us is growing. Slowly, but growing."
"Crucio!" Voldemort called out calmly. He held it on the Potions Master for almost a minute before releasing the curse and allowing the wizard to struggle back onto his knees. "It is not up to you to decide what I should or should not know. Obviously, some of you have forgotten that. I expect you to tell me *everything* that you have done to further our cause. That goes for all of you." He swept his gaze around the gathered Death Eaters, then turned his focus back to Severus. "You will bring Potter to me on Christmas Eve. It does not matter if he is willing or not. He *will* be in front of me on Christmas Eve. Is that understood?"
"Yes, my Lord," Severus agreed.
"He is not the only one," Voldemort continued. "On Christmas Day I want every child of yours, my faithful, to be brought before me to receive the Dark Mark. I do not care what their ages are. *Every* child you have will be brought before me, even if they are born that morning. Is that understood?"
There was a soft, nearly inaudible mutter of unhappiness from those gathered, but they voiced their agreement. They dared do nothing else.
"But, my Lord," Lucius spoke up. "What about those at Hogwarts? Dumbledore will know as soon as they return that they have the Mark."
"Are you questioning me?" Voldemort whispered dangerously.
"No, my Lord, of course not," Lucius back-tracked quickly.
Severus backed up as soon as he was allowed to move. All he could think as he backed into a shadowed corner, was that he needed to find out what Voldemort planned. He never noticed the shadows getting darker around him or the way he seemed to fade into them. Lucius did, though, and as most were dismissed he went towards that corner. "Stay right there," he whispered. "You'll be fine." He had looked up both animagus transformations and the forms he'd been told about since his meeting with the three, and was fairly sure what had happened.
So Severus stayed, well hidden, as Pettigrew scuttled into the room and all but the Inner Circle left. Severus had once been in the Inner Circle, but he was no longer trusted as much since the Dark Lord had returned. It is hard to truly know where the allegiance a double agent lies, and Voldemort was no fool. Of course Severus brought him information, but which side was being given more, and more useful intelligence? The Dark Lord must believe him to a degree, or he would have been long since tortured and dead… but neither was he going to chance Severus being put into such a position of trust.
"Nott," the Dark Lord began, once sure they were alone, "has been speaking to the Dementors of Azkaban, and they are close to agreeing to join us. Once that happens, we will retrieve those of your compatriots who have been confined there for all these years."
There was a subdued cheer for that.
"On January 2, once the Hogwarts Express has left King's Cross Station, we will be attacking Hogwarts."
Severus was not the only one who almost stopped breathing at that.
"All those that are there at the time will be killed. There will be no exceptions. Once the students return, they will be taken hostage. The purebloods will be held as hostages for their parents' good behavior. The others will be toys for my Death Eaters to play with until they are fed to the Dementors. Once Hogwarts and the children are ours, any dissension will be easy enough to deal with."
Voldemort gave out assignments as well as demanding silence of the plans from everyone and dismissing them.
Severus suddenly wanted nothing more than to be back in Hogwarts and was suddenly dizzy. When his eyes cleared, he looked around in disbelief. How did he get back to Hogwarts? He knew he didn't Apparate. Besides, it was impossible to Apparate inside Hogwarts. He stepped away from the wall and looked around to see Draco staring at him in fear. That's when he realized he was still wearing his mask and quickly took it off.
Draco blinked and then understanding crossed his face. "You walked out of the shadows," he informed his Head of House.
"I did what?"
"You walked out of the shadows. You must have manifested your magic like Harry and I did."
Snape nodded absently as he stripped off his overrobe. "I need to go see Dumbledore. Go to bed; we'll talk tomorrow."
Draco wasn't particularly happy with being pushed off like that, but understood. Severus didn't seem to be in any serious pain, so Draco allowed himself to be chivied off to his dorm.
The next morning Draco was surprised to find a package from his father coming in the morning mail. It wasn't time for his normal care package from home. He opened it to find the normal things, candy, money and a book or two. Underneath, though, was another box, with a mark on it that meant not to open in public. He opened the letter that went with it, while passing around the candy, as he always did.
'Dragon,
'Since I have plans that require that I be out of town for the next week, I am sending your care package early. There were several books I found that I believe might be useful to you in your fight against Gryffindors. I also found several potion books that I am sending to your professor, in your care. Please make sure he receives them.'
The rest of the letter was little more than gossip, but that was fine as the first paragraph told him everything he needed to know.
That night, he handed over the box to Snape before they began their lessons. He opened it quickly but carefully. Harry walked in early, worried about his professor, even though he'd seen him at the Great Hall for all meals.
"Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Fine," Severus responded absently as he pulled out three necklaces with little hourglasses on them.
"What are those?" Draco asked. "Some new kind of fashion accessory?"
"Time turners," Harry answered for the teacher who was already reaching into the box again. "Hermione had one third year so she could go to all the courses she wanted to take. It moves you back an hour for each turn."
"Brilliant," Draco muttered in awe. "Do you know the kinds of things we could do with those?"
Harry grinned back. "Oh yeah, that's something I've been thinking about for years."
Severus, meanwhile, was pulling out a velvet bag. He opened it and poured out a sparkling heap of diamonds.
"What the?" Draco muttered. He reached over and picked up several of them, showing they were connected in a necklace. "I recognize this. Mother bought it about two years ago for some party she wanted to attend. I think she changed her mind about wearing it, though. That was really annoying because she whined to father for weeks before he finally bought it for her."
Harry's mind, however, was working on another idea. "Why is he sending this now? I thought we weren't going to start on the potion and spell until the summer, but this seems to be saying we need to get it done during school. What happened last night?"
Severus answered after reading the note that was sent to him. "Draco's father has decided to help us out. Your suspicions regarding last night's meeting are right; we need to get it done before Christmas. We no longer have any choice."