Title: Divide - Chapter 01
Pairing: Harry Potter / Draco Malfoy
Rating: 15 for language, violence and sexual situations
Genre: Pre-Slash, Drama, Adventure, Romance
Summary: Harry Potter hates summer. This summer, however, the Dursley's take him with them on a family vacation. In the strange new city, Harry finds more trouble than he expected, in the form of Death Eaters and Draco Malfoy.
Divide.
Chapter 01
Harry quietly entered his room and flopped boneless onto his bed, the thin mattress doing nothing to shield his back from the framework. He turned his head and stared over at Hedwig, his snowy-owl familiar. After her night out, delivering letters and hunting for the food she didn't get at number four, she was sleeping, feathers fluffed out and wings tightly tucked in.
He had spent the past hour or so sitting in the kitchen listening to Vernon as he ranted, rang various people attempting to call in favours and generally got more and more annoyed and purple in the face. Harry had begun to worry he would burst a vein; his temple was pulsing so strongly.
After a lot of deliberation – a whole ten minutes of which, Harry had begun to believe that he may finally get a chance to stay home alone for two weeks – Vernon had decided that Harry simply had to come with them. Anyone they could have fobbed Harry off on to was already on holiday and Petunia had long since explained the importance of Harry being near to her, living with her, over the summer. She repeated some of it during the deliberations, causing Harry to wonder exactly how much Petunia actually knew of the Wizarding World.
Just as it was decided, just as Vernon was declaring it and Petunia was sniffing in a disgusted manner, Dudley had walked in, asking what was going on.
The elder Dursley's told him about the holiday – to which he reacted with expected joy – and then tried to explain about Harry, without actually explicitly telling their son that Harry would have to come with them – but it didn't work and Dudley put two and two together, for once making four instead of five and again, reacted in the expected manner.
There had been a lot of shouting. Harry had retread to one corner of the kitchen, following Petunia's discreet directions to start dinner and listened to the argument. While he cooked, the argument moved to the dining room and he found himself harbouring a contradiction of emotions. On the one hand, he was highly amused at Dudley's reaction and wanted to watch it, but on the other, he wanted to be as far away from the arguing behemoths as was humanly possible. This last particularly because they were ostensibly arguing about him.
Eventually Dudley had been sent to his room, Vernon's final shout of rage that Harry HAD to go with them followed by a house–shudderingly loud slam of Dudley's bedroom door.
Harry had been ignored by both seething adults until he served dinner and was then sent up to his room. There was no sound from Dudley's room, so he assumed the boy would eat on his own, later. Once again, however, he hadn't been allowed to eat – though he had stolen tid-bits from the meal while preparing it; not nearly enough to assuage his hunger, however.
Harry rolled his legs off the bed, pulling himself into a sitting position. He stayed as he was for a moment, then stood and stretched the kinks from his back. A calculating look passed briefly over his features. He carefully and quietly – so as not to alert his Aunt and Uncle to his movements – made his way to his desk and sat down. He pulled out three pages of parchment, his ink and a quill.
He thought for a moment, absently sucking the end of the quill, and then penned three short notes. One each to Ron, Hermione and Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. When he was done, he sat back, carefully reading each of them over. They were short notes, simple and straight to the point, informing them all of what had happened and requesting something of each.
From Ron, he had requested Hedwig's protection for the two weeks that he was away – Vernon and Petunia had absolutely forbidden him to bring her, as well as forbidding him from leaving her with a neighbour – a pet owl was simply far too abnormal for anyone in Little Winging to find out about, let alone their neighbours. He knew Ron wouldn't mind, in fact, Hedwig would be a welcome addition to the Weasley household.
From Hermione he had requested she send him some leaflets about Bath – the city in which the holiday was to take place. He needed to know what to expect from the place, and maybe have some plans in place, thing's that could keep him occupied for the fortnight as he was sure the Dursley's would either lock him in the hotel room or leave him to his own devices most of the time. They certainly wouldn't take him with them on any sight-seeing trips. He knew Hermione would come up trumps – she always did – so he wasn't too worried.
From Dumbledore, he requested both Wizarding and Muggle money from his Gringotts Vault. He was certain the Dursley's would give him nothing, and the little money he had left over from his sixth year at Hogwarts would last no more than a couple days – if he spread it thin – and most of the money in his trunk was Wizarding, anyway. Hopefully the letter would get to Dumbledore in time to both warn him of the holiday so he could put protections in place, and send him the requested money.
As he wrote the letters, he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't be able to take anything magical with him, beyond his wand and maybe a transfigured book or two. Vernon and Petunia wouldn't allow it – they had enough problems with him having anything magical in the house, full stop – they wouldn't risk his freakishness being exposed while on holiday!
Thankfully he had already completed most of his homework – all of it that was essay based, at least. The Potion's practical and the Care Of Magical Creatures practical would have to wait until he made his annual visit to The Burrow.
After a moment of thought, he sealed the letters and stood. He crossed to Hedwig's cage and quietly opened the door – he gently woke her and she hooted softly, hopping onto his proffered arm.
"Sorry to wake you, girl, but I need you to take these letters for me. Are you up to it?"
Hedwig ruffled her feathers slightly, then held out her leg. Harry awkwardly attached the scrolls then carried her to his open window. He lifted her through it and paused, "Take Dumbledore's first and Ron's last, then stay with Ron, ok? I'm going to be away for a while."
The owl nipped affectionately at his knuckles, hooted again and spread her wings. He helped her into the air with a push of his wrist and soon she was disappearing over the horizon.
With a sigh, Harry put his elbows on the windowsill, his chin in his hands and simply looked, watching the world go by as afternoon slowly turned into evening.
Harry,
Mate, will you be fine for the trip? I know, I know, I shouldn't worry so much, but you know me and my feelings. Be careful, alright? As Mad-Eye says, Constant Vigilance! Alright? Write me if you can and let me know what's going on while you're there – there should be some Wizard Post Offices around.
Thinking of, Hedwig is very welcome here – as you should know! We'll look after her proper, ok? Stop worrying.
On a lighter note, Gred and Forge came by this week – the business is bloody booming, better than we thought it would (and that's saying something!) Mum's still a little miffed – as we all know – at their quitting school, but with the extra money, things are a little easier around here, so she mostly keeps it to herself.
Charlie and Bill send their warmest (and G&F tried to send a gift, but I removed it – didn't want the Dursley's acting up) – they've both been round a bit more than usual this summer. So does Dad and Ginny, by the way – send their warmest, I mean. Mum actually wanted to know if she should send some food while you're away – but there's no real way we can get it to you, is there? So I told her no.
Try not to get into any mischief while you're in Bath, ok? I know, I'm worrying again – but I feel like I need to, so don't scowl at me. Try and have at least a little fun, even if all you do is sit in the hotel room for two weeks – ok? At least there'll be a new view to look at, eh?
Anyway – if I know you, you've got Dumbledore to send you some money, right? So I demand presents – but only if you actually get out! That being the case – it's tradition, you simply HAVE to get presents for your friends when you go on holiday! I'll expect them when you come to The Burrow!
See you soon,
Ron.
P.S. You asked Mi for info on Bath? Are you insane? I can guarantee you, she's writing out a ten page essay on the history and drawing up an itinerary right this minute! She'll probably set you homework! Hah! You asked for it, mate!
Harry smirked to himself as he read the letter – Ron always managed to cheer him up, with his mix of brotherly affection, worry and playfulness. His accounts of his family and their day to day business was a blessing – he poured over the letters (normally much longer than this short note) with joy, every time they arrived, imagining the family as they bustled about.
Of course, he had known that Hedwig would indeed be a welcome addition to the household – Ron and Hermione had been courting for the past few months, and Errol – the elderly Weasley Owl – and Pigwidgeon – Ron's personal, hyperactive owl – would probably be exhausted with all the mail going back and forth all day, every day, as Ron and Hermione added to their load.
He chuckled lightly at the Post Script. As it turned out, Hermione had indeed written what amounted to an essay for him. He now knew more about Bath than he had intended – but it sounded like a lovely place, and if he was allowed out of the room, he would gladly explore the city. While the Dursley's were doing whatever they imagined a respectable family ought to be doing on holiday, he planned to enjoy his time alone.
Just for a moment an image of the family at the beach passed through his mind. Bath wasn't too far from some quite nice beaches – so it was within the realm of possibilities. He just hoped he never actually saw it – as the very idea of Vernon and Dudley in bathing suits was truly horrifying!
Shaking his head at the very idea of it, he collected the three letters together and packed them away in the floorboard stash under his bed. He took out the pouch Dumbledore had sent to him and weighed it in the palm of his hand for a moment. It contained about a hundred pounds Muggle money and the equivalent in Wizarding.
Hopefully that amount should keep him going for the two weeks – food, luckily, was going to be provided by the Hotel, so he shouldn't go too terribly hungry. Mostly, he intended the money as a means to enjoy himself.
The pouch itself was rather fine – almost ostentatious. It was a deep red with gold stitching and contained two separate pockets. The left held the Muggle money, the right held the Wizarding – while he was using one side, the other vanished and appeared to be only a fold in the lining. Presumably, this was so he could hide the galleons, sickles and knutts from any Muggle's nearby.
He quickly fished out the remaining Wizarding money he had left over from the past year and put it in the appropriate half of the pouch. After a pause, he packed it away in the small, tatty suitcase Petunia had deigned to lend him for the trip, carefully hiding it inside a pair of balled up socks.
Before the school owl had dropped off his three letters and the pouch, he'd managed to fit a few t-shirts and two pairs of jeans into it, as well as his necessary underwear and bathroom products. Now he took out a moth-eaten jumper, just in case and sat folding it. Hopefully, it would fit.
Dudley, the spoiled little arse, was moping.
It was entirely expected, but it didn't make the fact any easier to handle. When Dudley moped, he took it to new, Olympian levels. Harry was going to have to sit next to the whiney little shit, for at least two hours, in the cramped confines of the rear seats – made all the more cramped by Dudley himself. Of course.
"Move over 'Dudders', or do you want a new tail to go with the one you lost?" Harry said in a barely audible whisper so only Dudley would hear him as he slid into his seat. "You could have a matching set of scars." Dudley blanched and moved almost imperceptibly to his left, closer to the window, giving Harry a seething glare as he did so.
Harry may have matured quicker than most, but he allowed himself the odd petty gesture when it concerned his cousin now and then. It gave him a small amount of amusement where he normally found none.
He tried to settle in behind Vernon, squeezing his skinny frame into the available space behind the driver's seat. Dudley always sat on the left, behind his mother, as Vernon always drove and there was no room behind him. Dudley himself nearly took up two entire seats, and what was left was taken up with his extra suitcase. This all meant, of course, that Harry had the tiniest available space in which to attempt to get comfortable.
Giving up on the vain attempt, he pulled out one of his transfigured books – the cover looked like an incredibly boring Muggle book, but inside it was actually one of his Quidditch anthologies. He'd brought a couple other books with him – having had the foresight before the summer started, to transfigure a number of book-covers so Dudley wouldn't steal them and Vernon wouldn't hide them.
He didn't notice the time pass, but when he looked up from reading he noticed Petunia was already asleep, snoring in a very unladylike manner that she was sure to deny and Vernon was muttering under his breath about hooligan drivers and idiot motorcyclists. Dudley was ignoring him, engrossed in some hand-held game station or other.
'This trip is going to be a barrel of laughs' he mused to himself before returning to his book.
Bath turned out to be every bit as beautiful as Hermione had said in her letter.
Right from the outset, the city was distinctly different from anything else he'd ever seen (though his knowledge was obviously limited to Little Winging, Diagon Alley and Hogsmead.) The architecture was Georgian, right from the outermost detached houses, all the way into the city. They place seemed to be in a time-warp – a distinctly Austen one.
Harry stared in abject awe as they drove through the alternately very wide and strangely narrow streets – he spotted more than one fake window and they paused long enough in one area for him to notice the old painted signs still on some walls, like ancient murals.
When they turned onto Great Pultney Street (where their hotel was) his jaw nearly dropped. The street was indeed 'Great' – it was a clean, white, almost entirely symmetrical and gloriously preserved Georgian street. Harry could almost imagine the people of long ago, walking up and down the wide pavements, horse drawn carriages clattering down the cobbled street.
It was a sight to behold – especially when he noticed the large fountain at the far end, surrounded by road and housing, it appeared to have been turned into a large roundabout. It was currently in full swing, the water reaching at least six feet above the tip – light mists of droplets could be seen spreading in the breeze.
It was the middle of the morning, so there were few people about, though there were plenty of cars parked on either side of the very wide road.
Vernon pulled into an empty space before the Hotel entrance and snapped at everyone to get out. Harry followed his aunt and cousin as they retrieved their luggage and followed Vernon's path into the Reception.
As he grabbed his meagre belongings, Harry looked around at the street, admiring the beauty of the architecture around him, then reluctantly followed Petunia and Dudley into the foyer. Hopefully Vernon was still checking in, so he would be able to follow them at a discreet distance to their room.
It was as elegant as the doorway suggested it would be. There were leather seats, mahogany, oak, brass lights with marbled green glass shades, expensive looking drapes on all the front windows. Even the woman at the desk looked expensive, with her too thick make-up and tailored suit.
Harry marvelled at that for a moment, wondering at the strange thought of someone looking expensive. He shrugged inwardly and moved a little closer to his aunt and uncle, though staying at a respectful distance.
After a few minutes, the woman gave Vernon a key-ring and three keys. He, Aunt Petunia and Dudley walked off in the right direction and Harry followed, slowly and at a slight distance.
Harry sighed gently, ignoring the look from the Receptionist as he passed her.
Apparently their rooms were on the third floor – and the building being so old, there were no lifts. Harry grinned to himself as Dudley complained all the way up the staircase, whining about carrying his own luggage.
When they reached the third floor, Vernon showed Petunia their room, 3A on the left of the hallway and then turned to the two teenagers. "You will be sharing a bathroom." He nodded to the left-most doorway on the right side of the hallway, "Dudley you have room 3D." He turned a glare on Harry, "You have room 3B."
Harry nodded and moved to the room. He opened the door and stepped inside. Before he could even register what the room looked like, the door closed firmly behind him and he heard a key turn in the lock.
A/N: This is much better written first chapter - I added the information that needed to added, moved some things around (those who have read the original version may notice the new hotel-room arrangements, for a start) but kept descriptions and thoughts from the original. It's pulling together nicely and hopefully y'all enjoy it ^^
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