Chapter 14
"Would you stop staring at her for five seconds?" Draco snapped. Harry turned to look at him, surprised.
"I wasn't-" he began, but was abruptly cut off,
"You most definitely were." Blaise commented, not raising his head from his text book as he spoke. Harry scowled, opening his mouth to respond, but before he could, Draco began to sing under his breath,
"Harry and Weaslette, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-"
"Cut it out!" Harry whined, "I wasn't staring because of that, I'm just curious. She's the only other Parselmouth I've ever met!"
"And you want to press your parselmouths together?" suggested Theodore with a smirk. Harry spluttered in surprise whilst his friends began to snigger.
"No!" he cried, volume louder then socially acceptable in the library. A Ravenclaw shushed him and Harry leaned forwards, lowering his voice. "Besides, even if I did! Which I don't, me and Draco didn't make any jokes about you and Tracy, so hush!" Theodore blinked, brow furrowing as Blaise raised an eyebrow,
"What's this about Theo and Tracy?" he asked, Draco grinned,
"I'd forgotten about that. Over Christmas, Theo and Tracy came back to school for like half a day, and told us that they were dating, then disappeared again!" he explained. Theo looked even more confused then ever as he looked at his friends,
"What are you talking about?" he asked, "I was with my dad the whole of Christmas break." Harry rolled his eyes, and exchanged a look with Draco,
"Yeah, sure. So I guess that the Theo and Tracy who came to visit us in the common room, then left to kiss, were just people pretending to be you, right?" Draco scoffed at the absurdity of the notion, and Theodore gave Blaise a look that clearly said, help me. The curly haired youth frowned,
"I'm pretty sure you aren't allowed to visit Hogwarts over the Holidays, either you stay or you go…" Theodore nodded, relieved that someone was being sane,
"Exactly, I couldn't have been the one you guys saw over Christmas." he said. Draco's eyes widened,
"You mean, it was actually someone pretending to be you and Tracy?" he asked,
"Who'd go to that extent to hang out with us?" asked Harry, raising an eyebrow sceptically, "This seems like a cover up." Draco sniffed the air,
"You're right, Harry." he snarled, "I smell a conspiracy." he turned his icy blue eyes to Blaise and Theodore, "You guys are just trying to cover up Theo's love life."
"And what possible motivation would I have for doing that?" asked Blaise, rolling his eyes, Harry jabbed a finger at him accusingly,
"So you could pretend you were the first in our group to get a girlfriend!" he cried. Several people cast Harry filthy looks for his volume, from their respective study tables, and Harry's cheeks reddened at the curious glances, one of which came from Ginny's table.
Theodore pressed his head against the table in despair.
"So somebody is pretending to be me and gallivanting around the school, and rather then being concerned, you think that this is a cover up for the fact that I have a girlfriend?" he asked. Harry and Draco exchanged a look,
"When you put it that way, it seems silly." Harry said, "But who would have to motivation to do that? Surely changing yourself to look like another person entirely is complicated magic. I have trouble changing mice into teacups, let alone bodily transformations!"
"What about a potion?" asked Draco, "I'm sure there is some form of potion that can make you look like someone else?"
"Yeah, the Polyjuice potion." Theodore said, "but no one in our year would be idiotic enough to try that, it's sixth year stuff. If you got it wrong you could end up in St Mungos."
"What did they say, when you saw them?" asked Blaise, interlacing is fingers and propping his chin up on them, Harry shrugged,
"I can't even remember. Me and Draco were playing exploding snap at the time so…" Harry tailed off, brow furrowed as he tried to recall the conversation,
"They were asking about the Chamber of secrets." Draco supplied, "And I made some joke about who I wanted the next victim to be, and Tracy got mad!"
"Oh yeah!" Harry said, eyes lighting up as he recalled the events, "Tracy was acting like she cared about Creevey. I guess we should have guessed what was going on then." Draco nodded,
"Now that I think about it, they were really bad actors. I don't know why we weren't more suspicious." Draco said. Unbeknownst to the Slytherin boys, Hermione and Neville looked vaguely affronted as they shamelessly eavesdropped.
"Yeah, we should have been paying more attention. But that doesn't give us any hints as to who it was." Harry remarked, the four boys leaned in and lowered their voices to whispers, schoolwork forgotten.
"It wont have been a Slytherin." Draco said, "They didn't show any pureblood etiquette, they sat way too close together and at one point Fake-Theo interrupted Fake-Tracy."
"It could be someone we don't know at all, from an older year." Theodore said, "After all, we've already determined that it was complicated magic that changed their appearances."
"But if they were asking about the Chamber of Secrets, then they probably suspected one of you." Blaise said, nodding to Harry and Draco.
"So we are looking for someone intelligent but uneducated in pureblood customs, so a muggleborn, who suspected one of us of being the heir of Slytherin?" Draco surmised,
"Maybe they understood pureblood customs but were nervous though." Blaise interjected, "Or just unused to employing them, they weren't necessarily muggleborn." the four lapsed into thoughtful silence.
"Chances are, we will never find out." Theodore finally stated, "Unless they do it again, we have no chance of catching them."
"Do you guys want to go and play a game of Quidditch?" Draco suggested, the four hastily backed their stuff away, eager to get out of the oppressive darkness of the library.
As the Summer Holidays loomed nearer, Harry made plans with his friends for the Holidays. He had, like the previous year, been invited to spend two weeks at each of his friend's houses, but all of his planning was shot out of the water when an envelope was delivered to him at breakfast, three weeks before the end of the school year.
Dear Mr Potter,
Your Wizarding guardian, Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, first class, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, has requested that you spend your Summer Holidays with your Muggle Guardians. If you fail to do so, you will be penalised, and will risk further restrictions on your activities.
Thank You,
Department of Wizarding Children's Welfare.
Harry stared blankly at the page before him for several long seconds, feeling his cheeks heat up with anger. His blood boiled as he wordlessly passed the letter to Draco, who scanned it's contents with growing ire.
"My father will hear about this. Don't worry Harry, you won't go back to those filthy muggles if I can help it." the blonde said, before departing from the hall, likely planning to write a letter home. Blaise and Theodore reacted similarly, planning to write home, though neither of their parents had as much sway as Draco's. Harry didn't allow himself to stew in his anger, departing from the Great Hall and storming purposefully to the Headmaster's office.
"Sherbet Lemons." he all but snarled at the gargoyles, which slid aside to reveal the spiral staircase that Harry stormed up. He paused outside the door, taking a deep breath and composing his facial expressions before knocking on the door.
"Come in." Came Albus Dumbledore's voice. Harry open the door with more force necessary, causing it to crack against the wall as it swung on it's hinges, Harry caught it before it could slam shut and quietly closed it. The headmaster said nothing, merely watched Harry with twinkling eyes, "Ah, Mr Potter, what can I do for you today?" he asked. Harry struggled to keep his face blank, but a scowl slipped across his features nonetheless, and his frustration was palpable.
"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but, what is this?" Harry all but hissed as he dropped the letter on Dumbledore's desk. The man smiled benignly as his eyes scanned the letter, before returning his focus to Harry.
"Mr Potter, I have been in contact with your relatives and they were positively delighted at the prospect of having you all to themselves this coming summer." he said, eyes twinkling. Harry felt his blood boil at the man's intentional ignorance.
"Headmaster." he said, voice trembling slightly, "I am afraid that I have plans this Summer, that, unfortunately, don't involve the Dursleys." Dumbledore frowned, though the twinkling of his eyes by no means eased as he removed his glasses and polished them against his sleeve.
"My dear boy, I am very sorry to have disrupted your plans. I hoped that, by allowing you the Christmas holidays to yourself, I was giving you some leeway. It is of vital importance that you spend the summer with your relatives, for reasons aside from family bonding, though I am sure that that is necessary too." he said, his words and facial features were grave, but Harry couldn't help but feel like the man was mocking him. Harry had no family or even close family friends to fight his corner and recognise the Dursleys for the awful people they were. Draco's father could only do so much and Harry knew that Dumbledore had won. He was going to be spending the summer with people who hated him and everything that he stood for.
"And why is it vitally important, sir?" he asked, the headmaster seemed to ponder whether or not to answer him before finally saying,
"There was a bond forged between yourself and your mother on the night that she died. I will not go into too much detail but it is safe to say that not staying with your aunt, who has your mother blood running through her veins, would be dangerous for both you and her family." The man spoke with a practised ease, and his tone left no room for argument, yet Harry argued nonetheless, his desperation leaking through into his tone.
"But Sir! You can't honestly believe I'm safer with the Dursleys then a well protected Wizarding home? They hate me! They find magic and everyone who practises it freakish." Harry jabbed at the letter, "This refers to you as my 'Wizarding Guardian', doesn't that mean you're meant to be looking out for my welfare? How can you have that title then condemn me to stay with people who would rather me dead?"
Albus Dumbledore frowned at Harry, before shaking his head,
"Mr Potter, I'm afraid that my word is final. You will stay with you Aunt and Uncle. It is for your own good."
Harry stormed from the room without a backwards glance.
Narcissa Malfoy collected the envelope from her son's owl with some trepidation. It was rare for the Malfoys to receive a letter from their son this early in the day, especially considering that Draco had written home earlier in the week already. As she read her son's letter, her eyes narrowed and a scowl formed on her porcelain face.
"Dobby." she snapped, there was a crack, and before her stood a quivering house elf, "Get Lucius, if he argues, tell him it's urgent. Now." the elf let out a squeak of confirmation before disappearing once more. Her husband was brought to her within minutes, and Narcissa handed him the letter without a word. Once he had finished reading, a sneer curling at his lips, she spoke,
"The Sirius Black plan needs to be accelerated, with any luck we can have him out and granted custody over Potter within the first two weeks of summer." Lucius nodded in agreement.
"I think that it's about time that we paid your cousin a visit." he said, Narcissa nodded and stepped forwards. She had suspected this turn of events, and was already clad in a coat as she took his arm. The two vanished in a crack, before reappearing outside Azkaban.
The cold was so intense it seemed to permeate her bones and Narcissa shuddered. Lucius was no better, lips bloodless as his breath fogged out in front of him. Azkaban was a truly hideous place, a tall block with grey walls and no windows. it seemed to exude misery and the land around it was entirely silent.
"State your name and business!" cried a tall, thin man with sunken cheeks and a ratty approximation of a guard uniform on, he had emerged from the one visible door in the prison, beady eyes honing in on the life outside.
"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, here to visit our cousin, Sirius Black. Lower your wand this instant." Lucius snapped. The man complied, hasty apologies escaping his lips as he gestured for them to follow him into the building. The moment they stepped through the doors, faint moans and shrieks became clearly audible. Lucius flinched and Narcissa's grip on his arm tightened, but the guard didn't react at all, merely leading them through the winding corridors with a practised ease. Finally, he reached a door. It was large and metal without a handle or lock, and the guard turned to them.
"You need to say, 'I have no plans to break any of the prisoners out', before it will open. You have to mean it though." at Narcissa's sharp look, he hastily elaborated, "Not that I believe that you would ever try and break out prisoners, Lord and Lady Malfoy." Lucius rolled his eyes, and the two repeated back the guard's words, watching as the door slid open with a gentle whoosh.
Dementors drifted through the following corridors, capes gliding against floor as they moved, the gentle rasping of their breath the only sound. There were no screams.
"Why is it so quiet?" Narcissa asked, the guard's eyes glinted maliciously as he glanced at the many windowless doors lining the walls.
"Constant exposure to dementors causes the inmates to go into a trance-like state. All of these criminals have been here for a long time. Most of them couldn't scream if they wanted to." the Malfoys were disgusted,
"Just take us to Sirius." he snapped, not willing to stay any longer then he had to. The guard nodded, taking them deeper and deeper into the prison. Finally they stopped at one of the doors and the guard banged on it, before taking out a key and unlocking it. The door swung open and Narcissa gasped, a perfectly manicured hand lifting to cover her parted lips.
When they were younger, Sirius had been sinfully handsome. He had had thick dark hair, gloriously high cheekbones, and black eyes that glittered with mirth. Now, his hair was matted, tangled with filth and grime, his once godly cheekbones had now become sharp protrusions from the sunken rest of his face, and his eyes were shadowed and slightly glazed. Narcissa fell to her knees beside him with a gasp, there was a time, when they were children, that they had been close. Seeing him shattered before her shocked her.
"Sirius!" she cried, reaching out and touching his hand, the man's eyes flitted to her and something flashed in the depth of those shallow pools,
"Here to gloat, Cissy?" he asked, humourless smile tweaking his lips, "Your dark lord did something good, didn't he." Narcissa didn't respond, eyes continuing to take him in, the rips protruding from a ripped shirt. Seeing that his wife wasn't going to say anything, Lucius crouched down beside her. Sirius' eyes narrowed as he saw the man he loathed, and he spat weakly at him, or at least he tried to, the saliva dripped down his chin, making him look more insane then he already was. Lucius couldn't bring himself to be offended. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small vial of a clear liquid.
"It is Veritaserum," he said by means of explanation, "Drink."
"Fuck you." Sirius mumbled in response, before pressing his lips tight shut. With a simple swish of his wand, Sirius found his jaw wrenched open, and the substance poured down his throat.
"Did you kill Peter Pettigrew?" he asked, Sirius shook his head,
"Pettigrew is a rat animagus. He blew up a street full of muggles, cut off his finger, then fled." Lucius nodded, before continuing,
"Did you betray the Potters?" he was met with another head-shake, and Sirius replied,
"The Potters named Pettigrew as their secret keeper, he betrayed them to Voldemort."
Lucius stood up, offering a hand to his wife, who smiled a smile that didn't reach her eyes as she accepted.
"Thank you, Sirius. Though you may not believe me yet, we will have you out soon enough." Lucius said, and with that, the Malfoys stepped from the cell.
"Take us out of this place." Snarled Narcissa at the guard, who complied without a word. Lucius frowned, it was rare for his wife to react emotionally in front of non-family members, and when she did, it was because she was truly unsettled.
He had planned to leave her at home before going to the wizengamot, but she shook her head angrily at the mere suggestion,
"I need to be there." she had snapped, and he nodded, offering no further protest.
It wasn't difficult to garner the attention of the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy was a high profile man, and the evidence he presented; his memory of giving Sirius Veritaserum and questioning him was, though unorthodox, extremely effective. Sirius Black was pulled in for a trail (or a re-trial, as the ministry was calling it), and was questioned again under veritaserum. Finally, he was announced to be innocent, and heavily monetarily compensated for his time in Azkaban. It caused a huge stir in the media, even the Quibbler had something to say about the wrongly accused man.
After the trial, Sirius sought out Lucius and Narcissa before they even had to request his presence. Though he was dressed in smart clothes, he still looked more ghoul then man. He didn't smile or shake hands with either of them, and as he surveyed the people responsible for his relief, he frowned, suspicion dominating his facial features as he asked,
"Why?" his voice was hoarse and trembled as he spoke. Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a look,
"Not here." Narcissa said, "May we extend an invitation to you, to come and visit the Malfoy manner, now?" The man nodded his confirmation, and Lucius hastily apparated the three of them away from the public eye before anyone could as much as snap a picture.
"Why did you help me?" Sirius Black repeated, the moment they were alone, Lucius rolled his eyes,
"Straight to the point, as always, I see. So typically Gryffindor." when Sirius didn't rise to the bate, merely stared blankly at them, waiting for an answer to the question, Narcissa spoke,
"Your Godson." she said frankly, "Harry Potter, has become very close friends with our own boy, Draco, and we have grown rather fond of him." she said, a faint light entered Sirius's eyes at the mention of Harry,
"But why do you need me?" he pressed.
"I'm not sure if you were ever familiar with Lily Potter's sister, but it's be safe to say, she is the worst sort of Muggle scum. We managed to keep Harry away from them last Summer, he stayed at our house for a period as well as that of some other friends, but Dumbledore is Harry's wizarding guardian, and he is making the boy return this summer, despite his protests." Narcissa explained, Sirius had paled slightly,
"They sent Harry to live with Petunia?" his expression cleared, "So, what? You want me to become Harry's guardian to get him out of Dumbledore's clutches and away from his relatives?" Narcissa nodded.
"Okay." Sirius said, shutting his eyes as his thoughts whirred, "This is not the evil scheme that I was expecting. What do you want me to do?"
TBC
ALOHA! May my three daily updates soften your hearts to my long absence... Please please please review, I love reviews so much, they really motivate me!
