Title:

Title:Game Without Tears

Disclaimer: I do not own, wish I did, but I don't. I only own my plot line. Full disclaimer, first chapter.

Author: ShaeLynn Teelle

All other information: See first chapter.

Polite constructive criticism welcome. FLAMES WILL BE FED TO THE DRAGON IN MY BED.

Chapter 14: Living One Big Lie

When Dumbledore had rushed to the infirmary in response to Poppy's frantic firecall, he hadn't been prepared to walk in just as Draco and Severus arrived, Draco in Death Eater robes. He stopped the Cruciatus on Severus just as the skin on Draco's face began to almost peel from his body very slowly. Dumbledore ended the curse and found himself staring into empty silver eyes for barely a moment before the Slytherin passed out in front of him.

Poppy, hearing the commotion and having stopped the curse on Harry, keeping him stable, rushed over to where the other three were. She levitated Draco over to one of the hospital beds across from Harry while Dumbledore levitated Severus to the bed beside Harry's. After she deposited Draco onto the bed, she fetched a pain-relief potion for Severus and quickly repaired the damage done to his knee, hoping the limp would not worsen and she had repaired the damage in time. When she had done all she could for Severus she gave him a Dreamless Sleep potion and went back to work on Harry, healing all she could before giving him a Dreamless Sleep potion as well.

Only then did she return to Draco's side as while she had been working on Severus and Harry, Dumbledore had been casting spells over Draco to determine what might have happened. The Headmaster checked Draco's arm for the Dark Mark and when he found it he cast the charm to reveal if Imperius had been used, but the results were negative. After casting several more revealing charms to determine if any controlling spells had been used on Draco and all results coming back as negative, Dumbledore cast a final spell that would keep the Slytherin confined as he was to the bed in the event that he woke.

The vicious tears all over Draco's skin were the first things that Poppy healed when she reached his side. Then, she cast several spells to determine if there was any hidden damage that required healing. All she really found was that, like Harry, Draco was near exhaustion from lack of decent sleep and he had been under the Cruciatus for a short time. Beyond that she could find nothing wrong and fed him a Dreamless Sleep potion as well. As Dumbledore had already left, presumably to notify those that needed to be informed of what was happening, Madam Pomfrey retired to her office to get some work done before leaving for her own bed.

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The next afternoon found a number of people in the infirmary with Madam Pomfrey scowling and scolding every one of them for being there. Her only mollification was Albus telling her that they needed to be there for various reasons the moment that her three patients awoke. She huffed away and went into her office, closing the door quietly but soundly behind her. Dumbledore glanced about the room, chuckling to himself about Poppy's exit and took store of the infirmary.

By Harry's bed sat Ron and Hermione side by side. Hermione was holding Harry's hand gently as Ron looked on, worry across his face. On the other side of the bed between Harry and Severus sat Professor Lupin, watching both men with equal worry. Dumbledore came over and took a seat at the end of Severus's bed, watching the row across the infirmary and the lone figure that was there.

"Professor, how long do you think it will take for them to wake?" Hermione asked quietly, concern and a slight fear clouding her voice.

"I imagine it will be soon, Ms. Granger. Do not worry, they will be alright."

At that moment Draco began to stir where he lay on the infirmary bed. Everyone conscious in the room tensed and Dumbledore stood, ready for the fight he was unsure of. What he didn't expect was for Draco to calmly look at those assembled across the aisle and ask a simple question.

"Are Snape and Potter still alive?" Draco asked, closing his eyes again.

Dumbledore nodded cautiously, uncertain where this question was going.

"Good, because I'm going to the kill them. Bloody idiots don't seem to have any sense of self-preservation. Leaving Hogwart's grounds, especially near the Forest, were they even thinking? Bloody gits have likely gotten us all killed," Draco's voice dropped so soft that his words were coming out mumbled, but Dumbledore listened very closely. "First, Granger follows one of them and nearly gets herself killed and then, Weasley and Lupin decide to test their luck and bring Granger into it. And to top it off, both Severus and Harry decide they are going to play the heroes and ignore common sense and countless warnings that the Snake was getting restless."

During his quiet rant, Ron had gotten up from his chair and went over to Draco's bed, hands clenched tightly at his sides in anger. "What the hell are you mumbling about, Ferret. And what did you do to Harry, you DEATH EATER BASTARD?" Ron yelled and grabbed Draco's right arm where it was magically bound to the bed.

His only answer was a scream that shocked Ron into letting go and chilled everyone present to the bone. Ron could only stare at Draco's arm and everyone else followed suit as the blackened flesh caught their attention. Where Ron's hand had touched Draco's skin, the flesh had burnt to a blackened crisp.

"Weasley," Draco hissed between clenched teeth as he desperately tried to get the pain under control. "I suggest that unless you want me to die very soon, you not touch me again. Headmaster, I believe that you have a rather obscure recipe for a salve under the heading of 'Flesh that Burns on Contact' and this is what it's for," Draco spoke quietly, his eyes shifting towards the blackened flesh.

"It's getting worse," Hermione said quietly, in shock and confusion over all that had happened and been said so far since Draco awoke.

"Tell me something I don't already know, Granger. It'll keep burning until it's burned every inch of me. That salve will stop the burn from spreading, but it takes a day to make. Headmaster, I know you don't trust me and I can't blame you, however, I would like to not be half mad with pain by the time the salve is completed," Draco grimaced with the pain and glanced down at his now useless arm which was black up to the elbow and down to the base of his fingers.

"Good Godric, Weasley. How badly do you hate me?" Draco asked in slight shock at how fast the burn was spreading.

"More than I've ever hated anyone, even… Voldemort. So much that I wouldn't really be adverse to watching you die," Ron said, hands clenched at his sides and the hate practically radiating off him.

"Stick around for another dozen hours and you'll get your wish," Draco said through clenched teeth as he finally tore his eyes away from his blackened arm that now had nearly reached his shoulder.

Madam Pomfrey had reentered the room the instant she had heard the scream and was as stunned as the others were at what was happening as she had never seen or heard of it before. She moved to stand beside Dumbledore, unsure if she should chastise Ron or let Dumbledore handle it.

"Poppy, I need you to bring me that jar that I asked you to keep hidden for me," Dumbledore said quietly, his eyes never leaving the pale teenager magically restrained to the infirmary bed.

Madam Pomfrey returned a moment later with a small glass jar. She opened it and even the two unconscious occupants of the room grimaced at the pungent scent from the frost colored salve. The only person who seemed not disgusted at the scent was Draco, whom had breathed a small sigh of relief.

"What do we do with it, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Don't touch it with bare hands. Use a cloth or something and it has to be heavily applied to the unburned skin just beyond where the burns end."

Draco watched as Madam Pomfrey did as he had told her to. She waved her wand and the buttons on Draco's hospital shirt opened, laying bare the pale chest and the black burns that had gone beyond his shoulder. With another wand wave the shirt was completely gone and Madam Pomfrey set about the task of stopping the burns from spreading further.

The moment the salve touched his skin, Draco clenched his teeth. He refused to scream again in front of those assembled in the room, even as he felt the salve freezing the skin it had been placed on so coldly that it burned worse than the curse had. Unconsciously Draco's left hand curled into a fist so tight that his nails broke the skin of his palm and tiny rivulets of blood dripped from his fist only to be soaked up by the bedding underneath him.

It took less than a minute for the pain from the salve to stop and when it was done the burns had stopped just below his neck and half-way through the right side of his chest. Silently he cursed Madam Pomfrey for not putting the salve closer to where the burn itself was, but he couldn't blame her too much for wanting him to suffer as much as possible. He supposed then, that it was a good thing the cursed burns wouldn't touch any vital organs until after all the surface area had been burned or he would have already lost a lung.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey."

Draco thanked her with no trace of sarcasm in his voice at all. Then, his eyes rolled up and his body relaxed on the bed. It was only then that the others in the room saw the damage he had done to his hand where the palm was now covered in a thin layer of blood.

"Merlin, Albus. What was in that salve? I thought it was supposed to stop the burning and the pain, not cause more," Pomfrey said, going into temporary concerned nurse mode at Draco's politeness.

"The ingredients in that salve are the same ingredients that are used in a potion meant to freeze a victim from the inside out," a rough voice spoke from the other side of the room.

Everyone besides Ron, who kept watch over Draco, and Harry, who was still unconscious, turned to see Severus lying awake on his bed, a look of concentration on his face. Dumbledore stood up and made his way to the other side of the infirmary.

"Go on, Severus."

"I'll have to ask him when he wakes up, but from what I've heard the burns are caused by one of several potions that I refused to allow Voldemort to know about so he couldn't use them. It would be Voldemort's way of controlling any traitors that went directly to the opposite side. It is based on the belief that people would hate the traitor simply for the fact that they were once on the wrong side. The potion takes any angry emotions a person has towards the traitor and, when the person touches the traitor, the emotions of hate, anger, ect, turns into physical harm in the way of completely burning whatever area was touch and then, spreading, but only if the person has directly betrayed Voldemort. There is a trigger spell, of course, in this case it must be tuned directly to Voldemort. He had cast a spell for something to begin just before we were brought to the infirmary. I must assume that this potion is what he was starting."

Only Dumbledore seemed to understand exactly what Severus had said. Everyone else had varying degrees of confusion on their faces.

"So, you mean," Hermione started slowly, working out what the Professor had said. "That when Ron touched Malfoy, all the hatred he has for him transferred to the potion and the potion burned Malfoy's body, starting where Ron had touched him?"

A voice cut Severus off just before he was about to answer, "Very good, Granger. Tell me something, Headmaster, how are the Longbottoms doing? Did the potion work?"

Dumbledore was the first to break the sudden silence, "The only way that you could know about that was if you were the contact that has been sending us warnings all year long. But the handwriting was not your handwriting and there were no spells on the paper to disguise that."

Draco sighed, "I know you don't trust me and I can understand that, but for you to believe that I wrote the messages, you will have to see me do so myself. All I need is to have my left arm free. And a quill, ink, and parchment, of course."

Dumbledore nodded to Pomfrey who went into her office to obtain the needed items while Dumbledore released the binding spell on the upper half of Draco's body. Madam Pomfrey returned with a parchment and a quill. She handed both to Draco along with a spill-proof bottle of ink. Everyone in the room sat in silence, watching Draco write on the parchment with his left hand, the opposite one he used while in classes or doing homework.

When Draco was finished he handed the parchment to Madam Pomfrey as she was the only one standing near enough for him to give it to. She took the note and watched as Draco willingly lay back down on the bed, his left hand absently touched his burned shoulder and he winced, closing his eyes. Pomfrey frowned and took the parchment to Dumbledore before retrieving the ink and quill from where Draco had left it on the nightstand by his infirmary bed.

Dumbledore handed the parchment to Severus who nodded and handed it back. "This is the handwriting used on the contact's messages. We watched him write this and there was no magic of any kind involved, so the only reasonable conclusion is that Mr. Malfoy is indeed the Order's unknown contact," Dumbledore said in answer to the curious looks on the other's faces.

"Draco, where are my chambers?" Severus asked suddenly.

"The traditional ones are behind the wall with the stone serpent carved into it on the right hand side of the hallway going past the potions classroom. However, the rooms that you use are further down the hallway. Past the charm that makes a student believe it is a dead-end hallway is another serpent carved into the wall on the left hand side of the hallway. About twenty-five feet further is a stone chair that takes you directly into the main room of your chamber. Further down the hallway there is also a secret passage that takes you out the backside of Hogwarts just before the end of the apparation zone. Very convenient."

Severus sighed, "He is the contact. Even if he knew about the passageway before, he could not have just casually sat in that chair and suddenly been in my cambers. There is also a trace spell on that chair to inform me if anyone has sat in that chair when I return to or leave my chambers. The only times there have been any notices of someone there, were when a message from the contact was left in my chambers. The faculty know the password to Floo there and now there are three students that know how to get into my chambers as well, wonderful."

"Four," a voice croaked from the next bed over.

Ron rushed over to Harry's bed and Hermione jumped up from her chair, happy that their friend had now awoken. Harry smiled at his friends as they helped him to sit up. He glared across the room at Draco. He had heard a great deal of the conversation after Severus awoke, but there were still a great deal of questions that had been left unanswered and Harry was determined to find out what he wanted to know.

"Professor, may I see what Draco wrote?"

"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore said and handed the note to Hermione who had run over to get it before bringing it to Harry.

Harry began to read it out loud and Draco tensed, somehow knowing what was going to come afterwards and the questions Harry was going to ask him as soon as he got the chance.

I, Draco Malfoy, am the contact that has been informing the Order about many of Voldemort's plans. I am ambidextrous, a typically Muggle trait where a person can write with both hands equally. Lucius is not aware of this ability. My mother and I tried very hard to keep him from finding out about many of my childhood activities and I would prefer to keep it that way.

"Your mother defied Lucius?" Harry asked, slightly skeptical.

"Yes, she did. And I'm still waiting to know if my potion worked," Draco said quietly, not wanting for Harry to tell his secret yet.

"If by 'work' you mean that they are now able to care for themselves and they can recognize and have a coherent conversation, then, yes, the potion worked," Dumbledore said cautiously, still not sure of Draco's intentions and unwilling to reveal exactly how well the potion had worked.

Draco looked thoughtful for a moment, "Then, it worked, but not as completely as I had hoped it would. The Longbottoms should have been able to simply walk out the doors of St. Mungo's and begin their life again after they were brought up to date on what's been happening. I wrote it down exactly as it was written, why didn't it work?" Draco mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else in the room.

"You didn't create that potion," Severus pointed out into the sudden quiet.

"No, I didn't. I have far too much left to learn for me to be able to create something like that. I found it in a book at the old mansion. One that you couldn't read."

For nearly a minute Severus stared at the bed where Draco still lay, not looking at anyone, "You can read that thing?"

"Yes, the majority of it. There are some things that I cannot determine what they are and the book you recommended is not complete. The language is too unpredictable to finish learning it on my own."

"You are learning languages on your own? How do you even know if the ingredients are right or not? How old were you when you first attempted this?" Severus asked in shock at the thought that Draco had possibly gambled a potion with potentially unknown ingredients against the lives of people.

"Mother said she started teaching me when I was five. I don't remember actually learning them, but by the time I was eight I could read the basics of all the common languages that Mother knew. When I first came here I had started on ones that she didn't know. Mother would travel while I was here to get away from Lucius and she always looked through Muggle bookshops to find language dictionaries and she would buy books in other languages to encourage me. Mother always encouraged me."

"How do you know that you are correct in what you are reading, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, not sure exactly what side of Draco was real, this scholarly, secretive side that was polite and almost nice, or the side that Draco had shown throughout the last six years. "What if you had been wrong in your translation and the potion and killed the Longbottoms.?"

"Most of the ingredients were translated into a very old book that was actually in this library. Professor Snape wrote a permission slip for me to see the book and Madam Pince allowed me to check it out from the library."

"I what?" Severus asked, starting to feel a headache coming from all the information Draco was spouting out.

"I had asked in the beginning of November about a word that was written after an ingredient in the text. You said that it meant the same thing as what was already written and gave me a permission slip to obtain from Madam Pince a book called Mo'ti Tas'kan. That book roughly translated three quarters of the book I took from the Riddle library."

"What is the name of this book that you took from Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked patiently.

"Mo'ask Tan'i Dan."

Dumbledore spoke without hesitation, "Accio Mo'ask Tan'i Dan."

As the group waited for the book to arrive an intense silence fell over the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey had opened the infirmary door to ensure that it wasn't broken and checked Severus over completely before the book arrived. But instead of flying to Dumbledore's hand as it should have, it flew to Draco and dropped on his face where he still lay on the infirmary bed. He pushed the book off him with his left hand that was still unbound to the bed and sat up again, holding his nose with his left hand as it began to bleed.

Draco glared at Dumbledore above his fingers while Pomfrey bustled over to stop the blood flow, "I can understand that you don't trust and probably dislike me, but was that really necessary?"

"No, Mr. Malfoy, it was not. Which would explain why I did not have the book go to you. What I don't understand is why the book did not come to me when it was called," Dumbledore answered, a slightly confused look on his face.

"I don't know, Headmaster. I have never seen that book do anything but act like a normal Muggle book in all the time it has been in my possession."

"Hmmm. Miss Granger, please retrieve the book from Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore."

As soon as Hermione reached out her hand to take the book it jumped into the air and hovered there for a moment. Then, it rested gently down on the edge of Draco's bed. She reached for it again and the book snapped at her. She jerked her hand back with a small squeak of surprise and turned to Dumbledore for assistance.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you would hand the book to Miss Granger?"

Madam Pomfrey finished her work on him and Draco reached out for the book, almost afraid that it would try to attack him like it had with Hermione. He picked it up without incident and handed it to the Gryffindor girl. She took the book gingerly and retreated with it to Dumbledore's side. The Headmaster opened the book, silently turning the pages as he looked through it.

"How many of these potions have you managed to translate completely, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, closing the book and turning his full attention back to the Slytherin.

"Well, from what… I could gather," Draco answered quietly, making sure not to implicate anyone else in the research until he knew where this conversation would go. "There are only about thirty potions in the entire book. There are always several pages of text that follow the instructions and effects of the potions. Only about five of those potions have been completely translated and two of those potions have been improved upon already by various Potions Masters. Hidden in my trunk are several notebooks that w—ere used and have the parts of the potions that I was able to translate. Some of the potions are mostly translated, but there are ingredients that weren't listed in Mo'ti Tas'kan and I have been unable to translate."

"And did you test either of the other two potions you completely translated?"

Draco looked away from the Headmaster's gaze, "One of the potions requires an ingredient that is now unable to be purchased even by those that deal with illegal items. The other one was tested."

"On whom?" Snape asked harshly, incensed that a student, no matter how good at potions they were, would test an unknown potion on any person or creature.

"Pansy and Daphne."

The shocked silence that followed that confession was interrupted quickly by an irate Potions Master, "Of all the irresponsible, idiotic attempts at having a brain! You tested an unknown potion on classmates?! Do you have any idea of the risks you were taking in forcing anyone—"

"THEY WEREN'T FORCED TO TEST THE POTION, PROFESSOR!" Draco shouted above Snape's raised snarl. When he had the Professor's attention, he lowered his voice to a normal level, "They weren't forced to take the potion. It wouldn't have even been made if it weren't for them. I wasn't going to because we couldn't translate all the effects of the potion and I didn't want to risk them getting hurt from it, but they asked me to. Pansy and Daphne asked me to make the potion as soon as they found out what it was. I couldn't say no to them because of what the potion was supposed to do."

"And what did that potion do, Mr. Malfoy? Also, who else helped you to translate this book," he said calmly, tapping one finger lightly against the cover of said book.

Draco's eyes widened minutely for a moment as he realized his slip. Then, he closed his eyes, silently apologizing to Pansy for giving away more than he should have as she had always accused him of when his emotions were in effect. That had been part of the reason why he had adopted the cold mask he wore in Voldemort's presence.

"Pansy was helping me to translate the book. She would search through what we knew and put the words together to find out what ingredients were in each potion. The one they tested was a cleansing potion. Much more powerful than anything we were able to find, even in the restricted section. It is more proficient at eliminating all forms of viruses or diseases, though it is rather messier than anything most people know of."

"Why would they be so intent upon taking a potion with unknown effects?"

Only Draco, Remus, and Harry noted Snape turning his head away from the Headmaster at the question. Draco watched Dumbledore for a moment, deciding how much the Headmaster knew and how much he was willing to share.

"How much do you know of the Snake's ranks and hierarchy?"

"Not as much as I would like, I'm afraid. I know there are levels within the ranks with the most prominent being the Inner Circle."

"I'm afraid that you would have to ask Pansy and Daphne about their choice in testing the potion, Headmaster. It's not really my place to explain the way some things are."

"Very well, Mr. Malfoy. For now, I will keep this book within my possession until all questions are cleared up. Now," Dumbledore continued, turning to face Harry and Snape after wandlessly returning Draco to completely being under the restraining spell. "Ordinarily I would wait until you had healed and all the Order was present before asking this, but if you will indulge me. What were you doing that you were caught by Death Eaters?"

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