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 18: Writings On the Wall

The next morning dawned too early for the five Slytherins whom had stayed awake long into the night talking as they relaxed on the comfortable furniture in front of the fire. They discussed what they knew about the two male founders of Hogwarts and came up with a tentative conclusion about at least the paintings in the rooms.

Either the phoenixes belonged to the men that were in the portraits with them and were used as messengers between them, or the two founders had been able to establish themselves as animagi of more than a single animal since it was well known that the animal symbol of each house was the animagi shape of the individual founder.

Over a year ago, when Draco, Pansy, Vincent, and Gregory had established what they would have to do to help stop Voldemort without letting anyone know, they had come across the painting that guarded the secret entrance to Draco's room, thought it had been unused at the time and Draco had still been in the shared dormitory. It had taken them nearly a week to figure out how to open the portrait and it had actually been Draco's accident when it happened. When they saw the other portrait and, again accidentally, said the password, it had thrown the Slytherins into a flurry of activity that had encompassed the following summer before Draco was initiated.

Vincent had been the one that stated the obvious, at the age that the two men in the portrait were, Salazar would have already left the school, which meant that the known history of the founders was missing something crucial. All four of the original spying Slytherins had scoured through their family libraries for every book that mentioned the founders. The search kept their minds off their impending initiations into Voldemort's circle and kept their owls busy delivering messages almost daily, encoded of course.

By comparing what the different texts said from their own homes and then, comparing with each other, they discovered that the newer the edition of the founders' history, the more details were omitted about the private lives of the founders and the relationship each had to the others. What surprised them even more than the omission of facts was that even in the oldest books they found, the facts about what actually happened in the fight between Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were almost non-existent. All the books said was that there had been a duel between the one-time comrades that had resulted in Salazar's leaving of the school.

Then, when Draco was initiated, Voldemort allowed him a week to gather all potion books from the main library of the wizarding mansion he had obtained from a past Death Eater, one that was so paranoid the manor had been warded even against himself if he was too drunk to remember the admittance spells and passwords. Draco quickly found the books and spent the next four days searching the library of the newly christened Dark Mansion until he found a book on the four Hogwarts founders that was older than any other he had seen by at least a hundred years.

Through this book, written by one Aliissa Raven, the Slytherins learned that the 'duel' between Godric and Salazar had been a heated argument in private. The actual 'duel' that the later texts spoke of was no more than words shouted at each other in front of the school. Salazar did have his wand out because he had levitated his trunks as he left. Through the rumor mill that runs rampant no matter what time in history or what event, had changed the argument into a few spells thrown at each other and later into a full duel to the death where Godric won and instead of killing Salazar forced him to give up his magic or leave Hogwarts and England forever.

Salazar's leaving affected the other Hogwarts founders more than the known histories acknowledged. According to the book, after Salazar left, Godric, whom as it described was much like Dumbledore, lost his ever-present optimism and rarely spoke in the riddles that had often confused even his closest friends. It also said that he didn't die in the Hogwarts Infirmary either. Instead, one day he left, after naming his successor for the position of Headmaster as there was no board of governors to appoint one, and was never seen or heard from again.

The first Gryffindor was not the only one affected deeply by Salazar's leaving. Rowena Ravenclaw withdrew to her green houses, still teaching the two subjects she loved the most, Herbology and Creature Care, the forerunner to Care of Magical Creatures, but rarely entering the school buildings except for mealtimes as she built herself a room off one of the green houses and that was where she lived until she died and part of that room was still being used as Professor Sprout's office.

Helga Hufflepuff secluded herself within her rooms for three years, giving up Charms permanently. After those three years, she reemerged a different woman than she had been. She refused to speak to either of the two remaining founders and the book speculated that this silence from both Rowena and Helga had been part of the decision Godric made to leave the school ten years later. Helga, whom, surprisingly to the Slytherins was the premier English Potions Master of the time, returned to her private potions lab in the dungeons and every few years would take on an apprentice that the acting Potions Professor recommended.

Out of all the portraits of the four founders, the fewest were of Helga and Rowena. Though there weren't many of the other two founders that were widely known, the two female founders had only half a dozen between them. Even with the numerous portraits and paintings the Slytherins had found that, as far as they were aware, few or none knew about, there was something about them that never changed. Until the phoenix guarding the entrance and the one in the portrait in Draco's new room winked at them. Every painting there, of any of the founders, were all still, like Muggle paintings. There was never any movement of these figures at all, not even a glare if you threatened them.

No one from the other portraits ever dared to enter the frame of the paintings, but when asked why, the people within the other portraits simply said they couldn't and refused to say anymore. At first, Draco had thought that perhaps wizarding portraits hadn't been made yet, but Vincent told him they had been started hundreds of years prior to the founding of Hogwarts and the phoenix's wink made them all question if the portraits were really Muggle paintings, or if there was something much more to the mystery than they had been able to uncover. Eventually, with Pansy and Draco dozing off, the five had roused themselves enough to make it to their own rooms and sleep.

Now, the five groggy Slytherins took their turns in the large bathroom that was decorated throughout with gold, silver, and black and white marble. Then, they convened in the main room to find a house elf standing near the entry way and a full breakfast was laid out on the round table. Daphne, Gregory, Vincent, and Pansy ignored the house elf and sat at the table, filling their plates with fried tomatoes, sausages, eggs, and other items.

Draco looked at the house elf until the creature met his eyes, then, Draco nodded once, "Thank you, Dobby."

Dobby's eyes grew wide and, with a snap of his fingers, he disappeared. Draco shrugged and moved to the table. He murmured a quiet blessing which the others repeated and then, ignoring the questioning looks the others gave him, he piled his plate with food and began to eat. After the meal was finished and it had been cleared away by a different house elf, this one a girl, the five went to their trunks and searched through them, ensuring that everything they owned was indeed within them.

Draco found an unused five shelf bookcase in the far corner of his room and, between Vincent and himself, they brought it to the main room. The two placed it near the bathroom door by the round table and filled it with the school text books used for their classes, each one taking a single shelf. The five Slytherins spent most of that morning studying through their texts for the classes they planned on taking NEWTS for.

Vincent and Gregory were done the quickest as they were each only concentrating on two classes for the tests, having no intentions of taking any test beyond History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures. They quietly sat at the feet of their respective intended, giving companionship, but not distracting either girl from their studying. The three only stopped their studying when a house elf popped in and with a snap of his fingers, set the table with utensils and food.

Again, just as that morning for breakfast, Draco thanked Dobby before the house elf disappeared and the others looked at him in confusion. Finally, halfway through the meal Pansy could hold her silence no longer and spoke, dragging Draco from his thoughts.

"Dragon, how do you know that house-elf?"

"He used to belong to the Snake's pet. I don't know how he ended up here, only that after second year, Lucius was constantly punishing me because he lost his servant. His name is Dobby. I know that he recognizes me, but I don't think he remembers much about me except that I am Lucius' son. What I do know is that Dobby is a free elf. He's paid to work here along with a female elf that got entangled in something she shouldn't have," Draco answered slightly distracted.

"There are free house-elves? I rather thought that it was more a story to entertain children than real," Pansy said quietly, thinking quickly.

"Actually," Vincent began, taking one of Pansy's hand into his own. "There is an entire group of free house-elves in Britain. Blaise was going to look into it this summer. From what he knew, one could contact them and pay a house-elf to clean your home or cook or whatever you needed with the understanding that they could leave if they chose to. He thought that perhaps they would be willing to help in the fight against Voldemort. At least it didn't hurt to try and he wanted to do as much as he could to help. Him and Trace."

"I never knew that such a thing existed. It never even crossed my mind that there were house-elves that had been freed."

Gregory laughed quietly, "I didn't know either, Pans. The first I had ever heard about it was when Blaise was talking to us about the possibility of contacting them. There's a lot that we never knew about and with our parents being who and what they are, we weren't given the opportunity to consider such a thing existed. Just like we know next to nothing of the Muggle world except what we've been told. Listening to some of the Muggle-borns and those raised as them, there's a lot we don't know about Muggles and a lot that we were lied to about."

Pansy nodded and continued on with her supper. The noise grew quiet as each Slytherin became lost within their own thoughts. Even afterwards as they all relaxed in front of the main fire, the talk was light and rather pointless, but it kept thoughts away they would rather ignore.

\/\/\/\/\/

Draco sat straight up in bed, gasping for breath as sweat trickled down his face. After a few moments his breathing quieted and he lay back down on his bed, turned to one side. For minutes he lay staring into the dark before finally closing his eyes and drifting back into troubled dreams. The next morning he didn't leave his room to have breakfast with the other four Slytherins. He stayed in his room, staring into the fire until Pansy came in to check on him.

"Dragon?"

"She didn't come, Pansy," Draco spoke quietly, his eyes still on the writhing flames. "It's the first time since this summer that she hasn't come."

Pansy watched Draco, concerned for her best friend and leader, "Why does she come, Dragon?"

Her question seemed to break Draco from his daze, "Never mind, Pans. Let's go find out what the others are doing."

The two left the room and the remainder of the day continued as if nothing was wrong. Draco ate both at tea time and at supper. Vincent and Gregory left for three hours with McGonagall to take their NEWTS for History of Magic. They returned with satisfied looks in their eyes, though the rest of their faces remained impassive until McGonagall had left the rooms.

That night Draco once again had dreams that left him sweating and gasping for breath. And again, there was no cold, comforting touch, leaving Draco with the first sharp stirrings of worry. He didn't show for breakfast that morning, spending it in his room watching the flames in the fireplace or the portrait above it. Only when Daphne came in to tell him it was time for their Potions NEWTS did he finally leave his room. After the three hour exam and practical they returned to the rooms for lunch, but Draco skipped it, trying to catch some additional sleep before the NEWT that afternoon.

Draco joined the other four for supper, but he was quiet, not saying very much the entire time. Then, he moved to his chair near the fire, staring into the flames. No one could engage him in conversation and finally stopped trying as the night wore on.

The next three days continued in the same way. No matter what they tried or how many times they tried, none of the four could get Draco to talk about what was bothering him, though Pansy and Daphne had a slight idea. The NEWTS came and went. Draco left for his tests at various times just as the others did, but spent any remaining hours in the day in his room. Sometimes he studied lethargically, but most often his time was spent staring into the flames in his fireplace or staring at the canopy above his bed when he found he could no longer sleep after the nightmares.

He didn't tell any of the others that worry and guilt nagged at him. He hoped that Dumbledore had somehow simply blocked his mother's spirit from entering the rooms. He wouldn't allow himself to think of the most likely alternative. But he didn't want any of the others to worry about the consequences of his own actions.

They were already worried enough about what would happen when the train left Hogwarts. Dumbledore had sent Snape and Lupin in to tell them that a plan was in action to ensure the safety of the students returning home, but they weren't told what the plan was. Three of the five were vocal in their displeasure that they weren't told any more than that. The only two that were silent on the matter were Draco and Daphne, both of whom had the most reason to worry.

After an hour of trying to get them to answer questions, the two Professors finally left and the five were reduced to doing what they had been doing most of the year, trust that the Order had enough information to stop the attack and hope that the students remained safe. Neither action was one they were comfortable with, but there was little else they could do.

With that on all their minds Draco didn't want any of the others that shared the suite to worry about him and his lack of sleep. The nightmares came every night without fail, but there was a new element to his past terrors. Instead of just the nightmares of his initiation and the test Voldemort had set him, his imagination was supplying the worst that could possibly have happened to Narcissa.

He would see Voldemort clutching at his mother's spirit and actually holding her as if she were still alive. He saw Voldemort casting the Cruciatus and any other number of painful spells on her spirit, each one affecting her as if she were still alive. Then, just before he would wake from the nightmare he would watch as Voldemort killed his mother's soul and it dissolved into him with Narcissa screaming.

The NEWTs ended the last Saturday morning before the students left for home. By that time Draco had stopped eating completely and his sleep was constantly interrupted. Sunday morning at 10:00 am the students left for Hogsmeade and the train. From high in the castle four faces watched as the students scrambled into their carriages, some just for the summer and others to never return to the school as they found jobs and families and lived the rest of their lives. So many were unaware of the five 'missing' Slytherins and of those that knew they were still within the castle, so very few even cared.

Despite what Dumbledore had told them, though the DA knew where they were, the only student that had been within the rooms was Harry Potter and he had come only that once. Daphne watched out the window as the carriages began to leave from in front of Hogwarts. She raised one hand to the glass, knowing that even if they had tried none of the students from below could have seen her.

"Good-bye, Selena."

A single tear tracked down Daphne's cheek and Gregory pulled her into his arms, offering the comfort he knew she would rather have had from her sister, "Don't worry, Daph. I'm sure the Order will protect them all. They'll be okay and at home, safe and sound, before tonight."

\/\/\/\/\/

What the five weren't told was just how the Order was going to protect the students. An elaborate illusion was created. No one but the teachers and Order members that were involved in the deceit were aware of it. All the supplies that were brought onto the 'Illusion' train, a cargo train enchanted to appear to be the Hogwart's Express, were instantly moved onto the real train, a seemingly solid image left in its wake. The driver of the train, a Mr. Marcus Brown that Gregory so accurately described, was replaced with an Order member that normally ran the cargo train.

When the students boarded the train they were transferred to the correct train without any of them being the wiser. Few noticed that a number of seventh years, mostly from Gryffindor and one red-headed sixth year never boarded the train. From the outside the real train was not visible so when the 'Illusion' train began to move forward, none standing on the platform were aware except for several of the Professors.

The real train was delayed for nearly ten minutes to allow the illusion to pull far enough away from Hogsmeade so no innocents were hurt. The plan went off without fault and only three Order members and one Auror came away with minor injuries. Fourteen Death Eaters were captured out of the original fifteen that were on the train. No one knew how the last Death Eater managed to get away, but he escaped even before the illusions of the students had completely disappeared.

By the time the real train left the station and reached the point where the illusion was, all the Death Eaters had been transported to the Ministry and those responsible for the massive train illusion were standing by and ready to cancel the spells. As the train full of homeward bound students passed the point of the ambush, the real Hogwart's Express became visible, speeding along down the track and the illusion vanished.

Voldemort had expected the plan to take several hours to complete and was unprepared for the sudden early arrival of the single Death Eater that returned with news of the failure. Later that day Harry and Remus, whom the seventeen year old was staying with, reported that Harry's scar had burned and caused him some pain for nearly an hour before it stopped completely.

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