A Thorn in my Cauldron

by DrPotterhead

No one ever said their final year at Hogwarts was going to be easy. Harry is fighting his conflicting feelings and the pressure of the public, Draco is fighting to redeem his name, Hermione's in the center of a love triangle between teacher and student. And who is the new DADA professor that seems to have such an effect on the dungeon bat himself? Seventh year here we come!

4. A Video

Chapter 3 - A video

It was late at night, and Draco was hunched over the desk in his room as he went over and edited the plans for the foundation. It was an arduous task, that drove even someone as educated as Draco to the point of madness.
Leaning back on his chair with a frustrated sigh, Draco ran his cramped fingers through his unusually tussled hair. "Potter better be bloody serious about this…" mumbled the boy.
Draco had managed to fully construct a ledger of all the requirements and permits needed to build the hospital/orphanage/charity; Draco was sure there was a proper term for the building he was drawing up, but he was too tired to even think of it. He had also come up with an accurate quote for the cost, allowing for all possible mishaps during construction as well.
It was certainly quite the feat; a feat that had taken its toll on Draco.
Groggily rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he rose from his chair and strode over to his bed to promptly crawl under his freshly changed silk sheets. He could not be bothered changing so he stripped off his black t-shirt and jeans, slipping into the bed in only his Slytherin green boxers.
Casting a tempus charm Draco checked the time, just to see how long he had really been working.
12.47PM
Groaning and placing his wand on the bedside table, Draco rolled over and buried himself deep within the sheets.

….

Draco had barely been asleep for five minutes before a blood-curdling shriek sent him flying into an upright position. It was definitely one of the worst sounds Draco had ever heard; the screaming sounded more animal than human. It was filled with sorrow, pain and anguish; feelings so horrible that even the strongest of Dementors could not invoke them. The absolute pain could be felt through the entire Manson; there was not a creature in the house that did not feel a fraction of the pain the screaming creature felt.
Leaping from his bed and snatching his wand, Draco dashed into the hallway in search of the screaming creature.
"Oh shit." Hissed Draco, before throwing himself into Potter's room, expecting to find a wounded creature of some sorts in the room.
However, Draco did not find an animal, or a creature. He was only met with the sight of Harry Potter, writhing and screaming on the bed.
'POTTER was the one screaming!'
Harry, had managed to kick the sheets off the bed and tear his shirt to shreds in the midst of his fits. His eyes were rolled back into his head, the whites gleaming in the moonlight that shone through the open window. He was clawing at his bare chest with his fingernails; numerous bloody scratch marks danced across his flesh.
Draco took a hurried step towards the boy before halting almost immediately. He had not noticed it immediately, but Harry was floating a good five centimetres off the bed spread. His magic was in flux; his long hair whipped around him angrily, the fabric of his slacks flapped, even the bed's curtains were flapping wildly about.
He was also glowing, only slightly, but glowing none the less.
It was at this moment Narcissa decided to join the fray; barely wasting a moment, she rushed over to the bed, ignoring the angry magic that enveloped the bed and boy.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DON'T-STOP IT! I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL THEM!" Harry started screaming even louder; Draco clamped his hands to his ears, trying to deafen the pain-filled cries and pleas "CEDRIC! MOTHER, FATHER! REMUS! FRED! MOODY! SIRUIS! TONKS! ARRRGGHHH-" His cries cut off and he was reduced - one again – to screaming.
Narcissa tried to reach out to Harry, to calm him, to sooth him; do anything at all. Her hand only seemed to bounce off an invisible wall Harry's magic had encased him in, protecting him.
She instead waved her wand intricately over the boy, who screamed in anguish. Narcissa's magic seemed to be doing its work however, Harry slowly lowered onto the bed, and the wind lowered dramatically; the invisible wall however, did not lower.
Still with a slight wind around him, the faintly glowing boy continued to scream and claw at his chest; which was now completely drenched in blood.
Draco rushed over to the bedside, woken out of his stupor, to see if he could be of help. He was a foot away from the bedside when his foot caught with the edge of the rug and Draco was sent flying. He flew past his mother and through the barrier and onto the legs of Harry; who screams halted as soon as he was touched.
Narcissa looked on in shocked awe at her son, lying across the legs of the now whimpering Harry Potter. "What did you do Draco?"
Before he could answer however, Harry wrenched himself into a sitting position and grabbed onto the shoulders of the stunned blonde. "I-I didn't kill them!" he pleaded with glazed and foggy eyes "Tell them to leave me alone. I didn't-I wouldn't-tell them to stop hurting me. I didn't KILL! It wasn't me. He did it. I didn't kill them! Make it STOP!" The distraught boy flung his arms around Draco's shoulders, sobbing violently.
Still sitting on his legs, Draco craned his neck over Harry's head to silently plead with his wide eyed mother. Seeming just as confused as he was by the whole situation, Narcissa whispered "I don't know! Just try soothing him until I come back," Draco gave her a horrified look "just do something! I'm getting him a dreamless sleep and healing potion! Be careful! He's more than likely being controlled by the Veela part of himself right now. He's in a fragile state of mind, especially so considering his past few days. Be careful Draco, even if he is only part Veela, an emotional Veela is a dangerous Veela." She dashed out of the room leaving Draco helpless to the emotional Veela boy.
Harry started to sob harder, squeezing Draco with all his might.
"Uh…don't…um, it's ok." Draco awkwardly put his arms around Harry; it seemed to quiet him. With a newly gained confidence Draco continue to whisper softly to the wounded boy. At the same time being careful not to provoke him, in fear of the Veela magic dwelling inside of him "Don't worry…um, they won't hurt you. They can't hurt you…um…"
"B-b-but they c-c-can. They tell me i-it's my f-f-f-fault. It's true! I KILLED THEM!" howled Harry.
Draco brought an unsure hand to the thick mop of black hair that was nestled into his chest. "You didn't kill them Potter, Voldemort did. Voldemort killed them. You saved them."
Harry sniffed. "V-Voldemort…I…I killed him. He's dead?"
"Yes that's right, you killed him Potter….um, you saved everyone remember? Uh…You're helping now too, you uh, your helping me make a foundation for the children affected by the war remember."
Harry raised his head out of Draco's bare chest and looked into his grey eyes. Draco found it slightly unnerving to have Harry be so close to him, they were merely an inch apart, noses almost touching. There wasn't a detail Draco could miss on Harry's face, it was only clear how disorientated and fearful the boy felt, amongst other things of course.
"I'm…helping?"
"Yes, you are helping Potter."
Harry let out a sigh and leaned his forehead against Draco's; the blonde had to use everything in him not to pull away from Harry instantly. He didn't want to find out what would happen to him if an emotional Veela got angry at him. "I'm…helping. I'm…not bad? I'm…good?"
Draco stifled a gasp as Harry breathed warm breath over his face. He was so close, so very close. Harry smelt woody and musky, and slightly of apples strangely enough; the scent tickled Draco's nose.
Taking a small shaky breath to calm himself Draco replied "Yes. You are good, you were never bad. Don't listen to them." Taking this opportunity Draco grasped Harry's face with both hands and pulled his face back to what Draco deemed a safe distance "You-are-good-Harry-Potter."
Narcissa chose this moment to walk in. She stood staring at the two boys, eyes gazing into each other's passionately, before leaping into action. Taking a look at Harry, Narcissa set the healing potion on the table and walked over to the bedside; the barrier had seemed to fall as Harry grew more content.
She gave the Dreamless Sleep to Draco "Here, make him drink this. Looks like he's more likely to listen to you than me."
"What about the healing potion, doesn't that need to be administered first?"
"Look at his chest."
Draco took a look at Harry's chest and felt his eyes widen in shock. He could see the last of the scratches knitting themselves back together.
"Mmmmm…" Draco was brought out of his staring as Harry started trying to snuggle back into his chest.
"No,no,no,no. Don't do that." Harry looked at up Draco, fresh tears threatening to brim over; he instantly backtracked "Sorry, I just need you to drink this Potter. It will make you feel all better, go on now drink up."
"W-will they stop? Will it make them go away?"
'MERLIN! Potter is so fragile!' Draco took a steadying breath "Yes,yes. Now drink up. It will make everything go away. There you go." Harry took the bottle and drank slowly "Yes, that's it Potter. Drink it all down."
"Finished…" Draco took the empty bottle from Harry and gently lay him back down on the bed. He turned to his mother to ask what he should do next, but she had slipped away whilst Draco was feeding Harry the potion. '…oh that's not FAIR!'
He pulled the sheets up over Harry; he stared at Draco the entire time, never once taking his eyes off him. Draco nodded at Harry and turned on his heel.
"DON'T GO!" Harry pleaded and snatched his wrist. Draco glared at him and he cowered slightly under the sheets; but he did not let go of Draco's wrist. "Don't…stay with me. They might come back. Don't leave. Please Draco." Draco knew he was out of his right mind right now, but that didn't change the way the words affected him.
'Oh hell. Potter said please, he never says please. I can't just leave him. He might start screaming again, that and mother will kill me if she finds out I left him. Oh, they both better bloody appreciate this' Draco inwardly growled before turning back to Harry.
"Fine!" he snapped "But only until you fall sleep!"
Harry nodded and closed his eyes, snuggling down further into the sheets. "'Night Draco."
"Goodnight Potter." Said Draco, from his chair next to the bed.
"Harry." Harry opened his eyes and stared at Draco, still latching onto his hand.
"Goodnight…Harry." Harry smiled gently at Draco – which gave the blonde a funny feeling in his gut – and closed his eyes.
"Mmmmm, I…like it…when you say…my name…Draco." Mumbled the boy.
Draco stared at Harry 'Don't listen to him Draco, he's half awake and he's most likely more Veela than Potter at the moment. Think nothing of it. There's no way he'd say something like that coherently.'
"Sleep." Draco commanded. Nodding groggily, Harry closed his eyes, and within a matter in minutes he was dead to the world.
When Draco was sure he was totally asleep, he stood up and tried to get his wrist back. It was a fruitless task, Harry had Draco's wrist firmly clasped in his hand, and he was not letting go. If Draco pulled any harder on his wrist, Harry could wake up, and he did not want Harry to wake up again. Draco didn't want to go through that a second time.
Sitting down in the chair once again Draco sighed angrily "Fucking Potter."

…

Harry woke mid-morning the next day, not feeling rested at all. He could only imagine why. He felt something odd under his arm, looking over he saw a piece of torn and shredded fabric poking out from under his arm; it and the sheets around it were covered in blood.
That however, was not what shocked Harry to his very core. Draco was sitting in the chair next to his bed, holding his hand, wearing nothing but boxers. He seemed to be snoring softly and his eyes were closed, gambling he was asleep; Harry slid his hand out of the other boys and pulled it quickly back beside his body. Harry rubbed his hand, feeling a strange, cold sensation flush over it at the loss of human contact.
Harry peered at the almost naked boy beside his bed, dressed only in emerald green, silk boxers. Sitting up on his heels, Harry leaned closer to Draco, simply staring at him.
Harry had been right earlier, his curse from sixth year had scarred him flush across his chest. He was heavily toned - behind the multitude of scars, from the years of Quidditch practice and tournaments. He bore no chest hair either, except for a small tantalising stream of hair that could just be seen poking out of his boxers.
Flushing at his own perverseness, Harry looked up at the boy's face. 'What am I doing? I'm not even GAY!'
Harry hated to admit it, but even if he wasn't gay, Harry could see why the female population of Hogwarts had deemed Draco the most eligible bachelor in Hogwarts– aside from Harry of course. Harry couldn't deny the fact the boy has quite a soft beauty when he was asleep. 'When the scowl and sneer is off his face he isn't so bad looking…' His hair hung in front of his closed eyes, out of its usually kempt state. Not being able to resist, Harry reached out a slender hand to brush those fine, blonde locks out of his eyes.
"…What are you doing Potter?" Draco snaked open one eye to look at the offending hand. Snatching it back and blushing profusely Harry glared at Draco.
"What are you doing almost naked in my room?" he quipped.
"Says the one about to molest a sleeping man," Draco jibed back "and for your information, I could not go back to my room after your little…episode Potter. You-wouldn't-let-me." He snarled at Harry, clearly more frustrated with the situation than Harry was.
"Huh?"
Draco rolled his eyes "As intelligent as ever I see Potter. You woke up screaming in the middle of the night. Mother and I try and help but your Veela magic was out of control – really Potter you should be able to control your magic subconsciously by now. You had put up a barrier around yourself with your weird ass magic; for some reason I was able to get through it and Mother made me try to calm you down whilst she went and fetched a Dreamless Sleep potion. I fed it to you, and you grabbed my wrist and refused to let me leave. Honestly, I think your Veela was controlling you because you were acting like a three year old that had lost its mother. Hence…why I am here in nothing but my boxers, I jumped straight out of bed to stop your damned screaming, there was no way in hell anyone could sleep with your racket going on." Draco ran his hand through his hair; it was sticking out all over the place which annoyed Draco to no end.
"Ah…yeah…should've warned you about that I suppose…I'll remember to put up a silencing charm tonight I swear."
"You knew! You knew that was going to happen! What the HELL Potter!" shrieked an outraged blonde. "It doesn't happen every night!" exclaimed Harry, hanging his head in abashment "It has gotten worse though after the war. I guess I'm just guilty that's all. I mean…ugh, never mind Draco. I don't want to discuss this with you." Harry looked at the bed which was covered with mauled pieces of bloody fabric "What happened to my shirt?"
"You were clawing your chest to shreds…really Potter, you are mental" getting up from his chair, he looked at the raven-blue haired boy on the bed "Now if you will allow me, I'm going back to my room. You better get yourself dressed Potter, you've got a big day ahead of you."
Harry watched the alabaster skinned blonde strut out of the room with a sneer, shutting the door behind him.
'Big day? What? Why…oh, I remember. I'm going back to the Dursley's today.'

Harry Potter sat in the library with a scowl that could rival Snape's. Returning to the Dursley's had always put him in a right foul mood, but given the circumstances 'foul' was an understatement. He was feeling positively wretched.
Flicking through a muggle novel he had found, he tried to distract himself from his impending doom.
Narcissa stood in the doorway and watched the youth, she could barely begin to imagine how he must be feeling. She certainly understood the pain he felt at the death of his friends and loved ones, but what she could not even come to grasps with was how much pressure the war had put on the boy, and the toll it had taken on him. She knocked gently on the door fame and watched as Harry looked up from his book. "Like it?"
"Yeah, it's an old favourite of mine. I love Alice in Wonderland, but I didn't think you would have muggle books in your library."
"Just because I am a pureblood does not mean I can't enjoy good literature." She walked over and sat on the arm chair next to Harry "Now about today," the purely Slytherin sneer returned to his face "don't look at me like that Harry, it's rude. Now, about today; I'm not sending you there on your own, Merlin knows what they would do to you."
"I killed one of the darkest wizards of all time. I think I can manage this."
Narcissa raised a sceptical eyebrow "Be that as true as it may, you are under my care for the time being and I will not take any chance of you being harmed. Plus, from what I've seen, your emotions seem…overzealous to say the least. Now in your current state, with your magic still unstable, going back by yourself could not only present yourself to harm, but your relatives as well. Now as unpleasant as they may be, I'm sure you don't want to do them…serious harm."
Harry looked away from the woman, he couldn't deny her, she was right. As much as he hated them, he didn't want them to come to any serious harm. He couldn't bare to have any more wounded souls upon his conscious.
"But," she said, plucking the book from the boys hands and snapping it shut "that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun."
He looked at the baby blue eyes that shone with a rare twinkle. Curious Harry leaned forward, resting his chin on his palm. "…oh do tell Narcissa."
Leaning down, she whispered frantically in his ear; as she spoke Harry could feel the grin start to spread madly across his face, bad mood disappearing almost instantaneously.
"God's…that has to be the most Slytherin thing anyone has ever said to me."
She placed a hand to her heart in mock embarrassment "Why Harry dear, that has to be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. So you approve then?"
Harry grinned "What sort of guest would I be if I didn't?"

Draco looked on from the shadows in disbelief as his mother, whispered and joked with Harry-Freaking-Potter. Shaking his head he walked away.
'What is this world coming to…'

….

Draco leaned against the hard, mahogany doors at the entrance of the mansion and rolled his eyes. "Why do I have to be a part of this?"
"Because I said so Draco, now stand up straight, you're not a house elf."
Deciding to ignore the jibe at the house elves, Harry nervously plucked at the hem of his dark blue sweater; a nasty habit he had tried to rid himself of repeatedly. Harry had opted to wear muggle clothing; a dark blue sweater that complimented his eyes and hair and jet black jeans with a large silver belt. Thick, dark leather boots that rose to his knees hung on his feet; they were made of the finest dragon hide according to Narcissa. His hair was slicked back in a very Mafloy-ish way in a low pony tail, again with a few strands of hair hanging out to perfectly frame his face. Overall he looked very aristocratic; which in turn made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
Draco – still slumped against the door – wore his typical Malfoy robes. Completely black, with silver trimming and of the finest cut in all Diagon Alley. His hair was slicked back in its usual fashion, not a single strand was out of place and it was gleaming with who knows how many products.
Narcissa stood next to Harry, fumbling around with a muggle video camera. She was dressed in fine dark blue robes, with intricate silver embodiment climbing up from the hem of her robe. Although styled, her hair hung loose around her thin frame. All in all, she looked quite elegant.
With a small chuckle Harry took the camera from Narcissa. "Here," he fiddled around with the camera "like this. This one to turn it off and on…the red circle to record, the red square to stop, the two little rectangles to pause, and the green triangle to playback what you've recorded. Simple." He gave the camera back to Narcissa with a smile which she returned; Draco gagged. Ignoring him Harry cocked his head at Narcissa "Are you sure this is going to work? There's no guarantee they will even let me into the house, let alone the both of you."
Draco sneered and sauntered over "Now Potter, you can't really be spineless as you seem. Whatever happened to that Gryffindor courage we hear so much about, really Potter," he tutted at the boy "backing out isn't really your thing is it?"
"Whatever happened to being civil Draco?"
"I'll be civil when you stop flirting with my mother…"
"Draco…" Narcissa cut in with a warning tone "I would watch your tone if I were you. I raised you as a gentleman and you will behave as such."
Draco lowered his head "Yes mother." When she wasn't looking he flicked his head up and silently snarled at Harry, at which he just broadly grinned.
"Now Harry, you're going to have to do a side-along apparition with us. You're the only one who knows exactly where it is." Harry gave her a wary look.
Draco paled if that was even possible with his complexion "You have done a side-along apparition before right? I'm not going if you haven't. I would prefer not to be splinched."
"Of course I have, it was how me, Ron and Mione' travelled during the war. Now the closest apparition zone is a few blocks away. So there is a bit of a walk."
Draco groaned "Really Potter, I don't know why we can't just apparate in."
"Because Draco, they might have visitors and if we just apparated in with muggles there it would be awkward to say the least." He held up both of his arms "Ready?"
Narcissa nodded and linked her arm in his; they both looked at Draco expectantly. With a small grimace Draco linked his arm with Harry's.

…..

With a loud CRACK they appeared in an alleyway a few blocks away from the Dursley's. Practically jumping out of Harry's arm at the first given chance, Draco looked around the surrounding area, nose high in the air. "You live here Potter?"
"Why of course Draco, I live in an alleyway…you are so thick sometimes…" leading them out of the alley, Harry lead them down the nearest street. "Follow me; it's not that far away."
Ignoring the stares directed their way from passing muggles, the trio made their way to Privet Drive to stand outside of the Dursley's. It was late afternoon and Harry knew that they would be sitting in front of the television, probably watching one of those dancing shoes that Dudley secretly enjoys.
Draco noticed the way Harry stared at the dingy little house with trepidation. Having seen a fraction of the boys memories he could somewhat understand and even sympathise, but there was no way he was going to let that show.
"Come on Potter. You're just over reacting. Let's just go inside and get your stuff and teach those muggles a lesson." Leaving his mother and Harry standing at the gate, Draco sauntered up to the house and knocked loudly on the door. Rushing to stand behind him before the door was opened; Narcissa and Harry ran up and stood behind Draco. They stood there for a few moments and Narcissa knocked a second time. After and bit of shouting and scuffling from inside the house, the door was suddenly wrenched open and the trio was faced with a somewhat ticked-off Dudley. Stepping forward Harry politely inclined his head to his cousin. "Dudley, I'm here to collect my things." Dudley paled and ran from the doorway with a girlish shriek, leaving the trio standing in the doorway; shrugging Harry walked through, gesturing for the two Malfoy's to follow him. Harry guided the two to the staircase and just as they were about to rise up the steps, a horrified Petunia and Vernon surged into the hallway.
"WHAT are you doing here boy?" Vernon took a step towards the boy standing in front of the blondes "You and your kind aren't welcome here. Get-out."
"Now, now Mr Dursley, we are just here to collect Harry's things." She turned to a tight-lipped Petunia "Mrs Dursley, if you wouldn't mind, I'm thoroughly parched. I'm sure a woman of your stature wouldn't deter her guest from refreshments, even if they are our kind of people. Someone as refined as you would certainly be a hospitable hostess, am I correct?" Narcissa was good. Harry had told her that Petunia's biggest floor was her vanity and her dependency on her good public image. Compliment her profusely and she would do anything to put off a good impression, even if that meant going against the will of her beloved husband.
Completely ignoring the outrage and horror on her husband's face, Petunia led the Malfoy's into the living room. Realising that he did not wish to miss this moment, Harry decided he could retrieve his things later and followed them into the lounge room.
Harry struggled to keep his stoic mask in place; it was obvious to him just how much the décor Petunia loved so much absolutely repulsed both blondes, who were both used to higher standards. Sitting down awkwardly on the pastel, floral furniture, Narcissa and Malfoy looked about the room with strained faces. Vernon stood in the corner of the room, the distaste and distrust obvious on his mug. Dudley sat in his usual chair, frigidly staring at the witch and wizard on his couch; he never really had gotten over the little gift Hagrid had given him when he had first met Harry.
Petunia was in kitchen, awkwardly making her way around attempting to prepare the tea. Harry knew that space like the back of his hand - having spent so many years preparing meals for the Dursley's - and watching Petunia move about, not knowing where anything was, irritated Harry to say the least. Sighing and moving from his spot against the wall, Harry walked over to Petunia, grabbing the kettle from her hands.
"Go and sit down. You never could make a decent pot of tea. Plus I doubt your guests would appreciate their hostess flitting about in the kitchen."
Harry watched from the bench as his Aunt made small talk with Narcissa and Malfoy grinned evilly at Dudley, twirling his wand in his fingers.
"So…"
"Narcissa."
"So Narcissa, what relations do you have with the boy? I can tell just by looking at you, you're a woman of high standing, your son as well. What on earth, are you doing going around with someone like…him?" Petunia didn't even try to keep the disgust off of her face.
Narcissa snarled at the shrewd of a woman inwardly before answering "Well, I knew some of Lily's friends – " noticing the scowl on Petunia's face Narcissa strengthened her charade "oh don't worry, even I don't mix with people as disreputable as them. I found him lying in a gutter and it would've ruined my image to leave the whelp there. Heaven forbid if the papers found out that I almost left the boy there. I had no choice but to take him." Petunia leaned forward.
"You're in the papers?"
Narcissa nodded "Not your papers obviously, but myself and my family are frequently in the papers." It wasn't a lie; they just weren't usually in the papers for positive reasons.
Noticing the attention was otherwise directed at Narcissa, Harry took the opportunity to slip a vial of the liquid Narcissa had supplied them all with before leaving. Pouring the in the clear liquid into three of the six cups, Harry walked into the living room, and served everyone with their cups, taking every opportunity to glare at is relatives.
Unable to stay silent any longer, Dudley opened his mouth and spoke to Draco "Do you go to the freak school too?"
"Obviously…" he said with a sneer.
"Draco," Narcissa chastised, she didn't want him ruining this whole thing "don't be rude, we are guests."
"Exactly, I won't have you disrespecting my Dudley in such a manner." Draco's jaw-dropped and Harry could see Narcissa practically twitching with the urge to hex the unpleasant woman "Now, Vernon sit down. We have guests; it's rude of you to be standing in the corner like that." Petunia got up and pulled her husband down onto the couch. The trio watched eagerly as the Dursley's all took a sip of their tea.
"Now Draco." Draco flipped out the camera and handed it to his mother turning it on. Narcissa pointed it at the family on the couch, who were watching wide eyed at the scene that was playing out before them.
"What did you do to us?" Petunia managed to gasp out "I can't move!"
"Oh that was me," Harry sauntered over and kneeled in front of them, a criminal grin crawling across his face "I put a little something in your tea. A little concoction of Narcissa's; it combines two potions, one to make you immobile and one to make you truthful in laymen's terms. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I won't stoop as low as you. However, I think it fairly within my rights to have a little fun."
With a flick of his wand, he transfigured their clothes into garments that looked like they had crawled out of Dumbledore's closet. Dudley was now in a bright pink and purple tunic and tights with a matching tutu. Vernon was dressed in wizarding robes that looked like the ones Ron wore at the Yule Ball and Petunia was wearing the most hideous dress Harry had ever seen. It was fungi green, with brown and yellow splodges decorating the front and a big pink bow and against her flat chest.
"Press record." When Harry heard the beep of the camera, he turned back to the Dursley's with a solemn look upon his face.
"What are your names?"
"Petunia Dursley."
"Vernon Dursley."
"Dudley Dursley."
"Petunia, what is your relation to me, Harry James Potter?"
"You are my sister's daughter, my nephew. Up until your seventeenth birthday we were your guardians."
"So, you are telling me that you and Vernon were legally complied to take care of me, supplying me with at least basic human rights?"
"Yes."
"Is that in fact what you did?"
"No."
"Clarify how you did not comply with this."
"You slept in a cupboard under the stairs until the age of eleven, you were not fed unless we deemed it necessary, you partook in forced manual labour and you were beaten if you refused."
Harry paused for a moment "Petunia, tell me how you make the cakes you used to enter into the local competitions."
"I cannot."
"Why?"
"I didn't, make them, you did."
"So you had your nephew, myself, bake the cakes you entered into competitions?"
"Yes."
Harry, turned to Narcissa to see if she was still filming, she nodded.
"Now Dudley, I want you to tell me what are the basic things you and your group of friends go around doing."
"We steal, loiter, smoke, and harass smaller children."
"Why do you do this?"
"Myself specifically?"
"Yes, why do you, Dudley Dursley, commit these acts?"
"Because it makes me feel better about myself, and it makes me seem big and tough. If I didn't, the others would pick on me."
"Why would they pick on you?"
"I like things that they deem…I like things that they don't.
"For example?"
"I like dance; I like to watch dance shows and I wish I could dance. I have a secret collection of romance novels."
"What are the names your mother calls you?"
"Dudders, Duddykins, Bubby, Duddy, Dudley."
"Thank you Dudley."
Harry turned around and made a 'cut' signal with his hand and Narcissa paused the tape. Harry swished his wand over his relatives, freezing them.
"And the point of that was?" asked a confused Draco.
"Humiliation." Harry said "What they care for the most is their reputation. They would do anything for their reputation. That video now contains some of their biggest secrets, secrets that, if their neighbours and peers were to find out about, they would be eternally horrified. I do not want to cause them physical harm, nor am I generally a vindictive person, but this," Harry waved his hand in the Dursley's general direction "was a special case."
"So you're going to send this video thing to all their friends and family? Nice…" Draco smirked.
"Not at all." Draco gave him a confused look "I'm going to do much better than that. I'm going to leave them a copy of the tape, so that they themselves can watch it. With that I'll leave them a note, saying something along the lines of 'I have the original copy, I'm sure your friends will enjoy it. Keep this copy as a reminder, if you destroy it or get rid of it I will know. Love Harry.' Or something like that. It will drive them paranoid. They won't ever know for sure whether or not I've given people the tape. They will constantly be wracked with the paranoia that the tape has been shown. It won't go away, the paranoia, this is the type of people they are. Not knowing whether or not I've actually done anything, will be a lot worse than me actually giving people the tape. It will drive them insane." Draco looked at Harry in awe. It was pure genius.
"I just might have underestimated you Potter; you certainly have quite the Slytherin streak in you don't you?"
Harry blushed and looked down; a movement that didn't escape Narcissa's attention "It was your mother's idea really, I just fine tweaked it and put it into action."
"Well…that makes more sense, but I wouldn't think you would have it in you Potter. It's quite Slytherin of you."
Harry laughed. Not a scathing or patronising laugh, but a pure, genuinely happy laugh; a sound Draco found he particularly liked.
Though of course he would never admit it.
"Let's just get my things and go. I'd rather be out of here sooner than later."
Narcissa shrinked the camera and placed it in the inner pockets of her robes "What about them? Are you going to change back their clothes?"
Harry shook his head "No, I'll leave it as a little reminder." Harry placed the magically copied tape on the table with a small, note next to it "Now come on, let's just get my things, I don't want to be here when they unfreeze."
Harry led Draco and Narcissa up the stairwell, and to the doorway of his room.
"So Potter…you bake?" he cocked a trademark Slytherin eyebrow.
Harry looked over his shoulder as he opened the door "Draco, my baking could make you drool." Harry said with a sultry voice, letting his Veela shine.
Barely surprising the shiver that took his body over at the words, Draco shrugged "Just hurry Potter; let's not stand in the doorway all day."
Harry turned around and stepped through the open doorway, not making it two steps before he froze solid in his tracks. The ever-impatient Draco slammed into Harry's back, almost stumbling over him. "What the hell Potter! Why don't you watch where your-Merlin's Beard!" Draco peered over Harry's shoulder at the sight that lay before them.
White and grey feathers were strewn across the floor and bed, speckled with blood. The window was open and a soft breeze fluttered through, sending some of the feathers flying about the room. A thoroughly squashed and broken cage sat in the corner of the dark and dingy room; some of the metal fragments had been scattered across the room, gleaming in the light. In and centre of the chaos, a snowy white owl lay crippled on the ground, wings bent in awkward angles. Its feathers were missing in large clumps; the small, barely feathered chest was still rising and falling, but only just.
"Hedwig…"

TBC