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A Matter of Time	By : AdaraB Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 7796 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything in the Harry Potter universe. I own nothing and I make no profit off of this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
Chapter 11 – Truths

“What are you doing here Malfoy?” Harry asked, his voice not holding its usual contempt for the blonde boy.

Draco was standing in front of the fire place, peering into the flames. He turned and looked at the duo at the sound of Harry’s voice.

“I asked Draco to stay until I returned. There are some things the three of us need to discuss. Please, make yourselves comfortable.” She said motioning to the overstuffed chairs.

They all sat in a plush chair, creating an obtuse triangle. While Ashleigh made herself comfortable, Harry and Draco were stiff as a board, waiting for the other Wizard to make some sort of infraction against them.

“Well as it seems that you two aren’t exactly comfortable with each other, I’ll start. It has come to my attention that your rivalry is petty and needs to end this moment. From what I have learnt from you both, there is no valid reason for you to dislike each other so much.” Ashleigh said, looking at both of the boys. They, at least, had enough decency not to contradict her.

“Draco, you claimed your qualms with Harry started when he refused your hand in friendship. Did you really think that by insulting the friend he had already made, he would be even slightly interested in becoming your friend?”

Draco at least has the decency to look uncomfortable. He had many times thought that he had gone about gaining Harry’s friendship the wrong way. Although now he was glad they hadn’t become friends seeing as he was all for the Dark Lord back then and would have helped his father capture him.

“And Harry, why did you believe that just because a person is sorted into Slytherin that it makes them a bad person? Do you consider me a bad person now that you know that I was sorted into that house?”

“Well no, I mean I knew you before you were sorted and you didn’t seem like a Slytherin to me. And as for my perception of Slytherin’s, it’s not really my fault, not all of it anyway. One of the first things I’d learnt about the magical world was that there wasn’t a dark witch or wizard that wasn’t sorted into Slytherin. Why would I have wanted to be friends with someone who was from a family full of dark wizards as I had been told?

“And Malfoy, if you hadn’t insulted Ron who was my only friend, I would have accepted your friendship. By the way you were acting toward Ron, you seemed no better than my cousin Dudley who is nothing but a bully.”

“Well I am glad you didn’t accept my friendship!”

“Draco?” Ashleigh asked, outraged that he was acting this way. Had he learnt nothing?

“Let me finish.” Draco said, wanting to get everything out before he lost his nerve, or before Ashleigh drop kicked him.

“I’m glad you didn’t accept my friendship that day because you would most surely be dead by now. Back then, I did support the Dark Lord. I would have done anything to get in his good graces just like my father wanted me to.”

“What are you saying? That you don’t support Voldemort anymore?”

“No I don’t and neither does my father for that matter. Father was ordered to take me to one of the Death Eater meetings last summer.” He took a deep breath and continued to tell Harry the rest of his tale.

“He said it was a great honor to be in His inner circle and he wanted to give me a taste of it so that I would do anything to get to the level of prestige that he had obtained. Prestige my arse. You know very well that I don’t like Muggleborns very much because of the way I was brought up. I am trying to rectify my thinking since that meeting. The fact that the Dark Lord tortures and kills Muggles and Muggleborns for the fun of it still haunts me. And the fact that he is spouting all of his pureblood supremacy while he himself is only a half-blood? Well it kind of makes me want to vomit.

“Oh and the whole prestige part was a show for the Dark Lord seeing as how it is impossible to get away from him alive. I believe you are familiar with his abilities in ligilimency?” He directed his question at Harry.

“You’re not lying are you?” Harry asked, looking deeply into Draco’s eyes when he finally looked up.

“No he’s not.” Ashleigh answered for him. “I’ve seen his forearms, they are not marked. I am a good judge of character. I knew from the first moment that I met the both of you what kind of people you are and believe it or not, you are remarkably similar. You just have to realize that and put all of the pettiness aside.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come in Severus.” The Headmaster said in his all knowing way of just who was at his door.

“Headmaster, I’ve brought you my time table of free periods that I may in those times assist Miss Grey with potions.” Snape handed Dumbledore the parchment which contained a very tidy grid of the days of the week along with the hours of the day.

Dumbledore looked over the grid with a slight frown.

“You couldn’t have spared any time before dinner Severus?” Albus asked, slightly confused as to why the Potions Master insisted on tutoring the girl so late in the evening.

“You may recall that the Dark Lord normally chooses to call on me during the early hours of the morning. It would not do for me to tutor the girl while exhausted or worse. I’m sure you understand my meaning.”

“Yes, indeed. There is another problem I wish to discuss with you, the main reason for my calling you here tonight.”

“And what would that subject be Headmaster?” A bit suspicious as to what or who he wanted to discuss.

“Miss Grey.”

“I thought as much. What about her?”

“Voldemort must never get to her. It would be best if he knew nothing about her but I know that would be a miracle in itself, what with all of the young supporters of the dark in this school. She knows far too much of the future, a future that he must never find out about. This girl will be a great advantage to Harry and we must keep her a secret at all costs. Voldemort will especially want her if he finds out that she has a photographic memory.”

“The girl has a photographic memory? The Dark Lord would be able to use that gift in most interesting ways.”

“Precisely the reason he must not find out. Although I haven’t a clue on how to keep it from him.” Dumbledore said with a seriously grave look.

Snape, thinking hard on the Headmasters words couldn’t help but notice that the normally present sparkle in his blue eyes did not appear during the entire meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’d better get going Harry; you don’t want to be caught out after hours. Thanks for helping me bring them down, even if you did have a hidden agenda. I forgive you though, seeing as I had one myself.” Ashleigh said with a satisfied grin.

“Well in that case I forgive you as well.”

“Alright, alright, enough of the flirting. I hear enough of that with Blaise.” Draco said, a bit jealous. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of sharing her with anyone else didn’t exactly put a light in his heart.

“Chill out Draco, it’s completely harmless. I think Harry here knows I’m not interested in him in that way, no offense.” Ashleigh said reassuringly, a little put off by Draco’s reaction to their friendly banter. She knew they weren’t the best of friends yet but given the situation, his reaction was uncalled for. It almost seemed as if he was jealous. She shook her head to get rid of those unlikely thoughts.

“None taken. I don’t think of you in that way either, I am very happy with Ginny and plan to be for a very long time.” Harry answered, also a bit confused at Draco’s reaction.

Ashleigh smiled, glad that someone had a decent love life.

“I’ll talk to you later, goodnight Ashleigh, Draco.” Harry said with a nod toward the boy, and with that left the room.

“Goodnight.” Ashleigh and Draco said in unison. Ashleigh looked extremely happy that Harry had used Draco’s first name. It was a sign of acceptance that she had been hoping for. Draco on the other hand looked utterly gobsmacked that Harry would address him by his first name, letting go of the last six years in a brief moment.

“I think it is best that I retire as well. It wouldn’t do for Professor Snape to catch me gallivanting about the dungeons past curfew for no reason.”

“I didn’t think you could get in trouble for that since your Head Boy?”

“Well I can’t, not really. Professor Snape doesn’t like us to be out when we don’t need to be though. He thinks we could always spend our time more aptly than just hanging about. That goes double for me since he is my Godfather.”

“I didn’t know that. Well I guess you learn something new every day. I’ll see you later.”

“Right.” Draco said as he left her rooms and headed for the Slytherin common room.

After Draco left Ashleigh readied herself for bed before climbing in and curling up on her side. She had only laid down a few minutes before the tears began to fall. She cried for everything and everyone she left behind in 2047. Once the tears started to fade she vowed to herself that she would never cry over what she had lost again. It was time to move on and make a new life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Harry reached the Gryffindor common room, he hurried over to his friends and quietly relayed everything he had learnt about Draco. The group was in utter shock to say the least. The verbal non-belief was soon to follow in the form of Ronald Weasley.

“That’s not bloody likely. The prat probably just wants to get on your good side so that he can hand you over to You-Know-Who. He doesn’t actually want to be your friend!” He stated angrily.

“Be quiet Ron.” Hermione said, exasperated. “I doubt that Ashleigh would go through the trouble of getting them together if there wasn’t something that could benefit the both of them. I think we should give Draco a chance to prove he has changed sides. We shouldn’t push him away if he has because he could revert to his old ways and go straight back to Voldemort.”

“I agree. And have you noticed he hasn’t been as venomous towards us lately? I only just noticed it myself. I haven’t heard the word Mudblood come out of his mouth since last year and that used to be a daily occurrence for him.” Ginny said, thinking hard on Hermione’s words.

“I noticed that too. I just didn’t want to get my hopes up that he had forgone that choice of vocabulary.” Hermione answered.

“I’ll have a talk with Dumbledore about him. I need to see him anyway, Ashleigh and I want to find out if we are related or not. We don’t know who her paternal parents are so it will be a bit harder to figure out. I hope there is a way that Dumbledore knows of.” Harry said.

“I’m sure there is a way Harry. And even if there is no magical way, there is a Muggle way.”
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A Matter of Time