Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Meddling with Darkness	By : zoy_grey Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 32786 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 11
Disclaimer: I do not own nor make profit off of JK Rowling's world of Harry Potter, the characters or the timeline. Though I do own the plot that I came up with in this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
A/N: Ok, so after your reviews I've realised it might have been a bit cruel of me to leave you with such an ending of the last chapter. So I worked all weekend to finish next chapter and here it is ;) Hope you'll enjoy it...and once again I wanted to thank you for nice reviews, since they really make me smile and give me motivation to work faster on the chapters ;)

Chapter 12

The teen couldn’t contain his emotions; anger and fear mixed inside him all the time while he was practically being dragged by the group of wizards towards a tall, old building, which he assumed was the Blacks’ ancestral house. He was fighting the need to yell at the adults to go back to Diagon Alley and help his cousin. But he knew he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone what was the true relation between him and Draco; after all, only his family and probably most of Death Eaters knew that secret.

“Harry,” Lupin whispered close to the teens ear. “Welcome to 12 Grimmauld Place.”

As soon as the building appeared completely between houses number 11 and 13, the group moved forward and entered it. The dark haired teen couldn’t focus much on the interior; he noticed it was big and used to be grand, although now seemed a bit unkempt.

He was rushed into what looked like a formal dining room, just to see the entire Weasley family and Hermione waiting for him. Without a warning, Mrs Weasley pulled him into a tight embrace, nearly suffocating the teen. Moments later he felt Hermione clinging to him and Ron, Ginny and the twins crowding around them.

“Give him some air,” laughed Bill and Charlie.

“I’m just so happy you’re here with us and safe,” explained her actions Mrs Weasley.

“We got there in the last moment,” said one of the wizards that escorted the teen to the headquarters; he vaguely remembered the man was called Diggle.

“That was a pretty good and successful rescue mission,” announced proudly the other wizard, that the teen didn’t know.

“Successful?” the black haired boy nearly snarled feeling anger boiling inside him. “You call that successful?! I call it disastrous!”

Everyone fell silent after Harry’s unexpected outburst. The boy looked genuinely furious, but it was very unlike him. They all thought he was the peaceful, sometimes a bit careless teen, but he never yelled at anyone like he did just now.

“Dumbledore found out you were away from your aunt and uncle,” tried to explain calmly Lupin; the man tried being calm and cautious of his words, since that tactic always worked with Sirius, when the man was furious and for some reason, at this moment Harry reminded him Black very much. “We wanted to save you and bring here among your friends…”

“Did I look like I needed to be saved?!” shouted annoyed teen and added quickly, “Apart from the moment dementors showed up, I was perfectly fine!”

Suddenly in the room appeared a letter and announced loudly that Harry Potter had illegally used magic outside of school causing panic among Muggles at Diagon Alley, hurting some of them in the process, hence why he is to show up at the Ministry of Magic for an official hearing.

“That’s a downright lie!” protested Hermione. The girl wasn’t even there to witness what has happened, but she was absolutely certain her friend wouldn’t use magic outside of school.

“What’s a lie?” came a familiar voice, the black haired teen was genuinely happy to hear. Sirius Black stood in the doorway, smiling proudly, finally able to see his son. “Harry Potter in my house.”

“Sirius,” the boy rushed to the wizard feeling very relieved; he was sure his father would help him meet with Draco. “You have to help me. We’re in London, aren’t we?” he continued after surprised Black nodded. “We have to go to Diagon Alley. He needs help and they didn’t even let me check what happened to him! He could be seriously injured. Sirius, you know how it is to be attacked by dementors and nearly kissed by them…we need to help him!”

“Who are you talking about?” Sirius placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders and looked at him seriously; a dread feeling coming over him.

“Draco,” explained the teen. “Two dementors attacked him; last time I’ve seen him, he was lying still on the ground.”

“Remus,” Black stared at the ‘rescue team’ in disbelief. “You left a seriously injured teen without any help?”

Lupin looked around the room, searching for someone’s support in the matter, but everyone was too confused about Harry’s unusual behaviour. Remus stood dumbstruck at his school friend and Harry, and didn’t know what to do.

“We had strict orders…we all knew the plan was to find Harry and bring him here by all means,” the wizard tried to explain their actions; he honestly felt bad for leaving his former Slytherin student on the street, but all of the Order’s members agreed to this plan; it wasn’t only his choice. “I’m sure Malfoy boy will get help; his father was there with him.”

“What’s the big fuss about?” interrupted Ron. “He always finds a way out of trouble. Besides, it’s just Malfoy.”

“He’s my friend. My very first friend in the wizarding world. I’ve met him before I got to know you or Hermione!” snapped Harry, leaving everyone in the room speechless.

“What are you talking about Harry?” uttered Hermione. “Draco Malfoy is your biggest school enemy.”

“Maybe the Malfoys did something to him,” Fred and George tried joking. “And now he believes Skeeter’s article about him and Malfoy was true.”

“It was true. Draco and I are friends. He was the one who helped me get through this last school year and the tournament. He was the only one to help me get away from those lousy Dursleys this summer. So yes, he is my friend, because friends keep in touch even if others forbid them to do so; even if a certain old lady is stealing all my letters and newspapers.”

After Harry stopped his angry outburst, neither teens nor adults knew how to react. Most adults were just worried that maybe the Malfoys indeed brainwashed the boy, but the teens seemed hurt by Harry’s words; none of them ever expected the boy to truly befriend Draco.

“Harry, I understand you’re worried, but there is no way for us to find out about Draco’s wellbeing,” Mrs Weasley tried to calm the boy down. “We have to wait for any news in the Daily Prophet and in the meantime prepare for that outrageous accusation from the Ministry.”

The teen looked at the letter from the Ministry without any interest in it and tore it into pieces. “I can’t wait here for days to find out what has happened. Besides, all my possessions and Hedwig are at Malfoy Manor.”

“Wait,” Sirius placed his hands on the teen’s shoulders again and said, “I could just send Kreacher to get the news and your things, but Narcissa would immediately know where we are.”

“I don’t know why, but I’m sure those dementors were after me again,” said Harry. “Draco got hurt because of me and I can’t leave it like this.”

“It’s Ministry’s doing and I’m certain Lucius will not leave it like this, especially if Draco got hurt. If Lucius was there he will do everything to help his son, trust me on this. I know you’re worried and I know someone who can easily get information about your friend, but you need to give me one day to arrange everything,” announced Sirius looking the boy straight in the eyes.

Lupin silently watched the scene before him. For some reason, Sirius and Harry seemed very close to each other; something no one expected because of how little time the two of them spent together. Remus had a bad feeling there was something going on that he didn’t know about. He wasn’t sure yet if that was good or bad, but he would definitely observe his school friend closely.

Later that day Albus was pacing in his chamber at Hogwarts. He made sure to remove all the portraits from the room, so that no one of the previous Headmasters distracted him or eavesdropped on his plans. Through all those years he became very cautious of his actions and recently he was starting to get slightly paranoid like his friend, Alastor Moody. In all honesty, who wouldn’t become paranoid if they were in his shoes.

He spend years planning his actions; he had it all perfectly organized and he was so close to achieving his goal – the wizarding world working exactly according to the rules he has set up. Since he was a child he strongly believed the wizarding world’s traditions and ways, but ever since he met Gellert Grindelwald he lost trust in the wizards’ rules. Those rules didn’t work for him; those rules hurt him in the past and now he would do anything it took to reorganize the wizarding Britain, even if it meant downfall of a few old families.

Finally after all those years, his plan was coming to an end; even Tom Riddle’s ambition to become the Dark Lord fitted Albus’ plan perfectly. All they had to do was to push forward with this ridiculous prophecy Sybill Trelawney has made and force one of the supposedly ‘chosen boys’ to kill Voldemort.

Dumbledore never really believed in divination or any prophecies – especially Sybill’s prophecy. He simply saw it as an opportunity. Albus wanted everyone to believe in the story of the chosen boy, because it would only make his master plan more dramatic. People would adore their saviour and Dumbledore would have that saviour trust him absolutely.

The only problem was that neither of the ‘chosen boys’ acted the way he wanted them to – Neville Longbottom was afraid to use his wand for more powerful spells and Harry Potter was getting more and more out of control. Dumbledore decided it would be young Harry who was going to defeat the Dark Lord, even if the boy wasn’t really James Potter’s son. Albus made sure to place him with the awful Muggles, who would make him feel miserable and selfless.

“What did I do wrong?” the headmaster asked himself angrily. “What did I miss?”

Once more he felt like ground was crumbling under his feet; people in his master plan were acting differently than he expected. Harry was doing things that he never thought possible; and those actions could ruin his plans. Dumbledore was losing control of everything around him, but this only made the old wizard more determined to set things right on track again; he needed to find something to keep Sirius and Harry in his grasp.

Harry’s first day at Grimmauld Place dragged immensely. The general atmosphere in the house was very strained, almost unbearable. Most of the Order’s members started a huge fight, reprimanding Sirius for encouraging Harry’s friendship with young Malfoy. The dark haired teen preferred to spend the rest of his day in the room prepared for him, but even that didn’t help much. As usual, the teen shared room with Ron; normally, he’d be happy, but after his earlier outburst, Ron seemed to be mad at him.

The dark haired teen was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn’t want to move too much or he’d wake up Ron and Harry really didn’t feel like going into another argument with his friend. When he heard the clock in the corridor struck two, he decided he wasn’t going to sleep tonight. Whenever he tried to close his eyes, he could see Draco’s unmoving body; that was enough to prevent him from sleeping. The lack of information was unbearable; he needed to know what happened.

The teen quietly got out of his bed and out to the corridor. Silently, he walked downstairs to the kitchen. He wasn’t particularly hungry, but maybe in the kitchen he’d find something that would take his mind off of the events at Diagon Alley. When he finally got to the lowest level of the house, he opened the door to the kitchen and to his surprise he saw Sirius sitting there by the table and Kreacher handing him a drink.

“Is that Fire Whisky?” asked the boy walking in and closing the door behind him.

“Yes,” admitted the man looking a bit embarrassed that he got caught. “With everything that’s going on around lately, this tends to help me calm my nerves every now and then.”

The teen looked at him suspiciously, not happy to hear the wizard’s explanation.

“Don’t worry, I don’t have a drinking problem,” smiled warmly Sirius and gestured for him to sit next to him. “Looks like you couldn’t sleep either.”

“Young master sit down. Kreacher will make something good for young master,” announced happily the house elf.

“That’s odd. From what I’ve heard from everyone so far, Kreacher has been insulting them all the time,” said Harry watching the house elf rush around the kitchen preparing something to drink for him.

“Kreacher is only playing his role. If he acts nasty towards everyone, it only makes the situation more reliable, but when it’s only us, he’s happy to serve his masters…especially you,” answered Sirius and set his Fire Whisky aside. “I know it’s difficult, but you have to trust me…Draco is going to be fine and you’ll see each other in a few weeks at school.”

“I know, I trust you dad, but I can’t help it…I won’t be calm until I hear from him or see him,” said the teen, but paused when he saw a weird expression on the older wizard’s face. “What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

“…You called me ‘dad’,” Sirius said quietly, not believing himself that he heard those words.

“Well…you are my dad, aren’t you?” said the boy with a smile forming on his face.

“Yes. Yes, I am,” the older Black smiled heartily and quickly cast a privacy charm around them; just in case someone from the other house inhabitants walked into the room. “I just never heard it before…even when you were an infant, you never called me that way. You were too little for that. Although, Severus once claimed you called him ‘papa’.”

There was a long an awkward silence after that. Sirius realised it might have been too soon to say such things to his son, but he also wanted the boy to see good and love in Severus. It was simply torturing both the teen and the potions master to remember only the bad things between them.

Harry on the other hand, didn’t know how to react to what his dad just told him. He knew he should be happy that after all he wasn’t an orphan; he had both parents and from all the stories he has heard so far it seemed they loved him, but he still tensed up whenever Severus Snape was mentioned.

“I’m sorry, pup. I didn’t mean to bring it up already, but…I can’t change the fact that Severus is your father,” said softly Sirius, placing one hand on the boy’s shoulder. “…and honestly, I don’t want to change it. I always wanted him to be your father and I always will. The only thing I would change was my decision to give you to James and Lily.”

“You really mean it?” asked the teen. “You wanted to have a child with him?”

“Yes, of course I did,” answered seriously the man, grabbing the teen’s chin so that they could look each other straight in the eyes. “Seems like we tend to pick our school bullies to be our dear ones,” laughed lightly Sirius and continued. “I was awful to Severus from the very first day of school. He had million reasons to hate me, but when I finally realised that I actually have feelings for him, he was the one who gave me a chance. True, my brother Regulus helped us to get together, but I don’t regret it. We got married with Severus because we wanted to…because we cared for each other very much, and your birth was the most wonderful thing that happened to us.”

“But you said it was an accident…an experimental potion,” protested the boy.

“It was experimental, because no one has ever brewed a pregnancy potion like that. But the truth is that Severus started working on creating such a potion after we had a talk about kids. He wanted us to have children together so he worked hard in between studying for his NEWTs…all of this was because we wanted to have you.”

Listening to his dad’s story the teen absentmindedly took a glass of hot milk from Kreacher. He was registering what he was hearing, but inside he was still fighting with himself; he wanted to have a normal, loving family – even if he had two fathers. But he just couldn’t accept the potions master as a loving father.

“Pup, I know you won’t accept him easily…I just want you to keep in mind he’s been bitter all those years, because he was hurting from your loss,” explained Sirius. “I’m sure he won’t force you to respect or love him, but he will look after you and protect you from afar anyway. Even now, he is playing a dangerous game…he’s a double agent and he’s doing it to protect you. You haven’t seen him, but he was furious when he found out about the dementors’ attack. Others might not realise it yet, but Severus and I know that you were targeted because Dumbledore was spreading rumours that you saw the Dark Lord’s revival.”

“I never said something like that,” protested the boy. “I told everyone I hit my head during the fall and don’t remember anything. And even Cedric saw only Wormtail.”

“We know, but Albus needs people to believe that Voldemort is back. He needs people to panic and eventually fight against the Dark Lord…that’s why he used you to make others believe his words. By doing so he endangered you and neither me nor Severus will allow it.”

“So it was the Ministry that sent dementors after me, because of Dumbledore’s lies?” asked Harry suddenly feeling a bit sleepy.

“Yes, but I’m certain Lucius won’t leave it like this; not after our family was endangered,” answered Sirius and smiled seeing the poppy seeds milk take its effect on the teen. He took the glass from his son’s hands and gave it back to Kreacher. “That’s enough. You shouldn’t drink too much of it…this will help you sleep.”

“I thought this was milk and not some potion,” said Harry.

“I know you hate the taste of potions, just like I do. This is poppy seed milk, tasty and helpful in small amounts,” Sirius stood up and helped his son get away from the table. He then walked with the teen upstairs to the room the boy shared with Ron.

“I don’t know if my friends will forgive me for befriending Draco,” mumbled the dark haired teen when they were almost by the door to the bedroom. “I’m mad at them for not writing me at all this summer and then telling me to ignore Draco, but I don’t want to choose between them. I still want them to be my friends even if I’ve changed this past few weeks.”

“Don’t worry,” calmed him the man. “They just need time to get used to this new situation. The Malfoys did a few nasty things to them, but if you really are friends and want to make it work, they will come over it. I know best, that even the worst things can be forgiven, if only two people want to make it work.”

The teen stood there in the corridor, staring at Black and feeling something warm spreading inside him. If he was to guess what it was, he’d say it was the warm feeling of having a family.

“Thank you, dad,” the boy embraced the older wizard and whispered in his ear. “I promise to try and give father a chance.”

When Draco woke up he noticed he was in his bed in Malfoy Manor. He recognized the room, the bedsheets, but he couldn’t quite remember what happened before he woke up. He had this bothering feeling that something was not right.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” he heard a familiar voice behind him. The voice was quickly followed by a pair of hands wandering around his waist, hugging him closer to the person lying behind him. “You sure kept me waiting.”

“Orion? What are you doing here?” said the blond. It wasn’t the first time his cousin fell asleep in his bed, but there was something seductive in his voice and actions. Draco didn’t mind that at all, but he was quite certain Orion wouldn’t suddenly become gay and flirting with him. “Seems like you prefer my room rather than the guest room my mother prepared for you…”

The blond immediately forgot what he wanted to say when he turned around and was met not with his glamoured cousin, but with Orion Black in his real appearance. Draco couldn’t decide if the other teen was doing it on purpose or just accidentally, but those amazing pitch black eyes staring at him already made him feel hot in every single part of his body. The fact that Orion was leaning more and more over his chest, slightly grinning and then playfully biting his lower lip, didn’t make things easier. Draco’s self-control was never put to such test.

“Orion, what are you doing?” the blond uttered the words, restraining himself from pinning the dark haired teen to the bed and ravishing him. “And how did you get rid of that glamour?”

“You helped me with that Draco,” the teen crawled on top of his cousin and leaned over him; his long black hair gently falling down and touching Draco’s face. Orion put the blond’s arms around himself and stopped his face barely inches away from Draco’s. Just when their lips were almost touching, he said, “I’ve missed you Draco.”

Malfoy swallowed audibly and allowed his arms to rest on his cousin’s soft skin. This was almost like resisting Imperius curse – there was nothing more he wanted then to tell the other teen how he felt about him and just kiss him and already touch him in ways neither of his parents would approve.

The moment their lips nearly brushed against each other, the black haired teen slipped away from his embrace and got out of bed.

“What are you doing?” Draco asked completely surprised by the sudden change in Orion’s actions. “Did I do something wrong? Orion, please…tell me what I can do. I’ll do anything, just don’t turn away from me.”

Young Black stepped closer to the bed, looked his cousin straight in the eyes and placed one of his hands over his cheek.

“I need you by my side. I need your help more than ever,” said Orion and leaned forward. Their lips touched in a gentle kiss; Draco couldn’t focus on anything but the softness of those lips and the feeling of love coming from his cousin’s actions. He managed to get his arms around the other teen’s body, drawing them closer. They kissed lovingly, but more intense then seconds ago. Moments later, the blond slightly parted Orion’s lips with his tongue and slowly encouraged him to take delight in the gentle actions.

Both of them forgot themselves in the kiss, but after a while Orion finally broke it and whispered into the blond’s ear, “Wake up Draco. I need you.”

For a moment Malfoy didn’t understand what was going on and what did his cousin mean by his words, but when he closed his eyes and opened them again everything has changed. He was still in his bedroom, but there was no Orion in the room.

“Sweetheart, you’re finally awake. We were so worried with you father,” he noticed his mother sitting next to his bed. She looked like she was going to break into tears any moment.

“Mother, I’m alright now,” answered Draco, slowly remembering what happened. “Where is Orion? Is he alright? Is father alright too? How long did I sleep?”

“Your father is fine. He brought you here straight from Diagon Alley and we called healers to take care of you,” Narcissa smiled warmly and explained everything. “You’ve been unconscious for about 24 hours.”

“And Orion?” Draco noticed his mother avoided the topic.

“He’s not here,” she sighed heavily not sure how her son would react to the news. She was aware of how close the two boys got this last year, especially the last month. “It seems Dumbledore’s order took him to Grimmauld Place. He’s alright…Sirius is with him.”

“At least he didn’t get hurt yesterday,” concluded Draco,but Narcissa could see her son was disappointed that he won’t be seeing his cousin until September.

“Severus is here. He wanted to find out how you’re feeling,” the witch said. “According to Severus’ story, Orion has made quite a scene at Grimmauld Place, snapping at everyone for leaving you without any help.”

As expected, that bit of information indeed brightened up the blond’s day. He felt smug that the other teen found him so dear to him, that he even stood up to the Weasleys and other members of the Order.

Cornelius Fudge was having a perfectly fine day. The new reporter from the Daily Prophet agreed to write whatever he requested about Albus Dumbledore and so far the wizarding world seemed to believe everything they wrote. He wasn’t quite planning the dementors attack, but in the end it could work in his advantage.

Cornelius was almost done for the day, having even the necessary documents for Harry Potter’s hearing ready. Sometime around late afternoon he heard his new assistant’s heated conversation with someone outside his office. Being in a very good mood, Fudge thought he might take care of the matter himself. The Minister walked over to the door, but the moment he opened it, he wished he has never done it.

By his assistant’s desk stood a tall, pale, blond wizard; a wizard he knew very well. In any other circumstances Cornelius would be pleased to see the man, but not this time; not after the last incident at Diagon Alley. He hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with this particular matter, but it seemed he was wrong. There was no use in hiding now, since the other wizard already noticed him standing in the doorway.

“Good afternoon, Mr Malfoy,” Cornelius nearly stuttered greeting the other man.

“Well that’s unexpected,” Lucius Malfoy’s cold glare landed on Percy Weasley, who just moments ago swore that the Minister was not in his office. “It looks like the Minister is here after all,” the wizard almost hissed the words. He put his cold, expressionless mask on and walked over to Cornelius. “We will see if it’s a good afternoon, Fudge.”

The man swallowed audibly not too eager to get locked in the room with angry Malfoy. He knew perfectly well why the blond wizard showed up at his office and he was certain the man was furious and on a rampage to ruin anyone involved in the incident with the dementors.

“Please sit down,” Fudge gestured to an armchair prepared for guests and applicants, but before he could say anything else, Lucius sat down comfortably in the Minister’s personal chair by the desk. “Or you might want to take that seat…it’s indeed very comfortable.”

“You’re always such a generous and just person, even offering your guests the best seats,” said the blond while gently moving the documents on the desk with his walking stick. He was aware that his actions were making the other wizard very uncomfortable, but that was his intension.

“I trust young Draco is feeling better,” said quickly Fudge; he knew the blond was waiting for him to show interest in his son’s well-being and, to be honest, Cornelius wanted to be on good terms with Lucius Malfoy – the man simply knew too many things about him; too many things that could destroy his position in the Ministry. “I will make sure that everyone responsible for this unfortunate incident will be punished.”

“I’m sure you will, Fudge.” Lucius cast one last glance at the papers on the desk; this actually worked in his advantage. If the man was preparing for Harry Potter’s hearing then Malfoy could solve two problems at once. No further than this morning was he discussing with the Dark Lord how to gain more influence inside the Ministry and make the wizarding world see the Golden Boy as an individual rather than Dumbledore’s puppet. “Working on the dementors’ case already, I see.”

Fudge gulped loudly not liking where this conversation was going. Normally telling the man that he wanted to put blame for the attack on Harry Potter would please the blond wizard, but lately the Malfoys seemed to have had a change of heart regarding the boy.

“Yes…I just received documents for Mr Potter’s hearing…” Cornelius started, but paused when he saw Lucius’ sneer.

“Fudge, you’ve been the Minister of Magic for quite some time now and you’re an intelligent man, noble and just,” the blond wizard was a master of fluttery and this particular tactic always worked miracles on Fudge. “We both know Mr Potter is as innocent in this case as any other person who was yesterday at Diagon Alley. Moreover, the accusation of illegal use of magic that is here in these documents, is ridiculous…if it wasn’t for Mr Potter my son might have been killed by the dementors.”

“Mr Malfoy…I’m doing what I can to keep things in line. I’m aware of the circumstances your son has found himself in…” Cornelius gulped again seeing fury growing in the other man’s eyes. He knew already that Malfoy wouldn’t leave his office if things didn’t go his way. “I can guarantee you that Mr Potter will be looked upon lightly, due to the fact he used magic to protect others.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from such a wise and experienced wizard as yourself,” the corner of Lucius’ lips moved up a bit indicating the man was far from done here. The blond had more expectations from the Minister. “However I’m curious why such an intelligent person as you would willingly become enemies with the Saviour of the wizarding world. It might be prudent to have him as your ally and supporter, especially in such difficult times.”

“I think I showed enough kindness towards that boy, but he seems to be blindly listening to Dumbledore. The boy is openly pushing forward to create panic among witches and wizards…” explained Fudge, pretending to be strict.

“Or maybe that’s what the headmaster wants others to believe,” interrupted Lucius. “Mr Potter has not taken an official stand regarding You-Know-Who. Dumbledore is talking in his stead, but why? The boy is perfectly capable of giving an interview for the newspapers. Maybe Albus is saying all those things only to destroy the good relation between Mr Potter and the Ministry.”

For a long moment there was silence in the office. The blond wizard allowed the Minister to think about his words. Fudge was judging the situation and what he should do about Harry Potter; after all, if he only managed to get the teen to support him instead of Dumbledore, he would have incredible power and maybe he’d be elected Minister of Magic once more in the future.

“I’ve thought about it, but I still need to go through with Mr Potter’s hearing so that no one accuses me of injustice,” announced Fudge. “However after that I’ll try to hear Mr Potter’s personal stand about this madness about You-Know-Who.”

“I’m sure you can find a better solution, Fudge,” Lucius tried to nudge the wizard in the right direction, but the man seemed simply too dumb for that. Seeing no other option, the blond took out a green leather covered notebook and placed it on the desk in front of him. The Minister’s reaction was immediate.

“What do you expect me to do then?” asked Cornelius resigned. He was always a bit wary in Malfoy’s presence because the man helped him many times and knew too many secrets of his, but it was only when Lucius Malfoy brought the damned notebook that situation became serious. The said notebook contained all the secret agreements Fudge had made with the Malfoys – countless times when they lend him money to cover some businesses Cornelius didn’t want people to know about; and other times, when they covered up some scandals the Minister got himself into.

“I only expect the Ministry to do its job,” said the blond feeling smug. “Dementors do not leave Azkaban without the Ministry’s orders. I expect the person responsible for managing dementors to be punished accordingly to our laws. I hope we understand each other, Fudge.”

“But she couldn’t have done it,” the wizard tried to defend his loyal co-worker, even though he had suspicions the witch really overstepped the rules. “She’s a very sensible person who would never do something like that. Besides, she’s been appointed to teach Defence Against Dark Arts in Hogwarts this year.”

“Dementors never leave Azkaban without strict orders from their supervisor at the Ministry,” Malfoy tapped his fingers angrily over the notebook, which only made Fudge even more nervous. “Do we understand each other?”

“…Yes,” muttered quietly Cornelius. He wasn’t satisfied with the turn of events at all, but he couldn’t risk his secrets to be revealed. “Yes, we understand each other.”

“Good. I’m sure Mr Potter will be delighted to see what a great and righteous person the Minister of Magic is.”

Regulus apparated to the main hall of his castle. He was dressed in his black cloak and could still feel the disgusting taste of the Polyjuice Potion, he was forced to use earlier that day. Thankfully there weren’t too many inhabitants of the place yet, so he could peacefully head to his private chamber. Black was certain the Dark Lord didn’t have any meetings with Death Eaters appointed for today, so he took the liberty of taking off the cloak, revealing his full appearance.

He quickly got to the private wing of the castle and walked towards his bedroom. For some reason he’s been feeling down lately. The place felt awfully lonely with only him and Voldemort; he even missed his brother’s presence. The other thing that bothered him was the necessity of keeping his identity a secret. For the last few weeks he’s been taking polyjuice potion to impersonate Peter Pettigrew and recruit new supporters of their cause. Regulus understood it was important to keep it a secret that he was alive, but it sometimes felt like his own kind of imprisonment. He wanted a normal life; he had enough of hiding, pretending to be someone else and most of all, he had enough of hiding his marriage with Tom.

“You’re back,” said the older wizard sitting on the sofa in his bedroom.

The man looked nothing like he did when Death Eaters were around; he was handsome, just the way Regulus remembered him from the time they got married. The fact that Tom always waited for him to get back from his mission was really heart-warming; that was exactly the life he wanted to have with his husband – simple and loving.

“Welcome home,” said again Tom, putting aside some papers he was reading before.

“This is just a hiding place,” Regulus sighed heavily and headed to the drawer to leave his cloak there. “My home…our home is in London…and it’s currently being infested by Dumbledore’s supporters. My brother is a prisoner in his own house and my nephew is being manipulated into the old fool’s meddling.”

“Seems like impatience is running deep in your family,” the older wizard fought back a laugh seeing Regulus’ indignant face expression. “I promised you a normal life. A life you deserve and I intend to keep my promise. However, great plans require great deal of preparation, otherwise we might lose everything.”

“I understand that very well. I’ve waited thirteen years to get you back, but we’ve been preparing for the last few months. When are we going to take some actions, Tom?”

Voldemort walked closer to his husband, wrapped one arm around his waist and showed him the papers he was reading before. “This is all the information we have on the situation. Dumbledore is walking on thin ice at the moment. With his Golden Boy out of his reach, he’s going to make more and more mistakes. This works to our advantage, especially if the said boy continues to rebel against him even more. These last few months haven’t gone to waste either. I’ve managed to place our supporters in almost every department in the Ministry and now, my dear husband,” said Tom and placed a warm, seductive kiss on the other man’s neck, close to his ear. “Now we’re going to make Dumbledore’s world fall into pieces.”

Black turned around to face the other wizard and wrapped his arms around him, an evil grin growing on his face. This was exactly the side of Regulus that made the world’s most fearsome Dark Lord fall in love with the man. Young Black always looked like a little child, eager to pull a vicious prank on whomever tried to hurt his family.

“Will my brother be a free man?” he asked playfully and Voldemort nodded. “Will my nephew regain his true identity?” again the older wizard nodded. “Will Pettigrew die?”

“Oh yes he will,” confirmed the dark wizard with an evil gleam in his eyes.

There was a long pause after that question, but it wasn’t the last thing Regulus was going to ask that night. The younger man licked his lips seductively and gently pushed Tom to move back, towards the grand, four-poster bed.

“Since the plan seems to be already prepared and there is nothing more we ought to do right now…will you finally take care of your husband, who’s needs were neglected for too many years?”

“One would think after ten years of marriage you’d settle down,” said Tom in a husky voice, holding the other man tighter, he pushed him onto the bed and pinned him with his own body. “Seems like once a horny tease…always a horny tease.”

“And you dislike it of course,” mocked him Regulus while his hands were already working on opening his husband’s shirt.

“I love it,” he whispered in a low voice. “And now you’ll have to take responsibility for tempting your husband so much.”

“With pleasure.”

When Harry woke up he was alone in the room. He got up and looked outside the window, but it was already late afternoon. He recalled drinking some milk last night and deducted it probably made him sleep almost entire day. The teen suspected Sirius might have planned it so that Harry wouldn’t stress out so much waiting for any information about Draco.

Reminding himself of the blond he quickly walked over to the drawer to find some change of clothes, but the only things he found there were some pants and shirt Sirius gave him for the time being. The clothes were nice, but still a bit too big for him; nonetheless he planned to get dressed in them after a quick shower.

The teen was especially in a hurry today since he knew Severus was supposed to come over today for the Order’s meeting. Harry didn’t fancy talking with the potions master – not yet at least – but he was eager to get any information about his cousin.

When he was done with the shower and dressed he headed downstairs to look for others, but he couldn’t find anyone. On his way he met only Kreacher, who informed him the Order’s meeting will be starting shortly and that the other teens were in the kitchen. Hearing this Harry had mixed feelings; he wanted to join his Gryffindor friends, but he knew they were still a bit mad at him for his previous outburst. In all honesty, he didn’t feel like he has done something wrong; after all he was simply worried sick about Draco and angry for how the Order practically kidnapped him against his will. Nonetheless, he knew he had to try and fix things between him and his friends.

He headed to the kitchen and as expected he saw there Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins. The five of them looked up at him, but no one said anything. Ginny and Hermione looked like they wanted to say something, but they hesitated, not sure if Harry would snap at them again. Ron on the other hand was pouting like a little kid. The only normal reaction was the one coming from Fred and George; the twins were staring at him, their eyes shining brightly and their faces indicating they were using all self-control not to burst out laughing.

“Getting smaller every year, eh Harry?” Fred finally asked, not able to hold back laughter anymore.

The dark haired teen examined his borrowed clothes and said laughing, “Seems like it.”

At that moment everyone started laughing, even the girls. Harry was glad his friendship with them was strong enough that they couldn’t be mad at each other for too long.

“Looks like the Malfoys didn’t feed you well,” said unexpectedly Ron who was trying to be funny, but no one was laughing. When his siblings stared at him in disbelief he said, “What? I’m not the one who trades his friends for an annoying git like Malfoy.”

“I’m sorry for my behaviour yesterday. I shouldn’t have snapped at everyone, but I was worried…I still am,” explained Harry.

“About your new friend?” mocked him Ron.

“I’ve met Draco before I met any of you. True, we had a misunderstanding on the first day of Hogwarts and it kept getting worse every year, but the fact remains that Draco saved my ass during Quidditch World Cup,” for the first time the dark haired teen told his friends the truth about his friendship with Malfoy. “I was almost caught by one of the Death Eaters, the one that cast the Dark Mark. That time Draco helped me and then we cleared out the misunderstandings between us…and I gave him another chance to be friends.”

“Weren’t we enough? Did you really have to befriend Malfoy?” Ron asked exasperated. It seemed he already felt a bit guilty, especially after not replying to any of Harry’s letters this summer, but he just couldn’t get over the fact that the blond git might replace him as Harry’s friend.

“I don’t remember you believing me when I said I didn’t put my name into the Goblet of Fire. I don’t remember you supporting or helping me prepare for the first task of the tournament,” the teen shoved it in their faces, since he still felt slightly hurt by their actions last year. “Draco, however, was there to help me. He even stood up to his father after Skeeter’s article about us. I don’t want to lose your friendship, but I will not turn my back on Draco this time.”

The five teens were silent. None of them knew how to react; they weren’t happy about Harry’s new friend, but his reasoning made sense. They couldn’t forbid him to befriend Malfoy especially after all the support he has showed for Harry when they left him.

“Harry,” started Hermione. “Being friendly with him in school is one thing…but you have to remember how important you are to this upcoming war. It’s dangerous for you to associate with his family…they are Death Eaters. One order from Voldemort and they will kill you without hesitation.”

“I’ve spent a month with them. Believe it or not, but in private they are a perfectly normal, loving family. Even Lucius Malfoy never tried to berate me or attack me,” said Harry.

“Voldemort is gathering his followers again,” said Ron, trying to start a normal conversation with his friend, and maybe putting their differences aside. “The Malfoys will no doubt be the first to join him.”

“Ron is right about this one, Harry,” added Hermione. “You’re lucky you survived at their place for so long.”

“You’re exaggerating things a bit. Sure they are purebloods and pretty serious about it, but they aren’t murderers,” commented Harry.

Their conversation continued for over an hour. The Weasleys and Hermione tried to convince Harry how dangerous his new relation with Malfoy was, but he on the other hand tried to reason with them and prove he wasn’t in any danger. After some time Harry had to admit to himself that his friends’ fears were justified for someone who didn’t know the true nature of his relationship with the Malfoy family.

A while later a group of adults walked into the kitchen. Mrs Weasley started rushing her children to help her with dinner, while other members of the Order sat around the table.

“Someone took his sweet time sleeping today,” Remus joked and sat next to Harry. Since yesterday the man felt guilty for the way they brought Harry to the headquarters. He liked the teen, treated him almost like his own family and he hated the thought the boy could be mad at him. “I hope you’re feeling better than yesterday.”

“Yes. Actually I wanted to apologize for my outburst but I’m really worried about Draco,” explained the black haired teen, also feeling bad for snapping at Lupin, who was always good to him.

“Then you can stop worrying,” announced proudly Sirius. He sat on the other side of Harry with wide grin on his face. “Blondie is alright. He regained consciousness today and is full of energy to ruin the lives of everyone who sent those dementors after you.”

“Thank Merlin he’s alright,” the teen sighed relieved and snickered hearing the last sentence. “That does sound very much like him.”

“You should thank this guy here, Harry,” Remus pointed at Sirius. “He personally asked the one and only Severus Snape to check on the young Malfoy. That’s a huge sacrifice on Sirius’ side to ask Severus for a favour.”

“You’re exaggerating Moony,” Black brushed it off.

“Exaggerating? It wasn’t me who called him a greasy git in school,” teased him Lupin.

“What? Don’t look at me like that,” protested Sirius seeing his son glaring at him. “I was an arrogant brat. You’re one to judge, Harry, you befriended an arrogant pureblood brat yourself.”

The teen only rolled his eyes hearing his father’s words.

A/N: Hope you liked it and hmmm... it seems every next chapter comes out longer :P
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Meddling with Darkness