Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Returning to Sanity	By : AchillesTheGeek Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 31212 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter books or films, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Author's Note

I don't really believe J K Rowling's exchange rate of 1 galleon ˜ £5; that would value the twin's shop and starting stock at about £5,000 which seems ridiculously small, even though prices in the Wizarding world are probably quite different to the Muggle one. So I'm using a rate of 1 galleon ˜ £25, which values a knut at about 5p and a sickle at £1-47.

17. To Return Those Hidden Away
Monday, May 18 1998
Harry had spent most of the Sunday at the shop, so it was not until breakfast on Monday that he learnt what Ron had been talking about when he had said that he and Hermione had something to organize: they were planning a trip to Australia to bring Hermione's parents back to England.
Ron had taken quite a while to get it out; apparently he had been very worried that Harry would think they were abandoning him. Harry, for his part, was embarrassed to think that if he'd been more sensible and not hidden away in his bedroom, he could have been part of the planning.
"I'm really sorry, guys, I should have been around to help," he started.
"You're apologizing again, Harry," Hermione said, in a warning tone. "We've told you about that. Not your fault. And you do have a lot on your mind, even if you won't talk to us about it."
"I'm sor—" he began, but she cut him off again.
"No you don't! You discuss it when you're ready, and not before. Now, what do you think of our idea?" she asked, a playful, teasing tone coming into her voice. "After all, we're planning to abandon you for nearly four weeks; do you think you can cope without us?"
"I think it's great, guys," he said, with entirely real enthusiasm. "I really think you should go, you'll have a great time. And don't worry about me; you know perfectly well Molly'll be on my case the whole time you're away. Your parents deserve to remember you, Hermione," for she had modified their memories; they currently believed they were Wendell and Monica Wilkins, a childless couple who had moved to Australia for the climate, "and you deserve to have them around you." There was a very short pause before he added, "How can I help?"
Ron looked very embarrassed to be asked this question. "There is one really big thing you could do, mate," he answered. "We hesitate to ask, but as you know, we haven't much money and we were hoping to use the Muggle airyplanes to get there and back …"
Harry got it instantly. They wanted to borrow money off him for the airfares. He thought about that for all of half a second before making the obvious and simple decision.
No chance.
"No way am I lending you two any money, mate," he replied, and their faces fell. "No, I'm giving you your Christmas present five months late – how about two tickets to Australia?"
Ron didn't like it, but Hermione's face shone, so he swallowed his pride and accepted the offer. They spent the rest of the day plotting and planning the trip. They had a trip to Diagon Alley where Harry visited Gringotts and extracted two hundred galleons which he converted into Muggle money. Hermione's research said that the resulting nearly five thousand pounds would well and truly cover the tickets, including single tickets for the Grangers to come back with; and Harry insisted they were to have anything left over as well.
There was a bit of a stumbling block when they discovered that they needed passports and visas, and that these would take weeks to get. They had hoped to fly out as soon as possible: they needed to be back in good time for the school term, which made for tight timing as school was starting early this year, at the beginning of July rather than September.
They had been rather down the whole afternoon, as it looked like they weren't going to have time for their plan to work now. So when Ron suggested they go to the Burrow for dinner, Harry agreed – he decided that it wasn't the night to sit all maudlin together by themselves at Grimmauld Place; the Weasleys would want to know what was bugging them.
The conversation around the table began with Arthur asking them if they had any plans for the next month.
"Headmistress McGonagall has asked for as much help as we can give her getting Hogwarts Castle back into service," he informed them.
Ginny perked up at this, but her father looked at her apologetically.
"Sorry, Gin, they only want witches and wizard who are of age. So, you three, how about it?" he asked Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"I'd love to help," Harry answered, enthusiastically, "but I think Ron and Hermione have other plans…"
"I was hoping to go to Australia and bring back my parents," Hermione said, sorrowfully. "It seems the least I could do, since they're only there because I made them go, to keep them safe while Voldemort was around."
"That sounds wonderful," Ginny replied, "but why do you sound so sad?"
"We wanted to travel on a Muggle airyplane," Ron said. "But it's complicated because we have to have some Muggle paperwork – passports and vizals or something."
"Visas," Hermione corrected him. "And they take weeks to get! It'll be term-time before we can go!"
"Well I think it's a wonderful idea, of course you must bring them back," Molly said. "But this visa business sounds silly." She turned to her husband. "Isn't there something you can do?" she asked.
Arthur smiled. "Of course. Come to the Ministry at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, I'm sure we can sort things out. We wizards have never understood what takes the Muggles so long, so we have our own procedures. There won't be any problem. Pass the gravy please, Gin."
There were, apparently, some perks of having your father be the Deputy Minister for Magic!

Draco had really wanted to visit Diagon Alley, but Lucius was still convinced that meeting Harry was a very bad idea, and there was a much lesser chance of it happening here in Hogsmeade than there. After all, he argued, Potter's visits to that Wheezes place were notorious and well-documented in the Prophet, as was his penchant for eating obscene amounts of Fortescue's ice-cream.
So here they were in the Scottish Wizarding village. Lucius had opened the Floo again, and the Aurors had given permission for them to travel to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley whenever they liked; it irked Draco that they had had to ask, but such were the terms of their probations. At least they were out of the house, which made Draco feel a hundred times better, even if they did have to wear glamours to make sure they weren't recognized and attacked.
Draco had even been allowed to send owls again; Lucius had asked him not to contact Harry yet, and he had reluctantly agreed, happy that at least his father was prepared to trust him not to. He had used his new freedom to owl Blaise to set up a meeting in the Three Broomsticks at eleven. He hadn't talked to Blaise for too long; it was like he'd been hidden away. He felt he'd been in a sort of darkness, not seeing anyone much; he wanted to come back into light again.
Reveling in their freedom, the three Malfoys had come to the village at nine o'clock, and started their visit by walking around for an hour before entering the Hog's Head where they had had bread and cheese with some butterbeer. It wasn't at all their sort of food; but somehow that added to the feeling of freedom, and they actually managed to chat with some gaiety. There was a strange new Muggle game called 'darts' being played in the pub; Draco couldn't remember such a thing ever happening ever before; obviously people were feeling much freer now that the threat of attack from the Dark Lord was gone. It struck him again how much Voldemort had cost them: even such simple and innocent pleasures had been forgone; people had kept quiet, kept themselves to themselves; until now.
They were drawn into the game, and Draco was surprised to discover that his father was a very good darts player. So, in fact, was Lucius; but he laughed it off as 'beginner's luck'. Someone accused of charming the darts; but Aberforth Dumbledore, the landlord, told him off:
"Now Blad, I told you, the darts had been charmed against magic; and it's not sporting to accuse strangers of cheating with no evidence."
Blad immediately apologized very handsomely to Lucius, and insisted on buying him another pint. They stayed in the Hog's Head until nearly eleven, finding themselves generally welcomed by the company; it made an incredible contrast with before the war.
As Draco was meeting Blaise at eleven, his parents went over to Tomes and Scrolls to browse the bookshop. As they were leaving, Aberforth drew Draco aside.
"I know who you are," he said, in a low voice, "and I'm guessing that most of what's said about you is lies; but watch your step. The glamours are a good idea, but they can be seen through by people who are looking. You want to watch getting too friendly with folk just yet; if Blad knew who he'd been playing at darts I reckon he'd have slit your father's throat before buying him a drink."
Draco was rather shaken by this, but thanked Aberforth for the hint, and for not throwing them out as soon as he recognized them.
"Nah, wouldn't do that. Like I said, no accusing without evidence. Anyway, my brother had a bit of a soft spot for you, reckoned you had it tough being surrounded by that lot; least I can do is look out for you a bit."
If he'd been shaken before, Draco was stunned now. Albus Dumbledore had had a soft spot for him? He'd certainly hidden it well! But then, he had offered Draco forgiveness and sanctuary just before Snape had killed him …
By the time Draco got to the Three Broomsticks, Blaise was already seated in a quiet corner by himself. He was a bit surprised when an apparent total stranger plonked a Butterbeer in front of him. But when he looked closely, he recognized Draco, and relaxed a bit.
"I'm glad you had the sense to use a glamour," he said, softly. "Your family is not exactly flavour of the month, you know."
"It's lovely to see you too, Blaise," Draco said, "and no, I didn't know, because we've been cooped up at the Manor since the Battle of Hogwarts, then the Ministry cells, and then the Manor again since the trial. I haven't seen a Prophet since the Battle and this is the first time I've been out since the trial; I've been cooped up with my parents and sometimes some Aurors, though they come and go now that we're on probation rather than house arrest. I'm going crazy!"
Blaise looked at him closely for a few moments. He must have found whatever he was looking for, because he exhaled and relaxed a bit.
"OK. So there's been a whole lot of shite in the Prophet about your trials. It started last Monday with a hideous photo of you and they made it very plain they were expecting you to get a long sentence in Azkaban; the front page asked something about 'How long will they spend in Azkaban?' and 'Will they be Kissed by a Dementor?'"
"Nice," said Draco. The press had been nice enough when the Malfoy name had been powerful, but clearly they had no loyalty. Or rather, he thought darkly, they were loyal to winners. He had to get used to a world in which they were losers. The idea hurt, badly.
"Yes, so you can imagine that they were not very pleased after Tuesday's verdicts. There was a rumour going around that Potter went to the Manor with you for dinner, but it didn't get printed – I think the Ministry pressed on them pretty heavily. Wednesday's Prophet just had a whole load of guff about you having received leniency to help rebuild the world and that you would be expected to step up and show the wizarding world that purebloods still have a role to play, you can imagine the sort of thing. Oh, and of course Potter was the knight in shining armour who rode in and saved your sorry arse again."
Draco snorted at this. "They didn't say that, surely?"
"No, I was just reading between the lines. Anyway, I'm glad you got off as lightly as you did. You didn't deserve to go to Azkaban, whatever they said. And the plans for 'Eighth Year' are all official now; I received an owl from Hogwarts this morning."
"Oh," said Draco. He had not received one, but they had been out early. "Will you be going?"
"I think so. You have to, right?"
"Yes, it's part of my probation."
"OK, well I will then. Like I said, you're not liked any more. You're going to need all the friends you can get."
"Thanks," Draco said, humbly. He was touched that Blaise still openly identified himself as Draco's friend. But the topic was a little too painful for further conversation, so he picked up on something Blaise had said before. "As it happens, Harry did come to dinner …"
Blaise did not miss the use of the first name. "'Harry'?" he asked. "So, are the rumours of something between you two true? They can't be, surely, that really would be all over The Prophet!"
"Um, well, it's complicated. You have to keep this quiet, Blaise, because you're right, if they find out, it'll be on the front page for a week, but the Dark Lord had a last trick which would have killed father and me, and Harry saved us from it. Since then, yes, we have been getting closer." He wanted to know more, so continued: "And what did they say about father's trial?"
"Well, they were still a bit – what's the word? Ah, circum-something, I think …"
"Circumspect," Draco supplied. Blaise spoke extraordinarily good English for an Italian, but every now and then a complicated word would elude him. Draco had always just come out with them, and Blaise had always seemed very happy to be helped.
"Yes, that's it. They obviously thought he should have been Kissed; and then he got off altogether."
"There are conditions, you know."
"Oh yes," Blaise said, waving them aside. "But he's not dead, or Kissed, or in Azkaban; a few conditions aren't going to slow him down very much. And the Prophet obviously hated it, but weren't game to say so; that's 'circumspect', right?"
"Right," Draco confirmed.
"OK. So, the editorial was all about the 'extraordinary generosity of our esteemed Wizengamot' and 'society will be watching Lucius Malfoy to see if he deserves the trust that has been placed in him'."
"Meaning he didn't get justice and doesn't deserve the trust," Draco surmised.
"Yes, that was obviously what they meant. Since then, there's been very little about you. Potter – Harry, as you call him – was seen in Diagon Alley yesterday, at that silly shop; there was some guff this morning about 'our Saviour taking a well-earned break from his cares and playing with his good friends, the Weasley twins'. But they didn't say anything about you."
"I'm not surprised," Draco said, a touch of bitterness coming into his voice. "We haven't seen him at all since the trials. Father said something to him after his – warned him off, somehow."
Blaise looked very surprised. "Why would he do that? What do you have to fear from Potter?"
Draco looked at him. Should I tell him? He wondered. But Blaise had said he was Draco's friend; what sort of friend would Draco be, if he didn't trust him?
"To answer that, I'm going to have to explain more about what Harry did at the Battle. You were there at the Memorial Service, right? You saw the Shield?"
"That funny coloured thing around you and Potter? Yeah, I saw it. And I saw Theo Nott with his arm sliced off. He came up before the Wizengamot on Friday for that attack, by the way. He got sentenced to Azkaban for ten years. Apparently attacking the Destroyer of Voldemort under the noses of four Aurors is not a good idea."
"Who knew?" Draco replied, ironically. "Bastard deserved it; he wasn't attacking Harry, he was attacking me, though Harry would have got hurt as well. OK, so that 'funny coloured thing' is called a 'Haussmann Shield'. Did the Prophet say anything about that, by the way?"
"Nothing very interesting. They made it sound like Nott was attacking Potter, and you were just in the way, and Potter cast a shield that saved you as well as him."
"Harry did cast a Protego, but the Shield is something else. It's a very old and very powerful piece of magic. Before he died, the Dark Lord had cursed father and me so that if we rebelled against him, our magic would get locked up. Harry gave me my wand back after the battle, but I couldn't use it because of the curse. Harry was so incensed by this that he did some incredible piece of magic that broke the Dark Lord's curse entirely, and created something called a Debt of Magical Emancipation."
Blaise had never heard of this, of course, and his face said so; but he was a Slytherin, so he could imagine it was not good. "A debt, eh? A strong one?"
"The very strongest."
"Stronger than a Life Debt?" Blaise asked, aghast.
"Stronger than a Life Debt," Draco confirmed. "We owe Potter our magic as well as our lives. We're still trying to work out what it means, but we can't lie to him or hurt him, or not tell him something he should know, or not do something that would avoid him harm."
Blaise whistled softly. "I can see why that would scare your father. What has that to do with this Shield?"
"A Haussmann Shield basically can only be constructed on a very deep relationship, such as marriage. Apparently, the Debt counts. And the Shield sort of proves the extent of the Debt, so it's a package deal. Father thinks that it draws us together, so I'm coming under Harry's control. He's worried that I'll wind up as Harry's slave, forced to do whatever he wants."
"And what do you think?" Blaise asked, his voice full of concern, for which Draco was more grateful than he could have said.
"You mustn't tell any of this, OK?" Draco replied. Blaise nodded. "OK, you know I've had a thing for Harry for a long time."
Blaise smiled. He had twitted Draco about this for years; at last his friend seemed to have accepted it.
"I don't know if it's the Debt or not, but that feeling is getting stronger every time we meet. And he has something for me, too. But it's not slavery, Blaise; Harry Potter is not Lord Voldemort!"
"True," Blaise acknowledged. "No, he is noble, that one. I can see that if he got together with you, he could never be a Master like Voldemort was. And you think that is happening?"
"I hope so!" Draco answered, with shining eyes.
Blaise was content to hear this. He could see that if the Debt was behind this, there was nothing to be done; but he could also see that, Potter being Potter, there was no need to be concerned. And he would be there for Draco to make sure his friend ended up all right. He was delighted that Draco had come out of the seclusion he had been in involuntarily; he made a promise to himself not to let Draco hide away again.
They turned to discuss other matters; Blaise regaled stories of his mother's latest husband – her ninth. Draco was amazed that people wanted to marry her, even though she was still stunningly beautiful, she had buried eight husbands; marrying her was not especially promising for longevity …

Tuesday, May 19 1998
Ron and Hermione left the Ministry at ten o'clock armed with passports and visas; by midday they were the proud possessors of airline tickets to Australia, departing London Heathrow on Sunday. They were going to be there for four weeks, which would mean they would get back to Britain with just over a week to spare before the beginning of Eighth Year.
Hermione was beside herself with excitement. She insisted on going to Diagon Alley to buy them new clothes for the trip; at which point, Harry, who had very happily accompanied them to the Ministry and the Travel Agent's office decided that he'd had enough, and went to the shop, planning to Floo-call Headmistress McGonagall and discuss helping at Hogwarts.
Ron begged Harry not to leave him shopping alone with Hermione; but Harry just laughed.
"She's your girlfriend, mate, it's your duty to be dragged round all the shops she can find," he said, and left with very little compunction.
As Harry had prophesied, Hermione proceeded to drag Ron around half a dozen shops; which was largely a waste of time as they didn't really know what they wanted anyway, so came away with very few purchases.
They went to pick up Harry from the shop, and discovered that he had gone on to Hogwarts; McGonagall had been delighted with his offer of help, and taken him up on it straight away. So the two of them decided to have lunch together. Ron suggested that they might even go and find a Muggle café to eat in, just for a change from the usual Magical venues. Hermione loved the idea, so half an hour later they were sitting in a small Muggle restaurant around the corner from the British Museum. Ron discreetly cast a Muffliato over them so that their conversation would not be overheard.
"Thank you for letting me take you shopping," Hermione said.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't do it for anyone else, you know that, right?"
Hermione smiled. But there was no answer to that. "So, we're really going!"
"Yep." Ron agreed. He couldn't remember seeing Hermione more excited. "And we'll bring them back, Hermione. Just think, I'll have some in-laws!"
"Do you really want that?" Hermione asked him, a little jokingly.
"Oh yes," he replied, quite seriously. "I'm not about to hide away from them, and we can't keep them hidden away either. We need to forge stronger ties with the Muggles, after all; how perfect is having some in the family of the Deputy Minister?"
At this point their lunch arrived. Hermione continued, "Harry seems to be taking it well. Do you think he'll be alright?"
"Course he will." Ron said, a little derisively. Harry was a bloke, he didn't need worrying about. "Anyway, like he said, he's got Mum to look after him, and now he's helping at Hogwarts you can bet the staff there will be keeping a good eye on him."
"I suppose so," Hermione agreed, a trifle reluctantly. "But I worry about him and Malfoy."
"Yeah, that's a bit strange, isn't it? But I reckon they are actually falling for each other – at the Memorial, Malfoy did look scared for Harry as well as himself."
Hermione was a bit stunned at this. "How can you tell that?"
"Hey, I've watched Malfoy too, you know. 'Know your enemy' and all that. He just had more on his face than his usual selfish-git look. He does care, I'm sure of it."
Hermione wasn't convinced; but then, they were both blokes, perhaps Ron would pick something like that up. And he had spoken to Malfoy at the Manor; he'd told her before that there was something there. Ron Weasley wasn't the insensitive oik most people took him for.
"All right," she said. "What do you think the thing with Lucius is about?"
"I reckon he must have told Harry to leave them alone."
"But why?"
"He's shit-scared about the Debt, Hermione. He's used to the Dark Lord. He probably thinks that's what Harry would be like if he had any control."
Hermione thought about this. "You're probably right. But we need to get Harry to open up. He's hurting himself by sitting on it, you know that, right?"
"Mmm," said Ron, finishing his lunch and looking round to see if there was anything else to eat. Hermione passed him her bread roll, and he smiled his thanks.
"What were you and George talking about when we were at the shop?" Hermione asked. "You seemed to be out the back with him for quite a while."
"George was saying that he thinks that he and Neville might have to go and have 'the chat'," Ron replied.
"'The chat'?" Hermione asked. "What's that?"
"Oh, sorry," Ron said, "it's a pure-blood thing. When you get serious with someone, you go and announce your intentions to their parents."
"Oh," broke in Hermione, "should I have done that with Arthur and Molly?"
"Nah, it only matters if both parties are pure-blood. Or if you're one of the up-themselves families."
"So," Hermione said, cottoning on, having been taken by surprise before, "they're serious then?"
"By the sound of it, very much so. Neville will need to chat with mum and dad, and George will have to go and sound out Augusta."
"That sounds pretty scary for George!"
"Neville, too, I suspect. You've always been on Mum's good side, but she can be a real terror if she thinks someone might hurt her kids."
Hermione laughed at this. "How does Fred feel about this?"
"Oh, he's been encouraging them from the very beginning. And I do hear that Angelina Johnson has quietly been spending a bit of time at the shop whenever Fred is there …"
"Ooh, how exciting! So, do you think anything will happen while we're away?"
"Between George and Neville? I don't think so. They do sound serious, but. I did make George promise they wouldn't do anything while we're not here. And I'm sure that Robin and Ginny won't announce anything till Gin is of age."
"Robin and Ginny?" Hermione asked, her eyes going very wide.
"Don't tell me you hadn't worked that out!"
"Um … well, they're friends, obviously, but I didn't know they were an item …"
Ron laughed. "You're a very smart witch, Hermione Granger, but it's wonderful to know you don't know everything!"

Wednesday, May 20 1998
On Wednesday Harry finally caved in and told them exactly what Lucius Malfoy had said to him at the end of the trial. And all his misgivings proved well-founded: Ron looked ready to punch the man, and even Hermione was livid with rage.
"Right, that does it," she said. "We're going to go and make him explain himself!"
"Do you really think that's wise?" Harry asked.
"Definitely not," Ron replied, "but that's not going to stop us."
And with that, Ron and Hermione entered the Floo together, and the 'Malfoy Manor' they said as they did so sounded more like a blood-curdling oath than just their destination. Harry almost pitied Lucius, unsuspecting at the other end of the Floo connection.
Harry sat for a while, rather at a loss for what to do next. He looked around the library, and spotted a forgotten book underneath one of the armchairs. When he fished it out, he realized it was the book he had seen Hermione reading in the Burrow, the one she'd said wasn't very helpful.
For lack of anything better to do, he opened and began reading. It seemed that every mention of either 'Haußmann Shield' or 'Dette of Magickal Emanschipation' referred him to the second Appendix; so, abandoning the main text, he turned to the back of the book, found the appendices, and began reading Appendix Two.
An hour or so later, he put the book down on the floor by his side, his green eyes glowing in the room which was getting darker as it lost the morning sunlight. He now had the answers to so many questions. He now knew who Haussmann was, and why no-one else did. He now knew, he was sure, as much about the Shield as any wizard living. He knew what the mordant was, and why it was required. He had a faint suspicion as to what might have happened in their case; if he was right, it might even explain the colours. And he knew things about the Debt that Lucius Malfoy certainly knew, but would be horrified to learn that Harry did too…
And, incidentally, he now knew who had written the book. He knew why Hermione had not been able to find the answers in it. He had a guilty feeling of delight at the thought that finally he had learnt something from a book that Hermione hadn't been able to. Though his delight was tempered by the knowledge that it was because she did not share his special skill.
But all of this was nothing compared to the thought that he would soon see Draco again. He so desperately wanted to bring him back out of the exile he was in at the Manor. He was a real person, not a dirty little secret to be hidden away. That was why Harry had readily agreed to be responsible for him: he wanted to give Draco as much freedom as he could. He didn't trust anyone else to do that.
But, thinking of Draco, he worried: what if the blond no longer wanted him? Best to be sure, he decided, and Summoned a quill, ink, and a piece of parchment to himself, and sat at the desk to write.
Once he had finished the letter, he whistled for Pigwidgeon. As always, the little owl was ecstatic to be trusted with a letter to deliver, and willingly took the parchment to Malfoy Manor.
Harry decided it was morning tea time, and called for Kreacher, who apparated with a pop. The house-elf had anticipated the summons; he was holding a tray on which were placed a cup of tea laced with honey and some of Harry's favourite biscuits. He put the tray on the coffee-table, bowed, and vanished with another pop.
Harry smiled. He drank his tea, waiting for the return owl.
He had played his hand. Now it was over to Draco to respond.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have set up a thread for replies at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/56042-review-replies-for-returning-to-sanity/ . I will generally try to reply to posts before posting a new chapter.
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Returning to Sanity