Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Cannot Save You Now	By : tigrelilje Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 15706 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter fandom nor do I make any money from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
Chapter 20
Harry was waiting in the classroom that he had come to think of his meeting headquarters. Blaise, Theo, and Draco were all with him. Even Ciaran was wrapped around his arm. They were just waiting for Hermione and Neville to join them. Finally the door opened to reveal the two Gryffindors.
Hermione smiled at them and immediately went to Blaise’s side and greeted him with a kiss. Neville hung back looking a little nervous to be in the presence of so many Slytherins. Harry aimed a few locking and silencing spells at the door to prevent eavesdroppers from overhearing them.
“There’s no need to be nervous, Neville,” Harry said, trying to calm his friend. “Let’s just sit down. I have a lot to tell you and I’d like to do it before Dumbledore is released from the Ministry.”
“You think he’ll get off?” Theo asked, surprised.
“Of course,” Harry responded, far more calmly than any of them expected him to. “I never expected the evidence of my past to get him thrown into jail. He can easily talk his way out of it with fairly acceptable reasons. At least, the rest of the Wizarding World will find them understandable, though I’m sure they will be displeased that the decisions resulted in my death. I was only hoping to start destroying his reputation and make people open their eyes a little more to his deeds.”
The others grumbled their agreement with his assessment. Harry turned back to Neville and pondered where to start the discussion he wanted to have.
“Might as well go right to the heart of things,” Harry said. “Neville, I know about the Horcruxes. Obviously, I am not in a position right now to go after them, but I know you and Dumbledore were looking into it.”
The three Slytherins were looking between the two of them with wide eyes, apparently having a basic understanding of what a Horcrux was. Hermione was frowning slightly, still unhappy about this situation.
“If you destroy them all, I can easily kill Voldemort, you don’t need to worry about that,” Harry continued. “Dumbledore doesn’t even need your help to do it but I know he will ask you to help anyway. I’ll see if I can get any vampires to help you locate them with the information you learn. The sooner they are gone, the sooner I can get rid of Voldemort and solve one of my problems.”
“How do you know about them?” Neville asked. “Dumbledore said he never told you before you died.”
“You know the accidental Horcrux that Voldemort made that Dumbledore mentioned to you?” Harry asked. Neville nodded to let him know he rememebered. “I was that Horcrux.” Gasps were heard around the room from those who had not known before and Harry felt Draco squeeze his hand painfully and felt his mate’s horror and anger. Neville’s face had gone totally pale and Harry smiled bitterly. “Yeah, Dumbledore planned for me to die after I killed Voldemort, or maybe before, I’m not sure. I was a Horcrux, though, so I had to be destroyed, too. When I died and became a vampire, that piece of Voldemort’s soul died too and now I am no longer a Horcrux.”
“You knew?” Blaise asked. Harry turned to look at him and saw that Blaise was frowning at Hermione slightly, seeing that she looked completely unsurprised.
“Yes, I was eavesdropping on the conversation Neville had with the Headmaster when he learned about this,” Hermione replied calmly. “I confirmed to Harry that Dumbledore had known about the Horcruxes and that Harry had been one.”
“This was the bit of news I had received when you caught Hermione trying to calm me that one time,” Harry said to Draco. “Even though I had suspected the answer, it still almost made me lose control to have it confirmed, to know how expendable I apparently was.” Draco squeezed his hand again, letting him know he understood and forgave him for the incident with Hermione.
“Fucking bastard,” Theo muttered angrily. Harry smiled a bit at his friend’s indignation. It felt nice to know he finally had people who knew everything about him and still accepted him and cared for him.
“Neville,” Harry said, to get his friends attention again. “It probably wouldn’t be good if Dumbledore saw you hanging out with a bunch of Slytherins, especially now that he’s getting so desperate and his actions are being observed. It would be far too out of character for you to be seen with us. However, it you are not opposed to it, I can leave Ciaran with you and he can not only protect you, but also help you spy and collect information.” Harry lifted his arm slightly, to indicate the snake that was wrapped around his arm. Neville looked a little apprehensive but nodded slightly, realizing the intelligence of having an extra pair of eyes.
“Excellent,” Harry smiled. “Then if you want to keep interacting with Dumbledore as if nothing had changed, that would be lovely. I don’t like the man, but at least I know he can destroy the Horcruxes. And you can spy on him far more effectively than I can since he has to trust you with information. And even if he swears you to secrecy, Ciaran can report back to me anything that you cannot.” Harry then looked to his snake for a moment to make sure he was okay with these plans.
{Ciaran, are you alright with helping my friend with spying and protecting him?} Harry asked.
{Of course, Master} Ciaran replied. {I have been rather bored anyway. As long as he keeps a warm space for me to rest, I will be happy to help him}
{Thank you Ciaran} Harry said sincerely. {He can’t talk to you in Parseltongue, of course, but he will tell you if he needs something. Mostly I think it will be to relay information to me but perhaps he will send you to investigate something he learns about. Perhaps you could just nod your head to let him know you understand what he is saying if that happens?}
{Of course Master} Ciaran replied, sounding slightly amused. Harry held out his arm toward Neville and after a moment Neville extended his arm to receive Ciaran, who was already moving form Harry’s arm to the shy Gryffindor’s.
“He will help you,” Harry confirmed. “He can understand everything you say and I requested that he at least nod when you ask something of him so you know he understands. If you need to tell me something, he can find me, or he can investigate something if you can’t. Also, he requests you keep a nice warm spot for him to sleep. Perhaps a Warming Charm under your bed.”
“S-sure,” Neville replied, looking at the snake with a mixture of apprehension and fascination.
“We should be getting back before we are missed,” Harry said. “Before we leave though…” He trailed off and walked over to Neville and looked into his eyes. Neville felt a slight pressure before it was gone and looked at Harry questioningly. “Now Dumbledore can use Legilimency on you as much as he wants, which I’m sure he will, but he won’t learn anything about me or your thoughts about me. He will see nothing of your interactions with Slytherins. So just focus on being determined to find Horcruxes, that should satisfy him.”
***
Lucius was strolling through the Ministry looking as confident as ever and feeling more confident than ever if he was honest with himself. He hated that that confidence came due to his belief in Harry’s power. Yes, he was a vampire with vast resources and power, apparently, but still a teenager at least half his age if not younger. Lucius had to accept, though, that he had not made good choices in the past.
He had initially joined the Dark Lord because he believed something needed to be done about the deterioration of their ways as more muggleborns entered their world. What had started as a small resentment and frustration had morphed to hatred overtime as he was constantly surrounded by supremacists and had to act the part to fit in and not draw any undue suspicion. He had not been against their beliefs, per se, but he definitely thought they were going too far. He was already a Death Eater at this point and realized that his more moderate view would not be appreciated.
In short, he had lost himself and put his family in a difficult position. Now he had a chance to fix it and although it grated his pride to rely of the help of a child, he knew it was for the best. And at least he could rest assured that his son would be well taken care of and protected.
To be the mate of such a powerful creature… Lucius could appreciate the way Draco must be feeling at the moment. And if truth be told, he knew that Harry Potter, or rather Snape and now Renard, was an honorable individual and Lucius should be thankful at the opportunity to have such an ally.
Lucius finally reached his destination and waited without a word, knowing the secretary would know exactly what he wanted. A moment later, he was shown into the office of the Minister of Magic and took a seat in front of the desk without being asked. He contemplated Fudge for a moment and wondered if Harry had any plans to get rid of the man. If he didn’t, Lucius would be more than happy to do so. The Minister was a weak man who was too easily swayed by those around him with no apparent convictions to guide himself when others weren’t whispering into his ear. Something needed to be done about him if their world was ever going to pull itself back together.
“Good morning, Lucius, what can I do for you today?” Fudge asked, all smiles and simpering. It was rather disgusting, if Lucius was honest with himself. Which of them was supposed to hold the power here?
“Good morning, Cornelius,” Lucius greeted quietly. “I wondered if you might permit me to investigate something that has been brought to my attention that I find concerning.”
"What would that be?” Fudge asked nervously, no doubt assuming it had to do with him.
“With the return of the Dark Lord, it is more important than ever that we remain hidden from the Muggle world, don’t you agree?” Lucius asked, not really expecting an answer but receiving a jerky nod. “We will have enough problems fighting the forces that the Dark Lord has assembled without having to worry about Muggles persecuting us as well. I would like to make sure every witch and wizard is doing their part to uphold the Statute of Secrecy and have learned that there may be a major offender; Arthur Weasley.”
“Weasley?” Fudge asked, looking uncomfortable. “Are you sure, Lucius? I know your families have some history,” he reasoned, trailing off at the look Lucius was giving him.
“While our families do indeed have some history, as you say,” Lucius began, “I am also genuinely worried about his sincerity to protect our world, Cornelius. He is the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office and yet he was found to own a muggle car that was enchanted to fly a few years ago. I can only assume that someone intervened so that he could keep his job despite his obvious disregard for the rules he himself has created and should be upholding. I have read them myself, and they are filled with loopholes, probably so that he can continue to experiment. We need to tighten security in these troubled times, Cornelius. It is not okay for Arthur to get away with endangering our world for his own entertainment, no matter how harmless his intentions.”
Fudge sighed, a look of stress on his face before he answered, “You are right, of course, Lucius. I will grant you permission to search his house, since you obviously cannot go to him with your concerns and get the needed warrants.”
A knock at the door interrupted their conversation, and both men turned to glare at the offender. The secretary quailed slightly under the twin looks before clearing her throat and saying, “Pardon the interruption, Minister, but Albus Dumbledore has just been brought in for questioning regarding the Harry Potter case. Your presence is requested in the courtrooms.”
“Ah,” Fudge said, looking even more uncomfortable and stressed, “of course, thank you,” the secretary withdrew and Fudge turned to Lucius, “I’m sorry, Lucius, but I’m afraid I must attend to business now. I shall grant you your search warrants.”
“Thank you, Minister,” Lucius replied, beyond curious about Dumbledore’s questioning and knowing Harry was behind this. He almost smirked at the thought, but kept his expression cool and followed the man out of his office.
He followed Fudge down toward the courtrooms after collecting his papers, not intending to go the whole way down, but hoping for a glimpse of Dumbledore.
In the main foyer of the Ministry, he found the old wizard surrounded by reporters and cameras, radiating his usually serene aura, though Lucius could see the obvious signs of stress and worry that he couldn’t completely hide.
“-simply a misunderstanding,” he heard Dumbledore respond to a reporter, obviously answering a question and trying to calm the storm. “These are troubled times, we must unite and work together, though I can understand the panic that causes us to point fingers.”
Lucius snorted quietly, unable to help himself. He nodded briefly at Fudge before turning away. He had his own business to attend to. Dumbledore’s downfall was not his concern right now.
***
Lucius Apparated a little ways down the road from the Burrow. He knew Arthur was at work right now, or maybe he was attending Dumbledore’s questioning. Either way, he anticipated that he would only encounter Molly at the Weasley home. As the dilapidated house came into sight, Lucius sneered slightly before he could help himself. He wasn’t impressed by how their home looked to be unfit for any form of habitation. They were old purebloods, they should not be living in such squalor. He wondered how their family had become so poor.
He reached the front door and knocked sharply. A moment later, Molly Weasley opened the door and jumped slightly at the sight of him, instantly looking afraid. Before she could jump to conclusions or accusations about Death Eaters, Lucius held up the papers he had that clearly displayed the seal of the Minister.
“Good day, Madam Weasley,” he greeted as politely as possible, leaving as much of his distain as possible out of his voice for once. He had a job to do, despite his own interest in it, and wanted it done so his family could be assured safety.
“Good day, Lord Malfoy,” Molly replied after a moment, deciding to go with the polite, yet cautious, approach as well, “how may I help you?”
“It has come to the Ministry’s attention that your husband may be endangering out society through experimentation of muggle artifacts,” he said. “This is a warrant to search the premises from the Minister. If you would be so kind to allow me entrance, I should be out of your way as soon as possible.”
Molly’s face had gone white near the beginning of his declaration, but she stepped aside, realizing she could do nothing when he had a warrant with the Minister’s seal. Lucius stepped inside and glanced around what was clearly a kitchen. Almost immediately he felt a headache coming on and grimaced slightly. This house was filled with so much clutter, he wondered if this would be as quick a process as he had originally thought.
Of course, Harry had told Lucius that the man did his experimenting in the shed out back but he reasoned he needed to at least pretend to search the main house before going to his real target, as would be expected. He quickly began to make his way through the house after requesting that Molly wait in the kitchen for him, looking for anything muggle that he could check for enchantments.
He was rather surprised when he found nothing in the actual house that had been tampered with. Though Lucius quickly realized that from what he knew of Molly Weasley, she was probably not okay with her husband’s obsession so Arthur probably kept everything in the shed where she could at least pretend it didn’t exist if she never saw it.
He headed back into the kitchen where Molly was anxiously waiting. When she saw he wasn’t carrying anything that he had deemed suspicious, he saw her almost visibly sag with relief. He had to restrain a smirk when he pretended to just notice the shed out back from the window.
“Does that shed also belong to your family?” Lucius asked as innocently as possible. Molly’s face quickly morphed from relief to fear and resignation before she nodded. Really, could the woman hide no emotion? Lucius could practically convict the family based on her revealing facial expressions alone.
He pushed open the back door and strode across the yard to the shed. He pushed open the door and nearly staggered in shock at the shear amount of muggle possessions being kept in the building. Harry was right, Arthur was a serious offender. Out of sight of Molly, he finally allowed himself to smile and even chuckled a bit. This would be too easy.
***
The next morning, most of Hogwarts was surprised to see their Headmaster calmly sitting at the Head Table as if nothing had happened the previous day. Many students were seen whispering to each other, clearly wondering what had happened and if there had been a misunderstanding.
Harry was calmly sitting at the Slytherin table with his mate and friends, sipping coffee and thinking about how his plans were progressing. The morning owls arrived and he looked over Blaise’s shoulder to read the front page, knowing it would be about Dumbledore’s questioning.
Albus Dumbledore released due to insubstantial evidence
Yesterday, the esteemed Albus Dumbledore was called in for questioning in regards to the recent allegations that he knowingly placed Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, with neglectful guardians against the wishes of his parents’ Will.
Evidence that the Savior was indeed mistreated was confirmed by Detectives Wiggins and Mugsby, who were sent to the residence of Potter’s recently deceased muggle family. They were suitably shocked by what they found.
“It was distressing to say the least,” Detective Wiggins said of the investigation. “We found evidence that Harry Potter lived in a cupboard under the stairs of this relative’s home and later in a small bedroom upstairs with a great number of locks on the outside and a small opening in the bottom, possibly to slip food in without needing to open the locks. Not a single picture of Potter was found in the entire house. We would have thought it was the wrong house if we didn’t know better.”
“We even spoke to the neighbors,” Wiggins continued, looking pained. “They knew of Potter, and frequently saw the muggle children attacking and bullying him, including his own cousin. I can only imagine how awful his life was from the evidence we found.”
The detectives were unwilling to reveal everything they found to the public, and we are left to wonder how much worse their discoveries were. When asked about his poor decision, Dumbledore replied it was to protect the boy.
“I could never have known about the Durleys’ treatment of Harry,” he said assured the room of questioners. “Harry never said anything to me and he was such a kind boy, I never would have suspected that he had been mistreated. I knew the Dursleys were as muggle as they come, but as his mother’s sister, I believed that Petunia was the best choice to keep him safe from the Death Eaters that were still at large. Lily Potter sacrificed herself to protect her son, and that protection lived on in the blood they shared, including the blood of Petunia Dursley. He needed to be protected, no matter the cost.”
This reporter is definitely skeptical of this reasoning, since it would seem Potter was not safe in the end at all. With lack of evidence, however, Albus Dumbledore is to be released with a suspension from his position of Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot for poor judgement. It is expected that his actions may be more closely watched in the future.
Harry sat back in his seat and contemplated the article. They had learned far more about his life than he had ever expected. He felt distress coming from his bond with Draco and looked across the table at him to see Draco just finishing the article and looking at him with sadness, no doubt from reading about his life. He tried to send Draco reassurance through their bond. Yes, his life had been rough, but he had been given a second chance to live a life he could enjoy and he wasn’t going to look at his past more than he had to. It had been another life, literally, and while he knew it had happened to him he could mostly look at it as though it had been someone else’s since he had been reborn as a vampire.
“Henry,” Blaise said, catching his attention, “look at this. The man works fast,” he glanced at Draco when he said the last part while pointing to another article in the paper, also on the front page but off to the side.
Arthur Weasley found guilty of misusing Muggle artifacts
Arthur Weasley was questioned and found guilty of experimenting with Muggle artifacts. Despite his position as the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, Weasley seems to be the worst offender found in recent years. Suspicion was initially reported by Lucius Malfoy, who took the responsibility to investigate the claim.
“I was informed that Weasley may be skirting his own laws and putting our world at risk of discovery,” Malfoy confirmed. “This was a rather unusual circumstance as it is Weasley’s job to investigate such suspicions but obviously he could not be expected to investigate himself. I was personally shocked at the amount of objects that had been tampered with and experimented on.
“I felt this was an issue that needed to be investigated, especially considering the current troubles the Wizarding world is facing. With the return of the Dark Lord, the last thing we should have to worry about is Muggles discovering our existence and endangering us as well. It is my sincere hope that the Ministry will be more vigilant of cracking down on those who threaten the secrecy of our world, which has been in place for so long for good reason.”
Lord Malfoy’s concerns are valid ones. It is expected that Arthur Weasley will lose his place as the Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office.
Harry really had a hard time stopping himself from cackling out loud like a loon. He could only imagine the satisfaction Lucius had gained while carrying out his favor to Harry. Now Harry just needed to stage Lucius’ and Narcissa’s kidnapping and speak to Severus if he wanted to be included in the staged disappearance. He looked across the table at Draco and saw his mate smirking slightly as he read the article, his earlier distress about Harry’s past gone for the moment.
As breakfast was almost over, Harry and his group got up and headed toward their first class, Potions, in relatively high spirits discussing the articles they had read but careful not to say anything that could hint they knew more than what was mentioned in the paper if anyone was listening to their conversation. They arrived in the corridor outside of the Potions classroom and waited for Snape to arrive, still quietly discussing the situation.
They heard loud and hurried footsteps coming down the hall and looked up to see a furious Ronald Weasley bearing down on them with a copy of the Daily Prophet in one hand and a crumpled letter in the other. Harry made to step slightly in front of Draco, slightly worried about Ron trying to kill his mate, but Draco held out his arm slightly to block Harry with a sideways glance to let him know he could handle it.
“Malfoy!” Ron raged, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. “What’s the big idea?! Your family wasn’t satisfied with their lot in life? Felt the need to ruin mine too?”
Draco just sneered at Ron’s barely coherent rant, “Obviously, Weasley, I am not the person to speak to as I was not a part of your family’s ruin. Perhaps your father shouldn’t have been so careless that someone felt he needed to investigated. I assure you my father has much more important things to attend to than messing with your family’s affairs.”
“Oh yeah? Like bowing down to You-Know-Who? You Death Eater scum!” Ron screamed. Harry saw Hermione and Neville behind him looking alarmed, clearly debating stepping in to control their housemate. Even the other Gryffindors were stepping away from Ron with torn looks. Obviously they felt they should support their housemate, especially against a Slytherin, but also realized Ron was in the wrong and should keep his head down for once. The mentioning of Death Eaters made everyone instantly on edge and Harry could almost feel the atmosphere taking a turn for the worse. “Your family is nothing but a bunch of pathetic followers so you felt you needed to drag my family down in some way, too! You’ll pay for this, you bastard!”
Ron pulled his wand out but before he had it fully in his grasp, Draco disarmed him. Harry had been about to pounce on the infuriating redhead when he saw his mate threatened but he was able to calm down when his mate showed that he could take care of himself. With an enraged cry, Ron launched himself at Draco, but the other Gryffindors finally stepped in and Seamus and Dean each grabbed one of Ron’s arms, frantically trying to talk sense into him before Snape showed up, though they were too late.
“What is going on here?” Harry heard the deadly calm voice of his human father and looked over to see the man observing the scene before him. He took in Ron struggling against his housemates holding him back, and Draco standing slightly in front of the Slytherins holding two wands.
At Snape’s questioning look, Draco calmly, explained, “Weasley was upset about the article in the paper this morning about his family and felt the need to confront me. I disarmed him when I felt I was in danger from him.” He handed Ron’s wand over to the professor with a calm look.
“Twenty points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley, for your inappropriate behavior,” Snape sneered, “and detention. I’m sure if it were not for the intervention of Mr. Thomas and Mr. Finnegan, you would have committed a regrettable act of violence to your classmate.”
Snape walked through the students, glancing briefly at Harry, before opening the door and striding in with a curt, “Find your seats immediately.”
Harry entered the classroom with the rest of the students, keeping an eye on Ron. He would need to watch the redhead more in the future. He felt a sense of foreboding that his former friend was going to become even more unbearable than he already had been.
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