Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Darkness Within The Light	By : crimson96 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 8759 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 30
- 31
- 32
Author's Notes: Hello once again to everyone! After a short break to allow our batteries to recharge a bit over the vacation holiday, Eris and I are back and ready to continue on with this great story. So we hope that everyone is ready to get going with the story once again. Chap 31 is in the books and 32 is on its way. The story is building to another climatic moment while revealing another layer to our characters. Oh yes, and for those that wanted to guess about Janus, you may want to hold those thoughts for a bit longer, as we look one step further at him. Don't worry Draco is here as well, and soon he will become a key figure as the story continues to revolve. So everyone enjoy, and Eris and I hope you all are happily pleased with everything. See you all with Chap 32 soon!

Chapter 31: Something Not Right

"Lumos," Draco whispered. The tip of the wand began to glow, reflecting from the polished brass doorknob, which he turned with his left hand. The knob made a faint metallic clicking sound, and he froze, listening for footsteps. He counted to ten and still the only sound was that of his own breathing. Satisfied that he remained undiscovered, he swung the door open, entered, and then closed it slowly behind him.

The room's occupant made no sound. At first, the silence alarmed Draco, and he crossed the room quickly, hardly noticing that the floorboards creaked under his feet. He bent close to the sleeper, so close that he could feel each soft, regular breath on his cheek. When he had satisfied himself that all was well, Draco straightened himself and adjusted the pack on his back until it sat comfortably.

"I don't know what to say to you," he began. "There was so much I wanted- so many things I imagined-" he cringed, hating the way the words sounded coming out of his mouth. He shifted the pack again and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Not like you even know I'm here, is it? What I mean to say is, I wish I didn't have to leave. If my staying meant we could be together, I would stay, but my going to Azkaban won't help anyone. I'm running, running like a damned coward, but not from you."

He swung the pack down onto the ground and reached into one of the outer pouches, where he found something smooth and hard. He took it out and held it up in front of the sleeper's face, shaking the globe and making tiny bits of glitter swirl around inside. It seemed almost miraculous that the dragon snow globe had survived its journey from the pawn shop to the Burrow to Janus' house. He had considered throwing it against the pavement out of spite; the sight of the thing reminded him of Harry and that day in London. Something had stopped him from smashing the trinket, though, and now he had a better use for it.

"I'm leaving this for you," he said softly. "Someone will tell you after I'm gone that it was from me. I tried to write a letter to go with it, but I didn't know what to say-"

"Accio, wand." The incantation came from behind Draco, and when the wand flew out of his hand, he spun, nearly dropping the snow globe into Teddy's crib. "I see we can add theft to the list of your crimes," Andromeda murmured, running her fingertip along the length of the wand.

"You can buy another; I can't, not with aurors looking for me!" Draco sighed impatiently, cursing himself for the stupid, sentimental impulse that had driven him to the nursery. He could have been gone by now, having flown as far as Andromeda's broomstick could take him. "If you think I'm going to stay here and go quietly to Azkaban with Father-"

"I think nothing of the sort. You'll stay here, tell the truth at your trial, and clear your name." Andromeda flicked her wand, and Draco's pack slid across the floor to rest at her feet. She knelt and began pulling items out one-by-one. After examining a tin of biscuits, she banished it with her wand. A bottle of pumpkin juice, a loaf of bread, and a half ham all got the same treatment, and she continued until the pack lay empty.

Draco flushed, glad that the predawn light from the nursery window was too faint to show the color of his face. He hated being a petty thief almost as much as he hated being discovered. The fact that he had needed to steal made him furious. By rights, his father's estate should be his. He should be able to buy what he needed, or at least be able to intimidate someone into giving it to him.

"I'll find what I need somewhere else," he said, taking a step toward the door. He was already forming a vague plan that involved taking a wand off some drunk in Nocturne Alley and using it just long enough to get his own wand back from Janus before turning the man into a crup and kicking him in the ribs.

"You have what you need here." Andromeda sighed and waved her wand almost carelessly, lifting Draco off the ground so that he hung, helpless, his feet moving against air.

"Don't be stupid. I have a one-way ticket to Azkaban for something I didn't even do!"

"Harry knows the truth-"

"And he'll keep it to himself!" Draco lunged for the wand and pitched forward, falling on air and then scrambling into a standing position.

Having heard Draco shouting, Teddy began to cry, making the same ear-splitting noise that Harry had said reminded him of Draco.

"If you let me down-" Draco began, but Andromeda shook her head, and he slumped in resignation. "Fine. I only thought he might like to look at this." Draco held out the snow globe toward Andromeda, who had moved to stand beside Teddy's crib.

Instead of taking the globe from him, Andromeda summoned it with a silent spell, wrenching it from his hand. Holding it by the base, she lowered the bauble over Teddy, who reached for the glittery sphere with eager hands. His sounds attenuated from shrieks to soft little noises that were almost words, and Andromeda flashed Draco a sad smile as she set the snow globe down near Teddy's shoulder.

"What makes you think Harry would refuse to speak for you?" she asked.

"Janus." Draco growled the name, hating the very sound of it. "He hates me, and Potter listens to him as if he were bloody Remus Lupin come back to life. They're probably talking about me now, if they're not-" He bit his tongue and closed his eyes, trying to empty his head of the image of Harry emerging from Janus' bedroom. "You don't trust him either!" He pointed a finger at Andromeda.

"I find that trust is an unwise practice." Andromeda glanced from the wand in her hand to the empty pack on the floor. "Still, even if Janus and Harry were conspiring against you-" she grinned wryly to show what she thought of that possibility "-there are other ways you could prove your innocence. You could take Veritaserum, submit to legilimency-"

"No!" Draco shook his head furiously. He had already imagined such scenarios; they would ask him where he had been in the days leading up to the trial, who he had been with... And what is your relationship to Mr. Potter? He wasn't sure which idea horrified him more- the truth spilling out of his mouth in his own potion-lubricated words or the thought of some legilimens invading his brain and pouring through every sick detail.

"I see." Andromeda folded her arms across her chest and made a disapproving noise. "It appears you have only one choice- go back to Janus' house and end whatever childish quarrel you have with Harry." Draco opened his mouth to protest, but she held up one hand, palm outwards, to forestall argument. "In ten years, or even one year, do you think either of you will remember what it was you were fighting over?"

Draco looked away, glancing from the window to the floor to the crib, anywhere but Andromeda's face. In ten years, or even ten decades, he would remember the need that had driven him to take Harry and the shame that had somehow fueled the need. He would remember the heat of Harry's body, the ecstasy, the sight of his own shattered reflection in the broken glass. He would remember Harry's pitiful pleas for him to stay... We wouldn't have to tell them we're together... I wouldn't let him...

"You don't understand," he snapped.

"Perhaps not." Andromeda shrugged. "But understand this; if I catch you stealing from me again, or if you try to run away, I can't help you. I won't put Teddy at risk by aiding a criminal."

"You're already aiding me."

"Because I believe you're innocent. Am I wrong?" She moved to stand in front of the crib, blocking Draco's view of Teddy, and she raised her wand ever so slightly so that it pointed at Draco's chest.

"I'm-" Draco glanced down at the fading Dark Mark that still scarred his arm. "I'm not a murderer. I don't deserve to go to Azkaban!"

"Then we'll make sure you don't." She held out her left hand to him. "Come, I can take you back to Janus' house now, and you can make your peace with Harry-"

"I can't!" He tried to take a step back, but his feet still hung above the floor, unable to gain traction. "What do you expect me to do- beg on my knees for him to be my friend again?"

Andromeda shrugged. "If that's what it takes. I'm sure you'll think of something." She smirked in that same awful way she had the first time he visited her with Harry.

"I. Can't. Do. That." He said slowly, emphasizing each word.

"Why? Because of your pride?"

"No! Because-" He scowled at the floor, unable to finish his sentence.

"Hm." Andromeda flicked her wand, and Draco fell to the floor and then to one knee. As he started for the doorway, she called, "Draco!" and when he turned back to face her, she said, "Don't make me regret trusting you."

He nodded and glanced at his empty pack, flushing again. "Don't- don't tell Mother?"

Andromeda sighed. "No, Cissy has been through enough, I suppose. She doesn't need to know about your escape plan." Her expression darkened. "You do realize, if you disappear, or if you allow yourself to come to harm because of your infantile row with Harry-"

"You'll disown me? Hex me? Turn me into a bloody rat and let cats and owls chase me? Threats bore me."

"I was going to say it will break Narcissa. That's not a threat, it's an observation." She bent to retrieve Teddy from the crib, and Draco took the opportunity to exit the room.

His body felt like lead, and each step took the full force of his will. His mind tortured him with visions of Harry and Janus laughing about him. Harry was probably telling the story about Draco's stupid zipper getting stuck or reminiscing about his ignorance of Muggle artifacts and customs. Maybe Janus was regaling him with tales of Remus Lupin's selfless kindness or commiserating as one pathetic orphan to another. They were probably out on the back patio again, chairs pushed close together, close enough to touch if they wanted to. Draco put his hands to his temples and squeezed, willing his imagination to stop before the nightmare scene unfolded.

The motionless body lay sprawled on the leather sofa, as limp as a deflated balloon. A lanky arm draped over the head of the body, its pale skin illuminated by the soft light that shined through the window.

Fingers softly grasped the cool skin, searching for life within the deadened flesh. The fingers began to squeeze and massage the skin on the arm trying to will life back into the body. The arm fell from its perch on top of the head and crashed down across the nose and chest of the body.

Green eyes fluttered from behind the closed eyelids as Harry sat up from the not-so-comfortable cushions of the sofa. "Ahh!" Harry winced as he held his right arm with his left hand, opening and closing his hand repeatedly while the circulation slowly began to flow through his deadened arm. "So weird," Harry muttered, feeling the life being injected into his asleep arm. He continued to squeeze his hand increasing the flow of blood throughout his arm until the numbness finally went away.

Harry stood, grabbing at a small pain in the side of his neck, until his brain and nose sensed a marvelous smell. "Coffee?" He rounded the corner of the living room, passed the splintered door to Janus' bedroom, and froze. Greeting him from the breakfast table was the black-and-white print of the Daily Prophet. A single hand reached around the newspaper, grasped the mug of coffee, and then disappeared from view. The large Siamese cat meowed as he intertwined himself around the legs of the person, begging for attention.

"Janus?" Harry asked.

"Morning, Harry," the voice came from behind the newspaper. "I didn't feel like cooking this morning, but coffee is over there and there's some toast for you in the oven." Janus' hand appeared again to sit the empty mug back onto the table as Harry stormed forward, snatching the paper away from Janus and tossing it onto the floor behind him.

"You've got a bloody cheek!" Harry shouted as he pointed his index finger, the tip of it landing an inch from Janus' nose.

"Harry?" Janus said, slowly raising his eyebrow and gently easing the finger out of his face with the back of his hand.

"Don't you 'Harry' me!" Harry said as he turned and began to pace the length of the kitchen. "How dare you try to lecture me about having trust and believing in you!"

"You're overreacting, don't you think?" Janus said as he calmly pushed his chair away from the table.

Harry scoffed. "If that's what you prefer to call it! Fine! But, I have a damn good reason to be like this! Don't you realize how worried I was about you?" Janus opened his mouth to answer before Harry interrupted him. "No! Better yet! Where were you? What happened to you? And how the bloody hell can you act as if nothing happened last night?"

Janus stood up from his chair. "First off, Harry, I want you to calm down. Let's take this one thing at a time. Please, sit down." Janus pointed at the chair, his voice calm but authoritative.

Janus walked over to the counter and picked another white mug, filling it with coffee. He came back to the table, filled his own cup full, and placed the white mug in front of Harry. "Now…" Janus let the words trail as he gathered the strewn newspaper together, folded it, and laid it across the table. "Well, go on Harry, drink. I didn't poison it." Janus motioned at Harry as he sipped his own coffee. "Now, what's gotten you all riled up this morning?"

Harry took a deep sip of the coffee, allowing the taste and warmth to flow down his parched throat. The effect was soothing as he looked across the table. "What happened last night, Janus?"

"You mean the window, and the door?" Janus raised the cup to his lips as he watched Harry's eyes.

Slowly, Harry nodded. "You locked me out of your room, shouted for me to stay away, and then screamed like a banshee. You broke a bloody window and climbed out of it to get away from me!"

"Huh. That's how you remember it?" Janus averted his eyes and stirred his coffee as if each stroke of the spoon required his full concentration.

"That's how it happened! I blasted the door down because I thought you were in danger. Surely you remember cutting yourself on the glass?"

Janus stared at Harry and shook his head. Exasperated, Harry tossed his hands into the air. "Well then what do you remember?"

Janus got up and poured another cup of coffee into his mug before he spoke. "About last night? I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier, Harry. At first, I thought when it- if it happened, that you'd be too busy with Draco to notice." Janus took a small sip of coffee before continuing on. "I admit it was selfish of me to speak to you about trusting and believing in someone, only to not do the same for you."

"Well, yeah, you think, Janus?" Harry spat. "Go on; tell me what you're going to say. It's not like I can read your mind."

Janus grinned. "Now, I'd be impressed if you were to do that."

Harry's eyes narrowed. Could I trust your thoughts any more than what comes out of your mouth? I thought we were friends. I thought you needed me, but now I'm not so sure. "Alright, so go on," Harry motioned at Janus.

Janus drank heavily from his coffee mug before putting it down. "Alright, the truth. Harry…I have…I have…what…some people would refer to as a disorder."

"A disorder?" Harry asked blankly.

"Yes," Janus replied, nodding his head. "The official word for it is somnambulism."

"Huh?" Harry asked, wrinkling his nose at the sound of the word.

Janus grinned once more. "Sleepwalking, Harry. I have episodes of sleepwalking. On occasion these episodes are combined with night terrors. When they are combined, things will happen to me that I'll have no memory of, which is why I can't answer your questions about where I was or what I did."

"That's convenient," Harry said as he ran his hand through his hair, scratching at the back of his head. "And you really expect me to believe this nonsense? Sleepwalking? Night terrors? Is that the best excuse that you could come up with?"

Janus shrugged his shoulders as he looked into Harry's eyes. "Maybe it sounds like nonsense to you because you're not the one that has to go through it. You don't know what it's like to not be yourself, to worry that you might hurt someone, or worse."

Harry coughed as he swallowed his coffee. "What?" He gasped as fresh air rushed into his lungs from the burning sting of the coffee.

"I'm not going to bore you with a long, elaborate story about what the doctors and medi-witches from St. Mungo's have told me about my condition. The simple fact is this, Harry. I can be dangerous, even to my friends."

"So…" Harry began before Janus spoke up, completing the rest of Harry's thoughts.

"So that's why I shouted at you last night to stay in your bedroom, as you said. It's also the reason why I have certain protection wards that surround this place. It's not just to keep people away, but to keep me away from them. Thankfully, these episodes don't happen too often, but when they do, the best thing to do is to just let me be."

"Yeah, but…if you're like this, I mean if you're prone to these episodes, wasn't it dangerous keeping Draco and me here?"

"There are extra wards on your bedroom. You would have been safe even if I'd gone on a bloody rampage. It's my job to protect you, remember? Even from me."

"But yesterday you came into the room to wake me up. It wasn't warded against you." Harry searched Janus' eyes, looking for any hint of the guilt that would come with being caught in a lie.

"That was different," Janus waved a hand. "I wasn't in my…sleepwalking state."

"I don't understand," Harry softly spoke.

Janus smiled. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Harry, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." He got out of his chair, walked around the table and warmly clasped Harry's shoulder. "Let's put last night behind us, ok? In the future if I ask you to not worry about me, then trust me when I say that; no matter what. You can stop trying to save the world. Besides, we have more important work in front of us." Janus circled back around the table, tapping the Daily Prophet with his finger.

"Moreaux?"

"Exactly, Harry. That, and also a certain trial of the century that you have to prepare for." He folded the newspaper so the bold headlines to the article flashed in front of Harry's face.

Partners In Crime?

Story by: Rita Skeeter

The questions that every witch and wizard asks these days are 'Where is Harry Potter?' and 'What has become of The Boy Who Lived?'

The Daily Prophet has the inside details of Potter's latest whereabouts. It seems that recently Harry Potter was sighted in Muggle London with, of all people, his Hogwarts nemesis, Draco Malfoy. According to an anonymous source, the two young wizards exited a small hotel and later shared a compartment on the London Eye before disappearing.

Ministry of Magic officials were called to the location of the hotel, later that same day, as the proprietor had been found dead in the front office. The cause of death is being withheld, but the Daily Prophet can confirm that magic had been used in the room.

Are Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy partners in crime? Is there some unknown reason why two wizards who hated one another have suddenly teamed up? And how are the two young wizards connected to this grisly murder investigation? Has Harry Potter's allegiance changed, and is he now associated with the Death Eaters, or is Harry Potter a rogue wizard gone bad?

Adding to the murder of the Muggle woman is a bizarre story that surrounds Malfoy Manor. A few days later, after the two young wizards had been sighted in London, Ministry officials were summoned to Malfoy Manor to investigate what is being labeled as an "incident." However, Daily Prophet insiders have revealed that since this "incident" happened, no one has seen Lucius or Narcissa Malfoy. It is also reported that Malfoy Manor has sustained considerable damage, as if a major assault had taken place.

Did Harry Potter orchestrate and lead this attack? Is 'The Boy Who Lived' holding his arch rival hostage in a secret location, knowing that the trial of the century looms on the horizon for the Malfoy family? And where is the Malfoy family? Ministry officials are refusing to speculate at this time.

Or, is there a deeper, more sinister secret that the golden boy of the wizarding world is refusing to tell? Stay tuned to the Daily Prophet for the latest details of this groundbreaking story.

"That bitch!" Harry spewed as he slammed the newspaper down on the table. "How does she find out about things?"

"She likes to keep the pot stirred, doesn't she?" Janus smirked as he read the headline. "Fortunately, you will have a chance to prove her wrong. Ask yourself this. If you were a normal wizard or witch, whose word would you believe- Rita Skeeter's, or Harry Potter's?"

Harry laughed humorlessly. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Right. So she has a little credibility with the plebs. She won't be speaking at the trial. You will. You're the man of the hour once again, Harry! However, that wasn't what I wanted you to read. Look at the blurb below Skeeter's garbage."

Harry quickly read through the short paragraph. "So some witch gets killed behind The Silver Wolf pub. It's Knockturn Alley. I'm sure things like this happen a lot there," Harry replied, tossing the paper back onto the table.

"You think so, Harry?" Janus asked, his eyebrow doing a good imitation of Draco Malfoy. "I would have thought that you might've had a bit of a different opinion. Looks as if Draco has rubbed off on you more than you realize."

"I didn't mean it like that, Janus!" Harry protested. "It's just that it is Knockturn Alley. It is the foulest part of Diagon Alley there is."

"Correction, Harry," Janus said raising his finger. "It is the only foul part of Diagon Alley, and also a perfect hiding place for Phillipe Moreaux. This murder could be related to him."

"How?"

"Let's say it's a gut instinct. It fits his modus operendi. I'm waiting on Arty to bring back some information. Just be ready to leave on a short notice."

Janus disappeared behind the Daily Prophet as Harry walked out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, which Janus had supposedly warded against himself. "Trust me, Harry," he muttered under his breath in a high, sing-song tone. "I'm here to protect you, Harry. By the way, I might try to kill you, Harry. Something told me that I was making the wrong choice. Draco was right about him. There's something not right about all of this." Harry spoke as he crossed the room and looked out into the blue sky. "I'd like to see him try to attack me." Harry flopped down on the bed, folded his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes, hoping to make up some of the sleep he had lost last night.

Janus quietly paced around the kitchen, his hands holding the list that he had just written while his lips silently traced the words. Satisfied with the list, he returned it to his pocket and continued his pacing with an occasional glance at the open kitchen window.

"Come on, damn it," he whispered. "Time is precious." He looked up at the kitchen clock. "Six hours already, and no word back," Janus grumbled. "Yuri's losing his touch."

His eyes found the open window once more as he paced by with another long sigh when there was no sight or sound of the russet-colored barn owl, Artemis. "He can't fail me now! Not when I'm so close to finding-"

Janus stopped his pacing as he heard the sound, the low whoosh of wings flapping through the air followed by the unmistakable pitch of Artemis' screech as the owl came closer to the window. He stepped back as the owl glided into the room and hovered for a brief moment before landing softly on the table.

"Arty!" Janus smiled as the owl hooted with delight at seeing its owner. "The bearer of good news, I hope." Janus sat at the table and untied the parchment from the owl's leg, leaned back in the chair and read the note.

He quickly scanned the message, and then more slowly read the words once again. Folding the note in half and placing it in his other pocket, Janus reached across and lightly touched the owl's feathers. "Fortune favors us today, old girl. It appears that my instinct was correct." Artemis blinked her large amber eyes at Janus as he reached into his duster pocket and pulled out a small, brown pouch.

"Here, take this to Yuri. Give him my thanks," Janus whispered to the owl as he tied the pouch around her leg. He placed his hand on Arty's breast and lightly kissed the top of her head. "Safe passage, Arty," he whispered as the owl trilled and took flight out the window. Janus smiled as the bird flew out of sight, before getting up from the chair and re-examining the note from his pocket. "Moreaux, I'm one step closer."

The sound of flapping wings caught Janus' attention as he continued to read the note from his contact. "Arty, I thought I told you to…" Janus began, but stopped when he saw that this bird was not Artemis.

Janus heard footsteps hurriedly coming from the hallway. "Janus? I thought I heard Ori-" Harry stopped in mid-word as he rounded the corner, and Janus placed his arm out to stop him from moving closer toward the grey and white falcon.

"Who's it from?" Harry asked.

"Not exactly sure, just yet," Janus said as he examined the bird, along with the red envelope that the falcon held in its beak. "Falcons are very aggressive. She's a bird of prey, Harry, and not an animal that is easily trained, like an owl."

He cautiously approached the table, noting with each step that he took, the falcon's talons dug a bit deeper into the wooden table, as if preparing to attack. Slowly, he extended his hand forward, facing down, in hopes that he would not present his actions as a threat to the bird. The yellow eyes blinked several times, before the bird lowered its head and allowed Janus to slip the edge of the envelope from the yellow stained beak.

Once he had the envelope, Janus slowly stepped back beside Harry and watched as the falcon screeched while flapping its powerful wings, allowing the bird to hover above the table for a moment while staring at Janus and Harry, before flying out the window.

"Whew!" Janus said as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Glad that's over with."

"I don't understand!" Harry said as he turned from Janus to the place on the table where the falcon had been. "What's the big deal about those birds?"

Janus sat down as he turned the red envelope over in his hands, inspecting every inch of it. "As I said, Harry, falcons are the most difficult and most aggressive of birds to train. Hardly anyone uses them to deliver mail."

"Draco has an eagle," Harry said. "That's a bird of prey."

"Exactly. There's something not right about a man who has an eagle. Same goes for one with a falcon." He pulled the letter from Yuri out of his pocket and placed it on the table beside the red envelope. "Anyhow, a lesson about birds is not important at the moment; this is." He tapped his finger on both notes. "It seems that my guess was correct about Moreaux."

"So I guess that means that you're going to Knockturn…hang on, is that a howler?" Harry pointed at the envelope that Janus had taken from the falcon.

"No. We are going to Knockturn Alley," Janus replied as he grabbed both letters and stood from the table. He glanced at Harry, noting that he had chosen to wear his jeans and tee shirt today instead of his robes. Janus approved of the choice, but having to generate clothing would make the glamour more difficult. "Go and get dressed, we're leaving."

Janus watched as Harry went into the bedroom, and then he made his way through his own splintered door and down to the cellar, closing the cellar door behind him. "Muffliato," he said, as the door closed. He placed the envelope face down on the bench top, noting the green "S" that sealed the envelope shut. "I guess you found a way after all, didn't you Lucius?" The edges of the envelope seemed to vibrate as a green glow began to emanate from under the seal. Janus stood back and pointed his wand at the red envelope. "Reveal your message."

The envelope drifted up from the bed, as it continued to give of its green glow. A soft hissing sound came from the room as a pink, forked tongue darted out from the green Slytherin seal, and a pair of yellow-slit eyes opened from the red envelope. "Janus-s-s-s," the forked tongue began. "I s-s-shall give you what you as-s-sk. My terms-s-s… Draco for Moreaux." The tongue and slit-eyes vanished as the red envelope burst into a small flame, and disappeared.

"Janus?"

The voice came from behind him, and he jumped, biting his tongue to keep from shouting like a startled school boy. When he turned, Harry stood on the stairs, leaning against the rail.

"Just gathering supplies." Janus snatched a bottle of essence of dittany off the shelf and slipped it into his front pocket.

"Right." Harry's face and voice were expressionless.

"Well, now that I'm all packed..." Janus reached for his wand, pointed it at Harry, and murmured a brief incantation. The spell took effect immediately, replacing Harry's true image with that of a thin-faced, homely boy with dull red hair and a rash of freckles. "Can't risk anybody knowing who you are in Knockturn Alley," Janus climbed the steps, took Harry by the shoulders, and turned him in a circle, checking the integrity of the disguise. As he had expected, there were no visual chinks in the glamour, although anyone who touched Harry's face would feel the surprising sensation of glass and metal.

Harry broke away from Janus and backed up the steps. "I'm ready."

Janus nodded, climbed the stairs, and extended a hand. "We're traveling by apparition. Whatever you do, just stay close to me, and do as I say."

"Business as usual, then." Harry took Janus by the wrist, squeezing hard and bracing for apparition.

When Harry shook off the effects of apparition, he found himself looking up at the painted wooden sign for Mulpepper's Apothecary. Janus was already holding the door open and motioning impatiently for Harry to follow. As Harry brushed past Janus, he muttered, "I thought the girl was murdered in Knockturn Alley."

"We're not looking for her; we're looking for Moreaux." Janus stepped up to the sales counter and rang the bell.

"I don't think he's here." Harry turned in a slow circle, scanning the neat rows of jars of ingredients. Near the counter, a shelf had brightly labeled jars of pre-brewed potions. "Wiggenweld," he read from one of the jars, "guaranteed quality."

"He's been here or somewhere like it." Janus scowled impatiently, tapping his fingers on the counter until Mulpepper appeared from a back room.

"What can I do for you?" Mulpepper asked, looking from Harry to Janus. "I've got a special on flobberworm mucus this week-"

"Just information." Janus withdrew a slip of paper from the pocket of his duster and handed it to Mulpepper. "Anyone been in here looking for those ingredients or wanting to buy the potion made from them?"

"No." Mulpepper shook his head emphatically and handed the slip back to Janus.

"You answered awfully quickly-" Janus began.

"Because we don't serve that kind here!" Mulpepper snapped. "Anyone with a shopping list like that, he's not someone I want hanging 'round my shop, scaring my customers. Try Slug & Jiggers. That lot would sell to anyone to make a galleon."

"Thanks for your time." Janus slipped the paper back into his pocket and gestured for Harry to follow him out the door.

At Slug and Jiggers, they received the same reception, which made Harry itch to know what was written on the paper. When he tried to ask, Janus deflected his questions by asking him if he had ever visited Knockturn Alley.

"I've seen enough of it," Harry replied. "It doesn't scare me."

"Good." Janus looked back over his shoulder as he strode toward The Leaky Cauldron. "Just stay close, don't talk to anyone, and for heaven's sake, don't buy anything. If we do catch up to Moreaux-"

"I'm not leaving you. I don't care if you do have some personal history with him. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione together could hardly beat him; I won't let you fight him alone."

Janus shook his head. "You have some sort of martyr complex? Moreaux is filth. He's not worth your life-"

"But he's worth yours?" Harry caught Janus' sleeve, forcing him to turn back for a moment.

"He took mine a long time ago."

"Funny. You look alive to me." Harry dropped the sleeve and jogged up the steps to the Leaky Cauldron, forcing Janus to keep up with him for a change.

From the pub, they entered Knockturn Alley, and Harry smiled as he remembered how scary and mysterious it had once seemed. Now, it was more drab than dark. The few people they passed averted their eyes and slunk back into doorways and side alleys, some clutching bags under their arms.

Harry looked down at his frail-looking, befreckeled hands and then up at Janus' ludicrous hat. "Why are they afraid of us?" he wondered aloud.

"They're not afraid, at least not of us; they're ashamed. No one wants to be seen here, not these days. It's not a good time to be on the Ministry's bad side." Janus climbed the steps to the apothecary shop and opened the heavy door, whose ill-oiled hinges groaned in protest.

Unlike the shops in Diagon Alley, this one appeared poorly stocked. Most of the shelves were empty and needed a good dusting, but there were rings of clean wood to indicate that recently, the same shelves had been filled with merchandise. The shop had the same complex odor as Snape's dungeon and Janus' cellar, but the dust tickled at Harry's nose, bringing on a sneeze that caused the shopkeeper to drop his Daily Prophet.

"Looking for anything in particular?" the man asked.

Janus nodded and handed him the same slip of paper he had shown the others.

"Oh, yes, yes, I can help," the man said. He reached under the counter and retrieved a key on a big brass ring. "Just let me look in the back-"

"Sorry, we're not customers." Janus glanced around at the shop, his eyes lingering a moment on the cobwebs in the corner. "We're looking for someone who was buying the items on the list. He would have been here in the past few days."

The shopkeeper's eyes narrowed. He dropped the list on the counter top and flicked it toward Janus. "Customers are in short supply lately. You're not Ministry-" his lip curled in contempt as he ran his eyes over Janus, then Harry "- so what is it you want with him?"

"He's a-" Harry began.

Janus raised a hand for silence and cut Harry off, saying, "I owe him money. I want to settle up so I can stop looking over my shoulder. He'll be glad to see me once he sees I have his money."

The shopkeeper laughed, his narrow shoulders shaking. The laughter triggered a coughing fit, and when the man was able to speak, he said, "Good, very good! Tell me, does that ever work? No, don't bother, I don't care. Unless you plan to buy something, I say good day!" His hand went under the counter again, and Harry reached for his own wand in case the shopkeeper pulled his.

"This man you're protecting, he's a murderer," Harry said. "He's killed at least two people in the last week-"

"Three," Janus corrected grimly.

"And his gold is a shiny as anyone's." The shopkeeper shrugged his shoulders. "First the Ministry seizes half my inventory, and then I get harassed as if I were a Death Eater myself. Honest customers are afraid to come in here now! Can't even sell someone a bottle of flesh-eating slug repellent without filling out ten pages of paperwork-"

"Fine!" Janus reached into his pocket, withdrew a handful of coins, and slapped them on the counter. "That's more than our mutual friend would spend in a month. Now, tell me what you know about him before he kills any more of your potential customers."

"Came in day before yesterday. Dark hair, about so tall," the shopkeeper held his hand up to indicate someone a hand's length taller than Harry. "Smile like a blood-sucking bugbear, but I didn't try to sell that one a tooth-whitening potion, just sold him what he asked for and sent him on his way."

Janus leaned heavily on the counter, his eyes lit up. He bombarded the shopkeeper with questions- had the man brought anyone with him? Did he say where he was saying? Had he mentioned any plans?

The shopkeeper's answers were, "No," "Not that I recall," and "Yeah, he said something about getting in a quick murder before bedtime," the last dripping sarcasm and accompanied by an eye-roll that would have seemed more natural for an adolescent than a balding, middle-aged clerk.

"This isn't a joke!" Harry snapped. He started to draw his wand, but Janus caught his wrist.

"He's telling the truth," Janus sighed. "We're done here." Still gripping Harry's wrist, he quickly crossed the room and exited the shop. Once outside, he whispered "Run!" before loping down the alley in the direction opposite the Leaky Cauldron.

When Harry caught up with Janus, he was in a side alley, leaning against a crumbling stucco wall. Harry slumped against the wall beside him, panting heavily. "Why-" he rasped, too out of breath to finish his question.

Janus grinned and winked. "I gave him conjured gold."

"But you can't conjure gold. It's one of the rules of magic!"

"Exactly." Janus tapped the tip of his nose. "Right about now, his pockets are starting to feel a little lighter."

Harry laughed. "Serves him right! Not as if he told us anything useful."

"He confirmed that Moreaux was here. It's more than we knew for sure before." Janus peeked around the corner before starting down the walkway again.

The walkway narrowed as they continued, and Harry began to see more boarded-up buildings than open shops. The air smelled foul, like a sun-warmed restaurant dumpster. A witch wearing rags held out her hat for a coin, and Janus grabbed Harry's shoulder to pull him quickly past. On the other side of the street, two girls lifted their robes above their knees and blew kisses.

"Steer clear," Janus advised. "No one here is what they seem."

The walkway dead ended into a large building. The smell was worse here, but the building itself was in good repair with white stucco and dark brown trim. A wooden sign swung on chains above the door and read "The Silver Wolf." On a stool beneath the sign, a vaguely humanoid creature perched, clutching the rungs of the stool with its toe talons and using its long, clawed fingers to turn the pages of a paperback. Tufts of hair sprouted from the creature's pointed ears, which twitched like those of a horse on a hot day. As Harry and Janus approached, the thing put its book away in a jacket pocket and flashed a point-toothed grin at Janus.

Ignoring his own advice to "steer clear," Janus clapped the monster on the back. "Carl!" he greeted. "Good book?"

"Can't tell yet. I have to see if it has a happy ending." The creature spoke in a deep, grainy voice that sent a shiver up Harry's spine. The only things about the being that didn't seem plucked from a nightmare were its eyes, which were large, dark, and rimmed with long white lashes. It blinked those eyes slowly as it looked from Harry to Janus and back. "You're not here to talk about books, though."

"No. Wish I were!" Janus glanced over his shoulder, perhaps looking for an angry apothecary, and then said, "We're here about the girl, the one they found yesterday-"

"Jett." The creature waved its hands in a complex gesture that Harry thought might be some sort of blessing. It then wiped at its eyes with the back of one paw.

"Jett," Janus repeated. "A regular, I take it?"

The beast shook its head. "One of our performers. But you're wasting your time. I haven't seen her since... She isn't a ghost."

"Too bad," Janus murmured. When Carl growled, Janus raised both hands, palms out. "I mean it's too bad we can't talk to her, not too bad she's resting in peace. Was anyone with her that night? Did she talk about meeting anyone, going anywhere?"

"Jett always came in the back." The creature dabbed at its eyes again. "The only person with her was Tawny, and..." It shrugged.

"And?" Janus prompted.

"Tawny hasn't said much. She's been holed up in her dressing room. It's through the back, third door on the left." The monster jerked a thumb toward the door. "Go on in if you want to. I can watch the kid for you if you want."

"The kid stays with me, but thanks." Janus reached for the doorknob but stopped with his hand on it. "Look, Carl, Jett was your friend?" The beast nodded, and Janus continued, "The man who killed her- he'll get what's coming to him. I promise."

Harry followed Janus through the door. When it had clicked shut behind them, he whispered, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Janus asked, navigating his way around the mostly unoccupied tables that scattered the oddly quiet main room.

"That... thing outside, on the stool."

"That was Carl." Janus glanced back at Harry with a puzzled frown.

"Yes, but what was it?" Harry was wracking his brains thinking of various magical creatures, but none quite matched with what he had just seen.

"The doorman."

"Yes, I guessed that much, but what... Never mind." They had passed through a set of double doors at the rear of the common room, and now Janus stood in front of the third door on the left side of the hallway.

"Tawny?" Janus called, knocking loudly on the door. There were sounds from the other side of the door, but they didn't sound like words to Harry. "Tawny, we're here to help." Janus knocked again, and this time the sound was recognizable through the door as a growl. Harry envisioned a female of Carl's species, one who was angry at being intruded upon, and he gripped the end of his wand when Janus cast "Alohamora" and flung the door open.

Harry had to move closer to see the room's occupant, who lay stretched across the floor, back to the wall. Instead of a person, or a person-like being, the creature was a striking female lion. Her ears lay back so that they were almost flat against her head, her black-tipped tail twitched, and her lips parted slightly to reveal teeth like small white daggers. The animal looked comically out of place in the tiny, closet-like room, which was dominated by a clothing rack filled with colorful costumes and a tiny table with a mirror hanging on the wall above it.

"Is it- is she an animagus?" Harry asked. He edged backward, his hand still on his wand. Animagus or not, the cat looked unhappy.

Janus nodded. "She's a performer here. I'd seen her before, but I didn't know her name until today. She has this great act with another girl, she changes into a panther..." Janus trailed off and winced as if regretting his words. "That must have been Jett, huh?" He looked down at the cat. "Sorry."

The lion made a low growl in her throat, and her mouth opened further. Her golden eyes narrowed.

"Janus thinks he knows the man who killed Jett," Harry said quickly. "Otherwise we wouldn't bother you." He knelt down so that he could look Tawny in the eyes and stifled an impulse to put out a hand for her to sniff. "This man- he's attacked my friends, and he's tried to kill me, too, so if you know anything that can help us..."

"What he's trying to say is I'm looking for the man so I can kill him," Janus said. "If the aurors find him first, there's a chance he'll get sent back to Nurmengard, where he might escape again. I find him first, then there's no chance of that; there won't be enough left of him to leave a ghost."

The lion tilted her head and twitched her ears before rising to her feet. Her legs began to elongate, her shoulders contorted, and her fur seemed to retreat into the skin, though some of it was replaced with a silky red fabric. In seconds, the cat was gone, replaced by a blond woman in a short, red robe. Her nose was reddened, as if she had been crying. Smeared makeup rimmed her eyes, which to Harry's surprise, were still a gold color that almost matched her hair.

"Sorry about the growling- I wasn't going to bite you, honest! Sometimes it's just easier to be a cat," Tawny explained, swiping at her face to move an errant strand of hair. She flashed a small smile that showed even white teeth.

"I wasn't worried." Janus smiled back at her. "But I do need your help, anything you can tell me."

"He was tall, hair down just past his shoulders, and I thought I'd seen him in here before, in the audience." She frowned in concentration and closed her eyes. "He caught up with us as we were coming in the back, said he had a business proposition, which isn't that unusual for us. Not what you're thinking!" Her eyes flew open and she raised her chin as she looked from Harry to Janus. "Jett was no whore. We did security, mostly. And sometimes..." she flushed and looked down at her bare toes. "Children's birthday parties."

Harry bit his lower lip to keep from chuckling as he envisioned a lion and a panther jumping through hoops or dancing on their hind legs for a gaggle of spoiled boys and girls with ice-cream melting onto their wizards' robes.

"Did he say anything about where he was staying? Anything like, 'I just go here from such-and-such' or 'this place beats the food at so-and-so's', anything at all?" Janus prompted.

"Jett told me to go on ahead. She was always the one with the business brains. She-" Tawny sniffled and swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. "She said I was a pushover when it came to negotiating pay."

"Did he say what the business was?" Harry asked.

Tawny shook her head.

"There was no business," Janus said. "He was in the mood, and the girls were there. It's what he does; when he's not killing people for money, he kills them for free, especially when he's feeling…monstrous."

"If I'd have stayed..." Tawny took a deep, shuddering breath. "If I hadn't left Jett to fend for herself..."

"Then you'd be dead, too, or we'd be having this conversation in Saint Mungo's. You didn't stand a chance against Phillipe Moreaux." Janus sighed heavily. "There's nothing more you can tell us, nothing that could help us find him..."

Tawny shook her head. "What am I supposed to do now? Jett was the one who took care of both of us."

Janus reached into his pocket and retrieved the slip of paper he had shown to the shopkeepers, along with a short stub of a pencil. He bent over the small table and scribbled something on it. After taking one of Tawny's hands, he pressed the paper into it and curled her fingers over it. "If you see Moreaux again, send an owl to this address immediately."

"An owl?" She snorted. "I'll be too busy killing him for that. It's not like I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve! A girl has to, working in Knockturn Alley."

Janus opened his mouth to answer, Harry cut him off by saying, "Look, Tawny, who would you say was the stronger witch, you or Jett?"

"Jett, of course! She's the one who taught me how to change. I'm not- I'm not clever like she is- was. Changing is the only thing I was ever good at, and it was 'cause of her." She looked down at her feet again. "Right. He killed Jett, so me, I'll be no problem, is that what you're thinking?"

"I'll be looking for that owl," Janus said softly.

"I'll be looking for Moreaux." Tawny slipped the scrap of paper into the pocket of her robe.

Janus left the room, pulling Harry with him. After the door had clicked shut, he murmured, "You, me, and everyone else."
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Darkness Within The Light