Dreams and Lies | By : shini0angel Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 989 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
PART
THREE
The
two young men entered the castle. Draco
looked around; studying the hallway they were standing in. Nothing seemed to have changed, much.
“Come
with me,” Harry looked over his shoulder at the blond. “Dumbledore can wait for a while. You and I will talk first.”
“I
thought that the Headmaster always was number one in your book Potter,” Draco
drawled in bored aristocratic tones that he had mastered years ago.
“Only
when necessary,” Harry shot back in good humor with a wry grin. “Besides, I have a feeling that what I need
to tell you is more important and Dumbledore hasn’t been number one in my book
ever. Just trust me.”
“Don’t
I always?” Draco muttered as he followed the Dark Arts Professor.
As
he followed after Harry he took the opportunity to study the young man in front
of him. Harry Potter had definitely
changed. He was no longer the trusting
youth that Draco had left behind, although Harry had lost that trusting nature many
years ago he still had looked as though he trusted others. Now he gave off the impression of being
cautious and on edge as though expecting danger to jump out from every
corner. Not paranoid but definitely on
edge. Draco wondered what had caused
Harry to change so drastically.
He
watched impassively as Harry ushered him into his private quarters. He had been expecting bright and cheery rooms
with lots of memorabilia to celebrate him as the Boy Who Lived and Quidditch Cup Winner from 2002. Instead he found rooms that were designed to
be functional even if they were spacious and tastefully decorated. The rooms had some of Harry’s personal touch
to them and a few gifts from friends and co-workers but there was nothing else to
really bring them to life. It was
strange to see those rooms as they were, stranger
still to see that Harry relaxed almost completely once the door was shut behind
him as though some great weight had lifted from his shoulders.
“What’s
wrong with you Harry?” Draco asked taking a seat by the fire. “It’s like you’re expecting Filch to catch you
out of bed past curfew as though you were still a student.”
“Hogwarts
has been compromised,” Harry leaned back in his own chair across from Draco. “The only real safe places to talk are
outside, Snape’s quarters, my quarter’s and a few other places.”
“Compromised?”
Draco frowned at the wording Harry used, wording he had not heard since the war
three and a half years ago. “How?”
“A
plant,” Harry looked up at him from his study of the fire. “We don’t know if it’s a staff member or even
a student. Voldemort’s
not dead.”
“You
killed him three years ago,” Draco glared into the flames wishing he had
something strong to drink if they were going to bring up memories from just
before he had left. “Don’t say that. The bastard’s dead, you used the Killing
Curse on him, I saw it.”
“We
didn’t know what we know now,” Harry insisted with a glare at the blond. “Severus and I did some digging around. The Dark Mark appeared about five months ago
on the Continent in France when an official from
the British Ministry of Magic was murdered.
I found out about a month ago that Voldemort isn’t as dead as we’d
like. He did something when he was in
his early twenties, some sort of experiment that combines Muggle techniques and
Magical ones.”
Draco
paled briefly. He clenched his hands
together as he tried to contain his disbelief and anger but he too knew that something had returned from the
Dark. He had known that it would only be
a matter of time when he had first fled Europe. He had run because he didn’t want to admit
that to anyone, didn’t want to admit it to himself. He had learned a few things while living abroad
and he was back to deal with the new threat.
The thought that the new threat was once again Voldemort was merely an
unexpected piece of news.
“Can
I have a drink?” Draco asked clearing his throat slightly. “I think we’ll both need one.”
Harry
nodded and stood. He returned
momentarily with two very full glasses of brandy. Draco took an experimental sip and found it
to be smooth and of good flavor.
“Draco,”
Harry sighed heavily raking a hand through his still messy-styled hair. “Voldemort managed to clone himself with all
his memory intact, and most of his powers too.
He’s gaining strength.”
Draco
nearly spat out his brandy but managed to swallow it down. A larger sip accompanied it rather quickly. That was certainly news to him. Apparently it was definitely time to stop
running now, time to come back home. He
waited until Harry had taken a sip of his own drink before speaking.
“There’s
another problem,” Draco managed to speak after a few minutes. “There’s a new force coming in. It’s started in America. Do you remember the legends about Elves from
the Old Ages?”
Harry
merely nodded. He didn’t want to
interrupt and Draco was grateful for that.
His story was somewhat bizarre, even though it was utterly true.
“There
are a few now in the deep woods in America,” Draco looked into the
flames again. “I didn’t believe it, there
were only a few sightings. So I went to
check things out for myself. I actually
spoke to one Harry, and I lived among them. His name is Ely’ed. He knows about me, you and a few other people
here.”
“Elves?” Harry nearly
laughed. “I believe you but it still
sounds so strange. What do they want?”
“To
help,” Draco looked Harry in the eyes now.
“They say that a great darkness is coming to spread over the world. They said something about the Time of Dreams
and the Shadow of Lies. Apparently the
Elves have their own prophecy. That’s
why I came back, I came before they could but I expect that the Elves will come
soon enough.”
“To Hogwarts?” Harry quickly downed
several large sips of his brandy.
“They’ll come here? Do you know
when we can expect them?”
Draco
shook his head. He didn’t know much of
anything anymore.
“And
Harry,” Draco’s gray eyes were intense as they stared straight into the emerald
eyes across from him. “Remember, when
prophecy comes from Elves it’s never wrong.”
“I
know,” Harry’s voice cracked.
Draco
sat back and killed the rest of his drink.
“We
should head up to Dumbledore’s office now,” Harry finally said, putting his
empty glass on a nearby table. “We
should get up there before Hermione gets back.
I have enough problems to deal with without her temper.”
“I
thought you two were still chummy,” Draco stood and walked over to the door.
“We’re
not as close as we were in school,” Harry opened the door and ushered Draco
out. “She can’t get over the fact that I
trust two Slytherins. Fred and George
understand as does Hagrid and the Headmaster. But quite a few of the staff here think I’m
nuts.”
Draco
merely snorted. Things really had
changed if the staff were not fawning all over Harry Potter.
The
two walked briskly through the halls and up staircases until they came to the
statue leading to the staircase up to the Headmaster’s office.
“Twizlers,” Harry said.
The
statue moved aside and the stair case began winding its way up. The two stepped onto it and out into the
Headmasters office. Fawkes
flew off his perch and landed on Harry’s shoulder. He chirped a welcome to Draco and settled
down on his second favorite person.
“So
good of you to come,” Dumbledore smiled at the two.
“Headmaster
I demand something be done about Mr. Malfoy’s inability to follow his escort up
to the castle,” McGonagall said in a disapproving huff.
“Draco
is here of his own free will,” Harry cut in quickly. “And I would have taken him off of Hermione’s
hands before he was even able to come up here.
It’s my fault he’s late getting here Albus. I kept him so that I could speak to him and
welcome him back.”
McGonagall
glared in Draco’s direction and met Harry’s icy gaze instead. She quickly looked away.
“Let’s
begin, shall we?” Dumbledore smiled at no one in particular. “We all know that we’re facing Voldemort once
again. Will you aid us Draco?”
“I
need some time to think,” Draco said after a moment’s hesitation.
McGonagall
frowned at his words but wisely kept her mouth shut.
“I’ll
take him to my quarters,” Harry offered, standing. “He can stay with me.”
“Wait
a moment Harry,” Dumbledore said causing Harry to stop and turn around. “There is one other matter you need to be
aware of. Bill Weasley’s
team in Egypt was attacked and the
Dark Mark was seen in the sky. Bill is
fine, he’s on his way back to England as we speak but several
members of his team were killed.”
“When
will Bill be back?” Harry asked.
“In
a few more days,” Dumbledore answered.
“He’s stopping by Gringotts in Paris before coming across
the Channel.”
Harry
nodded and almost dragged Draco from the Headmaster’s office. The two men walked through the empty halls of
the castle. The students were all in
classes.
“Why
aren’t you teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts
Harry?” Draco asked, stopping in the hallway.
“I’m
taking the next few months off,” Harry shrugged, coming to a stop as well. “I’m working on a book for the Six and
Seventh Years and once I found out that Voldemort wasn’t dead I thought it
might be a good idea to focus some extra attention on that too. Professor Lupin is
covering for me.”
“I
didn’t know they’d let him back,” Draco commented.
“Nobody
really made a big fuss,” Harry replied.
“They weren’t given much of a choice though. After all, most of the public still adores me
and with the things I know about the Minister there wasn’t much else they could
do but cede to my demands.”
Draco
knew Harry was telling him the truth. He
knew that Harry had a dark side just like everyone else but he had actually
blackmailed the Minister. Even that was
something that Draco would never have done.
Harry must have been pissed to do something so foolish.
“Are
you a fool?” Draco asked. “You
blackmailed the Minister of Magic?”
“Something
like that,” Harry nodded. “He deserved it. He threatened to do an inquiry on Severus
because he was a former Death Eater. So
I blackmailed him with terms of my own to ensure that that wouldn’t happen.”
Draco
could see Harry doing that to protect a friend.
He would probably have done what Harry had. But still, blackmail was a risky enterprise to
enter into.
“So
long as you know what you’re doing,” Draco tailed off as they continued
walking.
They
went back to Harry’s rooms. Harry showed
Draco the extra bedroom he could use for however long he would be staying at
Hogwarts. Draco felt more comfortable in
Harry’s rooms then he had in the Headmaster’s office, a place that he had once
felt totally secure in.
An
insistent knock came at Harry’s door. He
frowned and opened it with a flick of his hand.
Hermione stood in the doorway, her robes slightly askew with a bit of
dust still clinging to the hems. She did
not look happy.
“Draco
Malfoy!” She stepped into the room. “I
thought I’d find you here.”
“Back
off Hermione,” Harry calmly folded his arms across his chest. “He didn’t do anything wrong. McGonagall was way out of line having you
drag him from the Continent back to Hogwarts.”
“It
was my job,” Hermione retorted defensively.
“Well
he’s here now,” Harry said.
“Draco
you and I are going to have a talk about this,” Hermione threatened.
“What could you possibly say Granger?” Draco drawled. “You already helped to take away everything I
ever cared the slightest bit about. I
don’t think a few petty insults will really make much difference. But if it’ll make you feel better go right
ahead.”
Hermione
had the grace to flinch.
“Just
go Hermione,” Harry held the door open for her.
“Things are fine.”
Hermione
backed out of the room and quickly turned on her heel and disappeared down the
hallway. Harry shut the door behind her
with a tired little sigh. Draco could
tell that he was troubled about the little altercation but Hermione had started
it. Still Draco wished that Harry would
tell him exactly what was going on, he knew that the Gryffindor was keeping a
few things from him. Perhaps they would
get around to them in the morning.
“Let’s
get some sleep,” Harry suggested. “I
assume you’re tired and I was up late writing another chapter for my book.”
Draco
nodded and headed off for his bed with a brief goodnight.
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