Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Practicing Liars	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 63257 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Five�Details
and Differences

�� Draco was
busy reading his book and safe behind the stone walls of the Slytherin common
room, but he still heard the shout. He probably could have been upstairs in the
Prefect�s bathroom and heard it there.

�� EXPECTO PATRONUM!�

�� Draco
stared at the wall. He remembered the spell; it was the same spell that Potter
had used on him, Vince, and Greg when they played that harmless prank of
dressing up like Dementors to scare him on the Quidditch field. He wondered why
in the world someone would be using it in the Hogwarts dungeons.

�� No, why Potter would be using it in the Hogwarts
dungeons, he decided after a moment of thought. He was sure that he had
recognized that shout.

�� What was
that?� Vince asked. He had been deep in reading his Charms book, his forehead
furrowed the way it always was when he read, and he kept a finger in place
beneath the line he had reached when he looked up.

�� I don�t
know,� Blaise said. He looked as if he might stand up from his comfortable
sprawled position on the floor, his Astronomy notes spread out in front of him.

�� It was
Potter, no doubt trying to play a prank,� Draco said, rising swiftly to his
feet. Blaise�s eyes darted to him, and Draco looked warningly back. He had no
idea whether Blaise was among the Death Eaters. He�d never seen him at the
meetings, but he was kept out of so much that was important that that meant
next to nothing.

�� Resentment
stirred in Draco, because he had to prove that he was the one who was worthy of the Dark Lord�s confidence.
Besides, Blaise was always pushing, when he could, to take away Draco�s
prominence among the sixth-year Slytherins. Draco might have an important task
and his parents� lives weighing on his mind at every waking moment, but he
still had time for House politics. His father had always said that they
mimicked the politics of the outer world that he would be involved in sooner or
later, when he left Hogwarts and became important because he was a Malfoy.

�� I�ll go
and see if it was,� he continued, shaking his arm so that his wand sprang into
his hand. Pansy gasped and looked impressed. Draco gave her a narrow smile and
ignored the way Blaise rolled his eyes. What did it matter if Blaise was sick
of his �pretensions,� as he called them, already? So long as he fooled most of
the people most of the time, Draco didn�t care about the few stubborn
personalities he couldn�t influence.

�� He opened
the Slytherin common room door and stepped out into the dark corridor,
listening intently. For some reason, he had expected to see Potter right away,
but the shout must have come from around a corner. Draco started walking to the
right.

�� Then Potter
bolted around the corner, his eyes so distended and his face so white that Draco
stopped walking in sheer dread. Potter seized him and spun him into the wall,
then leaned in behind him and whispered harshly, �Stay still, Malfoy. And keep quiet if you can. I don�t want the
Dementors getting distracted.�

�� Dementors. Draco shivered, frightened
for more than one reason. What if the Dark Lord had got tired of waiting for
Draco to find a way to let the Death Eaters in and ordered someone else in the
school to have the Dementors clear the way? His parents would die, and Draco
would never get the chance to prove himself.

�� He turned
his head to the side in time to see Potter take up a guard position near the
corner, his wand clutched tight in one trembling hand.

*

�� Harry
peered ahead. He knew he was breathing too fast and that he might faint in a
minute, but he couldn�t help himself. The Dementors he had faced in the
corridor were�different, somehow, even though they had still scattered from the
Patronus. Larger, and more white then grey, and with long fingers that had
reached out and left glittering red welts covered with silver dust on Harry�s
arms. Harry scrubbed them absently and hoped that Dementors couldn�t Kiss you
with their hands.

�� He wondered
if Malfoy was creeping up behind him, and hoped that for once the git would
have the sense to stay where he was.

�� And then.

�� The
Dementors� fear washed over him, indicating that they were just on the other
side of the corner. Harry stiffened his muscles to keep himself from running
away or backing down. He had the Patronus Charm. Someone would come in a
minute, because people would have heard his shout. He was in Hogwarts, and
there were wards and professors around.

�� His
imagination reminded him that the Dementors had managed to get inside Hogwarts despite all the wards and professors.

�� Harry saw
the shadow of a reaching hand. He thrust his wand forwards and focused as hard
as he could on the memory of Sirius saying that Harry could come to live with
him.

�� Expecto Patronum!� he shouted again, and
his wand flared and the silvery stag bounded out.

�� But instead
of rushing at the Dementors, it halted in the middle of the corridor and turned
its head back and forth so that its antlers pointed at the walls. Harry watched
it, open-mouthed. What was going on with it? Were these special kinds of
Dementors able to come through the walls the way the basilisk had slithered
through the pipes in them?

�� The stag
stamped a hoof and glanced back at him. Then it turned to face him fully, ears
twitching. It tilted its head back and forth, as if to say, Show me the enemy and I�ll charge it, but I
don�t see the enemy.

�� Harry
glanced down at the ground. The shadow of the Dementor�s hand had gone, and he
couldn�t feel them now. But he knew he had
felt it. He knew he�d seen them scatter from the charge of the first stag
he�d conjured. And even Dementors shouldn�t be able to just vanish out of
Hogwarts like that.

�� Well, go
on, find them,� he said, feeling more and more stupid as the stag just stood
there and he could feel Malfoy�s stare sharpening from behind him.

�� The stag
tossed its head up and down and gave what looked like a disgusted snort, though
of course it couldn�t make any sound. Then it stood there considering him in a
doubtful way.

�� Harry
listened as hard as he could. Other than Malfoy�s muffled snickering, though,
he couldn�t hear anything.

�� Fine, go
away,� he said, and slashed his wand down to banish the stag. It went, and
Harry stepped forwards and peered into the corridor. Yes, no Dementors. It was
empty. Harry ran a hand over his face and cursed under his breath.

�� Potter?
What are you doing?�

�� Harry
twisted around to glare at Malfoy. �What do you know about Dementors being in
the school, Malfoy?� he demanded. �Is this another one of your stupid tricks?�

�� Malfoy
sneered at him and yet managed to look innocent at the same time. �Yes, Potter,
because I have nothing better to do than get you in trouble�� His voice trailed
off and he leaned forwards to peer at Harry. His eyes were thoughtful, and
Harry thought he was getting curious, even though he didn�t know why.

�� Then he
remembered that he hadn�t finished casting the face-altering charm, and even
though he couldn�t be sure the glamour had worn away from when he�d cast it
last week, it probably had.

�� Shite! Harry spun around to face the
corner again. �Did you hear that?� he asked sharply.

�� No,�
Malfoy snapped. �Hear what?� But Harry could hear him breathing faster and
listening anyway, not quite able to dismiss Harry�s reaction.

�� Harry
fiercely whispered the incantation for the face-altering charm and relaxed as
he felt it wash over his features in a tingling flood of cool magic. Then he
turned back to Malfoy. It�s dim out here
and he has other things to think about, he told himself. He�s probably not going to notice, or
remember what he noticed.

�� I thought
I heard something,� he said. �I want to know what you were doing out here,
Malfoy. Most people don�t walk towards the
sound of battle��

�� Potter.�

�� As Snape
appeared from behind Malfoy, Harry fought the temptation to bury his head in
his hands and groan. I am so fucked.

*

�� Severus
might have had to rely on Legilimency to get the truth out of Potter�the moment
the boy recognized him, he had tightened his jaw and acted as though rusty
hooks could drag nothing from him�but Draco was in the corridor and more than
willing to tell him what spell Potter had cast, and why.

�� Severus had
crouched over the stone where Potter had claimed Dementors were and whispered a
spell that would reveal traces of their passing as small silver marks. The
light had not come. Severus cast the spell again to be sure; Potter was
sensitive to Dementors, and not likely to mistake their presence.

�� Nothing.

�� That left
three possibilities: that Potter had made up the whole thing to justify his
insatiable desire to cause trouble; that the Dark Lord was sending visions to
Potter again, though why he should wish to send a vision of Dementors Severus
did not know; or the boy had finally gone mad and was going to bring all of
them down in an apocalyptic crash because he did not have the manners or good
sense to go quietly mad after the war
was over.

�� Severus
sent Draco back to his common room with a few sharp words. The boy bowed his
head and went quietly enough, but the glance he darted at Potter was sharp with
curiosity. Severus was glad that most people in the school would know of Potter�s
detention by now. At least Draco would not question why Potter was in the
dungeons in the first place.

�� He might
question any number of other things, though, and Severus told Potter several of
them in a low hiss as he escorted (perhaps prodded would be a better word) the
boy to the Headmaster�s office.

�� Do you
want Draco Malfoy to begin spreading
rumors that you are mad?� he asked Potter as they rode the moving staircase up.
He would ordinarily have preserved a dignified silence, but the boy�s locked
jaw and refusal to look directly at him were provoking beyond endurance. Five minutes out of my presence and he must
be in trouble. �What he knows, Lucius Malfoy will, and what Lucius Malfoy
knows is the Dark Lord�s.�

�� Potter gave
him a slight, sarcastic smile and then turned to study the wall sliding past
them as if it were the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. Severus�s
fingers crooked, but he did not grip and shake the idiot�s shoulder. Nothing that will leave visible bruises. The
one he has on his leg from the moment when he tried to resist and ignore me is
bad enough.

�� You should
not have lingered in the dungeons,� Severus said.

�� The boy
tensed at that, but still didn�t reply, not even with the defense that Severus was
sure he would have come out with: that the Dementors had attacked before he
could get far from Severus�s office. And then they reached the top of the
staircase and Severus had to knock on Albus�s door, with no more private time
for trying to fathom Potter�s stubborn silence.

�� I need not worry about a death from spying,
that is certain, Severus thought as he listened to Albus�s cheery call to
enter. The boy will melt my brain with anxiety
long before then.

�� An
uncertain pleasure, but not an unexpected one,� Albus said, when he saw them.
He gave his head an admonishing shake and glanced at Potter. �My dear boy,
could you not at least try to stay out of trouble until the second day of classes?�

�� Potter
sighed and spent a moment fumbling with his fringe before he looked up. �I�m
sorry, Headmaster,� he said quietly.

�� Spite went
through Severus like a wasp�s sting. How was it that Albus could convince the
boy to respond to him within a few seconds, and Severus had to hammer on his
emotional shields for minutes before they fell? Even when he tried to offer him
help that the boy would need to defeat the Dark Lord, it seemed that Potter
refused to see the good in such an offer.

�� Then perhaps you should change your tactics.

�� That was
not a voice Severus heard often anymore: the voice of his own mockery, turned
back on him when he made a mistake. It had spoken often in his younger years,
when he had required its advice, but for the last decade, he had taken only the
most effective and necessary actions, and ceased to require its presence.

�� He had
thought.

�� He grimaced
and settled back into the corner to observe Potter�s interaction with Albus,
content that no one was paying him enough attention to notice such things as
the grimace.

*

�� What
happened, Harry?�

�� Harry
glanced up, measuring, but Dumbledore�s face was nothing like the cold and
distant expression he had worn last year. He leaned forwards and raised a hand
slightly as if he would hold Snape back from charging forwards and wrenching
Harry�s arm. Not that Snape had tried to do anything like that yet, but Harry
was sure that he would, if someone
wasn�t there to stop him. Uncle Vernon sure wouldn�t hesitate.

�� I saw
Dementors in the school, sir,� he said. �Ones in white cloaks, with longer
hands than normal.� He swallowed and glanced down at his arm. He would have said
something about the marks they�d left on him, but he saw now that they�d
vanished. He would have been stupid to mention it. �And I sent my Patronus
after them, and they scattered. Then I went around the corner, and Malfoy was
there. But when I cast the Patronus again, they�d vanished.�

�� Dumbledore
glanced over Harry�s head at Snape. Snape must have mouthed something or rolled
his eyes, because Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Harry glared back at Snape.
Snape simply sneered at him.

�� I felt no
Dementors break through the wards of the school,� Dumbledore said gently. �And
there is no trace of their presence in the dungeons for those who can detect
such things. Is there anything else
it may have been, Harry? Perhaps some Dark creature that looks similar to a
Dementor?�

�� There�s no
Dark creature that looks similar to a Dementor!� Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at
him in turn, and Harry became abruptly aware that he was shouting and being
rude. He coughed and tried to ignore the way his cheeks flushed. Snape was
probably enjoying it, the bastard. �Sir,� he added. �I don�t think so.�

�� And did
you react the way that you usually do when a Dementor is around?� Dumbledore
asked calmly. �I am only asking these questions because I believe that your
answers may help us to work out what happened,� he added.

�� Harry
thought about it. Then he sighed. �No, sir,� he whispered. �I didn�t hear my
mother�s scream or�or anything like that.�

�� Dumbledore
nodded. �Then this is something else, but that does not mean it is not powerful
and dangerous in its own right,� he said. �I would like you to begin Occlumency
lessons again, Harry, at your own discretion. I believe that Voldemort may be
reaching through your scar and trying to distract you or influence your
perceptions.�

�� Harry
nodded. His scar didn�t burn, but maybe Voldemort had learned how to get around
that.

�� He wanted
to say that he knew what he had seen, and that Dementors had really been in the
school, but the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Why would
Voldemort bother sending Dementors who didn�t Kiss anyone? Not enough people
could cast the Patronus Charm to keep them all away if hundreds of them came
into the school. And then more people would come after them, Death Eaters and
probably Voldemort himself.

�� I�ll try,
sir,� he said. �I�m sure Hermione can help me find a book on Occlumency.� He
heard Snape snort, and gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore him. Like I�m going to come to you again and beg
you to teach me, arsehole.

�� Good.� Dumbledore
reached out to a bowl of yellow sweets on the desk, and his sleeve fell away
from his arm. Harry stared when he realized that a thick scar encircled his
skin towards the elbow, shiny pink lines that reflected the light of his fire.

�� Dumbledore
followed his gaze and sighed gently. When he spoke, his voice was sad but firm.
�We must all pay our tolls in this war, Harry,� he said. �I fear that your burden
is heavier than I would want anyone to carry, but I must ask you to bear it for
a bit longer. I have already destroyed one powerful Dark artifact that belonged
to Voldemort, and this was the price. The next time I go after such a thing, I
will take proper precautions.�

�� He leaned
forwards again, holding Harry�s eyes with his. �I promise,� he said, his voice
so soft that it sounded like the words of a vow, �you will not have to bear
that burden for much longer. And I will do what I can to lighten it, by taking
away all the chains which might
increase it.�

�� Harry didn�t
think a deaf person could have missed his emphasis on �chains,� and he looked
to the side because Dumbledore was looking there, too. On a shelf among a few
of Dumbledore�s silver instruments was a heavy golden locket on a chain. Harry
thought he could see an S on the front, but maybe that was wishful thinking; it
was most of the room away, and his eyes were starting to squint, he was so
tired.

�� As if he
could sense that, Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and said, �Go back to
your common room, Harry. I will trust you to keep me apprised of any future
developments.� He looked straight into Harry�s eyes, and now he wasn�t smiling.
�And not to take chances, and in general to conduct yourself like a rational adult.
If we are going to be comrades in this war, I must insist on it.�

�� Harry felt
his spine straighten. That was the best thing about Dumbledore: when he was
paying attention to you and speaking about his confidence in you, then you felt
as if you really could do anything.

�� Yes, sir,�
he said firmly, and marched away and out of the room when Dumbledore nodded to
him, ignoring Snape. He wasn�t going back to the common room, of course; he had
a meeting of the D.A. to attend. But at least he knew that Dumbledore trusted
him again and didn�t blame him for what had happened in the Ministry last year.

*

�� The moment
the door shut behind Potter, Albus slumped in his chair and closed his eyes. A
light sheen of sweat had broken out on his brow, and Severus moved immediately
to his side, checking the scar around his arm.

�� The most
powerful diagnostic charms he knew did not reveal anything amiss, however, and
at last he took a step back and stared at Albus in perplexity. �What is wrong?�
he asked. �I thought I had removed the poison.�

�� You did.�
Albus opened his eyes and gave Severus a grim smile. �It�s my most recent
battle that�s weakened me, not that one.� He glanced at the golden locket he
had shown Potter.

�� Severus
studied it warily. He could feel a residual tinge of Dark magic, the kind that
might come from being stored with cursed books. �I did not realize the Dark
Lord was clever enough to conceal strong weapons under weakness,� he murmured.

�� Albus shook
his head. �It�s harmless now.� Weariness coated every word. �It didn�t wound me
this time. But I had to contain and then drain the Dark magic from it, and it
was�fatiguing.�

�� Yes, it
would be,� Severus said, speaking sharply to disguise his worry. �Headmaster,
what are these artifacts?�

�� That is
knowledge that I�m afraid I don�t trust outside my own head as yet, Severus.�
Albus spoke in the same tone he�d used to inform Severus that the Marauders
would not be expelled from Hogwarts for what they�d done. Severus clenched his
teeth. Albus added after a moment. �I wish you to concentrate on building your
bond with young Harry for the present. Did you notice anything different about
him?�

�� Yes,�
Severus growled. �Over the summer he seems to have concentrated all his
stubbornness in his ungrateful brain.�

�� Albus
studied him thoughtfully, a small smile playing on his lips. Then he said, �Well.
Perhaps you are right.�

�� Severus
shifted uneasily. He had the feeling that Albus was hiding something from him,
something far worse than the nature of the artifacts that the Dark Lord had
accumulated, but he had no idea what.

*

�� Harry!
There you are!�

�� Harry
grinned and waved to Hermione as he entered the Room of Requirement. Ron stood
next to her, and Harry forced himself to say casually, �Hi, you lot,� before he
looked around the room to see how many people had come.

�� More than
last year, Harry felt his heart rise as he counted sixteen Hufflepuffs and twelve
Ravenclaws�and what looked like the whole of the Gryffindor sixth, seventh, and
fifth years. He took a deep breath, Dumbledore�s words running in his head. I�ll have to be strong for them. I�ll have
to be a leader for them. I can�t afford to waste time worrying about my own
stupid personal problems, like Snape being my bloody father.

�� Where were
you?� Ron demanded, drawing his wand. �We expected you an hour ago.�

�� Sodding
Snape,� Harry said, and saw Ron nod understandingly. He turned to face the rest
of the crowd. �Right,� he said. �I think the first thing you need to know is
how to do a proper Shield Charm.� Obscurely, he felt as though he needed to
show Snape that lots of people could do Defense right if they were just taught right, and that Harry�s talent in
Defense wasn�t anything extraordinary.

�� I don�t
know if I can do that,� said one of the Ravenclaw girls, her eyes wide and
frightened. She nibbled her lip and looked towards the door. �I mean, isn�t it
very advanced magic?�

�� Everyone
fourth year and above should be able to do it,� Harry said. �Watch me.� He took
up a crouching stance, as though someone was trying to hurl a hex at him�because
most of the time, someone would be�and
moved his wand through the right motions. �Protego!�

�� Several
people gasped as the silvery shield popped up in front of him, and Harry
thought they were watching the magic instead of his hand. But the Ravenclaw
girl relaxed into a smile. �I think I can do that,� she said.

�� Good.�
Harry nodded to Hermione and Ron, both of whom had showed him last night that
they knew how to do perfectly good Shield Charms. �Ron, take everyone standing
over to the right. Hermione, take the ones in the middle, and I�ll work with
the people on the left.�

�� Hermione,
beaming, moved to take up her position. Ron strutted over to the group Harry
had assigned to him. Harry saw Lavender Brown, who was in the group, blush and
smile at Ron. Harry rolled his eyes.

�� Some people just don�t have enough to think
about, he decided, before he started showing the incantation and wand
movements again to people who were probably never going to learn it in the Git
with a Superiority Complex�s class.

*

�� Draco lay
awake in bed, frowning at the ceiling. His memories of the moments when Potter
had pushed him into the wall and yelled at him, then stood facing imaginary
Dementors, were fragmented and confused by adrenaline and fear. And then
Professor Snape had come around the corner and yelled at him, which was enough
to put anyone off being able to pull minute details up in front of their mind�s
eye.

�� But Draco
was sure he had seen something different
about Potter in the short time he�d been looking him in the face.

�� What,
though? He still had two eyes�more�s the
pity�and that stupid scar and that shaggy hair that looked as if he never
took care of it. So it couldn�t be anything obvious. But anything small
probably wasn�t worth the time and mental effort that he was devoting to it.

�� Draco shut
his eyes and told himself to go to sleep, so that he could find some way to
snatch time for going to the Room of Hidden Things in the morning.

�� But the
image of Potter�s face chased him into his dreams, and the single, unanswered
question that seemed to grow more urgent the more he ignored it.

�� What was different? ��

*

�� paigeey07: Thank you!

�� k lave
demo: Thanks!

�� I think
that Snape will take the insults to flesh and blood much more seriously than
Harry will. Harry has mostly committed himself to the idea that he doesn�t have
any flesh and blood family worth the name, and so he won�t expect Snape to
change his mind just because Harry�s his son.

�� Thrnbrooke:
Well. Maybe?

�� Alliandre: Thank
you! I do, in fact, mean Snape to be pretty unpleasant at first. It will take
some harsh revelations to pound the facts into his thick head.

�� The
revelation will come about halfway through the story.

�� MewMew2: I
would apologize for that line, but clearly you are the one who was expecting
something different. ;) Get your mind out of the gutter!

�� Dragon:
Thank you!

�� callistianstar:
Thanks! Severus knows it�s too early to try and help Draco with more than a few
gifts he�ll accept. He would lose his trust if he seemed too interested in his
mission.

�� SP777:
Thanks!

�� Snape is
more affected than he realizes right now, because he�s irritated at the way
Harry won�t talk to him instead of
just the fact that Harry exists.

�� Stargirl77:
I�ll try to keep updating this one every three days.

�� Inugrl2004:
Thanks!

��
- 4
- 5
- 6
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Practicing Liars