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Damaged Bridges	By : Gandalfs-Beard Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 46850 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, all rights belong to Rowling and Warner Bros, nor do I make any money from the production of this work.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
All the World's a Stage

The next few days of the Christmas holidays with Hermione and her parents continued to pass quite pleasantly for Harry - for the most part - and he was almost able to forget the turmoil in the wizard world. Mr and Mrs Granger had managed to book tickets for a West End showing of Cats - which had apparently been Hermione’s favourite musical when she was little - for the Saturday following Christmas.
Harry - who had never seen a play or a musical before - was excited to experience one of the nicer bits of life as a muggle which had been unavailable to him while living with the Dursleys, and Hermione was thrilled to be able to share it with him.
Mad Eye Moody was a lot less sanguine about the whole thing. “Bollocks! This just makes our job that much more difficult,” he ranted when Tonks gave him the news. “Can’t you just tell Potter and Granger to take a pass and stay at home, where it’s easier t’keep ‘em outta trouble?”
Tonks rolled her eyes. “Hermione’s parents already booked the tickets - not much we can do about it now! We’ll manage, Mad Eye! You’ve got your invisibility cloak and I’ll be sittin’ right next to them...”
Indeed, the moment he had found out about the booking on Boxing Day, Harry had offered to buy a ticket for Dora so that she could attend too.
Dora had been round at the Grangers for a bit each day, and on Friday afternoon - the day after Boxing Day - she found herself sitting cross-legged on the rug in Hermione’s room with Hermione and Harry, playing Monopoly with them.
“Blimey!” Harry snorted mirthfully as he forked over four hundred fake quid to Dora after landing on Mayfair, nearly wiping himself out. “Good thing I’m loaded in real life. I’d be rubbish as a businessman. I dunno how Fred and George manage it...”
“It’s because you don’t have a mercenary bone in your body, Harry!” Dora chortled as she added the faux money to her huge pile. “That’s not a bad thing though, mind you... Just goes t’show what a nice guy you are.”
“Dora’s right,” said Hermione kindly. “Most people with loads of money take it for granted, or think that they’re more deserving than those who have very little - especially people like Malfoy who lord their wealth over everyone. You’re always so sweet Harry - wanting to share what you have with those who have less...
“He always buys half the food trolley on the Hogwarts Express and gives most of it to Ron,” Hermione told Dora.
Harry blushed, squirming with embarrassment under the adoring gaze of Hermione, and Dora’s look of endearment.
“Er... I think I need some tea...” he said, standing up quickly. “How about you two?”
“Yes please, Harry,” Hermione giggled, sensing his need to escape for a few minutes.
“Ta Harry! That’d be lovely,” said Dora, trying not to smirk.
Hermione bit her lip and let out a little sigh, blinking back a few tears as she watched Harry departing for the kitchen.
“You alright, Hermione?” asked Dora.
Hermione nodded. “Yes! It’s just... I don’t know how I’d manage without Harry at the moment... or ever, really. He’s always so kind to me...”
Dora felt a lump in throat, hearing the hint of pain in Hermione’s voice. She felt a surge of anger towards McLaggen again, mingled with the bitterness still buried deep within herself, and for a brief moment Dora couldn’t help but see a bit of her first girlfriend’s pain mirrored in Hermione’s eyes.
“D’you wanna talk about it?” Dora asked quietly.
Hermione hesitated, several emotions flickering across her face. She nodded again, and tried to think where to start.
“Harry and I rode on a Hippogriff together once... at the end of third year,” Hermione found herself saying. “Even though I’m notusually the sort to believe in fate and signs, I really wanted that to mean something! Hippogriffs are a symbol of love, you know?”
“I didn’t know that,” said Dora, shaking her head.
“In muggle mythology, they’re supposedly the offspring of Griffins and Mares, a mating only made possible by love,” Hermione continued. “There were so many times I wanted to tell Harry how I felt, but I wasn’t brave enough... Sometimes I wonder if I really belong in Gryffindor.
“Harry never seemed to notice me in that way - the way I wanted him to - and I didn’t want to spoil our friendship...
“And then there was always Ron, too. Even though Ron was always so rude to me, after second year I could tell that underneath he liked me a bit, even if he couldn’t tell himself at the time. Ron was the first of the two of them to express an interest in me, in fourth year... and I stupidly let him get under my skin, even though I had my doubts that it would ever work between us.
“I really should have taken Ron’s jealousy more as a warning sign though, than anything, especially after he ditched Harry when Harry was chosen as a Triwizard Champion. But Harry still seemed more attached to Ron than he was to me, despite Ron’s treatment of him.
“In retrospect, I think that Harry was just desperate to hold onto a normal friendship of the sort that he’d always wanted - and that was Ron for Harry - his first real friend his own age. ... Harry doesn’t like to talk about his life with his relatives much, but from the things that he’s let slip over the years, it’s obvious that they treated him very badly, and didn’t allow him to have any friends.
“Anyway, after the Second Task, it was all too apparent how much being Ron’s friend meant to Harry, and I really didn’t want to spoil things between them. I knew Ron would just fly off the handle and ditch Harry again if Harry and I got together. I couldn’t do that to Harry... be the one to initiate a relationship... it had to come from him first, but it never did.”
“But I still loved Harry anyway, and... and when he started noticing girls, first it was Cho Chang... and then... then it was Ginny...” Hermione couldn’t help herself, and let out a little sob.
“...And it hurt! It hurt so much! ... And I felt stupid too! I was supposed to be an independent modern woman - I shouldn’t need a guy to be happy - but I couldn’t... I can’t help it. I just wanted to be loved... to be loved by Harry most of all!
“But I was willing to settle for Ron - and I know how awful that sounds - but I did have feelings for Ron despite everything, and it was clear that Ron still really liked me. I loved Ron enough to at least see if it would work between us... try it out... give him a chance to really show me how much he cared about me... and it was an utter disaster!
“I invited Ron to Slughorn’s party... and I did say ‘just as friends’... but that’s what you’re supposed to say when you’re just trying it on for size, isn’t it?” Hermione peered at Dora beseechingly.
“Well, yeah!” Dora agreed. “I usually say somethin’ like that for first dates too - ‘just as friends’ or ‘let’s just see how it goes’ - anything like that, just to let ‘em know not to necessarily expect anything on the first go-round, so they don’t get their hopes uptoo much. Most people have to be real idiots not to get that it’s still a first date!”
Feeling slightly vindicated on that score, Hermione continued.
“Anyway, Ron accepted my invitation, and I could tell he wasn’t so stupid that he didn’t know it was really a first date - and so could Harry. But Ron ditched me... the arsehole snogged Lavender instead... in front of EVERYONE, the entire Common Room! He didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me he wasn’t interested in going to the party with me anymore before he hooked up with her... it was AWFUL!
“I was so angry with Ron... so jealous... I felt absolutely horrible! Especially because I knew Harry was interested in Ginny... I’d given up on Harry. I felt so alone... like I could never have either one of the boys I loved the most!” Hermione let out another huge sob.
“That’s how I ended up at Slughorn’s party with McLaggen! I went with him to get back at Ron... because he was the one who suggested I take McLaggen in the first place, when Ron first heard about the party and got in a snit about it! But I invited Ron anyway, and he stood me up... he stood me up and snogged Lavender instead!”
Dora bit her lip, watching the hot tears stream down Hermione’s burning cheeks.
“I wanted my first time to be with someone I really loved,” Hermione sobbed, “and he took that away from me... McLaggen stolethat from me! And I’ll never get it back... I’ll never get it back!”
Dora opened her arms and wrapped them tightly around Hermione as the younger girl wept.
“I hate McLaggen so much... I hate him! I hate him!” Hermione wailed in the comfort of Dora’s embrace. “B...but, it’s all so confusing too! If... if none of this had happened... would Harry have ever figured out that he loved me? I just don’t know, Dora... I just don’t know!”
“Does it really matter?” said Dora as she rubbed Hermione’s back consolingly. “Now that Harry has worked it out I mean? He loves you, and as far as I can tell, he’s always loved you, even when he didn’t really know it!”
“You’re right, Dora!” Hermione sniffled. “I just have a tendency to over-think things. I know how much Harry loves me! And I know that as long as Harry’s with me, I’ll eventually get over what McLaggen did to me.
“It gets a bit easier every day with Harry to cuddle me. If it weren’t for Harry, I’d be so much worse off... I just know it! I couldn’t bear to lose Harry! I love him so much! I know it sounds stupid - overly dramatic - but I feel like I’d die without Harry right now!
“I don’t know how I’ll manage to cope back at Hogwarts without Harry to cuddle at nights, and it frightens me!”
Dora frowned, a steely look entering her eyes. “I think me and Mad Eye oughta have a word with Dumbledore then...”
“Wh...what do you mean, Dora?”
“Well, don’t get your hopes up too much, Hermione. But if there’s a way to get you and Harry a bit of privacy at night, I’ll do whatever I have t’do to talk Dumbledore into it... and Mad Eye’ll help me if ‘e knows what’s good for him. He owes me - they both do!”

~o0o~
Harry stood near Hermione’s doorway - just out of sight - with a loaded tea-tray in his shaking hands, not sure what to do. He had arrived just in time to hear Hermione tell Dora that McLaggen had stolen her chance to share her first time with someone she truly loved, and how much she hated him for it.
Harry couldn’t stop his own silent tears from sliding down his cheeks when Hermione spoke of her confusion, and how she couldn’t bear to live without him.
Harry was so distraught, he wasn’t sure if he heard Dora right. Did she really just suggest to Hermione that she might be able to convince Dumbledore to make some sort of arrangement for Harry to keep Hermione company at night? Or was he just hearing things?
Hearing only quiet murmurs from Hermione’s room now, Harry surmised it was safe to enter. Trying to pull himself together, Harry set the tea-tray down briefly to wipe his wet face with his t-shirt. He picked the tray back up again and forced his face into a grin, hoping it didn’t look too fake.
“Oi, I’m back you two,” he said as he stood squarely in the doorway. “Not mercenary enough, am I? Well get ready for the poorhouse, because I’m about to make Fred and George look like rummage peddlers...”
Hermione let out a nervous little giggle, her eyes still puffy and red. Dora raised her eyebrows at Harry.
“Nice try, Harry,” said Dora.
“How much did you hear?” asked Hermione.
Harry groaned, his face burning like a furnace turned on full, knowing that nothing less than the truth would suffice...

~o0o~
As Harry wove through the crowd with Hermione, Dora, and Mr and Mrs Granger, he marveled at the grandiosity of the theatre. Tall marble columns stretched up along the walls to meet the high, vaulted ceiling which reminded him a bit of the ceiling of the Great Hall, minus the enchantment which allowed those inside to see the sky beyond, of course.
He glanced down the rows and aisles to see the enormous gold and burgundy curtains which hung across the stage, and the orchestra pit at its fore full of musicians tuning up their instruments.
Harry felt a slight sense of awe as ushers directed them to their seats. And when the lights finally began to dim, and the rumble of the audience began to quiet to coughs and whispers, the sound of tuning strings sent little shivers up his spine.
Hermione shot Harry a nervous grin, clearly hoping he’d enjoy the show as much she did, and clutched his hand tightly. Indeed, as Harry watched and listened, he was surprised at how moving the production was, and teared up more than once through both acts, though he wasn’t entirely sure why.
By the time Cats was finished, Harry was very pleased that he could honestly tell Hermione that he had enjoyed every minute of it. And Dora seemed to be just as thrilled by the musical.
Standing nearby, under his Invisibility Cloak, Mad Eye was just glad that the travesty was over, and that nothing untoward had happened on his watch.
The rest of the Christmas holidays sped by far too quickly for Harry and Hermione’s liking, and late in the afternoon, a few days after New Year, they stood in front of the fireplace in the living room to return to Hogwarts with Dora.
Apparently Dumbledore had made arrangements with the Ministry for a one-off Floo connection to return students safely to Hogwarts via the Floo-port in the Staff-room Fireplace. The departure and arrival times of the students were staggered over a several day period, and Harry and Hermione were among the first scheduled.
“Bye Mum,” Hermione sniffled as she squeezed her mother tightly after giving her father an equally rib-breaking hug. “I’ll miss you lots and lots!”
“I’ll miss you too, darling,” said Mrs Granger, giving Hermione several kisses on the cheek.
Harry shuffled a bit awkwardly when Mr Granger approached him to say good-bye. Harry reached out his hand politely, only to be surprised when Mr Granger ignored his hand, embracing him instead.
“Thank you, Harry!” said Mr Granger, his voice sounding a bit creaky. “I’m really glad Hermione has someone like you looking out for her in your world. You’re welcome in our home anytime, and... and I’m sorry if I seemed a bit stand-offish at first...”
“Er... quite alright, Mr Granger!” Harry gasped, trying to get in a bit of air. Apparently - judging by the hug her mother had also just given Harry - Hermione’s hugs were a trait passed on by both of her parents. “I totally understand, sir! I’d probably feel the same way...”
Mr Granger released Harry and peered at him with a slightly teary smile. “...I think you’ll make a good father one day, Harry! Be well at Hogwarts...”
Harry turned a bit pink at the idea of being a father. Hopefully not for a long, long time!
Dora watched as first Harry, and then Hermione entered the Floo, then she turned and waved goodbye to Mr and Mrs Granger before following them into the green flames. Dora stumbled out of the fireplace in the staff-room at Hogwarts, and nearly sprawled on the floor. Thankfully, Harry had already recovered somewhat from his trip through the Floo and was able to catch Dora in time. Hermione was still doubled over coughing, and dusting soot off her clothes.
“I bloody hate Floo travel!” Dora moaned after nearly hacking up a lung herself. “Gimme a broom any day o’ the week!”
“Me too!” Harry agreed, grinning. He caught the eye of Professor McGonagall who was monitoring the arrival of the students, and thought she looked a bit torn between relief and impatience.
“Good to see everyone arriving all in one piece!” said McGonagall after the three young wizards had recovered from the Floo trip. “Anyway, Mr Potter, Miss Granger, Professor Dumbledore would like a word with you two in his office, Tonks will be along shortly.
“...Oh, and the new password for the headmaster’s office is chocolate frogs,” McGonagall added with a hint of disdain.
Ten minutes later, Harry and Hermione found themselves in a pair of well-cushioned chintz armchairs in Dumbledore’s office, wondering what the headmaster with merrily twinkling eyes had in store for them...

~o0o~
“I still can’t believe it,” said Harry, looking stunned as Dora led Harry and Hermione to their new digs through the stone corridors of the castle. “I can’t bloody believe it! Dumbledore’s actually letting us stay together in private quarters.”
“I can’t believe it either, Harry!” Hermione squeaked, looking very mixed up. Though still very red-faced with embarrassment after the conversation with Dumbledore, Hermione was almost beside herself with happiness.
“I honestly didn’t think he’d let us,” Hermione continued. “It’s normally a complete violation of school policy for boys and girls to cohabitate. But I suppose it only makes sense that the headmaster would have the right to grant special waivers for students’ health and safety!”
“Yeah!” Dora chortled. “Me and Mad Eye can be really persuasive together when we’re both on the same page. Dumbledore didn’t stand a chance against us! Course, he couldn’t really disagree with the logic... Anyway, those private chambers over there are going to be yours.” Dora pointed at a sturdy oak door at the end of a short corridor.
“And that one’s going to be mine,” she added, pointing at another door on the right side of the stone passage. “If you need me anytime, night or day, I’ll be there, whenever I’m not shadowing you two during the school-day. ... Right then, now let’s go up to Gryffindor Tower and get your trunks and get you two moved in good and proper...”
As he lay awake that night in bed cuddling Hermione in perfect privacy, Harry grinned at Crookshanks who was purring and curled up on the wardrobe next to Hedwig, both of them looking rather pleased with themselves as they eyed their humans.
Harry’s thoughts turned to what the next day would bring. On the one hand, things might be really awkward with Ron, but on the other hand, Harry couldn’t wait to see the look on Malfoy’s face. Harry finally felt like he could really trust Dumbledore again, having been given permission to be the one to give Malfoy the heads up...

~o0o~
“Oi, Malfoy...”
Draco whirled around, reaching into his robes for his wand, his eyes narrowing in hate when he spied his enemy near the stairs. His gaze lingered on his enemy’s pet, and his scowl turned into a malevolent leer.
“Careful with your pet Mudblood, Potter! You might want to keep it on a leash,” he sneered. “It could wander off again and get found by another good Samaritan. And its new owner might not treat it as nicely as McLaggen did.”
Draco smirked with satisfaction when the bushy haired Mudblood bristled angrily, her fingers twitching towards her wand, but he was bewildered to see a slight smile creep to Harry Potter’s lips.
“Speaking of pets, Malfoy,” Potter retorted coolly, “seems like one of Voldemort’s is going to be needing a new obedience school very soon.”
“What are you on about, Potter?” Draco felt a familiar pricking behind his eyeballs as he faced off with his nemesis, and was even more puzzled. Since when did Potter know how to perform Legilimency? It wasn’t much of a probe, to be sure, but Potter had clearly been practicing a bit.
“Dumbledore wants to speak to you in his office,” Potter replied, looking a bit smug. “He told me to let you know. I don’t think you want to keep him waiting - the password is chocolate frogs.”
Draco felt a lurching sensation in the pit of his stomach and wondered what the hell was going on; he scowled bitterly at Potter and gave Granger one final nasty leer before turning on his heel and stalking away. By the time he reached for the brass knocker on the heavy oak door of Dumbledore’s office, Draco’s hand was slightly shaking.
“You may enter,” Dumbledore called out from within.
“Professor Dumbledore, you wanted to see me?”
“Please sit, Mr Malfoy,” Dumbledore said grimly.
“Er... So what’s this all about then? ...Sir?”
Dumbledore shook his head sadly as he peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles.
“I am very disappointed, Mr Malfoy!” he began. “I would say that I am very disappointed in you, but given your record here at Hogwarts, it would be more appropriate to express disappointment with myself for allowing things to have gone on as long as they have... Things should have never got this far, and you would be better off for it...”
“Sir?” Draco’s trepidation leapt a few more levels, having a horrible feeling that everything was about to take a turn for the worse.
“It was a terrible mistake for me to allow Professor Snape to make you a prefect,” Dumbledore continued. “You have neither the correct demeanor, nor the strength of character to be given a job which requires a sense of fairness and justice, and the ability to behave in a responsible manner.”
Draco flushed, his face starting to burn. There was no question where this was leading. The knot of fear and anger in his stomach tightened.
“I know what you have done, Mr Malfoy. I know that you are the reason that Katie Bell remains comatose in St Mungo’s, currently hovering between life and death. Should she eventually succumb and die, that will make you a murderer - regardless of the fact that she wasn’t your intended target...”
The heat drained from Draco’s face, and he turned white - pastier even than his usual colouration as fear temporarily overwhelmed his anger. Draco had at first denied his hand in Bell’s mishap to Snape, though he and Snape had both known the truth, and Snape had offered to help him.
But how could Dumbledore know that? How could Dumbledore possibly know with such surety? Potter! It had to be!
Potter was spreading filthy lies that Potter couldn’t possibly know had more than a grain of truth to them. And Dumbledore believed Potter because Potter had always been Dumbledore’s favourite. That was the only plausible explanation.
But Draco said none of that. Flushing angrily again, he glowered at Dumbledore.
“You can’t prove any of it!” he spat. “It’s all rubbish! How could you even know?”
“Draco...” Dumbledore’s voice took on a cold, steely tone. “Do not bother trying to lie to me. Did you not think that the portraits and ghosts would report to me when they overheard you and Professor Snape plotting someone’s demise? ...”
Draco’s grey eyes widened in shock. Had there been a portrait in the empty classroom in which he and Snape had argued? Draco couldn’t remember with certainty, but he didn’t think so. Maybe one of the ghosts then?
“...and it took little guesswork on my part to surmise that your intended target is someone vastly more important to Voldemort than Katie Bell,” Dumbledore went on. “Someone who is a threat to the successful completion of Voldemort’s goals...
“The intended target could only be Harry Potter or Myself! And it took me very little digging to discover that you had been the purchaser of the necklace from Borgin and Burkes. ... You and Severus must think me a fool if either of you truly expected me to allow this little charade to continue any longer once I caught wind of it...”
“You are a fool, old man!” Draco hissed through grinding teeth, shaking with fury and terror. “Snape’s been against you from the very beginning...”
“Perhaps so, Mr Malfoy! Perhaps so...” Dumbledore agreed politely. “However, I am not so foolish as to be blind to your fear. With your father incarcerated, and given his failure at the Ministry, your family’s standing in Voldemort’s organisation must be greatly diminished.
“No doubt you have stepped up to fill your father’s shoes as Death Eater, but clearly not in the much favoured position as one of Voldemort’s top lieutenants as you had surely expected to be when you finally took your place at your Master’s side.
“I harbour no illusions that you wouldn’t be eagerly attempting to murder myself or Mr Potter, with gleeful pride to be tasked by Voldemort, were you and your family better positioned. But as things currently stand, I suspect that your life is in danger should you fail to complete your mission - and the lives of your family as well.
“I am willing to offer you this one chance Mr Malfoy - a chance to end this now, and do the right thing. I promise I will do my utmost to protect you, and your family, should you put aside this nonsense, and allow me to take you into custody.”
Draco wavered for a moment, shocked that Dumbledore was still willing to give him a chance. But how? How could Dumbledore protect him from Voldemort? And why? ... Why would he?
Dumbledore could see Draco faltering. The headmaster’s features softened, his voice taking on a pleading, sympathetic tone as he pressed on.
“Draco... I know that you have long harboured murderous intent in your heart towards those whom you believe - in your arrogance and your ignorance - to be lesser than yourself. But while Katie Bell still lives, you are not yet a killer. Do not become one.
“Put aside your pride, your fear, and your hate... before it is too late for you. Allow me to take you into custody, and willingly reveal the rest of your scheme to me.
“I will do my utmost to see that you and your family are protected from Voldemort, and to ensure that you and your family receive a fair hearing at the Ministry, though I cannot promise that you and your father won’t eventually have to face some measure of justice for your crimes... Please Draco, allow me to help you do the right thing.”
At Dumbledore’s words, Draco hardened.
Justice? What Justice? Where was the justice in allowing the Mudbloods to pollute the Noble Bloodlines - spitting on the Natural Order of Things?
And who did Dumbledore think he was kidding? If Draco turned himself in, the Dark Lord would know that Draco had betrayed him. There was no surviving that!
No! Draco’s only chance to live would be to throw himself at the Dark Lord’s Mercy. At least there was a slight chance that the Dark Lord would give him another opportunity to prove his loyalty and worth. But Open Betrayal was a sure promise of Death!
“Forget it, old man!” Draco finally spat. “You must think I’m a real idiot if you think I’d ever betray the Dark Lord. He’ll kill you and every single one of your precious little pets eventually.... So go ahead - turn me in to the DMLE - the Dark Lord is just going to break us out of Azkaban anyway.”
Dumbledore sighed sadly, looking very much as if he had expected such an answer, as he retrieved his wand from his robes.
“Is that your last word, Draco? Please think very carefully about the decision you are making today. There will be no coming back from it - no reprieve. You will have to live or die with it, and it is my preference that you live, with some small measure of sanctity for your soul.”
“Right! Like you give a damn about my soul!” Draco sneered. “My soul doesn’t need your saving anyway! I’m a Pureblood - a Noble - what are you? Just a washed up old wizard - probably a halfblood - whose glory days are long over! Who the hell do you think you are? ... Merlin? He was a Slytherin by the way...
“Don’t waste my time anymore, old man. Just do whatever you think you have to do!”
“Then I am very sorry that it has come to this, Draco. If you will not willingly reveal the rest of your plans to me, then I have no option but to look into your mind for myself.”
“You won’t find anything,” Draco snarled. “My aunt has been teaching me Occlumency.”
“Did she not also teach you that your Occlumency is only strong enough to block casual observation of your thoughts? It will not withstand Legilimency performed with a wand. I am truly sorry Draco, more sorry than you will ever know...”
Draco knew he didn’t have a chance to reach for his own wand. Draco could do nothing as Dumbledore pointed his wand at him and murmured, “Legilimens.”
Draco’s eyes went wide and he stiffened. His walls collapsed under the headmaster’s forceful invasion. His mind lay bare for Dumbledore to see all that was within. Finally it was over, and Draco gasped, slumping in his seat.
“So - the broken Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement - your goal was to repair it!” Dumbledore stated matter-of-factly. “Voldemort was planning some sort of incursion to assume control of the school - no doubt to be assured of my demise, and possibly to secure it as a base from which to eventually launch a full-scale attack on the Ministry.
“Very well. Now begone... return to your Master!”
“Wh...what?” Draco gasped, utterly perplexed. “You’re letting me go? Why?”
“It serves me little purpose to hold you in Azkaban as you yourself rightly pointed out,” Dumbledore replied coldly. “And you will find that punishment for your failure at Voldemort’s hands will be far worse than any justice the DMLE would mete out. You will leave this school immediately. Take your belongings and go. And do not think to veer off your path of departure - you will be watched every step of the way!
“All I ask is that you pass along a message to your Master. He has failed - he will never take Hogwarts. And tell him that I already have Severus Snape in my personal custody. Severus will never be turned over to the DMLE, because I know he is far too valuable to Voldemort, should Voldemort take Azkaban again.
“So begone Mr Malfoy, and never darken these Halls again!”
Draco hesitated for a moment, then with one final scowl he stood up and scurried from Dumbledore’s office as fast as his feet could carry him.
Moments later, a mahogany bookshelf in Dumbledore’s office slid aside, revealing a hidden chamber. Snape stepped out from the secret room, a troubled expression masking his features. Dumbledore and Snape shared a brief look as Fawkes eyed them both.
“Go Severus,” said Dumbledore gently. “Meet Draco when he reaches the gates of Hogwarts. Tell him that you have escaped. Fulfill your Vow to Narcissa Malfoy and protect Draco to the best of your ability. And remember that your promise to me is also part of your promise to her. If you and I should meet on the field of battle, you know what you must do to fulfill both vows. It is my preference that you survive, even at the expense of what little there is left of my life.
“I know that you wish it were not so, but I will reveal the truth of your bravery and your loyalties - and the reasons for them - to Harry. He of all people deserves to know, and should he defeat Voldemort and survive the war - as is my greatest hope - he will be best placed to see your honour and reputation restored...”
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Damaged Bridges