Memoirs of a Serpent's Son

Memoirs of a Serpent’s Son

--Age 17—part 34

February 14 –continued

Revelations like that are often too much to take in on their own, without having to attempt to process a slew of other weighty facts at the same time. That being said, it was probably not the best timing for Harry to reveal something so huge.

Not in due company anyway.

“What?” several voices rang out in harmony.

“Why would you need to know where Voldemort found out he was a wizard?” the She-Weasel asked suspiciously.

“Why would you care about what places he thought were important?” Longbottom asked quietly, his eyes broadcasting more fear than suspicion.

Harry groaned and rolled his eyes, looking over at Lovegood as though waiting for her to chime in on cue with another question that forced him to reveal more than he was willing, but she looked pleasantly satisfied.

“Smooth move, Potter,” I sneered, knowing full-well that I hadn’t stopped him before blurting out anything important either. It didn’t matter though. As long as he was frustrated with himself he probably wouldn’t notice my own slip-ups.

“Argh, this is just too many people!” Harry burst out angrily. “I’m not telling anyone anything until I’ve seen Shacklebolt!”

“Harry, I’m not sure that’s a wise idea,” Remus soothed him quietly. “After the article in the paper and all the dangers going around, I don’t think it’s safe for you to be venturing out just yet.”

“It’s NEVER safe!” he bellowed, letting his anger get the best of him. Most of those in the room winced or shrank back as he bounded to his feet and started pacing the room angrily. I didn’t, however. I know this lion well and I’m not afraid of its rage. “It’s never going to be safe with Voldemort running around! I can’t just stay cooped up here forever, hiding behind magical walls and pure-blooded legacies! I have to go searching and I have to defeat him and I’m quite sure that I won’t be able to unless see him in person again.”

Harry’s voice was brash and his movements were jerky, full of the restlessness of a caged animal. Everyone in the room was silent for a few moments, as though he had just addressed the massive pink elephant in the room and none of them were really willing to accept it.

Perhaps none of them had every really believed that it would all come down to Harry in the end. Perhaps even Remus still had some kind of fleeting hope that Harry would be spared the final battle and Voldemort would just die of old age.

Harry, I think, was the only one apart from myself who was fully aware that this was not the case. But honestly, what could anyone expect from a massive group of Gryffindors?

They didn’t want to believe that the fate of the world rested in the hands of a hormonal seventeen year old who had not yet lived his life… who still knew so little of the wizarding world and hadn’t even come into his powers yet. A child, in many ways… how could they really expect him to be their end all, be all?

I guess I just knew better than that. This wasn’t Harry’s war alone. I didn’t want to believe it was mine. I know I’ve said that in the past… this is not my war… but it is.

This is everyone’s war… Harry’s only the Leader… not the army in its entirety.

I got to my feet briskly and stood next to the raging beast that was my… lover? Boyfriend?

Harry.

“He’s right,” I said plainly. “We need to go see Shacklebolt. But I do understand your worries about the dangers, Remus. Which is why I think that only Harry and I should go.”

Some strange noises came from around me at that moment. Some were scoffs and angry disapproval, some were whimpers and one was a definite derisive snort. Remus looked at me thoughtfully.

“Draco, Harry,” he told us. “You two are the ones who are most wanted by the Death-Eaters.”

“That’s exactly why we should be the ones to go,” I told him determinately. “What use would it serve if we sent only the others and stayed here, hiding in the broom cupboard? It would only show the Death-Eaters that we are afraid, which we can no longer be, as well as give them the perfect opportunity to kidnap someone else and use them against us.” I stood closer to Harry and stared straight into Remus’ eyes. “If we meet Voldemort or his followers it should be on our own terms, not theirs, and with as much preparation as possible. We’ll never be ready if we stick around here.”

Harry looked at me and beamed but the others in the room did not seem so pleased. I heard laughter from behind me.

“I can’t believe this,” the She-Weasel’s voice broke the silence with a harsh ring. “You are all just sitting there lapping up the shite he’s feeding you! He could just be trying to lure Harry out so that his Death-Eater pals can come and scoop him up without problem?” She wheeled on me as I gave her a decidedly bored look. “I know everyone else here trusts you like a bloody fool, but I’m not so easy! You haven’t proven anything to me and I’ve known you to be a great actor, Malfoy. This could all be an elaborate show to help your bloody Master!”

I snarled at her and my eyes turned cold and empty but before I could talk some soft squeak came out of nowhere.

“Leave him alone, Ginny,” Longbottom’s voice hovered on the air as he tried to muster up the courage to speak up. I don’t think anyone was expecting that. “Malfoy has been a great prat to everyone in this room, most of all me probably.” I blinked, trying to understand how this would help. “But he’s right. If there is anything I’ve learned from my parents it’s that you can’t spend all your life hiding. You’ll waste it and never accomplish anything. You’ve got to use every moment you have otherwise you’ll go… you’ll go mad!” His face turned an odd shade of purple as he spoke and shook simultaneously. “I will do everything I can to help Harry, no matter what that means and I know that Malfoy is going to do the same. I don’t expect you to understand. You still have both your parents.”

I somehow let my jaw drop slightly at the words the little lump had spoken. He was purple and red and flushing with embarrassment and guilt and some form of determination. Harry was gazing at him in shock as well and the She-Weasel backed down, looking guilty and uncomfortable.

“Neville,” she began, unsure of what to say. “I… but you can’t know that, Neville! He’s just a charming devil, you can’t trust him.”

“Don’t treat me as if I’m stupid, Ginny,” he said, standing taller than I’ve ever seen him. “I can make my own opinions about people and analyze them however I like. I’ve been taunted and bullied for long enough to know when someone is being genuine.”

He was still shaking like a leaf but his face was set, despite the obvious discomfort and immediate concern that wrote itself in bright lines across his face. Everyone was silent.

“No one thinks you’re stupid, Neville,” the She-Weasel responded sheepishly.

I hate awkward moments.

“Well,” I began, giving Longbottom an accepting look. “Shacklebolt cannot wait all day. I think Harry and I should get going. Granger, perhaps while we’re gone you might explain to them about the..er..”

“The Horcruxes,” Harry finished for me, giving his consent. She nodded silently and Harry and I walked out with Lupin who was looking quite thoughtful.

“You’ll both need to stay under the Invisibility Cloak,” he told us, handing it to Harry. I tilted my head strangely. Did he have it with him all along?

Remus gave me a knowing smile before Harry held the cloak open for both of us.

“Apparate to the waiting room and tug on my sleeve three times when you get there,” I ordered. “I’ll take you both to his room.”

We both nodded and Harry whipped the cloak around us both. I had to stand very close to him so that it covered both our feet, as I happen to be much taller than he is. Well not a great deal, but enough to make it lift at my ankles.

Harry wrapped his arms around me and pressed a kiss to my lips briefly before smiling at me.

“Thank you,” he whispered. Then I felt the familiar tug of Apparition as we popped out of Grimmauld Place and into the waiting area of St. Mungo’s. I had been here several times before and never liked any part of the place. I just don’t like hospitals… too stark and sterile… they reeked of death and decay despite that it was a place of healing. Perhaps it was a psychological thing.

Harry and I stepped forwards and tugged at Remus’ sleeve three times before he nodded to no one and began walking. We tread as lightly as possible as we tried desperately to keep up with him without losing the cloak or revealing any part of ourselves.

He stopped at a door with a brass number ‘777’ on the front, knocked four times and then pushed into the room without hesitation. Tonks and Moody, along with another wizard (Mundungus Fletcher?.... I met him briefly months ago… was that him?) and Professor McGonagall. They looked gravely down at the motionless body of their fallen partner and friend.

His face was bloodied and his lips were puffy. His eyes were shut but surely moving beneath his eyelids as they twitched. He wore nothing but a hospital gown underneath the thin sheets of the bed and his arms were heavily bandaged, lying along his sides.

“Remus,” Tonks said, her face brightening very slightly at the sight of him. “Have you told them?”

“Yes,” Remus answered. “And the lion and the dragon have disappeared at seven past seven.”

Harry and I blinked until we saw the others nod in agreement and their gaze flitted behind Remus to where we stood, invisible, before looking back at the comatose Auror.

Apparently, Remus had known all along that Harry and I were going to come… alone.

That man needs to start elaborating on things… How much more does he know that he doesn’t let on?

“Anything changed?” Remus asked on our behalf. “No improvement in his condition?”

“I’m afraid there is little news,” McGonagall responded. “The Medi-witch came in earlier to have a look over him but found nothing conclusive. They do know that he was heavily confounded before he was released.”

Harry opened his mouth to say something but I immediately clapped my hand to his face to stop him from talking. Even if they knew we were here it was unsafe for us to reveal ourselves and speaking was a DEFINITE way of revealing ourselves.

“Released?” Remus asked as though reading Harry’s mind. Perhaps he was.

“Yes,” Tonks continued. “They said that the wounds he sustained were not consistent with an escape. He should have been much too weak after the torture they inflicted. There is no way he could have walked or run, let alone Apparated anywhere for a long while.”

“But then, if he was released, how did he get to the orphanage?” Remus continued asking as though Harry had somehow possessed him and was only using him as a puppet. The thought of that rather frightened me.

“We believe that he was brought there,” McGonagall said. “That is to say, deliberately placed at that scene for some reason.”

There was some silence after this. No one really knew what to ask or say to that, though I kept my hand firmly placed over Harry’s mouth, sensing that he would not hesitate to open it if I let go. His hand was gripping my arm rather painfully but I ignored it.

“Oh there’s something else,” Moody’s gruff voice added. “He’s been having fitful moments in his sleep… crying out certain things that might be of interest.”

“Such as?” Lupin asked. Harry urged me closer to make sure we heard every word. Moody’s blue eye landed on us.

“He keeps on screaming things,” Tonks said, staring into Shacklebolt’s face. “like “Traitor! You traitor! Your true colours revealed at last!” and the like. Occasionally he’ll whimper and start begging for this person not to leave him alone… begging for help.”

“Kingsley did not beg,” Moody shot gruffly. “Not to Death-Eaters.”

The quiet fell around us all again as we all considered the possible meanings of those words.

“There is something I just don’t understand,” Tonks admitted, shaking her head. “Why didn’t they just kill him? Or suck out his soul? Voldemort has never allowed his victims to go free before… why let an Auror and part of the Order of the Phoenix go free while still in moderately good health? His mind isn’t gone and he’ll recover from this…”

Without cue to do so, Harry and I looked into each other’s eyes in understanding. There were far too many loose ends and open ended questions to be answered here… too many coincidences, too many seemingly random events that needed some kind of link.

And we were running out of time.

Harry stepped forward and tugged on Lupin’s sleeve three times again, hoping he would understand the signal that we needed to go.

Remus nodded to no one again and bid them all farewell. He turned to us both and nodded once more in indication that we should leave.

Harry gripped me tightly again and we Apparated out of the hospital and back into Grimmauld Place. He pulled the cloak off of us and before I even had a moment to regain my footing he blurted it right out.

“This has got to be Snape,” he stated matter-of-factly. “There is no one else. It has to be him!”

“There are plenty of other people,” I began, but never got to finish.

“No, this has to be him!” he defended angrily. “Who else would Shacklebolt actually beg to? He wouldn’t beg to just any Death-Eater, you heard Moody! And who else does he have to claim is actually a traitor? “True colours revealed”?? Snape! It has to be Snape!” He began to pace around me in the cramped hallway. “Snape knows about the Horcruxes, he knows about what happened that night in the tower. He knows that you were supposed to kill Dumbledore and that you are now with the Order. He probably knows Voldemort better than anyone else by now, it all fits! He could have been the one that sent that tip in to the Daily Prophet and brought Shacklebolt to the Orphanage! He could have confounded him to lead us there!”

“Why would he want to lead us there?” I asked, rather annoyed now. I hate being interrupted.

“It must be a trap!” Harry said triumphantly. “I can’t think of a better place for the last Horcrux to be, so perhaps Voldemort knew we’d figure it out and sent Snape and his other followers to wait for us there. He knows that once we found Shacklebolt we wouldn’t wait to go back there, so they must be waiting to ambush us!”

I cocked an eyebrow at his logic. He seemed to jump to conclusions awfully quick when there were so many variables still floating around in the air.

“So what do you propose we do?” I drawled. He frowned.

“We wait,” he said with determination. I couldn’t believe it. Harry Potter wanted to WAIT? Apparently my surprise showed on my face because he continued. “He must be expecting us to barge right in as soon as we found Shacklebolt… so we wait a while… wait until he thinks we aren’t going to come at all and has to resort to other plans.”

“Do the unexpected?” I asked tentatively. Potter was, still in his spontaneity, so predictable to me.

“Well, er… yeah,” he said, flushing very soft pink.

“What’s to stop him from just removing the Horcrux?” I asked, wondering how it was that we were still alone in the hallway.

“Well, just like you said us hiding from him would make us seem scared,” Harry explained coolly. “If he were to remove Hufflepuff’s cup from it’s place, he would appear to be afraid of me. He might come off as being worried and I know that no matter what Voldemort still underestimates me. He refuses to believe that I can actually destroy all his Horcruxes. So he won’t mind leaving it there. He’s still so fucking cocky.”

That… was probably true. I know little about Voldemort’s character from my meeting alone, but Father spoke of him often and even in his praising words the Dark Lord came off as being far too arrogant for his own good. I suppose that worked out to our advantage, mind you.

“Then I suppose we wait,” I whispered, leaning forwards to kiss Harry. He tilted his head up to catch my lips but just before we touched we were interrupted.

“You’re back already?” the She-Weasel’s voice punctured the silence. I stiffened and stood up straight again.

“Yeah,” Harry answered, slightly subdued.

He gave me an apologetic look before walking down the hall to where everyone else was still sitting. I groaned inwardly and rolled my eyes, following him back to the room full of his friends.

Apparently, Granger had done a wonderful job of explaining the Horcrux situation to the other three as they were all adequately awed and worried when we returned. Harry made short time of recounting what we’d learned about Shacklebolt’s condition and re-explained his theory about Voldemort and Snape to the rest.

Even after hearing it twice, something didn’t ring quite true. There was something unusual about the whole matter that kept gnawing at the back of my mind, urging me to take apart the theory and piece it back together in a more appropriate order… but I couldn’t think of how.

“Harry,” Granger began slowly. “But why would Snape or Voldemort want to draw direct attention to where the Horcrux actually is? If an ambush were the plan, wouldn’t they choose another location? All are equally as likely at this point, aren’t they? Why risk it?”

Harry just seemed frustrated by the need to continue explaining himself. He fisted his hair and stared at the ground beneath his feet.

“I suppose we can’t know anything for sure,” the She-Weasel said rather sagely. “There’s no telling why or how Voldemort’s mind really works… but it’s the best lead we’ve got so far.”

I shifted uncomfortably, chewing out my words before I said them.

“There is another possibility,” I admitted carefully. I’ve never been intimidated to speak in front of anyone… but at that moment I was painfully aware of everyone’s eyes as they shifted to me. Harry seemed more surprised than anyone.

“And you say this NOW?” he snapped. I didn’t react much to his anger and he looked away and took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

“Never tickle a sleeping dragon,” I said sharply. “But it’s worse if you taunt an enraged lion.”

He bit his tongue and shifted awkwardly. I looked away from him.

“What is the other possibility?” Granger asked, eagerly looking for a solution.

“Snape tipped off the Prophet, released Shacklebolt and placed him at the scene of the last Horcrux,” I explained. “To help us.”

“What?!” Harry snapped immediately. “How could ANY of that actually HELP US?”

I flared my nostrils and took a deep and calculated breath.

“By tipping off the Prophet he was warning me that I needed to be more careful,” I recounted my thoughts slowly. “Any average Death-Eater wouldn’t even have bothered to tip off the Prophet, let alone leave you out of the headline, they would just have killed us both on the spot.” I took a moment. “Then, if you look at the matter, Tonks was right. Why should Voldemort have let Shacklebolt go without any serious and lasting damage? He’s still got his mind, he’s still going to have his health, his magic, his life. That is unlike them. If Snape was the one he was referring to, then perhaps Snape was the one to release him and brought him ALONE to the Orphanage. Shacklebolt might have begged him thinking that Snape really was on our side finally until he left him there. In doing that, not only would Snape have saved Shacklebolt’s life, but he would have led us straight to the final Horcrux we need.”

And there came that uncomfortable silence again as everyone tried to think along my train of thought and see if the pieces really did fit as perfectly together as they seemed to do.

“Draco… you might be right,” Granger admitted. She called me Draco.

“This is mental,” Harry muttered. “This is MAD! Why should Snape try to help us?! He KILLED DUMBLEDORE!”

“He did what I couldn’t and refused to do!” I cried back. “He killed Dumbledore because he made an Unbreakable Vow with my mother to protect me and finish my task if I couldn’t! Even you admitted that his intentions might not have been what they seemed!”

“Then I was mad at the time!” Harry screamed back. We were both standing now, facing off between everyone else.

“Look, I have no more reason to trust Snape than you do,” I conceded to him. “He locked me in a room and treated me worse than a prisoner. He killed the first person who ever offered me help and believed in me; I know this! But the evidence we have just doesn’t stack up any other way!”

Harry was seething and I could practically feel the floor melting beneath his feet. I felt rage course through me too as I took Harry’s anger head on and fought back.

Of all the things that I had ever considered us having a row about, Snape was NOT one of them. I never thought, that after sixth year, I would ever be trying to defend the greasy bastard… but here I am.

“You can’t have forgiven him,” Harry finally said, as though he was trying to convince himself. His face had softened from the boiling anger to some wounded disbelief.

“I haven’t forgiven him,” I told him. “But I haven’t forgiven myself either… doesn’t mean I can’t try to do something right anyway.”

Harry sighed heavily and dropped himself down onto the sofa again. He held his head in his hands, leaning on his knees.

“I still want to wait,” he muttered. I know that he hasn’t fully accepted my theory…but it was still only a theory. A possibility floating among a myriad of others. He just needed to accept that it was there too.

“Good,” I told him more calmly. “Because we still have a lot of preparing to do regardless of whether Snape is good or evil.”

“We should probably go and get some rest,” Granger suggested quietly. I had forgotten that anyone else was there.

“Yeah,” Weasley agreed. “Come on.”

Everyone else got to their feet, bid us goodnight and left the room, leaving Harry and I alone to brood in our sudden discomfort.

I sat down beside him, my leg brushing against his. He looked up and sighed heavily again.

“No one has ever challenged me like you do,” he told me quietly. “They might try to point out possibilities that oppose my theories, but never like that… and I would never really listen.” I didn’t say anything. What was there to say? “I don’t think anyone has ever fought me on something like you just did… Snape might have come close… but never in a way that made me want to believe it.”

“What does that mean?” I asked with no particular tone. He turned to me. His eyes were a turbulent green like the oceans during a hurricane.

“I think you’re the only one,” he whispered. “that has ever figured out how to get through to me when I’m like that.” I couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at my lips. “It’s bloody annoying.”

“So you believe me?” I asked smugly. He pursed his lips.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” he shot with a hint of amusement. “You’re still not that good… not enough to make Snape seem like a good guy. But I suppose you have some valid points.”

I rolled my eyes and chuckled softly, wrapping my arm around him to pull him over to me. He knocked my arm off and turned to pull me instead, grabbing at my shirt to yank me into a rough kiss.

His lips forced my mouth open and within moments his tongue was sliding smoothly against mine. Harry slowly pushed me back down onto the sofa, leaning over me and letting his strong hands wind around me. I slid my hands down to his waist and pulled him closer so that our hips pressed hard together.

Harry pulled my tongue into his mouth and bit down lightly as his fingers traveled steadily downwards along my back. I was hard and rubbing up against him I knew that he was too. I smirked and slid my own hand down his spine groping at his arse to push him more forcefully against me.

Meanwhile, Harry’s hand had found its way beneath the waist of my trousers and was dangerously close to somewhere he was not yet allowed to go.

My hand snapped around and grasped his wrist roughly, pulling him away. I broke from the kiss with a smirk and shook my head gently.

“No no, Potter,” I warned. “You haven’t won our little wager just yet.”

“Come on,” he whined, pouting his lips seductively. “You and I both know that I’m going to anyway.”

I laughed dryly and leaned back up into him.

“I am no bottom, Scarhead,” I told him firmly but coyly.

That and he doesn’t know how determined I am to turn the Weasel-Slut into the rodent that she is.

“You will be,” he challenged, trying to push me back down. I grabbed his arm and spun him around so that I could press my erection against him from behind.

“Not tonight,” I hissed, leaning over him as I ground my hips into him.

My hands dropped down to unfasten his trousers and I tugged them down just enough to allow me access to what it was I wanted. He moaned loudly and I kissed a blazing trail along his shoulders as I undid my own trousers and pulled out my hard shaft.

I didn’t wait long. I pulled the bottle Harry had given me out of my pocket (I had been carrying it around all day hoping…) and coated my fingers. Without giving him much warning, I slid two fingers in and began to stretch him.

“Ah, fuck!” Harry cried out in shock as I scissored my fingers and then promptly added a third. He arched his head back and I planted hot, wet kissed on his earlobe.

“As you wish,” I answered huskily, removing my fingers to coat my erection. Then without much ado I positioned myself and slid in deep and fast. He gasped out and tensed for a moment at the sudden breach before relaxing again.

I rocked hard into him, pushing and pulling fast. Leaning over him I sucked on the soft flesh near his neck, bringing my hand around to wrap around his length.

“Yes, Draco, fuck!” Harry groaned in pleasure. My eyes snapped up to the open door and I clapped my hand to his mouth for the second time that day, forcing his words down so that we wouldn’t wake anyone.

He moaned into my fingers as I moved faster and faster, forcing harder and feeling a familiar tingling sensation grow in my body.

“Yes, Harry,” I whispered breathily as I pumped his shaft in time with my thrusts.

It didn’t take long. Suddenly I felt Harry shudder and moan into my hand as my other was covered in sticky fluid. I bit down on his shoulder as I hit my own orgasm and shook, spilling out into him.

We sat there panting and trying to catch our breath for a few moments. I pulled my hand away from his face and cast quick cleaning charms on the both of us after I pulled out. He turned around, pulling up his trousers, and gave me a slow and sensual kiss.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, I guess,” he whispered with a satisfied smirk. “But next time you’ll be mine.”

I laughed.

“You wish.”

-------IIIIIIII-------

A/N: Wow ok, more smut. And some angsty fighting there… but also MAKE UP SEX. It’s fast and hot.

I also felt that it’s about damn time Neville started standing up for not only himself but others. I know he got better at that in the books (a bit) but as Dumbledore said in the first one, it’s hardest to stand up to your friends. I feel that Neville standing up to Ginny in defense of Malfoy, no less, is a good show of how he is growing. You didn’t get to see much of how he has evolved because he hasn’t been in the fic much, but I feel that his last year at Hogwarts, surviving through the werewolf/Dementor attack, his Gran’s death, as well as experiencing Occlumency practices with Draco has given him a lot of what he needs. He’s still the same scared little boy, but Neville is a hero in his own right. He always will be to me… poor kid.

And Ginny needed to be told off by him more than anyone because I think it put some things into perspective for her. Everyone else she likely sees as an equal but to have Neville (who hates and fears Draco) stand up for him shows how irrational she was being.

Yeah. I dunno. Hope you like it anyway X_X

OH YEAH. I forgot to answer this before: the reason Luna survived the attack on Hogwarts but Cho and Pansy did not was simple. Luna is much more powerful than she seems (not nearly as powerful as Harry or Draco… or most of them) but she was certainly more powerful than Cho (who was really rather pitiful at the Patronus charm, among other things). And as for Pansy, she went up against a werewolf. And she’s not the brightest bulb in the box. Not saying she was stupid or weak, but there are many full grown and fully trained wizards would couldn’t take on a werewolf. Look at Bill. Poor guy.

Anyway, Luna I think needs more credit than she is given… she’s a little crazy and out there, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t strong. :) I hope she gets her due credit in the actual books as well as Neville.

ANYWHO, yeah. I’m trying to progress quickly as the suspense and action are rising fast. I hope it doesn’t seem too rushed!

I really really hope you enjoy this! And I hope you’re all still teetering on your opinions about Snape. Is he good or is he evil? Or is he really just working for himself in the grand scheme of things?

Who knows?

Well, he does, but that’s not the point.

And what else is afoot?

Teehee. Not telling. Not yet.

LOVE AND SWEETS TO EVERYONE! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH ME THIS WHOLE TIME! It’s honestly insane that this is as long as it is hahaha.

GASP 666 REVIEWS IN TOTAL O_O Wow… that’s some kind of ill-fated omen. GOD I HOPE NOT!