HP: Alliances 1
Blame it on the inbreeding. Pureblood families marry pureblood families and eventually everyone ends up similar. Wizards love gossip. Any gossip. All wizards, right from the Minister of Magic to the dustmen love gossip. And the more tragic it is the better received it becomes. Salacious or heartbreaking stories always get more space in the paper than real news. New laws and foreign policy are pushed to the side in favor of a story about the foreign minister's mistress' baby.
The News that the Dementors had defected was shocking enough to get on the front page of the Daily Prophet. But below that was the article that no one could stop talking about. A picture of a stunning young man was positioned next to an editorial. The piece told a far more personal tale about the Azkaban break out than the essay above it had. The handsome young man's father had been a Death Eater. When the man broke out of prison he had learned that his son was helping the side of the light. In a rage, the man had beaten his son into a coma. Draco Malfoy smiled, forlornly beautiful on the front page. Every mother's heart broke, every girl harbored fantasies of comforting the angel, and every father wanted to kill the man that could do such a thing to his own son.
The newspapers and magazines followed each development in the boy's health. Now he was out of the coma. Today he spoke for the first time. "Draco Walks!" was in bold type on the cover. It only took him a week to fully recover, it was a miracle. The fact that he was returning to Hogwarts for his seventh year shocked no one. If anyone could take care of the lad it had to be Albus Dumbledore. Draco was being held in Saint Mungo's until the term started.
The hospital did manage to keep one secret from the press.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry was miserable. He always hated being out of the loop during the summers. Draco had written to him everyday for the first two weeks. Letters that were filled with news of the world and of the war and personal thoughts came to him every night before he went to sleep. But then they stopped and it almost seemed like a sick joke. He had gotten a subscription to the Prophet, against his better judgment, so that he would have some idea of what was happening. Even if that idea was warped and misrepresented to him. He was forced to read about current events in the same paper that had once accused him of being and insane, drama queen killer. But while he got the paper he had his finger on the pulse, and it scared him. He was scared and Draco wasn't there to make fun of his cowardice and call him a wuss.
Ron wrote to him to gloat. He said Draco had "gotten his". It didn't matter, Ron said, that Draco had changed sides because he was still a right bastard. And, Ron added, it was a pity that the blond had woken up from his coma. Flames had erupted out of Harry's finger's as he held each new letter from his supposed best friend. Since he had started at Hogwarts he had never lost control and used magic unwittingly. But in the face of shock and horror he reverted back into being an untrained wizard. The Dursley's had cheered when they saw the letter from the ministry. They thought he was going to get kicked out of the freak school. Vernon had read over his nephew's shoulder and had been deeply disappointed at what he read.
"Dear Mr. Potter,
During these trying times we respectfully ask you to try and control your magic. We understand that under the mitigating circumstances allowances must be made. This summer, and indeed the last year, has been extremely taxing. But, none the less, we want you to follow the laws.
The Ministry of Magic"
Vernon shook with anger. If the boy was kicked out there would be a valid reason to kick him out onto the streets. "'Mitigating circumstances'? What are they talking about, boy? I thought you were out on your arse if you did any more funny stuff."
"I'm the only one who can kill the most powerful dark wizard to walk the earth." Harry spoke without any fear, or indeed any emotion at all. His eyes just stared blankly at the note. The fingers holding the parchment kept sparking and a low whining noise seemed to originate from beneath his finger nails. "My friend was in a coma and I still don't know how he is," he swallowed hard, "and I'm forced to be here, away from everything I know. They need to keep me sweet so that when the time comes I will die for their cause. Until then I can do whatever I want." Slowly he rose his head and looked directly into his uncle's eyes. The large man recoiled at the sight of the suddenly blue eyes were green should have been.
There was only a week left before school was to start. In the morning paper Harry had read that Draco was going back to school a week early. The article didn't say anything about his state. And no letter had arrived. Harry was deeply afraid. Draco had been out of the coma for a whole week yet the boy hadn't written him once. He had been unconscious for two weeks in which time Harry had written him four dozen letters. Of course the boy never sent them. Maybe Draco was trying to get his thoughts together. Maybe the boy wasn't able to put what he was thinking down on paper. Maybe he didn't give a damn about whether or not Harry knew he was okay or dead, maybe he just didn't care.
He turned away from his uncle and started to walk up the stairs when he heard a small pop behind him. Vernon let out a very manly shriek. Smirking, Blaise Zabini said softly, "Sorry. Didn't mean to shock anyone." Harry turned around at the sound of the erudite young man. A slow smile stretched across Blaise's mouth. "You look thin, Potter." The smile didn't meet his worried eyes.
For one mad moment Harry considered hugging the Slytherin but thought it might be a bad idea. "Is he ok?"
"He's fine, Harry." It was odd. In their sixth year Blaise had usurped Ron's place as Harry's best friend.
Upon figuring it all out he had cornered Harry in an empty corridor. Harry had expected the boy to beat him up. Instead the boy had just stood silent for a moment before telling Harry that it was "about damn time". He had threatened to kill Harry should he do anything to hurt Draco. He was the only student in the school who knew about them. It didn't take long for Harry to realize why Draco liked the quiet boy so much. The superficially silent lad was an angry, funny, and sarcastic bastard behind closed doors. When Crabbe tripped a first year Hufflepuff Blaise had helped her pick up her stuff. He, a Slytherin, got down on his knees in front of three fourths of the school to help a Hufflepuff. She looked as if she might cry, embarrassed that her entire house had seen her fall during her first week there. Blaise had whispered things to her as he collected her papers and when she stood she had a smile on her face and laughed when she saw Crabbe still standing there. As they had walked away Blaise just shook his head and rolled his eyes at Cabbe and walked past him unconcerned. Blaise would kill for the people he considered his, but he would never enjoy it. Somewhere along the line Harry had somehow fallen into the boy's protection.
When Harry had faced Voldemort twice the year before he had Blaise and Draco covering his back. They were the only two to live through these little excursions Hermione, Cho, and Ginny had died. Ron had been in the hospital wing for both fights, he felt Draco had failed to protect his sister. He felt that Draco was playing them. Dumbledore had promoted this idea, the whole school thought that Draco was a spy for Voldemort and considered Dumbledore as stupid for trusting him. This notion kept Draco safe from his housemates. The things that Ron said about Draco had made Harry so angry. Late at night he held Draco when while the blond cried over the girl. Draco could not be convinced that her death wasn't his fault. He should have been watching her more closely. He should have kept her behind him. He should have convinced Harry not to let her come, it didn't matter that she was good, she was still only fifteen. And when he heard Ron's hatful words he itched to hex the nose off of the red head's face. He knew that his friend would never, ever accept his lover. Meanwhile Blaise was helping Harry in taking care of Draco, acting as a voice of reason. Because of his status as "childhood friend" Blaise was more apt to get through to Draco than Harry was. At times Blaise would just grab Harry's arm and pull him into a closet to give the boy who lived an update on Draco's psyche. He was kind and never raised his voice towards Harry's already upset lover.
And now the boy was standing at the foot of the stairs looking at Harry with compassionate eyes. "Fine means fuck all to me, Blay." He saw Blaise flinch. "Please, what's happening."
The other wizard shot a meaningful look at Vernon and then before he could say anything Dudley walked in from the kitchen. Looking at Harry he snickered, "What happen your boyfriend die or something?"
"No and he isn't going to," Blaise said in his frank and annoyed way, "He's fine."
He had unwittingly just outed Harry to his bigoted family but at this point Harry didn't care and barely noticed. He was still trying to figure out what was going on. Unconsciously he let Blaise to start driving him up the stairway. "I did *not* raise a poof," said an angry voice.
Sighing Blaise gave Harry a small push and said, "Pack, we're leaving." With a slight nod Harry walked up the stairs. He would let Blaise fight this one for him. Turning back to Vernon the Slytherin said, "I believe you're right. From all the little things I've gleaned over time I'm inclined to believe that. You didn't raise him. He dragged himself up." He turned and walked to Harry's room. "What a complete and total prat. So I heard you burned a muggle to death and were expelled."
"I fucking hate the rumor mill." Harry's voice was filled with venom. "I set a piece of paper on fire. And then they sent me this load of polite crap." He handed the note to Blaise, "How did you know, it only happened like five minutes ago?"
"Rumor mill. This is crap. 'Stop or we will ask you to stop again'."
"You apparated. That's illegal. How did you get away with it?" asked Harry suddenly confused, Blaise was too young to apparate.
"I'm on official business for Dumbledore, he got clearance. He asked for me to bring you back., Draco is at the castle."
"I know, I read in the paper. I missed you." Blaise hadn't written in a week. "But we've all been busy, have you spoken to Co? Is he ok?"
Blaise smiled at the pet name that slipped off of Harry's tongue. He remembered Draco making fun of the boy for it ("Co, you're calling me Co now?"). "Harry, maybe you should sit down."
Harry just shook his head. "I hate it when you do this, just tell me, don't prep me for the blow."
This was bad, Blaise didn't want to burst his friend's bubble. Harry should have been allowed to bask in the knowledge that his lover was safe but instead he was going to get smashed into a wall. There was no way to put it off any longer. "The newspapers missed out one important detail."
next
Blame it on the inbreeding. Pureblood families marry pureblood families and eventually everyone ends up similar. Wizards love gossip. Any gossip. All wizards, right from the Minister of Magic to the dustmen love gossip. And the more tragic it is the better received it becomes. Salacious or heartbreaking stories always get more space in the paper than real news. New laws and foreign policy are pushed to the side in favor of a story about the foreign minister's mistress' baby.
The News that the Dementors had defected was shocking enough to get on the front page of the Daily Prophet. But below that was the article that no one could stop talking about. A picture of a stunning young man was positioned next to an editorial. The piece told a far more personal tale about the Azkaban break out than the essay above it had. The handsome young man's father had been a Death Eater. When the man broke out of prison he had learned that his son was helping the side of the light. In a rage, the man had beaten his son into a coma. Draco Malfoy smiled, forlornly beautiful on the front page. Every mother's heart broke, every girl harbored fantasies of comforting the angel, and every father wanted to kill the man that could do such a thing to his own son.
The newspapers and magazines followed each development in the boy's health. Now he was out of the coma. Today he spoke for the first time. "Draco Walks!" was in bold type on the cover. It only took him a week to fully recover, it was a miracle. The fact that he was returning to Hogwarts for his seventh year shocked no one. If anyone could take care of the lad it had to be Albus Dumbledore. Draco was being held in Saint Mungo's until the term started.
The hospital did manage to keep one secret from the press.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry was miserable. He always hated being out of the loop during the summers. Draco had written to him everyday for the first two weeks. Letters that were filled with news of the world and of the war and personal thoughts came to him every night before he went to sleep. But then they stopped and it almost seemed like a sick joke. He had gotten a subscription to the Prophet, against his better judgment, so that he would have some idea of what was happening. Even if that idea was warped and misrepresented to him. He was forced to read about current events in the same paper that had once accused him of being and insane, drama queen killer. But while he got the paper he had his finger on the pulse, and it scared him. He was scared and Draco wasn't there to make fun of his cowardice and call him a wuss.
Ron wrote to him to gloat. He said Draco had "gotten his". It didn't matter, Ron said, that Draco had changed sides because he was still a right bastard. And, Ron added, it was a pity that the blond had woken up from his coma. Flames had erupted out of Harry's finger's as he held each new letter from his supposed best friend. Since he had started at Hogwarts he had never lost control and used magic unwittingly. But in the face of shock and horror he reverted back into being an untrained wizard. The Dursley's had cheered when they saw the letter from the ministry. They thought he was going to get kicked out of the freak school. Vernon had read over his nephew's shoulder and had been deeply disappointed at what he read.
"Dear Mr. Potter,
During these trying times we respectfully ask you to try and control your magic. We understand that under the mitigating circumstances allowances must be made. This summer, and indeed the last year, has been extremely taxing. But, none the less, we want you to follow the laws.
The Ministry of Magic"
Vernon shook with anger. If the boy was kicked out there would be a valid reason to kick him out onto the streets. "'Mitigating circumstances'? What are they talking about, boy? I thought you were out on your arse if you did any more funny stuff."
"I'm the only one who can kill the most powerful dark wizard to walk the earth." Harry spoke without any fear, or indeed any emotion at all. His eyes just stared blankly at the note. The fingers holding the parchment kept sparking and a low whining noise seemed to originate from beneath his finger nails. "My friend was in a coma and I still don't know how he is," he swallowed hard, "and I'm forced to be here, away from everything I know. They need to keep me sweet so that when the time comes I will die for their cause. Until then I can do whatever I want." Slowly he rose his head and looked directly into his uncle's eyes. The large man recoiled at the sight of the suddenly blue eyes were green should have been.
There was only a week left before school was to start. In the morning paper Harry had read that Draco was going back to school a week early. The article didn't say anything about his state. And no letter had arrived. Harry was deeply afraid. Draco had been out of the coma for a whole week yet the boy hadn't written him once. He had been unconscious for two weeks in which time Harry had written him four dozen letters. Of course the boy never sent them. Maybe Draco was trying to get his thoughts together. Maybe the boy wasn't able to put what he was thinking down on paper. Maybe he didn't give a damn about whether or not Harry knew he was okay or dead, maybe he just didn't care.
He turned away from his uncle and started to walk up the stairs when he heard a small pop behind him. Vernon let out a very manly shriek. Smirking, Blaise Zabini said softly, "Sorry. Didn't mean to shock anyone." Harry turned around at the sound of the erudite young man. A slow smile stretched across Blaise's mouth. "You look thin, Potter." The smile didn't meet his worried eyes.
For one mad moment Harry considered hugging the Slytherin but thought it might be a bad idea. "Is he ok?"
"He's fine, Harry." It was odd. In their sixth year Blaise had usurped Ron's place as Harry's best friend.
Upon figuring it all out he had cornered Harry in an empty corridor. Harry had expected the boy to beat him up. Instead the boy had just stood silent for a moment before telling Harry that it was "about damn time". He had threatened to kill Harry should he do anything to hurt Draco. He was the only student in the school who knew about them. It didn't take long for Harry to realize why Draco liked the quiet boy so much. The superficially silent lad was an angry, funny, and sarcastic bastard behind closed doors. When Crabbe tripped a first year Hufflepuff Blaise had helped her pick up her stuff. He, a Slytherin, got down on his knees in front of three fourths of the school to help a Hufflepuff. She looked as if she might cry, embarrassed that her entire house had seen her fall during her first week there. Blaise had whispered things to her as he collected her papers and when she stood she had a smile on her face and laughed when she saw Crabbe still standing there. As they had walked away Blaise just shook his head and rolled his eyes at Cabbe and walked past him unconcerned. Blaise would kill for the people he considered his, but he would never enjoy it. Somewhere along the line Harry had somehow fallen into the boy's protection.
When Harry had faced Voldemort twice the year before he had Blaise and Draco covering his back. They were the only two to live through these little excursions Hermione, Cho, and Ginny had died. Ron had been in the hospital wing for both fights, he felt Draco had failed to protect his sister. He felt that Draco was playing them. Dumbledore had promoted this idea, the whole school thought that Draco was a spy for Voldemort and considered Dumbledore as stupid for trusting him. This notion kept Draco safe from his housemates. The things that Ron said about Draco had made Harry so angry. Late at night he held Draco when while the blond cried over the girl. Draco could not be convinced that her death wasn't his fault. He should have been watching her more closely. He should have kept her behind him. He should have convinced Harry not to let her come, it didn't matter that she was good, she was still only fifteen. And when he heard Ron's hatful words he itched to hex the nose off of the red head's face. He knew that his friend would never, ever accept his lover. Meanwhile Blaise was helping Harry in taking care of Draco, acting as a voice of reason. Because of his status as "childhood friend" Blaise was more apt to get through to Draco than Harry was. At times Blaise would just grab Harry's arm and pull him into a closet to give the boy who lived an update on Draco's psyche. He was kind and never raised his voice towards Harry's already upset lover.
And now the boy was standing at the foot of the stairs looking at Harry with compassionate eyes. "Fine means fuck all to me, Blay." He saw Blaise flinch. "Please, what's happening."
The other wizard shot a meaningful look at Vernon and then before he could say anything Dudley walked in from the kitchen. Looking at Harry he snickered, "What happen your boyfriend die or something?"
"No and he isn't going to," Blaise said in his frank and annoyed way, "He's fine."
He had unwittingly just outed Harry to his bigoted family but at this point Harry didn't care and barely noticed. He was still trying to figure out what was going on. Unconsciously he let Blaise to start driving him up the stairway. "I did *not* raise a poof," said an angry voice.
Sighing Blaise gave Harry a small push and said, "Pack, we're leaving." With a slight nod Harry walked up the stairs. He would let Blaise fight this one for him. Turning back to Vernon the Slytherin said, "I believe you're right. From all the little things I've gleaned over time I'm inclined to believe that. You didn't raise him. He dragged himself up." He turned and walked to Harry's room. "What a complete and total prat. So I heard you burned a muggle to death and were expelled."
"I fucking hate the rumor mill." Harry's voice was filled with venom. "I set a piece of paper on fire. And then they sent me this load of polite crap." He handed the note to Blaise, "How did you know, it only happened like five minutes ago?"
"Rumor mill. This is crap. 'Stop or we will ask you to stop again'."
"You apparated. That's illegal. How did you get away with it?" asked Harry suddenly confused, Blaise was too young to apparate.
"I'm on official business for Dumbledore, he got clearance. He asked for me to bring you back., Draco is at the castle."
"I know, I read in the paper. I missed you." Blaise hadn't written in a week. "But we've all been busy, have you spoken to Co? Is he ok?"
Blaise smiled at the pet name that slipped off of Harry's tongue. He remembered Draco making fun of the boy for it ("Co, you're calling me Co now?"). "Harry, maybe you should sit down."
Harry just shook his head. "I hate it when you do this, just tell me, don't prep me for the blow."
This was bad, Blaise didn't want to burst his friend's bubble. Harry should have been allowed to bask in the knowledge that his lover was safe but instead he was going to get smashed into a wall. There was no way to put it off any longer. "The newspapers missed out one important detail."
next