FIC: All the Answers - Chapter 5
Title: All the Answers
Rating: NC-17 (eventually)
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Word Count: 4400
Disclaimer: It's not mine. Really. J.K. Rowling's the brilliant mind behind HP.
Notes: Post-HBP, so yes, SPOILERS! Many, many thanks to my lovely betas, smutella and impish_nymph! Ladies, you're both fantastic!
Summary: Since when has conquering evil ever been easy?
--> All chapters can be found here. <--
previous chapter
~~Chapter 5~~
Despite all his worrying about being able to focus, Harry had found the Apparating exam to be surprisingly easy. Both he and Ron passed with no trouble at all.
“Both eyebrows still intact!” Ron crowed while they were eating supper at the Leaky Cauldron. They’d decided they might as well celebrate while there was still something worth celebrating, and had eaten out instead of going back to the Burrow. Afterwards, Ron had wanted to show his parents he’d passed by suddenly showing up in the kitchen, but unfortunately there were still anti-apparition wards up on the house, so they were forced to Apparate to a hilltop about a half-mile away and make the trek back from there.
By the time Harry made it back up to his and Draco’s room, he was exhausted from the day’s events. He’d avoided thinking about Snape all through the Apparating test and dinner, but now that he was back here he couldn’t keep the thoughts from circling in his head. Maybe he’d bully Malfoy into a game of chess or something, to keep his mind off of it…
“Took you long enough, Potter. What happened, you weren’t determined enough?” Malfoy said as soon as Harry appeared in the doorway. Harry paused, leaning against the doorjamb, and couldn’t help the amused grin that spread across his face.
“What’s got your knickers in a twist? Upset we didn’t make it back for dinner?”
Draco scowled. “Just annoyed at being left in the mercy of that tubby old woman. She actually had the nerve to force me to go down and eat with them, and then she kept trying to drag me into conversations.” He shuddered.
“Mrs. Weasley means well,” Harry said. “And at least it’s better food than that slop we got at my relatives’ house.”
“True,” Draco conceded. “She does make a decent treacle tart, I have to admit.” He looked Harry. “You passed then, I assume?”
“Yep. I can now cart your pureblood arse around legally. Bully for us, eh?” Draco rolled his eyes, and Harry finally noticed that he’d been reading something before Harry had shown up. “What’s that?”
“Oh.” Draco glanced down at his lap. “It’s… My mother sent me an owl.”
Harry’s eyes widened. “An owl? Bloody hell, Malfoy, why didn’t you just send her one? I can’t believe you didn’t think of that before!”
Draco huffed. “I don’t have an owl. Not with me, at least.”
“Well, you could have asked.” Draco shrugged, but didn’t say anything. Harry continued, “Anyway, that’s a good thing isn’t it? Now you know she’s alive.”
“Yeah…” He furrowed his brow. “She sounds rather frantic, though. Demanding to know where I am and if I’m alright… I can’t tell her I’m with you, obviously. The Dark Lord might find out.”
“Well, where is she? Still with him?” Harry paused. “Do they just…I mean, do they live with him? Always?”
Draco’s eyes darted up to meet his. “What, not your idea of a good time?” he asked dryly, before looking back down at the letter. “He tends to keep certain people closer than others. My parents - my mother used to be able to come and go more than most, but now…” He sounded worried. “I’d imagine he’s got both of them under close watch.”
“Not close enough that she couldn’t send that, at least,” Harry said. He opened his mouth to continue talking, but at that moment a very familiar flowery scent drifted by, sidetracking him completely. He glanced around, looking for its source, and sure enough Ginny came strolling down the hall a few seconds later.
“Harry!” she greeted, smiling widely. “Hermione told me you passed. Well done!” She leaned forward, giving him a brief kiss on the mouth, before pulling back and giving Malfoy a narrowed look. Draco smiled a completely fake smile at her, and she scowled.
“Did I miss something?” Harry asked faintly, looking back and forth between the two of them. Draco’s grin turned feral.
“Little Miss Priss and I were discussing the difference between on a break and broken up over dinner,” he said, still smirking. “She seems to think that you two are, in fact, only briefly parting ways whilst you take care of that pesky Dark Lord problem. I was trying to explain to her how you were so very insistent last night that you weren’t together at all anymore. She thought I was lying.”
“It’s not that I thought he was lying,” Ginny snapped, turning away from Malfoy to look at Harry. “You’ve told me several times that we’re not together anymore, I know that. But he was making it seem like we’d never get back together, and that I don’t believe for a moment.” Harry swallowed nervously as Ginny continued to stare at him.
“Er - right. Of course. Only on a break. Just…didn’t want to put you in danger, is all.” He chuckled a bit, though it sounded forced, but it seemed to satisfy Ginny. She gave Draco a triumphant look, kissed Harry one more time, and then continued on down the hall. Harry watched her go, before quickly shutting the door and leaning back against it. “God,” he muttered absently, dragging a hand through his hair.
“You are such a liar, Potter.” Harry looked up to see Malfoy smirking at him. “You’re never going to get back together with her; you know that as well as I do.”
“I am too!” Harry said indignantly, pushing away from the door so that he could begin getting ready for bed. “I - I mean… Ginny and I… Erm… You have no idea how I feel about her!”
“Who the fuck cares how you feel about her,” Draco said. He tucked his mother’s letter beneath his pillow and pulled off his shirt, tossing it at Harry. “You know what she’s like. Give me another shirt; I need something to sleep in.”
“We’re going to have to buy you some new clothes,” Harry said absently, pointedly ignoring the scar on Draco’s chest and instead surreptitiously checking the mostly healed wound on his side as he handed over some clean pajamas. “You can’t keep wearing my things. And what do you mean what she’s like?”
Draco rolled his eyes. “Do you honestly think she’ll be able to go the whole year without a boyfriend? Even the Slytherins know about her reputation - God, I wouldn’t be surprised if Blaise managed to snag her while you’re gone. Ever since she’s discovered blokes it’s just been one after another. Maybe she’ll hit Finnigan next, isn’t he the only one in your dorm she hasn’t been with?”
“What - no! She hasn’t been with…uh…”
“Weasley?” Draco snickered, and Harry scowled at him.
“No, she hasn’t been with Neville!”
“She went with Longbottom to the Yule Ball-”
“That doesn’t mean anything! I went with Parvati Patil, and look how that turned out-”
“BUT,” Draco interrupted loudly, “she left with Michael Corner. Then she dumped him and went out with Dean Thomas. And then you. Your girl gets around, Potter.”
“That’s hardly a lot of people. Three boys, and all fairly long-term relationships. Sort of.”
“She rebounds easily enough, though. You watch, either she’ll get back with Dean, or she’ll end up with Blaise. I think she likes black blokes.”
Harry scowled, tugging on some pajama bottoms, and climbed into his bed. “Whatever, Malfoy. I think you’re jealous. When’s the last time you had a girlfriend?”
Draco blinked, looking slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Well - I mean there was Pansy, but I don’t know if you’d count that…”
“Pansy Parkinson?”
“Do you know any other Pansys? Merlin, Potter, our class wasn’t that big. You’d think you’d know who people are.”
Harry ignored that. “Why wouldn’t you count her?”
Draco shrugged, pulling up his covers and then crossing his arms behind his head. “I never exactly asked her out. She just kind of…assumed she was my girlfriend.”
“Was there anyone else, then?” Harry asked, stifling a yawn behind his hand. Draco shook his head.
“No.”
“Oh.” It occurred to Harry, in the silence that followed, that he had just had a conversation with Draco Malfoy of all people about their respective girlfriends. He never even talked with Ron about things like this - mainly because Harry’s only true girlfriend to date was Ron’s younger sister, and Ron’s only girlfriend had been Lavender, and why on Earth would they want to talk about that mess? - so why the hell was he talking to Malfoy?
With a frown, Harry murmured Nox to put out the lights, and then he lay in the darkness for a while, waiting for sleep to overcome him.
* * *
“What’s a Horcrux?”
The question came so sudden and unexpectedly the following morning that Harry nearly choked on his toast. Hermione’s eyes went wide, and Ron actually snorted his pumpkin juice up his nose.
“W-what?” Harry spluttered. Draco looked at him calmly.
“What’s a Horcrux?” he repeated. “You mentioned it yesterday when you were talking about Snape. What is it?”
“It’s - nothing important…” Harry said, meeting Ron’s eyes across the table and raising his eyebrows in alarm.
“Bollocks!” Draco snapped. “You said you and Dumbledore went to get one, and whatever happened while you were gone ended with Dumbledore being poisoned because you were forcing some sort of potion down his throat! So it was obviously important, don’t lie to me!”
“You do listen well, don’t you?” Hermione said, an impressed look on her face. Ron rolled his eyes and scowled.
“Apparently somewhere along the line, Malfoy got the idea in his head that we actually have to include him in what we do,” he said. “What do you think of that, Harry?”
“I think he needs to realize that he’s not nearly as important as he thinks he is,” Harry muttered into his glass. He ignored the annoyed look Draco gave him.
“Is it some sort of weapon?” Draco plowed on, regardless of the way the other three were now pointedly not paying any attention to him. “Something of the Dark Lord’s? Something Dumbledore lost, for Merlin’s sake? Answer me!”
“Malfoy, we’re not going to tell you,” Harry said simply. He thanked Hermione as she picked up his dishes, and once the table was cleared they headed up to Fred and George’s room.
“Is that why you’re reading all of these books?” Draco asked once they were there. He picked up the one he’d been flipping through yesterday and shoved it in Harry’s face. “Why are you reading about Hogwarts’ founders?”
“Bloody hell, Malfoy,” Ron said, irritated. “We’re not going to tell you!”
“Is it something of theirs?”
“Would you shut up already?” Harry snapped.
“Tell me!”
“NO!”
* * *
“Harry, look, it says here that Godric Gryffindor had an array of weapons, all of which he made himself, that had various magical properties. He rarely let anyone else look at them, let alone use one.” Ron looked up from the book he was reading. “Maybe one of those is still around?”
“Dumbledore said the only known relic of Gryffindor’s was that sword I got from the Sorting Hat. He said he was confident that it was the only thing of Godric’s left.”
“So it is a weapon then?”
“…Shut up, Malfoy.”
* * *
“‘Rowena Ravenclaw was a woman of little known material value,’” Hermione read aloud. “‘It is said that she valued education and knowledge above anything else, and spent much of her vast fortune on the impressive library that used to reside in the Ravenclaw mansion. Unfortunately, the mansion, which had been preserved for over eight generations, was lost during Grindelwald’s reign of terror when a mysterious fire overtook it. Everything inside was destroyed, including the last remaining descendents of Ravenclaw herself, who did not survive it.’ Oh, how awful!”
“Yes,” Ron said lazily from where he was half-hanging off of Harry’s bed, reading upside-down. “Those poor, poor, books.”
“Ron!” Hermione screeched, while Harry snickered. “Ron, that’s not funny!”
“Yeah it is,” Harry and Ron muttered in unison, giving each other amused looks.
“Books aren’t a weapon,” Draco said, glancing up from whatever tome he had managed to pilfer from them today.
“They could be. Knowledge is power, after all,” Hermione said loftily. Draco gave her an incredulous look, his nose wrinkling.
“I already told you we aren’t looking for a weapon, Malfoy,” Harry said.
“What are you looking for then?”
“It’s-” he started to say, but paused immediately when both Ron and Hermione gave him quelling looks. “Uh - nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
* * *
“God, now I know why Hufflepuffs are so annoying,” Ron said, slamming one book shut and quickly picking up another. “Helga seems like a right nutcase, if you ask me. Did you know she tried to shoot down Gryffindor’s and Slytherin’s plans to start up the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts? She claimed it was a sport that was - what was it? Oh - too violent in nature and detracted from the many more sensible things that students could be doing in their free time. Then she went and started up the first ever Herbology club, in which she introduced this one plant that was so vicious it sent seven students to the hospital wing within fifteen minutes after the first meeting started.”
Harry snorted. “What was wrong with them?”
“They’d all had their fingers bitten off trying to feed it. Actually this one girl lost her entire hand…”
“What book was that?” Hermione asked curiously. She leaned over to pick up the book from where Ron had dropped it. “Perilous Plants of the Past: A Study of the Most Fiendish Foliage to Ever Exist.”
“Sounds staggeringly stupid if you ask me,” Draco muttered. “Absolutely absurd, even. Why were you reading about plants anyway?”
“My question exactly,” Hermione said.
“Hermione, I don’t even look at the covers anymore,” Ron groused. “I just pick up a book and go.”
“How incredibly idiotic.”
“Shut up, Malfoy.”
“Goodness, you’re a grumpy git, aren’t you?”
“Shut up, Malfoy!”
* * *
“Are you sure Slytherin didn’t leave anymore of his possessions lying about?”
“Pretty sure, yeah. I mean, we already know two of the Horcruxes were made from things of his, so-”
“Two of them?” Draco interrupted. Ron let out an agitated sigh while Harry closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. “How many of these things are there?”
“Seven,” Harry snapped, before Ron or Hermione could stop him. “There, are you happy? I’ve finally answered one of your questions. There are seven Horcruxes. Well, actually there’s only six; Voldemort himself is the last-”
“Harry,” Hermione hissed, interrupting him.
Draco didn’t miss a beat. “The last what?” he asked promptly.
“Never mind,” Harry mumbled, and Draco pursed his lips together, looking angry.
“I could help, you know,” he said. “Whatever it is you’re looking for, I could help you find it. I can read, too.”
“We don’t need your help,” Ron said. “We’re managing just fine on our own.”
Draco snorted. “That’s the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard. It’s been nearly a month, and unless I missed something, you lot haven’t found a thing.”
Harry blinked, startled. Had a month really passed already? He glanced at questioningly Ron, who looked like he was doing some quick mental calculations.
“He’s right,” Hermione spoke up. “Ginny leaves for Hogwarts in two days. It’s nearly September.”
There was an awkward moment of silence after Hermione mentioned Hogwarts. Harry had always known he wasn’t going back, and obviously so had Draco, but for his friends things were different. Harry wasn’t sure if Hermione’s parents even knew that she wasn’t returning to school, but Ron’s mum… Well, Mrs. Weasley had not taken the news well. They’d had a huge row about it the week before, when they’d all received their Hogwarts letters but only Ginny had wanted to go shopping for school supplies. Mr. Weasley had had to step in and remind his wife that technically Ron was of age and could do whatever he liked. Eventually she had grudgingly accepted that yet another child of hers wouldn’t be finishing his N.E.W.T.s year.
Harry cursed. “We need to get a move on,” he muttered. “Voldemort’s not going to stick with these attacks on random villages for long, there’s sure to be a full-scale battle soon.”
“I don’t know if he’s got a big enough army yet,” Hermione pointed out. “I mean, well, obviously he got the Dementors back again, but Hagrid’s still trying to work things out with some of the Giants, and the Goblins are still undecided…”
“I agree with Potter,” Draco said loudly. “You need to hurry things up. Which means you need help. And I’m here, and I’ve certainly got nothing better to do.” He turned to look Harry straight in the eye. “Let me help.”
“Malfoy, look,” Harry said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t trust you - well, actually it is, because I don’t, but that aside… I promised Dumbledore I wouldn’t tell anyone other than Ron and Hermione about this. Not even the rest of the Order knows. It’s too risky, I think, to let many people in on it. Voldemort can’t be given the chance to catch on to what we’re doing.”
Draco let out a frustrated breath. “So then don’t tell me exactly what you’re looking for or what it does, just - I mean, obviously you’re looking for certain kinds of objects. Stuff that belonged to Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff. Just give me a general idea, maybe?” He pushed a hand through his hair, glancing off to the side and continued, “I’m so fucking bored just sitting around. I have to be doing something. I can’t stand this waiting and not knowing what’s going on. It’s driving me mad!”
Harry looked over at Hermione, a question on his lips, only to find that she was already staring at him. She smiled a bit when he met her eyes, and then shrugged. Ron groaned from beside her. “Oh - no, Harry, don’t-” he started to say, but Harry interrupted him.
“You’ve got most of it right,” he said, and Ron threw up his hands with an exasperated look on his face. “We’re looking for artifacts that belonged to any of Hogwarts’ founders. Things that may still be around today, that’s the key. Not stuff that’s already been forever lost or destroyed or something.”
Draco blinked and looked at Harry for a long moment, before dropping his eyes. “Thank you,” he said softly, quickly, before glancing up again and smirking. “Was that so difficult?”
“You can’t tell anyone, you hear, Malfoy?” Ron demanded. “Nothing of what we do leaves this room.”
Draco pursed his lips. “Would you like me to make an Unbreakable Vow?” he asked sardonically.
“That won’t be necessary,” Harry said, just as Ron muttered, “Probably a good idea…”
“You know, our manor has a pretty extensive library. I bet you could find some useful information there.”
“Okay, no, that is where I put my foot down,” Ron said quickly. “There’s no way we’re going to Malfoy’s house just for some books. Right, Hermione?”
Hermione looked like the idea of an extensive library was very appealing, and it seemed to pain her to shake her head. “Yes, of course, you’re right. We can just…get more books from Hogwarts or something…”
“Don’t worry, Ron,” Harry said, amused. “I wasn’t going to agree that we should go there.”
“You’ll regret it,” Draco said archly. “You wouldn’t believe some of the books we’ve got there. Some are so ancient I’m sure they’re the actual first print.” Hermione’s lower lip disappeared in between her teeth, but Harry shook his head.
“No,” he said sternly. “We’re not going.”
“Suit yourself. Just imagine all that information about Slytherin and the others going to waste. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually had some old manuscripts that they wrote!”
“Shut it, Malfoy,” Ron snapped. “You’re so full of shit. Stop trying to tempt her.” Hermione’s eyes had all but glazed over by now. Harry wouldn’t be surprised if she started foaming at the mouth soon. He snorted at the thought, and Draco snickered.
“Fine,” he said easily. “You don’t know what you’re missing, though.” Harry rolled his eyes, and with a long-suffering sigh went back to his reading.
* * *
The last day before Ginny was supposed to return to Hogwarts was one of the prettiest days they’d had all summer. The sunlight filtered in through the slightly open window, the gentle breeze rustling the pages of their books. Harry couldn’t concentrate on whichever one he had in front of him now; the words were beginning to blur and run together beneath his eyes. It didn’t help that they had just eaten lunch, so he was already drowsy to begin with. He yawned and stole a look at Ron, who was blatantly staring out the window with a yearning look on his face. Harry knew the feeling; it was perfect flying weather.
So when Ginny appeared in the doorway half an hour later, demanding that they get some fresh air, Harry could have kissed her. He refrained though, because, after all, they had broken up - were on a break - whatever.
“We can play Quidditch or something,” Ginny was saying. “I mean, I’m leaving tomorrow and I’ve barely seen you at all this past month. And Quidditch is going to be a disaster this year, I bet, so I might as well get some good flying in before all that starts.”
“We can play two-on-two,” Ron agreed eagerly, already up and halfway out of the room. “Me and Hermione versus you and Harry. Or maybe it should be you and me, since Hermione isn’t that good…”
“I’m not playing,” Hermione spoke up.
“What - why not?!”
“I can’t stand Quidditch, you know that,” she said primly. “I’m going to bring this book outside with me and read under one of the trees.
“But…”
“Right,” Draco said, smirking. “She doesn’t like Quidditch, just Quidditch players.” Ron gave him a dirty look, but Hermione just turned her nose up.
“Hermione, we need four players!” Ginny said. “Please-”
“No.”
“But-”
“No!”
“Wait,” Harry said, glancing around at Draco who looked like he was trying to appear like he had no interest in the conversation. “Malfoy can play.”
Ron and Ginny gawked at him, while Draco blinked. “Are you crazy?!” Ron exclaimed. “I’m not playing with him!”
“Then don’t, Ginny can be on his team,” Harry said. “Look, at least that way we have four people who actually play.”
“He’s got a point, Ron,” Ginny said tentatively, though she looked unhappy about it.
Draco nodded fervently. “Yeah, he’s got a point, Weasley.”
Ron looked pained. “Well he’s not riding any of my old brooms…” he groused.
“Wouldn’t want to, anyway,” Draco said, shuddering solely for effect. “Haven’t you got a - what? - Shooting Star or something? A Silver Arrow, maybe?”
“Silver Arrows were before even my dad’s time, Malfoy,” Ginny said, scowling. “Ron has a Cleansweep 11, and I think the twins left their old Comet 260s in the shed, since they got new brooms.”
“Comet 260s?” Draco repeated. “How am I supposed to play against Potter on one of those when he has an effing Firebolt?!”
“I can use one of the twins’ brooms, too,” Harry said. “That makes it fair. Not that you’d beat me anyway, but at least that way you’ll feel like you have a chance.” He smirked, while Draco glowered at him.
“Watch me,” he snapped. “Give me a house broom, I’ll still kick your arse!”
“When’s the last time you even played, Malfoy?” Ron asked as they made their way outside and down to the broom shed. “You weren’t at any of the matches last year - though I suppose now we know why…”
“Doesn’t matter.” Draco took the broom that Harry offered him and shouldered it, before marching off towards the open field behind the Burrow. “I don’t need to practice, I have natural talent!”
“The sad thing is he’s right,” Ginny muttered to Harry and Ron as they trailed after their fourth player. Both of their heads snapped around so they could stare at her in disbelief, and Ginny rolled her eyes. “What?” she said defensively. “The only person he’s ever lost to is Harry; he has to be somewhat good…”
“Are you lot coming or what?” Draco yelled. He was already up in the air doing figure-eights, and at one point swooped down so low that Harry had to duck lest he get rammed into.
“Annoying git, isn’t he?” Ron said offhandedly, throwing a leg over his broom. Harry rolled his eyes and watched as Draco zoomed through the air, his white-blond hair glinting in the sun and whipping around his face. He wasn’t smiling, per se, but there was a definite relaxed look on his face and his eyes were wide and bright.
Harry couldn’t wait to wipe the pitch with him again.
* * *
They flew for nearly two hours, passing a Quaffle back and forth and racing each other around the field, before Ron said he reckoned Hermione could use some help and left the game. Ginny smirked after him, saying in an undertone to Harry how it wasn’t help Ron wanted to give her.
“Are they together?” Draco asked as he flew up to where the other two were still hovering on their brooms. Harry and Ginny glanced at each other, shrugging.
“They just kind of…are,” Ginny said. “Don’t know if Ron will ever work up the balls to ask her out for real.”
“They’ll probably dance around each other for ages before one of them finally caves,” Harry added. “Don’t know what’s taking them. Hermione’s all but said she wants to be with Ron, but he’s as clueless as a flobberworm.”
Ginny rolled her eyes and snorted. “Ron’s always been like that,” she said. “That’s why there was that whole mess last year. Lavender, I ask you! What was he thinking?”
“He was probably hoping for an easy lay,” Draco drawled. “Lavender Brown? She has an even worse reputation than you, Weasley.”
“Excuse me?” Ginny spluttered. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Malfoy? Harry!”
“Shut your mouth, Malfoy,” Harry said obligatorily. Draco smirked at him, and Harry turned to Ginny. “Just ignore him,” he said. “Come on, let’s practice your Seeker skills.”
They spent the remainder of the afternoon chasing a beat-up old Snitch, one that Harry had smuggled out of Hogwarts, around the pitch, Harry trying to help Ginny spot it and Draco beating her to it almost every time.
Hehe, so that’s the end of Ginny for awhile! She’ll be off at Hogwarts now. ^.~ Things start to pick up a bit in the next chapter. Er, plot-wise. And then from there, of course, Harry/Draco-wise. Finally, eh? ^.^ Let me know what you thought!
~Maxine
next chapter
You can also read it at my website, or at Skyehawke.
Rating: NC-17 (eventually)
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Word Count: 4400
Disclaimer: It's not mine. Really. J.K. Rowling's the brilliant mind behind HP.
Notes: Post-HBP, so yes, SPOILERS! Many, many thanks to my lovely betas, smutella and impish_nymph! Ladies, you're both fantastic!
Summary: Since when has conquering evil ever been easy?
--> All chapters can be found here. <--
previous chapter
~~Chapter 5~~
Despite all his worrying about being able to focus, Harry had found the Apparating exam to be surprisingly easy. Both he and Ron passed with no trouble at all.
“Both eyebrows still intact!” Ron crowed while they were eating supper at the Leaky Cauldron. They’d decided they might as well celebrate while there was still something worth celebrating, and had eaten out instead of going back to the Burrow. Afterwards, Ron had wanted to show his parents he’d passed by suddenly showing up in the kitchen, but unfortunately there were still anti-apparition wards up on the house, so they were forced to Apparate to a hilltop about a half-mile away and make the trek back from there.
By the time Harry made it back up to his and Draco’s room, he was exhausted from the day’s events. He’d avoided thinking about Snape all through the Apparating test and dinner, but now that he was back here he couldn’t keep the thoughts from circling in his head. Maybe he’d bully Malfoy into a game of chess or something, to keep his mind off of it…
“Took you long enough, Potter. What happened, you weren’t determined enough?” Malfoy said as soon as Harry appeared in the doorway. Harry paused, leaning against the doorjamb, and couldn’t help the amused grin that spread across his face.
“What’s got your knickers in a twist? Upset we didn’t make it back for dinner?”
Draco scowled. “Just annoyed at being left in the mercy of that tubby old woman. She actually had the nerve to force me to go down and eat with them, and then she kept trying to drag me into conversations.” He shuddered.
“Mrs. Weasley means well,” Harry said. “And at least it’s better food than that slop we got at my relatives’ house.”
“True,” Draco conceded. “She does make a decent treacle tart, I have to admit.” He looked Harry. “You passed then, I assume?”
“Yep. I can now cart your pureblood arse around legally. Bully for us, eh?” Draco rolled his eyes, and Harry finally noticed that he’d been reading something before Harry had shown up. “What’s that?”
“Oh.” Draco glanced down at his lap. “It’s… My mother sent me an owl.”
Harry’s eyes widened. “An owl? Bloody hell, Malfoy, why didn’t you just send her one? I can’t believe you didn’t think of that before!”
Draco huffed. “I don’t have an owl. Not with me, at least.”
“Well, you could have asked.” Draco shrugged, but didn’t say anything. Harry continued, “Anyway, that’s a good thing isn’t it? Now you know she’s alive.”
“Yeah…” He furrowed his brow. “She sounds rather frantic, though. Demanding to know where I am and if I’m alright… I can’t tell her I’m with you, obviously. The Dark Lord might find out.”
“Well, where is she? Still with him?” Harry paused. “Do they just…I mean, do they live with him? Always?”
Draco’s eyes darted up to meet his. “What, not your idea of a good time?” he asked dryly, before looking back down at the letter. “He tends to keep certain people closer than others. My parents - my mother used to be able to come and go more than most, but now…” He sounded worried. “I’d imagine he’s got both of them under close watch.”
“Not close enough that she couldn’t send that, at least,” Harry said. He opened his mouth to continue talking, but at that moment a very familiar flowery scent drifted by, sidetracking him completely. He glanced around, looking for its source, and sure enough Ginny came strolling down the hall a few seconds later.
“Harry!” she greeted, smiling widely. “Hermione told me you passed. Well done!” She leaned forward, giving him a brief kiss on the mouth, before pulling back and giving Malfoy a narrowed look. Draco smiled a completely fake smile at her, and she scowled.
“Did I miss something?” Harry asked faintly, looking back and forth between the two of them. Draco’s grin turned feral.
“Little Miss Priss and I were discussing the difference between on a break and broken up over dinner,” he said, still smirking. “She seems to think that you two are, in fact, only briefly parting ways whilst you take care of that pesky Dark Lord problem. I was trying to explain to her how you were so very insistent last night that you weren’t together at all anymore. She thought I was lying.”
“It’s not that I thought he was lying,” Ginny snapped, turning away from Malfoy to look at Harry. “You’ve told me several times that we’re not together anymore, I know that. But he was making it seem like we’d never get back together, and that I don’t believe for a moment.” Harry swallowed nervously as Ginny continued to stare at him.
“Er - right. Of course. Only on a break. Just…didn’t want to put you in danger, is all.” He chuckled a bit, though it sounded forced, but it seemed to satisfy Ginny. She gave Draco a triumphant look, kissed Harry one more time, and then continued on down the hall. Harry watched her go, before quickly shutting the door and leaning back against it. “God,” he muttered absently, dragging a hand through his hair.
“You are such a liar, Potter.” Harry looked up to see Malfoy smirking at him. “You’re never going to get back together with her; you know that as well as I do.”
“I am too!” Harry said indignantly, pushing away from the door so that he could begin getting ready for bed. “I - I mean… Ginny and I… Erm… You have no idea how I feel about her!”
“Who the fuck cares how you feel about her,” Draco said. He tucked his mother’s letter beneath his pillow and pulled off his shirt, tossing it at Harry. “You know what she’s like. Give me another shirt; I need something to sleep in.”
“We’re going to have to buy you some new clothes,” Harry said absently, pointedly ignoring the scar on Draco’s chest and instead surreptitiously checking the mostly healed wound on his side as he handed over some clean pajamas. “You can’t keep wearing my things. And what do you mean what she’s like?”
Draco rolled his eyes. “Do you honestly think she’ll be able to go the whole year without a boyfriend? Even the Slytherins know about her reputation - God, I wouldn’t be surprised if Blaise managed to snag her while you’re gone. Ever since she’s discovered blokes it’s just been one after another. Maybe she’ll hit Finnigan next, isn’t he the only one in your dorm she hasn’t been with?”
“What - no! She hasn’t been with…uh…”
“Weasley?” Draco snickered, and Harry scowled at him.
“No, she hasn’t been with Neville!”
“She went with Longbottom to the Yule Ball-”
“That doesn’t mean anything! I went with Parvati Patil, and look how that turned out-”
“BUT,” Draco interrupted loudly, “she left with Michael Corner. Then she dumped him and went out with Dean Thomas. And then you. Your girl gets around, Potter.”
“That’s hardly a lot of people. Three boys, and all fairly long-term relationships. Sort of.”
“She rebounds easily enough, though. You watch, either she’ll get back with Dean, or she’ll end up with Blaise. I think she likes black blokes.”
Harry scowled, tugging on some pajama bottoms, and climbed into his bed. “Whatever, Malfoy. I think you’re jealous. When’s the last time you had a girlfriend?”
Draco blinked, looking slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Well - I mean there was Pansy, but I don’t know if you’d count that…”
“Pansy Parkinson?”
“Do you know any other Pansys? Merlin, Potter, our class wasn’t that big. You’d think you’d know who people are.”
Harry ignored that. “Why wouldn’t you count her?”
Draco shrugged, pulling up his covers and then crossing his arms behind his head. “I never exactly asked her out. She just kind of…assumed she was my girlfriend.”
“Was there anyone else, then?” Harry asked, stifling a yawn behind his hand. Draco shook his head.
“No.”
“Oh.” It occurred to Harry, in the silence that followed, that he had just had a conversation with Draco Malfoy of all people about their respective girlfriends. He never even talked with Ron about things like this - mainly because Harry’s only true girlfriend to date was Ron’s younger sister, and Ron’s only girlfriend had been Lavender, and why on Earth would they want to talk about that mess? - so why the hell was he talking to Malfoy?
With a frown, Harry murmured Nox to put out the lights, and then he lay in the darkness for a while, waiting for sleep to overcome him.
* * *
“What’s a Horcrux?”
The question came so sudden and unexpectedly the following morning that Harry nearly choked on his toast. Hermione’s eyes went wide, and Ron actually snorted his pumpkin juice up his nose.
“W-what?” Harry spluttered. Draco looked at him calmly.
“What’s a Horcrux?” he repeated. “You mentioned it yesterday when you were talking about Snape. What is it?”
“It’s - nothing important…” Harry said, meeting Ron’s eyes across the table and raising his eyebrows in alarm.
“Bollocks!” Draco snapped. “You said you and Dumbledore went to get one, and whatever happened while you were gone ended with Dumbledore being poisoned because you were forcing some sort of potion down his throat! So it was obviously important, don’t lie to me!”
“You do listen well, don’t you?” Hermione said, an impressed look on her face. Ron rolled his eyes and scowled.
“Apparently somewhere along the line, Malfoy got the idea in his head that we actually have to include him in what we do,” he said. “What do you think of that, Harry?”
“I think he needs to realize that he’s not nearly as important as he thinks he is,” Harry muttered into his glass. He ignored the annoyed look Draco gave him.
“Is it some sort of weapon?” Draco plowed on, regardless of the way the other three were now pointedly not paying any attention to him. “Something of the Dark Lord’s? Something Dumbledore lost, for Merlin’s sake? Answer me!”
“Malfoy, we’re not going to tell you,” Harry said simply. He thanked Hermione as she picked up his dishes, and once the table was cleared they headed up to Fred and George’s room.
“Is that why you’re reading all of these books?” Draco asked once they were there. He picked up the one he’d been flipping through yesterday and shoved it in Harry’s face. “Why are you reading about Hogwarts’ founders?”
“Bloody hell, Malfoy,” Ron said, irritated. “We’re not going to tell you!”
“Is it something of theirs?”
“Would you shut up already?” Harry snapped.
“Tell me!”
“NO!”
* * *
“Harry, look, it says here that Godric Gryffindor had an array of weapons, all of which he made himself, that had various magical properties. He rarely let anyone else look at them, let alone use one.” Ron looked up from the book he was reading. “Maybe one of those is still around?”
“Dumbledore said the only known relic of Gryffindor’s was that sword I got from the Sorting Hat. He said he was confident that it was the only thing of Godric’s left.”
“So it is a weapon then?”
“…Shut up, Malfoy.”
* * *
“‘Rowena Ravenclaw was a woman of little known material value,’” Hermione read aloud. “‘It is said that she valued education and knowledge above anything else, and spent much of her vast fortune on the impressive library that used to reside in the Ravenclaw mansion. Unfortunately, the mansion, which had been preserved for over eight generations, was lost during Grindelwald’s reign of terror when a mysterious fire overtook it. Everything inside was destroyed, including the last remaining descendents of Ravenclaw herself, who did not survive it.’ Oh, how awful!”
“Yes,” Ron said lazily from where he was half-hanging off of Harry’s bed, reading upside-down. “Those poor, poor, books.”
“Ron!” Hermione screeched, while Harry snickered. “Ron, that’s not funny!”
“Yeah it is,” Harry and Ron muttered in unison, giving each other amused looks.
“Books aren’t a weapon,” Draco said, glancing up from whatever tome he had managed to pilfer from them today.
“They could be. Knowledge is power, after all,” Hermione said loftily. Draco gave her an incredulous look, his nose wrinkling.
“I already told you we aren’t looking for a weapon, Malfoy,” Harry said.
“What are you looking for then?”
“It’s-” he started to say, but paused immediately when both Ron and Hermione gave him quelling looks. “Uh - nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
* * *
“God, now I know why Hufflepuffs are so annoying,” Ron said, slamming one book shut and quickly picking up another. “Helga seems like a right nutcase, if you ask me. Did you know she tried to shoot down Gryffindor’s and Slytherin’s plans to start up the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts? She claimed it was a sport that was - what was it? Oh - too violent in nature and detracted from the many more sensible things that students could be doing in their free time. Then she went and started up the first ever Herbology club, in which she introduced this one plant that was so vicious it sent seven students to the hospital wing within fifteen minutes after the first meeting started.”
Harry snorted. “What was wrong with them?”
“They’d all had their fingers bitten off trying to feed it. Actually this one girl lost her entire hand…”
“What book was that?” Hermione asked curiously. She leaned over to pick up the book from where Ron had dropped it. “Perilous Plants of the Past: A Study of the Most Fiendish Foliage to Ever Exist.”
“Sounds staggeringly stupid if you ask me,” Draco muttered. “Absolutely absurd, even. Why were you reading about plants anyway?”
“My question exactly,” Hermione said.
“Hermione, I don’t even look at the covers anymore,” Ron groused. “I just pick up a book and go.”
“How incredibly idiotic.”
“Shut up, Malfoy.”
“Goodness, you’re a grumpy git, aren’t you?”
“Shut up, Malfoy!”
* * *
“Are you sure Slytherin didn’t leave anymore of his possessions lying about?”
“Pretty sure, yeah. I mean, we already know two of the Horcruxes were made from things of his, so-”
“Two of them?” Draco interrupted. Ron let out an agitated sigh while Harry closed his eyes and silently counted to ten. “How many of these things are there?”
“Seven,” Harry snapped, before Ron or Hermione could stop him. “There, are you happy? I’ve finally answered one of your questions. There are seven Horcruxes. Well, actually there’s only six; Voldemort himself is the last-”
“Harry,” Hermione hissed, interrupting him.
Draco didn’t miss a beat. “The last what?” he asked promptly.
“Never mind,” Harry mumbled, and Draco pursed his lips together, looking angry.
“I could help, you know,” he said. “Whatever it is you’re looking for, I could help you find it. I can read, too.”
“We don’t need your help,” Ron said. “We’re managing just fine on our own.”
Draco snorted. “That’s the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard. It’s been nearly a month, and unless I missed something, you lot haven’t found a thing.”
Harry blinked, startled. Had a month really passed already? He glanced at questioningly Ron, who looked like he was doing some quick mental calculations.
“He’s right,” Hermione spoke up. “Ginny leaves for Hogwarts in two days. It’s nearly September.”
There was an awkward moment of silence after Hermione mentioned Hogwarts. Harry had always known he wasn’t going back, and obviously so had Draco, but for his friends things were different. Harry wasn’t sure if Hermione’s parents even knew that she wasn’t returning to school, but Ron’s mum… Well, Mrs. Weasley had not taken the news well. They’d had a huge row about it the week before, when they’d all received their Hogwarts letters but only Ginny had wanted to go shopping for school supplies. Mr. Weasley had had to step in and remind his wife that technically Ron was of age and could do whatever he liked. Eventually she had grudgingly accepted that yet another child of hers wouldn’t be finishing his N.E.W.T.s year.
Harry cursed. “We need to get a move on,” he muttered. “Voldemort’s not going to stick with these attacks on random villages for long, there’s sure to be a full-scale battle soon.”
“I don’t know if he’s got a big enough army yet,” Hermione pointed out. “I mean, well, obviously he got the Dementors back again, but Hagrid’s still trying to work things out with some of the Giants, and the Goblins are still undecided…”
“I agree with Potter,” Draco said loudly. “You need to hurry things up. Which means you need help. And I’m here, and I’ve certainly got nothing better to do.” He turned to look Harry straight in the eye. “Let me help.”
“Malfoy, look,” Harry said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t trust you - well, actually it is, because I don’t, but that aside… I promised Dumbledore I wouldn’t tell anyone other than Ron and Hermione about this. Not even the rest of the Order knows. It’s too risky, I think, to let many people in on it. Voldemort can’t be given the chance to catch on to what we’re doing.”
Draco let out a frustrated breath. “So then don’t tell me exactly what you’re looking for or what it does, just - I mean, obviously you’re looking for certain kinds of objects. Stuff that belonged to Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or Hufflepuff. Just give me a general idea, maybe?” He pushed a hand through his hair, glancing off to the side and continued, “I’m so fucking bored just sitting around. I have to be doing something. I can’t stand this waiting and not knowing what’s going on. It’s driving me mad!”
Harry looked over at Hermione, a question on his lips, only to find that she was already staring at him. She smiled a bit when he met her eyes, and then shrugged. Ron groaned from beside her. “Oh - no, Harry, don’t-” he started to say, but Harry interrupted him.
“You’ve got most of it right,” he said, and Ron threw up his hands with an exasperated look on his face. “We’re looking for artifacts that belonged to any of Hogwarts’ founders. Things that may still be around today, that’s the key. Not stuff that’s already been forever lost or destroyed or something.”
Draco blinked and looked at Harry for a long moment, before dropping his eyes. “Thank you,” he said softly, quickly, before glancing up again and smirking. “Was that so difficult?”
“You can’t tell anyone, you hear, Malfoy?” Ron demanded. “Nothing of what we do leaves this room.”
Draco pursed his lips. “Would you like me to make an Unbreakable Vow?” he asked sardonically.
“That won’t be necessary,” Harry said, just as Ron muttered, “Probably a good idea…”
“You know, our manor has a pretty extensive library. I bet you could find some useful information there.”
“Okay, no, that is where I put my foot down,” Ron said quickly. “There’s no way we’re going to Malfoy’s house just for some books. Right, Hermione?”
Hermione looked like the idea of an extensive library was very appealing, and it seemed to pain her to shake her head. “Yes, of course, you’re right. We can just…get more books from Hogwarts or something…”
“Don’t worry, Ron,” Harry said, amused. “I wasn’t going to agree that we should go there.”
“You’ll regret it,” Draco said archly. “You wouldn’t believe some of the books we’ve got there. Some are so ancient I’m sure they’re the actual first print.” Hermione’s lower lip disappeared in between her teeth, but Harry shook his head.
“No,” he said sternly. “We’re not going.”
“Suit yourself. Just imagine all that information about Slytherin and the others going to waste. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if we actually had some old manuscripts that they wrote!”
“Shut it, Malfoy,” Ron snapped. “You’re so full of shit. Stop trying to tempt her.” Hermione’s eyes had all but glazed over by now. Harry wouldn’t be surprised if she started foaming at the mouth soon. He snorted at the thought, and Draco snickered.
“Fine,” he said easily. “You don’t know what you’re missing, though.” Harry rolled his eyes, and with a long-suffering sigh went back to his reading.
* * *
The last day before Ginny was supposed to return to Hogwarts was one of the prettiest days they’d had all summer. The sunlight filtered in through the slightly open window, the gentle breeze rustling the pages of their books. Harry couldn’t concentrate on whichever one he had in front of him now; the words were beginning to blur and run together beneath his eyes. It didn’t help that they had just eaten lunch, so he was already drowsy to begin with. He yawned and stole a look at Ron, who was blatantly staring out the window with a yearning look on his face. Harry knew the feeling; it was perfect flying weather.
So when Ginny appeared in the doorway half an hour later, demanding that they get some fresh air, Harry could have kissed her. He refrained though, because, after all, they had broken up - were on a break - whatever.
“We can play Quidditch or something,” Ginny was saying. “I mean, I’m leaving tomorrow and I’ve barely seen you at all this past month. And Quidditch is going to be a disaster this year, I bet, so I might as well get some good flying in before all that starts.”
“We can play two-on-two,” Ron agreed eagerly, already up and halfway out of the room. “Me and Hermione versus you and Harry. Or maybe it should be you and me, since Hermione isn’t that good…”
“I’m not playing,” Hermione spoke up.
“What - why not?!”
“I can’t stand Quidditch, you know that,” she said primly. “I’m going to bring this book outside with me and read under one of the trees.
“But…”
“Right,” Draco said, smirking. “She doesn’t like Quidditch, just Quidditch players.” Ron gave him a dirty look, but Hermione just turned her nose up.
“Hermione, we need four players!” Ginny said. “Please-”
“No.”
“But-”
“No!”
“Wait,” Harry said, glancing around at Draco who looked like he was trying to appear like he had no interest in the conversation. “Malfoy can play.”
Ron and Ginny gawked at him, while Draco blinked. “Are you crazy?!” Ron exclaimed. “I’m not playing with him!”
“Then don’t, Ginny can be on his team,” Harry said. “Look, at least that way we have four people who actually play.”
“He’s got a point, Ron,” Ginny said tentatively, though she looked unhappy about it.
Draco nodded fervently. “Yeah, he’s got a point, Weasley.”
Ron looked pained. “Well he’s not riding any of my old brooms…” he groused.
“Wouldn’t want to, anyway,” Draco said, shuddering solely for effect. “Haven’t you got a - what? - Shooting Star or something? A Silver Arrow, maybe?”
“Silver Arrows were before even my dad’s time, Malfoy,” Ginny said, scowling. “Ron has a Cleansweep 11, and I think the twins left their old Comet 260s in the shed, since they got new brooms.”
“Comet 260s?” Draco repeated. “How am I supposed to play against Potter on one of those when he has an effing Firebolt?!”
“I can use one of the twins’ brooms, too,” Harry said. “That makes it fair. Not that you’d beat me anyway, but at least that way you’ll feel like you have a chance.” He smirked, while Draco glowered at him.
“Watch me,” he snapped. “Give me a house broom, I’ll still kick your arse!”
“When’s the last time you even played, Malfoy?” Ron asked as they made their way outside and down to the broom shed. “You weren’t at any of the matches last year - though I suppose now we know why…”
“Doesn’t matter.” Draco took the broom that Harry offered him and shouldered it, before marching off towards the open field behind the Burrow. “I don’t need to practice, I have natural talent!”
“The sad thing is he’s right,” Ginny muttered to Harry and Ron as they trailed after their fourth player. Both of their heads snapped around so they could stare at her in disbelief, and Ginny rolled her eyes. “What?” she said defensively. “The only person he’s ever lost to is Harry; he has to be somewhat good…”
“Are you lot coming or what?” Draco yelled. He was already up in the air doing figure-eights, and at one point swooped down so low that Harry had to duck lest he get rammed into.
“Annoying git, isn’t he?” Ron said offhandedly, throwing a leg over his broom. Harry rolled his eyes and watched as Draco zoomed through the air, his white-blond hair glinting in the sun and whipping around his face. He wasn’t smiling, per se, but there was a definite relaxed look on his face and his eyes were wide and bright.
Harry couldn’t wait to wipe the pitch with him again.
* * *
They flew for nearly two hours, passing a Quaffle back and forth and racing each other around the field, before Ron said he reckoned Hermione could use some help and left the game. Ginny smirked after him, saying in an undertone to Harry how it wasn’t help Ron wanted to give her.
“Are they together?” Draco asked as he flew up to where the other two were still hovering on their brooms. Harry and Ginny glanced at each other, shrugging.
“They just kind of…are,” Ginny said. “Don’t know if Ron will ever work up the balls to ask her out for real.”
“They’ll probably dance around each other for ages before one of them finally caves,” Harry added. “Don’t know what’s taking them. Hermione’s all but said she wants to be with Ron, but he’s as clueless as a flobberworm.”
Ginny rolled her eyes and snorted. “Ron’s always been like that,” she said. “That’s why there was that whole mess last year. Lavender, I ask you! What was he thinking?”
“He was probably hoping for an easy lay,” Draco drawled. “Lavender Brown? She has an even worse reputation than you, Weasley.”
“Excuse me?” Ginny spluttered. “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Malfoy? Harry!”
“Shut your mouth, Malfoy,” Harry said obligatorily. Draco smirked at him, and Harry turned to Ginny. “Just ignore him,” he said. “Come on, let’s practice your Seeker skills.”
They spent the remainder of the afternoon chasing a beat-up old Snitch, one that Harry had smuggled out of Hogwarts, around the pitch, Harry trying to help Ginny spot it and Draco beating her to it almost every time.
Hehe, so that’s the end of Ginny for awhile! She’ll be off at Hogwarts now. ^.~ Things start to pick up a bit in the next chapter. Er, plot-wise. And then from there, of course, Harry/Draco-wise. Finally, eh? ^.^ Let me know what you thought!
~Maxine
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You can also read it at my website, or at Skyehawke.