Everyone looked up when the knock echoed through their compartment. They wanted to see who would disturb them other than the trolley lady who wasn't due for another hour or so. When the compartment door opened, it revealed a very familiar blond Slytherin, though surprisingly without his goons.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked, surprised. "What do you want?"
"Uhm," the blond began a bit intimidated, knowing only too well that one wrong word would get him pranked before the year even started. "Could I perhaps talk to you, Harry? Alone?"
Harry blinked a few times in surprise, primarily since the blond used his given name and not a simple snarked "Potter". However, in the end, he nodded, wanting to know what Draco wanted. Yes, curiosity might kill the cat, but Harry couldn't help himself. He was intrigued why Draco would willingly come to their compartment in the full knowledge that he might get pranked for disturbing them.
"Sure, why not."
He stood up and followed the other boy out of the compartment and down to another empty one. Harry wasn't worried in the slightest. What could Draco do to him in the worst case? Trying to stare him to death? No, compared to all the other threats out there and who were hell-bent on getting him to do their bidding, Draco was like a kitten, so not dangerous at all.
"What do you want?" Harry asked while flopping ungracefully down on the seat before placing his legs over the others. He was with his back to the door and facing the window. Though at the moment, he was looking at Draco expectantly.
"I wanted to know whether it is true," Draco stated while gracefully sitting down opposite of Harry.
"Whether what is true?" So many things would fit the question behind that statement that Harry didn't know what Draco meant.
"What my father said about you making a deal with a demon," Draco deadpanned.
"Oh that, yes, that is true. Though I thought that it was obvious from my reaction," Harry replied with a shrug.
"I...I couldn't believe it. Actually, I still have a hard time believing that you really did that. Do you have an idea what such a deal entails? You damned yourself to eternal torment for what? Getting your parents back? Is that really worth it?" Draco exclaimed.
That, however, equally shocked and surprised Harry. Was Draco worried about him? It sure sounded like it.
"And here I would have thought that someone from a dark family would be less...fearful towards it," Harry said with a snicker. "However, it is quite questionable what is worse...what Hell can do to me or what I can do to Hell."
"What you can do to hell?" Draco raised one of his finely sculpted eyebrows.
"Crowley was quite willing to do what I wanted him to do after I pointed out that his contracts needed a make-over," Harry now grinned broadly.
"Crowley as in king of the Crossroad-demons? No, no, wait, don't answer that...I don't want to know...you're probably the most insane person on this planet. There is a reason why making a deal is deemed the darkest of all arts. No witch or wizard that has some self-respect would so much as think about making a deal with a demon. Merlin, they are the reason why we have such a bad reputation with the Muggles," he shook his head in disbelieve.
"That as it happens just shows how insane Voldemort was," Harry mused.
Draco flinched at the name but now looked confused.
"What has the Dark Lord to do with that?" he asked.
"What? Don't tell me you don't know," Harry retorted but only received an even more confused look. "You really don't know...huh? That is a surprise. Voldemort, aka Tom Riddle, aka the Dark Lord or whatever you want to call him, also made a deal with a demon. That was before he came up with the oh so great idea of splitting his soul to evade hell."
"You want to tell me that the Dark Lord not only made a deal but also then created Horcruxes to get out of it?" Draco's face was now one of utter disbelieve though the thought stirred something in his memories. "You would know that how? Not that I believe you."
"First, I'm surprised that you know what a Horcrux is...."
"I love to read, and our library is quite extensive," Draco said with a smirk. "Admittedly, it isn't much that I know, just what they are and how to recognise one."
"Ah...well, second, I know it because that idiot is part of my deal. I get what I want for delivering him where he belongs," Harry continued, but it seemed that Draco was lost in thought.
"Oh...OH...oh no, this is bad, really bad," he began to mutter, his face contorted in a deep frown.
"What?" Harry suddenly sat straight because he didn't know what to think about Draco's behaviour. "What's wrong?"
"Say, did my house-elf Dobby reach you?" Draco asked, his eyes wider than usual and a hint of panic in them.
"A house-elf? No, when did you send him to me?" It was now upon Harry to look confused. Why would a house-elf make Draco that panicky?
"As soon as I returned home that day we met in Diagon Alley, he should have reached you...I wonder where that little blighter went off to," Draco distractedly answered with a certain amount of worry in his voice.
"That would explain why he couldn't reach me.... Uhm...could you perhaps try and call him? I have a bad feeling about that," Harry sheepishly admitted. If his assumption were correct, then they would be in for a surprise.
Draco didn't know what to think about that but nonetheless called for the house-elf. It took a few moments before said elf stood before them wearing a fitting leather tunic that was cut to cover him but allowed maximum agility. The elf also had a wicked-looking knife stuck in the belt that held the tunic, and he didn't look thrilled to be called by Draco.
"Master Draco, how can Dobby be of help?" the elf asked with a surprised look before he looked down at the floor. "Dobby is afraid that he couldn't finish his task yet."
"D-Dobby?" Draco stammered, wondering whether this really was the same elf he knew since he was a baby and that he was used to seeing in a pillowcase and less...confident. "What happened to you?"
Harry, on the other hand, looked sheepish. "Well, that could be my fault...well...partly...actually not really but...yeah...," he didn't know how to explain it.
"Your fault?" Draco asked, looking back and forth between the elf and Harry.
In the meantime, Dobby turned around and suddenly began to squeal like a fanboy.
"Harry Potter!" he said in a high-pitched voice. Dobby had so much reverence in the voice that Harry suddenly had the urge to back away from the elf. The said elf now began to ramble about how great he was.
"Okay, might someone please explain to me what just happened?" Draco asked, still a bit panicky, not that he would ever admit it.
Harry took a deep breath. "Maybe I should. But only if you, Dobby, please sit down there and stop worshipping me as if I'm some god." He wearily watched the elf sitting next to Draco but still looked at him as if he was Merlin reincarnated.
"Better...Draco, the thing is that shortly after you and your dad left, I was ambushed by Zachariah. He is an angel hell-bent on forcing me to do his bidding. Long story short, he also wants Riddle's soul.
"When he ambushed me, I teleported away. I don't know how, I don't know why...well, let's just say I landed somewhere no one...and I mean absolutely no one is supposed to get into. That place is located in hell. I have the suspicion that Dobby must have felt the direction I left into, tried to follow me, and he began to look for me in hell."
"Is what Harry just said right?" Draco asked Dobby.
"Yes, Master Draco. Dobby was searching everywhere for Harry Potter. But he wasn't able to find him," Dobby answered with his head hanging, tears welling in his eyes, and he looked a bit fearful. "Dobby has failed Master Draco."
"Don't worry, you did everything you could, and I'm just glad that you're back," Draco said, his relief evident. Dobby had been his personal elf since he was a baby and the one being he spent the most time with, so it had worried him greatly when he hadn't returned. "I have to admit that I like what you're wearing, but please...please don't let my father see it, okay?"
Harry followed that entire thing with unconcealed interest. Draco behaved so differently from the aloft composure he usually showed when they met. He was seriously concerned about the well-being of his elf.
Not only that, but also the entire conversation he had with the blond. It was as if he wanted something big from him but didn't know how to ask and now tried to play nice as not to put him off before he could ask. All of this was so out of Draco's character that Harry was itching to directly question him. Still, he knew that Draco was a Slytherin, and it was doubtful that blunt questioning would get him anywhere.
"Your father?" Harry piped in.
Draco looked at him for a long moment, obviously contemplating what to say, when he sighed deeply.
"My father, he was a staunch follower of the Dark Lord, did you know that?" he asked, but Harry only shook his head. "Not only that, but he was also his right-hand man.
"He believed everything that the Dark Lord preached, that everyone and everything not a pureblood is beneath us. Would my father learn about what I asked Dobby to do...he would not only kill Dobby but severely punish me. Do you know what awaits me once I reach maturity?"
Again, Harry shook his head.
"I would be expected to follow in his steps and bow down to...to that Riddle, but I don't want to," Draco began to ramble. To Harry, it seemed that suddenly the dam broke and now everything that worried the blond poured out. "I don't want to.
"Sure, nearly everyone you'd ask in Slytherin would tell you how great it is to serve him...what an honour. But is it really? Being tortured to the brink of insanity when you fail or for no apparent reason at all, is that really worth it?
"My mother also isn't happy about it, but what is she supposed to do? Suppose she tries to get away from my father, she'd disgrace the Malfoy family and the Black family. In that case, she'd be left without anywhere to go.... There is no way out of it...."
Harry attentively listened to Draco's rambling, and yes, it was rambling, even if the blond would never admit it. It seemed to him that all this was something that had been on Draco's mind for a long time now, but he just never had anyone to talk to about it. His mother might have listened, but he certainly couldn't talk about it at home, where he had to fear to be overheard or anywhere else for that matter. That, on the other hand, his friends at Slytherin indeed were a wrong choice for that kind of topic went without saying. However, the last part let him sit up a bit straighter.
"Black, you said? My godfather is a Black, say who is the current Head of the House of Black?" he asked when it came apparent that Draco was finished for now.
"Your godfather Sirius Black is my mother's cousin. Since he is the oldest living male Black, he is currently the Head of the House of Black. The next in line would be you, even with you being further away from the Black family line than me. But if I'm not mistaken, your godfather named you his heir," Draco explained, surprised that Harry didn't already know all of that.
"Wait...I'm a Black?!" Harry exclaimed.
"You didn't know?" the blond asked, stunned. "Your grandmother was Dorea Black; she married Charlus Potter. James Potter is her son. We're third cousins once removed."
Harry slumped back in his seat in shock and surprise and didn't seem to move for a few minutes, obviously thinking through what he just learned. The longer he thought about everything, the more determined his face became. In the end, he smirked in a way that didn't speak of anything good for the receiving end.
"You are family, and that is all I need to know," he finally said while looking Draco straight into the eyes, green eyes meeting mercury silver. Harry knew that it was the right choice to make. "What if you send Dobby to my family for now? I write a letter to my parents to send with him explaining everything so that they know what is going on. Dobby would be safe there and out of your father's reach.
"You should also write a letter to your mother. Tell her that if she really wants a way out of her marriage that she should contact Sirius. I don't doubt that he'd love to help her if only to pull one over your father. I might even get the goblins in on that.... Yes, that would be a good idea. They are extremely fierce, and it is unlikely that they like your father much."
"You...you want to help me?" Draco questioned in utter disbelieve. "Why? Why help me, my mother and Dobby?"
"You mean besides the fact that we will hit one of Riddle's followers with it?" Harry replied with a grin. "Your father might have evaded prison after the war. But you know there are things far worse than prison, and his punishment for walking over everyone else is long overdue."
Not that he would tell Harry that, but when the other boy smirked a few moments prior, Draco mentally berated himself for showing weakness in front of him. Still, he would never have thought it was directed at his father Lucius and that Harry would try to help him. Any Slytherin would have killed for such an opportunity, but Harry instead gave the prime example of a Hufflepuff. However, he had to admit that the other boy's plans were very cunning and Slytherin in nature. If he would be honest, this entire thing was nothing but Slytherin...with a bit of Hufflepuff. Okay, a lot of Hufflepuff, as Harry's following statement would show.
"As I said, you are family and family is supposed to help each other. I know how it is, wanting to get away from the family you're forced to live with without any way of escape. My life before Hogwarts hadn't been any different in that regard. Loki was my help, and now I want to help you."
Draco snickered. "I don't know whether you're more Slytherin or more Hufflepuff."
Harry just shrugged. "The hat said that I'm equally fitted for all the houses, and the only reason for why I landed in Gryffindor was because Loki threatened the hat."
Now Draco outright laughed. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes when Harry remembered something.
"Earlier, you said something about something being really bad. What was it? What was the reason that you sent Dobby after me?"
The others were sitting in their compartment wondering what took Harry so long. They left over an hour ago, and they began to worry whether or not Harry managed to get into trouble...again. The only consoling thing was that Loki could assure them that Harry did not teleport away or that Zachariah got to him. So, they sat there silently except for Luna, who began to read her magazine while humming.
That was until suddenly the door opened and she fell backwards because she had leaned against it. Looking up at Harry from the floor, she smiled broadly.
"Hey Harry, the others were worried that Draco hexed you. You didn't hex him, did you, Draco?" she asked the blond that stood right next to Harry.
"No, I didn't hex him, and you are?" Draco replied, raising an eyebrow.
"That is our dear Luna. She starts Hogwarts this year," Harry explained while he helped the girl up before he stepped around her and sat down in his place.
It would have gotten too full in the small compartment had Loki not expanded it with a snap. So now there was enough space for Draco to sit down between Hermione and Harry.
"I must say that you have strange friends," Draco said, comfortably leaning back. Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow, so he elaborated that. "Strange not in the sense of how your friends are but who your friends are. You must be the only one who doesn't care who or what your friends are."
"Oh yeah, we already established that I'm crazy," Harry laughed. "Isn't that right, Hermione?"
"Absolutely, but...what are you doing here, Malfoy?" She replied. "Not that we're not glad that you're here or something...just wondering."
Draco looked at her haughtily while Harry began to laugh over how his friend went out of her way to not anger him again.
"Hermione, calm down! I already said I'm sorry, and you don't have to be overly nice to everyone in fear of me. Just be yourself," he shook his head. "But she's right. There is a reason why he's here. He has to tell you something of uttermost importance. Draco...."
"While I have no idea where it is at the moment, I know how one of Riddle's Horcruxes looks like," the blond simply stated.