Chapter 15
"So you're telling me, your father was in Azkaban, but now he's escaped, and he's asking you to join this evil group again, where Voldemort has returned, and I am to be brought there, by you?" Harry said, his words full of scepticism.
I nodded, "I know it sounds farfetched, but it's true. I can't show you the letter, because if you know too much information, then the plan will fall to pieces. You need to be presented as the unknowing victim for this to work. I'm afraid this is all I can tell you."
Harry gave me a very confused look, scrunching his face up to prove it. I smiled at him, I rarely saw him look so unsure of himself. I found it endearing.
I walked over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and gave him a soft peck on the cheek. His face relaxed and he kissed me back.
We made our way towards the small sofa facing the roaring fire, and I fell back onto it, relieving myself of some of the burdens I had been carrying for the past few days. I breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last long, as Harry came to my side, and proceeded to climb onto my lap. He began leaving a trail of kisses down my neck, sending a shiver down my entire spine. I pulled him closer to me, to diminish the already small distance between us, and planted my own kisses across his collarbone, something I knew that he loved.
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Harry's POV
"I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you, Harry," Hermione frowned, "I don't have enough information and I've never been in that situation, to be honest."
I sighed heavily. I had only told Ron and Hermione, the two people I trusted the most in the entire world. I knew they wouldn't share what I told them, and I knew they could help me out. However, in this particular context, they didn't have much experience in this field, despite our past adventures, so they couldn't offer many suggestions.
We made our way out of the common room and down to the Great Hall for some dinner, but my conversation with Draco was weighing on my shoulders. Now I had a slight insight into how he had felt all those years ago, pressured into dangerous decisions by his father. I understood that he didn't really have any kind of a choice, so I would need to comply, in order to keep him safe. I supposed it was lucky that he and I had already grown close; I couldn't imagine how it would've gone down if he had had to convince me into it as enemies.
As I walked through the large ornate doors, I looked across the room, as I did every time I entered this hall. I noticed Draco sitting all the way at the end of our table, opposite Theodore Nott, as usual. He caught my eye and flashed the most adorable smile, allowing me to relax ever so slightly.
I sat down with Ron and Hermione, and Seamus and Dean. It was painfully obvious that the two of them were seeing each other, but there was enough counter-proof to cause doubt among the rest of the students. Neither of them had said anything about it, but none of us really cared at all, which did make me somewhat glad. It reassured me that if Draco and I ever decided to widen our audience, maybe we wouldn't be received as badly as I feared. Although, there were already a large number of rumours regarding our recent proximity, and it wasn't all good. 'Golden Boy and Death Eater' is what I heard quite often in the corridors, and it wasn't exactly said encouragingly...
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On Wednesday afternoon, I didn't have any lessons, so I thought I'd pay a visit to the Headmistress. I strolled round to that side of the castle and whispered the password, in case any intrusive ears may be near. I stepped onto the staircase, which immediately started twisting upwards, finally halting in front of an all-too-familiar door. I knocked lightly, and after only a moment, I heard a voice say 'enter'.
Professor McGonagall was stood at the window, with her back to me. Her hands were joined behind her, linking at the small of her back. I walked forwards, and she turned to face me.
"Potter, I've been waiting for you visit," she said solemnly, "I can only assume that Malfoy has informed you of the grave news he received from his father," I nodded, "he and I have set up all the necessary precautions to keep you both as safe as possible. All there is left to do is to wait for Malfoy to be summoned."
As she spoke, she moved away from the window and made her way down towards me, ending up behind her desk. I was about to answer her, but no words came out. I didn't know what to say, she had already made everything quite clear. I opened my mouth again to ask when and where these events would be taking place, but before I could utter a word, the door behind me swung open.
"Professor! It's happening! My Dark Mark, I'm being summoned," cried a breathless voice. I didn't even have to turn to know it was Draco.
I saw McGonagall's eyes widen, and a wave of terror washed over her face. It didn't last long; she had to keep a composed face and not show any fear. She raised a hand to silence Draco's worried cries, and he took a deep breath before saying anything more.
"Sorry, Professor, I didn't think to knock first. It is quite an urgent situation," his cheeks were red and a pearl of sweat was forming on his forehead.
"I agree that our current state is quite dire, Malfoy, but we mustn't lose our heads. We need to gather our forces and keep the situation under control," she said calmly.
"Not to be rude, Professor, but I don't have much time before I need to join my father wherever he is, and once I'm there, there's no going back."
"I am aware, Malfoy, we have discussed this. I have already called for the Aurors to join us as soon as possible, so they should be here any minute, can you wait that long?" he nodded, glancing at me, the troubled look plain in his eyes. I tried to force a reassuring smile to calm him down somewhat, but I couldn't even bring myself to fake it. I had never felt quite this scared in my life.
I had always been putting others in danger, but this time, I truly cared about Draco, and I was terrified that something might happen to him.
Before anyone could say anything else, five Aurors Apparated into McGonagall's office. They saw Draco and I and only nodded in our direction, turning to the headmistress for instructions.
"Well don't look at me, I'm not the one being called to my death," she gestured to Draco.
Draco's eyes widened even more, and he glanced over at me, very unsure of himself. I gave him a small nod and barely a smile, letting him know that it was all right, and that these people were to be trusted.
He took a deep breath and rolled up his left sleeve. Every person in the room leaned forward to see the jet-black skull printed on this young boy's pale arm. The snake inside the mouth was slithering down his forearm, proving that it was activated.
One of the Aurors, whom I'd never seen before, suddenly spoke up. It was a tall woman with a very long tan trench coat. She looked like a classic detective, but these people wouldn't understand what that meant.
"How do we know the boy is to be trusted?" she said, eyeing the Dark Mark sceptically.
McGonagall looked almost as offended as if the woman had just insulted her child. I gave her a hard stare, but she never looked over at me.
"Draco Malfoy is a very trustworthy young boy, and I have put all of my trust in him. I am confident that his intentions are good, and that he is on our side," she said sternly, "as we all should be," she added, directing her comment at the witch.
She looked somewhat affronted, but quickly composed herself, brushing off the comment. The Auror in the front of the group, who appeared to be in charge, then addressed the headmistress.
"So, what is our plan? We still don't know how we're going to be able to follow the boy when he Apparates to his father's side with Potter."
"I am to cast a Tracking Spell on Malfoy, it acts like a temporary Trace, so that we will be able to see where he arrives. Then, we simply wait a few seconds before following him there ourselves," McGonagall explained.
I glanced over at Draco, just as he turned to look over at me. I noticed the absolute terror in his eyes, and attempted to soften my face to reassure him as much as possible. I turned back to McGonagall, and awaited instruction.
She was about to say something, but then I felt something on my hand. Draco had taken my hand in his and squeezed it. He was clearly trying to reassure me in his own way. I turned to look over at him, a grateful look in my eyes, but I had barely turned my head when Draco's lips met mine in a rushed, almost anxious kiss. I felt so many emotions surging through my body at once; I couldn't decide which one to feel. All I could tell was that I was both petrified and completely relaxed, because I was afraid I would never see Draco again, but having him here, next to me, felt like the most comforting thing in the world, and that nothing bad could happen to either of us.
The feeling was short-lived, as he quickly tore his lips from mine and we faced five Aurors, slack-jawed, staring at the unusual scene that had just taken place in front of them.
Luckily, McGonagall didn't have much of a reaction, and she immediately snapped her fingers, pulling everyone back to reality. We needed to get a move on.
The head teacher pulled Draco towards her, and uttered what sounded like a very long spell. I supposed it wasn't the sort of spell that was cast everyday, and it wasn't to be used recklessly.
Once the Professor deemed him ready, she told him to do what was necessary. So he stood next to me, and explained to everyone the required steps to make sure the plan went smoothly.
First, Draco would point his wand to his Dark Mark and utter a short incantation, bringing him to his father's side. But as he did so, he would have to make sure I was holding onto him, so that I would be able to follow him. We had already worked out a quick, relatively plausible, story to explain how he would have gotten me to follow him in case of inquisition. Then, as soon as he appeared on the small globe that McGonagall had procured especially to track him, the Aurors followed.
External POV
Harry and Draco whizzed through the air, surrounded by dark forces. Harry had only seen this phenomenon happen to the other Death Eaters, but now, as he Apparated with Draco, he felt very strange. The Apparating wasn't the issue; he felt safe in Draco's company, but his heart was pounding and his stomach was turning at the thought of what they were about to undergo.
The two boys landed in some kind of large field. They looked around, and it was completely empty. The sun was setting, and the sky was an exquisite blend of pink, orange and blood red. He thought it was almost funny that something so dark was about to take place at such a picturesque scene.
Draco, on the other hand, was panicking. He hadn't seen his father in months, and wasn't exactly excited about it. Furthermore, he realised that in this field, which seemed to stretch for miles and miles, the Aurors wouldn't be able to seamlessly hide nor blend in.
Harry and Draco turned to each other, and before they could draw another breath, they were surrounded. Almost a dozen Death Eaters suddenly appeared out of thin air in a very ominous circle around them.
Back at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy's location had just appeared on the globe. They all gathered around to look, and noticed that he had gone quite far north. In fact, he was near the Scottish border. Professor McGonagall was able to zoom further into the location, and had a vague image of where they were. When the Aurors noticed it was an empty field in the middle of nowhere, they began to worry. They were all trying to figure out a way of Apparating in silently and invisibly, then being able to hide nearby.
Minerva had already alerted the Ministry of their plans. She didn't want to cause a scene, so only a couple of her closest and most trusted friends had been informed. They would be able to help in case of an emergency.
So they prepared themselves for invisibility spells in case their landing went wrong, and three Aurors Disapparated to the north of the country, followed by the other two shortly after.
They landed about a quarter of a mile away from where the scene was taking place. They all gathered at the edge of the field, luckily hidden by a few rogue orange trees. The five of them spread out and placed themselves in a star-like formation around what looked like some sort of ritual.
Of course they recognised the infamous pointy hats together with the deadly masks hiding the Death Eaters' cowardly faces.
One of the Death Eaters to the boys' left stepped forward. He removed his mask and Draco's stomach knotted itself terribly. It was his father.
Lucius Malfoy had never looked worse. He obviously hadn't had time to really clean himself up after escaping prison. What appeared to be the stubble was taking shape on his chin, and the dark circles under his eyes made it seem as though he had been in a nasty fight. His face had never been quite so pale and his hair was no longer smooth and straight, but damaged and unkempt. However, he still had that power-hungry look in his eyes, accompanied by the sheer terror conveyed in his expression.
"Draco, my son, you did it," he said, a malicious smile forming on his thin dry lips. He walked closer to his son and placed his hands on his shoulders, shooting a quick glance at Harry, "I knew you wouldn't let me down."
Draco's pulse quickened. He was panicking, but he fought it as hard as possible. He couldn't let his unease show, or the whole plan would fail. So he took a deep breath and put on a false smile.
He attempted a grin, and thankfully it convinced Lucius, who smiled back at him.
"Well, my boy, what are you waiting for? Let us begin the ceremony," Lucius then returned to his previous spot, completing the former circle of Death Eaters.
Draco had no idea what he was supposed to do. He stood, clueless, for a couple of moments in the middle of the circle, and glanced at Harry, who shot back a hint of a smile, and there was something calm about his expression. Too calm, Draco thought. He wondered what could possibly be going in his head for him to not be so anxious, just as he was.
As the young Slytherin was about to swallow his pride and ask his father what to do, two Death Eaters to his right stepped aside, leaving a space open for him to fill. He gulped, took a deep breath and walked over to where he was clearly awaited. He couldn't feel his knees and his heart was pounding so intensely, he was convinced it would be forced out of his chest at any second. He turned to face Harry and the rest of the group, stood between two evil beings, apprehending the following events.
Draco was beginning to wonder if anything was going to happen at all after a good minute of silence. He supposed that they were waiting for the arrival of the Dark Lord, but he couldn't be sure, seeing as he had so clearly seen him die at the Battle of Hogwarts. The young former Death Eater was hoping that they had been fed false information and that he would in fact never come. However, he couldn't bring himself to admit it, because his Dark Mark had indeed shown a form of life.
As the minutes passed, Draco began to seriously question whether or not this was a veritable gathering. The Death Eaters surrounding him seemed unbothered, as though they knew exactly what was coming. He found it hard to believe that even now, all these people continued to be faithful to such a foul being as Voldemort, and remained trusting that he would show up, without much knowledge at all.
Just then, a group of Ministry officials appeared out of nowhere behind the circle of Death Eaters and all any of them heard was a loud "Stupefy!" as they shouted in unison. A dozen witches and wizards fell limply to the ground, none of them able to get away in time.
The Aurors then grabbed all the paralysed bodies lying on the ground and began handcuffing them. Harry had never seen Wizarding Cuffs and was intrigued. They were of course imbued with magical properties and didn't have any sort of lock and key mechanism. They appeared to be glowing ever so slightly and morphed to the shape of the wrist they clung to, making it impossible for the detainee to remove them.
As one of them grabbed Draco, wrapping the magical cuffs around his slim wrists, Harry noticed and jumped forward, trying to stop her. The Ministry woman shoved Harry away in one protective movement, as another pulled the frantic boy out of the circle and held his arms back, impeding any further movement.
The five Aurors that were previously stationed away from the ritual had finally joined the scene and they were trying to argue with their colleagues, defending the young Malfoy. They were clearly having none of it, and said that he would be able to defend himself in court. So they disappeared, one after the other, leaving Harry and the Aurors alone in the field.
After having a minute to process the startling events that had just taken place in the space of mere minutes, Harry finally let his emotions burst. He shouted for a few seconds, into the air, followed by hot tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't tell whether he was angry, confused, terrified or miserable, but he knew one thing. Draco Malfoy had been unjustly arrested and taken away from him, which was a fact he would do anything in his power to change.
Two of the Aurors moved to comfort Harry, and they all decided to return to Hogwarts to recount the events to McGonagall before making any rash decisions.