AN: Sorry it's been a while. Been a bit busy and the like. But here it is. Enjoy.
Chapter 14
Harry walked down through the cold, damp corridor to the Slytherin common room where he assumed, or at least hoped, Malfoy would be. There were many a portrait on Harry's journey and each turned to stare at Dumbledore's Golden Boy making his was steadily into the dungeons of the castle. His footsteps echoed down the corridor that could be leading to our hero's doom. He stopped outside the slightly familiar entrance to the Slytherin dorms. He paused at the wall a little hesitantly then knocked firmly on it. He couldn't hear anything inside moving but he assumed that the common room was reasonably soundproof; as was the Gryffindor common room. A few moments later the wall opened to reveal a 2nd or 3rd year Slytherin glaring at him.
"What?" he sneered at Harry.
A sneer that was so like Draco's Harry was astounded momentarily.
"I'm looking for Draco Malfoy."
The Slytherin looked Harry up and down for a moment, "Wait here." He said finally and the door sealed behind him.
Harry waited slightly impatiently for the most likely vexed Malfoy to emerge. He didn't have to wait long. Malfoy gracefully stepped through and met Harry. On the outside he looked his cold, angry usual self but Harry could see his eyes were swimming with inner turmoil and angst.
"I'm not in the mood Potter." Malfoy snapped.
Harry sighed internally; he wasn't sure where to start. He knew what he needed to say…but just not how to.
He met Malfoys eyes determinedly, "You're going to listen to what I have to say." He said firmly, leaving no room for opposition.
Malfoy didn't say anything and Harry took this as encouragement to continue.
"Look Draco," Harry started a little hesitantly, "I know what you're going through."
Malfoy gave him a scornful look but let him continue.
"Maybe not exactly," Harry acknowledged, "But to some extent. You broke up with Ginny. I had a long talk with her."
Malfoy frowned and then let out a long sigh, "I don't know what to do." He admitted, "I do love her…but that's the problem. If she gets hurt because of me…" he trailed off miserably.
"Look Malfoy, I know you're not going to want to hear this but you need to. Ginny is a fantastic young lady. She deserves to be happy. I've known Ginny for a long time now; I know how stubborn she is. And so do you. It's the same with Hermione. If I tried to break it off with her because of the lack of safety, and believe me I've thought about it, I know exactly what she'd say. She'd chide me for being so chauvinistic and thinking she couldn't take care of herself. I know it's hard to let someone be close but…you've got to let someone in sometime." Harry finished his rant feeling slightly flustered; he was no good at speeches.
Malfoy was silent for quite some time. Harry held his breath for his answer.
"I know all that. Honestly I do but…my instincts tell me to protect her, to save her from this disastrous situation that could be the end of her. If Voldemort gets a hold of our relationship, Ginny's a goner. I can't let that happen!" His voice was slightly panicky.
Harry glanced around the barren corridor, "Perhaps this isn't the best place for this conversation." He said hesitantly.
Draco nodded, "I'd better go back inside…"
Harry bit his lip, "I suppose so…think about what I said alright? You can't make this decision on your own. It takes two to tango."
Malfoy gave him a bewildered look.
Harry smiled, "Just talk to Ginny."
Without another word Malfoy muttered the password and left Harry standing alone in the corridor. He stared at the blank wall in front of him for a minute as if waiting for a response from it that Draco just wouldn't give. Loud footsteps broke him out of his trance and he looked around for a place to hide quickly. It might not look so good if he was caught hanging around the Slytherin common room, especially not by a Slytherin, who would surely report to his or her father about it. And of course that would lead to questions about Draco…he was already in enough trouble.
Harry ducked behind a suit of armor and held his breath as the steps grew louder. He could hear two voices talking, one female, and one male. The male was definitely from Slytherin, he could tell from the arrogant drawl that was a Slytherin trademark. Harry couldn't tell about the girl, her voice was speaking in soft hushed tones as if whispering a deadly secret no one could know about. Harry bit his lip in concentration, trying to hear every word of their conversation.
"You're sure?" The girl gasped quietly.
Harry moved his head a little to the side so he could peer out from behind the armor without being seen. The girl had her back to him but Harry could see the boy in clear view. He'd seen him around. A fifth or sixth year he supposed.
The boy looked around hastily, "Of course I'm sure." He whispered fiercely, "I got a letter from my father yesterday evening telling me so."
Harry couldn't see the girls' reaction but she was obviously upset as the quiver in her voice showed, "I don't know if I'm ready though."
The boys' voice twisted in annoyance, "You're ready when he says you're ready. There's no turning back now. We need to get all our numbers up for the upcoming…" he looked around cautiously, "…event."
The girl nodded, "Yes, I suppose." She said dubiously.
He grabbed her roughly by the arm, "Don't tell me your having second thoughts." He spat.
"No! No of course I'm not! I'd never…it's just…it's sooner than I expected."
The boys face softened slightly but hardly noticeable, "It's sooner than anyone expected but he said so. You don't argue with him."
"Yes of course not. I will join the Dark Lords uprising." She said standing up straighter.
The boy nodded at her firmly giving her a once over glance, "I'll inform my father tonight. The meeting's tomorrow evening. Meet me here. We'll go together. Don't even think about backing out." He hissed, "You'll only have a week to prepare before we attack."
The girls' voice was complacent, "That'll be more than enough. I'm not in Ravenclaw for nothing you know."
A quick nod and a mutter and then the boy was gone. Harry watched the girl for a moment as she stood there in silence.
"What have I gotten myself into?" she murmured quietly before quickly looking around and hurriedly making her way to her dorm.
Harry slipped out from behind the armor; his face filled with shock. She was a Ravenclaw. He'd always assumed they'd be far too intelligent to think about joining the dark side. Obviously he'd been wrong…who knew how many dark supporters there were in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. But Gryffindor? Harry shook his head; he couldn't imagine anyone from there supporting Voldemort. But who knew? Dumbledore would have to be told of course. Harry decided he'd write him a letter and owl it as soon as he got back to his room.
[AN: at some stage throughout the story Hermione received her own room okay?? I didn't add it in because it wasn't a major detail in the plot]
~0~
Harry sat down at his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment from one of the many drawers the desk held. It, of course, being magical seemed to find amusement in hiding everything from Harry. However this time it was rather co operative and Harry found himself moments later with a piece of blank parchment and a quill in his hand.
Professor Dumbledore,
While down the dungeons corridor outside the Slytherin common room a few minutes ago for personal reasons I discovered some news about Voldemort that I think you should know. I overheard a fifth or sixth year Slytherin boy and a Ravenclaw girl discussing Voldemorts uprising. The young man received a letter from his father last night detailing some sort of meeting that he was to attend tomorrow night and the Ravenclaw girl is going to attend with him. He also said that she'd only have one week to prepare before they attack. Unfortunately that was all I overheard. I hope this information helps you and the Order.
Harry
Harry read over the note once and quickly scrawled his name at the bottom. He yawned loudly but grabbed a cloak and with a swish of it the door closed behind him. He walked through the empty corridors, half patrolling half just going to the owlery. His mind was on other thoughts than where he was going so it gave him quite a shock when Filch popped up out of nowhere.
"Oh it's you." He sneered, "What are you doing out so late?"
"Patrolling." Harry said simply.
Filch sneered again, Mrs. Norris by his feet glaring at him with her cat eyes.
"If you catch anyone send them straight to me." Filch said and with that turned on his heel and disappeared behind a tapestry.
Harry rolled his eyes and continued on his way to the owlery. He loved going there at night almost as much as flying. …well maybe not that much. He spotted Hedwig on a perch not too far away and went over and gave her a pat before asking her to deliver his message to Dumbledore right away. With a reassuring hoot, Hedwig took off out of the owlery and Harry watched her swoop around a little before going to find Dumbledore. Harry sighed as she disappeared into the night and turned around. He supposed he'd better do some real patrolling before going to bed. So with a loud yawn he set out into the dark corridors looking for students out of bed like himself.
~0~
Harry watched as Ron squirmed uncomfortably.
"Well?" he prompted.
Ron made a face and didn't say anything. Harry rolled his eyes and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Ron eyed him up for a minute.
Ron sighed, "You're not going to drop it are you?"
Harry just grinned in response.
Ron ran a hand through his red hair, "It didn't go so well."
Harrys' grin grew wider, "Go on say it. Call it a date."
Ron's eye twitched in response, he cleared his throat loudly, "Yes that. Well it was a bit of a disaster really…" he sighed again, "It was really awkward…and when we went to kiss it was just…I don't know…it was…" he started to gesture with his hands here, looking for the right words.
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"….awkward."
Harry rolled his eyes, "So I've heard. So you kissed…anything else? Anything," Harry wiggled his eyebrows, "sexual?"
Ron's ears went red, "No."
Harry bit back laughter at Ron, he was honestly pathetic. It was just a date…a date with a Slytherin was slightly more stressful he supposed but…they were 7th form. They'd been on many a date…well Ron had been on many a date…and they'd all been alright. Nothing like what Ron was going through now obviously.
"Are you going to ask her out again?" Harry asked curiously.
Ron shrugged embarrassedly, "I didn't really ask her out the first time…it was sort of mutual."
"You mutually asked each other out?" Harry split into peals of laughter.
Ron harrumphed at him, "Yes. Stop laughing you prick."
Harry just laughed harder, it wasn't really that funny…but I guess you had to be Harry to get it…poor deluded hapless Harry.
Ron scowled at him, "Fine."
Harry stopped laughing, his eyes slightly wet from his random outburst of hysterics, "Oh calm down. I'm sorry. I've never heard of mutual asking out."
Ron was about to retort back but his stomach answered for him.
'Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw.' (Yes that was his stomach)
"I'm hungry."
"Obviously…well let's go down and feed you before you starve." Harry said with a roll of his eyes.
They reached the Great Hall without too much difficulty but little did they know the difficulty lay just inside the door. They walked through the doors, chatting casually about Quidditch (so what else is new?). They were instantly confronted by an extremely made-up Pansy. As Harry squinted he didn't think he could actually see any of her skin.
"Oh! H-h-hello Pansy." Ron stammered.
She batted her thick, clumpy eyelashes, "Ronnie"
Harry winced and Ronnie's eye twitched for the second time that morning.
"Oh Ronnie! I had a wonderful time last night! We must do it again." She gushed.
"Oh-uh yeah alright." Ron said looking a bewildered; after all he'd say anything just so he could sit down and eat breakfast.
"Great! I'll meet you outside the Slytherin common room tonight at say eight. We'll have a picnic." She flashed him a dazzling smile and turned on her heel and was at the Slytherin table within seconds.
Ron stared after her for a minute, his brain still processing the information she'd just spoken at rapid speed.
"Okay." He said rather stupidly as she wasn't really asking him, more like telling him.
"She's got you whipped mate." A thick Irish voice exclaimed, whacking Ron on the back.
Ron smiled feebly and shoveled his plate up with mountains of food. Hermione watched amusedly from behind her book at the two best friends. She gave Harry a small peck on the lips and went back to reading from the thick, dusty book on her lap. Harry smiled and pushed back a small tendril of hair that'd escaped from behind her ear. He had plans for them that night, plans that he'd been preparing for goodness knows how long and finally it was the day. He wouldn't let anything wreck it. His mind briefly passed over his letter to Dumbledore but when he looked at the staff table he noticed Dumbledore wasn't present. Quickly he banished the thought from his mind and focused on the beautiful young woman who he was in love with beside him.