Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I'm just borrowing it for a bit of nonsense.

No More Mysteries

by: MayorHaggar

Chapter 15: Trust

Draco stomped through the corridors of Hogwarts, glaring at anyone who happened to be in his way. Pansy was keeping up as best she could, shooting him concerned looks all the while, but Draco ignored her as usual. She couldn't begin to appreciate the weight of responsibility on Draco's shoulders, nor would she be able to understand why Snape's actions the previous night had made him so angry.

A night of sleep had done nothing to improve Draco's mood. In fact, he'd gotten little to no sleep, so upset was he with his Head of House. How dare Snape try and insert himself into Draco's mission! Draco knew that this was his opportunity to prove his worth to the Dark Lord, and there was no way he was going to let Snape get involved in any way. It would be Draco who enabled the Dark Lord to rid their world of Potter, Dumbledore and every other mudblood and blood traitor who stood in his way, not Snape.

Draco was so consumed with his anger for Snape that he did not notice the oncoming form of Harry Potter until the two collided shoulder-to-shoulder in the middle of the corridor. Draco stumbled, but was able to remain on his feet by grabbing hold of Pansy's shoulder until he was able to regain his balance.

"Ooh, Draco, are you hurt?" Pansy gasped, clutching his arm in worry, but he shook free from her grip and scowled at the Gryffindor golden boy, who was flanked by Granger and Weasley as usual.

"Watch where you're going, Potter," Draco spat, glaring at his hated nemesis. Potter didn't back down, and returned Draco's look with just as much animosity.

"You're the one who bumped into me, ferret," Potter said, knowing how much that particular insult angered him.

"Very funny, Potter," Draco said. "I'm sure the weasel and the mudblood were amused, but--"

"What did you call her?" Potter said, his eyes narrowing as he took a step towards Draco. Draco's hand fell to his wand, but the mudblood restrained Potter before he could come any closer.

"He's not worth it, Harry," the mudblood said as she held the so-called 'Chosen One' back. "Forget about him, and let's get to Professor McGonagall's class."

"Yes, listen to her, Potter," Draco said, smirking as he watched Granger lead a clearly reluctant Potter away from him. "You wouldn't want her angry with you. After all, who knows how much time you'll have together?"

That got Granger to turn and look back at him. "Is that supposed to be a threat, Malfoy?" she asked, sounding calmer than Potter had, but her eyes made her distaste for him clear. The feeling was very much mutual as far as Draco was concerned.

"Of course not," Draco said dismissively, as if it was beneath him to even acknowledge her existence. Which it was, of course. "But these are pretty dangerous times, aren't they? There's no telling what might happen next."

"Whatever happens, Harry won't be beaten," Weasley said, joining the conversation for the first time. "Just ask the Dark Tosser you worship so much. Or daddy, if you can find the time to make a trip to Azkaban."

Draco seethed at the insult to his father. He wanted nothing more than to use his wand to put this dirt-poor blood traitor in his place, but now was not the time to initiate a duel. The task ahead of him was far too important to risk physical injury, no matter how unlikely it would be for a wizard of Weasley's calibre to defeat him. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't respond to Weasley's verbal jab with one of his own-and he had a perfect one in mind.

"My father's stay in Azkaban is temporary, Weasley," Draco said smoothly. "What happened to your brother, on the other hand, is quite permanent."

That comment surprised the Gryffindor trio, to be sure! Weasley's face turned as red as his hair-quite an ugly sight. Granger looked surprised that he would go that far, for some reason. Potter looked about as angry as he had ever seen him, and Draco knew that the grudge between them had just escalated yet again. The thought pleased him to no end.

As it turned out, his comment had even taken Pansy aback, if her gasp was any indication. "Draco, maybe we should go back to the common room," she said, sounding afraid.

"Don't worry about it, Pansy," Draco said, turning his head to smirk at her. "The golden boy and his followers were just about to..."

Draco cut off abruptly as he heard heavy footsteps stomping towards him. His head swivelled around in time to see Weasley closing in on him fast, fists clenched. Draco's hand fell to his wand, but he didn't have enough time to draw it before Weasley's fist connected with his face. His nose made a sickening crunch, and he fell to the floor despite a shrieking Pansy's best efforts to hold him up.

Draco braced himself for another blow, but thankfully none came. His hand flew to his nose, and his palms quickly turned crimson. The mongrel had broken his nose!

Draco lurched to his feet, hand clasped over his broken nose, and saw that Weasley was being restrained by not just Potter and Granger, but Professor Snape as well. Draco pulled out his wand, prepared to retaliate regardless of the consequences, but Snape saw it out of the corner of his eye and shook his head at him.

"Put your wand away, Mister Malfoy, or you will join Weasley here in a month's worth of detentions," Snape warned. Draco glared at him as best he could with his other hand covering his nose, but reluctantly complied.

"Weasley attacked him, professor!" Pansy wailed, near tears. "He's bleeding! Poor Draco! Are you OK?" She tried to comfort him with a hug, but he angrily turned his body away from hers.

"I am well aware that he is bleeding, Miss Parkinson," Snape said calmly. "If you would be so kind as to escort him to the hospital wing while I deal with Mister Weasley?"

"O-of course, professor," Pansy said through her sniffles. "Come on, Draco, let's go," she said softly, and reached for his free hand. He snatched it away and stomped off in the direction of the hospital wing, ignoring her as she silently walked alongside him.

Draco hadn't needed any convincing to begin with, but this was just further proof of how much their world needed to be changed, to be remade to fit the Dark Lord's vision of the future. That a pureblood wizard such as Weasley would resort to using his fists like a common muggle or mudblood was maddening to Draco. Small wonder that Weasley would throw a punch like a simpleton rather than use his wand like a proper wizard. The uppity mudblood Granger and deluded half-blood Potter had obviously been a bad influence.

No matter. Very soon, the Dark Lord would eliminate all of the rubbish dragging them down, and Draco would be right there with him to make sure that he succeeded.

--NMM--

"Something about the way Malfoy was acting today is bothering me," Harry said quietly to Hermione, careful not to speak too loudly so he wouldn't anger Madam Pince. They were in a rather secluded corner of the library, but he saw no reason to push his luck. Few things would earn him Hermione's wrath faster than getting her thrown out of the library.

Hermione turned her attention away from her book and turned to look at her boyfriend. "He was just trying to get under your skin-and then Ron's," she said. "What he said about Bill was classless, even for him, but I'd think you know Malfoy well enough by now to expect that kind of thing from him."

"It's not that," Harry said with a shake of his head. "It's the threats he was making, how there wasn't much time left, and who knew what might happen next."

"He's a braggart, Harry," Hermione stated. "He's always boasting about his family's power and wealth, or warning what will happen when his father hears about whatever problem he's having."

"Yeah, I know," Harry conceded, "but it just feels different to me this time. I don't think he's making idle threats this time. I think there's more to it."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Remember when we saw Draco and Snape arguing in Hogsmeade?" Harry asked. It took a moment for Hermione to remember what he was talking about, but she eventually nodded.

"Yes," she said. "I'd forgotten about that, because my house was attacked that same day."

"So had I," Harry said, "but listening to Draco running his mouth today reminded me of it, and I still think they were arguing about something important. I'm not sure how Snape fits in or what side he's really on, but Draco's a slimy little git just like his father, and I think he's up to something."

"Something involving Voldemort, you mean?" Hermione said, and Harry nodded in confirmation. "Why do you think Voldemort would involve Draco, of all people, in his plans? Voldemort has far more dangerous witches and wizards at his disposal than Draco. What would he need him for?" Hermione asked. Harry was pleased to note that, though she clearly had her doubts, Hermione was not dismissing him out of hand.

"Draco's nothing special, even for his age," Harry agreed. "I'm sure most, if not all, of Voldemort's followers are much stronger. But there's one thing Draco can offer that none of them can, assuming Dumbledore's right about Snape." Hermione's eyes widened as she realised what Harry was suggesting.

"You think he'd use Draco to try and attack someone within Hogwarts," she said. She hadn't phrased it as a question, but Harry nodded anyway.

"Yes, why not? If Draco is half as devoted to the cause as his father is, it makes perfect sense that Voldemort would try to find the best possible way to make use of him. And what better way to take advantage of Draco's loyalty than to have him try and take out one or both of Voldemort's biggest targets?"

"You and Dumbledore," Hermione said simply, and Harry nodded. Hermione was silent for some time as she considered Harry's theory, and he began to think that she was going to reject it.

"I know it seems unlikely that he'd rely on Draco for anything, Hermione, but..."

"We need to go to Dumbledore about this," Hermione said, cutting him off. Harry blinked at her, surprised.

"You believe me?" he asked.

"I'm not sure what to believe," Hermione said with a shrug. "You're right, I do find it unlikely that Draco would be entrusted with anything of significance, or that he would succeed even if he was. He talks big, but I think he's just that-talk. Still, I know better than to dismiss your hunches or gut feelings out of hand. At the very least, you can tell Dumbledore your suspicions, and maybe he will keep a closer eye on Draco."

"You want to go with me to talk to Dumbledore, then?" Harry asked, and Hermione nodded. "When?"

"No time like the present," Hermione said. She closed and put away her book, gathered her things, stood up from her chair and looked at Harry expectantly. Harry blinked before smiling at his girlfriend.

"Lead the way," he said, and the two left the library and set off for Dumbledore's office hand in hand. On the way, they realised they had a problem; neither one of them knew Dumbledore's current password. Fortunately, the stone gargoyle stepped aside without a word and allowed them to enter.

"Ah, welcome, Mister Potter and Miss Granger," Dumbledore greeted them from behind his desk as they stepped into his office. "I was notified of your approach and instructed the gargoyle to admit you without a password. Neither of you appear to be under any distress, thankfully, so I trust nothing urgent has happened?"

"Not really, no," Harry confirmed as he and Hermione sat down on the comfortable couch Dumbledore had conjured for them. "We just wanted to talk to you about Draco Malfoy."

"I see. Professor Snape informed me of the altercation between young Draco and your friend Mister Weasley earlier today," Dumbledore told them. "I support the detentions Professor Snape assigned to Ronald, as violence within Hogwarts is not to be tolerated no matter the circumstances. However, Draco's remarks were unacceptable, and he has been punished accordingly."

"We didn't come to talk about that," Hermione said. "Not directly, at least."

"Oh?" Dumbledore said. "Please explain, then."

"I think Draco is up to something," Harry said."

"Up to something?" Dumbledore repeated. "What do you mean, precisely?"

"I think that he's been given a task by Voldemort," Harry said. The change in Dumbledore was instantaneous. The Headmaster leaned forward in his chair, eyes widened, and looked at Harry quite intently.

"And what drew you to that conclusion, Harry?" Dumbledore asked him.

"It's not any one thing. More a gut feeling than anything," Harry admitted with a shrug, and Dumbledore sighed and deflated.

"Your feeling is correct, Harry," Dumbledore said. "During the summer, Lord Voldemort did indeed assign Draco a task to carry out."

"He did?" Harry said incredulously, shooting off of the couch so he could stand directly in front of Dumbledore's desk. "Why didn't you tell me? You promised you'd keep me up to date on what was happening with Voldemort!"

"I don't know any of the details, unfortunately," Dumbledore admitted, and he smiled briefly to himself as Hermione automatically got up from the couch and stood beside Harry so she could trace comforting patterns up and down his back with her hand. "Draco's mother pleaded with Professor Snape to help her son, but Draco did not take her into his confidence. Professor Snape has made numerous attempts to get Draco to confide in him, but he has resisted thus far. I was hoping Draco had accidentally revealed something to you during your confrontation, but alas, it was merely your instincts pointing you in the right direction."

"If you know he's working for Voldemort, why is he still here? Why haven't you had him arrested?" Hermione asked.

"There are multiple reasons," Dumbledore stated. "For one, if we were to have Draco arrested or expelled before we learned his objective, we would risk Voldemort passing this assignment on to another person sympathetic to his cause-perhaps someone we would not readily suspect. Knowing that Draco is at the centre of this plot, whatever it is, allows us to monitor him closely and be on the alert for anything out of the ordinary."

Harry could see that that answer did not satisfy Hermione, but he actually found himself nodding in agreement with Dumbledore's logic. Voldemort seemed to be working on some scheme or another within Hogwarts every year. Until they were able to interrogate Draco and force the information out of him, he needed to stay exactly where he was.

"Also, I still hold out hope that Draco can be made to see the light and thus avoid making the same mistakes his father made at his age," Dumbledore said.

Now Harry joined Hermione in giving Dumbledore a disgruntled look, but the Headmaster was not finished. "As far as we are aware, Draco has not broken any laws as of yet, and I consider that an encouraging sign," he said. "I believe that he can be saved from this dark path before it is too late."

"He doesn't want to be saved!" Harry growled. "Just because he hasn't acted yet doesn't change the fact that he's just as evil as his father!"

"An opinion that Professor Snape shares," Dumbledore said sadly. "Yet he himself is proof positive that redemption is possible."

"Whatever," Harry said testily, before changing the subject. "What matters is finding out what Draco's mission is, and figuring out how to stop him."

"On that, we agree," Dumbledore said. "As I said, Professor Snape has made several overtures, but Draco has refused to cooperate. He will continue to reach out to Draco, and we will keep a very close eye on his activities. Beyond that, there is not much we can do at the present time."

"That's it?" Harry said, shaking his head in disbelief. "What about veritaserum? Snape threatened me with that when he thought I was stealing from his storeroom. Why couldn't he use that to make Malfoy spill his secrets?"

"Or legilimency," Hermione added. "I don't know if Draco has ever been taught occlumency, but I doubt he'd be able to repel someone like Professor Snape. Or you, Headmaster," she finished. Both teens stared at Dumbledore expectantly, but their frustration grew when he shook his head.

"Unless they are suspected of having committed a crime, neither of those options are legal to use on a student without the express permission of the student or their guardian," Dumbldore explained. "To use either of them would be condemning Draco as a criminal, someone beyond salvation, which is not something that I am prepared to do."

"So that's it then? Just wait and see what he does?" Harry muttered, not believing what he was hearing.

"I would like to believe we're doing a bit more than that," Dumbledore said softly, but the fire in Harry's eyes did not dim.

"I can't believe that you would put the entire castle and everyone in it at risk to try and save one nasty, foul, bigoted son of a bitch!" Harry shouted. Dumbledore looked taken aback at Harry's explosion, and many of the portraits of former Headmasters were complaining. But the only reaction Harry was concerned with was Hermione's. The nod of approval she gave him was enough for Harry, everyone else be damned.

"I think we'd better go, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "There's nothing more to be said."

Harry nodded and allowed her to grasp his hand and lead him out of Dumbledore's office. Before he left, Harry turned his head to glare at Dumbledore one last time. The Headmaster looked profoundly sad, hunched over his desk with his eyes closed.

In different circumstances, Harry would have felt bad for the man. At the moment, though, he was too frustrated with Dumbledore's refusal to admit what was right in front of him. Harry did not doubt for a second that, given the time and the opportunity, Draco would wreak havoc within the walls of Hogwarts. He needed to be stopped, by any means necessary. If Dumbledore wasn't going to do anything about it, Harry would just have to look elsewhere.

--NMM--

"Thanks for coming, everyone," Hermione said to the group that had assembled in the Room of Requirement on short notice. Also present, aside from herself and Harry, were Ron (fresh from the first of many detentions he'd earned for his altercation with Malfoy earlier in the day), Neville, Luna and Ginny. The room had provided them with a circular table, and the 'Ministry Six', as the Daily Prophet had dubbed them, were seated around it.

"So what's going on, Hermione?" Neville asked. "Why'd you ask us all to meet up here in such a rush?"

"Earlier today, Harry and I had a meeting with Dumbledore," Hermione said. "He told us that Voldemort has given Draco Malfoy some kind of mission to perform here at Hogwarts." As she'd expected, the reaction from their four friends was immediate. With all four of them trying to speak at once, though, it was impossible to hear what any of them were actually saying.

"We don't know what the mission is, and neither does Dumbledore," Harry said, raising his voice to be heard over the chatter.

"So what's he going to do about it?" Neville asked, and the other friends all looked to Harry expectantly. When Harry's only response was to scowl, they became quite confused.

"The Headmaster isn't prepared to take any action against Draco," Hermione said, taking over for her seething boyfriend. The other four were stunned at first, but that turned to outrage very quickly.

"You've gotta be bloody joking!" Ron shouted. "He's got a Death Eater planning an attack in the castle and isn't going to do anything about it?!" His face was red with rage, and he looked as if he wanted nothing more than to leave the Room of Requirement, march down to the Slytherin dungeons and wipe Malfoy off the face of the Earth.

Hermione understood Ron's anger. It had been a Death Eater attack led by Voldemort himself that had cost him his eldest brother, Bill. Malfoy had even used that fact to taunt him earlier that very day. That the Headmaster would knowingly harbour someone who was working for Voldemort, even if it was a Hogwarts student who had yet to commit any of the atrocities Death Eaters were infamous for, had to be immensely frustrating for Ron in particular.

"That's Dumbledore for you," Harry said. "Gather information that you fail to do anything with, and keep everyone else in the dark until it's far too late. We should be used to it by now."

Ginny and Neville looked surprised to hear Harry speak about the Headmaster with such hostility, but she understood, as did Ron. Harry's opinion of the revered older wizard had taken a severe beating over the summer, one it had never fully recovered from. Incidents like this made it seem more and more likely that the two of them would never quite see eye to eye again.

"Dumbledore insists that he is having Draco closely monitored," Hermione said, wanting to keep everyone's focus on the task at hand rather than getting sidetracked by Harry's issues with Dumbledore. "But I don't think it would hurt if we did a little observation of Draco ourselves."

"Sod observation," Ron said, banging his clenched fists on the table. "I want to break the ferret's nose all over again, and then snap his little scrawny neck."

"Not if I get my hands on him first," Harry said, "but Hermione is right. We can't move against Draco just yet."

"Why the hell not?" Ron asked, frowning at Harry. Ginny and Neville looked similarly confused, but Luna nodded, smiling serenely.

"You wish to figure out what Draco is doing before you confront him," Luna stated.

"That's it exactly, Luna," Hermione agreed, smiling at the Ravenclaw. She'd always found Luna quite odd, but there was no denying that she also made some astute observations at times. "I was reluctant at first, but Harry has sold me on the idea. Voldemort will always be plotting and looking for ways to strike, but this time we have the chance to figure his game out beforehand. Then, we can use that knowledge to our advantage."

"So how do we get to the bottom of it?" Ginny asked. "We can't just beat it out of him, unfortunately." Ron looked as if he wanted to argue in favour of that plan of attack, but Harry shook his head.

"No, you're right," Harry said. "Brute force and threats aren't likely to get Draco talking, not if he's as committed to Voldemort as I think he is. We don't have the means to brew veritaserum, and none of us have any legilimency training. There's no easy way for us to force the information out of him, unless any of you can think of something we've missed?"

There was a pause as all six friends tried to come up with another available solution they had overlooked. When no one spoke, Hermione spoke up. "Right. So, until and unless a better option comes along, we aren't going to act directly," she said. "But we're going to track Malfoy very closely."

"So basically, stay alert and wait and see," Neville summarized. "I know we're more restricted with what we can do, but how is that really any different from what Dumbledore said he's doing?"

"Not even Dumbledore knows everything that goes on inside the castle," Harry said. "But I have something not even Dumbledore has; something that will help us keep an eye on Draco at all times, no matter where he is."

It didn't take Ron long to figure out what Harry was referring to. His fists finally unclenched, and his face lost a bit of the anger it had held for most of the day.

"The Map," Ron said simply, nodding in understanding. "Yeah, that could work."

"Map? What map?" Ginny asked, cocking her head curiously at Harry. Neville was also looking at him, interested in the answer. Luna was looking at him too, but her facial expression was as impossible to read as it had always been.

"This map," Harry said, reaching into his trouser pocket and pulling out what would appear to the uninitiated to be nothing more than a blank piece of parchment. Ron and Hermione knew better, of course, and thus were unsurprised when a muttered phrase from Harry revealed the parchment's secret.

The same could not be said of the other three. Neville's eyes widened as he watched the map's transformation, and Ginny could be heard muttering under her breath. Luna stared down at the map, and Hermione marvelled at her ability to keep her eyes open for so long without a single blink.

"This is very fascinating, Harry," Luna said, breaking the silence while continuing to stare at the map. "But where are our names?"

"What do you mean, Luna?" Hermione asked. "The map shows everyone in the castle."

"Everyone but us," Luna said, still not looking up from the map. Harry had also begun to examine the map after Luna's comment, and he frowned as he tried in vain to find their names.

"She's right," Harry said, confused. "We're not on here, and I don't see the Room of Requirement either."

"Maybe the room, and everything in it, is unplottable?" Hermione suggested. "Or maybe the Marauders just never found the room?"

"Maybe," Harry said, narrowing his eyes as he continued to study the map. "I'll have to ask Remus-he's Moony," he mentioned for the benefit of the three friends that had never seen the map until moments earlier. "Either way, it does show Draco's name on here, and that's all we really need it for right now."

"You're right," Hermione agreed, before glancing at all of their friends in turn. "Harry and I want to use the map to track Draco's activity as much as we can. Where he goes, and when he goes there. Who he talks to, who he avoids, who he follows around. We want to learn his regular routines as much as we can, and look for any deviations or anything that seems suspect."

"We can't do it alone though, just the two of us," Harry added. "That's what we wanted to talk to you guys about. We want you to help us with this."

"What do you mean? Is there more than one of these maps?" Ginny asked, looking excited at the prospect of getting a Marauder's Map of her very own.

"No, we've only got just the one," Harry said, chuckling at Ginny's disappointed sigh. "But Hermione and I can't spend all of our time staring at the map; we've got classes, prefect duties, training..."

"Don't forget quidditch," Ron put in, and Hermione rolled her eyes, albeit with a smile on her face.

"How could I, mister captain?" Harry said with a smirk. "And on top of all that, I'm dating a beautiful witch that I'd like to spend some time with now and then."

"I'm sure she feels the same way," Hermione said, giving Harry a quick peck on the lips amidst wolf whistles from Ginny and exaggerated gagging from Ron. "As Harry was saying," she continued despite the slight blush colouring her cheeks, "we have too many responsibilities to study Draco's movements as much as we think we need to. But we figure that if we pass the map back and forth amongst the six of us, we can keep a much closer eye on Draco."

"That's a good idea," Neville said. "We all have different class schedules and activities and such, so we could work out a timetable of sorts."

"Right," Harry said. "We can work out all the details in a bit, but first, we need to know if you're in. We wouldn't trust just anybody with this, but all of you stood by my side when I needed help last term. We trust all of you without question. Will you help us?"

"You know I'm with you like always, mate," Ron said without hesitation. "I'd rather just pound the cocky arse's face in, but if Hermione says this is a good idea, I'm not stupid enough to disagree."

"My brother is right, for once," Ginny quipped, smirking over at Ron. "You can count me in."

"Me as well," Neville said.

"Yes, I'd very much like to help. It sounds quite fun," Luna said happily.

"So we're all in then," Hermione said. "Good. Between the six of us, this should be much easier to manage."

"Thanks, you lot," Harry said, nodding in gratitude towards his friends. "I don't trust too many people any more, but I trust all of you. If we work together, I know we can catch Draco before it's too late. And when we do, we'll stop him, no matter what Dumbledore or anyone else thinks."

A/N: In case you don't regularly visit my profile over on FF dot net, I've made it a New Year's resolution to try and finish this story in 2013. Not a particularly lofty goal, maybe, but hopefully saying this will keep me motivated and help me avoid the long gaps between posting that I've been going through.

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