Three-Edged Sword (a Harry Potter Story) - 1. Potions Master

Vials and flasks clinked and clanked when the red-haired seventh year Gryffindor moved suddenly to avoid a small explosion in his cauldron.

George Weasley was in a secret potions laboratory on the fourth floor of the North wing of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry working on the newest experiment for the Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Fred was out doing a little one-on-one training with Harry Potter. George smirked when he thought of what that might have entailed exactly. They brought their brooms… this time… so it could have been Quidditch.

George peered into the cauldron as soon as the smoke cleared and was pleased to see the murky blue color of a transfiguration potion. He looked up and smirked maniacally at the wall.

It was little appreciated by the vast majority of people that George Weasley was a potions genius. He had the highest grade in the seventh year, now that Snape actually paid attention to George’s work. He was taking not one but two advanced potions classes with Professor Snape. Professor Snape, who was normally upset with having to spend time with any Gryffindor, actually enjoyed his classes with George Weasley. George had the same love of potions that Snape himself had.

Fred, on the other hand, was particularly proficient in charms. He was taking the advanced charms class in addition to an extra class a week with Professor Flitwick. Together, the twins made an amazing wizardry team and their Weasley Wizard Wheezes were really taking off.

George had been quite shocked when Professor Snape had offered him the use of this lab at the beginning of the year. He had implied that Professor Dumbledore had ordered it, but he wouldn’t elaborate. George also got the impression that Snape wanted something dreadful to happen to the toad of a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor that Minister of Magic Fudge had pawned off on Hogwarts. The Slytherin made several snide references to how dangerous potions could be to those mired in educational theory and not practical work. George got the message clearly enough.

George was just bottling the last bit of his potion when he heard a yell. It was obviously from further down the secret passage. There were a number of rooms along the secret corridor, and all of them were supposed to be empty. No one should have been up in this part of the castle. The permanent silencing charm on the room, which allowed sounds in, did not allow them out. Snape had mentioned that all the rooms were equipped with this charm so anybody working in one of the rooms would know what was going on outside of them.

George, of course, immediately hopped to his feet and went to investigate.

There were muffled yelps and groans coming from the end room in the corridor. The door was partially ajar, which explained why the silencing charm on the room wasn’t activated. George pulled out his wand and advance stealthily into the room.

What he saw on the other side of the door made him stop fast and stare in shock and anger for a moment. A slightly larger black-haired, darkly colored boy was holding down a silvery blond boy, who was dripping blood from several cuts. The larger boy was quite obviously forcing the blond to have sex. The blond was whimpering and telling the other boy to stop hurting him.

George growled and rushed the rest of the way into the room. He grabbed a hold of the black hair and pulled the boy off from the blond. The black-haired boy had just reached his climax and cum shot everywhere as he popped free of the blond boy.

The boy yelped in surprise when George pulled him free of Draco and he squealed when George’s fist slammed hard into his chin the first time. He slumped unconscious when George’s fist pounded him again.

“Petrificus Totalus!” George growled at the boy, locking him in place.

George immediately rushed to the blond boy and turned him over. He recognized him immediately. It was Draco Malfoy. The boy was very badly beaten up and had a number of bruises on his face and chest, in addition to several cuts. George immediately started casting healing spells on the blond-haired boy.

“Malfoy? Can you hear me?” George asked, shaking the boy lightly.

“No! Stop please Blaise! I’m your friend! Stop please!” Draco whimpered over and over again.

“Draco, I’ve stopped him. You’re going to be ok,” George said quietly, trying to comfort the boy.

Draco, crying hysterically, threw himself into George’s arms. He buried his head into George’s shoulder, spreading blood all over his robes. George ignored it. He pulled his wand out again, aimed towards the door, and whispered the secret spell that Professor Snape had taught him.

*  *  *

Professor Snape was sitting in his personal quarters in the teachers’ residential wing sipping a glass of wine when the alarm bell sounded. The unique alarm that went off indicated that there was a problem in the secret potions lab that he allowed George Weasley to use. If George set off that alarm, then there was really something wrong.

He downed the last bit of his wine and retrieved his wand. He rushed out of his room and nearly plowed down Minerva McGonagall. The alarm was set to go off in her rooms as well, in case he wasn’t in his own rooms.

“Severus, what is going on?”

“Mr. Weasley has set off the emergency alarm. Given his skill,” he said somewhat grudgingly, “it must be something quite important.”

“I’ll come with you then,” Minerva stated, pulling out her own wand.

The two professors made their way to the fourth floor as rapidly as they could. It was less than three minutes from the time George set off the alarm until the time the two professors burst into the lab.

“Where is he?” Snape demanded to the empty room.

“Down here,” George yelled when he heard the door burst open down the hall.

Snape ran into the room a moment later and skidded to a halt. Minerva skidded into the room a moment later, her wand drawn.

“Merlin!” she exclaimed when she saw the scene before her.

Snape’s face nearly exploded with rage as he stared at his two favorite students. His eyes locked on to the guilty party immediately and he stalked over to him shaking in anger. He had enough presence of mind to cast a potion detector on the boy.

“He’s under the influence of a mind control potion,” Snape growled out.

“I hope that means that he wouldn’t have raped Mr. Malfoy on his own,” McGonagall replied.

“It was most likely the cause of this unfortunate event. To my knowledge, they were friends. As close as friends ever tend to be in Slytherin, at any rate.”

McGonagall looked sadly at Snape for a moment before returning her attention to the diagnostic charms she was casting on Draco.

“Finite Incantium. Rennervate!” Snape commanded towards Blaise.

The black-haired boy snapped awake immediately. His expression was rather glazed and confused.

“Where am I?”

“What do you remember?” Snape asked carefully, his body blocking Blaise’s view of the rest of the people in the room.

“I remember going back to the common room after dinner. I remember having a drink with Pansy Parkinson. She kissed me… and… I don’t remember anything else.”

“Get dressed,” Snape commanded, after looking down at the naked boy.

Blaise went a brilliant red when he discovered that he was not only naked, but also covered in cum. Something was definitely not right here.

As soon as Blaise had his clothes back on, Snape grabbed his neck near the shoulder and directed him out of the room. The pair walked straight to Professor Dumbledore’s office.

*  *  *

Minerva McGonagall considered herself a tolerant person. She was always fair in the giving and removing of house points, she treated her students all the same, even the ones she didn’t like. Draco Malfoy was, without a doubt, one of the students she liked the least. He was arrogant, condescending, and he might as well have had ‘Death Eater’ stamped on his forehead.

However, her perception had shifted noticeably in the last few minutes. Draco now was a boy in pain. He had three cracked ribs, was covered in cuts and bruises, and he clung to George Weasley like the world was going to end.

George Weasley triggered mixed feelings as well. George was a brilliant student that rarely applied himself. The test scores all indicated that both Weasley twins were nothing more than average. Reality did not match the test scores though. During the summer recess, Professor Dumbledore had finally clued Professor Snape, Professor Flitwick and her in on the secret room that the twins had been using to create some of their gags. It was loaded with a lot of more advanced magics that they had been teaching themselves. Professor Snape had been particularly impressed with George Weasley’s notes on different potion experiments, while Professor Flitwick was equally impressed with Fred’s advanced charm work. It was decided that as soon as the twins got back, they should receive some extra training in their areas of interest. That was how they worked out the advanced classes.

She had so rarely seen George Weasley looking serious that he looked almost like a stranger. She had tried several times to extract Draco from his grasp, but Draco was totally unwilling to cooperate. George had tried to encourage Draco a little, but that didn’t help either. George finally gave in completely and provided as much comfort to Draco as he could.

McGonagall healed all the damage that she could before clucking her tongue a few times.

“Mr. Weasley, if you would please bring Mr. Malfoy to the hospital ward, I would appreciate it.”

“Yes, Professor.”

*  *  *

George sat still on the floor holding Draco long after McGonagall left. Every attempt to move had been met with resistance from Draco.

“Draco?” George asked quietly.

“What?” the boy whispered after a long moment of silence, a tremble barely audible in his voice.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m recovering in a place that I feel safe,” Draco replied quietly, resisting George’s attempt to extract himself.

“Oh. I’m flattered really, but you do remember that you don’t like me?” George said sarcastically.

“What gave you that impression?”

“I’m a Weasley, I’m a Gryffindor and I’m partial to Muggleborn wizards. Those are the top three things on your ‘Things I Love to Hate List’, are they not?”

“Those are the top three things on Lucius’ list. Though, I suppose, I’m higher than you on that list now. I am nearly positive the attack tonight was to punish me, then remove me from my father’s trouble list. It would be something that bastard would do,” Draco said in an angry tone that George had only ever heard associated with Harry Potter.

“What?” George asked surprised.

“I defied my father by refusing the Dark Mark over the holidays. I think he had someone slip a mind control potion to Blaise. That was the punishment part. Blaise and I were good friends. After Blaise was finished, I am pretty sure he would have killed me, then most likely killed himself.”

“Merlin’s beard!”

“How articulate of you Weasley,” Draco drawled sarcastically.

“I’m sure there was a reason I helped you and for the life of me, I can’t seem to remember what it was,” George replied with enough heat that Draco twitched.

“You were just being a typical Gryffindor,” Draco replied seriously in a quiet voice.

“Why is it that you want me to comfort you?” George asked, weariness in his voice.

“That’s simple enough. You’re one of the only ones that would do it honestly.”

“What do you mean Draco?” George asked sounding puzzled.

“Gryffindors always rush headlong into doing what they consider to be the right thing. Slytherins always think of their own ambition before anything else. You consider comforting an injured person to be the right thing to do. So even though I’ve always acted like an insufferable arsehole, you helped me because you thought it was right. I want to stay here and be comforted by you because you mean what you say. You are trustworthy.”

“I think I see what you’re getting at. I’ve rarely stopped to consider what it must be like to be a Slytherin. It must be difficult, not being able to trust anyone.”

“It’s not that you can’t trust Slytherins. You can, if you recognize what motivates them. You can trust a Slytherin to do whatever is in his best interest. Trust and loyalty, however, were never very high on Lucius’ list. I therefore never really noticed what I was missing until I started here at Hogwarts and saw how your brother acted with Potter. He certainly appears to be a loyal friend,” Draco mumbled quietly, the pain seeping into his voice, despite his best effort.

George raised an eyebrow, but didn’t move.

“Blaise was someone that I learned to trust over my time here. I don’t want to get into it any further tonight though. Loyalty is something else I guess. I’m rather jealous of how Potter seems to inspire it.”

“Loyalty is something that is earned,” George replied after a moment, wondering where the conversation was going.

“You must think I’m an insufferable prat,” Draco said, turning to look George in the eyes.

George looked into Draco’s eyes for a long time, searching. Draco held his gaze, blinking occasionally. Finally George nodded. “A great deal of the time I do. You are much different tonight though.”

“Can we start again then?” Draco whispered quietly.

George, caught in the intensity in Draco’s eyes, nodded slowly.

“Good. Can you help me get to the hospital wing?”

George nodded and stood up, helping Draco to his feet. Together, the unlikely pair traveled to see Madam Pomfrey. It took close to twenty minutes for them to get there. Draco winced quite often and could only shuffle forward slowly. They did not notice the silent shape of the Potions Master trailing not too far behind them. He never made a sound.

Draco was ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of a very familiar voice. He hadn’t even heard the other boy approach and match his pace.

“You okay there Malfoy?” Harry asked with genuine concern in his voice.

Draco looked sharply up at Harry and noticed Fred Weasley on the other side of him. A thousand things whirled through his head, but he responded to the emotion that was in Harry’s voice. “I will be as soon as George gets me to the infirmary.”

Harry lightly patted his shoulder, smiled over at George and then changed direction with Fred.

After a few minutes of silence Draco spoke again, “Those two are together, aren’t they?”

George gave Draco an appraising look before answering simply, “Yes.”

“Why wasn’t Potter hostile?” Draco asked in confusion.

“Harry is not really like the rest of us. He would be perfectly content in the shadows, learning magic, playing Quidditch and not being the center of attention. He didn’t grow up with his fame and he doesn’t like it. When he’s happy, like when he’s with Fred, he’s even more magnanimous. No matter what the history is between you, he’s seen me helping you. He also knows me very well, so when he sees someone with me, then he accepts that person. No matter who it is.”

“That is very trusting of him,” Draco’s voice was a little choked up.

“Harry was practically a brother before he started dating Fred. Since then it is become very apparent that he’ll be a brother-in-law. It scares me too that he places that much trust in anyone. Especially me,” George sighed.

“He really is as innocent as he appears, isn’t he?”

“He is unperceptive most of the time. He is very trusting with a certain few. He has a profound amount of naivety, but he is not innocent. Especially not with the smile he and Fred had on their faces.”

“You don’t mean that they were just… oh,” Draco stopped, blushing slightly.

“I never imagined that you could blush Draco.”

Draco grunted.

“Ah… we are here at long last,” George smiled.

Draco turned and gave him a significant look. “You’ll do the right thing, won’t you?”

George looked at him deeply for a moment before nodding.

Madam Pomfrey was sleeping in the chair by the door. George gently shook her awake.

“There you are,” she said softly. “Professor McGonagall said you would be along as soon as you were done talking. Are you okay Draco?”

Draco exchanged looks with George before saying, “I think so, except for some bruises, some cracked ribs and my ankle.”

“Let’s take care of those then. Thank you Mr. Weasley,” she said, clearly dismissing him.

George smiled slightly at Draco before leaving the infirmary. He had walked only a few steps down the hall before a dark shadow detached itself from the wall in front of him.

“Mr. Weasley, we need to talk.”

“I think we do, Professor Snape.” George replied in a distracted way.

Snape laid a hand on his shoulder to guide him towards a certain gargoyle. “Wizard Wheezes.”

George’s eyes snapped up to Snape’s face in time to see a peculiar smile there. The pair walked straight in and sat in the chairs in front of Dumbledore’s desk. Dumbledore was leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped over his chest.

“What happened tonight Mr. Weasley?” Dumbledore asked, his expression quite serious.

“From what Draco said, he thinks it was all part of punishment because he refused to join the Death Eaters. Blaise was his friend, and perhaps a bit more. He feels that Lucius made some sort of arrangement to control Blaise and have him rape Draco. He was most likely going to kill Draco and after that, Draco speculates, he would be forced to kill himself,” George explained everything quietly with no frills or elaboration. He didn’t look up until he was done.

Professor Dumbledore looked angry. Gone was the grandfatherly look. In its place was something George could have lived without seeing. It left no doubts in his mind whatsoever why You Know Who feared this man. Anybody with any sense at all would fear this man. In an amazingly short period of time, the Dumbledore everyone knew was back. George had to tear his eyes off from Dumbledore’s face and he looked immediately at Professor Snape. Snape looked like he was going to tear someone from limb to limb.

When Snape spoke, it was with deadly calm, “And Draco told you this?”

“Yes sir.”

“Why?”

George sighed. “Because I’m a Gryffindor and probably because I’m a Weasley.”

Snape turned and stared at the fire without saying anything further. George watched as the bright red of his neck faded back to his normal pasty white.

“Thank you for the information,” Dumbledore said into the dead silence.

“He won’t be safe in Slytherin House, will he?” George asked into the deceptive calm.

George saw Snape clench his fists tightly on the chair next to him. He saw Dumbledore turn and look at Snape as well.

After a very long time, Professor Snape spoke without facing the other two in the room. “If Draco has given up the path to the Dark Arts, then he will be in danger from those who have not. Mr. Zabini will also be in the same predicament, I’m afraid.”

“He has,” George said firmly.

Snape spun around and fixed him with an intense stare, “How can you be so certain, Mr. Weasley?”

George squirmed and looked to Dumbledore for support and found that the Headmaster was also fixing him with a strong look.

He didn’t answer for a few minutes and when he finally did, it was very quietly, “Fred and I have had a strong empathic ability between ourselves all of our lives. It extends to others when we concentrate hard enough and look into the other person’s eyes. We are able to tell if someone is telling the truth. Draco was telling the truth when he said he rejected Voldemort.”

George looked down and did not look at either professor. He therefore missed the surprised exchange of glances between the Headmaster and the Potions Master.

After a few moments Professor Dumbledore spoke, “I’ve heard that identical twins born in wizarding families tend to have a higher likelihood of additional abilities. Why haven’t you mentioned this before?”

“It is very personal between Fred and I, sir,” George answered quietly, his whole manner subdued.

“Thank you for helping Draco tonight George,” Snape said suddenly.

George turned and stared at the Potions Master with a surprised expression on his face.

“Since you shared a personal secret tonight, I think it is only fair that I do the same. Draco is my godson, though he calls me Uncle Severus in private.”

“I see,” George replied, eyebrow raised.

“He has always been closer to me than his own father. That should not be surprising given his father’s disposition.”

George’s face twisted lightly in response. Snape noticed.

“The world is a stage George, on which we are all actors.”

George nodded.

“I think it will be best if we make arrangements to remove both Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Zabini from Slytherin dorms and house them separately somewhere.”

“Headmaster?”

“Yes Severus?”

“I have an idea on this matter that I’d like to discuss with you alone,” Severus said, nodding at George.

“It would be a good idea for you to go get some sleep Mr. Weasley. You may go to bed now,” Dumbledore said in dismissal.

“Good night Professors,” George said as he rose.

He made his way straight back to his room in the seventh year dorm of Gryffindor tower. He was asleep as soon as his head slammed into his pillow.