Harry Potter and the Sword of Gryffindor - 13. Chapter 13

Draco's steady pull on his arm was the only reason he was moving down the hallway. His stomach felt like it was a pit of molten lava, his heart fluttered in his chest, and his feet were encased in lead. Still, that steady pressure on his arm steered him away from his quarters. When he saw Hermione waiting for him just to the side of the doors to the Great Hall, he started to turn back, but Draco wouldn't let him. Hermione saw them and met them a few feet before the hallway.

"Harry." Hermione said, nodding her head towards Draco. "Before you go in, you should know that people are still upset with you. Ron is in a fit and I don't know how he'll react if you sit near us, but I don't think it will be pretty."

"You can sit with me." Draco said in a firm, loving tone.

"No." Harry shook his head firmly. "That will make it just worse."

"He's right, Draco." Hermione said. "But if you don't show up it'll look bad as well."

"I'll sit at the Hufflepuff table." Harry said, the idea coming to him suddenly. "Then I'll sit at Ravenclaw for lunch and Slytherin for dinner. Then we'll see tomorrow. Maybe things will calm down by then."

The Gryffindor table just glared at him when he walked in. As Draco walked towards Slytherin, and Harry made his way towards Hufflepuff, he could see the surprise on their faces. They'd expected him to go with Draco, and his not doing so definitely surprised them. The Hufflepuff table reacted with excitement as he kindly asked Justin Finch-Fletchey if he could join them. Within minutes his conflict with his own house was forgotten as the bubbly excitement coming from the Hufflepuffs around him wormed its way into his heart.

Potions wasn't much better. He'd been sitting with Draco, and continued that. Fortunately their work on the newest potion, an anti-burn draught took too much focus for anyone to cause any trouble and he escaped without any incidents. First year DADA went a little better because it was Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. His advanced DADA course after that was so intensive that none of the Gryffindors he took the class with gave him any problems. Then there was lunch. His housemates that were already there glared at him so furiously that he knew it wasn't wise to sit with them, so he made his way to the Ravenclaw table. He was careful to sit as far away from Cho as possible, and he actually had a good lunch, arguing with two seventh years over the issue of whether classifications of intelligence solely using human intelligence standards was fair or not, which was more interesting than he ever thought it could be.

The Ravenclaws seemed impressed that he could hold his own, and that his position was in support of using human intelligence as a standard. They expected the Gryffindor to be more "open-minded" as one phrased it.

Afternoon classes, especially those he shared with Ron were extremely uncomfortable and he stayed as far away from his friend as he could. His only attempt to talk to the fiery red head backfired. It was as he headed to dinner, with Ron walking next to Seamus ten feet behind him that he finally lost control of his temper.

"Look at the way that ponce slithers through the glass" Ron said loudly so Harry would hear him. "It's no wonder he's gone over to those Slytherins. You know he's a parseltongue. I bet he used that seduce that Malfoy into his slimy bed."

Harry's anger broke at that last line, and he turned, drawing his wand and pointing his wand at his former friend. Before the curse could leave his lips, Seamus jumped in front of Ron, shouting "NO!" at the top of his lungs. Ron just glared, drawing his own wand.

"Out of my way, Seamus." Ron growled. "I'm not scared of the poof!"

"Move Seamus." Harry said, his voice deadly.

"No, Harry!" Seamus yelled, pushing Ron's wand hand down. "Ron, you both have to stop this, we're Gryffindors! We don't turn on one another."

"Tell that to him!" Ron spat. "He's the one who'd rather hang around those snakes! Tell me, Harry, does Parkinson brag about her cousin Death Eater, you know, the one who tried to kill my family!"

"Ron, it's not like that." Harry said, his anger running out. He put his wand away. "They don't all want to serve Voldemort, but they haven't been given any other options by anyone at this school."

"What about Dumbledore!" Ron shouted.

"He's the Headmaster." Harry tried to explain. "They need someone from the students to show them that they have other options. They were raised not to trust him and it's hard for them to overcome that."

"You're just saying that as an excuse!" Ron shouted, pulling his hand from Seamus' grip and stalking off without a backward glance. He was shouting the entire way, and as his voice faded into the distance, Seamus stood staring at him.

"Harry, you need to understand, the Christmas attack really scared Ron." Seamus said softly. "He won't say it but I've heard him screaming in his sleep. He's scared of losing any family members or Hermione or someone close to them. You know about the Parkinson cousin, but one of the other Death Eaters in that attack was a Slytherin who graduated last year. Ron wants to put all the Slytherins, and now you, under Veritaserum to find out which of them are Death Eaters or want to be Death Eaters. He's already gone to McGonagall and Dumbledore with the proposal twice."

"Has he forgotten the Death Eater that was in our own dorm room?" Harry asked sharply.

"No, and, well, I don't know how he did it, but he got his hands on a vial of the stuff and made Neville and I take it before he'd go to sleep with us in the room. Then when they moved Darren and Kule from fifth year into our room because they didn't have enough beds in their years he made them do the same."

"It's against the rules." Harry said. "Besides he has his own room as Head Boy."

"He won't sleep in there because Hermione won't break the school rules to sleep with him." Seamus said. "He said that the first night Cho came in there and he had to kick her out."

"Oh." Harry said, and there was silence between them for a few moments.

"Is what you said true about why you're spending so much more time with the Slytherins?" Seamus asked before the silence grew too long.

"Yes." Harry said. "They're caught in the middle and they know they will have to make a decision soon, especially the seventh years."

"Oh." Seamus said, then he grinned shyly. "I think you're doing the right thing, then. I'll talk to the others, maybe they will agree and we'll make sure everyone understands it's not something we spread around."

"No, Seamus." Harry said shortly, despite wanting it to happen. "We can't take the risk of word getting back to Voldemort."

"You'd rather have your own House exile you than risk a few Slytherin necks who might support him anyway?" Seamus asked, surprise on his face.

"Wouldn't you?" Harry asked him simply, and he saw the thoughts running through Seamus' head.

"Yeah, I would." He said at last.

"That's why we're both Gryffindors." Harry said with a smile.

"You know, I realize that now." Seamus said with a smile. "Sorry I thought you might be going snakish there for a bit. Shouldn't have doubted you. Of course, Ron was trying to tell me last night that he was certain those Slytherins had concocted a plan to make you the next Dark Lord once You-Know-Who was defeated. I don't think anyone believed that one!"

Harry felt his face go pale, and hoped Seamus would mistake it for a reaction to being compared to Voldemort. They walked silently together until they neared the entrance to the castle where Seamus separated from him, promising that he'd try to figure a way to convince the rest of Gryffindor to change their minds. As he watched Seamus walk away, Harry knew that no one, not even Hermione would ever know if he did do this Blood Oath thing with the Slytherins. He'd have to look it up himself. It was probably in the Restricted Section, but he already had a full pass for that from Professor Kingsley.

As Harry sat by Draco at the Slytherin table, discussing potions with Crabbe, he noticed that Ron, Hermione, and Neville were all gone from the table. Seamus grinned at him, and Harry felt a little better, but everyone else at the Gryffindor table just glared. He'd lost track of the discussion with Crabbe, who noticed and just shrugged it off, turning to Millicent and telling her the most awful joke he'd ever heard.

It was so awful that he decided he might as well eat if he was going to die from exposure to bad jokes.

That night, he joined Draco for a study session in the Slytherin common room. Shortly before they were ready to leave, he noticed the room had been cleared except for the group he'd met with the night before. Leading the discussion, Michael had informed him they were all decided and that they wanted to go forward with preparations for the Blood Oath. Putting aside the reaction of his Gryffindor friends if they ever found out, he looked at the people around him and realized that they needed this far more than he did. The looks of hope and fear in their eyes called out to him and he nodded his agreement. The looks of relief on their faces at that moment only strengthened his resolve to go through with it.

That night, Draco and he had gone way beyond bending the school rules, and he could care less. The tender, but passionate, caresses of Draco, and the feeling of Draco inside him helped to fill the void where Ron's friendship had been. The silent caresses and fluttering kisses of Draco afterwards helped him feel safe, and he drifted off to sleep, all thoughts of Ronald Weasley long forgotten.

When he entered the great hall for breakfast, he was surprised that a large portion of the Gryffindor table was empty, and that the only people there were fourth year and below. None of them glared at him, so he cautiously approached and sat down next to a first year and third year student. As he filled his plate, he noticed they were looking at him with a mixture of expressions.

"How's everyone doing this morning?" Harry asked them quietly as he lifted a forkful of eggs to his mouth.

"Tired." Manny, a first-year said with a sigh. "All the big kids were up all night yelling and screaming in the common room."

"Oh." Harry replied, unsure of what to say.

"Most of them have figured out by now that you know what you're doing. Mr. Potter." Tanya, a third year student said. He winced at the way she addressed him.

"You're not a first year in my classroom." Harry said firmly. "We're all Gryffindors. You can all call me Harry, unless I'm teaching you in a class. Outside of class, even you first years should feel free to call me Harry."

"Wouldna be respectful." Colin Freward, a first year, shaking his head. "Mum told us we was suppose to be givin' ya respect 'cause of all ye been doin' with Ministry and all that."

"I won't tell her, I promise." Harry said, groaning inwardly. Whatever happened to just being a normal boy? Oh well, he'd never been one and it was time he accepted that, and accepted that he'd always be treated differently. At least this time they were giving him the respect he was due, which was far better than all those nasty articles last year and the sneers in the hallways.

"Mr. Potter, sir." A rather diminutive first year named Angelica asked, looking afraid to get his attention.

"Yes, Angelica?" He said softly, using the same encouraging tone he used when he was teaching. "You know you can ask me any question."

"Um, isittruethatyouweresupposedtobeinSlytherin?" she nearly squealed and talked way to fast. It took him a second to realize what she had said, and another moment to realize they must have listened to the arguments going on in the common room, and that someone had told the story of his first encounter with the Sorting Hat.

"No, Angelica, it's not really true." Harry said.

"But Hermione agreed when Ron said you told him the Hat wanted you in Slytherin!" Colin Freward exclaimed.

"Well, it's true the Sorting Hat told me that I would do well in Slytherin." Harry admitted, picking his words very carefully. "You see, everyone has qualities of the other Houses in them. Hermione is very smart, but she isn't in Ravenclaw because she has more bravery than most people I've ever met. Why, when we were first years she was the one who never lost her cool when we were trying to get to the Philosopher's Stone. Her bravery kept Ron and me in one piece and saved our lives. She could have been in Ravenclaw, but her bravery was so strong it was obvious she belonged in Gryffindor. With me, the Hat knew I had several qualities that would fit in both Houses, but I wanted nothing to do with Slytherin. My only friend, Ron, was in Gryffindor and I wanted to be in the same House as him, so I talked the Hat into putting me in the right house."

"So if Ron wasn't your friend, you'd be in Slytherin?" Angelica asked.

"No." Harry said firmly. "I really do belong in Gryffindor. I am a Gryffindor no matter what and I always will be."

"Then why are you hanging around the snakes?" Colin asked. Harry suppressed an urge to make a rude comment about that term.

"They're Slytherins, Colin." Harry said in a firm voice. "I don't care if they call us names or not, but we're Gryffindors and we're better than using names like that."

"I heard you call Malfoy names like that before you two…um…never mind." Maggie, a third year started to say, then dropped off, blushing.

"I was wrong." Harry said calmly. Damn, five years of rivalry really did bring baggage. "We all let our personal rivalries distract us and did a lot of things we shouldn't have done."

"Are you trying to make amends with them now?" Gregory, another third year asked.

"Yes, that's a large part of it." Harry said, seizing on the reason. It was a good one. "There's a lot of old animosity built up, and with everything going on we need all the help we can get, including the Slytherins."

"But aren't they all with him already?" Angelica asked, her face filling with fear when she referred to Voldemort.

"No, most of them aren't. I'm sure of that." Harry said firmly. "Especially all the Slytherins that are the same age as those here at the table. I've been learning that they are especially cunning, though. They can think up some great practical jokes."

"Really?" Angelica's face brightened. The rumors were right, she really did like practical jokes.

"Yeah, Corey Haimers in their first year managed to get a hold of one of Fred and Georges fake snakes and let it loose in the middle of the night. He somehow snuck into the girl's shower room so that when the girls got up in the morning, it slithered over their feet. Pansy said it was two days before some of those girls took a shower again." Harry said with a laugh, glad he knew the story to tell.

"Oh!" Angelica squealed in delight until two of her year mates poked her in the ribs and warned her to not even think about doing something like that. The girl turned in her seat and asked Harry to point out the first year who had done the trick. The rest of the Gryffindors that were present groaned, and internally, Harry chuckled. Maybe he had just managed to start one more friendship between the two Houses.

The day passed quickly for Harry. His classes with his fellow Gryffindors were strained, but they no longer gave him hostile glares. Instead they didn't meet his eyes at all. Lunch was spent with the Hufflepuff table. Dinner was with Draco and Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office. While they ate, the Headmaster shared reports with them of a change in the style of attacks Voldemort's forces were making. They no longer targeted muggles in the numbers they did before, although there were still casualties among them.

Now most of the attacks seemed to be targeted at individual wizard families. Specifically targeting families that had one or more members attending the special Defense schools that had sprung up. Attendance at these schools was starting to drop, and the Ministry had called a special meeting at their offices on Saturday morning. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, so Harry and Draco would be heading to the Black Manor afterwards instead of heading back to the school.

After dinner, Harry made rounds of the D.A. sessions. He flinched when he saw Ron was leading one of the groups, but strode in determinedly. Ron's face flushed with anger, so Harry stayed away, focusing on another group. His back was to Ron so he didn't notice his friend miss as he practiced Stupify and the spell hit him square in the back. When Kingsley had negated the spell, Harry just picked himself up and walked out, ignoring the smug grin on Ron's face. The grin disappeared when Kingsley docked 100 points from Gryffindor for Ron's actions. By far, that was the single largest point docking the House had received all year. Harry really didn't care if the rest of the Gryffindors beat the crap out of Ron for it.

As Harry left that room, he knew only one thing, Ronald Weasley was no longer his friend.

That's why when he saw Hermione disappear into the Prefects bathroom with Neville, holding his hand, the thought never crossed his mind to tell Ron.

Two hours later, Harry was cursing himself. The next time he gave an essay assignment to Ravenclaws, he wouldn't specify the essay had to be at least one foot. He'd specify that it would have to no more than two feet. He was also trying to guess which was worse, writing essays or grading them. Draco had chuckled until he started reviewing the reports of recent attacks that Dumbledore had given them. The fire blazing in their common room kept it comfortably warm, and both of them were just wearing casual pants and their white undershirts. Dobby had delivered a tray of tea and biscuits, and both were idly munching on them as they worked on their separate projects.

The pounding on the door startled both boys so much that they jumped. Their wands were in their hands as Harry pushed the portrait door open, and a furious Pansy Parkinson stormed inside. One hand held a wet, clinging robe around her and another hand was furiously jabbing Harry in the chest while the towel over her head bobbed as she let out a triage.

"HOW DARE YOU HARRY POTTER! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE DONE THIS? DO YOU KNOW HOW EMBARRASSING THIS? THIS IS ALL YOUR DAMN FAULT! I'LL NEVER HEAR THE END OF THIS!"

"Here the end of what, Pansy?" Draco said, smothering a laugh.

"THIS" Pansy shouted, using her free hand to rip the towel off her head. Her hair spilled down over her shoulders as she tossed her head, the red and gold tresses swung around like an accusation and both boys totally lost all control and erupted in laughter. Of course this only made Pansy madder.

"HARRY POTTER, DON'T YOU LAUGH! YOU EITHER DRACO MALFOY OR I'LL MAKE YOU BOTH INTO LESBIANS! THIS IS NOT FUNNY! I KNOW THIS IS YOUR FAULT HARRY!"

"Pansy, I didn't have anything to do with this…" Harry began, but she cut him off.

"I KNOW YOU DIDN'T DO THIS, HARRY POTTER, BUT IT'S STILL YOUR FAULT. YOU HOOKED THAT LITTLE GRYFFINDOR CHIT UP WITH COREY HAIMERS AND HE SNUCK HER INTO THE COMMON ROOM SO SHE COULD SNEAK PAST THE ALARM SPELLS WE PUT ON THE GIRL'S WING!"

"Oh." Harry said simply. "It's good to hear that the younger kids are learning to develop friendships between the houses. Dumbledore will be pleased."

"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF? WELL, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I WON'T BE FORGETTING THIS AND YOU BETTER PRAY BY YOUR PRIVATE PARTS THAT THIS GOES AWAY BY MORNING!"

Harry and Draco collapsed against each other, laughing hard as Pansy stormed out of the room, leaving them alone once more. They lay there, laughing together for the longest time. Finally, worn out from the laughing, Draco smiled into Harry's eyes, the first smile either had really had for days, and whispered that he was ready for bed but not the least bit tired.

Harry decided the rest of the essays could wait until tomorrow.

Draco woke up in the morning shouting "I got it!" He'd rushed over to the reports he'd read the night before, grabbed them and rushed out, forgetting to say a word to Harry. Harry shrugged and got ready for breakfast. He was sitting at the Ravenclaw table after Ron had glared at him when he walked in. A carefully worded question revealed that every teacher always assigned a maximum length to their essays, and he silently glared at Remus Lupin sitting at the great table. Remus felt eyes on him, and met Harry's with a wicked grin of his own once Harry had mouthed the word "essays" to him. Draco never showed up that morning, and since Snape didn't either, he figured the two were talking somewhere about those reports and whatever it was that Draco had "gotten."

Pansy DID show up, walking with her back straight, her whole bearing proud, and a look of murder on her face for anyone who laughed aloud at her red and gold tresses. Angelica over at the Gryffindor table turned and winked at Harry while the Slytherin Corey did his best to appear invisible. The hall was silent until Dumbledore gave ten points to Slytherin for a wonderful display of inter-house relations. Pansy fumed. Harry was perplexed though on why Ron stormed out of the great hall with a look of murder on his face.

Potions that morning was very, very odd. Snape walked in five minutes late, looked around the room and informed them "Mr. Potter will monitor your lab activities as you continue to brew your anti-disapparation potion. He will inform me of any detentions or house points that need to be docked at lunch."

The room had been quiet after that. Pansy, who was still upset with him, started to look like she was going to do something until he gave her a Draco smirk and raised an eyebrow. She backed down immediately.

As he walked into the room he gave five points to Gryffindor and Slytherin for stunning display of inter-house cooperation. He passed Angelica a note to see him in quarters that night before curfew. He had decided to loan her the Marauder's Map for a few days. If she did something good with it, he might just leave it to her when he graduated. He'd thought about Corey for a few minutes, but figured his father would roll over in his grave at the thought of a Slytherin possessing that treasure. Strangely, the thought of his father being dead didn't hurt as much as it once had.

Lunch went alright, although he sat with the Hufflepuffs since he still wasn't welcome at the Gryffindor table and he wanted to stay far out of reach of a still fuming Pansy Parkinson whose hair was still red and gold despite the best efforts of several Professors. She sat tall and proud at her table, studiously ignoring the constant looks from all the students.

That night, Draco evaded every effort Harry made to get him to reveal what he'd figured out this morning. Harry finally gave up when even tickling didn't work. Instead he made Draco help him finish the Ravenclaw essays while he worked on the new essays from Gryffindor and Slytherin. It was quite amusing to see the differences between the two houses on the question of "Under what circumstances is it permissible to us a jinx?"

His response to Corey's including practical jokes was longer than the boy's essay itself.

Remus showed up soon after they were done to collect the essays. He'd be reviewing their comments before they were returned to the classes. He laughed at Harry's outrage about not being told to limit the length of Ravenclaw essays and that only got Harry more outraged. Draco finally ended the argument by smirking that it was bedtime and if Remus Lupin didn't want to watch he'd better leave.

The werewolf practically ran from the room.

Breakfast the next morning saw a thaw in his relations with Gryffindor. Hermione was waiting for him at the entrance to the great hall and made a grand show of escorting him back to the table. He noticed that Ron was sitting next to Cho Chang and just glared at him.

The meal started out quiet, but chatter soon grew between him and his housemates. Stilted at first, it grew more normal as the meal progressed, and by the time the owls arrived with the morning mail, it almost felt like the old times, except for the fact that a certain freckled red head was not there.

Hermione gasped as she read an article in her morning edition of the Prophet and handed it to Harry with a gleam in her eye. A commotion at the Ravenclaw table distracted him before he could look at the article. Ron was standing his voice muted but fierce. Harry could only hear "lying", "traitorous" and "git" before the fiery red head stomped out of the hall. Hermione just shook her head and told Harry to look at the paper. The first thing he noticed was the smirking picture of Draco on the cover. It waved and then smiled at him. The headline made Harry smile, and he anxiously read through the article.

Draco Malfoy Figures it Out!

Draco Malfoy, fiancé of Harry Potter (aka the Boy-Who-Lived), and son of notorious fugitive Death Eater Lucius Malfoy, set all rumors to rest about his loyalty this week. Minister Cornelius Fudge informed the Prophet late last night that the Ministry has arrested twelve Death Eaters in connection with the recent attacks on citizens who attended the Potter Self-Defense Academies.

For weeks attendance at these Academies has been dropping as attacks increased against the attendees and threats were made against any who continued to attend. Draco Malfoy, whose appointment to the Ministry's Emergency War Committee was extremely controversial and caused the resignation of at least one Assistant Minister, reviewed the reports of these attacks and forwarded a plan of action this week to the Aurors in charge of the crimes. His plan worked and twelve Death Eaters, including Mandamus Goyle and Flavius Bulstrode were apprehended. Two more reportedly escaped before they could be hit with an anti-disapparating potion.

Minister Fudge stated that without a doubt, it was the help of Draco Malfoy that broke the case. Mr. Malfoy deduced that the Death Eaters were posing as new students to the Academies and identifying potential victims. They would pick the victims who appeared least able to defend themselves and attack them before they could improve their skills. Mr. Malfoy and his fiancé, are both still students at Hogwarts and were thus unavailable for comment.

During the summer, Draco Malfoy broke with his Death Eater family and joined the efforts of Mr. Potter in resisting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Because of heightened security, information about events at Hogwarts is much harder to come by, but sources indicate that the two young men are heavily involved in the school's efforts to train students to resist the evil man who threatens our world today.

While many doubted the wisdom of Mr. Potter's friendship, and relationship, with the son of a Death Eater, recent events show that like his mentor Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter is a wizard not only of great power, but great wisdom.

"Great Merlin," Harry breathed in horror, "they make me sound like the second coming!"

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Hermione repeated, shaking her head. "You know why…"

She was cut off by a chant that started at the Hufflepuff table. The entire table was on their feet, facing towards the Slytherin table and shouting "Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy" over and over again. The Slytherin table immediately stood, taking up the chant, and they were soon joined by Ravenclaw. Harry smiled at the shocked look on Draco's face and led the Gryffindor table in standing to join the chant. Draco finally stood on the table itself, put on that old aristocratic grin had driven Harry crazy for years and took a deep bow. When he sat down, most of the room sat down and finished their meals, only pausing as Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"Fifty points to Slytherin for a stunning piece of work."

The entire hall cheered, and Hermione leaned in to whisper a warning to Harry that he better do something soon or Draco'd single handedly steal the house cup soon. Harry got up and made Snape frown as he publicly gave Draco his own award, a very long kiss. That got a lot of cheers. Hermione hung her head as Snape took twenty points from Gryffindor.

Draco was floating all the way to class that morning.