Don't Answer Me

Prologue

"Don't Answer Me"

The Alan Parsons Project

From The Platinum and Gold Collection

If you believe in the power of magic

I can change your mind

But if you need to believe in someone

Turn and look behind

When we were living in a dream world

Miles got in the way

We gave it up in a moment of madness

And threw it all away.

Don't answer me

Don't break the silence

Don't let me win.

Don't answer me

Stay on your island and

Don't let me in.

Run away and hide from everyone

Can you change the things

We've said and done?

If you believe in the power of magic

It's all a fantasy.

So if you need to believe in someone

Just pretend it's me.

It ain't enough that we meet as strangers

I can't set you free

So will you turn your back forever

On what you mean to me?

Don't answer me

Don't break the silence

Don't let me win.

Don't answer me

Stay on your island and

Don't let me in.

Run away and hide from everyone

Can you change the things

We've said and done?

Chapter One

The Hogwarts Express sped away from platform nine and three-quarters at an alarming rate that Harry Potter still couldn't get used to, even though this was his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He watched out the windows of his compartment as they sailed through the English countryside, sad that the summer holiday was over, but equally as happy that he was finally going home. It had been a long summer, and it was a relief to be going back to Hogwarts, where some semblance of childhood remained, however small it might be.

Ron and Hermione had dropped their things off in his compartment before heading to the prefects meeting two cars down, Ron grumbling something under his breath about seeing Malfoy after a perfectly good summer holiday. Hermione had told him not to start anything, then kissed Ron soundly on the mouth to get him to shut up. Harry laughed watching Ron blush, happy that his two best friends were finally a couple. 'Took them long enough,' he thought, smiling.

That had been one of the few happy moments in his summer.

After returning to London from Hogwarts in June, he had spent ten days at his aunt and uncle's house at Number Four Privet Drive, all Dumbledore had said he needed to fulfill the familial spell that protected him from Voldemort. His aunt had been unusually nice to him in those ten days, while his Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley had, for the most part, left him alone. When Ron and Arthur Weasley and Hermione showed up by floo to take Harry back to the Burrow, Harry was stopped by his Aunt Petunia, who simply laid a thin hand on his shoulder and smiled weakly at him.

"We'll see you next summer," she said to him, then watched as the four Flooed out the fireplace.

At the Burrow, he was greeted with a huge hug from Molly and Ginny Weasley, then shown to the room he would share with Ron for the remainder of their time at the Burrow. He discovered quickly that that wouldn't be much time; in fact, only about three weeks, then they would be heading to number twelve Grimmauld Place.

Sirius's home.

It was Dumbledore who had told him that Sirius's home was now his home. Harry was Sirius's only heir, and everything that had belonged to his godfather now belonged to him. Just as James and Lily had provided for their son, Sirius had also made sure that his godson was taken care of. When Harry saw what exactly had been left to him, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He might be one of the richest boys in the wizarding world now, but at what cost? He would rather have Sirius alive than his late godfather's money.

And so, twenty-one days later, they made their way to number twelve Grimmauld Place.

The upside of being in London was that they could visit Diagon Alley as much as they wanted. They made daily trips to the twins joke shop, Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, and were often unwilling test subjects for Fred and George's new products. Ginny, however, was the first one to really get back at them for their gall, sneaking a skiving snackbox into each of their pumpkin juices, and refusing to give them the antidote until they promised (through bloody noses and endless vomiting) not to 'surprise' any of them again with pranks. Fortunately for them, the promise stuck. Not that it would have mattered; Ginny, now a fifth year, had become as much a prankster as the twins over the summer, and had a few tricks up her sleeve.

While they were in London they had a small memorial service for Sirius. Though there was no body to lay to rest, Harry could at least lay his own memories to rest. The night of the memorial service, Molly Weasley sat with Harry all night long as he sobbed openly at his loss. This was when he began to heal.

The next day, Dumbledore told Harry that he would be continuing his occlumency lessons when they started their sixth year at school. Harry groaned, thinking he'd have to study with Snape again, but Dumbledore replied softly to his groan, "No, Harry, I'll be teaching you myself. It will be better for all involved."

That had made Harry somewhat happier, and he would make sure that what had happened to Sirius wouldn't happen to anyone else.

In the four weeks that they were in London, Ron and Hermione had finally given in to their feelings for each other. Harry remembered the argument that led to the yelling, and then the kissing.

He was sitting in the room he and Ron shared, finally beating Ron at a game of chess, when Hermione stormed in, trembling with anger.

"Ron Weasley!" she shrilled. "You have gone too far!"

"What?" He had a shocked expression on his face.

"This owl post I received from Viktor an hour ago said that you wrote him earlier and told him to leave me alone. What right do you have telling him to stay away from me?!"

"I have every right! He's not good for you, Hermione, and I'm looking out for you!"

"Oh bugger off, Ron! That's ridiculous. You're just jealous of Viktor."

"Bugger off? BUGGER OFF? Get out of my room, you stupid git!"

At this point Harry couldn't decide whether to stay there or risk being seen as he snuck out of the room.

She gasped. "What? How - how dare -"

Before she could finish spouting off though, Ron had grabbed her face between his hands and kissed her roughly. Hermione tensed, then melted into the kiss as it softened. Harry grinned, then waited and watched as they got in to the kiss. After a few minutes, he began cheering loudly, at which point Ron and Hermione separated, blushing furiously.

" 'Bout effing time, you two," Harry said. "Now come on, let's go get ice cream."

During this time, Harry had also come to a big conclusion regarding his life. He had been thinking about his time with Cho last year, and why it went so wrong. He had liked her, he really had; but at the end of the year when he wasn't jealous of her and Michael Corner, he tried to sort through his feelings for her. It surprised him to find out that while he thought she was pretty, he wasn't really attracted to her like Ron and Hermione were attracted to each other. When he thought about that, he found that he was really attracted to males. No one at Hogwarts stood out in particular. He just found that given the choice between dating either Hermione or Ron ('Not that I want to,' he thought, 'that's like dating a family member!'), he would choose Ron. And it wasn't a matter of being attracted to redheads. He wasn't sure how his friends would take this bit of news, so he slept on it. For two weeks.

Five days before they were to go back to Hogwarts, he sat Ron, Hermione, and Ginny down and told them.

"I - I think I'm gay." He paused, studying the faces of his three closest friends. Their expressions varied, but he forged ahead. "Well, I'm pretty sure really, but I haven't really taken the practical test yet. Let's just say I'm more attracted to men than women, and leave it at that."

Ginny had just cocked her red head and studied him for a minute. "Okay. Is that all?"

"Is that all?" Ron was flustered. "What do you mean, is that all?"

Hermione knocked him in the stomach with her elbow. "Ron!"

"No, it's okay, Hermione, it's shocking," Harry said quietly. "Ron, I love you mate, but you're my best friend. That's the only way I think of you."

Ron visibly relaxed. "Not attracted to me at all?"

"No."

The redhead released a tense breath. "Good. I'd hate for Hermione to get jealous."

Harry laughed then as Hermione elbowed Ron again. "Would you stop it, woman!" Ron shouted.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, kissed him on the cheek, then turned to Harry. "How about you, Harry? Are YOU okay with this? This is quite a life changing decision."

"Yeah, but I'm okay. Really."

Harry kept replaying that scene in his head as he watched the landscape fly by. 'I'm gay. I'm gay. I'm gay.' It sounded weird to him no matter how he said it, but he was glad it was out in the open. There had been nothing else said about it, which was fine with him.

Ginny rushed into the compartment, red-faced and laughing, and plopped down next to Harry. He put an arm around her and squeezed her gently.

"Seamus found a book of curses in Flourish and Blotts and has been teaching us new stuff to use on the Slytherins in the halls," she laughed. "Wanna join us? I bet after just a couple of tries you could get Crabbe or Goyle dead on!"

Harry laughed. "Better not. Would hate for Malfoy to slap me with a detention while we're still on the train, stupid git."

"Suit yourself, but you'll be sorry!" She laughed once more, then got up hurriedly and left Harry alone in the compartment.

***

The Sorting was over, their stomachs were full, and most of the students in the great hall were bleary-eyed as Professor Dumbledore got their attention once more.

"I have just a few more announcements before you go back to your dormitories. As always, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students, and Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that there should be no use of magic in the hallways between classes." Dumbledore's eyes sparkled. "And on what I hope to be a lighter note, all educational decrees posted and decisions made by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor last term are null."

There was a moment of silence as this sank in, then a groan that came from the direction of the Slytherin table as they realized that their little hit squad had been disbanded.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What did they think? That Professor Dumbledore would allow them to continue to harass the other houses? And, Harry, that means you're back on the Quidditch team."

It seemed that everyone understood the message all at once, for a huge roar went up in the Great Hall, the students' cheers making the stone walls ring. Most of the Gryffindors were jumping up and down as they realized they would have their Seeker back.

***

Harry, Ron, and Hermione met up in the common area after Ron and Hermione had fulfilled their prefect's duties for the evening. They sat in the overstuffed chairs for a while, just relaxing while mayhem broke out around them. Neville, Dean, and Seamus were playing a game of Exploding Snap, running around the room like madmen.

Suddenly, Hermione yelled, "Oh good God, Neville, watch OUT!"

Neville, who had grown six inches over the summer, had gotten long, gangly limbs, and was tripping over everything. Not that that was a new thing, but his new height only made it worse. Dean rushed over to help him up, and after he brushed himself off, they were back to their game.

"What about Neville?" Ron gave Harry a sidelong glance.

"What about Neville?" Harry returned the question to Ron.

"You know... that."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ron."

Harry clued in, then punched Ron in the arm. "Please tell me you aren't serious."

"Well, he's grown, he's not a pudge anymore. He might be what some blokes would call good looking."

"Yeah, but not this bloke." Harry sighed. "Ron, please, PLEASE do not try to fix me up with anyone. I need to figure this one out for myself."

"Alright, alright. I promise. No fixing Harry up with good looking guys."

***

Over in the Slytherin common area, Draco Malfoy sat in a highbacked chair with a book his mother had given him. It was a thick leatherbound journal with the Malfoy crest on it, and it was full of his mother's and father's notes on spells, people, and the Dark Lord, but it also had plenty of open space for him to make his own notes.

He was pretending to be engrossed in the journal so that none of the other Slytherins would bother him, but he was really thinking about his summer. He'd been thinking about the events of the past two months, and couldn't believe how much had changed.

After the events at the Ministry in June, his father had broken out of Azkaban just as Draco had predicted. What he hadn't predicted was that his father wouldn't return to Malfoy Manor; he had disappeared, and most people thought he was hiding out with Voldemort. His mother had maintained her cool demeanor, but had confided in Draco many times that she wasn't sure if or when Lucius would return. Draco missed his father, but part of him was glad that the Death Eater was gone.

In many ways, Lucius's absence made Draco master of the manor, and he relished ordering their servants around, especially the house elves. Slowly though, unnoticeably at first even to Draco, something changed. He couldn't put his finger on it, but sometime at the beginning of August, it lost its fun. He became bored with his things and had started to become extremely introspective. Maybe it was the lack of vicious bile he was used to being fed daily by his father, or maybe it was that Narcissa paid more attention to him with Lucius absent.

He was starting to say please and thank you to the servants, instead of just ordering them around like they were slaves. He no longer took pleasure in performing curses on the house elves, and quit doing it altogether. He had started to read more about things that at least weren't violent or evil, if not outright good.

He didn't understand it, but he didn't fight it either.

Then there was the other thing.

Ten days before he was to go back to school, Narcissa sat him down to talk to him.

"Draco, I know."

"Know what?" He looked genuinely confused.

His mother paused, checking her pale blond hair in the mirror as a brief distraction. "I know about you."

"What about me, mother?"

Not one to beat around the bush, Narcissa said it as delicately as possible. "I know that you... aren't attracted to women."

Draco was silent for a moment. "How could you possibly know that?"

Narcissa stared pointedly at her silver haired son. "I'm your mother. I'm observant." She continued to look at him.

"What?"

She sighed. "Do you have nothing to say? No denials? No confirmations?"

He thought for a moment, then spoke carefully. "Would it matter either way?"

"No, not really." She looked at her pale hands. "I wouldn't even bring this up, because it doesn't matter to me," she emphasized 'to me', "one way or another, but there have been other things that have come to my attention."

"Such as?"

"Draco, you aren't acting like yourself lately. I've noticed that you don't really give orders anymore as much as ask for things. And nicely at that."

"Are you complaining that I'm being nicer to the servants, Mother?" He lifted an eyebrow at her .

"No, not exactly. It's just so out of character. All the reading you're doing. And all the thinking you're doing as well." She put her hands around his. "I'm worried about you, Draco. Are you alright?"

"Yes. I think so. Maybe I just think that there are better ways to exercise my power now than through fear."

Narcissa's brow furrowed. "That may not have been the right thing to say. You're supposed to take the mark next year, and then you will be expected to exercise your power through fear."

"I know." He was quiet before speaking again. "What if I decide not to take the mark?"

Narcissa leaned over and kissed her son's cheek, then stood to leave. "A word of advice, Draco. Think long and hard before you make that particular decision."

And he had been thinking about it, for the ten days since he and his mother had had that conversation. That, and the other thing. That thing about him, as his mother put it, not being attracted to women.

He looked up in time to see one of the seventh years flinging a curse at a first year. He lifted his wand quickly and aimed at the spell line.

"Finite incantatem! Accio wand!"

The spell broke, and the seventh year student's wand was in his hand. He stared down the slightly larger seventh year, his grey eyes hidden through narrow slits.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" the other young man shouted.

"No cursing first years until they have some idea how to defend themselves. Do it again, and I go to the professor."

The other student knew Snape would not be as slow to rebuke as Draco had been, and turned on his heel and left the common area.

'Damn. I'm going soft. Last year, I would have been the one cursing that first year,' he thought.

At least one thing hadn't changed. He still hated Harry Potter.

***

They had just finished breakfast and were on their way down to the dungeon for Potions with the Slytherins. Ron was grumbling and making wild hand gestures about the unfairness of it all, while trying to hold Hermione's hand at the same time. Hermione was rolling her eyes and trying to steady their locked hands.

"Ron, do calm down! You're going to sprain my wrist if you keep this up."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, but maybe it would get you out of Potions, since you'd have to go see Madame Pomfrey about it."

"Say, mate, that's a splendid idea!" Ron's face lit up. He let go of Hermione's hand and turned to her. "Quick, break my wrist. You can even use my wand and say it was an accident!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and kept walking towards the dungeon. Ron turned to Harry. "C'mon, Harry, please?!"

"Not a chance, Ron. C'mon, we don't want to be late on the first day."

They entered the Potions room, Snape on their heels. He shut the dungeon door with a bang, and yelled at them to be quiet and have a seat. He wrote the assignment for the next class down on the blackboard, then turned to the students.

"Today we will be working on an antidote to veritaserum. Who can tell me the properties involved in this draught?"

No one raised a hand. Not even Hermione, who was staring neutrally at Snape. Harry poked her in the side with his finger.

"You know the answer to this," he whispered.

"Of course I do. But he never calls on me, so I'm not going to waste my energy. If he really wants the answer from someone who isn't Draco Malfoy, he'll call on one of us. If it's me, fine, I'll answer the question."

Harry was shocked, but smiled all the same. "Wow. You are Hermione Granger, aren't you?" She smiled sweetly at him.

Their whispering had not gone unnoticed by the potions master. "You have something to say, Miss Granger?"

"No, professor."

"Then I trust your little conversation with Mr. Potter was about classwork."

"Yes, sir, we were discussing the properties of the veritaserum antidote." Hermione kept her voice sweet.

"I wasn't aware that you knew the properties since you didn't raise your hand when asked the question, Miss Granger."

"I thought maybe someone else would like to take a swing at it, sir."

Snape narrowed his eyes at Hermione. "Five points from Gryffindor for your lip, Miss Granger. Now if we're ready to get started, everyone get your supplies and begin working."

Harry walked over to the supply cabinet and got their ingredients, and got back to their table just in time to hear Seamus hiss at Hermione on his way back to his table.

"Great job, Hermione. It's only the first day and we're already down points."

"Sod off, Seamus," Ron said under his breath.

***

The morning went quickly and it was lunch time before the trio knew it. Ron looked at their schedules while stuffing his mouth with kidney pie. He swallowed, then spoke.

"Great, Defense Against the Dark Arts right after lunch, WITH the gits from Slytherin again, of course. Say, I wonder who our new teacher will be?"

"So long as it's not Dolores Umbridge, I don't care who it is. Voldemort himself would be a better teacher than she was," Hermione stated matter of factly.

Harry's jaw dropped, and Ron paled. "Hermione! You aren't serious!" he said.

She kissed her boyfriend. "Well of course I don't want Voldemort to be our teacher, but you have to admit, he'd be a better teacher than she was."

"She's got a point, Ron," Harry said.

"Well, let's not dwell on that point."

They ate the rest of their meal talking about nothing very serious, and Ron and Harry finished with two helpings of treacle tart a piece. Hermione quirked her brow at both of them.

"What?" Ron asked.

"You both must be growing again. You're eating like there's no tomorrow." She stood up. "Come on, we're going to be late for class."

They followed her out of the Great Hall and a few minutes later the three entered the DADA room. They got settled and watched as the rest of the Slytherins and Gryffindors came in and sat down. Not long after, the question of who the next DADA professor would be was laid to rest as a tall woman not much older than the sixth years entered the room.

She was beautiful, and looked very kind, but very tough. She had shoulder length light brown hair and dark brown eyes, and had almost an exotic look to her. Harry noticed all the young men in the room openly goggling at her, including Ron. Not Harry, of course. He looked around. Yeah, every one of the guys.

Except for Draco Malfoy, who looked bored. 'Hmm. Interesting.'

"Good afternoon class. I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. My name is Professor Lyddle. Let's get started.

"It has come to my attention that with the rise of recent events, you have been admonished by the Sorting Hat to unite as a school instead of keeping the rivalries going. Therefore, I have a project for you which I hope will be most effective at accomplishing this task.

"I am a trained Auror, and you will be learning part of what I know. As an auror, rule number one is this: Know Your Enemy. With that in mind, you are going to be grouped in to pairs with someone who is not your friend and you'll be learning more about that person.

"This project is due on February fourteenth. Yes, I know that's a long time, but it takes a long time to get to know your enemy, and so I have assigned the time accordingly. The guidelines are on the board, please take them down while I announce your pairings."

Ron leaned over to Harry and Hermione. "We don't even get to choose who our enemies are? What is this woman thinking?!"

"Shh!" Hermione hissed. "Damn, I ended up with Parkinson! Of all the people..."

She was cut off by Ron's yelp of anger. "Goyle? Well she nailed it, she did, I'm going to have to kill him before this project is over!"

Professor Lyddle finished up the pairings with the names that drew silence: "Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy."

Draco turned to look at Harry over his shoulder, his lips pressed together in a thin line. Harry stared back, frowning. When Draco turned to look towards the front of the room again, Harry lowered his forehead to rest on his desk.

"Bloody hell," he whispered.

Professor Lyddle continued. "I know that this is unorthodox, but if we're to survive the coming troubles, we need to be able to work together. I expect nothing but the best behavior from each of you as you work on this project. If I hear otherwise, it will be the end of your time at Hogwarts. I hope I make myself clear."

The rest of DADA passed uneventfully. Professor Lyddle went over the project, some of the different deadlines for it, and then began to teach them new defense spells and theories. Harry took notes, but he could barely concentrate for all the anger he was feeling.

Draco must have been feeling the same thing. At the end of class, Harry sent Ron and Hermione ahead of him and approached Lyddle's desk. Malfoy did the same. The two young men stared at each other, not saying a word until Professor Lyddle recognized them.

"Ah, Harry, Draco, I was expecting to see you at the end of class. What can I do for the two of you?"

Draco cleared his throat gently. "Uh, professor, I understand that you had the best of intentions by putting Potter and myself together, but I really think that it's a tremendously bad idea. We hate each other, you see."

Harry nodded violently. "He's right. We loathe each other."

Professor Lyddle looked between the two of them, then nodded. "Then surely, you see exactly what I have to do." She stood, putting one hand on each boy's shoulder. "You loathe each other. You're the worst of enemies. The pairing stays. You will work with it. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Yes, professor."

They stalked out of the room. Harry had noticed earlier that Draco seemed to have gained some height over the holiday, and up close could tell that the small framed blonde, though still delicate in many ways, had filled out and was almost as tall as Harry was. Harry drew himself up to his full height and turned to face his nemesis.

"I am only doing this because I have to, Malfoy. I will cooperate because my future here depends on it, and I expect the same of you. One thing, ONE THING out of line, and I will go straight to Lyddle."

Draco looked evenly into Harry's eyes, which had turned dark green. "Fine. We start tomorrow night then. Meet me in the library after dinner, in the very back corner. I don't need all the other Slytherins seeing me hanging out with the pathetic Boy Who Shouldn't Have Lived." He stalked off, leaving Harry fuming and late for his next class.