A Year Like None Other

aspeninthesunlight

Story Summary:
A letter from home? A letter from family? Well, Harry Potter knows he has neither, but all the same, it starts with a letter from Surrey. A letter that sends Harry down a path he'd never have walked on his own. It will be a year of big changes, a year of great pain, and a year of confronting worst fears. It will be a year of surprising discoveries, of finding true strength, of finding out that first impressions of a person's true colours do not always ring true. It will be a year of paradigm shifts. And from the most unexpected sources, Harry will have a chance to have that which he has never known: a home ... and a family. (A Snape adopts Harry fic.)
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Chapter 91 - True Colours

Posted:
07/05/2006
Hits:
5,709
Author's Note:
Betaed by the Fabulous Mercredi.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or this fictional universe. JK Rowling, some publishers, and some film companies own everything. I'm not making anything from this except a hobby.

Summary: A letter from home sends Harry down a path he'd never have walked on his own. A sixth year fic, this story follows Order of the Phoenix and disregards any canon events that occur after Book 5. Spoilers for the first five books. Have fun!

Author's Note: Thanks as always to Mercredi, who did a whole lot on this chapter. A whole, whole lot.

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A Year Like None Other

by Aspen in the Sunlight
and Mercredi

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Chapter Ninety-One: True Colours

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Harry spun out of the flames and into a large room almost as grand as the Great Hall.

He had no more than a moment to stare unblinking at it, though. A sick wash of feeling began to fill him from the outside in, the sensation one he recognised. One he was even used to, after all the times he'd Apparated with his father. He'd never done it while under Petrificus, though. That made a big difference. It seemed to take forever. Harry couldn't tell if that was just his senses fooling him, or if Lucius was doing it on purpose.

Or maybe it was just more difficult to Side-Along with someone who was already under a powerful spell.

The room dissolved around him and through him, and stayed that way for long moments, until Harry's head felt muzzy and he could barely think. He wanted to sick up but it wasn't possible under Petrificus. His stomach wasn't even churning, not truly. It just wanted to. Somehow, that was worse.

Finally, the world came back into focus and Harry emerged into a smaller room, though it was just as lavish in its own way. Dark woods everywhere, and the glint of crystal. That was actually so disorienting that Harry nearly toppled over. Lucius' hand steadied him.

Harry would rather have fallen than endure that touch.

But he was going to have to endure it, wasn't he? As long as he was held bound like this, he didn't have much choice. And unlike on Samhain, this time Harry had no seer dreams to guide him, to tell him that no matter what happened, he'd come out on the other side alive.

Harry would have clenched his jaw, if he could. Resolution seemed to fill his lungs. He might not have a promise given in a seer dreams, but he did have other things to get him through this. Things Lucius didn't know about.

Couldn't know about... unless Nott had told him.

Harry felt his stomach sink right down to his toes.

But then he gave a mental shake of his head. Nott didn't know it all. Oh, sure, by the end he'd seen Harry's dark powers firsthand, but that had all been obliviated, right along with his knowledge about Harry needing a snake in order to be able to cast magic. And he never had learned that Harry could do wandless magic.

And really, there was no reason to think that Nott had told Lucius about Harry needing a snake. He might not have had a chance. And even if he had, didn't Slytherins like to use information strategically? Harry could easily imagine Nott holding out on Lucius until some later time, so he could sell the information to Lucius even if he couldn't sell Harry himself.

At any rate, the snake thing... that couldn't have been why Lucius had destroyed his glasses. The little snake wasn't visible except on the inside. Nobody except his family and the headmaster knew it was there.

Well, his glasses might have been destroyed, but that didn't mean Harry was helpless. All he needed was one good look down at his crest. Harry kept straining, trying to see it, but it was impossible as long as he was held under Petrificus, his chin parallel to his feet.

That would end, though. Sooner or later. If Harry was sure of anything, it was that Lucius wouldn't torture him while he the magic held him in this rigid position.

He'd want to see Harry scream and writhe.

Like before.

Oh God, the needles. All at once, Harry felt like he'd eaten five pounds of rocks for lunch. Rocks that had half-turned to thick, sluggish acid. He couldn't even imagine how Draco must be feeling, trapped in a pit full of snakes crawling all over each other. And him.

Harry tried his best to wing him a thought, though he had no reason in the world to suppose it would work. But at least it was something. He had to do something!

Stay strong, Draco, he thought, propelling the words as forcefully as he could. You're stronger than you know. And braver, too. And we'll get out this somehow. I promise!

Harry couldn't help but remember, though, something Draco had said to him. I'm not strong like you, Harry. I'd break under torture...

No, no you won't, Harry thought fiercely, again trying to send the conviction out to where Draco could hear or feel it. You won't break. You won't. You can't. I need you to stay strong...

Lucius suddenly clapped his hands, a single imperious blast of noise that Harry could feel vibrate straight through him. "Gibby," the man said to the trembling elf who appeared before the sound could die away. "This is Harry Potter."

The elf's eyes went wide and accusing. "The Harry Potter? That was giving clothes to poor deluded Dobby and casting him forever and ever into shame?"

"Don't interrupt me!" roared Lucius, swiftly kicking the creature in the stomach. The blow sent Gibby hurtling back several feet. The elf pounded its own head on the floor before crawling back to Lucius and looking up with sorrow-filled eyes.

"I know how you house-elves love your gossip," said Lucius in a tone only marginally calmer. "So I'm sure you know how... vicious, this particular young man can be. Samhain, yes? Now, you're to look over his magic and tell me what you can divine."

Uh-oh. Elves had strange powers, Harry knew.

He felt a coldness seep all through him, like he was being dunked in icy water. That sharp biting pain of being too cold--

And then it was gone.

"Harry Potter is having strange magic inside him, Master."

"I know that much, you fool!" snapped Lucius, raising his hand. He didn't strike, though. Maybe Gibby cowering back was enough to satisfy him. "Find out why, or how, or what!"

Again Gibby probed, his spindly elf hands held out this time as he sent the horrible cold washing through Harry. "G- G- Gibby cannot be finding out," the elf finally whispered in defeat, head bowed as his arms dropped to his sides.

"You're utterly useless! Can you at least tell if the Petrificus is firmly anchored?"

"Oh, yes, Master," said Gibby, big eyes earnest. "Yes, he is being bound tight, yes. Harry Potter, he is going nowhere--"

Lucius interrupted with a wave for Gibby to fall silent. "You're to watch him for a moment, then. Summon me at once if anything... unusual should happen."

"Yes, Master, yes," panted Gibby, ears flapping with the force of a vigorous nod. "Yes, as Master is wishing, yes, anything."

Lucius made a noise of vicious satisfaction and strode toward the door, leaving Harry's range of sight. His footsteps stopped, though, and his voice echoed again in the over-decorated room. "How fares Master Draco?"

"Ooh, the snakes is biting him something awful--"

"You did summon his wand away from him, I trust?"

"Oh yes, Gibby is always doing just as Master Lucius is wanting, yes, yes, yes." The elf started bowing, over and over, bobbing up and down like Lucius Malfoy was some sort of eastern king. "Gibby was banishing Master Draco's wand to Master Lucius' bedroom right away, yes, yes."

After that, there was nothing but silence. Harry didn't know if Lucius had left the room or not, but Gibby did seem to relax a bit. Not that it helped Harry any. He couldn't talk to the elf to try to enlist his help. And even if he could, Gibby didn't seem to be like Dobby, wanting freedom.

He concentrated on imagining his crest again, struggling to see it perfectly inside his mind's eye so that he could focus on the snake and break free from the spell that held him captive. Bugger all, he could imagine a snake! He'd always been able to do that. But it didn't help! As long as the snake was only a mental image, his powers refused to latch onto it and break free!

"Ah, still here," drawled Lucius as he came into Harry's line of sight again. He was wearing different clothes and robes now, and smelled of sea breezes. Just like Draco after he'd freshened himself with a charm.

Harry couldn't help but remember what Severus had said, about Draco being more like Lucius than any of them probably knew.

"Gibby, go watch Master Draco," instructed Lucius, before turning his attention to Harry. "I do fear you're overdressed, though," said the man in his smooth, condescending drawl. "The work on your eyes is so stunning that I simply must see how well Severus healed the rest of you. We'll start with your chest and work our way down. You don't mind, do you, Harry? After all, considering the... entertainments I have planned, clothes can only be a hindrance."

He held Harry's wand up before his eyes.

"Such a pity you dropped it, but then again, after the dear professor dealt you that blow, it was rather inevitable that I would take it from you. I shall present this to the Dark Lord as I intended to do all those months ago." Lucius' smile looked dangerous, now. "But first, there's another matter in need of attention. I've no intention of your taking my Lord by surprise once again. So, before I call to him, I think I shall have to find out just what you can and cannot do, eh? Especially considering...."

Another smile, this one both cold and inquisitive. "Rumour has it that your magic is oddly weak, these days, Harry... And yet you cast such an awful spell on me. It really is quite the mystery. But I intend to unravel it."

Lucius took two steps back, then waved Harry's own wand at him, his voice low and determined. "Imperio!"

Harry felt the familiar wash of the curse sliding over the surface of his brain, the sensation so more disorienting than it had ever been, before. Was that because he was under Petrificus? Or did it have to do with all that wild magic from before draining him? Or the long Disapparation?

All Harry knew was that the hum of Lucius' voice, inside his mind this time, was like a brightly glowing beacon inside the fog of his thoughts. And pleasant sounding, so very pleasant.

"When I release the binding spell, you won't attack me, Harry. You will disrobe, instead," the voice said, the sound of it worming its way into every crevice of his brain.

No, thought Harry, trying to Occlude. That should help, right? He still had enough of his own mind left to realise that much. To realise that Lucius merely wanted to shame him, so he'd be all the more likely to break under the tortures sure to come... No, no, I won't--

But the voice inside his mind just kept on, insidious, telling him what to do, making him want to do it. So focussed was he on his desire to obey, he barely took note of the actual spoken words that suddenly set him free from the Petrificus.

"Finite Incantatem," said Lucius, waving Harry's wand.

The voice inside was more important. "Disrobe, Harry. Start with your cloak. That's it... raise your hand to the clasp. Yes, like that. You're doing very well, Harry..."

It seemed so natural to just do it. Whatever he was told. Whatever that lyrical voice wanted...

But wait... his cloak? Wasn't there something special about his cloak? Something he really should be able to remember if he tried hard enough?

Something flickered, deep down at the base of his brain. A small flame. Nothing to it, really. It was barely an ember. But when Harry focussed on it, he remembered.

His cloak. His crest. If he could only get a good look at his crest, he'd get stronger, wouldn't he? He'd be able to reach down into his magic and throw off this spell that was so smothering he could hardly breathe...

Fighting the Imperius was like trying to swim through a vat of treacle. Harry's limbs were sluggish, slow to catch up to what he really wanted from them. His cloak was dangling from his hand now; he hardly remembered unclasping it.

Drop the cloak, Harry, Lucius was saying. Move your hands now, to the buttons on your shirt--

Drop the cloak? Harry longed to do it, but he knew he mustn't. Why not, though? Harry struggled to remember. The... oh, the crest. He needed to see his crest--

Ouch... it really hurt to turn his wrist towards him. The fog inside his head told him why. Fighting what Lucius wanted was a bad idea... no, no, the bad idea was doing what Lucius was demanded.

Harry jerked his head down, trying to see his crest. When the folds in his cloak were hiding it, he began shaking his hand to make them go away. There it was, snake and lion standing side by side. Harry stared at it as he struggled to fight the Imperius. He could feel the magic inside him now. Coiled, poised to strike.

He was opening his mouth, the leading edge of a hiss rushing past his teeth when suddenly, the garment was ripped from his grasp.

Harry's view of the crest vanished as Lucius Malfoy raised the cloak up, holding it bundled in his hands.

"So you can resist Imperius, eh? Feebly, but still... And you want something here? I wonder what could that be."

Harry struggled to step forward, to claim the cloak back. The longer he fought the Imperius the easier it became, as if despite this terrible exhaustion, his mind and body were remembering who he really was. He knew how to do this, he did...

"This crest, perhaps?" snarled Lucius, poking a long finger into the mass of black fabric. Lucius made a scoffing noise. "Oh, yes, I know all about the provision in the Hogwarts' charter, but that's not why you wear this crest, is it? Theodore mentioned you could only cast magic in Parseltongue these days. Was that hissing I heard as you stared at this? Could it be you need to see a snake, Harry? Well, well, well."

For a long moment, Lucius just stared at him, a cruel smile hovering on his lips. And then, his teeth glinted. "Incendio insignia."

Harry longed to scream as his crest went up into flames right before his eyes. Smoke wafted all around him. Lucius didn't drop the robe until the flames were nearly at his hands. By that time, the crest was long since reduced to ashes.

His snake was gone, Harry thought dully. Some part of him wanted to curl up and just give in to the Imperius. What did it matter now, anyway?

The greater part of him, though, knew better than to listen to thoughts like that.

He struggled the rest of the way and finally managed to throw the mind-control spell off completely. The effort of that was enough to make him want to curl up again. He didn't think he'd ever felt this tired. But then again, he'd never had to fight Imperius just after he'd already drained himself by using wild magic, or dark powers, or whatever it had been.

He stood stock still, trying to get his breath. Not mention his bearings.

And all the while, he could still hear and feel Lucius inside his head, trying to control him. "Come now, Harry. Your little defiance has got you nothing. Now it's time to do as you were told. DISROBE. My guests will expect a good show..."

Harry clenched his muscles, readying himself to lunge at Lucius, when all at once, he remembered the things his father had said about the advantages of surprise.

Better to make Lucius think he'd won.

After all, it wasn't as though Harry had much chance of besting Lucius at the moment. He had to concentrate on calling up wild magic again... though he didn't know if he could produce another blast so soon after the first, or at will, for that matter. He didn't know how to summon it, not consciously.

So, better to play along. For now.

Groaning as though in defeat, Harry hung his head and let his muscles relax.

"That's it," Lucius' voice encouraged him, soft inside his own mind. "Your tie, Harry. Yes..."

Harry felt sick to his stomach at the thought of baring himself before the likes of Lucius Malfoy, though really, he knew it oughtn't be so difficult to obey. What did it really matter? It only proved what a sadistic arsehole Lucius Malfoy was.

Or, it proved that he had misjudged Harry. Lucius wanted answers, he'd said. He probably thought that humiliating Harry would get him some. Idiot. Samhain alone should have told Lucius that that wouldn't work. But then, Lucius never had been the sharpest knife in the drawer...

Moving sluggishly--like the monster in the Frankenstein movie he'd once caught on the telly--Harry lifted his fingers to his school tie and began to fumble with it.

Lucius laughed, low in his throat, Harry's wand almost dancing through the air as he directed Harry's every action.

Or so he thought.

The tie fell, snakelike, to the ground. Harry wished with all his heart that it was a snake, but he knew from experience that a substitute would do him no good at all.

And even looking too fixedly at it would probably alert Lucius to the fact that Harry was only pretending to be caught in the grip of Imperius.

He started to undo his buttons, fumbling over those as well, his every motion somewhat slow-witted.

"Such work Severus went to," breathed Lucius in mock awe as Harry's chest came into view. "Who would have guessed that just a few short months ago, you were skewered -- straight through in some places? Why, your skin looks perfect, Harry. A shame it was all for nothing." He flicked Harry's wand again. "Take that shirt off completely."

Lucius kept speaking as he watched Harry obey him. "Now, your Parseltongue magic being dependent upon a snake, that's very interesting, but I doubt it's the only secret you possess. And I will know your secrets, Harry, all of them, before I inform the Dark Lord that I managed to lay hands not just on Draco, but you as well. Oh yes... it wouldn't do at all to have him subjected again to those bizarre bursts of magic you seem so prone to." Stepping forward, Lucius tapped the tip of Harry's own wand all along the boy's bare shoulders. "I can see why your uncle thought you a freak. I can see why he locked you in that cupboard."

I could grab that wand right now, thought Harry. I could grab it and turn it on him...

Without a snake to cast with, though, what good would that do? Lucius would simply overpower him and grab the wand back, and Harry would have lost the precious advantage of surprise. So he simply stood still, his expression slack-jawed and brainless, as Lucius taunted him about his helplessness.

"Nothing to say, Harry? You were quite vocal on Samhain, as I recall. But then again, you're under a powerful curse. I suppose I shall have to release you from it if I want some answers. Pity I haven't any Veritaserum on hand. Lost my supplier, don't you know. Hmm. Well, no matter. If you won't tell me what I wish to know, Draco most certainly shall. And speaking of Draco..."

Lucius traced the wand along the waistband of Harry's trousers. "I suppose it would discomfit him too much if you were to disrobe further. Pity. But, there's time enough for that later. Mmm, yes, I'll save that performance for the Dark Lord's pleasure. In the meantime, I cannot have you misbehaving while I converse with Draco."

Lucius flicked the wand toward a high-backed chair in the corner. "Sit down, Harry," Lucius' mind voice urged. "Just have a seat and pretend you aren't a filthy little half-blood with no notion of proper manners..."

Harry struggled against the voice even as he obeyed it, fearing that in his pretence he might actually fall too deeply under the real spell. Focussing on his Occlumency should help, he thought. The fire would ultimately keep his mind free. Free to strike when the moment was right.

"Oh, how marvellous," said Lucius, smiling. "We can get along."

Lucius seated himself and crossed one leg over the other, the pose careless. But it was a pose; Harry sensed that at once. He'd seen Draco do this too many times... pretend to be at ease when he wasn't.

"I suppose it's fortunate that Draco's insipid betrayal has you following him around like a puppy. Though, I admit that when Aran firecalled to complain about my son, I'd no idea fate would favour me so completely as to deliver you both into my hands."

Lucius smiled smugly as he flicked Harry's wand. An elaborate porcelain cup of fragrant, steaming tea appeared at the end of the large, low table. He sipped at it delicately.

"I should have known that I could count on Dumbledore's utter ineptitude to supply me with an ally in the form of a ridiculous Defence professor. Thank Merlin some traditions don't die. So convenient having a sympathetic ear inside Hogwarts, especially when I need an escort to so much as enter the place. Aran serves very nicely indeed. Yes, the wards raise no objection to my presence just so long as a professor has invited me to floo through." Lucius suddenly laughed.

"Once again, you and Draco have been most helpful. Did you imagine that your silly defiance in Defence class would cost your your life, Harry? It's all turned out so well, I almost feel guilty punishing Draco." Lucius smiled in a way that showed Harry he wasn't regretting it in the least. "Alas, he certainly didn't meant to be helpful when he betrayed me on Samhain, so I'm letting him consider his choices carefully. Dear me. I do hope he doesn't become too terribly ill from all those bites."

Harry hoped he didn't mean venom when he said that.

"But he's likely had enough time by now," drawled Lucius. He clapped his hands once more and the elf appeared. "Gibby, go fetch Master Draco from the pit. But as I'm certain he's soiled himself, get him into clean clothes. And not by just freshening the ones he's in. In fact, destroy those clothes." He smirked at Harry. "It wouldn't do at all for him to arrive with a Slytherin crest. Gibby, shrink some of my things to fit him, but take care to select nothing with a snake -- no embroidered borders or embossed buttons."

"Yes, Master Lucius," Gibby gibbered before disappearing once again. "Exactly as you wishes."

"Poor Harry," drawled Lucius. "You're like a helpless babe, aren't you? You've no magic unless a snake is at hand. Or a drawing, even. Such a pity we didn't conduct this little interview at the Manor, where all my best art is."

His tone was entirely conversational, as though they were chatting about nothing more serious than the weather in Wiltshire this time of year.

Harry pressed his lips together and kept a carefully neutral expression on his face while he Occluded.

"But then, there was that wild magic you exhibited earlier," mused Lucius, the fingers of one hand stroking his own chin. "Most odd. I didn't see any snake images nearby then."

"No matter. Draco will tell me what I want to know," he went on after a moment. "Draco Snape, of all things. Honestly. What is the world coming to?"

Lucius sipped at his tea, though he kept Harry's wand pointed all the while. "No doubt you're sitting there thinking noble thoughts of Draco. Or would, if you could think past the power of my spell, that is. Ah, Harry..." Lucius made a tsking sound. "I happen to know Draco a great deal better than you ever will. His running off to Dumbledore after Samhain was really very predictable, when one considers it. It's all quite simple: you looked like the better prospect at that moment. But now? Oh, you don't look like a good prospect at all. Do you, now?"

Banishing his empty cup, Lucius went on. "And to think, you most likely believed that Draco was entirely on your side. Now, how Slytherin would that be?" A slight chuckle accompanied the man's condescending smile. "I almost pity you for not suspecting. You see, Harry, Draco wanted to be able to come back into the fold should your star fail to rise ascendant. So when he allowed himself to be adopted, he kept 'Malfoy' as part of his name. Draco Alain Gervais Malfoy Snape. You didn't really think he would turn his back on all this, did you?" Lucius added with a laconic wave about the room.

Harry remained silent though it took effort to do so, it really did. He knew he must appear to be held captive by the Imperius curse, but he wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off Lucius' face. To shout his defence of his brother's motives. Because what Lucius was saying couldn't be true, could it? Lucius is lying, he told himself. That's what he does. He lies.

"You do understand how lineage potions link to names, Harry?" mocked Lucius. "You'll know soon enough. Ah, and here he is now."

Lucius stood up. "Dragon. How good of you to join us."

Draco looked a wreck. His skin paler than parchment, his eyes fever-bright and glittering with stress above cheekbones dotted with crimson bite marks oozing pus. Small tremors were coursing through him from head to toe.

All in all, he looked like a stiff breeze might blow him over. Or blow him apart, perhaps.

Draco cleared his throat, then said in a croaking tone, "Hallo, Father."

"Hear how he calls me Father," said Lucius, his voice smarmy with satisfaction.

Draco's just being Slytherin, Harry told himself. Playing along. Like I am. Nothing is what it seems. We both of us have one aim, and it's to fool Lucius long enough to find a way out of this mess...

It bothered him, though, that his brother wouldn't meet his eyes.

Even worse, Draco's school robes were gone, and with them, the Slytherin crest. He was wearing thick velvet robes now, in emerald green, with buttons that sparkled like they'd been freshly polished. He looked like royalty... and also like he belonged.

Lucius made Gibby take his clothes, Harry told himself, almost frantically. Draco would want me to have a snake, he would. He can't help it that he's not wearing his crest any longer...

"We've been waiting for you, Draco," said Lucius. "I meant what I told you. The breach between us isn't irreparable. You can still come back to your rightful home and family. To your heritage. You can be presented to the Dark Lord tonight, to take his mark."

Draco's lips twisted. "Oh, is he so forgiving?"

"Forgiveness is... overrated," said Lucius. "The Dark Lord believes that if a man can't control his own son, he can't be trusted as a leader. It's important to our family that he sees you behaving properly. He may not forgive you, but he will accept you, if you can convince him you've seen the error of your ways."

"And you?" asked Draco, shoving his shaking hands into the pockets of his velvet cloak. "Accepting too, are you? Is that why you Portkeyed me into a pit full of vipers?"

Lucius shrugged. "Gibby spelled a purging potion into you. On my orders, so don't say I never did anything for you, Draco. Though you do look a bit... peaked. Gibby! Master Draco is all right, I trust?"

The elf began shaking as though in fear of a beating. "Gibby is not knowing! Gibby g- g- gave him the potion, of course, Master Lucius. B- b- but..."

"But what?" Lucius' glare caused the elf to find his tongue at once.

"Master Draco is being crazed!" said Gibby, yelping. "He was killing a snake and taking it out of the pit with him! But Gibby was finding it stuffed in his pocket! Gibby is thinking that Master Draco is not well at all--"

Harry had to struggle not to raise his eyebrows in respect. Or maybe even awe. Draco had killed a snake? And tried to smuggle it out? He couldn't imagine how hard that must have been for someone as terrified of snakes as Draco was.

Lucius' face flushed with anger as he rounded on Draco. "So, you know his secrets, do you? And you thought to help him. Him! Oh, yes, Draco! I know about Harry Potter and snakes. Did you really think you could deceive me?"

"Father, I-- it crawled in my pocket by itself!" said Draco, gasping, suddenly looking just about as crazed as Gibby had said. His cold anger and his poise vanished completely before the potent threat in Lucius' words. "I killed it because it was biting me, not because--"

"Silence!" roared Lucius. "You're lying even now! I always know when you lie, Draco! Remember that!"

Calming, Lucius continued in a cold tone. "It's quite clear that you know things, Draco. Things the Dark Lord would like to know as well. So, you'll talk now. You'll tell me about Potter's wild magic to start with."

"I don't know anything!"

"A pity I don't believe that. Why do this to yourself, Draco? You know you'll talk, sooner or later. You never could defy me."

Draco's legs were shaking so much by then that Harry though the boy would collapse as he said, "I-- I can't tell you things I don't know. Father, please--"

"We'll start with a wizard's beating or two and go from there," said Lucius in a cold voice as he thrust Harry's wand out in a threatening manner. "Flagarentum!"

Harry swallowed a gasp as his hands clenched in involuntary protest, but Lucius didn't seem to notice anything amiss.

Hearing the horrid spell, Draco flinched back, stumbling, almost tripping on the ornate rug. Harry expected screams any second. Screams, and pleading. But all Draco did was slowly right himself, blinking for a moment until a hard look crept into his eyes. "Wrong wand, Father. What happened to yours?"

Lucius gnashed his teeth. "You're foolish to challenge me like this. And over a half-blood... But then, you never were anything but foolish, Draco. There's no reason I can't send you right back into that snake pit. Perhaps I'll charm the snakes to be even more vicious. You can't kill them all."

"No, but they could well kill me," said Draco, still standing straight, though mention of the snakes had made his breathing laboured. He sounded like he was forcing himself to keep talking. "How many times in a row will the purging potion work? And how much will I tell you after I'm dead?"

"Foolish but he thinks he's clever," spat Lucius. "The same as ever. But you're helpless here, Draco! It's time you realised as much. The pit was charmed, you stupid, stupid boy! To track the bites so they could be inflicted again, as needed, without venom or the bother of throwing you back to the snakes. And Gibby has collected the spell. Gibby? Cast Mordesco."

Harry's mind raced as Lucius spoke. He couldn't let Lucius do this to Draco! Perhaps he was helpless to use magic without a snake, but Draco wasn't. Draco only needed a wand--something which Lucius had. Something which Harry could get for him, if Lucius was distracted enough...

The elf looked a bit ill, Harry thought, but he didn't hesitate to raise his hands and send an invisible curse towards Draco.

Draco looked ill, too, even before the spell struck. He looked like he was regretting his defiance, in fact. Like he knew he'd break sooner or later, and it was foolish to provoke Lucius like this.

That was enough to push Harry over the edge. Focussing his mind, he felt the Imperius shatter completely. Again, Lucius didn't notice anything wrong, so completely was he caught up in watching his son cower.

As the invisible spell reached Draco, the boy convulsed, his features twisting in a horrible mixture of pain and disgust. Draco screamed, falling to the rug, his hands scrabbling against his legs and arms, moving frantically as though to rip snakes away from his body, over and over.

"He even sees them, I suspect," said Lucius in tones of pure enjoyment. "Pity you can't, eh?"

Lucius turned toward Harry just in time to see the youth lunge from his chair, hands outstretched to tear the wand from his grasp and toss it to his brother.

Unfortunately, Harry was still exhausted. His muscles trembled, uncoordinated after the strain of the wild magic he'd done earlier. He lunged awkwardly for his wand, intending to toss it to Draco, but Lucius quickly yanked it out of reach, his other hand delivering a blow that glanced off the side of Harry's head.

In Harry's weakened state, though, even a mild blow was enough to send him reeling to the floor.

Lucius growled, then sent a series of stinging hexes at him as he lay there. The pain so fierce it was almost crippling, Harry gasped to gain his breath.

And all the while, he could hear Draco screaming.

Another wave of the wand, and Harry was thrust back into the chair. Its wooden arms curled inward, towards his lap, tightening against him until he could barely even shift from side to side. Even his arms were caught, held by the wrist at odd angles.

The more he struggled, the more the chair contracted.

"So, your brother's pain gave you the impetus to break free of my Imperius. How like a Gryffindor. So pathetically noble."

"You're sick! Stop it! Let him go!"

"I think not. I think your pathetic little stunt has just earned him even more pain. Gibby. Mordesco again."

Draco's screams took on a higher pitch as he writhed and twisted on the floor, trying to get away from the phantom snakes attacking him.

"Stop it! Stop it now!" Harry shouted. God, where was his wild magic? It ought to be flowing by now. He was angry enough...

Angry enough. Was that Draco's plan, then, to let himself be tortured until Harry's wild magic snapped free?

"No!" yelled Harry, trying to stop him. It wasn't going to work; he could tell! He couldn't make his wild magic lash out, not even to save Draco.

"Oh, so you'll talk, will you?" crooned Lucius. "To help your dear brother?"

"Yes!" screamed Harry, though of course he had no intention of telling Lucius anything useful.

"That will do for now, Gibby." Lucius drew a handkerchief from his pocket and wafted it over to Draco. "Wipe your face. You look a mess."

Draco sat up on the rug, his hand shaking so much he could barely lift the handkerchief.

Lucius took a step back and brandished his wand in a way that encompassed Harry and Draco both. "Well? Talk, Potter. Or it will be Cruciatus next, for Draco."

"I can do wild magic," said Harry. No harm in revealing that, right? Lucius knew it anyway. He'd want details, though, so Harry forced himself to go on. "It's the same as accidental magic. My uncle told you I could always do strange things without meaning to. It's just more of the same."

Draco sat up more, sitting cross-legged, panting, his head hung over his knees. He looked like he was struggling not to sick up.

"Your wild magic as I have witnessed it, is hardly more of the same," said Lucius, sneering. "It's bizarrely strong. What changed it?"

"You did, with all those needles!" spat Harry. Maybe it would make Lucius think twice about repeating the same tortures. "But don't ask me how. You think any of us understand the things that happen to me?" He barked a laugh. "I've always been, what's that word, an amonaly."

"Anomaly." Lucius' stare seemed to pierce right through him. "There's more, though, isn't there?"

"No, there's nothing more," Harry insisted, clenching his hands as he hid his true thoughts inside the fire. "Nothing you don't already know."

"Oh, but I think there is. Since nothing is in fact precisely what you've told me." Lucius' lips curled in a grim smile. "So, what would make Draco suffer the most, Harry? Cruciatus, or yet more bites? Perhaps both at once. Gibby--"

"No!" screamed Draco, shaking his head wildly as he jumped up, uncoordinated. Sweat had plastered his hair to his head. "No, no more, Father! I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Anything!"

"Ah. At last." As Lucius flicked the wand again, Draco stopped trembling. "There. The truth then, Draco. The whole truth."

But Draco didn't say a word. His eyes still screamed panic, but apart from that, he had a cagey look on his face as he stared at Lucius. "The truth... yes. I will tell you, fine. But... not until I know I won't just end up dead tonight, eh, Father?"

"I told you, the Dark Lord will welcome you back if you are truly penitent--"

"Bugger the Dark Lord!" snarled Draco, fists clenched. "I can tell when you're lying, too, you know. The only reason you want to take me to a meeting is so he can kill me himself. After the requisite torture, of course. And if that's to be my fate, I'd just as soon not provide you with the satisfaction of seeing me turn on Harry."

Lucius raised an eyebrow and gave a cool, calculated laugh. "Draco, you have done exceedingly wicked things this year, and disappointed me more than I can say. But you have been punished for all that, already. It isn't my intention that the Dark Lord kill you."

"Yeah, right. And the moon really is made of green cheese. I'm not exactly falling all over myself to believe in your good will towards me, Father. Want to guess why?" Draco yanked his robes and shirt down a bit from his neck to show a row of bite marks.

"You have picked up very vulgar manners." Lucius paused. "Very well then, Draco. You doubt my word, and in the circumstances I suppose I can hardly fault you. What would convince you, then?"

"Nothing." Draco shifted on his feet. "Even if you took an Unbreakable Vow not to let the Dark Lord hurt me, you couldn't really stop him, could you? I'm dead if I go anywhere near him, and I know it."

"Perhaps then... you needn't go near him, after all," said Lucius slowly. "Tell me something truly, Draco. Do you want to serve him?"

"No."

"Best I don't present you, then. You'd probably only endanger the family name, yet again. Disgrace that you are... What if I were to let you simply leave?"

Draco stared. "Come again?"

"You heard me." Lucius smiled, the expression thin. "Is an Unbreakable Vow surety enough for you? I will promise not to take you before the Dark Lord, ever. Or encourage him, in any way, to come after you. But, I will need a vow from you, as well."

"It's a trick, Draco!" shouted Harry.

"Silencio," said Lucius calmly.

"What vow?" asked Draco, his tone suspicious... but intrigued.

"Tell me everything you know about Harry Potter."

Draco curled a lip. "Don't you think the terms are a bit vague? The vow would kill me if I forgot to mention what flavour of toothpaste he prefers!"

Lucius smiled. "Perhaps you could vow to tell me whatever I ask in the next... ten minutes?"

Draco narrowed his eyes, clearly thinking that one through. He opened his mouth to reply, but Lucius interrupted him.

"Oh, and I shall need one more thing from you. Surely you remember. Or were you so busy fending off the snakes that you couldn't attend to what I told you while you were in the pit?"

Draco blew out a breath. "That's asking ... a lot. He's my brother."

"He's so much your brother you were ready to give him up," scorned Lucius, "until it occurred to you to bargain for more than a cessation of pain!" Lucius' tones grew smooth as butter, then. "If you won't do as I ask, I won't be able to trust you. I'll have to take you to the meeting, after all. And you are quite right about the Dark Lord's temper. Tell me, Draco... is there really any sense in both of you dying?"

Don't listen to him, Draco! Harry shouted, but the silencing wards around him swallowed the words.

"No. No sense us both dying." Draco's glance at Harry said that he was sorry, but not sorry enough to change course. "So, who's to be our bonder? I don't think an elf can do it."

"The familial form of the Vow, Draco," said Lucius in a chiding tone. "How much you've forgotten. You must watch your acquaintances from now on, as the wrong sort will make you less a wizard. Come now, kneel with me."

Harry watched helplessly as Lucius sank to his knees on the rug. For one moment, he hoped against hope that Draco was just bluffing somehow. This could all just be a ruse. Draco's true intention could be to grab something hard and heavy, and smash his father over the head with it.

But Draco knelt as well and bowed his head, looking down at the hand Lucius was holding out. After a moment of what seemed indecision, he sighed and extended his own, laying it at a slant across the other man's wrist.

Using Harry's wand, Lucius tapped their joined wrists three times in succession, murmuring something all the while, then looked up at Draco in clear expectation.

The boy shuddered, but began to speak, all the same. "Are you blood of my blood?"

"I am."

"Then I will answer your questions about Harry Potter during the next ten minutes, and I will--"

"Truthfully," said Lucius in a dangerous voice. "Amend your vow."

Draco made a slight face. "Then I will truthfully answer your questions about Harry Potter during the next ten minutes. And I will cast an attack spell against him. May I keep this vow, or die."

Lucius nodded as though satisfied. "And you, are you blood of my blood?" he asked.

"I am."

"Then I will never bring you before the Dark Lord, or cause him to seek after you. May I keep this vow, or die."

Lucius and Draco looked up then, together, and incanted the final part of the vow together. "This, we so swear."

A fiery cord appeared to bind their hands together for a moment, before flashing out of existence.

"Now," said Lucius as he pushed to his feet, his hand reaching out to help Draco as well, "tell me about his wild magic."

Harry wanted to shout at Draco not to, but of course he couldn't, and not just because he'd been silenced. The Unbreakable Vow... Draco would die if he didn't talk.

Harry blinked back tears. Oh, Draco, he thought, his heart breaking apart inside him. Don't you see? He only promised not to take you to Voldemort. He didn't say anything about not killing you, himself. And the minute you've told him what he needs to know, the minute he's made you hurt me, his cruel game will come to an end and you'll find yourself at the end of a blast of green light---

Draco nodded as he began to speak. "Potter lies. It wasn't the needles that sparked his wild magic. Not your needles, at least. It was Muggle medicine. Bone marrow. They removed some of his, and gave him healing potions that burned his magical core out--"

Horrified, Harry yanked himself so sharply in the chair that he made it jump up and crash back down. Angry at that, the chair squeezed him even harder.

Draco didn't appear to so much as notice Harry's desperation. Or Harry himself. Perhaps taking that vow had distanced him, and he no longer cared what he had to do to fulfil it. "The Healers said that Potter had no magic left, but then you saw what he did on Samhain. Dark powers, we figured that out, but he couldn't call on them when he wanted. He doesn't have any light magic, Father. But he learned, finally, that if he cast in Parseltongue he could reach his dark powers. But for that, he needs to see a snake."

Harry shoved again at the wooden arms holding him in the chair. Where the hell were his dark powers?

"No light magic at all? Interesting... Another question, Draco. When Potter caught sight of his crest, he started hissing. Yet he didn't have a wand in hand. Do snakes do his bidding, is that it? The way Nagini bends to the Dark Lord's will? But Potter can affect even a drawing?"

Draco swallowed, hesitating. Fighting the vow, after all? But in the end it seemed more powerful than his will. "No, that's not it, Father. He was trying to cast magic against you. You see, he doesn't need a wand any longer. All he needs is a snake. You'd best not let him see one. The second he does, he's dangerous. Wand or no."

Once he'd said it, Draco bit his lip and looked away, a guilty flush coming up under his skin. He began lightly rubbing his hands against the velvet cloak as if they were sweaty. Harry noticed that Draco's hands were covered in bites, the normally graceful fingers red and swollen.

"You've done well, Draco," said Lucius, nodding, his voice warm. "I think we ought to put an end to his magic by denying him his sight, once and for all. Don't you agree? There'll be nothing left to heal, not that Severus will have any opportunity to try... Gibby! Fetch me a silver spoon!"

When it appeared in Lucius' outstretched hand, Draco shivered.

"Do it," said Lucius, holding it out. "Gouge out his eyes."

Draco visibly squirmed, and made no move to step forward and take the spoon. "That wasn't part of the vow."

"No, but I never said that I wouldn't hex you again for disobeying me, now did I?" His voice hardened. "Take the spoon, Draco."

"I've always been squeamish, Father--"

Lucius laughed, the sound very slight. "And you think you'll be able to dredge up enough will to cast Cruciatus? If you can't even do this, you'll die of broken vow!"

Draco drew in a deep breath. "I... I know you're right, b- b- but--"

"You're lucky I'm letting you work up to it!" roared Lucius. "Do it, Draco! Or everything you just told me will have been for nothing, do you understand? You will die!"

"Y- yes, Father." Draco walked to Lucius then, his steps shaky. He started babbling again, as though convincing himself. "I know I have to. Cruciatus and all, just like you said. And he'll be dead tonight anyway, so what does it matter..." Spoon in hand, Draco turned towards Harry. "H- h- hold still, Potter... that chair'll just h- hurt you more if you struggle..."

"Draco," breathed Harry, appalled on so many levels he thought he'd faint from it. From somewhere, he dimly registered that Lucius must have lifted the silencing spell. The better to hear his screams, no doubt. "No, Draco. Fight him, for God's sake! It's not like you're under Imperius! You don't have to do a horrible thing like this--"

Instead of answering, Draco brought a hand up to rest atop Harry's skull, his swollen fingers weakly struggling to hold the other boy's head in place. His other hand awkwardly gripped the spoon. Draco's face twisted into a grimace as if the task literally pained him. Still, he placed the spoon up at the base of Harry's left eyeball and began to shove.

Harry thrashed and tried to throw the other boy off.

"Enough!" barked Lucius.

Draco kept the spoon in place, though he eased off the pressure as he looked over his shoulder. "Father?"

"I can't tell you how pleased I am," said Lucius, looking almost warm with affection. "Very gratifying indeed. However, we'd best not damage his eyes. For now, at least. The Dark Lord may want to... experiment with his dark powers. Not to mention, read his thoughts right down to the bottom of his soul. Hmm, but neither can we let him keep his sight, considering the Dark Lord may well bring Nagini when he comes..."

"Vendo Oculi Utriusque?" suggested Draco, almost diffidently as he stepped back. "That shouldn't interfere with whatever the Dark Lord wants to do, later."

"Oh, that will work admirably well." Lucius pointed Harry's wand and repeated the Latin words Draco had just said.

And that was the last thing Harry saw. Darkness descended like shutters over his vision, snapping shut, blocking out all hope of sight. Enraged, he struggled against the chair still holding him in place, curses breaking over his teeth as he strained with all his might.

"Should we let the blind boy up?" Chuckling, Lucius didn't wait for an answer. "I think not, considering all the trouble he's put me to this year. Look at him! Entirely too defiant. Well, that will soon change. Time to fulfil the rest of your vow, Draco. Just as well, really. The Dark Lord didn't appreciate his spirit, last time. Yes, it would be wise to... soften Potter up a bit. And really, Muggle tortures are so very tedious. Cruciatus is in order."

Draco's laugh was curt. "And you've arranged it so I have no alternative. Clever, Father."

"Potter's entirely too soft-hearted," spat Lucius. "It's ten times more likely to break his spirit when it comes from a friend. A brother. So of course it had to be you."

"Of course," said Draco dryly. "Will once be enough, do you think?"

"Don't be cheeky, Draco." The man's voice hardened as he went on speaking. "To practical matters, then. I know you can't help but resent my stratagem with the Portkey. So while I know you must of course attack Potter or die, I've taken measures to be sure that's all you can do. I've had your wand for weeks, you understand. You aren't the only Malfoy who can brew a potion restricting its use. I assume I make myself clear?"

"Very," said Draco, a little bitterly. "I noticed how well it worked against the snakes, Father. I'll need my other wand before I go, you realise. One that works only against Harry Potter isn't terribly useful in the greater scheme of things."

"You will have it, as soon as you've shown him, and me, that you hate him, after all. Cruciatus requires intent, don't forget. Of course, you should hate him. You should have, all along."

"How could I?" asked Draco, his voice thrumming with anger. "I needed him! What did you expect me to do? You were trying to kill me!"

"You deserved as much after betraying your blood for a half-blood!" said Lucius in a low snarl of a voice. But then his tone became gentler. Almost... fatherly. "Besides, Draco, I was never truly going to kill you. I merely wanted to get you home so I could make you see sense."

Draco's voice, almost cracking with stress, seemed to be made of nothing but desperation and pain. "I see it, all right? At this point, it would be hard to miss! Potter's magic is unreliable at best, Dumbledore's a fool, and Snape couldn't protect me, after all. He probably hasn't even figured out yet that we're in France. I'll do better making my own way from now on."

Lucius made a clicking noise. "Oh, Draco... you know, I could still tell the Dark Lord that you've seen the error of your ways. I can't bring you before him now, of course, but if you came on your own, at his invitation...?"

"To be killed?" Draco's brief laugh sounded bitter. "I don't think so."

"Ah, well. If you're determined to live without allies, then so be it. Gibby? Give Master Draco his wand."

For a moment, Harry heard nothing but silence. And then Draco's voice echoed in the room, his tone all of a sudden almost... loving.

"You were right, Father. It does sing with my magic."

Lucius' reply rang with confidence. "Potter there doesn't believe you can cast with it, you know. He thinks you aren't still a true Malfoy. I suppose he'll soon know differently, eh?"

"Yes." Harry heard footsteps approaching him, and the swish of a wand being waved in practise strokes. And then, Draco's voice again, his tones cruel, his words mocking. "Scared, Potter?"

The question threw Harry back in time. He blinked, startled, trying to believe what it seemed like he was hearing. It was more than a little difficult, after Draco had taken an Unbreakable Vow to hurt him, and spilled his secrets, and almost thrust a spoon beneath his eyeball, and then, if that wasn't enough, been the one to suggest a blindness spell!

It was hard to have faith in anything, after all that.

But what if it had all been one long feint? What if Draco had been working towards this end since the moment he'd entered the room? Angling, manoeuvring, saying and doing anything Lucius required, as long as it would bring him to this moment, when he could stand before Harry, a wand in hand, and taunt him with that very question?

So that Harry would understand, and be prepared.

And Harry was prepared. "You wish," he spat back, keeping to the code Draco had adopted.

So his brother would know he was ready.

He heard the wand moving in a violent arc, and then, the most welcome word in the whole world.

"Serpensortia!"

Harry couldn't see the snake, but he could feel the air rushing out of the way as something flew towards him, landing right in his lap. And the moment he sensed the snake, real and heavy atop his legs, Parseltongue bloomed inside him like a flower straining towards the light.

"Give me my wand and turn to stone!" he hissed, thrusting both his hands up in the direction Lucius' voice had last come from. Bound as he was, it was awkward, but then again, aim probably didn't even matter very much. He'd keyed the first spell to his own wand, which Lucius would still be holding onto. The second spell couldn't help but follow in the wake forged by the first.

Harry's wand sailed into his right hand, though his arms were still held fast by the horrible chair.

He heard another noise then. A thud, something heavy hitting the hard floor, the noise only slightly muffled by the opulent rug. Then all was still and quiet. Eerie. Like a tomb.

Harry ran a hand along the snake's back, murmuring assurances to the viper that he was no threat. He was soothed by the smooth feel of the snake and it seemed that his words soothed the snake as well. It became docile, its muscles relaxing against Harry's legs.

That done, Harry twisted his hands to point his fingers at the arms of the chair keeping him in place. "Release me," he hissed.

But the chair didn't react.

Draco made a strangled noise, his voice emerging weak and shaky, like he was just about ready to collapse. "What are you saying n- now? Lucius looks g-good and fr-frozen..."

"I'm talking to the chair," said Harry, focussing on Draco's voice to help him shift back into English.

"G- G- Gibby, make the chair let Harry Potter g- g- go."

Harry heard agitation and squeaks as Gibby insisted that the chair had been spelled by the master himself and wouldn't do the bidding of a house-elf.

"I- it'll listen to me, I think," said Draco. "Let me just... oh, shite. This fucking wand can't do anything but cast nasty spells at you! It wasn't even any use down in the pit, not that fucking Fibby there let me keep it for very long. Hold on, Harry... I- I have to go get the other one... from h- h- him."

Footsteps, barely audible against the rug, crossed the room.

Harry felt like he might scream. What was taking so long? He struggled against the chair, only to feel the wooden arms dig sharply into his thighs. He was pretty sure he must have an interesting collection of bruises by now. Thank God for the snake in his arms; petting it was about the only thing that helped calm him.

"Here," said Draco after a moment, his voice right alongside. Distracted, Harry hadn't heard him approaching. "Liberslui."

The chair unwrapped itself from Harry, who scooped up the snake as he moved to get up. The viper resisted Harry's admittedly clumsy attempt at blind handling, hissing all the while about the condition of the other boy's face, asking why so many snakes had bitten him.

Harry winced in sympathy as he responded. "I'm sorry if I startled you, before," Harry told the snake, trying to soothe it. Best not to mention the snake Draco had killed, probably. "That's my nest-mate, Draco. The big man who has stopped moving threw him into a hole full of snakes. It wasn't Draco's fault he frightened the snakes and they bit him. He cannot speak to snakes like I can. He won't hurt you, but you frighten him. Could you be still for a while?"

"A-are you trying to do a spell to see?" Draco asked tentatively. He seemed willing to move a little closer now that the snake was still and quiet. "Let me remove the spell on your eyes, Harry."

Something pointed and hard touched Harry's face, just beneath his left eyebrow. Harry couldn't help but flinch wildly, though he kept enough presence of mind to hold fast to the snake with one hand while the other lashed out. The viper started hissing as Harry's wand hand, clenched into a fist, connected with something solid.

"Ow, Harry!" yelled Draco. "I'm sorry about before, all right? I had to! But now I'm just trying to remove the blindfolding spell!"

Glowering, Harry lowered his fist. "Blindfolding spell? That wasn't a blindness spell, then?"

"It's used for children's games, for Merlin's sake! Easy to reverse," said Draco, sounding panicked still. "Look, I'm really sorry, but if I hadn't suggested it, Lucius might have thought of something a whole lot worse!"

Since the hissing snake wasn't helping the other boy's state of mind, Harry went back to petting it, trying to make it relax. Too bad it wasn't as easy to calm himself. He could hardly stand the thought of anything near his eyes. Draco only meant to help him; Harry knew that. But still, he couldn't help feeling pretty insecure about his eyes at the moment. It wasn't just what Draco had almost done. It was all the things Lucius had said, and how his evil threats had made Harry's memories of Samhain look large in his mind. But surely the best way to banish them would be to get his eyesight back.

Teeth clenched, Harry nodded for Draco to get on with it.

"Just make sure that damned viper doesn't bite me--"

"It won't," Harry ground out, irritated until it came to him that the snake coiled there sort of made them even. Draco didn't want to come near it, just as much, probably, as Harry didn't want to be touched. But they were both stuck.

Harry couldn't help but sigh. "Just hurry up and do it, would you?"

He heard Draco moving towards him again, but then he heard something else as well. A shuffling, scrabbling noise, coming from the where he'd heard the thud.

Lucius, trying to get up.

Harry didn't have time to think about how to react. Pure instinct shot through him like a bolt of lightning, thrusting his wand hand up and toward the sounds, even as his full concentration returned to the snake resting against his other hand. Feeling Parseltongue blooming inside him again, he screamed, "Turn to stone and stay that way, this time!"

He felt the spell burn up from his gut before exploding out through his wand.

A single shriek of unbearable agony echoed in the room, and was suddenly cut short. Another thudding noise, this one much louder than before, broke the silence. From beside him he barely registered the gasp that interrupted the similar spell his brother had just begun to cast.

Harry eyes suddenly filled with a harsh burst of light, white and yellow starbursts that slowly resolved themselves into normal vision. The first thing he saw was Draco, standing right alongside, looking almost as if he was the one who'd been petrified. He was working his jaw, obviously trying to speak but having trouble forming the words.

Gibby had the opposite problem. "M- M- Master Lucius is, M-Master Lucius is turned to stone!" the elf shrieked, beginning to tug at his ears like he was trying to rip them off. "Gibby was not doing enough to protect Master Lucius! Gibby had better be punishing himself!"

"Gibby had better be quiet!" snapped Draco.

The snake in Harry's lap raised its head and flickered its tongue in Draco's direction. Draco leapt back about a yard.

The viper nodded, then settled down against Harry's legs.

Harry looked up at Draco, who cleared his throat stepped back several paces, his wand still drawn on Lucius, his turquoise amulet dangling from his other hand.

"Best put that on until we're back home safely," Harry said.

"Yeah, it was in his pocket with---" Draco's eyes widened, as he jerked his face toward his brother. He looked mildly ill, which made sense considering all the bites. What didn't make sense, though, was how he was losing more colour right before Harry's eyes. "You can see again?"

Harry nodded, trying to smile. It was hard, though. He just felt... drained. And not just because of the wanded magic. It was because of everything else, too. Lucius' awful threats. Draco's pretended betrayal. Being blinded and thinking he was dead for sure, since he couldn't see a snake in that condition.

Draco had remembered, though, that touching one--even an invisible one--could also help Harry shift into Parseltongue. If not for Sals and the camouflage potion... a little shiver coursed through Harry. Luck had really been with them, all along. When he thought of what might have happened...

Remembering the snake, Harry gently lowered it to the floor as he stood up from his chair. As if sensing the tension in the room, the snake silently slithered around in a circle, coiling itself. "Now that I can see I'll try not to disturb you again," Harry hissed at it. "Can you try to sleep?"

"Are you sure?" asked Draco, interrupting his thoughts.

It took Harry a second to catch his meaning. "Am I sure I can see? Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure!"

Draco blew out a breath, looking... well, Harry wasn't sure. Sort of closed off. Like too much had happened, and he wanted to just wall himself off from it. His eyes lost almost all expression, and when he talked, his voice was perfectly flat. "Oh. Well, then, I think you must have killed my-- I mean, I think you've killed Lucius."

Harry took a good look at Lucius. He'd glanced that direction before, just long enough to check that Lucius had snapped into the rigid position of Petrificus and fallen harmless to the floor, but he hadn't really thought about what he'd seen. Or, not much. He certainly hadn't believed the man dead.

But was he, really?

Harry edged forward to look more closely. Lucius Malfoy was lying arms straight by his sides, legs straight and feet pointed up. Only his hair and clothes were splayed about a bit. But he was white. Not white like Draco was... no, this colour wasn't a flesh shade washed clear of blood. Lucius was absolutely stark, blazing white, clothes and all. The colour of the paper envelopes Uncle Vernon had used for business...

When Harry looked closely, though he could see that the white was shot through with spidery veins of palest grey. Exactly like marble.

"Oh my God," breathed Harry. "He's-- he's a statue. And... you think you actually think I've killed him? Are you sure?"

Draco nodded, the motion stiff, his voice carefully level. "The blindfolding spell vanished. And it would, you know, at the moment of..."

Harry pressed his lips together and shook his head. "But... but wasn't that was just a temporary spell, anyway?"

"Yes, but it still requires a counterspell to be lifted. Now, it can be cast with a time limit for specific games and such, but Lucius didn't use one. Though I believe the standard spell wears off in about 24 hours if not removed."

Harry moved away from the marbleized form on the floor. "Well, you know I broke out of your Petrificus on my own that time. Maybe since this was so harmless I broke out of it on my own without even meaning to. And... and besides aren't there still wards and such up?"

Draco paused as if to try and sense them. "Yes, but there would be. Temporary spells are just different from permanent charms and wards, Harry. And it's an awful coincidence that you'd break the spell the moment Lucius turns to stone." Draco hugged his robes more tightly around himself. "Maybe Severus will know for certain, but... I'd say he's, um, dead."

Harry's legs quivered alarmingly. To keep from falling over, he hurriedly sat down, but he was careful to avoid the chair he'd been trapped in for so long. Actually, he didn't trust any of the chairs, so he sat down on the floor, right next to the sleeping snake. He kept his hands out and ready, though, just in case the rug attacked him next.

Shaking his head didn't really help clear it. He just couldn't really believe it was all over, that Lucius could never hurt him again. It was too much to take in. "Um, maybe he's dead at the moment, but it's like uh... suspended animation, maybe. You think?"

Draco looked at Harry as if he was barmy. "What?"

"I mean I could probably undo it," Harry answered in a rush. "Not that I want to, all right? But look, you didn't see what happened with Nott. It was pretty bad but when I ended the spell he was good as new."

"Harry," Draco drawled, "Nott was never dead." Draco paused to pluck at the fabric of his robe like it was uncomfortable against his skin. "I suppose now you're going to tell me that you're powerful enough to resurrect people?" he added, his glare challenging Harry to make that claim.

Gibby's voice, high-pitched and keening, broke the silence. "M- M- Master Draco? What should Gibby be doing now? Should Gibby be returning to the manor? Should Gibby be informing the other elves? Should--"

"Gibby should go throw his worthless self into the snake pit," announced Draco in a voice that was arctic, it was so cold. "And Gibby? Do be sure to key the Mordesco spell to inflict bites only on you from now on."

"Draco--"

"Shut up, Harry. I know what I'm doing."

"No, wait," Harry insisted. "Gibby, did Lucius have something on hand for snake bites? You know, a real antidote, not just a purging potion?"

Gibby just wrung his hands and looked mournfully at Draco, as if afraid to give any reply at all.

Draco glared down at the elf. "Well, Bibby? Answer him, you little green shite!"

"Master Lucius was keeping more potion that would be fixing snake bites better--"

"And you were planning on telling me this precisely when?" drawled Draco in a voice that gave Harry chills from head to toe.

The house-elf threw himself to the floor and began banging his head on its polished surface as it squealed in a high voice, "Forgive." Thud. "Me." Thud. "Master." Thud. "Draco."

"Quit wasting my time and bring it to me! And while you're at it, get me the baume curatif!"

A tall bottle and squatty jar appeared on a nearby side table with a small pop. As Draco began to examine them, Harry retrieved his shirt and put it on while addressing Gibby, who had gone back to thudding his head against the floor. Draco either hadn't noticed that, or didn't care.

Probably the latter, Harry decided.

"Gibby, stop punishing yourself and answer these questions, they're important. Is there anyone else in this house with us right now -- elves or wizards or anyone? Are there any owls here? And, were you given instructions to make preparations for any guests aside from Draco and me? Or for any meetings to be held here?"

Gibby ignored Harry.

Thud, thud, thud...

"Tell us!" growled Draco. "Tell us everything, or I'll do a lot worse than throw you to the snakes!"

Gibby remained crouched on all fours on the floor but stopped bashing his head as he looked up. "Harry Potter and Master Draco and... that," his glance flicked toward the marble form of Lucius Malfoy, "is the only wizards here. No elves but Gibby. No owls, but there is 127 snakes in the pit..." Gibby looked over to Draco nervously. "Should Gibby be preparing for company? Master Lucius, he only was telling Gibby to look after Master Draco--"

"Look after?" Draco spat. "Ha, very funny, Wibby! What are you still doing here, eh? I thought I told you to throw yourself in the snake pit! Well? Get going!"

Gibby Disapparated with a pop. One look at Draco, and Harry didn't bother to argue about it, though he couldn't help but clear his throat sort of loudly. Funny, that really hurt. He hadn't screamed that much in Parseltongue. Which reminded him...

"Um, what are we going to do with... uh, him?"

Draco's eyes glittered, hard silver without remorse. "Personally, I'd like to take a hammer and chisel to him and knock out his eyes. But I suppose that would occasion a long lecture from Severus. Revenge is bad for the soul. Like I give a flying fuck--"

"Severus," Harry interrupted. That was what mattered. "How are we going to get him here? Floo?"

"Oh, please! If this place was on the network don't you think I'd have tossed in some powder by now?"

"No owl either," added Harry, thinking. "We could walk until we reached a Floo, I guess. Not that I know where we are or where to look."

"We're in France like I said. At Lucius' summer house. Harry, the nearest Floo is at least a hundred miles away and since Lucius would just Apparate everywhere, he didn't keep any brooms here."

"All right, then I guess you'd better Apparate us both back to Hogwarts and--"

"Did I ever claim I could do Side-Along?"

"Then just go alone," said Harry impatiently. "Get Severus!"

"Yeah, well you might be used to the idea that sixteen-year-old wizards can do any damned thing, Harry," snapped Draco, "since you apparently can, but I can't make it that far, all right? I'll end up splinched in the English Channel! And besides, I'm not mental enough to leave you here all alone with that."

Draco suddenly picked up a vase and chucked it at the still, stone-like form of Lucius Malfoy. The statue didn't react in the slightest.

Harry waited until Draco's breathing slowed down. "I think I can manage to guard him," he said then, lifting his wand a little. He didn't want to brag, really; it was just the truth.

"Yeah, well we still don't know whether Lucius told anyone that he was bringing us here," muttered Draco. "Though that seems unlikely. He couldn't have known I was going to drop by Defence like that. Still... Oh, hell. I guess with the Dark Lord roaming France these days it would be stupider to leave the wards than stay. So we need to get Severus here. Hmm."

Draco lowered himself into a richly upholstered chaise lounge, the jar of ointment in his hands. "All right, I've got it. It really used to irritate me, but now I suppose it's just as well you do such an impressive Patronus. So, you send Severus a silver message and--"

"I did," said Harry, a little sourly. "When I heard you in the classroom with Lucius. And he never came! I don't know if my message got lost, or what."

"It's a ten minute walk from Defence to Potions," said Draco with a pointed stare. "Just how fast do you think your stag runs? You aren't Merlin himself, Harry!"

"Yeah, well still," said Harry.

Then he looked at Draco, who just snorted and rolled his eyes in exasperation. Harry couldn't help but smile a bit, though he wasn't sure what was funny. Or maybe nothing was. But he felt so relieved that Lucius was no longer a threat, and if their worst problem was finding a way to get in touch with their father... well, that wasn't so bad.

All of a sudden, Harry started feeling an odd urge to laugh, though he still would have sworn that nothing was funny. He actually had to bite his lip to stop from giggling. What on earth was wrong with him? Here Draco thought that he'd killed Lucius! Even if Draco was just as relieved as Harry about the whole thing, laughter was hardly appropriate.

At any rate, the strange urge faded when Harry noticed Draco gingerly removing the opulent robes he'd been given to wear. He moved like he was in some amount of pain, and no wonder. Bite marks, puffy and red, were strewn up and down his brother's arms. Harry felt slightly queasy just looking at them, and the feeling only got worse when he took a closer look at Draco's swollen, dusky coloured fingers. How on earth had Draco managed to hold his wand straight?

"Do you, ah, need any help?" Harry asked, his voice quivering a bit more than he'd like. He couldn't help but remember how he'd felt recovering from all those punctures after Samhain. Of course, he hadn't much wanted help, had he? Madame Pomfrey's fussing had been enough to drive him mad.

"I think I can reach everything," Draco snapped. "And it's not like you need to watch either, unless you're wanting to gloat that I got to experience some of that Death Eater attention that I used to be so keen to see you endure!"

"No!" Harry protested, torn between looking away to give him privacy, or meeting his gaze to reassure him. "Draco, that never even crossed my mind, I swear! I wouldn't have wished this on you in a million years. It looks like it hurts like bloody hell and I just feel like shite because it's all my fault!"

"My father being a sick, sadistic arsehole is your fault exactly how?" Draco's glare faded as he sighed. "Look, I shouldn't have said you'd gloat. I bet Gryffindors don't even know how. I'm just-- feeling a mite tetchy, yeah? And some of these itch like hell and..."

Harry shrugged. "S'all right. Um, maybe you should try that antidote, then? You seem a bit shaky still." Actually, shaky wasn't really the word. Draco seemed like he needed an emergency session with Marsha. His moods were swinging so wildly Harry felt dizzy just watching. But he didn't think it would help much to say so.

Draco began frowning as he examined the tall bottle on the table. "I don't recognise that potion and I'm not about to poison myself by taking too much. I think I've a bit of a fever, but it's not too bad, so I'll just settle for the balm." He slanted a wry look at Harry. "Besides, there's no telling what Lucius could have done to the contents of that bottle."

"Then what makes you think that the balm is safe?"

Draco motioned to the jar's label. "Well, that's written in Severus' hand. If he made it, it's safe."

"But Lucius could have--"

"Yeah, he could have, but he didn't," interrupted Draco. "This isn't even for snake bites, see? He wouldn't know I'd ask for it. It's just a painkilling salve I've used lots of times." Another wry glance. "Anyway, the way these are hurting worse all the time, I think I'll just take the chance."

With that, Draco began smearing salve across the bite marks dotting his face, chest, and arms. No doubt there were others, lower down.

Harry turned away to give Draco some privacy. Collecting his robe from the floor, he busied himself with poking at the hole left when Lucius destroyed his crest. Hmm, too bad his spare ones weren't still stashed in the pocket.

Glancing at the sleeping snake, Harry tried a few wandless Reparo spells and gradually got his cloak looking presentable.

After a while he heard Draco sigh. When Harry glanced over, the other boy was doing up the buttons on his shirt, again. "There, that's better. Well, some. So Harry, I think I'm just going to rest for a bit. Just in case I have to try Apparating after all. I mean, I don't like the idea, but what else is there? Severus doesn't know about this place; we can't just grow old waiting here for him to figure out where we are..."

Harry absently rubbed at some of the bruises the chair had left on his arms. He kind of wanted the healing cream too, but not enough to actually use it. He still though Draco had been mildly insane to take the risk. Definitely, they needed to get his brother to Marsha.

When he thought of what Draco had just been through... but the important point, he supposed, was that Draco had come through.

For Harry.

"Thanks," Harry said, walking towards his brother. "I mean it, Draco. You could have decided there was no way out and you'd be better off... um, leaving me to my fate."

Draco looked down at his hands, then suddenly shoved them in his cloak pockets. "No, I couldn't."

"Well, probably not," admitted Harry. "I was pretty sure Lucius was going to get around his vow by killing you himself. But I wasn't sure if you knew it."

"I knew it," said Draco, looking up, his gaze steady on Harry's face.

Harry couldn't help but flush. "I... um, I hope you can forgive me. Because... well, I'm pretty ashamed of myself, but for a minute or two there, I sort of thought I... um, couldn't trust you. I'm really sorry. I mean, I'm really sorry--"

Draco twisted his lips. "What, you doubted me? Just because I told Lucius about your wandless magic and took an Unbreakable Vow to attack you? Not to mention, almost popped your eye out?"

"Yeah that would do it," said Harry thickly, shuddering as he thought about that spoon. "Look, I... um, I understand now, that you had to get into Lucius' confidence so he'd hand you that wand but... God, Draco! What were you going to do if he hadn't called a halt to the eye thing?"

"I knew he would."

"But what if he hadn't?"

"I knew he would."

Harry raised his voice. "Yeah, well what if he damned well hadn't?"

"What do you think I would have done, Harry?" asked Draco, his pale cheeks spotted with colour, now. "Gouge out your eyes to prove myself to Lucius? Thanks! Thanks a whole fucking lot!"

"You were pretty damned convincing!"

"I had to be convincing, you nitwit!" Draco took a deep breath. "I mean why else would I have put myself through the agony of resisting at first? You think that was fun for me, letting myself get hexed? With Mordesco? Well, it wasn't! But after everything I'd done this year, Lucius wasn't going to believe I'd betray you just like that!" Draco snapped his fingers.

Harry actually hadn't thought of that. Draco's bravery at first, his resistance.... that had all been part of the plan? "Um..."

"Oh, just listen," snapped the other boy. "I wasn't going to hurt you, Harry. I just wasn't! I knew Lucius would stop me. There was no way he'd deny the Dark Lord the chance to Legilimize you. Not to mention that last time, he punished Lucius for just roughing you up. But if he hadn't stopped me," Draco raised his voice when Harry opened his mouth, "I was damned well going to mention all that myself, all right? I was waiting until the last second because it was better for Lucius to be the one to call it off. And if you can't see that, then you're just a complete twit, aren't you--"

"I can see it!" Shaking his head, Harry tried to calm down. "I mean, I can see it now, all right? But not then. And I am sorry I doubted you. I... I hope we can, um, go back to the way we were before this all happened..."

"No Potter, I have to hate you forever and ever now," drawled Draco.

Harry scowled. He didn't think that was very funny.

"Look, Harry," said Draco in a more normal voice. "You were supposed to believe I was giving you over. I did everything I could to make you believe it. Because if your reactions weren't... right, then Lucius would have known something was up. You did exactly what I wanted. Exactly what we needed. I'm not about to hold it against you. So... just get over it, all right?"

Harry nodded, then. "All right." Shivering a bit, he pulled his school robe tighter around himself. "And for the record I'd have forgiven you. You know, if you'd had to hurt me as our only chance of escape."

"Harry, I wouldn't have. At least I wouldn't have done anything really bad. I couldn't."

Dad would have. He did on Samhain, because it was the only way he could be in place to save me... Harry shook his head a bit. So Draco wasn't quite as strong and ruthless as their father was. Not many people were.

Dismissing that thought, Harry crossed his arms. "Well, I do wish I hadn't doubted you. But in my own defence, I'd like to point out that you're supposed to be a bad liar! What ever happened to that, eh?"

"Occlumency, that's what happened. Good thing you told Severus to teach me." Draco shrugged on his cloak, the velvet billowing slightly. "I'm not very good at it, really, but it does help me focus on what I want to... er, project, I guess, Marsha would say. Not that she approves of lying. Anyway, Severus could see straight through me when we practiced, but then again, he's a much stronger Legilimens than Lucius was ever going to be."

Draco sank back against cushions. "Harry... I can't blame you for thinking what you did. I mean, when I first switched sides, it was because I thought I'd be better off with you. So I guess it's not so surprising that you'd think I might change my mind again. You even told me back at Christmas that you worried about that very thing. But I want you to know... everything's different now, all right?" The boy cleared his throat, but he didn't look away. "I knew when I was down in that snake pit that I had to stick with you even if things got... ugly. Anything else... it just wasn't on."

"So you tried to bring me a snake," said Harry. He had to smile at the thought. For Draco to even attempt that... it said a lot. An awful lot.

"Not at first, I didn't. I figured you'd defeat Lucius and all I had to do was not go mad while I waited for you and Severus to find me." Draco's nostrils flared. "What happened?"

"I almost cooked Lucius with wild magic. But then Aran snuck up and cast a body-bind on me."

"What an arse! After he saw me Portkeyed out, too. Arse isn't the word." Draco gave a little shudder. "I knew something had gone wrong when Lucius stopped by the pit for a moment. He said he had you, and in case they traced the Floo, he'd laid a trail to the Manor. Boasted that by the time Dumbledore broke through the wards, and found you weren't there, you'd be dead. And that was when I started thinking about how to get us both out. Lucius didn't know about your wandless magic, so I thought we'd have the advantage of surprise if I could just get you a snake. I figured your glasses and crest must be gone already, but I had my crest, and once I'd killed that snake I had a back-up plan as well. But then stupid Gibby took them both away and I realised that Serpensortia was probably our only chance."

Draco sighed. "I wasn't expecting Lucius to make me vow to tell your secrets. I wouldn't have done it, except it went along with promising to attack you, and I knew that meant I'd get my wand. I figured you'd incapacitate him, and afterwards we'd get Severus to Obliviate him so the wandless magic thing would still be a secret."

Harry chewed his lip for a minute as he thought all that over. "Well, if he's not dead we'll make sure he gets a thorough Obliviate, yeah..."

"Harry, he's dead!"

Harry sighed. He couldn't be sure if Draco just wanted to believe that, or if it was really true. But Severus would help them sort it all out, so Harry stopped worrying about whether he was a murderer now or not. Something else was bothering him. Had been bothering him all along, in fact. "Draco... why on earth did you touch that wand back at Hogwarts? When I burst in your hands were in your pockets, like you knew it had to be a Portkey!"

Draco made a scoffing noise. "Oh, please. He was holding it! In his bare hand, Harry! I know Lucius favours Portkeys, but he doesn't go about holding them after they're made. So it just never occurred to me. I should have known that if a lineage potion could key the wand just to Malfoys, Lucius could have do something to key the Portus on it just to me." Draco rolled his eyes. "Besides, the mere fact that he wasn't wearing his usual gloves should have told me something. He was trying to lure me in. If I'd had more time to think, I would have figured that out."

"If you weren't afraid of it, then why were your hands in your pockets, though?"

"Oh, I was afraid of it," said Draco, looking away from Harry again. "But not that way. I was afraid because I wanted it. I knew I shouldn't. It really has cast a lot of... um, dark spells. But I knew better than to let myself get sucked back into that life, so I was just trying to... ward off temptation, I guess. But then you burst in like that, and all I could think of was protecting you from Lucius."

"Oh, God. See, it is my fault you ended up with hundreds of snakes--"

Draco shrugged. "Not hundreds. Harry, where I ended up is my fault. I should have known you could take care of yourself."

"You're sure you don't blame me?"

"Even if I did, Harry, I'd get over it. Like I did with the burn, right?" Draco frowned, his forehead creasing. "You are my brother, after all. For real. I mean, you were right when you said it wasn't the paperwork that made it so. It's... something else. I should probably tell you, I guess. I... er... I... well, actually I did already tell you. So you know, so that's all right."

Harry blinked. "Tell me what?"

Draco looked away. "In Devon, remember? I told you... um, you know, with all my heart. That bit."

"Oh, that bit." Harry wanted to smile, but he hid it as Draco turned back to him. He wouldn't want Draco to think he was making fun. "Yeah, I remember. But you didn't mean that. Not really."

"Well, now I do!" Draco raised his chin, sounding a little bit offended. "I love you. I just do, all right? What sort of brother wouldn't? And look at you -- you don't believe me, do you? Again!"

"I believe you." Harry took a step forward, wanting to hug Draco. But it felt awkward, and Draco looked a bit alarmed, as if he'd read Harry's mind and didn't like the idea. So Harry just nodded to show that he understood.

Draco's posture relaxed a bit. "Well, now that's all cleared away... good, then. I sort of kept thinking I should maybe mention it. You know, to be brotherly."

"Oh, well, if we're going to get brotherly," challenged Harry, "How about you explain your name, eh? Draco Alain Gervais Malfoy Snape! Malfoy! And Severus knew, didn't he? I remember a weird conversation now. He wanted you to tell me, and you wouldn't!"

"I didn't think you'd understand!"

"Yeah, well maybe I don't," said Harry. He was startled when he heard how loud his own voice was getting. "You swore you'd given it up!"

"Potter, you ought to get down and kiss my toes that I didn't! Or that wand wouldn't have worked, and where would you be then, eh?"

"He'd just have given you a different wand to use. Mine, maybe!"

"It was only the lineage potion that let him attach the new spell delimiting how the wand could be used!" said Draco crossly. "He wouldn't have trusted me with one that I could have turned on him. Oh, just... Look, Harry, I know what sort of people raised you. I was positive you wouldn't have the background to appreciate--"

"A heritage of evil wizardry?"

"No, you idiot! Wards, family spells, elves! Why do you think Gibby started to obey me once Lucius was gone? I'm the eldest Malfoy in the dwelling at the moment! It's not just the bloodline that matters; I have to have the name as well! It's a weapon, me having that name!"

"Oh." Harry blinked. "Well, you could have explained that."

"Severus said you'd understand, like with me being at Samhain. But..." Draco looked away. "Don't you get it? I didn't want to talk about it! I wanted to be Draco Snape! To you, to everybody. No more Malfoy."

"I understand not wanting to talk about things, yeah. All right."

Draco rubbed his temples as if the conversation had given him a headache. "Good, because we're doing far too much bloody talking right now. Merlin, I'm tired. I really should rest, but we still need to figure out how to get Severus here--"

Draco suddenly sat bolt upright and clutched his wand, a glazed, far-off look in his eyes, like he was listening to something Harry couldn't hear. When he spoke again, his words were a slur of noise. "Yes, all right. Right now..."

"What's wrong?"

Draco looked like he was concentrating too hard to answer. Or maybe he hadn't even heard the question. He was already lifting his new wand, his arm stiff as he waved it in swirling patterns, his lips murmuring complex incantations full of sounds that seemed to loop back on themselves. Strange, strange stuff.

But then it came to Harry what Draco must be doing.

He was lowering the Malfoy wards.

----------------------------------------------

Coming Soon in A Year Like None Other

Chapter Ninety-Two: A River in Egypt

Aspen

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