Come On Harry

Chapter 11: Aid

"So you just lied about telling me why you're here?" Harry grabbed Malfoy's wrist again. He liked the pressure of the other boy's unnaturally cool skin against his own rough palm. It loosened his nerves somewhat. "Merlin, I really don't understand why I like you."

The words caused Malfoy to instantly flash his eyes upwards with a strange look of delight. "So you do?"

"What?" Harry asked, guarded.

"Like me," the blonde boy enunciated slowly.

Harry looked away and responded childishly. "Er... did I say that, I must not have realized it..."

"Victory!" Malfoy suddenly yelled, leaping up as much as he could with Harry's restraining grasp on his forearm.

"Whoa, whoa. What kind of tallying is that? What are we counting anyway? Weren't you the one who first admitted you liked me, then begged me to date you two hundred and one times? The score is much more like: Harry, three thousand; Malfoy, one half."

"Ruin my moment of glory, why don't you, Potter? Besides, your recent admission that you like me certainly constitutes as more than one half of a point."

Harry laughed, letting go of the other boy's wrist reluctantly. "Does it, since my actual intention was to insult you?"

"Just shows how much more you fancy me - "

Harry pushed the other boy playfully. "Only you can turn a criticism into praise."

"Yes, I am quite skilled in that area, although this insult was quite laudatory," Malfoy said, turning his attention back to the two shacks across the grounds. He focused his eyes for a moment and then looked back at Harry quickly.

Harry noticed Malfoy's wandering eyes and the thought suddenly struck him that there was something else going on. It had not escaped his mind that Malfoy had failed to answer his earlier question. He did not want to press the boy further, but if it was important... If Malfoy was in some kind of danger... "Malfoy, who's in the other shack?"

The Slytherin looked towards the ground. He said softly, "Do you want a lie or the truth?"

"What do you think?"

After a long pause, the blonde boy said with a sigh, "Macnair and Theo."

"Macnair? Theo?"

Malfoy looked up. "Theodore Nott. Seventh year Slytherin. And Walden Macn - "

"I know who they are," Harry said angrily. "What are they doing here?"

"They came with me, actually," the Slytherin admitted.

"Really? I couldn't have guessed. To do what, exactly? Help you fuck Ginny without her parents finding out?" Harry was steaming now, his fists clenching wildly and eyes almost filled with tears.

Malfoy raised his hands cautiously. "Potter, calm down."

"You were apart of the planned attack, weren't you?" Harry accused, his voice dripping with venom. "Weren't you?" he yelled.

The Slytherin boy held out a trembling hand, his tone calm and attempting to be soothing. "Look, Potter, I don't know how you found out about the attack, but I can assure you, it's not what you think it is."

Harry stopped thinking and stared at Malfoy incredulously. "How could a planned attack on me not be what I think it is?"

Malfoy shook his head and said, "I wasn't doing this for or against you. I did it for other reasons."

Harry's eyes remained guarded. Several pangs of guilt and pain shot through Draco, weakening his knees. "I wasn't going to hurt you," he said in a gentle voice. "Yes, I planned the attack. But I planned it so it would fail." His voice was less than a whisper now. "I just didn't expect that it would fail this way."

"What do you mean, 'this way'?" Harry asked, his voice still cold.

Draco turned away and let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "I thought you and Ginny and everyone were going to be at the Burrow tonight. I also didn't realize there would be guards around the house. It's as if you all were expecting an attack. But we hadn't told anyone... Well, I hadn't. And I'm pretty sure Macnair hadn't."

Harry spoke up, "Dumbledore knew about it."

"How?"

"Dunno... Dumbledore knows everything," Harry said as if it were a mystery to himself as well.

"He couldn't have known this. He must have been tipped off," Malfoy reasoned.

Harry shook his head. "It doesn't matter." His earlier thoughts suddenly seemed irrelevant. It didn't matter if Malfoy liked him or not, did it? Was there even a chance he did since he had planned an attack on Harry? Was he telling the truth now? Harry would never know. He suddenly pointed his wand at the other boy's neck. "All you've ever told me has been a complete and utter lie."

Malfoy tried not to break down under the pressure of Harry's wand. "Don't act like I've suddenly betrayed you and now you'll never trust me again. You've never trusted me. These past few weeks, you've been... you've been reluctant about bloody everything."

"You're wrong, you know," the Gryffindor boy said slowly. "I stopped being reluctant long ago. I admitted to myself that I was attracted to you and there was nothing I could do about it. And since then, well, you've made me care for you. Maybe that's why this hurts so much." Harry loosened his grip on the wand and released his hand downwards very gradually.

Draco waited until Harry's hand was all the way at his side again. Then he swung forward and gripped Harry's shoulders fervently. "But I didn't betray you! It was an act with Macnair, not with you!"

Harry looked up at the other boy slowly, his eyes pleading but his face hard. "How am I to know? You've never told me anything until now." He suddenly looked away. "And maybe it was just an act with Macnair, but how far would that act go, Malfoy? You've told me yourself that you think it unwise to displease a man in power. How far would you go to please your father or Voldemort? Would you act against me like you almost did tonight? How about Ginny?"

"I wouldn't do that," Draco replied desperately, his hands still clasping Harry's shoulders.

"How am I to know, Malfoy?"

The Slytherin dropped his hands to his sides, looking defeated, an expression which Harry thought did not at all suit him. "I told you. The plan was going to fail. I'd warned Ginny a week before to stay inside and to tell you the same. Tonight, I arrived earlier than Macnair and Theo had decided to because I wanted to warn Ginny to leave with you. That's when I was caught, when I was trying to get up to her room. I wasn't going to let either of you get hurt."

Harry looked at the other boy who was panting with worry. "What is it?" Harry asked, all bitterness having left his voice.

"I've got to rescue Macnair and Theo. Will you help me?"

"Are you mad?"

"If Macnair finds out that I've fled without trying to rescue him, who knows what he'll do to me. And Theo - the poor boy didn't know what he was doing. If he has to face prison because of this absurd stunt, I'll know it was all my bloody fault. Not to mention, I'll have lost my only decent Chaser."

Harry shook his head. "You're so fucking selfish, you know that?"

"Just help me. You can put your cloak on. We'll get Theo, but we can leave Macnair there after we make it look like I tried to help free him."

"Malfoy. Listen to me. You can't be a fugitive. You have to graduate from Hogwarts."

The blonde boy whipped around to face Harry. There was a speck of dirt on his left cheek. "Why? I've already become accustomed to the fact that I'm not going back there."

Harry neared the other boy and wiped off the dirt with his thumb. Malfoy blushed. "There's got to be another way," Harry said. "You have to come back to school, Malfoy."

"Why?" Malfoy asked, icily.

Harry slipped his arms around the other boy's waist. "Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without you." He stepped away from the hug. "It would be too complicated to come clean to everyone, and I'm sure you don't want to do that - "

Malfoy interrupted, "Memory charm on Shacklebolt!"

"No! Kingsley is a friend."

The other boy shuddered. "Creepy friend..."

After a moment of intense concentration, Harry said with distinct certainty, "We can get Professor Lupin to help us."

"The werewolf?" Malfoy asked, backing away.

"Yes. We can trust him. He'll believe you, Malfoy. Possibly the only person who will, since I don't even really..."

The Slytherin was crossing his arms. "How's he going to help us?"

"I remember he was in contact with Kingsley and Elphias Doge earlier tonight. That means he's working with them, which in turn means that if we tell him our story he'll be able to figure out a way to set you and Theo free and get Macnair locked up." Harry remembered when he had poked Hermione's wand into the Death Eater's eye two years before and became even more determined. "All we have to do now is go to Grimmauld Place and get him."

"Grimmauld Place?" Malfoy asked, bewildered. "Is that where you were staying? The Black house?"

"Actually, now it's my house. But yes." He paused, grabbing the other boy's wrist again and feeling the smooth skin he longed to touch. "Let's go."

***

Remus Lupin was no older than eighteen, marching down to the Whomping Willow and expecting the worst for the night. When he entered the Shrieking Shack, he heard noises. They were coming from upstairs in the bedroom. He ran towards them: a young girl's screams and the grunts of an older man.

Exhausted, he reached the door and pushed it open. Sirius Black and Ginny Weasley stopped all movement from the bed. Ginny pulled up the bedcovers to hide her snow-white shoulder, embarrassed, frightened, guilty even. Sirius turned towards his best friend with annoyance and yelled, "Close the bloody door, you ape."

Tears were streaming from Ginny's eyes now, causing her eyeliner to drip. "I'm sorry, Remus," she wept. "Sirius said he'd tell you about me and Draco if I didn't."

Lupin fell to his knees for a moment, then found strength in his wand and stood up again. When he neared the bed, Sirius morphed into Harry, who clutched at Ginny in youthful lust. "Professor?" the young boy asked in an innocent voice. "What are you doing with that wand?"

Lupin pointed the tip right at Harry's neck, his hand trembling. Next to him, Ginny dropped the covers and yelled, "Remus, don't!"

The professor woke with a start, wishing to scream. It was dark all around him and he couldn't even make out his own hand a foot in front of his face. His stomach was throbbing in pain, and he was freezing. He sprung out of bed and grabbed the black jumper he had left on top of a dresser.

Cursing, he shoved on socks from inside the drawers in the dark. It was half past four and there was no way he would be able to go back to sleep.

On his way out he found the door cracked open, but he had remembered closing it all the way earlier. It worried him for a moment, but he forgot about it once he entered the hallway because Harry came bounding up to him looking positively frostbitten and... was that Draco Malfoy right behind him?

"Professor Lupin!" Harry yelled, leaping forward. His voice faded into a whisper once he remembered that Ron and Hermione were sleeping near by. "You have to help us."

Lupin rubbed his eyes and brushed back his hair, unsure if he was still dreaming. Harry's nose and the tips of his ears were red. "What's going on?" the former professor asked.

Harry glanced back towards Draco, who seemed too frightened to step forwards. "Kingsley and Elphias Doge caught Malfoy, Theodore Nott, and Macnair a few hours ago at the Burrow."

"Draco Malfoy?" Lupin asked, thrusting his chin towards the young blonde boy behind Harry. "Or Lucius?"

Harry glanced back towards the boy again. "Draco." He turned back to his former professor. "I helped him escape. I know he's innocent, Professor."

To everyone's surprise, Malfoy stepped forward and spoke up. "And Theo is so bloody ignorant that he's innocent himself." He looked down at his feet once he had finished speaking.

"Which only leaves Macnair," Harry continued, "who knew full well what he was doing."

Remus Lupin took a step back, sighed, and combed his hands through his hair again. "What would you like me to do, gentlemen?" he asked, trying not to think about the fact that he had just thrust his wand against Harry's neck in his dream.

"Tell Kingsley and Doge to let Theo go, and let him and Malfoy go back to school in January," Harry answered. "I don't care what they do with Macnair."

This time Lupin stepped forward and put his hand on Harry's shoulder, which was freezing cold. It sent shivers throughout the older man's body. "Harry, are you perfectly sure?"

"Yes, Professor."

Lupin suddenly felt shorter, as if he was being hammered down into the ground. Watching Harry and Malfoy in such close proximity without exchanging insults was odd. But the fact that Harry was actually begging for Malfoy to come back to school was just... unbelievable. Perhaps he hadn't actually woken up. Perhaps he was still in his eighteen-year-old-dreamlike state, and Ginny Weasley would come bursting through a door, fling her arms around his neck, and squeeze her tongue into his mouth as if he were the only man in the world she would ever consider kissing.

"Professor," called Harry, drawing Lupin's attention back to the dark hallway and the two boys before him. "There's one more thing: Ginny's missing."

***

Harry was following Remus Lupin as he stalked through the backyard of the Burrow. Lupin's march was quick, mechanical, and difficult to keep up with. Harry could hear Draco Malfoy's soft pants behind him. "You tired?" he asked the other boy, who was currently hidden by the invisibility cloak.

"No," Malfoy snapped.

Harry almost turned his head back, but remembered that it was useless since the other boy was invisible. "Why are you panting then?"

There was a bit of silence. "I'm worried."

Lupin sped up, and Harry grunted, "About what?"

"Everything. Ginny, Macnair, Theo, you, my father, the Dark Lord, everything."

The dark-haired boy felt a laugh escape his mouth. It was sharp and bitter. "Welcome to my life," he said. Then he asked quietly, as if he had been thinking about it for a while, "Why'd you lie to me when you said you hadn't met Voldemort?"

If Malfoy was surprised at the question, his tone certainly didn't suggest it. Instead, he answered simply, "I didn't lie. I've never met him. I get any and all orders from Macnair, not that I've done much of anything in that line of work until now..."

"So not all of Voldemort's followers get to meet him?"

"No. In fact, a lot of his followers don't even get to meet his other followers. So no one except the Dark Lord knows everyone who is working for him, and no one except the Dark Lord knows all of his plans, either. My father is pretty close though."

Harry chuckled sardonically. "What an accomplishment." He paused. "Well now that we're being honest with one another, why don't you tell me why you pushed me away on Halloween?"

"I told you," Draco replied huskily, "I have certain rules."

The Gryffindor's eyebrows furrowed in some frustration. "Yes, but what rules?"

This time Malfoy paused to sigh. His voice was soft, as if in resignation, as he said, "Do you know what an irrumator is?"

"A what?" Harry asked, immediately before crashing into Lupin's back. "Sorry, Professor."

The door to one of the shacks swung open and then shut in less than a second. Harry saw Kingsley's dark face hovering above him. "Remus! We've just lost Malfoy. He seems to have escaped. We're not sure how." He paused, spotting Harry. "Hello, Harry."

Before Harry could answer, Lupin said, "There's been a mistake, Kingsley. Draco Malfoy was not trying to attack Harry here."

Kingsley's eyes darkened as if he were trying to decide how to answer in a professional way. Instead he said in his deep voice, "Step inside."

***

Ginny Weasley was almost getting used to the incessant scratching of Lucius Malfoy's quill. All her terror was dissipating and being replaced with annoyance at the long wait. She had though that he was going to kill her; she hadn't realized that she would have to wait three hours for him to do it.

Her back was now completely drenched in sweat and she knew her nightgown was ruined. The cuffs around her hands only seemed tighter with every passing second. And the parchment Lucius was scribbling on so determinedly seemed endless. Ginny wondered what he was writing.

Finally she asked, "When are you going to kill me?"

He didn't lift his gaze from the parchment and his hand didn't stop filling in letters. "As soon as I finish with this."

"What is it?" Ginny asked in what she considered a civil manner.

This time Malfoy did look up. "Shut your mouth, Weasley."

Right after his comment, there was a buzz at the entrance of the special chamber. "Mr. Malfoy, Master..." came the nervous call of a house elf.

"Yes," Lucius responded coldly.

"Someone wishes to speak with you in the fire."

"Who is it?"

"A Mr. Kingsley Shacklebolt, sir," responded the little voice again.

Lucius glanced at Ginny furiously for a moment, then he turned his back to her, walked out of the room, and didn't come back.