Harry Potter and the Summer of Secrets

Chapter 4: Betrayal

July 16, 1979

It was a balmy summer evening; the sun was beginning to set in the blood-red sky. She gazed longingly at it through the bars on the window; she would give anything to be able to feel the warmth of the sun beaming upon her, just one last time.

She shifted uncomfortably on the bed and rubbed her stomach unconsciously. She felt terrible; she was thirsty, exhausted, trapped... She bit back a cry of pain as her contractions worsened. The pain subsided momentarily, and she caught her breath quickly.

"I shall not have his child," she said resolutely. She thought desperately, she was weak, very weak.... She bit her lip hard as the pain pulsed once more.

She finally lay back, breathing heavily.

She placed her hands on her stomach and began to chant softly. She stopped abruptly for another wave of pain, this one, however, seemed less severe. She continued her low incantation, quickly repeating it seven times.

The door flew open and the Dark Lord entered, followed anxiously by a Death Eater in full robes.

"Medea, why did you not call for anyone? It may be too late," the Dark Lord demanded, furious.

She laughed as the dulled pain ran through her again.

"You laugh at death?" he asked, surprised.

"Actually, I am laughing at you, Tom," Medea replied spitefully.

His eyes flashed and he started toward her, drawing his wand, but the Death Eater loudly said, "My Lord, the potion."

The child was born within the hour, and immediately afterward, things began to go wrong.

"Name her Iris," Medea said faintly as she turned to look out the window once more.

Voldemort laughed cruelly. "Name him Salazar."

"It is a girl, my Lord," the Death Eater said hesitantly.

The Dark Lord's face contorted in rage as he hissed, "What?"

He looked at the crying child carefully; she had an absolute mop of red curls on her head.

"She needs to take more of the potion, my Lord."

The Dark Lord looked at the vials of blood-red potion and smiled murderously. He took them from him and hissed, "The traitor will die."

He started to leave, but turned back to the Death Eater. "Get rid of it! Speak not a word of this to anyone."

"Of course I won't, my Lord."

"Regulus, is that you?" Medea asked feebly after Voldemort had left.

He lowered his hood and answered, "Yes, my Lady."

"Here, take this," she weakly said as she fumbled under the edge of the mattress. She pulled out a black leather bound journal and handed it to him.

"The Dark Lord's secrets, there is a way to destroy him... Now leave me and get Iris to safety!"

Regulus pocketed the journal, silenced the child's cries, and wrapped her in a blanket he found in the wardrobe. He left quickly with the child hidden in his overlong robes.

Once outside, he looked around unsteadily; the dark woods looked spooky painted with the unnatural fog. He shivered despite the warmth of the air and continued down the path. He stopped again at the stone statue of a basilisk and looked around carefully.

'Where do I go?' he thought frantically. His mother would owl everyone she knew, and Sirius was out of the question. His cousin, Bellatrix, would likely kill the child because it had been Voldemort's orders, and Severus would merely send him away.

His face suddenly brightened as he closed his eyes and Apparated. He regained his footing, carrying the child carefully, and knocked on the door of the sprawling manor.

An elf answered a moment later and hurried him across a grand hallway to the door of the library before bowing and disappearing quickly.

He turned the knob and opened the door slowly. He entered cautiously and smiled warmly at the couple sitting in the couch. A beautiful fair-haired woman sat next to a man with blond hair, they were smiling loving at one another. His cousin, Narcissa, and her new husband, Lucius Malfoy.

"Regulus!" she cried. "So good to see you!"

"Narcissa," he gasped. "I..."

He trailed off, pulling the child from the fold in his robes. He handed her to Narcissa.

"Where did you get her?" she asked, confused.

"She is... The Dark Lord... He wants me to kill her..."

Narcissa gasped, but Lucius looked impatient. "Then what are you doing here?" he asked condescendingly. "You should do your job and be done with it."

"But Lucius, she is the Dark Lord's and Medea is probably dead by now. The Dark Lord thinks that over the past few months, she may have undone all the spells he placed on the child."

"Then the child is worthless," Lucius said and Narcissa gave him a nasty glare.

"If," Regulus continued resolutely, "she is the only descendant of Ravenclaw, and I kill her, how will he resurrect Slytherin at all?"

Lucius looked impressed. "Good question," he admitted. "You may stay here; the Dark Lord may have just wanted you to hide the child."

"Iris, Medea asked for her to be called Iris..."

Narcissa, who had been holding Iris protectively away from her husband, smiled brightly. She called for a house-elf to bring milk for the baby and sat, feeding her while Lucius went with Regulus to speak to the Dark Lord.

****

She lay in the field behind the house; her wand lay forgotten on the ground beside her. It had been a miserably hot day, made worse by her miserable thoughts. She could not believe that she had been left behind, and Harry had not even tried to write.

The wedding earlier that afternoon had been amusing, to say the least. When that cake had splattered the ground, she had nearly lost it; the look on Fleur's face had been priceless.

She heard a loud pop and sat up, looking curiously around. Percy was running towards her, a frantic look on his face.

"Ginny! I was so worried; the Ministry just received word that we are next on You-Know-Who's list. He has planned a raid, set to commence in mere minutes."

Ginny grew pale and turned to run back to the house, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"I'm going to take you to the Ministry, then come back for Mum and Dad."

She tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip. She looked at him oddly and asked, "Can't we all go together?"

"I'm afraid not," he answered, pulling her past the wards.

"Mum! Dad!" she yelled, pulling back toward the house. "They're coming!"

Percy cursed loudly and tugged hard on his little sister, pulling her past the last of the wards. She felt the compressed feeling of apparition and found herself in a very dark room. Percy pulled on her arm, leading her down a hallway lit only by candles. Surprise overtook her as her eyes adjusted to the gloom.

"This isn't the Ministry of Magic," she said, dismayed. She looked at her brother expectantly, but he avoided her eyes, keeping his ironclad grip on her arm. He led her to a room containing only a table and two chairs.

"Sit," he said firmly, pointing to one of the chairs.

She sat slowly, fear creeping into her body. "What about Mum and Dad?"

He did not answer again, but sat in the other chair, staring expectantly at the door. Ginny watched him curiously, wondering where on earth they were. For a terrifying second, she had almost believed he had brought her to the Death Eaters.

She shook her head roughly; Percy may have been acting like a total prat the past two years, but that didn't mean he was a Death Eater... She had almost convinced herself that he would never join them when the door opened; Ginny nearly fell off her chair when she saw who entered.

She had only heard Harry describe Voldemort once, during a DA meeting, but now that she was seeing him in person, she would have to admit that she had not believed him. He looked nothing like the Tom Riddle who had emerged from the diary.

"Well done, Weasley, you shall win Miss Clearwater's hand yet," the Dark Lord said, eyeing Ginny. "It's good to see you again, Ginny."

She froze as cold wave of terror passed through her entire body.

"Do you remember me, Ginny?" he asked, his tone light.

"How could I ever forget you, Tom?" she stammered softly.

"You are Harry Potter's girlfriend now?" he asked, slightly amused.

"No," she said indignantly. "He gave me the boot, if you must know..."

"That must hurt," Voldemort said soothingly. He broke off, frowning, when she laughed.

"It's not going to work," Ginny spat angrily. "I'm much older now, and much less naïve."

"I hoped you'd say that," he retaliated. "Where's Potter?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "We really haven't spoken."

"Where is Severus Snape?" he asked, searching her mind.

"Azkaban," she answered and he nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"Can you get a message to-"

The door burst open and a Death Eater rushed in, followed by two others. "My Lord, the raid today, on the Weasleys' shop, they got away... We have two dead and half a dozen imprisoned."

"Who is dead?" the Dark Lord asked, closing his eyes in anger.

"Bellatrix, my Lord."

The Dark Lord opened his eyes, which had narrowed to a dangerous size.

"And Draco Malfoy..." another Death Eater trailed off as the Dark Lord's face contorted in rage.

"Who did this? Was it the Weasleys?" he demanded. "Or the wretched Order?"

"My Lord, some of the others have communicated that Harry Potter was there."

"And if Draco was there, Iris was there- did anyone see her?" Voldemort continued distractedly.

One of the Death Eaters laughed quietly. "Of course not, my Lord, no one ever sees Iris..."

The Dark Lord thought for a moment before turning to Percy. "Place her under the Imperius Curse and use her to spy on the Order."

"Yes, my Lord," Percy stammered as he watched the Dark Lord hurry from the room.

He turned to face his sister. "I'm sorry, Ginny. Imperio!"

****

Iris kicked the cauldron across the room, spraying its contents everywhere, before sinking to the floor, her head in her hands.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Hermione sobbed, "He looks just like he's sleeping."

Iris raised her head, moved quickly to Draco's side, and began to examine him carefully. Suddenly, his body began to convulse as though it had been hit by lightning, and he began to gasp for air once more.

"How?" croaked Harry, who looked thoroughly upset, as he watched Iris hug Draco happily; She merely answered with a shrug and began to dump her things back into her bag.

"What were those potions you gave him before he..." Hermione trailed off giving Draco a wary look.

Iris shoved three very thick books into the small bag with little difficulty. She seemed reluctant to answer and focused her effort into fitting a small stack of clothes into the bag.

"The brown potion was Dittany, which helps to prevent scarring, and the other was a modified version of the Elixir of Life. Professor Snape has been developing it over the past year, for my father..."

"Wait," Draco said, confused. "Did I die?"

"Yes, Draco, but only for a moment. You may want to stay still for at least five minutes though," she added as he got to his feet and began to pace angrily. His face was flushed and his eyes wild; he began to mutter under his breathe.

"Can't believe it, my own aunt... the Dark Lord... my father-" he broke off and smelled his sleeve.

"And what is this nasty green shit all over me? It's matted in my hair, not to mention, it smells repulsive. Ugh... I'm about to be sick. Potter, I absolutely have to take a bath."

Draco did not wait for permission, but went straight upstairs to the bathroom and turned on the water. Iris laughed and they followed him up the stairs. Halfway down the hall, she stopped and clutched her left arm. She looked hopelessly down at her blood-soaked robes and ran down the hall to the guest room where Draco was looking for clean robes.

Harry and Hermione caught up with her as she said, " He is calling, and I will speak to Severus after the meeting."

She pushed back past Harry and Hermione and bolted down the stairs.

"Severus? Snape?" Hermione asked, rounding on Draco. "Why is she meeting that murderous traitor?"

Draco looked at her and sneered. He tossed aside the expensive-looking robes he was holding and answered hatefully.

"We need to get a few things straight, Granger. The first, and most important, being that I don't like you the slightest bit, and I certainly do not trust you."

"Second," he continued before anyone could interrupt. "He is now the only person I can think of who can detect a Horcrux in a powerful magical object. He can also tell us if it can be safely removed, and believe me, we don't want any accidents..."

"Accidents?" Harry asked, remembering Dumbledore's shrivelled-up hand. "What kind of accidents?"

"If we aren't careful, we could have two Dark Lords on the loose," Draco answered bitterly.

****

She appeared in a grand entranceway lined with portraits depicting the effects of dark magic, as well as several Dark Arts objects concealed in thick glass cases. As she noticed the enormous chandelier of what suspiciously looked like human bones hung in the centre of the room, she realized she was standing in the front entrance hall of Malfoy Manor.

"Why are we meeting here?" she wondered aloud.

She heard sobbing coming from the room to her left, the library. She walked across the polished tile foyer to the door and pushed it open.

Narcissa sat slumped in a chair, crying so desperately that it seemed as though she had lost something she loved above anything else.

"Mrs. Malfoy?" she said finally, her voice shaking. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, Iris... It's Draco, the Dark Lord says he is dead," she stammered and buried her head in her hands. "Bellatrix as well..."

Iris feigned a look of shock and asked, "What happened?"

"We were actually hoping you could tell us," said a cold voice from the doorway behind her.

****

"We must find Professor Snape," Draco insisted.

Hermione shot a worried glance at Harry before replying, "He is in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" Draco snorted. "How was that fool caught?"

"He gate-crashed the Weasley wedding," Harry answered.

"Actually," Hermione said laughing, "he ran out in the middle of the ceremony, shouting for Harry."

Draco looked down at his bloodstained robes. "We'll just have to bust him out then."

"Bust him out?" Harry repeated slowly, following Draco down the hall to the bathroom.

"Are you crazy?" Hermione asked loudly, still standing in the door to the guest room.

"He's not crazy," Harry said flatly, looking back at her in exasperation, as Draco shut the door in his face.

"Of course he's not," Hermione said dismissively, "but can we trust him?"

Harry looked at her oddly. "He saved my life today-" He broke off, clutching his scar as it seared painfully.

****

"Crucio!" he snarled, his red eyes livid with rage. He watched the girl convulse a minute longer before lifting the curse. He watched as she rolled onto her knees and placed her forehead on the cool tile.

'Get it together,' she thought desperately, trying to clear her mind.

"On your feet, my little flower," he said fiercely and she obediently stood. Her lip was bleeding where she had bitten through it to keep from crying out, yet her expression remained defiant.

"Now Iris, tell your Master what happened today, and remember, I will know if you are lying to me..."

"Why not just use Legilimency on me, Father?"

"Torture is the quickest path to the truth," he spat maliciously. "Crucio!"

An odd smile came to his face as he watched her writhe in pain. Narcissa cried silently, refusing to watch the torture, and finally said, "What use is she to you if you break her mind?"

Voldemort looked at Narcissa and sneered before lifting the curse.

"Now, are you ready to answer?" he asked impatiently.

"Yes, Father," she answered quietly. "Over the past year, I have infiltrated the Order of the Phoenix, I almost had Potter. When the others attacked, I ordered them back, but they began to attack me, so I sealed them inside the building. They were, after all, committing treason."

"What happened to Bellatrix?"

"She wanted Potter for her own, but Draco stood between them. Potter was to be yours alone. She attacked, finally overtaking him and then Harry. I... I killed her myself before fleeing to the Order."

The Dark Lord studied her a moment as though waiting for her to finish. When she didn't, he asked, "Where are the bodies?"

"I don't know, I assume the Order has them..."

"Let me see your wand," he ordered quietly.

She felt her pockets, and was relieved that she could not find it; she must have left it at Harry's. "I've lost it, my Lord, probably in Diagon Alley."

He studied her again and said, "Very well, but I have one more thing to discuss with you. I am very sorry I could not guarantee Draco's life to you..."

"That's it?" Iris asked. " 'I'm very sorry', that's all I get?"

"And what should you get?" he asked bitterly.

She shook her head angrily and spat, "I entered into your service on the condition that Draco's life would be spared. Now, less than a week later, he is dead and all I get are your useless apologies?"

"You are angry?" he asked, looking at her oddly. "Then you understand my position; do you want to hear the numbers for today? Two Death Eaters dead, six in Azkaban, and the targets escaped."

"That is not my fault, I did not know about the raid; I thought they were attacking me," Iris insisted persuasively.

"There will be no more punishment," he cut in sharply. "As long as the ritual goes as planned, Draco will just have to be replaced..."

"Replaced?" she asked, livid with rage. "He cannot be replaced, and what is this ritual you keep harping on about?"

"You will know when the time is right. I have been unsuccessful in procuring the full lineage of either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, but it is only a matter of time."

"And what part am I to play?" Iris interrupted.

"You are the vessel..."

"No," she said firmly. "I will not!"

He laughed maniacally, drowning out her words completely. "It has already begun," he hissed maliciously. "There is no way to stop it. Now, I have a mission for you, a way to redeem yourself after today's embarrassment."

"Anything you wish, my Lord," she sighed.

"You must get Severus out of Azkaban, I give you two days," he spat as he strode from the room.

****

Iris found Draco, Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the guest bedroom, gathered around a steaming cauldron, laughing; well, Draco was smiling. All of her things were strewn about the room; her clothes, books, and notes were tossed in piles on the floor. Her potions and ingredients were lined up on the desk beside Draco.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, picking up her empty bag and stuffing her clothes back inside it.

"Well, we needed the potion ingredients, and I had to take a few things out to find them," Draco said quietly.

"Then Harry remarked how amazing it was that a bag of that size could hold so much stuff. Mokeskin bags are quite rare," Hermione said smartly. Iris gave her an impatient look before turning to Draco.

"The Dark Lord believes you are dead, Draco, which is a good thing. Can I see your arm please?"

He held it out to her, pulling up his sleeve to reveal his pale forearm.

"Mortis solus discedo," she said happily. "It's gone, you're free."

She then slumped over the pillows, fast asleep and smiling. Draco stared at his arm in disbelief, the mark, which had been there when he showered was now gone. The others left soon afterward, talking of sleeping in shifts.

Draco looked down at the sleeping figure of Iris; he then opened the wardrobe and pulled out his cloak. He stuck his hand into the pocket and pulled out a small and badly wrapped package. He tapped it with his wand, and it returned to its original size.

He turned over the card and read: To Harry Potter. He opened the card curiously, and guilt surged through him as he read it slowly.

Harry, if you are ever to read this card, it is because I have died in service to the Order. I'm not good at this sort of thing, but Moony suggested it... I remember the day you were born, you looked so fragile that I would not hold you for fear that I would hurt or drop you. I would not say I was surprised when I saw you again after I escaped Azkaban; I am proud of all the things you had done; and moreover, the person you have become despite the obstacles you've had to overcome. I only wish that I could have seen you open this; it is originally from your father... I have only one major piece of advice to leave you with: Be careful whom you trust. While I believe Ron and Hermione would never betray you, I think you must still be very careful; learn from my mistakes. Wormtail was one of my best friends, and to this day, I could not tell you when or even why he turned to Voldemort. The only woman I ever loved also betrayed me to the Dark Lord on our wedding day; he has an uncanny ability to change people... What I am trying to say is that you never really know a person, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you do. Your parents would be very proud of you, Harry, as I know I am... Love, Sirius

Draco quickly put the card back in the envelope and shrunk the package again, hiding it in the wardrobe. He lay down beside Iris, his mind racing; he wondered whether helping Potter would do him any good at all. He seemed under trained and borderline uneducated to the point of ignorance.

Draco finally fell into odd, unconnected dreams of things that had happened the past year at Hogwarts.

He awoke several hours later to find Iris sitting at the desk in the corner, writing a letter. Harry was sitting beside her, a snowy owl perched on his shoulder.

"Finished," she whispered, rolling up the parchment and handing it to Harry, who sent it off with Hedwig.

"If you really are finished," Draco said, yawning, "I'd like to go back to sleep now..."

"Sorry," Harry said and left the room quickly.

"Feeling better?" he asked sleepily.

"I feel great, you?"

"Much better, considering..."

Iris frowned and hastily said, "My father wants me to get Snape out Azkaban."

Draco sat up quickly. "What?"

She quickly filled him in on the meeting, her mission, and her plan.

"What does this ritual do?" he asked when she had finished.

"I'm not sure, he once told my mother that he wanted to bring Slytherin back, but I don't see how, he died so long ago..."

"Horcruxes?" Draco asked thoughtfully.

Iris shook her head. "I can find no records of Horcruxes from that time period; not one book even mentions them- unless they were called by a different name..."

"I doubt that," he replied skeptically.

"I've been having really weird dreams," she admitted quietly.

Draco gazed at her oddly and replied, "Now that you mention it, I have, too."

"This is bad, Draco, really bad," she said fearfully. "Not only do we have to find the Horcruxes, but also Godric and Helga's heirs. I'm beginning to wish I hadn't promised Dumbledore I'd help Harry."

He smiled. "I've been wishing you hadn't made that promise since we got here."

He looked downcast and his eyes travelled to the floor. "How is my mother?"

"She will be all right," Iris answered slowly.

"Did you tell her I'm alive?"

"No," she replied uncomfortably, "something felt wrong; the Dark Lord was spying. I've just sent an owl to your Aunt Adored, your mother will go to her, and when she does, she will be given a choice. She doesn't have the Mark, she is not a Death Eater, and now, neither are you."

"We need to get out of here," Draco said quietly. "The sooner the better. Do we still have a safe place to stay?"

Iris shivered slightly before nodding. She jumped up and said, "I remembered to get the things you wanted from Hogwarts, and I just had to pick it up."

She handed him a miniature version of his Hogwarts trunk. He looked at her strangely as she tapped it with her wand. The trunk expanded to its original size, and he staggered under the weight.

"I didn't ask for that much stuff," he said, irritated.

She looked frustrated. "Do you know what I had to go through to get your trunk out of school before anyone found out what had happened? The Concealment Charm was lifted just as I snuck into your dormitory, and I was very nearly molested by Zabini."

"What?" Draco said, infuriated. "I'm going to kill him!"

"Then," Iris continued loudly, "I had to get back to my father before you did. He was angry that I had even tried to change his mind, but I managed to convince him in the end. It took a while to assure him that I really wanted to enter his service after two years of refusing."

"What is your point?" Draco asked icily, pulling a very thick book from his trunk.

He opened it to a hallowed out page in the middle and pulled out a small bottle of clear liquid.

"Is that the poison you used?" she asked bitterly.

He nodded slightly. "I get it, alright? You're mad because I didn't tell you what my mission was, but do you think you could have helped?"

"I think I could have gotten him off your back long before you poisoned Ron and cursed Katie. What if Harry had drank the mead first? Would Ron have known what to do? Because I heard Slughorn choked..."

"I know how stupid it was and I wish I would have told someone sooner. All I have ever heard about Dumbledore and the Order was that they were wrong; they were the enemy. The Dark Lord has always spread fear like wildfires, even when he was gone..."

Iris shook her head. "I have been telling for six years now that Dumbledore was not the enemy. You knew that he took in me when no one else would; I clearly remember saying that, because of my respect for him, I would not join the Dark Lord. I would have told you, or at least warned you."

"Well, to be fair, you didn't tell me about the Horcruxes until after he was dead," he spat back, his voice rising involuntarily.

"I didn't know that I needed to, I didn't know that you were planning to kill someone!" Iris snapped back.

The colour drained from Draco's face; she took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing.

"I'm just saying that you should have trusted me," she said softly.

"I do trust you, Iris," he said honestly, "but I knew you would go to the Dark Lord. I wanted to deal with it on my own; I felt that I needed to prove myself to him."

He opened the hollowed out book once more and pulled out a small box. "Happy Birthday."

She looked at him suspiciously. "It's not my birthday yet..."

"I know, but I can't wait. Open it..."

She took the box and opened it slowly. A silver ring on a thin chain sat on a pillow of green. It was shape of a serpent with emerald eyes intertwined with an eagle with one sapphire eye.

"Oh, Draco, it's beautiful!" she managed to say as she leaned forward and kissed him gently.

"Thank you," she said, fastening the chain around her neck.

Her watched as she let it fall onto her chest. He grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. She did not protest, but moved willingly closer, kissing him passionately. After several minutes, he pulled away.

"I can't keep this up, Iris," he said, looking at her seriously.

"What?" she asked confused.

"I can't keep pretending. I have these amazing, whirlwind summers with you, but then we go back to Hogwarts, where I pretend to fawn over Pansy, who follows me everywhere I go, by the way."

He took a deep breath before finishing, "It's driving me mad."

Iris smiled. "Then tell Pansy to fuck off."

"My father will kill me; he needs Parkinson's influence in the Ministry now that Fudge has been sacked."

"They already think you are dead, Draco. By the time it is over, I doubt it will matter much what either of our fathers think..."