Pieces of What

Prologue

Draco Malfoy is staring straight ahead of him, with a passive expression upon his face. He's trying his best to keep from shaking, but he's finding it difficult under the circumstances. This is his final trial, and whatever the Wizengamot decide today will shape the rest of his life. The charges against him are severe, including being an active member of an illegal hate association and aiding and abetting in murder.

The room appointment for his final trial is similar to the others he has seen; dingy, dark and frigid. Everything about the space is bleak, from the lack of windows and on the sweaty walls to the archaic, wooden chair that is meant for the accused. He clenches his fists tighter onto his lap, hoping to hide his shaking hands. He's already endured two weeks of this torture. What is the point of sitting through this when it's perfectly clear to everyone that he's guilty? His darkest secrets are exposed for the world to see, and the evidence against him is enough to put him away for a few years.

"We now call our final witness to the stand."

Draco is momentarily relieved to learn that this is almost over, but his stomach lurches unpleasantly at the sight of Harry Potter walking past him, his hair disheveled and his robes a mess. Of course, why would he bother looking presentable for this? Draco almost laughs at his misfortune: He may be getting that kiss after all.

Potter doesn't even have the nerve to look in his direction as he takes his seat only a few feet away. He looks uneasily at the crowd in front of him, squinting as dozens of photographers take their money shot.

"For the record, can you please state your full name, age and address?"

Potter quickly scans of the Wizengamot committee, seeming to recognize some of them. "My name is Harry Potter, I'm 17 years old and er... currently don't have a permanent address. I'm staying with my friend's family, the Weasleys."

As soon as Potter begins speaking, dozens of quills can be heard scratching furiously on parchment. The Head Wizengamot member smiles reassuringly at Potter, "thank you for coming on such short notice, Mr. Potter. I first want to ask, what is your relationship to Mr. Malfoy?"

"We were classmates at Hogwarts."

"Would you say you two were friends?"

"No - not at all," Potter says shortly. "We never got along."

"And why is that?"

"Well," he hesitates for a moment, "there was house rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor and it was rumoured his family had connections to Voldemort. But the truth of the matter is, Malfoy was a bully." Draco stares stonily at Potter, unable to believe what he's hearing. Is he trying to get him killed?

"Can you please elaborate?"

"Yeah... Malfoy was very prejudiced against muggles and muggleborns. He always harassed me and my friends and went out of his way to remind us of our inferiority. He didn't seem bothered by how much pain he inflicted with his remarks. Frankly, he was a git." A few people in the crowd snigger audibly, but Draco feels all hope draining out of him. Harry Potter wants him dead. Harry Potter has the power to make it happen.

"Evidence suggests that Mr. Malfoy became a Death Eater when he was 16 years old. Did you ever personally see Mr. Malfoy's Dark Mark?"

"Yes, at the end of the sixth year."

"Did he show this to you?"

"No. He showed Albus Dumbledore at the Astronomy Tower, on the night he died." Several people gasp at this, but Draco slowly shakes his head in horror. Potter wasn't even there that night!

"Did Mr. Malfoy have a role in Albus Dumbledore's death?"

At last, Potter turns to look at Draco. Draco digs his nails into his palms as he fights to keep his expression neutral. A cold, harsh truth washes over him: I'm going to Azkaban.

"No, he isn't capable." He says at last, and Draco lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in.

"How can you be so sure of what happened that night?"

"I -" Potter becomes visibly uncomfortable, "I already gave my account of what happened, is it necessary to say it all again?" Draco frowns in confusion, clearly he hasn't been told everything.

"If you please, Mr. Potter, summarize what you have told the Aurors earlier."

"Ok. Dumbledore and I were at Hogsmeade when we noticed the Dark Mark over the castle. We wanted to return as quickly as possible, so we flew to the Towers. But when we arrived there we heard footsteps coming from the stairs, which was Malfoy. I was already hidden from view, so - he... he cast a Freezing Charm on me."

"Who did?"

"Dumbledore."

"Why would he do that?"

"I think to keep me safe."

"Safe from Mr. Malfoy?"

"No! From the other Death Eaters. They were already in the castle. But Dumbledore wasn't worried about Malfoy. He always knew that Malfoy's job was to kill him, but Malfoy couldn't do it. He was supposed to, but he just couldn't." Potter turns to face Draco again, his expression both confused and sad, "I saw you lower your wand, and I knew then too."

Draco openly grimaces at this, his mind trying to make sense of what Potter's poor explanation. He remembers pointing his wand at Dumbledore's slouched chest, threatening to kill him. He remembers the fool trying to help him. I can help you, Draco -

"Mr. Potter, please refrain from speaking to the defendant! If Albus Dumbledore had suspected that Mr. Malfoy was a Death Eater, why did he not confront him?"

"To protect Malfoy. He knew that Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Dumbledore didn't want any more innocents to die." A look of shock overcomes the Wizengamot committee, clearly this wasn't going as they had planned. Potter, who seemed to be aware of their frustration, carries on relentlessly. "I may despise Draco Malfoy, but I recognize that he's a victim of this war. I can't trust him, but I also can't condemn him. If we don't show mercy, how are we any better than Voldemort? I guess what I'm saying is, we should trust Dumbledore and give Malfoy a second chance."

" - Thank you, Mr. Potter." The Wizengamot Head cuts Potter off hastily. "I would like to take this time to call a recess."

The room erupts in an incessant chatter as Potter gets up to leave. The confusion Draco feels makes his head heavy and his ears buzz noisily. Everything Potter said weighs heavily on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe. He looks to Potter for some explanation of what just happened, some clue as to what he may be thinking, but he continues walking away rapidly. Nothing else matters except this moment that is being seared into his memory: the slight tilt of Potter's head as he begins to look back at him. But as he hurries out of the courtroom, he never does.

Chapter 1: Edge of the woods

Harry never thought he would find himself back on the Hogwarts express, heading back for a final year of school. The ministry had made it clear that he could graduate without his last credits, and that a position was available as an entry auror if he wished for it, but he needed some time to sort out a few things. He really did want to be an auror, but just not right away, not after everything that happened only months ago.

"Harry? Are you listening? You've got that far away look again."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ginny. Just got lost in my thoughts."

"Do you think they'll allow us to share dorms?" Ginny asks slyly. He heard that the Ministry made it a priority to repair the damages inflicted on Hogwarts during the final battle. This meant that more dorms had been added to accommodate the students who reenlisted for another year.

"I doubt it," he replies with a smirk, "even if I am the Chosen One." Checking to see that no one is looking, Harry plants a quick kiss on Ginny's cheek.

She laughs and pushes him away playfully, "we'll just have to be sneaky, like a normal teenage couple."

He wonders if anything in his life will ever be normal. Maybe things will settle down now that he's back at Hogwarts. The other students will quickly bore of seeing Harry do every day, normal things. How exciting can it be to watch someone eat, walk or study, after all? "I think it's going to be okay" he said mostly to himself. Within just a few weeks, people will begin to forget about what happened at Hogwarts last year. Maybe he can too.

Harry is roughly pulled away from such thoughts when he feels the train begin to slow at an alarming pace. He could see everyone around him pause momentarily, listening to the harsh screeching sounds of the brakes. "We couldn't be there yet!" Neville exclaims while shoving Pig into his cage. Luna's eyes can be seen above her upside down book, looking intently outside the window. Turning his gaze, Harry can make out some dark figures almost blending against the night. Harry takes his wand out instinctively. As the train streaks to a halt, commotion and loud voices are heard outside their compartment. What sounds like panic is heard, but it's too far away to distinguish what is going on. Ron, who is closest to the compartment door, slowly opens it and peaks his head outside.

"Ron, wait!" Hermione says anxiously, her new edition of Hogwarts: A History forgotten. "I think they're inside."

Ron turns to look at Harry. With silent understanding, he nods at Harry's next words, "I think we should see if everything is okay. Ginny, maybe you could stay with Luna and watch the first years."

"I don't see why they can't lock up behind us," she stands up and takes her wand out. "If you're going, I am too."

"I need you to stay here with the first years," he explains a little more forcefully than he intended. That did not seem to persuade her, so he continues, "it's probably nothing anyway - Just for precaution. Please?"

She looks towards Ron and Hermione with a pleading look; when nothing more is said, she sits back down grudgingly. "Okay, whatever you say."

Harry knows that she is upset, but he can't think about that right now. "We'll be quick," he says before leaving with Ron, Hermione and Neville.

They begin walking through the corridors, and the screaming that he heard only moments ago is gone, replaced by an eerie silence that makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. All the compartment doors to either side of him are closed shut, most likely locked. But he could see shadows under the cracks of the doors. No one seems to be speaking or moving. Why is everyone so afraid? Towards the end of one corridor there seems to be one compartment with its doors off its hinges, placed obscurely on the floor. But that isn't what makes Harry stop in his tracks. A familiar green light is spilling out from that compartment.

Before facing the room, Harry pauses to listen for any voices. Although he can't hear anything, he still raises a protective shield as he faces the compartment. What first catches his attention is the source of the green light. The window on the opposite end of the room has been broken, and through it he can see the image of the mocking green skull against the dark sky, with a snake emerging from its mouth, seeming to slither ever closer. He hears someone gasps behind him. Everyone stares up at the Dark Mark, unable to move or speak. Finally, Neville takes a step into the room and casts the Lumos spell. Harry's attention is momentarily averted to an unmoving body on the floor. He doesn't have time to see who the person is before he hears a blood-curdling scream coming from outside.

Without a second thought, he races to climb through the broken window. Stepping over the tracks, he barely acknowledges that glass is crunching under his shoes. Harry breaks into a run towards the edge of the woods. He can hear footsteps behind him, but he doesn't have the frame of mind to tell them to go back. The forest begins to thicken as he goes deeper, making it nearly impossible for him to run through it without tripping. Slowly down his pace, he holds his breath to better listen to his surroundings. Whoever had left the train with him was no longer there, he realizes. After another 10 minutes of stumbling between branches, he sees a source of light in the distance. Being mindful of every step, Harry edges closer to the light. He begins to hear low voices arguing amongst themselves.

"We need to go - "

"Not until Rook comes back!"

Harry is now close enough to see two figures in long cloaks wearing dark masks, hovering over another person who is barely moving except for his uncontrolled shaking. Harry should have waited for one of his friends to catch up to him. Now he has to take down two wannabe death eaters by himself.

"Stupefy," he whispers, aiming his wand at the closer one. While the jet of red light hits the mark, it also gives away Harry's position to the second death eater, who twists his wand and shouts, "Ardere Oculus!"

If Harry had recognized the spell, he would have realized that ducking out of the way would not help in this situation. Several jets of white light emerge from the caster's wand in an array of directions. He puts his shield up at the last moment but it's too late. A blinding pain burns his eyes, but he manages to put up another defence shield before a stunning spell hits him. Through burning tears, he manages to open his eyes. The death eater must have put out the light, leaving the forest eerily dark. But Harry can still hear hurried footsteps approaching him.

"Expelliarmus!" he casts before throwing his body against the death eater. They stumble towards the cold ground, but Harry manages to put his whole weight on the man's torso. Taking an educated guess, Harry throws a punch where a face should be.

"ACK!" he hears the man gasps. Oops, he must have punched him in the throat. Well that works too.

Before the man can regain his composure, Harry stuns him. He'll bring him back to Hogwarts where they can question him properly. "Didn't you know?" He says sardonically to the still figure as he stands up. "Voldemort's dead." Thinking the best course of action is to get the other student and himself back to the train as soon as possible, he casts an illumination spell in the direction of where he last saw the person laying on the ground. Nothing happens. "Lumos!" he says again with urgency. The spell has never backfired before. Was something wrong with his wand? "Lumos! Lumos!"

"Potter," - a muffled grunt.

"Who's there?"

There's silence for a moment, before the voice wheezes, "we need to go."

Relief washes over him as he realizes that it must be the student that the death eaters abducted. "Okay, just keep talking. I think something happened to my wand. Do you have one on you?"

"No."

"Lumos," he tries one last time.

"I can see you," the voice manages.

"What? How can you? Its pitch dark."

Harry can hear him coughing again. "If I can see but you can't, what does that tell you?" he rasps.

Wait a moment, Harry knows that tone of needless sarcasm, "Malfoy!?"

"Yeah." Harry can hear the sound of leaves crunching as Malfoy lumbers nearer. "We need to go," Malfoy coughs.

"But what do you mean ... you can see?"

Malfoy is now standing in front of him by the sound of it. "You're blind, you idiot," he hoarsely whispers before grabbing Harry's wrist and apparating them both away from the forest.

~~~

When he arrives at Hogwarts, he first looks to the stars. More than the landscape itself, the stars tell Draco where he is. At Hogwarts, it always amazed him how close the sky looked. Sometimes he felt that if he could fly high enough, he could touch the ether. Against the darkness he begins to see the faint outline of the front gates of Hogwarts. "We're not far. Should take 10 minutes if we hurry," he says in his general direction. How did he manage to start the year like this? Taking a stroll with Harry-bloody-Potter.

The silence between them thickens as the minutes pass by. Draco glances at Potter and scoffs in annoyance. The stupid git has a stone-faced expression and seems to be walking as if he's not momentarily blind. What could he expect, a little loss of vision to phase the Hero? Draco can't help but smirk when Potter swears angrily under his breath as he stumbles for a third time. "You're slowing us down again," Draco drawls as he walks by him.

Once they're finally inside, Draco feels a little less tense. Maybe he's imagining it, but Potter looks less tense too. They continue walking silently in the same direction. It seems that the surest thing to do would be to report what had happened. When they approach the stairs leading to the Headmistress's office, Draco doesn't bother telling Potter to watch his step. Potter slams his foot against the bottom marble stairs, causing his whole upper body to fumble forward in a comical fashion. Draco can't help but laugh.

"Shut up!" Potter hisses to the empty space beside Draco. His face is flushed and his hands seem to have received most of the blow from his falls. "You could have said something, asshole."

"And you would have listened?" he replies with mock sweetness.

"What choice do I have?" Potter snaps. And without waiting for a response, he begins to stubbornly climb the stairs.

Potter knocks urgently on the door, not knowing that it is already ajar. "Thank goodness you're here! Please come in quickly," gestures Prof. McGonnell. "The train should be here any moment, but I would like a full report before I see to the students."

As they take their seats, Draco waits for Potter to begin. But Potter pinches his lips together and glares vacantly in front of him. Taking the hint, Draco summarizes what happened as tonelessly as possible, "I felt the train stop and I heard yelling coming from outside. We then heard loud voices in the hallway, so they must have forced themselves in. Blaise had the foresight to lock our compartment, but whoever was on the train forced himself through the door, knocked it straight off its hinges. And then... One moment I was sitting there, the next moment my head breaks through glass. They must have hexed me out of the window by force, and that's when I blacked out. When I regained consciousness, I was laying in the forest and Potter was dueling one of them."

"Wait. Then who screamed?" Potter asks tersely.

"I did - when my head bashed through a window."

"No, in the forest. Before I caught up with you, I heard a scream."

"Don't know what to tell you, Potter. As I said I was knocked out." He glares at Potter's confused expression. Why is he always meddling?

Draco notices McGonnell's eyes looking at him inquisitively. She doesn't say anything for moment, seeming to wait for him to continue. When it's evident that he won't, she asks, "Other than that nasty cut on your head, are you sure you didn't experience any other injuries, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I'm sure," he replies coolly.

"Do you have any idea why you were a target?"

"No."

"Did you recognize your attackers?"

"No."

"Very well." She gives him a levelled look before turning to Potter. It's nauseating to see her expression change to something not unlike worry when she looks at him, "Mr. Potter, can you tell me what you remember?"

Potter's version of the events sounds so much more detailed than his, he muses. Draco is glad that he kept in the bit about the broken window, as it seemed Potter had noticed the glass outside. But when Potter mentions hearing the scream, he holds in his breath, waiting for someone to question his story. He subconsciously presses his fists into his lap. He can still feel the effects of the curse pinching his nerves.

~~~

Pushing his knuckles into his right eye, Draco tries to suppress his growing headache. He doesn't know if he can take another second of Potter's whining. He lies back against his bed and wills himself to ignore him.

"Unfortunately only the caster can reverse the effects of the spell," Madame Pomfrey explains for the sixth time that hour.

"There has to be another way. You said yourself that there's nothing actually wrong with my eyes."

"I unfortunately don't have any answers. I'm in contact with a specialist about your situation, so we should have some more information soon. In the meanwhile you should stay put."

"And how will that help? We have to find the person who did this and make him reverse the spell!"

Draco scoffs at no one in particular, still pressing his knuckles into his eyes.

"What now?" Potter snaps at him.

"How exactly would you find him? In case you missed to notice, Potter, you're bli - "

"I'm aware, thanks!" Exasperated, Potter stands up from his bed and makes a point to leave.

"No, Mr Potter, you must stay in the wing!" Madame Pomfrey urges as she tries to put him back in bed.

At that moment, McGonnell opens the front door with Potter's sidekicks in tow.

"Harry!" Granger cries as she throws her arms around him. "I can't believe this!" The Weasel looks earnestly concerned, and seems at a loss of what to do.

"I'm fine, Hermione. It's only temporary."

Seeing them gather around him like a flock of sheep is more than Draco can bear. He sits up on his bed to close the curtains around him, unintentionally catching Weasley's eye.

"You!" He shouts at Draco "You're behind this! What filthy scheme are you up to now?" He makes a move towards Draco's bed, but is stopped by Madame Pomfrey and Granger.

"Mr. Weasley, please refrain yourself! If you cannot act civilly, I'll have to ask you to leave."

Weasley visibly takes in a deep breath and nods curtly, but his faces flushes an ugly shade of red when he catches Draco's smug expression.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, you're going to have to stay the night here so that Madame Pomfrey can keep a close watch on you, just so ensure there aren't any further complications," McGonnell states.

Potter slumps back into his bed ungracefully, finally shutting up. Draco, who already predicted as much, shrugs as arrogantly as he can muster and closes his curtains around him pointedly.

Draco had pretty much resigned to the fact that his life was unfair, unjust, and cold. All he knew was how to survive the cold and how to hide within it. He was glad that no one had bothered to visit him in the Hospital Wing, he was glad for the curtains that shielded him, and most definitely, he was glad that the one person who could see the holes in his story was blinded by his hatred for Draco.

~~~

Harry can't help but feel relief when his friends leave close to Midnight. He knows he should feel grateful for their concern, but the reality of the situation is just too much to bear. He has only been in this state for the past few hours, and he's already worn out. The effort of trying not to fall over every time he moves about has made his entire body stiff and weak. Even more exhausting is the effort of trying to stay calm, of not visibly shaking from fear.

He lets out a slow, silent breath. How did he let this happen? Why did he feel he had to save the day? Why am I so stupid?

Stubbornly crushing the panic that's growing in his chest, he attempts to think logically about his priorities. First, he has to leave the Hospital Wing by morning. If he has to stay alone with his thoughts, while doing nothing to help the situation, he will lose his mind. Secondly, he will need to talk with Hermione about getting his vision back. Thirdly, he needs to find out why there are death eaters still at bay, and what the hell they want with Draco-bloody-Malfoy.

Resigning to a sleepless night, Harry decides he might as well get some answers out of Malfoy. Harry swings his legs over his bed and carefully steps onto the cold tiled ground. It's interesting how he never noticed that the floor of the Hospital Wing was tiled before. The marble feels like ice as he walks slowly to Malfoy's bed, his hands outstretched before him. He touches a light fabric that must be the curtains drawn closed. Pausing for a moment before opening them, he listens closely for any human sounds. "Er... Malfoy?" he whispers to his general direction. There is no response, of course. Malfoy probably has the luxury of easy sleep. Should he wake him up?

He then hears a soft whimper. He pulls his ear closer, thinking maybe he misheard, but it happens again. Oh crap, is he crying? Maybe if I slowly walk away, he won't know I was here. Listening closely, it doesn't seem like Malfoy's even awake. He can hear him tossing and turning in his sheets and one barely audible word: "Stop."

Before understanding what he is doing, Harry urgently presses his hand onto the sleeping Slytherin's chest. He feels the other boy jolt awake and quite suddenly Malfoy is clawing Harry's hands away, hoarsely whispering, "What are you doing?!"

Harry doesn't know. "I need to ask you some questions," he says without any emotion.

"Can't wait 'til morning?" Malfoy retorts rather aggressively, "you know, when the sun's up? Oh right, you can't tell the difference."

"Why were those death eaters after you?" Harry interrupts him.

There is a momentary silence before Malfoy replies carefully, "what makes you think they were after me?"

"You said as much to McGonnell, they were looking for you. What do they want with you?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Well, did they say anything about their plans? What do they want?"

"Potter," Malfoy sighs dramatically, "why would they disclose their 'master plans' to me?" Harry could practically hear the quotation marks.

"You were a death eater," he says coldly.

"Yes, note the past tense." Malfoy grits between his teeth, "now can you piss off and let me sleep? I really don't need your hero antics this early in the morning."

Something about Malfoy's snippety, dismissive tone makes Harry's unreasonably angry. He doesn't understand why, but Malfoy always has that effect on him, "I know you know something! It's no coincidence that death eaters stopped the train and kidnapped an ex-death eater."

"I really don't know." Harry can hear something in his tone that sounds almost like a lie. "I'm going to ignore you now." He begins shifting in his covers and closing the curtains around him, but Harry's hand instinctively moves upwards to stop the curtains from closing.

"You must have recognized them, their faces or their voices? Who are they?" Harry presses.

"No idea."

"How is that possible?" Harry snaps.

"It's not like we had death eater get-togethers. Most often I couldn't tell who was behind the mask. I'm guessing they're not even registered with the Ministry."

"Meaning..."

"They don't exist." Malfoy says flatly.

Harry knows Malfoy is keeping something to himself, but he can't put his finger on it. Trying to swallow the frustration that is beginning to seep through, he chooses his next words with care.

"I just find it strange that their main concern was getting you."

At these words Malfoy snorts with disdain, "Because I'm not worthy of it? Because you were on the train?"

"No - I only meant -"

"That you're an arrogant prat who won't let me fucking sleep?"

Harry doesn't have a chance to retort. He can hear the heavy doors beginning to unlock at the other end of the Hospital Wing. As quickly and carefully as he can manage, Harry runs back to his own bed. He comes upon it far sooner than he anticipated; tripping into his curtains and covers. (He can distantly hear someone snorting in the background.) Just as the doors open, Harry manages to pull the covers over himself. Someone seems to linger there, possibly watching for any signs of life. Harry, who feels like 11 years old again, pretends to be sound asleep. After the doors closes shut, he continues to listen for any other sounds, but find none for the rest of the night, not even the heavy breathing of another person sleeping.

~~~