Rating:
R
House:
Schnoogle
Characters:
Draco Malfoy Harry Potter Remus Lupin Severus Snape
Genres:
Drama Angst
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire Order of the Phoenix
Stats:
Published: 09/13/2003
Updated: 09/20/2004
Words: 335,561
Chapters: 81
Hits: 1,465,159

Blood Magic

GatewayGirl

Story Summary:
Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry safe, but his relatives are expendable. Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry looking like his adoptive father, but it's wearing off. Blood is a bond, but so is the memory of hate -- or love.
Read Story On:

Chapter 45

Posted:
02/16/2004
Hits:
14,660



Keep Me Here


Ginny, her knees pulled up to her chest, listened quietly to Ron and Hermione's increasingly strained description of the afternoon's events.

"We need to go back to the map," Ron said. "I can't deal with Malfoy, now."

"May I make a suggestion?" Ginny said.

"Go ahead, Ginny," Hermione answered.

"I know he's your friend, much more than mine, but I think you should just let him keep his secrets."

"What?!"

"He's not going to tell you anything until he feels comfortable with you, again, and he's never going to feel comfortable if you spy on him and demand answers from him. Give him a month or two. We know why he looks different, now, and perhaps why he's moody. It even seems likely that he's been prohibited from telling you things, and you know what that's like. You can wait." Ginny fanned a clump of her hair between her fingers and peered at the ends. "I'm sorry I made this messier, but I can't fix it for you. You need to do that."

"He had a snake! He was talking to Malfoy!"

"So? He has to talk to someone, doesn't he? And I've never understood why he didn't keep snakes, Slytherin symbol or not. If I was a Parselmouth, I'd have snakes escort me through the halls and guard my things in class and ride on my broom during practice." Ginny paused. "Well, perhaps not that last one. I bet snakes hate flying."


Harry deliberately arrived late to dinner, so he could avoid Ron and Hermione, who were, as he had hoped, already seated. Ginny was with them and Dean, so he sat with Zoe, and they made light conversation, mostly about Quidditch. The schedule of autumn games had been announced right before Harry arrived, so Zoe filled him in. Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw on the first weekend in October, which was sooner than Harry would have liked. Slytherin was playing Hufflepuff a few weeks later. The rest of the games were scheduled for spring, with the Gryffindor/Slytherin game scheduled for early May. Despite his current resolve to avoid Draco, Harry found himself relieved that they wouldn't be meeting each other on the pitch any time soon. Now that he thought about it, he wondered how that would work with the head of the rival house being his father. It was likely to be odd.

Quidditch practice was more strained, as Harry could not avoid the two Weasley team members. Everyone noticed the tension between Harry and Ron. Andrew was angry with Harry on Ron's behalf, though Ron told him not to be, and Teresa was angry with Ron on Harry's behalf, though Harry told her not to be. Jack and Iggy attempted to ignore the whole thing.

"At least talk to me," Ron said pleadingly, on the way back to the dormitory. Harry ignored him. "Please? Two weeks ago, we were friends."

"If it makes you feel any better," Harry said shortly, "I don't think I'm speaking to Draco, either. Now sod off!"


Harry continued to snub Ron and Hermione throughout Tuesday. His mood was not improved by a short note from his father, delivered at lunchtime by school owl, which said "I have rescheduled our Tuesday evening conference to Wednesday. I expect you to be prompt." The moment of amusement he gleaned from the perfect Professor Snape tone of it was followed almost immediately by disappointment and annoyance. He was anxious to talk to his father about the Kerner Dark Detector and Draco.


Wednesday morning, Harry sat with Teresa and one of her classmates. He felt like an older brother, and tremendously enjoyed mixing casual advice with light teasing. He left for Potions in a better mood than he had been in since Monday.

When he entered the classroom, Draco nonchalantly waved him toward the seat beside him. Harry froze in the aisle.

"Sit," Draco said, clearly tapping the chair next to him. The other students present, Boot and Finch-Fletchley, were staring. Harry stepped close enough to speak quietly.

"I'm not sure I'm speaking to you."

Draco looked at him in innocent astonishment. "What did I do?" he asked.

"Ron and Hermione fessed up about their deals with you. I suspect you coaxed them into it just for blackmail purposes."

"They did it," Draco said indignantly.

"I know, and I'm not speaking to them, either."

"Really, Harry, I was curious. I'd seen you --" Draco stopped abruptly. "I don't think we should have this conversation with an audience. Will you let me tell you about it, after class?"

Harry decided it wasn't fair to listen to Ron and Hermione's side of the story and not Draco's. He nodded. Draco smiled and nudged the chair. "Sit down," he urged. Harry sat, then remembered he hadn't been going to do that. Draco looked at him and smirked.


When Professor Snape entered, he looked surprised and displeased to see Harry sitting with Draco. Throughout the class, his attention continued to return to them. Harry was confused by the disapproval in those looks. Snape liked Draco, as far as he could tell. Shouldn't he like them to get along?

While he was considering the matter, Draco nudged him. "Should I drop some extra Shrake spines in Boot's cauldron?" he suggested in a low voice. Harry snorted in amused disbelief.

"Isn't that a bit childish?" he whispered back.

"Potter!" Snape barked, gliding down to their table. "Ten points from Gryffindor for disrupting another student's work." He leaned over the table, his best sneer fixed on Harry. "This is a class, Potter, not a social event."

"Excuse me, er, sir?" Draco said quietly. "I'd asked him a question."

Snape's glittering eyes shifted to Draco and held there for a moment while Draco smiled placidly. "Did you?" Snape whispered threateningly. "Very well, then. Ten points from Slytherin, as well." Draco blinked in surprise. "And I think the two of you should sit at separate tables, since you seem unable to control yourselves in a serious environment. Potter! Move!" Snape inclined his head as Harry began piling items for transport. He waited until Harry had half of them on the neighboring table, then said:

"To the table in front of my desk, Potter."

Harry spent the next half-hour trying to fix the damage caused by having moved his cauldron in mid-brew. He ended up with a potion that masked the scent of some of their test objects -- rotten beans, and fresh lime zest, for example, but not thestral manure or crushed cloves.

"Pathetic, Potter," Snape sneered over his shoulder. Harry looked around angrily.

"If you hadn't made me move it after I added the fairy cocoon silk --!"

"Then it would be just as pathetic," Snape said sharply, as he shifted around to Harry's side, causing Harry to turn to track him. "I am quite familiar with your ability to mangle even the simplest formula."

Harry glared and was surprised by a quick smirk and wink from Severus, who now had his back to the rest of the room.

"At least I know I am at no risk of being poisoned by you."

Harry bit his lip and looked down to hide his amusement. He heard Snape praise Draco's potion and grudgingly acknowledge Parvati's to be "effective." On the way back to his desk, Snape paused to sneer at his potion again, and to whisper, "Tonight, my apartments."


Draco was waiting for Harry just outside the classroom door.

"I don't believe that man!" he fumed.

"He's always like that to me," Harry pointed out.

"I know, but I didn't think he'd be unfair to me, just to continue going after you." Draco sighed. "Let's find an empty room, shall we?"

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprised inquiry. "This isn't even a hallway discussion?"

"No."

Draco led Harry into a small room under the stairs, which held boxes and cleaning supplies to one side, but still had a clear space at the tall end. It was roomy enough that Harry could stand two paces back from Draco, and thought he would have a little room to maneuver if they fought. Draco closed the door. Harry wasn't surprised when he warded it, as well, but he found his hand moving nervously to his wand. Draco made a show of putting his own wand in an inner pocket and moving his hands to his hips.

"In my opinion, Harry, you've been acting rather oddly. It started with talking to me, and telling Ron not to attack me, but then there's this cool look you've acquired, and contradicting Professor Lupin -- sorry, Remus -- in class. Last weekend, I saw you go into Professor Snape's private laboratory -- when he was there -- and stay. There was absolutely no sound at the door, so I believe one of you warded it.

"That was curious enough that I went poking around for more information -- any information -- on you. It was clear enough that you'd been fighting with your dear friends, Granger and Weasley, so when I found them in the library, I decided to draw them out. I gave them the information about seeing you in the dungeons, as a taunt. I tried hinting at some things, hoping for a response that would tell me something, but they genuinely seemed to not know what you were up to -- but I could tell that they thought you were up to something, and they were angry and frightened not to know what.

"I offered Granger a deal -- I'd tell her everything I found out about you if she told me everything she found out about you. She refused, as I expected, but then Weasley stepped in. He said he'd tell me whenever you disappeared, if I'd tell him whenever I saw you in the dungeons. I was shocked, but I accepted before he had time to reconsider. Then, on my way out, I saw what she was doing, with a list of dozens of misspellings of Maitland. She'd been so insistent that she wouldn't deal with me that I was determined I would have a price out of her for that one, and, after a few exchanges, she agreed to tell me which days you had been missing."

Harry growled. "I bet she told you the truth, too."

"Tuesday, Friday, Tuesday, Saturday?"

"I refuse to confirm or deny."

Draco smirked. "Good for you." He looked coolly at Harry. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"No."

"Let's walk, then."

Draco canceled the privacy spell on the door, and they walked out into the now empty corridor. "Will you let it go?" he asked.

Harry scowled. "I'm not sure. I still think you're trying to cause trouble."

"If you can't trust them," Draco said, starting up the stairs, "isn't it better to find out this way, than when it really matters?"

"But maybe it does matter. Honestly, Draco, you're a Voldemort supporter! It's not like I can trust you, in any case."

Draco shrugged. "I'm not quite thrilled with the Dark Lord, these days."

"Oh really? Why is that?"

Draco glared. "Father is clever, magically powerful, and influential, and of one of the twelve purest family lines in Britain. The Dark Lord could have him out of Azkaban in a week, if he chose."

"The Dark Lord takes no responsibility for failure. That all needs to be pushed on to someone else."

"My father is a brilliant strategist," Draco said angrily. "If that ambush could work, he would have made it work."

"Oh, I agree," Harry said slyly. "Your parents, however much I may hate them, seem quite intelligent. Compared to Crabbe, or Nott, or MacNair, they're absolute geniuses. The majority of the Death Eaters seem a bit ... simple? I think that Voldemort likes servility too much to endure intelligence."

They had reached the second floor landing. Draco grimaced. "Either way, he's not a good leader, is he?"

"No. He's not. Of course, I'm biased, aren't I?"

"Couldn't be more so, I expect," Draco agreed. "So, doesn't it worry you, what Weasley agreed to?"

"Well, he said the point was to tell me."

"So?"

"He thought it would dissuade me from leaving if I knew he'd tell you when I did."

"And if it didn't?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps he thought that I'd be okay, if forewarned. Perhaps he wouldn't have actually told you."

"He promised me."

"So?" Harry was amused at Draco's shocked tone.

"So, Gryffindors are supposed to be honorable."

Harry shrugged. "In our way. We still lie, though. Even Hermione lies -- and steals. We just need to believe we're doing the right thing when we do it."

"Thus you were not surprised by Gryffindor Death Eaters."

"Right."

They quietly opened the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and slipped inside. Everyone turned and looked at them. Professor Lupin eyed them coolly.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy -- please sit down. As you are less than five minutes late, I will not take points for this first offense in tardiness. Next time, I will. Is that clear?"

"Yes, professor," both said.

Without consultation they walked up near the front of the room and over to the left where there were two seats together. People stared. Harry caught Draco sending a haughty sneer back at Ron's angry look.

"Don't taunt him," he whispered.

"Why not?" Draco asked innocently.

"Because it's unkind."

Draco snickered.

"If I could have your attention?" Professor Lupin asked bitingly. He held aloft the Verifier. A few minutes later, he was demonstrating it on Hermione, asking innocuous questions, such as "do you play violin?" "do you speak French?" and others of that sort. Ron's attention never left Harry. Harry watched his expression change from angry to hurt to wistful.

"I'm going to have to forgive him, now," he whispered to Draco.

"Who?"

"Ron."

"Why?"

"Well, I've forgiven you, right? And we've only not been enemies a week. He was worse, but he's been my best friend for years."

"Wait," Draco hissed.

"Why?"

"Disappear for an evening, and I'll tell you if he tells me."

Harry thought about that while Lupin called for another volunteer. "All right," he said.


At the end of class, Harry went up to talk to Professor Lupin. He turned and watched as the other students filed out.

"I thought you weren't allowed to be alone with me," Remus said mildly.

Harry shrugged. "Oh well." He looked pleadingly at Remus. "Could I borrow the Verifier? I'll give it back to you on Friday."

"And why would I loan you a Verifier?" Remus sounded more amused than offended.

"I've agreed to let Draco investigate something for me," Harry explained. "I need to know if what he tells me is true, or not."

"Draco."

"It's that, or just act as if I trust him, and see if anything breaks."

"Well, I can see why you might not want to do that."

"Please?"

Remus sighed. "I need it for my afternoon classes. Can you drop into my office at four?"

"That would be great. Thanks."

"Harry?"

Harry turned back. "Yes?"

"I ... I still don't like you with Malfoy."

Harry shrugged slightly. "I know."

"Be careful what you tell him. He's clever, and perceptive. If he figures out anything about you and --" Lupin stopped suddenly, a frustrated look crossing his face. Harry could see him trying to find a name that was safe.

"Your hawk," he suggested.

Lupin laughed nervously. "Not mine! But yes -- no telling whom he would tell. And it need only be that you have been at his mercy, in some way, but are still alive."

Harry looked down. "He already knows a lot, unfortunately. None of it from anything I told him, but ... word gets around the dungeons."

"That's very dangerous."

"I understand that. If I avoid talking to him, it is no less so."

"Depending on what you say."

"Yes."

"Very well, then. Shall we go to lunch?"


Harry waited impatiently for his time with Severus. He was not as cheerful about it as he might have been. He needed to ask about Malfoy's intentions and was afraid he would not like the answer, and he felt he ought to ask about Maitland, and if there had been a game, as James had heard. He knew that would be an unpleasant conversation, whether the rumor had been true, or not. The thought of James's letter reminded him he had never seen the one from Lily. He wondered if it had been long enough that he could safely ask again.

Then, there was the matter of Ron and Malfoy. He had the Verifier in his pocket, and had spent a while before the mirror, practicing ways to look at it surreptitiously, but it reminded him of the reason he had it. If Ron didn't contact Draco, and Draco told him so, all was well. He wasn't sure what he would do if Ron did contact Draco, or if Draco lied about it, in either direction.

Still, worrying about things was always worse than doing them. He would see Severus, soon, and probably some of it, at least, would be pleasant. Whether it was or not, he would at least not be pestered by so many mysteries.

It was no trouble at all to act agitated for Ron and Hermione's benefit.

Harry had just tasted his trifle when it happened: Snape was summoned. Harry saw the slight twitch and the rapid exit. He thought it must be clear to anyone who knew. Dumbledore, of course, continued to placidly converse with Professor Sprout. At all the staff table, only Remus and Professor McGonagall glanced after the sweep of black robes through the door.

Harry looked down at his plate and tried not to panic, or at least not to show it. What if Malfoy had figured it out? Or, as Remus had implied, merely reported that Harry Potter had been alone with Severus Snape in a warded room. Severus had said, though, that Dumbledore had bespelled him to be unable to harm a student, and Voldemort knew that.

Harry looked down at his plate and poked at his trifle, separating the bits of fruit out from the rest of the mush. Severus had said that Voldemort had a new meeting place, near here. Perhaps he could find it. He glanced over at the Slytherin table. Draco was eating studiously, his focus never leaving his spoon. Draco had said that Slytherin had an item which displayed your distance to Snape. With that, he could find the Death Eaters. He could watch, and make sure Voldemort didn't kill his father. He could --

Harry stopped the thought there. I could get killed, he told himself angrily. Besides, how would I get Draco to give me this item? Oy, Draco, I want to find the DE meeting. Loan me the Severus Snape finder? No reason, just curious.... And what if he was the one who betrayed him in the first place? And even if he didn't, why not follow me and betray me? Ask for his father's freedom as a reward, even.

Harry stopped the thought there. Nothing is wrong. Probably, nothing is wrong. It's just a summoning. He probably gets summoned all the time, I just don't usually see.

Still, Harry thought, it wouldn't do any harm to try to find the meeting. Perhaps he could use a location charm, if it was close enough.

He stopped that line of thought, again. Desperately, he looked around for Ron or Hermione. They had both left. He left his flattened trifle, and set out for Gryffindor tower.


Harry entered the Gryffindor common room. After a moment of looking frantically about, he saw Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Dean sitting near a window. He went over to them and stood awkwardly by their shared table.

"Harry?" Ron said in surprise.

"I want a favor." Harry heard his voice come out cold, almost harsh, with tension. He tried to smile apologetically, but could not manage it.

"Anything I can do for you," Ron said sincerely.

"Don't let me leave, tonight." The four stared at him in silence. Harry hugged his arms tight over his body. "I mean -- we could walk around the castle. And don't try to keep me tomorrow. This isn't my usual.... But if I leave here alone tonight, I'm going to do something really stupid."

He watched the three exchange glances. Timidly, Hermione looked up at him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

Again, there were uneasy glances all around, then Ron shifted to the side, creating space between himself and Hermione.

"Well, sit down and talk about Defense Against the Dark Arts, then."


For a while, they did homework together. It began to seem almost as if they were all comfortably friends, again. Harry felt vaguely like he'd dropped into an alternate universe where the last two weeks of fights had never happened. He looked down at his hands. His fingers were longer than they used to be, and he was wearing an emerald ring.

Ginny saw the look. "That's a spectacular ring," she said. "Where did you get it?"

"It was my mum's," Harry answered absently.

"May I try it on?"

"No!" Harry winced at how fiercely the response came out. He smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry. It's charmed. I'm the only one who can wear it -- until I decide to marry."

"Oh." Ginny gave first him, then the ring, an exaggerated wary look. "I'll pass, then."

Harry pulled out his Transfiguration book and tried to read. He wasn't sure if Transfiguration was harder than it used to be because he was loosing James's native talent, or because he couldn't look at Professor McGonagall without imaging how upset she was going to be. He made it through half a chapter before the words began to blur.


A pale figure, dressed in black, was standing motionless in a large, high-ceilinged room. Another figure in black crawled forward and began to kiss the hem of the first's robe. Despite the black cloak and hood and the mask, even whiter than the Dark Lord's face, Harry knew who it was. He could feel it, feel his skin crawl as his father murmured "Master."

"So late," Voldemort hissed. "Again."

"I beseech your indulgence, my lord," Severus whined. "I cannot depart the great hall at a run."

"My indulgence you shall have," Voldemort replied. His red eyes narrowed. "Crucio!" He smiled thinly as the Death Eater twitched at his feet. "And you shall indulge me, also, laggard," he hissed. It was at least another ten seconds before he lowered his wand. He looked down. "Take your place in the circle, Severus."

"Thank you, Master," Severus panted. He crawled backward to the spot between two others before attempting to stand. Voldemort looked pleased.

"Next week, it begins," he hissed. "We will start with our allies -- all expendable -- then continue the offensive on our own. I want everyone ready. All of you have six potential targets. Study them. When the night comes, I will tell you which to take. I will tolerate no failures. If your assigned targets do not die, you will die in their place."

"Yes, my lord."

"As you will, master."

"They are as dead already, lord."

The murmurs of assent swelled and abated. The tall figure stopped in front of Severus. ""Except you."

"My lord?" Mild surprise. A touch of disappointment, perhaps.

"You are too valuable to permit such sport. You will make me weapons."

"Master."

"You will be here, Sunday, not at Hogwarts. I will not have your work monitored or compromised."

"Wise, my master." Severus bowed.

"I will give you a list of the things I require before you leave. Have any needed components delivered to Avery."

"My lord --"

"Enough!" Voldemort said curtly. He moved on. In front of the next person, he paused and turned back. His red eyes narrowed to slits. "And Severus? Your work for me will be monitored."

"I am loyal only to you, my lord."

"Perhaps."

Harry screamed.


He was on the floor of the Gryffindor common room with three people holding him down. Someone was saying "shit, oh shit, oh shit," and it took him a while to realize that was his own voice and stop. He took a deep breath, cut off what remained of the link, and focused. It was Hermione, Ron, and Dean holding him down, he realized. He cleared his throat.

"Okay -- you can let me up, now."

They released him slowly.

"I thought this didn't happen anymore!" Hermione exclaimed, her voice nearly hysterical. Harry concentrated on breathing. "You said you knew Occlumency!"

"I do know Occlumency, but I generally only do it before bed. I can't walk around in that state all the time!" Harry sat and sagged back again the skirt of the couch. "He's very close."

"What?!" Ron yelped.

"It was a vision. A real --" Harry stopped himself. "It felt real," he clarified. "I have ways to check, but not immediately. I need to talk to Dumbledore before breakfast, but there's no point in doing it now." He had a sudden surge of panic for Severus. No. He'll be fine. He's to come back Sunday. His eyes focused on Hermione's concerned face. "Don't let me leave," he pleaded.

"S'all right, mate," Ron said firmly. "We won't let you leave."

Harry looked nervously around. He could focus beyond his helpers, now, and he could see the other people in the room staring at him.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

"Harry," Hermione began.

"Just -- our old place to meet. That's all. Nowhere dangerous. Ginny and Dean can come." Harry laughed, a trifle hysterically. "I'm sure the four of you can handle me."

"This is fine."

"No it's not! There are too many people!"

Ron took his wrist. "Come on, then. Let's go."


In the corridor, Harry clarified that he had meant the Room of Requirement, when he said "our old place to meet." He did the walking up and down while his friends waited suspiciously, two at either end of the corridor. He waited politely for them at the door.

He wasn't sure what they had been expecting -- portkeys or weapons, perhaps -- but clearly not a warm, cozy room with low couches and heaps of pillows, all dimly lit by scattered multi-colored fairy lights, floating in mid-air. There was music -- some sort of innocuous classical piece that Harry could not put a name to -- and the whole place smelled faintly of warm milk and cardamom.

Odd touch, that,

Harry reflected. My subconscious is stranger than I thought. He settled down on one of the low couches and pulled out his necklace. "Ron?" he asked, holding up the bubble wand. Ron looked uncertain. Harry shrugged, blew a stream of bubbles in the air, and caught as many as he could. He didn't quite laugh, but he smiled brightly, and was suddenly amused by the nervous looks on the others' faces. He stood up and stalked Hermione.

"Come here, little student," he said intently. The words reminded him of Severus and Remus, which also made him smile. "Call it an experiment." Hermione backed up, shaking her head. Harry, laughing, turned from her, and immediately blew the potion at Ginny, who giggled.

"Oy!" Ron exclaimed.

"No harm done," Harry soothed. He blew more of the bubbles into the air between himself and Ron. "Come on, now. Touch. We'll all be much more reasonable." He popped one of the bubbles as he spoke. Nervously, Ron reached out and popped one, then smiled and did another.

"Er... what is that?" Dean asked.

Harry laughed. "A purely recreational potion, courtesy of yours truly." He laughed again. The bubbles were very pretty in the fairy lights. "My own invention."

"You didn't tell me!" Ron said.

"But true. That's why I can't tell you about long term effects. This didn't exist until August." Harry blew more bubbles at Ginny, then some at an advancing Dean, then more back at Ron. He smiled at Hermione.

"Come on, now. You're the only one left."

"I'll watch, thanks."

"As you wish." Harry stretched out on the couch. "What a boring life you must have." Ginny sat on the floor near him, and he played with her hair. It was lovely and shiny, and intensely red. Such a pity only one of the boys wears his long, he thought. "So, tell me what you've all been doing," he suggested. "Ginny?"

"Enjoying my boyfriend!" Ginny said promptly. Harry blew another round of bubbles at Dean, as he sat next to Ginny. Harry touched his hair, too. It was springy and strange. Harry patted it and felt it bounce back. He patted it again.

"Worrying about you," Ron sighed, lying on the facing couch.

Harry giggled. "Such a waste of energy. You, Hermione?"

"Researching Augustus Maitland and worrying about you," Hermione said. She sighed. "Loads," she added. "What about you?"

"Mmm. Learning subterfuge; befriending Malfoy, who's such a poor lost boy, some moments, and such a delightful devil others; overcoming my prejudices; playing the Kerner theramin; running from the past; looking for the past; watching the mangled remains of a romance that crashed before I was born; reflecting on love and hate and kinship, and whether or not I am a bad person to welcome my aunt's death." Harry leaned his head back onto the arm rest. He felt nearly content. "Damn. Should've asked it for cigarettes."

Hermione frowned in disapproval. Dean twisted to look back at him in surprise. Harry blew more bubbles up in the air and watched them glitter with myriad reflected colors. He let them drift down onto him, and they broke one by one, suspending him in the spot he had already reached. He caught one on his finger and it stayed whole.

"Hermione?" he asked. She stared at him. He blew the bubble at her and she let it hit. She smiled slightly. "More?" he asked.

"No, really. I'll just watch. Some other time, perhaps." Ginny and Dean had fallen down on the futon between the couches and were kissing languorously. Hermione moved into their former place, with her head near Harry's chest. Harry played with the curls of her hair.

"How did you play the Dark detector?" she asked.

"Occlumency. I closed off pieces of my link to Tom."

"Oh. Do you like my hair?

"It's as beautiful as Ginny's and as interesting as Dean's," Harry answered. Hermione giggled. A laugh from Dean was muffled by Ginny's mouth.

"Why Draco?"

"I feel sorry for him. And he needs to learn to make friends. And he's trying. And he's funny. And James said to eschew retaliation."

The last reason slipped out before Harry could stop it. He had the simultaneous thoughts of I felt like I still had more control than that, and unedited, I use words like "eschew?"

"James?" Hermione questioned sharply. Harry decided she was taking advantage of being the only unaffected person in the room, and he definitely should not have more bubbles.

"I found some old letters my dad wrote," Harry explained solemnly. He managed a sigh. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Could I have more?" Ron interrupted. "What Ginny and Dean are doing is starting to bother me."

Harry looked down. Ginny had straddled Dean. Her robe was open and he had his hands up her shirt.

"Course." Harry blew some bubbles across to Ron, then had to flap a pillow at them to get them all the way across. Ron caught all the ones that made it and lay back down. "Blow more," he said. "Just for the lights." Harry blew another batch.

"Can you do something about this music?" Hermione asked, sounding annoyed. Harry listened for a moment. It was still some vaguely familiar somnolent piece with woodwinds and strings. "Don't know," he said. "What would you rather?"

"Something jazzy," Hermione suggested. Harry thought that he'd asked for an assortment of music. Jazzy, he thought firmly. The music changed, causing everyone else to twitch.

"Okay." Hermione grinned. "The Maple Leaf Rag wasn't what I had in mind, but it will do."

Ginny looked over and giggled. Harry suspected the "just for the lights" bubbles had mostly landed on her and Dean. "How am I supposed to snog to this?" she complained.

"You're not. Get off the boy and pull down your shirt," Harry ordered. "You can come back here with him on your own, rather than embarrassing your poor brother."

"Who looks just crushed," Ginny said sarcastically, but she did get off Dean, who sat next to her, with one arm around her waist.

"Did you say Malfoy is a lost little boy?" she asked, "or is this stuff hallucinogenic, too?"

"He is, sometimes," Harry said defensively. "Just in little bits. His father's fallen from grace, both in the Dark Lord's circle and without it, and it's done odd things to his life. He finally gets to see who he has for friends."

"Like no one?" Ron suggested.

"No, it's the other way round," Harry explained. "He always assumed he didn't have any real friends, and now it turns out some people truly like him. He's a bit embarrassed." He sat up and yawned. "But it's made him start trying, and I don't think he's ever done that before."

He decided he'd reached the mild calming potion stage, and it was time to take advantage of Ron's more open state.

"Would you really betray me to him?"

"I don't know," Ron replied. "I don't think so. Perhaps if I was really pissed off at you, and had worked myself into a state over it."

"Do you still want to be an Auror?"

"I didn't have the O.W.L.s for it, remember?"

"But if you could be? What if they sent you after Remus?"

"Why would they do that?"

"Because he's a werewolf."

"That's not illegal."

"Two months ago, not reporting his full moon location was not illegal. Who's to say?"

Hermione frowned. "Does that worry you?"

"That the government seems stuffed with hysterical, corrupt, unjust idiots? Yes." Harry sighed. "But I really admire a lot of the Aurors I know, and somebody has to do the job they ought to do. I don't know what to do about it."

"You should talk to Bill," Ron volunteered.

"Bill?"

"Right. Mum and Dad wanted him to join the Ministry, of course, but Bill spent a long time thinking about it -- even had an internship in the Department of Mysteries -- then decided he couldn't support it. Dad didn't agree, of course. Talk to both of them, and you'll get both sides of it."

They talked long after any lingering affects of bubble potion had faded, but in the cozy, dim room, everyone stayed peaceful, Hermione as much as the rest of them. She made a soft, pleased noise when Harry kissed her hair.

"Love you," he said. He chanted it softly in her ear. "Love you, love you, love you."

"But are you in love with me?" she asked coyly.

"Damned if I know," Harry confessed. "How can I tell when you're so pretty?"

"You're such a darling, foolish boy," Hermione reproved gently.

"And you're so too worried. It will be all right."

"And if it's not?"

He slid an arm around her, carefully staying above her breasts, and held her tight. "Then two targets like us will likely not be around to care."





Chapter 46: An Evening with Severus