Harry Potter and the Death Eater's Son

4. Absences and Appearances

The end of term had arrived, and Harry sat in the common room, waiting with his trunk at his feet--both he and Hermione had been invited to The Burrow for Christmas. Hedwig was on the table and hooting at him with disgust, making it clear that she didn't appreciate being back in her cage. While he was waiting, he toyed with the idea of confiding in Hermione about his crush on Oliver Wood. He came to the conclusion, however, that he probably wouldn't have the opportunity to talk to her without Ron being present; the two seemed to be joined at the hip lately. He wondered whether he just wanted to confide in her now in order to regain the closeness of their friendship. Even his friendship with Ron had become more distant since the ball. Harry was also aware that Oliver was due to return to Puddlemere after Christmas to begin training. With the source of his distraction going, he hoped that his being attracted to a man would now stop playing on his mind.

He was brought out of his meanderings by the sound of someone walking down the stairs from the girls' dormitory. It was Hermione, carrying her trunk and a bag full of books, with Crookshanks following behind.

"Ron was worried that you're going to spend all your time reading, and now I can see why," he snickered, half-hoping that she would be, so that he and Ron could spend some time together without Harry feeling like an intruder.

"I know. He asked me if I planned to spend any time interacting with the outside world. But as I said to him, these are only for reference," Hermione replied, as she heaved the distended bag onto the table with a thud. "Where is Ron? I would've thought he'd be ready to go."

"He's gone to the Owlery; Pig didn't fly up to the dorm with Hedwig this morning."

As if on cue, Ron chose that moment to burst into the common room, evidently upset, proclaiming that he couldn't find Pig. Harry knew that, despite the frequent complaints about Pig's irritating behaviour, Ron had become very fond of the tiny owl. Harry suspected the seemingly dizzy owl was cleverer than it let on; it was always whizzing round and annoying Ron whenever he needed to be distracted from unimportant things. He could see no reason for Pig's absence that morning, and he thought Ron was right to be worried. But if they didn't get a move on, they'd risk missing the train.

"I'll let Hedwig out," Harry suggested, receiving an appreciative hoot from the direction of the table. "She can look for Pig and bring him back to the Burrow."

"You'd better get your trunk, Ron. It's time to go," Hermione said, giving him a reassuring hug before adding, "I'm sure he'll be all right."

But to Ron's dismay, Hedwig arrived at The Burrow later that day, alone, and it seemed that even she was agitated by Pig's disappearance.

***

Harry found he had been right in assuming there'd be no chance to speak to Hermione alone. He resigned himself to the fact that this part of himself, his attraction to Oliver, would end up filed with all the other little bits and pieces that he never told his friends. Thinking of all these things that had passed by unsaid for one reason or another only helped him feel even more cut off from Hermione and Ron. If it wasn't for Pig's disappearance, Harry was quite sure that Ron and Hermione would be spending a lot more time alone than they were. As it was, Ron wasn't the best of company, anyway. To stop himself from stewing any further, Harry did his best to help Hermione take Ron's mind off of Pig.

But not everyone was showing the same concern for Ron's feelings. Fred and George had come home to join in the celebrations, and much to Ron's annoyance, they made it their task to come up with as many gruesome suggestions as possible concerning what had occurred to Pig. These included being injured and dying painfully slowly, all alone, being savaged by another animal, and being stolen and used in some magic ritual--they were very keen to point out that elf owls were very popular in this last respect. When Ron became positively distraught, it only encouraged them. Mrs Weasley was not impressed, and she relegated them to clearing the snow outside until they agreed to stop speculating about it in front of Ron.

On the day before Christmas, Pig still hadn't appeared. But Ron was successfully distracted for a while by a small article in The Daily Prophet that had attracted Hermione's attention. Squeezed into a corner of the third page was a report on a burglary that was, according to the paper, probably the work of Death Eaters. The burglary had occurred at a warehouse of a major supplier of magical herbs. The odd thing about the article was there was no mention of what had been stolen, and when they asked Mr Weasley, he had refused to tell them. He explained that the Ministry didn't want people to panic unnecessarily. The Ministry hadn't released all the details to The Daily Prophet, believing that the media would undoubtedly make a drama out of it. Knowing this only served to arouse their curiosity further.

Christmas day arrived with the entire family wearing matching jumpers. Mrs Weasley's looked slightly bedraggled, as Mr Weasley had insisted on making her one the Muggle way. Presents were exchanged and copious amounts of food were consumed amongst a cheerful atmosphere. Ron had finally forgiven Fred and George for winding him up about Pig--even though they had enchanted some mistletoe to persistently hover over him and Hermione, causing the pair of them to blush profusely. Harry found this very amusing, although he had to admit to feeling slightly jealous at their closeness. Ron and Hermione now shared something extra, something special, and Harry wondered whether he would ever be in a relationship like that, but he found it hard to imagine. How could he possibly get that close to someone after all he'd been through? How could he share himself with another person, knowing what had been prophesised for him for the future?

Four days before they were due to return, they received an impromptu visit from Professor Dumbledore. The Death Eaters in Azkaban had escaped, including Lucius Malfoy, and Dumbledore thought it would be best for Harry to return to Hogwarts at once. Harry expected that Ron and Hermione would insist on going with him, but they had said nothing, giving Harry got the impression that they were looking forward to time alone without him cramping their style. In the end it had been Dumbledore who suggested it. Although they had looked happy enough at returning early, Harry was a little bit miffed that they had to be prompted in the first place.

Now that Lucius Malfoy had escaped, Harry figured that Draco Malfoy was going to be insufferable when he returned. There would be a good deal of bragging, at the very least, with probably a few death threats mixed in. He wondered whether Draco would now have some real ammunition, courtesy of his father. Would he be helping out Lucius in his father's personal vendetta? Harry also worried about Voldemort's plans, hoping this didn't mean Voldemort was going to intensify his attacks on the wizarding community in the near future.

***

Having returned to Hogwarts, they sat eating their lunch in the Great Hall and debating whether the burglary they read about in The Daily Prophet might have had a connection to the breakout from Azkaban. All of a sudden, Harry felt a flash of pain through his scar, followed by a burning sensation. He brought his hand swiftly to his forehead and pressed hard, trying to numb the pain. Hermione stopped eating and looked up, concerned.

"Are you okay, Harry?"

"Scar," Harry muttered before turning to Ron. "Do you remember last year, when I could tell that Voldemort was angry with Avery?" Ron nodded. "Well, it feels the same now."

"Why would he be angry? I would've thought he'd be ecstatic that his Death Eaters have escaped," Ron pointed out.

"I don't understand, either," Harry said. "I don't know what's upset him. But it doesn't feel... right." Harry felt it was as if Voldemort had been angry about something for a while and had only just reacted to it. He was about to say as much when a wave of pleasure flooded through his scar, going straight to his groin.

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not wanting to let his friends in on his unwelcome reaction. He was mortified. Whatever Voldemort was doing, he seemed to have worked off his anger, and it wasn't in a way that Harry had ever experienced through the scar before. He could he tell--very clearly--what type of activity Voldemort was currently engaged in, and Harry couldn't restrain his own response. Was this a new development of their connection, or was this the first time Voldemort had enjoyed himself since he had risen again? He really didn't want to be thinking about this type of thing: wondering about Voldemort's sex life. He certainly hoped Voldemort didn't plan on making it a frequent occurrence, as having to go through this traumatic experience once was more than enough for Harry. Any more and he'd be a permanent resident at St. Mungo's. Harry also cringed to think that yet another erection was due to someone male--and someone far less appealing than Oliver Wood. He tried not to bring his breakfast back up in disgust and did his best to hide this new development from Ron and Hermione. He knew that, from now on, he'd no longer have any problems finding the motivation to try harder at Occlumency.

To Harry's relief, his physical reaction was startled out of his system when a small, half-fluffy, half-bald projectile landed in Ron's cornflakes.

"Pig!" Ron yelled, but his pleasure at having his owl returned was soon mixed with concern over the state of his pet. It looked as if someone had been plucking the little owl, and there were several patches of weeping, inflamed skin in the balder areas.

"Come on, Ron," Hermione prompted, grabbing his elbow. "Let's take him to Hagrid. He'll know what to do."

They abandoned their half-empty plates and practically ran towards Hagrid's hut, with Ron cradling Pig in a corner of his robes. Hagrid had looked slightly shocked at first when Ron gently handed over the injured bird, and Ron began to fret that Hagrid wouldn't be able to help. But after gently checking the little bird over, Hagrid told them he was confident Pig would make a full recovery.

"Looks like someone's bin an' helped themselves to most of his feathers. Don' look like no animal attack, they've bin too cleanly plucked, they have. Poor little blighter. Now, don' yeh go worryin' yerselves, I'll take care of him, an' he'll be as righ' as rain in a couple a weeks. Has any of yeh mentioned this to Professor Dumbledore?"

"I told my dad when he first went missing, but we came straight to you as soon as he turned up," Ron explained.

"Well, I've a feeling tha' the headmaster would wan' ter know abou' summat like this. I'm goin' ter see him meself, later on today, so I'll mention it ter him fer yeh."

Just as they were about to make their way back to the castle, Hermione stopped and turned back to face Hagrid.

"Hagrid, there was a burglary over Christmas. It was mentioned in The Daily Prophet. Do you know what was stolen?"

"Wha' was stolen?" Hagrid was a bit flustered as he repeated her question to himself and tucked Pig into what looked like a shoebox lined with cotton wool. "An' wha' would yeh three be wantin' with tha' information, then?"

"We're just curious, that's all. It seems odd that it wasn't mentioned in the paper. Does it have anything to do with Voldemort?"

"Now, don' yeh go worryin' yehselves abou' it." Hagrid pulled his coat on and stood by the door. "Come on, I've gotta take Fang fer a walk and get a few things fer Pig. Now, no more pryin' into what doesn' concern yer."

***

During the last couple of days before term started, Hermione spent her free time researching the use of elf owl feathers in the hope of understanding why Pig was stolen. She soon admitted defeat after realising that she had already listed at least a hundred different potions and hadn't even begun to look into different types of rituals. She had started the research alone, in case she found anything that would upset Ron, and Harry knew this would've made an ideal time to talk to her, but he no longer had any desire to discuss his attraction to Oliver Wood with anyone.

Instead, he spent his time playing chess with Ron. Ron avoided the subject of him and Hermione dating, and he only wanted to talk about Pig. So Harry just let Ron ramble on, wondering at the way things seemed to be changing between them. Ron's world revolved around Hermione now, and he didn't feel it was his place to discuss the relationship with Harry; Ron had said that it would be too much like betraying her trust. Also--because of dating Hermione, Harry assumed--Ron didn't show as much of an interest in Harry's life as he used to. As a result, they had very little to talk about that could reinforce their weakening friendship.

***

Once the term had begun, Harry soon settled back into lessons and was bewildered by the sudden lack of venom coming from Draco Malfoy's direction. He seemed to be avoiding all three of them now. Whenever they passed in the corridors or had class together, Malfoy refused to even look in their direction, putting up a tight-lipped façade. Harry was stumped. Last term, Malfoy had been his predictable self, going out of his way to make life difficult for Harry and never missing an opportunity to throw in a scathing remark. Now, Harry could almost believe it was someone using Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Malfoy.

"Maybe Azkaban has sent Lucius Malfoy mad, and he actually wants his son to play nice," Ron joked one evening in the common room. He was really pleased with the change in attitude, and he took every opening he could to have a dig, just to see how far Malfoy could be pushed. So far, it had only descended to minor verbal sparring each time before Malfoy made a quick exit. Ron reasoned that Malfoy had it coming to him, but Harry couldn't bring himself to join in, feeling that it seemed just a little bit petty.

"I can't ever imagine Malfoy agreeing to be nice to us," Hermione pointed out. "But it is weird. He doesn't even seem to be hanging around with any of the other Slytherins as much as he used to. It's almost like he doesn't know who to trust anymore."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, welcoming the break from studying, even if it was to talk about Malfoy. "He's becoming a bit of a loner--he doesn't even have his lap-dogs fawning over him anymore. Now that must be denting his ego!"

"Millicent seems to think his father's got him involved in some scheme to cause trouble at Hogwarts," Hermione informed them as she put the finishing touches to her homework. "Perhaps he needs to keep himself to himself in order to carry it out. Harry, I'd try not to become too complacent at his lack of nastiness if I were you. That might be just what he's waiting for."

"Perhaps all of the Slytherins are coming down with some illness," Ron began, with mock seriousness. "After all, Millicent has already turned over a new leaf this year. I bet Malfoy just wants to be buddies with everyone, like she is, but he can't bring himself to pull it off."

Harry and Ron both chuckled at the image of Malfoy wanting to be friendly like Millicent, and Harry felt a rush of warmth at the shared joke.

Ron then turned his attention back to Hermione. He was giving her puppy dog eyes, evidently hoping that she'd help him with his homework--Hermione had been letting Ron get away with more than usual since the ball, and she was more willing to help him out with schoolwork now. Previously, Harry had always been Ron's first port of call; they tried to work it out together before pestering Hermione in unison. Ron never bothered to ask for Harry's help anymore; he didn't have to. He didn't need Harry. And this even extended to Quidditch conversations. Any time Ron spent discussing Quidditch was usually with the Hufflepuff Keeper, Wayne Hopkins, going over Keeper tactics. Harry wasn't welcome for these sessions. Ron had made a pact with Wayne: they wouldn't let anyone else in their teams know about each other's tactics. They reasoned that, with them both being Keepers, they wouldn't have an influence over the way each other played. Even though they were due to play each other in February, Ron was adamant that it wouldn't be a problem. "Don't worry, you can trust a Hufflepuff," he had asserted.

***

So Harry's attention began to drift elsewhere, and he found himself wondering about the change in Malfoy. Malfoy's unexpected behaviour had even continued in Potions lessons, with him not only keeping out of any Gryffindor-baiting, but also acting warily around Professor Snape. During the class, Harry noticed Professor Snape watching Malfoy at regular intervals, but he couldn't tell what emotion those stern glances held. Did Snape know about Malfoy's scheme? Unfortunately, all this extra interest that Snape showed in Malfoy didn't prevent Snape from picking on Harry with all the usual scorn he could muster. With Harry's curiosity sufficiently piqued, he decided to speak with Malfoy, but he knew it would have to be done on his own. He didn't rate his chances of getting any information out of Malfoy as it was, and if Hermione and Ron were with him, they definitely wouldn't get anywhere. Harry wanted to know what Malfoy was up to, whether it was all just a ruse in order to cause more trouble in the long-term. If Millicent was right, Harry was sure that, when he had the chance to pin Malfoy down, he would be bound to let something slip. Even though he seemed to be good at keeping his cool, Harry was hopeful that Malfoy's overconfidence and arrogance would cause him to brag about something he shouldn't.

After their second Potions lesson of the term, Harry told Hermione and Ron that he had to speak to Professor Snape about Occlumency lessons. He watched them leave and then silently followed Draco Malfoy down the corridor. When no one else was nearby, Harry made his presence known.

"What's with the change?" he asked when he was a few feet behind Malfoy, carefully keeping his tone neutral and enjoying the feeling of having startled him. "I thought you'd be rubbing my nose in it, now that your father's escaped."

Malfoy stopped walking and spun around, glaring at him, but with less force than usual.

"What are you talking about, Potter?"

"You've changed since you went home at Christmas. I'm assuming that it's got something to do with your father getting out of Azkaban. Is he finding life a little awkward, having to hide from the Ministry? Or has he made some sort of deal with them?"

"Stay out of it. This is none of your business," Malfoy growled before turning away and marching off down the corridor briskly, making it clear Harry was not welcome to follow.

Harry accepted that he wouldn't get any information today, but he was determined to find out what was going on. He passively watched as Malfoy left, merely calling out, "I'll be keeping my eyes on you, Malfoy!"

Harry continued to follow him over the next few days, and he found that Malfoy was constantly on guard, persistently checking over his shoulder and saying very little to anyone. Whether this was only since their little confrontation or whether Malfoy had been behaving this way since the start of term, Harry wasn't sure. Malfoy seemed to be eyeing everyone with suspicion, except his Head of House, whom he actively avoided. Harry had even snuck down to the Slytherin Quidditch practice and watched as Malfoy had let himself become frequently distracted, often making silly mistakes. As far as Harry was aware, Hermione and Ron hadn't caught on to his surveillance. Nothing had been mentioned--they were too busy spending time together, Harry bitterly acknowledged. But at least this made it easier for Harry to spy on Malfoy. It was certainly taking his mind off of the now-absent Oliver Wood, which, he reasoned, could only be a good thing.

At the end of the second week, Harry noticed an eagle owl swooping into the Great Hall and delivering a letter to Malfoy at breakfast. He watched as Malfoy took the proffered letter and read it with a carefully composed face. Malfoy left the table immediately. That day, and that day only, saw Draco Malfoy temporarily return to his normal foulness, taking his venom out on any easy target. Harry assumed that this was due to the letter, and he was curious to find out what it could've said to prompt this brief resurgence in Malfoy's vindictiveness.

As part of his continuing observations of Malfoy, Harry had begun to make a habit of checking the Marauders' Map each evening before he went to bed. He soon realised that Malfoy was making regular excursions to the Astronomy Tower--alone. Harry decided to pay him a visit.

The following evening, he feigned tiredness and went up to the dormitory early before making a hidden exit under his Invisibility Cloak. He made sure he was already waiting in the tower when Malfoy arrived. Malfoy quietly closed the door and exhaled loudly. He then stomped across to one of the windows, frowning, and stared into the blackness outside, raking his hands through his short blond hair. Seeing that Malfoy was apparently not here for any nefarious reasons, Harry made to remove the cloak and reveal himself, but stopped when the door suddenly banged open. Professor Snape stood there, silhouetted against the light coming in from the staircase.

"I think it's about time you stopped these little night time jaunts of yours, Draco." Snape's harsh tones broke through the silence, and a look of apprehension flooded Malfoy's face. "I've overlooked them so far, but I'm not prepared to continue doing so." Snape walked in and closed the door before adding, "You could talk to me instead."

"No." Malfoy's raspy voice could barely be heard, even though the room was silent. Harry could see him sitting stock-still in the moonlight that flooded in from the window; he seemed petrified.

"You've changed since your father's escape. I'm not the only one who's noticed; your father's been in contact with me, and he's worried, Draco. He's asked me to keep an eye on you." Harry watched as Malfoy flinched when his father was mentioned. "I know what that letter was about; I'm aware of what's expected to happen. Draco, you can trust me."

"I know," Malfoy agreed, but even Harry could tell that he was lying. "But there's nothing I need to say about it."

"Very well, get back to your bed, then," the Professor snapped, irritation clear in his voice.

Harry sat there for a few moments after both Malfoy and Snape had left. He had so many questions running through his head. Harry had started at Snape's mention of the letter; it definitely was connected to Malfoy's behaviour. If only he knew what it was about, and how Snape knew about it. What was expected to happen? Harry then wondered why Lucius had asked Snape to watch over Malfoy; what was Lucius so worried about? Harry was also surprised at the complete lack of trust Malfoy had shown towards Snape. He considered the possibility that Snape had been exposed, but he decided against it. Lucius Malfoy certainly wouldn't trust the man to keep an eye on his son if that was the case, especially as Lucius needed to remain out of the Ministry's reach. But he couldn't understand why Malfoy should be so scared. If anything, Harry reasoned, it should work the other way round. Surely Malfoy could make Snape's life awkward, via his father, if he wanted to. But Malfoy was scared.

Harry would have normally relished the situation between Malfoy and Snape, but he had to admit to feeling a slight twinge of sympathy at Malfoy's discomfort in Snape's presence. Feeling a little uneasy with this, he reasoned that he was probably just tired. On his way to bed, he decided to discuss what had happened with Hermione and Ron over breakfast.

***

The next morning, Harry found he didn't have the opportunity to bring the subject up, or even get a word in edgeways. Ron and Hermione were too busy cooing over each other and moaning about the lack of privacy at Hogwarts. When a break finally came in the conversation, it was soon filled by one of the school owls arriving with a letter from Hagrid: Pig had recovered, and Ron could go and collect him. Harry opted not to bother telling them about the previous evening.

Ron and Hermione both bounded across the grounds enthusiastically to regain his owl, with Harry trailing after them. Pig still looked a bit sorry for himself, but he was certainly fluffier, and less "icky", as Ron had put it.

"Normally, I would've bin able ter fix 'im up a lot sooner, bu' he had a few ulcers, see, an' they take a good deal longer ter heal, withou' a bi' of pigeon berry. I haven't bin able ter get hold of any since tha' burglary at Christmas."

"It was pigeon berry that was stolen," Hermione exclaimed, much to Hagrid's dismay, and as they left his hut, the three made hasty promises that they wouldn't mention it to anyone.

"Pigeon berry... I remember that name," Ron muttered to himself as they walked back. He placed Pig carefully into a breast pocket of his shirt, and the owl hooted softly in appreciation. "I know! Percy used to have some; he used it in a potion for his acne."

"Voldemort is going to defeat the wizarding world by curing it of its ulcers, and by de-zitting it!" Harry said with a laugh.

"Let me guess," Ron began, glancing at Hermione with a look of resignation. "We're going to be spending the afternoon in the library."

Hermione grinned back at him, almost maliciously, it seemed.

In the library, Ron soon became bored wading through hefty tomes, and instead, turned to flicking through a Wizarding World magazine. Hermione threw him a few disgruntled stares, but she let him continue without any verbal nagging.

"Woah! I think I've found out something useful!" Ron suddenly exclaimed, earning him a stern look from Madame Pince. Leaning forward, he grinned and then continued in a whisper, "There's an article all about 'poke root' in here, it's also known as pigeon berry. The article briefly mentions the 'international shortage', and it describes how to prepare alternatives to use in healing potions for 'lymphatic disorders, ulcers, and acne and other skin complaints', but at the bottom it says this: 'it is also rumoured that poke root is a key ingredient in certain types of bonding rites. These particular rites are included in the initiation rituals of a number of highly secretive cults and societies.'"

"A 'highly secretive cult or society' is initiating a load of new recruits?" Harry asked. "Doesn't take much of an imagination to work out exactly who they are."

"Death Eaters," Hermione stated, looking uneasy at the revelation. "Perhaps Malfoy's change in behaviour has something to do with this."

"We know that he wouldn't get away with having the Dark Mark while he's still at school," Ron pointed out, "so maybe he's just sulking because he's not allowed it."

That seemed to satisfy Hermione and Ron as they chuckled over the image of Malfoy sulking to get his own way. Harry laughed, too, but he wasn't convinced. He felt there had to be more to Malfoy's behaviour than that; even Malfoy couldn't be that shallow.

***