Dark Time

Chapter One: Dark Time Coming

...that through dividing canes

brings those we love before us, as they were,

with faults and all, not nobler, just there.

-- Derek Walcott

Harry pushed open the door and the room smelled like graves. His nose wrinkled in disgust but he slipped inside anyway, closing the door with his heel. "Malfoy? You here?"

"Surprised you showed up, Potter," came the reply from the center of the dimly lit room.

"I only came because you said this will bring him back," Harry muttered, walking with uncertain steps toward where he assumed Draco was standing. "If you've lied to me..."

"Trust me, Potter, I wouldn't be putting up with your insufferable presence if this spell wasn't genuine. We'll both get what we want."

Harry looked from the blond to the intricate traceries in chalk on the floorboards. "Why does this place stink?" he wondered, bending over and reaching out to one of the markings.

Draco slapped Harry's hand away. "It's necromancy, Potter. It's not going to smell like roses. And stay away from those runes unless you want to wait another four months before trying this again."

Harry backed away from the symbols slowly, while Draco began positioning candles around the chalk circle. "What do you need me for, anyway? I can't believe you made this offer out of the goodness of your heart...provided you even have a heart."

"Haha, very funny, Potter." Draco walked counterclockwise around the circle, lighting every candle but two. "This particular ritual requires two wizards to perform. I may be able to set everything up by myself, but I need someone else to recite the incantation with me. And before you ask another bloody question, I'm warning you that you're only allowed one more. You're becoming more trouble than you're worth."

"Forgive me for disturbing the great Draco Malfoy," Harry simpered, bowing at the waist. "Fine, last question: what's in this for you?"

Draco jerked upright suddenly. "I'm here for my mother," he replied after a long pause. "I'm here to bring her back."
Harry blinked in confusion. "But...when did she..."
"Voldemort killed her over the summer, to punish my father for failing to retrieve the prophecy." Draco responded casually, as though explaining some incident from the History of Magic text, something distant and as far removed from his family as possible. "It was a stupid thing to do, really. Things like that only inspire revenge in people. Not the mark of leadership at all." Draco sighed. "So, are you ready?"
Harry nodded slowly.

Draco pointed at one of the unlit candles. "Pick that one up and stand there until I say otherwise." Harry complied as Draco retrieved the other unlit candle and stood at place opposite to him on the circle.

Draco nodded to Harry, and the two of them began to speak the incantation. "We come to search the Vaults for those who were taken from us. Open, that we may enter." The two boys walked to the center of the circle and black flames sprang up on the candles they held.

The grave smell grew stronger and Harry felt his eyes roll back, then shook his head to clear it. The smoke from the black-flame candles rose above the heads of the boys to form a cloud that settled to engulf them both, though it did not extend beyond the chalk circle. Harry tried to hold his breath, but spots soon danced before his eyes and he drew in deep lungfuls of the strange vapor.

His chest burned and he closed his eyes against the pain. When he opened them, the room he'd been in was gone, and the candle he'd been holding had vanished as well. He looked around.

White marble columns lined a pristine ivory pathway that stretched into eternity. Beyond the path, all was pitch black. Draco stood nearby, arms crossed and tapping one foot impatiently. "I know there's so much scenery to admire," he drawled, "but we really should be going. If anyone at Hogwarts finds that room and begins to undo the circle, then we'll be stuck here and as good as dead. Follow me."

***

"At the risk of sounding like my cousin, are we there yet?"

"Don't whine, Potter. It's unbecoming to golden boys."

"Shut the fuck up, Malfoy."

"Temper, temper, Potter."

"So how much longer?"

"Almost there, Potter. Never fear."

***

A few minutes later, they found themselves in a circular colonnade. A whispering that had been buzzing faintly in Harry's ears since their arrival increased to almost unbearable volume.
"Can you hear that?" Harry yelled to Draco, clapping his palms over his ears.

"It means we're in the right place," Draco yelled back. He turned away from Harry and shouted into the darkness beyond the columns. "Narcissa Malfoy, by bonds deeper than blood I call to you and beg you return to me, that I may return you to life." The roar fell silent and a woman materialized at the edge of the colonnade. She walked towards the boys smiling, the hem of her white dress fluttering in a nonexistent breeze.

"Hello, darling." She held Draco's face in her hands and pressed a kiss into his hair. "I knew you'd come back for me."

The whisper-roar began to return. "Call him, Potter," Draco said. "Hurry up, we're running out of time."

Harry drew a breath. The whispers wavered, expectant. "Sirius Black, by bonds deeper than blood I call to you and beg you return to me, that I may return you to life."

A man appeared between two columns, leaning against one with a casual air. He grinned wolfishly, brushing his dark hair from his eyes. "Hey, Harry," he called, walking over to his godson. He continued smiling until he noticed his cousin and her son. "Cissa," he growled.

"Siri." The woman's lips curved.

The whispers, which had faded to almost nothing, returned with surprising force. The roar was now almost unbearable. Narcissa covered her ears and Sirius ducked his head, upper lip curled in a snarl.

"Time to go," Draco shouted over the noise. "Potter, get over here." He grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him to the center of the colonnade. He held out his hands, palm up, and gestured for a few moments until Harry understood and covered Draco's hands with his own.

"Ready?" Draco asked, though he had to strain his voice to the limits to be heard.

Harry nodded and the two boys recited the final incantation together.

"We have found those we lost. We return to the world of the living, never again to enter the Vaults until our appointed time. Open, that we may depart."

A smoke-colored circle appeared beneath their feet. As it grew, extending toward where Sirius and Narcissa stood, Harry looked beyond the columns and gasped.

Hundreds of thousands of people were standing out there, shouting at them, the source of the whisper-roar. Their faces were streaked with tears and they were begging and they were people he knew.

"Cedric...Mum...Dad...Please, can't they come--" He leaned toward the columns, knowing if he reached, he could pull them through.

"NO!" Draco's hands became claws that held him fast, fingernails digging in and drawing blood. "Don't even think it, Potter! One person each; it's all we're allowed. You try and bring one of them, too, and we never see the real world again. Do you understand me?"

Harry nodded, but his head was craned back over his shoulder, eyes searching for the familiar faces.

"Harry!" A hand gripped his chin and wrenched his head back around. Silver eyes bored into his. "We cannot take them back. Even if we want to."

The shock at hearing Draco say his first name was eclipsed by the wonder of who Malfoy saw among the dead, tears on their face and hands reaching in vain.

Before he could ask, the circle beneath them glowed and the world twisted. Then, they were back in the room at Hogwarts. Once everyone had stepped clear of the markings on the floor, Draco made a hand gesture that simultaneously doused all the remaining candles in the circle; the black-flame candles were nowhere to be seen. With the candles extinguished, the chalk markings faded until it was as though they had never been.

"How are we getting out of here?" Sirius wondered, looking around at the shadowy surroundings.

Draco gestured to a far corner and muttered a spell. A fire sprang to life in a previously obscured fireplace. "It's tied to the Floo network, but we'd better hurry. I don't know how long we've got before someone comes looking."

His mother nodded. "Of course. Second level necromancy is hardly likely to go undetected in Hogwarts." Narcissa kissed her son's cheek. "Come to visit me as soon as you can."
"I will," Draco promised. She started to turn. Draco checked himself, then lunged forward and hugged his mother fiercely. Narcissa smiled and ran a hand through his hair, murmuring softly. Her ice-blue eyes landed on Harry, causing him to quickly look away. He felt like he'd invaded some private moment, as though Malfoy displays of affection weren't meant to be seen by those outside the family.

When he looked again, Narcissa had taken some Floo powder from a small, cracked jar on the floor and cast in into the fire. She stepped into the green flames and said, "Malfoy Manor." In an instant, she was gone.

"Your turn," Draco said, jerking his head in the direction of the fire, his typical expression of disdain back in place.

Neither Sirius nor Harry moved.

Draco rolled his eyes. "For pity's sake...Fine, I'll go. Then you won't have to worry about me knowing what hovel he's hiding in." Muttering to himself, Draco left the room.

"Remus isn't going to believe this," Sirius grinned.

"Probably not." Harry couldn't help but smile in return. "Just try and explain things before he hexes you in shock."

"Stay out of trouble, Harry," Sirius said, ruffling his godson's hair. He threw a handful of powder into the fire, walked into the fire himself and said, clearly but softly, "12 Grimmauld Place." When he had disappeared, Harry slipped out into the corridor and ran smack into Draco.

"What the hell is your problem?" Harry hissed through clenched teeth. "You spying at the door, you little git?"

Draco was staring straight ahead, seeming more like a statue than a living human being. "Can you see them?" he whispered. "Tell me you can see them."

"What the hell are you..." Harry's voice faded.

The hallway was full of people. Students in Hogwarts uniforms, middle-aged adults that might have been professors, a few that looked like parents or grandparents. Some were dressed in clothing styles that hadn't been seen for centuries. Two wore long white robes and seemed to glow faintly as they passed down the hall, whispering to each other. Harry thought their voices sounded like chimes and he could almost see the outlines of something coming from the backs of their robes.

"Who are these people?" Harry breathed, as a girl who looked to be a fourth year pushed past him, trying to redo her hair ribbons and muttering about detention.

"I've never seen them before in my life," Draco said, silver eyes following a dark haired woman of middle years whose name he should have known. "At least, I don't think I have..."

"It's almost four in the morning. Why are they all here?" Harry asked.

"I don't bloody know, Potter!" Draco snapped, his voice sounding a touch more frantic than he'd meant. "Let's just get the hell back to the dorms and hope no one notices we were gone."

Harry nodded and the boys bolted in opposite direction, heedless of being caught by Filtch and consumed by the desire to flee the mysterious crowds in the halls.

***

Breakfast came all too soon, as Harry tumbled out of bed and pulled on a clean uniform. He shuffled down to the Great Hall yawning and rubbing his eyes; the few hours of sleep he did manage were troubled with visions of his parents beyond the colonnade and the strangers in the corridors.

"Harry, you all right?" Ron asked, noticing his friend's fatigue. He looked around, then queried softly, "Nightmares?"

Harry forced a smile and shook his head. "Just couldn't sleep, that's all. Thinking too much, I guess."

Ron returned the grin. "I hear you. I think all the professors get together and conspire to give us all our big essays at the same time."

Harry laughed at the idea of Snape and McGonagall conspiring about anything, but before he could share this thought with Ron, he caught sight of Draco. The blond boy looked as bad as Harry felt, possibly worse; Harry wondered if he slept at all. Draco glanced up from his place at the Slytherin table, feeling Harry's eyes on him. He mouthed quickly, "They're here," then turned his attention to breakfast.

Harry followed Ron to where Hermione was already waiting for them at their own house table, but allowed himself to fall a few steps behind. He glanced around the Great Hall and found that it too was populated by an unusual number of people. Extra professors stood near the staff table, and extra students were packed onto the house benches. Harry worried his lower lip between his teeth as he took his seat.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Awfully crowded in here today," he said, looking down the table at a clump of fourth year girls he'd never seen before. One of them was the girl with the hair ribbons he'd seen earlier that morning. She noticed him and offered a smile and a wave by way of greeting. His mouth tilted up at the corner and he found himself waving back, as the girl returned to hushed conversation with her friends who were giggling and sneaking poorly disguised looks in his direction.

"Whatcha looking at, Harry?" Ron turned to face the direction of the fourth-years, blinking in apparent confusion.

"That girl...I..." Harry focused his attention on his best friend. "You see anyone sitting over there?" He pointed at the space occupied by the giggling girls.

Ron shook his head. "Do you?"

A knot of dread was forming in Harry's stomach, but he fought to suppress it. "I guess not...Just thought I saw someone." He removed his glasses, cleaned them on the hem of his robe and rubbed at his eyes.

Ron clapped him genially on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, mate. Your eyes are just playing tricks on you. Lack of sleep probably has something to do with it." He shoved a plateful of waffles in front of Harry. "Have something to eat. It'll help get your mind straightened out."

Harry started eating, but seriously doubted food would solve anything.

***

Two weeks later, Harry was walking the razor's edge of a nervous breakdown. No one else seemed capable of seeing the castle's influx of new occupants. He himself saw the hair-ribbon girl with the most regularity, but was never afforded any opportunities to talk with her. He wasn't even sure if he could talk with her, and the perpetual not-knowing was driving him mad. After the night of the ritual, at least, he was able to get a regular night's sleep.

The same could not be said for Draco.

The pale young man was paler than ever and dark grey half-moons hung beneath his eyes. He had been caught falling asleep in Potions with such regularity that even students in his own house were placing bets on the exact time of his nap. After the first two instances, Snape was grudgingly obliged to subtract points, though his jaw was clenched so tightly no one realized what he had initially said. After the first week, Draco was assigned detention; cauldron scrubbing in the Potions room. Harry decided to seize this as an opportunity to compare notes with the Slytherin.

He waited in the corridor outside Snape's classroom until eight o'clock. When the door opened, he steeled himself for any cutting remarks Draco might have after a night's detention, but Draco was in no condition to deliver such remarks.

Snape walked out of the room carrying the unconscious Malfoy heir. He raised an eyebrow in Harry's direction. "So eager for detention, Potter, that you decided to show up and finish the rest of his?"

"No, Professor, I--"

"Save it for someone who will believe it, Potter," Snape replied. He turned toward the Slytherin dungeons, but before he could move, Draco's eyes flew open. The boy tried to sit upright in shock, which resulted in him falling out of Snape's hold. Draco twisted slightly and managed to land on his hands and knees. He looked up pleadingly at Harry.

"Can you still see them?" he begged. "Can you?"

Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah, Malfoy. I can."

Something like a smile broke onto Draco's face, then he was hauled to his feet by Professor Snape who guided him back to the Slytherin dormitories, leaving Harry alone to watch their departure.

***

The next day, Harry ran into Draco on the way to lunch, though the incident might be better described the other way around. As they passed in the hall, Draco threw his shoulder into Harry with enough force to almost knock the other boy off balance. Before he could fall, Harry reached out blindly and felt a hand clasp his. He steadied himself and turned to find Draco, but the other boy was already halfway down the corridor. Harry looked down at his hand and found a folded scrap of parchment lying in it. He opened the note.

The room where we brought them back. Midnight.

D.M.