Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Chapter 9

The first thing that Harry did when he woke the next morning was go and check on Remus. Sirius had returned the previous night just before midnight and had shooed he and Ginny out with orders for them to get some sleep. Harry had slept fitfully, tossing and turning in the dark until Ron had thrown a pillow at him and told him to stop being such a berk, that Remus would be alright and that he would be none too pleased if he found out that Harry hadn't been looking after himself. Harry had been forced to agree and, after throwing the pillow back, he had managed to settle down and get a small amount of decent sleep.

He crept quietly into the room and grinned to see Sirius sitting on the floor under the window again, though this time he was fast asleep. He looked over at the bed and was surprised to see Remus looking at him rather blearily.

"Harry?" Remus whispered.

Harry leaned his cane against the bedside table and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hey, Remy. How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"Terrible," the werewolf replied with a quirk of his lips.

Harry grinned back. "I guess that's understandable."

"What happened? Who shot me?" Remus asked.

"Um, I don't really think I should tell you that," Harry said uncomfortably. "You're not supposed to get excited."

Remus stared at him for a moment then nodded. "You're right but you realise you've just told me that it's something worth getting excited about?"

Harry grinned wryly. "Um, yeah, but just don't think about it, will you?" His face fell. "I...you..." He paused and then said in a choked whisper, "I don't want to lose you. They said if you got too worked up, the silver would spread and you could die."

Remus groped after Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'll be fine," he said quietly. "I promise I'll be good. I'm not going anywhere, Harry."

Harry gulped back his tears and when Remus gave his hand a tug, he curled up on the bed next to his guardian. Remus wrapped an arm around him and they lay there quietly.

"I woke up for a bit last night," Remus said conversationally after a several minutes. "Padfoot said you had some good news. Want to tell me what it is? I promise I won't get over-excited."

Harry, who had been close to falling asleep, forced his eyes open. "Oh! Um, I got my results."

Remus frowned; that wasn't exactly what Sirius had been implying during their short conversation. "Really? How'd you go? I hope you did well in Defence Against the Dark Arts," Remus asked, mock-severely.

Harry gave a snort of laughter. "Of course I did. Got Outstandings for both the theory and practical. Actually I got Outstandings for everything but considering I was only doing four subjects I suppose if I hadn't, there'd be something wrong with me."

"Nice to know you got Lily's brains," Remus said with a quiet laugh.

"What? Dad was dumb?" Harry asked with amusement.

"Well," Remus replied slowly. "That depends on your definition. He certainly did some dumb things. But, nah, he was pretty smart."

"I thought you were the brains of the outfit," Harry teased. "That's what Siri keeps saying."

"Well, we were all pretty smart. Even Peter in his own unique way," Remus temporised. "But I suppose I was a bit better at planning things than they were. James and Sirius were a bit...well, impulsive, shall we say? If they planned a prank, you could almost guarantee we'd get caught. I tended to put a bit more work into it; you know, how to avoid the teachers and such things."

That comment jogged Harry's memory. "Hey, what are you two going to do to Fred and George? They're getting a little twitchy, you know; wondering when the axe is going to fall."

Remus chuckled. "Yes, well, we do have something up our sleeve but I guess we'll have to put it on the backburner for the moment. I think it would class as getting worked up." He paused. "Don't worry; we'll make sure we play the prank before we all have to go back to school."

"Good," Harry said with a grin. "Um, I...kind of got more than just my results."

"I figured that," Remus said with quiet amusement. "Padfoot was pretty excited about something and I didn't think it was just your good results. Congratulations, by the way."

"Thanks," Harry said happily then he continued in a rush. "Um, I'm Head Boy."

Remus was silent for a moment then he wrapped Harry in a tight hug. "Congratulations, Pronglet!" he said in a choked voice, using Sirius' pet name for the first time. "James and Lily would be so proud of you!"

"That's what I said," came Sirius' sleep-filled voice.

"Well, we're both right," Remus said quietly as Sirius pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the bed.

"Yeah," Sirius said in reply as he grinned at his godson. "Comfy there, Harry?"

Harry looked up at him and grinned back. "Yeah, I am actually."

"Maybe I should join you two?" Sirius suggested mischievously.

"Uh-uh, Padfoot," Remus said with amusement. "No more room at the inn. Besides I believe I'm not supposed to be getting worked up over anything and you are a menace. You'll have us all in a pillow fight or some such nonsense and then Poppy will string you up from the ceiling by your privates."

Sirius pouted, though his eyes danced with laughter. "I'm hurt, Moony. Here you are impugning my good character in front of my godson. Have you no shame?"

"None at all," Remus said, his voice rippling with laughter. "Besides I think your godson is well aware of how much of a menace you are."

"Harry, you don't think I'm a menace, do you?" Sirius said in a wheedling tone.

Harry pretended to consider the matter. "Hmm, well, you've always told me that Remy is the more sensible of the two of you, so I think I'll have to agree with him."

Sirius pretended to look hurt. "Wounded! Betrayed! Stabbed in the heart by my closest friend and my godson," he denounced melodramatically. "I think I shall take my shattered heart downstairs."

With that he flounced out of the room leaving Remus and Harry laughing on the bed. Remus quickly calmed himself down; aware that 'getting worked up' meant any kind of excitement, even laughter. Once he was settled again, he tightened his arms around Harry.

"I'm so proud of you, Harry," he said quietly. "Being named Head Boy is a great honour."

"Thanks," Harry replied. "I'm a bit nervous though. I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing. I mean I wasn't a prefect."

"You'll be fine," Remus reassured him. "Who's Head Girl? Surely she'll be able to help you?"

"Who do you think?" Harry said wryly and Remus chuckled.

"Hermione?" At Harry's nod, Remus continued. "You'll be fine then. She'll help you out."

"Yeah, I guess she will," Harry said quietly. He was beginning to feel a little sleepy now and he let his eyes close, promising himself it would just be for a minute. His body had different ideas and he quickly fell asleep.

"Of course she will," Remus replied bracingly. When he didn't get a response from the boy lying beside him, he carefully propped himself up on one elbow, hissing a little at the pain in his side. He smiled gently to see that Harry had fallen asleep and settled himself back down on the bed. He thought that Harry probably needed the sleep; they had been up all night because of the full moon and he was sure there had been a great deal of fussing around yesterday. Harry had been through quite a bit this summer and Remus was inclined to let things lie for the moment.

He was dozing himself when the door opened and he opened his eyes quickly, hoping to warn whoever was coming in to be quiet for Harry's sake. He relaxed when he saw that it was Poppy and Severus.

He gestured to Harry. "Can we do this without waking him up?" he whispered

Poppy eyed the sleeping boy kindly. "We can certainly try," she said softly. "Do you think you could get up and move over to the other bed without too much fuss?"

Remus nodded and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. He grimaced at the pain from the wound and paused to let it fade. He then slowly crawled out of the bed and, with Poppy and Severus' help, staggered over to Sirius' bed where he promptly collapsed as gracefully as he could on it. Poppy helped him take of his pyjama top and he rolled on his side so that she could get to the wound. She gently took the bandage off and gently prodded at the small hole in his side.

"It's healing well," she said absently. "It was a good thing that Mr Weasley came and got us so quickly. Time is of the essence with this kind of injury." She paused. "I didn't know he was an animagus though."

Remus chuckled then winced as she prodded the wound again. "He managed it during the last school year. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it after the battle. He runs faster as Rohan so he's gotten into the habit of changing when he needs to get somewhere fast."

"Interesting," Poppy observed. "Severus, could I please have the first potion?"

The Potions Master nodded and handed her a vial containing an orange potion. Poppy opened the vial and held it over the wound.

"Brace yourself, dear," she said warningly. "This will hurt."

Remus nodded and closed his eyes. Poppy poured the orange liquid into the wound and Remus grimaced and fiercely bit down on his yelp of pain. The potion fizzed a little in the wound then settled and was absorbed. Remus clenched his hands in the blankets on the bed and tried desperately not to move then finally relaxed as the pain subsided. He dropped his head onto the bed and gasped a little.

Poppy handed the empty vial back to Severus and gestured for the other two potions. She quickly rebandaged Remus' wound and patted him on the shoulder.

"Come on, dear," she said kindly. "Get yourself back in your bed and then you can take these two potions."

Remus nodded and, with the help of the others, put his pyjama top back on and settled back in his bed beside the still-sleeping Harry. He quickly downed the two potions with a small grimace.

"Thank you, both of you," he said quietly.

"That's alright, dear," Poppy said as Severus nodded in acknowledgement. The mediwitch looked down at the sleeping boy.

"Is he alright?" she asked with concern.

"Yes," Remus replied a little muzzily as the potions started to take effect. "Just tired. Last couple of days catching up with him." He smiled proudly. "Head Boy, you know."

Poppy patted him on the shoulder. "Yes, I know. You and Sirius must be very proud."

"Yeah," Remus slurred as he sank back into sleep. Just before oblivion claimed him he heard the Potions Master say, "At least they haven't given the job to a complete incompetent this year."

**************************************************

Draco limped into his study and threw himself into his chair with a pleased grin. His little visit to Knockturn Alley had been quite a success. Morcan Arsene had fallen over himself, almost literally, to be helpful and had gladly provided Draco with everything he wanted to know. Snape had been in and had purchased the supplies he needed to make the potions for treating silver poisoning. That implied that Lupin was still alive though very ill. Draco rather thought he could count that mission as a success. He had even gotten rid of that useless little rat in such a way that no one could admonish him for it. Admittedly that bit hadn't been planned but he counted it as an added bonus.

He leaned back in the chair and looked out of the window. He had just sent Bella off to speak with the hesitant Death Eaters and explain to them about his recent success and how he was not like his father. He would succeed where his father had failed. He was still smugly congratulating himself when the door to his office was thrown open with a loud bang. He looked over and was surprised and more than a little intimidated to see Professor Dumbledore standing there, looking stern. He watched speechless as the man strode into the room and closed the door. The Headmaster walked over and placed a small silver bullet in the middle of his desk.

"I believe this belongs to you, Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore said with ominous quietness.

Draco froze for a moment then sneered at his former Headmaster. "I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about," he said dismissively.

"Oh, I think you do," Dumbledore replied and sat down, without invitation, in a chair. "What's more, I can prove it."

Draco paled slightly then scowled. "If you could prove it, I'd already be up before the Aurors," he sneered.

"Now, Draco, do you really think I would be so gauche as to do that?" the Headmaster said, unleashing the twinkle in his eye.

Draco sat back and eyed the Headmaster of Hogwarts warily. "So why are you here?"

"To warn you to back off," Dumbledore said airily as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Back off?" repeated Draco cautiously.

"Yes," Dumbledore said calmly. "It is a grave miscalculation to believe that harming those that Harry loves will do anything other than make that young man more determined to destroy you." He paused and eyed Draco with sly amusement. "And Tom."

Draco jerked and stared at the Headmaster wildly. "What?"

Dumbledore sobered and looked at Draco with an unreadable expression. "Do you think that I do not know what has happened?"

Draco scowled. "Nothing has happened, old man," he said forcefully.

"Indeed," Dumbledore replied blandly.

Draco folded his arms across his chest and glared at the Headmaster. Dumbledore laced his fingers together in front of him and stared back, the twinkle back in his eye. Draco was the first one to break.

"What do you want, old man?" he growled irritably.

"I believe I already told you that," Dumbledore replied, amused.

"Oh yes, to back off," Draco said sarcastically. "Why should I?"

Dumbledore stopped smiling and stood. He placed his hands on the desk and leaned over it, his face stern and unforgiving. "Because if you continue to harm those close to Harry, he will come after you." A contemplative look crossed the Headmaster's face. "Now, while I might be inclined to let you live, for I have always believed in giving people second chances, I do not think young Mr Potter will be so forgiving." Dumbledore's expression became glacial and Draco flinched backwards from it. "He already knows that you are responsible for the injury to Remus Lupin. I would not push your luck any further else you will find that a missing eye and a damaged hamstring are the least of your troubles."

The Headmaster stood and walked over to the door. He opened it and turned back to Draco. "Think about what I have said, Mr Malfoy. And do consult with Tom," he said dryly "I'm sure he will have much in the way of sage advice." With that, Dumbledore swept out of the room.

Draco sat back in his chair and swallowed. Well? he thought to the other presence in his head.

The old fool is getting bold, the Dark Lord said sourly. But, loathe as I am to admit it, he may have a point.

"Potter is mine!" Draco ground out through gritted teeth. "I want him dead!"

Fool boy! Voldemort said irritably. That is not up for debate. I am merely suggesting that we delay our plans temporarily. The action you took against the werewolf will have the effect of bringing the Death Eaters into our camp. Mind you, the best of them are dead but we can work with what is left. We can afford to delay our action against Potter until after the New Year. The old fool will undoubtedly be keeping an annoyingly close eye on you for now. We can wait, Draco. Be patient. The best plans are long term. Surely my successful restoration after the Triwizard Tournament showed you that. A long-term plan brought to successful fruition.

Draco grumbled and forbore from mentioning the Dark Lord's equally successful failure to destroy Harry Potter during that same time. Very well, he thought sulkily. But Pansy's task goes ahead.

Of course, the Dark Lord said with amusement. I shall be waiting to hear the results of that most eagerly. My disloyal potions master must pay for his betrayal.

Draco smiled smugly. My little petal will assuredly be most creative, he thought.

***********************************************

Harry felt someone shaking him gently and slowly surfaced. He opened his eyes and saw the energy colours of Sirius crouching beside him.

"Siri," he said sleepily. "What's up?"

"You, Pronglet," Sirius said with a smile. "Dumbledore's here and he's got something he wants to talk to you about."

Harry groaned and sat up then quickly glanced around to check on Remus. The werewolf was sleeping peacefully behind him.

"Shouldn't he have had another lot of those potions?" Harry asked anxiously.

Sirius chuckled. "He has. That's why he's out like a light. Poppy was up here with Snape about two hours ago. She said you didn't even twitch. I thought it would be best to let you sleep, you obviously needed it."

Harry grimaced. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," he said reluctantly.

"Yeah, Ron told me," Sirius said easily. "That's why I let you sleep. Come on, don't want to keep the Headmaster waiting, Mr Head Boy."

Harry grinned and allowed Sirius to pull him to his feet. He grabbed his cane and, after a last check on Remus, the two of them ambled downstairs. As they walked through the kitchen, Harry looked around, a little confused.

"Er, where is everyone?" he asked.

"Outside," Sirius replied. "It's a beautiful day and we were all out there anyway when Albus arrived. He just settled in with us and asked for you."

They walked out into the Weasleys' yard and Harry could see the varying energy colours of everyone underneath the trees. They walked over and sat down with the rest of the group. Ginny immediately scooted over and leaned into Harry and he responded by wrapping an arm around her.

"You look well-rested, Harry" Dumbledore said amiably.

Harry blushed. "Er, thanks, sir. Siri said you wanted to talk to me."

"Down to business then," the Headmaster continued cheerfully. "Well, I thought I'd better let you know that I paid a visit to young Mr Malfoy today."

Harry's jaw dropped open, an expression that was echoed by the others. "Really?" Harry said, a little stunned. "Why?"

"I thought I'd see if some of my speculations were correct and I wanted to buy all of us some time," the Headmaster replied.

Harry thought that through. "Okay," he said slowly. "What speculations? And what do you mean by buying us some time?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry benignly. "I had certain speculations after that last little turn of yours and part of the reason I went there was to see if those speculations were correct or not."

"And were they?" Harry prompted.

"Yes, it appears they were," Dumbledore said quietly. "You were right in your estimation that Voldemort is not dead. Whatever happened in Draco's mind between the two of them resulted in them melding in some way. I was able to make extended eye contact with Mr Malfoy and, with the use of Legilimancy, I could feel the presence of Voldemort within Draco's mind while I was there. He didn't confirm it when I confronted him but the feel was unmistakable."

"You mean they're permanently together?" Harry asked incredulously. "It's not just a temporary thing like what Professor Snape and I did?"

"Yes, so it appears," Dumbledore said sadly. "And it seems to be something that suits them both. Certainly I felt no signs of wanting to be free from either of them."

"Okay," Harry said slowly as the others sat, still speechless with horror. "But what about this buying time thing?"

"Ah yes," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "I dropped a few timely threats into Mr Malfoy's ear. He will act against you, Harry. That thought was uppermost in his mind. I did not need to delve very far with my Legilimancy to see his intentions regarding you and Miss Granger. All I have done is delay those actions to allow us time to prepare."

"Me?" Hermione squeaked. "Why is he after me?"

"You hurt him," Neville said suddenly.

"Yes," Luna agreed. "You and Harry were the ones who directly injured him. Clearly he blames you for this."

Ron scowled and wrapped his arms around Hermione. "He'll have to come through me first," he said aggressively.

Hermione smiled up at him and patted his arms. "Well, how about he'll have to come through us?" she said a little tartly.

Ron blushed then his face firmed and he kissed her cheek. "Yes, well, I'll think about it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and let the subject drop. She had learned it was be better to wait until Ron had calmed down a little before arguing with him about things like this. The others smothered their grins and Harry rolled his eyes.

"So what do we do now, sir?" he asked.

"We start making some preparations," Dumbledore replied. "The Weasleys have already increased the wards on the Burrow with the help of Professor Snape and I will be heading to Grimmauld Place with Sirius today to strengthen the wards there. I don't think it's necessary to put the place under the Fidelius charm again but it is something we will keep in reserve." Dumbledore's expression became kindly. "I would not worry too much about it just yet, Harry. You, Sirius and Remus will all be returning to Hogwarts for the school year and you will be safe there."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just...I don't know, I just wish Voldemort would die already. Or at least decide to concentrate on someone other than me." He paused and flushed. "That sounds pretty bad, doesn't it?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "On the contrary, Harry, it sounds perfectly normal. He is almost annoyingly persistent, isn't he?"

The others paused for a moment then laughter rang out.

"You'd think after all this time, he'd realise that going after Harry is not exactly good for his health," Ginny said impishly. "I mean, let's see. First year, Voldemort spends the year stuck on the back of Quirrell's head then gets soundly defeated by an eleven year old boy simply using his bare hands. Second year, a...what, seventeen-year-old memory of Voldemort gets soundly defeated by a twelve year old boy using the tooth of the basilisk that he, Voldemort, released. Oh, don't forget, that happened after said twelve-year-old boy defeated said basilisk and saved the life of yours truly. My hero!" Ginny pretended to swoon and batted her eyelids at Harry while the others laughed. Harry grinned down at her, glad she seemed to have put most of that nasty little incident behind her at last. "Third year, hmm, well, third year didn't really have much to do with Voldemort. It was just that terrible, vicious murderer, Sirius Black, who wanted to find Harry, save his life and then hug him to bits." Everyone laughed again as Sirius stood up and took his bows. Ginny threw some grass at him and continued. "Okay, Fourth year, well, that was another Voldemort plot. After an initial terrible blow, a fourteen-year-old Harry manages to not only throw off the Imperius curse and shake off the effects of the Cruciatus but he also duels Voldemort and after a totally remarkable turn of events, escapes once again."

"You know, listening to this makes me wonder how on earth I actually managed to get to Seventh Year," Harry said in a dry aside to Ron.

"Yeah, it's making me wonder that too," the red-head replied with a grin.

Ginny glared good-naturedly at the two of them. "Shush," she said firmly. "Onto Fifth Year. Well, Fifth year started with a bang...or at least a good yell on the part of Harry." The young man in question blushed at that as the others laughed. "Then he proceeds to stand up to the Ministry and anyone else he can think of before we start heading into disaster. We all troop off to the Ministry where we put paid to a number of Death Eaters and Harry and Professor Dumbledore shock the hell out of Voldemort." A sad smile graced her face. "And we lose Sirius for good or so we all thought." Quiet settled on the group as they remembered the aftermath of their trip to the Ministry. Ginny grinned at Sirius and continued. "Then after a rather ghastly start to Sixth Year, Harry learns to kick some butt, we get Sirius back much to Voldemort's annoyance because he had some plans and then Harry banishes Voldemort in such a way that he no longer has a body and has to share living quarters with Draco's brain...which actually makes me feel a little sorry for him."

Ginny looked around the now very amused group sitting on the grass. "So looking at all of that, you've really got to wonder why Voldemort keeps trying. He obviously doesn't learn from his mistakes."

"Ginny," Mrs Weasley said, caught somewhere between being amused and horrified. "I'd scold you except that you've summed things up rather well."

"Why, thank you, Mum," Ginny said smugly. She lay down with her head in Harry's lap and looked up at him. "So, did I miss anything?"

"No, I think you hit all the high points there," Harry replied dryly to the chuckles of everyone else.

"Indeed she did," Dumbledore said as he stood up and brushed the grass off his robes. "Now I am afraid I must steal your godfather for a little while, Harry. I trust you will not worry yourself too much about this at the moment. We have time to make some plans and sort ourselves out."

Harry nodded and watched as the Headmaster and Sirius apparated away. He tapped Ginny on the shoulder and gestured for her to sit up before pushing himself to his feet.

"I'm going to back and sit with Remus," he said quietly. "Don't worry, I won't tell him about this."

Ginny stood as did Ron and Hermione and Neville and Luna. "We'll come with you," Hermione said. "We promise to be quiet but I think we should talk about this.

Harry nodded and the six of them headed inside with Mrs Weasley's "Don't wake him!" trailing after them