Trusts And Betrayals

Chapter 14

During the rest of the week Draco and his friends had been worse than ever, tripping Harry and Ron in the halls, mocking them, and Pansy Parkinson and a few other Slytherin girls had even cornered Hermione alone in the Girl's Toilets. Fortunately for Hermione though, Professor McGonagall had walked in and had broken it up before they could harm her, but after that Ron insisted that Hermione be escorted by himself and Harry, or Fred and George when necessary.

Percy had been attending several of their classes, jotting notes quietly from the back of the room. He seemed more pompous than ever, Ron had said he was embarrassed to be Percy's brother, the way he walked around looking as though he owned the place.

Saturday morning it seemed that the whole school were up early and spilling into the Great Hall, all very excited for the first Quidditch game of the season, especially since Quidditch had been cancelled last year due to the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

"Aw, bloody hell, Percy's still here?" Fred scowled over at the teacher's table, where Percy was sat reading the Daily Prophet and frowning.

George nodded sadly. "Yeah, he says he needs to put all of his notes together before returning to the Ministry on Monday, but I think he's sticking around to feel important. That and to watch the game, possibly go to Hogsmeade tomorrow and eavesdrop on the teachers at the Three Broomsticks." Sunday was another Hogsmeade visit, and Harry of coarse wouldn't be able to go.

Hundreds of Owls then poured into the Great Hall, and Harry desperately looked through them all to see if Pigwidgeon was there with a reply from Sirius. There was no sign of the little Owl though. Harry was starting to worry. It had been almost a week, and Sirius had said he'd be nearby, so why was he taking so long? Had he been caught? An Owl dropped the Daily Prophet down on the table in front of Hermione, who was busy talking to Ron, so Harry grabbed it to look and see if there were any reports on Sirius. Surely that would be headline news, as he had evaded capture now for over two years, and was the first ever to actually escape Azkaban.

Harry was relieved to see that Sirius wasn't named anywhere on the front page, but was very disturbed to see what was there. A glittering picture of a green skull with a serpent emerging from it's mouth, the Dark Mark, set against a very black sky. Harry could see that in the background was a small, secluded house. He read the story below the picture.

It appears that throughout the week the Dark Mark has been sighted in random cities and towns, the first sighting being the early hours of Sunday, First of November, in the small town of Durmstein, a small town just south of Durmstrang School of Wizardry. It has been confirmed now by Ministry of Magic Officials that the body of Igor Karkaroff, former Headmaster of Durmstrang, was removed from his home. Cause of death has yet to be confirmed, though it is guessed that he had been killed by the Avada Kedavra curse, as was usually the case with the Dark Mark. Other sightings include the following areas: Muggle London, Cardiff, and Sutton. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has stated that there is no cause for panic, these may have isolated instances, and that there is no actual evidence to show that You Know Who has resurfaced, and that this may be the work of a rogue Wizard trying to stir up trouble.

Harry was fairly certain it was something, though. He had been put into hiding for half the summer for some unknown reason. He felt himself shiver despite the warmth of the Great Hall. He looked up to the High Table, and saw that a few of the teachers were reading the paper with horrified faces. Professor Malfoy looked pale and frightened, and was whispering and pointing at the paper to a very solemn looking Professor McGonagall. Snape seemed to be listening to what they were saying with slight interest, yet didn't look the least bit concerned. Harry found Snape's face almost disturbing, as he almost looked amused.

Hermione and Ron were now reading over his shoulder. "Look at those disgusting Slytherins!" Hermione said furiously. They all looked over and sure enough, Malfoy was sniggering at the paper, with Crabbe and Goyle laughing away, clearly enjoying the Dark Mark on the front page. Harry and Ron stood up to go to the change rooms and prepare for the match, thoroughly disgusted..

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The seven of them walked out onto the pitch, each carrying their broomsticks. Harry felt nervous, as he knew the Slytherins would be brutal, and looked to see Ron's face reflecting the same kind of anxiety. They faced off with the Slytherin team, Goyle and the other Slytherin Beater trying to stare down Fred and George, who were both now the captains of the Gryffindor team. Madam Hooch blew her whistle and they all kicked off the ground and high into the air.

Harry had missed this feeling so much. He went up higher than the rest of the two teams, so high he couldn't even hear Lee Jordan commentating, and hovered over to watch for the Golden Snitch. Draco had followed his lead to do the same. He heard his taunting voice. "So, Potter - we all have bets on how long before Weasley's cheap old broom crumples to dust, would you like in on it? No one has bet on it happening during your match against Hufflepuff yet, I can put you there..."

"Bugger off, Malfoy! He doesn't need a good broom to keep your chasers from scoring." Harry looked down to see that Ron was in fact doing a great job, the score was already 40 - 10 for Gryffindor.

Draco smirked. "Fine then, you could have split the winnings with him though. The pot is up to thirty galleons, that's more money than his whole family are worth."

Harry was about to respond with a few well chosen words, but heard the loud crack of a bludger, and looked down to see that Goyle had fired one straight at Ron, who fell to the ground immediately. Harry dived down, but Madam Pomfrey was already loading Ron onto a stretcher, and his legs were twisted in a such grotesque way that told Harry that Ron had broken both of them. Fred hovered up to Harry. "We're going to continue, George is actually going to try and do both his work and Ron's, so try and catch that Snitch as soon as you can!"

"Ok!" Harry yelled and rose up into the air again. He then saw a terrible sight. Draco Malfoy, breaking into a very fast dive, approaching the Snitch with his hand outstretched. Harry raced into a dive too, trying to beat Malfoy to it, but Draco was in the lead, and was closing in on it. He was barely aware of a dull thunk, as he saw Draco's hand about to close over the snitch... but then a Bludger came and hit Draco straight in the back of his head, and Harry caught it immediately. He looked over to see Draco slumped over, unconscious, and looked as though he were going to fall off his broom. Harry directed his broom to hover next to Draco's, and held him steadily to keep him from falling, as he was much higher up than Ron had been, and a fall like that would surely result in death.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle to say that the game was over, and Harry grabbed Draco's arm and put it over his shoulder, to cause Draco to lean on him so that Harry could support his weight and guide both brooms down to the ground. Fred came up and took Draco's other side, and they began a slow descend, to keep Draco from falling. "I really didn't mean for the Bludger to hit him," Fred said to Harry. "It was coming straight at me... Goyle hit it at my head like he did to Ron, and I just swung it blindly in that direction!"

Harry could see that Fred felt horrible. "It's ok, Fred. I'm sure no one's going to blame you. A concussion is no worse than two broken legs, and Goyle certainly hit that Bludger at Ron with intention to hurt."

Fred smiled weakly, and they reached the ground. Professor Malfoy was right there, looking anxiously at Draco, but she managed to give Harry and Fred a smile. "Thank you both for bringing him down like that - Harry, you likely saved him from falling. Thank you."

Harry blushed, and was about to say something, but Snape's sarcastic, quiet voice interrupted from behind her. "Oh yes, how very heroic of Potter, to ensure the win by catching the Snitch before showing any concern for his classmate's safety." He looked over at Fred with the coldest stare. "And how very sportsmanlike of you to endanger someone just to win a game." Snape quickly loaded Draco onto a stretcher and headed off with him towards the castle, Professor Malfoy gave them an embarrassed look and then followed.

"That asshole! Draco's own mother could see it was an accident, what the hell is his problem?" An angry George had walked over to where they were, most of the people had now left and gone back inside, as the winter weather was starting to really set in, and a very cold rain had just begun.

The three of them headed into the Gryffindor common room, where all the other Gryffindors were partying. Lee Jordan walked over and patted Fred on the back. "Excellent hit, Fred! Lets all hope you knocked some sense into him!"

Fred muttered something and walked over to a table where someone had obviously snagged some food from the kitchens. They had Treacle Tarts, Pumpkin Pastries, and several other goodies, plus bottles of Butterbeer. Harry grabbed a bottle and walked over Hermione, who was sitting by herself quietly looking out the window.

"Hermione, is Ron all right?"

"Pomfrey kicked me out as soon as Snape burst in with Malfoy. No one is allowed in there until Draco comes to - Snape figures Draco might be able to hear us gloating. This isn't fair! Ron was looking so forward to playing Quidditch, and he wasn't even there to see you guys won his first game! And he can't celebrate with the team."

Harry grinned. "Well... We could sneak in later, with the cloak... Pomfrey has to sleep sometime!"

Hermione looked skeptical, but smiled. "We'll sneak some Butterbeer and some of the food, he'll be so surprised!"

They waited until everyone had stopped congratulating Harry on a well played game, and listened as many people praised Fred for a well deserved hit on Malfoy before Harry crept up to his room and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak from his trunk. He also grabbed the Marauder's Map to be sure no one was in the room when they went in. He returned to the Common Room, and Hermione followed him out into the hall, showing him a bag of goodies she had put together for Ron.

"We'll have to make sure we leave no trace of this, no wrappers or anything." She said as Harry slipped the cloak over their heads. They walked to the Hospital Wing, and Harry looked at the map.

"Looks as though Professor Malfoy is in there with Draco, we might have a bit of a wait."

The door to the wing opened though, and Professor Malfoy walked out, and started to quietly close the door behind her, when they heard Snape's voice from right behind them, making Hermione jump in fear. Fortunately she was able to keep quiet, and Harry led her to the wall so that Snape wouldn't run into them.

"I spoke to Pomfrey, she will keep Draco there until after the students return from Hogsmeade tomorrow, even if he's well enough to leave." Snape walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders and standing much closer to her than Harry would ever want him to be to him. He felt a shiver of disgust. "As for Lucius, I am going into the town to meet with him myself, at the Three Broomsticks."

Professor Malfoy stepped away from him, looking slightly irritated. "Why the hell are you meeting with him?"

"I want to find out what these plans are that Draco was muttering about. I can make Lucius talk if I have to." Snape was smiling a very evil looking smile, as though he wanted nothing more than to do something damaging to Lucius Malfoy.

"I have no doubt of that, I have a clear recollection of you making me talk this summer." She replied coldly. "Fine then, I'm going with you. If Draco is in any danger I think I should be the one to know about it."

"Fuck that!" Snape hissed, making Hermione jump with shock at the vulgarity. Harry shook his head at her, telling her to keep quiet. Snape knows all about the cloak, and was clever enough to put two and two together. "Narcissa, you've been sick the last few days, haven't you? And Lucius isn't going to be too happy with you, as you blackmailed him. You'd be a walking target. You are to stay here."

"The last I heard, Dumbledore was my employer, not you. And I was only feeling ill this morning, I'm fine now, and I'm going."

Snape looked around and grabbed her arm and spoke quietly. "Lets go and talk about this in my office, students are bound to try and visit either Draco or Weasley, and I'd hate for someone to overhear any of this." She nodded and walked off with him, much to Harry and Hermione's relief. They quickly scanned the map, and saw that they were alone in the ward, with the exception of Ron and Draco. They carefully opened the door and shut it quietly behind them, Hermione had put up a charm that would alert them someone was coming down the corridor with the faint sound of a bell. They went over and sat down next to Ron's bed, noticing that Draco was on another bed, lying lifelessly. Harry slipped the cloak off, and Ron looked at the two of them delighted.

"So I hear we won? It sucks that I didn't even get to see it! Though the entertainment here has been great!" He nodded towards Draco. Harry laughed, and they told Ron what they had overheard as they passed him some of the sweets they smuggled in for him.

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke quietly, sipping his Butterbeer. "Yeah, when they brought Malfoy in, he was mumbling in his sleep about Hogsmeade, and some plan, and his father... Oh yeah, Harry, you're going to find this really interesting, he was mentioning 'Potter' in there, too."

Hermione was doubtful though. "That could just be because he was talking to Harry last. His subconscious could have been remembering that."

"No, it was definitely related. Snape and Malfoy were both concerned, and Snape threw everyone out, and told Professor Malfoy that he would 'ensure that Draco wouldn't leave the grounds'. Isn't Malfoy banned from trips this year?"

Harry nodded. "We both are." He was wondering if Draco might have found out about the secret passages or something, and also wondering what he has to do with Draco and his father. He had a very uneasy feeling, looking over at Draco, who had almost seemed to be his friend over the summer. Harry decided that he would sneak into Hogsmeade himself, under the cloak, to listen in on what was said. He was so lost in thought he wasn't even fully aware of a slight ringing sound as Hermione and Ron were talking animatedly about the game.

"Harry, we have to get out of here! Someone is coming down the corridor!"

Harry slipped the Cloak over his and Hermione's head, saying goodbye to Ron and rushing out the door. They passed Percy, who must have been on his way to see Ron, and hurried back to the Common Room.

Harry took the cloak off them when he saw that they were alone. "Hermione, I'm going into Hogsmeade with you tomorrow, under the cloak. I want you to get a table as close as you can so I can listen in."

"Harry, no! They won't let you go for a reason. The Dark Mark has been going up all over the place, Karkaroff is dead! Obviously they're trying to protect you."

Harry didn't care. He wanted to go. "I realize that! But I want to hear what I might be up against. Don't you think I have a right to know?" He smiled at her, knowing she would agree to that.

"Fine then!" She said frustrated. "But if you get caught, I didn't help you in any way. I'm not losing my Prefect title." She touched her badge nervously.

"I wouldn't dream of it! Good night, Hermione."

"Good night Harry." She walked off to the girl's dorm, and Harry went off to bed, where he had a strange and frightening dream that he was dueling blindfolded, and hearing Snape whispering the wrong curses in his ear so that he would fail, and he heard Snape laughing, a high pitched laugh he would never expect of Snape. When he had woken up the following morning he forgot all about the dream, though, and went to meet Hermione for breakfast.