Harry Potter and the Traitor in Power

Chapter 2

The fugitives

Fudge declares Albus Dumbledore a Traitor!

Fudge, the New Hogwarts Headmaster!

Dumbledore, clinically insane?

Is You-Know-Who back? Fudge Denies You-Know-Who's return!

Dumbledore wishes to be the next Dark Lord?

Is it Safe for Harry Potter to remain at Hogwarts?

Harry Potter, crazed and homicidal?

Fudge issues a Death warrant! Albus Dumbledore a wanted man!

Harry Potter sat on his bed at 7 o'clock in the morning trying to get the newspaper articles and headlines to get out of his head. He wasn't having much luck though. Harry sighed. Things were definitely not looking good. Quite frankly, things were looking awful.

'Oh, well. It's time for my run anyways.' But his one of his thoughts on the way out the door was 'We are so screwed.'

Ever since Harry had come back to the Dursleys for the summer, he had been running. Every morning for a few miles. Then he would head to the library. On the first day of vacation he had seen the help wanted sign in the window and had gone in to apply, for the summer at least, then he would have some muggle money and he wouldn't have to live off his inheritance exclusively. After a couple days of working there, he had been pleased to discover that the library had a rather extensive magical section. Granted, the muggles couldn't see it, but there was also another magical employee who was, naturally, in charge of that section.

His name was Frank. Frank was the one who spotted Harry for who, and what, he was. He, coincidentally, hired Harry on the spot. Frank was always happy to talk about the wizarding world and its goings on, though he didn't get the prophet and wasn't exactly up to date on the news.

"Hey Frank," Harry called as he went into the Library's back room. Frank was sorting books from the magical book-drop.

"Hiya there, Harry. You know them books you was lookin' for? Them ones on defense?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I've got a box of 'em, over by the door. I was cleanin' out my house and found some you might like. Thought I'd give 'em to yer as a birthday present, y'ken?"

"You sure?"

"Oh, yeah. I've probably got multiple copies of most of 'em anyways."

"Thanks, Frank!"

"You go and 'em. Then take the day off. Lad like you shouldn't be workin' in 'is birthday. Get off with yer! Go!"

Harry laughed. "Okay then, Frank. I'll be coming to work tomorrow though." Then Harry left, grabbing the box on his way out.

When Harry got home he saw that it was only 10 o'clock, so he decided to put his new books in his truck, and read a bit of his Animagi book.

The next time he looked up it was 12:05. He scrambled up from his sprawled position on the bed. "Oh no, I'm late!" As he hurried to his desk where his new communication with Sirius was. He opened the blank book and started writing.

Sirius?

Hey Harry, you're late.

Sorry about that.

That's okay. Albus is here. He wants to talk to you.

Okay.

Hello Harry. Have you seen the papers lately?

Which ones? The ones that are talking about you, the ones about Fudge denying that Voldemort is back, or the ones that call me mentally unstable?

Harry could almost hear Dumbledore chuckle.

The first two, though I would think you'd be used to the last.

Yeah, you're probably right. I've seen that headline often enough, anyways.

Well, what I was going to say was that my not being Headmaster makes it less safe for you at Hogwarts, I wanted to give you a few things to protect you.

What sort of things?

Some of them I will have to give to you in person, on the last day of summer I will be at Diagon Alley, but there is one that I can give to you now.

Suddenly there was a silver glow above his book. Then the glow expanded and brightened in a flash. Then it was gone and there were four necklaces in its place. They was an onyx disc with a red-gold phoenix rising out of flames embedded into it, on a thin gold chain.

I'd like each you, Ron, and Hermione to have one of these. They will keep your magic from being detected by the ministry. And they will protect you from all but the unforgivable curses, unless someone knows how to get around them. The last is for a guest who will be arriving at your house tomorrow. I'd like for-

Wait. Guest?

Yes. He needs a safe place to stay for the rest of the summer. He has done something that makes it very unsafe for him to stay at home.

Who?

You will see tomorrow. He is a fellow student. I must ask you to be civil to him, as you will be spending the rest of the summer together. I'd also advise you to inform your aunt and uncle so that you may come up with suitable accommodations.

Yes, sir.

I must tell you something about these books. They will not work on Hogwarts grounds. I'd advise you to keep them in the shrieking shack. You may go there when you need to use them.

Okay.

Sirius and I must go. I'm afraid we're about to be spotted by Ministry Officials.

Goodbye Sir!

Goodbye Harry.

Harry slumped back against his chair. 'I hope that they're alright,' he thought worriedly. 'And who is this guest I'm going to have? Be civil to him?' He sighed. 'Oh well, I'll find out tomorrow.'

Harry spent the time before his 'visitor', whoever it was, arrived, studying. Right now he was learning object apparition. Which was similar to regular apparition, only easier and there was no danger of getting splinched, though your object might not be the same if you botched it.

He was also practicing his muggle self-defense. Dudley had started taking a martial arts class to help him lose weight and Harry had been teaching himself by spying on the class.

Finally, the doorbell rang, at 7 o'clock in the evening. Harry immediately went downstairs from his room and answered the door. Noticing that the Dursleys were studiously ignoring everything except for the TV. They were not looking forward to having another wizard in the house.

He opened the door and was very surprised at who he saw standing there. Draco Malfoy, with his regular school trunk and an owl cage, was standing on the doorstep purposely looking anywhere but at Harry.

'Be nice,' Harry reminded himself, 'he's probably the one Dumbledore sent.' Keeping this in mind he asked, "What are you doing here, Malfoy?"

Draco's POV

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Harry asked, his voice was merely curious, not rude, or even suspicious.

Malfoy looked up, puzzled. He had been expecting a cold reception at best. Well, if Potter was going to be nice to him then he would be nice as well. It's not like he had ever gotten any pleasure from tormenting him. "I'm supposed to stay here. Didn't Professor Dumbledore tell you I was coming?"

"He only said that he was sending another student and that they needed a safe place to stay," Harry replied after letting Draco in. "My rooms upstairs. The Dursleys refused to let you use the guest room, so you're staying in mine."

"Oh." Harry picked up Malfoy's owl's cage and set it on top of the trunk, then looked up the hallway to make sure no one was watching. Then he made a slight motion with his hand and the trunk disappeared.

"What the-?!"

"Shh! I just apparated your stuff upstairs, don't worry. I didn't think you'd want to carry it and it was faster than a levitation charm. Now shut it. The Dursleys don't like me doing magic and I don't want to be thrown out. Come on." Harry then strode quickly up the stairs while Draco followed.

'Smart, Draco! Just when he's being nice you have to screw it up. Don't be so suspicious of everyone else, dammit!' he silently berated himself.

When Draco stepped into the room, Harry once again waved his hand. The door shut and then a bubble appeared in front of harry. It expanded and molded into the wall. "Silencing spell," Harry explained, "and a charm that will make everyone who tries to get in here go away, except owls," he amended as Draco's owl flew into the room.

"How are you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Magic without a wand," then he added, "And why are you being nice to me?"

Harry gave him a calculating look that made Draco squirm."Full of questions, aren't you? I'm being nice to you because, for one, we have to live together in the same room for the rest of the summer. I don't need to be arguing with you all the time. For another, Dumbledore sent you, and I assume he had a good reason if it's all of the sudden safer for you to be in your father's master's worst enemy's house than it is for you to stay at your own home. And, if you hadn't noticed, you're being nice to me as well. I'm not one to hold grudges, that's Ron's job. And as for the wandless magic, I found out I could do it at the beginning of the summer if I concentrated hard enough. I've been practicing ever since."

"Oh. Thanks. I....uh."

Harry smiled slightly. "I think we got out on the wrong foot a few years ago. I'd like to rectify the situation if that's alright with you. I'd also like to know why you aren't safe at home anymore." He held out his hand for Draco to shake.

Draco gave him a searching look, trying to find ulterior motives. "I'd like that," he said simply. Then he shook Harry's hand.

"How 'bout you tell you're story while you set up?" he said as he conjured a bed as well as another dresser. Noticing that the room was getting a bit crowded, he enlarged it without another thought.

Draco looked at him in surprise. "When did you get so good at magic?" he asked.

Harry smiled. "Probably when I began to do nothing but study magic during my free time." Then he chuckled, "I ordered my new school books on the first day of summer, as well as the ones for sixth and seventh year. I asked Professor Dumbledore what we'd need. I've read through them all and can do all of the spells already. I imagine Hermione would die of shock."

Draco smiled as well, then set to unpacking. It looked like staying with Harry was going to be better than he thought.

Normal POV

"Well?" asked Harry as Draco started unpacking his stuff.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to tell me why you're here?"

"Oh, yeah," Draco sighed and looked a bit sad for a moment. "Okay. It started at the beginning of the summer. My father has always been really cold and aloof towards me but this summer, he all of the sudden decided that I needed to spend my every waking moment with him. He started teaching me the Dark Arts. He had taught me a little bit before, off and on, you know? But now he was showing me really complicated things. Really painful things. I imagine that I would have learned the Unforgivables later on this summer. Anyways, a few days ago my father decided that I was ready to become a Death Eater. I never really wanted to be one. Everything I ever said at school was all talk. So I agreed to meet with Voldemort the next day. I wish I hadn't.

"The Dark Lord came to our manor. He was waiting in the study when I came back from my flight around the grounds. It was weird. When I got back it felt like there was this aura. Kind of like what you fell when the dementors are around, only it was evil. Father came out of the manor to get me and he brought me into the study. When I saw Voldemort...." Draco shuddered. Voldemort had been awful. There was that aura again. More powerful when you got close. And this sadistic smile, as if nothing could bring the man, no, thing, more pleasure than to cause suffering. "You know what he looks like, you were there when he was reborn, so I won't go into it. He- I was scared. I didn't want to be a Death Eater. I didn't want to have to bow down to something like that. Something that was that evil. So I ran. I ran into my room and I locked the door. And the weird thing was that Voldemort didn't seem angry, he laughed." Draco shuddered again. Voldemort's high cruel laughter wasn't exactly high up on his favorite memories list. "I suppose that he left. Then my father came up.

"He yelled at me. All about how I had embarrassed him and I was a disgrace to the Malfoy name. He told me to leave. And that I'd better not come back if I didn't want to be killed." Draco looked up at Harry now, as he had been telling the story to his hands, and was surprised to see sympathy, and even understanding in Harry's gaze. Heartened, Draco went on, "I caught the Knight Bus and went to London. Dumbledore found me and he told me that Voldemort's servants were looking for me. He told me that I should stay with you, that it would be safer here than anywhere else. And he gave me this," he added, pulling out the message book. "He said that you, Weasley, Granger, and Black would have the others. He explained all about Black too, and how he was innocent. I knew anyways. Pettigrew had come to our house a few times. I knew that Black hadn't been the secret keeper, and that he hadn't killed anyone." At this Draco went quiet.

Harry was quiet for a moment, then he said, "Thank you." Draco looked at him in surprise. "For telling me. I had no idea that it was like that for you at home." Draco nodded, he realized that, though Draco had not said anything, Harry had picked up on the fact that his parents had been neglectful at the best of times, though Harry probably had no idea what went on at the worst.

"You're welcome."

Harry smiled suddenly, "Are you hungry?"

Draco looked up in surprise, where had that come from, then realized that his stomach had been growling, he blushed. "Yeah, a bit."

Harry went over to his trunk and pulled out cake and a couple of the pies. Draco recognized the cake as a birthday one. "When's your birthday?"

"Today."

Draco was surprised, then he said, "Mine too."

Harry looked up at him, a surprised look on his face. "Happy Birthday, then."

"Yeah, happy birthday to you too," while they were both thinking 'you know what, I actually think it is...'

Then Harry set up a place for them to eat. And by the end of the evening, after all of their discussions, they still weren't quite friends. But they certainly were not enemies either.