Golden Thread Of Trust

Golden Thread Of Trust

Chapter 14: Witness

Harry looked sharply at Draco.
"We're inside your mind?"
"Yes, remember the sign on the door?"
"A dragon…" Harry looked around again. "How did you know the torches would light?"
"I didn't. Listen carefully now, Harry. Remember that you create reality here. I decided that there would be light, and there was light. All it takes is strength of will and character. It's just like resisting the Imperius Curse. You say 'no', and your body doesn't obey. Here, you say ' light', and it is light. The only limitation is your imagination."
He looked almost shyly at Harry.
"We're inside my mind now, and everything in here is a creation of my mind. But remember that nothing is quite what it seems; everything is symbolic. Don't walk through doors, for example, if you don't know where they lead. We must remember the symbol on this door to remember our way back."
He pointed to the crest on the door leading back to Draco's bedroom and their sleeping bodies. It showed only a plain but perfect circle.
"The question is how we got into the spirit world in the first place. The only time I did it I had to go through hours and hours of meditation," said Draco.
"Could it be done with some kind of spell or potion?" Harry asked.
"Yes, that's possible, I suppose," said Draco thoughtfully. "I have no doubts about who did it, though."
"Zabini," said Harry with a grim expression on his face.
"We have to do something about that bastard!"
"Could we somehow get inside his mind and sort of remove the wish to kill us?" asked Harry.
Draco laughed.
"Or implant the wish to throw himself from the north tower, perhaps."
Harry shook his head.
"No. That would be the same as killing him ourselves, it's not right."
"I know, Harry," said Draco mildly. "I was only joking. I think we can enter his mind from my memories, come on!"
Draco started to walk down the corridor, carefully inspecting the signs on the doors, and Harry hurried after him. Eventually, Draco stopped in front of a door.
"Here it is," he said, and gave Harry a small smile. "The Chamber of Memories. Now, watch where you're going."

As they entered, Harry looked around in awe. The room was vast, and the air was full of floating spheres, resembling soapbubbles, that were filled with distorted images. When they got closer to one of them, Harry could catch glimpses of familiar faces before it floated away out of sight. Draco set a path straight through the room, dodging the spheres, but Harry accidentally brushed his arm against one of them, and felt himself being pulled into it.

He found himself in an astonishingly well tended garden, and noticed that just like in Dumbledore's pensieve he was an invisible outsider, but this time it was clear that he was inside Draco's memories, inside his mind, because he could feel his thoughts.
A small group of people sat by a table in a bower, apparently enjoying each other's company and the fine summer day. Harry immediately recognised Draco's mother and father, but the other couple was unfamiliar to him. A small boy came running barefoot across the lawn, stumbling on the hem of his light blue robe. With that fair hair and skin it really could only be one person.
'He was really cute when he was a kid,' thought Harry with a smile.
Draco ran up to the strange man, and he turned around slightly so that Harry could see his face. His chestnut hair and beard were shining in the sun, and he had a kind smile on his face. He lifted Draco up and let him sit on his lap, and the boy stared wide-eyed at the grown-ups, watching them with rapt fascination.

Suddenly Harry felt something tugging at him, and before he had a chance to react he was pulled into another memory. He flinched and took a few steps backwards when he realised that he recognised the scene. It was the battlefield outside Hogwarts. Draco stood over a fallen Death Eater with Remus Lupin beside him, levitating the Death Eater mask off his face. Harry recognised him as the man in the garden, with grey streaks in his hair, staring with empty eyes.
"Avery," said Draco, to Remus or to nobody in particular, Harry didn't know. "I used to play at his house when I was little."
His voice betrayed no emotion, but Harry could feel the thoughts, tearing painfully at Draco's mind. The knowledge that he was the one to destroy the idyll in the garden; he shattered the child's dream. The hope of peace and perfection. But life isn't that simple, he knew that now. Mum, dad, Avery… How many more? They were all dead or imprisoned for life because of him, he caused their fall.
Suddenly Harry felt someone grip his arm, and he turned around and saw Draco standing beside him.
"Come on," he said, avoiding Harry's eyes. "Let's get out of here."
He pulled Harry out, and they were standing in the vast room again.
"Avoid the spheres," Draco told him in a short tone. "You can get stuck in a memory chain forever. Anyway, I found the memory I was looking for, it's right over here."

Harry thought about the scene he'd just witnessed. He had never fully realised before how much it must have hurt Draco to go against everything he was brought up to be. Even though staying on Voldemort's side would have hurt him so much more. Harry thought that Draco had made the right choice, but how does one tell that to someone who feels responsible for his own parents' deaths? Harry could understand Draco's unease, he had after all overheard something very private.
"I'm sorry for intruding," he said softly. "I didn't mean to."
"I know you didn't do it on purpose, Harry," said Draco and gave Harry a small smile. "I just keep forgetting that you don't know the rules here; you haven't studied it like I have."
They stood in front of another floating sphere, and Harry looked at Draco.
"All right, let's do this."

They reached out for the sphere at the same time, and were immediately pulled in. Harry saw that they were in the Slytherin common room, and Draco and Zabini were alone, sitting in front of the fireplace.
"Yes," said Draco, anticipating Harry's question before he had a chance to speak, "we used to get along pretty well – before I stepped out of line, of course." He sounded slightly bitter.
"See that door in his forehead? We can enter his mind through it."
To Harry's great surprise a small door opened in the Slytherin's forehead, revealing only an empty, black hole, and he followed Draco through it quickly, before his doubts of whether it was possible actually made it impossible.

Harry had almost expected a long corridor resembling Draco's mind, but instead he found himself standing in a vast, dark cavern.
"His mind doesn't look quite like yours, does it?" he commented.
"It should be easier to find what we're looking for this way, don't you think?" said Draco, and winked.
Suddenly Harry understood. Draco had created reality again. He really should try to learn to take some control over this strange place.
"So what are we looking for?"
"Hate."
"How very descriptive of you, love," said Harry sarcastically, but Draco had already begun examining the room. Harry went in the other direction and tried to look for something that looked like Zabini's wish to kill them. He felt quite ridiculous, and had almost given up when he found something.
"Draco, come here and have a look. I think I found it!"
Draco came up to him.
"Ugh. That's disgusting."
They regarded the thing for a while. It looked like a giant leech; grey, slimy and attached to the wall with a strong grip of its jaw.
"All right, let's try to remove it," Harry sighed, and they approached the thing.
"It's all slick and slimy, I can't get a grip," he complained after a while of struggling.
"There's a ridge near the jaw, where you can grab it," said Draco.
Even as Draco spoke, Harry found the ridge, and with a joint effort they managed to tear the creature off. Fast as lightning, it slithered away across the floor and into the shelter of darkness.
"Isn't it going to do damage somewhere else now?" Harry asked wearily.
"Maybe. But there's nothing we can do to stop it."
"All right. Let's get out of here then," said Harry and turned around.
They went back through the Chamber of Memories, and entered the vast corridor again. This time, Draco let Harry lead the way. Now that they had finished what they set out to do, he had to think of a way to get back. This distracted him a bit, and he didn't notice at first that Harry had opened a door and entered the room inside.
'Are we already there?' he thought, confused. Then he studied the crest on the door, and was instantly alarmed. It wasn't the plain circle they were looking for, but two circles, one inside the other. Easy to mix up, but it could be a crucial mistake. He peeked inside.
"Harry! It's the wrong room! Harry? Where are you?"
He peered inside the darkness, and finally caught sight of Harry. He stood as if frozen to the spot, and in front of him was a large snake that hissed threateningly. Draco was about to run to the rescue when Harry started hissing back.
'Oh, I forgot. Harry is a Parselmouth. The snake is actually communicating with him. I wonder what it's saying?' Then Draco remembered the significance of the symbol on the door, and winced. Whatever the snake was saying, it wasn't anything good.
Harry started to make his way back to Draco, and Draco was relieved. The snake had not harmed Harry, at least not physically. When Harry passed Draco, though, he didn't say anything, just brushed by him. He had actually looked… hurt. Draco immediately started to worry again. What kind of poison was that snake spreading? What did it tell Harry?
He followed Harry, trying to catch up with him, but Harry made sure that he was two steps ahead of Draco all the time, refusing to meet his eyes. Draco could almost feel the pain radiating from him. It confused and worried him, and made him want to reach out to Harry and comfort him, though Harry wouldn't allow it. Soon they entered Draco's dormitory again, and they had to confront the problem of how to get back.
Draco looked at Harry.
"So… Do you have any suggestions how to get back?"
Harry looked past him.
"Maybe through that door?"
Draco followed his gaze, and saw a green door he hadn't seen before. It appeared to be locked, though.
"We still have to find the key."
Harry had a determined look on his face.
"Don't worry, I have it right here in my pocket."
Draco gaped at him, then he almost hit himself.
'How could I be so stupid? All we had to do was to believe we had a key, and we would have had one. Lucky thing Harry keeps his wits about him. He learns fast,' he thought proudly.
While he was busy accusing himself of stupidity, Harry had already unlocked the door and walked through it, and Draco hurried after him before it closed again.

When Draco woke up his head was spinning, and he was disoriented. He felt something warm against his cheek, and after a few seconds he realised that he was lying across Harry's stomach. He looked up at Harry and saw that he wasn't moving, except for the rise and fall of his chest. Harry was so beautiful when he was asleep. The peacefulness of his expression, his long, dark eyelashes resting against his cheek… Draco recalled the strange way Harry had acted, and frowned. He would have to do something about it, before it got worse.
It turned out that he never got the chance, because at that very moment Harry's eyes flew open, and he gasped and pushed Draco off of him. He flew up from the bed, and ran for the door.
"Harry! Where are you going?"
Harry stopped by the door, and looked at Draco sadly.
"I need to be alone for a while," he mumbled, and left.
Draco stared at the spot where he had disappeared, dumbstruck. This scene was agonisingly familiar.
"You promised, Harry! You promised me you wouldn't leave me again. And I'll be damned if I'll let you…"