Rating:
R
House:
Schnoogle
Ships:
Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Characters:
Draco Malfoy Harry Potter Sirius Black
Genres:
Drama Slash
Era:
The Harry Potter at Hogwarts Years
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire
Stats:
Published: 06/24/2002
Updated: 02/17/2005
Words: 65,629
Chapters: 13
Hits: 39,011

Circles of Influence

Marysia

Story Summary:
Followup to The Marks We Bear. Harry/Draco slash. This story is unfinished on here but is being completed on archiveofourown.

Chapter 11

Chapter Summary:
Harry is in denial once more after Mrs Weasley catches him and Draco together. Can Ron and Hermione get him to see reason? In the meantime Voldemort wants Draco dead. Harry/Draco slash. Sequel to Marks We Bear.
Posted:
04/18/2003
Hits:
2,482

---------------------- Monday 3rd November

When Hermione opened her morning paper she froze in place and just stared at it in horror and shock. Slowly her mouth formed into an o and her eyes started to glisten as she processed the meaning of what she saw.

Around her she could hear exclamations from the other students who got the Daily Prophet and the rustle of newspaper being passed from hand to hand.

"What's up?" Ron asked, he turned and noticed her shell-shocked expression. "Herm?"

"It's.... oh, God, Ron. What are we going to do?"

"About what? What's in the paper? Is it that Stella woman we met? What did she write?"

Hermione passed over the page in question to Ron. 'Who Knew by Stella Tellit'. The title of today's column was, 'Harry Potter - Sleeping With the Enemy?'

'Lucius Malfoy's failed plot to kill Harry Potter and his subsequent downfall and escape has been news about town the last few weeks but it appears there is more than we thought to this story. Stella Tellit can exclusively reveal that Harry Potter, last year reportedly dating muggle born girl Hermione Granger, is now dating fellow student Draco Malfoy, the only son of Lucius Malfoy. Clearly Hogwart's School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is teaching our children more than spellwork these days. An anonymous source close to Potter told our reporter, "It's kind of weird sleeping in the same room as him and stuff, it's gross, I wish he wasn't with Malfoy. I just don't see how Harry can go from hating (Malfoy) as much as the rest of us to shagging him."

A good question, what did lead Harry Potter to such lewd exploits with the son of a man who wants him dead? Did ex-girlfriend Miss Granger's flighty ways lead Mr. Potter to turn to the opposite sex for comfort? It was widely reported that Miss Granger was two timing Mr. Potter with world renowned Seeker Victor Krum and it now appears she is working her way through Mr. Potter's other acquaintances. Miss Granger is currently dating Ronald Weasley, son of Ministry official Arthur Weasley. When asked, other girls in her year confirmed that, "She gets around, I think she's trying to make up for the fact that she's not very pretty by putting out to anyone who'll take her. I've seen her with Draco Malfoy a lot too."

Draco Malfoy is hardly popular at Hogwarts and rumours suggest Mr. Potter may not have learned his lesson the first time around. Our source told us, "It's just the sort of thing Malfoy would do, fuck someone just cause they're famous. Maybe he thinks it'll rub off on him." The question we have to ask is this, was Harry Potter saved by his teen lover or did Draco Malfoy lead Mr. Potter into his father's trap and then leave his father to take the blame when things went wrong? Draco Malfoy may be only fifteen, both boys are well below the age of consent for same sex relations, but that doesn't mean he can't be dangerous. After all how did this unpopular boy who was previously known as Mr. Potter's rival tempt him into this illicit relationship? Was it the fragile state he was left in after Miss Granger's betrayal and his subsequent mental problems during the TriWizard Tournament or should we suspect even darker reasons. The Malfoy's are well known for their studies of the darker arts and his school records show that Draco Malfoy, member of Slytherin house, is the top of his year in potions. The only other student with such abilities in his year is none other than the ambitious Miss Granger.

Is Harry Potter acting under his own volition or have the combined magical talents of Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy brought him under their depraved spell? Harry Potter is clearly a young boy in need of guidance, something he is not getting from his teachers who are letting this go on under their very noses. Hogwarts has become a hot bed of loose morality and teenage sex under the wayward hand of Albus Dumbledore. Something must be done to put these poor children back on the straight and narrow and get Harry Potter the help he needs before it is too late.'

By the time he had read to the end of the article Ron had pretty much the same expression on his face as Hermione although he looked a lot less as if he might burst into tears.

"Shit," he said softly. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Unknown source?" said Hermione. "It had to be someone in your dorm, they talk about sharing a room with Harry."

"Does it even matter who it was?" said Ron. "Harry's going to... I don't know what he's going to do. I don't want to know what he's going to do. Shit!"

"I can't believe they're still going on about Victor..." Hermione made a face as if she was trying not to cry, which was exactly what she was doing. She knew she should be worrying about Harry, she was a big girl and she could take whatever some ignorant reporter could dish out but still... it hurt. It hurt and she hated it, hated being spoken about like that. Hated knowing that people would believe it just because it was in the newspaper. She dug her nails into her thigh hard to try and get her control back. "I bet it was that bitch Pansy Parkinson that was quoted," she hissed.

Ron looked shocked at her language, Hermione never swore. "Are you okay? No-one's going to believe all that..."

"Won't they?" she threw back. "Your mother believed it all last time even though she knew me. Plenty of people will believe it. I'm just glad my parents don't read this, or any of their friends."

Ron frowned. "Hermione..." he said slowly. "Doesn't Malfoy get the Daily Prophet?"

Hermione went pale as a sheet. "Oh no, he does! I've seen it in his room. If Harry sees it..."

"Malfoy knows better than that though, he'll hide it won't he?"

Hermione sighed, defeated. "It doesn't really matter. Harry will hear about it eventually, probably the first time he bumps into a Slytherin in the hallway."

--------

Draco was sitting on the newspaper. Not his most cunning plan ever but he'd not long woken up and had barely a split second to figure out where to put it before Harry came out of the bathroom. Thank the Gods he'd turned to the gossip page before Harry had reappeared, if Harry had seen his face as he read that article he'd never have believed it wasn't important.

Right now he was trying to force scrambled eggs down a tightly closed throat while maintaining a calm and nonchalant expression on his face. Harry was giving him a funny look, bemused tailing into worried and suspicious. His nonchalant look obviously needed work.

Just then there was a knock at the door, Draco almost got up to answer it just to get out of Harry's eyeline but then he remembered he was sitting on the paper. "Get the door will you," he told Harry.

Harry frowned at him but went to answer it anyway. Draco wondered wildly if he could make it to the window, throw the paper out and get back to the table before Harry made it to the door.

At the door were Weasley and Granger looking as panicked as he felt.

"Hi," said Harry. "I didn't know you were having breakfast with us this morning."

"Um..." said Weasley.

"Just felt like it," said Hermione quickly. She glanced at Draco with a questioning look, she had obviously seen the article. "Do you mind?"

"Course not. Are you okay? You look kind of... upset."

"I'm fine..." she started but then she stopped and said. "Oh, bother it. There's no point in pretending really is there?"

She was looking at Draco as she said that and he realised she could tell he had read the article too and he supposed she was right. "Not really," he said glumly.

"Do you have it?" she asked.

"Have what?" asked Harry, completely perplexed. "What are you two talking about?"

"This," said Draco, pulling the paper out from underneath him. "I was hiding it but Hermione's right, there's no point. You'll see it eventually and I suppose you really ought to read it before you go out there. Or maybe I could just give you the gist of it...."

"Give me the paper," Harry demanded.

"Really, I could just summarise..."

Harry stalked over and snatched the paper out of Draco's hand. He looked at the front page first but didn't see anything relevant. "What page?"

"The gossip page," Hermione answered. "It's just on the gossip page, not real news."

"Where is it?"

"Page 28," she said finally.

Everyone stood silently as Harry found the page in question and turned the expected shade of white followed by a warning shade of red which faded away slowly to pale greenish-grey.

He took a very long time to read the whole article and when he was done he continued to stare blankly at the page.

"Harry?" said Draco after too long had passed.

There was no reply.

Draco stood up and went over to him, pulling the paper out of his hands and tossing it on the floor. "It doesn't matter," he said unconvincingly. "It's like Hermione said, just the gossip pages. Nobody pays any attention to the gossip pages. They'll print any old rubbish there." He ran his hand up Harry's arm in reassurance.

Harry pulled away and walked over until he was standing staring blankly at the wall. The red flush was rising in his cheeks again. "Who was it?" he asked tightly. "Who told her?"

"Harry..." started Hermione.

He spun around so fast he almost stumbled. "Who told her?" he shouted. "It had to be someone in our dorm, that doesn't exactly leave much room for confusion. That means you," he jabbed his finger at Ron, "Or Seamus or Dean or Neville. Who was it?"

"It wasn't Ron!" said Hermione indignantly.

"Harry, calm down," said Ron. "I'm sure it was an accident, you know what these reporters are like..."

But Harry was already off on a tangent as he ignored Ron and turned to Draco, his anger fading away to be replaced by pain. "It's always you, you see? Just like I said, they always blame you. It's never Harry Potter's fault. Harry's our saviour, Harry might be mad, he might be misguided, led astray, but fuck knows he could never actually be at fault for anything!"

"Harry, I don't..."

"No!" Harry shouted. "I don't want to hear that it's okay or that it doesn't matter or whatever it is any of you have to say. I just..." he tailed off as his voice broke and he made a face similar to the one Hermione had been making at the breakfast table in the Great Hall. He bit the inside of his mouth and looked over at Draco.

"I think you two better go," Draco told Ron and Hermione. "Thanks for stopping by."

Hermione nodded her understanding and she and Ron left.

As soon as the door closed behind them Harry made a choking noise and fell back to sit on the bed, hiding his face.

Draco went over to sit next to him, Harry didn't shrug him off this time when he tried to touch him and he pulled Harry into his arms.

"I didn't want them to know," Harry gulped. "I just didn't want anyone to know and now everyone knows."

Draco just stroked his hair and wished there was something he could say.

"And they're blaming you again, just like Ron's Mum. You always get the blame and it's all my fault!"

"It's not your fault, Harry. Nobody's at fault since none of us have done anything wrong," Draco told him firmly but gently.

Harry just sniffled into his lap and Draco continued to comfort him while wondering if anyone would notice if he apparated to Diagon Alley and accidentally set fire to the offices of the Daily Prophet.

---------------

When Ron and Hermione arrived at Care of Magical Creatures they didn't have to tell Hagrid why Harry wouldn't be in class that morning, he had already seen the paper. He didn't believe a word of it of course which actually left them a little worried as he loudly denounced the possibility that Harry might be gay and they could hardly take the time to sit down and explain that actually he was, since class was ready to start.

When Hermione saw the expression on Seamus's face she knew instantly whose words had been quoted as the anonymous source. He looked immensely guilty and positively terrified as he realised she was looking at him, he stepped behind Dean as she came towards them.

"Was it you?" she asked quietly, her face telling him she already knew the answer and just wanted it confirmed before she murdered him.

"It was an accident," Dean tried to explain, staying between them. "We didn't speak to any reporters. We would never do that to Harry. She must have overheard us talking in the Three Broomsticks."

"She couldn't have overheard you if you hadn't been talking about it in public," Hermione snapped. "You idiots! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"It would have come out eventually, though," Seamus wheedled from behind Dean. "Couldn't be a secret forever, right?"

Hermione's mouth thinned into a tight line and she raised her wand.

"Hermione!" Dean squeaked. "Wait up. Don't do anything you might regret."

Hermione pushed Dean aside and pointing her wand at Seamus she incanted, "Homo Silencio Totalis."

Seamus opened his mouth to protest and no sound came out.

"That'll teach you to keep your mouth shut," Hermione told him sharply.

"Hermione..." began Dean.

She fixed him with a glare that silenced him without magic. "Don't make me reconsider letting you off," she told him. "I'm really in the mood to hurt someone."

Dean gulped and pulled the gaping Seamus away to the other side of the group.

---------------

Just as Harry was starting to calm down a little a knocking came at the door. It was Sirius, come to escort Draco to his morning classes. Draco nudged Harry lightly. "Harry, I need to let Sirius in."

Harry stiffened. "No!"

"Don't be silly, it's just Sirius. He already knew, remember?"

"I don't care," said Harry stubbornly. "I don't want to see anyone. Tell him to go away."

Draco sighed. So much for mature, at one with the tides of the earth, Harry. It was back to selfish, at odds with everything, Potter. He was going to kill whichever of Harry's dorm mates had tattled to that reporter, slowly, and then he was going to kill the reporter, and then he was going to kill every single person who had read that article. He slipped out from under Harry's weight and went to the door.

"Hello Sirius, come in."

Harry shot up in anger. "I told you not to do that!" When Sirius locked eyes with him his anger dissipated and he slumped back down again. "Fine," he said. "But I'm not going to class."

"Why not?" asked Sirius, confused. He hadn't seen the paper this morning.

Draco fished it up off the floor and handed it to him, folded open to the relevant page.

Sirius started to read it then threw it aside in disgust. "Damn it, Harry. You can't let this kind of rubbish get to you."

Harry shot up again, his mood seesawing wildly, and shouted, "Yes, I bloody can! Why shouldn't I? Do you know what's going to happen if I go out there? If either of us go out there?"

Sirius, trying to look confident but betraying himself slightly, said, "What? What terrible thing is going to happen?"

"They'll know," Harry hissed. "They'll all look and they'll whisper and then they'll point and they'll have that expression on their faces like we're dirt, worse than dirt, and that's just the people that are too nice to speak out. You think I haven't seen it before? I've seen it on your face, on McGonagall's, on Ron's and his Mum's, on Seamus. I can count the number of people who haven't looked at us like that when they found out on one hand. One hand! And most of those people were the closest people to me in the whole world. Why should I expect better from strangers?"

"Harry..."

But Harry was on a roll. "And then there's what she said about Hermione and Draco, people will believe that you know. People you think would stand by you to the end take one look at a paper and there it is in black and white and they believe it. There'll be a flood of Howlers and envelopes full of Bubotuber Pus and worse by tomorrow. And what if the teachers or the school governors believe it? What if they decide Draco's not to be trusted? Who'll watch over him then, who'll keep him safe then? Do you think they'll really care if Lucius Malfoy's queer son, that suspicious boy who's been leading Harry Potter astray, gets accidentally knocked down a few flights of stairs? They'll probably stop us from seeing each other at the very least. Can't have a scandal, must be seen to be doing the right thing!"

"Harry!" Sirius bellowed. "Will you stop it! You're hysterical."

Harry fell silent and took a step back, breathing hard.

"I think perhaps it is best if you miss you first class today," Sirius said finally. "You're obviously not ... up to it."

"Draco's staying here too," Harry demanded.

"I'm perfectly capable of..." Draco began.

"You're staying here," said Harry tightly, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"... I'll just stay here then. Great idea."

"But I do think you should try and make some classes. What do you have second period?"

Harry didn't answer so Draco did, "He has Herbology second, then Charms. Herbology ought to be okay, don't you think Harry? You're with the Hufflepuffs and they've always been fine about Finch-Fletchley."

"I don't want you going to any classes with the Slytherins anymore," Harry demanded suddenly.

"But almost all of my classes are with the Slytherins, you're being ridiculous."

"I am not, I don't trust them and I didn't like you going to classes with them before either. Dumbledore should have transferred you to Gryffindor house or something. They're all trying to kill you."

"The Slytherins aren't all out to get me, I am a Slytherin for pete's sake. Just because a few of them are on Voldemort's side..."

"A few! Half the bloody house probably has a Dark Mark already. The hat must have made a mistake with you, it got confused cause you wanted to be a Slytherin. I bet you should have gone in Ravenclaw. You could put it on again and see. I should have been in Slytherin, the way I keep destroying everything I touch."

"What are you on about? You've spent too much time hanging around with Weasley, there's nothing wrong with Slytherin house."

"Well I don't see many of them coming to visit now you're locked up here all the time," Harry retorted.

"Don't blame them just because I'm not the friendly type."

"Stop it, you two," demanded Sirius. "This isn't worth fighting about. Draco is perfectly safe in his classes and no matter what anyone else says he'll still have me watching over him."

"Thanks," said Draco softly.

Harry looked murderous at Sirius taking Draco's side, so he quickly said, "But maybe it might make things easier on all of us if he were in with the Gryffindor's for more of his classes, if it doesn't disrupt his timetable too much. I could ask Dumbledore." Harry looked grateful. "And for what it's worth," Sirius added. "All Harry saw on my face was surprise and concern. I don't think the worse of either of you for what's happened. I just want to help, and most of the time I don't have the faintest idea how to do that." He sat down. "It's hard for me to get my head around the fact that Harry isn't a child any more. I knew you best as a baby, Harry, it's strange to go from that to someone who's almost an adult."

Harry hugged himself awkwardly. "I just didn't want anyone to know, I hate that they all know," he repeated.

"It'll be okay," Sirius insisted. "There are bigger things to worry about than this and neither me nor Dumbledore will let some stupid gossip affect Draco's safety. I swear it."

Harry nodded.

----------------

Harry arrived at the greenhouses slightly late, having left a sulking Draco up in his room with promises extracted that he would take Charms and Transfiguration with the Gryffindor's today since he had them today anyway and it wouldn't really mess up his timetable. Sirius was speaking to Dumbledore right now to see if his main classes could be switched permanently. Harry had pulled out his timetable and sat down with it to prove Draco could switch without interfering with his non-compulsory subjects. He wanted Draco where he could see him and know for sure he was safe.

Being late he hadn't really seen anyone in the halls, and those few he had passed he had made a point of not looking at, so he didn't have to face anyone until he stepped into the warm greenhouse and the entire class turned round to stare at the latecomer. Harry flushed red and tripped over his own feet as he tried to get to the chair next to Ron and Hermione as fast as possible.

Despite his late arrival class had not yet started as apparently Professor Sprout was delayed somewhere. Once Harry sat down the buzz of conversation restarted and Harry, ignoring Ron and Hermione's sympathetic expressions, was about to bury his head in his arms when he was interrupted by an "Erm." He looked up before he could think better of it. It was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Justin gave Harry a friendly and reassuring smile to which Harry considered putting his head on the desk anyway.

"Hi, Harry," he said warmly. "I... uh... just wanted to say... well... don't worry, okay? It's not the best way for things to come out but I suppose that's the way these things work when you're famous. I don't believe any of the nasty things they said and neither does anyone else I've spoken to, we know you're all right and if you say Malfoy's all right then I guess he must be. It's just a load of nonsense in the paper. So, um..." He stuck out his hand for Harry to shake.

Harry, flushed red and not quite able to look Justin in the eye, shook his hand briefly. As Justin walked away Harry saw two of the Hufflepuff girls cast a disgusted look at him, one of them turned around and looked coldly at Harry then turned back to whisper something to the boy next to her. Harry felt slightly sick and finally gave in to the temptation to hide his face.

--------------------

Harry walked up the music corridor to the sound of the piano. He had never been up here before, music wasn't a big part, or really a part at all, of the curriculum at Hogwarts and none of his friends played an instrument. He had been surprised at first when Draco told him he had been studying the piano for years, but when he thought about it he felt it made sense. He'd thought once that Draco had the fingers of a musician, long and slender and slightly calloused at the tips.

The door he was walking towards was slightly open and outside it sat a large black dog, Sirius, watching him approach. He nodded to him but moved past him and slid the door open a little wider to look in. Draco sat alone at the piano in the slightly dusty room, he was completely focused on the music he was making.

To Harry's untrained ear it was beautiful, though in truth Draco was a mediocre pianist. It was something that didn't bother him at all and hadn't in years. He didn't intend to be a musician, he no longer played for an audience as he had done at his parent's request when younger. This was just for him, because he liked to do it. It was very peaceful, the concentration required to play a complicated piece was like a form of meditation. If you thought too much about what you were doing you would stumble, if you thought about anything else you would lose your place. You just had to do it and nothing else.

The day had passed much as Draco had expected, those with the inclination to taunt had new material to work with. He didn't care but he could see the crude words burning Harry from the inside out and it made him want to hurt them. But worse, and more insidious, were the looks from those who had previously been friendly to Harry, if not to Draco. The thing Harry had feared most, those people who equated gay with dirty and perverted. Draco found it even harder to ignore them, the cowardice of their silent disapproval made him itch to call them on it. To challenge them and demand they say what they were thinking. Amusingly enough there was one person who seemed to actually think better of Draco for the gossip, Pansy Parkinson apparently believed the insinuation that Draco had used magic to get Harry into his bed and was duly impressed with the success of his underhand techniques.

He came to the end of the piece he was playing and realised there was someone else in the room. Harry. He turned to him and Harry approached, laying his hands on Draco's shoulders.

"You done here?" he asked.

"I'm done."

"Let's go then."

-----------------

Snape knocked on the door shortly after dinner to give Dumbledore's excuses for being unable to meet Draco for tea as he usually did on a Monday evening. Harry and Sirius left him and Draco alone to talk, Sirius couldn't get out of the room fast enough.

"I wondered when Dumbledore would stop coming by," Draco remarked. "I'm hardly important enough to warrant so much of his time and I'm sure I must have told him everything I know about father and Voldemort by now."

"The headmaster is a busy man," Snape agreed. "But he is still worried about you, I know you must have seen today's delightful article in the Daily Prophet. Has it caused any problems?"

"Not really," said Draco. "Not for me anyway."

Snape gave him a wry look. "I would hardly expect Mr. Potter to handle the situation well, not with his tendency to histrionics."

"This is everything he's been afraid of," Draco said angrily. "How would you like to have all your darkest secrets printed in the paper and your closest friends accused of using you."

"You assume that has never happened to me, Mr. Malfoy. Perhaps you ought to think more carefully before you speak. I was placed on trial, public trial, as a Death Eater. You think that wasn't reported in the paper along with everything else they could dig up on me?"

"Oh. I'm sorry," said Draco, the apology slightly awkward on his lips. "It's just that you act as if Harry's just after attention when that's the last thing he wants." At he spoke he was mentally making a note to check into the archives and find out what the papers had written about Snape.

"You would think that Potter would be used to it by now. But no, and now the entire teaching staff are running around like headless chickens terrified that he's going to do something stupid. And who do we have to stop that from happening? Sirius Black!" Snape shook his head wearily.

"Harry isn't going to do anything stupid, not again."

Snape raised an eyebrow but did not argue. "I hope you're right. The headmaster seems to agree, he thinks that the presence of Black and the fact that you and Potter are reconciled will be enough to keep him from mental breakdown. I presume you are still ... reconciled? You certainly gave me an eyeful on Friday night, I am considering having the memory professionally expunged for my own peace of mind."

Draco smirked.

"Wonderful," Snape muttered.

"Try not to be too pleased for us, Professor."

"I simply ask that you inform me of any serious problems and do not tell me about anything I would not wish to know. Dumbledore will insist that I make sure you are happy as well as safe, as if I have any control over your mental state with Potter dancing roughshod over your feelings every time he gets upset about breaking a nail."

"I will let you know if there's anything important," said Draco dryly.

"So, how are you?" Snape said, as if the very question were distasteful to him.

"I'm fine," Draco lied, whatever problems he did have, it wasn't as though Snape could really help beyond just being around. So he told him that much at least. "It's good though, to have someone to talk to who isn't Harry, who isn't involved. Stuck in this room all the time, sometimes it starts to feel as if you're not a part of the real world anymore. I wonder what the point was sometimes, if I have to spend the rest of my life hiding." Snape looked worried at that and he quickly added, "I don't mean... it's not that bad, it's not the lack of company really either, I just hate not being able to go out on my own, go flying or just for a walk or something and even if I do go with Sirius or something there's this constant itch... waiting for someone to attack."

Snape sighed. "This won't be forever. Voldemort will forget about you in time and for now I trust you will get excellent marks this year with all the extra study you will have time for."

Draco made a face. "My father will be so pleased."

---------

Sirius led Harry back to his room, knowing he wouldn't want to be out in public any longer than necessary. He had been quiet all day and all through dinner, never really meeting anybody's eye so that you couldn't tell what he was feeling.

He sat down in front of the fire and stared into it, picking at his robes in a gesture that betrayed his anxiety.

"It wasn't so bad today was it?" Sirius asked hopefully.

Harry just gave a short mirthless bark of laughter.

Sirius laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry..." he said helplessly, not knowing how to get it through Harry's head that this didn't matter, how to help him not to let this affect him so much.

"I'll be fine," said Harry flatly.

"Yes, you will be fine, eventually," Sirius said firmly. "But I'm worried about now, I just want to be sure you make it to eventually."

"I'm not going to do anything stupid," Harry protested. "But you can't expect me to be happy about what's happening. I can't exactly just ignore it when the Slytherins are yelling comments at me across the Great Hall and I spend all day worrying about Draco and wondering how long it'll be before Voldemort shows up again." Harry pulled away from him and stood up. "Shit! Sorry, I'm babbling. I'm just finding it hard to... people keep asking me how I am and they just won't take fine for an answer. I don't want to talk about it, it sucks and I hate it and there's nothing you or anyone else can do to make it go away. Can't we just leave it at that?"

"We don't have to talk about it, but it scares me when you won't talk at all. You didn't say a thing all through dinner."

"That's not true."

Sirius gave him a skeptical look.

"I asked Ron to pass the bread," said Harry lamely, he gave a half smile, inviting Sirius to lift the mood.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "So... what the hell are we going to talk about then?"

"Has there been letters yet do you think?" Harry asked. "About the article? Maybe Snape will know. That could be why Dumbledore didn't have time to see Draco."

"I'm sure Dumbledore has other things to do that have nothing to do with you or Draco. There's Wormtail's trial for a start and preparing for the publicity around that."

"I suppose. Do you really think Voldemort will attack openly once people start believing he's back?"

"I don't know. He has to start eventually. Maybe it'll be better that way, get the fight out into the open. I hate all this cloak and dagger stuff."

---

Later that night, after Snape and Sirius had left the two boys alone, Harry asked Draco the same question.

"I don't know, I think so. But I'd rather not think about it at all. What's the point? There's nothing more I can do."

"I can't stop thinking about it, cause when it starts I'll know. I'll see." Harry rubbed at his scar. "It aches, more and more every day."

Draco pulled him in against him. "Go to sleep."

Long after Draco had fallen asleep, Harry lay silently listening to the sounds of him breathing and of the castle and he waited.

--------- tbc

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