Friend or Foe

Chapter 3: Friend or Foe?

Harry was immediately questioned by his friends as he went back to the common room just before dinner.

"Harry! Where've you been?" asked Hermione, placing her hands on her lap.

"Library," Harry said flatly.

Hermione eyed him suspiciously. "But you've been out for hours," she said.

Harry sighed. "I'm tired, Hermione, please leave me alone."

"Harry!" Hermione yelled behind him as he went up the stair to his dorm.

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Harry lay on his bad, staring at the ceiling and thinking deeply. He was terribly wrong by assuming the meeting with Nicolas would make him feel batter. If any, the meeting only made him much more miserable and lost. The worst part of the whole meeting was the moment Nicolas revealed the prophecy to him...

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"What prophecy, Nicolas?" Harry pressed.

"It is not my place to tell, child," said the old man uneasily. "Albus must have good reasons for not telling you. You should trust him, Harry."

"I don't care about his reasons!" Harry snapped. "The prophecy is about me, right? Then why shouldn't I know about it?"

Nicolas knew how stubborn Harry could be, especially when he was pissed off. He sighed. "I still think you should talk to Albus."

Harry took a deep breath to control his temper. Then he said quietly, "Please, Nicolas, I'm fed up with not knowing anything."

After a long pause, Nicolas finally said, "Fine. I suppose you have to right to know, though I'm not looking forward to seeing Albus' reaction once he knows."

"Then he's not going to know," Harry cut in casually.

Nicolas eyed him with amusement, then shifted his gaze to the Gryffindor badge on Harry's robe. "I can see why the hat put you in Slytherin."

"Er... should I take it as a compliment or what?" said Harry, reddening slightly.

Nicolas chuckled before becoming serious again. "It's not going to be pleasant for you," he said, "especially with your relationship with Tom Riddle."

Harry nodded grimly, half expecting something like this, and asked Nicolas to continued.

"Albus is the one who heard the prophecy was it was told by the seer. Trelawney... yes, I think that's her name."

Harry's eyes widened at that. 'Trelawney? I hope she's not that Trelawney... But then, hasn't Dumbledore said she did make another prophecy before the one about Wormtail?' he thought. He didn't voice it out though, as he didn't want to interrupt Nicolas.

"Albus kept it a secret and only a few was told about it." Nicolas took a deep breath. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches; born to those who have thrice defied him; born as the seventh month dies; and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal; but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not and..." he paused and looked up at Harry, whose expression was unreadable. He gave Harry a sad look before speaking the last sentence softly, "and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives."

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Harry rested his head on his knees. He had been sitting on the chair in that position for quite some time now, and he hadn't said anything since he heard of the prophecy.

"Harry..." Nicolas placed his hand gently on Harry's shoulder.

"Why... why is it always me?" he chocked without looking up.

"You are not facing this alone, child," said Nicolas softly.

"But at the end, I will still be alone. It's either Tom or me, isn't it? If I win, the light side will win; if Tom wins, the dark side will win and I will die," said Harry flatly. After a long silence, he looked up at Nicolas and said softly, "I can't do it, Nicolas. I can't... I know I can never kill Tom, no matter what he's done. I... damn it!" He gritted his teeth. "What should I do?"

"Don't let the prophecy and others' expectation control you, Harry. Do as you wish." He held Harry's right hand by his waist and placed it on Harry's chest, just where his heart should be. "Do you hear it? You don't need to ask me what you should do, for you've already got the answer. Just do what your heart tells you."

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"Just do what my heart tells me?" Harry muttered to himself.

What did he want anyway?

You are Tom Riddle's friend. Alex Salutor is always Tom Riddle's friend.

Whether you still consider Tom Riddle as your friend or not, you must judge it yourself.

I'm sure you've got the answer, even though you refused to admit it.

Harry absentmindedly took out his necklace which he hid underneath his shirt and stared at the stone doubtfully.

I can't... I know I can never kill Tom, no matter what he's done.

He clenched the stone tightly, feeling the strong protective power flowed trough his body.

Then Harry knew the answer. Tom was his friend, not his foe. Even if Tom had forgotten about him long ago, even if Tom was the one who killed his parents, he knew he still believed that the boy he once knew was still hidden somewhere in Voldemort; he still believed that deep down in the Dark Lord's heart, there was light.

He remembered what he once said to Tom:

But that's what friends are for: to pull each other into trouble and to help each other out of it.

No matter what, I will find a way to get to you.

I promise.

Yes, now he knew what he should do. He had once promised Tom that he would find a way get to him, and he was going to keep that promise. There was no way he would abandon Tom again. No matter what, he would find a way to bring out that forgotten light in Tom's heart. He still didn't know how he could do it, but one thing was for sure: he needed to talk to Tom. And in order to do that, he needed a certain skill...

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"Hey, where've you been, Harry?" asked Ron as Harry approached the Gryffindor table.

Harry shrugged. "Library."

"Again?" Ron shook his head. "You're starting to act like Hermione, mate."

"Well, I need to study harder for OWLs," Harry lied.

Ron groaned, though Hermione seemed to be quite glad that Harry was starting to take his study serious.

It's been three days after Harry's talk with Nicolas. The revelation of the prophecy had forced Harry to make up his mind and, strangely, he had been feeling better since then. The situation had not improved at all, if not worsened, but now he knew clearly what he should do and no longer felt so... lost, as he did for the last month.

Harry's relationship with his friends had improved as well. Ron and Hermione seemed to be glad that Harry had finally returned to his "normal" self and stopped bombarding him with those endless questions about his well being, for which Harry was really glad. He knew the two of them were aware of his change. He had been acting so differently after that trip and there was no way that Ron and Hermione wouldn't notice. But for now, they seemed to be satisfied as long as Harry stopped distancing himself from them.

Though Harry knew things would never be the same between him and the other two Gryffindors. It was becoming more and more obvious to him that he no longer fit in Gryffindor. It was as if a certain part of him had awakened after he spent a year in the serpent house. And Harry couldn't help but pondered on what the others might think if he told them their "Gryffiindor Golden Boy" thought he should be a Slytherin rather than a Gryffindor.

Harry grimaced as he thought of the title "Gryffindor Golden Boy". Oh, how he hated Dumbledore's manipulation. Dumbledore deliberately kept everything from him and used him as his pawn to kill Voldemort. No, he was not going to do follow what the old man said. Harry had respected him, but Dumbledore had broken his trust. Now, he was going to follow his own path, a path that was not simple, but for Harry, that was the right road.

"So, Harry, have you decided yet? Will you be the leader of the defense club?" whispered Hermione from beside him.

"What? Oh, the defense club... yes, I will do it," replied Harry.

The defense club was the second thing that was bothering Harry. He had considered refusing the offer before, since he was not sure if he could manage to teach. Besides, he had enough things to worry about already. But then, an idea hit him suddenly and the Slytherin part of him told him that he should accept the offer.

Hermione smiled. "Really? That was great, Harry!" she said. "We will try to tell as much people as possible. Of course, only those who are trust worthy."

"No Slytherins, that's for sure," said Ron, staring at Malfoy, who was observing them with narrowed eyes from the Slytherin table.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well," he said slowly, "if I am the leader, I guess I will have the right to invite anyone to join, am I right?"

"Of course." Hermione frowned. "Is there anyone specific that you want to invite?"

Harry nodded. "If I am to teach, I guess I'd need someone to help," he said simply and refused to say anything more.

And when a certain blonde left the great hall after breakfast, Harry quickly excused himself and slipped out of the hall after his "target".

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"Malfoy! Hey, Malfoy!" Harry ran after the blonde, who was obviously on his way to the dungeons. Harry was quite surprised to find Malfoy alone, without his bodyguards around.

Malfoy turned and narrowed his eyes. "What, Scarface?"

Harry ignored the name. "We... er... Hermione, Ron and me was planning to organize a defense club, since we all saw it necessary, especially... in a time like this," he said tentatively.

Malfoy looked surprised. But Harry was not sure if it was because of the daring attempt of organizing a defense club under the watchful eyes of Umbridge or whether it was because his source of information was Harry Potter.

"Why are you telling me this?" he said, still watching Harry's every move closely.

"Because I want you to join us," Harry replied. "Not as a member though, as a teacher."

"What?" Now Malfoy was not staring at him suspiciously, he was staring at him as if Harry was insane.

Harry sighed. He knew it was not easy. "Hermione said we need someone who actually knew the subject to teach and she asked me. But I'm sure I can't do it well alone, I need some help."

"And you come and ask me to help you?" asked Malfoy, saying that as if it was the most ridiculous joke he'd ever heard.

"We can all benefit from your knowledge of the dark arts," said Harry quietly.

Mafoy narrow his eyes. "And how do you know about that, Potter? And why would the golden boy of Gryffindor wants that knowledge?" he asked with a dangerous tone.

"Dark magic are not evil; it's the intention that makes it evil. I don't have any problem with you using dark arts, Malfoy," said Harry coolly. "As for your knowledge, if you take the quality of our previous defense professors into account, you would find that some students in this school nearly didn't have any experience of facing the dark arts. How can they defense themselves properly if they don't know what they will be facing? How can they conjure a shield properly without testing it with dark magic? Of course we will need your skill, Malfoy. Besides, you're a skilled dueler; you should know how to defense yourself well."

Malfoy looked surprised that Harry was actually complimenting him. "And why do you think I will join you? I may report this to Umbridge, as I'm sure she would be very... interested in it."

"You won't," said Harry firmly. In truth, Harry was not sure if he could trust Malfoy with this information, but he knew that was a risk he should take. "Think about it, Malfoy," he continued, "you can get every information you want about, as far as I know, the only resistance force of students against To... Voldemort."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Potter," Malfoy hissed.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Malfoy, we both know what happened at the end of my forth year." Malfoy opened his mouth to say something, but Harry didn't give him the chance. "I don't know which side you will choose, or rather, which side you have chosen. But either way, you will be benefited by joining us. I know Slytherins would not show others their abilities that easily, so see it as a fair trade. If you join us, you will need to show us your knowledge. In turn, you can gain information and perhaps learn some new skills from your enemy."

Malfoy looked stunned after Harry's speech but managed to regain himself seconds later. "The same goes for you, I assume? What you will gain I if join that club of yours," he said slowly.

Harry smirked. "Of course."

Malfoy looked thoughtful.

"You don't need to answer me right away, just tell me when you make your decision," said Harry.

Harry turned around and started to walk away when a quiet voice stop him.

"How very Slytherin of you, Potter."

Harry blinked and grinned mischievously. He looked over his shoulder. "Why, thank you, Malfoy," he said to the bewildered blonde before walking away.