Nied is Not Enough

Chapter Seven

As they stood to leave, Hermione said to Draco and Ron, "You two go ahead, I want to talk to Harry for a bit." The redhead and the blond gave each other a sneer and walked out the door.

"What's up Hermione?" Harry asked as he reached for his jacket.

"What's going on with the two of you?"

Harry's heart leapt into his throat. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, if you weren't staring off into space, you were staring at Draco. He was doing the same thing. What's going on?"

Harry swallowed hard as they left the pub. The sun was warm as he and Hermione walked back toward the castle.

"I just don't get it, you know? I mean, I haven't seen him for years. I knew what happened to his parents and I assumed he would go off and become the same thing. Then I saw him at the Leaky Cauldron the night before we left to come here." Harry let the last part slip.

She stopped in her tracks. "Harry, were you in disguise? Did you have blond hair that night?"

Oh, great. "Yeah. So?"

"So Draco can't stop talking about this man he met there. He said he'd never felt such balanced magic from someone before."

Oh gods, she knows. She knows about that night.

"Harry, he has been enthralled by you, well the man he met at the Leaky Cauldron. You have to let him know it was you. You have to." She was shaking her head and continued uttering it.

"What exactly did he tell you about that night?" Harry asked with nervousness.

"Well, he told me that he met this man who never said a word. He spotted you, I guess, from across the room and went to introduce himself. He said that he felt strangely drawn to you and was extremely nervous about speaking to you, but I don't think he knew it was you, I mean you did look pretty sexy, so he says. Not that you don't now, erm."

Harry looked at her slightly hurt. Maybe I need to be blond more often, he said I looked sexy? He didn't seem nervous at all. She continued, "he uh, said that he shook this man's, erm, your, hand and allowed communication magic to flow and that this other man just closed his eyes. He was taken by your power, Harry, you're energy. You have to let him know."

At least she doesn't know about the communication magic I released.

"And then he said that when the other man stood to leave, he returned the communication magic with such intensity that he was left breathless. Quite something, if you ask me." Hermione stared up to the sky as she walked.

Harry had no idea how to handle the situation. His palms began sweating and his heart was racing. Control, control. Oh, gods. "Hermione, listen, I don't have time to get involved with this. I mean, it was a one time thing that night at the Leaky Cauldron. Done. End of story."

Hermione was frustrated. "No, you listen, Harry. Malfoy has been the only one able to get any kind of reaction from you since you started teaching here. It didn't seem to matter that Ron and I have been sending you notes since day one asking how you've been, hoping that just maybe you would show up to eat in the Great Hall with us. It was Draco that you stormed in looking for yesterday, it was after speaking with him in the hallway that you came in and actually ate with the rest of us. Do you think that Brian Cullen didn't immediately come and tell me that he saw you and Draco stumbling down the hall together last night and you both were laughing and insulting each other and you took five points away from my house for him looking at you surprised? It was Draco that you were ogling during lunch today and he's all we've talked about since we left the damned pub. Don't tell me that you don't have time for this. It is pretty evident that you are so involved that you can't see anything else going on around you." Hermione was throwing a fit in the middle of the road with her finger pointing at Harry.

Harry just stood in frightful silence as his old friend pointed all these things out to him. Had he really been so wrapped up in this that he didn't pay any attention to the life around him? The deluge of information Hermione just flung at him was angering him to the point of running. He just wanted to disappear from the whole bloody place. "I am not going to stand here and listen to this, Hermione." He turned and walked as quickly as he could back to the castle.

"Harry, wait!" She was running up behind him. "Please. Look, I'm sorry about all that. It's just that, erm, we miss you. I miss you. I thought things would be like old times here again with you and Ron, you know? Maybe it's a ridiculously childish dream. I know we've all grown up since then, but I don't even know you anymore. Draco is worried about you as much as Ron and I are. Please don't continue pushing us away." Her large brown eyes filled with tears as Harry looked at her face. "We just want you to be the Harry we knew."

Harry reached up and put his hand on her cheek. She pressed further into his hand and looked at him again. "That Harry is gone, Hermione." Harry looked despondent as he let his hand drop and walked into the doors of Hogwarts.

The Great Hall was the last place Harry wanted to be at this point. All the students were bound to be sugar shocked and wild at the Halloween Feast. He just wanted some time to think. He made his way to the Astronomy Tower. He had always liked the view over the lake that it held. It felt the same, Harry noted, as the old one. They did a great job of rebuilding it after the war. He pulled himself atop the wall which surrounded the tower and put one leg on each side of it. He lay back on the stones and stared up at the dark October sky.

He heard a scuffle and sat up immediately. In the partially lit doorway stood Dumbledore leaning against his staff. "I thought I might find you here, my dear boy."

Harry swung his leg around and jumped down to the floor of the tower.

"Let's sit, shall we?" The Headmaster waved his hands in the air and two recliners appeared. Harry and Dumbledore sat and leaned as far back as they could to see the sky. "It's been quite a year so far, hasn't it?"

Harry looked over at his old professor who was searching the heavens. "Yeah, I suppose it has." Harry turned his head back and looked at the sky. He winced at the thought of his previous displays.

"You know, Harry, it is in my opinion that life isn't nearly as hard as we make it. We've seen a lot of horrors, you and me. But we're not the only ones. We've also seen a lot of beauty. It's when we look at all those things put together that we can see life for what it is."

Harry kept looking at the sky and retorted, "And what is it?"

"Choice. But that, my boy is something I cannot give you. That is yours alone." Dumbledore was now looking over his glasses at Harry. "But I can give you this."

He held out his hand and inside it was a small stone sphere with a point. It spun above his palm like a top. Harry reached out with his palm flat and facing up. The spinning stone moved smoothly from Dumbledore's hand to his and continued spinning.

"It's a heartstone, Harry."

He watched as it changed in color from shining white to a dark maroon to a surge of swirling color. It wouldn't stay one color in Harry's hand.

"This will help you sort some things out. Your emotions are what trigger the colors. It's pretty apparent that you are a mess. Take it with you and use it often. And now, my dear boy, I have some wild feast to attend." Dumbledore stood with the help of his staff and as he was leaving the tower, he turned to Harry and said, "If you do decide to come, please come in disguise. It's a masque this year rather than just a feast. More fun for the students."

Harry remained in the recliner for a few moments and it disappeared underneath him. He was left holding the heartstone sitting on the cold stone floor. The jumble of colors slowly faded as he thought of specific people. He thought of Ron and the stone spun into a glowing blue. Dumbledore, the stone turned purple. Hermione, the stone again was blue. He swallowed hard and concentrated on Malfoy. The stone started black then changed to red then pink and ended up gold. The safety of the male Harry thought. He honestly didn't know how he felt about Malfoy. He certainly felt a connection to him because of his loss by Voldemort. Was that it? It couldn't be. Malfoy was the only person Harry had ever looked at in such a way that he wanted nothing more than to touch him. He remembered all of Draco's features, the way he lit up when he smiled, the sincerity of his eyes, the smoothness of his hands. No one had ever made Harry as unsure of himself as Draco did. He was equal to Harry in magic. He was breathtaking to look at. When he looked at Harry, he felt a surge of warmth and his insides twisted. But how am I supposed to trust him?

"You must sacrifice something," he heard Dumbledore's voice in his head. "You must allow him to trust you as well. Think back, Harry. Think back."

The stone was spinning madly in his hand and it felt like it would fly away at any moment. He closed his eyes and his nightmare of the war filled his thoughts.

He was on the green grounds of Hogwarts, Dementors and Death Eaters surrounding him. Suddenly, Voldemort was in front of him casting the killing curse and couldn't finish it because a Death Eater had come from behind and threw his arms around Voldemort. Harry shouted, "Accio wand" and Voldemort's wand flew into Harry's hand. Harry held the wands side by side touched the tips together and with every ounce of magic he could gather he sent ferocious white light at the Dark Lord. The man holding Voldemort flew backward as the light entered Voldemort's body. The Dark Lord screamed in agony until his skin broke apart from the white magic. It peeled away from his skeleton and sizzled on the grass. Harry kept the tips of the wands together. The wands fused to each other and Harry felt Voldemort's heart stop inside his own body. The white light returned to Harry and his scar burst open. Such energy he had never felt, but it wasn't pain it was pure power. The Dementors and Death Eaters disappeared. Harry walked toward the heap of sizzling flesh and collapsed next to it. He looked at the man on the ground on the other side of what was left of Voldemort. A young blond man lay in the grass. His eyes had been burned away.

Harry jerked his eyes open and the heartstone was spinning violently in his hand. He grasped it tightly and without a moment to blink was racing down the stairs toward the Great Hall.

As soon as he reached the door which opened behind the head table, he could hear shouting and celebrating. The hall was darker than usual and the tables had been moved to the edges of the room. Several of the younger students were playing games at the far end of the hall and the older students were dancing in the center of the room. Harry spotted Ron immediately; he was wearing his full Chudley Cannon's uniform and parading around with his broomstick. Hermione, quite hilariously, was dressed as a cat. Harry had a quick flashback to their second year when she used cat hair in a polyjuice potion. Some students had charmed their hair color or their eye color and had come up with some pretty interesting costumes.

Above the bustle of the crowd, Harry spotted Draco across the hall speaking to Minerva. A long black cape was tossed back over one shoulder. He had a dark red crushed velvet vest and a ruffled poet shirt on. Harry could tell from across the hall that the laces on the chest of the shirt were loosened. His hair was slicked back, giving him an even more aristocratic look. Stunning, Harry thought as he took in another deep breath and decided there was no turning back.

He walked across the room ignoring those who acknowledged him. "Nice costume," Ron shouted over the music. Harry paid no attention.

Minerva stepped away from Draco and moved to stop a few of the students who were getting a bit too touchy feely on the dance floor. Harry kept his pace up, taking large strides toward Draco. The music was surrounding him and low lights flickered along the ceiling. He had to keep his concentration. Nothing was going to stop him. He walked up behind Draco and whispered, "It was you."

Draco spun around in such a hurry, he almost toppled over. "Didn't see you, Harry. What was me?"

Harry took the goblet out of Draco's hand and set it on the table behind him. "Take off your glove, Draco. I need to show you something." Harry's heart was pounding hard inside his ribcage. His eyes were intense and quite serious which made the green even more vibrant.

Draco noticed the intensity and removed his glove. Harry put out his hand and Draco took hold of it. It seemed as though the entire world stopped moving at that moment. Harry let his communication magic rush out of his body with such speed and magnitude that Draco's skin glowed.

He let go of the images from his nightmare and allowed them to enter Draco. Draco's eyes changed from surprise to fear in a matter of seconds. Voldemort, the Death Eaters, the Dementors, the man lying on the grass behind Voldemort with his eyes burned out, all of it. Harry sent such gratefulness to the man in front of him, such intense wonder, and true appreciation that Draco closed his eyes.

Draco leaned his head back and kept his eyes tightly shut. Harry noticed tears streaking down Draco's cheeks. He lifted his free hand to the pale skin on Draco's face and wiped the tear away with his thumb. "Why didn't you tell me, Draco?"

"Now is not the time, Harry," he whispered, trying not to sob. "I have to go." He took a few steps back from Harry and strode out of the Great Hall.

Harry walked after him, but was stopped by the Headmaster. "Mr. Potter, I think it would be best if you let him." His grip on Harry's arm was surprisingly tight. "He's had as much as one can handle in the last few days. As I'm sure you have." His grip loosened and he let Harry go.

Harry ran out of the Hall and toward the Dungeons. He burst through the entrance and banged loudly on Draco's door. There was no answer. "DRACO!" he shouted. Nothing. He waved his hand across the door and it clicked open. He ran into the rooms searching but found nothing. He ran into the common room and looked around. He found himself banging on the portrait frame of Professor Snape. "Severus! Please come! Severus!"

A quite frustrated Severus Snape became clearer in the portrait frame. "What is it Potter? I was in the middle of...oh, my." Severus noticed the state of Harry and calmly asked, "Do you mean Mr. Malfoy?"

Harry nodded his head. "I need to find him, Severus. I just realized, oh GODS! How could I not have known?" Harry was pacing through the common room, kicking anything that came in his way.

"I'm afraid that Draco left for a bit, Harry. He had somewhere he needed to be." Severus' portrait looked at Harry with its' head cocked. "You realized what, Mr. Potter?"

Harry stopped kicking the couch and stomped over to the portrait. "I realized, Severus, that Draco is the Death Eater who helped me kill Voldemort!" His eyes were wide with shock at saying the words outloud. "I don't know if I never remembered that part because I didn't believe it could be possible or what. I didn't know!" Harry sat on the couch he had been kicking and rubbed his hands through his hair.

"Ah, I see. Well, Mr. Potter, our lives are full of little surprises, aren't they."

"Did you know, Severus? Did you know that Draco is the one who held Voldemort's arms down long enough for me to get his wand?" Harry was shaking and had difficulty breathing.

"Actually, Harry, I did know. I'm, erm, sorry I couldn't tell you. The Headmaster thought ..."

Harry cut him off, "The Headmaster. Of course. Why can't anybody just tell me what the hell is going on here?" His fists were clenched in fury and his eyes were almost glowing.

"I'm sorry, Harry. It's not my place. He'll be back in a few days. Mark my words." Severus disappeared from the portrait.

Harry stood up and kicked the sofa again. He ran from the Dungeons and headed to the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore was not answering which meant he was probably still at the feast. Harry slammed his back up against the wall and slid down it.

For about a half an hour, he sat and thought about what had just happened. He took the clear heartstone from his pocket and let it spin in his hand. He thought of the young man who had held Voldemort's arms and it changed to a deep red. He thought of the Draco he knew in school and it remained the same. The Draco he knew now. It stayed red. He thought hard about what the color meant. Red is the color of strength, of survival, of courage and energy, of driving force and of love.

He looked at the heartstone and threw it against the opposite wall. It rolled several feet and suddenly stopped. Harry looked down the hall and saw Dumbledore walking toward him with the heartstone in his hand. "You can't destroy it, Harry. If you do, you'll destroy yourself. Come in, we'll talk."