The Reason

Chapter 17

'I've got to be honest, I think you know, we're covered in lies and that's OK. There's somewhere beyond this, I know, but I hope I can find the words to say, never again, no, no, never again. 'Cause you're a god, and I am not, and I just thought that you would know. You're a god, and I am not, and I just thought I'd let you go. But I've been unable to put you down, I'm still learning things I ought to know by now. It's under the table so I need something more to show somehow.' "You're a God" ~ Vertical Horizon

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"All of you, wait downstairs for me. Draco, Harry, you can end the spell now."

They dropped each other's hands, which until now neither had realized that they were still holding, and the room seemed suddenly dim.

The four students walked down the stairs slowly, trying to listen to what was happening, but they needn't have worried. A few moments after they left the room, they heard a triumphant laugh, followed by a gasp of surprise, which was immediately followed by a shriek of agony.

Seconds later Dumbledore was walking down the stairs towards them.

"Professor, I'm sorry," Draco began, but Dumbledore silenced him with a look.

"Tomorrow. Right now, we are going through the Honeydukes passage and then to bed. We will deal with everything tomorrow."

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"Draco?" Harry thought tentatively. It was 1:00 in the morning, and Harry couldn't sleep for worry. He wanted to talk to Draco, but he couldn't reach him. Mr. Malfoy must have done something to end the spell, Harry knew, but somehow he couldn't make himself believe it. He had thought that the bond that he and Draco had forged had run deeper than magic, but apparently not. He rolled over yet again, and finally he fell asleep.

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The next day directly after dinner, they were all four summoned to Dumbledore's office.

"Explain yourselves," he said quietly.

So Draco started the tale, letting Harry fill in where it was needed. Hermione and Ron sat in silence, content to listen to the story and have the gaps filled in.

"And you two?" Dumbledore asked when Harry and Draco were finished.

"We really didn't do anything other than watch," Ron said honestly.

"Well, you are all lucky to be alive. That was powerful magic you were playing with and a very powerful vampire. But you are all safe, and you truly handled things very well. So, as long as this incident remains our secret, you will not be punished."

"Professor, if I may ask, how did you know where to find us, or even that we needed finding?" Harry asked timidly.

"Professor Lupin heard the three of you going down the secret passage, and informed me immediately. Thankfully, he managed to overhear what room, or I wouldn't have had a clue where to go once I got out of the passage. So, is everything finished - all of your spells and sneaking out? Can I trust you to go back to your rooms and behave?"

They nodded silently - this was the angriest any of them had ever seen Dumbledore. Harry had a feeling that it wasn't so much because they had broken the rules as because Dumbledore had been completely in the dark about it the whole time.

They walked out of Dumbledore's office in silence, and when Draco parted ways with them to go to his dorm, he didn't even say goodbye.

Immediately, Ron and Hermione began interrogating him.

"Harry, what else happened with Draco? There was totally something weird going on between the two of you!"

"Let's wait until we get back to Gryffindor Tower," Harry said resignedly.

When they had reached Gryffindor and given the Fat Lady the password, ignoring her incessant questions about where they had all been last night, they sat down by the fire.

Harry sighed.

"Okay, I know keeping you guys in the dark about this whole thing was wrong, and I'm sorry. I was scared that you would think I was evil, and be disgusted by me, and I'm ashamed for even thinking such a stupid thing. You guys are the best friends I could ever imagine. So, I'm going to tell you everything from now on, and to do that, I have to go back and tell you a few other things. At the sorting ceremony, the Hat tried to put me in Slytherin; it said I could do great things in there, but I refused."

"Harry, did you think we would think less of you because of that? Of course you would do wonderful in Slytherin; you're one of the most powerful, brilliant wizards I know, which is exactly what Slytherin looks for in students."

"There's more," Harry said quietly. "Do you remember last year in the Ministry of Magic when the prophecy about me was smashed, and I said no one knew what it said?"

They nodded.

"I lied. Dumbledore knew what it said. It said that there was a wizard that would grow to rival Voldemort's strength, and in the end, the wizard would either die by Voldemort's hand, or Voldemort would die by his. The prophecy gave certain characteristics about this wizard, such as his birthday and the fact that his parents were some of Voldemort's greatest opponents. The funny thing is, the prophecy didn't have a name attached to it, and according to Dumbledore, it could have been me or Neville. Voldemort thought that it was me, though, and when he attacked me as a baby, he sealed it. He chose me, so now I have to kill him or be killed by him."

"Oh, Harry, why didn't you tell us? I can't believe you spent an entire year dealing with that on your own!" Hermione cried. She jumped up and gave him a hug, tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, man, you could've told us. That's a lot to be carrying around on your shoulders."

"Thanks, guys, you're awesome," Harry said, tears in his own eyes.

"But there's still more." He took a deep breath, not sure he could do the rest of this.

"You know that Draco and I got to be good friends this past week, right?" They nodded, and Ron looked confused, but Hermione just looked, well, ready, he thought.

"Well, we got to be a little more than friends, actually. I kissed him. Twice."

Chapter 18

'I know you think that I shouldn't still love you, I'll tell you that. But if I didn't say it, well, I'd still have felt it, where's the sense in that? I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder, or return to where we were. Well I will go down with this ship, and I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door; I'm in love and always will be. I know I left too much mess and destruction to come back again, and I caused but nothing but trouble; I understand if you can't talk to me again. And if you live by the rules of "It's over", then I'm sure that that makes sense. And when we meet as I'm sure we will, all that was then will be there still, and I'll let it pass, and hold my tongue, and you will think that I've moved on. Well, I will go down with this ship and I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door; I'm in love and always will be.' "White Flag" ~ Dido

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Ron stared at Harry silently, as if waiting for the punch line. "You're joking, right?" he managed finally.

"I can be a Slytherin- wannabe, a vampire, and an evil-wizard-in-training-, and you guys are fine with it. But now that I'm in love with Malfoy ..." Harry's voice trailed off. He was trying to play it off, but it was hard to talk with such a huge lump in his throat.

"No, Harry, I'm fine with it. You're still the same brave, wonderful guy I've always known. I am always here for you, Harry," Hermione said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Me, too, Harry, but Malfoy? I just don't understand." Ron shook his head slowly.

"That's because you don't know him. I know I've only been on speaking terms with him for about a week, but I was in his mind, too. And he risked his life for me - about a hundred times, actually. He's a great guy."

"Okay. Harry, anything you do, I'm behind you 100%. Even if it's Malfoy."

"Thank you, guys," Harry said; he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"So, down to the really important stuff - when did you learn to Apparate?" Ron asked, and Harry had to laugh.

"Last year. I made Lupin teach me after ... after Sirius died."

"Harry, that's amazing! That's seventh year magic!" Ron said.

"So was that spell you and Draco did tonight, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "How did you do it?"

"I don't know. I just know that the spell exhausted Draco's power last night, and he was still weak, and his father was stronger than Goyle, and he was losing control, and I had to do something. It just felt like the most logical thing to do; he needed my power, and that was the easiest way to do it."

"It was amazing. I've never felt so much power. You must be exhausted."

"Actually, now that you mention it, I am. Do you guys mind if I go to bed?"

"No, we all should; it's late and we have classes tomorrow."

Ten minutes later, Harry was in bed and almost asleep. When Ron spoke, Harry wondered for a minute if he was dreaming.

"Harry? I'm glad you're back."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm glad you're safe and talking to us again, and that you're happy. I'm even starting to get used to the whole Draco thing."

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said, but as he fell asleep, he wondered if there even was a 'Draco thing' anymore. He didn't even realize that it was the first time Ron had ever called him 'Draco' instead of 'Malfoy'.

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"Harry, there's tons of juicy gossip floating around about Dumbledore busting you and Draco Malfoy dealing out illegal magic-enhancing Charms in Hogsmeade Saturday night. Is it true? And why wasn't I invited?" Ginny asked with a devilish grin. She had just sat down beside Harry at the breakfast table and her eyes were sparkling with mischief.

Harry stared glumly at his breakfast for a minute, barely even aware Ginny had spoken to him. Ron, however, was quick to set the story straight.

"Nothing happened, Ginny. Harry just hasn't been in the news lately, and somebody decided to stir up some trouble. Leave poor Harry alone. He's already stressed enough about tomorrow's Quidditch match."

At that, Harry looked up; he had completely forgotten about Quidditch. Draco, once again flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, walked into the Great Hall just as Harry looked up. He didn't even glance in the Gryffindor table's direction.