A Moment in Time

Hands on his shoulders, roughly shaking him back to consciousness was the first thing that he became aware of. The second was that his head hurt him, tremendously, and that he was lying on a hard stone surface. Draco moaned softly as pain shot though his head when he tried to move.

"Come on, Malfoy, what the hell happened? The Master is not going to be pleased."

It was McNair; Draco recognized the other Death Eater's voice as the cobwebs inside his head started to clear. "Just give me a minute, McNair."

"Well a minute is all your gonna get. Word is that Dumbledore's Order has shown up and they're trying to take out as many of us and the dementors as they can." With that warning, McNair hurried away out of the cell block.

With a scowl Draco rose, picked up his wand and brushed off his robes. Casting one last look into the empty cell, the blonde allowed himself one small smile before putting on his game face and striding off to join in the fray.

The next evening, after Draco had survived a grueling interrogation with Voldemort himself, he had barely enough time for a quick shower and a bite to eat before Dumbledore summoned him to an Order meeting.

Usually, Draco hated Order meetings, however tonight he was actually looking forward to this one. Carefully making sure that none of the inhabitants of Hogwarts saw him, Draco made his way over the empty school grounds and into the dungeons. Of all the places in the great castle, Draco only ever really felt at home in the dungeons. The stupid Hufflepuffs, blind Ravenclaws and foolish Gryffindors could keep their towers, there was no place that offered the privacy and closeness as the Slytherin dungeons. Meeting up with his former Head of House, the two Death Eater spies silently proceeded along to the Order Meeting Room.

Throwing open the tall heavy double doors that guarded the entrance to the Phoenix Chamber, the two men made their way inside. Not even glancing at the gathered faces, Draco and Severus strode over to their open chairs, their robes billowing out behind them, and proceeded to sit down. Draco already knew who would be there, who the foolish old man would call on for support in a time such as this. The Weasleys were there in force, along with Remus and Sirius, Hermione Granger - soon to be yet another Weasley, Tonks, Longbottom, who even now Draco questioned the old man's reasoning for allowing him to join the inner circle, Moody, Fletcher, Sprout, McGonagall, Flitwick, Vector and a few others that Draco could not remember their names at the moment were all seated around the large table.

As soon as they were seated, Dumbledore rose and brought the meeting to order. "Thank you my friends for joining me tonight, as you know we have much to discuss. Thanks to Severus' warning we were able to disrupt Lord Voldemort's attempted take over of Azkaban but I am afraid that all of the news is not good. The Dark Lord was able to convince the dementor guards to join with him, while this had taken him longer to do than we had expected, it is still a significant blow to our cause."

Some low mutterings started to break out as people turned to their neighbor to discuss this latest development. However everyone's attention returned once more to the Phoenix as he rose and raised his hand. "Please, I must ask you all for your continued silence, as I am afraid there is more that needs to be told. As you are all aware, one of Voldemort's goals last night was to free his long time supporters and to gather any additional criminals that had a wish to join with him. Of this, I am sad to say that he was successful. Many of his followers that had been incarcerated there have been returned to Voldemort, including the Lestranges, Victor Knutt, Dan Millett, and David Lewis." The Head of the Order paused as he looked at all the worried faces around him. "But I am afraid that this last bit of information is the worst of the lot. I have just recently received confirmation that during last night's activities Harry Potter also escaped."

Draco was grateful for his many years of learning how to control his emotions; he was able to maintain his poker face while inside he was laughing at the expressions on his colleagues' faces. It was quite comical. Even so, it was hard not to sneer when the Weasel finally regained part of his composure, at least enough to shout out, "What do you mean that bastard escaped?"

That one outburst seemed to have shattered whatever shell had been formed over the group after the bombshell had been dropped. Now the whole Order Chamber seemed to erupt into chaos. People where shouting, and demanding to know what was going on. Remus appeared to be trying to physically restrain Sirius. Draco even thought he saw tears in the eyes of Hermione, Mrs. Weasley and old Professor McGonagall.

Dumbledore let the madness continue for a little while, however, when it became apparent that the adults were not going to settle themselves down, he once more rose from his chair and yelled, "Silence!"

Once everyone seemed to have calmed somewhat, Dumbledore continued. "I know that this is a very trying situation, as we are all personally involved, alas, I must ask you to please try to remain calm and I will share with you everything that we do know. Now, if you would please Draco, explain from your perspective what exactly happened last night."

Draco nodded as he let his cool gray gaze sweep over the room's occupants for the first time that night. "As most of you already know, Voldemort summoned Severus and myself, along with the rest of his inner circle, and about a hundred other Death Eaters to his side last night. There he explained that he was ready to put into action his plan to retake Azkaban, and claim anyone who would be willing to serve him. My specific instructions were to lead one of the task forces that was to penetrate the prison and free anyone willing to join." Draco took a deep breath; he didn't want to rush the next part. Oh how he enjoyed seeing the final pieces of his plan come together.

"We made our way into the prison without much resistance. The Dementors had been given a previous warning about what was going to happen and had already decided to lend their support to Voldemort. I made my way through the fortress opening cell doors trying to determine if there were any sane inmates left. The condition of the prisoners was horrible, and the deeper that I got into the prison the worse their condition became." Draco watched as Sirius shuttered, obviously remembering some of the treatment that he had received when he had been there.

I finally came to the innermost cell block. Here was where they were keeping some of Voldemort's strongest supporters including the Lestranges. I was able to locate their cells, and once opened sent two of the death eaters with me back out of the prison with the Lestranges, as they couldn't even walk. After I freed them, I opened the other cells, the other prisoners were in much the same condition as the Lestranges, weak and broken. Finally, I came to the last cell in that row. When I opened the door and looked inside the room appeared to be empty; however, I was mistaken. As I turned to leave, someone grabbed me from behind, I remember dropping my wand and my head hitting something hard. The next thing I remember was NcNair waking me up. I didn't even realize that it had been Potter's cell until later when Voldemort was punishing us for what went wrong, someone mentioned that his cell had been found empty."

Draco looked back to his former Headmaster indicating that he was finished with his version of the events. "Thank you Draco, yes I do know that the Ministry was keeping the location of Mister Potter's cell a guarded secret, even I did not know where it was." Dumbledore nodded. "Now, before anyone asks how we know that Harry Potter actually was able to escape, I want to add that his animagus form was seen fleeing from the fortress. Actually, more than one Order member distinctively remembered seeing the green eyed sheep dog jump into the sea and start to swim for shore. Unfortunately after the dog entered the sea, we were not able to track him."

That was the final thing that Draco had been waiting for. After Harry had been convicted, Dumbledore had informed the Order members and the Ministry of Magic that Harry was an illegal animagus so that the proper precautions could be taken. Little did the old fool know that he had just unwittingly played into Draco's hands.

Besides comforting her distraught fiancé, Hermione had been watching Draco the entire time trying to determine if he was telling the truth. She never was able to completely trust the Slytherin, especially after he had so vehemently defended Harry the way he did back in seventh year. His story seemed to make sense but something just didn't quite feel right about this whole thing. Harry's betrayal had affected everyone who knew him, but for Hermione it had hurt her deep to the core. She had trusted Harry, without question, possibly more so than anyone else she had ever met. She had bought into that whole 'Boy Who Lived' thing and believed like everyone else that Harry would save them all. When he turned on them, murdering two of their closest friends, she was left disillusioned and lost. Hermione promised herself then and there never to trust so completely again.

Draco smirked in satisfaction, now if only this meeting would just end. He really needed some sleep and then he wanted to take his own portkey to the safe house where hopefully Harry was starting to recuperate. Draco was worried about leaving Harry alone for so long in the state that he had been in, but there hadn't been another alternative. As long as Harry stayed in the apartment and didn't try to leave, he would be fine until Draco had a chance to tidy up things here and join him. A quick glance at Dumbledore's face however led him indicated that they were all in for a long night.

The meeting was interrupted as Dumbledore's phoenix flew into the Phoenix Chamber carrying a package. Draco had to smile at the sight of Fawkes, it had been so long since he had seen him and seeing him again brought back many happy memories. Fawkes had sort of adopted him and Harry during the summer that they had spent here and followed the pair continuously. The bird had gone wild when the Aurors had taken Harry away. If anyone had cared to look for proof of the boy's innocence, all they would have had to do was look to the Phoenix who clearly loved and missed the boy. However, phoenix's can not testify.

It was amusing to see the change in the relationship between Dumbledore and the bird since that time. Most people thought that Fawkes was Dumbledore's pet. That is a common misconception for people who do not understand phoenixes. Phoenixes are loyal companions when they choose to be, but they are the ones that determine who is worthy of their companionship, not the other way around. And lately it was only on rare occasions that Fawkes was ever seen in the Headmaster's presence. Fawkes still listened to the old man, as he was the Phoenix and Fawkes still had responsibilities as far as the Order was concerned. But Draco thought that maybe the old bird blamed him for not defending Harry, and rightly so. Draco often wondered what the bird would have to say if he could talk.

Once the package had been removed from the phoenix's leg, Fawkes flew over and rested on Draco's shoulder. The Order watched as the Dumbledore reviewed the contents of his correspondence. The Headmaster raised his troubled eyes and said, "it appears that some friends at the Ministry have sent us some additional information that has been gathered on Mister Potter." With that the old wizard removed a small brass ball and set it in the center of the table. With a whispered incantation, the lights in the Chamber dimmed and an image from the ball was projected up onto the ceiling.

Draco was absorbed in the various drawing and writings that appeared. One picture appeared to be a calendar of sorts. Draco was fascinated at what he suspected were things that Harry had done while in Azkaban. His private musings were interrupted when Dumbledore confirmed that what they were currently viewing had been found on the walls inside Mister Potter's cell.

One thing in particular seemed to catch Draco's eye. "Sir, is there anyway that you can enlarge that piece of the image over there beside the cot." Dumbledore nodded and enlarged the requested frame so that all present could see what looked to be a letter or poem written on the wall.

One of the wizards that Draco couldn't remember their name suddenly called out, "Can anyone read his writing." Draco didn't answer, having already read the message left by Harry, but Hermione decided to take it upon herself to read the chilling words to the rest of the Order:

Wish I was too dead to cry

My self-infliction fades

Stones to throw at my creator

Masochists to which I cater

You don't need to bother; I don't need to be

I'll keep slipping farther

But once I hold on, I won't let go 'til it bleeds.

Even as the years later passed, Draco can recall that single moment in time, listening to Hermione's trembling voice as she read those haunting words out loud. Draco felt sick to his stomach at the thought of the despair that had lead Harry to write something so utterly depressing. How far the laughing, proud, brave Gryffindor had fallen. Draco prayed that he hadn't been too late in his rescue and that he would be able to one day see the light come back into the eyes that had looked upon entirely too much darkness.

"Where did Potter get the ink to draw all that stuff? I thought prisoners weren't allowed any ink or any other personal items. Must be nice, even in prison the rules don't seem to apply to the Golden Boy," Ron spat in disgust.

Hermione glanced away from the troubling images to give her fiancé a hard stare. "That's not ink, Ron."

"Well then Hermione, since you have all the answers as usual, what is it then?"

Draco glared at the short tempered, mean spirited man. "If you ever used your brain Weasley we'd all die of shock." Ignoring the glare directed his way, he continued, "It's blood."

The mood was sober as the group tried to decipher Harry's ramblings as they were deemed, and his drawings to see if they could gather a clue as what his frame of mind had been while he had been imprisoned there. Draco wasn't actively participating in any of these conversations; instead he had taken to watching Sirius Black.

Sirius Black was a hard man for Draco to figure out. Draco's own Godfather, Snape, didn't like the man much due to some happenings when they had attended school here themselves. However, since Voldemort's resurrection they had started to work together and even on a rare occasion been seen exchanging a civil word.

The man was still on the run from the Ministry of Magic himself for a crime he did not commit. That was probably the reason why he had assumed the Sirius would support and defend Harry. Since the trial, Draco had decided that as Sirius had been betrayed himself by the wizarding world, he didn't trust people very easily and when it appeared that his Godson, who he had only really known for a short time, had killed two people, Sirius once more felt betrayed. Although Sirius never defended Harry, he never spoke out against him either. The man was truly a puzzle.

Draco tried to listen as Dumbledore explained that as they had no idea what Harry was going to try to do now that he was free and that they had to all be prepared for the worst. If possible, Dumbledore lowered himself further in Draco's eyes as he warned the Order members that Harry may try to come after them personally. This discussion and speculation continued for over an hour before Dumbledore drew the meeting to a close.

It had been decided to send out various teams comprised of three Order members each to start searching for Harry. Most people felt that Harry's hatred for his muggle relatives would discourage him from trying to reenter the muggle world and as Dumbledore had the keys to his various Gringott vaults he had no way of accessing his substantial wizarding funds. On a final note, Dumbledore tried to reassure everyone that given time, Harry would be recaptured as he had no money and no support either in the wizard world or the muggle one. Slightly satisfied the Order Members left feeling more disheartened then ever before, all except for one.

As Draco made his way slowly back to the dungeons he was grabbed from behind. A low voice whispered, "we need to talk," into his ear and he was guided into his Godfather's personal chambers.

Draco settled himself into an overstuffed chair in front of the fireplace in Severus' sitting room. Whenever Draco was in these rooms he had to chuckle. Most people believed that Severus' personal space would be cold, barren and decorated in green and silver. 'How his students would be surprised if they could see this' Draco often thought. The rooms were warm and tastefully decorated, while not with bright colors with at least warm earth tones. Of course the Slytherin Head of House had stayed away from anything that looked remotely scarlet and gold, but anyone with taste would when decorating a set of rooms.

Not wanting to appear rude, Draco accepted a crystal goblet of what appeared to be brandy from Severus' hand and slowly raised the glass to his lips before taking a small sip. Draco, knowing that he desperately needed some sleep and that any amount of alcohol tonight would not be in his best interest, sat the glass down on the coffee table and waited for Severus to begin.

The tall dark haired man watched his cool and perfectly composed Godson before him. Anyone else would never see it, but knowing this boy since he had been in diapers lent him a superior knowledge of the workings of his mind. Running a hand through his long, only a little bit greasy hair the Potion Master sighed. "Look Draco, I know that there is more to what happened last night then you are telling."

Severus raised his hand as Draco started to protest. "I don't want to know, alright. It's better for everyone if you don't tell me anything, I just wanted you to know that if you need help, if either of you need help, you can count on me, understood."

Draco should have known that he wouldn't be able to get one past Severus. Nodding his gratitude the blonde man stood and gave his Godfather a rare hug. "I'm going to be unreachable for a few weeks while I have to take care of some business, in the event that anyone asks" Draco added in a cautious tone before turning and walking out of the Professor's chambers.

Utterly drained, Draco fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. "Tomorrow, tomorrow I will go see Harry, then it'll be over...."

To be continued...