The Seduction Of Doubt

Chapter 1 – Delivery

Draco Malfoy woke up to a slight tugging on his silvery blond hair. He moaned and rolled over, trying to cover his head with his blanket, but the tugging became a sharp nipping and he finally sat up, annoyed. “What?” he said, scanning the darkened room. Vincent Crabbe’s mammoth limbs were hanging off of the bed across the room, his jaw slack and open with a stream of drool hitting his pillow, and he looked fast asleep. Gregory Goyle appeared the same way, although, Draco noted with some amusement, he had fallen off the bed at some point during the night, and now lay curled in the fetal position, sucking his thumb and snoring loudly. How I ever manage to sleep in the same room as those two oafs is beyond me, he thought, and yawned as he swivelled his head around, looking for the source of his disturbance. He found it, sitting on his bedside table. A black owl with deeply piercing eyes stared back at him, holding out its leg, which held a small package wrapped in brown parcel paper, and a letter bearing a familiar seal. As Draco relieved the animal of its charge, it nipped his finger again and took off soundlessly out of the open window near his bed. He watched it go, then sighed and opened the letter. There were no words of encouragement or love written on the parchment, simply a single sentence. You know what you must do. Draco’s soft grey eyes turned to the package that lay on his bedside table, then out the window to his father’s retreating owl. He sighed, lay back down and closed his eyes, and could hear his father’s voice from earlier this summer. “Make me proud, Draco. Make Him proud.”

* * * * *

The town of Hogsmeade was full of excitement that afternoon. All the streets had been cleared of snow, and hundreds of people now stood together on the pavement in front of the stores, a loud buzz of cheering and yelling going up from the crowd. The town council of Hogsmeade and Professor Dumbledore had been conferencing over the year and had decided, strange as it might seem, to throw a parade. The students were rife with whisperings about the rationale behind this – theories ranging from “It’s Dumbledore’s birthday!” to “Snape quit!” (a theory which was, of course, quelled the next morning in Potions) to “He’s gone mental!” – but a young boy with emerald green eyes knew better, as he stood in the happy mass of people.

“Remind me to thank Sirius again the next time I see him.” Harry Potter shouted over the din of the crowd to his best friend. “If he hadn’t given me that letter, I would have missed this!” Harry was referring to a signed notice his godfather had given him after their first meeting, allowing him to visit the local town. He and his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, were standing in the high street along with a great number of his fellow students, laughing and applauding as the parade they were watching trundled along before them. A few minutes ago, there had been a shower of sparkling dust as hundreds of pixies swooped over the crowds in formation, which warmed the skin and clothes it touched. All the people who had come down from the school and out of their houses to watch the parade in the snow had stopped shivering, and stood comfortably in the chilly air. Now, a float (Harry and Hermione could not help but gasp when they saw that it was, indeed, actually floating) bearing all of the house-elves from Hogwarts came by, with a banner flying overhead that said “Professor Dumbledore and the Hogwarts Teachers and Staff Thank The House-Elves for Their Constant Helpful Nature and Friendly Spirit.” No less than half of these elves were weeping with gratitude and reverence for the Headmaster of the school, who had, after having his offer of an afternoon off rejected vehemently, had to make the specific request that the elves be on the float. A number of them seemed edgy to get down from the float and back to the kitchens, but stayed put out of loyalty to Dumbledore. Dobby, the first house-elf Harry had ever met, sat next to another house-elf they knew, Winky. They both waved when they saw him, and he gulped and braced himself when Dobby stood up and ran, probably to hug him, nearly falling off the edge of the float. Winky, however, stood up and caught him, then pulled him back down. Ron joined Harry in laughing at the sheepish look on Dobby’s face, but they both waved back happily. Hermione, however, seemed concerned.

“Well, yes, an afternoon off for the celebrations IS nice, but shouldn’t they at least get something warmer to wear?” she muttered, though she couldn’t help smiling at the wide grins on some of the elves’ faces.

“Hermione, they don’t WANT something warmer to wear. They don’t want anything to wear!” Ron said, blushing slightly as Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks came by and blew him a kiss. Hermione muttered something, but couldn’t be upset. Her status on the treatment of house-elves had faltered slightly after she had a long talk with Winky near the beginning of the year. Her understanding of the situation between Winky and her old masters had changed very much at the end of last year. Winky had told her all about the balance between the master and house-elf, and Hermione herself had to admit that she would be as thrilled to work for Dumbledore as the elves were, though she’d prefer payment as well. Besides, they all knew and hated the entire Malfoy family, so no one could blame Dobby for having wanted release from them. She had even sucked it up and apologized to the entire kitchen staff, albeit reluctantly, for having offended the elves with her “personal views and vociferousness.” After she explained what vociferousness means, the elves had applauded her and showered all three of them with éclairs and cakes.

“Come on, Hermione… you have to admit they’re happy.” Harry said, and she looked at the elves again and nodded.

“You’re right, Harry. They really are.” She said, smiling. “Everyone is!” Harry grinned – that had been the point. With Voldemort’s return and the death of Cedric Diggory at the end of last year, there was no doubt in his mind that Dumbledore wanted to give the students of Hogwarts as many happy times as possible. And, Harry thought as he looked over the smiling faces of his housemates, he certainly knew what he was doing.

* * * * *

For one of the first times any of the students could remember, Professor Snape was late for Potions. None of the Gryffindors minded very much – Snape’s dislike of that particular house was renowned throughout the school. Double Potions with the Slytherins was a torture Harry’s year had had to put up with for four years running, and the situation had been made all the worse by Snape’s favouritism to his own house, and especially to their most hated of classmates, Draco Malfoy, who was at the moment sauntering up to Ron and Hermione’s table to taunt the both of them, surrounded by his fellow Slytherins.

“We saw you waving at those pitiful little house-elves, Weasley. Trying to convince one of them to come live with you?” Hermione’s hands clenched at the word “pitiful”, but Ron didn’t even look up. “Well, ‘free’ would be the only help you can afford, of course – and I can’t imagine that lump of a mother of yours is very useful around the house, either.” Harry could see Ron shaking from where he was sitting, and got up to move behind him. Hermione, however, stood, her chair hitting the ground with a loud clatter.

“I wouldn’t talk too much, Malfoy, since not even the most loyal creatures on the planet could stand to be around you and your family. Says something, doesn’t it?” Harry couldn’t help grinning at Hermione’s insult as he watched Draco’s face darken.

“Quiet, Mudblood, no one asked your useless opinion.” At that moment, Ron launched himself at Draco, his face bright red with rage. They landed on the floor in a struggling heap as both Hermione and Harry jumped into the fray to pull their best friend back. Pansy Parkinson fell on top of the whole mass, beating Hermione feebly on the back of the head. Eventually, with much shrieking from the two girls, they managed to separate Ron and Draco from each other. Pansy fawned over a very tiny scratch on Draco’s chin – Ron, meanwhile, had a bloodied lip, and Hermione was rubbing her head, wincing. At that moment, Snape entered the classroom with a loud bang, causing Neville Longbottom to whimper almost imperceptibly and shrink down in his seat. He saw the five students standing in the middle of the room, took in Ron’s bleeding lip, and spoke as though he was daring them to answer.

“What happened here?” They all stood quietly, waiting for Draco to accuse them of starting the fight. When he did nothing save stare at them in a menacing manner, Harry moved to speak up, but was silenced by Ron.

“Nothing, sir. Nothing happened. I fell.” Hermione looked at Harry and then down at the floor. They both knew how hard it was to have to hide Draco’s behaviour when he acted this way, but Snape was liable to twist the entire situation and accuse any of them (probably Harry) of having instigated the entire argument (probably for attention). Ron was still shaking when they all sat down, and Harry saw Hermione reach gently to the side, squeeze his hand and then return to her notes.

* * * * *

After Potions, Ron and Harry had gone up to the hospital wing to get Ron’s lip healed. Madam Pomfrey, though not pleased at them for having waited, understood Snape’s treatment of them well and simply frowned and muttered to herself as she cleaned the cut and healed it with a tap of her wand. She also gave him a small chunk of chocolate to eat, unsettled by his constant shaking. When she bustled out of the room, Ron would not look up from the ground as he spoke.

“I’m sorry you had to get involved in all that.” He said, calming slightly as the chocolate spread its relaxing warmth through his body. “He just… how does he know what to say, every time?”

“Don’t apologize, Ron, we both know it’s all Malfoy’s fault. Him and his stupid fat mouth. You shouldn’t let him get to you…” Harry trailed off, immediately regretting the words as Ron sighed sadly.

“I don’t LET him… he just… does. He knows exactly the right buttons to push. My mother… the fact that I’m poor… Herm – you guys,” he said, correcting himself in mid-sentence and blushing very slightly.

“Ron, by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you… did anything happen with you and Hermione?” Harry said gently. “You two have been a lot closer since the summer.” Ron smiled softly.

“Nothing ‘happened’ happened, but… well, we worked through that fight we had about Krum and the Yule Ball. We just talked a lot of things through. She didn’t go to Bulgaria, you know.” He said, smiling wider. “Krum had to go into training almost immediately after he got back, especially since the ex-captain of his Quidditch team took up Karkaroff’s job. So she didn’t go.” Harry nodded – he hadn’t asked Hermione, as he couldn’t come up with a good way to put the question, but he was glad that Ron had asked. He knew it had been weighing on him heavily at the end of last year.

“Well, I’m glad. You two seem a lot happier now.” Harry smiled. As Madam Pomfrey looked in on them and told Ron he was free to go now as he looked a lot more colourful, they heard the door creak open. Hermione stood there, grinning.

“All right, then, Ron?” She said. Both Ron and Harry stood agape.

“Hermione! You’re skiving off Herbology to visit us?” Harry said in a whisper, glancing to make sure Madam Pomfrey wasn’t listening in. Hermione shook her head.

“I told Professor Sprout what happened. I guess she heard about what Malfoy said on the train, or something, and Diggory was one of her favourite students… anyway, she understood what you’d done, Ron, and she let me come up here.” She beamed. Harry looked astonished still, but Ron looked proud.

“Thanks, Hermione.” He said, and hugged her gently. “It means a lot.” Hermione blushed slightly and went on.

“I wanted to give you something, the both of you. It’s more times than I can count that you’ve jumped to rescue me from Malfoy’s Mudblood taunts, and… well…” She didn’t finish, but held out two boxes. “They were going to be Christmas presents, but I found something better for both of you, so I want you to have these now.” Harry and Ron both looked at each other, then her, then the presents. She looked a little nervous, as though she expected them not to like the gift. “Well? Go on, then!” She urged. They unwrapped them.

Inside each box was a necklace, but unlike any either of them had seen. The stones were a deep fiery red, and shaped like a teardrop, about the size of a thumbprint. They seemed to reflect the light and air around them, as though there were something alive inside. Both were on black dragon hide strips and edged by a solid silver band. Harry took his out and examined it with admiration, while Ron dropped his own empty box in a haste to put the necklace over his head.

“Wow, Hermione, it’s great! Beautiful, but… manly.” Ron exclaimed, and Hermione sniggered lightly. Harry grinned as he slid his over his messy black hair. The stone felt cool and comforting against his skin as he tucked it under his robes – Ron did the same, as the last thing they needed was Draco taunting them about being necklace-wearing poofs. Hermione stood there, awkwardly, until Harry hugged her.

“They’re lovely, Hermione. You don’t need to thank us for sticking up for you against that blond ponce, though. Any excuse to slam his head into the ground is fineHeHH by me.” They all laughed, and Hermione backed away gently.

“Anyway, I’ve got to go, back to class and all… I’m sure I’ve missed loads already, and, well… lots to know, you know…” And Hermione turned and fled out the door. Both Harry and Ron looked at each other, grinned, and gathered up their bags casually to follow Hermione into Herbology.

* * * * *

After the excitement of the day, the three friends stayed in the Gryffindor common room only long enough to finish their homework (Hermione giggling every now and then as Ron and Harry wrote fantastically abysmal horoscopes out for Divination class) and then retreated to bed. As Ron and Harry changed clothes for bed, Ron spoke over his shoulder to Harry’s turned back.

“D’you think this thing will break if I leave it on during the night? It’s kind of relaxing, y’know.” Ron pointed to his necklace, and Harry privately agreed that the stone did leave a sense of peace washing over him.

“It should be fine. I’m leaving mine on, too. Hermione had the right idea, these really are nice. I wonder where she got them?”

“Probably in Hogsmeade, during the parade. You know how all those shops had tables out and everything. Some really nice stuff there.” Ron answered as he climbed into bed.

“Yeah, probably.” Harry responded through a yawn, removing his glasses and setting them on the bedside table. Privately, a thought nagged at the back of his head, but it went quiet as he fell asleep almost instantly. Ron heard Harry drift off and followed him soon enough.