Harry Potter and the Wyvern's Crown

Chapter 17: Confessions

Harry came out of his dream-like state in Madam Pomfrey's office. Raven was sitting by his side, reading a book. He looked at her for sometime, noting by the window that the sun had long set. He watched as she turned a page, her thin white fingers lifting the page delicately, her pose as though sculpted from some kind of charmed china. He looked up as she pursed her lips in thought or concentration. Her hair was down, relieved in a ponytail. He saw that Malfoy was on a bed across from his, as unconscious as he had been. Raven turned another page, prompting his eyes to return to her. She blinked slowly, but when her eyes opened again, they were on his. A smile touched her lips, but her eyes held a certain amount of sadness.

'Raven,' he began, but coughed at a dry throat. He looked up at her, and she smiled slightly and offered him water. Harry felt a flash of déjà vu. With a sick certainty, he turned to look at her, 'I turned into a lion, didn't I?'

She nodded, and closed her book quietly. The fog from Harry's mind was clearing. He coughed again, and again he drank deeply from the cup Raven had given him. He raised his head, trying to remember, but the dream was on the edge of his lips. Gregory had attempted to kill someone, in his lion form. Harry hesitated to say it was Stephan, the Slytherin boy, but something in him understood it as such. He shook his head as Raven finished packing her things. With little difficulty, he managed to stand, 'Do I have to check out with Pomfrey?'

Raven shook her head no. 'She assumed that you would wake, and I offered to help you back to your room when you did.' Her response was quiet, reserved. While it could have been the presence of Malfoy in the room, Harry felt as though something else were weighing her down. As they walked back through moonlit hallways, a cold breeze in every passage, Harry felt the burden of her silence. She walked with head bowed, flanking him, rather than walking at his stead. He paused at a window near the Gryffindor tower. He would not let this silence last. Not while it was making him so sick at heart.

Raven paused, just outside of the direct light of the moon. It was full. A flicker of remembrance about Lupin's illness ruffled Harry's thoughts, but it fled as Raven bowed her head once more, refusing to look at anything more than her feet.

'What's wrong?'

Raven looked up from under her high arching eyebrows. 'You've been suspended.'

Harry felt his mouth go dry. 'Suspended...but...no!'

She shook her head, 'Not from all your classes, but you've been removed from Animagus training, COMA and Potions. They don't want you and Malfoy fighting...I tried to explain that Crabbe had grabbed you, and that you had just come from class...but they didn't listen. If it weren't for the other people in the Great hall who saw the lead-up to the fight...' She shook her head. 'They were going to kick you out of Hogwarts...have your wand broken. Draco's father flew in from London. He was so upset. It was...horrible.'

Harry leaned against the low window ledge, then sat on it. He'd never come so close to being expelled before in his life. He touched his chest, and now there was some raging beast within him, wanting to kill Malfoy. Without his full knowledge, he began to cry. Tears of utter frustration poured out of him. Malfoy could commit murder, but he couldn't do anything about it without harming himself, or his friends. Or Raven. Raven almost took a step into the moonlight, but paused. This caused Harry tempest to rage even harder. Choking, and trying not to whimper, he reached for her, wanting her touch now, if not ever. Raven began forwards, but a moment before her face was touched by the eerie light without, she looked up, her gold eyes shining with a sudden brilliance, and then she turned on her heel and ran. Silent.

Harry was shocked into stillness, his hot tears turning quite cold as his heart felt as though it were turned to stone. 'Raven?' His breath was raspy. Something whispered across his leg. He looked down to find the nearly grown Miwa. The feline jumped up to the window sill. He touched her head, running fingertips down her spine, looking after Raven. A sudden rage overtook him, and the gently purring cat turned from compatriot to fiend. It took all of his willpower not to strike the cat down with his bare hands, though he raised his fists to do so. It halted in its simple comfort and looked at those hands with a certain displeasure. Then, turned back to sadness, he brushed the cat from windowsill and climbed into it himself, leaning against the freezing window. Miwa, not to be wholly thwarted, travelled to the patch of moonlight left on the floor, and curled itself into a ball there. It slept, and Harry, much wearied, did as well.

* * *

It was as though Harry had become a shell. People were avoiding him now, much worse than they ever had when they had first discovered he was a Parseltongue, and second, when he refused to celebrate his entrance in the Triwizard tournament. Not only was he considered dangerous, but apparently, everyone had been warned not to provoke him until some anti-Animagus measures could be taken against him. And though Ron and Hermione as well as a few of the other sixth-year Gryffindors told him that it was simply rubbish that he ought to be considered dangerous, but the look of fear in many of the other students eyes told him that their feelings were not shared. But what ate at him the most was Raven.

She spoke to him only in sombre quiet tones, and while something about her assured him that she still loved him dearly, something else, someone else, was drawing her steadily away. He had no idea what it was, but he certain that seeing him transform into a lion wasn't a true part of it, the repercussions did have her holding him away from her. And she had a brutal way of simply avoiding him. So sick at heart he was, he felt as though he would be totally unable to finish this year with passing grades. Classes were a blur, and the large gaps where potions and COMA were felt so embarrassing it was all Harry could do to simply lie in his bed and try not to think about Raven enduring Malfoy alone in those classes, and being a victim of his remarks without anyone to support her through it. And then there was the sudden forbidding put on him. He was never to use his Animagus abilities within the ground of Hogwarts, on threat of expulsion. Though Ron tried to convince him that Lucius Malfoy had been the source for that, and make light that neither of them would be Animagi, Harry felt as though he had lost something special about himself. It was as though he had been told that the few times he had used his Parseltongue were crimes to be reprimanded with a sentence to Azkaban.

Perhaps that's what he felt like. As though a Dementor had sucked away his soul. On the way from DADA, Lupin passed him, with a slight smile, then saw Harry's haggard expression and stopped him on the stairwell. 'What's wrong? I noticed your distraction in class, but this is something more...isn't it?'

Harry looked into space, and sighed, 'You already know.'

Lupin's grip got tighter. 'Don't give me lip, Harry, I know you better than this.'

Harry looked at Lupin seeing the man's feral nature in his dark eyes. Harry almost felt like provoking the professor into tearing him apart. He lowered his eyes, realizing that doing that would only ruin Lupin's chance for having a normal life.

'This has really hurt you, hasn't it? Would you like to come to my office for a moment? If anything, I do have some chocolate running around.'

Harry followed him up the stairs, and sat, zombie-like, on a chair while Lupin searched for candy. He handed Harry a piece, and shook his head softly, putting a piece in his own mouth. 'Come now, Harry. I do know part of what you're going through. Being a werewolf hasn't made my life any easier. And what happened between you and Draco...'

'It was a mistake,' Harry found himself hissing, 'And no one even asked if I had meant it, or whether I'd do it again. They just assume.' He blinked at his burning eyes.

'You have to understand this Harry. In their eyes you are a temperamental teenaged wizard,' he held up a hand, 'as all teenaged wizards tend to be. But you have to understand that you, unlike other wizards your age, have an added ability to turn yourself into a 250 pound teenaged lion. Whether or not you 'meant' to kill that Slytherin boy or not (and I can understand why you may have had the inclination...I do teach him after all), they have to admit, you're much more dangerous than a normal wizard your age. Just like they have to admit that I am a danger to the students when I'm in my lunar phase.'

He fell quiet, giving time for Harry to think about it, and after a moment, Lupin spoke again, a sly smile on his face. 'And they did try to get rid of me again.'

'Because of...' Harry was incredulous.

'Because I'm feral, and why didn't my lessons prevent this. And oh, I wasn't even there to defend myself, simply because I was in my were-form at that time!' He made a face. 'Oh, everyone who doesn't simply cower to Lucius' will was on the target board that night, McGonagall, Hooch, Flitwick, even Dumbledore was to blame for this accident...and he doesn't even think to put some of his blame on his own son, oh no!'

Harry was beginning to realize that this had honestly upset Lupin. It was odd to have a sudden compatriot in his misery. 'Well, of course. I mean, I'd be upset if a lion jumped on my son.'

'Do you even know when you changed? Completely, I mean? I heard that you probably didn't know.'

Harry shook his head, 'I thought it was when I pushed over Crabbe...' He struggled to recall, but found he couldn't.

'You didn't even change, not completely, until just before you were struck by the spells. I wasn't there, but I was informed by those who were. Malfoy was the only one who honestly changed at will. You chased him with all the sense of a beast, but without the form of one until that last moment.'

'But why then, did Malfoy react? I thought I had turned into a lion...'

'Malfoy's another story. He thinks you did change when you pushed over Crabbe. But everyone saw it. You didn't.' The wise-eyed professor studied Harry for a moment. 'This is quite interesting.' He cocked his head slightly, 'But something is still bothering you. Can you tell me?'

Harry sighed, 'It's just Raven...she's very...upset.'

'More because of what happened in that room, then seeing you defend her, no doubt.'

Harry raised an eyebrow, 'What happened, exactly?'

'Lucius had some unkind words to say, and when Raven was brought forward as a witness, he said them. I daresay, when I heard about this, I almost wanted to chase him down myself. And no one honestly put an end to his comments...not until she was politely asking to leave in the middle of his tirade. Even Snape can admit that she didn't deserve what was said...and that's saying something.'

Harry felt as though there were a hand on his heart, someone trying to crush it. 'What did he say?'

Lupin crossed his arms. 'It's all hearsay, but the gist of it ran around a few comments, that she was a tramp for leaving his son.' He looked up, 'I'm rather glad she did, personally. That she had trained you out of class, which was against the rules McGonagall had set, that she had caused the fight in the first place, that an over-trained witch such as she should have been more cautious, and more willing, apparently, to defend his son, rather than her angry boyfriend...sickening really. And there were names that were said that weren't polite or even kind. I almost wish I'd been there...just to shut him up, but with everyone as shocked as they were, they let him go on, uninhibited.'

A tear ran down Harry cheek. 'And that's why...?'

'And that McGonagall added that it would be better if she didn't teach with her any longer, as per what Lucius said. And that he managed to tell her, before she managed to get out of the room, that she ought to reassess her choice of boyfriend. She's such an excellent student...' Lupin was slightly choked. 'I almost wish I had been there, in my lunar form...' He let the threat dangle, and shook his head, looking away in shame, as though he were avoiding his own tears. 'And there's a game in a week...I know that he was trying to get both of you off the team...hell!' He smashed a hand against the desk, 'He didn't deserve the time he got! I don't care who he thinks he is!'

Harry sighed, 'Well there's no way of changing it...'

Lupin growled under his breath, 'Oh, yes there is. Just because you don't have a high ranked parent...' His voice was extremely bitter, 'Oh, this isn't going to stop here. No. Failing you because we're worried about some Death Eater...no. No, I'm not going to let this stand. Harry...I'm glad we spoke about this, because honestly, the rest of us just sitting on our hands and allowing this to happen...it wasn't fair. And I don't care if that little blond brat gets yanked and sent else where. I say we're the better for it.'

Harry knew about Lucius being a Death Eater, and he knew he had told Dumbledore, but Lupin's knowledge of this was new to him. But as the conversation had drawn to a close, he nodded, with a little thrill of hope. He thanked Lupin and headed out, back to Gryffindor tower, to catch Raven, and hopefully, to explain what was going to take place.

And with luck, he might be able to win her back.

As he ran up flights of stairs, through twisting and turning hallways, he almost inexplicably found himself in the forgotten stairwell. And, within a moment of reaching the top of the staircase, he realized he wasn't alone. Draco Malfoy stood there, glaring at his house banner, as though he expected it to burst into flames at his gaze. Harry paused, then realized he had nothing to fear from Malfoy, and that he was only using the stairwell as a shortcut. Perhaps, though, he ought to go back. Better not to have the conflict. Not when he was so close to being rid of Malfoy once and for all. He glanced up at Gregory, and the lion shattered the silence with an ear-splitting roar. Harry grabbed his ears, struggling to get away from the sound. He ran up the stairs, but collapsed at the top. And he could hear the voices screeching in his mind. Stephan and Gregory were shouting at each other, and Harry felt as though he was going mad. He screamed, not seeing what Malfoy was doing, and honestly, not caring. He smashed his fists against his skull, trying to get the incomprehensible voices out of his head, then the ground, in frustration when they wouldn't heed him.

Then it all went silent. Harry looked up, and saw that the room had changed. He saw that Malfoy was with him, also silent, in awe of what they saw.

'Potter...' Malfoy's voice was quiet, lacking it's normal sneer.

The room they were in was enormous. It was almost diamond shaped, with six sides, two of the corners were pulled to sharp angles, leaving a rectangular shape in the center, which was divided into two squares of equal size. There was a table in the middle of one of these squares with four sides, with white engravings all over it. Harry and Draco's eyes met. Then they turned to look at the walls, the high-placed banners on them. The images within where moving slowly, but were unidentifiable. Then there was a hiss and a click. Harry's head jerked up. 'Someone's coming.'

'Lor',' Draco whispered behind him.

Then, like shaking off a dream, Harry raised his head. He was alone in the forgotten stairwell. He looked at Gregory, who had returned to his rampant pose. Harry's eyes narrowed, 'What does this have to do with Malfoy?'

The lion was still.