CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

[Are You With Me]

HERMIONE

Prefect rounds weren't nearly as luxuriously as they were made out to be. They took up her time that was already crammed with N.E.W.T.S revision that could have been spent doing coursework or watching her two best friends battle each other on the chessboard. If Hogwarts had any sense they would have invested in a security system (a muggle camera perhaps) that would do the job for them so students wouldn't lose their valuable time for some 'title' that somehow made them better than everyone else. But Hogwarts had never been the smartest on those kinds of things. She supposed maybe that was a good thing for all the mischief it allowed her to get away with in the past.

She came sweeping across one of the corners in the third-floor corridors when she paused at a familiar voice. Students out past their curfew weren't unfamiliar to her in the least. Just last week she had caught Gregory Goyle and Millicent Bulstrode snogging in one of the broom cupboards near the Great Hall (it was quite a sight actually) and had to send them to Snape. This voice however had caused her to stop dead in her tracks and crane her ears.

"...bloody unbelievable... shotty bird..."

Ever since Lupin had voiced his opinions on Draco Malfoy's hand in You-Know-Who's dealings, she had found herself becoming roped into Hogwarts' recent conspiracy. The attack on Katie Bell and Malfoy's absence had only furthered her suspicions. Hearing his voice in the hallway made her stop and pause.

She wished she had Harry's cloak with her. Following him would be the fastest way to gain information, even if it was unethical. (She was past that point if she was honest with herself seeing their venture into polyjuice potion). Though, if she was caught she had no idea what would happen. If Malfoy had taken the mark and no one would find her, a muggle-born, until the next morning...

Ron and Harry had the map though and were waiting up for her. If she didn't come back they would know where to find her. With her mind made up, she cast a quick disillusionment charm to help her blend into her surroundings before turning the corner.

Malfoy was coming her way, a look of distaste distorting his features, with a small envelope in his hands. She pushed herself up against the wall when he passed by. The hallway was mostly dark save for the torches every dozen feet so Draco passed by her without a glance. She followed suit with a non-verbal silencing charm on her footsteps and made sure to keep a couple feet back.

Malfoy walked with direction and speed. Hermione had to nearly sprint to keep up. He didn't say anything else to imply what he was doing out so late, but within the first couple turns she knew exactly where he was heading. The owlery.

Her attention focused on the letter in his hand. Whatever it was had to be important information from the look on Malfoy's face, though that didn't explain why he was risking being caught by delivering past curfew. The only logical explanation she could come up with at the moment was that he didn't want to be seen sending it off. On top of that, the third floor was completely out of the way from the dungeons. The owlery hadn't been his first stop.

She tried to strain her neck to see exactly who the letter was addressed to without being spotted. She wished she had Ronald's Quidditch binoculars to take a sneak peek. Or Harry's glasses even - they nearly counted as a magnifying glass with how thick they were.

The owls squawked when they entered the hay-ridden tower. This room was smaller than the hallways she had followed him and kept to waiting outside the archway for the fear one of the owls might give her away.

The birds were wide awake when Malfoy stepped into the center. Some cooed and others ignored them in favor of whatever prey they had caught that night. Malfoy paid them no mind and instead went directly towards a large eagle owl that could only belong to a family of wealth.

Expecting the snobbish attitude the Malfoy heir saved for anyone he thought below them, it was a surprise when Malfoy instead scratched the bird under her chin who nuzzled into the palm of his hand. Malfoy's expression faded away instantly into a small smile. "Sorry to disturb you so soon, Ulysses. I know you just got back."

The bird squawked.

"I know, I know. You just don't compare to the other owls. Speedy little messenger, you are."

The bird stared at him. Draco sighed. "Flattery never did work on you. Listen, how about you carry this message out in the morning, yes? It's important. I'll give you as many treats as you want when you get back. I even made sure to demanded them to give them some as well. The good kind too."

It was odd seeing Malfoy treat the animal with so much respect. She supposed it made sense for him to treat them better than he did other humans. Power couldn't be taken from something that was already under his control.

She wondered if she could peep inside the letter before it took off. Hermione had no doubt the letter was warded in case ministry officials decided to intercept it if it did contain a conspiracy. She would need to know all sorts of detection spells and for once in her life was iffy on. Ronald was the best at those (despite having a full-grown man as his pet for years).

The owl cooed and took the letter without complaint this time. Malfoy stayed for a while after that to pet the owl. Hermione almost gave up when a wince caught her ear.

Draco had stopped with his hand mid-raised and pulled his arm back roughly. There was a tight grimace of pain dug across his face. Her eyes narrowed on the way he pulled his left forearm closer to his chest.

"Fuck," the blonde muttered to himself. His owl looked at him worriedly and began to nuzzle closer to him. Malfoy pushed him back.

Malfoy's hands began to shake slightly. Hermione had to bite her tongue. This had been exactly the kind of thing she had been looking for to confirm her suspicions, though she didn't know exactly how to take it. Her first instinct was to run to Dumbledore; having a death eater inside the castle was a serious threat, especially to all the muggle-borns like her.

Another part of her hesitated. She had studied everything about the dark marks (though she refused to admit it, they were incredibly impressive pieces of magic...) after they found out Snape was one. She knew that he was being called into a meeting even if she hadn't yet actually seen the mark. It was hidden behind his robe's sleeve. There wasn't much information on what happened if you ignored the call (lack of participants) but she knew it had painful. It was tied into You-Know-Who's emotions after all. So why on earth was Draco Malfoy of all people refusing the call?

Malfoy gasped as his hand spasmed. Shakily, he reached into his pocket where he brought out a small vial. He gulped it down hurriedly before the bottle crashed to the floor.

"Bloody hell. There's no reason..." Malfoy muttered breathlessly. He leaned against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut. Hermione stayed frozen to her spot. Helping the boy didn't cross her mind once.

Harry's not going to believe this.

~~

HARRY

The blast hit him directly in the chest, sending his flying across the room and hitting the floor with a painful thumb. Pain radiated throughout the back of his skull as if his aunt had taken a frying pan to it. A loud groan escaped him.

"Bugger! I'm really sorry mate! I thought you'd block that one, I really did!"

Harry opened his eyes slowly to Ron's frantic face above him. Or what he thought was his- he couldn't see very well without his glasses. His friend held out his hand above him. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Harry let out a groan as he rubbed his temple. He felt around for his glasses which had landed a couple feet away from him.

"Three?" He responded weakly when his vision finally focused. Ron let out a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Potter!"

Harry internally groaned, wanting to throw himself back on the ground again to pretend he actually did get knocked out. Snape's greasy mop of hair dangled above him. The teacher's glare was filled with fire.

"Yes, professor?"

"Tell me, why in Merlin's name, are you lying like a sack of grain on my floor?"

Harry bites his lip to told back a snarky remark. Leave it to Snape to get his temper going like no one else.

"Practicing the charm, sir," he said, wordlessly thanking Ron for helping him stand up so he wouldn't look as pathetically vulnerable. They had been practicing the Imperturbable charm with the Ventus spell from their last lesson when Harry had been blasted by Ron's charm. He probably could have easily blocked it had he not been distracted.

He discreetly looked at Malfoy on the other side of the class. Draco hadn't stopped completely, but he had slowed down noticeably just like the rest of the class to watch Harry get yelled at. His hair wasn't slicked back today and his gracefulness of jumping out of the way when he was shielded had seemed like a much better place to focus his attention on rather than the spells shooting his direction.

"Head too far in the clouds then, Potter? Of course you wouldn't need my classes. You already know everything do you not?" Snape sneered. Harry knew he meant more by the classes than just Defense and his heart burned with a mix of hatred and grief. "As arrogant as you are foolish. Well, don't just stand there! Seeing as you're so knowledgeable about everything I have to teach you already, why don't you give your less fortunate classmates a demonstration."

In a blink of an eye, Snape had his wand pulled and pointed at Harry. Ron took a nervous step back from beside him while Harry instead stared the man down without breaking eye contact. Snape could make his life living hell more than it already was but he wouldn't let that control him. He had more than enough experience in this game with his uncle. Say whatever they wanted to hear and you'll get off the hook with at least some of your dignity intact.

"Sir-"

A crash from the back of the classroom caused Snape to jerk around. One of his bookshelves had fallen over with dozens of books spilling out and getting crushed by the weight. The man cursed, pocked his wand in the sleeve of his robe, and glared at Potter.

"Ten points potter from Gryffindor, Potter for disrupting class." He said before rushing away from the trio to fix his precious collection. Out of his peripheral vision, he caught Draco stifle a smile as he lowed his wand in the same direction. Harry hid a smirk. Maybe Draco was avoiding him but he still was a magnificent sneak.

"Bloody hell, Harry. I thought he was going to use the Cruciatus Curse on you or something with the way he was looking at you. It wasn't even your fault. I'm really sorry. I thought you saw when I cast it! Had I known-"

"It's fine, Ron. Really. It barely even hurts anymore."

Ron looked at him doubtfully but didn't say anything. Hermione, who had been working with Parvati, had stopped to glare at the back of Snape's head.

"He's not allowed to raise his wand at a student, you know! Dumbledore banned all corporal punishment when he became headmaster."

Ron snorted at that. "I hardly doubt that'll matter. The slimy git seems to be able to get away with anything if he wanted. He could probably murder Harry and Dumbledore would believe him when he said it was an accident."

The class ended swiftly after that and Harry almost leaped for joy. It had been their last class before Christmas break and he wouldn't have to see his professors face for another two weeks. Sure, they got extra homework during it but that wasn't a problem for him. Defense had always been his best subject, it just had been the shotty teachers that had made it hell.

"Who were you staring at, mate?" Ron asked when they got to the Great Hall for lunch. A couple of people were there already, yet for the most part, they had the entire table to themselves.

"What do you mean?" Harry had been distracted by the roll of parchment that was rolling up and down the table with a mind of its own. Hermione reached out for it out of curiosity. He was able to read over her shoulder to see that it was the list of Hogwarts students staying over the break.

Harry didn't know if he was staying or leaving yet. The letter Lupin had sent him the other day was an apology for not being able to invite Harry over for Christmas. There was a full moon on Christmas Eve and he didn't want to risk having him in the same house. He'd sent him an early present though containing dozens of old photos of Sirius and him back in Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley had also invited him, but as he told Draco, he didn't want the memories of being back at Grimmauld Place.

"You were obviously distracted. I know you said you were going on walks, but... you really can tell me if you're meeting someone. Are they in Slytherin? That would make sense why you didn't want to tell us. Was it Perks? I may not be into blokes but he really is rather charming I suppose once you look past all the hair."

Ron was getting rather close to the truth and he didn't like it at all. "Ron, really. I was just tired."

Again, wasn't a lie. He got less than an hour's sleep after being woken up by another vision. This time Voldemort had been very pleased with something though he had no idea what. There was a meeting of some sort where he had given the Parkinson's some kind of praise to their devotion to the Dark Lord. There had been a laugh at Lucius Malfoy's expense as well before the dream had been cut short of any real information by the tortured screams somewhere in the distance.

"Come on, mate. I promise I won't laugh. Just tell me who you were looking at."

"Malfoy," Hermione cuts in. Harry freezes. A look over at her had her studying the paper with a frown. "It says that Malfoy is staying over the break. What do you think that's supposed to mean?"

He lets out an internal sigh of relief. He was thankful for the change of conversation, even if it was unknowingly about the same person.

"Do you reckon he's planning something else? Whatever he was planning couldn't have been the last. If the necklace really was for Dumbledore you think it would the best time to get close to man."

"Look, we don't know Malfoy is the one behind the attack. It could be anyone," Harry protested, causing Ron to raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm just playing devil's advocate. Don't you think he would have been seen at The Three Broomsticks, crowded with students if it really was him? And besides, he's smart enough to have come up with an alibi."

Ron thought it over with a glass of pumpkin juice. "...Hadn't thought of that."

"And if he was planning something over the holidays, there would only be a handful of suspects and he would immediately be picked out for being suspected twice already. I'm not even that dumb."

Ron slumped as his conspiracy was disproven. "That doesn't explain why he was spotted when you were attacked in Knockturn alley though. I bet he was the one to give you that mark. And the fact he was in the restricted section in the curses only a couple weeks before."

Harry's fingers tapped nervously on his thigh under the table. There was too much evidence against Draco he knew was wrong but he couldn't advocate for without being suspicious. There was no way Draco was a death eater. He was different from all the junk his family was caught up in, he had proved it time and time again. Death eaters were crazy lunatics that murdered godfathers, parents, and boyfriends. Though Draco wouldn't admit it to save his reputation, there was a part of him that strived to do the right thing. He loved Bramble, hot chocolate, and stargazing. He treated even the smallest of animals and people with the utmost respect when he thought no one looking. When he laughed it was painting a picture only for their eyes.

Draco would rather cut off his own hand before he took the mark.

"'Mione?"

Harry looked up to see Hermione biting her lip that way she always did when she was considering saying something or not.

"I... just don't think you're taking this as seriously as you should, Harry. Even the Order is suspicious-"

"Which they have no proof. What happened to innocent till proven guilty?"

Hermione frowned. "Well..."

"Well, what?"

Hermione hesitated and shoot a nervous glance between the two boys. "Well, I was on my prefect rounds last night, along the third floor-" Harry froze, "when I saw him out of corridors. I figured it might be a good way to get information so I, well, might have followed him..."

Harry's heart felt as if it had just leaped out of his chest. Draco had probably been coming out of the tower. Had Hermione seen that, she would be even closer to finding out their nightly meetings. This entire thing was getting out of hand, causing him more panic than it seemed worth. He considered ripping the band-aid off to them multiple times already but that would be unfair to Draco.

"And you're telling us this now? Did you get caught? What happened? Was he being shifty? Was-"

Hermione cuts him off. "Obviously I was fine, Ronald, or I wouldn't be sitting here right now. No, he was going to the owlery. He'd been delivering a letter to someone but I wasn't able to catch the name without being found."

Harry stabs at his roast chicken as his best friends debate. Owlery? Had Bramble's reply had come back so soon? If so, then that meant they might have a lead of what pushed the two of them to be together in the first place. Instinctively he looked up to find Draco in the crowd only to remember he wasn't there. Harry frowned to himself. Fine then, if Draco wasn't going to make the first move about this then he was. He'd been running himself sick trying to think of Draco's perspective and he couldn't take it anymore. He'd have to learn how to make one of Draco's messenger cranes tonight if he planned to confront he blonde about his behavior before break.

"But that's the thing," Hermione broke up his thoughts, "it wasn't the letter he sent. I had to look up the potion to be sure, but I'm almost positive I witnessed him being called in on a death eater meeting."

Ron choked on his chicken. Harry's eyes widen.

"What?" He asked shocked. Hermione shushed them as they were starting to attract attention from the other tables.

"It was right after he gave up his letter. His hands just started to shake. It reminded me of my grandfather Dorian when he had a seizure when I was smaller. He looked like he was a great deal of pain, clutching his forearm to his chest and all that. It only stopped when he drunk a nerve regeneration potion he already had in his pocket as if he'd been waiting for it to happen. You having a vision in You-Know-Who's mind last night as well further proves it."

"That's it then! That's our proof! If we go tell Dumbledore we can finally have the git locked away for good!" Ron exclaimed, his face lighting up.

"We don't have proof. I never actually saw the mark. And besides, you don't have tremors like that accepting it. Remember when I looked up the mark after he found Snape's? You only get tremors like that if you're trying to reject the call. But why on earth he would..."

Harry tried to process Hermione's words. Draco couldn't be a death eater... could he? Harry's mind filters through the dozen of instances proving that he couldn't possibly have pledged his allegiance to Voldemort.

What he found instead was the memory of the first night Draco and Harry had spent together that summer. They had been going into Knockturn alley when his face suddenly turned ashen and he ran to the bathroom. And then, once in the inn where Draco had nearly collapsed to the floor in a fit of pain. How in Merlin's name had he just forgotten about those...? His mind seemed to work in slow motion trying to fit the pieces together.

"Maybe the apparition wards on Hogwarts prevented it. They have to similar, right?"

Hermione seemed deep in thought. "I don't know. I'll have to look into it more carefully before we alert Dumbledore. Whatever was in that letter though, he didn't want anyone to see sending it off. There has to be some way they're all connected, I know it. Until then, I think we should just be careful."

Harry nods with a lump in his throat. 

~~~

Are you with me?

Are you in or are you out? 

Are you with me?

Are you drifting through the doubt?

~~~

Heyo- I know this is quick but I'm trying to apologize for my two weeks of not updating this month. I also wanted to have a certain number of chapters posted a month so I crammed a sneaky one in today, o0ps. AND I wanna hurry up and get to the kiss scene ;)

Words: 3675

Published: 9/30/2020