A Boy Named Draco - Chapter 37
Chapter 37
Asking the Hogwarts’ ghosts about the location of the Ravenclaw diadem proved to be an exercise in patience but at last Harry knew what he needed to find it. With Draco at his side he ran through the most secluded corridors of the castle trying to protect the squib from being hit by a stray hex. He made the blond wear his Cloak of Invisibility. The Order and the D.A. were fighting back. He ached to join them but first he needed to finish this.
The Room of Requirement had sealed itself again after its occupants had taken to the halls of Hogwarts. The wall that concealed it was beginning to crack and shake. Dust filled the air as the castle tried to keep itself from being breached by the Death Eater forces that had assembled outside.
He breathed deeply and tried to clear his mind. Draco touched his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. Harry nodded back.
“I need the place where everything is hidden” Harry begged and the door materialized almost instantly. He rushed inside with Draco at his heels.
“Alright--- we’re looking for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! It’s standing on a cupboard and it’s definitely somewhere near there…” he said indicating the left side of the cavernous room.
They sped off up adjacent aisles: Harry could hear Draco’s footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, bats and thousands of things that had once been worth hiding.
Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went looking for objects he recognized from his previous trip into the room. His sharp green eyes were alert for the telltale sparkle of diamonds or the bronzed glint of old gold. And then he saw it perched in a crumbling bust atop an old cupboard. He reached out to take it when a voice behind him said.
“Hold it Potter”
His hand stopped mid-air. With a sinking feeling he turned around.
Goyle, Crabbe and Nott stood behind him. The hulking Slytherins had their wands drawn while the smaller Nott stood a little to the side. Harry remembered that his wand was taken when the Dobby dropped the chandelier on him.
Worried for Draco, Harry tried to distract them. “How is it that you three aren’t with Voldemort?” he asked.
“We figured that coming to the Dark Lord with Potter at wandpoint would make for a great reward.” Crabbe’s voice was surprisingly shrill for someone of such girth.
“Brilliant plan,” Harry said snidely as he edged closer to the bust. “How did you know how to get here?”
“We used a Disillusion Charm. Saw you running in here all alone--figured the three of us can take one lone Gryffindor even if he is Harry Potter.”
He released the breath he had been holding. They had not seen Draco under the cloak.
“So be a good captive and come along before we are forced to use the nastier curses,” added Goyle. Crabbe licked his lips in anticipation. Nott was surprisingly quiet.
Harry steeled himself. If he left with them Draco would be trapped here. Without any magic of his own it would not be possible for him to control the room.
“No.”
“Won’t come peacefully? Fine then. You don’t really have to be alive to please Voldemort. Avada Kedavra!”
Expecting the bright green of the most deadly of curses, he was surprised to see a tower of spindly wooden chairs come crashing down on the trio. Without thinking twice he sprinted towards the spot where the chairs had been. He extended his hand and felt Draco’s thin fingers clasp his.
“Thank you.” He whispered aware that the Slytherins were only taken aback momentarily. “I need to get you out of here.” He gripped his wand and aimed a stunning spell at the pile of broken furniture. He heard Crabbe cry out. Draco pressed against him nervously. The squib’s heart pounded with ferrety intensity. “What about the tiara?” he asked anxiously.
Hell, he’d almost forgotten it. Harry sprinted forward and pulled the diadem from the ugly stone bust. He contemplated the dulled diamonds feeling the power contained within them.
“HARRY!” Draco screamed.
A roaring, swelling noise behind him stilled his heart. He turned to see Draco rip off the cloak and dart towards him.
“Like it hot, scum?” howled Crabbe at the flames that erupted from his wand rushed at the piles of rubbish scattered throughout the room.
“Aguamenti!” Harry countered but the jet of water that soared from his own wand evaporated in the air. Crabbe laughed and loped towards the exit. The fiery monsters began to lick at the highly flammable objects in an effort to surround their prey. Harry knew that they did not have much time.
“Run Draco!”
Instead of seeking an exit, Draco rushed to the pile of chairs that were rapidly being encased by the uncontrollable flames. He pulled a nearly unconscious Goyle his feet and pushed him towards Harry. The boy-who-lived understood that Nott was still trapped under the burning pile of chairs.
“Ennervate!” said Harry and Goyle blinked himself into wakefulness. “Go before this place begins to come down.” He ordered the taller boy who immediately headed after Crabbe.
“Draco we must go ---before the exit is sealed.” The smoke was making it hard to breathe and even harder to speak.
“No! Master Theodore needs my help.” He said and dived behind a mountain of burning furniture and out of Harry’s sight.
Harry looked about frantically and spotted a likely savior. He called at the spindly broom towards him and with an ease born of years of Quidditch he mounted it mid-air just as Draco pulled a lifeless Nott from under the burned pile of wood. The wizard could see a great flaming chimera bearing upon them.
The thick black smoke engulfed Draco and Nott. Harry’s heart pounded as he urged the broom towards the hellish sight. His glasses provided some slight help against the sting of the burning wood. “Draco!” he called out anxiously while trying to catch a glimpse of the familiar blond hair.
“DRACO!”
Acrid air coursed through tortured lungs but he pressed on. His broom handle was scorched and the undulating blaze of a newly formed basilisk wrapped itself around the tail.
“DRACO!”
A bony hand grasped his leg. With all the strength that was left to him Harry raised Draco and Nott out of the flames. A fiery manticore pounced on the trio but the wizard kept the broom steady and crashed through the door leaving the inferno behind.
Harry gulped at the precious air. His shaking hands sought the blond boy who lay crumpled at his side. With an effort born of sheer will he raised himself to his knees and grasped Draco’s blistered wrist.
No pulse.
God no.
He could barely contain his trembling as he turned Draco on his back and began pressing on his chest trying to coax life back into his body. His breath felt warm against the squib’s rapidly cooling mouth. He was already losing what little color he had.
“Please…oh please. Come back.”
It was to no avail. The lifeless eyes remained closed. Harry kept pushing at the unresponsive form. His desperation growing with each passing second.
XxXxXxXxXx
Draco awoke to an unexpected sight and sound. He was standing in a large, well-lit, empty train station. The gleaming Hogwarts Express was gliding out into the tracks which would bring it to its home. Confused he stared at the departing train. The last thing he remembered was seeing Harry through a dense curtain of smoke. Where was he? Where was Harry?
“On the train, with the weasel and the mudblood” answered a tightly clipped voice from behind.
Draco turned around to see himself but not really. The features were similar. The “other” had blond hair but it was slicked back and not shaggy like his. The face was pale but without the under eye creases or the hollowed-out cheeks. He had probably never missed a meal. He also carried himself in a manner that Draco the squib would not have approximated in a million years. This other Draco exuded arrogance which matched perfectly with the custom-made Hogwarts uniform he wore.
An uniform bearing the Slytherin crest.
Draco did not know what to say. He knew instinctually that this was himself. The wizard he would have been. His thoughts were interrupted by moderately loud griping.
“'… everyone thinks he's so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick-It’s horrid that you share this view of the git.”
“Huh?’ the squib replied.
“Oy! pay attention. It’s hard enough to accept that you…ugh... are in love with the four-eyed savior of the world but I refuse to accept that you are an imbecile too. I am very cunning therefore you should be too.”
“What? I don’t understand?”
The other rolled his eyes. “Okay so we need to start from the beginning. I thought you would be faster on the uptake. Whatever. I’m you… Draco Abraxas Malfoy minus the squibbiness. In other words I am a world class wizard who is also the heir to the Malfoy fortune. I am bright, ambitious, acquainted with all pureblood customs, a born leader, excellent at potions and arithmancy. You on the other hand…well…you do windows right?”
“Why am I here?”
Draco Malfoy sighed in an overly dramatic manner. “It would be obvious to anyone but you that you are dead. Don’t panic. It is not permanent in this version. Let’s just say that you are in an indeterminate state until you learn what you need to.”
“Which is?”
“How to kill Voldemort once and for all.”
TBC.
So. Sorry for the extremely long wait. I abhor fic writers that make you wait so long and here I am being one. Thank you ever so much for your kind comments and patience. Hope this is still interesting. Please review and I promise that you will have chapter 38 by next Sunday.