The Kindly Ones

The Kindly Ones

Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter and I don’t profit from this story. I do own a lovely first vol of Fruits Basket I got in the mail yesterday. Yah!! for me.

\"Students?\" barked the Archchancellor. \"Yes, Master. You know? They\'re the thinner ones with the pale faces? Because we\'re a university? They come with the whole thing, like rats --\"
-- (Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures)


\"Right I’m just dreaming. This is all a dream, Harry sighed in resignation as he rubbed his eyes.
\"Why isn’t it a dream?\" Scrambling for his glasses he slowly cleaned them on his bedspread.
\"Draco Malfoy is not sitting on the end of my bed! that would be really, really silly.\" Bringing his glasses up to his face he wasn’t surprised to see that the thirty seconds he had not been looking, hadn’t made Draco, sitting dripping on the end of his bed, disappear.
\"Would you believe I’m a figment of your imagination, Potter?\"
\"For once Malfoy I wish you were.\"
\"Umm, yes well.\" Let us pause for a moment while we see Draco lost for words.

\"Now this might be a silly question; who knows, we could have got drunk last night and ended up together, but what the hell JUST HAPPENED?\"
As a drip of blood slipped over his lips Draco blew it off spraying a fine mist over Harry’s bed.
\"Oww, gross Malfoy!\"
\"Well if you hadn’t noticed, you twit, we’re both covered in blood!\"
\"Arsehole.\"
\"Wanker.\"
\"Twat.\"
\"Muggle loving circus freak.\"
\"Inbred Bastard.\"
\"Fetid piece of distended rectum.\"
\"Oh Malfoy, you wound me to the quick. Now let’s shut up before anyone hears us and wonders why we\'re sitting on my bed together covered in blood.\"
\"Potter I didn\'t know you liked that sort of thing.\"
\"Shut up! this is all a big practical joke, isn‘t it?\"
\"Yes, Potter. I have nothing better to do then coat the both of us in blood, and sit on the end of you bed. Any more bright ideas?\"

Harry dragged a hand back through his hair and, as the blood dried, left the tuffs of it sticking up. Draco looked at Harry, who had a frown on his face and was staring at him with grim determination. It was with a second look that he noticed that the hair Harry had pushed up with his hand was moving. Not moving as under gravity, but moving like sea anemones, caught in the tide.
\"Look Potter, I don’t want to seem an alarmist, but your hair’s moving.\"
\"Just ignore it and it will go away. That‘s what I do.\"

Suddenly Harry started moving, pulling his curtain to the side and glancing out, without talking he crept around to the foot of his bed and his trunk. Draco couldn’t see this, inside the bed hangings and was imagining Harry waking all his friends and gathering them to see what a complete loser he looked.
Waiting for the curtain to be ripped back and the hyena like laughter of the Gryffindor pack. The blond drew his shoulders in tight. He should have listened to his mother. When he left Harry’s dream, he must have pulled Harry with him and, instead of landing in his own bed, had ended up in Potter’s. Of all the luck!

Harry had not idea about what had just happened. He had been having the dream that had haunted him for the past couple of nights, but this time Malfoy was in it. Potter’s luck strikes again. Something was going on again and he had no idea what it was.

Though when the blond git mentioned his hair, he realised that it probably had something to do with changing species. Again why couldn’t his dead relatives have left him a stamp collection? But no, he had to get the funky genetics!

Creeping from his bed, Harry quietly opened his truck and removed his Invisibility cloak and a soft wool hat, which he slammed down on his head. The only light in the room was from the crescent moon shinning through the window.

Right they had to go to Dumbledore.
It was probably part of Voldemort’s new hobby ‘How to Conquer the World and Bring it Under your Domineering Heel in a Weekend’. With a special chapter on how to annoy your arch-enemy and maniacal laughter.

To some it would have seemed that Draco jumped, when Harry’s head pushed through the bed’s curtains, but to those of us who know Draco, we must be mistaken.
\"Look, keep quite and I’ll sneak you out of Gryffindor. We’re going to see Dumbledore.\"

\"What can that manipulative old fart tell me?\"

\"Hey, I’m not the one in my enemy’s bed on a Tuesday morning covered in blood! I think we could all do with a little talk. Can you see any other way of getting out of here?\"

Draco frowned, the self-righteous little prig was right. Damn, He was going to have to do what Potter said.

\"Fine, what do you want me to do?\"

\"I have an invisibility cloak, if you’d just stick close to me, we can get down to the headmaster’s office.\"

\"And of course he is going to be in his office at five in the morning!\"

\"Well have you got a better plan?\" Harry demanded; lack of sleep did not make for a happy Gryffindor.

\"You let me borrow your cloak, I go back to my dormitory and we forget this ever happened.\"

\"I’m not giving you my Cloak! Ferret.\"

\"You know I like ferrets, so not a good insult.\"

\"I’m not giving you my cloak. We need to tell Dumbledore what’s going on.\" From outside Harry\'s someone spoke.
\"Harry shut up and go to sleep. Some of us are dreaming out here!\"

The two boys slammed their mouths shut and looked at each other. They didn’t have much of a choice they were going to have to get the hell out of the Gryffindor’s bedroom. With some shuffling and muttered swearing the two got close enough to each other to be covered by the cloak but not too close that they had to touch.
OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO

Walking through the Gryffindor’s common room with Harry in the lead, the two boys were quiet as they left and walked through the dark hallways, in the general direction of the hallway, down to the dungeons and the stairway leading to the headmaster’s office.

\"Potter have you ever thought of showering before going to bed? \"
\"Malfoy, have you ever thought that the fact we are both covered in blood may have an affect on our body odour?\"
It carried on like this until they reached a branching in the hallway, and both went in opposite directions.

\"Let me borrow the cloak, I’ll get it back to you tomorrow.\"

\"No, how am I to get back to my common room? It’s my cloak.\"

A faint muttering could be heard, coming from the further regions of the corridor where Draco now stood.
\"Bugger.\"

\"Get back under the cloak, now!\" Doing so they turned to run back down the hall they had just come from, when they heard a cat’s meow echo towards them.
Turning again the two boys headed down the only route left to them. Rushing down the hallway, as silently as they could, they completely missed Mr Scuta coming from the opposite direction, who was quietly whistling, under his breath.
With a breathless shout Draco and Harry ended up sprawled across the corridor, with the cloak leaving half of them uncovered. Mr Scuta had landed on his arse and was smiling softly at the strange sight of Harry and Draco’s partially exposed body parts.

\"Get off me, you Git.\"

\"Sit and swivel on it ferret!\" The two boys argued and shoved at each other until they got to their feet and out from under the Invisibility cloak. To see a grinning Mr Scuta, standing over them.

\"Hello Boys, What are you doing out at this time in the morning?\"
For some reason a little voice, and the conversation he had had with Mione and Ron the night before, popped into Harry’s mind.

\"Planning world domination, Mr Scuta Sir.\"

\"That’s good. It’s nice to see young people planning for their future.\"
\"Yes Sir.\"

\"So what were you up to this morning?\"

\"Teaching the flying monkey’s Sir.\"

\"Teaching them what?\"

\"How to aim Sir.\"

\"And why are the two of you covered in blood?\"

\"We learnt never to put live ammo in the monkey’s guns. That’s why we were practising.\"

\"You should always be seeking out new knowledge.\"

\"Yeah Sir we learnt monkey’s explode like a soft bana … \"


At this point Draco, who had been stunned to silence by Harry’s excuses, slammed a hand over his mouth.
\"Ahh Sir, don\'t listen to Harry, he’s hysterical. I was taking him to see the headmaster, right away.\"
Scuta hummed.

\"And who are you young man?\"

\"Draco Malfoy, Sir. I’m helping Potter here, out of the kindness of my own heart. As you can see Potter isn’t quite in his right mind at the moment.\"

\"So no flying monkeys?\"

\"No flying monkeys, Sir.\"

\"What a pity.\" From behind the two students someone coughed startling all three.

\"And what are you doing Potter?\" Somehow Snape had found them.


If he stood in the middle of the Sahara desert and broke a rule, Snape would be there in under five minutes. The anal retentive bastard. Harry scowled. Mr Scuta\'s smile just widened. The hand that Draco still held over Harry’s mouth was quickly whipped away. Draco looked downright embarrassed, Otherwise known as ‘I wish the earth would open beneath my feet and swallow me whole‘.

\"Mr Snape, It’s Mr Scuta we met at the start of the year’s staff party. You were dancing with Mrs McGonagall and tripped over her robe, if I remember correctly you fell in the pot plant.\" Snape closed his eyes.
\"Yes, I seem to remember you, what were you planning for these two miscreants?\"

\"Oh well Mr Potter here is very sick and being such a helpful friend Mr Malfoy is taking him to see the headmaster.\"

\"Mr Malfoy is helping Potter?\" Malfoy grimaced and nodded his head.

\"Yes Sir.\"

\"You do know it is five o’clock in the morning!\" Harry went to speak but Draco forced a heel down on his down on his toes.

\"Yes sir, but Potter is very sick and I think he really needs to see the headmaster.\"

\"Draco I am not stupid, you should have no idea what Potter is doing at five in the morning, and I don’t want to know what you’re doing covered in what looks suspiciously like blood.\"

\"Mr Snape, I think the boys should get to the headmaster as soon as possible.\"

\"Well Mr Scuta as a Professor I believe that Potter will be facing detention, for being out past curfew, for the next two weeks and let’s say twenty points off Gryffindor.\"

\"What about Mr Malfoy?\"

\"Well from his reaction I would have to suggest that he is under the influence of a strong hallucinogenic.\"

\"These boys seem to be having a serious problem. Mr Snape, and I think they should go to see the headmaster.\"

Draco made a pitiful little smile and made puppy dog eyes at Snape.
\"Please can we go? I think Harry’s really sick.\"

He winced when Harry stood on his foot, at the implied insult. Snape caved at the Slytherin’s puppy dog eyes and sighed.
\"Fine, but Potter still has detention with Filch for a week.\"

\"Well Mr Snape I’m sure you know best; being a Professor here for so long.\"

Harry grabbed Draco’s shoulder,
\"A weeks detention that would be great Professor. We’ll just be going now. Bye.\"

With that Harry began walking quickly down the hallway away from Snape, and toward Dumbledore’s office. Draco hissed at Harry from the corner of his mouth as they were walking away.
\"Flying monkeys? You’re mad Potter.\"

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Behind them Snape and Scuta stood silently for a moment.
\"So, what are you doing wandering the hallways at 5 in the morning Mr Snape?\"

\"I have extremely important research that needs constant attention.\"
\"So why are you walking the hallways?\"

\"I needed a break from the fumes, they can get terribly thick.\"

\"So, it wouldn’t have anything to do with Madam Hooch’s set of rooms being in the next corridor, would it? Because I can keep a secret.\"

Snape sniffed and stuck his nose in the air,
\"Absolutely not! I just needed a breath of air”. Snape brought a hand up to his chin and sneered. \"And what right do you have to question me?\"
\"Oh absolutely no right, Mr Snape. What a Professor does in his own time is his own business. But who’s the one that has to clean it up? I ask you.\"

Tut-tutting under his breath Mr Scuta shook his head and smiled at the fuming Professor.
\"Are you all right Mr Snape? Have you checked your blood pressure lately? Your face is quite red.\"
\"Good night Mr Scuta.\" Snape walked past the caretaker and down the hallway, in the opposite direction the two boys had taken.

OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO

Scuta smiled; he had felt something during the past two nights. Old magic being awakened. And who should appear, bright eyed, bushy tailed and covered in blood, just after he felt the weft of the weave flex, but Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, closely followed by a skulking Severus Snape.

Now call him suspicious but when two well know childhood enemies are found wandering the halls covered in blood it’s not going to be because they wanted a midnight snack. Now it could all be a coincidence, but he had never believed in coincidences.


It looked like he should keep an eye on them, even if so far, he had found no sign of an Erinyes. But then, unless they were going around wearing giant billboard saying: ‘I am an Erinyes, Please Kidnap Me.’ He hadn’t really been looking.

It was the food. No matter the job he was on, he always seemed to end up in the places with the worst kind of food; but the dining was excellent at Hogwarts. And there were so many stupid people. Even though he expected to see Noddy, Big Ears and the Gollywogs every time he heard the students speak, the food was nearly worth it.

When he looked at all of those who had gone before him in the pay of the ‘Fuchsia Lord’ were admittedly nasty, they raised suspicion from the beginning by being creepy and awful to Harry and his friends. Those that had acted nice and jolly with the ‘Famous Five’ did it so openly for everyone to see. It was a fine line to be a non threatening care-taker, while not so unusual that he merited further investigation. Kids could be so nosey.

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Under Hogwarts, in a room that had not been seen by an outsider in millennia, the faceless figure was bouncing around in his prison.

For the first time in years he had felt something from the outside. Most people would say being by yourself for over two thousand years would make you a little mad, and when people claimed you were insane to begin with, it was not that far to travel.

He wasn’t mad! He just got these bad headaches, and he felt these years by himself had only refined what he was. He didn’t know if it was night or day outside his prison but if someone was skimming the edges of his conscious mind, sooner or later a crack was going to appear, and he would be there with the crowbar to widen it to see the light of day. With the death of an Erinyes he could be free once again.
Mwahuuahahaha.

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Authors Notes

Harry and Draco will be together, but they still hate each other at this point. It’s more fun this way.

Being sick I think promoted this chapter. I blame it on the cold drugs.

Flying home to New Zealand today, for more upto date info on the story check out my yahoogroup.
http://groups/yahoo/com/group/phorcysfanfiction

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