Guilty as Sin

CHAPTER 14

“…so I can have kids?” Harry whispered as he easily transfigured the scurrying white mouse on the table into a sad looking flower and back again.

“Bear young.” Draco corrected as he caught the escaping mouse and turned it into a clump of daisies.

The pair of them hadn’t stopped talking all day, Draco eagerly feeding Harry every ounce of information he knew about being an ‘Unforgiven.’ Harry was enthralled but also mildly disturbed by some of things they were capable of. While the pair of them had most of their classes together neither of them learnt very much preferring instead to pass coded notes backward and forward to one another. Harry had quickly gotten over the feeling of betrayal when Draco had told him the rest of the story about his Spanish liaison with a Superei.

“It means the same thing Draco, that I can get knocked up for 9 months…” Harry muttered as he wrote down the answer to the last of his transfiguration homework.

“12 months actually.” Draco corrected again as he closed his homework having finally finished. Harry looked up at Draco sarcastically the blonde merely shrugging his shoulders in apology. “Longer gestation period because we’re male and you can’t just get knocked up Harry you’ve got to be in season and in the right phase of the moon.”

“Well excuse me if I’m not quite rational, I’ve just found out I can get pregnant after six years of sex education which told me the exact opposite.” Harry consciously lowered his voice as a Ravenclaw first year past a little too close to their table in the library.

“It’s not that bad Harry, Superei become more ‘caring’ when you’re carrying young, less violent.” Harry rolled his eyes skyward at Draco’s reasoning hardly believing the blonde was taking all this in his stride. Not that there was any alternative Snape had made his intentions very clear and neither Draco nor Harry had any choice in the matter.

“You know I believed you when you said you didn’t know much about us but now I see you know a hell of a lot more than I ever imagined. Where the hell did you learn all this? I thought we were supposed to ‘not exist’ in the Ministry’s eyes? And the books are very vague, they never mention our title just the symptoms, that’s how I thought I was a Vamp.” Harry stared pointedly at Draco as the pair of them walked out of the library heading down towards the great hall.

“Yeah the Ministry like to believe we don’t exist but Voldemort isn’t that stupid. He knows we exist and unlike the Ministry he wants to be completely informed about any potential threat to his power, which is what we represent. Lucius has been researching them since he joined the ranks, it was apparently my dad’s pet project. That’s partly how I came to know what I was, after reading dad’s notes and having to listen to his great discoveries over dinner. It’s ironic really that he spent his life researching the Elith-Furatu and he didn’t even know he had one in the family. Not that he would have accept it, even with all the research in the world he would still have killed me if he’d found out.” Draco smiled sadly at Harry who sighed heavily wondering what his own parents would have done had their discovered his true self. Harry was still pondering this on the staircases heading down to the hall when out of nowhere he was thrown against the wall by two pairs of beefy fists.

“Hey Potter, message from the muggleborn’s.” Harry didn’t have time to react as he felt the curse paralyze him before the bone-sickening crunch as a foot connected with his stomach. The pain was excruciating but Harry could do nothing as blow after blow was landed in his chest and stomach. “You’re pathetic Potter, you should have joined with Malfoy a long time ago. Same values, same scum.” With a final sickening blow Harry was released from the curse the boy crumpling to a heap on the stairs in agony. With his vision blurry Harry could only just make out the legs of his attackers running away up the stairs before he turned his head around to stare at a familiar blonde crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs.

“Draco.” Harry whispered as he clambered over his strewn book bag and practically slid down the stairs towards the blonde. Harry came to an agonizing thump at the bottom of the stairs where Draco’s body was lying twisted up in a heap. Ignoring the fact his own mouth was beginning to fill with blood Harry leaned down over Draco’s body and cupped the blonde’s face in his shaking hands. “Draco.” Harry coughed the boy’s name unintentionally spattering the blonde’s pale face with blood from his own mouth. Almost in relief Harry watched as Draco opened his eyes the pale blue gaze locking with Harry’s. Draco managed a weak smile but Harry had gone past beyond caring content that his friend was just simply alive still. With an agonizing cry Harry slumped backward away from Draco onto his side clutching at the invisible fire that erupted in his chest, lungs and stomach.

From seemingly nowhere a familiar dark figure appeared over him before a calming hand came down to smooth over his forehead and back.

“Shhh, sleep Potter, sleep.” Harry felt the charm hit him and the warm feeling that spread through him made him relax. With his vision impaired by a dark swirl of fabric Harry fell helplessly asleep under the effects of the charm.

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A shadowy figure watched from the safety of the top room in the Three Broomsticks as several dark hooded wizards apperated into the center of the road. The bustling village erupted into green flame as the hooded figures began firing curses. Chaos was created instantly with witches, wizards and students alike running for their lives screaming in terror. To the outsider looking down the scene was horrifically random but to the shadow in the window it was perfectly calculated and organized. It was over in minutes the simultaneous cracks of the dark wizard’s disappearing just a second before the Auror’s came running in from the apparition point up the road. Lying in the road were three bodies so randomly felled that no one would suspect the connection between the them or the bitter revenge that had been sated by their grisly demise. For a moment the shadow took in the scene with supreme satisfaction before silently slipping away into the mayhem that had become of Hogsmeade.

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“Harry, come on we’ve got to go to the great hall the headmasters having the school searched.” Harry winced painfully as Draco helped him out of the hospital bed. Draco grabbed the blanket and the pillow before guiding Harry down to the great hall with the other hospital wing patients.

“What’s happened?” Harry muttered as Draco led him into the chaos of the great hall and over to the Slytherin side of the hall. Instinctively both Harry and Draco sought out Snape, among the sea of students. The elder wizard was standing with the other professors at the head of their houses, attempting to organize the students into what appeared to be sleeping arrangements. It looked as if the entire school would be spending the night locked in the great hall.

“They attacked Hogsmeade and killed three students. According to witnesses they apperated straight through the village’s wards into the middle of the street.” At Snape’s instructive gesture Draco helped Harry down to the front of the hall and sat him down carefully on the soft matting laid out on the floor. Harry breathed out heavily the strenuous activity re-igniting the pain in his chest. It had been a week since they’d been attacked on the grand staircase, and this Hogsmeade weekend was to be the first both he and Draco actually spent with Snape since last weekend’s revelations. Admittedly Harry was far from well after his horrendous injuries but he was better and that was supposedly good enough for Snape to call them both to his chamber this weekend.

“Sir what is happening?” Having lay Harry back down with his hospital pillow and blanket Draco waited until the chaos had died down a little and Snape had made his way over to supervise his own house before he spoke up. The potions professor glanced down at the pair of them nonchalantly before folding his arms into the sleeves of his robe.

“The headmaster believes the attackers had inside help and is having the castle searched. You will all be staying here tonight until the Auror’s have finished.” Draco nodded quietly as he watched Snape glance cautiously about him to ensure no one else was listening to his conversation with Draco. “Also you may inform Potter that those that inflicted his injuries will not be doing it again.” With a knowing stare at Draco Snape strode off back over to the other professors leaving Draco staring after him in shock. Swallowing hard Draco lay himself down beside Harry, sharing the boy’s pillow so that they could talk quietly without being overheard.

“Did he just imply…” Harry whispered but was cut off by Draco before he could finish.

“Yes he did, and we will thank him properly for his protection tomorrow.” With a stern glare Draco pulled the edge of Harry’s blanket over himself and having pressed his forehead against Harry’s in a quiet display of affection closed his eyes and fell into slumber.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>