Of Butterflies in a Hurricane

*


"Do you think something's wrong?"

"Well, of course, something is wrong! Can't you tell?"

Ron gave Hermione a dirty look, but she merely gave him a superior one in return across the long table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. It had been a while since Harry had quitted them, leaving them alone in the silence of the cavernous kitchen.

At the moment, they were both sitting with their elbows resting casually on top of it, their heads sitting on top of their hands. Each had been staring rather morosely at the table, contemplating their friend's actions as of late.

"Yes, I can tell," Ron replied scathingly, glaring at her. "I just wanted to know if you had noticed."

"Well, I did," Hermione said huffily. "It's incredibly obvious from how he's been acting. I mean, we just destroyed a Horcrux, and all he wants to do is lie down? Doesn't really seem like him, does it?"

"I know! And he keeps going off to be alone. How much 'alone time' could he possibly need?!"

"Well, he is suffering from a lot, you know," Hermione pointed out. "What with Dumbledore dying, Snape being the one who did it, and that we have already been attacked after only a few days."

"Yeah, and what's with that bracelet he's started wearing? I swear to Merlin it hisses at me every time I come near." Ron scowled in distaste at the thought.

"I don't know what that is," Hermione said slowly. "He didn't used to have it, did he? And, now, he never takes it off."

"I don't know, but I don't think it likes me."

"Oh, Ron," she sighed and he scowled at her.

"I'm serious! It hisses at Harry too, I think, but it seems nicer to him."

Hermione just shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you're not imagining things?"

"Yes! It hisses at me! Haven't you heard it?!"

"No."

"Yeah, well, it does," Ron said stubbornly taking his arms off the table and crossing them over his chest grumpily. Hermione merely sighed once more and they fell back into silence.

Hermione glanced up at the ceiling where she knew Harry was, only one story up. She knew something was wrong. He had never been this closed off before, not even when Cedric or Sirius had died. There had to be more to it. She wished he felt enough confidence in her to tell her. But she knew she could not push him or it might make it even worse.

She and Ron refrained from asking about the Pensieve whenever possible because they knew Harry liked to keep it private. Ron hadn't really understood, but Hermione did. She knew he felt like it was his only connection left with the man who had been his mentor for so long. He wanted to keep it alive for himself and not share with anyone.

She sighed again, wishing there was more she could do to help her friend. She only wanted him to be happy, but she knew it might be a very long time before that happened.

Upstairs, Harry sat awake in his bed, wishing he could go to sleep but knowing it was useless. Outside, it was pitch black. Night had fallen rather fast for it being a summer day. Harry supposed it had something to do with Dementors that were supposedly roaming the streets quite freely now.

He heard footsteps pass on the landing outside, pausing at the door for a few seconds. He was quiet and, in a minute, the footsteps continued on. He and Ron were not sharing a room as they once had. Since they basically had the house to themselves for the time being, they had chosen to sleep in separate rooms, something which Harry was marginally glad for. He didn't want the awkward questions that often came when he awoke in the middle of the night, panic-stricken and sweat-drenched.

He was staring at the end of the bed but not really seeing it. His mind was too busy with thoughts of Horcruxes and Draco. He had destroyed one Horcrux, which meant only the cup, the snake, something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's, and the piece inside Voldemort remained. That meant he was almost halfway to killing Voldemort.

He wanted to do more. He felt like he was wasting his time by staying shut up in Grimmauld Place while God knows what was going on in the world. It wasn't like he had a way to find out news. He had to be secret about all his doings to everyone but Ron and Hermione, and even they did not know it all.

He sighed, glancing around the nearly empty room. On the far side of his room, he could see the outline of Phineas asleep in his portrait. He wondered vaguely if McGonagall had sent him but found he really didn't care.

He looked down sharply as the snake on his wrist gave a small hiss. "Oh, shut up," he told it tiredly. Its only response was to hiss more menacingly. Harry was glad that its fangs were not poisonous, only pointy, since it had gotten into the habit of biting him whenever he self-consciously covered it up. The snake seemed to know what Harry was doing when he did this and took pleasure in reprimanding him for his faults.

The tiny green scales of the snake glinted in the light from a small table lamp. It slithered around its continuous circle, stopping occasionally to stare up at Harry, its glittering eyes watching him steadily.

Harry shook his head, lowering his arm, thinking how much he would have given to have Draco with him at that moment. Ron and Hermione were all well and good but there was just something else he needed.

He tried in vain to fall back asleep but found it was completely useless. Instead, he went back to his most recent pastime of taking the Pensieve out and sifting through the memories, hoping to come upon anything that might help at all.

He heaved the basin up to his bed and stared down into its silvery depths. He took his wand from the bedside table and prodded the top as he always did, hoping against hope that, this time, something relevant might surface.

The foggy memories swirled for a moment until they cleared and Harry found himself looking into a black basin. He couldn't see anything, as it was so dark. For a second, he thought that the Pensieve hadn't worked, but then he caught a tiny glimmer inside the basin.

His curiosity intrigued, Harry bent over the Pensieve, first looking around surreptitiously. When he was sure he was alone, he took a deep breath and plunged into the memory.

He fell for a moment until his feet hit the ground. He blinked; sure his eyes were playing tricks. He could see absolutely nothing through the pitch blackness that surrounded him. He wondered how this could possibly be a memory. Maybe it was like Slughorn's memory that had been tampered with.

He could feel a light breeze whipping up around him and knew he must be outside, but where? He looked up, noting that there were no stars and no moon that night. He waited impatiently, wonder what the hell kind of memory this was.

He was just wondering how he could possibly return when he heard a sudden sound behind him. He jerked around, completely forgetting that he was inside a memory and couldn't be seen or heard. The snake on his bracelet hissed lightly, and Harry squinted through the darkness.

There was another movement to his left and he turned sharply. A crackling light flickered into existence and was placed in a clear jar. His eyes widened as he looked at the person. He moved forward, hardly daring to believe his eyes.

Draco stood before him, staring down at the flickering fire. He stood with his hands on his hips, concentrating on the fire as though waiting for someone. His head snapped up as another sound was heard from somewhere behind Harry.

Harry turned around, still unable to see through the darkness. He wished he knew what memory this was, if it was his or someone else's. He was relieved to see himself emerge from the darkness behind him, walking to where Draco stood.

Draco looked up and smirked at Harry; his eyes held a glittering triumph as Harry approached. The real Harry moved forward cautiously, wishing that Draco was real and he could touch him.

"What was so important that I had to sneak out of my dorm in the middle of the night?" Harry asked, coming upon Draco. "It's bad enough you practically accost me in the halls where anyone could catch us, but now I think Ginny might be getting suspicious."

The real Harry stood, confused, trying to figure out what memory this was. He couldn't for the life of him remember. There had been many a time that he'd sneaked out of his dorm to meet Draco. It wasn't like it was a strange occurrence.

Draco's smirk left his face and he suddenly looked serious as he stepped closer to Harry. "I wanted to give you something."

"Give me something?" Pensieve Harry asked. "What is it?"

"Just consider it an early birthday present," Draco said, a small smile coming onto his face.

The real Harry's mouth fell open as he finally recalled the memory. He moved forward quickly, wanting to see more closely.

Draco reached into his robe pocket and withdrew a small box wrapped in green paper and tied with a silver bow. Harry looked down at it and couldn't help smiling. "How fitting," he commented.

"You have no idea," Draco replied. "Just open it."

Harry cast him a glance but removed the paper and pried open the top of the box. Inside were several layers of tissue paper. Once he had thrown them all aside, he saw a silver bracelet adorned with a tiny green snake circling the band.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at Draco. Draco didn't say anything for a moment as Harry looked back to the bracelet, lifting it up and examining it carefully.

"Draco... what is it?" he asked finally.

"It's for you. It has protective spells put on it; it'll keep you safer than most other things," Draco said quietly, watching Harry carefully and gauging his reaction.

"You got it for me?" Harry asked, stunned. No one had ever gotten him something so personal and nice.

"No, I got it for me. Of course, I got it for you." Draco stepped forward, sliding his hand over Harry's arm soothingly. Harry was still staring at the bracelet. The snake twisted its head and hissed in the direction of the real Harry.

Harry could have sworn the snake had looked directly at him. The other bracelet, the one on his wrist, hissed back to its counterpart that sat in Pensieve Harry's hand as he turned it over nervously.

"You really shouldn't have," Harry said quietly and Draco shook his head.

"Harry, I wanted to. You deserve to be safe."

"So do you!" Harry exclaimed. "Draco, the Order, they can protect you! If you just don't do i--"

"Harry, stop," Draco said, suddenly sounding angry. "I can't not do it. It will be worse for everyone. He would kill me instead of torturing me. And I don't want to leave you."

Harry stared at Draco. He had stopped twirling the bracelet between his fingers and it now fell limply in them. He didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything.

Draco sighed and dropped his hands to his side. "This bracelet, Harry, it's bound to me. It knows me. I'm always with you. I love you."

Harry searched Draco's face then his gaze fell to the cold silver bracelet in his hand. He knew Draco meant it no matter what he said or did otherwise. This bracelet was a symbol of his commitment, even if he couldn't show Harry truly.

"Draco, I--" he started but stopped suddenly as a sound reached his ears. He stilled, listening closely.

The real Harry strained to hear whatever was making his counterpart uneasy. Then he heard it, the rustle of a bush and the crack of a twig. Pensieve Harry turned back to Draco hastily.

"Go, Draco!" he hissed, waving him away. Draco gave him one last sad look before scooping up the fire and disappearing into the darkness. A moment later, a wand tip alighted and Ginny came pushing her way through the brush.

"Harry," she said, sounding surprised. Her eyes were fixed on his face and, therefore, didn't see as he quickly shoved a small box into his pocket. "What are you doing out here?"

"Sorry, Gin," he apologized with a half smile. "I just wanted to go for a walk."

"Oh," she said, as though she hadn't expected that answer. "Well, do you want to go back to the castle?"

"Sure," he replied, moving forward and slipping his arm around her waist. Together, they walked out of Harry's sight and back to where the castle must be. He didn't follow them, having no desire to know what else had happened that night.

Instead, he concentrated hard on the desire to leave the memory and, in a moment, felt himself lifting through the air, tumbling through nothingness until he landed back on his bed.

He stared at the Pensieve and then to the bracelet on his wrist. The snake appeared to have fallen asleep. It was not moving anymore at any rate. Harry thought about that memory he had seen. He had almost forgotten about that night. It seemed so long ago, but it was with a jolt that Harry realized that Dumbledore had died only days later.

Draco's words from the Pensieve floated back to Harry. "It's bound to me. It knows me." What did that mean? He knew it meant that the bracelet was a symbol of Draco watching over him, but could it mean something more?

Harry pondered that thought as he shrunk the Pensieve and slipped it back into his bag. In the end, though, he decided that he was far too tired to ponder the riddle of a bracelet. He lied down in his bed, snuggling deeper into his covers, violently wishing that Draco was there with him once more.


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A/N: Please review!