The Domino Effect

Gregory Goyle looked around his new room and sighed. It was a nice enough room, but it was so... empty. Ever since he'd first come to Hogwarts he'd always shared a room with the other boys. Crabbe, Malfoy, Zabini and Nott had always been there, every year. It was one of the few constants he had in his life, one of the only things that was thrust upon him that he really hadnindeinded. Now he was alone, and while it was preferable to having to join the Dark Lord, it was still lonely.

Opening the wardrobe, Goyle sighed again as he looked at his new school uniforms. Skirts, blouses, robes and knee socks. There were even a pair of low-heeled dress shoes.

He just had to remind himself that this was his choice, and as long as Potter won the war - and didn't get himself killed - it wasn't permanent either.

But he still wasn't happy about the loss of his dick.

~!~

"Harry," Hermione leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. "Does something seem, I don't know, off about Professor Snape today?"

Harry looked to the front of the room where the Potions Master was sitting at his desk, a scowl on his face, and rearranging himself in his chair every couple of minutes. He allowed himself a brief smile before schooling his features and facing his friend. "He seems fine to me. I suppose if you really want to know if there's something wrong, you could always follow him around at night," Harnswenswered and then returned to his notes, completely ignoring Hermione's slight gasp.

The rest of the class passed in a somewhat strained manner as Harry continued to copy the notes from the board and pretend that he didn't notice Hermione watching him. He had a plan in mind to pay her and Ron back for being nosey. He just needed to talk to Dracost. st. If it went off the way he wanted it to, they'd never spy on him again.

~!~

The rest of the day had passed uneventfully and Harry and Draco were now secreted away in their little hide away down in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Merlin, Harry! Are you serious?" Draco exclaimed somewhat horrified. "All this time, you've trusted the man to look out for you, to guide you, and he's the reason you've lost so much." Draco shook his head sadly. "My father always said he was a meddling old fool, but I never really gave it much thought."

"I know. When I think of everything he's cost me..." Harry trailed off as his eyes narrowed in anger. Draco put his arms around Harry but the other boy shrugged him off and began pacing back and forth in the room.

"I could have been normal, Draco. I could have been raised as a wizard, in a real home with a family that loved me. I might have had siblings, a little brother or sister, I would have known Sirius my whole life, he wouldn't have died defending me." Draco could feel Harry's power as it filled the room. He only hoped the other boy calmed himself before something happened. Looking up at his lover from where he'd taken a seat on the couch, he doubted that calm was anywhere near Harry's range of emotions at the moment.

"I wouldn't have this stupid fucking scar and be the sodding Boy-Who-Lived!" Harry spat as he stopped facefaced his lover. The anger drained away leaving behind hurt and confusion.

"Why would he do that, Draco, why? I mean, my parents had a plan - they were going to leave the country; we would have been safe. Instead I grew up with mugglho hho hated me, who locked me in a cupboard and called me a freak. I don't understand," Harry finished softly as Draco pulled him down onto the sofa and held him close.

"I don't know why, Harry. I don't understand it either but you don't ever have to see those muggles again, or go back to the muggle world at all if you don't want to. I'll teach you everything you need to know about being a wizard, the stuff you should have been taught growing up. You're not alone in this Harry, you have me, and I'm not going anywhere."

Harry sighed and snuggled into Draco's arms. "Why aren't you afraid of me?" he whispered into the blonde's neck. "You've seen what I'm capable of, you know how strong I am, hell, I hurt you without even trying to last night. Why aren't you scared?"

"Because," Draco said and then dropped a kiss to Harry's temple. "You're not a bad man, Harry. You won't hurt me, I know that as well as I know my own name. Yes, you have power, yes I can feel it coming off you in waves when you get angry, but you have more control than any witch or wizard I've ever met. That and you have your Gryffindor morals," Draco finished with a chuckle.

"Dumbledore fears me," Harry whispered.

"And well he should," Draco replied. "He's done nothing but manipulate you from day one. He knows his own guilt, and that is what makes him afraid."

Harry looked deep into Draco's eyes. "I want him dead, Draco. I know I shouldn't but I do. He's cost me so much..."

"I know, Harry. One thing at a time though, alright? First we get rid of Voldemort, then, if you still feel that you want Dumbledore out of the picture, we'll figure something out."

Harry sighed and buried his face in Draco's chest. "I'm considering killing my Headmaster. Does that make me psychotic?"

"No, Harry," Draco tipped Harry's face up and kissed him. "It makes you human."

~

~!~

Things were quiet in the Slytherin seventh-year boys' dorm. Only two of the original five members of the room were present and neither one was talking. Neither one could. The threats that mad made to them - on what would happen if they tried to tell anyone - were weighing heavily on their minds. They weren't sure if they could talk to one another about it and neither one wanted to run the risk to find out.

Blaise Zabini's bed had been stripped bare earlier that day, his trunk was gone and all of his belongings with it. The curtains were open and tied back to the bed-posts, looking for all the world as though it had never been occupied.

Vincent Crabbe closed his eyes and tried not to remember the first time they'd met, how an eleven-year-old Blaise Zabini had jumped up and down on his bed laughing - until an unimpressed Draco Malfoy had hexed him and told him to stop acting like a bloody idiot and behave like a Slytherin.

It had been the beginning of their rivalry, friendly as it was. Malfoy wanted to rule the school, and Zabini wanted to be Malfoy. It was why he had been so eager to take his place at Voldemort's side, why he had gone after Potter with a vengeance, why he was now dead and would never amount to anything. He'd behaved the way he thought a Slytherin should, he'd allied himself with power. Only problem was, Malfoy was a better Slytherin - he always had been - and he allied himself with the more powerful of the two wizards at war: Harry Potter.

If he hadn't seen firsthand what Potter was capable of, he would have never believed it possible. But he had seen the power the Gryffindor possessed, he had felt it. It wasn't anything like he expected. Light wizards were supposed to be all good and pure, saving the world for peace and love and fluffy little puppies. Potter was not light. He was as dark as the depths of hell.

And yeah, maybe they deserved it after what they'd done, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. The saviour of the wizard world, the honourable Gryffindor, the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Torture-His-Enemies was more powerful than the Dark Lord, had a Malfoy at his side, and pure unadulterated hatred running through his veins. In short, as far as Vincent was concerned, the world - and everyone in it - was in big trouble.

~!~

"Ginny," Becky Wood called through the closed bed-curtains. "Ginny, what's wrong?"

Inside the locked curtains, Ginny Weasley lay staring at the ceiling while her roommate grew more and more frustrated. She didn't care, nothing mattered anymore. Harry was never going to be hers. Not as long as Malfoy was around. And without Harry, Ginny wanted to die.

"Ginevra Weasley! If you don't open those curtains and tell me what's wrong, right this minute, I'll set them on f" <'

Ginny almost smiled at that. Becky was a good friend, and she understood what it was like to be the only girl in a family of boys, but she would never understand how Ginny felt about Harry. How could she? No one could understand what it was like to be rescued by your very own knight in shining armour. Harry had risked his life for her, had saved her from not only Tom Riddle but a sixty foot Basilisk as well. He had almost died and all he had cared about was that she, Ginny, would be alright. If that wasn't love, she didn't know what it was.

And now he was involved with none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Go away, Becky," Ginny called out. "Just leave me alone."

"Fine!" was called out from the other side of the curtain. "But if you don't come out for breakfast tomorrow, I'm going to McGonagall!"

Ginny just rolled her eyes and went back to staring at the ceiling. What did she care if Becky went to their Head of House? What could old McGonagall possibly do anyway? There was no cure for a broken heart, and that was exactly what Ginny had. "Bloody Malfoy!" Ginny whispered angrily. "If it wasn't for him, Harry would be mine."

Realizing what she had just said, a slow smile spread across Ginny's face. If Malfoy wasn't in the picture then she would still stand a chance. Now, all she had to do was get rid of Malfoy.

~!~

Draco ran his fingers through Harry's hair as he watched the other boy sleep. It still amazed him that Harry Potter was nothing like the boy he'd always thought he was. He wasn't the arrogant, sure of himself, hero of the world. He didn't think he was better than everyone one else because of his scar, he wasn't treated like royalty by the muggles who raised him, and most importantly, he wasn't above listening to another's point of view. He was, in short, amazing.

"How is it that I've seen you nearly every day for almost seven years and I didn't know anything about you until I found you in the locker room?" Draco whispered as he looked at the peaceful expression on his lover's face. An expression he didn't see nearly enough of, and never when Harry was awake. "All those years, wasted. And you were right there in front of me the whole time."

The last week had been quite the eye opener for the blonde. Before Harry, he had no idea what he was going to do when school let out, no prospects for his future what so ever. He couldn't go home unless he was willing to submit himself to Voldemort, he couldn't get a job at the Ministry without his father's influence, he had no one he could turn to and no where he could go. His only salvation would have been to exchange as much money as he could at Gringott's and try to make his way in the muggle world until the war was over. Needless to say it wasn't a very appealing plan.

Now though, now he had Harry, he had an ally against the Dark Lord, someone who would protect him from Voldemort and his minions, and as much as the idea of needing protection irked him, he knew it was necessary. He was a Malfoy, the only heir to the Malfoy fortune and as such the Dark Lord would not let him simply slip away. No, he would be forced to submit, under Imperius if necessary, until he was no longer useful or until he had at the very lesignsigned away his inheritance to the cause.

Harry Potter was a powerful wizard but strangely enough, it was his weakness that drew Draco in. That vulnerable side that he kept hidden from the world, the one that few people ever saw, the one that he showed to him when he broke down in tears in his arms. That was what Draco found himself thinking about that first night, and every night since. Harry Potter was a person, just like he was. They really were no different.

Draco was Slytherin to the core and as such would admit that having power would always be his goal in life. He didn't want to rule the world, but he did want to have a say in how it was run. Harry had the potential to rule, and Draco was damn well going to be by his side when he did. Together, they would remake the wizarding world. They would bring back the traditions of old, make people remember what it means to be a wizard. Mudbloods would be screened before being allowed entrance to their world. Hogwarts would be exclusive to only those born in the wizard world. The purebloods would grow strong again, and Draco would be the one leading them. All he had to do was make sure Harry understood the logic behind the changes that needed to be made.

"I see you now, Harry. I see who and what you really are, and I like who I see. You and I can do great things together, Harry Potter, we can change the world. We will change the world. We'll make it better."

In his sleep, Harry smiled and snuggled closer to the warm body beneath him as the arms holding him squeezed just a little bit tighter.

~!~

Voldemort was angry.

Actually, angry would be putting it mildly. He was livid. Not only had his plans to bring young Malfoy into the fold failed spectacularly, but now his young protégé, Zabini, was dead. He had no proof but he knew, he just knew that Harry Potter was involved somehow.

He would call a meeting. Bring his spy before him and demand answers. Yes, he thought, that would suffice for now.

~!~

It was late and Severus was just getting ready for bed when the Mark on his arm began to burn. Muttering under his breath, he made his way out to his living room and made a fire-call to the Headmaster.

"Severus?" the old man asked. "What has you up so late?"

"I've been summoned. I will let you know why when I return."

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head sadly. "Be careful, my boy. He is never in a good mood when he calls this late at night."

Snape gave the headmaster a scathing glare. "You don't say?"

Albus chuckled softly. "Be well, Severus. Contact me when you get in."

The dark-haired man nodded once and climbed to his feet. He made his way out of his rooms and through the castle until he was outside the wards, then Apparated to Voldemort's throne room.

~!~

In the Gryffindor seventh-year boys' dorm, Neville Longbottom sat in the window looking out at the night sky. He knew that things were coming to an end. School was almost over and with graduation came the loss of their innocence. He knew that Voldemort was only waiting until Harry no longer had the protection of Hogwarts or his muggle relatives before attacking. There was no way that Harry was going to go back to Surrey after graduation, not that Neville blamed him; if he had been raised by people like that he wouldn't go back either. It made him grateful for his grandmother. Who knew what might have happened to him had she not taken him in?

His talk with Harry had gone a long way to easing his fears about Pansy, but he was still worried. He'd be stupid if he wasn't. He trusted Harry to keep Pansy safe, that went without question. No, it was Harry that Neville was worried about. He'd changed a lot since that night in the Ministry, like he'd lost a part of himself that he'd never get back. The others had seen it too, at first, but Harry got better at hiding it and the rest got used to his new attitude and didn't question it anymore. It was as if they wanted everything to be okay so badly they just ignored all the signs that showed it wasn't.

Neville knew what it was to pretend everything was fine while the world fell apart all around you. He'd been doing it for years, after all. Every time he went to visit with his parents, every time his mother would look at him for just a split second like she knew who he was and then faded back out again, he died a little inside. He'd learned early on how to hide it though; his grandmother had threatened to stop taking him to see her if it was going to upset him so much.

In a way, he and Harry shared something that no one else could ever understand. While Harry's parents were dead, he had proof that they knew who he was and that they had loved him; enough to die for him. Neville, on his worst days, envied that; his parents were never going to get better. He would never have proof that they loved him because they didn't know who he was.

He hated himself for thinking so selfishly, but he couldn't help it. He just wanted to know what it would feel like to have his mother hold him in her arms, to hear his father tell him he was growing into a fine man thatthat he was proud of him. He and Harry had talked about it one night when everyone else was asleep. How in a perfect world they would have had their parents, would have known one another since they were infants, maybe even been the best of friends before attending Hogwarts.

Harry had told him how he used to lay awake at night in his cupboard imagining how his life would have been had his parents lived. How his mum would always have the radio on in the kitchen while she cooked and how his dad would take him to the park and teach him to catch a ball and ride a bike. That he pictured them living in a beautiful house in the country with a huge backyard and that he'd have a dog named Sparky and a cat named Mittens. That his parents would tuck him into bed at night and read him stories and kiss him on the forehead. And when he woke with bad dreams he would crawl into their bed and they'd welcome him with open arms.

Neville had almost cried at the wistful expression on Harry's face as he told him this. It made him feel almost ungrateful for what he did have. But then Harry had looked at him and shrugged his shoulders and told him that things could have been worse than growing up with the Dursleys and that he was lucky that they had taken him in when they certainly didn't have to. Not knowing what to say to that, Neville had just nodded dumbly and Harry got up and went to bed. Since that night, Neville had a deeper understanding of Harry Potter, the boy - not the saviour of wizard-kind.

But now things were happening that needed to be thought about. Blaise Zabini was dead, and according to Pansy, Slytherin House was in chaos. Some believed it wasn't suicide and that Harry Potter had killed Zabini and the Headmaster was covering it up. Greg Goyle had been missing from the dorms and no one knew where he was - Neville explained the whole sex change thing to Pansy when she'd mentioned it to him - and Crabbe and Nott were unusually quiet and solitary.

Neville was no Seer; Divination had never been his strong suit, but he could see that things were coming to a head. Bad things were going to happen very soon. He only hoped thhey'hey'd be ready for them when they arrived.

~!~