Something's Wrong, It Isn't Right

“Malfoy,” Harry greeted the blond boy smoothly
without even bothering to turn around, see if it was in fact Malfoy, and face
the Slytherin who had just appeared at the entrance at the top of the Astronomy
Tower right as the minute hand turned to midnight on the clock.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I see that you came, right on time no
less. Of course I expected you to since
you are in Slytherin after all.” His
voice held laughter in it but he didn’t laugh, he didn’t turn around either.

Draco wondered briefly if he was being taken for a
fool. A Malfoy never liked being taken
for a fool and Draco was damned if he was going to be taken as one by Harry
Potter of all people. But he was up here
so rather than pick a fight he kept his cool and decided to see if Harry was
really serious about his offer.

“Of course Potter,” Malfoy gave him a mocking little
bow before moving around to step into his line of view where the pale moonlight
was pouring over both of them making them almost ethereal in appearance.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You should know that a Malfoy never backs
out of a meeting when they give their word.
This is really cliché even for you Potter, midnight
in the Astronomy Tower?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> What will people think?”

“So?” Harry said shrugging his shoulders uncaring
about how cliché the situation was because it was irrelevant to him and why he
was there and why he wanted Draco there and he no longer cared what anyone
thought of him. “It’s not like anyone
else knows about this little meeting except for possibly Snape and it’s not
like he’s going to stop us from meeting up here.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> In fact he’s probably pleased that we’re
trying to work out our differences so we don’t try to hex each other any longer.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It will certainly make his life easier now.”

“All too true,” Malfoy smirked at Potter’s
explanation and his utter lack of worry about his reputation. style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

n stn style='mso-tab-count:
1'> “Let’s get a few things straight Malfoy,” Harry
addressed him seriously, his green eyes flashed with suppressed anger and
something more, understanding and acceptance of who and what Draco had been
before they had come to their recent understanding.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Because I don’t want to worry about this any
longer. Voldemort almost succeeded in
having you become a dead zombie, is it going to happen to you again?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I need to know if you’re strong enough to
take on whatever might come your way at any point in time so I know that I can
trust you to complete your tasks. No
matter what happens or who it involves because I can’t afford anyone to slip up
just because they aren’t prepared mentally.”

“If we’re going to be on the same side we might want
to get around to using first names,” Draco said ignoring the question, the pain
was still too fresh in his mind for him to answer right away and he wasn’t
ready to answer. “Although that was just
a suggestion Harry,” Draco said stressing the usage of Harry’s first name.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

“Answer the question Draco,” Harry said lightly with
a tiny smile, carefully stressing the use of the blond boy’s first name as
well.

“I can take it,” Draco looked over at the raven
haired boy with interest on his features knowing that he would take whatever
was dished out to him to get what he wanted so desperately, his revenge on the
monster that had killed his father and destroyed his life.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I’ve lost everything anyway so it doesn’t
matter. It’s not like You-Know-Who can
do anything else to me, not anything that will make much of a difference at
this point. It’s not like I have
anything else left to lose except for my own life and that’s rather moot don’t
you think?”

“His name is Voldemort.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Fear of the name increases his power so use
his name. And you can think that now,”
Harry’s eyes were hard like agates as he spoke still refusing to make eye
contact with Draco but that didn’t bother either one, but his tone did bother
Draco with how frank and detached it was almost like this didn’t mean anything
to Harry or as though Harry was simply too focused on his goal of killing
Voldemort. “But never be mistaken into
believing that Draco because he will find something else to take from you.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Even if it’s something you hate or thought
that you did. He’ll get you eventually,
find something to steal away. You have
to be ready for that, have to be strong enough to handle that eventuality because
I can guarantee it will happen.”

Draco studied the boy before him who was completely
different than the one he knew from class and Quidditch
matches. Obviously there was something
that Harry was getting at, somethinat hat he had never heard about from the
rumor mill in Hogwarts or Hogsmeade or even class=SpellE>Knockturn Alley. He
looked at the boy who was his rival in all things and now his ally and perhaps
even his friend trying to figure out what it was that he was hinting at, what
he could possibly know that Draco didn’t know about Voldemort, what he could
possibly mean.

He couldn’t understand any of it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> After all, Potter had Granger and class=SpellE>Weasley as friends, he certainly
didn’t need to be tarnishing his reputation by befriending a Slytherin
al
alone a Malfoy, a family that was highly suspected of supporting the Dark Lord
by the Wizarding World at large. There
had to be something that he wasn’t aware of, something that was making Potter
do this and it couldn’t be completely out of the goodness of his heart or
because of his Gryffindor traits. No,
the real reason ran far deeper than that and he wanted to know what those
reasons were because he wasn’t about to be used again, a pawn in another’s
chess game to be moved about at any time at anyone’s whim.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> That role had never appealed to him and it
had never suited him either.

“Why are you doing this Harry?” Draco asked with a
guarded expression, watching carefully for some sort of lie if there was going
to be one, almost certain that there was going to be a lie in there
somewhere. s'> “I want to know why if I’m
going to join with you. I don’t want to
be used again without knowing why.”

“Several reasons,” Harry said softly looking in
Draco’s direction at last, holding his gaze, and not backing down from the
silent challenge the blonde was issuing to him.
“Now might not be the best time to talk about them though.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They might frighten you away and we can’t
have that now can we Draco?” He was
sarcastic and looked rather tired and so very old, older than anyone Draco had
ever seen or met, even Dumbledore looked ages younger than Harry did in his
eyes.

“Tell me,” Draco’s tone was calm but demanding.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Or I walk away now and you won’t get any
help out of me Potter. I can promise you
that and you’ll need my help for this unless I’m mistaken of course.”

“I thought you would say something like that,” Harry
smiled weakly and turned so that his back was to Draco to look into the
darkness where the moonlight could not penetrate even though it tried it’s
hardest. “So I’ll tell you, on one
condition though. And I want your word
as a Slytherin and a Malfoy you’ll do this for me.”

“What’s that?” Draco’s eyes narrowed sharply.

&n

“That you tell no one anything I’m about to tell
you,” Harry said softly as he turned back to face Draco, his eyes were hard and
calculated promising pain if his orders weren’t followed to the exact
letter. “And that you think about your
final decision for at least a full twenty-four hours before giving your final
answer as to whether or not you’ll join my crusade to bring down Voldemort once
and for all so that there’s no chance of his returning.”

“Deal,” Draco agreed easily thinking that the
conditions were rather trivial and pointless to what was about to be revealed
to him, thinking also that he would find it easy to follow the demands.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Now spill it Harry.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We don’t have all night and in case you
haven’t noticed it’s cold up here and I want to get some sleep.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard that Voldemort killed my
parents,” Harry said with no emotion present in his voice or in his eyes, both
were dead and his tone was cutting and blunt.
“He also killed my Muggle relatives a few weeks ago, not that I really
care mind you. But I didn’t want for
them to be dead, it served no real purpose for any side since they weren’t fond
of the Wizarding World and there was nothing they could or would have done to
help me.

“There are several reasons for why I’m helping you
Draco, why I’m offering you a chance at your revenge.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The first reason being that I don’t want
anyone else to fall to Voldemort, especially if he doesn’t even have to say class=SpellE>Avada Kedarva to do make them
die. While I may not have liked your
father or you for the past few years no one deserves to fall prey to death at
the hands of that creature because he’ll put you through hell if he can before
he’ll finish you off. Another reason is
that you’ve changed whether you see it or not or whether you even want to see
it. You aren’t the same petty person
that you once were. You’re not the same
person who tried to be malicious just to make yourself seem strong and
popular. Voldemort has also taken
someone from you, someone you loved very much, and everyone deserves revenge on
that snake for that one reason alone, even though Voldemort has done much
worse.

“Third, I’ve changed.
I haven’t grown up, I’ve just seen reality a little more clearly and
I’ll do anything it takes to win and to eventually kill Voldemort so that
there’s no way he can come back. I’ll
make whatever sacrifices I have to in order to kill him and I know that I’ll
need all the help I can get from everyone who’s willing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You have power Draco, power that I can use to
my advantage in order to bring Voldemort down.

“There’s also the fact that you understand all of
this. Oh and I should never forget that
you are in Slytherin and hold some amount of sway over your fellow Ho mem members.”

“The great Harry Potter has indeed changed,” Draco
drawled out languidly as he stretched briefly.
“Before you would have been more alive, but now just look at you, you’re
just a machine and nothing more.”

“Shut up!” Harry turned on him suddenly his eyes were
piercingly bright and the sneer on his face made Draco freeze and wish that
he’d kept his mouth shut because that sneer was almost bad as Severus class=SpellE>Snape’s worst sneer.
“Do you want to know something Draco, something I’ve never told
anyone? The Sorting Hat wanted to put me
into Slytherin, said that I would accomplish great things there and I don’t
doubt what it said but I didn’t want Slytherin I wanted Gryffindor so that’s
where it put me because I told it to. I
have no doubt I would have accomplished great things.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> As for being a machine I don’t deny that
charge at all. I’ll be one until I kill Voldemort
because as a machine I won’t make as many mistakes that migost ost people their
lives, my emotions won’t get in the way when I’m fighting.

“You think you’re a good actor Draco Malfoy but I’m a
hundred times better than you could ever hope to be and don’t ever forget it.”

“Believe me I won’t forget it even it I tried,” Draco
said looking at him with renewed interest and some amount of awe that he
couldn’t keep off his face even if he had tried to keep his features under
control like he normally did. “The Hat
was right about what it told you, you know.
You would have done great things.
You would have learned much and held a great power, you would have ruled
Slytherin, with a little help or course.”

“Yes, I could have done all those things, but they
would have been great and probably horrible things,” Harry admitted truthfully
as his eyes dimmed away from the color of the killing curse and seemed to
reflect inward to the past. “I know that
if I had gone there I could be worse than Voldemort, that most likely I would
be worse than what he is, was or ever could want to be.”

“Evil isn’t the only thing to come out of our House,”
Draco reminded him quietly.

“Power gets into the minds of the weak,” Harry shot
back quickly. “I needed Gryffindor for
my first few years. I needed the truth
and loyalty so that I wouldn’t turn out like Tom Riddle, but now?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Now I don’t need a House.”

“I must admit you are right with that assessment
Potter,” Snape’s voice was smooth like silk as he
pulled off Harry’s Invisibility Cloak from where he had been standing at the
far end of the battlements where he could overhear nothing except for the last
statement made by Harry because his voice had been louder than it had been
previously and his sudden appearance startled Draco causing him to become more
pale than usual. “But you need both
Gryffindor and Slytherin in order to fully reach your potential.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Both Houses must come together to help you or
you will fall.”

“So glad you decided to join us at last Professor,”
Harry said with a greeting nod in Snape’s direction
and a faint smile of amusement at his sudden appearance.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “And I know you’re right, as always Severus.”

“Why is he here?” Draco asked slightly confused,
trying to recover himself sufficiently from his shock at seeing his Head of
House materialize out of nowhere.

“Because he’s been training me this whole year in the
Dark Arts,” Harry shot an indecipherable look at Snape who stood off to the
side before looking back at Draco. “He
will be my partner in the field when the time comes for the last of the
battles. I want you to be another of my
partners Draco. You have the
ability. Think it over.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It is why I asked you up here after all.”

“And this is how you mean to make it right Harry?”
Draco asked looking at him carefully waiting for an answer, some justification.

“He can’t make it right for you Mr. Malfoy,” Snape
drawled out with a slight smirk at the boy’s confusion.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Only you can decide what will make it right
for you. If it is revenge you want
you’ll find it with us here, it all dep on on what you want and need.”

Draco looked between the two and for the first time
he could see just how close they really were, how this whole year they had been
acting out their hatred to convince everyone that there was nothing there.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He envied them because he wanted to be close
like that with Harry but it seemed the Snape had already claimed that spot
before he had even had a chance.
Apparently he really had read the look in Harry’s gaze incorrectly.

Snape moved up behind Harry’s left shoulder watching
his student closely, his own expression betraying nothing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Not even his eyes showed anything that might
prove to be useful. Draco turned to
Harry and saw almost the same expression, one that held nothing in it and
curiously even his green eyes were entirely blank for once.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He should have expected as much since Harry
was the Boy Who Lived. He should have
known that he was already taken and it was obvious by the way Snape loomed
protectively behind him, watching as he always seemed to have done.

His Head of House was always watching, taking in
everything and waiting to use the information he filed away or used in
preparing to strike. Just like he did in
the Potions classroom. He thought back over
the past year and realized that the man had been assigning many more detentions
to Potter than he had in the past but it hadn’t tipped him off that anything
had been going on.

“Do understand now Draco?” Harry asked his voice
strong but it didn’t carry far. “It’s
your choice. Go and think about it.”

Draco nodded hoping that his face was as blank as
theirs were. He went back down the
stairs and met se Zabini
on his way up.

“Zabini,” He said calmly
not at all surprised.

“Draco,” Blaise said
looking over at him and noticing the change in the blond.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I see that Harry finally spoke to you.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He said something about it but didn’t say
when he would. If you see anyone else
don’t say anything. We’re having a
meeting tonight.”

“A meeting of who?” Draco asked curious, confused and
hoping for more information if he could get any.

“Can’t say,” Blaise looked
at him mysteriously before speaking again.
“Although I thought Harry might have said something about it to you.”style='mso-tab-count:1'>

“He didn’t,” Draco said looking carefully at the
other Slytherin. “ tol told me to think
over joining his cause for at least twenty-four hours before giving him my
final answer. Snape’s
up there by the way.”

“I’m not surprised by that,” Blaise
shrugged casually not letting anything slip.
“Go back and think about it. At
least you got a chance. I got
blackmailed into doing this but now I enjoy it.
I’m glad I’m on his side.
Hopefully you’ll make the right choice for you.”

Draco headed down the flight of stairs after bidding class=SpellE>Blaise goodnight. He
passed only a few other people on their way up, Hermione Granger and perhaps
most surprisingly the Weasely Twins.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

He went back down to his room and laid back on the
bed with a little flop. He had a lot of
thinking to do but he had already made his choice to get revenge and to help
Harry get his. It meant much the same
thing anyway.

~ HARRY POV~

“Is
everyone here Severus?” Harry asked the Potions Master quietly.

1'> “Granger, Zabini, the four class=SpellE>Weasley’s that can make it,” Snape said ticking them off on
his fingers.“Lupin,
Krum, and of course Madame White.”

“Good,” Harry breathed.

“Nervous?” Snape drawled, amused that Harry might
actually have a case of the nerves.

“No,” Harry said calmly watching all the people file
in and take their places. “I haven’t been
nervous about anything involving Voldemort for a long time, unless you count
the Triwizard Tournament.”

Snape chose not to say anything.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There was no need to.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He understood Harry better than anyone
present in some ways and in others he was hopelessly lost.

“You all know why we’re here tonight.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Fred, George, have you perfected that little
item?”<
<

“But of course,” Fred said with a smile, for some
reason Harry could always tell them apart.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

“We even managed to make it look like a piece of
candy too,” George added helpfully.

“What it does-”

“is create a big shield of smoke that also covers the
casters voice and any noise they make from-”

“being heard,” Fred finished for his brother. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “At least that’s what the yellow ones do.”

“The green ones on the other hand-”

“of course they have to be within a ten foot radius,”
George finished.

“Thank you both,” Harry said with a smile in their
direction. “Moving right along.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Remus, have you
been able to get an answer from the werewolves?”

“Yes,” Remus said looking
towards Severus. “Some have agreed to
help in the final battle but not before then.
They’re trying to gather up more volunteers.”

“By the way I have your Wolfsbane
for this month,” Snape said to Remus, briefly
interrupting the meeting. “Tell me when
you want it. Also tell your little
were-friends I’d be willing to make them a supply of Wolfsbane
for the help they’re offering us.”

Remus looked a little
shocked at this offer but was very grateful.
“Thank you Severus,” He breathed.

“Don’t
thank me,” Severus sneered and put as much venom as he could into his next
words which wasn’t much at all. “Thank
your little Gryffindor prodigy, he was the one who was able to convince me well
enough to do it for them.”

“Harry,”
Ginny spoke up not wanting to hear anything more on Snape and Harry because she
knew how Harry had blackmailed Snape into joining his Order.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Have you had anymore dreams or visions?”

“Not this
week,” Harry said. “But it feels like it
won’t be far off, perhaps not this summer but soon enough as far as we’re all
concerned.”

All the
heads nodded solemnly. They could
understand what he meant. All who were
present had been a part of the Order of Godric and
Salazar for the past year and a half. It
had been brought together by Harry Potter and contained only those who had been
either Slytherin or Gryffindor or by someone who strongly contained and
exhibited the traits of either House in the cases of Krum and White.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

They
had either been forced to join or had joined out of their own choice in order
to help Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, destroy Voldemort and to train together to
be near him during the final battle. He
would need all the help he could get since he would be going up against
Voldemort. With the help of his secret
Order he would be hopefully able to get close enough to strike the killing
curse at his mortal enemy and finally bring him down and end the terror that he
had brought to the Wizarding World.

“Well
Potter,” Blaise said with no malice tracing his
words, it had been missing for many months now that he was finally glad to be a
part of the Order. “Things are beginning
to move ahead finally. I will try my
best to convince Draco to join our ranks.
We need him no matter what other people may think.”

“How
did you know about that?” Harry asked simply not at all surprised that class=SpellE>Blaise had found out that he had spoken with Draco.

“Met
him on his way down from here,” Blaise supplied the
information readily enough. “You know we
can all keep our mouths shut about what goes on within the Order.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Malfoy will be a powerful asset to our ranks,
one we shouldn’t overlook just because of a few grudges,” He glanced pointedly
at the Weasley’s.
“He is powerful and when he comes of age or begins training with us
he’ll become even more so.”

“There
was one other reason I called this meeting,” Harry said acting as though class=SpellE>Blaise had reminded him of something he had forgotten,
which wasn’t likely since Harry was always organized now.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “My power has increased, it seems I’ve
already come of age this weekend.”

“But
you’re not even eighteen,” Madame White objected looking him up and down.

“’class=SpellE>Arry,” Viktor spoke up sounding slightly puzzled at his
announcement. “You ar’
not even seventeen. ‘ow
is this possible?”

“Apparently
he takes after Riddle in more ways than we had previously thought,” Severus
answered softly a tiny bit of strain edged it’s way into his voice and
eyes. “Riddle was an early bloomer as
well.”

“Has
Harry been tested yet?” Hermione asked eagerly wanting to know all the details
and statistics.

“By the
Headmaster no less,” Severus responded coolly, forgetting about Riddle for the
time being. “And even he was surprised
at how much power the boy had, which says a lot.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I expected no less from Harry though.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He is a Potter and he does have some of
Riddle’s essence in him as well. It was
only to be expected that he would reach this zenith after a period of time.”

“Yes
well enough of that,” Harrushrushed it off quickly, not wanting to dwell on the
reminders of what he shared with Riddle.
“We need to get some sleep so everyone is dismissed unless anyone has
something that needs to be addressed?”

“How
about a small demonstration Harry?” Blaise asked with
a smirk.

“Very
well,” Harry responded evenly.

He
disappeared and reappeared directly behind Blaise.

“That
good enough for you?” He asked Blaisedly.dly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Or would you like me to kill something?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Or perhaps would you like me to charm an army
of snakes into loyally serving me and only me?”

“Potter!”
Severus scowled at him harshly. “Watch
what you’re saying.”

“Sorry
Severus,” Harry turned his gaze off Blaise and
returned it to the stars shining brightly above the group.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

class=SpellE>Blaise was white but other than that he betrayed nothing as
to what he might have felt from Harry’s little rave.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Yes, they would definitely need Malfoy sooner
rather than later. He was one of the few
people who could get away with provoking Harry and trading off insults with him
while most of the rest would be too afraid or worried to continue prodding him
on. His little outbursts were getting
more and more frequent because he couldn’t let out anything, he held in
everything, or nearly everything that he felt.

class=SpellE>Blaise also knew that Draco would be able to keep the class=SpellE>Slytherins together because he was a natural born leader
and he was powerful. He would be the
perfect asset to their cause and there was only so much that class=SpellE>Blaise could do without having his Housemates get
suspicious but with Draco no one would question anything, at least not to his
face and that was just what they needed.
Not only that but none of the Slytherins would
dare to get in Draco’s way if he told them to clear out and they wouldn’t dare
to disobey him if he was cross evelittlittle bit.

“Listen
Potter,” Blaise said standing and brushing off his
robes. “It’s been fun and all but I need
to get back. Questions will crop up,
one’s I can’t afford to have asked of me right now.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Especially without Draco to back me up.”

Harry
nodded and Blaise quickly fled.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He wasn’t scared of Harry per say but he did
hold the other in a high amount of respect and he knew that he shouldn’t cross
the fine line of pissing Harry Potter off if he wanted to live to see another
day. He wasn’t stupid.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Non>No Slytherin was when it came to their own
skin.

class=SpellE>Blaise slipped carefully back through the Slytherin common
room and up to the sixth year dorms.

He was in the same year as
Harry and his friends, a year above Ginny Weasely.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She wasn’t so bad considering the fact that
she was a Weasely but she was smart and quick witted,
something her brother Ron was not always gifted with.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He was lucky that no one had been waiting up
for him or it would have made things rather difficult for him.

“class=SpellE>Zabini,” Draco’s voice was so soft that he almost wasn’t
certain he’d heard it. “Come here.”

Now the
last part he had heard for certain. A
small frown furrowed his brow as he tried to think about what it could be that
Draco would want with him.

“I’m
joining,” Draco said with a tiny smirk.
“Tell him for me.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I can’t be caught talking to him unless it’s
a fight of some sort but you could get away with it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Everyone thinks you’re too kind to have been
a Slytherin but you have them all fooled don’t you Zabini?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Just like Potter has everyone fooled, except
for a select few that is.”

“What
do you mean?” Blaise asked suspiciously.

“You’re
nice so that no one will question you when you have to do something kind,”
Draco supplied his observations readily.
“And Potter, he’s more like Voldemort than you could ever imagine class=SpellE>Zabini.”

“Oh no
Draco,” Blaise breathed with an eerie smile on his
face as he fought the urge to laugh darkly, mostly for effect but he couldn’t
risk the noise. “He’s much more like
Voldemort than you could ever
realize. You say it without much evidence
but I’ve seen him, I’ve heard him and soon you will too and you’ll understand
why I go to him willingly. He won’t
expect you to bow to him and worship the ground he walks on Draco, Voldemort
does and will. Harry just wants him dead
and after that he wants a long vacation.”

Draco
said nothing and let Blaise go into the dorms.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It was going to be a long night, with many
more things to think about.