Everything Happens Everything Changes

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Everything Happens, Everything Changes Chapter 2 So Much So That... The letters lay open. Once on the table but now swept to floor. Those miserable, god forsaken letters, they just had to come into his life now and mess everything up. Harry knew his solitude wouldn’t last forever. The wizarding world would never really let him go. No written word was wasted. The message was clear and Harry wouldn’t be able to deny its’ plea. Snape hadn't mailed them until five days ago. He had kept them all to himself, carrying them like a string around his finger. So he'd never forget. Harry could now feel that same string wrapped around his finger. No, Harry could never forget what he had just read. Unlike the war, Harry had a feeling that these words would never escape his mind. The letters lay in a pile on his kitchen floor. The feeling of string wrapped around his finger, of his unknown past, around the now empty chair he had been sitting in. Only one letter sSoaking in the hot water and salts, he was starring at the patterns of tile on the wall. Fingers skimmed over the water's surface, tracing the name of the author of the letters he had just read on top of it. at on the table now. A letter addressed to Harry Potter from Headmistress McGonagall. Harry currently was in the bathroom though. Distancing him self from all of these things. "Potter, by the time you receive these letters it will be more than a year since that night. I write these words during that year though, so while these are my present, they are only your past. There is no point in dwelling on them. I have no idea what the world will be like by the time you read these. You may not even be alive anymore. And if you have died then I pray to who ever is watching over all of this that I am gone too. Maybe even by your own hands I've reached my death. I know it will be any day now when it does come. Perhaps I'm even waiting for it. For that day's sun to rise and show me my fate before it sets. You know that night of which I write. The night I murdered Dumbledore. You saw me do it. You witnessed every moment. As far as you know, from what you saw, Draco and I are now with our fellow Death Eaters celebrating our accomplishments. It would be so much more simpler if this were so..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harry sat up out of the now cold water, shivering as he saw the clock telling him it had been two hours since he entered the bath. Harry heard a knock on the bathroom door, a voice calling out to him. "Mister Potter, it is me, McGonagall. Are you in there?" Harry replied by stepping out of the bath and wrapping a towel around him self before opening the door. The older witch stood before him, smiling sadly. Harry comforted himself with the idea that at least her eyes didn't sparkle. He didn't think he could have taken it if anyone had ever tried to replace Albus in his head and heart. Dumbledore held a very special place in Harry. Not a father, but much more than a friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A small group now had gathered in his living room. Hermione, Ron, Lupin, Tonks, McGonagall, and Ginny were all sitting around him. It is a small number of those who had survived the war. Harry is thankful for the friends that he has left, though. He has to stop his train of thought because he realizes McGonagall is talking to him and he hasn't heard the beginning of the story she is telling. "I'm sorry, what's going on?” Harry asks apologetically as they all stare back. ”I was just trying to simplify what happened for everyone. As I was saying we all remember that night that Dumbledore died.” McGonagall is interrupted by a few muttered swear words. She pauses, looking around at everyone before continuing. "We all remember though that it was discovered Dumbledore we knew would have died that night without the help of any curses. We didn't know however that the death would have taken much longer to kill the physical man than anyone expected. Dumbledore would have not been able to fully pass on without the curse Snape cast him. Dumbledore would have been only a shell, a shell that continued to poison its self painfully over many years. This was not a mercy killing though on Snape's part. We've discovered that is was actually a promise..." Once again she was interrupted by whispers of Voldemort and Draco Malfoy. She held her hand up to silence everyone before continuing. Harry sat silently, watching the scene fold out in front of him. "As I was saying, It was a promise Snape made to no one other than Dumbledore. Albus knew he was going to die that night. He knew that he would be poisoned and knew what would happen after he was. He confided this to no one, not even me, except Snape. Snape was doing what Albus asked him to do. Everything that followed from that moment on was at Albus' request as well. Snape disappearing from the wizarding world, taking Draco Malfoy with him, it was all in Dumbledore's plan." An argument broke out in the small audience. It was impossible but true. Harry knew this. He had read it from Snape's own written words just hours before. "What did Malfoy have to do with this?” Ron asked fiercely. His face was red making his freckles stand out even more. "Everything, I’m afraid. Draco had everything to do with this Ron.” Harry replied before anyone else had the chance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - five days earlier… Yes, a lot of things seem to happen that revolve around the boy named Draco Malfoy. Which is almost funny in a way, because they always seemed to. At least to Draco, anyways. At least that was what the old Malfoy would say. He is much more humble now. A year in hiding does this to a person. And with being humble comes many more human aspects. Draco Malfoy currently was lying in a hospital bed to prove this point. It is not Draco's fault he is here though at the moment. No, that can be blamed on one of the Muggle drivers he was so interested in. Snape cursed them at this moment, looking through the hospital's window to stare at Draco's still form. Something regularly know as drunk driving. Snape shook his head at the thought of someone driving around drunk at two in the morning, but there was nothing he could do about it from where he stood. At least Draco would be ok, that is what the nurses kept telling him. "Just got a good bang on his head.", one girl had said. All Snape could do was wait for the Ministry Thugs to arrive. No doubt they were alerted when Snape used his magic to pull Draco from the car. Damn "magic signatures", more like tracking devices. The last thing Snape saw before being hit from behind with a stunning curse was Draco turning over in his sleep. His over the counter dye job of black hair fanning around his head. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - back to the present "You see, Draco was very important to Dumbledore. Draco had begun confiding to him what was going on in his life. Dumbledore was hoping to make a spy out of Draco, much like Snape, but those plans were quickly demolished when Voldemort’s plans of Draco killing Dumbledore became discovered. It wasn't safe for Draco to be a spy after that. All Albus wanted was for the boy to end up safe when everything was over, free to make his own decisions. That's another reason Snape had to kill Dumbledore. If he didn't, then Draco would be killed.” McGonagall finished the statement that Harry had started. She looked around, noting the questions in everyone's stares. "So what happened after they disappeared? Where did they go?” Hermione asked, murmurs of agreement coming from everyone. "I'm afraid only Harry has the answer to that one, Hermione. He here is the only one among us who have read Snape's letters.” McGonagall says, looking to Harry for some explanations. Harry quickly realized that McGonagall had only been given knowledge on the need to know level. Harry, and who ever had checked Snape's letters upon their discovery, were the only ones who knew what their old potions master had been up to. Harry stood from where he was sitting, turning away from their inquisitive stares. He himself had only begun to process this knowledge and now he was being asked to explain it to everyone else so that they could feel better? Harry held back his resentment at being everyone’s' go to man and excused him self to go to the kitchen to get another cup of tea. In the kitchen he poured himself a drink, blowing the steam off of the top of the water. He wished he could just stay there, not move until everyone got the message he was trying to send to them nonverbally and leave. He knew that he had to go on though and quietly made his way back to his seat. "I'll give you all the simple version.", Harry started off with, hoping this meant there would be less questions to answer at the end. The more details he would have to put in would only result in more questions. "Dumbledore requested Snape to mentor Draco after that night. Both of them agreed to Dumbledore's request long before anything happened. Draco tried to do what was ordered of him by his father anyways though, hoping to still be able to be a spy for the light. Draco isn't a killer though. Dumbledore knew he wasn't. Like all of Albus' students, he loved Draco as son. Snape and Draco took off after that night. It was part of the plan. No one was to know of their agreement with Dumbledore until the time was right. Until the war was over. Snape took Draco and gave him a choice. Either he could go and join with the other Death Eaters, or he could begin learning what it was like to be 'good'. Something that had never come up in Draco's lessons before this. It appears Draco chose the light, as the saying goes. Snape and him were on the run though and cut off from the entire wizarding world. They had no way of knowing when we won the war, or when the right time to come back would be. Something Albus hadn't thought of, it was too much a serious matter for Dumbledore to consider I think. So Snape and Draco lived as Muggles, disguising their appearances and putting away their wands to go undetected. The rumors about Lucius are true though it seems. It appears Lucius discovered them two months into their hiding. No one knows how for sure. Anyways, Lucius meant to do what he had been waiting to do since that night Draco could not kill Dumbledore. Thankfully, he failed. Snape had no choice but to murder the wizard. After that almost 10 months passed without incident. Then they were discovered about 5 days ago in a Muggle hospital by some Ministry officials. It seems Snape had been forced to use magic to save Draco from an automobile crash. His wand's signature was quickly traced to them. They were put into custody and ruffed up some before they discovered Snape's letters. Letters which were addressed to me it seems." Harry finished looking up from the patterned rug he had been staring at the entire time to see surprised faces surrounding him. No one said anything for a good few moments before Ginny stirred Harry from his thoughts. "So where are they now?", She asked. Harry sighed, scratching his knee as he looked into his now empty mug. "Well, Draco is in one of our hospitals now it seems. In fact, the one dedicated to your guys' mum. And well Snape," Harry breathed deeply, closing his eyes in thought, " it would seem Snape is actually being taken over here to my place at any moment. It seems they think he'll be safe here until they have released this information to the public. That is why, unfortunately, I'm going to have to call this meeting adjourned. I have some cleaning up to do before they arrive."
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