Stylistic Harmony

Chapter Twenty One
He took a long drag on the cigarette between his lips and exhaled, looking around the disaster zone that was the first floor bedroom of the Shrieking Shack. He stood leaning against the door frame listening to Potter go over the details of the plan again and again. The others in the room, Weasley, Lupin, and that weird pink haired woman, were hanging on his every word, everything Potter was saying was going in one ear and out the other to him. In his mind there was only one way they were going to do this, and that was his way. He just failed to mention it to the others in the room. They were going to wait until night fall to execute, however Draco thought differently, he was eager to get this over and done with,
"There's no point waiting, we're going now." Potter looked daggers at him,
"I didn't ask for your input Malfoy, you don't have a say in how this is run," Draco stubbed his cigarette under his foot, striding over to him, the others begun forward but Harry held up a hand to stop them. Draco said in a dangerous tone, addressing not only Potter but the rest of the room as well,
"There's only one way we're doing this and that's my way. Considering we are 'infiltrating' my home, I tend to think that my way is the best way. Are we all clear?" He didn't exactly give them a chance to answer before continuing on, "You'll wait here for my signal. I'll have to re-set the wards on the house so that you can apparate in. But only Potter and Weasley. No offense meant or anything but if my Mother does happen to catch us it'll be easier to explain their presence. My Father's study is on the ground floor in the east wing. The door is charmed so that no magic can penetrate it, and there's no point even trying to use magic to get through. However there is one thing that I never tried," Potter interrupted and said,
"And what's that Malfoy?" Draco smirked,
"You'll see. As I was saying, I can get through the door. Then its just a matter of finding the cup and destroying it, but I guess thats where your expertise comes in Potter." The sarcasm in his voice was evident, Harry was seething, he was about to knock Malfoy's teeth down his throat when Lupin stopped him,
"There's no point Harry, as much as you dislike it, Draco is our only hope of destroying the cup," he turned to him, "Draco if you would go ahead and do what you must, then send us word, Harry and Ron will then apparate to you." Draco sneered at Harry and was preparing himself to apparate out, when Lupin finished, "Oh, and Draco, I promise you that we will provide the necessary protection for both you and your Mother." The blond grimaced,
"We don't need your fucking help. You may all be quivering in your boots at the prospect of my Father and Voldemort but I'm not. The only reason I am doing this is because it is in my interest to destroy Voldemort. Now if there's nothing else I would like to get this done as quickly as possible. There's someone I have to get back to." As he apparated he realised he shouldn't have said that last part, now Potter would be more suspicious of him. He arrived in the cavernous entrance hall of Malfoy Manor, a house elf immediately appeared at his side,
"Master Draco, Sir, you are back from school early. Can I get you anything Sir?" Without looking at the elf he said,
"Where's my Mother?" The elf bowed low,
"Lady Malfoy is in the rose garden Sir. Would you like me to tell her you is home?" He shook his head,
"No, I will be out to see her later. Make sure I am not disturbed for the rest of the day, I have some people coming over. Now bugger off and leave me alone." He got to work, closing his eyes he muttered the incantations to drop the wards on the house. It took him all of five minutes, he raised his hand and sent the signal. A minute later two figures popped into the entrance hall. Stunned into silence by the sheer size of the place it took the Wonder Idiots a couple of seconds to re-orientate themselves. Draco chuckled as Weasley said,
"Bloody hell," under his breath. Draco brushed passed him saying nastily,
"Soak it in Weasel, because this is the first and last time you'll ever dirty my house. At no point in your life will you ever have anything like this." Ron looked ready to smack Draco into the ground but contained himself saying,
"I don't need anything like this Malfoy. Unlike you I have friends who actually like me. I have someone who loves me more then you'll experience ever. I have Hermione." The sheer irony of it almost made Draco laugh out loud, however the thought of that Weasel even being near Hermione was enough to make him want to murder someone. Draco growled under his breath,
"You sure about that one Weasley?" He turned away from them and strode down the darkened corridor to the east wing, they looked at each other then followed.

Hermione was curled up on the sofa, her third glass of fire whiskey almost empty, Blaise had disappeared into the bathroom. In an ideal world Draco would not have had to leave her, and they would be able to be together forever in view of the world. Some days when she was alone she would daydream of a delusional future where her and Draco were together; where they had married and lived in bliss at Malfoy Manor. The whole world revered them, Draco was the richest man in the country and she wanted for nothing. Then something would always happen to shatter the illusion, today it was Harry's letter. Tomorrow it would be something else. She felt like calling time on it all together, she ached with the effort they had to make to stay together; but he had promised her he would find a way, until then she would have to settle for not knowing what was ahead. The portrait door creaked opened, she bolted upright saying,
"Draco?" But it was Ginny, tentatively peaking around the room, walking more boldly when she found the coast clear. Hermione lay back down and said drunkenly, "Blaise is in the shower." She waved her hand in the direction of the bathroom. Ginny did not move toward the stairs, instead she came and stood next to her friend,
"Hermione? Are you drunk?" Hermione laughed and looked at the glass in her hand,
"Yes, yes I am. Now run along Red, Blaise is probably jacking off waiting for you." Ginny looked shocked at the state of her, she took the glass from her hand and put it on the side in the kitchen, then poured a glass of cold water, adding to it one of the boy's hangover cures. She then said quite suddenly,
"Blaise and I broke up." Hermione raised an eyebrow lazily, now she knew why Blaise was so angry last night. Ginny handed her the glass, and plonked down next to her. Hermione sat upright and downed the glass in one, clutching her head, the hangover potion working its magic sobering Hermione instantly. Once her vision cleared she asked,
"What happened?" Ginny paced up and down the carpet, Hermione waited for her to answer,
"Harry. The letter was a proposal. He wants to marry me Hermione. He wants to marry me and I'm betraying him. I can't do it anymore, I can't pretend that this thing between me and Blaise will ever go anywhere. Its foolish. I love Harry and we are going to be married. Blaise can go to hell for all I care." Hermione laughed, and laughed, then looked her friend in the eye,
"Then you're an idiot. I'm going for a shower." She didn't care in that instant that Ginny would know that there was something between her and Blaise, all she wanted to do was wait for Draco in Blaise's bed. Ginny couldn't see what was in front of her, her love for Potter had blinded her to the point of no return, but Hermione knew that she'd be back, they would find a way to bring her back. She entered the bathroom finding Blaise standing like an Italian God in front of the mirror shaving what little facial hair he had. He tilted his head to look at her, she stripped and stepped into the shower. Blaise called to her,
"Alright Lover?" Hermione poked her head around the shower screen,
"Ginny came round. I know what happened between the two of you. No wonder you were angry last night." She stuck her head back under the shower spray, drowning herself in the rush of cool water. Strong hands gripped her waist, and spun her round to face him. The shower had drenched him again, droplets clinging to his dark hair, the water created a sheen across his tanned, muscular body. She sighed into his embrace, what she wouldn't give to have Draco back in her arms safe and sound. Blaise was thinking along the same lines, last night had changed everything, and as he watched Draco with Hermione he had realised that in his own way he loved the blond as much as Hermione did. They had been friends practically all their lives, they had become blood brothers at the age of eleven just before they left for Hogwarts. They had shared fights, broomsticks, and now the one woman in the world that completed them both fully, but Blaise felt that the trio's power would advantage from the three becoming lovers in all ways possible. Although Blaise himself was not adverse to boys as well as girls in his bed, he knew that suggesting that him and Draco become more then friends would not go down well with the Malfoy heir. Hermione broke him from his thought by kissing him deeply, "What's up love? You have that look." Blaise looked down at her,
"What looks that then?" She leant up and nipped at his neck,
"The look you get when you want to tell me something, when you're figuring things out. I know you too well love." Blaise smiled, then kissed her again. Dropping to his knees he kissed her stomach, trailing his tongue down between her legs. She sighed, tangling her fingers in his dark ruffled hair, his tongue was exploring every inch of her, licking and nipping. She shivered and came, her knees buckling she collapsed into his arms. He lifted her off the floor and took her to his bedroom, drying them both off, he laid her on the bed and made love to her until they both came apart in each others embrace. They laid together waiting for the man they loved to come back to them.

He led them to the end of the Manor's darkest corridor until they came to a heavy looking, wooden door; placing his palm flat against it he whispered the password to enter. The door shimmered away revealing behind it a vast array of lethal looking weaponry. He turned to Potter and the Weasel who both looked shocked,
"Wait here." Potter grabbed his sleeve,
"Where are you going." Draco only smiled, shrugged his arm out of Potter's grasp and walked away. Finding the right aisle was easy, he used to seek refuge down here when his Father was on the rampage. He would sit and stare at the implements of death thinking up imaginative ways of ending his Father's existence. Those days were behind him now, he could crush Lucius's existence with a nod of his head if he desired so. He found what he was looking for, snatching it up he returned. Potter scoffed at the item in Draco's hand, "That's your solution then? An axe. Do you really think that chopping the door down is going to work?"
"Yes," he replied simply, motioning for them to leave the room. The door shimmered into place once more as soon as all had left. He led them back the way they had come stopping short at a vast set of double doors just off the entrance hall. "Here we are then. Lucius's study." He raised the axe and hit, the wood splintered. To be honest it did surprise him that the axe had worked, Lucius's distaste for muggle ways clearly clouded his sense. Taking it in turns for the next half hour the three men had managed to break through. Draco kicked the rest down, the ruined doors swung forward on their hinges. Only twice in his life had he been in his Father's study, the first time being when he had been accepted at Hogwarts, the second was on his sixteenth birthday. That was when Lucius had told him that he would be receiving the Dark Mark on Midsummer's Day the next year. The room was vast, a huge mahogany desk occupying half the space, there were no pictures of Draco or his mother. One wall was stacked high with books, the other empty and bare. All in all the room was emotionless, cold exactly like his Father. Potter was already poking around looking under and in everything, Draco heaved a despairing sigh, "What are you doing?" He drawled in a clipped tone, Potter looked at him angrily,
"Looking for the cup, what do you think arsehole." Draco held up his hands, sinking into the huge wing back armchair by the fireplace. Potter and Weasley looked at him incredulously, "Aren't you going to help us?" Draco smiled,
"I've done what you asked me to do. Now I'm leaving it in your capable hands." The two Gryffindors shook their heads and spent the next half an hour scouring the study. Draco sat and watched amused, lighting up a cigarette and drinking a five hundred year old fire-whiskey his Father had stashed in his drinks cabinet. Potter seemed to figure out what Draco was up to,
"Alright Malfoy what do you want? We're clearly wasting our time here aren't we? You know where the cup is but you want something in return for helping us find it." Draco offered Potter a glass of whiskey which was declined,
"Took your time figuring that one out." He got up and went to sit behind Lucius's desk, "You're absolutely right though, I do want something in return. I want your assurance that once you have destroyed all the Horcuxes, provided your tiny mind can process the information I have discovered, you will allow me, shall we say the honour, of putting paid to that shite once and for all." Harry blinked,
"So you want to be the one to kill Voldemort?" Draco nodded, "Are you serious? That isn't your right Malfoy, its mine. He has all but destroyed my life and I am not about to let someone else kill him." Draco was unfazed, he stood up,
"Fine then. Get the fuck out of my house." The other two men looked at each other, Ron said,
"What?"
"I said, get the fuck out of my house. Its a pretty simple instruction. If you're not willing to let me kill that son of a bitch then I don't really feel like giving you anything. But I would have thought that you two being such goody goody's on the side of virtue it wouldn't matter who killed the twat only that he was dead. However if you aren't willing thats fine, but get out." Harry walked to the desk and glared stonily at the blond man,
"I don't know what your game is Malfoy but I don't like it. If you want Voldemort dead as much as I do it wouldn't matter to you either who killed him only that he was dead. Seeing as you are suddenly willing to help the light side and all." Draco smirked again,
"Of course it matters to me. I want him to look me in the eye as I draw out the life from his pathetic corpse. I want him to suffer, to know that I was the one who finished him. I want that satisfaction. You wouldn't know that feeling Potter being so good and all. Look, just because we both want the same thing doesn't mean we're on the same side. I'm not one of the good guys, I want to be the one for purely selfish reasons. You know my terms, do we have a deal? Or am I going to have throw you out of here?" Harry and Ron looked at each other, then back at Malfoy. Harry gritted his teeth, right now he needed something from Malfoy, even if he himself didn't hold to his end of the bargain, he would have to agree for the time being. He turned to Draco and said,
"We have a deal." Draco smiled,
"Great. Let's get to work then." He proceeded to tell them everything he had discovered in his researching, including that the locket Horcrux had last been in the possession of the Black family and that the Gryffindor sword was not the only surviving relic of the founder. The item of Ravenclaw's was the most intriguing, an emerald encrusted dagger given to her by Slytherin himself. The details of why he had given it to her were sketchy, but Draco had discovered something that may indicate the location. A house somewhere near in the area surrounding Hogwarts that Ravenclaw had occupied during her teaching days. She had lived there until she died. Draco hadn't managed to find much on the item of Gryffindor's but then his source material had been written by Gryffindor's nemesis. He retrieved the cup from his Father's safe, remembering all the incantations from when Lucius had given him the Malfoy ring from it six years previous. Handing it over to Potter and Weasley he then actually meant it when he told them to get the fuck out of his house.
"Fine, whatever." Ron left the room, but before he left Harry rounded on Draco,
"Look Malfoy, I don't know what it is your up to or what your planning and frankly I don't care. We're through, I will never ask for your help again, whatever the task is, and don't ever ask for mine because you won't get it." Draco smirked,
"Oh and thats the thanks I get. I've fucking hand fed you everything you need now and you aren't even grateful? I'm shocked and disappointed." He let out a cold laugh, Harry looked ready to throttle him,
"Don't fuck around with me Malfoy, I know there is something going on, and I'm going to find out. Me and Ron, we're coming back to Hogwarts. So I'll see you around, arse hole." He left, Draco lobbed the glass into the fireplace.
"Bollocks." Channeling his anger, he re-activated the wards, also adjusting them so Lucius could not return. It wasn't that hard to do, considering he was backed by his own and Hermione's power. Unfortunately their combined power was still not as strong as it could be, there was still a vital ingredient missing. He had felt a spark of it last night and he figured that the key could lie in something that was all together both intriguing and frankly disturbing to him. Shaking his head he made his way to the garden to give his regards to his mother before returning to Hogwarts. He ascended the staircase to Blaise's room finding him and Hermione curled closely together, totally zoned out. He sat in the chair and watched the beautiful pair sleep.

"You love him. Don't you Blaise." She turned in the bed to face him, stroking his face gently. He turned away from her, ashamed. Her heart reached out for him, "I felt it in you when you made love to me. How long?" He didn't answer straight away, only leaned to the night stand to retrieve his cigarettes. He lit one and took a long drag, staring at the ceiling. She did the same, waiting patiently for him to talk, not pushing it. He sighed,
"I've been friends with Draco a long time, he has been a constant in my life ever since I can remember. I couldn't imagine a world without him. Or without you. Last night when you and him were together and I was watching you I realised that I never wanted to be apart from either of you. I love him, as I love you." She smiled, she couldn't deny that the thought of Blaise and Draco together didn't excite her, to her it would be an ultimate thrill. She curled her body into Blaise's, whispering,
"I love you to Blaise." All talk done they fell into a deep sleep, both dreaming of an ideal world, of the gorgeous blond that was always in their thoughts. They slept contentedly, and though asleep, they both sensed the exact moment he returned to them. His grey eyes sweeping over them as they slumbered. The three of them perfectly alone together.