Revenge

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places etc. they all belong to J.K. Rowling and her people.

Chapter Seven: Ministry Mission

Draco and Harry quickly scurried past the security at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters. They were huddled together closely under Harry’s invisibility cloak and making their way towards the first floor of the building. They slipped around another corner, dodging the occasional employees that were scattering the corridors.

Walking so close to Harry was having a major effect on Draco. Every time Harry brushed against Draco, the blond felt tingles run across his skin. He could hear the other boys even breathing, which occasionally increased as their speed picked up.

The two boys took the stairs to the first floor, using the elevator would be too risky. They soon found the floor they were looking for and took a left heading straight for the large, bright, green door of the ‘Floo control room’.

Draco could instantly feel the power of the wards that the room was emitting and he basked in the fuzzy feeling it gave him. Someone with immense power had obviously cast the wards; Draco just hoped he had enough power to break them down.

When Hermione had told them about the incident slip she had found, detailing a bizarre occurrence earlier that day that had caused the Floo network to malfunction, Draco knew this mission had been inevitable. Hermione had suggested that this may have been caused by someone placing powerful spells on the Floo system, which may link to Neville’s kidnapping, as the last thing he was seen doing was Flooing home.

This was the reason Harry and Draco were currently sneaking into the Ministry of Magic. They were planning to break into the room where the records of every Floo journey, were kept. Harry had jumped to the challenge and was adamant that he would complete the mission alone. However, Luna had reminded him that there were wards guarding the ‘Floo Control Room’ and Harry, though being a brilliant Auror, had never been any good at wards, his skills lay in the battle element of his occupation. Due to Draco’s extensive training in the Dark Arts when he was younger, it was decided that he would be the best person to break down the barriers. Granted, he did know the spells that would work, he just wasn’t sure his magic would be strong enough. Though he was powerful wizard, the wards that were used were generally cast by Wizards with the same magical ability, as Dumbledore himself and Draco knew he would never be that able.

Harry nudged him to alert him that he really needed to get on with the task. Draco pulled his wand out of his pocket and began uttering powerful spells his father had taught him as a child. The spells weren’t essentially classed as dark magic, but were rather a grey area of power. Spells that could be used for both good and evil. He felt the wards easily begin to crack and within seconds, they were completely gone. Draco frowned. That had been too easy. An uneasy feeling crept into his stomach as they entered the room.

A large black machine stood in the centre of the room. It looked like an old Muggle newspaper printer that Draco had once seen in a Muggle studies class, during his time at Hogwarts. Except this machine had a small, luminous, green flame which constantly burned in the centre and was run completely on magic. The machine published the records of the Floo journeys of every witch and wizard in Britain. Behind the machine were rows and rows of records, dating back since the first Floo was invented. Luckily for them, the records were kept in order of date and time the journey took place, so finding Neville’s should not take much work.

They located that day’s section and scrolled through the masses of parchment until they found what they were looking for:

Date: 19th February 2005
Time: 6:01pm
Name: Neville Longbottom
Floo departed from: Herbology department, Ministry of Magic, Floor 6
Place called: 24 Huckleberry Lance
Floo arrived at: Unknown

“Unknown?” Harry said, confused. “That can’t be right; the machine knows the destination of every fireplace, even the ones that aren’t really hooked up to the network.”

“I think somebody’s been here,” Draco said, looking about the room. The wards had come down too easily to have been cast by someone powerful, but it had still radiated power. While looking around Draco noticed something on the floor. He walked to the other side of the room and bent to have a closer look at the floor. There he saw a mass of, what looked like, cake crumbs.

“I think it’s safe to say, someone has defiantly been here,” he said, pointing out the crumbs to Harry. “They must have changed the records.”

“Well, that’s stupid. Why didn’t they just take them with them? If they used magic, their signature will be on the parchment,” Harry replied, folding the record and placing it in the inside pocket of his jacket. “Come on, we best get back before we get caught,” flinging the cloak over themselves, Harry and Draco quickly made their way out of the Ministry.

When they got to the alley they used for Apparating, Draco stopped Harry. “I just…before we go, I just want to…” he quickly attached his lips to Harry’s, coaxing the other boy’s mouth open with his tongue. Harry quickly responded and they shared a passionate kiss.

“What was that for?” Harry panted once they were apart. Draco shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s just, I can’t do that back at the house, what with Hermione and Ron being there and I just really wanted to kiss you,” he replied, ducking his head to try and hide the gentle blush that was creeping up his cheeks.

“Draco…” Harry tenderly placed his hand under Draco’s chin, making silver eyes meet green ones. Draco gasped as hot lips were placed against his own, as he allowed his tongue to dance once more with Harry’s.


*@*

Once back at the house, Draco and Hermione began to brew the potion that would help them detect whose magical signature was lingering on the parchment. The other three were waiting in the living room, leaving the ex-enemies to work. Draco was chopping ingredients into even chunks when Hermione’s voice made him jump.

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” she said, not looking up from the counter where she was also chopping ingredients.

“What?” he asked, a little shocked at the sudden question. However, he should have guessed it was coming. He had made his feeling too obvious earlier. She looked up from her work and over at Draco.

“Harry, you’re in love with him,” this seemed more of a statement than a question. Draco studied her face for any signs of disgust or anger. When he found none, he slowly nodded his head and returned to his work.

“I knew it,” she exclaimed. Draco could still feel her gaze on him and he looked up to see her staring at him intently. “Were you in love with him back in seventh year?” she asked. He returned to his work with a sigh and again nodded his head, remembering the pain of unrequited love he had felt that year. Hermione didn’t question him further and an hour later, the potion was ready.

The other three joined them in the kitchen, all anxiously waiting for the results. Draco folded up the record as small as it would go and dropped into the cauldron. Immediately, a lilac cloud of smoke erupted into the air and began to swirl around above the cauldron. The smoke soon began to form letters and it wasn’t long before a name appeared before them. The name was of one of Draco’s ex-housemates, Gregory Goyle.