A Twisted Web We Weave

CHAPTER 9

“I can’t believe you’re actually hanging out with Draco Harry, have you gone completely mad?” Ron stared at Harry across the dinner table having been witness to the Slytherins unusual presence around Harry all day.

“Ron, I think it’s very mature that they’ve managed to work out their differences.” Hermione snapped at Ron who continued to look at Harry waiting for the boy to reply.

“We’re still not friends Hermione its just that we’ve come to an understanding.” Harry looked at Hermione before turning back to his best friend who was still shoveling spaghetti into his face like there was no tomorrow. “And Ron, Draco’s okay when he’s not being an arsehole and he’s been damn courteous all day considering you’ve done nothing but bait him.” Ron lowered his gaze to his plate as Harry stared at him accusingly. It was true, Ron had done nothing but irritate Draco all day when he’d met him and Harry between and during classes. Draco had done well not to hex the red head who was clearly going out of his way to be nasty.

“Sorry, but come on Harry it’s Draco you can’t tell me you trust him?” Ron waited expectantly for an answer from Harry who reluctantly had to agree with his best friend.

“No I don’t but it doesn’t mean we can’t get along, just that we don’t discuss our private issues in front of him.” Harry glanced across the hall to the Slytherin table where a very quiet Draco was sitting at the farthest end of the table among the new first years. He looked positively miserable and he played idly with his food. With a sigh Harry turned back to his own friends who were staring at him waiting for him to continue. “He’s going to be hanging out with us more from now on, so just be a bit more civil and watch what you say around him. I’m not asking you to like him, just leave him alone while he’s with us.” Harry looked directly at Ron who was wiping his face with a napkin. For a moment Harry didn’t think his best friend was going to answer him but at length Ron reluctantly nodded.

“Fine, I’ll be civil but if he once insults or attacks me or anyone else for that matter I’ll do him some damage.” With a typical Weasley smile Ron pushed aside his dirty plate and grabbed for his desert bowl, having already eyed off the entire caramel pudding that was sitting in front of him. Harry supposed that was the best he could hope for and smiled back at his best friend in understanding.

Dinner was finished early in light of the years 5-7 dueling club meeting and the Gryfindor were soon hurrying along the corridor of the fifth floor towards the chosen classroom. Draco was already sitting on the bench in the room when Harry arrived and the boy quickly joined the other beside him on the bench.

“This should be interesting.” Draco muttered bitterly as he looked away from where his old Slytherin friends were gathering in the corner of the room. Harry glanced over at them too, and knew immediately they were probably plotting against their housemate.

“Don’t worry just keep out of their way.” Harry looked sympathetically at Draco who nodded and turned his attention to the raised platform that stretched the entire length of the long thin classroom. The room was full of students by the time the two professors arrived. Snape notably trailing behind his elder brother who stepped confidently up onto the platform to welcome the students to the first advanced dueling club of the year. Harry couldn’t help but glare at Julius. The professor’s jokes were lame, he wasn’t funny and that damn smile was just so obnoxiously fake. Harry wondered why no one else could see past the professors smiling eyes. Glancing to his left Harry noted that the rest of his friends were eagerly laughing and listening in to what the defense professor had to say, and all Harry could do was stare at them in complete disdain.

“Well then, I thought today we’d begin with some demonstrations of how a proper wizards duel is meant to be played out before you lot begin trying to kill one another, Severus will you join me please?” Harry watched as the potions professor looked distastefully up at his brother before reluctantly ascending the steps up onto the platform. “You take that end little brother.” Harry heard the whispered comment as the brothers passed one another, but no one else seemed to. Harry didn’t miss the way Snape’s eyes narrowed at his brother as he took up his place at the far end of the platform while his brother stood at the other end. Briefly Harry remembered the last time Snape had been up on the dueling platform with Lockhart, and how farcical that had turned out to be. Yet Harry had a feeling that this time the demonstration was going to be far more equally sided and a lot more serious. Silence fell over the room as the two brothers bowed respectfully to one another, before presenting their wands. Harry felt the tension as he watched a wash of concentration fall over both wizards faces, their wands at the ready. The crackle of magic was tremendous as the first disarming charm ripped through the air from the end of Julius wand. The charm was blocked easily before a more complicated form of the charm was reflected back by Severus.

The brothers parried backwards and forwards for a while with disarming charms each becoming more complicated with the reflection to the point at which Harry had lost track of what charms he knew and didn’t know. Everyone was too enthralled with watching the duel to take much notice that the disarming charms turned into muttered curses. Harry however didn’t miss the change and was instantly on his feet as he a silver bolt of a paralyzing curse shot past him. Draco too it seemed had picked up the change but neither boy could do anything as Snape repelled the curse and sent another one back at his brother. It was disturbingly eerie watching the wizards now fighting in silence; their curses mere whispers on their breath as they tried to literally hurt one another. Harry knew it was going too far but was powerless to stop it. The professors were now really laying into one another and every second or so a curse wasn’t blocked affectively and struck the wizards. It wasn’t until Harry watched blood begin trickling from the corner of Severus’ lip that he realized the seriousness of what was happening in front of him. The rest of the students sitting around him were still completely oblivious to it, but he and Draco were trying hard to read the wizards silent lips to try and predict the next curse.

It was a strong curse that hit Severus square in the chest and brought the man to his knees, his wand falling from his grasp and leaving him gasping for breath and spitting out blood. Harry didn’t know what to do and looked to Julius in the hope of seeing him ending the fight but instead what he saw horrified him. Julius still had his wand out and his lips were moving as if to speak another curse, despite the fact Severus was unarmed and was obviously injured. As if in slow motion Harry’s world tilted on its axis and as he launched himself at his defense professor he wondered if maybe he was dreaming it all. When his body connected with Julius it was like hitting a brick wall and Harry closed his eyes as both he and the professor tumbled off the platform and onto the hard stone floor with a sickening thud. With his eyes still closed Harry could do little but listen to the world around him, the screams, the cries of disbelief, and above all the labored breathing of the professor he now had crushed beneath him.

A strong, firmly aimed push to the chest had Harry off the defense professor, who sat up sharply and stared at the boy in shock. Harry was just about to ask Julius what the fuck he thought he was doing try to kill Snape, when a shadow fell over him and a very familiar voice called his attention.

“Potter! What in Merlin’s name do you think you were doing!?” Harry looked up at the potions master who it seemed had made a rather quick recovery. The trail of blood that had dripped down from the corner of his lips had been wiped away but Harry could still see the bright red spot on the man’s white collar beneath his outer cloak. Draco was standing just behind him looking extremely sheepish as their fellow students began to chatter quietly.

“I, he…I was just…I thought he was going to….” Harry didn’t know what to say as he watched Severus offer a hand down to his brother, who gladly accepted the help up from the floor, where he dusted himself off and picked up his wand again.

“Kill me?” Snape finished for him his eyes practically glaring through Harry who now sat red faced and confused on the floor looking up at his two professors. “Stupid boy, this was a demonstration of a wizard duel, which if you had studied your history in first year would know that real wizarding duels are till death. My brother and I simply arranged for me to loose this demonstration with a stunning spell, to illustrate to you all how a duel is ended.” Snape glared at Harry who could do nothing but glance from Snape to his brother then to Draco.

“But…” Harry went to protest having clearly read Julius lips, and seen for himself that the curse that Julius was intended to send Severus way had certainly not a simple stunning spell.

“Enough Potter, I believe you have made quite a fool of yourself yet again. Ten points from Gryfindor for fool hardy, unnecessary heroism. Now return to your seat so we may continue with this meeting.” Still shocked that he’d totally misread the situation Harry allowed Draco to lead him back to the bench where they’d sat previously. Ron, Hermione and his other friends glared at Harry pointedly at he sat quietly back down.

“What the hell was that about Harry!” Ron snapped sharply at his friend angry it seemed that Harry had lost them some more house points.

“Yeah, Harry it was so obvious what the professors were demonstrating.” Hermione glared at Harry who looked from his best friends to Neville who was staring at him in shock.

“I can’t believe you just tackled a professor to the ground, you’re more nuts than I thought.” Harry was about to tell Neville to go fuck himself but Draco instantly clamped his hand over Harry’s mouth, very much aware that the two professors had taken the platform again to begin another exercise. Harry glared at Draco who eventually removed his hand from Harry’s mouth as his friends went back to concentrating on the class.

“Please tell me you saw what I did?” Harry whispered so as not to be heard above the explanation Julius was giving about using defensive spells in conjunction with reflection.

“Yes, but we’ll talk about it later now shut up before you really fuck things up.” Harry frowned at Draco but obediently shut his mouth. For the rest of the club Harry didn’t say two words together, even when Ron chose Seamus over him as a partner for practice leaving Harry to partner Draco. The last time Draco and Harry had partnered in dueling club they’d nearly killed one another, and everyone had found out about Harry’s parseltongue. This time however was extremely sedate and the pair merely practiced what they’d been taught until finally the club was over and they were dismissed.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>