What you don't see

What you don’t see

“Ahhhah!” Draco flung his head back as the lash bit into his skin, droplets of blood smattering onto his shoulders and cheek.

He tried to get away, to pull himself across the floor with the strength in his fingers alone, but his body ached, it ached so badly his muscles felt like rock hard cement against his bones and he couldn‘t move fast enough.

In vain he twitched and twisted and writhed, pathetic as his attempts were they helped to distract him a little from the stinging cord.

But in the end he could not writhe and he could not speak, or see in anything but red. The buzzing in his ears sounded final but he no longer cared. Better to die now, like this, than continue with life as it was.

***

Harry ran along the corridor, his breath coming in desperate gasps and his shoes slipping about crazily on his feet as the laces swung loose and free.

He had overslept for the third time this week and today that really wasn’t good. His first class was Defence Against the Dark Arts and he was already half an hour late. Putting on an extra burst of speed at this thought, he skidded round the corner and headed for the second door on the right.

Stopping short of the classroom he took a second to catch his breath and then as quietly as he could pushed open the door.

“And so if you hold the Doxie round the back of the neck like so - and squeeze just behind the ears, it will go completely limp and Mr Potter I believe you are late.”

Harry froze as black shining orbs of contempt pinned him down.

“Half an hour late to be exact, it seems our Mr Potter now believes himself to have celebrity status with his teachers as well.”

The class jumped as suddenly his left hand smacked down on the desk before him so hard, that poor Seamus nearly had a heart attack.

“I however will not tolerate such behaviour! Believe you me Potter if you want to pass this class with any semblance of a good grade I would ensure punctuality! Now get into your seat!”

Harry sighed as he slumped into the seat Snape had indicated. At least he hadn't got a detention. Although he would have to be careful, sitting at the front of the class meant he was under Snape's watchful eye constantly. The last thing he needed was another detention for oversleeping. He had so much work to catch up on that he was working well into the night and another detention simply meant working even later.

For the last two weeks he had spent his time pondering and pouring over what Malfoy was doing in the room of requirement. Ha had to find out! It was becoming an obsession and countless plans had been formed and discarded as to how he would find out what he wanted to know so desperately.

It had taken up so much of his time that now, that even without Hermione's nagging Harry could see that he was very behind with his studies. Fifth year was not third year, it was intensive study for N.E.W.T.S and the teachers were piling on the homework in every lesson.

Sighing Harry turned his thoughts away from the stack of work waiting for him by his bed and onto what Snape was saying. But as the lesson went on he found that he simply could not concentrate. His eyes started to wonder over the flagstones before his desk, his mind preoccupied with his next essay.

The stones were worn and smooth, Harry guessed they must have been there since medieval times, times when soldiers in armour would stamp their way through the castle. That spot of blood was probably from one of their wounds in battle where- Harry's train of thought broke off as he realised what he'd just seen. A splash of dark red blood, so tiny you would miss it easily if you weren't observing the stones as he had just been doing.

It stained a crevice between two flagstones like a dark river, just a little leaking out onto the flagstones themselves, as if someone had attempted to clean them and missed a spot. Who did it belong too? Harry recognised that he had been supremely foolish to think at that one instant that the blood had been there since medieval times.

Obviously it hadn't, for a start it would not be that red. For a second it would have rotted away or something...wouldn't it? Of course it would, Harry dismissed the idea and refocused. Whose was it? Why was it there? Had Snape been bitten by one of his dark creatures? Harry looked up, watching the way Snape handled the Doxy. It was unlikely, much as Harry hated to admit it, Snape was an expert in his field.

So whose could it be? Perhaps a student had been bitten or scratched? But no, he would have heard about it, or at the very least it would have been reported. Snape being reported was definitely gossip worthy. Could that mean that it was a student that shouldn't have been in here? A duel perhaps? After all the blood had been cleaned up rather haphazardly, perhaps in a state of panic? Were they seriously hurt?

"Mr Potter! If you could please bring yourself back from wonderland it would be nice to have your attention for a change!" Harry jerked as the loud shout penetrated his ears, for goodness sake he was supposed to be trying not to get a detention, not provoking Snape to give him one!

The blood was probably easily explained, it wasn't important, DADA, was important!

***

Harry stared moodily at his soup as Hermione continued to lecture him about his work. It didn't help that his dream of not getting a detention had gone out of the window when he'd accidentally fallen asleep in Transfiguration.

“And then there’s that potions essay you have to do on the properties of ragwort, that’s going to take you at least half an hour so maybe I should hep you along with that one...

Harry blew his fringe back and moved his spoon through the soup in weird patterns. He knew she was only trying to help, but he didn’t need any help in potions, especially with the mud blood prince’s text at his disposal and why did she have to keep going on about his work load? He of all people should know exactly how much work he had to do, if only she would shut up.

“Perhaps if you got McGonnagol’s done tonight as well, it’s one of those bitty one’s that doesn’t take long so about...another forty minutes for that and then you can go to bed. Your detention is only until ten o’clock right? Because if we time this right we can have you in bed by quarter past eleven and that’s a start. Better than two o’clock anyway.”

Harry glanced at his watch, speaking of McGonnagol he only had ten minutes to get to her detention. The classroom was near by so he didn’t have to go right now...but one look at Hermione and he decided he’d rather go to a detention early than listen to anymore of this.

Pushing back his chair, he halted her flow of words with a wave of his hand. “Speaking of McGonnagol I’ll want to get to her detention on time won’t I? I think I’ll go now. Ron your going to have give my apologies at quidditch practice again and if you see Malfoy take a note of what he‘s doing yeah?”

With that Harry left, keeping a sharp lookout for Malfoy himself. He’d noticed the boy hadn’t been to breakfast, lunch or dinner, although he had been in his classes. As far as Harry was concerned this wasn’t good, it meant that Malfoy was probably in the room of requirement again getting further and further along with whatever he was doing in there.

***

“That’s it Potter, your detention is over, you may pack the equipment away and leave. Be glad I was in a good enough mood not to hand you over to Filch tonight.” McGonnagol said after three very long messy hours.

Harry was almost tempted to say that he almost wished she had. She’d set him the task of cutting Sow’s ears off of severed sow’s heads so that her fifth year class could attempt to turn them into silk purses the following morning. He really didn’t think he could ever look a live pig in the face again, poor things.

Clearing away his knife and the pigs head he had been working on he quickly wiped the blood from the pigs off the desk and left. He wondered vaguely if some similar activity had led to the blood spillage he’d seen on Snape’s floor. Seeing the blood off the pigs had reminded him of seeing the blood on the DADA classroom floor. But as he’d deduced earlier, it was quite unlikely and besides, Snape would probably prefer to that type of thing himself, not trusting the students to do it properly. But then it was just the kind of gruesome task Snape liked to give students...

Still pondering the problem Harry wondered on through the halls. It was gloomy where the moonlight from the windows didn’t penetrate, almost dark enough to mask your hand in front of your face. Harry watched the dust motes swirl in front of him in the moons rays as he took a quick look out of the window. Watching the giant squid lazily flicking its tentacles as it swam about slowly.

Something flickered in the corner of his eye and Harry turned sharply. But it was hard to see in the shadows.

“Is anyone there?” he called moving further towards darkness between his window and the next.

Reaching out his hand came into contact with something soft and warm, but it jerked out of his grasp and a minute later Malfoy stepped into the light, his hair almost glowing and his skin even paler than usual.

“Get off Potter! What do you want?” He snarled rubbing his arm as if Harry’s touch could somehow taint him.

“Me? I’m not the one creeping about in the dark Malfoy, what do you want?”

“Nothing, I was just minding my own business until you came along, now if you don’t mind I’ll carry on about my business.” He started walking away but Harry called sharply, “Where have you been? The room of requirement?”

Malfoy spun around, a growl seeming to quiver from his throat, “How do you know where I’ve been? I knew there was someone watching me but I just thought... Why have you been following me?”

Harry smiled a knowing smile, he loved getting Malfoy in a state. “I know your a Death eater Malfoy” Hear the smile faded abruptly, “and I know your up to no good. I won’t rest until I find out what it is, you know that.”

Malfoy walked back towards Harry slowly, his fists clenching and unclenching as if he were trying to decide whether to hit Harry or not.

“You don’t know anything Potter! It’s all guesswork and you know there’s no way you’d be able to find out what I’m doing in that room unless you asked it for the same thing I do...And lets face it, your not that clever.”

Harry scowled, he was clever! So he wasn’t as intelligent as Hermione but he wasn’t stupid either.

“I know that whatever your doing in there is pretty damn important for you to be spending all your meal times on it.”

Malfoy moved so fast then that Harry was thrust against the wall with one hand wrapped round his throat before he’d even registered what was going on.

“Stop watching me Potter! I mean it! Your not worth the hassle it could incur should he find out your doing it!”

And with that Malfoy’s fist came speeding towards Harry’s face, connecting with a sickening crack that left Harry’s vision swimming. Dazedly he slumped down against the wall, hearing Malfoy’s footsteps fade away as if from a great distance. His nose really hurt and when he managed to lift his hand to it, it came away wet and sticky.

Managing to stand up despite his wavering vision, Harry started to stumble t the hospital wing. He didn’t know how he was going to explain this one, didn’t even know if he could reach it within the next hour. But he knew he had to get his nose healed, because as soon as it was he was going to hunt down Malfoy and skin the little bugger alive!

***

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