HP: Voice in the Dark (H/D)
Dec. 27th, 2006 04:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wook77Title: Voice in the Dark (7/11)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wook77
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: ~2900
Warnings: blind!Harry
Summary: The last thing Harry Potter saw was Draco Malfoy casting the Killing Curse. When he wakes, his world has completely changed.
A/N: I'm sure that the world at large thought that I'd abandoned this... I hadn't, I just got super busy with exchanges and then distracted by shiny. In other words, I have no excuse for it taking so long for me to update. Since I last updated, my writing style has changed quite a bit. (of course, I like to think that it's improved) Beta'd byfiona_fawkes. Previous Parts can be found HERE. (counting this as day 18 of the Fic Advent Calendar)
Flying was easier than dealing with the tension in the house. Every moment Harry spent amongst the Weasleys only served to make him feel more trapped. Ron still wasn't speaking to him unless he searched him out and Hermione was so busy with her books that she wasn't much help. That left Draco to run interference and, trust or no, Harry wasn't sure that he liked having him in that sort of position.
The moment finally came that Harry decided to tell Mrs. Weasley that he couldn't take their closeness any longer. He'd learned to count his steps and made his way up and down the stairs fairly easily. Finding doorways was a bit harder but he was learning which ones swung what way.
Kreacher had tried, a few times, to place objects in Harry's way that would have him tripping but after ordering him not to, it was quite a bit easier to navigate. It helped that Dobby would pop in to keep an eye on him now that the future of Hogwarts was still in the air.
As he made his way down the stairs, he realised he hadn't talked to Professor – now Headmistress – McGonagall since he'd woken up a couple of weeks ago. He needed to find out, at least for his own peace of mind, if Hogwarts would reopen and what the Order was doing.
He might be down but he certainly wasn't out and the need to prove that burned through him. First, he had to get the Weasleys to give him some breathing room and then he would work on his aim.
"Harry, dear, are you hungry?" Mrs. Weasley's voice was cheerful as he opened the kitchen door and confidently strode across the room to the chair he was accustomed to sitting in. It was right where he'd hoped it would be and after he slid into it, the smell of cookies gave barely a warning as the plate clinked down in front of him. With a smile and a word of thanks, Harry bit into the cookie and put off the conversation just a bit longer.
All too soon, the plate was empty and Harry knew the time had come.
"Mrs. Weasley, you all have been like a family to me, you know that, right?" Harry felt the air stir next to him and figured she was cleaning up his plate.
"Of course, Harry, you're one of my own. Can't believe that your aunt and uncle would treat you so horribly. If we'd known… well, can't change the past much as you might want." The clatter of dishes in the sink and the splashing of water interrupted her.
"Yes, well, um, that is, you know I care about all of you a great deal and really appreciate what all you've done for me?" Harry fumbled about once more.
"You're ready to be on your own, then. I thought it might be coming." Harry goggled as she went straight to the point. "Oh do put your tongue back in your mouth, dear. I'm a mother, we know things."
"You're not hurt or… or… offended or anything, are you?"
"Of course not, but don't you be thinking that we're just going to leave you here all by your selves. You'll starve," as she spoke, she ruffled his hair and the touch soothed instead of startled.
"Right, no one cooks like you." He leaned back against her warmth and wondered what it would be like if it was his mum instead of Mrs. Weasley ruffling his hair.
Heavy footsteps came down the stairs and as the door opened, Harry called out, "Ron, we need to talk."
"How'd you know it was me?" Harry grinned when Ron answered. He was getting much better at this recognition thing. He could imagine the bright red of Ron's hair and the smattering of freckles across his face.
"No one else jumps off from the third step like you do."
"Oh, yeah, well, Hermione sent me down here to get you, told me to tell you that she found something she wanted to talk to you about." Ron sounded reluctant and awkward.
"We need to talk, maybe all four of us but we still need to talk." Mrs. Weasley moved away as Harry and Ron spoke.
"Where's the ferret anyway? Not glued to your side? That's a shock." That reluctance slipped into bitterness in Ron's voice.
"That's unfair, Ron. I've tried to talk to you, you know. You're always busy somewhere else." Harry got out of the chair, careful to push it back into place.
"Boys, why don't you go see what Hermione wants?" Grabbing at Ron's shirt and thankful that he'd gotten a good handful, Harry tugged Ron behind him as he waved at Mrs. Weasley.
"Let go, let go!" Ron swiped at Harry but he wasn't letting go until he was sure Ron was listening.
"We're going to have it out. I'm tired of you avoiding me," Harry demanded as he shook the handful of fabric.
"I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to imagine it! It's a bloody nightmare is what it is!" Ron's hand came around Harry's wrist but he only tightened his grip.
"I'm sorry you saw it but I'm not going to apologise for it happening. I don't know what is happening there, alright? But I'm still not going to apologise."
"You were… and then you were and God, Harry, it's the Ferret!"
"He's not a ferret, you're not a Weasel, can we please just all grow up? There's other things, more important things, than those stupid nicknames!"
"He's Malfoy." Harry could see Ron's nod in his head like he'd always done, that emphatic headshake like he'd just got Harry's king into checkmate and was about to bash the rest of Harry's pieces. "Don't you
remember stalking him? He's up to something and I don't trust him!" Ron accented each word of his declaration by poking his finger into Harry's chest.
"He killed his father for me, that's got to count for something. He's here and he hasn't done anything to hurt me. He had plenty of time, you know." He let go of Ron's shirt and rubbed his hand through his hair.
"You heard him; he didn't kill his father for you. He killed him for everyone!" The swish of air had Harry grinning as he imagined Ron waving his arms around like he'd always done. As Ron's hand came sweeping past again, Harry darted out a hand and gripped Ron's wrist. "How the bloody hell?"
Shock had Harry freezing. He hadn't thought about it, just did it, like Ron was the Snitch and it was all just right there. "I, um, well, no idea."
The silence spread as Harry kept Ron's wrist in his grip before the burble of laughter broke. Soon, they slumped to the floor, laughing uproariously. Tears streamed down his face as Harry rocked.
"What is going on here?" Hermione's strident tone came from above but it only made them laugh harder. "Ronald Weasley, I sent you to find Harry an hour ago! What do I find when I come looking for you? You both sitting there as if there isn't a care in the world."
"That's not fair. It took awhile to find him and we were on our way and then..." Ron sounded defensive and Harry laughed harder.
"Come on, then, I found something interesting." Her footsteps echoed back up the stairs and Ron helped tug Harry to his feet before letting go and following.
Standing alone at the base of the stairs, Harry grinned to himself. Only last week or even yesterday, Ron would have been there, cupping his elbow or holding his arm and trying to guide him up the stairs. For the first time since he'd seen Malfoy casting at him, he felt the hope that they could do this, that he could do this. Blind or no, there was work to be done and he was finished with moping about the house. Counting stairs and steps was one thing but learning how to aim his wand properly without being able to see was an entirely different thing.
With a lightness to his step, he hurried up the staircases until he finally reached the landing that lead to the library. As he approached, he could hear Ron and Hermione arguing and it felt like they were back at Hogwarts, that the battle just a bit ago hadn't happened and Dumbledore would be here soon to update everyone on some important event or chair a meeting of the Order.
The memory of Dumbledore had the grin disappearing. He missed Dumbledore more than he'd ever thought. Their lessons in the previous year had meant a lot to Harry. He'd learned more than he'd thought, not just lessons about Tom Riddle and Horcruxes but about patience and devotion and promises. The shame of not getting the memory from Slughorn still burned as he recalled Dumbledore's disappointed expression. From there, it was only natural that he remembered the discussion between Dumbledore and Draco before Snape had hurried in. He still remembered the panic and franticness of trying to break the spell and stop Snape.
Shaking off the memories, Harry went into the library and followed the sound of their voices until he was near the table where Ron and Hermione were arguing.
"I told you! It has to be this! Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?" Their conversation halted as Harry asked before reaching out to try to find a chair.
"To your left. No, your other left," Hermione supplied and Harry blushed as he reached towards his actual left and found the back of the chair.
"Thanks. So what are we talking about?"
"Madame Pomfrey was telling us about a charm that you can use; it reads anything you have in front of you."
"That'll be helpful but how do I read it?"
"Oh, Harry, it reads it out loud so you can hear it. Really, now, what else did you think it meant?" The sound of leather sliding along wood came before Hermione spoke again. "Right here it says that you say
this incantation and, where is your wand?"
"I, err, left it in my bedroom, I think." He hadn't even thought of it as he'd left the bedroom, hadn't really considered that he'd be able to do much of anything with it since he couldn't see what he was doing, after all.
"Is this a Gryffindor party?" Draco's snooty tone came from behind Harry.
"Yeah so sod off, Ferret," Ron spat as Harry said, "Come in, Draco."
"We're working on a few charms to help Harry, Malfoy." Hermione didn't sound happy about working with Malfoy but at least she wasn't name calling. Harry braced for the inevitable 'Mudblood' or insult to come from Malfoy.
He was pleasantly surprised by Draco's response of, "About time, then, Granger. What took you so long?"
"This charm here, for example, will read aloud anything that Harry casts it at. We were about to practise it when we realised that he'd forgotten his wand." It was obvious even to Harry that
Hermione was gritting her teeth as she ignored Draco's question.
"Idiot Gryffindors. What would you do if Aunt Bellatrix came through the door? How can you go about without your wand? Nevermind. Don't answer that. Weasel, be a good boy and fetch his wand." The crashing of the chair and the snarl from Ron was all the warning Harry had that Ron was going to attack Draco. Pushing back from the table, Harry hurried to put himself between them as Ron swung at Draco. Harry's hand shot out and he grabbed Ron's fist, his grip tighter and much more sure than it'd been downstairs.
"Stop, Ron, just stop. Malfoy, would you please go get my wand?" Draco huffed before the door slammed. "Just ignore him, yeah? He only does that to piss you off and you let him."
"I'm not your dog, you know." Ron's arm relaxed under Harry's hand so he let go.
"No, you're my best mate. Now, can we start working on this charm again?" Harry turned back towards the table and fumbled about until he found his overturned chair. As he slid into the seat, the door opened again with an emphatic creak and he listened as Draco stomped across the room before smacking Harry's wand onto the table.
"Don't forget it next time, Scarhead, or ..." Draco's warmth disappeared from behind him before the door slammed again.
"Harry, you'll need to hold your wand and do this," Hermione's voice came from beside his right ear before her hand closed over both his hand and his wand. She did the flick and tapping motion while enunciating the words of the spell carefully.
A man's arrogant voice filled the air, "The slight flourish at the end is not necessary but aids in the aesthetic appeal of such a gesture. The length of time for this spell is approximately five and one third minutes. This does not guarantee that the entirety of the piece will be audible. One might need to cast multiple times to ensure the piece has been finished. Please note that the creators do not assume any liability for the misuse of this charm and, instead, request and require that it only be used in appropriate times and with appropriate works." The pompous tones were followed by a small bell dinging.
"That worked. Shall we work on the navigation charm?" Hermione sounded pleased with herself and Harry felt proud that the charm had worked. He tried it on his own and the same passage was read aloud.
"Navigation charms, there are a few of them. I've bookmarked a few of the ones you should give a try. You'll want to read over these then and determine which ones will fit which scenarios. You will read them, won't you?" Harry laughed at the suspicious tone to Hermione's voice and for a moment, they were in the Common Room and Hermione was taking him to task for not completing his Charms work.
"Yes, Professor Granger, I'll do my homework and have a foot long essay in the morning for them." Harry recited dutifully and Ron laughed uproariously.
"You're going to need to take this seriously, you know. We still have to find those things and then deal with You-Know-Who and figure out what to do with our visitor and... and we should really put together a schedule and assign responsibilities. This is too important to risk forgetting something small."
"Visitor meaning Draco?" Harry heard Ron's inhalation and braced himself for the explosion. When it didn't come, Harry relaxed marginally.
"We have to decide how much to trust him with. He still won't tell anyone what he was doing when he was working for Voldemort," Ron inhaled again and Hermione snapped, "for goodness's sake, Ronald! I thought we were past this, honestly!"
"Ferret, err, Malfoy can't be trusted and I vote we don't tell him a thing." Ron shifted in his chair, seat creaking as he did so.
"We could use another set of eyes now that I don't have mine."
"Not funny, Harry. I think Ron has a point. We don't know anything about where he's been or what he's been up to, after all."
"Fine, then, I'll talk to him, make him tell me." When Ron snorted, Harry glared at him. "He'll tell me, you'll see."
"Why, because you touched each other's bits?" There was a shocked silence before the slap of flesh on flesh came and Harry could only imagine that either Hermione or Ron himself just slapped him. "I cannot believe I just said that."
"Jealous, Ron?"
"Oi! I was about to eat!" Ron's comical gagging noises made Harry laugh before he pushed back from the table.
"I'm going to go do that, then. He's already upset with me, I might as well piss him off completely, 'S not like we haven't been pissed at each other for years, bit touching or no." Harry couldn't resist that last dig as the comical gagging turned real behind him as he made his way through the door and into the hallway.
Once he was outside, his smile faded as he leaned against the wall and wondered just how he was going to go about this conversation with Malfoy. They weren't mates. As far as Harry knew, they were working through the years of vitriolic combat and mistrust. If Harry hadn't seen it for himself, he wasn't sure that he'd believe that Malfoy'd changed from the snide shadow of his father. Malfoy was still snide but at least he didn't liberally pepper his speech with Mudblood around Hermione any longer. That was a big step even if Ron wasn't willing to see it.
Harry hadn't forgotten or forgiven Draco for what he'd done. He still wasn't sure if he should call him Malfoy or Draco, truth be known. He was torn between Voice and Malfoy, the way both had acted and treated him. The blurry memories of Voice had him softening towards Draco before he'd known that it was Malfoy. In short, Harry felt tangled and torn over his views of Mal-Draco. He'd call him Draco and be done with it.
With a sigh, he pushed himself off the wall and headed towards Draco's room. He'd put the conversation off long enough.
As always, I'd love to hear what you think. Concrit welcomed with open arms
Author:
wook77Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: ~2900
Warnings: blind!Harry
Summary: The last thing Harry Potter saw was Draco Malfoy casting the Killing Curse. When he wakes, his world has completely changed.
A/N: I'm sure that the world at large thought that I'd abandoned this... I hadn't, I just got super busy with exchanges and then distracted by shiny. In other words, I have no excuse for it taking so long for me to update. Since I last updated, my writing style has changed quite a bit. (of course, I like to think that it's improved) Beta'd by
fiona_fawkes. Previous Parts can be found HERE. (counting this as day 18 of the Fic Advent Calendar)Flying was easier than dealing with the tension in the house. Every moment Harry spent amongst the Weasleys only served to make him feel more trapped. Ron still wasn't speaking to him unless he searched him out and Hermione was so busy with her books that she wasn't much help. That left Draco to run interference and, trust or no, Harry wasn't sure that he liked having him in that sort of position.
The moment finally came that Harry decided to tell Mrs. Weasley that he couldn't take their closeness any longer. He'd learned to count his steps and made his way up and down the stairs fairly easily. Finding doorways was a bit harder but he was learning which ones swung what way.
Kreacher had tried, a few times, to place objects in Harry's way that would have him tripping but after ordering him not to, it was quite a bit easier to navigate. It helped that Dobby would pop in to keep an eye on him now that the future of Hogwarts was still in the air.
As he made his way down the stairs, he realised he hadn't talked to Professor – now Headmistress – McGonagall since he'd woken up a couple of weeks ago. He needed to find out, at least for his own peace of mind, if Hogwarts would reopen and what the Order was doing.
He might be down but he certainly wasn't out and the need to prove that burned through him. First, he had to get the Weasleys to give him some breathing room and then he would work on his aim.
"Harry, dear, are you hungry?" Mrs. Weasley's voice was cheerful as he opened the kitchen door and confidently strode across the room to the chair he was accustomed to sitting in. It was right where he'd hoped it would be and after he slid into it, the smell of cookies gave barely a warning as the plate clinked down in front of him. With a smile and a word of thanks, Harry bit into the cookie and put off the conversation just a bit longer.
All too soon, the plate was empty and Harry knew the time had come.
"Mrs. Weasley, you all have been like a family to me, you know that, right?" Harry felt the air stir next to him and figured she was cleaning up his plate.
"Of course, Harry, you're one of my own. Can't believe that your aunt and uncle would treat you so horribly. If we'd known… well, can't change the past much as you might want." The clatter of dishes in the sink and the splashing of water interrupted her.
"Yes, well, um, that is, you know I care about all of you a great deal and really appreciate what all you've done for me?" Harry fumbled about once more.
"You're ready to be on your own, then. I thought it might be coming." Harry goggled as she went straight to the point. "Oh do put your tongue back in your mouth, dear. I'm a mother, we know things."
"You're not hurt or… or… offended or anything, are you?"
"Of course not, but don't you be thinking that we're just going to leave you here all by your selves. You'll starve," as she spoke, she ruffled his hair and the touch soothed instead of startled.
"Right, no one cooks like you." He leaned back against her warmth and wondered what it would be like if it was his mum instead of Mrs. Weasley ruffling his hair.
Heavy footsteps came down the stairs and as the door opened, Harry called out, "Ron, we need to talk."
"How'd you know it was me?" Harry grinned when Ron answered. He was getting much better at this recognition thing. He could imagine the bright red of Ron's hair and the smattering of freckles across his face.
"No one else jumps off from the third step like you do."
"Oh, yeah, well, Hermione sent me down here to get you, told me to tell you that she found something she wanted to talk to you about." Ron sounded reluctant and awkward.
"We need to talk, maybe all four of us but we still need to talk." Mrs. Weasley moved away as Harry and Ron spoke.
"Where's the ferret anyway? Not glued to your side? That's a shock." That reluctance slipped into bitterness in Ron's voice.
"That's unfair, Ron. I've tried to talk to you, you know. You're always busy somewhere else." Harry got out of the chair, careful to push it back into place.
"Boys, why don't you go see what Hermione wants?" Grabbing at Ron's shirt and thankful that he'd gotten a good handful, Harry tugged Ron behind him as he waved at Mrs. Weasley.
"Let go, let go!" Ron swiped at Harry but he wasn't letting go until he was sure Ron was listening.
"We're going to have it out. I'm tired of you avoiding me," Harry demanded as he shook the handful of fabric.
"I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to imagine it! It's a bloody nightmare is what it is!" Ron's hand came around Harry's wrist but he only tightened his grip.
"I'm sorry you saw it but I'm not going to apologise for it happening. I don't know what is happening there, alright? But I'm still not going to apologise."
"You were… and then you were and God, Harry, it's the Ferret!"
"He's not a ferret, you're not a Weasel, can we please just all grow up? There's other things, more important things, than those stupid nicknames!"
"He's Malfoy." Harry could see Ron's nod in his head like he'd always done, that emphatic headshake like he'd just got Harry's king into checkmate and was about to bash the rest of Harry's pieces. "Don't you
remember stalking him? He's up to something and I don't trust him!" Ron accented each word of his declaration by poking his finger into Harry's chest.
"He killed his father for me, that's got to count for something. He's here and he hasn't done anything to hurt me. He had plenty of time, you know." He let go of Ron's shirt and rubbed his hand through his hair.
"You heard him; he didn't kill his father for you. He killed him for everyone!" The swish of air had Harry grinning as he imagined Ron waving his arms around like he'd always done. As Ron's hand came sweeping past again, Harry darted out a hand and gripped Ron's wrist. "How the bloody hell?"
Shock had Harry freezing. He hadn't thought about it, just did it, like Ron was the Snitch and it was all just right there. "I, um, well, no idea."
The silence spread as Harry kept Ron's wrist in his grip before the burble of laughter broke. Soon, they slumped to the floor, laughing uproariously. Tears streamed down his face as Harry rocked.
"What is going on here?" Hermione's strident tone came from above but it only made them laugh harder. "Ronald Weasley, I sent you to find Harry an hour ago! What do I find when I come looking for you? You both sitting there as if there isn't a care in the world."
"That's not fair. It took awhile to find him and we were on our way and then..." Ron sounded defensive and Harry laughed harder.
"Come on, then, I found something interesting." Her footsteps echoed back up the stairs and Ron helped tug Harry to his feet before letting go and following.
Standing alone at the base of the stairs, Harry grinned to himself. Only last week or even yesterday, Ron would have been there, cupping his elbow or holding his arm and trying to guide him up the stairs. For the first time since he'd seen Malfoy casting at him, he felt the hope that they could do this, that he could do this. Blind or no, there was work to be done and he was finished with moping about the house. Counting stairs and steps was one thing but learning how to aim his wand properly without being able to see was an entirely different thing.
With a lightness to his step, he hurried up the staircases until he finally reached the landing that lead to the library. As he approached, he could hear Ron and Hermione arguing and it felt like they were back at Hogwarts, that the battle just a bit ago hadn't happened and Dumbledore would be here soon to update everyone on some important event or chair a meeting of the Order.
The memory of Dumbledore had the grin disappearing. He missed Dumbledore more than he'd ever thought. Their lessons in the previous year had meant a lot to Harry. He'd learned more than he'd thought, not just lessons about Tom Riddle and Horcruxes but about patience and devotion and promises. The shame of not getting the memory from Slughorn still burned as he recalled Dumbledore's disappointed expression. From there, it was only natural that he remembered the discussion between Dumbledore and Draco before Snape had hurried in. He still remembered the panic and franticness of trying to break the spell and stop Snape.
Shaking off the memories, Harry went into the library and followed the sound of their voices until he was near the table where Ron and Hermione were arguing.
"I told you! It has to be this! Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?" Their conversation halted as Harry asked before reaching out to try to find a chair.
"To your left. No, your other left," Hermione supplied and Harry blushed as he reached towards his actual left and found the back of the chair.
"Thanks. So what are we talking about?"
"Madame Pomfrey was telling us about a charm that you can use; it reads anything you have in front of you."
"That'll be helpful but how do I read it?"
"Oh, Harry, it reads it out loud so you can hear it. Really, now, what else did you think it meant?" The sound of leather sliding along wood came before Hermione spoke again. "Right here it says that you say
this incantation and, where is your wand?"
"I, err, left it in my bedroom, I think." He hadn't even thought of it as he'd left the bedroom, hadn't really considered that he'd be able to do much of anything with it since he couldn't see what he was doing, after all.
"Is this a Gryffindor party?" Draco's snooty tone came from behind Harry.
"Yeah so sod off, Ferret," Ron spat as Harry said, "Come in, Draco."
"We're working on a few charms to help Harry, Malfoy." Hermione didn't sound happy about working with Malfoy but at least she wasn't name calling. Harry braced for the inevitable 'Mudblood' or insult to come from Malfoy.
He was pleasantly surprised by Draco's response of, "About time, then, Granger. What took you so long?"
"This charm here, for example, will read aloud anything that Harry casts it at. We were about to practise it when we realised that he'd forgotten his wand." It was obvious even to Harry that
Hermione was gritting her teeth as she ignored Draco's question.
"Idiot Gryffindors. What would you do if Aunt Bellatrix came through the door? How can you go about without your wand? Nevermind. Don't answer that. Weasel, be a good boy and fetch his wand." The crashing of the chair and the snarl from Ron was all the warning Harry had that Ron was going to attack Draco. Pushing back from the table, Harry hurried to put himself between them as Ron swung at Draco. Harry's hand shot out and he grabbed Ron's fist, his grip tighter and much more sure than it'd been downstairs.
"Stop, Ron, just stop. Malfoy, would you please go get my wand?" Draco huffed before the door slammed. "Just ignore him, yeah? He only does that to piss you off and you let him."
"I'm not your dog, you know." Ron's arm relaxed under Harry's hand so he let go.
"No, you're my best mate. Now, can we start working on this charm again?" Harry turned back towards the table and fumbled about until he found his overturned chair. As he slid into the seat, the door opened again with an emphatic creak and he listened as Draco stomped across the room before smacking Harry's wand onto the table.
"Don't forget it next time, Scarhead, or ..." Draco's warmth disappeared from behind him before the door slammed again.
"Harry, you'll need to hold your wand and do this," Hermione's voice came from beside his right ear before her hand closed over both his hand and his wand. She did the flick and tapping motion while enunciating the words of the spell carefully.
A man's arrogant voice filled the air, "The slight flourish at the end is not necessary but aids in the aesthetic appeal of such a gesture. The length of time for this spell is approximately five and one third minutes. This does not guarantee that the entirety of the piece will be audible. One might need to cast multiple times to ensure the piece has been finished. Please note that the creators do not assume any liability for the misuse of this charm and, instead, request and require that it only be used in appropriate times and with appropriate works." The pompous tones were followed by a small bell dinging.
"That worked. Shall we work on the navigation charm?" Hermione sounded pleased with herself and Harry felt proud that the charm had worked. He tried it on his own and the same passage was read aloud.
"Navigation charms, there are a few of them. I've bookmarked a few of the ones you should give a try. You'll want to read over these then and determine which ones will fit which scenarios. You will read them, won't you?" Harry laughed at the suspicious tone to Hermione's voice and for a moment, they were in the Common Room and Hermione was taking him to task for not completing his Charms work.
"Yes, Professor Granger, I'll do my homework and have a foot long essay in the morning for them." Harry recited dutifully and Ron laughed uproariously.
"You're going to need to take this seriously, you know. We still have to find those things and then deal with You-Know-Who and figure out what to do with our visitor and... and we should really put together a schedule and assign responsibilities. This is too important to risk forgetting something small."
"Visitor meaning Draco?" Harry heard Ron's inhalation and braced himself for the explosion. When it didn't come, Harry relaxed marginally.
"We have to decide how much to trust him with. He still won't tell anyone what he was doing when he was working for Voldemort," Ron inhaled again and Hermione snapped, "for goodness's sake, Ronald! I thought we were past this, honestly!"
"Ferret, err, Malfoy can't be trusted and I vote we don't tell him a thing." Ron shifted in his chair, seat creaking as he did so.
"We could use another set of eyes now that I don't have mine."
"Not funny, Harry. I think Ron has a point. We don't know anything about where he's been or what he's been up to, after all."
"Fine, then, I'll talk to him, make him tell me." When Ron snorted, Harry glared at him. "He'll tell me, you'll see."
"Why, because you touched each other's bits?" There was a shocked silence before the slap of flesh on flesh came and Harry could only imagine that either Hermione or Ron himself just slapped him. "I cannot believe I just said that."
"Jealous, Ron?"
"Oi! I was about to eat!" Ron's comical gagging noises made Harry laugh before he pushed back from the table.
"I'm going to go do that, then. He's already upset with me, I might as well piss him off completely, 'S not like we haven't been pissed at each other for years, bit touching or no." Harry couldn't resist that last dig as the comical gagging turned real behind him as he made his way through the door and into the hallway.
Once he was outside, his smile faded as he leaned against the wall and wondered just how he was going to go about this conversation with Malfoy. They weren't mates. As far as Harry knew, they were working through the years of vitriolic combat and mistrust. If Harry hadn't seen it for himself, he wasn't sure that he'd believe that Malfoy'd changed from the snide shadow of his father. Malfoy was still snide but at least he didn't liberally pepper his speech with Mudblood around Hermione any longer. That was a big step even if Ron wasn't willing to see it.
Harry hadn't forgotten or forgiven Draco for what he'd done. He still wasn't sure if he should call him Malfoy or Draco, truth be known. He was torn between Voice and Malfoy, the way both had acted and treated him. The blurry memories of Voice had him softening towards Draco before he'd known that it was Malfoy. In short, Harry felt tangled and torn over his views of Mal-Draco. He'd call him Draco and be done with it.
With a sigh, he pushed himself off the wall and headed towards Draco's room. He'd put the conversation off long enough.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 03:42 pm (UTC)It is fairly complicated between them, isn't it? Time's going to start speeding up for them... but until then, there's just a bit of learning for Harry to do so he can cope with being blind.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 06:46 am (UTC)well done. i loved ron's reactions and hermione trying to be all polite.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 03:43 pm (UTC)♥
no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 08:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-28 08:03 pm (UTC)Thanks for sharing it!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-29 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-02 11:36 am (UTC)