Chapter 2
(“So we agree that he’s bad.”
“Really? Do we?”
“You saw how he threatened me.”
“Threatened you to treat Harry better.”
“Exactly! He could be maintaining a cover, and when Voldi loses… BAM!!! that’s when he strikes.”
“Still not convinced it’s him. Honestly, he gave me major lost puppy vibes.”
“Why can’t you find anything on him if he’s not bad or an intruder?”
“Because his file is password-protected and I lost my permissions to access it. Duh!”
“I’m telling you he’s sus… didn’t you see him glaring at me?”
“I don’t know, man, I’m just not convinced.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for one, his file isn’t tagged. All the subjects have their files tagged to differentiate them from subjects.”
“Then who the hell is he?”
“Gotta try and find out on our own. See!! how I didn’t say on YOUR own. I'm trying to help you here, Grumbly pants.”)
Draco had high hopes for this summer. This one was supposed to be all about redemption and calm and peace and love….
The first dampener was Archie in all his shadowy glory. Despite Draco spending hours going through the System files, he couldn’t find a single Archie, neither an OOC nor a side character.
So after a week of sleepless nights, Draco put Archie's business on hold and went for the more pressing matters. First of which was Snape.
Snape and Draco had written to Remus arranging his travel schedules, making it safe and comfortable for Snuffles and Remus. Remus needed time to settle his affairs in Yorkshire, and it was decided they would arrive on the 15th of June at Snape’s house. (Draco was surprised at that.) It took some begging and blatant blackmail on Draco’s part to convince Snape to bring him along for the Trio meeting.
Narcissa was glad to see Draco up and healthy. Draco was under strict orders to rest as much as possible and was checked by 7 renowned Healers before Narcissa accepted that he was out of danger. He still had a standing appointment to be checked by Snape twice a week to make sure that the curse scar remained a scar. Lucius, on the other hand, was far too easier to manage. For most of the time, Lucius acted as a recluse and spent his time in the library or his office. Draco saw him twice in the first three weeks of his return and even then it was just for a fleeting moment.
His scar was a new mystery to him. For now, it was kept under wraps that Harry was not the sole survivor of a killing curse. Only a select few knew about it. Draco, however, was ever so intrigued by the scar placement on his chest. How come Harry’s was on his forehead? Was Voldi aiming for a headshot or something?
(“It’s a common misgiving, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“The killing curse wasn’t meant for Harry, you know? Voldemort cast some Blasting and Cutting Hexes to wound Lily. Harry just got in the way, wrong time, wrong place.”
“That does not even make any sense.”
“As if the rest of the story does?”)
Draco kept to his words and stayed in contact with the Twins and Griphook through a set of three-way charmed mirrors. For any other type of communication, he used Tippy (Damn Harry for freeing Dobby. Not really though) for deliveries. It made communication fast and effective; however, Goblins and Elves mixing together were not really a great match, but desperate situations and all that.
He kept in contact with his friends, writing to them and using the elf mail as much as he could. In her latest letter, Pansy had informed him of her plans of visiting Luna and spending a week with Ginny and Luna. (Maybe Draco should make a visit to the Burrow too.)
Neville, Theo, and Blaise were going on an excursion to France. The Weasleys were going to Egypt to visit Bill with the lottery they had won.
Draco had half a mind to visit Charlie, but then Werewolf won over Dragon Tamer. (Draco still had a year to fully, consensually enjoy the wonders of Dragons and their Tamers so it was all good.) Hermione was going skiing, and Harry was having cookies. And THAT was the biggest mystery of this summer; The Gastrells.
At first, Draco was too afraid to leave Harry with the Gastrells alone, so he had asked Vii to keep an eye on them. With every passing day, it was made clear that the Gastrells were truly a second family (first being Weasleys) who cared for and loved Harry as their own. And to make things severe, Harry had an unlimited supply of anecdotes and stories about his time with Gastrells and how happy he was to have them. It was all too good on paper. Too good for Draco’s peace of mind.
Draco had a niggling feeling about these Gastrells in the back of his mind and he just couldn’t get rid of it. He had thought the Gastrells were intruders for sure but then a couple of things pointed that not to be true.
First, according to Vii, if the Gastrells were intruders there would be a major change in their Character personality and behavior, which so far was not the case. Secondly, again according to Vii, it appeared the Gastrells were always there and were not a new entrant as Draco had assumed. Harry had hundreds of stories of how Gastrells were the best and how they were the only good thing from his childhood.
Like how when Harry was six and he had broken one of Petunia’s favorite vases and Marrie was the one to take care of it. Like how Harry had freaked out on his accidental magic, unleashing a snake on Dudley, and Phill had congratulated him and calmed him down and told him everything was great and Harry was good.
Like how Archie was the one who smuggled him food whenever Dudley punished him for something or the other. How it had been Archie who had taken him to the station the first time he went to Hogwarts. How his Christmas was never dull, and the Gastrells always had gifts ready for him on every special occasion. How they sent gifts on Christmas, fireworks on New Years, cookies for Easters, and cake for birthdays.
If Draco didn’t know any better, he would have said that the Gastrells were the parents Harry never had. And Draco couldn’t exactly do anything to Gastrells for being good to Harry. So, the unending mystery of Gastrells had to be pushed to the back burner because Draco had bigger fishes to fry for now.
......
Draco was bouncing on his seat with excitement, trying his best to look calm and patient. He was all glammed up for today.
He was wearing the latest trendy robes, his hair gleamed and styled in a very Superman-ish way, his wand and boots polished to sparkle and shine. He was all set to meet his favorite character of this series, nee this universe.
Narcissa kept teasing him, still under the impression that Draco was just happy to spend the summers with his favorite Professor Snape.
Snape arrived at 3 o’clock sharp as promised and bluntly declared that he did not have time to waste on tea and gossip and Draco should hurry along. Despite his stoic expression and noncommittal tone, Draco could see how nervous he was. Snape was jittery, and his usually pale complexion was even paler. He was wearing new robes, and his hair was a shining jet black, not their usual dull greased-up black.
Draco hugged Narcissa in farewell and jumped right in the Floo with Snape. In a cloud of soot, they arrived at a cottage which honestly had seen better days and could use a lot of work. It was sparsely furnished and minimally utilitarian at best. It was dimly lit and still had the echo of an unlived place. But it had an overall cozy vibe and was so clean that Draco could probably eat off the floor.
Snape told him to get comfortable and started pacing back and forth in front of the door. After five minutes of dizzying pacing, Snape sharply turned and went to the kitchen to make him tea. Draco could see how it took two tries for Snape to put tea leaves in the kettle with his shaking hands and how he almost dropped the kettle when there was a knock on the door.
Snape looked at Draco, eyes wide with hope, fear, and apprehension. Draco gave him an encouraging smile and motioned for him to open the door. It took Snape a couple of minutes and another knock on the door before Snape pulled himself together, righted his robes, and moved towards the door.
Snape opened the door with trembling hands and stepped back to allow the visitors entry.
The man who entered the room had light brown hair which was greying at the temples, fair skin, and hazel brown eyes with an amber sheen to them. He was fit… like really fit. He had a swimmer's build, but Draco could see the outline of his biceps in that loosely fitted shirt. He had weird scars on his face and other visible body parts. His eyes had a watery sheen like he was trying his hardest not to cry, and he had the most polite open appreciation expression on his face that Draco had ever seen.
“Remus…” Snape croaked, and the next moment he was engulfed in a crushing hug by Remus. Snape made a weird sound like a sob and laugh and grunt rolled into one.
There was the thud of the door closing, and then there was another person standing next to the hugging couple. The guy had black hair and grey-black eyes which oddly reminded Draco of Archie’s.
Draco didn't need any Character Tags to tell him, he would have guessed him to be Sirius from his tattoos alone. His pale skin was covered with tattoos, some of them even moving through his collarbone and neck. Snape released Remus only to pull Sirius into a hug. Sirius honestly looked awkward and so out of his depth that Draco grimaced on his behalf.
Snape was all manhandle-y and pulling after that. Remus and Sirius were led to the sofa previously occupied by Draco and told to sit and asked if they wanted tea or water or coffee or anything. They just needed to say the word, and Snape would go get it. And then it was all ‘how have you been?' 'Are you ok?’ ‘I’m fine but are you guys ok?’ and 'Poor Sirius for going to jail....’ and ‘ I tried so hard to tell you....' And ‘I’m sorry for being such an arse not to listen to you’.
During all this, Remus and Snape had been the ones to try and talk over each other, falling over themselves to get as much out as they could. Sirius had been looking around the house and then stopped to stare at Draco.
The stare had turned uncomfortable faster than Draco hoped, making him antsy. There was a weird glint in Sirius’s eyes. His Character Tag was glitched as well. It only displayed his name and nothing else.
(“Vii???”)
Draco tried talking to Vii, but there was no reply. Sirius leaned forward, elbows on his knees, a frown between his brows. Draco surreptitiously reached for his wand, ready to defend or attack.
“Tell me why?” Sirius said in a singsong way, all of a sudden.
“Ain’t nothing but a heartache…” Draco replied without thinking.
“Tell me why???” Sirius sang again, his eyes a little wide and gleaming with excitement now.
“Ain’t nothing but a mistake….” Draco was getting excited now.
“I never wanna hear you say…”
“I want it that way….” Draco finished as Sirius jumped, feeling a little out of his depth.
“I knew it was you…” Sirius grabbed Draco from his shoulders as he shrieked. “You have to help me… you have to save me … I don’t want to die…”