5
Harry fidgeted on his feet.
He was waiting with Zabini outside of the Hogs Head at Hogsmeade, replayingin his mind the dialogue he had rehearsed at least a hundred times.
It had been a couple of weeks from the talk they had in the dungeons and since then he had tried to meet with the Slytherins as much as he could.
They shared meals, had walks together and shared the same desk during classes, all in very public places. For Harry's plan to work out, it was essential everyone believed him to be friends with the four snakes.
And that was the reason for which Zabini -or Blaise, as he had asked to be called- was waiting with him. He had refused to let himself be seen with Pansy alone (he didn't need any more rumors about his love life, after all) and categorically rejected the idea to wait with Malfoy. He wasn't sure he could keep himself from punching the smug blonde in the face if they were forced to spend more time than necessary together.
He had to admit that so far, Blaise was the best out of the four snakes.
"How much do you think we'll have to wait? She's already thirty minutes late!" Blaise complained, kicking a stone on the pathway.
Harry rolled his eyes. It's not like they had been waiting for hours. "I'm sure she'll be here any moment now.”
As if on cue, a trilly voice resounded in the desert streets of Hogsmeade, making the two boys jump up in surprise.
"Harry Potter!"
A figure waved at them, fastening her pace to almost a jog. The woman eyed Blaise for a few seconds before focusing again on her target.
“Harry, it’s been so long! How can Rita Skeeter be of help?"
Harry grinned and gestured for the woman to enter the pub. He waved Blaise goodbye as he followed her to a secluded table in the back.
As soon as they sat and ordered their drinks, he cast a muffliato around them.
"Rita, I have the scoop of your life." he said, leaning forward on the table to get closer to her.
The eyes of the woman began twinkling maniacally.
"Do tell, Mr. Potter, do tell!"
She waved her wand and the Quick Quote Quill she had laid on the table began to move, scribbling their every word on a parchment. Harry eyed it in distrust, but tried to conceal it -and the fact he absolutely loathed the woman and her propensity for writing articles full of lies- behind a warm smile.
"I hope you have time, because it will take a while." Harry said almost apologetically before launching himself in telling his story.
They emerged from the pub a few hours later. Harry was surprised to find four Slytherins casually lounging in the alley, but clearly waiting for him.
As soon as they saw Harry they immediately approached him, Malfoy sliding an arm around his waist and leaning slightly on him.
"We missed you, Наrry!" the blond exclaimed, tugging Harry even closer to himself.
Pansy, next to him, crossed her arms over her chest and huffed a little. "You took your time! But if we hurry we might still be able to raid Zonko before going back to the castle!"
"Pansy's right." added Blaise, nodding. "Are you finished? Can we go?"
Harry knew this was all an act, but couldn't refrain his lips from turning into a soft, warm smile.
"Yeah, we’re finished. Let's go!" he said, waving Skeeter goodbye. The woman eyed them all with a small smirk on her face, fingers lightly twitching beside her.
No doubt she was already working on her new scoop in her mind. "Goodbye boys. It was a pleasure, Mr. Potter.” she said before turning around and almost running down the street to the closest apparition point.
Harry let the Slytherins escort him to Zonko. When they were sure the reporter wasn't following them, Malfoy let his arm fall off from where he had kept it around Harry’s waist.
“How was it? Did she buy it?" The blond Slytherin asked.
"That, she did." Harry replied, watching Malfoy take a deep breath, relax his shoulders and allow a small, sincere smile to stretch his lips.
"Good!” he said before starting to peruse the rows upon rows of sweets the shop offered.
As soon as Malfoy was out of hearing reach, Blaise patted him on his shoulder.
"Really, Harry. How was it?"
Harry shrugged.
"I think she believed me, but there is something that concerns me more now.” he said, glancing towards the direction Malfoy had disappeared in.
"That being?"
"I think that by the time the article comes out, Malfoy and I will be dating, courting or probably be betrothed."
Blaise bursted out in a rich laugh and Harry soon followed him, picking out some caudies to share later with his friends with a wide smile on his face.
*****
"I'M GOING TO KILL HER!"
Harry bit his lips to contain his laugh. The owls had delivered the mail less than a couple of minutes ago and Malfoy was already screaming his throat raw.
He scanned the first page of the Daily Prophet and of course there it was, the article he had been waiting for. He read through it, making sure Skeeter had gotten the important parts right.
He nodded his head a few times along his reading. The reporter had exceeded his expectations on every front, even the supposed romance he and Malfor were having without their families knowing any better. This should considerably help move his plan along.
"I can't believe her gall!" Hermlone hissed angrily, setting the newspaper on the table with more force than necessary. "Of course she would make some story up from the whole Ministry happening, but this is very low, even for her standards!"
The brunette hastily stabbed a piece of fruit with the fork she was holding in her white knuckled haud.
"Yeah, mate. She even claimed you did the interview!"
Harry moved a little to the side to avoid the mess Ron was doing around his plate, moving food around and speaking with his mouth half full.
"I mean,” he continued, oblivious to Harry's discomfort “she said you're friends with the snakes! A load of bollocks if I’ve ever heard one!”
Harry eyed his friend with a disbelieved expression.
"Ron, where have you been for the last few weeks?” he asked, but even if he tried to avoid it a little of his exasperation bleeded into his words. Ron eyed him with a blank stare..
“Harry's been spending a lot of time with the Slytherins, Ron." Hermione explained, piercing the raven boy with a hard stare. "I have no idea about the reason why, because he didn't seem to think his two best friends should know what was happening, but you can say they're... friends, now."
Harry could almost see the witch's hair floating around her, supported by the anger she was barely concealing. Why the outburst, though? Why now? It wasn't like he had neglected his two best friends... he had merely given them more space and some time to elaborate on what had happened at the Department of Mysteries. It had been a close call, after all.
It took Ron a full couple of minutes to register what Hermione had said.
"Are you saying... you want me to believe the rubbish written in this article?!" he struggled to keep his voice down, but every student around them could clearly hear him. "Are you mental, Hermione? He can't possibly be their friend! And the rubbish about Death Eaters being there to help? There's no way, no way, that's true. Right, Harry?"
Harry didn't want to crush down Ron's hopes like this but he also knew he had no other choice. For his plan to work he had to have everyone believe his story. And even if his friends would probably hate him for lying to them, he hoped someday they would forgive him.
He had a war to win, and this was the only way he could hope to survive.
“I’m sorry, Ron, but Skeeter didn’t lie." he said, keeping his voice a little louder than usual. The more students heard him, the faster the gossip would spread. "I did give her the interview and, for once, she didn't mess up my words.”
"But... but... the snakes?”
“We’ve been friends for a long time, Ron. Of course, I couldn't have you know so we kept our meeting a secret. But after the Ministry... we figured the truth would come out, anyway, so we started to hangout in front of you all."
Ron was speechless. Hermione, beside him, was beyond angry. She opened her mouth a couple of times before closing it and crossing her arms on her chest. Harry secretly rejoices at her loss for words. If somebody could be able to find discrepancies in his story and make his lies crumble like a paper castle it was definitely her.
Luckily for him, it seemed she wanted to approach and confront him in private, which left him with some time to think about a strategy.
"But what about the Death Eaters, Harry? How Could you say Malfoy was innocent?"
Harry took a deep breath. The game was on. "Because he was innocent, Ron. The Slytherins informed their fathers about what we were about to do and they came to save us. Lucius-“ Harry repressed the shiver that threatened to shake his whole body at saying Malfoy’s name. It was a necessary evil that would make his lie more believable. “-I mean, Mr. Malfoy works at the Ministry. He knows what is kept in the department of Mysteries and he knows children should never set foot in it."
"Harry. He tried to kill us.”
It looked like Hermione had decided to speak, after all. It was time to wrap up the conversation.
“Yes, Hermione. I’m sure you must have thought so, but that was because my friendship with his son wasn't public, yet. He came to save us, he did protect me from a couple of stray spells. I probably owe him my life." and he was probably overdoing it. “In the heat of the battle, I often find myself pointing my wand towards you and our allies.” he added, hoping to convince Hermione enough to let it go for a while.
"Friends and enemies, it's all a blur in battle. But since nobody thought to ask Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Nott and Mr. Parkinson for explanations, assuming they were with Voldemort instead, they ended up in prison for something they didn't do. Hence the interview. I won't let the Ministry do to my friends' parents what they did to my Godfather.”
Merlin, but it hurt. Saying those words to his best friends, to those who fought beside him and risked their lives.. telling them lies, taking distance, discrediting their words. Harry knew it would help, in the end. If he trained, if he got better, if he defeated Voldemort his friends would be forever safe… and maybe one day they would listen to his apologies.
But if worse came to worst he didn't want them involved in the war more than they already were. Adults and full trained aurors were losing their lives day after day: Harry would do the impossible to avoid involving his friends more than necessary.
"You can't be serious!" Ron burst out, slamming the palms of his hands on the table. "You told us Malfoy was at Voldemort's resurrection. You talked bad about the ferret until a couple of days ago! You must be an impostor, or... under polyjuice! You’re not Harry Potter!”
Harry suddenly stood up, the unexpected action was enough to successfully shut Ron up.
"You can believe me or decide not to. The choice is yours. But I want you to know that people change, Ron, and we're not eleven anymore.”
He didn't know how he managed to speak so calmly despite his heart threatening to burst out of his ribcage. He gave Ron and Hermione what he thought was a warm smile.
“I’m going to see how Draco's coping with the article. Skeeter made it sound like we are dating, but that is something I assure you will never, ever happen.”
He waved them goodbye, trying to ignore Ron’s red face and Hermione's hurt, betrayed and suspicious one. They would forgive him someday.
He made his way to the Slytherins table and was surprised to find that his friends had saved a place for him… right next to Malfoy.
"You're not sitting next to me, Potter!" the blond boy stated, crossing his arms. "You've already caused too much trouble for today."
Harry laughed and sat next to him, anyway.
"It was your fault, Draco," Harry purred the name, enjoying the flinch he received from the boy. "You were the one to hug me and go all sweet on me in front of a reporter like Skeeter.”
"He has a point, Drrrracoooo~ " Blaise said, imitating Harry's purr. Malfoy flinched again. "You had to go the extra mile and glue yourself to his hips, didnt you?"
Malfoy scowled, but silently set to eat his breakfast.
Harry, too, took a fruit off from a pile on his left and began to nibble on it. They would talk in the privacy of their room in the dungeons later, he knew.
***
That night, after curfew, they all gathered in the dungeons.
Malfoy snapped his fingers and, once again, tea and some biscuits appeared. Blaise had taken pity on Harry and explained to him that it was one of Malfoy Manor's elves that provided food for them all. Which explained the difference in taste: only the best for the Malfoys, after all.
"How was your day, Potter?" Malfoy asked.
It was strange, their friendship. In public they were calling each other by their first name, but in private they reverted back to Malfoy and Potter. Maybe because their history as rivals ran back to that first day of school so many years ago when Harry had refused to shake Malfoy’s hand, or maybe they simply couldn't stand each other.
Harry was having no problems calling the other Slytherins by name, so it had to be something to do with Malfoy, period.
"Better than expected, actually." he replied, serving himself and Pansy a cup of tea. They both liked overfilling it with sugar and milk.
The witch accepted the cup with a soft smile.
"The start wasn't promising, though, with what happened with Weasley and Granger." She took a sip of her tea. "Perfect. Thank you Harry."
"They will understand, someday." he sighed. He didn't want to talk about his best friends.
"Do you think your plan is going to work?" Theo asked, hopeful. He didn't show it, but the imprisonment of his father had taken a really great toll on him.
Harry let his eyes roam over the Slytherins in the room. If his plan worked, the fathers of three of them, three high ranked inner circle Death Eaters would be free. Free to go back to Voldemort. Free to kill again.
Then again, Harry was sure Riddle would find a way to break them out of Azkaban, anyway, so it didn't really matter. On the contrary, if he could free them before the next year started the Slytherins would start teaching him and then he would have a chance at surviving. Or living. Semantics.
The only odd in the equation was one Blaise Zabini. He wasn't gaining anything from helping Harry, but he was doing it nonetheless.
Harry would have to keep an eye on him. The Italian boy might sometimes act like a lion, but Harry had no doubt that the sorting hat had put him in Slytherin for a reason.
As on cue, Blaise spoke: "Don't be silly, Theo, we're talking about Potter here. With his famous luck the plan is going to work without doubt."
Harry wasn't hopeful as Blaise was, but he, too, thought they had good chances of succeeding.
"The rumors are already spreading around the school. I expect to receive an owl from the Ministry very soon. After that, it will be all up to your fathers and their capability of telling lies-" he paused for a second. They were talking about Slytherin Seniors, here. "Thinking about it, I am positive they will succeed."
Glasses filled with what Harry supposed to be non-alcoholic wine appeared before them and they all toasted to the (hopefully) success of their plan.
They chatted for a while longer. More than once Harry caught Malfoy staring at him, but when their eyes met the blonde would immediately avert his eyes.
Weird.
Harry didn’t comment on it, not wishing to spoil the cozy atmosphere of the room. When he went to bed that night he had a content smile stuck to his face.