Change of Plans
Since the “fight“, Harry and Draco were inseparable and even more disgustingly in love than before.
They secretly held hands under the table in their study sessions. During lunch, they stared at each other with lovestruck expressions. When they had to work together in class, their hands and legs continuously brushed another. And in the classes, they didn’t share or sat apart, they wrote each other little notes.
Draco was currently smiling down at the note Harry had send him in Transfiguration class when Pansy nudged him in the side. “Hey, what are you smiling about, lover boy?”
“Oh, nothing”, Draco replied and tried to hide the note. Pansy narrowed her eyes. Then her hand reached out like a snake catching its prey and snatched the note out of Draco’s grip.
The note was covered in little hearts and scrawny handwriting. “Aw, a love note. How cute! But I can’t read this shit. What is that supposed to be? It looks like chicken scratches.”
“Give it back, you cow!” Draco struggled to get the note back, but Pansy held it out of reach.
“Darling, if you squirm like that, I can’t read.” Pansy shoved her free hand in Draco’s face to hold him at bay. She squinted at the note “You are the treacle to my tart.”
Blaise right next to them tried to hide his laughter behind a cough which resulted in him falling off his chair and wheezing for breath between hiccpus. Pansy turned to a furiously blushing Draco. “That’s not the first note you got, is it? There are more of this! You have to show me. It’s so cute, I’m gonna die. Show me, show me, show meeeee!”
“I won’t show you the notes, Pansy. Never ever. Over my dead body!” Draco said, trying and failing again to get his note back.
“Blaise, will you kill Draco for me so I can see the notes?” Blaise was still wheezing on the floor and shook his head.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Pansy sighed. “I need him alive to get more boys-love-action in the future.” Blaise nodded and gave her a thumbs up while trying to regain access to his chair again. Pansy finally had the mercy to help her boyfriend up.
Draco used Pansy’s momentary distraction to snatch back the note. But his triumph was shortlived because Professore McGonagall stood in front of the three Slytherins with a stern expression.
“I’m glad to see you are all enjoying my class to such an extend that you didn’t notice it ended five minutes ago. I would scold you for mixing class with your private amusement, but the headmaster wants to see you in his office now. So go along.” She shooed them out of the classroom.
Dumbledore’s office was jam-packed with people when Draco, Pansy and Blaise arrived.
Draco recognized Mad-Eye Moody and shuddered remembering the most traumatizing event in fourth year when the fake-Moody had turned him into a ferret. The knowledge that the man before him was the real deal and not Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise wasn’t comforting at all. Moody’s magical eye zoomed in on Draco and he gulped pushing Blaise in front of him to put some distance.
Next to Moody stood other people, members of the Order of Phoenix Draco assumed. Among them several Weasleys and Remus Lupin. Molly Weasley came bustling towards Draco, engulfing him in a bone crushing hug. Overwhelmed Draco looked for help and spotted his parents deep in conversation with Severus Snape.
When Molly finally let him go, Draco quickly excused himself to go greet his parents. “Mother, father, what is going on here?”
Narcissa kissed Draco's forehead. “Your father and Severus just came from a Death Eater meeting. The Dark Lord has decided to speed up his plans because everything is developing marvelously in his eyes. Dumbledore will discuss countermeasures now.”
Draco blanched. He had thought they had more time. He looked around the office for Harry and found him standing with his godfather and a woman with bright pink hair. The blonde went to them, grabbing Harry’s hand like it was a lifeline.
Harry lifted their hands and gave the back of Draco's hand a chaste kiss. “Hello, buttercup” Harry grinned at his boyfriend who blushed furiously. Draco pretended to hate when Harry called him stupid nicknames but secretly he loved it. Of course, the Gryffindor saw right through him.
Sirius watched them amused and grabbed Draco’s other hand to press a kiss of his own onto it. “So good to see you, cutie patootie.” With an indignant shout of “Back off, he’s mine, old man!” Harry shoved his barking godfather away, wrapping his arms possessively around Draco’s waist.
“Aw, aren’t you a honey bun?” the woman with pink hair pinched Draco’s by now tomato red cheeks. “I heard you’re cute, but you’re much cuter than I thought. I could eat you.”
“Aren’t you cousins, Tonks? I bet that’s incest! And cannibalism!” Harry grumbled and tightened his hold on Draco.
The blonde was confused. He had a cousin? Tonks saw Draco’s confusion and explained “Wotcher, Draco. I`m Nymphadora Tonks. If you call me by my first name, I’ll hex you! My mother is your mother’s sister, Andromeda. So, nice to meet’cha.”
Ah, yes, the estranged part of the family. No wonder they were eccentric and loud. Draco wrinkled his nose a bit. But then Nymphadora went over to Moody who was currently barking a speech about constant vigilance. She pulled faces at the others, transforming her facial features into animal traits. When even Snape couldn’t hide the upwards twitch of his lips when Tonks adopted an elephant’s trunk, Draco decided that this part of his family wasn’t too bad.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and all conversation fell silent. "First of all, thank you for coming on such short notice. As you may well know, our plan was to confront Voldemort at the end of next year when Harry and his cohort are of age and they finished school."
Draco narrowed his eyes at the headmaster’s words. That was the first he heard any of this.
"However, Severus and Lucius have reported to me that Voldemort believes himself to be at the peak of his success right now. Lucius has been able to convince him that the Ministry is under his control. In Tom's eyes, the only things now standing in his way of ruling the wizarding world are myself, as the most powerful wizard in history” – Draco rolled his eyes at the presumptious arrogance – “and Harry, whom Voldemort wants to kill in order to fulfil the prophecy in his favour. It makes sense for Tom to act, because the older Harry gets, the more powerful and difficult to defeat he becomes. Besides, he can get at me and Harry at the same time when he attacks Hogwarts."
Dumbledore looked at Harry and continued. “Luckily, we are already preparing students for the upcoming war. Also, the Horcrux Hunt was rather successful. We have managed to destroy all but the last one.” Draco scoffed because Dumbledore didn’t do shit. His father, Sirius, Harry, and he were the ones actually doing things.
“Severus, tell us, what Tom told you about his upcoming scheme.” Dumbledore nodded to the potions teacher.
“The Dark Lord plans to attack in May”, Snape said in his nasal voice. Before he could add anything further, he was interrupted by a cry of outrage from none other than Hermione Granger.
“But-But he can’t do that! That time is prepostourous! What about exams?” Hermione exclaimed frantically. Draco caught himself before he could nod along. While the girl was right, there were more important matters to prioritize. Like, a madman thirsting to murder his fiancé for example.
“So, how do you plan to protect Harry?” Draco demanded haughtily glaring at Dumbledore, which earned him an approving nod from his cousin Sirius.
Dumbledore stared at Draco for a moment, his eyes twinkling apologetically. “I’m afraid, shielding Harry from Voldemort is not possible. While I only want students of age and out of free will participating directly in the battle, Harry has to be in the front lines to fulfill the prophecy.”
Before any of Harry’s friends could protest or exclaim their own intention to fight, the headmaster said, “If you could all listen to Severus explaining Voldemort’s battle plan, we can discuss our own strategy better.”
Snape sniffed. “The Dark Lord has the ministry under control and hundreds of loyal Death Eaters. He recruited some Giants, the Acromatulas, the Dementors and other dark creatures like werewolves” – here Snape gave Lupin a dirty look – “with promises of liberation. He has an army of roughly 500 individual beings. Or so he believes.” Snape allowed himself a small twitch of his lips – a ghost of a satisfied smirk.
“Hagrid has spoken to the Acromantulas and they will remain neutral. Lucius and I have spread a subtle insecurity among the Death Eaters, they are doubting the cause. We have more than the half of them already on our side. Hagrid will have a word with the giants and Lupin can try to persuade a few werevoles. But I doubt someone so meek can do much in the pack of Fenrir Greyback.” The last part Snape sneered in Lupin’s direction.
“Oi, watch your tongue, Snivellus.” Sirius barked across the room.
Snaped swirled around, glaring at Sirius furiously. “I’m not afraid of you, filthy mutt.”
Sirius puffed his chest. “If someone's dirty, it’s you with your greasy ha–“
“Boys!” McGonnagal admonished.
With one last huff, Snape continued. “As I said, the numbers the Dark Lord is planning with can be reduced to approximately a third. With the Order of Phoenix and turned Death Eaters we can easily match his numbers with adults. So, all our chosen saviour has to do is go in for the grande finale.”
“So, I’m going to hide while all of you are fighting? And then, what? You have me kill Voldemort when he’s already down and I become a murderer just like that?” Harry asked enraged.
While Draco definitely appreciated Harry being offended by having to kill the Dark Lord, he knew better than to believe that his boyfriend was focusing on anything but being left out the fight.
“We wouldn’t want to risk our hero until it’s safe for him to save the day.” Snape sneered at Harry.
“Shut it, Snivellus.” Sirius snapped. Then he turned to Harry and squeezed his shoulder in a comforting gesture. “You’re a kid, Harry. Let the adults handle it. If I could, I would leave you entirely out of this. But if you must play a role in the battle, then on safe terms. I already lost my best friend to the war. I won’t lose my godson, too.”
Harry grabbed Sirius’ hand in his. “And that’s exactly how I feel about you and the others fighting for me. I won’t stay cowardly behind while all of you risk your lifes. I lost my parents, and I don’t want to lose anymore of my family. And the best way to ensure you make it out alive is to fight beside you.”
Draco groaned. His boyfriend was a bloody idiot. Why did he have to fall in love with a Gryffindor?
“Then I will fight, too.” Draco said determined, only to be admonished by his mother. “That is out of the question, Draco!”
Harry nodded. “Your mother is right, Draco. You’re not involved in this.”
“Not involved my arse!” Draco screeched losing his temper. “We’re engaged, you absolute fuckwit!” Narcissa gasped and Tonks snickered.
“Yeah, Harry! You’re a dumbass. What have we trained for, if not to stay by your side? We’re your friends. We’ll follow you.” Ron yelled, looking affronted to be left out.
“No, no, no, guys. Come on. I have to do this alone. There is no need for you to risk anything! I want you all to be safe!” Harry was yelling now, too and shaking Draco exasperatedly. Draco just lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed by the onslaught.
“Well, aren’t you a fucking hypocrite!” the blonde boy cried. “Tell him, Hermione.”
The bushy haired girl gave Harry a slap on the arm. He stopped shaking Draco in favour of looking at his friend pleadingly. She was the smartest of them all. Surely, she would see that Harry couldn’t risk his friends getting hurt.
“Without Ron and me you would have died in first year. And we all care about you, Harry. In conclusion, your ego-trip is inefficient and just plainly dumb.” Hermione spoke very slowly as if explaining to someone very slow on the uptake. Which in Draco’s humble opinion was exactly what Harry was.
And then all hell broke lose. Adults and teenagers were screaming at each other, arguing over who was allowed to participate in the umpcoming battle.