Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) 43rd Chapter ( Chapter 43 )

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The thing I've most been dreading as a fan is that the story would be removed from the site by the hackers and the author wouldn't have access to their old chapters when the situation was eventually brought under control in the event the site moderators wouldn't be able to give the author their account back.

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PS: This Backup Upload contains minor edits for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Plus some rewording/restructuring of sentences so they make better sense and flow better. Hope you don't mind me becoming something of a Beta Reader for this Backup Upload Hancock23.

Chapter 43 - Revelations II

Living with Draco had made Harry somewhat adopt the blonde's reading habits, and he found that the exams were easier than he had ever found them before. He did not think that he had gotten everything right, but he had not been as clueless as previous finals, and it reduced his stress levels drastically.

On the last day of the exams, Dumbledore summoned them to his office. The usual culprits were in attendance-Snape, Black, Lupin, and surprisingly Tonks and Bill. Additionally, Frank and Alice Longbottom had followed Draco into the office for the meeting. Dumbledore had tried more than once to make them rejoin the Order, but nothing he said seemed to reach them anymore. Although he wanted them back, he could not spare a lot of effort because there were more pressing issues to be dealt with. Sighing in resignation, he indicated that the gathered people should take their seats.

"How were your exams?" Dumbledore asked conversationally, once everyone was seated.

"Manageable." Harry answered shortly.

He knew that Dumbledore had not asked them there for some small talk, so he did not expound on his answer. Instead, he waited for the headmaster to get to whatever was on his mind.

"The summer holidays will start tomorrow, and I would like to discuss your living arrangements." The headmaster began, and Draco's face fell imperceptibly. He was worried that he would be forced to go back to Grimmauld Place because the Order did not trust him; especially now that his father had seemingly opposed the dark lord.

Severus had told him that Lucius had attempted to kill the dark lord, but that was all the news he had of his father. Lucius had not tried to contact him, and Draco could not bring himself to do so. He suspected what had happened on the eve of his birthday, but the situation was so convoluted that he did not know where to begin to fix it. In the end, he decided to wait and see what Lucius would do.

"Harry will return to Grimmauld Place, and Mr Malfoy will be allowed to vacation in his residence." The headmaster continued; much to the surprise of the gathered. Like Draco, they had expected that the blonde would not be allowed to leave the Order's sights.

"Is that wise?" Sirius asked, as he looked at Draco suspiciously. This was the kind of question he was expected to ask; and he did not want to let on that he'd had a change of heart about his cousin.

"There is no other choice." Dumbledore informed regretfully. "Harry and the rest of the Order will be busy with missions, and we cannot afford a distraction in the house."

The old man gave a knowing look to his fellow Order members, and they all understood the situation. Severus had somehow managed to contact Lucius Malfoy, and as a result, they now had information about the possible locations of some of Voldemort's Horcruxes. It had been agreed that Harry and the core members of the Order would use the summer holidays to look for the Horcruxes.

As a bonus, Dumbledore hoped that distance between Harry and Draco would help Harry understand, that his place was with Ginny and the rest of the Order. It had not escaped him that Harry had fallen for the Malfoy boy, but he still hoped that it was not too late for Harry to turn back. There was simply no place for Malfoy in Grimmauld Place, let alone in Harry's future.

"However, I must insist on a chaperone for the entire summer." Dumbledore said as he looked at Draco, who was not pleased with the new condition.

"You expect me to accept a stranger into my home for the entire summer." He asked, bitterly. Draco knew that he had no choice in the matter and he hoped that the chaperone would be someone from his Grey Faction, or someone that could be reasoned with. Everything would go to hell if Moody or Kingsley were chosen for the job.

"You should shut up and be grateful that you are allowed to go home in the first place." Sirius barked.

"Mr Malfoy, we are at war, and we cannot afford any mistakes. We cannot take the chance that you will reveal something to your master." The last was said distastefully, and Draco forced himself not to refute the assertion that Voldemort was his master. "A new chaperone will be assigned to you every week."

"That's about nine strangers for the entire duration of the holiday!" Draco stated in disbelief. Even if all members of The Grey Faction within the Order of the Phoenix were chosen as chaperones, he would still need to contend with some strangers, and he had no idea how he would get through that.

"Am I to assume that we are the intended chaperones?" Severus asked, as he looked at those gathered in the room.

"You are correct, my boy." The headmaster answered. "There are still four slots to be filled, but I would like the five of you to decide on the order you will follow."

"May I suggest Charlie and Fleur for two of the remaining slots?" Bill asked carefully. It would be best if their allies were assigned to Dragon Castle; and he knew that he could convince Charlie and Fleur to join them.

"I was not aware that Charlie is back in England?" Dumbledore chided.

"He is not, but he will be arriving from Romania in four weeks. Mother has prevailed on convincing him to take a well-deserved vacation." Bill explained.

"I see." The headmaster said, as he ran his fingers through his long white beard. "His presence here will be of much help, and I do believe that he could be one of the chaperones."

"Fleur is new to the Order, but I believe she is also suitable. She has a bit of time before she begins her post at Gringotts; so she would be perfect as a chaperone for Mr Malfoy." Dumbledore seemed somewhat conflicted about accepting Fleur, but a thought had occurred to him, and all his doubts disappeared.

Fleur Delacour was a Veela, and Draco Malfoy was a teenage boy! It did not take a stretch of the imagination to think that the Veela could draw Malfoy's attention away from Harry. Dumbledore could gamble on that chance, and if it did not occur naturally, he would induce the French girl to help the process along.

"Yes; I believe Charlie and Miss Delacour will work out splendidly." Dumbledore said. "If it will not be too much trouble to Miss Delacour, I would like her to also chaperone for the remaining two weeks since she has the time."

"I doubt it will be a problem." Bill answered, though internally he felt cautious. He did not trust Dumbledore's sudden trust in Fleur, but he was not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth. He would deal with the old man's machinations later. "I will speak to her when I get back to London."

"Very well." Dumbledore gave a small clap, as he eyes twinkled madly.

"If you have finished planning my life, I will take my leave now." Draco said in a sulking voice, although he was quite pleased with the outcome. He knew that Bill would take care of things with Charlie and Fleur; so the only problem would be Tonks. However, he wasn't overly worried about that, since he was confident that the Longbottoms would be able to talk her into joining them; or at the very least, keeping their secrets.

"What if something like what happened after Christmas happens again?" Harry unexpectedly asked. He still remembered the pain of separation, and he never wanted to go through that again if he could help it.

"Another reason that I have attached a chaperone to Mr Malfoy is to ensure that if something happens, he will immediately be brought to you in Grimmauld place." Dumbledore said. "I don't expect that it will be necessary, since the bond has properly settled, but we will take the necessary precautions if there are any signs of regression."

"I see." Harry said simply, but in the back of his mind; he knew that he could not rely on chance to stay in contact with Draco. They needed to come up with a plan if they did not want to spend nine weeks without seeing or talking to each other.

After discussing the details of the living arrangements, the Order members decided that Severus would take the first week so that he would be freed to work for the Order the rest of the summer. Dumbledore dismissed Draco afterwards, and he left for the East Tower to wait for Harry.

It took another hour and a half for Harry to be released from Dumbledore's office. Although he wanted to see Draco as soon as possible, he was also reluctant to arrive at the tower. Harry had decided weeks ago that he would speak to Draco about his connection with Voldemort; and he had chosen the eve of the summer holidays to do it. He had chosen the last possible moment before the holidays, because he wanted to give Draco some time and space to think about things; because he knew that the truth would not be easy on the blonde. Harry found Draco in the sitting room of their quarters. For once, the blonde did not have a book or a chessboard in front of him; and he appeared a bit restless.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked, and then recalled the meeting that had just taken place. "Are you worried that your Grey Faction and other matters will be discovered?"

"Not particularly." Draco answered.

"Then what's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Harry, there are a lot of things I want to tell you, but I don't think I can say them out loud." Draco began, and although it was a bit dark, Harry could see that the Slytherin was paler than usual. He looked as if he was on the verge of panic, and for a moment, Harry forgot his nervousness.

"You don't have to say anything that you are not ready to tell me." Harry assured soothingly.

"That's just it, I have been ready to tell you everything for a while now; but the words get stuck in my throat." A tear appeared at the corner of Draco's right eye, and he wiped it away roughly as he smiled self-deprecatively.

"Draco..." Harry began, but the Slytherin shook his head to stop him.

"I have wanted to tell you what happened with Voldemort." Harry had suspected that what Draco wanted to speak about had to do with Voldemort, but he felt his stomach drop to his toes when the blonde confirmed it.

"Harry, I want you to know everything, but I can't bring myself to speak about it. I want to be honest with you, but I also don't want you to know how damaged I am."

Harry wanted to immediately say that Draco was not damaged, but he could see in the other's eyes that his sentiment would not be appreciated. Draco was stronger than anybody Harry knew, but, at that moment, there was a fragility about the blonde that made him want to hold him close and never let go. He wanted to destroy everything that made Draco unhappy, and he realised that he needed to know the entire truth before he could do that. Empty sentiment meant nothing.

"Harry, I feel as if every part and piece of me has been broken, mended, and rebroken more times than I can count." Draco continued solemnly in a low voice. "I have painstakingly spellotaped and meshed all my pieces together; and somehow, I have managed to put myself back together. I am a meshwork of scars, and although it's not pretty to look at, I want you to see what has made me who I am."

Harry could not look away from the naked pain and determination in the blonde's eyes as he finished his speech. Unable to say anything, Harry nodded at Draco without breaking eye contact. It seemed somehow important, and he hoped that his eyes would be able to convey what he knew in his heart. He would accept anything and everything that Draco was.

"Thank you." The Slytherin said with a small smile; as he reached into his pocket to remove something. "I prepared this a few days ago."

"What is it?" Harry asked, as he looked at the small box Draco held in his hands.

Instead of answering, the blonde lifted the box's lid to reveal a dozen small phials arranged in neat rows. Harry could see silver strands of memory within the ampoules, and he looked askance at the blonde.

"These are copies of my memories of some instances in my life." Draco said. "There are some things in there that will make you sick, but if you can; I want you to take your time and view them all. Also, the memories are very private, and I would appreciate it if you kept them away from everyone else."

"I understand." Harry said.

"Thank you." Draco said.

All the tension seemed to drain out of Draco when he handed the small box to Harry. It appeared as if the weight of the world had been lifted from Draco's shoulders, and Harry hated that he had to return it there. He wished he could spare Draco the truth, but that's not how relationships work. Draco had trusted him with the truth, and it was now his turn to do the same.

"Draco, I also want to speak to you about something." He said, and Draco immediately tensed again.

"What is it?"

"I...; Do you remember when I said that Voldemort and I are connected?" Harry asked, regretfully.

"Yes." The blonde answered in a small voice. Harry had called him Voldemort's whore back then. It had hurt badly, and although Draco wished that he could forget it; he knew that it would be a long time before he could.

"I am sorry about what I said and did back then…"
"I know."
"I need to explain everything to you, from the beginning."
"Okay."

"After my parents died, Dumbledore left me at my relatives' doorstep." Harry began. "They hated me and hated that I sometimes caused strange things to happen around me. I didn't learn until the summer before my first year that I am a wizard."

"How is that possible?" Draco asked outraged.

"I had no way of knowing until Hagrid came to get me." Harry answered, calmly.

It had taken him some time, but he had finally made his peace with his family's treatment of him. It saddened him when he thought about it, but it no longer pained him. "The Dursleys have always treated me like a house-elf; but I had to return there every summer because of my mother's protection."

"Protection?"

"My mother's sacrifice protected me against Voldemort and Dumbledore thinks that it was what caused the killing curse to rebound on him when he tried to kill me fifteen years ago."

"I have heard of sacrifice magic. Your mother must have had an unyielding wish to protect you for her sacrifice to repel the killing curse."

"Yes." Harry smiled, before turning solemn again. "However, as you know, Voldemort did not die from the rebounded curse. The reason for that is that he had created six Horcruxes, and he could not be killed until they were all destroyed."

"I suspected something like that, but I didn't think that he had so many."

Only Draco would hear about obscure things like Horcruxes and immediately recognise what they were without needing to ask. Harry almost smiled at that, but he didn't.

"That's not all." He continued in a low voice. He had decided to tell Draco everything, and although he did not want to say what would come next, he had to. "When he cast the killing curse at me, he unintentionally made another one."

Harry knew that Draco would be able to fill in the gaps from what he had said, and he did not have to wait long. It took Draco a matter of seconds to figure out that a part of Voldemort's soul was lodged in Harry, which is probably what had caused his famous lightning bolt scar.

"Does it hurt?" The blonde asked, and instinctively, he lightly touched the scar, which made Harry almost tear up. Considering what Voldemort had done to Draco, he had expected the blonde to at least be repulsed; but instead, he seemed genuinely concerned about Harry.

"It hasn't hurt since I began using the Anti-Legilimency spell." Harry said, and spared a grateful smile at Draco who blushed bashfully. "It used to hurt when I was near him or when his emotions were particularly strong. I don't know what will happen when we face each other again."

"It will probably hurt." Draco said sorrowfully. "His soul in his body and his soul in yours are naturally drawn to each other. The attraction is probably what causes you pain when you are near him."

"I figured as much." Harry said with a self-deprecating smile. "Hopefully, I will have managed to remove it before we come face to face."

"I am sure you will find a way." Draco said and for a moment, there was a distant look on his face as if he was already trying to find a solution. Harry smiled, but he did not say a word; as he waited for the blonde's attention to return to the present. When it did, they smiled at each other before Harry continued.

"Draco, the next part is the hardest, and you must believe me; if I had known what would happen, I would have killed Voldemort in that graveyard even at the cost of my life."

"Harry, what are you talking about? What graveyard?"

"Voldemort has been attacking me since I started my first year, but my mother's sacrifice protected me, and there was nothing much he could do. However, that changed after fourth year. Do you remember what happened during the last task of the Triwizard Tournament?"

Draco nodded as a contemplative look took over his face. "I don't know the details, but I recall that the cup had been turned into a portkey that activated when you touched it."

"Yes." Harry confirmed. "Cedric and I were transported to a graveyard, and before we could react, I was immobilised, and Cedric was killed."

He paused for a moment as the despair from the graveyard took him over. Harry still had nightmares about Cedric's death, and he suspected that he would continue to for as long as he lived.

"In summary, Voldemort used Pettigrew to conduct a sort of regeneration ritual. One of the ingredients of the potion was the blood of an enemy, forcibly taken." Harry said in a broken voice. "Draco, I am truly sorry. He took my blood, and with it, my mother's protection; and the attributes of my elemental magic."

Harry's words fell like a death knell in the room. The air suddenly felt thin, and although Harry wanted to see how Draco was taking the news; he was too afraid to look at the blonde.

"I am sorry, Draco; it was my fault that Voldemort hurt you. I…"

"I'm glad." Draco said, in a choked voice.

"What?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"I am glad that you did not lose your life in that graveyard." The blonde continued, and shocked, Harry finally turned to look at his husband. Draco was clearly in pain, but there was no denying the sincerity in his voice. "I am so glad that you are alive."

"I am…"

"It is not your fault." Draco said with such conviction that Harry had to stop and listen. "Voldemort may never have taken an interest in me if it were not for the blood, but it all comes down to who he is as a person. You may have the same elemental blood, but only one of you forced himself on me. You are not to blame for something that you had no control over. In the end, you are also a victim because he stole your mother's sacrifice. I am sorry, Harry."

Harry could not find anything sufficient to say to that. He felt like crying, and he pulled Draco to sit on his lap as tears began to slowly roll down his cheeks.

"It will be fine, you'll see." Draco said, as he twined his arms around his husband's neck.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours and when Harry could no longer feel his legs, they went to their bedroom where they immediately fell into restorative sleep. There was still a lot that needed to be said and summer plans that needed to be made but all that could wait until morning.

::In another part of the castle::

Gabrielle Wilson, an Ilvermony student who had been sorted into Ravenclaw, sat in the eye of a whirlpool of hundreds of books and scrolls. The pages of said books were flipping away without being touched, but their content was not spared from her scrutiny. She was using a charm to filter the content to ensure that she would not miss anything despite her fast pace.

Everything had begun a week and a half into the exams. Gabrielle had been in the library studying for the potions exam when she realised that her borrowed notes were incomplete. Annoyed, she had looked around the library only to find that the fellow Ravenclaw who had provided the notes was nowhere to be found.

Gabrielle was about to give up and head to the Ravenclaw common room when she saw the so-called golden trio studying at a nearby table. She knew that Granger was the smartest witch in the school and without a second thought, the Ilvermony girl unpacked her stuff and then went to borrow the notes from the Gryffindor.

Unfortunately for her, Granger had left her potions' book in her dormitory since she was revising for her Athimancy exam which was also on the following day. Dejected, Gabrielle made to leave, but she was stopped by Potter who offered to share his. At first, she had been sceptical because she knew that Potter was hopeless in potions.

However, she took them without hesitation the moment he assured her that they had been copied from Malfoy. Granger may have been the smartest witch in Hogwarts, but Gabrielle knew that Malfoy was superior in potions. She quickly made a copy, and after thanking Potter, she went back to her table. Gabrielle had settled back in her seat and began to study. She had only been reading for a few minutes before her eyes began to fly over the pages at a rapid pace.

After a while, she shot out of her chair and began to run around the library, collecting books from various sections. Madam Pince had not allowed her to sign out so many books at once, so she had been forced to secure the help of her fellow Ilvermony students. Together, they had managed to sign out a lot of books since Gabrielle had encountered Draco's notes.

None of the Ilvermony students bothered to find out what Gabrielle was excited about because they knew she would not say a word until she was ready. She had always been strange, but everyone in their school had come to accept her strangeness. Rumour had it that Gabrielle was autistic and that she was one of the rare types that manifested as savant geniuses.

In all honesty, the girl almost always failed in everything she did, but she was an absolute genius when it came to runes. It was also the only reason she had been chosen for the mission because MACUSA wanted her to pay close attention to Dragon World. After her discovery of Draco's notes, Gabrielle all but forgot about the exams as she threw herself wholeheartedly into research. To anyone but a runes or potions prodigy, the notes that Harry had lent her would appear normal, but fortunately, she was the former.

The notes themselves were nothing irregular, but the rune symbols that had been randomly scribbled on the margins were anything but. Gabrielle understood that the scribbler had proposed them as rune additions to the potions, and even though she was not very good in potions, she could still appreciate the brilliance of it all. The most exciting aspect of the runes was that the only ones she could not interpret were familiar from her investigation of Dragon World products. They were unique and more complex than anything she had ever come across in her extensive study of runes.

Time passed as book after book fell in a pile to Gabrielle's side until the whirlpool was no more. She had read thousands of books, and yet she had not found any of the complex runes that appeared in Malfoy's notebook. Pleased with her research and final conclusion, Gabrielle smiled to herself as she removed a white parchment from her book bag. It was the parchment that the International Confederation of Wizards had given them. Confidently, she began to write.

"I am 99.9% sure that Draco Malfoy is the owner of Dragon World. Gabrielle Wilson, Ilvermony."

Uploader's Note: This Has Been A Backup Upload of Chapter 43 of Behind the Fog by Hancock23.