Chapter Thirteen

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Glen watched in horror as a boy, younger than he and his father, and covered in what appeared to be flour, walked through the door from the kitchen. As soon as he saw him, he knew who it had to be. Draco Malfoy. His father had told him all about the events of the day he arrived, including what he had done to his school nemesis. If this was indeed the same boy, Glen knew that the situation would only get worse. He watched apprehensively as the expression on the blond's face turned from curiosity to shock, and finally to anger as he watched Harry talking away to Heather. For Glen, everything seemed to go in slow motion as the young Slytherin lunged forward and landed a hard punch on the side of Harry's face. Heather leapt up, screaming, and Glen shook himself out of his stupor and got up to help. Rushing forward, he ran over to where Draco was sitting on the unconscious seventh year's ribs, punching him repeatedly. With a great deal of effort, Glen managed to grab the enraged blond and drag him away from Harry. With a wave of his hand, the ancient boy cast a quick enervate on his father, before punching the downed Draco firmly in the ribs.

As Harry slowly regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was the cloud of white powder floating around in the air. With a slight frown marring his forehead, he reached up and captured some of the substance in his hand and brought it to his lips, touching it tentatively with his tongue. With a slight grimace, he recognised what it was.

“ Flour?” he whispered to no-one in particular.

“ Harry! You're awake! Thank Merlin,” came Heather's voice, drifting over from his left. Turning his head cautiously so as not to make himself any more dizzy, he looked up at the stricken face of his aunt.

“ Aunt Heather? What's going on?”

“ Harry, you need to get up. Draco and Glen are going at it and I don't want to try and stun one of them incase I hit the wrong one.”

“ What? What would it matter who you hit?”

“ Because it's rather one sided. If I hit Draco, I'll just be taking away his way of defending himself.”

“ Riiiiight, so I'm assuming Malfoy was the one to hit me.”

“ And Glen attacked him….”

“ Yes, in retaliation. Draco was punching you repeatedly, and Glen dragged him off.”

“ That would explain why I feel so dizzy. Why doesn't Glen just use magic?”

“ I don't know. But if you don't do something fast, this is just going to get worse. They both need medical attention as it is, as do you.”

“ Oh, alright! Help me sit up.”

Heather willingly held out her arm, and Harry grabbed on tight. As Heather pulled, the boy pushed with his other arm and was soon leaning against one of the armchairs. From where he was sitting, he could see what was going on. Flour filled the air, from where it originated he couldn't yet tell. The furniture was upturned, and the tea service lay smashed on the carpet. On the other side of the room, Draco and Glen were rolling around on the floor, trying to strangle each other. With a huge sigh, Harry gathered what was left of his strength and pointed a hand at each of the boys. With a muttered `stupefy', two beams of red light headed for the jumble of limbs, one hitting each of the two quarreling boys. Immediately, they fell to the floor, limp, and Harry, with a smile on his face, drifted once more into unconsciousness.

The next time Harry woke up he was lying on his back next to the prone forms of Draco and Glenadade. Pushing himself up slowly, he waited for the room to stop spinning before taking a tentative look around. From what he could gather, he was on a large double bed in what appeared to be Heather's bedroom. His location was confirmed when his worried looking aunt came into the room carrying a bowl of warm water and several cloths. As soon as she saw Harry was awake, some of the tension disappeared from her face.

“ Harry, thank Merlin! I was so worried! How are you feeling?”

“ A little disorientated, and dizzy. It's starting to pass, though. What happened?”

“ You don't remember?”

“ I remember being hit on the temple. Then nothing for a while, before I was woken up. Glen and Malfoy were fighting….”

“ That's right. Do you remember what happened after that?”

“ I….stunned them?”

“ Yes, then you fell unconscious again. That was three hours ago. The other two are still stunned, but I've managed to stop the bleeding. Are you any good at medimagic?”

“ I have some experience with elven spells, and they're more advanced than those of wizards. I'll see what I can do.”

“ Harry, are you sure you're up for this?”

Harry sat back a moment and fully assessed how he felt. He was slightly queasy from the blow to the head, but he could feel his vampiric healing ability slowly repair the damage done by the blond Slytherin. His bruises were nearly all faded, and his cuts were healing over nicely.

“ I'll be fine in a couple of minutes. I think I'm well enough to treat these two, though. What exactly are we dealing with?”

“ Well, they're still stunned, as I thought it was best you undid the spell. I don't know what their reaction is going to be when they wake up, so I thought it best that you were awake to deal with it,” Heather explained.

“ Good point. Malfoy was the one who attacked me, so I'm going to sort him out last. Let him suffer a bit first.”

“ You can't take that attitude!”

“ I can and I will. Heather, he punched me!”

“ Yes, but you can see why he's angry at you. He's had his magic taken away from him, and was thrust into a world that is completely alien to him. How did you think he was going to respond to that? You knew when you came that he would be here.”

“ Aunt Heather, I don't think you quite get it. Do you know why I was out so long?”

“ Because he hit you in the head?”

“ Heather, he didn't just hit me in the head. He hit me in the temple. Hard.”

“ I was out so long because he nearly killed me! I can feel it. I knew as soon as I woke up. When you told me how long I had been unconscious, I knew what had happened. My vampiric healing means that I should regain consciousness within minutes of being knocked out. I think that if I had been fully human, the blow would have killed me.”

Heather was shocked. Harry could hear it in her voice when she spoke.

“ B-but he didn't hit you that hard…”

“ No, but he did hit me in the temple.”

“ No wonder Glen attacked him.”

“ I know. I need to have a word with my son about this. And Malfoy. But I'll sort their injuries out first.”

That said, Harry levered himself off the bed and slowly made his way over to his son. When he was ststanding next to him, he held his hands over the prone form and started to mutter to himself in the elven tongue. A soft light grew around the boy, and Harry started to frown as he chanted. When he stopped, he turned to an awed Heather.

“ He's got three cracked ribs, a fractured ankle and a large quantity of cuts and bruises.”

“ That sounds quite bad…”

“ It could be worse. He's tough, fortunately.”

Harry stretched his hands over the named areas and changed the chant. Intermittently, he would pull various herbs and potions out of his pocket, which he would administer as necessary. Finally, after treating both of the unconscious boys, he fell back in his chair and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

Heather came over with the now cool bowl of water and mopped the sweat from her nephew's forehead. When she was finished, she noticed he had fallen asleep, and levitated him onto the bed next to the others. That done, she reheated the water with a muttered spell and washed the blood from all three boys as she waited for them all to wake up.

The next time Harry opened his eyes, it was dark in the room. The curtains had been drawn and the lights were all switched off. With a simple thought, Harry filled the room with a faint glow, showing him his surroundings more clearly. The events of the day came back to him when his gaze landed on Draco. With a sigh, he created a mental connection to his aunt.

~Yes. Could you come up here, please, I would like to revive these two~

~Alright, I'll be there soon~

As Harry was waiting, he felt a slight movement on his wrist. Looking down, he spotted the small head of Nirah peeking out of his sleeve.

*Are you alright, Nirah?* he asked the snake.

*I am fine, Master, as is Simbi. We were just wondering what had happened*

*A minor dispute, that's all*

*Yes, but I'm fine now. I just met up again with Draco Malfoy. You know, the one whose magic I took away…*

*I am not surprised he attacked you! I dread to think what would happen to Simbi and me if we lost our telepathy. It is part of who we are, as magic is a part of who he is*

*I know what you're trying to say, but he needs to be taught a lesson…*

*Yes, he does, but are you sure this is the way to do it? From what I can see, there are two possible outcomes to this situation. Either he will learn about Muggles, as you hope, and realise the error of his ways. Or, he could turn his anger at you into a hate so intense it will consume him. Simbi and I fear that over the next two months, you will either find yourself with a tentative ally or neutral player, or a new Dark Lord in the making*

*We believe that his fear of the unknown could be his undoing. The fear will turn to anger, that his anger will turn to hate. Hate will turn to the suffering of others. Hate inevitably leads to the Dark Side*

*Yes, Master Yoda, I get the point*

*Yoda?* Nirah asked in a confused tone. Harry simply rolled his eyes and looked up at the doorway, where Heather was standing, trembling. Without a second thought, Harry leapt from the bed and ran over to her. She immediately let out a light scream and fled to the corner of the room, where she curled up in a ball and started to rock. Harry knelt down beside her, but she flinched violently when he tried to touch her. Unfortunately, Harry heard moans coming from behind him. Looking back, he noticed that the two other boys were groggily sitting up. The stunning curses had worn off.

“ What's going on?” Draco asked the room in general.

“ Shut up, Malfoy,” Harry said, venom in his voice. This only served to frighten Heather more.

“ What's going on, Dad?” Glen asked. Draco eyed the boy next to him in shock.

“ Yes, he's my dad. Now shut up.”

Draco snapped his mouth shut and watched the events in front of him unfold. Harry reached once more for his aunt, but she shrank back even more. When he got close enough, he could hear what she was muttering to herself.

“ No, please, no, I'm safe here, He can't get me, no, it's not real, He's not here…”

“ Aunt Heather, it's me, Harry. Voldemort isn't here, you're safe.”

After a little coaxing, Heather finally looked in her nephew's direction, horror etched on her face.

“ You're like Him. Just like Him. Talking just like Him. He'll come, come and get me, he will. Some day. I'll never be free. Never.”

When Heather burst into sobs, Harry did the kindest think he could. He muttered a deep sleep charm, releasing her temporarily from her torment. With a huge sigh, he stood up and faced the confused boys on the bed.

“ Come downstairs, you two, I think there are a few things we need to discuss.”

Once they were all settled in the recently repaired living room, Harry conjured up some tea and biscuits for them all. After a moment of awkward silence, Draco spoke.

“ Well, Potter, what was all that about?”

“ Aunt Heather, as you will know by now, was captured by Voldemort. When I rescued her, I promised she would be safe from him. When she came upstairs just now, I was talking to one of my pet snakes. The parseltongue must have made her suffer a flashback. I don't know how I'm going to fix this…”

“ Well, you certainly seem to be making a mess of people's lives at the moment, Potter,” Draco sneered, “ If I didn't know that your Gryffindorish sense of honour would prevent it, I would say you were doing it on purpose.”

“ You don't know what you're talking about, Malfoy.”

“ Really? Well, from what I can gather, you've just scared away the only relative you have that actually loves you. Great going, Potter.”

“ And what's this about a son?” Draco continued, “ Where did he spring up from? Been putting it about a bit on your travels, have you Potter? Been getting young harlots pregnant? And at such a tender age…”

Harry couldn't take it any more. He leapt to his feet and pointed his hand at Draco, throwing a pain curse his way. The Slytherin dropped to the floor, screaming as the pain wracked his body. Glen watched on in horror as his father tortured his school enemy. After a few minutes, Harry dropped the curse and stared at the wheezing boy on the floor. Draco simply opened his eyes, and smiled a little, despite the pain.

“ You know…Potter,” he gasped out, “ You pretend to be…all high…and mighty…the saviour of the…bloody…wizarding world…but deep down…you're the same as your…enemy. A Muggle torturer…just…like…Voldemort…”

That said, the Malfoy heir dropped into unconsciousness. Harry's expression changed from satisfied to concerned, and finally he paled and stared in shock at the body at his feet. How many times had he seen this before? How many victims of the Death Eaters had he seen on the floor in front of their torturers, both in reality and in visions? Muggles lying broken at their feet. Just. Like. Draco. Harry looked up at his son, and hated what he saw. Shock, disappointment, and fear were etched into his face. Fear. His son feared him. Harry couldn't bear to see that.