Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Duality
Proof?
HBP AU. It's hard enough being a teenager; add nefarious plots, the Dark Lord, and house rivalries into the mix. A story about enlightenment, growing up, and getting over yourself. Harry/Daphne.
?Blocked
Author’s Note: Thanks for the reviews! I think I’m getting addicted to them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please review. :)
Disclaimer: Alas, I can only borrow.
Duality: Proof?
oOo
Harry found himself in a broom cupboard four days later with Daphne, after she had sent him a letter with the location of their meeting. He hadn’t seen her at all lately and, oddly, sort of missed her, but she and Zabini were probably busy searching for proof.
As he watched her light up a cigarette, he wondered if he should take her to Slughorn’s party, or even if she would agree. They needed to keep their relationship a secret – he knew that – yet, everyone was already speculating on the possible Slytherins that he could be involved with anyway. So, why not?
However, since she was already in Slughorn’s little group, she’d probably ask him, or they’d talk about it sometime…
Harry shifted uncomfortably. The cupboard they picked for this meeting was much more cramped than the average cupboard.
“I could probably tell you everything about Draco Malfoy except what he’s up to,” Daphne finally spoke, with a frustrated sigh over her cigarette. “I don’t know if what we have is tangible proof, though.”
Harry stared, his lips slightly parted in surprise. They worked fast. “What do you have on him?”
Reaching into her bag, he waited in anticipation, hoping with all hope that it was bloody good – did Borgin and Burkes give receipts? If they did, that would be excellent proof. He doubted a blackmarket shop like Burkes would do that though.
Her hand was clutched around a rather large bottle of – familiar looking vomit-coloured potion? “Polyjuice,” Daphne said with a smirk. “What I’m guessing is that Draco paid someone to sit his detention while he took care of business, but this is a hell of a lot of Polyjuice to save.”
“How is that not ‘tangible proof’?” Harry asked, grabbing the bottle and flipping it over in his hands, as if it would reveal another secret on the other side of the bottle.
“We could have brewed it ourselves and pinned it on him. It’s our word against his when we have this type of evidence,” she explained. Her words settled sickly in his stomach, mostly because they were so recognizable, and he had the intense feeling of déjà vu.
Tom Riddle versus Hagrid.
When he looked up at Daphne, he saw her in a different light. Tom Riddle had said something along the lines. Slytherins thought like that – they were a very devious lot after all. He hated to say that it was brilliant. The average Gryffindor would have gone straight to McGonagall without a second thought. Daphne analyzed the situation first. She wanted concrete proof.
It made sense.
There was a knock at the door of the cupboard. “It’s Blaise,” a low grumble of a voice sounded from outside.
Daphne quickly unlocked it and flung it open to let in her fellow Slytherin counterpart involved on the mission. “Any luck?” she asked after he closed the door. The lock clinked shut after him.
Harry stared at both of them and wondered where in the world Zabini would sit in this awfully tiny cupboard, but Daphne skittered over onto his lap without warning, which solved that problem. He shifted in his seat again – she was a lot heavier than she looked. She took a long drag on her cigarette and blew smoke toward the ceiling.
“Draco’s getting Greg and Vince to Polyjuice into girls but that was all I could get out of their minds.”
Harry’s brows furrowed. He asked, “Their minds?” at the same time Daphne idly commented, “Kinky.”
“Legilimancy, Potter. It’s not exactly difficult, but I was strapped for time and didn’t want it look suspicious by going through too much. I’m sure I went unnoticed – I only got some of the surface thoughts and images.”
“Right,” Harry muttered, reminded sorely of Snape. No wonder they worked fast if they were resorting to legilimency for information.
Daphne moved a bit on his lap, obviously trying to get comfortable. “So, other than his obviously kinky side, we know he’s working for the Dark Lord. There must be something he’s up to that’s incredibly important…” Daphne muttered aloud.
“How do you know for certain that he’s working for the Dark Lord?” Harry asked. He had suspicions and would believe it in a heartbeat, but he also knew that Daphne was careful about every little piece of information she came across. There must have been proof of correspondence or something.
“We paid Theo and gave him a time-frame of twenty-four hours to do anything and everything to coerce Draco into giving him information.” Daphne paused. “He got all up close and personal with Draco’s Dark Mark.” She grinned as if it were amusing, but Harry didn’t see anything amusing about that.
“How is that anything to smile about? He’s a Death Eater!”
“You didn’t know?”
Harry’s eyebrows rose. “Know what?”
“Draco doesn’t have much of a sexual preference – Theo was rather reluctant.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Wait. You paid Nott to sleep with Malfoy?” Harry frowned, a disgusted look marred his expression. “And all this only took… four days?”
Daphne shrugged. “It’s not like we had anything else to do and I didn’t exactly pay Theo to sleep with him. I paid him for information. Draco sort of trusts Theo. But anyway, we know for certain that he has the Dark Mark – Theo confirmed it this morning.”
Harry grinned suddenly, his mind whirling. The Ministry noted in the Daily Prophet every week that any person with a Dark Mark, or anyone who had a connection to “You-Know-Who”, was wanted for capture. The Dark Mark was pretty damning evidence.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said. “The Aurors… we should send them a letter.”
Daphne’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Send an anonymous tip!”
“Anonymous?” That wasn’t exactly his idea.
“False accusations can’t be pinned on us in case he finds a way to hide it from them-”
“His father was caught by the Aurors a few times before they actually had the Mark as proof he was a Death Eater,” Zabini drawled. “Old Malfoy probably found a way.”
“But why wouldn’t he hide it when Nott… slept with him?” Harry asked, thinking that it would have been the smart thing to do.
Shrugging again, Daphne blew out a puff of smoke. “I’m guessing he was caught unawares. Theo’s very quiet and Draco trusts Theo to be loyal to him. Arrogance can really bite you in the arse sometimes.”
Harry nodded in agreement and looked over at Zabini’s indifferent expression. “I’ll write the letter tonight then.” After Quidditch practice, he added in his head.
“Actually,” Zabini started with a smirk, “I’ll write the letter.”
“Why would you write the letter?” Harry asked, his forehead creased in the centre.
Leaning back against the far wall, Zabini shrugged a shoulder. “I know some good forging spells that won’t tip the Aurors off on my handwriting.” The Slytherin boy’s eyes grazed over his form. “I doubt your extra-curricular activities include learning illicit practices.”
Harry snorted. Trust Zabini to demean him for not breaking the law. “So I should just leave it all to you?” he asked uneasily, glancing up at Daphne. He had never felt so… inactive in all his life. He was used to acting right away – being the key player in the whole mess of things. This was decidedly different. He was almost useless.
“Yes, leave it to us,” Daphne said with a nod, vanishing her dead cigarette with her wand. “Your job is to keep a keen eye on Draco to see where he goes and what he’s doing in the meantime. He disappears at half-four in the morning, at lunch, after dinner, and usually late at night – around ten or eleven.”
Harry quickly catalogued those times in his brain. At least he could do something. He’d been keeping watch on Malfoy, but not always during those times. That’s what he was missing – a proper schedule. He usually studied with Hermione after dinner and was busy actually eating lunch. Then, otherwise, he was asleep. Malfoy was incredibly sneaky. Did he know that Harry was watching him?
“Then, hopefully, he’ll be caught unaware when the Aurors come to arrest him,” Daphne muttered, staring at the door. She waved her wand and it unlocked.
She and Zabini stood. “Wait a few minutes before you leave. And Millicent’s been rather suspicious of me lately, so I’ll send you a letter of when we can meet.”
Harry nodded in agreement and silently watched them walk out, only to have Zabini turn back. “Oh and, Potter,” he said with a wide smirk.
Harry raised an inquiring eyebrow.
“You owe me eighteen Galleons for your share in Nott’s part.”
Harry just sneered in return and heard Zabini chuckle as the door banged shut behind him. It wasn’t as if it were Harry’s idea to pay Nott to sleep with Malfoy for information. Slytherins played dirty. While admirable, that was almost ridiculous.
With a sigh and a quick glance at his watch, he cursed and stood up, impatiently counting to thirty after their footsteps faded, hoping that thirty seconds was enough time. He was already five minutes late to Quidditch practice!
oOo
Disclaimer: Alas, I can only borrow.
Duality: Proof?
oOo
Harry found himself in a broom cupboard four days later with Daphne, after she had sent him a letter with the location of their meeting. He hadn’t seen her at all lately and, oddly, sort of missed her, but she and Zabini were probably busy searching for proof.
As he watched her light up a cigarette, he wondered if he should take her to Slughorn’s party, or even if she would agree. They needed to keep their relationship a secret – he knew that – yet, everyone was already speculating on the possible Slytherins that he could be involved with anyway. So, why not?
However, since she was already in Slughorn’s little group, she’d probably ask him, or they’d talk about it sometime…
Harry shifted uncomfortably. The cupboard they picked for this meeting was much more cramped than the average cupboard.
“I could probably tell you everything about Draco Malfoy except what he’s up to,” Daphne finally spoke, with a frustrated sigh over her cigarette. “I don’t know if what we have is tangible proof, though.”
Harry stared, his lips slightly parted in surprise. They worked fast. “What do you have on him?”
Reaching into her bag, he waited in anticipation, hoping with all hope that it was bloody good – did Borgin and Burkes give receipts? If they did, that would be excellent proof. He doubted a blackmarket shop like Burkes would do that though.
Her hand was clutched around a rather large bottle of – familiar looking vomit-coloured potion? “Polyjuice,” Daphne said with a smirk. “What I’m guessing is that Draco paid someone to sit his detention while he took care of business, but this is a hell of a lot of Polyjuice to save.”
“How is that not ‘tangible proof’?” Harry asked, grabbing the bottle and flipping it over in his hands, as if it would reveal another secret on the other side of the bottle.
“We could have brewed it ourselves and pinned it on him. It’s our word against his when we have this type of evidence,” she explained. Her words settled sickly in his stomach, mostly because they were so recognizable, and he had the intense feeling of déjà vu.
Tom Riddle versus Hagrid.
When he looked up at Daphne, he saw her in a different light. Tom Riddle had said something along the lines. Slytherins thought like that – they were a very devious lot after all. He hated to say that it was brilliant. The average Gryffindor would have gone straight to McGonagall without a second thought. Daphne analyzed the situation first. She wanted concrete proof.
It made sense.
There was a knock at the door of the cupboard. “It’s Blaise,” a low grumble of a voice sounded from outside.
Daphne quickly unlocked it and flung it open to let in her fellow Slytherin counterpart involved on the mission. “Any luck?” she asked after he closed the door. The lock clinked shut after him.
Harry stared at both of them and wondered where in the world Zabini would sit in this awfully tiny cupboard, but Daphne skittered over onto his lap without warning, which solved that problem. He shifted in his seat again – she was a lot heavier than she looked. She took a long drag on her cigarette and blew smoke toward the ceiling.
“Draco’s getting Greg and Vince to Polyjuice into girls but that was all I could get out of their minds.”
Harry’s brows furrowed. He asked, “Their minds?” at the same time Daphne idly commented, “Kinky.”
“Legilimancy, Potter. It’s not exactly difficult, but I was strapped for time and didn’t want it look suspicious by going through too much. I’m sure I went unnoticed – I only got some of the surface thoughts and images.”
“Right,” Harry muttered, reminded sorely of Snape. No wonder they worked fast if they were resorting to legilimency for information.
Daphne moved a bit on his lap, obviously trying to get comfortable. “So, other than his obviously kinky side, we know he’s working for the Dark Lord. There must be something he’s up to that’s incredibly important…” Daphne muttered aloud.
“How do you know for certain that he’s working for the Dark Lord?” Harry asked. He had suspicions and would believe it in a heartbeat, but he also knew that Daphne was careful about every little piece of information she came across. There must have been proof of correspondence or something.
“We paid Theo and gave him a time-frame of twenty-four hours to do anything and everything to coerce Draco into giving him information.” Daphne paused. “He got all up close and personal with Draco’s Dark Mark.” She grinned as if it were amusing, but Harry didn’t see anything amusing about that.
“How is that anything to smile about? He’s a Death Eater!”
“You didn’t know?”
Harry’s eyebrows rose. “Know what?”
“Draco doesn’t have much of a sexual preference – Theo was rather reluctant.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Wait. You paid Nott to sleep with Malfoy?” Harry frowned, a disgusted look marred his expression. “And all this only took… four days?”
Daphne shrugged. “It’s not like we had anything else to do and I didn’t exactly pay Theo to sleep with him. I paid him for information. Draco sort of trusts Theo. But anyway, we know for certain that he has the Dark Mark – Theo confirmed it this morning.”
Harry grinned suddenly, his mind whirling. The Ministry noted in the Daily Prophet every week that any person with a Dark Mark, or anyone who had a connection to “You-Know-Who”, was wanted for capture. The Dark Mark was pretty damning evidence.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said. “The Aurors… we should send them a letter.”
Daphne’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Send an anonymous tip!”
“Anonymous?” That wasn’t exactly his idea.
“False accusations can’t be pinned on us in case he finds a way to hide it from them-”
“His father was caught by the Aurors a few times before they actually had the Mark as proof he was a Death Eater,” Zabini drawled. “Old Malfoy probably found a way.”
“But why wouldn’t he hide it when Nott… slept with him?” Harry asked, thinking that it would have been the smart thing to do.
Shrugging again, Daphne blew out a puff of smoke. “I’m guessing he was caught unawares. Theo’s very quiet and Draco trusts Theo to be loyal to him. Arrogance can really bite you in the arse sometimes.”
Harry nodded in agreement and looked over at Zabini’s indifferent expression. “I’ll write the letter tonight then.” After Quidditch practice, he added in his head.
“Actually,” Zabini started with a smirk, “I’ll write the letter.”
“Why would you write the letter?” Harry asked, his forehead creased in the centre.
Leaning back against the far wall, Zabini shrugged a shoulder. “I know some good forging spells that won’t tip the Aurors off on my handwriting.” The Slytherin boy’s eyes grazed over his form. “I doubt your extra-curricular activities include learning illicit practices.”
Harry snorted. Trust Zabini to demean him for not breaking the law. “So I should just leave it all to you?” he asked uneasily, glancing up at Daphne. He had never felt so… inactive in all his life. He was used to acting right away – being the key player in the whole mess of things. This was decidedly different. He was almost useless.
“Yes, leave it to us,” Daphne said with a nod, vanishing her dead cigarette with her wand. “Your job is to keep a keen eye on Draco to see where he goes and what he’s doing in the meantime. He disappears at half-four in the morning, at lunch, after dinner, and usually late at night – around ten or eleven.”
Harry quickly catalogued those times in his brain. At least he could do something. He’d been keeping watch on Malfoy, but not always during those times. That’s what he was missing – a proper schedule. He usually studied with Hermione after dinner and was busy actually eating lunch. Then, otherwise, he was asleep. Malfoy was incredibly sneaky. Did he know that Harry was watching him?
“Then, hopefully, he’ll be caught unaware when the Aurors come to arrest him,” Daphne muttered, staring at the door. She waved her wand and it unlocked.
She and Zabini stood. “Wait a few minutes before you leave. And Millicent’s been rather suspicious of me lately, so I’ll send you a letter of when we can meet.”
Harry nodded in agreement and silently watched them walk out, only to have Zabini turn back. “Oh and, Potter,” he said with a wide smirk.
Harry raised an inquiring eyebrow.
“You owe me eighteen Galleons for your share in Nott’s part.”
Harry just sneered in return and heard Zabini chuckle as the door banged shut behind him. It wasn’t as if it were Harry’s idea to pay Nott to sleep with Malfoy for information. Slytherins played dirty. While admirable, that was almost ridiculous.
With a sigh and a quick glance at his watch, he cursed and stood up, impatiently counting to thirty after their footsteps faded, hoping that thirty seconds was enough time. He was already five minutes late to Quidditch practice!
oOo
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