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Harry Potter stood calmly up on the Astronomy Tower late at night. He was for once without his Invisibility Cloak but he knew that none of the teachers would really punish much for catching him up there; Filch was the only person he had to worry about. And even the caretaker would probably punish him lightly when he explained he was thinking about Voldemort. The stars were just barely out that night which suited Harry just fine.

“Malfoy,” Harry greeted the blond boy smoothly without even bothering to turn around, see if it was in fact Malfoy, and face the Slytherin who had just appeared at the entrance at the top of the Astronomy Tower right as the minute hand turned to midnight on the clock. “I see that you came, right on time no less. Of course I expected you to since you are in Slytherin after all.” His voice held laughter in it but he didn’t laugh, he didn’t turn around either. He could hear the Slytherin approach closer to him.

“Of course Potter,” Malfoy gave him a mocking little bow before moving around to step into his line of view where the pale moonlight was pouring over both of them making them almost ethereal in appearance. “You should know that a Malfoy never backs out of a meeting when they give their word. This is really cliché even for you Potter, midnight in the Astronomy Tower?” Draco smirked at the implications, finding them amusing.

“So?” Harry said shrugging his shoulders uncaring about how cliché the situation was because it was irrelevant to him and why he was there and why he wanted Draco there. “It’s not like anyone else knows about this little meeting except for possibly Snape and it’s not like he’s going to stop us from meeting up here. In fact he’s probably pleased that we’re trying to work out our differences so we don’t try to hex each other any longer. It will certainly make his life easier now.”

“All too true,” Malfoy smirked at Potter’s explanation.

“Let’s get a few things straight Malfoy,” Harry addressed him seriously, his green eyes flashed with suppressed anger and something more, understanding and acceptance of who and what Draco had been before they had come to their recent understanding. “Because I don’t want to worry about this any longer. Voldemort almost succeeded in having you become a dead zombie, is it going to happen to you again? I need to know if you’re strong enough to take on whatever might come your way at any point in time so I know that I can trust you to complete your tasks. No matter what happens or who it involves because I can’t afford anyone to slip up just because they aren’t prepared mentally.”

“If we’re going to be on the same side we might want to get around to using first names,” Draco said ignoring the question, the pain was still too fresh in his mind for him to answer right away and he wasn’t ready to answer. “Although that was just a suggestion Harry,” Draco said stressing the usage of Harry’s first name.

“Answer the question Draco,” Harry said lightly with a tiny smile, carefully stressing the use of the blond’s first name as well.

“I can take it,” Draco looked over at the raven haired boy with interest on his features knowing that he would take whatever was dished out to him to get what he wanted so desperately, his revenge on the monster that had killed his father and destroyed his life. “I’ve lost everything anyway so it doesn’t matter. It’s not like You-Know-Who can do anything else to me, not anything that will make much of a difference at this point. It’s not like I have anything else left to lose except for my own life and that’s rather moot don’t you think?”

“His name is Voldemort. Fear of the name increases his power so use his name. And you can think that now,” Harry’s eyes were hard like agates as he spoke still refusing to make eye contact with Draco but that didn’t bother either one, but his tone did bother Draco with how frank and detached it was almost like this didn’t mean anything to Harry or as though Harry was simply too focused on his goal of killing Voldemort. “But never be mistaken into believing that Draco because he will find something else to take from you. Even if it’s something you hate or thought that you did. He’ll get you eventually, find something to steal away. You have to be ready for that, have to be strong enough to handle that eventuality because I can guarantee it will happen.”

Draco studied the boy before him who was completely different than the one he knew from class and Quidditch matches. Obviously there was something that Harry was getting at, something that he had never heard about from the rumor mill in Hogwarts or Hogsmeade or even Knockturn Alley. He looked at the boy who was his rival in all things and now his ally and perhaps even his friend trying to figure out what it was that he was hinting at, what he could possibly know that Draco didn’t know about Voldemort, what he could possibly mean.

He couldn’t understand any of it. After all, Potter had Granger and Weasley as friends; he certainly didn’t need to be tarnishing his reputation by befriending a Slytherin let alone a Malfoy, a family that was highly suspected of supporting the Dark Lord by the Wizarding World at large. There had to be something that he wasn’t aware of, something that was making Potter do this and it couldn’t be completely out of the goodness of his heart or because of his Gryffindor traits. No, the real reason ran far deeper than that and he wanted to know what those reasons were because he wasn’t about to be used again, a pawn in another’s chess game to be moved about at any time at anyone’s whim. That role had never appealed to him and it had never suited him either.

Draco had been his father’s pawn without good reason and his father had mostly not been overt about his manipulations but Draco had still known that he was being used. He wanted to have some damn good reasons before he would let just anyone use him for their advantage.

“Why are you doing this Harry?” Draco asked with a guarded expression, watching carefully for some sort of lie if there was going to be one, almost certain that there was going to be a lie in there somewhere. “I want to know why if I’m going to join with you. I don’t want to be used again without knowing why. That’s all I ask and I think that you should tell me if I’m really going to put everything into this little venture of yours.”

“Several reasons,” Harry said softly looking in Draco’s direction at last, holding his gaze, and not backing down from the silent challenge the blonde was issuing to him. “Now might not be the best time to talk about them though. They might frighten you away and we can’t have that now can we Draco?” He was sarcastic and looked rather tired and so very old, older than anyone Draco had ever seen or met, even Dumbledore looked ages younger than Harry did in his eyes. And that surprised him because he had never seen it until now.

“Tell me,” Draco’s tone was calm but demanding. “Or I walk away now and you won’t get any help out of me Potter. I can promise you that and you’ll need my help for this unless I’m mistaken of course.”

“I thought you would say something like that,” Harry smiled weakly and turned so that his back was to Draco to look into the darkness where the moonlight could not penetrate even though it tried it’s hardest. “So I’ll tell you, on one condition though. And I want your word as a Slytherin and a Malfoy you’ll do this for me.”

“What’s that?” Draco’s eyes narrowed sharply knowing that once he gave his word he could not take it back.

“That you tell no one anything I’m about to tell you,” Harry said softly as he turned back to face Draco, his eyes were hard and calculated promising pain if his orders weren’t followed to the exact letter. “And that you think about your final decision for at least a full twenty-four hours before giving your final answer as to whether or not you’ll join my crusade to bring down Voldemort once and for all so that there’s no chance of his returning.”

“Deal,” Draco agreed easily thinking that the conditions were rather trivial and pointless to what was about to be revealed to him, thinking also that he would find it easy to follow the demands. “Now spill it Harry. We don’t have all night and in case you haven’t noticed it’s cold up here and I want to get some sleep.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard that Voldemort killed my parents,” Harry said with no emotion present in his voice or in his eyes, both were dead and his tone was cutting and blunt. “He also killed my Muggle relatives a few weeks ago, not that I really care mind you. But I didn’t want for them to be dead, it served no real purpose for any side since they weren’t fond of the Wizarding World and there was nothing they could or would have done to help me.
“There are several reasons for why I’m helping you Draco, why I’m offering you a chance at your revenge. The first reason being that I don’t want anyone else to fall to Voldemort, especially if he doesn’t even have to use Avada Kedarva or any other curses or hexes to do make them die. While I may not have liked your father or you for the past few years no one deserves to fall prey to death at the hands of that creature because he’ll put you through hell if he can before he’ll finish you off. Another reason is that you’ve changed whether you see it or not or whether you even want to see it. You aren’t the same petty person that you once were. You’re not the same person who tried to be malicious just to make yourself seem strong and popular. Voldemort has also taken someone from you, someone you loved very much, and everyone deserves revenge on that snake for that one reason alone, even though Voldemort has done much worse.
“Third, I’ve changed. I haven’t grown up because I was never much of a child in the first place, I’ve just seen reality a little more clearly and I’ll do anything it takes to win and to eventually kill Voldemort so that there’s no way he can come back. I’ll make whatever sacrifices I have to in order to kill him and I know that I’ll need all the help I can get from everyone who’s willing. You have power Draco, power that I can use to my advantage in order to bring Voldemort down.
“There’s also the fact that you understand all of this. Oh and I should never forget that you are in Slytherin and hold some amount of sway over your fellow House members.”

“The great Harry Potter has indeed changed,” Draco drawled out languidly as he stretched briefly. “Before you would have been more alive, but now just look at you, you’re just a machine and nothing more. Or will you blame that on Voldemort as well?”

“Shut up!” Harry turned on him suddenly his eyes were piercingly bright and the sneer on his face made Draco freeze and wish that he’d kept his mouth shut because that sneer was almost bad as Severus Snape’s worst sneer and in many ways it was worse. “Do you want to know something Draco, something I’ve never told anyone? The Sorting Hat wanted to put me into Slytherin, said that I would accomplish great things there and I don’t doubt what it said was true but I didn’t want Slytherin I wanted Gryffindor so that’s where it put me because I told it to. Otherwise we would have been House mates and I have no doubt I would have accomplished great things. As for being a machine I don’t deny that charge at all. I’ll be one until I kill Voldemort because as a machine I won’t make as many mistakes that might cost people their lives, my emotions won’t get in the way when I’m fighting out there on the battlefield. I’ll be able to keep going until it’s over before I mourn.
“You think you’re a good actor Draco Malfoy but I’m a hundred times better than you could ever hope to be and don’t ever forget it.”

“Believe me I won’t forget it even it I tried,” Draco said looking at him with renewed interest and some amount of awe that he couldn’t keep off his face even if he had tried to keep his features under control like he normally did. “The Hat was right about what it told you, you know. You would have done great things. You would have learned much and held a great power, you would have ruled Slytherin, with a little help or course.”

“Yes, I could have done all those things, but they would have been great and probably horrible things,” Harry admitted truthfully as his eyes dimmed away from the color of the killing curse and seemed to reflect inward to the past. “I know that if I had gone there I could be worse than Voldemort, that most likely I would be worse than what he is, was or ever could want to be. Not to mention that most of the other Slytherins and their parents would be trying to kill me.”

“Evil isn’t the only thing to come out of our House,” Draco reminded him quietly.

“Power gets into the minds of the weak,” Harry shot back quickly. “I needed Gryffindor for my first few years. I needed the truth and loyalty so that I wouldn’t turn out like Tom Riddle. I needed the safety of knowing someone in my own House wasn’t out to kill me. But now, now I don’t need a House.”

“I must admit you are right with that assessment Potter,” Snape’s voice was smooth like silk as he pulled off Harry’s Invisibility Cloak from where he had been standing at the far end of the battlements where he could overhear nothing except for the last statement made by Harry because his voice had been louder than it had been previously and his sudden appearance startled Draco causing him to become more pale than usual. “But you need both Gryffindor and Slytherin in order to fully reach your potential. Both Houses must come together to help you or you will fall.”

“So glad you decided to join us at last Professor,” Harry said with a greeting nod in Snape’s direction and a faint smile of amusement at his sudden appearance. “And I know you’re right, as always Severus.”

“Why is he here?” Draco asked slightly confused, trying to recover himself sufficiently from his shock at seeing his Head of House materialize out of nowhere.

“Because he’s been training me this whole year in the Dark Arts,” Harry shot an indecipherable look at Snape who stood off to the side before looking back at Draco. “He will be my partner in the field when the time comes for the last of the battles. I want you to be another of my partners Draco. You have the ability. Think it over. It is why I asked you up here after all.”

“And this is how you mean to make it right Harry?” Draco asked looking at him carefully waiting for an answer, some justification.

“He can’t make it right for you Mr. Malfoy,” Snape drawled out with a slight smirk at the boy’s confusion. “Only you can decide what will make it right for you. If it is revenge you want you’ll find it with us here, it all depends on what you want and need.”

Draco looked between the two and for the first time he could see just how close they really were, how this whole year they had been acting out their hatred to convince everyone that there was nothing there. He envied them because he wanted to be close like that with Harry, with someone, but it seemed the Snape had already claimed that spot before he had even had a chance. Apparently he really had read the look in Harry’s gaze incorrectly.

Snape moved up behind Harry’s left shoulder watching his student closely, his own expression betraying nothing. Not even his eyes showed anything that might prove to be useful. Draco turned to Harry and saw almost the same expression, one that held nothing in it and curiously even his green eyes were entirely blank for once. He should have expected as much since Harry was the Boy Who Lived. He should have known that he was already taken and it was obvious by the way Snape loomed protectively behind him, watching as he always seemed to have done.

His Head of House was always watching, taking in everything and waiting to use the information he filed away or used in preparing to strike. Just like he did in the Potions classroom. He thought back over the past year and realized that the man had been assigning many more detentions to Potter than he had in the past but it hadn’t tipped him off that anything had been going on.

“Do understand now Draco?” Harry asked his voice strong but it didn’t carry far. “It’s your choice. Go and think about it.”

Draco nodded hoping that his face was as blank as theirs were. He went back down the stairs and met Blaise Zabini on his way up.

“Zabini,” He said calmly not at all surprised.

“Draco,” Blaise said looking over at him and noticing the change in the blond. “I see that Harry finally spoke to you. He said something about it but didn’t say when he would. If you see anyone else don’t say anything. We’re having a meeting tonight.”

“A meeting of whom?” Draco asked curious, confused and hoping for more information if he could get any.

“Can’t say,” Blaise looked at him mysteriously before speaking again. “Although I thought Harry might have said something about it to you.”

“He didn’t,” Draco said looking carefully at the other Slytherin. “Just told me to think over joining his cause for at least twenty-four hours before giving him my final answer. Snape’s up there by the way.”

“I’m not surprised by that,” Blaise shrugged casually not letting anything slip. “Go back and think about it. At least you got a chance. I got blackmailed into doing this but now I enjoy it. I’m glad I’m on his side. Hopefully you’ll make the right choice for you.”

Draco headed down the flight of stairs after bidding Blaise goodnight. He passed only a few other people on their way up, Hermione Granger and perhaps most surprisingly the Weasley Twins.

He went back down to his room and lay back on the bed with a little flop. He had a lot of thinking to do but he had already made his choice to get revenge and to help Harry get his. It meant much the same thing anyway.

The Meeting

“Is everyone here Severus?” Harry asked his partner quietly.

“Granger, Zabini, the four Weasley’s that can make it,” Snape said ticking them off on his fingers. “Lupin and of course Madame White.”

“Good,” Harry breathed.

“Nervous?” Snape drawled, amused at the thought.

“No,” Harry said calmly watching all the people file in and take their places. “I haven’t been nervous about anything involving Voldemort for a long time, unless you count the Triwizard Tournament.”

Snape chose not to say anything. There was no need to. He understood Harry better than anyone present.

“Everyone,” Harry addressed the group, his tone going no further than the farthest person gathered there. “You all know why we’re here tonight. Fred, George, have you perfected that little item?”

“But of course,” Fred said with a smile, for some reason Harry could always tell them apart.

“We even managed to make it look like a piece of candy too,” George added helpfully.

“What it does-”

“Is create a big shield of smoke that also covers the casters voice and any noise they make from-”

“Being heard,” Fred finished for his brother. “At least that’s what the yellow ones do.”

“The green ones on the other hand-”

“Cause all those who aren’t wearing one of our charms to be frozen for five minutes-”

“Of course they have to be within a five foot radius,” George finished.

“Thank you both,” Harry said with a smile in their direction. “Moving right along. Remus, have you been able to get an answer from the werewolves?”

“Yes,” Remus said looking towards Severus. “They’ve agreed to help in the final battle but not before then. They’re trying to gather up more volunteers but there aren’t very many. Voldemort will have some of the werewolves as well.”

“By the way I have your Wolfsbane for this month,” Snape said to Remus, briefly interrupting the meeting. “Tell me when you want it. Also tell your little were-friends I’d be willing to make them a supply of Wolfsbane for the help they’re offering us.”

Remus looked a little shocked at this offer but was very grateful. “Thank you Severus,” He breathed.

“Don’t thank me,” Severus sneered and put as much venom as he could into his next words which wasn’t much at all. “Thank your little Gryffindor prodigy, he was the one who was able to convince me well enough to do it for them.”

“Harry,” Ginny spoke up not wanting to hear anything more on Snape and Harry and their new found closeness. “Have you had anymore dreams or visions?”

“Not this week,” Harry said. “But it feels like it won’t be far off, perhaps not this summer but soon enough as far as we’re all concerned.”

All the heads nodded solemnly. They could understand what he meant. All who were present had been a part of the Order of Godric and Salazar for the past year and a half. It had been brought together by Harry Potter and contained only those who had been either Slytherin or Gryffindor or by someone who strongly contained and exhibited the traits of either House in the cases of Krum and White.

They had either been forced to join or had joined out of their own choice in order to help Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, destroy Voldemort and to train together to be near him during the final battle. He would need all the help he could get since he would be going up against Voldemort. With the help of his secret Order he would be hopefully able to get close enough to strike the killing curse at his mortal enemy and finally bring him down and end the terror that he had brought to the Wizarding World.

“Well Potter,” Blaise said with no malice tracing his words, it had been missing for many months now that he was finally glad to be a part of the Order. “Things are beginning to move ahead finally. I will try my best to convince Draco to join our ranks. We need him no matter what other people may think.”

“How did you know about that?” Harry asked simply not at all surprised that Blaise had found out that he had spoken with Draco.

“Met him on his way down from here,” Blaise supplied the information readily enough. “You know we can all keep our mouths shut about what goes on within the Order. Malfoy will be a powerful asset to our ranks, one we shouldn’t overlook just because of a few grudges,” He glanced pointedly at the Weasley’s. “He is powerful and when he comes of age or begins training with us he’ll become even more so.”

“There was one other reason I called this meeting,” Harry said acting as though Blaise had reminded him of something he had forgotten, which wasn’t likely since Harry was always organized now. “My power has increased, it seems I’ve already come of age this weekend.”

“But you’re not even seventeen,” Madame White objected looking him up and down.

“Apparently he takes after Riddle in more ways than we had previously thought,” Severus answered softly a tiny bit of strain edged its way into his voice and eyes. “Riddle was an early bloomer as well.”

“Has Harry been tested yet?” Hermione asked eagerly wanting to know all the details and statistics.

“By the Headmaster no less,” Severus responded coolly, forgetting about Riddle for the time being. “And even he was surprised at how much power the boy had, which says a lot. I expected no less from Harry though. He is a Potter and he does have some of Riddle’s essence in him as well. It was only to be expected that he would reach this zenith after a period of time.”

“Yes well enough of that,” Harry brushed it off quickly, not wanting to dwell on the reminders of what he shared with Riddle. “We need to get some sleep so everyone is dismissed unless anyone has something that needs to be addressed?”

“How about a small demonstration Harry?” Blaise asked with a smirk.

“Very well,” Harry responded evenly.

He Apparated and reappeared directly behind Blaise.

“That good enough for you?” He asked Blaise coldly. “Or would you like me to kill something? Or perhaps would you like me to charm an army of snakes into loyally serving me and only me?”

“Potter!” Severus scowled at him harshly. “Watch what you’re saying.”

“Sorry Severus,” Harry turned his gaze off Blaise and returned it to the stars shining brightly above the group.

Blaise was white but other than that he betrayed nothing as to what he might have felt from Harry’s little rave. Yes, they would definitely need Malfoy sooner rather than later. He was one of the few people who could get away with provoking Harry and trading off insults with him while most of the rest would be too afraid or worried to continue prodding him on. His little outbursts were getting more and more frequent because he couldn’t let out anything, he held in everything, or nearly everything that he felt.

Blaise also knew that Draco would be able to keep the Slytherins together because he was a natural born leader and he was powerful. He would be the perfect asset to their cause and there was only so much that Blaise could do without having his Housemates get suspicious but with Draco no one would question anything, at least not to his face and that was just what they needed. Not only that but none of the Slytherins would dare to get in Draco’s way if he told them to clear out and they wouldn’t dare to disobey him if he was cross even a little bit.

“Listen Potter,” Blaise said standing and brushing off his robes. “It’s been fun and all but I need to get back. Questions will crop up, one’s I can’t afford to have asked of me right now. Especially without Draco to back me up.”

Harry nodded and Blaise quickly fled. He wasn’t scared of Harry per say but he did hold the other in a high amount of respect and he knew that he shouldn’t cross the fine line of pissing Harry Potter off if he wanted to live to see another day. He wasn’t stupid. No Slytherin was when it came to their own skin.

Blaise slipped carefully back through the Slytherin common room and up to the sixth year dorms.
He was in the same year as Harry and his friends, a year above Ginny Weasley. She wasn’t so bad considering the fact that she was a Weasley but she was smart and quick witted, something her brother Ron was not always gifted with. He was lucky that no one had been waiting up for him or it would have made things rather difficult for him.

“Zabini,” Draco’s voice was so soft that he almost wasn’t certain he’d heard it. “Come here.”

Now the last part he had heard for certain. A small frown furrowed his brow as he tried to think about what it could be that Draco would want with him.

“What is it Draco?” Zabini asked looking at the slim blond Slytherin who was now before him, the shadows still partly blocking his face.

“I’m joining,” Draco said with a tiny smirk. “Tell him for me. I can’t be caught talking to him unless it’s a fight of some sort but you could get away with it. Everyone thinks you’re too kind to have been a Slytherin but you have them all fooled don’t you Zabini? Just like Potter has everyone fooled, except for a select few that is.”

“What do you mean?” Blaise asked suspiciously.

“You’re nice so that no one will question you when you have to do something kind,” Draco supplied his observations readily. “And Potter, he’s more like Voldemort than you could ever imagine Zabini.”

“Oh no Draco,” Blaise breathed with an eerie smile on his face as he fought the urge to laugh darkly, mostly for effect but he couldn’t risk the noise. “He’s much more like Voldemort than you could ever realize. You say it without much evidence but I’ve seen him, I’ve heard him and soon you will too and you’ll understand why I go to him willingly. He won’t expect you to bow to him and worship the ground he walks on Draco, Voldemort does and will. Harry just wants him dead and after that he wants a long vacation.”

Draco said nothing and let Blaise go into the dorms. It was going to be a long night, with many more things to think about.



Harry Potter stood calmly up on the Astronomy Tower late at night. He was for once without his Invisibility Cloak but he knew that none of the teachers would really punish much for catching him up there; Filch was the only person he had to worry about. And even the caretaker would probably punish him lightly when he explained he was thinking about Voldemort. The stars were just barely out that night which suited Harry just fine.



"Malfoy," Harry greeted the blond boy smoothly without even bothering to turn around, see if it was in fact Malfoy, and face the Slytherin who had just appeared at the entrance at the top of the Astronomy Tower right as the minute hand turned to midnight on the clock. "I see that you came, right on time no less. Of course I expected you to since you are in Slytherin after all." His voice held laughter in it but he didn't laugh, he didn't turn around either. He could hear the Slytherin approach closer to him.



"Of course Potter," Malfoy gave him a mocking little bow before moving around to step into his line of view where the pale moonlight was pouring over both of them making them almost ethereal in appearance. "You should know that a Malfoy never backs out of a meeting when they give their word. This is really cliche even for you Potter, midnight in the Astronomy Tower?" Draco smirked at the implications, finding them amusing.



"So?" Harry said shrugging his shoulders uncaring about how clich