Veritas Vos Liberabit [Drarry Fanfiction]

Fast and Foolish, Bewitched and Furious

Panic made his head spin the moment he saw the stricken expression on Draco's face. That lady was potentially very dangerous to all the kids in this institution and they need to do something, to get the authorities involved and stop the madwoman before she did even more damage. The elf was their only chance to discover enough incriminating information and perhaps find out the truth about Elise's murder.

The student with a homemade haircut, Kristine, was at his side trying to calm down the elf, dragging her away from the piano, her small hands pulling at her jersey helplessly.

"We need a space where she can't hurt herself!" Harry shouted.

The girl with uneven pigtails and stains of paint all over her school uniform nodded seriously and showed them the way to a small lounge that had a couple of bookcases and cushions thrown around the place. The Gryffindor grabbed the struggling house-elf and carried her there while Draco was casting a barrage of privacy spells in the room.

"Stall the mistress! Nobody needs to know we're here! We'll be back soon!" the blonde instructed the pupils.

Haley and Kristine noded and ran along the corridor. The dark-haired girl, Martha, folded her arms adamantly and demanded to stay.

"Pibs is always kind to us, I won't let you hurt her!" she said in a stern voice.

"Fine," the Slytherin exhaled, "Keep an eye on the door. If things go South hide behind me!"

"Is it really okay to have a student here with us... she's like five!" Harry objected, giving the stubborn girl an apprehensive glance.

"I'm seven!"

"She's seven and she's as hard-headed as you," Malfoy commented ruffling her black curls affectionately. "Can you do something with that creature?! Her screams are going to get attention!"

"Oi, she has a name!" Martha pouted, staring at Pibsy worriedly.

Harry put the elf down and sat on the floor next to her, charming her a large handkerchief.

"Here, Pibsy," he handed it carefully, "You need to calm down a bit, okay? You haven't done anything bad... Your mistress forbade you to speak of it, right? Er... nod if it's true."

The house-elf looked at him with her big eyes full of tears and nodded.

"Elise, she was a pupil here. She was nice to you, wasn't she? Do you know what happened to her... just nod." he tried speaking calmly not to trigger another episode of self-harm.

Pibsy continued shaking her head, her gaze darting around the classroom as if to find where to escape. Harry wasn't sure he would be able to persuade her to go with them or give any statements, but he needed to try.

"Was mistress bad to you?" he asked studying countless injuries on Pibsy's small arms and legs.

A lot of them were not self-inflicted but were remains of hexes and curses that only a wand could leave.

"Of course she was!" Martha exclaimed, "Tell him! Tell Harry! It's true!"

"Harry... Master Harry Potter?" the elf looked at him questioningly.

"Yes... er, that's me," Harry confirmed, he heard an annoyed huff from the blonde.

"Master Potter is nice to elves..." she started speaking in her trembling high-pitched voice. "Master Potter gave an elf a wizard burial... No wizard has ever done that for an elf!"

"You buried Dobby? You actually buried a house-elf?" Malfoy asked surprized.

"He was a friend! He was a hero!" the Gryffindor shouted defensively. "I know for you purebloods he was just a property, but he fought with us!"

He didn't mean to get so emotional at that moment. But the fact that Draco looked at him as though he was loony for caring about the person who saved all of them from that wretched Manor was really hurtful. He wanted to see more in him than just former schoolyard rival, he thought that there was some change in his behavior, that he wouldn't show his disregard and prejudice so openly anymore.

"I... am sorry," the Slytherin lowered his head. He crouched down on the floor to speak to Pibsy on her level. "Harry and I truly need your help. Someone killed Elise... the person, who was nice to you, who tried to save you from harm by freeing you... Won't you help us see who did it?"

He gaped at the sudden change of attitude in Malfoy, he didn't know whether it was because he really needed those memories or if he cared for the kids in the orphanage and what happened to Baelish. The elf stared at him like a little mouse would watch a magnetizing dance of a cobra before the strike. There was one thing for Harry to speak to her as equal, but seeing a pure-blood heir regard a servant in such a manner was completely different.

"You don't have to talk... Just let me see your memories. I promise, it won't hurt," Draco said softly already lifting a wand to cast a spell at the poor elf.

There was a loud crash and the girl with auburn hair burst into the room, panting, her face pale as a sheet.

"Quick! Auntie is coming and there's an Auror with her!" she cried out.

They both stood up sharply, taking their wands out, ready for the confrontation.

"Martha, Hailey! Take the others and barricade somewhere safe! Don't get out of there under any circumstances!" the blonde barked at the girls and they quickly darted out of the room, serious faces, and no complaining.

Harry reminded himself that most of these children had lived through the war as he and the rest of Hogwarts had. They had probably heard instructions like these from their parents and guardians countless times when they were at risk of a search or a Death Eater attack. He felt saddened because their childhood was stolen by Voldemort and his followers.

"Pibsy, you're going to have to go with us," Draco nodded to the elf, "Harry will keep you safe, don't worry!"

The house-elf moved closer towards Harry, crouching behind him, her small body shivering with fear. Still, she hadn't Disapparated away yet, which meant that she trusted them enough and, hopefully, would cooperate.

"We're cornered here!" the Gryffindor noted, "If she's going to attack, we..."

"We've got the window!" Malfoy smiled at him wickedly.

"Mister Malfoy?! What in Merlin's name is happening here? Why are you bothering my elf?!" the matron came into the lounge, Oliver Williamson standing behind her in his crimson uniform looking menacing.

"I'd like to ask you quite a few questions myself... But clearly, you were reluctant to answer them earlier!" the Slytherin replied sarcastically.

"I will not have a Death Eater brat like you meddling in my business!" the lady quickly changed her tone of voice.

She threw a non-verbal curse at them, it rebounded off Harry's shield with a loud swoosh and sliced a bookshelf in half. The witch tried again, casting more and more powerful and quite dark spells. The Gryffindor could barely keep up with her, Draco was trying to fire a hex or two in response, backing away towards the high Victorian window in the process. Surprisingly, Williamson did not engage in the duel, he just stood there motionlessly like some big dumb puppet without anyone to pick up its strings.

"Bombarda!" the Slytherin yelled and glass shards and wood chips scattered everywhere, creating a passage for their escape in place of the window.

Harry grabbed the house-elf under his arm and they jumped out of the second floor, wind and wayward spells whooshing in their ears.

"Aresto Momentum!" Harry cried and it slowed down their crash into the evergreen bushes. They were just a couple of inches away from the metal fence with sharp spikes and he was very glad for their luck.

"Get to the car!" Draco shouted, pointing at the vehicle that was already driving to them, jumping over the curb with the insane speed.

"What about the kids?!" he reminded, "We can't leave them alone here! We need to get someone!"

"Gimme your wand!" the Slytherin demanded.

"Why?!"

"Just give me your bloody wand, Potter! I've got an idea!" he grabbed the wand of holly and gave him his hawthorn one like it was every day that they exchanged them.

"Morsmordra!" Malfoy chanted and pointed Harry's wand into the sky as a large glowing green skull appeared in the air, a snake coming out of its mouth.

Pibsy squealed in horror, banging her small arms and legs at Harry's side and trying to free herself from his grasp.

"What the fuck! Are you barking mad?! That's a bloody Dark Mark!" the Gryffindor protested, his scar did not hurt at the sight of it in the slightest, after Voldemort's demise it wad just a menacing picture in the air.

"Exactly, the Aurors will be here in no time!" the git was grinning like a loon, "Oh, here's one coming already!"

He pointed at Williamson walking towards them, his movements sharp and unnatural like he had been bewitched.

They quickly ran towards the Mercedes. As soon as they got in, Harry secured the house-elf by the seat belt on the backseat and Draco aggressively started the ignition, sparks flying out of the holly wand everywhere.

"Bloody thing is as stubborn as her owner," he grumbled and turned the steering wheel sharply to the left, driving recklessly into the narrow alcove, hitting a couple of muggle rubbish bins in the process.

"I think we've got a tail!" Harry pointed to the crimson shape riding the broom that appeared in the wing mirror from the passenger's side.

"Shit! Hold on tight!" Draco gritted swerving the car and getting onto a busy street.

He must have broken at least a dozen rules while doing so and the Gryffindor wondered how the foolhardy git still had his license. Strong disillusioning charms and a couple of Confunduses were a probable answer.

"We cannot drive like that around all these muggles! Someone will see us!" Harry exclaimed worriedly as a cacophony of klaxons erupted around them.

"I've got it! Distract him a bit!" Malfoy yelled and lowered the window so it was easier for the dark-haired boy to fire some spells at the pursuer.

"There are muggles!" he argued.

"Well, fucking obviously! Use your gray matter, Potter, cast something other than Expelliarmus!" the blonde retorted, skidding off to the backstreet and moving towards a less populated area.

"Sectumsempra!" Harry managed to cast, the hawthorn wand pulsing in his hand like it was his own.

Draco whistled impressed, "You've got some balls to do that one with my wand!"

"Remind me again, why did we switch them?" he asked breathlessly, trying to figure out if Williamson was still behind them.

A jinx swished past his ear and shattered the wing mirror, and Pibsy squealed and shut her eyes in fear, covering her face with her tiny hands. That was his answer.

"Because you won't be thrown into Azkaban... for a couple of unforgivables!" Malfoy grinned and cast a curse out of his side at the chaser.

The Mercedes was now driving along the docking area next to the Thames river. Warehouses and boat repairing facilities surrounded them and thankfully there were no wayward muggles to gawk at the pursuit.

"We need to shake him off!" Harry yelled, casting another Snape's favorite at the fake Auror.

"Got it!" Draco nodded, "Grab a package out of the glove compartment!"

The Gryffindor found something wrapped in very familiar colorful paper and later discovered that it was Peruvian instant darkness powder from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He threw it out of the window and soon everything was enveloped in the pitch-black mist.

"A brilliant thing, isn't it?" the blonde smirked, cast another strong disillusionment charm on the Mercedes, and pressed the gas pedal.

They were leaving the West End, going over the bridge and blending in with the other cars, that were busy to get home before sundown, when Harry was happy to say that they'd lost the tail. The vehicle stopped in a deserted alleyway between two muggle building and they could finally catch their breaths.

"Merlin, my father did not prepare me for that when I learned how to drive!" Draco exhaled his hands still gripping the steering wheel, "Pibsy, are you alive there?"

The elf muttered something weakly in response, still too scared to look up from her curled up position.

"That was kinda fun!" Harry laughed and then he was reaching for the Slytherin, turning his blonde head towards him and kissing him, adrenaline singing in his veins.

The blonde answered enthusiastically and then they were snogging each other senselessly, lucky enough to escape another peril with little injury. They didn't even hear the poor house-elf squeal with embarrassment in the backseat.