Love Lasts

Chapter 27

As soon as Harry stepped into the office, Dumbledore knew something was wrong. Harry's face was pale, his hands were shaking, and sweat was streaming down his face and matting his hair.

Seeing Dumbledore sitting behind his desk, Harry hurried over and sat on the chair he usually occupied.

"What is it Harry? What's wrong?" Harry launched into an explanation about his dream and what all happened. Dumbledore didn't say anything as he spoke but as soon as he finished, he stood.

"We must alert the Ministry. They may not believe us right now Harry but what we have to say may make some of the Aurors stay. I will make sure the members of the Order are there and are guarding the entrances." Harry nodded.

"I will deal with everything, Harry, don't worry. Thank you for bringing this to my attention immediately. I will make sure it is taken care of." Harry nodded and stood.

"Sir?" "Yes Harry?" "Make sure Yaxley is alright. If Voldemort finds out that the plan isn't going to work, Yaxley will pay the price. If that was Voldemort's punishment for being late, I don't know what will happen if he finds out Yaxley leaked information. Even though that's not technically what happened." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at Harry.

"It is very kind of you to think of Yaxley like that Harry. I will make sure to keep him safe. I will fly to the Ministry tomorrow to make certain the Death Eaters don't reach the Auror offices." Harry nodded.

"Thank you again Harry. You are free to go." Harry nodded again and left the room.

Looking out the Entrance Hall doors, he saw that dawn was quickly approaching. "So much for going back to sleep..."

Harry walked into the Great Hall and sat down at one of the tables. It was empty and eerily quiet until Harry felt a pressure in his lap. Night was curled up in it, staring up at Harry. He waved his paws in the air and Harry chuckled.

Suddenly, Harry felt something slithering across his foot and looked below the table. The same great silver snake was there, eyeing Harry with curiosity.

"What are you doing here? How did you know where to find me?" Harry hissed.

"Night came to find me as soon as you collapsed. A good idea since you needed help. I helped pull you out of your vision. It would have been much worse and much longer if I hadn't helped you." Harry raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued.

"How can you pull me out of visions?" Harry asked curiously.

"It is a power I posses. The Peculiari snakes are known for their powers. I hear you have the gift to talk to snakes and am glad to find it is true." An idea struck Harry.

"After what I just witnessed, I think I'm going to be needing all the help I can get. Do you think you could stick around a bit longer to help keep away the visions?" The snake nodded its head.

"Of course. My name is Archille." "I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Archille nodded his head.

"I know who you are Harry Potter. It is nice to finally meet you." Harry nodded.

"The same to you. But how am I supposed to have you with me all the time? You're so...no offense, but large." Harry heard Archille do something that he thought was a laugh.

"The Peculiari snakes are powerful in several respects. For one, we can encourage or stop visions. Two, we can change our size." Harry watched as the huge snake in front of him shrank down down the size of a small loaf of bread.

"That's amazing!" Archille nodded his head. "Thank you Harry Potter. I'll follow you throughout the castle. Do not worry. I keep a low profile if I want to." Harry smirked at the comment.

"That will help a lot. Thank you for helping me earlier." Archille nodded.

"Of course Harry Potter. It is what I do. I'm going to go now. Many people are coming downstairs. I will be there if you need me, don't worry."

Harry smiled and nodded. "Thanks Archille!" Archille nodded then slithered away. Harry watched as he shrank in size until he could barley see him.

Harry looked down at his plate then at the food on the table. Nothing sounded good. In fact, Harry felt that any food would make him throw up.

He scratched Night behind the ears. "You'll need to move now." Night remained still and Harry chuckled.

He picked his Kneazle up and held him like a baby as he stood. Night stayed still, soaking up Harry's warmth.

Harry looked around then started up the stairs. He didn't exactly want to be around people, so he decided he would walk through the corridors.

He heard chatter from the students and knew that it was now officially Christmas break. Many people were talking about their family plans and how they were going to leave for the train in a few hours. Harry tried to tune them out. With no family to go home to, hearing about others made him sad.

Harry cradled Night to his chest as he walked. Night purred every so often.

Harry walked through his short cuts for a while until, when he came out from behind a tapestry, he fell and knocked the person who had been walking by to the floor.

Night started hissing and spitting as he jumped out of Harry's arms just before he hit the floor. "Damnit Potter! Watch where you're going!"

Draco stood and watched as Harry struggled to stand. He seemed to have one hand focused on his head an the other attempting to push him up.

Draco bent down and tried to help Harry up, but Harry just went limp. Draco's heart stopped but he relaxed a bit when he saw that Harry was still breathing. His breaths were quick and rapid, but they were there.

Harry's scar felt as if it was burning. Harry tried to control the pain, but couldn't. He saw flashes of faces. Many of them were contorted in terror.

Harry felt a burning anger that seemed to consume him from the inside out. He raised his wand and directed it at the man standing in front of him. "Where is Yaxley?" He demanded, his voice cold and cruel.

"I-I don't know My Lord! He wasn't at the Ministry!"

So he lied to me. He was luring us into a trap. Well, he won't get far. He will pay for the lives he has ruined and I will make him suffer more than any other punishment has caused him to suffer before.

"Well Nott, you will have to be an example as to what happens when someone breaks the rules and feeds us false information."

I directed my wand straight at his heart. "Crucio!" Nott's screams filled the air as the spell took hold.

Draco was crouched over Harry, trying to wake him up and make him stop screaming. His screams were filling the corridor and Draco was sure a Professor would come around the corner any minute.

Night was hissing to something a little ways away and Draco jumped up when he saw a great silver snake slithering towards him. He didn't move or speak because he knew what kind of snake it was and that it was there to help.

The snake wrapped itself around Harry's stomach twice and laid his head over his heart. At once Harry's breathing eased and his eyes opened. They were contracted in fear so much, his eyes looked all green.

Draco crouched down next to him. "Harry? Are you okay? What happened?" Harry didn't seem to be focusing. His eyes were rapidly searching the corridor as if he were someplace foreign.

Night came up and snuggled next to his face. Harry looked at the Kneazle and he seemed to calm down a bit. The snake uncoiled from around his stomach and looked at him.

"Is Harry Potter okay now? Does Harry Potter need help?" Harry stared at the snake, shock and sweat still on his face. It was as if he hadn't seen Draco.

"I am fine. I don't know what just happened but I'm fine." Archille nodded.

"I'll keep watching out for you but you need to learn to protect yourself. I won't be around forever."

Harry nodded and shakily stood up. He turned around then broke out in a run down the corridor, his Kneazle chasing after him and the snake disappeared. Draco was left wearing a very confused expression indeed.