Not your usual Veela mate [Chapters 39-69]

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? III [57]

Sunday, Nov. 3
H

arry looked around the breakfast table, sighed deeply, and put down his fork. "We need to talk, don't we?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Harry?" Draco asked, looking up at Harry with a mix of worry and curiosity.
"I take it that Draco doesn't know?" Harry asked, arching an eyebrow at the two adults.
"We saw no reason to add to his worries," Lucius replied, arching an eyebrow at Harry.
"I take it you somehow have found out what is happening?" Severus asked, thinking back on the events of the previous day.
"Yeah, I talked some to Dobby while I was out working in the garden," Harry said with a nod, looking down at the tabletop.
"Why would you be talking to Dobby? What is it you aren't telling me? And hey! What do you mean that you were outside working? I thought you were just outside, soaking up some sun, and taking it easy," Draco said, sounding most displeased.
Harry couldn't help but smile, and wrapped an arm around his irate Veela's waist, sighing happily as Draco wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close.
"Before you two get any more sappy, let's take this to the parlour. The breakfast table is not the place for this discussion," Severus said curtly, getting to his feet.
"Sev?" Draco asked, giving his godfather a worried look.
"Let's take this discussion to the garden. I think we will all feel better there," Harry said quietly. With a sigh of regret, he pulled away from Draco and climbed to his feet.
Draco watched them with a worried frown, but didn't comment as he followed his Elf to the garden. Whatever was going on, it was bad. Very bad.

HPDM
"

So, who wants to go first?" Draco asked sardonically, looking around the group. They had been sitting in the garden for five minutes and no one had yet to open their mouth and start filling him in.
Lucius and Severus shared a glance, and then the blond aristocrat sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What do you know of the situation at Hogwarts?" he asked, picking up on of his mate's hands, toying with the long, slender fingers.
"Not much," Draco admitted, starting to get truly worried. "I take it something has happened? What? Dumbles stupidity has reached new heights?" he asked, attempting to infuse some levity into the gloomy mood the others were projecting.
Harry snorted, but instead of saying anything, he curled up around his Veela, silently seeking comfort from his mate.
"Father? What did he do?" Draco asked quietly, starting to get scared.
"The problem, my Dragon, is that he did not do anything," Lucius said with a soft sigh. "I have been in contact with Mercury. The house-elves have been kind enough to act as curriers for us, delivering our mail securely.
"What Merc had to report…" Lucius trailed off, shaking his head in profound sadness.
"Because Albus didn't do anything about Pansy - the girl didn't even get a detention!" Severus said with a snort, a sour look on his face, "things have turned rather… nasty." Severus sighed deeply and squeezed Lucius' hand. It looked as if he was drawing strength from his fellow Slytherin.
"Draco, the Slytherin House became divided in two. Those who supported you and Harry - and you have support from far more snakes than even I thought possible. Your supporters did not like what Parkinson did and set out to get revenge for you. And as you know, a Slytherin set on revenge can get very creative," Severus said, a wry smile playing on his lips for a moment.
However, the amusement swiftly died. "The other half of the House figured that Pansy had the right idea, and they have been stirring up troubles for everyone, not only their fellow snakes.
"Unfortunately, things did not stop there. The other Houses, most notably the Gryffindors, took umbrage that a Slytherin cast an Unforgivable in the Great Hall, and they wanted blood. They have been attacking the Slytherins, going for anyone wearing green and silver, not caring on whose side there were."
"But… what about Dumbledore?" Draco asked, feeling a chill run up and down his spine. What of his friends? What about Blaise? Were they alright? "What about my friends? Are they alright?" Draco was starting to grow frantic. The grim looks on his father's and godfather's faces caused him to break out into a cold sweat.
"Albus chose to do nothing at first," Severus said with a heavy sigh. "Apparently, he figured that things would calm down soon. He even had the gall to compare the situation to the times when the Marauders declared war on us Slytherins. The situations are nothing alike!" he said with a hiss, suddenly looking murderous.
"Dragon, Blaise is in St. Mungo's. He took a hex aimed at three first years. He will recover, but he will probably lose the use of both his eyes," Lucius said, his voice heavy with sorrow and regret.
"No!" Draco shouted, coming out of his chair, magic crackling in the air around him. "How could this happen? Hogwarts is supposed to be safe, for Salazar's sake!" Feeling too enraged to remain still, Draco began to pace back and forth. "Who did it? Who was it that cast that curse? And what curse did they use?"
"It was a group of seventh years from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," Lucius said with a sad sigh, porously omitting what curse the cowards had used.
"I'm going to fucking kill them!" Draco snarled. He felt angry. He felt helpless. He wanted to bloody maim and torture the ones who had dared to hurt the gentle boy. Blaise might have been a Slytherin, but there wasn't a mean bone in his body.
"How could things get so completely out of hand?" Harry asked, wishing he could take the pain away from the Veela. Only the knowledge that they were in the position to prevent that this mess ever happened was stopping him from marching over to Hogwarts and execute the Headmaster on the spot.
"Because the teachers and the Headmaster did nothing to prevent the situation from escalating. They should have punished Pansy when she cursed you: they didn't. They should have put a stop to the whispers of retaliation; they didn't. They should have come down hard on the Gryffindors when they hexed the Slytherins in revenge for what Pansy did. Again, they didn't.
"Even though each encounter grew in intensity. Even though the atmosphere of hate and fear kept spiralling upward for each new encounter. Even though the spells used grew more and more sinister. The Headmaster did nothing to stop it, claiming that things would calm down and return to normal as soon as you returned to the school," Severus said, looking sad and heartbroken.
"When the Elven King arrived, demanding to see you, Harry, Dumbledore became ecstatic. He completely ignored the school from that point on, and spent all his time looking for us and try to figure out a way to get the King to side with him in the war," Lucius said, picking up the burden of filling in the teens.
"From what Mercury managed to find out, McGonagall finally remembered that she is Deputy Headmistress, and she began to try to bring order to the school. But by then it was too late. The other three Houses had already declared open war on Slytherin, hexing and cursing anyone they could catch off guard.
"Fifty Slytherin pupils are currently recovering at St. Mungo's. Ten Hufflepuffs, twelve Ravenclaws, and eighteen Gryffindors are also being treated at that establishment. A cornered snake is extremely dangerous, as the other Houses soon found out. Unfortunately, that only added to the fire…" Lucius sighed deeply, giving the two teens a searching look.
"The Aurors were finally called in, and they have shut the school down. Mercury sent word yesterday that Hogwarts will be closed." Harry gasped at that news. Dobby had never told him things had escalated that far!
"The students will be sent home until a thorough investigation has been conducted. Only once the guilty party has been identified and dealt with, will the school be reopened. However, I doubt that there will be a change in management. Albus Dumbledore is too wily, not to mention that he has the ear of too many Ministry officials. He will not take responsibility, and will probable weasel himself off the hook by stating that he is too important in the war efforts or some such nonsense," Lucius said, making a sour face.
Harry sighed deeply, curling up into a ball. Wrapping his arms around his knees tightly, Harry allowed his curtain of hair to hide his face from the others. "This is all my fault," he whispered.
"What! How in Hades can this be your fault?" Draco shouted, turning around to glare at Harry. "You weren't even there!"
"No, but I was the one who pranked Pansy and Ron. That's what started this entire mess," Harry said, looking up long enough to glare hotly at Draco, daring the blond boy to deny the truth of his words.
"Harry, you are not responsible for this. Albus Dumbledore is the one who is at fault. He is the Headmaster of the school; it is his job, his duty to ensure the safety of all the students. Yes, you slipped Parkinson that potion; however, it was Pansy who decided that using the Cruciatus on you were a valid response. And it was Dumbledore who did nothing to punish her, thereby setting an example for the other students to follow. There were numerous times that Dumbledore could have put a stop to this entire mess. He never did.
"Then there are the other teachers. They are all old hands when it comes to dealing with adolescent children. They knew what could happen, and yet they did nothing. They didn't even argue with Albus when he first decreed that Parkinson should go unpunished. I was there. I was the only one who did not agree, and I was summarily shut down by every teacher present," Severus said, coming to kneel next to the Elf, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"You are powerful, Harry, and you have an important part to play in this. But that does not mean that you are responsible for everyone and everything. Albus Dumbledore allowed himself to be blinded by the war. He has ignored a lot of things that he should have dealt with, both at the school and with the Order of Phoenix. Instead, he put his entire focus on the big picture, conveniently forgetting to attend to the small details. But Harry, those small details are just as important.
"And what about your friends and fellow students? Are you responsible for their stupidity as well? They are all individuals, Harry, and you are not responsible for their actions. We do have a thing called free will. You might have heard of it?" Severus asked dryly, eliciting a small snorting laugh from the boy.
"Severus is right, Harry. You might have put things in motion by pranking Parkinson and Weasley. However, were you not reacting to their actions? Were not your intentions to leave them alone? Only, they refused to leave Draco and you alone, so you replied to their actions, didn't you? Don't you see, Harry? Dumbledore allowed things to get out of hand. He didn't bother to deal with the situation while it was small, and he refused to deal with it when it became big, allowing it to get completely out of hand. Hell, by doing nothing, the Headmaster practically encouraged things to go overboard," Lucius said, coming to kneel at Harry's other side, adding his hand to the bowed shoulders.
Draco had listened to what the two adults were saying. He longed to go to his mate and comfort him; however, he was too enraged to be of any use to the Elf at the moment. His friends had been hurt. And he had not been there to help protect them. Even before they entered Hogwarts, he and Blaise had made a promise to always be there for each other, no matter what. Promising that not even different Houses would have split the two of them apart. Only, he hadn't. He had been here, with Harry, worrying and fretting over his mate, willing him to recover.
Pausing in his restless pacing, Draco looked down at the brunet, and his heart clenched at the pitiful sight he made. He looked so small and vulnerable. If Draco was feeling guilty for not being there for Blaise, how much guiltier mustn't Harry feel for failing the entire school…
"Father and Severus are right, love. You have done nothing wrong. In fact, if you ask me, you have shown remarkable restraint in the dealings with the immature prats attending what is supposed to be the finest school in England," Draco said, putting on his most haughty air, thrusting his chin high into the air.
Glancing down at Harry, Draco kept his pose until his mate looked up at him, and the blond felt a thrill of happiness go through him as Harry cracked a smile at his antics. True, it was a very small smile, but it was a smile.
Falling gracefully to his knees before his mate, Draco pulled him into a firm hug. "What has happened at Hogwarts is tragic, and I could cheerfully murder that old fool for allowing things to escalate the way he did. But Harry, thanks to you we have an opportunity to stop this from ever happening. We never used that Time-Turner of yours. From what I understand, it will be possible for us to go back in time and make sure that this madness never happens," Draco said, running a soothing hand up and down his mate's back.
"I know that, Draco, but…" Harry trailed off with a sad sigh, burying his face in Draco's neck.
"But?" Draco asked, waiting patiently for his mate to gather his thoughts.
"But Hogwarts is the first home I have ever had," Harry admitted slowly, whispering the words as if he was afraid to speak them out loud. "The castle was the fist place where I have ever felt happy. And Dumbledore took it away from me, just as he has taken everything else from me.
"I know that we can and will go back in time to make sure that this never happens. The others will never know the fate waiting for them. But, Draco, I will know, and I can never forgive Dumbledore for doing this to me. To all of us," Harry admitted, dashing the back of his hands over his eyes, wiping away the tears of anger, frustration, and sorrow.
"I know, love," Draco whispered, holding on to his mate tighter.