Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Uncertain Waters
Chapter 7
Dinner had been a subdued affair for Gryffindor house the next night. Though much of what had happened in the seventh-years' potions lesson had been hushed up, the noticeable lack of spirit amongst the Gryffindors had many students of the other houses wondering what exactly happened – Demitrius had been missing for almost a day and a half since the accident, and no one, not even Albus Dumbledore, could find him.
To the elderly headmaster, this was becoming a rather exasperating matter.
It had been a surprise to see a letter appear suddenly on his table whilst reading through several Order reports, and its contents had him frowning immediately. From what information he had gathered thereafter from a hysterical Lillith, the last potions class had been a disaster. Though not many realized the implication of what the potion might have done to Harry, Albus Dumbledore understood immediately and hence, was unsurprised as to why Demitrius made such a drastic decision. The boy was very similar to the young Severus in many ways – for one, they kept a lot of things to themselves, and two, when they could no longer stomach the injustice, would vent their frustrations elsewhere. No doubt that was the reason why Demitrius was still missing.
Furthermore, were Dumbledore to predict anything, it would be that his great-grandson would isolate himself for another week or so before showing himself… And this had him somewhat worried. Hogwarts herself seemed to be protecting the upset child – he had been unable to get the castle to co-operate and tell him where Demitrius was – and it seemed that Lillith was blocked from her twin's mind too. The child had been awfully quiet since her outburst the night before in the Headmaster's office, and if her reddened eyes were to mean anything, she must've cried to sleep… If she ever slept at all.
Shaking his head, the wizened Headmaster glanced at the ceiling, inwardly sighing at the gloomy sight. It had been pouring since yesterday night, and the streaks of lightning, though frighteningly beautiful, had Dumbledore in a poor mood. Trust the weather to dampen his mood further in such a situation.
At the Slytherin table, both Draco and Blaise looked at Lillith in worry. The girl hadn't been eating properly since Demitrius had gone missing, and the lost look that was firmly etched on her face made the two Slytherins guilty. True, they had wanted to play a prank of Potter, but not at the expense of their Lillith's feelings, as well as the pulling out of Demitrius from potions. Who knew that the only Gryffindor they befriended would be so protective of Harry Potter? Glancing at one another from above Lillith's head, Draco and Blaise had the same hesitation as to what they ought to do next. They had discussed about it earlier on, but neither had been willing to do what they'd planned… Still, it might make Lillith happy, and possibly Demitrius should he come back.
Hence it was under the curious stares of many students and professors alike that the two Slytherins stalked over to the Gryffindor table, right where one Harry Potter was seated. By then, the entire Great Hall was grown much more silent, as if anticipating what might happen next.
At their corner of the Gryffindor table, Harry was absently eating his dinner, all the while wondering where his friend could be. Other than his schoolbag being discarded haphazardly on his desk, there was no sign that Demitrius had ever returned to the dorms. The younger boy's bed was still in its immaculate state, and Harry – having kept vigil the night before – had not seen him coming back to rest either. To say that he was worried was an understatement. This was the first time he'd felt so anxious ever since finding out that Ginny was in that blasted chamber with a basilisk under Tom Riddle's control… Which had him rather stumped.
Who'd known that the transferee could worm his way into his heart so quickly? By Merlin, he had only known Demitrius for a month or so, and already, his name was within Harry's short list of 'people he'd die for'. Perhaps it was that quiet presence and acknowledgement that made Harry drawn to him. Or perhaps it was his way of interacting with people.
Ultimately, Harry decided that it was Demitrius' first impression that did it.
Unlike most people's reaction on knowing that he was the boy-who-lived, the new Gryffindor's reaction had been considered somewhat exceptional – a polite nod, an intricate light bow and a very muggle handshake with just the proper amount of strength behind it. This in itself would not have been surprising had he not later known from Ron that the nod and bow was a style used by the wizarding world to acknowledge people whom they looked highly upon, though it was seldom practiced nowadays. What confused the redhead, however, was the handshake – that was not part of traditional wizarding culture. Here, Hermione had exchanged understanding glances with Harry. It was a muggle culture after all, and after explaining it to Ron, all three had wondered one thing.
What kind of pureblood family would actually teach their children both wizarding and muggle cultures this flawlessly?
Then there were the studying sessions and occasional chats Harry had with Demitrius. Study sessions with the new boy was never dull; although the homework had been a chore, Demi always made it a point to try ease the stress of it, either by idly mentioning something that might be of use, or crack a joke with such a straight face the everyone would just look at him incredulously before laughing out loud. Still, it was the chats that had Harry start liking Demi even more. Not once had Demi try to pry information out of Harry, and he seemed to be one pouring out his soul to the transferee instead without even knowing why he trusted Demi so much. He just trusted him so. And Demitrius would never coddle him or try to paint a beautiful picture – he always pointed out the facts and cold truth before asking Harry to think why they are as such.
It was a harsh method, yes, but it made Harry feel better everytime he saw the reality behind the situations he had faced and was facing. He even started confiding Demi about his classes with Snape – under a Wizard's Oath never to utter them to anyone – and though he ended up complaining more often than not, it was surprisingly Demitrius, who defended the snarky professor and telling Harry things through Severus Snape's point of view. Sometimes, he honestly wondered if Demitrius had a crush on the professor despite his constant denial of not liking the professor in that way.
Mind deep in thought, he never realized that a shadow had passed over him until Ginny discretely nudged him at his side, gesturing him to turn back where two Slytherins stood. Pushing back his glasses, Harry glanced at the two uneasy figures and muttered, "Malfoy. Zabini."
"Potter." Draco replied in an equally curt manner, not at all liking the fact that he was shot with numerous murderous stares from the lions as well as countless of curious ones from all other tables. Beside him, Blaise looked expressionless as usual, though those lavender eyes looked far more guarded than usual. After a quick glance at one another, Blaise inclined his head towards Harry and started, "I apologize for our meddling with your potion yesterday."
The apology had everyone at the Gryffindor table growing quiet, and inwardly, Hermione had to wonder how Zabini could make an apology sound as if he were casually commenting about the weather.
"In hindsight," Draco continued reluctantly, "I regret not having considered the possibility of bezoar mutating the draught of peace into such a potion."
And it was as he had said. True, the blonde Slytherin had intended to play on a prank on the boy-who-lived, but not to the extent that it would get him permanently… ah, impotent. To the wizarding world, especially pureblood families like the Malfoys or Potters, it was crucial to have descendents carry on their line, and even Draco Malfoy was not malicious enough to deprive the boy-he-hated of children, though he did shudder at having to deal with any spawn of Potter's.
The victim of it all just stared at the two Slytherins standing, taking in their wary demeanor and somewhat fatigued look – Snape's lessons in reading people had been ingrained in him since a few months back – had him replying calmly, "Apology accepted."
"Harry!" Hermione spluttered, shocked beyond words before hissing, "They almost deprived you of your dream!"
Though quiet, Draco and Blaise caught on the words, and it was only years of inherent training that kept them from looking down in shame. Draco just stared at Harry, forcing his eyes to meet those eerily familiar emerald orbs as he uttered, possibly for the first time.
"I am sorry."
Those three words shut Hermione up effectively whilst Harry – having seen the honesty in the blonde's eyes – waved him off, "I'm fine… Just be thankful that Demi had a quick mind and an ever quicker reaction." With that, he looked at the head table bitterly before glancing at the empty seat on his right. Seeing his look, Blaise quickly inquired, "Do you, by any chance, know where Demitrius went?"
"… No."
That one word had both Blaise and Blaise pale remarkably.
Being purebloods, both had been taught since young and understood Latin well enough to pick up what Demitrius had said before he walked out of Potions, and although that hadn't meant much, the stance Demi had taken spoke volumes. Through Lillith, they had known Demitrius via their library studies; both surprised that a Slytherin could get along this well with a Gryffindor. A few sessions then saw to a formation of an amicable friendship, though both Slytherins had been fairly reluctant to believe that they actually held a soft spot for the reserved Gryffindor until this incident happened. Still, in those times when they had been with Demitrius, they did pick up his enthusiasm for Potions. Once, they had been joking about how Demi should just quit Potions and secretly take them for private NEWTS seeing how Snape seemed to detest him more than Harry Potter, and Demitirius' reaction had been a very violent no. No doubt he had a very high respect for the potions master, and seeing him work on his potions essays had shown how much he wanted to impress their professor…
Apparently, Demitrius had taken the entire situation really badly.
Murmuring a half-heartedly 'good day' to Harry, both Slytherins went back to their table, only to find Lillith staring at her plate emptily. With a sigh, Blaise pulled the lifeless girl in a comforting one-armed hug, frowning as he felt the unnatural heat emanating from her body. A touch of her forehead only served to confirm his fears, and the Slytherin did something that shocked many others.
The ice prince, Mr I-am-expressionless-so-hit-me Zabini actually growled.
"Damn it Lils. You're burning up!"
"Am I?" The auburn-haired girl murmured, not feeling anything out of the norm. Then, touching her own head, she whimpered on realizing that it wasn't her who was sick, but actually a reflection of her twin's condition. Choking back a sob, she cried out in silence, Please Hogwarts, where is Demitrius?
It wasn't the first time she'd ask this since Demi's disappearance, and once again, Hogwarts only showed her, in a series of pictures, how Demi had asked of Her silence. Fretting over her twin's health, she was about to break down when Hogwarts showed her another picture. It was like a lifeline, and grabbing onto the familiar picture of the hidden tower, Lillith hastily got out of Blaise's embrace and ran out of the Great Hall, causing several startled glances to follow her abrupt departure. Immediately, Draco and Blaise shot out after her, and, as if sensing that her running out had something to do with Demitrius, Harry, Ron and Hermione followed thereafter.
"Lillith! Wait up!" Draco yelled, inwardly cursing the girl's speed. Who knew that this particular Slytherin, who's a pureblood lady no less, had such a great stamina? Behind him, even Blaise, Harry and the others were having the same though. Indeed, who knew that such a petite girl could be so fast?
Even more surprising was the way she maneuvered her way around the castle. Granted, she might have stayed at Hogwarts for more than a month, but it wasn't possible for her to enter into a wing never seen before by any of the students running after her, was it? What was even more baffling was how she immediately disappeared behind a garden portrait! Stunned, both Slytherins and Gryffindors ran towards the unfamiliar portrait in the absolutely alien wing and stopped abruptly, all of whom were hesitant to try running into it. Glancing at one another, Harry cautiously touched the portrait, frowning as his hand refused to go through it. Hermione frowned at this too, as did the others, until Blaise finally voiced out everyone's silent question at the blank portrait.
"How did Lillith enter?" The dark-haired boy asked, not expecting any answer. He knew that there had to be a catch somewhere, and quickly proceeded to fumble around the ornate portrait frame. Hermione, who caught on immediately, helped search the statues around for information, resulting in the confused forms of the other three students present.
"Mione, what are you searching for?"
Despite having tempered his impatience over the past few years, Ron's bad habit hadn't been entirely erased, and watching both the Slytherin and Hermione search frantically up and down for something was irritating him when all he could do was stand around, not knowing what to search for. Both the students involved in the search just continued their work, not bothering to turn over as Hermione called back, "Ron, there ought to be a clue as to how we can enter this room! A catch or something. Remember the kitchen?"
"The kitchen?" Draco echoed, suddenly curious as to what 'catch' the kitchen entry passageway held.
"Tickle the pear of the portrait and you're in." Ron replied absently, his mind slowly getting the idea. Quickly, he went forward to help. Surely Lillith knew where Demi was if she ran her all of a sudden?
"You know where the kitchen is?" Blaise looked at the Head Girl in mild surprise, "wait, I don't even want to know how…" Ignoring the guilty blush on Hermione's cheek, he continued his inspection, so thorough that even Harry was impressed. Still, it yielded nothing, and when they were almost at their wits end, an amused voice could be heard from around them.
"You won't find entry in, my dears," the feminie voice filtered into their ears as an elegant brunette made her way into the portrait, her solemn golden eyes belying the light tone she had spoken in. Hermione gasped at the sight of the lady and blurted out, "Lady Hufflepuff! It's you!"
"Indeed," Helga Hufflepuff replied in amusement, "Welcome to our tower."
"We're at the Founder's Wing?" Blaise eyed the portrait calmly, though sudden intake of breaths could be heard from the others. It had been rumored that there was a tower and wing specifically for the Founders, but no one could actually find the place unless the Founders or Hogwarts Herself expressed permission for the person to enter. And now, Lillith Oracle had brought them unknowingly into the wing!?!
"What year is it, Blaise dear?"
"1998 milady." The Slytherin replied automatically, though he did wonder how she knew his name, and why she asked. Couldn't portraits tell time?
"1998…" Helga muttered to herself, as if thinking things through, "Then why is Lillith here…?"
Here, all five students looked at each other in confusion. What was the Founder talking about? However, before any of them could give an answer or query, Helga continued, "No matter. I'm sorry my dears, all of you aren't allowed into the rooms." Yet. The brunette added in silence as she started making her way out of the portrait.
"Wait!" Harry quickly shouted, anxious to know one answer, "Is Demi inside as well?"
This stopped the Founder momentarily, whose piercing golden eyes glanced at the boy-who-lived, as if finding the reason why he was finding Demitrius. Helga was sure that this boy had – as of yet – no knowledge of Demi being his son, and given Demitrius' personality, it was highly unlikely that he would voluntarily make friends with anyone closely related to him, not wanting to cause any imbalance to the timeline. But Harry approaching Demi was another thing altogether; the latter could not refuse conversation when his father – or any of those he respected – initiated it. Hence, seeing the genuine look of frantic in Harry's eyes, Helga could only give an apologetic smile.
"Demitrius isn't inside Harry." Helga said gently, resulting in worried and glum looks surfacing on all the students' faces.
They had thought that they had finally found the lost boy, but apparently, Lillith's stint still went into a dead end. Sighing, Draco asked half-heartedly, "Isn't there any way to track the boy?"
"… We can't." The Founder answered promptly, "Demitrius was upset when he came here yesterday afternoon, and any tracking spells we may have on him automatically disappears when he wishes to have some time to himself. He's one of Hogwart's most precious baby, after all."
"Hogwart's baby?" Hermione echoed in surprise. Now that was something new. The Hufflepuff Founder just chucked, "Yes. He's one of Hogwart's most precious. Do not worry about him. Hogwarts will ne'er hurt him. Likewise, if he does not wish to be found, no one can find him… Perhaps save Lillith."
"What has Lils got to do with finding him?" Blaise muttered under his breath. It was true that they knew how close the two transferees were, but for Lillith to find Demitrius when even the Founders couldn't!?! Hermione, who was standing just beside the Slytherin, wondered about the question as well. In fact, her mind was racing through all that Helga Hufflepuff had said… There seemed to be something off about it all…
"Lillith is closer to Demitrius than you can possibly expect." Helga replied mysteriously, "Now, why don't all of you head back to your common rooms? I gather that curfew should be soon."
And with that, the Founder left, leaving the anxious students staring dumbly at the empty portrait. However, no one seemed willing to move away from where they were, until another voice, this time a masculine one, hissed a word that spirited all five of them out of the wing. Confused, Hermione spoke to no one in particular, "Who was that…"
There was no mistaking that word, full of power, being one of parseltongue, and Harry shivered at the quiet strength in that one word, "We better leave. That's Salazar Slytherin… I think."
Within the heart of Hogwarts, in the unplottable room of requirement, a pale boy could be seen touching a glowing pillar as if in prayer.
The room was a beautiful yet terrifying sight to behold – the pillar seemed to pulsate along to some unknown heartbeat, and even to one untrained in the art of aura visage, the long spidery threads spreading from the pillar to nowhere and everywhere could be seen shimmering throughout the entire room that now looked like an endless dark black void. Head against the glowing pillar, Demitrius ignored the beads of sweat that were gathering on his forehead and continued his prayerlike chant. It was like a mantra, one that he'd learnt since young, one, that brought forth a transfer of magic towards the pillar – the third cornerstone of Hogwarts.
For the past day, he had been trying to work off his frustration in the least harmful manner. He did not think that his parents would appreciate seeing cuts mar his forearm again, and getting himself dunk – oh yes, he knew how drunk he could get at the age of fifteen courtesy of uncles Fred and George – was, though plausible, not something he particularly desired. Heck, the hangover was terrible. He did consider holing up in Salazar's chamber for a month and put himself to sleep, to sleep off the hurt and pain, but… He didn't dare think of the consequence should he come back out. No doubt Lillith would pound the hell out him.
So he settled with the task that would require his utmost concentration and exhaust him out, thereby allowing him no spare time to think about what had happened. Besides, regenerating the heartstone of Hogwarts was something all three Potter-Snapes were used to doing. Hell, Emrys, Lillith and he would take to help regenerating the heartstone of Hogwarts every summer and winter, though it always left them drained. This was not surprising given how both magic and willpower were literally totally drained when the regeneration took place.
Still, he had never tried recharging all four cornerstones of the heartstone himself.
Finishing the last stanza of the ritual, Demitrius looked on in statisfaction as the glow seemed to intensify and pulse a flash of jade before going back to its pure white. A small smile flitted across his features as he slumped against the cool surface of the pillar. Three down, one to go. He felt slightly woozy already, what with the amount of energy he ha poured through the cornerstones and before that, the whole wards of Hogwarts.
He had been unable to sleep the past night, an now, he almost welcomed the darkness… but not immediately.
There was still one last cornerstone to go. One guarded and made sacred by the basilisk, its power drawn from that of the waters. Hidden beneath the forbidden lake and near the Slytherin House, it was the part of the heartstone created by his – technically speaking – dead godfather.
And then, I'll head back to sleep.
If anyone were to wander into the room that Lillith was in, they would be surprised by the strange vision they'd see. For one, a golden-haired man dressed in faded jeans and a simple white tee was carefully hugging the distraught girl while two others wondered what on earth had happened. This might have been nothing… but all three people – who looked more than human – were, technically, dead.
Godric Gryffindor looked down at the girl within his arms, having only made out the words 'pater', 'hate Demi', and 'want to go home'. Beside him, Salazar looked to be frowning, and Rowena was mystified too. Lillith hated Demi? But that was impossible! The two children seldom quarreled, and both almost never used the word hate easily given how their upbringing had been. Then there's the issue of going home – Hogwarts was their home… Where else could she go?
As Helga Hufflepuff entered into the portrait above the fireplaced and touched one of the pillars within it, she appeared immediately in front of the fireplace, true bone and flesh, and murmured to Rowena and Salazar, "It's 1998 outside…"
"1998!?!"
Godric felt Lillith stiffen in his arms and gently stroked her back in comfort, now understanding what had happened. If this was 1998, then the twin's plan must have worked. Quickly sifting through Hogwarts' memories of the future, he 'saw' the events that had taken place, and understood that Hogwarts had spirited them back here for their safety whilst their parents continued exterminating the remnants of the last Dark Lord's minions. A pity a rule that they had set when they first created this room of reminiscence prevented him from telling Lillith how frantic her parents and elder brother were to find both of them…
"How long have you been back here, Lillith dear?" Rowena kneeled where Godric and Lillith were settled at and brought the teary-eyed girl to look at her. Looking into those ebony eyes, Lillith allowed the Founder to sift through her memories, and once done, Rowena gently eased out of Lillith's mind and murmured comfortingly, "Do not fret yourself so. Demitrius will never come to any harm in Hogwarts, won't he?"
The last had been directed at the castle Herself, and the unmistakable 'yes' they felt from Hogwarts mollified Lillith somewhat. Still, she whispered, "But Demi blocked me out for more than twenty-four hours… He had never done it before. Where could he be?"
Salazar grimaced at this, having experienced that emptiness and fear once when Rowena blocked him out for days after her lover had died under muggle hands. It had freaked him so thoroughly that he treated Rowena like a glass doll for weeks. Not surprising, the connection between twins were formed even before birth, and losing it could seriously mess a person's mind up.
Helga just sighed. It was never a secret that Demitrius had always felt the need to perform twice as well as his elder siblings in the hopes of earning his parents' praise. Not that Harry or Severus were ever miserly in their giving of affection, quite the contrary – despite their hectic schedule as a Headmaster and an Unspeakable, both Severus and Harry devoted an undecently huge amount of time to their children and loved all of them dearly… But perhaps having two outstanding siblings, and two even more famous parents had an effect on him, thus making him constantly want to prove himself that he was worthy of the Potter-Snape name. What surprised her was that Demitrius had been so distressed the evening before that he did not even bother mentioning that they were in the past.
"He had been here yesterday… Lils," Godric murmured, patting his god-daughter's hair as she looked up in surprise, "Yes, he did. Now I'm starting to understand why he was asking about time-travel tomes."
A rapid discussion in ancient latin quickly took place as Godric pulled Lillith over to the round mahagony table near a wall of bookshelves, heaped with tomes of all languages regarding time travel. The other Founders drifted over as well, all of whom were glancing at Demi's neatly scrawled notes. Salazar sat on a stool and fished out one scroll to pass to Lillith, "This was where he got stuck." It was a scroll of arithmancy numbers with physics involved, and Lillith frowned at the theory it was based on. Manipulation of fabric tear in time? Glancing back at the Founder in question, Salazar just shrugged elegantly, "He got frustrated and left."
Her face fell at this statement, causing Rowena to glare daggers at her twin who just stared back innocently. The innocent stare then turned serious as he faced the young girl again, "Lillith, he was upset over your father's unfairness, and you know it. If it had been you, how will you deal with it?"
Seeing her subdued expression, Salazar sighed, "You'll no doubt have done something similar, wouldn't you?"
No answer was required. All four Founders knew these children too well; Lillith would have blocked Demi out of her mind should something such as this happen to prevent him from seeing all the pain she might have had. Understanding her grief, Slytherin continued, "No, you don't have to be happy about it, it creates a right havoc in your mind… But do give Demitrius some time to settle his thoughts? You know how he detests not being in control of himself."
"… I will."
It was a reluctant agreement, but her willingness to let her twin have some space despite the stress on her own mind had Salazar smiling slightly whilst the other Founders breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now how about I whip up a small supper and you can tell me why you're in my House and my godson's in Gryffindor…?"
Recharging the last cornerstone of Hogwarts had taken a lot more time than Demitrius had expected. 'Struth, not having Emrys or Lillith around had seen to him using up more energy than usual, but it was the condition of the Chamber that had delayed him.
Having never seen Salazar's Chamber in such a state, it was no wonder he almost fainted on seeing the mess. The basilisk remains were still there – here, Demitrius wondered why his dad never cleaned this up after the Chamber fiasco – and the stench of blood was more than foul. He had vaguely wanted to leave the mess for his parents to clean up sometime in the future, but he couldn't in the life of him, stomach such chaos in his godfather's private chamber.
As a result, he ended up cleaning the entire chamber; resetting the charms and spells, picking all the useful parts of the basilisk and stashing them away in one of the potions cupboards before disposing the rest, setting new wards, and finally cleaning the cavernous chamber as well as its inner rooms. Finally done, he almost found no strength to finish the final regeneration, but mulishly continued on into the chamber's innermost sanctum – Salazar Slytherin's meditation room.
It was a secret chamber just below the center of the two statues – which he magicked back to the original un-glamouried state – and here, the cornerstone glowed the same pearly white as the other three. Demitrius smiled in relief at this – apparently, the blood and dark magic done above had not tainted it at all. Sitting down in front of the glowing crystal, the black-haired boy quickly got into a trance and murmured the words of the ritual, hands absently moving around to sort the tangles of the magical threads that were starting to form as the first stanza of the ritual ended.
After what seemed like eternity, the Slythindor finally finished the last verse, noting in satisfaction that all the magical threads were unraveled properly. Allowing himself a brief second of respite, he finally sealed the ritual, not realizing that for the first time in perhaps several centuries, all four stones were regenerated. Granted, Headmasters of the school knew how to perform the regeneration spell, but few were able to find the cornerstone of Rowena, not to mention entry into Salazar's chamber being limited to Parselmouths…
This night, Hogwarts' elation could be felt by all, though not many understood why there was this feeling of happiness that bubbled in their hearts.
'Thank you, my child.' A voice whispered into Demitrius' mind as the boy headed for the serpent portrait that led directly to the Slytherin dorm. He was tired, so tired that he did not bother blocking his twin anymore, and vaguely, he finally understood why he had felt so weird in Hogwarts for the past month – Hogwarts could only send him pictures of situations, her knack of speech had been gone…
Could it be because of the magical tangles in the Chamber?
Deep in thought, Demitrius never felt the relief and subsequent panic his twin was feeling whilst he concentrated on walking over to the portrait. Giving it the password, Demitrius almost fell into the Slytherin common room, face pale, barely registering that people were staring at him. Not heeding the stares, he stumbled up to the special room reserved only for Slytherin Head Boys to reside in, having forgotten that he neither Slytherin nor Head Boy of his year. Only on noticing his painfully young uncle did he remember where, and particularly, which year he was in.
Crap.
But he never made it to voice out that thought, nor hear Lillith's scream of fear.
He just collapsed against a thoroughly shocked Draco Malfoy, blissfully surrendering himself to the darkness of his fatigue.
whimpers
Yes, I'm really slow at posting, but trust me, none of the fics are abandoned. I've only another 2 months of polytechnic life, then afterwards it'll be a looong break for me before I start work, so I'm hoping to have a chapter of each story up when I finish my finals )