Covert Gray

Chapter 1

Alliances

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It's funny how you spend years surrounded by people, and living in areas that you memorized so well that you could close your eyes and still know where you are going, but you never actually see what kind of people you are around. It's like living with a blindfold on, and finally getting enough sense to take it off. But the trick is, what you thought you knew, isn't the truth. A kaleidoscope is a toy you look through and see different colors and patterns. In a way that's exactly how life is. It shows you a pattern and a color, and you are supposed to switch it until you find one that you like, but what if you were never given a choice to look?

I have always been told that I was good. I was the Light's Savior and I was the Gryffindor Golden Boy. I could never do anything but good and I had to always believe that Albus Dumbledore was right. I also had to stay away from the Dark arts and never get near them. Funny…they want me to kill the Dark Lord using Dark Arts, and yet I must make sure that no one outside of the Order Members knows of this. How very fucking interesting that is!

But like I said I have took the blindfold off and I now know what's going on. I finally see what there is to see and I know what they try to hide. Everyone seems to be out for themselves, and even though it hurts to say, but everyone around me had something to gain from it. Lets start with the obvious. Voldemort wants me dead because I threaten his little reign of terror. I am the only one who can bring him down, and he craves for my body on a silver platter. Next on the list is Dumbledore…that old fool. He needs me as his pawn. He can't let me stray too far from beneath his thumb, because if I did I could be a threat to him as well. He needs me to sacrifice my life so he can take all the credit for it. I'm his only weapon against a challenge to his hold on the Wizarding World.

Next is Ron…my best mate…yeah right! From day one he's been using me and because I wanted nothing more then to be accepted I was too blind to see. Well no longer, I know what he's been up to. It's quite obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes. Ron is used to being ignored with a house full of kids, and he craved to be acknowledged for something. But what could he possibly do that his brothers hasn't done already? Ding! Ding! Ding! Be best friends with Harry Potter. Perfect! Not one of his brothers could top that. It's disgusting that he thought if he were friends with me he would be put in the spotlight. But he was wrong, he was pushed to the side, sure people would recognize him, but that wasn't enough for him. He's envious of everything I have. My money, my fame, my scar…you know everything I got because my parents were murdered and I somehow survived.

Last but certainly not least is Hermione. My smart, clever, and bookish best friend. Oh how I would be lost without her smarts and I would never have lived as long as I did without her help. Sure I give her credit, she helped a few times, but if she honestly thinks that I don't see what she's doing, then she's as dumb as Ron is. She needed to associate herself around me so she could feel better about herself. She knew that coming to Hogwarts, she would have been ridiculed for being a Mudblood and she hated the thought. So what better way to stick it to the Purebloods, and everyone else who may look down on her, than to be friends with Harry Potter? It was brilliant; she would be recognized for her brain and not only for being someone who has "Dirty Blood."

But they all forgot one thing. I would someday realize that they have done nothing but toy with me. I know where I should have been and I now know what they were too scared to tell me. To Dumbledore everything is either Black or White. You are either Good or you are Evil. You are either Light or you are Dark. It's quite stupid if you ask me. You can't place everything in neat little categories like that because not everyone falls under them. Nothing is ever Black or White. There is also Gray, the cross between the two. How come no one had ever thought to pull up this philosophy and teach people that they didn't have to be on either side, they could be in the middle? Why was it so hard to just admit that not everything is A or Z? There are other things in between those…am I right? Of course I am.

I am in the Gray zone. I don't agree with the old man and I don't agree with the psychopath. I agree with no one but me. If everyone else can look out for themselves and do things for their own gain, then why can't I? I think I deserve to have my own opinions and I refuse to be molded into the perfect weapon. No. Sorry Dumbledore but you don't control me. But you can't know that just yet can you? No, then my plan wouldn't work out and I won't be able to do as I please. I have to play the Gryffindor Golden Boy for a little longer. I have to make sure you don't think I have strayed. I need you to have your fucking false sense of security before I show you what Harry Potter really is. It can wait. And for now, I'll plot and plan my next move. Because you seem to understand Dumbledore that Life is like a game of chess. But the pawns you think you have might have a few tricks up their sleeve in the end.

Harry Potter

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I never understood why my Father serves that insane waste of a man. It's a waste of time if you ask me, but then again no one does. I'm not supposed to have views on anything, I'm supposed to nod my head, smirk evilly, be a bastard, know not to bow down to anyone, and remember that by my 18th birthday I'm supposed to take the mark and bow down to my Master. What a bunch of BULLSHIT! If a Malfoy is never supposed to feel inferior to anyone, than why does my Father seem to enjoy kissing someone's robes and getting a well-placed "Crucio" when he shows some of his Malfoy arrogance. If you ask me it all makes no sense what so ever.

Voldemort is crazy, why would anyone want to follow a man that was beat by a one-year-old baby? Why would anyone pledge their alliance to a mad man that's off his rocker just as much as that fool Dumbledore? Some people are so ignorant to what they preach. Death Eaters are Purebloods who can't stand Muggles, Mudbloods, Halfbloods, and Muggleborns, but yet, they bow down to, and take orders from a Crazy Halfblood, please tell me that I'm not the only one who sees the irony in all this.

I never had a problem with Mudbloods, Halfbloods, and Muggleborns. But I must agree that Muggles piss me the fuck off. I don't want to hide from them, I feel that anyone with magical power are much more superior over the Muggles. That's why all the others don't bother me. At least they have Magic, and they can use it. Who cares where they are from? I sure as hell don't. Muggles should be killed, or at least subdued. I shall not go on fearing them or feeling that who I am is dirtier than what they are. Please!

Dumbledore…what a meddlesome old fool. He says that he's so Pure and he's the Leader of the Light, what a load of Bull. He is more cunning than most Slytherins and for that I give him a small round of applause. But he's a sneaky old coot too, getting anyone that may be a threat under his power so he can mend and mold them any which way he pleases. He tried to do that with Voldemort, but he failed miserably and has competition over ruling the Wizarding World. So he went to the next best thing, Harry Potter. He knew that he could stop Voldemort with Potter, and he made sure that he mended him to be the perfect pawn that never asked questions and just did what he was told. But as of late I am noticed that a few things are off in the Boy-Who-Lived, and I must say that it looks like he has finally opened his eyes to see what the hell was going on around him.

If he has, then maybe there is hope yet. Just maybe I could get him on my side and we could have our own reign of terror. There is no way that I can plot all this on my own, I of course need help, and Dumbledore was right about one thing, Harry Potter has power, even some he knows not, and he could do great things with it. Great things that he won't accomplish under Dumbledore's watch. So I am going to keep an eye out on him, maybe this could be the start of a wonderfully dangerous new thing.

Draco Malfoy

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Sun streamed through the Gryffindor Tower, rousing everyone from sleep. Harry Potter turned on his side, having been up for at least 2 hours, he was wide-awake. He always woke up early, and he liked being more alert then the others in the tower. He got into the shower, and after 20 minutes he was dressed and ready to go.

"Hey mate wait up." Ron Weasley called a little groggily as he tried to pull his shoe on.

Harry stopped himself from rolling his eyes and instead he nodded his head. "Yeah sure, I'll be downstairs waiting for you." Harry said. Without another word he turned around and left the room, bounding down the stairs.

"Hey Harry did you sleep well?" Hermione Granger asked as she looked up from the book she was reading.

"Sure 'Mione. What is our first class?" He asked knowing full well that she would be happy if she felt she was smarter then he was. And of course, he was right. She immediately smiled and looked at him softly.

"You forgot already Harry? It's only the third week of school." She said with a shake of her head. "We have Potions double period with the Slytherins first."

"Oh great not only do I have to deal with Snape, but I have to see those Junior Death Eaters as well." Ron groaned as he came down the stairs.

"Don't worry Ron, Dumbledore will make sure that they won't do too much damage to the Light." Hermione reassured her Boyfriend as she got her books and the Trio continued on their way to the Great Hall.

After Harry went through the motions of being the "Golden Boy" it was finally time for Potions, and they made their way to the dungeons and into the classroom. Harry sat down and noticed that Draco Malfoy was already in the classroom, and oddly enough, he was looking dead at him. Harry raised an eyebrow and turned around in his seat, facing forward. He's been acting a little too observant lately. I wonder what the hell his problem is. Harry thought to himself as the classroom filed with students. He rolled his eyes when Crabbe and Goyle asked Draco where they should sit. Harry almost felt bad for the two idiots, but then again he knew that they were as good as Death Eaters. But then again so was Draco, but to him it seemed that even though he is expected to, Draco won't follow his Father's footsteps. Hmm…this is something to look into.

"Open your books to page 594." Severus Snape said walking into the classroom in a swirl of black robes. Harry smirked at his teacher and ally; Snape was always one for dramatics.

"Today we will be reading about Veritaserum, and then we will be brewing it. I have already picked partners for this assignment and I have also already wrote down a list of the questions that will be asked." Severus said as he looked over the classroom, glaring at every student.

Hermione rose her hand and Severus scowled at her. He sighed knowing that she would keep up if he didn't call on her so he glared hatefully in her direction. "What is it Ms. Granger?"

"I was wondering if this was really safe. I mean, if we are asking something about someone that they don't want anyone else to know, it's not really fair to that person." Hermione replied.

"Ms. Granger I'll have you know that as soon as you are paired with your partners, their will be a sound barrier put up around all of the work stations. No one will hear anything but the two working together." Severus explained as he glared. "Ten points from Gryffindor for asking a ridiculously stupid question." Severus smirked gleefully when Hermione glared at him and received a few glares from her housemates. "Now the partners are as follows, Crabbe; Patil, Zabini; Brown, Weasley; Parkinson; Bulstrode; Longbottom, Potter; Malfoy; Granger; Goyle …"

And as he called out the pairs they all went to their respective partners, groaning about the whole ordeal. But Harry just took it all in stride and only groaned and complained because it was expected. He sat down next to Malfoy, who had already got the ingredients that they would need, and as he relaxed in his seat, he felt the sound barrier go up around their workstation.

So the period went by without them speaking to each other, they worked on the potion and was glad that 10 minutes into the next period, they were finished. Snape came around and dropped 2 parchments at each station. Harry and Draco eyed each other as they downed the vial of Veritaserum and grabbed the papers that their teacher gave them.

"Ok I'll go first. Just to make sure it works, what is your full name?" Draco asked Harry.

"Harry James Potter." Harry replied.

Draco nodded his head and looked down at the paper. "Ok, what are your insights on the war?" He read from the paper.

"I think that there is more to this war then it seems. Dumbledore is manipulating everyone he can, and Voldemort is killing anyone who opposes him. If you ask me, they are mad and I would like to just be rid of them both." Harry answered unable to stop himself. If he was going to tell anyone how he felt, he sure as hell didn't want it to be Draco –fucking –Malfoy. He was so going to kill Snape later on that night.

Draco's eyebrow went up and he gave a smirk. "It's your go." He said to the other boy.

Harry nodded his head and regained his composure. "What's your full name?"

"Draco Lucius Malfoy." Draco answered.

"Ok. What do you think about Voldemort?" Harry read off the paper. He looked up at Draco, waiting for his answer.

"Voldemort is a crazy waste of space who needs to be put out of commission. I don't agree with some of the things he says and I'd never willingly join the Death Eaters." Draco responded. He was a little shocked that Severus could do this to them. What could he possibly have to gain? Draco looked down at his paper and asked the next question. "Are you Dunmbledore's pet?"

"I used to be. But now I know better, I see what he's doing he can't trick me anymore. I'm playing the good little boy for now, but pretty soon, I'll get him so bad, he might just go nuttier than he already is."

Snape made a swish movement with his arms and glared at the students. "Class Dismissed!" He said. Everyone scrambled to get their stuff and started to leave the classroom. Harry and Draco however sat and stared at each other.

"There seems to be a lot that we don't know about each other." Draco remarked.

"I agree. It now comes to the part where we wonder what to do with it." Harry said as he got his books and swiftly walked out of the classroom.

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Draco sighed to himself as he lay in his bed, thinking over what happened in Potions that day. It was all so confusing, and yet it's exactly what he wanted. But then again, how did Snape know to put those questions there? It was like he already knew the outcome and was hurrying it along. But how could he know that Potter and me would agree with each other? Draco pondered this in his thoughts as he tried to close his eyes and get some sleep.

After 20 more minutes of tossing and turning he finally let out an exasperated sigh and got out of bed. There is only one way to find out what Snape knows. I have to talk to him. Draco got dressed and left his Dorm, going out the portrait, and making his way to Snape's private chambers. When he got there he heard an argument in progress.

"How could you? You could have at least come to me about it Sev!"

"And what would you have done? You would have stopped me."

"You're damn right I would have. How do we know we can trust him?"

"We can, you heard him yourself. What do we have to lose with having him on our side? You know we need someone else with power and brains. Someone else that's cunning and manipulative."

There was silence and Draco wondered what was going on. He recognized Harry and Severus's voices, but he was wondering why there was suddenly silence. All of a sudden the door swung open and Harry stood in the doorway glaring at him. He stepped aside and Draco walked in looking at his Head of House with a confused expression on his face.

"Hello Draco." Severus said.

"Hey Sev." Draco said to his Godfather. He looked over at Harry warily, only to see that Harry was looking at him the same way.

"You better be right about this Sev, cause if you aren't…" Harry trailed off and let the threat hang in the ear. Severus smirked at raven-haired teen and nodded his head.

"Draco, welcome to our side." Severus said.

"What's this side?" Draco asked confused.

"The Gray side." Harry responded as he leaned against a table and spun his wand around in his hand. "At night me and Sev usually have mock duels, but because I already know a few, it's time to get you up to par. I'm sure you know some good spells, so lets see what you got."

Draco took out his wand and he dueled with Severus. It was a challenge and he liked it a lot, especially when Severus started hurling Dark Curses at him. It felt like he was actually apart of something he could relate to and he liked the feeling. The rest of the school year was going to be great.

Harry watched as Draco dueled and he had to smile, the boy had grace. The new member to the side that only had two members seemed to look like pretty good competition for Voldemort and Dumbledore. But they would have to train hard, and probably get more people to join. But for the time being, he had to warm up to Draco and until then, he couldn't let too many of his secrets loose. He had to test if the blonde was as trustworthy as he seemed, but then again if Severus felt it was a good gamble, then why should he question it? After a few more minutes, he slipped into the duel and fired an unexpected hex at Draco. Draco managed to move out the way and they continued to train until they felt they were too tired to pick their wands up anymore. They weren't there yet, but they would be, and when they were the Wizarding World had better watch out, because there was another group that was wiling to kill to get what they wanted. A secret group that would sneak up behind, when no one expected it.

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A/N: I hope you liked this first chapter, and I am not going to lie to you, the next chapter will take a while to come up because I have my other stories to write. But you know how it is when you get the idea for a new story and you just have to write it down and upload it…yeah well that's exactly what I did. Please leave a review and tell me what you think, if there are any typos I apologize and promise to cut back on some in the near future. Oh! And yes, this story will be of the H/D variety. Do I write anything other than that? (Of course not!) Check my other stories if you want slashy goodness, cause I warn you Harry and Draco won't even kiss until chapter 3 or something…but I'll try not to keep you in suspense. Please review, PEACE!