Chapter 7: Gathering

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Harry's eyes were really green, but they were like a worn-out and tired shade of green. Nothing like how Draco had thought they'd look. But it was better this way. Up close, Harry looked very real. Draco hadn't been able to see him in real life for quite a long time. The images they used for the Prophets never displayed Harry in real real life. They had him pose with fake swords and stupid modelling shit that every hero probably have to deal with. People told tales about Harry--but they were all describing Harry like a god-like figure. 'Glimmering emerald green eyes, Thick hair blowing in the wind, 6-pack abs' or whatever.
Draco could see up close that Harry wasn't the flawless overglorified git he thought he was. Harry was very much flawed. His forehead was slightly beady from sweat. There were some small blemishes on his face. And Harry was still scrawny, well maybe not scrawny, but Draco was willing to bet he didn't have an 8-pack.
"Draco?"

Shit, Draco immediately rolled off him. He mumbled a "Sorry" and stood back up and started dusting the dirt off his pants. Thankfully it was dark, or else Harry would've seen Draco's face turning suddenly very hot. He couldn't help turning red,--it was fucking weird. He was so caught in his creepy little observation he completely forgot he was staring straight at him, with only inches between them.
Harry laughed and bolsted up. "For a second there I thought you were gonna kiss me." He teased, walking closer to Draco.
Draco was dumbfounded. Normally, he would say something witty and make fun of Harry. But now he didn't feel the need. They weren't schoolchildren anymore. Harry Potter was flirting with him.
"Well what if I did?" Draco was surprised those words came out of his mouth.
Harry seemed a little startled by the seriousness of Draco's tone. He stepped a foot back.
"I'm kidding, Potter."
"Oh, right. Yeah." He laughed.

Draco flipped out his wand again and mumbled something under his breath that once again, Harry couldn't catch. The ground and moss beneath Harry's feet started to slowly disappear, and then they were no longer in a forest.
Their surroundings resembled to a dark dining room with a long table. Except this wasn't the one at Malfoy Manor. It was in a different room, a much larger one. Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak that was thankfully tucked into his pocket from earlier. He threw it over both of them.
And so they watched.
The walls of the room were black and swarming with people in long dark robes. The hardwood floor was so polished, that not a single footprint was present despite half of the men trekked along with probably very dirty shoes.
"Who are these people?" Harry whispered.
"This is their meeting spot." Draco replied bluntly.

Harry almost immediately recognized some of those people around the room. They were all once Death Eaters that worked for Voldemort. Bellatrix was here too. He thought she had died long ago.

Harry and Draco silently shifted a bit over when a man hurriedly brushed by, almost bumping into them.

"Err, Draco.. What's going to happen if we get caught?"

"I don't know. I haven't gotten caught yet and I'm not planning to." His eyes were focused on the spiraling stairway. More and more people came walking down and their footsteps clanked loudly on the metal. "You see Potter, We're re-visiting the past. Similar to a Time-Turner. But we can't really alter this kind of past." He paused. "What we're experiencing right now happened about ten minutes ago."

Harry nodded even though he didn't quite understand. How would Draco know about the Time-Turner too? Hermione had given it back to the ministry. Unless...

The large hall was now very crowded. This must be a headquarters for ex Death-eaters. They all dressed so vile with dark and swishy robes and capes. Most of them wore a traditional dark wizarding suit, just like the ones Harry had seen in those textbook examples.
Harry and Draco sat in silence underneath the stairwell as they watched. It felt all so surreal. If he didn't know better he would've thought him and Draco were casually sitting at a cozy little theatre with some snacks and drinks.
But they weren't at a cinema and those people weren't actors.

A moment after the low murmurs have died down, the room had died silent. People's heads turned towards them, and Harry thought he was somehow suddenly exposed.
But their heads were turned towards the stairwell.
Footsteps, loud and steady, came down. The man who walked down was no other than the infamous Lucius Malfoy.
All the eyes were upon him. Harry wasn't surprised he had to make such a dramatic entrance. He wore a long and black jacket and looked as mysterious as ever. Lucius strode with his head held reasonably high to the seat at the end of the table. People around the hall all knew the cue and started picking a seat.
When the sound of chairs scraping from the hundreds of people around fell silent, Lucius cleared his throat. "Welcome," he began. His voice boomed and echoed. "I thank you all for coming tonight.
Draco's body was tense. Harry could feel it. His body was tense and his face tried its best to hide his nervous feelings. But those grey eyes of his were not good at hiding emotion.
He didn't like seeing Draco this stressed. He never did.
The next thing that happened was not expected. Harry took Draco's hand in his own and squeezed it. To Harry's surprise, Draco didn't yank his hand away. Instead, he gently squeezed back. Their eyes were still both focused on the scene ahead of them.

"We have gathered here today to restore the honour of Voldemort."
The people at the table lifted up their sleeves at cue. Their forearms was exposed and so were their dark marks.
"Excellent," He continued with a straight face. "Though our lord has passed away, I will restore his honor. His goal to eliminate muggleborns will be achieved, I can assure you that."
The people at the table whispered hushed words of agreement.
"Now," Lucius impatiently lifted his palm to silence the crowd. The hushed words ceased immediately. "With all of your cooperation, I believe will be able to take down the Ministry of Magic by tonight. Clearly those fools are in need of real leaders."
A small applause arose, then the whole hall clapped loudly.

Then, it all vanished.
The room was silent. Harry and Draco had apparated back to Draco's room.

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