Common Ground ⌁ Draco Malfoy [2/4] ✔

23

Emma waved at Daphne as she set off for Hogsmeade, where she would be taking extra Apparition practice because she would be turning seventeen in time for the test. She pouted and turned away, knowing that she would be alone for the next few hours. She wished she could have gone to Hogsmeade for extra Apparition practice...

Harry started to walk over to her. 

"Hey, Harry."

"Follow me," he said.

Emma raised her eyebrows and watched as Harry walked past her distractedly. 

"Well, of course, your Majesty."

He stopped outside the Entrance Hall, looked around for a moment, dug through his bag and pulled out a cloak. 

"Oh," she said, surprised. "That must be the invisibility cloak Draco was telling me about! But, what are you going to do? Harry!"

He had swung the cloak safely over the two of them. It looked exactly like any cloak would when hiding underneath it...only slightly transparent...

"What's that?" she said, noticing the blank parchment in Harry's hand. 

He didn't say anything, only tapped his wand against it, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am to no good."

Emma watched as words and figures appeared on the parchment. 

"The Marauders Map," she read at the end of the page. "Getting lost, are you?"

"It's a map that shows where everyone is," Harry said impatiently, scanning the map. "I'm about to prove to you that Malfoy isn't as innocent as you think."

"What are you up to, Harry?" she said, worried. 

"You've noticed how at times he's gone missing, haven't you? Wondered where he was when he said he'd be somewhere I expect. Well all those times he's been up in the Room of Requirement doing something, while Crabbe and Goyle have been keeping lookout under Polyjuice Potion."

Emma sighed. "Oh, thank god. So, he isn't cheating on me..."

Harry's face suddenly looked like he had swallowed a sour grape. 

"Think about it," he continued. "I reckon he's doing something for Voldemort in there."

"What could he possibly be doing for You-Know-Who in the Room of Requirement?" Emma raised an eyebrow. "Hiding him in a broom cupboard?"

"Look!" Harry said, pointing to a tiny dot with the name Gregory Goyle up in the seventh floor corridor, alone. "This map is a hundred percent accurate. When me and you go up there -"

"Harry..."

"When me and you go up there," he said a little louder. "You'll see a little girl holding brass scales."

"Oh, so what?"

"So, it's Goyle holding brass scales. That's him keeping lookout for Malfoy. He drops the brass scales whenever he sees someone Malfoy might not like to run into when coming out of the Room of Requirement. Remember our first Potions lesson? There was all that Polyjuice Potion, wasn't there? Malfoy nicked some, and he's been giving it to Crabbe and Goyle ever since. I ran into him with Crabbe and Goyle disguised as girls on the day of the last Quidditch match. Doesn't that bother you, or at least come across as suspicious that he hasn't showed up to the Quidditch matches?" Harry argued hastily.

Emma blinked and then sighed into the palm of her hand. "Oh, Harry...when are you going to just-?"

"Look, I'll prove it to you," Harry said, and he pointed to an area on the map where the words 'Harry Potter' and 'Emma Evans' were. "See? That's us. Now, if we creep up to the seventh floor, you'll see Goyle's name, but there won't be any Goyle in the corridor."

Emma and Harry both walked underneath the cloak, climbing several stairs, but stopped when they reached the seventh floor corridor, where Emma peeked around and saw a little girl holding brass scales, exactly like Harry had said. 

"See?" Harry whispered. "Does that look like Goyle to you?"

It was suspicious...

"What are you going to do?" she whispered back, as he took the cloak off her and hid himself underneath it. 

"I'm going to go talk to her - er - him...and when I do, he'll drop the scales, and that'll alert Malfoy that someone is outside, so he won't come out."

It was weird hearing Harry's voice but not seeing him anywhere. She heard his footsteps becoming lighter and lighter, and crouched by the wall and watched,only  jumping up to her full height when the girl with the brass scales suddenly let out a very high-pitched scream, threw them in the air, and ran straight past her. She heard Harry's laugh, and stepped in front of the corridor. 

She jumped when Harry lowered the cloak off his head, making it look as though he was a floating head. "Harry - Jesus - don't do that! You'll give me a heart attack!" she screeched at his grinning face. 

He beckoned her over. "Come on, let's see what Malfoy's up to..."

Emma walked toward the wall behind which the Room of Requirement was, and she stood back a little as Harry dropped the cloak and walked past it three times. He looked up hopefully, but the room did not appear. 

He did it again, and again, and again...until after half an hour of nothing, Emma decided to sit by the wall, bored, and wait for the door to appear. Harry groaned and ran at the wall, kicking it, before letting out a very loud 'OUCH' and hopping, clutching his toe. 

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Emma raised her eyebrows, only deciding to stand when she saw Tonks walking up the corridor. 

"Harry?" she said, watching him hop. 

"Hey, Tonks," said Emma. 

"What're you doing here?" Harry said breathlessly, slowly putting down his leg.

"I came to see Dumbledore. He's not in his office, apparently he's gone away again," Tonks explained. 

"Has he?" Harry frowned. "Hey - you don't know where he goes, I suppose?"

"No."

"What did you want to see him about?"

"Nothing in particular," Tonks mumbled. "I just thought he might know what's going on...I've heard rumours...people getting hurt..."

Emma chewed on her lip, wondering if she should ask...

"Yeah, I know. It's all been in the papers," Harry said quietly, casting a look at Emma. "That little kid trying to kill his -"

"Tonks, you wouldn't happen to know anything about my Mum would you?" Emma said desperately. 

"Afraid not, Emma," Tonks replied. 

"Not even anyone from the Order?" Emma asked, slumping her shoulders in disappointment. 

"You haven't had any letters from anyone in the Order recently?" Tonks asked. 

"No one from the Order writes to me anymore," said Harry, while Emma shook her head, "not since Sirius -"

Emma pursed her lips and looked at Harry awkwardly as Tonks' eyes began to fill with tears. Harry apologised quickly. 

"What?" Tonks said distractedly. "Well, I'll see you around."

She turned abruptly and disappeared down the corridor.

"Wow, she is different," Emma breathed, blinking unconsciously. She had not seen Tonks since being at Grimmauld Place when Sirius was still alive, where the woman was chirpy and her usual clumsy self. 

"Yeah," Harry mumbled. "I was thinking for a bit...about her and Sirius."

"So?"

"Do you think she could have loved him? I mean really loved him...?"

Emma stared after the end of the corridor, where Tonks had just disappeared. "Seems that way."

Harry sighed and then looked back at the wall, where the Room of Requirement should have made itself known. "Let's get going. Lunch should be on soon."

He began to walk away, tucking his cloak and map back into his bag. Emma stared at the wall for a moment, wondering what Draco was really doing behind it...