CH-9

l raise my hands to shoulder height and turn my palms out for him to see. "See that? No wand."

He glares at me. "Fine, let's go."

He storms down the hallway past me.

I smirk and follow him. We exit through the back door of my godfather's house.

Weasley raises his wand and whispers, "Expecto Patronum."

A silver dog emerges from the tip of his wand and flies off into the dark.

"Funny, Weasley, I would have thought your Patronus would be a weasel," I say.

"Yeah well, I'm sure yours isn't a bloody ferret either, so I suppose we'll both just have to be disappointed," he replies.

"So, why's it only you tonight, Weaselbee? Where's Know-It-All Granger? Or did she die already?"

He spins around, jabbing his wand into my chest. "I bet you'd love to hear that, wouldn't you? Asking something like that makes me question how much we can trust you," he growls.

I grin. "Sure, I wouldn't mind hearing it, but I don't know if I'd love it."

His grip tightens on his wand. "You bloody—"

"Ron, stop," Potter says, stepping into view.

"Perfect Potter, here to save the day," I say sarcastically.

"Malfoy, I'm surprised you've lived so long," he responds. "I thought you'd be picked off in the first few fights."

I smirk. "Yeah, I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?"

"You wanted to talk to me," he says impatiently. "Talk."

"Sure. Come back inside, and we'll talk. Weasley has to stay outside, though."

"Anything you tell me, I'll tell him."

"I don't mind that. I don't care if he listens. I just don't want to hear his input, and since he seems to be unable to exercise self-control, it's better if he just hears about it later."

Weasley glares at me but manages to hold his tongue.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's full of surprises," I say. "Come in then, Potter."

I walk back into my godfather's house without bothering to check if he's following. I enter the study and sit in front of my godfather's desk. Potter enters and sits across from me. He waves his wand to shut the door.

"Ron's waiting outside. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Surely Blaise told you why I wanted to see you," I say.

"He may have mentioned something about you wanting to provide information for the Order, but I wanted to hear it from you."

"Well, he wasn't lying. That's what I want to do."

"Why?"

"Why? Hmm, I don't know. Maybe because I'm tired of living comfortably and I'd like the excitement of being hunted down like a wild animal."

He raises his eyebrows.

"I suppose you want a nice little sob story from me, something that would make me different from all the other Death Eaters," I say. "I don't have one. I'm not going to tell you that I only became a Death Eater to please my parents, or that I was afraid of being killed by Voldemort if I didn't join. I joined because I wanted to."

"Then why are you thinking about switching sides now?"

Yeah, why the bloody hell am I switching sides?

"Because I've decided that I hate war," I reply. "I don't like all the fighting that's been going on. I don't like hearing about friends dying. And if Voldemort wins this war, the killings will never stop. Even when he finishes killing Mudbloods, I'm sure he won't stop. He'll just find something new to exterminate. To stop the killing, the Light side has to win the war."

Fuck, I sound like a bloody environmental activist. Next thing you know, I'll be waving signs that say "Protect the Pygmy Puffs!"

"Well, if that's the truth, we want the same thing," Potter says.

Looks like he bought it.

"But you could have come long ago. I doubt it'd take three years for you to decide that you don't like war. Why are you coming now? There must be a reason why you've chosen to turn now."

I shake my head. "I didn't really have an opportunity before now, did I? It's not like I could march into your headquarters without getting my head blown off. That is, if I could find your headquarters in the first place."

"I suppose that's true," he says. "What kind of information are you going to give us?"

"Anything that I think would be useful to you."

"Give me an example."

I lean back in my seat and steeple my fingers, thinking, deliberately taking my time. I don't know why it feels good to make him wait.

Finally, I speak, "I heard you were pretty badly injured at the Leaky Cauldron two weeks ago, and a rare herb was stolen from Hogwarts the same night. It's not a big leap to say one of your people stole it, is it?"

He shakes his head. "Go on."

His patience irks me, but I continue anyway, "Although they got away, it's not easy to get in and out of Hogwarts with our patrols. I could provide you with schedules, shift changes, patrol routes. And not just for Hogwarts. Is that a good enough example for you?"

He looks doubtful. "How would we know whether or not you're telling the truth?"

"How can you ever know if anyone's telling the truth?" I return.

He blinks, seemingly surprised by my reply.

"I can give you the times and locations of shift changes right now," I say.

"Why?"

"For the same reason that I didn't bring a wand tonight. Building trust."

He frowns. "All right, give them to me."

I pull open a drawer of my godfather's desk and take out a roll of parchment. "These are all the times and locations for shift changes at Hogwarts."

I pass the roll to Potter, who takes it and partially unfurls it.

"You can send someone out there, any scout, and check any one of those times. Or check all of them, if you want," I say.

"This is a risky position," he finally says. "I doubt you're going to give us information for free."

"Of course I won't," I reply. "I'm still a Slytherin. It's in our nature to think of our own needs."

"How could I forget?" he says sarcastically.

"I have only three conditions, and I trust they won't be hard for you to meet."

"What are they?"

"First, I will give information to only one person. Second, our rendezvous point will be known only to the two of us, and I will come and go as is convenient for me."

"Well, we can't give you complete freedom," Potter says, stopping me in the middle of listing conditions. "At least, not right from the start," he adds.

I frown.

"You'll have to be present for us to examine you," he explains. "It'll be just one time."

"Do you honestly think you'll be able to examine me? I'm probably the best Occlumens there ever was."

"Whether or not that's true, you're probably the most arrogant bastard there ever was."

"Thank you," I say with a smile.

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