Harry Potter and the Burden of Becoming

Caduceus

Story Summary:
Sirius has died, and as Harry struggles with his guilt, new neighbors move in across the street on Privet Drive. But this foreign family from the Middle East has a very beautiful daughter, and she's taken a liking to Harry. But just as Harry must hide his own true identity, so too are the secrets that run deep within the Darbinyan family - secrets of death, secrets of life, secrets that will unwittingly guide Harry to rebirth, and the ultimate discovery of how Voldemort must be defeated.

Chapter 32

Chapter Summary:
Harry struggles to understand Neville’s antics with Helen, and discovers that there may be something more behind Malfoy’s offer of allegiance. More importantly, Ron finally reveals to Harry what is behind his racist attitude toward Dean. And as their friendship rekindles, Harry learns that a man will soon return with special plans for Harry.
Posted:
10/31/2005
Hits:
3,404
Author's Note:
Thanks to my wonderful betas.


Harry Potter and the Burden of Becoming

Chapter 32 - Escape from Azkaban

~~~***~~~

Harry woke to the sound of footsteps leaving the boys' dormitory. A glance to the window told him it was still quite early. Low in the sky was a bright crescent moon, and only the faintest shade of purple was glowing to the east. He sat up in bed rubbing his eyes and groaned thinking of his day to come. He would have Potions this morning, and because of last night's Astronomy lesson and detention with Tonks, he hadn't finished his parchment on the uses of ground dragon scales. Worse, he would have to tell Katie that he couldn't practice tonight because he had yet another detention with Tonks. Again, he let out a deep sigh and sat up in bed. Neville's bed was empty, but everyone else was still sleeping. He decided to get up and try to finish his scroll for Potions.

After he had showered and dressed, he made his way down, books in hand, to the common room. The room was deserted save for two sitting on the couch in front of the fire.

"Neville?" Harry asked. "Incandessa forte," he whispered and the candles in the common room burned bright. Neville looked back over the couch shielding his eyes.

"Hey, Harry, come on," he complained. "You're kinda spoiling the mood, you know."

"Mood?" Harry asked. But just then he noticed that next to Neville was a brunette with a grand blue flower in her hair, Helen Hedera. "Neville!" Harry hissed quietly through gritted teeth. "Can I speak with you for a moment?" Each word seemed to carry more emphasis. Neville sighed and walked over to Harry.

"What is it, Harry?" he asked a bit peeved. "We're kinda busy, you know."

"Yeah," Harry shot back, "I can see that." He pulled Neville by the arm to the side of the room. "She can't be in here, Neville. I know you think she's the greatest person in world, but the rules..."

"Don't talk to me about rules, Harry," Neville interrupted. "You're the last person to be giving advice about rules. What? Do you think Ron or Hermione are going to give me detention?" Neville grinned, but Harry just glowered at him, his eyes like daggers.

"It's not detention you need to worry about, Neville." For a moment Neville seemed resolute to stay, staring back into Harry's eyes defiantly. But his courage faltered, and he turned and walked back to the couch.

"Fine!" he shot out. "Come on Helen, let's go down to the lake and watch the solapria turn to the rising sun." Helen stood up, but wore a bright smile.

"I'm sorry," she said nervously. "I know it was an intrusion." Neville put his arm around her, and the pair walked out the portrait of the Fat Lady. Harry wasn't sure why he should feel so strongly about Helen in the common room, but something deep inside was telling him she was a danger.

Harry sat at the large oak table to the back of the common room and finished his Potions homework as best he could. He was making his way down to breakfast with Dennis Creevey when Katie called him from behind.

"Potter!" she yelled stopping the two in the corridor and striding up to them with her finger pointed straight at Harry's nose. "If I had a galleon for every time you were in detention..." Her face was furious. "How many more nights?"

"Just three more," Harry replied innocently, but Katie was having none of it.

"You're out until the game? You know we were going to practice Goyle's new strategy," she fired back. "That's why we had the pitch reserved for two nights this week. How are we supposed to signal the Seeker, if the Seeker's in detention? You need to know what the signals look like!" Harry's shoulders slumped. Katie was right, of course.

"Er, Katie," Dennis cut in quietly. "I have an idea. What about Colin?"

"Your brother?" Katie queried. "Why on earth..."

"He can play Seeker and..."

"Seeker! Are you out of your..."

"Listen!" Dennis jumped in, the strength in his voice pushing Katie back half a step. "He can record the practice with a video, and Harry can watch it later. It's not as good as being there, but at least Harry will have an idea about what to look for on Friday's practice." Katie looked confused, but Harry's face broke out in a broad smile.

"Brilliant, Dennis" he said smiling a bit too broadly. "Absolutely brilliant!" Harry turned to Katie. "Well, there you go. Colin can play me as Seeker tonight while the rest of the team tries Goyle's handiwork. Then, Colin can show me the important stuff later tonight." Harry patted Katie, who still looked confused, on the back. "Problem solved, Katie." And he and Dennis headed off to breakfast.

A bit further down the corridor, Harry turned to Dennis and said, "You do know electronics are totally useless on the Hogwarts grounds?"

"You do know my brother's a genius when it comes to photography?" he shot back confidently. "You'll see."

After breakfast, Harry walked to Potions with Hermione. Every time Harry asked her about her theory on apparation tracking, she tried to turn the conversation to Tonks' injuries. He was more concerned with what she had been up to, while she kept suggesting that there was more unseen harm behind Tonks' limp. When they arrived at Potions, the two turned their homework parchments in along with everyone else, but it was Harry's parchment that Professor Snape decided to read to the whole class. Well, not so much read as criticize. Without even looking at Harry's parchment, Professor Snape walked to Harry as he sat preparing the day's potion. Glowering over Harry with a smug look on his face his sneering voice reverberated off the stone walls.

"Potter," he began, holding the parchment high for the others to see, "do you really believe that these scribblings are sufficient to answer the question posed for your lesson?" Harry didn't think it was his best work, but it wasn't his worst either, and certainly it was better than many that were submitted. He looked at Snape's face and realized the trap being set. This time Harry would not lose his temper.

"Sir, I gave it a solid effort," Harry returned sincerely. "It will require your expertise to determine its quality."

"I had asked for ten parchment pages on dragon scales and you return only nine and a half," Snape sneered. Harry knew that Cho had submitted only eight, and Marietta only five. "And your description on the various grinding techniques is completely insufficient."

"I'm sorry sir."

"I'm sorry too, Potter." Professor Snape tore the parchment to pieces, not having read it at all, and sprinkled them in front of Harry. "Let's try again, shall we? And this time be more thorough." Professor Snape stood waiting for the reaction, but Harry gave him none.

"Absolutely, sir," he replied, pushing the pieces of paper together like a spilt deck of cards. "Sorry, sir." He placed the pieces in his robe pocket. Professor Snape stood still waiting, but Harry looked up to him smiling and then back to the day's lesson steps that had been scribbled on the board. He began crushing his Tentacula Root counterclockwise, flashed Snape another sincere smile, and returned to the work at hand. The professor gave a feint snort and briskly paced to the other side of the room to examine Marietta's work. As he crossed the dungeon, Hermione patted Harry on the knee.

"Brilliant, Harry," she said handing him a torn scrap of paper that had fallen her way. "We can put these together tonight and he'll never even know." Harry grinned, gave her a wink, and poured the root into his caldron.

Later, in Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid presented the class with nearly a dozen poisonous creatures. Snakes, insects, spiders, and hybrids Harry had never seen before. After the lesson, the class was assigned the task of ranking the creatures by determining which would kill them the fastest. As Harry started back to the castle, wondering if there would be a practicum, Crabbe, Goyle and Ron stopped him at the bottom of the steps. Crabbe's eyes kept darting back up to the castle as the rest of the class disappeared into the front doors. It was clear Crabbe didn't want to be seen, but Goyle was steady and still as the lake.

"Hey, Harry," Goyle spoke first. "Detention with Malfoy tonight?" Harry looked at the threesome wondering what was going on.

"Yes," he said waiting for where this would lead.

"I have it on good authority," Goyle glanced over at Crabbe who reminded Harry somewhat of a nervous rat he knew, "that Malfoy wanted you in detention for a purpose." Harry furrowed his brow.

"Why? So I couldn't practice for the Quidditch match?" Harry asked incredulously.

"He thinks he can bring you into his confidence," Ron answered. "He thinks he can get you to talk about... well... you know." Harry's eyes narrowed on Ron.

"And we don't talk about those things, do we Ron?" Harry asked with a bit of a bite in his tenor. "To anybody." Harry looked at Goyle. "Yes, Greg, that means you."

"I'm just telling you, Harry," Goyle replied, unperturbed, "that Malfoy wants to know something that's behind that scar of yours." Goyle cast another glance to Crabbe who seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. "I hear you and Malfoy have been pretty chummy lately. I just thought I should..."

"Chummy?" Harry replied in disbelief. "Why? Because we don't always hex each other in the back?" Goyle looked again at Crabbe who was now trembling with saucers for eyes.

"It seems," Goyle said slowly, "last night... in the dormitory...while Draco was sleeping..." Suddenly Crabbe squeaked saying nothing, and shaking his head violently. Goyle just rolled his eyes. "Just be careful, Harry, that's all. You can't trust him, okay? I don't care what he says in his dreams. Hell, you can't trust any of us," he said smiling and started up the stairs with Crabbe whispering something in his ear. Ron stayed back with Harry.

"What's that all about?" Harry asked.

"Crabbe knows something," Ron shrugged, "but what it is, he's not sayin' to me, and Goyle's under some sort of oath." The two watched as Crabbe and Goyle disappeared into the castle. "You havin' lunch?" Ron asked hopefully. Harry looked at Ron and then turned to look at Hagrid's hut. The giant had gone inside and a thick white smoke was now billowing from the chimney. Harry set his back against the stone wall at the base of the steps offering only a sigh.

"You're right, you know," Ron said turning to the glassy lake. "You're right to tell me to shove off. I deserve it." Harry said nothing. He was resolute on this point and wasn't going to change his opinion for anybody. Ron continued looking off across the lake his mind somewhere else. "I'm trying, Harry. I swear I'm trying." Ron's voice was uneven, and as Harry looked at him he could see a shudder pass over Ron's body. "It's just... this summer..."

"I told you, Ron," Harry interrupted, "I don't care what you and Hermione were doing for the war." His voice was sharp and, as hard as he tried to the contrary, his words insincere.

"You don't understand, Harry," Ron began again. He closed his eyes as if gathering courage against an unseen storm. "I told her I wouldn't say," he whispered. "But I can't...." He turned to look back at Harry who was doing his best to be disinterested. "They... they beat her." The words turned Harry immediately.

"What are you talking about, Ron?" he asked slowly a hint of concern in his words.

"This summer... in Germany... we were supposed to be back before dark, but we got lost. We found ourselves...." Ron began to tremble and started walking away from the castle steps and out toward the lake. Harry followed. Ron began to clench and unclench his fists, over and over. "It's all my fault," he whispered. "I told her, 'Just a few more minutes. They won't care,' and she listened. She never listens to me, but that night... that night she did." They made their way to a barren tree at the side of the lake. The air was still and the sky gray. Ron gathered another great breath.

"There were three of them, two black guys and a white guy with a tattoo of a leopard across the right side of his face; they stopped us on the street. It was dark and there were people walking everywhere, but no one paid any attention. No one!" Ron's fists clenched again. He reached down and grabbed a rock throwing it far into the lake, and Harry wondered if he hadn't heard Ron mutter the word Muggles. The splash sent ripples in a large circle toward every shore. "They started teasing us at first, circling like vultures. Miss Peacemaker, well she whispered in my ear to ignore them, but the biggest and the darkest of the three caught her words."

"'English!' he said in a German accent to one of his friends. 'She did not say zey ver English.' Then he walked toward her. 'Oh, I don't zink you'll be able to ignore us sveetheart,' he sneered putting his face close to hers. I couldn't stand it and pulled my wand."

"'Ron, no!' she yells at me." Ron cast another rock into the lake sending larger swirls in every direction.

"Can you believe she was actually more worried about what would happen to me if I used my wand?" He gave another sigh, but it seemed to Harry a sigh of admiration. "But Hermione couldn't hear their thoughts, could she? Well, I could: hatred, nothing but black-dark-hatred. I shouldn't have listened to her... I knew better, but I... I hesitated. Damn it, I hesitated! Instantly, the other black guy slugs me in the face and plants me flat on my back, and I lost my wand. Leopard face holds a knife to my throat while the other two cornered her. She warned them, but they kept coming. Finally, she pulled her own wand." Another rock flew into the lake just as a flock of geese started passing overhead in a large V-shaped pattern. The breeze picked up, and it seemed to grow colder.

"There was a witch, or a wizard there, Harry," said Ron looking over the surface of yet another stone and scraping some of the mud from its side, "there had to be. She didn't hear the spell; I didn't hear the spell, but for no reason her wand went flying through the air. Defenseless, she tried to push the guy in front of her away with her hands and... and he slapped her. The guy over me begins to laugh, 'I zink she liked zat,' he said drooling. They slapped her again." Ron continued to clean a spot on the stone that was already starting to take on a dull luster.

"She tried to let out a scream for help when the smaller guy grabs her throat. I heard her choking when..." Ron dropped the stone and sat to the ground pulling up dead grass. "All I could see was red, Harry." He looked up at his best friend, and a tear streaked down the right side of his face, a face filled with hatred. "Red... and black," he hissed.

"The guy over me dropped his knife and stared at his hand, and then... then he began to scream. He fell to his knees shrieking and holding his hand. I stood up and the two black guys beating her had stopped. They were now on their knees, reaching for their throats. They were silent... dead silent. I was in their heads, and as the heat pricked the back of my neck I listened to the screams that no one else could hear. She yelled at me to stop, but I wasn't about to. 'Scream you bastards!' I thought. She slapped me across the face, and they fell to the ground, gasping for air."

"We grabbed our wands and we ran. We ran until we finally found a street that looked familiar. By the time we found our way back, we had sworn not to tell anybody." Ron looked at Harry. "Since I first rode the Hogwarts express, it was the only time I've ever used magic without a wand." Ron looked at his two hands. "And I almost killed them, Harry. I would have, if she hadn't..." There was a long pause. This time Harry picked up a stone and tossed it in the lake. It too sent out rings on the still water.

"Now," Ron whispered, "when I see Dean with Ginny...." Again he shuddered looking to the ground. "I know it's insane, Harry. I know Dean's a great guy and all, but.... I'm trying, Harry; you've got to know that." Ron stood to his feet holding a new rock in his hand and ignoring the dried grass clinging to his robes. "You've got to." He tossed the stone in the water and the ripples intersected the rings emanating from Harry's toss. The two shapes formed a spider web across the lake that slowly made its way to shore causing a little wave that splashed on the lake's edge at their feet.

Harry had questions, lots of questions, but he knew the answers would come without him asking. Perhaps, he hoped, the invisible wall was beginning to crumble. He looked out across the lake toward Hogsmeade, took in a deep breath, and slowly let it out.

"Let's eat," he said to Ron. "I'm starved aren't you?" The thinnest hint of a smile crossed Ron's face and he nodded.

The clouds broke as the two friends made their way back to the castle, and the sun cast a yellow glow against the castle walls. A glint off one of the upper story windows caught Harry in the eye and, squinting, he looked up. The gray clouds closed together, and Harry saw a figure standing at the window in the Gryffindor common room staring back down at the pair.

"Merlin's beard!" he yelled, picking up the pace. Ron saw that he was looking up at the castle.

"What is it?" he asked keeping pace with Harry and looking up himself. "What do you see?"

"That idiot Neville let her in again!" Harry called out. "You do know, Prefect, he's been sneaking Helen Hedera into the Gryffindor common room?"

"He can't do that!" Ron yelled starting to breathe hard as they ascended the steps. "I just changed the password!"

"He's been doing it all year when nobody's around." Harry started up the moving staircase. "Before breakfast... after hours... and I guess now, lunch." They moved through the portrait of the Fat Lady and made their way into common room. The room was empty. They searched everywhere, but found no one.

"Are you sure you saw..." Ron began.

"Yes, I'm sure," Harry breathed. "I even saw the flower in her hair." He dropped back into an overstuffed chair rubbing his forehead. His head was aching.

"Look," Ron said, "I've got to clean these robes. They're covered in grass. Maybe we can catch them in the Great Hall." He disappeared up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Harry sat trying to turn Ron's story over in his head.

"It had to be Hermione," he thought holding his arm over his eyes and trying to stop his head from pounding. Suddenly he heard Ron give a short muffled yell.

"Ron?" he yelled up the stairs. There was no answer. "Ron!" He ran up the stairs, turned into his own dormitory, and banged heads with Tonks. They both fell to the ground. Harry was seeing stars, his vision blurred.

"Come on, mate," Ron said lifting him to his feet as Tonks slowly stood.

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked rubbing the side of her head. Harry blinked his eyes hard as his head began to clear.

"What... what's wrong?" he asked, his head searing with pain.

"Nothing," said Tonks with a smile as she rubbed her own head. "I just came to get this." In her hand was the Walkman Harry had borrowed. "My little sister's going to try flying on a Muggle airplane tomorrow, and I thought she might enjoy listening to some music. I figured it'd be pretty quiet at lunch and I didn't want to draw a lot of attention." She reached over to Harry holding out her wand. He took a step back as a beam of blue-green light sprung forth toward the knot that was growing on his forehead. The pain between his temples receded.

"I only saw Neville," Tonks continued, putting her wand away and stroking a wisp of hair behind Harry's ear. "He was more interested in getting off to lunch it seemed."

"Did you see Helen Hedera?" Ron asked. "Was she with Neville?"

"No," Tonks said shaking her head. "But I came up here before Neville left." Tonks squinted her eyes at Ron. "Isn't she in Hufflepuff?" she asked. Ron shot Harry a glance.

"She's usually waiting for Neville outside the portrait," Harry replied not wanting to get Neville in that much trouble, at least not yet. "They've become... close." At his words, Tonks grinned.

"Well," Tonks said starting for the stairs. "I must be going. Class with the first years is going to start soon." As she descended she called back, "I'll see you tonight, Harry." He adjusted his glasses and sighed remembering his requisite detention.

"He must have gone past us in the corridor," Ron said shaking the grass off his robes and clearing the droppings with his wand. "They probably ducked behind that suit of armor or down at the side alcove when they saw us coming."

When Ron and Harry entered the Great Hall for lunch, sure enough, Neville and Helen were eating side-by-side at the Hufflepuff table. Helen had a bright red rose in her hair. When Neville saw the two he smiled and waved. Ron, however, was none too pleased. He stomped over to the two of them.

"You know I can put you both in detention for sneaking in like that. Dumbledore may be letting the houses mix more, but the common rooms are off limits."

"I'm sorry Ron," Helen said sincerely, but with a slight look of confusion. "It's my fault, I just asked to see what it was like is all, and Neville... well he's just a sweetie." She grinned and kissed him on the cheek. The sight of someone kissing Neville Longbottom was a bit more than Ron could take, and his anger evaporated.

"Well... don't let it happen again," he snapped but the bite in his words was gone.

While Ron was tearing into Neville and Helen, Harry couldn't help but hold his eyes on Helen. Something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. When Ron came back to the table where he was sitting, the thought swirling in the back of his mind vanished.

After lunch, the pair made their way to Transfiguration, Ron talking the whole while about the previous night's practice that Harry had missed. "Colin showed us some of the picture show he put together," Ron said excitedly. "He's an awful Seeker, but you'll get the idea. Ravenclaw won't know what hit 'em." He was grinning and Harry grinned back. As the two entered class, Hermione looked up just in time to see them both smiling. Ron gave Harry a nod and walked to Hermione while Harry sat down next to Malfoy.

The blonde was writing on some parchment, but as Harry sat, he quickly rolled it up and put it into his pack. "Hey Potter," he drawled. "I thought you'd had it with that low life." Malfoy looked at Ron, and then back to his Transfiguration partner. Harry was about to speak when Professor McGonagall walked briskly into the classroom.

"Take your places," she called across the room. Minutes later, the class began to transfigure cats into dogs and back again. "One must feel the transition of transfiguring one life force into another," Professor McGonagall said to the class. "The energy is there, and the mind's eye must see what the goal is." She walked around the room. Anthony Goldstein was only able to transfigure his cat from a tabby to a calico. The early attempts around the class that were failing caused a lot of laughter. "It will be much harder," Professor McGonagall continued, "to create the illusion of life, where before it did not exist." The laughter and commotion increased in the room, but Malfoy's eyes were steel and his expression stoic.

"Well?" Malfoy turned to Harry, his voice low. "I know we couldn't talk about it in detention last night. That insufferable Professor Tonks refused to leave us alone." He looked around to ensure no one was looking. "Do you have your answer?"

"You seemed to like the extra lessons last night well enough," Harry quipped, focusing his wand at the cat before him. "Gaperro!" he called out. A flash of light hit his gray tabby and it began to change into a miniature schnauzer, only its fur was still very much cat-like and its tail long and ringed. Harry sighed. "Pegatto." The tabby returned and he gently slid it over to Malfoy.

"Tell me Draco," Harry said in a low voice. "Have you spoken of this to anyone?" Malfoy looked at him intently and cast his own spell on the cat. His first attempts had been more successful. This time, only the head transfigured. Malfoy scowled. "Something wrong, Draco?"

"I hate snitches," Malfoy drawled. "There's no room for them in Slytherin." He transfigured the creature back into a cat and roughly shoved it over to Harry. The cat meowed in pain.

"Unless, of course," Harry added scratching the cat behind the ears and getting it to calm, "it serves their own purpose. Isn't that the Slytherin way? Loyalty last?"

"You know nothing of what it means to be in Slytherin," Malfoy hissed. "You'll never know. So pure, so perfect, so... so Potter." Malfoy slumped in his chair, but then a smile crossed his face and he leaned in next to Harry tapping the scar of the sword and snake on his own face. "But you're not so pure, are you, Potter?" Harry said nothing. "Let's talk about snitches. I hear you've been playing Cho off another girl. Am I right?" Again, Harry said nothing, but the blood drained from his face and his insides went cold. He didn't need to say a word; Malfoy now knew the answer.

"Who is she, Potter?" he drawled. "Not that mudblood Granger?" Harry clenched his wand, his knuckles white, and pointed it at the tiny tabby before him. It was all he could do not to blast Malfoy across the room. His hands were shaking. "Gaperro!" he yelled. A blast of light erupted from his wand and the tabby began to grow. Its cute button nose slowly turned snout-like. The tiny feet grew into pads the size of Harry's own hand. Before them was a dog some four feet tall, dark black, with large fangs and fierce green eyes. Drool dribbled down from its mouth onto Malfoy's hand. It was he, who now was shaking. The dog eyed him contemptuously.

"I don't think he liked you shoving him at me like that," Harry said sharply through his teeth. He was still angry, but had felt some of the anger leave him. He looked at the dog and realized he was looking at the very likeness of his godfather.

"Sirius?" Harry whispered. The dog paid him no attention. Malfoy was pushing backward in his chair away from the dog when it pounced.

The class, which had stood in dumbfounded silence to this point, let out a collective scream. All except Ron who yelled, "Get him boy!" Malfoy fell backward in his chair and turned on his belly to escape, when the dog landed squarely on the blonde's back, knocking the wind out of him.

"Help!" he gasped, clawing to get away, but unable to move. "Get it off! Get it off!" Warm drool ran down onto the back of his neck as the dog's huge nostrils sniffed for where he'd take the first bite. Wisps of blonde hair flew into the air with each snort. Malfoy's legs were kicking as Harry held his wand high. Professor McGonagall was running from the front of the class as the door slowly opened.

"Pegatto!" Harry called out. The dog instantly shrunk back into its original form. There, at the back of Malfoy's neck, was a small gray tabby scratching and hissing at the blonde locks.

"Get it off!" Malfoy screamed again apparently unaware of the transfiguration. "Help me please!" he begged. The site was comical. Malfoy spread-eagle on the floor begging for help from the vicious tabby kitten on the back of his neck. The class began to laugh.

At the door, a deep sneering voice bellowed out. "Get off the ground, Mr. Malfoy." The laughter and the reverberation shocked Malfoy to his senses and brought him back to the present. Suddenly, putting it together, he reached up and grabbed the cat.

"Don't you hurt a hair on that kitten's head, Malfoy!" Hermione yelled from across the room. Looking around he placed the kitten on the floor and stood up wiping the drool off his neck, and trying to straighten his robes.

"May I help you Professor?" Professor McGonagall asked, irritated at both commotion and the intrusion.

"I've come for Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter, Minerva," Professor Snape said with eyes that could spit fire. "I thought class was over." Professor McGonagall glanced at a large hourglass by her desk. The sand had run out.

"Indeed it is, Severus," she replied. "Class dismissed. Harry, Draco, please stay behind for a moment." The class exited, although Ron and Hermione seemed to be taking an inordinate amount of time.

"I'm sure you'll hear all about it, you two," Professor McGonagall chided. "Now be on your way!" Dejected, they left the classroom leaving the two students and the two professors alone. Malfoy was still trying to wipe the slime off his neck.

"Sit down you two," Professor Snape commanded. He looked around to ensure the door was shut. Harry reached for a chair, but Malfoy shoved him aside and took the same one. Harry was about to take action when Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. Looking up, he saw her eyes flash him a look that said 'sit down', and he took the next chair and sat. Turning another chair to face them, Snape sat as well, and then began to speak very slowly and deliberately.

"I think we all know there is certain amount of, shall we say, animosity between the two of you." Malfoy's eyes narrowed on Harry and he let out a low huff. "A danger now faces you both." They both looked at him confused. "For you, Draco, it is a temptation that could lead you to ruin. For you, Harry, it might mean your very life." Now even Professor McGonagall was perplexed as she leaned in closer trying to understand his words.

Professor Snape stood, walked behind his chair, and looked back at the two boys. "Lucius Malfoy, Augustus Rockwood, and Selaton Nott have escaped from Azkaban." Harry slumped in his chair and shook his head. Malfoy first looked to Harry, and shot him a glance he hadn't expected -- fear. But when he turned back to face Professor Snape his look was confident, almost smug.

"I knew he'd be back," he smirked. "Now you'll pay. You'll all pay."