The Dragon Tamed

Chapter 10.

Thea sat with Colin and Ginny at the breakfast table, enjoying herself before Potions. It felt rather like her last supper, or rather last breakfast.

While Hermione and Ron were arguing pointlessly and Harry and Seamus were talking Quidditch, Ginny turned her attention to Thea. 'I can't believe you're going to do this.'

Thea raised her eyebrows in question, not that she needed to. She knew what Ginny was talking about. 'I take it you're talking about Potions.'

'Of course I am,' snapped Ginny. 'I can't believe you're going to be so stupid.'

Thea sighed inwardly. She knew that what she was about to do came under the heading of Very Bad Idea. She didn't need Ginny telling her that.

'What's she done?' asked Colin, interested.

'It's more a question of what she hasn't done,' Ginny told him pointedly.

Colin frowned for a moment before comprehension filled his eyes. 'You haven't done your Potions homework, have you?' he asked.

'I've done half,' Thea confessed guiltily. She knew it should have been finished ages ago, and she nervously took a sip from her glass of juice. 'But I was just so tired last night; I couldn't have finished it even if I had wanted to.' She had meant to take it with her to her history tutorial but had completely forgotten about it. She didn't really think she was good enough friends with Draco to sort him out and ask for his help out of class or tutorials. That plus she didn't want him to laugh at her. It made life so tiresome.

'You're actually going to go to class when you haven't done your homework?' Colin asked her.

'Snape's class,' clarified Neville, going pale at the thought.

Thea nodded.

'At least do the sensible thing, Thea. Skip class. At least get into trouble for that,' Colin begged her.

'Don't be daft. If I skip class I get told off for both. If I just give in my work late, I only get told off for that. One is better than two,' Thea informed him. Now if only she could convince herself, that would be great.

'So what are you going to do when he asks you for the homework?' asked Ginny pointedly.

'Same as every other time, realise I can't find it, act terrified, promise it to Snape immediately after class, go finish it.' Thea did not feel as blasé as she was acting, already feeling quite terrified. She couldn't believe she hadn't done her homework. At the beginning of the year she had promised herself she wouldn't do it again this year, but she had and now she had to deal with it.

'You think you'll survive?' asked Colin.

Playing for time, Thea took another gulp of her juice before answering. 'Not likely. If I'm lucky and he's in a bad mood I'll get detention. If he's in a foul mood I'll get detention and points deducted, and if I'm terribly unlucky he'll be in a completely fucked off mood, at which point I get a zero, have to hand in the work anyway, points deducted and a horrific number of detentions.' All of which begged the question of why was she going out of her way to get into trouble.

'Thea, one day this is all going to jump up and bite you on the arse, you know that, right?' Colin told her seriously.

'Then lets pray it's not today then, huh?' she replied.

As she walked down to the dungeons with Ginny and Colin, Thea began to feel more and more uneasy. She really shouldn't have left her Potions essay to the last minute and certainly shouldn't have ignored it last night, no matter how tired she had been. Normally she liked Potions. But she had to admit that, given the choice, Potions would always be the homework she would sacrifice. In other years the few other times she had pulled this stunt she had promised herself this would be the last time she would do it. There were only so many times a girl could survive Snape's acid comments about tardy homework. The prospect of being discovered terrified her, like it would any other sane person. When Ginny had told her, last year, that Snape could read minds, literally, she had been all the more scared. Well, until she realised that had he known, he was unlikely to have let her get away with it. It had, however, made her realise that she had to stop...or not look Snape in the eye. Although she had only received detentions previously something was telling her she wouldn't be so lucky this time. It felt as though Colin might be proven correct earlier than even he thought. What a gloomy prospect.

She slid onto her stool next to Malfoy, ignoring him completely, and pulled her quill and parchment out of her bag. Since Snape had said this would be a theory class only she hadn't bothered to bring any of her Potions stuff with her. Knowing her luck, though, he'd already have changed his mind by now.

Once Snape had put all his instructions on the board - reading chapters fifteen to seventeen and take notes, he began to walk around, collecting their homework. Thea's nerves were beginning to fray even more. Eventually he arrived in front of Malfoy and Thea. Malfoy immediately handed his work over and Snape turned to look at Thea expectantly.

Thea began to frantically root through her bag, pretending to look for her Potions essay. Her stomach was in knots as she got ready to lie to Snape. Why did she do these things to herself?

'Am I going to get your homework any time today, Miss Maggi?' Snape asked impatiently.

'Yes,' Thea replied, doing one final look through her bag for good measure.

'Excellent. When will that be?'

'After class.' Thea winced. That hadn't been exactly what she had wanted to say but she supposed she was feeling somewhat nervous and so it wasn't surprising her brain was shutting down.

'And why only then?' Snape enquired.

'Because I haven't finished my homework,' Thea told him. Her eyes widened in horror and she heard Ginny and Colin gasp from behind her. What on earth had possessed her to say that? Was she trying to get herself killed? What she had wanted to say had been: It must still be on my desk and in my hurry this morning I forgot to pick it up. Unfortunately that had not been what came out her mouth, not by a long shot.

Risking a glance up at Snape, Thea could see he was furious. 'If this class is too difficult for you, Miss Maggi, may I suggest you transfer to a subject less taxing. Divination, perhaps.'

Thea could hear the Slytherins sniggering behind her, but now was not the time to be distracted.

'So why haven't you completed my essay?'

Thea did not want to answer: she just didn't want to hear what came out of her mouth this time, but she just seemed incapable of keeping her mouth shut. Thea had never felt as terrified in her life as she did now. Admittedly she had never had to face down a deranged Dark Lord, but, if given the choice, she was sure she'd prefer that to watching Snape getting ready to combust.

'Because I left it until the last moment and then I was too tired to finish it last night,' Thea just wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Malfoy's shoulders shaking. Was the bastard laughing at her predicament?

'You thought Potions was not important enough?' Snape hissed at her. 'You thought that perhaps you could get away with not doing your homework? You Gryffindors are all the same,' he seethed. 'You waltz around, thinking you're better than everyone else is and that rules do not apply to you.'

Thea had never heard Snape so angry. Since she didn't know how to reply, she didn't. She was also pretty sure that he would soon be asking her about her other late pieces of work over the years. It was unlikely that he would have forgotten that. Since being told off by Snape was a memorable, if unpleasant experience, Thea knew exactly how many times she hadn't done her work. She really didn't want to have to tell him.

Snape continued through her silence, his eyes gleaming maliciously. 'So, tell me, Miss Maggi, how many times have you "forgotten" your homework in previous years, only to finish it after class?'

Yep, there it was. If only she could lie and not tell him, she might yet get out of this alive. Her eyes widened as she felt the words bubbling up her throat. Lie...truth. She was telling the truth. That could mean only one thing: a truth potion. But who would give her a truth potion, and why? Thea closed her eyes as the obviousness of the answer hit her right between the eyes. Malfoy. Who else, but Malfoy? He'd told her weeks ago that he was going to get even with her. Since it had taken him so long to do anything she had allowed herself to forget about it, thinking he had too. How stupid could she have been? Of course he hadn't forgotten about it. He'd just lulled her into a false sense of security. Sodding Slytherin.

'Ten times, Professor,' she told him. There wasn't much point trying to fight it, really. Perhaps she could ask Sirius and Remus how to fight a truth potion. She knew it was possible to beat one, but she'd never been interested enough to find out how.

'Really? I would put it more at thirteen.'

Thea stared at him. She had been ill those three times: in the hospital wing, of all places. How could he include those times? Oh, yeah, he was Snape and was milking this for all it was worth. 'But Professor, I was ill,' she protested feebly.

'You lied to me about your homework, I can hardly believe you now,' he countered.

It was then that Thea realised that Snape must have come to the conclusion that she was under a truth potion. He, as a Potions master, would be best placed to notice one. The bastard, she seethed to herself. He knew, and he wasn't doing a damn thing about it. He had purposely not made that statement a question so she couldn't explain what had happened. But then, she was a Gryffindor, he probably thought it was funny.

'Fourteen pieces of homework. That'll be ten points from Gryffindor for every late piece of work.'

Thea and all the other Gryffindors gasped in horror. He had to be joking, surely. That was a hundred and forty points, not including the points already deducted when she handed the work in late. All the Slytherins were sniggering and when Thea glanced over at Malfoy she could see he was enjoying the show as much as the other Slytherins. All in all he looked rather triumphant.

'And, I think a detention for each piece of work,' Snape finished with a flurry. 'That'll be all for now. See me after class.' He made as if to move on when he paused and turned back slightly. 'Oh, and Mr. Malfoy?'

Malfoy looked up, surprised. As was Thea. He already had the twat's homework, what else could he want?

'Thirty points to Slytherin.' With that, Snape moved on.

Thea looked after him in shock. Had he really just given Draco - she meant Malfoy, damn it - points for slipping her a truth potion? He couldn't have, could he? It had to be for something else, surely. She knew he hated Gryffindor, but this had to be taking it a bit too far.

'You bastard!' Thea hissed at him. 'You did this; you slipped me a truth potion. I don't know how, but you did.'

He turned to look at her, his eyes sparkling. Whether it was with mirth or malice, she couldn't tell. Probably both, knowing him. 'Oh no, you don't, Maggi. This is your doing. If you'd done your homework like a good little Gryffindor, you wouldn't be in this mess now, would you?'

Thea glared at him, anger emanating from her body. She hated it that he was right and that she couldn't even argue the point because the fucking potion wouldn't allow her to. 'Fuck off and die, Malfoy,' she finally hissed at him.

He looked blankly at her before winking at her. Thea's glare intensified; he had the damn audacity to wink at her. Who the hell did he think he was?

For the rest of the lesson Thea kept her head down and dutifully copied down everything that Snape told them. For once in her life she didn't want class to end because then she would have to speak to Snape, again.

As much as she wished it wouldn't, eventually the end of the lesson did arrive. She stayed sitting where she was as everyone around her packed away their belongings and made a sharp exit. Thea didn't blame them; if given the opportunity she would gladly do the same.

Ginny and Collin shot her sympathetic looks before walking out of the dungeon. How she wished she was walking out with them. She just knew that Colin's first words were going to be 'I told you so.'

Harry actually whispered to her as he passed her. 'Heads up, Thea. If I've survived everything Snape has thrown at me, you'll be fine.'

'Get out, Potter,' Snape snapped from the front of the classroom.

Harry rolled his eyes at Thea and winked at her before leaving.

Finally Malfoy picked up his bag, ready to leave.

'Mr Malfoy. Could you please inform my third years to wait outside until Miss Maggi leaves?'

Malfoy nodded. 'Of course, Professor.' He leaned down and murmured in Thea's ear, 'Good luck. You're going to need it.'

The fear in Thea's stomach was slowly freezing into a huge ball of ice. She was so scared that she couldn't even bring herself to scowl at Malfoy. She just kind of looked through him, seeing him, but not seeing him at the same time.

He stopped in front of her, obscuring her view of Snape as he busied himself at his desk. He looked her dead in the eye, all animosity gone. It was enough to shock her out of her stupor. 'Don't worry, he won't kill you. You're not Potter after all,' he told her softly. He then carried on past her and towards the door.

Thea watched him go, thoroughly confused. Couldn't he just make up his mind and decide whether he was going to be nice to her, and stick to it? It was damn annoying being knocked for six every so often. When she turned back around, Snape was standing exactly where Draco had been. She jumped: she hadn't even heard him move.

'Now then,' Snape began with soft malice. 'What to do with the self-important Gryffindor?' He smiled triumphantly at her. 'You are to complete this week's homework and then redo each of the thirteen pieces of homework you handed in late, but they are to be completed to NEWT standard.'

Thea stared at him in horror. Had he just...NEWT standard? Was he trying to kill her? Actually on second thought, best not to answer that one.

'Bu...but sir,' Thea stammered. She couldn't cope with more work; she was nearly cracking under everything she had at the moment.

'You have something to add?' he enquired.

'All that extra work, on top of everything I already have...' She trailed off as Snape's scowl intensified. Somehow she didn't think he cared.

'Well, you should have thought of that before, shouldn't you?'

Thea nodded, thoroughly defeated. 'Yes, sir.'

'Good. I expect the first piece of work, which I believe is on the uses of Wolfsbane, to be on my desk by the end of the week. Is that understood?'

'Yes, sir.'

'You'll be informed of the details of your first detention later on today.' He walked back to his desk, dismissing her. 'Please inform my third years they may now enter.'

Thea stumbled out of the dungeons in a daze and waved in the third years, most of whom gave her funny looks. As she walked out of the dungeons and into the entrance hall she suddenly felt a hand drop onto her shoulder. Yelping, she grabbed the hand and turned around, only to stare into the eyes of Benji.

'God, Ben, you scared the crap out of me.'

'Sorry. Thought you heard me creeping up on you. You usually do.'

'It didn't go so well then?' asked Ginny.

'Not very,' confirmed Thea as they all walked towards the library.

'But what happened?' asked Benji. 'Coll and Gin said you just started telling Snape the truth.'

'I think I was slipped a truth potion,' she told them wearily, unable to tell if she was saying this because she wanted to tell her friends, or because the potion was still working.

'Shit, Thea. How the hell did that happen?' exclaimed Ginny.

'And, more importantly, who did it?' asked Colin, sounding worried.

'I'm pretty sure it was Malfoy,' she told them.

'The sodding shithead,' exclaimed Benji.

'That fucking bastard,' growled Ginny, her hand going to her wand. 'I'm going to kill him so dead.'

'No, Gin, leave it,' Thea begged, grabbing her best friend's arm. 'Please don't do anything.'

'What? You've got to be kidding me, Thea,' said Ginny, looking furious. 'He used a truth potion on you. That's illegal, unless it's done under supervision.'

Thea shook her head, and she must have looked desperate enough because Ginny put her wand away. 'This had better be good,' was all her friend said.

'You're at least going to go and tell McGonagall, aren't you?' questioned Colin. 'This is serious, Thea.'

'Guys, just, just hear me out, ok?'

A few metres down the corridor there was an unused classroom. Thea peeked inside to check that it was empty, then waved her friends over.

Ginny performed a silencing charm so that they couldn't be overheard. 'Better safe than sorry. Now, explain to us exactly why we shouldn't go, find that ferret and bounce him around some more corridors.'

She dropped her bag onto one of the desks and then sat on another one. 'You remember our first Potions class of the year?' Her friends nodded. 'Well, you remember the questions I asked Malfoy?' Again they nodded. 'Well, as we were packing up, Malfoy promised me he'd get me back for it.'

'Why didn't you tell us?' interrupted Ginny, standing in front of her, hands on hips. Oh boy, was Ginny angry.

'I thought it was only Malfoy being all talk and no action. I didn't really think he would do anything, just trying to scare me.' And it was true. No matter now nervous she had been, she hadn't really thought he would actually do something, especially something as daring as this. That, though, made her wonder how on earth had he given her the actual potion?

'I think you might have read that one wrong,' Benji told her, still standing next to the door.

'No shit, Sherlock. I worked that out about the time Snape ripped me a new one.'

'And you don't want to go to McGonagall because...?' asked Colin.

'Hello, we are talking about McGonagall here. She won't be more lenient on me for this. And anyway I think it's part of the test. See what I do. I think that it'll be worse if I go to McGonagall than if I just let it go. Malfoy got me, and that's all there is to it. If I leave it, so will he.'

'But, Thea, he got you a shitload of detention and a shitload of points deducted,' protested Ginny, looking less than pleased.

'That was my fault - don't even say it,' she warned Colin, glaring at him. 'If I'd done my homework, that would never have happened and I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now. There is no way he could have planned something like that to happen.'

'So, you think that if you leave it, it'll just go away?' questioned Colin, looking sceptical. 'I don't see it, personally.'

'And I certainly don't,' added Ginny.

Colin frowned a bit before speaking again. 'Thea, are you sure that Malfoy isn't, I don't know, controlling you or something?'

Thea looked at him, shocked that he was suggesting it. 'That's ridiculous. What on earth makes you say that?'

'Well, for starters you don't want to tell on him after he's slipped you a truth potion,' retorted Colin.

'And you have been acting weird over the past few weeks,' added Benji.

'Weird? How so?' Apart from all the staring at Malfoy, obviously.

'Well, you have been...watching Malfoy a lot over the last few weeks, Thea,' Ginny told her. 'It's not normal.'

Oh.

'So you think Malfoy has somehow got control of me? Don't you think I might have noticed?'

'Not necessarily,' Colin told her. 'We looked in the library, and it's possible for witches and wizards to be influenced without knowing it. Imperio isn't the only one out there, you know.'

Thea bit her lip. 'No, I didn't know that,' she admitted. 'But even so, you don't have to worry.'

'And why's that?' demanded Ginny.

'I asked Remus to check there were no dark spells or anything to me,' she told them.

'When did you do that?' asked Benji.

'And why?' added Ginny, looking really worried about her, making Thea feel guilty about worrying them like this.

'About two weeks ago,' she told Benji. 'And I did it because I don't hate Malfoy as much as I did when I started the tutorials. I just wanted to check that nothing was being done to me. And there wasn't.' OK, so that made it sound as though she still hated him, just not as much, which wasn't strictly true. It was more along the lines of her beginning to like him. She could even possibly be past the 'beginning' stage and just be onto plain old like.

'How much do you not hate him now then?' queried Ginny, looking curious.

'Quite a bit,' she mumbled, not wanting to admit it to her friends. She didn't want them to be angry with her.

'Are you insane?' exploded Benji, 'This is Malfoy we're talking about.'

'I know it is, but I can't help it. I just...' she gestured helplessly, unable to put into words what she was thinking and feeling. She stared at Ginny, begging her to understand.

Ginny stared at her, looking troubled. 'I don't understand it,' she began. 'But I do trust you, and if you're worried about it too and going to Remus to check you over, then I don't think Malfoy can be controlling you, even a bit.'

Thea stared at Ginny, feeling slightly shocked. She had hoped her best friend would be understanding and support her but she hadn't expected Ginny to do so, so readily. Having said that, she was just so relieved that Ginny wasn't going to disown her or anything equally scary. The boys looked as confused as she felt, but since Ginny was going to be ok with it, it looked as though they weren't going to make a fuss either, thank god.

'So,' began Ginny, removing the spell from the door, 'why are you watching Malfoy?'

'Trying to work him out,' replied Thea, walking out the door ahead of her friends.

'Any luck there?' asked Benji.

'Not really. Just as I think I might understand just a little bit of what he's like, he goes and does something that completely confounds me. He's bloody confusing.'

'Why am I not surprised?' asked Ginny dryly.

Thea stuck her tongue out in retaliation.

'So, what did Snape say then?' asked Colin.

Thea groaned. 'Basically that I have to redo all of the homework I gave in late.'

'That's not so bad, surely. Just copy the old ones and give them in,' suggested Colin. 'Just owl home and ask for them to be sent to you.'

'Oh, I forgot, they all have to be to NEWT standard,' Thea added.

Ginny gasped, shocked. 'No way. Surely he can't do that.'

'Well, he has, so I'm guessing he can,' said Thea resignedly. Snape was rather a law unto himself, so it was unlikely he actually cared what he could and couldn't do.

'Go and see McGonagall,' suggested Benji, sounding outraged. 'She'll do something about it. Surely that can't be allowed.'

As they walked into the library, Madam Pince glared at Benji as they walked past her and snapped, 'No talking in the library.'

'But I wasn't talking in the library,' muttered Benji under his breath.

Colin sniggered before turning to Thea. 'You really think McGonagall won't do anything?'

Thea shook her head. 'I don't think so. She'll probably tell me it was my fault, and to be fair, she would be right.' She sighed. 'I guess I'll just have to tough it out.'

'Are you sure that's wise?' asked Colin. 'You're already finding the amount of work difficult to handle. We can all see that. Do you think you can manage with more?'

Thea wished she could be angry with Colin for pointing that out but she knew he was right. As they sat down at a table in the library she said, 'I'll be ok. It can't kill me...or at least I don't think it can.' She frowned, thinking. 'Do you think it's actually possible to die from too much homework?' She sat up straighter at the thought. 'I can't die, can I?'

'No, Thea, you can't,' Benji reassured her.

'I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad one. How much does everyone hate me for losing so many points in one go? I don't want to go back to the common room.'

'Ah, relax, Thea. You still haven't managed to lose as many points are Harry, Neville and Hermione did in their first year,' said Ginny.

'Oh, I remember hearing about that, fifty points each, wasn't it?' asked Benji.

Ginny nodded. 'Yeah, it was.' She turned to Thea. 'See? It's not all that bad.'

'Yeah, but they lost a hundred and fifty points between three of them. I lost a hundred and forty all by myself.'

'And everyone feels sorry for you getting yelled at like that by Snape. I think that'll help you a lot,' added Colin.

Thea groaned. 'I can't believe this has happened to me.'

'Well, it could be worse,' Ginny told her, pulling out her Charms work.

'How?' Thea asked her incredulously.

Ginny paused for a moment. 'Ah, obviously I didn't think that one through. Never mind, forget I said anything. It really is that bad.'

Thea looked at her best friend for a moment before starting to giggle. Her life was going down the toilet but if she couldn't laugh about it, god damn it, what was the point?

---------

Thea was more or less dragged to Transfiguration by Benji that afternoon.

'But Benji, Malfoy will be there,' she protested.

'I know,' said Benji, doing his hardest to pull a resisting Thea down the corridor without much luck.

'And McGonagall will kill me if she's been told, which she will have been.'

Benji didn't answer this time, being more concerned with prying Thea's fingers off a statue.

Thea suddenly felt herself being picked up and yelped in shock. She knew it wasn't Benji; he was standing in front of her. However, he didn't look all that alarmed by the identity of her attacker, so perhaps it wasn't all bad. She scowled as she heard someone chuckle. She knew that Irish lilt. Damn Seamus.

'Seamus, you put me down right this minute,' she demanded, glaring at Benji, who was laughing instead of helping her.

'Not a chance, Thea,' Seamus told her, tightening his arms around her waist as she struggled. 'I'll put you down once we're in the classroom and not a moment before.'

She twisted to look at him in horror. 'You wouldn't actually carry me into the classroom, would you?' What would everyone say? Oh God, what would Malfoy say?

'Depends,' he told her casually. 'Will you walk in by yourself?'

'If you put me down now, I will,' she huffed. As he set her down she looked around and saw several people watching her either laughing or whispering. 'Oh my god, how many people have already seen you manhandling me?' Her knees were shaking enough as it was; now she just wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

'Not a clue,' he told her cheerfully. 'I was too busy to notice.'

'Anyway, what is it to you if I go to class or not?' she asked him, straightening out her robes, still trying to calm herself.

'Normally nothing. But then I heard about your Potions class, everyone's talking about it. Just because McGonagall is going to chew you out, isn't a good reason to skip class. It'll only get her madder.'

'It's not really McGonagall I'm worried about,' she admitted as they walked down the corridor. 'It's Malfoy.'

'What's this got to do with Malfoy? I thought Snape was gunning for your blood.'

'He is, but it's all Malfoy's fault,' she told him hotly. 'If he hadn't slipped me that stupid truth potion none of this would have happened.' She felt her eyes widen as she realised just what she had told Seamus. 'I think it's still working a bit,' she said weakly as Benji rolled his eyes at her.

'The bloody little ferret did what?' Seamus demanded harshly.

'You can't tell,' she told him desperately. 'It'll only make things worse. Please promise you won't tell. And don't yell again, people might hear you.'

'Not tell? Thea, what he did was illegal,' exclaimed Seamus but he was quieter that time.

'I know, I know, really I do. But I just don't want to have to deal with it. He was just getting me back for what I asked him in our first class. If I don't do anything now, he won't do anything else. Really.' She grabbed on to his arm. 'Please, Seamus.'

'Thea, you have to do something about it. He can't get away with it,' Seamus told her. 'It's dangerous. Come on, look at who his father is. Just think, Thea.'

'You know, Seamus might be right,' Benji told her. 'Think who he is and what he's done in the past. I know what we all said after class but maybe we were wrong.'

'It was just a prank,' Thea told them doggedly. 'I promise.' She put up her hand to stop the protests she could see forming in the boys' minds. 'However, if he does anything like it again, I'll tell. I promise.'

'I don't like it, Thea,' Seamus told her. 'At least let me talk to Harry about it.'

'Are you crazy?' Thea asked him. 'Harry'll just do something daft and get into trouble. Malfoy will know why, and then be nasty to both me and Harry. Just let it lie, Seamus.'

'You're probably right about Harry,' Seamus admitted. 'He doesn't always think things through and he'll just want to protect you.' He sighed and looked at her. 'Fine. I'll keep quiet. But I still think you're going about this all the wrong way.'

'Relax. I'll be fine and I can deal with Malfoy.' At least better than the lot of you, she added silently in her head.

'If he starts to bother you, you tell me, ok?'

'Got it,' she told him. Agreeing saved an argument and she really didn't fancy having an argument with Seamus. She probably wouldn't really tell him of all people, but that wasn't the point. And anyway, if she felt things were really getting out of hand, she'd go to either Sirius or Remus. Why go to a fellow student when she had the option of talking to a teacher? It still seemed to be a concept that Harry and his friends hadn't come across.

'And you,' he said to Benji, grabbing him in a friendly headlock, 'you keep an eye on her. Don't let her get in too deep, you get me?'

'Don't worry Seamus,' assured Benji. 'Me and Coll take our roles of protecting the girls very seriously.'

'Girls! Protect?' exclaimed Thea. What was with the caveman mentality? She could protect herself just fine, thank you very much. She was no helpless maiden. And neither was Ginny. In fact Ginny would probably kill Benji if she heard that.

'Oh, you're in trouble now, mate,' Seamus told Benji, laughing.

'Thea,' pleaded Benji, looking like a deer trapped in headlights, 'I didn't mean it like that.'

'Oh, so how did you mean it?' she demanded. She walked past Malfoy, making sure she didn't look at him.

'You'll never talk yourself out of it,' Seamus told Benji as he took his seat next to Harry.

'So come on, explain,' Thea told Benji as they took their seats on the bench in front.

'What's all that about?' Thea heard Harry ask Seamus from behind her.

'Nothing much. Ben is just about to learn a few things about assuming that girls are the weaker sex and need protecting,' Seamus told him, sounding mightily amused at the prospect.

Thea spared a glare for them and as she turned her attention back to Benji she saw them both raise their hands in mock surrender.

There was one good thing about glaring at Benji; she had her back to Malfoy and didn't have to look at him.

As McGonagall made her way to the front of the classroom, Thea shot Benji a reassuring smile. There was no point making him think she was angry with him for the entire class. Seeing her smile, Benji visibly relaxed. Making sure she didn't even glance at Malfoy, Thea turned her attention to what McGonagall was saying.

'So, have you done your homework?' Malfoy murmured at her as he took notes.

She shot him an angry glare before remembering that she was supposed to be ignoring the bastard. He didn't say anything for the rest of the class, just kept sending her amused smirks.

At the end of the class Thea wearily put her things into her bag. She just wanted to go back to the common room and collapse on her bed. And if she could stay there for the next nine months, that'd be great.

'Miss Maggi, if you could stay behind for a moment,' McGonagall requested as everyone started to leave.

'I'll wait for you outside,' Benji whispered.

As Malfoy got up to leave he turned as if about to say something to her but instead he scowled at something above her. Unsure as to what he could be looking at, she turned around.

Behind her, lined up in a row, were Seamus, Harry and Ron, all glaring silently at Malfoy. It really was quite an impressive sight. Anyone apart from Malfoy would have been intimidated immediately. Hell, for all she knew he was intimidated, but was just covering it well.

'Guys, it's ok,' Thea assured them, silently thanking them all for being there for her.

'We'll leave when Malfoy leaves,' Ron stated evenly.

'Actually, Mr. Weasley, I believe you will all be leaving now,' corrected McGonagall from behind Thea.

Malfoy swept out, not giving Thea a second glance while the other three were a lot more begrudging about leaving, throwing worried glances her way.

'So, Miss Maggi,' McGonagall began as the door closed, 'I do believe you had quite the Potions lesson this morning.'

Thea nodded miserably as she remembered all the horrific details.

'Do you wish to tell me how you came to tell Professor Snape such ill advised information?' enquired McGonagall calmly.

'I don't know,' lied Thea, relieved that the potion had finally worn off. As much as she was loathe to admit it, Malfoy was right that it was her fault that she had been caught out. If she had done her homework on time this would never have happened. She only really had herself to blame; Malfoy and his potion had only been a catalyst. He hadn't known that she hadn't done her homework so he had no way of knowing what was going to happen in the class. And if she told on him now, what would it achieve? He would be out to get her even more than he had been and next time his revenge would not be quite as harmless she assumed. If she left it, perhaps he would decide that they were even and leave it at that. They had been getting on a lot better recently.

'Is that so?' asked McGonagall, sounding rather sceptical.

'It is, Professor,' said Thea meekly. She knew that if they were there, all her friends would be yelling at her to tell on Malfoy, but she just couldn't. She couldn't really explain her actions but she hoped that she was right.

'It sounds to me, Maggi, as though you were fed a truth potion,' concluded McGonagall.

Thea was too tired to attempt to act surprised so she didn't even bother. She sighed in resignation. 'I had a feeling that that might have been it, I just wasn't positive,' she told McGonagall.

'You have no idea how this happened?'

Thea just shook her head, not entirely trusting herself to speak. She just wanted to get back to the common room and forget that the day had ever happened. Thank god she didn't have a tutorial that night, only the DA and that was infinitely more enjoyable than being humiliated by Malfoy.

'If you insist, Miss Maggi,' McGonagall said, her disbelieving tone of voice telling Thea that her head of house didn't believe her, but was thankfully not going to press her on it. 'Perhaps instead, you'd prefer to discuss how you are going to cope with the extra work load Professor Snape has given you.'

Thea groaned. 'I haven't really thought about it yet,' she confessed. 'I'm still trying to get my head around it.'

McGonagall nodded sympathetically. 'I understand, Miss Maggi. However, it is something that will require your immediate attention if you have no wish to fall behind.'

Thea nodded her reluctant agreement. 'I'll think about it tonight,' she promised.

'If you begin to find that neither the library nor the common room are helping your concentration I'd be more than happy to allow you the use of this classroom.'

Thea smiled. 'Thank you, Professor.'

'Now, on to your detentions. I understand that you have fourteen to serve with Professor Snape. Is that correct?'

Thea nodded again. 'Although I have no idea when the first one is.' No doubt it was going to be the longest two weeks of her life.

'The first one is tomorrow night, I'm reliably informed by Professor Snape. Your tutorial is at eight, correct? So your detention is from six until eight.'

Thea nodded miserably.

'Professor Snape has agreed to omit weekends but that was the best I could do,' McGonagall informed her.

'Believe me, Professor, I appreciate it.' And she really did. She had expected a severe talking to and a declaration that this mess was all her own fault. But, instead, McGonagall had been encouraging and sympathetic.

'I will try and get a couple of the detentions transferred to either myself or Professors Lupin or Black, but I would not count on it.'

'I know not to hold my breath for such a miracle,' Thea replied cheekily. 'I'm not a naïve little first year, Professor.'

'Which naturally begs the question of how you got yourself into such a mess in the first place,' remarked McGonagall sharply.

Thea winced. She had so asked for that.

'You are dismissed, Miss Maggi.'

'Yes, Professor, and thank you,' said Thea before leaving.

As Thea shut the door, she heard someone walk up behind her. Assuming it was Benji, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned around and saw Malfoy instead.

'God, what are you doing here?' she breathed.

'What did McGonagall say?' he demanded, ignoring her question.

'That's none of your business, thank you very much,' she told him archly.

As he glared at her, Thea felt her resolve melt. He could and would stay like that for hours. She had places to be...like the couch in the common room. 'Fine,' she huffed. 'McGonagall told me I was an idiot, more or less, and suggested I do my homework from now on.'

'Is that it?'

'What else is there? Do you think she'd give me the answers or something? We're Gryffindors, thank you. We don't cheat like Slytherins.'

'No, you idiot. Did she say anything about why you suddenly had the overwhelming urge to tell Snape all about your homework? Oh, and just cause we're Slytherins doesn't mean we cheat...all the time,' he added absently, watching her.

'Of course she asked. She took an educated guess that it was a truth potion. I told her I had no idea how I could have been slipped it.'

A very faint smile flickered across Draco's face. 'You lied to a teacher,' he told her gleefully.

'Actually, I didn't,' she corrected him. 'I'd have lied if she had ever asked me if I knew who had done it.'

'And she didn't think to ask?'

Thea frowned. 'Well, she did ask me if I had any ideas. But this wasn't an idea, as much as it was a certainty, so no, I didn't lie.'

He gave her a rather incredulous look and she bit her lip. 'So I suppose I might possibly have lied, maybe.' Before he could respond, she continued, 'Which reminds me, just how did you slip me the potion?'

'Your juice at breakfast. You always drink loads of the stuff. It wasn't difficult to guess the easiest place to put it.'

'Anyone could have drunk from it,' she told him, appalled. It was one thing to target her, quite another to put her friends in danger.

'You have your own jug,' he told her smugly.

Blushing, Thea scowled at him. 'How do you know that?' As far as she knew, not even Colin and Benji had noticed that for the past two years the house elves had actually been giving her an entire jug of pumpkin juice because she drank so much of it.

He just shrugged and flashed a wicked grin her way. It was over so quickly that Thea wasn't sure she'd even seen him smile.

'So, you didn't tell her?' he questioned.

'I've already told you, no. I didn't tell her. You're in the clear, don't worry about it,' she told him, irritably. Couldn't he just damn well drop it; she was already regretting not saying anything.

'Night, Maggi,' he said suddenly. 'See you tomorrow.'

Well, that was abrupt, she thought, staring after him. What had made him take off like that? Hearing her friends approach behind her gave her the answer she was looking for.

'Bloody hell, Ben, where did you go?' she demanded.

'To get Coll and Gin. Why?'

Before she could explain to Benji how much she hadn't wanted to speak to Malfoy, Ginny spoke, drawing her attention.

'What was he doing here?' demanded Ginny, glaring at the retreating back of Malfoy.

'Nothing, Gin, honest. He just wondered what I'd said to McGonagall.'

'Probably worried you'd actually told McGonagall,' decided Ginny. 'And, although I know you didn't, you should have.'

Thea rolled her eyes, not even bothering to reply.

'Speaking of which, what did McGonagall say?' asked Colin.

'Nothing really.'

'What? She just kept you back after class for no reason?' asked Ginny sarcastically.

'Well, obviously not,' answered Thea.

'What did she say then?' demanded Ginny as they walked down the corridor.

'Asked me what happened, I didn't tell her but she guessed it was a truth potion. She also offered to let me use her classroom for homework and she said she'd try to get me out a few of the detentions with Snape.'

'How's she going to do that?' asked Colin.

'See if I can serve any of them with her, Sirius or Remus, which would be so much more enjoyable than having to spend more time with Snape.'

'That would be a lot better,' agreed Benji, 'and for that reason, he'll probably refuse.'

'Yep, probably. But it's just nice of McGonagall to try,' Thea told him.

'So, what do you want to do now?' asked Ginny.

'Collapse on the sofa,' Thea said, feeling immediately better at the thought of the comfy sofas only minutes away. 'Wouldn't mind staying there for the rest of the term either,' she added, wondering how on earth she was going to manage to do all the extra work for Snape without actually dying of exhaustion.