Stormseeker: Borrowed Destiny

Chapter 59: Betrayal

---

"The Dementors are gone, Sirius," I say, coming into Slytherin's library. "Find anything interesting?"

"I'm surprised to find that it's not all dark stuff," Sirius says. "Although, my Latin isn't so great."

"Yeah, me and my friends have been working on learning it, but it's been slow going," I say.

"How did Fudge ever get away with sending Dementors into the school?" Sirius wonders.

"Dumbledore gave him a good chewing out," I say. "Especially after they turned up nothing. Fudge wanted to keep them here until you were found, but Dumbledore wouldn't stand for it. They're back outside again now, at least. Damned Dementors very nearly Kissed a first year girl, but thnakfully somebody noticed she was missing and McGonagall went and rescued her. You want to come back up?"

"Yeah," Sirius says. "Although... I think I'll take a couple of these with me. So, out of curiosity, did the Dementors go out to the Forbidden Forest?"

I shake my head. "Nope," I say. "So if we do have a traitor, it wasn't my Slytherins."

"Huh," Sirius says. "Either that or they were trying to keep their cover. I don't suppose you have any ratty Gryffindors in that group, do you?"

I shake my head. "I wouldn't have thought any of them would turn traitor. Maybe I'm just overly optimistic. But if it's really one of them, I've got some pretty damning secrets that they all know about. Like the time travel thing. And murdering Lockhart."

"I haven't come this far just to see you get sent to Azkaban," Sirius says.

"Failing all else, we can be fugitives from the law together," I say, smirking. "That wouldn't be so horrible, I suppose."

"I'll protect you as best as I can, Stormseeker," Sirius says.

"Likewise," I say with a small grin.

"What about that Ravenclaw girl?" Sirius says. "What was her name, Lisa?"

"Luna," I say, and shake my head. "No way. She's a little barmy, but she's the last person I'd expect to turn on me. Also, if she did, nobody would listen to her anyway. Besides, she thinks you're Stubby Boardman."

"Who?" Sirius says. "Oh, wait, wasn't he a singer?"

"Told you she's barmy," I say.

"So I see," Sirius says.

"Oh, also, as a note. If you're ever in a situation where you need a place to hide in here and I'm not around to open it, call for Myrtle. She can open the way to the Chamber of Secrets, too."

"Hello!" says Myrtle, popping into view.

"Huh?" Sirius says. "Wait, aren't you Moaning Myrtle?"

"Nope!" Myrtle says brightly. "I'm Merry Myrtle, now!"

Sirius looks to me and says, "Stormseeker, what did you do to this ghost?"

"Why are you looking at me like it's my doing?" I ask.

"It's weird, so you must be involved somehow," Sirius says.

I snicker softly. I lead him back out to the pipe leading up to the restroom, and say, "I don't suppose you know any spells that would make getting out of here easier, do you? There's a way to call for the stairs, but I don't know the Parseltongue command for it, I'm afraid."

"Let's see what I can do," Sirius says, pulling out his stolen wand. "You'll forgive me if I'm a little out of practice, though."

Sirius casts a couple spells, and the two of us go zipping up the pipe and out into the restroom. I land inside a stall, and stumble to my feet. Thankfully I didn't hit my head on a toilet.

"Sorry about that," Sirius says.

"Definitely need to give you a chance to practice," I say, smirking. "I'm sure the Slytherins won't mind making sure nobody stumbles in if you want to do that."

"Maybe," Sirius says, pulling on the cloak and vanishing, and I lead him back to the Slytherin dorms.

---

"We'll be practicing the Shield Charm again this week," Professor Lupin says. "I hope you've been practicing."

We didn't actually get around to actaully trying it out last week. Lupin spent a lot of time describing what it could be used for, and demonstrating its use by having students try to throw curses at him.

Neville is the first to successfully cast the spell. Maybe Hermione would have done it if she weren't so busy trying to correct everyone's pronunciation, but the fact remains that Neville is the first in the class to get up a shimmering Shield Charm.

"Neville cast it first?" Ron says, looking shameful.

"Shut your mouth, Ron," I say. "Neville is awesome."

By the end of the class, only Neville and Hermione can cast the spell so far. I have a feeling that I might wind up being the last one to be able to cast it, but I don't mind. Seeing Neville beam in pride at his success is well worth it.

There's no way Neville would have ever betrayed me. What if it were Hermione? She was always a little less eager to get involved in the more questionable activities. I really don't like this train of thought.

---

The next week, my box of Dream Sweets runs empty. I wonder how bad it could be, and just decide to go to sleep without one, just to see. What does it say about my morbid curiosity that I'm willing to do potentially unpleasant things just to see what happens?

As it turns out, I find myself trapped in horrible nightmares for the entire night. I'm screaming, running from monsters, being tortured to death, watching my friends and family die before my eyes. I can't even wake up, and in the morning, I'm covered in sweat and exhausted as if I didn't sleep at all.

I head down before breakfast, and spot Blaise on the way to the Slytherin table. I grab his arm and drag him into the nearest classroom.

"You look like hell," Blaise comments, and puts up a privacy spell, which is just as well as my mind isn't really in a state to even think about casting spells at the moment.

"Blaise," I say. "I'm addicted to your candy."

"Ah, you ran out, did you?" Blaise says, giving me a small grin.

"Yeah," I mutter. "I don't suppose you have anymore?"

"Certainly," Blaise says, pulling out another purple box and offering it to me.

"What do you want for it?" I ask.

"What kind of a friend would I be if I asked for payment?" Blaise says.

"I could die today, you know," I say. "I could suddenly die, and leave you with no return on your investment."

"Investment?" Blaise says, grinning more broadly. "You're a Gryffindor, you're not supposed to be thinking like a Slytherin."

I snicker softly. "How Slytherin am I really if I knew you sent me addictive candy and used it anyway?"

"Desperate, maybe?" Blaise says, shrugging. "Besides, we've been studying the books you brought from the Chamber of Secrets, remember? Rediscovering lost magical knowledge! If anything, we're the ones who owe you a lot."

I snort softly. "And you also know perfectly well that I'd do just about anything for any of you, anyway..."

"Because you're strange like that," Blaise says, grinning a little. "But tell me, then, if you knew it was addictive, why did you use it anyway?"

"Totally worth it," I reply. "Even if you demanded blood for more."

"Right, desperate," Blaise says, nodding. "Well, go ahead and take another box, then."

I'm too tired to argue at the moment. I accept the box, and say, "Can you ask Storm Army to cover for me? Tell the teachers I'm sick in bed or something. Just as well to be 'sick' when it's not the full moon, I suppose."

"Will do," Blaise says, and we part ways.

I head up for Gryffindor Tower again. All things considered, Blaise and the others have so much blackmail material on me anyway, they wouldn't exactly need to get me addicted to illegal magical substances.

---

"The Ministry hasn't given up yet," Dumbledore says. "They still believe that Sirius Black is inside of Hogwarts. I'm not letting them bring Dementors into the halls of this school again, however."

"Why are they so convinced I'm here, I wonder?" Sirius says.

"Do we have any idea who might have told them?"

"It wasn't any of the third year Slytherin boys, that much I'm certain of," I say.

"I know you are fond of them," Moony says. "But can you really trust them that much?"

"Absolutely," I say. "Besides, when the Dementors were searching the castle, I gave them false information about where I was hiding Sirius, and no Dementors would up even looking there."

"Fair enough," Moony says.

"Mr. Fudge demanded that I at least have the teachers conduct a thorough search myself, if I will not allow Dementors in," Dumbledore says. "I've been assuring him that we have found no trace of you, however."

"Maybe you'll have to fake your own death, in order to get them to back down," I say. "Like Peter did."

Sirius scowls, and nods. "Maybe. Not sure off the top of my head how I might pull it off and not end up actually dead, though."

"We'll think of something," I assure him.

---

The following week, the Daily Prophet releases a story speculating on the disappearance of Gilderoy Lockhart. It seems that they finally suspect that he didn't just go off on a world tour and retire. Owls aren't reaching him, and any attempt to contact him is met with failure. There's considerable doubt about it, and even the reporter, Rita Skeeter, can't be certain if he's fallen upon a bad end, or if he just has anti-owl wards up to avoid people bothering him.

The next full moon begins on January 26th. Moony and I spend the night with Padfoot, making the transformation considerably more bearable. It's good to have friends.

We're lounging about sleeping it off the next morning when there's a knock on the door to Moony's chambers. The knocking grows louder and more insistant until it finally manages to penetrate the haze in my mind induced by the Dream Sweets.

Bang, bang, bang! There's a muffled voice coming from outside. "Come on, open up already, it's me, Draco! I know you're in there! Come on! Please! It's really, really urgent!"

I stumble over to the door and open it up. "Draco?" I slur.

"About fucking time," Draco says, stepping inside and closing the door behind him, then muttering some quick spells over it.

Sirius stirs sleeping and says, "What is it? Can't it wait?"

"Not unless you want even more trouble than we've already got," Draco says. "It seems the Ministry now thinks there's a werewolf at the castle."

Moony groans softly, rubbing his eyes. "Like things weren't bad enough as it is," Moony mutters.

"What can they do?" I ask.

"Cause problems," Moony replies.

"Nobody at the Ministry actually knew that Remus was a werewolf while we were at Hogwarts," Sirius says. "If they had, they would have forced him to register, and would have severely restricted what he could do and where he could go."

"To hear the Ministry talk, they think there's a dangerous, feral werewolf roaming the school grounds trying to prey on the students," Draco says. "They aren't just talking registration here. They're calling in the Werewolf Capture Unit."

"This is bullshit," Sirius spits.

"I'd chide you for using such language in front of children," Moony says. "But these two are even bigger pottymouths than you."

"Who do they think it is?" I ask.

"They didn't seem to be sure if it was a student or a teacher," Draco says. "But they're going to come in tonight and make sure that everyone is clean and untransformed."

"This is doubly bullshit," Sirius says. "They can't do that."

"Dumbledore was trying to fight it, last I saw," Draco says.

"This is getting ridiculous," I say, sighing.

"We'd best hope that Dumbledore can keep them out," Moony says. "There's no way they should be allowed to do this. Coming into everyone's rooms to make sure they aren't werewolves? It oversteps every sort of boundary they should have..."

"Yeah, but it's for the children, so it's alright," Draco says, snorting.

"So," I say. "I think I want to destroy the Ministry. Any objections?"

The others are quiet for a few moments. Moony says, "They aren't normally quite this bad."

"But they're always useless and obtrusive," Draco points out.

"It's just a long-term consideration," I say. "Assuming I survive my years of schooling. It's always good to have goals, right?"

Sirius barks a laugh. "Sometimes it's hard to keep track of which is more evil, Voldemort or the Ministry."

There's another knock on the door. Sirius, actually awake this time, quickly slips under the invisibility cloak until we determine that it's only Dumbledore. He pulls off the cloak again once the protections are back up.

"Headmaster, what's going on?" I ask. "Don't tell me the Ministry's actually going to do this, are they?"

"Certainly not," Dumbledore says. "Particularly not after the last debacle. Children could have been killed."

"That's a relief," Moony says.

"Still, we had best not let down our guard," Dumbledore says.

"I could resign," Moony says. "Come out and admit it... it would make things easier on Harry, draw suspicion away from him."

"No way," I say. "You're the least evil Defense professor I've ever had. Not counting the term Myrtle subbed for it, anyway."

"Wait," Sirius says. "You had the crying ghost girl teach Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"I don't cry anymore!" Myrtle protests, appearing out of thin air.

"Do you just follow Harry around waiting for him to say your name?" Sirius wonders.

"No," Myrtle says. "But I have ears! In a manner of speaking." She smirks. "Actually, no, I've just been haunting the Stormseeker. In a benevolent sort of way. But he did ask me to pay attention and help you too!"

"I don't believe there's any need to expose anyone's condition," Dumbledore says. "I can keep the Ministry at bay for the moment. I am more concerned as to how these rumors came about in the first place."

"There's a spy," Sirius says flatly. "A traitor. There has to be."

"If this is true, why did they not simply name names?" Moony says.

"Maybe it would have been too obvious," Sirius says, shrugging. "I don't know."

"I'll keep an eye out," I say, sighing raggedly.

"I'll keep an eye out, for the moment," Draco says. "You just worry about getting over the full moon right now. Although you might want to go someplace else to transform. Just in case."

"Good idea," Moony says. "Perhaps we should use the Shrieking Shack again, instead."

"Heh, like old times," Sirius says.

"Draco, do me a favor?" I say. "Tell Dean, Neville, Hermione, and Luna that we're spending the full moon in different places each. See which of them, if any, the Ministry tries to investigate."

"Will do," Draco says.

That evening, before sunset, Sirius, Moony and I sneak out of the castle. They lead me toward the Whomping Willow, and I pause in alarm as we approach the vicious tree.

"But that's the Whomping Willow," I say. "Are we really going there?"

"There's a secret passage there that leads straight into the Shrieking Shack," Moony explains. "Don't worry, you just need to slip in and touch a knob on the tree, and it'll go quiet."

I quietly take him at his word, and sure enough, when he touches the right spot, the Whomping Willow becomes docile. The three of us head down into the underground passage. At the other end, we emerge in a building with no doors to the outside, that doesn't look like anyone has been inside in years.

"I used to come in here every month when I was attending school," Moony says. "Alone, at least until fifth year."

"Your father was brilliant with Transfiguration," Sirius says. "We could've never managed it without him."

"I wish I could have known him," I say quietly. I wish I could have saved him. I'm a time traveler. What's the good in being a time traveler if I can only go so far back?

"Blame Peter on that one," Sirius spits. "I wish I could have been there for you, growing up."

"I did alright, at least," I say. "The American wizards who raised me were good to me. Dumbledore had initially wanted to put me with Lily's Muggle sister..."

"Petunia?" Sirius says. "Ugh, I'm glad he changed his mind. That would have been a horrible idea. Lily was always complaining about how much her sister hated magic."

Yes. It was, indeed, a horrible idea.

I really just want to sleep at the moment, as my rest was interrupted earlier. But that'll have to wait. I can let a Dream Sweet melt away my stress in the morning.

---

"Stormseeker," Draco says after putting up a privacy spell. "I got him."

"Huh?" I say. The full moon is over, and I'm back in the castle in the evening after sleeping it off a bit.

"I figured out who betrayed us," Draco says. "It was Dean Thomas."

"What!?" I say. "But... him? Why?"

Draco shrugs. "Damned if I know. Why don't we find out?"

I go up and tell Neville, "Could you tell Dean to meet us in the sleeping dragon tapestry room after dinner? Just Dean, but let him think that it's just a standard meeting. Don't let him know that he's the only one that's going to be there."

"Something wrong?" Neville asks.

"Draco suspects that he's betrayed us," I say, sighing. "We're going to get some answers."

Neville's face pales. "Can I come?"

"Of course," I say. "But don't tell Hermione. I don't think she could stomach what we may have to do."

That evening, Neville, Draco, and I arrive ahead of Dean, waiting. "How do you know it was Dean?" Neville asks.

"Remember how I told you that the Stormseeker and Professor Lupin were going out to the Forbidden Forest to transform?" Draco says.

"Yeah... weren't they?" Neville says.

Draco shakes his head. "I told Luna they'd be going to a cave just outside Hogsmeade. I told Hermione they would be out by the lake. And I told Dean they'd be back in the greenhouses. They weren't actually going to any of these places, but guess where the Ministry was looking for them?"

"They looked in the greenhouses?" Neville says in alarm.

"Good job, Draco," I say.

Dean shows up, and glances around, and says, "Guess I'm early."

"Muffliato. Colloportus. Locus Timoris," I cast, abandoning my old password for the Revulsion Curse and switching to 'Nexus'.

"No, Dean, you're just in time," Draco says.

"Wha-- what do you mean?" Dean stammers, reaching for his wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Neville casts, and snatches Dean's wand right out of the air.

"I want some answers, Dean," I say. "And I'll get some Veratiserum if need be, too."

"What's going on?" Dean says in a panic.

"What did you tell them, Dean?" Draco asks.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Dean cries, taking a step back and cowering in fear.

"I want to hear an explanation," I say. "Why is the Ministry after me? First they come in looking for Sirius Black, saying they were tipped off, and then they get news of a rumor about a werewolf in Hogwarts... Did you mention something about Lockhart, too?"

"Neville, help me, please," Dean begs. "They're crazy..."

"I want to hear an answer, too," Neville says.

"Neville, you know what the Stormseeker is doing is wrong..." Dean says. "He's crazy, he's evil, he's plotting to take over the world as the next Dark Lord!"

I let out a heavy sigh. "So you did betray us after all."

"You had to be stopped!" Dean exclaims.

"And yet you didn't give any direct pointers," I say. "It was just vague rumors."

"It would have been harder to point back to me that way," Dean says. "But I suppose I went too far with telling them where you'd be. I was sure they'd catch you that time and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. They'd catch you and Lupin and Black and put you away where you can't hurt anyone anymore. How did you get away from them, Stormseeker? How many of them did you kill this time?"

"Nobody," Draco puts in. "Because they weren't there in the first place. It was a lie I told you to see if you'd feed it back to the Ministry. And you took the bait."

"Shit," Dean mutters. "Neville! You have to help me! They're going to kill me! They'll murder me just like they did Lockhart and Pettigrew!"

"I trusted you, too, Dean," Neville says. "And the Stormseeker is a good person. Do you really think that Lockhart and Pettigrew didn't deserve what they got? You know what they did!"

"But did you see his expression?" Dean says. "He enjoyed killing! He's got you fooled just as much as the rest of them!"

"If you didn't want to be a part of this anymore, why didn't you just go to Dumbledore and ask to be Obliviated?" I say.

Dean shakes his head. "Not good enough. I had to stop you. You said yourself that you're planning to take over the world!"

"You traitor," Draco says. "You filthy Muggleborn!"

"I'm sorry, Dean," I say. "I respect that you were trying to do the right thing. You thought you were doing what was best. That was awfully brave of you."

"But very, very foolish," Draco says.

"Brave?" Dean says. "I'm scared to death of you!"

"I can't let this continue, though," I say. "We'll--"

"Tentacula Tenebrae!" Draco says.

Shadowy black tendrils burst out of the floor and entangle themselves upon Dean, who screams loudly. Grasping at him, holding him tightly, piercing his arms and legs.

"Draco, no!" I cry.

"Sorry, did you want to kill him?" Draco asks. "Feel free to join in. Go on and cast your Lightning Curses."

"Stop this!" I demand.

"What?" Draco says. "Why? This bloody traitor deserves to die! He could have gotten you and Sirius and Professor Lupin killed! His actions still might result in that!"

"Neville... help me!" Dean whimpers weakly. All strength is draining out of him, and he can't even stand on his own anymore.

"Sorry, Dean," Neville says. "I truly am. But you went too far."

"He thought he was doing the right thing!" I exclaim. "I was going to take him to Dumbledore to Obliviate him! He doesn't have to die!"

"Maybe... I was wrong... about you..." Dean murmurs.

The tentacles vanish, leaving dean to collapse to the floor unsupported.

"Dean!" I say, rushing up next to him. "DEAN!" I turn him over to face up, but his eyes are staring blankly, glazed over, dead. My own eyes are stinging with unbidden tears. He was my friend, damn it. I didn't want to see him go, not like this... not in the same way Sedder killed me, years ago in another lifetime.

"Snap out of it, Stormseeker," Draco says. "Do you think it was any easier for Sirius and Lupin? Peter Pettigrew was their friend, too. Maybe it was easier for you in that case just because you didn't really know him."

"Are you going to kill yourself, Stormseeker?" Neville asks quietly, looking at me worriedly.

I shake my head. "No way," I say. "You... you're right, I suppose. I just... I just wish it hadn't come to this. I don't think he really deserved to die. But there's no way in the Abyss I'm going to abandon you guys just to go back to save him."

"So don't you dare spend the rest of the term angsting over this," Draco says. "Maybe now that we've plugged that leak, we can try to mitigate the damage he's done. Hopefully it isn't already too late."

He goes over to Dean's body and pokes around, rifling around through his belongings and pocketing anything valuable. I can't watch, though. I step away and stare against a wall. I'm still shaking and tears are still running down my cheeks. I'm sad that my friend betrayed me, but now there's no chance for forgiveness, no hope for redemption.

Neville comes up behind me and puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I glance up at him and notice that his eyes are moist as well. "He was my friend, too," Neville whispers. "It never gets any easier, does it."

"We should be worried if it did," I say softly. "Then we'd know we've become monsters."

"Is Draco a monster?" Neville asks.

"He's a Slytherin," I say with a bitter chuckle. "But if he's a monster, at least he's my monster."

"Your monster is going to dispose of the body now," Draco says from behind us. "You can go take a walk and get some fresh air or something if you don't want to stick around. I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, Draco," I say quietly, and head out. Despite that, I'm still a bit angry and hurt with Draco.

---

Neville and I head down to the Slytherin dormitories. We might wind up staying here tonight, but right now, I really don't want to go back to the Gryffindor dorm and look guiltily at Dean's empty bed.

I put my privacy spells up -- and go back to using 'Wishingsdale' as my password again, since it doesn't matter anymore, and if we have more than one traitor, I will be more than a little cross. Once the room is secure, Sirius shifts into human form.

"Why the long face, Stormseeker?" Sirius asks.

"We found the traitor," I whisper, and go up and bury my face in his shoulder, crying.

Sirius puts his arms around me and comforts my trembling, sobbing body. Maybe it was easier for him because he spent over a decade stewing in Azkaban and hating his former friend. Me, I never expected one of my friends to turn on me. My enemies, sure, but never my friends. Perhaps I trusted them too far, and too much. Perhaps I asked too much of Dean without making absolutely sure that he really was loyal to me. I don't know, but now a boy is dead, and I can't help but shake the guilt that I could have avoided this.

Draco comes into the room a little while later. "Alright, all taken care of," he says darkly.

"What happened?" Theodore asks.

"Dean Thomas was slipping rumors to the Ministry," Draco half snarls. "Well, that stops now. I killed him."

Both Blaise and Theodore put their faces in their hands. "Draco, are you an idiot?" Blaise wonders.

"What are you talking about?" Draco says.

"That was, perhaps, not the best way that could have been handled," Theodore adds.

I pull away from Sirius and sit down on the couch, rubbing my eyes. "I wasn't even going to kill him, myself," I say. "I was going to take him to Dumbledore to handle it."

"Not what I'd have done, but still a better idea than just outright killing him like that," Blaise says.

"Well, then, if you're so smart, what would you have done?" Draco asks.

"I'd find a way to eliminate the problem in a better way," Blaise says. "Maybe kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Implicate the traitor as the culprit. Like, say, have the Stormseeker infect the traitor, and then set him loose where the Ministry will find him. Bam! Problem solved."

Sirius stares at him. "Yeah, that's the sort of plot I'd expect from a Slytherin."

"Hey!" Draco protests. "I'm a Slytherin too!"

"You're a thug who's failed at cunning plots," Blaise says with a smirk. "Or did you just let your anger cloud your thinking?"

Draco growls a little and glares at Blaise. "The dirty little Muggleborn deserved what he got."

"Hold on a minute," Sirius says. "I know this discussion is important and all... but did I just hear a Malfoy insult someone by calling them a Muggleborn? What, not a Mudblood?"

"Mudblood implies that their blood is mixed," Draco says. "Muggleborn implies that their parents are Muggles. That's worse."

I have to smirk a little. "He got that from me," I murmur to Sirius in explanation.

"You're very strange kids," Sirius says, chuckling. "And I think I'm glad Blaise is on my side here..."

Blaise grins crookedly. "My mother taught me all about how to get away with murder," he says lightly.

"As her long string of husbands who met with unfortunate ends could attest to," Theodore says dryly.

"But, what's done is done," Blaise says. "You're still an idiot, Draco, but we're now going to have to find a way to spin this in our favor, or at least make it not blow up in our faces."

"What can we do?" Neville asks.

"We'll think of something," Blaise assures him. "For the moment, just get some sleep, alright?"

"I can't argue with that," I say.

I eagerly replace the dismal thoughts in my head with some wonderful, relaxing dreams.

---

In the morning before breakfast, Blaise says, "This will be much easier if Dumbledore is willing to help."

"I don't think he has much choice at this point," Sirius says. "He's not going to allow Harry to go to Azkaban."

"There are always choices," I say. "But I think the costs of him supporting me are outweighed by what would be lost if he did not."

"Now you're thinking like a Slytherin," Theodore says.

"Alright," Blaise says. "I have a plan, then. Let's go see Dumbledore about backing it up."

We head out of the Slytherin dormitory and make our way upstairs. Neville, Crabbe, Goyle, and Theodore turn to head for the Great Hall. Draco tries to slip away with them, but Blaise reaches over and grabs him by the collar.

"Don't think you're going to slip away that easily," Blaise says. "You're coming with us."

Draco grumbles a little and says, "Fine."

Blaise, Draco, and I go to the Headmaster's office. I tell the gargoyle outside, "S'mores," and it lets us inside.

"Good morning, boys," Dumbledore says. "What can I do for you today? Sherbet lemon?"

"Hello, Headmaster," I say. "We have... a situation."

"Why do I have to be here again?" Draco says, shifting uneasily.

I sigh. "To make a long story short," I say. "Dean Thomas was passing rumors to the Ministry. We brought him in to question him and get to the bottom of things, and Draco lost his temper and killed him."

Dumbledore frowns deeply. "I... see. I'm glad you came to me. This is a grave situation indeed."

"Tell them that Dean has withdrawn from the school for his own safety," Blaise says. "Changed his name and left the country."

"That would probably be for the best," Dumbledore says. "We must avoid even more undue suspicion being cast upon Harry." He looks grimly at Draco. "However, even though I cannot officially punish you for this, I also cannot condone the killing of students under my watch."

"He was a traitor!" Draco exclaims. "He had it coming!"

I shake my head. "He thought he was doing the right thing. He wasn't a bad person! He just made a terrible mistake... I didn't want him killed for this."

"Draco, you must not think that you should kill people with impunity," Dumbledore says, rising to his feet. "Come with me, Draco. Don't worry. You will not be harmed. There's merely something I wish you to do before I go and sweep this situation under the rug." He looks to me and Blaise. "Run along to breakfast, boys. I'll take care of it from here."

I head out with Blaise, who murmurs as we go, "I wonder what's going to happen with Draco. I hope you're right about what you said about Dumbledore."

"I'm sure he won't do anything too bad," I say quietly.

We go to eat breakfast. My heart isn't really in the food at the moment, but I'm hardly going to starve myself. Or start vomiting again anytime something bad happens near me.

"Where's Draco?" Hermione asks.

"He's with Dumbledore," Blaise says.

"Did he get in trouble or something?" Hermione wonders.

"You could say that," I say evasively.

Draco doesn't show up again until lunch, looking very dejectedly. He just comes in and sits down like nothing happened, and piles up food onto his plate without saying a word to the rest of us or even really bothering to look at us.

"What happened, Draco?" Blaise asks.

"I'll tell you later," Draco mutters. His eyes flick toward Hermione, and I suddenly realize that he doesn't seem to want Hermione to know what happened. Is he afraid that she'll be upset at him if she finds out? Strange.

As lunch is winding down, he drags Blaise, Theodore, and I off into an empty classroom, and throws up privacy spells. I don't think I've ever seen Draco looking quite this miserable before.

"This is all your fault, you know," Draco mutters.

"What happened?" Blaise asks.

"Dumbledore decided to teach me a bit of a lesson," Draco grumbles. "He took me to Dean's mother and made me explain to her why her son had to die."

"Harsh," Theodore says.

"He modified her memories afterward and sent her packing her bags, but he still made me talk to her and listen to her crying about it for almost two hours," Draco says, looking at the floor. For all he's complaining about it, however, it seems like it affected him more deeply than he's willing to let on.

"But he's not going to do anything else about it, is he?" Blaise asks.

"I don't think so," Draco says. "He can't do much else without blowing the cover off of it. You guys didn't tell Hermione, did you?"

"No, why?" Blaise asks.

"Just... well... um... maybe it would be best if she didn't find out about this," Draco says, shifting uneasily.

"It feels wrong keeping secrets from someone in the inner circle," I say quietly.

"Yeah, but, you know, she's like Dean..." Draco says. "I don't want her to start thinking that it might be a good idea to turn on us for the greater good or any such bullshit like that. Or to start thinking that we're evil or anything..."

"She was there when Lockhart was killed," I point out. "And she didn't even feel sympathetic for Pettigrew."

"But Dean is -- well, was -- a fellow student," Draco says. "She might think that we've finally crossed the line and that we need to be stopped!"

"I think you just have a crush on her," Blaise says, quirking his lips into a grin.

"I do not!" Draco protests.

"Fine, if you don't want Hermione to find out about this, then she won't find out about this," I say. "Let the rest of the circle know what the 'official story' is and never to utter another word to contradict it."

"Alright," Blaise says, nodding.

"Thanks, guys," Draco says quietly.