Happily Ever After?

Chapter 10 - The Boggart and the Potions Master

Harry and Draco entered the kitchen and were attacked by a mad swarm of house-elves.

"Hey, guys, what's - hey, watch it, shorty - OUCH! Who's nose was that?" Draco demanded. The house-elves backed away from him.

"Harry Potter!"

"'Lo, Dobby," Harry said, trying not to laugh. "I've got a friend I'd like you to meet." Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry. Harry kicked him.

"Dobby, Draco. Draco, Dobby," said Harry, making gestures. "Though I'm sure you've met before..."

Dobby took several steps back. "Dobby is question Harry Potter's choice of friends," Dobby said in a low, serious voice.

"You're not the only one," Draco said, his eyes glinting with laughter. "Although I hardly think that's a suitable greeting for an old friend."

"Draco, be nice," Harry scolded. Draco smiled at him, and then at Dobby.

"How's life without Lucius been treating you? Wait - don't answer that," Draco said, his eyes laughing harder than ever.

"What can Dobby be doing for you, sirs?" Dobby said, relaxing slightly.

"Is there anything sirs would like?" asked a random house-elf.

"Just a sandwich and some tea, please," Harry said easily.

"Tea," Draco said simply.

The mob of house-elves ran off to the kitchen. Dobby stayed for a moment.

"How's Winky, Dobby?" Harry asked politely.

"Much better, Harry Potter, sir." Dobby grinned. "Although Winky is still drinking a bottle a week," he added in an undertone. "When she thinks none of us is looking. But we is always watching Winky." Dobby shook his head sadly.

"Harry! You have to see this!"

Harry turned. Draco was staring at four chairs in the corner of the room. Harry approached.

On each chair was written a name. Below each name was a date. Below each date was a message.

(Bold is by unknown person, written years after original engraving.)

James "Prongs" Potter

1960 to 1981

This seat belongs to Prongs. The seat will bite any one without Potter blood in them. THIS MEANS YOU, PADFOOT!!

Sirius "Padfoot" Black

1960 to ...

This seat belongs to Padfoot. It is charmed to throw anyone but Padfoot off of it. (This means you, Prongs... and you too, Moony and Wormtail!) You have been WARNED!

Remus "Moony" Lupin

1960-

This seat belongs to Moony. If you're not Moony, shove off or the chair will whack you around the head, you great oaf!

Cheers!

Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew

1960 to no one cares because he might as well be dead.

This seat belongs to Wormtail (who is a git). Any git who sits here will become doused in permanent red dye. (This means you, Snape.) If you're reading this, don't worry, I took the charms off all of the chairs. But this one is contaminated, so you might want to stay away.

Harry felt a smile form on his lips. "Hey, Dobby," Harry said softly. "What do you know about these chairs?"

When Dobby spoke, it was in a reverent whisper. "Dobby knows nothing for sure," he said, "but Dobby has heard tales from the older house-elves. Tales of the owners of the chairs."

"Do go on," Draco said, sitting in Sirius's chair delicately. It didn't move.

"Dobby is hearing that the owners were most loved by all house-elves," Dobby said in the same respectful voice. "They would come visit we house-elves every day, and bring the house-elves news of things going on. All the house-elves loved these four students. They would do the boys favors, and gave them these chairs. They were the most horrible pranksters, though," Dobby said, giggling slightly. "The house-elves would help them, on occasion. Jeffery - the oldest house-elf here - (A/N: I took a name from TP, and... yea. We don't know how long house-elves live, do we?) he is saying that the house-elves would help them in their mischief - with the approval of Professor Dumbledore, of course." This made Harry and Draco snort. "The house-elves is helping them put things in food for the Slytherin House, and putting things in the Slytherin House common room. The Marauders, Jeffery calls them. When they graduated, Jeffery and the other house-elves is leaving the chairs here and - this is rumor, for the most part - they is awaiting the day that their sons and daughters is coming to Hogwarts."

"Well is that so?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Well, it just so happens that Harry over here is one of their sons," Draco said, as if talking to a four-year old.

"Yea," Harry said, eyes glinting as he sat down in his father's old chair. "Do you have any idea where -?"

Harry was interrupted when the mad swarm of house-elves returned, carrying a tea tray and a roast beef sandwich. "Thanks," Harry said, taking his sandwich and sipping his tea. "Yes, do yo have any idea where the Jeffery fellow is, Dobby? I'd like a word with him."

Dobby sobered. "Jeffery is very sick, sir. He is not fit to - "

"Just for a minute," Draco said pleadingly.

"Jeffery is in no condition to speak with you, sirs!" said a house-elf in a high voice. "I is not knowing who you think you is, but - "

"Jeffery is wondering why everyone is making much noise?"

A short (more so than usual) and sickly-looking house-elf was standing behind them. The house-elf who had been speaking turned to him.

"Jeffery, these boys - they is sitting in these chairs! You know what our friends said! They was saying not to let anyone but their own offspring to sit there! Injustice, it is, that they have been dirtying such honorable boys' memories!" she shrieked.

Jeffery blinked and turned to Harry and Draco slowly. "Is young masters knowing who those chairs is belonging to?"

"Of course!" Harry said. "My dad, and Draco's almost-step-dad!"

There was much muttering and a few house-elves shrieked. Jeffery raised a hand for quiet. "You is - you is James Potter's offspring?" Jeffery asked faintly.

"Of course I am," Harry said. "Or do I not look like a clone of him when he was fifteen?"

Jeffery was silent for a long moment. He turned to the house-elves.

"Do whatever these boys ask. I is needing to rest."

Jeffery turned and walked away slowly. The house-elves crowded around Harry and Draco.

"We is very sorry, sirs," said the house-elf who had been shrieking. "We is not knowing - "

"That's OK," Harry shrugged.

"Is there anything - anything at all - we could do for you, sirs?" squeaked another house-elf.

"Yes, actually," Draco said, glancing at Harry. "You see..."

Draco leaned down and whispered something into the house-elf's ear. The house-elf's eyes widened and he nodded eagerly.

"Yes, we is being very glad to serve you, sir!" the house-elf said eagerly. "We is not seeing such action since the days of James Potter and Sirius Black!"

"Not to mention young masters Lupin and Pettigrew," added another wistfully. "They was such lovely young boys - you should be proud to know them!"

"We are," Harry said, his eyes twinkling. He drained his teacup.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Draco said, slipping a few vials into the hands of one house-elf. "We appreciate it."

"Yes, we really ought to be going," Harry said. "Tell Winky I said hello, will you, Dobby?"

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir!" the house-elf squeaked.

"Thanks a lot," Harry said, grinning at them all sweetly before glancing back at the chairs once more. He smiled sadly. "Come on, Draco, let's go."

Harry and Draco left the kitchen, the house-elves still murmuring from excitement.

"I wonder who wrote those things...?" Harry said. "The extra things, I mean."

"The things concerning Wormtail?"

"Duh."

"Not sure." Draco looked thoughtful. "Maybe Sirius or James, you know, when they came to talk to Dumbledore at the beginning of term?"

"Maybe." Harry yawned. "Gah. Hannah's Wakefulness Potion is wearing off."

"Or it could have been Remus," Draco said, ignoring Harry's last comment. "It did look a bit like his handwriting, didn't it?"

"Yes... I suppose it did," Harry nodded, staring off absently. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Harry?"

Harry didn't answer. He was a bit preoccupied staring at the wall and the various portraits they passed.

"Harry, are you feeling okay?"

"Yes..." Harry said absently.

"Well... I thought Snape was looking quite stunning this morning, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course..."

"Harry, either you're having a love affair with Snape, or you're not listening to me."

The phrase "love affair with Snape" brought Harry back to reality. "Ugh. Disturbing images. Thanks a lot."

"You're quite welcome," Draco said smugly. "As I was about to say, it's after curfew. We should get to bed."

"After curfew... you started caring about this when, Draco? I must have missed it."

"Oh, shut up," Draco snapped. "Honestly. You make me sick."

Harry smiled. "That's what I do best," Harry said. "Well, I have to go this way. See you tomorrow... I do believe we have Potions first thing in the morning."

"So we do."

"Our first Potions with Snape after so long with Theorax."

"It was only nineteen days, Harry."

"It feels like so much more."

"Ugh. Go to sleep, Harry."

"See you in the morning. Oh, remind Bulstrode - erm, Millicent to watch out for the pumpkin juice."

"Ugh. Go away, Harry."

"Good night yourself," Harry mumbled.

As Harry trudged the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower, he thought about Ron and Hermione. Maybe he had been a bit too harsh with Hermione. It hadn't really been her fault he was irritated. Maybe he should apologize.

Then again, maybe not.

Draco awoke the next morning to Millicent Bulstrode slapping his face.

Draco sat up like a bullet. "What was that for? And what are you doing here? Who told you the password?"

Millicent rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't wake up," she said, sounding miffed. "Harry gave me the password. I vaguely remember him saying something about not touching the biscuits. Should I bother asking?"

Draco stood up and grabbed a hairbrush, brushing his hair quickly. "What time is it? Where's my bloody watch?"

Millicent threw something at him. "Five minutes after eight," she said as Draco put his watch on quickly. Draco grabbed his wand.

"Refreshus," Draco muttered, pointing the wand at himself. The loose strands of hair that had fallen in his face straightened, his robes were replaced with ones that were just like new, and his teeth flashed white when he smiled. (A/N: Hey, we don't exactly know wizarding hygienic habits, do we? So I can make some up with no guilty conscience.)

"Now that's a spell I'd like to learn," Millicent muttered as she watched Draco grab his bag. "Where'd you get that from?"

"Made it up," Draco yawned. "Too busy to take time to do it by hand. Hurry up, I don't want to miss this. Oh, and it's the pumpkin juice we messed around with, not the biscuits. Don't worry - the biscuits are A-OK."

Millicent blinked. "Erm. I wasn't that worried about the biscuits."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Shall we?" he asked, pushing open his door roughly.

Millicent stared at him for a minute. "We shall," she answered coolly.

They walked down to the Great Hall in somewhat silence. "Do you like mangos?" Draco asked suddenly.

Millicent looked at him oddly. "What?"

"I asked you if you liked mangos," Draco said calmly. "Why are you looking at me like that? You'd think I'd asked you something strange."

Millicent coughed. "No. No, I don't like mangos."

"Interesting," Draco said, rubbing his chin. "Very interesting."

"Now you're sure it's just the pumpkin juice?" Millicent asked as they sat down at the very end of the Slytherin table, far from any other Slytherins.

"Extremely sure," Draco nodded, picking up a biscuit. He tasted it gingerly. "Yes," he concluded.

"Yes what?"

"Yes, the biscuits are A-OK," Draco nodded in satisfaction. Millicent threw a piece of sausage at him. It landed smack between his eyes.

Draco blinked and stared at her. For a moment he did nothing. Then he slowly picked the sausage off his forehead with his index finger and thumb and dropped it on a plate with a thump.

"You'd better be glad I'm feeling generous," Draco said flatly. "If I hadn't been, I'd be force-feeding you that pumpkin juice."

"Wouldn't it be force-drinking?" Millicent pointed out.

"You're despicable."

"It's a gift."

"Hold on..." Draco checked his watch. "It should start working any minute now..."

Draco glanced at Harry quickly. He was sitting next to Parvati and the Weasley twins, grinning. Their eyes met for a moment. Draco tapped his watch. Harry grinned and jerked his head to the other end of the table.

Just as Draco turned to look, there was a scream.

And he grinned.

It worked.

There was brown gunk oozing from the chairs of all the Slytherins except he and Millicent. No, not from the chairs - but from the Slytherins themselves. And no, it wasn't just any brown gunk - it was the brown gunk that was the result of bowel movements.

It was scat. Droppings. Dung. Manure. Disgusting. Smelly.

In a word, it was poop.

Several girls started shrieking. The boys were all turning bright red and trying to disappear. One poor first-year looked like she was about to cry.

"YOU! WEASLEYS! BOTH OF YOU! IN MY OFFICE, NOW!" Snape screamed, advancing on them. McGonagall was but a few feet behind him.

"But - but we didn't do it!" said a distraught George Weasley.

"If we had done that, we would take full credit for it!" Fred Weasley cried. "George, the brilliancy! And we never thought of it!"

"Why, thank you, Weasley," came a drawling voice behind him. "I take that as a compliment."

"Malfoy!" George gasped. "It was you!"

"Oh, yes, very good, Weasley," Draco said, rolling his eyes. He had made it across the Hall in record time, and his eyes rested on Harry. "Well."

"Well." Harry stood up. "About time, sleepy head. I thought you were going to miss it."

"Miss it?" Draco snorted. "Fat chance. It was my idea."

"You wouldn't - no, couldn't have done it without me," Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh, yes, I could have," Draco said defensively.

"No, you couldn't - "

"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall snapped. "Mr. Malfoy! I suppose you'd like to explain all this?"

"But of course," Draco said, smiling. "Harry and I did it, obviously."

"I don't believe it," Snape hissed. "It was surely a Confundus Charm..."

"Start believing, my esteemed colleague," said a voice behind them.

Arabella Figg was standing behind them, hands on her hips and her eyes fixed in a glare.

"Honestly," she continued, advancing on Harry and Draco, causing them both to gulp. "Did you really think, Severus, that young Harry here could resist? And poor Draco. Yes, he is a little victim, but to companionship, not to a simple charm."

"Ara - Professor..." Draco groaned. "Come on, give me a break here..."

"You - " Arabella said, pointing at him, "you shut up. You - " a point at Harry " - you ought to be ashamed. Twenty points from Slytherin and Gryffindor - I saw those smirks, boys, so make that thirty - and you'll both be serving detention with me for the next two weeks. Six o'clock, my office, starting Saturday, I've got a convention during the week. And you should both know I'll be writing to your parents, and we all know what they're going to say." There was a dangerous glint in Arabella's eyes. Only someone who knew her well could see that she was trying not to burst out laughing. Luckily, Harry did know her well - well enough, anyway. He winced outwardly.

"Foiled again," he said. "We've got to be more subtle next time."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Drat. We both know what our parents are going to say."

Harry sat down, his eyes closed. "Yes," Harry said, smiling slightly. "Yes, we do know, don't we?"

Arabella shooed Draco back to his own table, and then proceeded to do the same thing to McGonagall and Snape. Harry's eyes drifted back to the majority of the Slytherins - well, what was left of the Slytherins, anyway. Most of them had run out of the room blushing furiously. The few remaining ones were sitting there with dignity, eating. Harry could see the red on their faces, and smiled. The whole Hall was laughing hysterically. Finally, one seventh-year girl burst into tears and ran from the Hall.

"Music to my ears," Harry said, his grin widening.

He let himself glance down to his fellow Gryffindors - most of who were not speaking to him. Ron was whispering something in Hermione's ear, and she opened her mouth in shock. Parvati poked him experimentally.

"Harry...?"

"Hmm...?" Harry asked, snapping out of his trance and looking at her. "What?"

"You spaced out."

"Did I."

It was not a question.

"Harry... are you feeling okay?"

"Of course." Harry buttered a piece of toast. "And you?"

"F-fine," Parvati said. She shrugged and went back to her sausage.

Harry looked at her for a second before going back to looking around the Hall. Draco had reclaimed his seat next to Millicent. Ron was hurrying Hermione out of the hall, without a backward glance. Hannah was giving him a funny look that Harry couldn't quite read. A girl sitting next to her was snapping her fingers in front of Hannah's face. Hannah blinked and looked at her friend. The friend - Harry knew he had seen her somewhere before - what was her name...? Well, whatever her name was, she was sighing and talking in an undertone. Hannah responded with a surprised expression. The friend - what was her name? - stood up and started walking towards - him. Harry quickly became interested in his muffin.

The girl slammed her hands down at the empty space at the table next to Harry. "You and me need to talk," she said in a thick Scottish accent. "Now."

Harry blinked. "And you are...?"

"Susan Bones," she said. "Hannah's friend. And of course I know who you are."

Bones, Harry thought. Of course.

"I don't think - "

"Oh, Harry, just go," Parvati said, stabbing a sausage with her fork. "We've got twenty minutes until Potions."

Harry glared at Parvati behind his back as he was being dragged out of the Hall by Susan Bones.

Well, well, well. First the house-elves - now a Hufflepuff. What seemingly harmless person and/or species will become aggressive next?

Oh, put a kneazle in it. Harry followed Susan until they came to the deserted-looking Transfiguration corridor.

"So would you like to tell me what you dragged me here for?" Harry asked, leaning against the wall. If he were late for Potions, Snape would kill him.

"You," she said, pointing a trembling finger at him, her eyes flaming with anger, "are the most inconsiderate jerk that ever walked the face of the earth."

Harry blinked. "Do you have proof to support this accusation?"

"You think you're so funny don't you?" Susan snapped. "You think just because I'm in Hufflepuff that I'm stupid."

"No... no, actually you randomly dragging me out of breakfast had something to do with it."

"That so isn't true," Susan said, putting her hands on her hips. "What about Cedric?"

Harry's throat tightened. "What about him?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Susan said. "But that wasn't what I wanted to tell you. I..."

"Do you think I wanted Cedric to die?" Harry snapped. "Do you think I didn't try to stop him? Is that what you think?"

Susan rolled her eyes. "This wasn't what I wanted to talk about. I have to be at Charms in fifteen minutes."

"And I have Potions, but you see, I wasn't the one who dragged us out here," Harry retorted. "If you'd just kindly tell me what you're talking about, maybe we can both get to class on time...?"

"I can't believe you'd do something like this to Hannah," Susan said, throwing up her arms. "What'd she ever do to you?"

"What did I do to Hannah?" Harry asked sharply.

"You asked her to Hogsmeade, that's what!"

"I'm sorry, has there been a law passed that people can't drink butterbeer?" Harry snapped. "I must have missed that memo."

"Don't tell me you don't know!"

"Well, Susan Bones, I would know if you told me what you were talking about!"

Susan crossed her arms and glared at him. "So you really are as stupid as you look. Why don't you ask your little Slytherin friend... Malfoy's a bit smarter than you, I should think... of all the boys... Hannah, only you could be so stupid..."

"Hannah's not stupid," Harry argued. "I think you're the one who is... would you mind telling me what you want in English? You know, that language that's used in England? The one I understand?"

Susan sighed and massaged her temples. "If you really don't know," she said slowly, "I suggest you take a look at the list Parvati and Padma made you. And you can cross out my name."

Harry watched her stalk off in the direction of the Charms corridor.

"Women," he muttered under his breath.

He turned around and walked towards the dungeons quickly, so as not to be late. What had that list been about? That list that the twins had given him? Harry remembered shoving it into the bottom of his trunk - he would have to go look at it later. Or ask Draco during Potions. Ah, well. Susan Bones was always a nutter anyway. What was so wrong with him having a butterbeer with some friends? Was this some unspoken law of people who've grown up in wizarding families? Or was he just being naïve?

He walked into the Potions class in the nick of time. Draco and Millicent had saved him a seat. He sat just as Snape walked into the room. Harry glanced backward. Hermione and Ron were sitting with Neville back a few seats back. Harry shook his head. Parvati, who was sitting with Lavender and Seamus, gave him a questioning look. He mouthed later to her, and turned his attention to Snape.

"Today we will be making a Permanence Potion. This potion requires - yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Professor Snape," Draco said slowly, "I had a question about a certain potion and I hoped, since you are the greatest Potions Master around, that maybe you could answer it for me."

Typical Draco, Harry thought. Flattery all the way.

Snape looked at him funnily. "Could it possibly wait until after class, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I suppose so," Draco sighed. "But you see, Professor, there might be other people who want to ask the same question, and I don't want your time to be wasted if someone else in the class asks the question because they didn't hear the answer now."

Harry covered his snort with a cough. Millicent rolled her eyes. Snape looked slightly miffed.

"Ask the question, Mr. Malfoy."

"Professor," Draco said slowly, "could you tell us about the Draught of Non Cras?"

The professor blinked. "The Draught of Non Cras is a very complicated potion," he started slowly. "It requires a precise amount of time to brew, and if an ingredient is added a split second from the time it should be, the whole potion will explode, killing all in the general vicinity of three miles with poisonous fumes."

Harry gulped. Where had Draco heard of this potion...?

"But what does it do, Professor?" Draco questioned.

"The Draught of Non Cras is - not a very well-known potion," Snape said, avoiding answering Draco's questions. "It is extremely Dark magic and there has not been a recorded successful making of the potion for over 500 years."

"But Professor Snape," Draco continued, "what are the effects of the potion on the drinker?"

Snape sighed and let his eyes wander across the classroom, giving each student a piercing look of judgment. Harry inwardly shivered. His glance held Hermione the longest. He sighed and looked back at Draco.

"I will not sugarcoat the truth from this classroom or any of its occupants," he said sharply. "The Draught of Non Cras is perhaps the cruelest and most horrible way a person can die. When administered, the potion takes action immediately. It is physically impossible to detect it in the bloodstream unless you know precisely what you are looking for and are highly skilled in finding it. The symptoms start as generally mild at first - slight irritability and sometimes a small welt or swelling at the base of the frenum - that is, the muscle under the tongue. Over the course of a week, the symptoms become more obvious. Extreme irritability and drawing away from loved ones. The victim becomes more and more temperamental with each passing second as the potion circulates in his or her blood. Eventually all ties with loved ones are severed as the victim becomes less and less easy to get along with.

"About two weeks after the potion is administered, the physical symptoms of the Draught of Non Cras begin to show. The victim gets a rash on the right shoulder that will not go away - ever. The rash itches from the inside and is very painful. Brain tissues are damaged. The victim will hear voices in his or her head telling them to do crazy, insane things - and most often they will listen. If more than two drops of the potion was administered, the victim might feel woozy and be bored of the things he or she once loved.

"The final result is death within six months of the physical symptoms showing themselves."

The whole class gasped. What an awful way to kill someone, Harry thought. Long and slow with no one at his or her side... wait a minute...

Harry felt like he was going to be sick.

"Is there an antidote?" Draco pressed, his expression not showing any emotion, as was usual.

"The Draught of Non Cras has no known antidote," Snape said. "After 600 years of intense search, the most skilled Potions Masters of the time abandoned the hopeless search about 200 years ago."

"Hasn't anyone taken it up again?"

"No, they have certainly not, Mr. Malfoy. There is absolutely no way the Draught of Non Cras can be reversed once it is administered. I don't know why you are so interested in this potion, Mr. Malfoy, but I suggest that you discontinue your research. Now if you will all open your textbooks to page 336..."

Harry kept trying to catch Draco's eye during class, or to think at him, but he never responded. He did his share of the potion silently, and ignored the glances he kept getting from other class members.

Draco... come on, talk to me here...

We have to finish this. He slipped another ingredient into the Permanence Potion. We'll talk later. Draco looked up at him for a fleeting moment. Library after dinner. Tell the others - but not her, we're not sure yet.

Harry blinked. OK. Draco, are you...?

Later. He added another pinch of aconite. Harry rolled his eyes.

Millicent gave Harry a questioning glance. Harry shrugged and looked over his shoulder at Parvati. She caught his eye and gave him a meaningful look. Harry grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled:

Parvati- Library after dinner. Tell Padma. I'll get the others. Remember Dumbledore and Arabella are at that defense convention or something? They're not going to be back until Thursday... owl them?

Talk to you later. Shred this so no one reads it. -Harry

(A/N: OK, OK, so I used the most clichéd way possible to get Arabella and Dumbledore away. But hey, JKR used it a few times, so I can too.)

Harry folded the parchment three times. "Looks like we need more shredded unicorn horn," Harry mumbled, grabbing an empty beaker. "I'll go get some."

As he walked past Parvati's table, he - ahem - "accidentally" dropped a piece of parchment into Parvati's bag. She didn't notice. On his way back to the table, he hissed, "Check your bag," out of the corner of his mouth.

Parvati nodded subtle, and, while pulling out a new roll of parchment, picked up the note and read it. She looked up at him and winked quickly.

Harry sighed and sat back.

How had this happened? How had he, Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, gotten into this mess? And what in Merlin's name was he supposed to do about it?

When Harry walked into the library that night, five thoughtfully silent students met him. Hannah and Parvati sat on armchairs, Parvati looking through an old yearbook and Hannah reading a Charms textbook. Padma was laying on the floor flipping through the pages of Witch Weekly. Draco was pacing the rows, looking pale. Ron was leaning against a bookshelf, glaring at Draco. Draco paid him no notice. Hannah looked up and was the first one to notice Harry.

"Sorry I'm late," Harry breathed, falling into an armchair. "Ran into Filch. He was in a bad mood because someone spilled some kind of potion in the dungeons that made his hands turn blue when he was trying to clean it up. I probably would have gotten detention if Peeves hadn't come along..."

"Anyone here good at wards...?" Draco mumbled. "I stink at them."

"I'm pretty good," Padma volunteered. "What kind do we need? A non-penetrating and a silencing?"

"Those would be good," Harry agreed. Padma whipped out her wand and mumbled a few words. Hannah leaned over and touched the side of the ward. It made a hollow sound - like an invisible wall.

"Those should be strong enough," Hannah said. "Now... why exactly are we here?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Ron said, shifting his glare to Harry. "And why wasn't Hermione supposed to come? She's as much a member as any of us."

"Maybe so," Harry said calmly, "but she shouldn't be included in this discussion for her own personal benefit."

"We have a lot to talk about," Parvati said quietly.

"So what's going on?" Padma asked.

"We - we think we've made an advance on our assignment," Harry said weakly.

"You found out something about Hermione?" Ron said, suddenly looking alert. "What?"

"I was in the library before breakfast, looking through some Potions books," Draco said softly. "And I came across a potion that was - interesting to say the least."

"The Draught of Non Cras," Harry said, barely audibly. Ron froze and sat slowly, his hands trembling slightly.

As Draco went into the details of the potion, Padma and Hannah began to understand what was happening. When Draco finished, the room was silent.

"That's why she's been so moody lately," Harry said. "We - I should have realized something earlier. She's never been so disagreeable before."

"It's not only your fault," Parvati said. "It's everyone's fault. Anyone who's ever known Hermione knows she's not like that."

"We still can't be positive that it's the Draught of Non Cras," Draco said, finally sitting down on a wooden chair. He sighed. "Weasley. We need your help."

"Has Hermione been complaining about her tongue?" Harry pressed. "Or has she had any trouble speaking? Have any words come out slurred or - or blurry?"

"Now that you mention it," Ron said quietly, "she has been complaining about her throat. She says sometimes it feels like it's closing up."

"Kind of like mine is now?" Harry said, biting his lip.

"That would the inflammation of the lower frenum," Hannah said. "It's also a side effect of dragon pox. Madam Pomfrey probably has something for it, but it probably would just make it worse in Hermione's case."

"There's no antidote?" Padma said. "None?"

"Not yet," Draco said. "That's why we're here."

"We have to try to concoct an antidote," Parvati said. "It's the only way."

"It's no use," Ron said. "Millions of Potions masters died while in the search of the antidote. There isn't one."

"But Professor Snape wasn't one of them," Draco said. "If we can get Professor Snape to help us - there's a good chance Hermione might survive."

"Why would he help us?" Padma said. "He hates all the students."

"Not the Slytherins," Harry said quietly.

"If I can butter him up, we might have a chance," Draco said. "It's the only way to save Hermione."

"Why do you want to save Hermione?" Ron snapped. "You hate her. She hates you. You're a Slytherin, and she's a Gryffindor! Why?"

"If there's one thing I hate as much as you, Weasley," Draco hissed, "it's stereotyping. Lay off."

"Ron, Draco, please," Harry begged. "This is for Hermione."

"Well, until we get Professor Snape..." Hannah said. "What do we do?"

"We owl Arabella and Dumbledore," Parvati said. "I sent one off about an hour ago. Until then..."

"...We wait," Draco finished.

"What about Hermione?" Ron asked.

"If we tell her, she'll panic," Harry said. "That cold - I don't know - provoke something. But no matter how irritable she gets, we've all got to stay with her, and let her know we care. It's going to get hard. It'll be really hard. She won't stay warm to you for long, Ron. Her brain tissue is already starting to wear away - that why she can't see. And - I know this sounds horrible - but we can't tell her until we find an antidote."

"What if we don't?" Ron said uneasily.

"We will," Draco said. "Don't you worry."

"I think we should all agree," Parvati said, "that we won't tell anyone - especially Hermione - about this. And that we'll work as hard as we can to save her."

"We're only as strong as we are as a team," Harry said. "We can do this."

"I agree," Hannah said. "I may not have known her long, but - "

"I know," Padma said. "It's - sad. I want to help Hermione."

"We're not going to let Hermione die," Draco said quietly.

The whole room looked at Ron. He smiled very weakly.

"I'm in," he said. "But - if we get Snape to help us - he's going to work us like dogs."

"Do you want to save Hermione or not?" Draco said. "I know I do."

"I do," Ron said with a glare. "But I'm not sure this is the best way to do it. I care about her."

"If you care about Hermione half as much as I do," Draco said, glaring, "you'll do this. Because we're going to find that antidote - with or without your help. But as much as it pains me to admit it - with your help, it'll go quicker. And that time could be precious. Anywhere between two weeks and six months from now, without our help, Hermione will be - dead."

"Well," Hannah said, "what do we do now?"

"Hermione's physical symptoms are starting to kick in," Parvati said, biting her lip. "The potion must have been administered at least two weeks ago - while Hermione was being held captive."

She glanced at Ron, who said nothing, before continuing. "That means we've got no time to lose. I say we go find Professor Snape now before it's too late."

"I agree," Harry said. "Unless anyone has anything more productive to do?" His voice was thick with sarcasm.

"What could possibly be more important?" Ron asked, running a hand through his hair. "Good Merlin, I never thought I'd see the day when I volunteered to go find Snape."

"Then we should go," Draco said. "Now."

Padma quickly took down the wards and the six students set out for a search of their least favorite Hogwarts teacher.

About an hour later, Parvati sunk down into the wall.

"At this rate, we'll never find him!" she sighed. "It's eight o'clock. Where could he be?"

"We must've circled the castle five times!" Ron groaned. "Where could the git be?"

"We've checked his office twice," Hannah said, scratching her head.

"I think I've got a blister," Padma complained, rubbing her foot gently.

"We can't give up yet," Draco said. "We've got another hour before curfew, and I, for one, will not be deterred."

"I'm sick of this already!" Harry said, drawing his wand. "Accio Map!"

Draco wiped the sweat off his brow and smiled. Ron gave a sigh of relief. Hannah look puzzled.

"How will a map help us find Snape?" she said.

"It's no ordinary map," Harry said as the Marauders' Map came zooming down a hallway, narrowly missing Padma's head.

"It's just a blank piece of parchment," Parvati said. "It's not even a proper map!"

"I present to you, in all its glory, the Marauders' Map!" Harry said with a flourish. The three girls stared at the parchment in disbelief.

"This little hunk of genius will show you where you, or anyone else, is on any part of the Hogwarts grounds," Ron added.

"Now unavailable in a store near you," Draco said in an undertone. The girls exchanged glances.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry said, tapping the map with his wand. They gasped as the map started to draw itself. "Cool, isn't it?" Harry said in approval, watching it with them. "It was Remus's idea. Now..." he turned it around so it was facing him, "Snape... Severus Snape..."

Everyone crowded around him, looking. "There he is!" Hannah said in excitement. "On the left hand fourth floor corridor!"

"Excellent," Harry said. "Mischief managed." The map cleared itself. Harry folded it and put it in his pocket. "I know a shortcut, come on." Harry took off down a corridor, and they followed him. Harry pushed aside a tapestry and kicked the wall. A doorknob appeared. Harry pulled and the wall opened, showing a staircase. Harry ushered everyone up before pulling the tapestry back into place and closing the door.

"It's pitch black in here!" Draco complained. "Where's my wand - ah - yes - Lumos!"

Draco's wand point illuminated, showing them all that they were in a narrow corridor.

"Wands out," Harry said, pulling out his own. "I haven't used this one in awhile, but last time I checked there was still a nasty boggart up a ways. This passage twists a little, but it's a lot shorter than taking the long way. OK?"

"A boggart?" Padma said. "Great. Fantastic."

Harry rolled his eyes. "If you see the boggart, jump on it - we could have the element of surprise. Oh - did I mention the last time I went up here I got a nasty bite? So keep your eyes open. Lumos."

Everyone ignited their wand tips and the group moved upward, with Harry and Draco in the lead, followed by Ron and Hannah, and lastly came Parvati and Padma, who kept glancing behind them, as if sure to see a mummified hand crawling towards them.

Harry kept his eyes straight ahead of him. He really didn't want to run into this boggart again...

"Keep going straight," Harry whispered as they passed a fork in the passage. "That goes back down to the dungeons."

Suddenly Harry felt a terrible cold and stopped dead. Everyone else paused.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Hannah asked.

"The boggart," Harry whispered, groaning softly. "It's seen me. All of you, back up."

"But we're safer in numbers - " Ron argued.

"Back up, you git!"

They all agreed, Draco giving Harry a glance.

I felt it too. A dementor?

Bingo.

Harry shivered again. A voice started playing in his head - but not the one he remembered...

Laura is dead, boy! She's been dead for hours!

No... no, I got her owl...

I wrote that owl, you idiot boy! ...

Shut up. Laura's not dead. She can't be.

She is. Killed her myself. Dang nuisance, she was. Kept asking why I turned, for how long...

Harry felt a muscle in his jaw twitch. The dementor entered the rim of his pale wand light.

What was the point, anyway? Harry thought. Laura's gone. How can a world where people kill in cold blood be a good world? Maybe the next one is where I belong...

Don't you dare think that ever again, Harry James Potter, or I swear, I'll smack you.

Harry turned away from the boggart-dementor - which was probably not the smartest thing to do, but Harry was in deep crap.

What Harry saw strengthened him. He saw Draco, looking at him seriously, and behind him was Ron, and Parvati and Padma, and Hannah...

Harry remembered the good times. The times when he had been happy. The times with Laura...

"Expecto Patronum."

The boggart-dementor stumbled, and Draco took advantage of its moment of weakness to push Harry back and face it. It immediately became - wait a minute...

Hermione walked towards Draco slowly, her mouth starting to open.

"Riddikulus!"

Hermione glanced upwards and her mouth dropped. Her hair was standing on end and was frizzier than ever. This got a good chuckle from them all, even Ron. Hermione blushed and poof! It became a giant spider. Harry pushed a reluctant Ron forward and he gulped.

"Ri - Rid - Riddikulus!"

The spider was suddenly a bright shade of pink, with blond dreadlocks and a big pink bow in its hair. Ron snorted, as did a few others. The boggart - with a poof - became something else.

Harry blinked as he stared at himself. The boggart-Harry was shouting.

"Honestly! I don't believe - "

"Riddikulus," came a small voice from behind him.

Harry blinked as the boggart-Harry grew a long green beard out of nowhere. Everyone but Harry burst out laughing as the boggart-Harry started to run and subsequently tripped over the beard. Harry frowned. The boggart exploded, leaving a few green hairs as debris.

Harry turned and saw Hannah giggling. "I'm sorry, Harry," she chuckled, "but it was funny."

Harry smiled weakly at her. "That's OK." He turned to Draco, who was still sniggering. "Come on, it wasn't that funny!"

"Actually," Ron said with a snort, "it was."

"Let's just keep going," Harry said. "We're almost there and that - thing wasted a lot of our time. It must be past eight-thirty now. Snape will give us all detention and we'll have no chance for help if we catch him after curfew."

"In other words - let's get going!" Padma said. They all grumbled agreement and walked onward.

Harry's brain was working overtime. Hannah's worst fear was... him? And Draco's worst fear was... Hermione?

But wait. Boggart-Harry had been yelling. And boggart-Hermione looked like she was about to... but Draco loved Hermione... why...?

Of course. Draco's worst fear was Hermione angry at him. But then...

As Harry put together the last pieces of the puzzle, he felt sick to his stomach.

Hannah liked him. No, she liked him. It had to be. That list... the list from Parvati and Padma... it had been that list of people who liked him! And it explained why she had been blushing... and about Susan Bones...

But Hannah? Hannah Abbott? The only girl as clever as Hermione who wasn't a total snob. Except for...

Laura.

Laura was dead. How could Hannah - how dare Hannah like him as Laura had, when Laura was dead? Hannah had intruded on his life - how could Hannah do that? She had tried to take Laura's place, intentionally or not.

Harry's mind was so blurred by the encounter with the dementor that he forgot that Hannah had never met Laura, and therefore could not be trying to take her place. Also, he forgot that Hannah hadn't tried anything. She hadn't even blinked her eyelashes at him.

Harry's conclusion: Hannah was a brat that ought to be ignored.

And he did just that.

When they finally reached the end of the passage, Harry opened it a crack and looked out. There was no one in sight. He ushered everyone out quickly and closed the door.

"He should be - "

"Potter, Malfoy, Patil, Weasley, Patil, and Abbott," came a distasteful taste. "What are you doing out so late?"

"It's not curfew yet, Professor," Harry pointed out to his least favorite professor.

"We were looking for you, actually," Hannah said sweetly to Snape.

"We wanted to ask you for your help," Draco said, stepping forward. "We need an antidote for a potion and can't find it anywhere."

"Well, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said, "if you and your - friends will follow me to my office, perhaps I could help you."

They walked in complete silence. Harry watched Hannah closely. After a few minutes of walking, she tucked her hair behind her ear and caught his eye. She smiled weakly.

Harry did not smile back. Instead, he glared at her. Hannah looked startled. She looked down to the floor and Harry rolled his eyes.

Narrow-minded idiot only thinks of herself, Harry noted.

Draco glanced over his shoulder. Who?

Hannah.

What? Are you INSANE, Harry? How could you think -?

Can we talk about this later?

Draco sighed and nodded. Yea. Sure. Whatever.

They all filed into Snape's office quietly. Snape sat down at his desk.

"What can I help you with?" he asked in a calm voice that wasn't his own. Draco cleared his throat.

"We need to find the antidote for the Draught of Non Cras."

"I've told you already, Mr. Malfoy, that is impossible," Snape said. "There is no antidote."

"Maybe not," Padma agreed.

"Not yet, anyway," Parvati said. "But we're going to find one."

"With or without your help," Hannah said in a huff.

"But with your help there's less of a chance of letting something blow up," Harry said hopefully.

"And we have a chance to save a life," Draco added softly.

"Whose life, may I inquire, is in question here?" Snape asked, his face expressionless.

"Hermione's," Ron whispered.

"What makes you so sure that Miss Granger's life is in danger?"

"She's beginning to show all of the symptoms you mentioned in class," Draco said. "Her brain tissue is wearing away, causing blindness, she's been showing signs of extreme irritability, and the base of the frenum has been swelling." There was a distinct note of desperateness in his voice. "Please, Professor. Please help us."

The room stood in silence. "Have you informed Professor Dumbledore of your suspicions?" he asked calmly.

"We sent him an owl," Parvati said. "He - hasn't responded yet."

"What about Professor Figg? Surely she will be interested to hear of this."

"We sent her an owl also," Padma said quietly.

"Have you thought about how Miss Granger could have had this potion administered to her?"

"Er - no," Harry said, flushing.

Snape snorted. "I would expect more from the Order of the Phoenix."

Parvati choked. "How do you know about the Order?" she blurted.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Apparently Dumbledore keeps me more informed than you had guessed," Snape said serenely. "How could Miss Granger have possibly had the Draught of Non Cras administered to her?"

"It must have been that awful Michaels woman," Draco said with a scowl. "You know, I swear I've heard that name before..."

"We were wondering whether the blood test you ran for Hermione came out - odd," Padma said.

"The Draught of Non Cras is not a part of the standard blood search, Miss Patil," Snape said coolly. "A separate search would have to be conducted."

"Then conduct it," Ron said through gritted teeth.

"Please, Professor Snape," Hannah begged. "We'll all lend a hand... we'll do anything. Just help us do this one thing."

"We'll try our very hardest," Parvati begged. "Just help us."

Snape sighed. "Very well. You will have my assistance. But only if," he added quickly, "you are prepared to follow instructions exactly and without question, and if you swear to do your best. If any of you falters, I will not tolerate it."

They all glanced at each other. "Agreed," they all said together.

"You will all report to my office between six and nine tomorrow evening. Bring dragonhide gloves and be ready to work for at least a good hour. Now go off to bed before you all miss curfew. Go on, get!"

Startled, with a chorus of thank yous, the six students left. "I can't believe he agreed," Draco muttered. "We're all willing to work, right?"

"Of course," Harry said. "Even if it means extra hours with Snape. It's worth it."

They all agreed silently. "We should get to bed," Padma muttered. "If we don't show up at Snape's tomorrow because of detention - I don't even want to think about it," she said with a shiver.

"See you all tomorrow night then?" Parvati yawned.

"Yea..." Draco said offhandedly. "Yea, see you all..."

"'Night," Hannah said.

They all separated, each going in the direction of his or her common room. Harry and Parvati walked slightly behind Ron.

"We've got Quidditch practice, too," she muttered.

Harry bit his lip. "We'll come right after," he said. "We just can't run late, that's all. We'll just bring our gloves and..."

"... hope for the best," Parvati finished. "I suppose that's really all we can do."

After a particularly long and stressful Quidditch practice which had followed a particularly long and stressful day, in which Hermione was a little brat, Harry, Parvati, and Ron entered Snape's office a little beat, Harry with a strangely apple-shaped bruise on his shoulder. Snape looked up.

"Come on, then," Snape said. "Gloves on. I've got a few spare cauldrons in the back, grab one, each of you. Abbott and Malfoy just left - your sister was in earlier, Patil."

Harry set down his bag and pulled on his gloves. He pulled a spare cauldron out of the corner and lifted it onto a long table that was scattered with potions ingredients.

"Don't touch those simmering potions," Snape warned. "They've got to mature overnight."

When the three of them were ready, Snape stopped polishing his cauldron and paced in front of the table.

"To make the antidote for the Draught of Non Cras," he explained, "you must first create the potion itself. I ran the blood test," he said, to answer their curious glances, "and it came out positive. We've got until June 21^st."

Harry's heart plummeted. Having Hermione's date of death hanging in his mind made him feel like he had been given a weight to carry.

"A real antidote causes the potion itself to dissolve," Snape said. He waved his wand and a blackboard appeared in front of him. "Therefore if we want to create the antidote, we need potion to test it on."

"But you said that no one has made it successfully in over 500 years!" Harry said. "How are we supposed to -?"

"It's nice to know that you listen to me from time to time, Potter," Snape said, narrowing his eyes. "No one with my skill has attempted it. Had they, they would have succeeded." Snape paused. "I cannot stress enough how much harder you will have to work than what you do in class - especially you, Potter. I'd rather not be poisoned, if it can be helped." Snape cleared his throat. "I will oversee you to be sure you don't make an unfixable mess of things. Follow the instructions carefully - if all goes well, these should mature overnight and you can finish them in the morning."

"But Professor, how can we...?" Ron started, but Snape interrupted.

"Leave it to me, Weasley," Snape said sharply. "Start."

Harry read the instructions carefully, checking over his work carefully. When Ron and Parvati's potions started turning a nauseating green, Harry groaned.

"I did something wrong, didn't I?"

Snape came over and glanced in his cauldron, wand drawn and ready to vanish it if it was about to explode. He sighed and put down his wand. "Potter, can you not read? It's a light shade of blue, just as the instructions said. Quite to my surprise, your potion is doing fine."

"Then mine isn't," Parvati said, looking down at it in distaste. "It's turning green."

"Mine too," Ron said, his face turning red.

Snape sighed. "Evanesco," he muttered. Ron and Parvati's potions disappeared. "Start again."

Harry felt immense satisfaction at the fact that he was doing something right. As he added three and a half grams of moonstone, Snape watched him carefully.

"If you worked this hard in class, Potter, maybe you'd better than scrape together a pass," he said under his breath before leaving to get more powdered horn of bicorn for Ron.

Harry blinked. Had Snape just complimented him? Had that been a compliment? Was Snape capable of giving compliments?

Well, whatever it was, it wasn't a completely nasty thing for Snape to say to him. Compared to other things he'd said to Harry, it was a compliment.

Before Harry could think further, Snape returned with the powdered horn of bicorn. "Get to work, Potter!" he barked. "You should be stirring, not staring!"

Harry blinked and picked up a large silver spoon. As he stirred carefully, he thought.

Maybe Snape wasn't that bad after all.

Get a grip, said a voice in his head. Have you forgotten whom we're talking about here?

Harry shook himself. Of course, the thought that Snape was anything more than a useful pain in the neck was absurd. Come on, this was Severus Snape. The guy who hated the name Potter more than was humanly possible. Or healthy, come to think of it.

Snape barked at him to change directions, and Harry stopped the train of thought there. There was too much to concentrate on at the moment.

When Harry had reached the end of the instructions, Snape inspected his potion with overt thoroughness, making Harry feel uneasy. Finally Snape grunted approval.

"It's certainly the best potion I've seen you make, Potter," he said. "Perhaps if I jinxed you at the start of every class you'd be a little more motivated, eh? Well," Snape said, giving the potion a final glance, "put it over by the other three."

Harry did so with immeasurable relief. A second later, Parvati announced she was done just as Ron added his final ingredient. After inspecting both of their potions, they added them to the row and stood grinning like maniacs.

"You will please refrain from staring - it doesn't change," Snape muttered. This snapped the three Gryffindors out of their trance. "You'll have to finish it within fifteen hours of completing the first half, or it'll spoil, and blow up the entire castle." Harry gulped.

"But we have classes in the morning," Parvati pointed out. "How will we...?"

"They'll be done," Snape said. "You're just going to have to trust me."

Harry was not comforted.

"Sir... did Draco show you the letter from Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"The one that clearly stated for you not to panic and that they'll be back Friday night? Yes, he did. And speaking of Mr. Malfoy... Potter, I believe you and Malfoy have detention for a certain incident involving breakfast yesterday morning."

Harry gulped. "Y-yes, sir."

"You realize this takes away precious time from the search for this antidote," Snape said, his tone hard.

"Y-yes, sir."

"You and Mr. Malfoy are a vital part of the search for this antidote, Potter." Snape put his hands down on the table and squared his shoulders at Harry, who outwardly winced. "Therefore..." His expression softened, but only slightly. "I'll have to have a word or two with Professor Figg. But don't get used to the idea of having me there to cover for you."

A smile played on Harry's lips. "Yes, sir," he said, fighting the urge to gape at him. "Of course."

"Tomorrow night," Snape said. "Between six and nine. Don't forget it."

The three Gryffindors grabbed their bags and brooms and left Snape's office.

"Wow," Harry breathed. "I never thought I'd see the day when Snape covered for me."

"Me neither," Ron said grudgingly. Parvati cleared her throat.

"I've got a book to return to the library before curfew," she said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, right?"

"'Night," Harry and Ron chorused. She hurried off. They walked in silence for a moment.

"Did I mention I'm really sorry for being a prat?" Ron said. Harry blinked.

"Nope. Must have slipped your mind."

"I am," Ron said. "Really. Sorry, I mean."

"I'm sorry too," Harry said, sighing. "I was a git. But honestly - Draco's my friend too. Is there really such a problem with that? You could just try to get on with him..."

"Harry, we can be friends as long as you don't make Malfoy and me be friends. Sorry, mate, but it's a lost cause."

Harry sighed. "Well... I just don't think we should be fighting while Hermione is... you know."

"Yea."

"Yea."

"Friends?"

"Friends."

They shook hands in a masculine way, then broke their own macho code and gave each other one-armed hugs.

"Well, now that we're on speaking terms again... I've missed you, mate."

"Missed you too," Harry said with a smile. "Things just weren't the same without you.

"Wonder how we're going to finish those potions without blowing up the school?" Ron thought aloud.

"Dunno," Harry shrugged. "But I have the weirdest feeling the maybe we should make an impromptu bomb shelter..."

The following morning, Harry woke up to a moan above him.

"Five more minutes," Harry asked, rolling over.

"I'll have you know Hermione just slapped me, called me an impeccable git, and told me she's never speaking to me again," came a bland voice above him.

"What did you do, Ron?" Harry groaned.

"What did I do? I did nothing!" Ron protested. "She called me to her, I came, she slapped me!"

Harry groaned. "What time is it?" he said, sitting up, his hair standing up more than usual.

"Time for Double Charms," Ron said. "You'd better get up or we'll be late."

Harry groaned as he got dressed. He flattened his hair unceremoniously. Ron sighed.

"Do you even own a comb?"

"Lost it," Harry muttered, putting on his glasses. "Let's just go to Charms. We've got it with the Hufflepuffs, right?"

"Bingo," Ron said. "Bloody convenient, I wanted to ask Hannah if she knows how we're supposed to finish those stupid draughts before noon."

"Hannah's a brat," Harry yawned as he picked up his bag. "Ask someone else."

"I thought you and Hannah were friends," Ron said as they started walking. They waved hello to Ginny, who was in the common room reading. She waved absentmindedly back.

"We used to be," Harry sighed. "It's - complicated."

"Has this got something to do with that boggart? Because I think she just meant it as a joke, Harry."

"Whatever," Harry said, stifling another yawn. As they entered the Great Hall, Draco waved from the Slytherin table.

Morning, sleepy head. You realize you're late for breakfast, right?

Shut up. Harry yawned. Did you get to finish the draught last night?

No... it had to mature overnight. How're we supposed to finish it? And you never talked to me about Hannah. What's up with you and her? You've been ignoring her and you know it.

I was hoping you'd know how we'd finish it, Harry thought wearily as he sat down, shoveling food into his mouth. And please, I don't want to talk about Hannah now, later.

You said that Tuesday, I didn't even get to talk to you yesterday -

I had Quidditch practice, you know that.

Still -

Draco, please. I swear, we'll talk tonight. How about we go down to the kitchens after we finish with Snape? We can talk then, I swear.

Draco paused. Fine. How about we both get to Snape's at seven? That's when I finish up Quidditch practice. That way we'll finish around the same time.

Fine. Sure. Whatever. See you then. Or wait - no, we've got Care of Magical Creatures today.

So then after lunch.

Right. Now let me eat.

"Harry..." Ron said, feeling his forehead. "You know, they must have had a good reason for inventing forks. You know, maybe so you wouldn't make a mess of yourself while stuffing eggs down your throat? Or at least a shovel. Geez, Harry, have you been on one of those diets where you eat nothing but carrot sticks? Because..."

Harry burped loudly and drained his pumpkin juice. "Need to get to Charms," Harry announced, standing up. "Let's go, or we'll be late."

Ron stared at him. Then he grabbed half a bagel, slapped some cream cheese on it, and followed Harry out of the hall.

"I didn't realize we were so late," Ron groaned before taking a huge bite of the bagel.

"Yea, we'd better hurry up." Harry walked slightly more quickly, and Ron followed suit. Before long they arrived in the chattering Charms classroom. Hannah waved then to a table where Susan Bones was already sitting and before Harry could pretend not to notice her, Ron was pulling him to the table. Harry sat between Susan and Ron and carefully avoided Hannah's eye. A minute later Parvati joined them.

That day they were reviewing Summoning Charms. While Hannah, Ron, and Parvati talked animatedly about Quidditch, Susan kicked Harry hard under the table. Harry winced inwardly and rubbed his shin.

"What was that for?" Harry hissed.

"For being an inconsiderate, back-stabbing jerk," Susan hissed back.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Accio," Harry muttered. His rat came soaring through the air and landed in his hand. He shooed it away quickly.

Harry concentrated thoroughly on his Summoning Charms, being careful to avoid the eyes of the two Hufflepuffs at the table. Ron nudged him.

"It's about ten," Ron said out of the corner of his mouth. "We've only got about two hours before - "

There was an ominous crash and Ron and Harry's heads turned like bullets. Professor Flitwick was lying on the ground in scattered wood debris and Neville was standing over him, hand over his mouth in surprise. Apparently Neville had tried to put a particularly strong Summoning Charm on a cushion, missed, and forced Professor Flitwick to make a chair shatter to pieces so he wouldn't fly across the room.

Harry put a hand over his mouth so that no one could see his smile. Ron snorted. Everyone else smiled appreciatively.

The door opened at that moment, just as Professor Flitwick was standing up. Harry blinked.

Draco was standing in the doorway, looking surprised and slightly amused. "Professor Snape would like to see Harry Potter, Hannah Abbott, Parvati Patil, and Ronald Weasley in his office immediately," Draco announced, giving Professor Flitwick an odd look. Flitwick brushed himself off.

"What'd we do?" Harry said loudly. Draco shifted his glance to him.

"Professor Snape didn't say," he said simply.

"Well then... off you trot, you four! I'm sure Mr. Finnigan will be glad to tell you your homework," Flitwick said cheerfully - well, it was a cheerful tone for a person who had just a moment ago been on the floor in a pile of wood. The four students looked at each other, shrugged, and picked up their bags. They followed Draco out of the room.

"Thought we'd never get out of there," Parvati muttered. "So Snape sent you?"

"He sent for me and Padma while we were in Herbology," Draco said. "And then he told me to go find you lot. I suppose Padma's working on hers now..."

"I don't believe we got out of class," Hannah muttered, playing with her hair.

"Yea, well, if we didn't finish this, there'd be no class, as everyone would be dead," Ron said, almost too happily.

"Did I tell you Snape's trying to weasel us out of detention with Arabella?" Harry said to Draco so only he could hear him.

Must have slipped your mind. Is he really?

That's what he said.

Draco let out a long whistle. Wow. We should have buttered up to Snape long ago, Harry.

Harry smiled. They walked down to the dungeons partly in silence.

"Snape's really not so bad, is he?" Hannah said as they entered the dungeon hallway. Harry shivered.

"Not really," Draco agreed. "He seemed - I don't know - kind of nice when me and Hannah were working with him last night. What do you think, Parvati?"

"I think we should wait until we have Potions again to see if he's really changed," Parvati said. "He could just be - oh, I don't know. He's just - different. Not as scathing, like."

"I still think he's a jerk," Ron muttered.

"He's a jerk with the brains to save Hermione," Harry reminded him. "If he was really that bad, he wouldn't have helped us at all."

Ron was stopped from answering by the fact that they had reached Snape's office. They opened the door and found Padma - very carefully, mind you - levitating the cauldrons to the table. They watched her move the last one, careful not to make her spill a drop. When she was finished, Padma smiled.

"Professor Snape should be back in a minute," Padma said. "He didn't realize we needed syrup of hellbore."

Snape returned a moment later, carrying a flask of the thick, golden liquid. "There was no trouble, I presume, Mr. Malfoy?"

"None," Draco reported.

"Very good," Snape said, then he sighed. "I've got a class with some first years in a few minutes, so I won't be able to watch you very closely. I've written down precisely how the potion should look at each step. If you see any problem, don't hesitate to come find me." Snape sighed. "Once you've all finished the potion, I'd appreciate it if you'd clean up after yourselves. Then fill all of these flagons," he gestured to the many flasks upon his desk, "with your results. Then you will wait here until I return.

"Good luck - for the whole school's sake."

He left the room. Harry gulped.

"OK, let's try to not blow up the castle," Harry said. He grabbed the essence of murtlap and started measuring. He added it delicately; making sure every drop was put into the potion. Then he stirred it six times counterclockwise before adding three severed rat's tails.

"I can't believe we're making the most lethal poison in existence," Harry said, frowning slightly as he spilt his powdered moonstone.

"Scourgify," Parvati said with a flick of her wand. The mess disappeared. "Here, Harry, borrow some of mine..."

"Thanks," Harry said, taking a 32^nd of a gram of her moonstone. "I owe you one."

"Yes, you do," Parvati said with a smile. "Just keep working."

Your potion should now have a golden mist rising from the surface.

Harry appraised his potion carefully. There was a golden mist, all right. He continued.

"I don't know where Snape got some of these ingredients," Hannah sighed. "I've never even seen essence of dragongem before, it's so rare..."

"You realize we're doing Dark magic?" Padma said, adding another ingredient to her potion.

"So?" Draco said, measuring out the syrup of hellbore. "There won't be enough hellbore for all of us."

"Should we call Snape?" Ron said worriedly. "Harry, is this enough essence of murtlap...?"

"Try a little more," Harry said, squinting.

"There's hellbore in the student stores," Parvati said, putting down her measuring spoon. "I'll get some. How much will we need?"

"Just get another bottle," Draco said as he dished out the last of his hellbore.

"Will someone stir my potion for me?" she said.

"Treguna Mequoidies," Harry muttered, and the large stirring spoon started stirring Parvati's potion.

"Thanks, Harry," Parvati said, leaving the room.

"Weasley, you're forgetting pomegranate juice," Draco said with a raised eyebrow. Ron glared at him, but put down the essence of dragongem he had been measuring and picked up his measuring spoon and the pomegranate juice.

Parvati returned with the syrup of hellbore. Hannah took it from her and started measuring.

They worked in half-silence, with the only sound being people asking in whispers to borrow ingredients and the bubbling of the potions. Harry started reading the last few lines of the instructions.

Add five drops of the brewer's blood and stir clockwise six times.

Harry choked. "Blood?" he said out loud. "We need to use our own blood?"

Draco frowned. "Most Dark potions require blood," he said. "You would have known that if you listened to Theorax, Harry."

"I'm not going to ask who Theorax is, because I don't want to know," Ron muttered.

"You know I never listened to that old hag!" Harry said, wincing. "But blood! Really!"

"Oh, come on," Parvati said. "You know we should have guessed that the potion wasn't strong enough. Most of the ingredients aren't that uncommon - except essence of dragongem and dried and powdered unicorn blood."

Harry felt sick. He looked in his bag and pulled out the pocketknife Sirius had given him. "Snape could've at least told us," Harry groaned.

"I agree," Ron said with a scowl. "He should have told us to bring a knife."

"Use this," Hannah said, sliding the knife she had used to chop daisy roots across the table to him.

"Why don't you?"

"I'm not that far into the potion yet," Hannah said calmly. "Now use it."

Draco similarly picked up his cutting knife and calmly cut a slit in his right wrist. He picked up an eyedropper and slowly but surely sucked his blood into it, and deposited five drops of it into his potion.

Harry looked down at the pocketknife and flicked it open. He stared at it for a minute before using it to cut a gash about an inch long in his left wrist. He grabbed a clean eyedropper and sucked up the bright red liquid flowing out of his wrist. He watched the red drops fall into his potion one by one and then looked down at his wrist.

"Can I use that, Harry?" Parvati said. "I swear I'll clean it off..."

"Sure," Harry said, shoving it towards her. "Take it."

Parvati smiled at him. Ron was still staring at the knife.

"Did I ever tell you blood makes me queasy?" Ron said under his breath.

"Oh for Merlin's sake..." Draco said. He grabbed the knife from Ron and slit open Ron's wrist. Ron let out a shout of protest and pain but Draco was already dropping the blood into Ron's potion, and it sizzled in response. Ron glared at Draco as he reached for a handkerchief to stop the bleeding.

When everyone had put five drops of blood in, Harry spoke up.

"I've got an idea."

"That's nice," Ron said, holding the bloody handkerchief to his wrist. "Do tell."

"Well, since we've all got our veins opened - we should... I don't know... it seemed a lot less stupid in my head..."

"I think I know what Harry's saying," Parvati said. She grabbed Hannah's bleeding wrist and pressed it to hers.

"I saw my Muggle neighbors doing this once," Parvati explained. "Blood sisters."

Hannah coughed. "Are you sure this is sanitary?" Hannah said with a wince.

"Sure it is," Parvati said easily. "Unless you've got some blood disease you haven't mentioned before..."

Hannah sighed. "No, but - "

"Done," Parvati said. "Come on, everyone, like Harry said, our veins are opened up already..."

"We're only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided," Harry said, taking Ron's wrist.

Those who were accustomed with the Muggle tradition did it a lot more easily than those that weren't, but eventually everyone's blood was intertwined - even Harry's and Hannah's.

Only Ron and Draco were left now. Standing next to each other with bleeding wrists, they glared at each other.

"Push aside your differences," Padma said irritably. "The rest of us have done it already..." She pressed a handkerchief to her wrist.

"There's got to be some kind of law against this," Ron said profoundly. "I'm a Weasley - he's a Malfoy."

"Chickens," Harry said. "You too, Draco." He grabbed their wrists and forced them together. Draco gasped.

"Now that that's done with," Harry said, fumbling for his wand. He flicked it and a pack of gauze appeared.

"Come on, everyone, take some, it's more hygienic then a handkerchief..."

"I can't believe you did that," Draco muttered to Harry while taking some of the gauze and pressing it to his wrist.

"I thought it was time for you two to get along," Harry said simply, holding the gauze against his wrist tightly. "Maybe now that you've got a bit of Weasley blood in you - "

"Don't even say it out loud!"

" - you'll understand what it's like for him."

Draco sighed. "You're despicable, you know that?"

"Duh," Harry said, rolling his eyes. With a flick of his wand, a roll of sterile tape appeared to. Harry used it to keep the gauze down, and when he had finished, picked up a stirring spoon.

"And now, I believe, we have some potions to finish."

Everyone muttered agreement and, once they had bandaged themselves, and once Harry had gotten his pocketknife back, they all started stirring.

"And for the final ingredient," Harry said with a small smile. "Two milliliters of phoenix tears."

He picked up a small vial and measured out two milliliters. He dumped the phoenix tears into his potion and it fizzed and bubbled ferociously. Harry checked Snape's instructions.

"Perfect," he breathed. "It's perfect."

One by one, they finished the potion. With a small smile, Harry sat back.

Draco checked over everyone's potions... just to be sure. "We're finished," he said. "One step closer to helping Hermione."

"So let's fill up these vials," Hannah said, grabbing three. Everyone else muttered agreement and started filling up the tiny flagons.

When every drop of the now transparent potion was put into a vial, they all were exhausted.

"Scourgify," Draco said, waving his wand. With a few clattering noises, everything was back in place. And just in the nick of time.

About two seconds later Snape walked in. He looked around and, on seeing the flagons filled, gave a slow smile.

It was odd, Harry thought, to see Snape really smile - not a smirk or a sardonic grin, but a smile. It looked out of place on Snape's face - but still, it was better than a smirk or a frown.

"You had no trouble, I presume?" Snape said, looking around at them. They glanced at each other.

"None at all," Draco said. "None at all..."

Snape took a good look at the poison through the clear vial. "It's tasteless and scentless," he said, more to himself than to them. "Most people who drink it never know... until it's too late..."

Snape sighed and put down the vial. "You've done a fair job," Snape said. "Quite obviously - the school is still in one piece. I congratulate you for being the first group of people to finish this potion in over 500 years."

Ron let out a low whistle. "Wow."

"Let me explain how we will work from now on," Snape said, sitting down at his desk. "I want each of you in here for at least an hour everyday. You will use your knowledge of what certain ingredients are good for to create a possible antidote. You will record your work carefully and add the 'antidote' to one of these vials. Be sure to record how much is in the bottle to begin with," Snape said, "or you won't be able to tell if any has dissolved."

"How much time will it take to dissolve - if it does work?" Hannah asked.

"Oh, only about three seconds," Snape said dismissively. "You may have gotten part of the antidote right - you'll know this if only part of it dissolves."

"How much do we add to each vial?" Draco asked.

"Five drops," Snape said, pulling out an eyedropper and putting it on the desk. "Any questions?"

No one spoke. "Good. On weekdays, you will report for work between six and nine - on weekends, between nine and nine. Go."

They all turned to leave obediently, grabbing their bags and talking under their breaths. Harry stayed for a second longer and turned to Snape.

"What is it, Potter?"

Snape was pushing the blackboard to the side of the room with his wand.

"Thanks, Professor," Harry muttered quietly, and before Snape could retort, Harry was gone.

Harry caught up with Draco on the way to lunch. "Hey," Harry said, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey," Draco muttered, rubbing his right wrist subconsciously.

"I had to do it, you know."

Draco looked at him. "I know that you think you had to," Draco said easily. "You didn't. I'm - unclean now. There's Weasel blood in me."

Harry sighed. "You know what - forget it. Ron will be saying the same thing. Just forget it." Harry paused. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Right. Later. Bye."

"Bye." Harry walked a bit faster and - literally - ran into Hermione.

"Watch it!" she said, balancing the books in her hand again.

"Hey, Hermione, I didn't see you in Charms today," Harry said, ignoring her attitude. "Were you feeling okay?"

"Who cares about Charms anyway?" Hermione muttered. "It's useless. Nothing we can use in real life..."

And she stalked off. "Temper, temper," Harry muttered under his breath. And he headed into the Great Hall.

To his immense surprise, just as he sat next to Ron, Hedwig swept down to him. Harry blinked.

"Where've you been?" Harry asked, stroking her. "You're late, you know that." Hedwig held out her leg for Harry to untie the letter on her leg. Harry did so and Hedwig helped herself to a cucumber before flying out through the glassless windows of the Great Hall.

Harry read the letter through once and spit out the Yorkshire pudding he had been eating. Ron gave him an odd look.

"Bad pudding?"

Harry read the letter a second time and felt his insides churn.

Harry-

The house has been attacked. There were Death Eaters everywhere - it was just your mum and I - it was awful - we might be dead if Sirius hadn't decided to stop by for a few minutes. They all got away except for one - Macnair. The Wizengamot - the high wizard court, that is - is questioning him, and it doesn't look good for Macnair.

Your mum and I are in hiding now - can't say where in case this owl is intercepted. Lily got hurt but she wants you to know she's okay, but we think her arm's broken and we don't want to risk doing magic or Voldemort could detect us. So I've brought her to a Muggle doctor under the name Smith, and she's got a cast.

We're both going to be fine, Harry... we'll see you at Sirius's wedding, at the latest.

Tell Draco that he's in our thoughts, and that he should just ignore the rest of the Slytherins.

Harry - what do you know about Virginia Michaels? She's one of the meanest, most rotten people in existence. Didn't you meet her while you were back in the seventies? She used to go by 'Gigi.' Despicable name. Your mum thinks she's a Death Eater. I wouldn't be surprised. Steer clear of Virginia Michaels, Harry.

Stay safe, and keep your eyes open - I want you to cause mischief, sure, but don't do anything like sneaking off Hogwarts grounds of into the Forbidden Forest. It's dangerous. Death Eaters have breached Hogwarts' walls before, and they might again. Watch your back.

-Dad

"Read that," Harry said, shoving it at Ron. "Read that!"

Ron read the letter, brushing off remains of Yorkshire pudding in some spots. His eyes widened.

"That's - not good," Ron said finally. "Harry, that's not good."

"Obviously!" Harry said angrily, standing up. "You know what this means?" he hissed. "It means that if Dumbledore let Hermione's impostor go, he let Gigi Michaels - the only person my dad hated as much as Snape - and a questionable Death Eater - on the loose again!"