The Mark of Death

The next few days Harry was more caught up in his schoolwork than he ever had been before, as he was back to ignoring Hermione. Ron and Cho were holding hands in the hallways together so often he wondered if they had accidentally been glued together. And he was finding the extra workload was helping him to take his mind off of everything though every so often he found his eyes were drawn to the spot on his wrist where the Mark of Death had been etched. Now there was not so much as a hint of it. Classes had at least improved with the absence of Draco seeing as they had been in so many classes together this year. Professor Lupin was still there filling in for Professor Malfoy, who was still on grievance, though she hadn't left the castle. Hermione seemed to be spending a lot of her spare time in Malfoy's office, giving Harry more reason not to talk to her.

One evening after dinner he threw on his Dragon-skin jacket from Fred and George and slipped out quietly to walk outside by the lake, mulling over his latest History of Magic assignment. The cold, crisp November air wakening him slightly. He could occasionally see the odd shadow of one of the Hit Wizards rise from behind a bush to get a better look at him, but they never seemed to come out. He found their presence to be almost as disturbing as the Dementors. It wasn't comforting at all to think that Dumbledore was so concerned for the school as to have several armed guards watching their every movement.

He started towards Hagrid's Hut, until he noticed Hermione at the door walking in, clearly visiting Hagrid herself.

"Damn," he muttered, quickly backing up so that neither Hermione nor Hagrid would see him. He began to make his way back towards the castle when he noticed Ron was bounding towards him from the castle in a rage.

"Bloody Slytherins!" Ron fumed, glaring around the yard. "Because Malfoy decided to split, they are postponing our game this weekend. We have to play Ravenclaw instead!"

Harry felt a weight drop in his stomach. Cho was the Ravenclaw Seeker; this would be a very awkward game for all of them.

"Err, that's awful," Harry muttered. "What does Cho think about it?"

"She thinks we need to see each other a little less until after the game," Ron sighed, obviously hurt at this. "In case one of us decides to attempt to throw the game... like I'd do that!"

"I know!" Harry exclaimed, horrified at the thought that Cho would accuse Ron of cheating, even for her.

"She's so strange sometimes, you know?" Ron looked at Harry, clearly needing to talk to someone about it.

"Let's go to the Pitch, we can talk there if you want."

Ron grinned and nodded, then they headed for the Quidditch Pitch where they each took a seat in the high stands.

"So, erm, what exactly is she doing that is so odd?" He felt so awkward talking to Ron about Cho, not really wanting to say any of the negative feelings he still strongly felt for her. Yet also not wanting to say anything encouraging, as he felt Cho did not deserve anyone as loyal as Ron.

"She's very, err..." Ron seemed to be struggling for the right word, "... dominating, I guess. Like, she doesn't like the fact that I'm friends with Hermione..." (Harry scoffed, as Cho had the exact same problem with him) "...And with you. She thinks that you could be a danger to be around, and that you are reckless."

"I suppose you agreed with her?" Harry glared at him.

"NO! This was when she suddenly decided we needed the break. She said Quidditch, but, well..." Ron's ears were a bright crimson, a sign that he was very angry, "...I think she wants me to ditch both you and Herms. Hermione hardly talks to me anyways, since I started dating Cho. I think she's mad at me for dating a girl you used to fancy."

"Yeah, THAT'S the reason," Harry blurted out, but Ron didn't seem to hear his sarcasm.

"But that's the thing; I'm not choosing a girlfriend over my friends! So I think Cho and I are over. The thing is, we already had planned on going to the Festive Ball together and I'm not quite sure if I'm supposed to still take her or if I'm supposed to look for a new date."

Harry could see that Ron was wanting his advice but honestly couldn't think of any.

"Err, I'm probably not the best one to talk to about this, I had less luck with Cho than you have had," Harry started, "but here's the only thing I can suggest. Ask Cho if you are still going to the Ball with her. Just tell her that you were wondering because if she isn't your date you want enough time to ask someone else." Harry grinned, knowing what a jealous prat Cho could be and would likely demand that Ron take her out of spite.

Ron shrugged, now smiling. "I honestly wouldn't be too disappointed if Cho said no, she's too demanding. You're kind of lucky to have Luna Lovegood as your date. I don't think she'll have any kind of expectations."

Harry nodded. He had to agree, Luna seemed so easily amused Harry could probably give her a dandelion as a corsage and she would be thrilled, unless it had a chance of being infested with Bogroaches or something else nasty. And even then, Harry figured she might find even those interesting enough. Though he knew Luna seemed strange to everyone else, he felt completely at ease with her, and the more he thought of the date, the more he both looked forward to it…and dreaded it.

*********

Sure enough, Cho fell for Ron's bait. They were going to the Festive Ball together. Ron didn't seem too bothered either way, but boasted about it loudly as Hermione walked by in the Common Room, causing her to quicken her pace drastically as she scurried out of the Portrait door. Likely off to Malfoy's office again.

Professor Malfoy had returned to class the Friday before the Quidditch game against Ravenclaw. As the class filled, Harry noticed there was a change in her. She seemed to have lost her composure. Her hair was just slung in a ponytail and her robes were a basic, flat black. She seemed too preoccupied to notice she was teaching the same chapter she had previously taught them. Theodore Nott made a very rude point of telling her.

"We already know this," he said, standing up and glaring at her. "You said all of this a few weeks ago - we're on Chapter fifteen now, though a decent teacher would know this."

All of the Slytherins sniggered without bothering to hide it. They were even more respectful in Hagrid's class than this. Many of the other students were glaring at Nott, except Harry and Ron, who both looked to each other and shrugged.

"It's pretty bad when you're out-taught by a half-breed Werewolf," Pansy said, smirking sarcastically.

"Shut UP Parkinson!" Hermione spoke up loudly, glaring over at her.

"I'd love to see you make me, Mudblood."

Several students gasped, Hermione sat gaping at Pansy, shocked that she would use such slang in front of a teacher. Professor Malfoy strode over to Pansy's desk and scowled at her.

"You!" she hissed, pointing to Pansy then to the door, "Out. Now. Nott, you leave too. I will not be spoken to like that."

Nott kicked his chair back and stood up, facing the Professor, who stood about an inch shorter than him. "I'm just going to take it up with my Head of House."

"No, you won't," Malfoy said, a faint smirk on her face, "I am sending you directly to Professor McGonagall. Seeing as she's taking the Headmaster's duties while he's away, NOT Snape."

Nott and Pansy looked at each other doubtfully knowing that McGonagall would not take too kindly to their behavior.

"If I get any word that you went anywhere else but McGonagall's office, the two of you will take a detention with Filch." Professor Malfoy's eyes narrowed dangerously, "Apparently someone threw a few wet-start fireworks in a toilet earlier and he's saving it for today's detentions. That smell doesn't get better with age."

A few students started giggling. Nott's face was twisted with anger, but he said nothing and grabbed Pansy by the arm and strode out, slamming the door hard behind them.

"Hopefully that is the end of the disruptions..." Professor Malfoy said, forcing a smile and picking up her book nervously to flip through the pages. "Chapter fifteen..."

She went on into the chapter on properly deflecting curses with precision causing them to hurt the one doing the curse with their own curse, explaining that they were only going to read up from now on, until the second half of the year.

"After the embarrassing display some of you showed at the last attempted Dueling Class," she glanced at the Slytherins, particularly Bullstrode, who was too busy picking at her nails to notice. "I'm going to set a few pop quizzes for you over the first few weeks after Christmas to be sure you are all ready."

The door creaked open suddenly, and Draco Malfoy walked in, striding over to his mother and pressing a note in her hand.

"Hello, Professor," he said sarcastically, scowling at her as she fumbled to pick up the book she had dropped when he had walked in, "That's just a note stating I have been away on grievance, you know, from my legal guardian."

She looked at him with a mixed expression of both anger and concern as he took a seat, whipping his hair back off of his shoulders and making a point of glaring at her. He looked different somehow, Harry couldn't put his finger on it but for some reason Draco didn't seem to be acting as devastated as a son should be after losing his father.

Draco had barely sat down before the bell rang, signaling them to move to their next classes. Harry noticed him shoot out of his chair and out the door without a glance at his mother who was watching him with a devastated expression.

Harry strode quickly behind him, wanting to hear what, if anything, Draco Malfoy and Professor Snape would be talking about. But Draco only nodded at Snape politely before sitting down and taking out his caldron, placing it carefully on the desk in front of him as though it hurt to do so.

"Seeing as last week's class was cancelled," Snape announced, walking around the room and glaring over at Harry as though it were his fault, "you are all to finish and test your Polyjuice Potions today. I will pair you up and you are each to take the form of your partner."

Harry had a horrified feeling from the way that Snape was curling his lip at him that he would be taking the form of someone awful. Like Millicent Bullstrode or someone else. He carefully began pouring the ingredients slowly and carefully into his caldron. Thankful that he had seen the potion made before and knew what to expect from it. He felt a twinge of guilt looking over at Hermione, as she had been the one to mastermind the Polyjuice potion before in their second year.

"Time's up," Snape said after a long while, walking around and looking into a few caldrons with a look of irritation on his face. Harry wiped the small drops of sweat that had been forming on his forehead onto his sleeve. He was sure he had made the potion correctly, not wanting to suffer anymore humiliation from Snape.

"All right, Parkinson, you will exchange forms with Granger," Snape said almost apologetically to Pansy, who was sulking, "Potter and Malfoy, Smith and Nott..." he continued to pair everyone up, not putting anyone in the same house together. When he was finished he stood at his desk to watch.

Harry brought his caldron reluctantly over to Draco's desk; glaring at him as Draco was wearing such a smirk on his face Harry felt a strong urge to knock it off him.

"I guess this will be very different from the time you impersonated Goyle, won't it?" Draco hissed, glancing up to make sure Snape couldn't hear.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Harry muttered nervously, wondering how on earth Draco knew.

"You do, though," Draco whispered, his cold gray eyes gleaming angrily. "You think we didn't figure it out after? I mean, yes, they are thick, but waking up in a broom closet not remembering talking to me..."

"Malfoy, Potter. Any reason the two of you haven't added the final ingredients to your potion?"

"No sir," Draco pulled a couple hairs from his own head and dropped them into Harry's, where they sizzled and turned the contents a charcoal color.

"Nasty!" Harry muttered, ripping out a few of his own and placing them into Draco's potion - making it bubble and hiss and turn into a navy blue.

"Tell me about it," Draco replied, looking at his beaker with disgust as he sipped it. Harry watched with horror as Draco's hair went shorter, darkening to a jet-black that was messy in the back. His gray eyes deepened into a brilliant green, and slowly all of Harry's other features began to make their way on what had been Draco's face. It was like looking into a three dimensional mirror, only Harry didn't like it at all.

"Well, Potter?" Draco sneered. Raising his eyebrows at Harry's own beaker.

He took a deep breath and lifted the cup to his lips, gulping it quickly. He felt himself changing into Draco Malfoy. His hair was annoyingly tickling his neck but at least they were roughly the same size and their clothes still fit, a problem Snape seemed to have overlooked when he paired Millicent Bullstrode with Lavender Brown. Brown was far more petite than Bullstrode who resembled a female gorilla. Lavender's Gryffindor robes were stretched to the point where they looked as if the seams were about to burst, and Bullstrode looked as though she was stuck in a Slytherin tent. Snape went over to give Lavender a counter potion as a bunch of Slytherins (who looked like whoever's form they had taken) looked on and laughed.

Although Harry liked Lavender, he too, felt almost inclined to laugh. It felt very odd seeing Hermione doubled over pointing and laughing at her until he realized it was really Pansy. He noticed Snape withdraw away from Lavender quickly, as though stung and he heard Draco make a small whimper from behind him. He turned to see Draco, still in Harry's form, clutching at his forearm.

"What's you problem?"

"Nothing, mind your own business Potter!" Draco hissed, looking annoyed and embarrassed.

Harry smirked, whipping the annoyingly longish blonde hair back from his face and drew his own sleeve up, looking down at what would be Draco's arm to see the Dark Mark burned there, and looked horrified at Draco. Who was standing in front of him smirking knowingly.

"I said, mind your own bloody business!" Draco snapped, and Harry quickly covered his arm, but not before Snape had walked over and had seen it. He looked questioningly at Harry for a moment before turning to Draco.

"Potter - I mean, Draco, I wish to speak with you after class."

His expression and tone were both unreadable, but Harry had a feeling that Snape was very upset with this, as he was very pale. Had this been where Draco had been the last few days? Joining the Death Eaters?

Snape finished up the class, giving each student still under the effects of the Polyjuice potion the same counter-potion he had given to Bullstrode and Lavender, keeping Draco behind, and stopping Harry before he walked out of the class, clasping Harry's shoulder in a pincher grip.

"Not a word to anyone of what you had seen, Potter."

*********

"Guess that explains where Malfoy has been," Ron said, shaking his head with disgust as Harry told him what had happened as they attempted to do some of their Charms homework later that evening.

"I just don't get why Snape signed his permission slip if he hadn't known where Draco had been," Harry replied as he charmed one of Neville's plants to slowly sway side to side. He had been trying to make it dance.

"No, I suppose that doesn't make much sense..." Ron muttered, looking at the plant he had tried to charm too, but had singed its leaves instead. "Unless Snape is just signing Draco out of favoritism. It wouldn't be the first time, you know. Or Draco could have lied to him, that's more than likely, Malfoy seems to have a problem with the truth, doesn't he?"

Hermione came into their dorm room, glancing at the plants hesitantly, as though wanting to tell Ron the correct way to do the incantation but deciding against it.

"Err," she looked nervously at them, refusing to meet Ron's eyes. "Quidditch is cancelled for this weekend. There was a dispute that Slytherin should play now that their Seeker is back, but Malfoy is claiming he needs more time to mourn."

Ron snorted, Harry looked up at her curiously. She looked so depressed that he decided again to ignore his anger towards her again, she was obviously missing their friendship as much as he was.

"I thought they were trading with Ravenclaw?"

Hermione sighed and sat on the bed beside Ron, pulling out her wand absentmindedly and extinguishing the small fire that was sending up black smoke from the roots of the plant.

"Ravenclaw was, but now they say that they can't because Roger Davies spliced himself practicing for his Apparating license. And Hufflepuff can't fill in because their Keeper was in the toilets when the fireworks were thrown in and is currently..." Hermione went beet red, putting her hands over her face, "Oh it's not funny! Ok, it is... he's been letting out a few fireworks from the south. There is no way any team is playing this weekend."

Ron was in a fit of laughter. Harry half expected Hermione to scold him for being insensitive but instead she joined in and the two were doubled up with laughter. Harry couldn't help but join in, feeling slightly bad. The Hufflepuff Keeper, Jordan Kennedy, had never done anything to him and seemed like an overall nice guy. Still, funny.

"Slytherin should have to default," Hermione said, wiping away a tear of laughter. "But since Draco's using his father's death, they get to reschedule any of their matches this month. On the bright side, they changed it to a Hogsmeade trip. Would you two be interested in going with me?"

Hermione looked hopefully at them.

"Sure, I'll go with you Herms," Harry said brightly, noticing the pink color Ron's ears were turning.

"I understand Ron," Hermione muttered, looking down at her hands, which were tightly clasped together. "You'll be going with Cho, that's fine."

"Couldn't we all go together?" Ron's face was a deep crimson again. He looked nervously from Hermione to Harry. "I mean, it's likely the last trip we'll have to Hogsmeade before Christmas, and since we're all going to the Burrow..."

"Ron! Tell me you didn't invite Cho along for Christmas!"

"I didn't! She's not coming! That's why I want to go with her to Hogsmeade. I was just saying perhaps we could meet up there and all hang out, you know, together."

"Err," Harry muttered, feeling awkward. It would look almost like a double date, and he wasn't at all interested in that. He had enough on his mind with taking Luna to the Festive Ball, and didn't want to complicate things.

"Thanks Ron," Hermione breezed, as though trying to look like she really didn't care, but her tone was borderline angry. "Harry and I will leave you and your girlfriend to be by yourselves. That's what you really want, isn't it? Why even bother going to Hogsmeade? Why not just go snogging behind the greenhouses like you usually do?"

They sat glowering at each other for a few moments before Harry began to find the silence very uncomfortable.

"Why don't you go nosing around Professor Malfoy's office some more?" Ron snapped, blushing more than ever now. Hermione had obviously hit a nerve. "Tell her that her son is now a Death-..."

"SHUT UP, RON!" Harry exclaimed, widening his eyes pointedly. Harry didn't know what sort of things Hermione and Professor Malfoy spoke about, but Harry felt certain that if it got back to Snape that he had told anyone, Harry would suffer immensely.

Hermione looked at the two of them confused, but since she had been on such thin ice with them for so long, Harry figured she wasn't going to risk prying more into it.

"Harry, when is your next Occulmency lesson?" Hermione asked delicately, biting her lip nervously as though afraid of what Harry may say to her.

"I don't know," Harry muttered. "Snape hasn't said anything and I wasn't about to remind him, why?"

"Just wondering," Hermione said, shrugging casually. "I guess Snape's been so busy, with Draco and all."

"I'm going to go see Cho," Ron stood up and looked apologetically at Harry. "Hermione, she'll want to see you, too, Prefect duties in Hogsmeade are likely."

Hermione groaned and followed Ron out the dorm.