There was a moment of silence after his words; then Severus bowed his head close to his son's and said quietly, "Harry, you do not have to do this."

Harry only nodded. He really didn't want to bring Draco Malfoy to his home. He couldn't stand to think about it actually. He didn't want to ever see the other boy again.

But he kept hearing Draco's despairing sobs as he had spoken of the Death Eaters and of his mother's death, and Harry couldn't help but feel a spark of sympathy. Draco had been through his own hell lately and Harry knew only too well what it was like to be hurting and alone and to have no one to turn to.

Azkaban was a horrible place, and Draco was still just a kid. Harry didn't want him to have to go there.

He looked up into Severus' concerned face. "Do I have to see him?"

"No, you do not have to do anything that you do not wish to do," Severus answered firmly.

Harry considered and then sighed and nodded. "Let him come then."

Severus sighed, too, and looked back at Dumbledore. "I am not sure I like this idea, Albus. Harry is too kind-hearted for his own good, and Draco has hurt him badly."

"Of course Draco does not have to go to Prince Hall if you do not wish it, Severus," Dumbledore replied at once. "Perhaps I should not have suggested it in the first place. It simply seemed like a solution that might help Harry as well as teach Draco some important lessons. But please forgive me if I spoke out of turn."

Severus stared at him incredulously. "Exactly how do you think having Draco in our home would help Harry?"

The headmaster folded his hands together and laid them on top of his desk. His blue eyes turned to Harry with a kindly gaze.

"I may be wrong...feel free to correct me, Harry...but I imagine that one thing that has been hard for Harry to bear is the feeling that he has little control over his life, that his free will has been taken from him."

When have I ever had control over my life? Harry couldn't help the trace of bitterness that crept into his thoughts, but Dumbledore was right. It had gotten even worse since he had become a slave.

Severus' voice was sorrowful. "Harry, you know you can do anything that is within my power to grant, don't you?"

Harry nodded and tried to smile at him.

"Oh, Severus, I don't doubt that you do everything possible to help Harry," Dumbledore reassured him. "But your own words confirm the problem...'anything that is within your power to grant'. Of course, Harry, as you are still a minor child, your father's authority would supersede yours anyhow until you come of age, even without the slavery spell in effect."

Harry nodded silently again.

"And I know that Severus loves you dearly and would move heaven and earth to help you accomplish any desire you might have," the headmaster went on. "Still, I am sure that it is a difficult matter, and right now in particular I imagine you feel as if Draco Malfoy has the upper hand and that you are powerless before him."

He paused, but this time Harry remained still and stared at the floor.

"So, Severus." Dumbledore turned his attention back to the Potions Master. "If you decided to go ahead with my idea, it would empower Harry and perhaps help him to feel on equal footing with Draco and with his other peers as well."

Severus frowned. "Perhaps so. I want to have Draco punished for the harm he has done to my son, and if it could somehow help him to become a better person, that is all to the good. But, Albus, even if it is only temporary and possibly a better fate than Azkaban, I simply cannot condone placing another person under a slavery spell. It's bad enough that it happened to Harry by accident."

Dumbledore looked shocked. "Oh, no! I can see that I did not choose my words well. I never meant that Draco would be an actual slave, only that he would have to work for Harry and for you, and obey your rules. Perhaps this sounds a bit like slavery, but if he were sent to Azkaban, which I consider a likely outcome if this went to trial, Draco would be required to obey the guards at the prison. And as for working, well, it is not a custom in our culture, but I believe it is common in the Muggle world for nonviolent offenders to serve a work sentence, either in addition to or instead of confinement."

"But Draco would not be under an enslavement spell?" Severus questioned.

"No, not at all," Dumbledore agreed. "Indeed, we will present him with the choices and allow him to decide if he prefers this idea or if he wishes to take a chance with a trial."

Harry leaned against his father and halfway listened as the two men continued to discuss the details of the plan. Finally Severus turned to him again and said, "Well, Harry, you have the final say. Do you want to give Albus' idea a try or just go home and forget about all of this?"

It was so tempting to say that he wanted to go home and forget, but Harry shook his head and mumbled, "Let's try it."

Severus reached to gently tilt Harry's face towards him, his fingers cupping his son's chin. "Harry, if he causes the slightest trouble, he'll come straight back here to be taken into custody."

Flames roared in the fireplace then and Madame Pomfrey's face floated in the air above them. "Albus, I'm finished with Draco Malfoy. He's underweight and sleep-deprived, but I've given him a nutritive potion and prescribed dreamless sleep for a few nights to help with that. I'm sending him back to your office now."

"Very well, Poppy. Thank you," Dumbledore replied.

Harry jumped to his feet. "Can I go back to the sitting room?"

He thought Severus looked saddened by his words, though he didn't understand why, but his father nodded to him and said, "If you wish."

Harry hurried back to the next room and Severus went to stand behind the desk at Dumbledore's side. An instant later Harry heard the sounds of Draco Malfoy returning from the infirmary.

"Have a seat, Mr. Malfoy." The headmaster directed. "Professor Snape, Harry, and I have been discussing the situation and deciding how we wish to proceed."

"Potter?" Draco sounded slightly bewildered and Harry could imagine the other boy looking about the office for any trace of him. He wondered if Draco suspected him of hiding under the invisibility cloak. Actually, now that the thought had occurred to him, Harry wished that he had remembered the cloak earlier. He didn't feel ready to face Draco, but it would be nice to be able to see what was happening.

He edged closer to the partially-opened door, but made sure to stay out of sight. He could see a sideways view of Dumbledore seated at his desk, and his father, both of them staring ahead with grim expressions, presumably at Draco, but the other boy himself was out of Harry's sight.

"Harry is no longer here. Pay attention, Mr. Malfoy. While we recognize that you have been through a terrible ordeal and we are not without sympathy for that, you need to understand that you have committed two very grievous wrongs against an innocent person," Dumbledore said.

There was a small sound, as if Draco had started to speak and then thought better of it.

"Casting the slavery spell at Harry last spring was an illegal act, make no mistake about that," Dumbledore continued. "You may not have known that the spell would enslave him, but the law is very clear about the dangerous and immoral nature of casting an unknown spell against a sentient being. You had no idea what that spell would do to Harry when you cast it. You assumed that it would be relatively harmless. It was not. It has had drastic and possibly permanent consequences for him, and it has caused him great emotional pain and suffering. You have also deprived him of wealth and material goods."

"If we choose to press charges against you, I believe it is very likely that you would be found guilty and would receive a lengthy sentence in Azkaban. Your hope would be that the jury would have clemency on you due to your age and to the fact that you did not intentionally enslave Harry. But you are close enough to adulthood that you should be well aware of the dangers of unknown spells, and while the enslavement was unintentional, the fact that you have shown no remorse...indeed you have hurt and humiliated him even further..., well, that would not be in your favour, Mr. Malfoy."

There was a heavy silence after Dumbledore finished speaking. Then Draco spoke, his voice sounding uncharacteristically small and frightened. "You...you said if you pressed charges?"

"We have decided to offer you another option. Professor Snape and Harry are departing later today for their home in North Yorkshire. You could accompany them and stay there also...as their servant." Dumbledore told him.

"What?"

Well, that sounded more like the old Draco Malfoy, Harry thought wryly.

"The punishment should fit the crime, don't you think?" Dumbledore replied. "And what would be more fitting than for you to receive a small taste of the fate you have subjected Harry to?"

"But you can't make me be a servant! I have rights! I have..." Draco burst out.

Dumbledore overrode him. "You are absolutely correct, Mr. Malfoy. It is your choice. You do have rights and I'm certain the Aurors will inform you of them when they come to take you into custody. If you like, I can notify your next of kin...I believe that would be Mrs. Andromeda Tonks...and she can arrange for a barrister to represent you at your trial."

Dumbledore stood and made a move towards the fireplace, but Draco spoke again.

"No, wait...please." The please sounded forced, Harry thought, but he could tell the other boy was scared at the thought of being arrested.

Dumbledore paused, piercing Draco with his direct gaze.

Draco's words were slow and reluctant. "Tell me more about if I went with Severus and...and Potter."

"It is simple enough." The headmaster returned to his seat. "You would go to Prince Hall with Professor Snape and Harry. You would be their personal servant, required to do their bidding and to obey any rules that they might choose to set for you. You would retain ownership of your possessions, but so long as you are at Prince Hall, you would not be allowed to purchase or use anything without their permission."

Draco made another strangled sort of sound.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him. "If you choose to go to trial and are convicted, might I point out that your possessions would actually be taken from you and would become the property of your next of kin. Prisoners are not allowed to own property."

There was another silence while Draco seemed to be thinking things through.

"I...I wouldn't be under a real enslavement spell?"

Dumbledore's eyes flashed with some emotion but Harry couldn't tell what it was. His own father simply stood there, like a statue, with his face set like an expressionless mask. Harry could usually read Severus' emotions by now, but right now he wasn't completely sure. He knew his father loved him dearly, and was furious with Draco, but the boy was still Severus' godson and Severus had known him all his life. Severus was likely hurting for Draco's sake, too.

"No," Dumbledore replied coolly. "You would not be under an enslavement spell. You would, however, be in Professor Snape's custody, and you would agree to abide by his authority and be subject to the rules and punishments that he sets."

"Punishments?" Draco faltered. "What...what type of punishments?"

Severus waved his hand in a sharp, impatient gesture. "Talk of punishment is misleading. You have one chance to avoid a prison sentence, Mr. Malfoy, and one chance only. You will agree to obey our rules and to complete any assignment to our satisfaction. If there is any trouble I will send you back here and Professor Dumbledore will arrange for Aurors to take you into custody."

"How long would I have to be...you know," Draco asked after a minute.

"A servant?" Dumbledore filled in for him. "Well, let's see. Professor Snape and I are attempting to find a way to restore Harry's freedom. I think it only fair that your punishment should last until we succeed. Does that seem just to you, Severus?"

"Perfectly," Severus replied.

"But...but," Draco stammered. "What if you can't find a way to free Potter?"

"I suggest you start praying that we do," Dumbledore replied in a steely tone.

"But that's not fair," Draco protested.

"What is unfair, Mr. Malfoy, is that you took everything from Harry...his possessions, his independence, his future, and left him at the mercy of someone who has complete power over him. Fortunately, Severus Snape is a good man and he never abused his power. Even more fortunately, he and Harry came to love one another. Indeed, to regard one another as father and son, and he is committed to caring for Harry. But the loss of freedom is still a terrible blow. Perhaps you are beginning to understand that," Dumbledore said.

Dumbledore leaned across his desk, staring intently at the blond boy. "Mr. Malfoy, your stay at Prince Hall is not intended to be a pleasant experience, but I am quite sure that you will not be maltreated or abused there. What if I were sending you off to live with someone who would beat you for the smallest infraction, or not feed you properly, or abuse you in even more terrible ways? Those Death Eaters who tormented you...what if you were a slave to someone like that for the rest of your life? Can you not begin to understand how horribly you have harmed Harry?"

Harry thought he could hear Draco swallowing. "But none of those things happened to Potter."

Well, not with Dad at least, Harry repressed memories of the Dursleys.

"But they could have," Dumbledore sighed. "The choice is yours, Mr. Malfoy. Decide now. Will you agree to serve Harry at Prince Hall, or shall I contact the Aurors?"

Draco was silent for so long that Harry had decided he wasn't going to answer, but finally, in a voice so low that it could scarcely be heard, Draco mumbled, "I...I'll go with Severus and Potter."

"Harry," Severus suddenly spoke, his voice clear and crisp.

For a second Harry was confused, thinking that his father was calling him. He didn't want to go into Dumbledore's office and grimaced, even as he took another step towards the door.

But then Severus continued and Harry realized that his father was speaking to Draco.

"From now on, Draco, you will address my son by his first name, not as ‘Potter'."

When he spoke, Draco's voice was an odd mixture of resignation and frustration. "Yes, sir. I'll go with you and...Harry."