“Have you seen this?” Ginny was thrusting a copy of the Daily Prophet down in front of Harry at breakfast the next morning. On the front page was a picture of the bank in Little Whinging, blown to bits and smoldering.

“What happened?” Harry asked, scanning the article with his eyes to get to the important information. His family, if you could call them that, lived in Little Whinging. He could just see his aunt Petunia going into the bank Friday morning to withdraw some money and getting the shock of her life as it exploded.

“Voldemort happened… they determined from eyewitness accounts and from studying the type of fire that occurred that it was magical. Ten people say a bunch of hooded figures appeared from thin air and started lighting the place on fire… it only took a few minutes to burn down the entire building. I bet Dad just had a lovely day at work yesterday after this mess.”

Harry shook his head as he read. There were indeed casualties, but his family’s name was not on the list, although he wasn’t sure why he cared. Over the past few weeks Voldemort had been setting his followers on the Muggle population more than the wizarding one. Each day an article about a disappearance or a magical fire or explosion appeared on the front page. This just happened to be one of the nastier examples of his handiwork.

“If he keeps this up the Ministry is going to fall apart,” Harry said, handing the paper back to her. She finally took a seat and began to butter herself a piece of toast, using her wand to heat the toast back up and melt the butter more quickly.

“Maybe that’s the point,” she told him. “I never minded Fudge too much, but dad says he can’t handle all the strain… did you notice there aren’t any pictures of him in the paper anymore? Dad says all his hair is falling out from the stress… it’s all patchy in places now…”

Harry shook his head again. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, he might have laughed at thinking about the trouble Fudge was in. The man had certainly caused him enough trouble in his lifetime.

Breakfast was nearly over when Draco walked in, book bag slung over one shoulder, and a brilliant bruise blossoming over his right eye.

“What’s happened to you then?” Harry asked as Draco took a seat next to Ginny and dropped his bag roughly.

“Guess maybe that potion Snape gave us last night didn’t clear all the dunderhead out of me… I forgot to put up protection barriers around my bed last night and I woke up to Crabbe’s fist.”

Ginny bit her lip as Draco tilted his head so she could see his battle wound. “I don’t know any spells to make that go away,” she said, sorry that she couldn’t help.

Draco shrugged. “Madam Pomfrey refused to get rid of our bruises the last time me and Harry went up there… she probably won’t get rid of this one either.”

“Maybe Snape-” Harry started to suggest, but trailed off remembering how angry he had been the night before.

“What potion did he give you?” Ginny asked through a mouthful of toast.

Harry and Draco gave each other a look, both questioning if it was ok to tell her, and Harry finally said, “We er… became a bit intoxicated yesterday.”

Ginny’s eyes grew wide. “What Ron said was true?” Harry nodded, and said, “Only about the drinking though… we never attacked him. He really did attack Draco from under my invisibility cloak.”

“Tsk, tsk,” Ginny did a perfect imitation of Hermione. “Dad caught Fred and George sneaking his fire whisky once… it was the last thing they were allowed to do for a month. He wouldn’t tell mum why he’d grounded them… they got off easy since she never figured it out.”

“I bet,” said Harry. “I never thought about getting caught by her… we thought being caught by Professor Snape was bad enough though.”

“What did he do?”

“Said he was going to make sure we would be expelled if he caught us again,” Draco said. “Me and Harry, expelled by Snape, can you believe that?”

“Knowing Snape, yes,” Ginny said. “Besides, why were you off getting plastered anyway?”

“No good reason,” Harry said. “We shouldn’t have… it was a bad idea.”

Draco laughed, “Snape asked us what we were doing, and Harry burst out laughing. I thought I was going to die.”

Ginny shook her head again. “Well, it’s a good thing neither of you are Prefects…”

“I don’t know, Ron’s still a Prefect isn’t he?” Harry asked.

Nodding, Ginny said, “Yes, but he did get called into the Headmasters office a couple of days ago… he refused to say what he’d been told. I figured it had to do with him attacking Draco.”

“Good,” Draco said bitterly. “Maybe he’ll stop trying to kill me every other day now. I don’t know what half those hexes were he was using. That’s saying something when I’ve seen my father use most of the bad ones.” Suddenly Draco became aware of the candidness with which he had spoken in front of Ginny. Harry and Ginny seemed to be aware of it too, although it wasn’t anything they couldn’t have guessed that Draco had seen being the son of a death eater.


The school seemed to be abuzz about Draco’s black eye, and most people seemed to think it was Ron’s doing, even though Harry and Draco had never said a thing about Ron. Even Professor McGonagall stopped Draco after lunch and demanded to know what had happened. Draco only shrugged however, and said it had been an accident. Why Draco didn’t tell her the truth, Harry wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling it had something to do with not wanting to dig himself into an even deeper pit with the Slytherins.

Unfortunately for Harry and Draco, Severus caught them on the way out of dinner and forced them down into the dungeons and into his office.

“We need to speak about last night,” he said once they were inside and the door was closed and locked.

Harry and Draco bowed their heads instinctively to look at the floor as they waited for another blast of anger.

“What happened to your eye?”

Draco looked up… he didn’t want to talk about their public drunkenness? “Er… Crabbe happened to it sir.”

Snape sighed heavily and said, “How?”

“I forgot to put up barriers against anybody getting into my bed.”

“No doubt because of your drunkenness… you must have drunk a very large amount of alcohol for the potion to not have taken full effect on you.”

“I did,” Draco admitted. He had made his way through nearly two bottles, while Harry had hardly finished off one. Granted the stuff Harry had been drinking the stronger of the moonshine…

“As I stated last night, that kind of behavior will not be tolerated. Not in this school, and not by my sons.”

Harry and Draco both looked up at Snape now, hearts pounding furiously. Had he just acknowledged them as his sons?

“Sir?” Draco asked, voice catching.

Thinking on his words for a moment, Severus finally said, “If I am to protect you, you must also take precautions to protect yourselves. It is both stupid and irresponsible to parade yourselves around the school as the village idiots. I expect both of you to be on your best behavior, or else lose my protection, is that understood? I will not associate myself, especially as family, with those who would only end up doing themselves harm in the end by way of stupidity.”

The two boys glanced at each other, and then said, “Yes sir.” For Draco, it was more of an oath. Snape had never told him he thought of him as a son before… and yet, for some reason this relation with a surrogate father meant so much more than what he ever felt for Lucius. When Snape said he would protect them, Draco believed it.

Severus nodded, and said, “I expect to hear of any attacks against you by other students in the future, immediately. Do not let yourselves be goaded into fighting or you will find yourselves in more trouble than you wish. The Headmaster is already displeased with the way the year has been unfolding for you two… not because of your actions against others,” he added, “but because of their actions against you for becoming friends rather than remaining enemies.”

Draco was suddenly surprised. He never thought the old man had ever paid much attention to him. To Harry maybe, but he couldn’t see Dumbledore giving two hoots for him.

Questions burning inside of Harry, he asked, “What are we supposed to do to deal with everybody being against us in the mean time?” He had wanted to ask it the night before, but knew he wouldn’t like the answer at the time if Snape was the one giving it.

“Keep your friends close,” was all he said for a few long moments. “If your friends are true they will stick by you no matter what happens. If they are false friends, as so many are, they will not hesitate to abandon you when things get rough. If they are false friends, they are not worth having. Remember that and do not let yourself be goaded into unnecessary battles… of wand, fist, or will. I expect you to be able to control your emotions after so many Occlumency lessons… put those lessons to good use, or else let the time spent learning them be wasted.”

Draco bit his lip. All of this advice was fine for Harry, but he had failed every Occlumency lesson his father had ever given him. He had never had the patience for it.

“Speaking of which,” Severus turned to Draco now. “I wish you to begin the same training Harry has had. I expect you to both be able to defend yourselves adequately when the time for battle against the Dark Lord has arrived. He will not hesitate to use your own minds against either of you. He will also not hesitate to use you against each other,” he added almost as an afterthought.

Nodding, Draco was not sure if he was eager for the lessons, or dreading them. His father delving into his innermost private thoughts was bad enough… but Snape? How had Harry dealt with this? Draco made a mental note to ask him about it later on.


Albus Dumbledore waited patiently for Severus to call upon him. Fingers steepled in front of him, he watched the door to his office intently, knowing that conversation going on many floors below him. He knew that within each boy, a battle raged trying to be won, but was unsure of how each would handle their demons.

Finally a knock sounded at his door, and he waved it open with his hand. Severus entered and stood patiently waiting to be offered a seat. When he was, Albus simply gazed at him with his crystal blue eyes, waiting for him to begin.

“They did not put up a fight,” Severus finally said, feeling relieved. “I believe… informing them of my feelings towards them made them feel as if they had higher standards to live up to.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Good, as much I expected. And they will no longer be drinking?”

“Not after my reaction last night,” Severus told him. “They would hardly look at me today…”

“It was a necessary lecture,” Dumbledore told him. “One they would not have gotten unless a parent cared enough to give it. I believe they understand that, and will not hold it against you.”

Severus seemed deep in thought, and then said, “I do not believe I am cut out for this task. I am unaccustomed to… caring for other people in this manner.”

Chuckling, Dumbledore said, “In a sense I suppose you are a new parent, and with that guardianship comes all kinds of unwanted worry and fret. Do not worry, you are not alone in this. Children don’t need perfect parents… they are most often happy with ‘good enough’.”

Dumbledore stood and motioned for Severus to do the same. They moved down the spiraling staircase, still talking, and out into the corridor. Their conversation had just moved to magical barriers the Headmaster wished to place on the rear part of the castle and grounds when they heard shouting coming from down the corridor and around a corner.

“Draco, get down!”

“Filthy piece of-”

“Gerroff-”

“Avada-”

“EXPELLIARMUS!” Dumbledore shouted louder than any of the gathered there thought possible. Wands flew out of the hands of several Slytherins as well as Draco, Ron, and Harry.

The attackers: Crabbe, Millicent Bulstrode, Blaise Zabini, and a sixth year Slytherin named Evan Issacs, all looked panic stricken without their wands. Harry, and Ron lay on the floor, pinned under Crabbe and Blaise, and Draco stood, panting and out of breath, but looking glad to see reinforcements.

“What is going on here?!” Harry had seen Dumbledore angry before, but never this angry.

When none of the attackers spoke up, Draco said through ragged breaths, “Harry and me- came around the corner- they were going to kill- Weasley.”

Harry nodded his agreement to the explanation and with a wave of his wand and a spell he had never heard before, their attackers were bound by unbreakable ropes that sprang from nowhere.

“Severus,” Dumbledore turned to him and said, “contact the aurors and tell them we have four prisoners for them. Then find Minerva and have her process the expulsion paperwork.” Severus nodded, and with a last look of relief at the other three boys, he strode off quickly to carry out his orders.

“This is crap!” Blaise shouted as the Headmaster jerked his wand and they were tugged in their bonds towards him. He lead them down the corridor a little ways and into an empty classroom. Without being told to, Harry, Draco, and Ron followed behind wordlessly, amazed that four of their classmates were going to be handed over to the authorities, and were going to be expelled.

“You were warned long ago Mr. Zabini that this kind of violent act would not be tolerated. You agreed with full heart to enter into the school at the beginning of the year knowing what the consequences for your actions would be.” With a wave of his wand the four captured students were forced to sit, and their bonds magically molded themselves to the chairs and tightened so that they could not stand up.

Crabbe eyed Draco maliciously and Draco looked away. It was hard for him to believe that he had once been friends with the person who had just tried to kill him with the killing curse.

Professor McGonagall appeared a few moments later, looking disheveled and sounding out of breath as if she had run from another part of the castle. “My goodness, it’s true then!” she exclaimed at the site of the four Slytherins tied to the chairs.

“I’m afraid it is Minerva,” Dumbledore said sadly, eyeing the prisoners cautiously. He handed over their wands and McGonagall took them, waving her own and making four identical sheets of paper appear in front of her. They seemed to be a form of some kind.

“I haven’t had to fill one of these out in years,” she said flustered as she began writing hurriedly.

“Lets hope they are the last you ever have to fill out.”

Millicent, the only girl there gave a single sob as McGonagall snapped her wand in half and attached it to the form with her name on it. Evan rolled his eyes when his wand was snapped and muttered something about getting a new one as soon as he was released from the aurors.

“Oh no, I think not,” Dumbledore said with a wry smile, which seemed to aggravate Crabbe, Evan, and Blaise. “Mr. Ollivander won’t be selling wands to any student expelled from Hogwarts by contract with the Ministry of Magic. You’ll have to go to another country to get one, which I believe you will find hard after the aurors are done with you. Most likely, if you are released at all, magical restrictions will be placed on your movement, and you will be tracked wherever you go, thus making it most difficult to procure a new wand.”

Blaise hocked a lougee and spit it towards the Headmaster, but with a wave of his wand it disappeared before it was halfway to him.

“My!” McGonagall exclaimed. “If you have learned any manners at all during your time here, I would suggest you start to use them Mr. Zabini! The aurors and the Wizengamot will not take kindly to that kind of behavior, and it will work against you in the end!”

Harry glanced sideways at Ron as Millicent let out another loud sob, but Ron was looking off into space and not paying any attention. Would this change things between the two of them?

Draco fidgeted on Harry’s other side as he leaned against the wall, and Harry knew how uncomfortable he felt, watching fellow Hogwarts students go through this, even if they had just tried to kill them.

Severus appeared a short while later with five aurors in tow. The aurors questioned Ron, Harry, and Draco for a few minutes as they took a report, and then Severus and Dumbledore, before they finally took their prisoners and lead them and their broken wands and expulsion paperwork away towards the entrance to the castle and grounds.

Dumbledore pulled a pocket watch from a hidden pocket in his purple robes, and said, “We must summon everybody to the Great Hall. The school must be made aware of what has happened.”

The three remaining boys were motioned to move off, and were followed by the Professors for a short distance before they moved off to summon the rest of the students.

In the Great Hall Harry and Draco took up their usual seats, and Ron sat halfway down the table alone. It was only a few minutes before people began to file into the hall. Some were already in their pajamas, as it was nearing eight o’clock. Hermione ran in and took note of Ron and Harry’s presence before she settled herself next to Ron, looking relieved to see them there.

The hall was abuzz with chatter until the Headmaster came in and motioned them to silence. Every eye was on him except for Ron’s.

“An ugly beast has finally reared its head and showed its fangs. You may notice a number of our students missing from this meeting this evening… that is because they have been expelled.” The hall broke out in chatter again and people looked around wildly to see who was gone.

“Let it be known here and now… if you attack another student or staff member of this school, you will not only be expelled immediately, but you will also be placed under the authority of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic. I have no doubt your parents will be most horrified to find you have been sentenced to Azkaban. This is not a matter to be taken lightly!” The hall was silent. Nobody knew what had happened except for Harry, Ron, Draco, and their attackers.

“Hate, is the ugly beast which I speak of. Do not let it get the better of you! Once you let hate take over your life, you might as well throw yourself into the hands of Voldemort! I have sat by and watched long enough as you lock yourselves away in your hatred and throw away the key! The time has come to end this madness! Stop feeding the ugly beast! Step up and take a stand against hate and the things you see it doing to ruin people’s lives!”

Harry glanced down the table at Ron, who was still watching the wooden table in front of him intently. Across the hall, Pansy Parkinson let out a sob in the silence following the Headmaster’s speech. Harry had nearly forgotten that she and Millicent were best friends. Quietly, Harry wondered at the fact that Pansy had not been part of the attack.

“She’s not all bad,” Draco whispered to him when he noticed Harry looking across the hall at Pansy. “Her parents aren’t actually Death Eaters… she can be a right b*tch sometimes, but I don’t think she’d go as far as the killing curse…”

Harry frowned. Dumbledore had taken a seat now, and placed one hand up to his forehead as the students around them finally broke out talking once more, wondering what had happened and who had been attacked.

Ginny came down the table and sat with them for a moment before she asked, “It was you two and Ron wasn’t it… that got attacked I mean?”

“No,” Harry said, “it was Ron that got attacked. Me and Draco came around the corner in the middle of it. Crabbe was just aiming the killing curse at Draco when Dumbledore and Snape came around the corner and stopped them.”

Ginny shuddered. “I think Hermione wants to talk to you but she won’t leave Ron’s side,” she told Harry. Harry nodded, and feeling he would get no trouble from Ron, moved down the table at Ginny’s insistence.

Draco fidgeted and played with his hands. If this had happened last year, or the year before last, it could have been him getting expelled… so much had happened since then. What had changed?

“Is it still bothering you?”

He looked up at Ginny’s question, wondering what she was asking about.

“Your eye I mean.” She pointed to his black eye.

Draco grinned, and said, “I’ve had enough of them… besides… girls like pretty bruises like these. Gives them something to take care of.”

Ginny blushed wildly and Draco’s smile widened.