Draco raced down the dungeon hallway toward his godfather’s quarters and burst through the door. “Uncle Sev!” When he got no answer he searched through the rooms, calling for the man. Finding the quarters empty, he cursed loudly, stepping back into the hall.

“Problems, young snake?” the Bloody Baron, Slytherin ghost, asked as Draco stepped back into the hall.

The boy looked up at him startled, before remembering his mission. “Who is Moaning Myrtle?”

“Ah, yes. Miss Myrtle was a student here fifty years ago when Slytherin’s Chamber was last opened. She died in the bathroom that she now haunts on the first floor.”

“Thanks!” Draco exclaimed, taking off down the hall. He skidded to a stop a few feet later. “Could you find Professor Snape and tell him that he’s needed in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom? It’s an emergency.”

The Baron bowed. “It is always a pleasure to serve the house of Slytherin.”

Draco expressed his thanks once more, before running as fast as he could toward the first floor. As he ran, he remembered Pansy saying something about a bathroom that none of the girls would use. That must the one that the Baron was talking about.

He threw open the door and looked around, noticing that the sinks had moved aside, exposing a large hole in the floor. “Where are they?!” he demanded of the wailing ghost.

She merely pointed to the hole in the floor.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped into the hole. He fell for what seemed like forever, and then suddenly he was sliding along the large pipes, knocking into his brother right as Lockhart shouted the incantation for the memory charm.

There was a large explosion and the two boys found themselves separated from Ron and Lockhart by a large pile of rocks.

Harry turned on his brother. “What are you doing down here?!”

Draco merely smirked at him. “I couldn’t let you go on an adventure without me.”

“Harry…” Ron called from the other side of the rocks.

‘Keep quiet!’ Harry hissed to his brother through their bond. With luck, Ron hadn’t noticed that someone had joined them just before Lockhart had tried to wipe his memories. “I’m fine, Ron. You?”

“I’m alright. Don’t think Lockhart is though. I think that memory charm backfired on him,” Ron answered.

Draco snickered as Harry replied. “Try to clear an opening in the rocks. I’ll go find Ginny.” He grabbed his brother’s sleeve and drug him down the pipes. “I told you to get Uncle Sev!”

“I couldn’t find him, so I sent the Bloody Baron after him and came to help you out myself.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “And they say that Gryffindors are the dumb ones.”

“Very funny,” Draco sneered.

“Just come on…”

They made their way through the pipes in silence until they came to a large round door covered with etchings of snakes.

“Think you can open it?” Draco asked his brother.

Sighing, Harry stared at the door for a moment before hissing the command to open the door. The door swung open and the two climbed carefully through the opening. Once inside they realized that they had entered a large chamber that was lined with statues of snakes. At the end of the chamber was a massive statue of a man.

“Hey…that’s Slytherin,” Draco informed Harry. Then he noticed the small body lying at the base of the statue. “Who is that?”

“Ginny,” Harry whispered, racing over to the girl. “Wake up, Ginny.”

Neither boy saw a fourth person approaching. “She’s not dead yet, but she soon will be.”

Harry turned quickly and found himself looking into a familiar face. “Tom Riddle…”

“I’ve been waiting for you Harry…”

Draco stood. “Who are you?” he demanded.

The teen laughed, twirling Draco’s wand in one hand and Harry’s in the other. Neither had realized that they had dropped their wands while checking on Ginny. He traced three words in the air with Draco’s wand: Tom Marvolo Riddle. “But I think you know me as…” He used Harry’s wand to trace four words into the air: I Am Lord Voldemort.

Harry got to his feet as well. “Give us our wands back!”

The teen laughed again. “Dumbledore couldn’t stop me…do you really think two little boys without wands are going to be able to stop me?”

--

Snape stalked through the halls of the dark castle, heading back to his quarters after a meeting of the house heads in McGonagall’s office to discuss what was to be done about Miss Weasley as well as the safety of the other students. It had been decided that they would send the students home the next morning.

“There you are,” the Baron said, floating alongside the man.

Severus sighed. “What is it, Baron? Have any of our little snakes been causing trouble?”

“No trouble, good Professor. However your young godson was looking for you. I believe he said that it was an emergency.”

The man stopped. “An emergency? Did he say what was wrong?”

“He inquired about Miss Myrtle and then said that your presence was required in her bathroom.”

Cursing, Severus turned and ran down the hall toward the first floor girl’s bathroom.

--

The teen laughed again. “Dumbledore couldn’t stop me…do you really think two little boys without wands are going to be able to stop me?”

“Dumbledore’s the greatest wizard alive!” Harry yelled.

Tom laughed once more, this time it sounded almost evil. “Your precious Dumbledore couldn’t stop me fifty years ago. Oh, he was suspicious, but never had any proof.”

“Even when you were in power you never tried to take over the school,” Draco told the older teen. “You must be scared of him.”

“He’s gone now isn’t he?” Tom asked, giving a slight mocking bow.

There was a small explosion nearby and a large crimson bird appeared, clutching a ragged bundle in his talons. The bird dropped the bundle at Harry’s feet and disappeared. Harry bent down and picked the bundle up: The Sorting Hat. Why had the bird brought him the Sorting Hat?

“Dumbledore sent his warriors the Sorting Hat?” Tom asked. He put both wands in one hand and with a wave of his empty hand, the diary flew to him. “There is nothing you two can do to stop me.”

Harry tuned everything out as he realized that they had yet to see the basilisk and he listened carefully hoping that he could hear the large snake.

‘Master…’ he heard in an almost sleepy hiss.

Using Draco and Tom’s arguing as a cover, Harry spoke to the snake. ‘Sleep, my pet…’

He gave a slight giggle when he finally heard the snake’s soft snoring. Harry turned his attention back to Draco and Tom as his brother yelled, “Harry beat you as a baby without a wand and he can beat you again!”

Tom swung the hand holding their wands and the back of his hand connected with Draco’s cheek, knocking the small boy to the ground.

Without even realizing what he was doing, or that he had a sword in his hand, Harry lunged at the older teen, sword out. The sword went into the diary and ink began spilling out like blood as Tom let out a painful scream that had Draco covering his ears. “Don’t hurt my brother!” Harry hissed at the teen.

A bright light filled the room and when it was gone, so was Tom. Their wands and the slain diary fell to the floor.

“He…he’s gone,” Draco said, scrambling to his feet. “You did it…”

“If he wasn’t real, what was he?” Harry asked.

Draco moved back over to Ginny. “Tom was a memory. He told me about it while you were listening for the basilisk.”

Harry started to question how his brother had known what he had been doing, but decided not to. It must be part of the twin bond they shared. He followed Draco over to Ginny as the girl started to stir. ‘You better go on back and see if Ron has a hole cleared. She doesn’t know about us…’

Draco nodded, snatching up his wand and hurried out of the chamber. As he rounded the corner to where Lockhart’s curse had backfired and collapsed part of the tunnel, Severus climbed through a hole in the rocks. Draco found himself pulled into a tight hug. After a moment he relaxed into the embrace.

Severus pulled away and landed a sharp swat on the boy’s pajama clad backside before pulling him into another hug. “Where’s Harry?”

“Ow!” the boy yelped, before answering. “He’s with Ginny. This way.” He grabbed his godfather’s hand and drug him down the tunnel, telling him everything that had happened as they went.

Harry and Ginny were just climbing out of the chamber when they returned.

“Are you alright, Miss Weasley?” Severus asked.

“I feel better now, Professor,” she replied.

He nodded and looked down at Harry, who had put his hands behind him to protect himself from the swat he knew was coming. Severus chuckled. “Don’t worry, Mr. Potter. You’re been granted a brief reprieve, but we will deal with this. You too, Mr. Malfoy.” Both boys made faces as Severus reached into his robes and pulled out an empty vial. He took his wand and touched the vial, muttering in Latin. “This is a portkey. Everyone take hold.”

“What about Ron?” Harry asked.

“Mr. Weasley and Professor Lockhart have already been taken care of,” Severus replied. “Now Potter.”

Harry grabbed a hold of the portkey and then felt a strong jerk behind his navel. Moments later they landed in the infirmary.

After allowing Madame Pomfrey to look over all three students, Severus ordered the boys to follow him to his office.

He leaned against his desk and crossed his arms, looking down at the two miscreants. “Do you have anything to say for yourselves?” Both boys were looking down at the rug with their hands tucked behind them; Draco in his pajamas and Harry in his school uniform. If he wasn’t so furious with them, he might have found it amusing. “Holding a teacher hostage at wand point is never acceptable, even if it is Lockhart. I still don’t understand why you went to Lockhart in the first place, Potter. You should have gone to another professor…both of you. And don’t tell me that you couldn’t find one. You both have means to contact me in case of an emergency and I think this qualified as one! Where are your mirrors?”

“Under my pillow,” Draco whispered, not looking up at his godfather.

Harry pulled his from his pocket.

“Why didn’t you use it?” Severus demanded.

“I didn’t think ab…”

Severus cut him off. “That’s right. You didn’t think. You once again went rushing right into danger instead of going to an adult.” He grabbed the boy and turned him around giving the boy a firm swat.

“Ow!” Harry yipped in surprise.

“It will not happen again, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” they both whispered.

“Neither one of you knows enough defensive spells to dual a third year, much less a wizard with the knowledge the dark lord had during his sixth year. And then you let him get not one, but both of your wands. What do you think would have happened if that phoenix hadn’t brought you the Sorting Hat and you found Gryffindor’s sword inside? Oh yes, Mr. Potter, the sword you pulled from the Sorting Hat belonged to none other than Godric Gryffindor himself. Professor McGonagall might call this a case of ‘pure dumb luck’, but I call it pure stupidity and if it happens again I know two boys who will not only lose their brooms for a very long time, but they will also have trouble sitting for several days.” The two boys flinched, but neither looked up from the rug they were still staring at.

--

A short time later the two boys lay in their beds in their room in the Potion Master’s quarters. Severus leaned against the doorframe, watching them and making sure that they went to sleep. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep himself, but after the trouble these two had caused, he was not about to go to sleep with them still awake.

Harry lay on his bed facing the wall and absently rubbing his backside, which was still stinging slightly. ‘Has he ever walloped you this bad before?’ he asked his brother through their bond. He wasn’t about to speak out loud with Uncle Sev standing right there watching them.

‘Once, I think,’ Draco replied with a sniffle. ‘I stole his wand one day when I was about eight. That was probably about this bad.’

‘I guess I should be glad it’s not this bad normally…’

‘I get worse from Father, but I actually feel bad when Uncle Sev spanks me.’

‘Yeah. It makes…it makes my heart hurt when he talks to me like that or gives me that look. It’s never like that with Uncle Vernon. What do you think it is that makes it different?’

‘I don’t know. Guilt maybe? At least with Uncle Sev we know we deserve it.’

‘We really did it big this time…grounded for the whole six weeks we’re at Spinner’s End before we even get there…’

‘No brooms, extra chores, extra assignments and early bedtimes…’

‘On top of the spanking he just gave us. This really sucks!’

Severus cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, you have five minutes to go to sleep before I dose you both with a sleeping potion…”

Draco propped up on his elbow and looked at his godfather. “How did you know we weren’t sleeping?”

“You two are still wiggling too much to be sleeping. Now stop talking and sleep.” He moved into the room and pulled out the desk, setting it between the beds and sitting down.

“We weren’t talking,” Harry said, poking his head out from under his blanket.

“Maybe not out loud, but you were talking.” He chuckled when he saw the shocked looks on the faces of the two boys. “Oh, yes. I know all about your little bond. You both seem to have forgotten that nothing goes on in this castle without me knowing about it. I have eyes and ears everywhere…yes, Harry, even in Gryffindor.”

Harry sighed and settled back down again. At least he was ‘Harry’ again and not ‘Mr. Potter’. Being called ‘Mr. Potter’ made him remember his first year when he thought that the professor, who was now his Uncle Sev, hated him. And he didn’t like that one bit!

Severus stood and tucked them both back in as he had done every night at Spinner’s End. He took a moment to run a gentle hand over each of their heads in the comforting manner he knew they loved so much. “You made mistakes. You’ve been punished. And you are both forgiven,” he said softly. “Now settle down and go to sleep, my little scamps. You both have double potions with me after breakfast and I don’t want either of you blowing up any cauldrons in my classroom.”

“Harry’s done better this year, Uncle Sev,” Draco told him. “You might still have to worry about Longbottom though.”

“Sleep,” Severus told him firmly, giving the back of his head a light swat before sitting in the chair once more. Ten minutes later they were both sleeping soundly and he wearily made his way to his own room.