"I know what you're doing Potter."

Harry closed his eyes and the hair on the back of his arms and neck stood up on end. He'd just come out of his cabin and taken a few steps down the path to go down to breakfast, looking forward to a mostly free Saturday when Snape had stepped out behind him.

He turned. "Sir?"

"You're trying to get me fired. I have news for you, it will- not- happen." He punctuated the last few words and then gave Harry a glare as he strode away and down the hill. Harry gave a sigh. He didn't know what the man was talking about. He thought in fact, he'd shown great restraint in not telling others when asked, what Snape's problem was. He never said a bad word about the man unless it was to Hermione, and generally they were alone when speaking about such things.

It was a dreary day and Harry felt a little sad because he was tired of the rain that had fallen off and on that week, and he really wanted to go swimming. He didn't want to get sick again though so he nixed the idea. Unfortunately the only common areas indoors they were allowed to share were the Dining Hall and study building, and Harry was sure they would be packed. He wanted to hang out with Hermione, but since he wasn't allowed in her cabin and visa versa, it looked like they had no other choice but the Dining Hall.

He went to Hermione's cabin and knocked on her door. "Hermione," he called when she didn't answer, and he knocked again. She still didn't come out so he headed off to breakfast by himself and noted she wasn't there either.

After filling up his plate with some sort of ultra-sweet pancake, Harry was surprised to find Axle across from him. He must not have been paying attention because he hadn't seen him sit down. Axle was staring at him without touching his own food.

"Er... hi?" Harry said.

Axle kept staring and Harry frowned.

"Was there something I could help you with?"

Finally Axle looked to his left and then his right and started eating. "You're very smart in Healing," Axle said.

Harry shrugged. "I like it. I read ahead before we go to class."

"They say you don't work hard."

"They say I'm lazy," Harry corrected him and Axle looked abashed but didn't look away. From what Harry had seen, he was quiet, but Harry only had one class with him and nobody had really been talking to Harry, so they all seemed rather quiet.

"You do not seem lazy to me."

"Uh, thanks I think," Harry said.

"And you did not steal the books."

Harry shook his head and took another bite of the disgustingly sweet breakfast. What was this called? Crepes?

"I'm not a thief."

"Why do the professors say you are?"

"Because they make assumptions that aren't for them to make."

Axle ate some more of his breakfast and then said quietly, "I would like to study healing potions with you."

"Ok. I'm not sure where my friend Hermione got off to- but we didn't have any solid plans for today anyway." He looked around the full Dining Hall and noted that even though breakfast was nearing its end, people didn't seem in any hurry to go anywhere and some had already broken off into groups to study.

"It's kind of crowded in here," Harry said. "Want to study in one of the cabins?"

Axle nodded. They finished their breakfast and then Harry said, "Where's your cabin?"

Axle pointed and said, "Down the path by building 11. It's cabin 44."

"Ok, let me get my book and notes and I'll be back."

Harry hurried to his cabin to retrieve his supplies and then back down the hill. At the Southern end of the compound were a few cabins and 44 was in a cluster of three boy's cabins on either side of the path. Harry knocked on the door, noting that there were no steps leading up to this cabin like there was to the others and that the porch sat flat on the ground. Axle opened the door and moved aside so Harry could come in. He immediately liked the inside of Axle's cabin. Like Hermione's it was decorated, but with dark blue and silver. It reminded Harry of Ron's room because it was covered in posters for a single Quidditch team.

"What team is this?" Harry asked, pointing to the posters. There was a silver eagle.

"Boden Eagles."

"I didn't think you had a lot of students at your school," Harry said. There were only three students from Boden there at Gemini.

"Two hundred," Axle said, sitting crosslegged on a round dark blue shag rug on the floor. Harry did the same, though he still looked around at all the posters and triangle flags. Even the bed had a soft, warm looking blue blanket with the silver eagle.

"I like the Falmouth Falcons," Harry said, pointing to his blue and silver shirt. It was almost the exact same colors.

"Your school team?"

"No, our school has four teams, one for each house."

"Explain to me... house."

Harry smiled at his rough English.

"There were four founders to the school, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. They each valued different things in students. So when a new student comes to school at 11 as a first year, they're sorted into different houses based on the qualities they have. Then they stay in that house until they graduate after seventh year and that house is like their family when they're at school."

"What are the qualities?"

"Oh, um..." Harry thought about it. He knew Gryffindor and Ravenclaw but he never really thought about the others. He knew what he thought of students from the other houses, but he couldn't remember what the hat said.

"Well Gryffindor is supposed to be full of courage and loyalty, and Ravenclaws are very smart and attentive, and Slytherins are cunning, and Hufflepuffs are very friendly and open minded."

"What house are you in?"

"Gryffindor, but I almost got sorted into Slytherin in my first year."

"And the others from your school?" Harry went on to describe which houses Draco, Hermione and the others were in, and when Axle asked, told him about the house rivalries and the Quidditch teams and how their tournaments worked. Harry learned that Boden's team, since it had no other student teams to play against, actually counted as a national team in Sweden and played against Professional Swedish teams five times a year. Axle wasn't on a team, but he went to every match, and had to miss the one taking place this summer because he was here at Gemini.

Harry and Axle studied for almost an hour before they started talking about their schools again, and Harry found that he really quite liked Axle. He reminded him of both Ron and Seamus in some ways. Axle's parents had worked extra long hours for the last few years to save up to send him here this year, he had a younger sister who was a year behind him in school, and three cousins that also attended Boden. He also had a rich cousin who went to Beauxbatons, but who was lazy and not smart enough to make it into Gemini, and his cousin's parents were upset that Axle had gone and their own son hadn't.

"I have a cousin," Harry said, "he's fat and lazy. He's a Muggle and goes to private school during the year."

"Muggle?"

"Non-magic folk. What do you call them?"

"We call them people."

Harry stared at him.

"It is no lie. We call ourselves wizards and witches, and we call them people. People is like saying ‘plain."

"Huh." Harry found that he was rather fascinated by the different cultures he was encountering here, from Gan and the students at the monastery to Axle and his school in Sweden.

"Where's your school at?" Harry asked. "I mean, is it in the mountains or on a lake?"

"The school sits on a river. It is a grand castle and the river runs right through the school. We have bridges that cross from one side to the other within the castle. It's up in the mountains and it gets very cold. We fish for our own food, and having the river inside where it's warm lets us continue to fish without going out in the snow. In the summer some students continue to live at the castle to study longer or take other subjects. There's a large field full of wildflowers on a hill and it smells very nice. I like to sit and study there."

"It sounds amazing," said Harry, and he told Axle about Hogwarts and where it was at and the hidden passageways and moving staircases and Great Hall with its enchanted ceiling.

They studied some more and then decided to go to lunch. Axle said goodbye to Harry to go and sit with the other two students from Boden, a boy and a girl, and Harry was glad to see that Hermione was there.

"Where were you this morning?" Harry asked.

"Oh, um... study group," Hermione said.

"I was studying too," Harry said with a smile. "Axle and I studied in his cabin. Boden sounds really interesting Hermione. There's a river that runs right through the center of their castle! Their castle isn't as big as ours, and it goes straight up for seven stories, and they fish right there from the ground floor for their own food."

"I'm glad you made a new friend," Hermione said. "Do you still want to study?"

Harry looked out the window and saw that it looked like it was sprinkling outside. "Yeah, I guess we can't go to the beach if it's raining. I was hoping it would be nice out today because I wanted to go out and practice some of the wandless magic I was having trouble with.

"I think it's supposed to be nice out tomorrow," Hermione said.

Since Harry already had his bag and books, he stayed and staked out their spot in the corner while Hermione went to retrieve her things, and they spent the afternoon studying, not bothering to go back to their cabins before dinner. Harry was looking forward to hearing about another school tonight at the cultural exchange, but was surprised when after dinner, it was announced that it was Hogwarts' night to share.

Harry and Hermione moved to the front of the room and sat on the bench with the others from Hogwarts and listened as Snape spoke to the school for twenty minutes about how the school worked, the Sorting Hat, meals, punishments, OWLs, NEWTs, and other things. Finally he was done and the floor was open to students to ask questions. Whenever a student raised their hand and asked a question, Snape would direct the question to a specific student to answer. Draco told the room about how Quidditch teams were chosen and the Forbidden Forest, Hermione talked about holiday's and taking the train to and from school, Ernie talked about Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl and their duties, Pricilla talked about school dances and rules for students dating, Mae talked about the Tri-wizard tournament that had been hosted at Hogwarts a few years ago (and did mention that Harry won but did not talk about Cedric), and finally Olivia fielded questions about ghosts and Peeves the Poltergeist. Harry was just starting to think that Snape was going to ignore him all night, when a boy in the back raised his hand and asked about house points and the house cup. Snape directed the question back to Draco. The same boy asked then, who had lost the most points at once, and Harry paled at the thin smile he saw on Snape's lips.

"Mr. Potter, why don't you take this one," Snape said. He didn't look at Harry, but the other 29 students in the room were staring at him expectantly, as were the teachers.

"What was the question again?" Harry asked, wiping his sweaty palms on his jean shorts.

"Who lost the most points at one time?" the boy asked again.

Well, he couldn't just refuse to answer he thought, that would be a cowardly thing to do, and Axle was amongst those staring at him. Hadn't Harry just told him that morning that he was a Gryffindor, part of the house known for its bravery? He could feel how tense Hermione was on the bench next to him. Might as well, because if he didn't, Snape would tell.

"I did," Harry said.

The hall was quiet.

"Tell them what for," Snape said. He almost seemed gleeful.

Harry looked at the staring faces again and said, "For hexing Professor Snape in the shrieking shack in my third year."

The hall broke out in murmurs and the Professors in the back looked angry and shocked. Harry looked at his classmates from Hogwarts and Hermione looked angry. Draco looked as though he'd gone even paler if that was possible but Harry couldn't decipher his look aside from that, and the others were also whispering. It wasn't fair, Harry thought, to use something that had happened in third year against him. He was stupid then, and he was protecting Sirius. He thought of saying something along those lines, but was afraid of how Snape would smear his godfather's name and Harry didn't want that to happen, especially since Sirius wasn't alive to defend himself and Harry felt too stupid at that moment to do a proper job of it.

Harry didn't wait to be dismissed and stood up and walked out of the room. It was dark outside and drizzling. Hermione had followed along with Adeline and Gan, but Gan and Hermione stayed under the covered porch and he didn't notice. Only Adeline came out in the rain and put her hand on Harry's arm to stop him.

"Harry. You hexed a teacher?"

He turned angrily and saw that Hermione and Gan were also watching from the porch, and through the windows he could see students still talking amongst themselves.

Hair soaking wet now and feeling upset at the unfairness of that question being directed at him said, "I was thirteen. My Godfather, who I had only just met and was on the run from the law, was just explaining to me that he was innocent, and that he wasn't the one responsible for my parent's deaths. Another Professor was there too, Lupin, and he confirmed what Sirius, my godfather was saying." Harry was working himself up and he could feel the anger bubbling inside him. "Then Snape barged in and started firing off curses at my Godfather and accusing Professor Lupin of being a criminal too, and he wasn't even going to let anyone explain, he was going to turn him over to the Dementors to get the kiss. So I hexed him." He was half shouting by the time he'd finished and Adeline gave him a sad look. Harry wondered if Gan had told her what he'd said, about his Godfather dying at the Ministry just a month ago.

He turned and took a few steps, intending to walk away, but turned again and shouted, "Nothing he does is ever fair!" and then he really did turn and storm off. Hermione came out into the rain after him, Harry knew she had because he heard her call his name, but Adeline or Gan must have stopped her, so Harry continued back up to his cabin by himself. He tore at his soaked clothes angrily and pulled them off, leaving them in a wet heap on the floor and threw himself down onto his plain mattress. He fell asleep after a while, but Snape chased him into his dreams, and laughed as Sirius died. The other students from Gemini laughed too.

* * *

Harry didn't bother going to breakfast or lunch the next day. Hermione had come both times with food, knocking on his door, but he didn't answer. He was too embarrassed, to upset, to angry to come out. More than that though, he was too depressed. Snape had officially ruined this school for him. Things were already bad enough, weren't they? How was he supposed to make it for another four weeks?

He tried studying to take his mind off of things, but found he couldn't concentrate and ended up pushing his books away from him, frustrated, and returning to lay on his back on his bare bed again.

At five o'clock, Hermione was knocking on the door again, and this time he heard Axle's voice outside with her, asking her if she was sure he was inside. Harry had purposefully closed his shutters early that morning so no one could look in at him.

He supposed if he didn't come out they'd eventually bring a teacher and he didn't want that. Snape was in charge of this group of cabins and he shuddered to think what would happen if they made Snape come up here after him. ‘Stop wallowing Potter,' he heard Snape's snide voice in his head.

Feeling tired and like he was getting sick yet again, Harry threw on a dry t-shirt and his only pair of long pants and shoes and wrenched the door open as Hermione started pounding on it angrily from the other side. He came out onto the tiny porch, forcing Hermione and Axle backwards, and shut his door so they couldn't see inside.

He wasn't sure what to say now that he was out here though, so he stuck his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground.

"You can't stay locked up all day," Hermione said.

"I can try," he said under his breath.

"Here, I brought you dinner."

"Thanks," Harry muttered, and he took the slice of pizza which was still warm, stuffing half of it in his mouth. He was hungry after all.

When he was finished scarfing his food down, he looked up to find Hermione and Axle staring at him and didn't know why he'd expected that they wouldn't be, especially after his little reclusive hobbit act.

"Are you ready to do something today then?" Hermione asked. Harry looked at her and Axle and wondered that Axle was there at all after what had happened last night. Hermione knew the truth, but Axle didn't.

"What do you want to do?"

"I heard there is a cave," Axle said then. His face looked hopeful and Harry motioned for them to lead the way.

"Can Basia come too?" Axle asked.

"I didn't think she'd want to," Harry said.

"She's ok," Axle said, and Harry noted that his face flushed then. Were they dating? Durmstrang was in Bulgaria... that was an awful long way from Sweden.

"She can come," Hermione said, and Axle motioned for them to stay there and then ran off. Harry and Hermione started down the hill and watched from a distance as Axle ran almost all the way back to his own cabin before they were at the bottom and lost sight of him.

"Why'd he come along?" Harry asked.

"He saw me coming up with food and asked if he could come. I think he was worried about you."

"Well doesn't he believe what everyone else believes?"

"I don't think so. You must have made an impression on him. Besides, I told him you were protecting your godfather and me and Ron and that's why you hexed Professor Snape."

"And he believed you?"

"Well he's coming with us isn't he?"

"Basia probably won't want to come."

"Don't be so negative," Hermione scolded him gently. "Not everybody is against you."

At that moment someone shouted, "What a loser," though and Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione.

"You were saying."

She only pointed in response at Axle and Basia coming in the distance from behind the Dining Hall. Harry and Hermione met them on the path and they began walking towards the beach. Axle and Basia were holding hands.

Axle wasn't sure exactly where the cave was supposed to be, only that it was somewhere down the path to the left, the path people hardly ever took to the larger beach because it was such a long walk to get down to the water, and because it didn't look as pretty as the little cove they all swam in.

They kept their eyes peeled for any caves in the cliff face and eventually made it down to the beach. Hermione talked to Basia about her interest in Healing potions and she said she was thinking about becoming a healer after graduating Durmstrang, and as the girls talked, Axle let go of Basia's hand and moved to walk next to Harry up front.

"Professor Snape does not seem to like you very much."

"No."

"Because you hexed him?"

"I'm sure it didn't help," Harry said. "But he was on my case since my first day at school."

"Is he like that to other people too?"

"Well, he's nicer here to students than he is at Hogwarts. At Hogwarts he tries to intimidate students into submission mostly, but no, he's not very bad to them."

Axle pointed to an outcropping of rock where the beach seemed to end and the cliffs went straight up to the top and Harry spied a cave about half way up.

"That looks awful high up," he said when they reached the bottom of the sheer rock face.

"There's a path," Axle said and pointed. Sure enough there seemed to be stairs carved into the rock face that lead to a flat place that looked almost big enough to hold a duel on. From there it looked like they might be able to climb up the ten feet into the cave.

"Well, if we fall at least it will be into water," Harry said. The tide was coming in and the flat place was over water as it was, though he didn't like the look of the jagged rocks under it.

Hermione and Basia didn't object to climbing the natural stairway in the rock, so they began their ascent as it grew steadily darker out. It took some time to climb the stairs and when they made the flat place it looked a lot smaller than it had down on the beach. It was about 6 feet wide and ten feet long. Harry stared straight up at the teen feet of rock they'd need to climb with their bare hands. It didn't look that far. He lit his wand tip with a Lumos and the others did the same. He put it between his teeth and then began to climb.

"Don't fall Harry!" Hermione said with worry, but Harry only grinned. He quite liked the challenge, and really, ten or eleven feet wasn't that high. He bet tons of students had climbed up in here before. At the entrance, he navigated some sharp rocks and pulled himself into the cave entrance. He shined his light around, and not seeing any animals or other dangers, called down to the others.

"Looks ok!" Harry said.

"Are there bats?" Basia asked.

He shined his wand around the cave again and at the low ceiling and didn't see anything.

"I don't think so, but I could be wrong."

Hermione climbed up next and Harry held his hand down to help her up, followed by Axle who helped Basia. With four wands, the cave didn't seem so dark. It wasn't large, but it seemed to go back for quite a ways and Harry wondered what had made it.

"Looks like fun," Axle said, and Harry had to agree. He'd never really been in a cave before. They walked and followed the cave as it curved several times. It began to slope upwards, but they heard voices in the distance and turned to see if someone had followed them into the cave.

Harry strained to listen, and Basia said, "Maybe we should go back. It sounds like Nikolas and Petr."

"And Acel," Axle said. Harry thought Axle was right. He recognized the French accent of Acel, one of the boys from Beauxbatons.

"They must be exploring the cave too," Axle said. "Lets turn around and go back for them so we don't end up surprising them."

Harry didn't feel like going back but didn't complain and turned to go back with them. They'd only been inside for a few minutes anyway.

At the entrance, it was completely dark out now and Harry knew it was probably around ten o'clock. He shined his wand down and found the three boys on the narrow flat place staring up at him.

"What'r you doin' up there Potter?" Acel asked in his thick accent.

Harry pulled his head back inside and Axle and Basia looked out.

"Basia! Come out of there!" Petr shouted angrily, and Basia gave Axle a sad look and then climbed out of the cave and down to the flat place. "Go back to your cabin," Petr commanded, and from inside the cave Harry thought that Petr sounded controlling and wondered if perhaps Petr and Basia had once dated, or if it was the culture at Durmstrang for the girls to obey the boys. If it was, he didn't think he liked that very much.

"You don't have to go anywhere!" Axle said and he hurriedly climbed down to the flat place.

"I- I don't want to cause trouble," Basia said. "I'm sorry." She lit her wand again and hurried down the rock stairs.

"Wait!" Axle turned to Harry, gave him a sad look and then said, "I'm sorry," before hurrying down the stairs after her.

"Potter, get out here," Nikolas said and Harry climbed down, reaching up to help Hermione.

"I don't see that you have a right to boss anyone around," Harry said, holding his wand up to shine more light on them. Nikolas shot him a dirty look.

"Let's face it Potter, you don't belong here. You don't belong anywhere near Basia either!"

Hermione put her hands on her hips and gave a glare Molly Weasley would have been proud of.

"He belongs here just as much as anyone Nikolas! And he's right, you're not in charge of anyone."

The three boys laughed then and Acel said, "We have no problem with you. You're one of us, you're a Gemini. Just stay back and you won't get hurt."

Harry didn't like where this was going and had just lifted his wand and assumed one of the Root defense stances when he heard a familiar voice and Draco's pale face appeared from the stairs.

"Who's going to be the one getting hurt?" His voice was sly and drawling as always, and he shot Harry a look and a single nod letting him know he was on his side. A moment later, Harry was surprised to find Ernie appear from the stairs too, huffing and out of breath.

"What do you care?" Acel asked. "He stole your supplies, and he's in a different house than you. We heard what your Professor Snape said about how much your house hates his."

"Yeah," Nikolas chimed in.

"Yeah?" Draco asked, lowering his voice in a very ‘angry Snape' like way. "Well what makes you think I'm going to let you just have at any person from Hogwarts?"

Acel took a step forward and squared his shoulders and Draco stood stock still. Harry wasn't certain why Draco was taking such a bold stance in his favor all of a sudden, but if he was going to help get him and Hermione out of this situation then let him. The fact that they were engulfed in darkness and the sea was crashing against the rocks some thirty or forty feet below their narrow little flat place didn't escape Harry, and it made him nervous. If they were down on the beach, he'd feel more up to dueling.

"Stay out of this," Acel said. "You can take the girl and go. We're only here to teach Potter a lesson."

Ernie was quiet and looking nervous, watching the exchange from behind Draco, and Harry hoped he wouldn't flee if things got as ugly as it looked like they were going to.

"We'll see who learns the lesson." Draco's last statement seemed to be the one that pushed things over the edge. Acel dove forward, choosing to duel it out Muggle style and Draco did the same. Petr turned and hit Harry square in the jaw and Harry hit him with a stunning spell, catching him before he went over the edge and dropping him to the ground where Hermione dragged him backwards and out of the way as Harry dove for Nikolas. Ernie was trying to pry Acel's arm from where he had Draco in a choke hold, but Harry barely had time to register it when Nikolas kicked him in the shin and Hermione hit him with a stunning spell as well. Nikolas fell to the ground right on top of Petr and Hermione stepped out of the way again since there was very little room.

Harry turned his attention to Acel and hit him in the side from behind, but Acel stepped back several times, dragging Draco with him, still in a choke hold, and Harry lost his footing when his foot hit a little rock, and fell over backwards. He threw his arms out and tried to take hold of anything, but there was nothing, and he went over the edge of the cliff, tumbling as he fell through the darkness.

He panicked and didn't think to take a breath, and was engulfed in dark icy water sooner than expected, mouth open. He struggled, confused as the rough water tumbled him head over heels several times, and didn't know which way was up. He wasn't a good swimmer without the flotation charm and though he tried to do the charm without speaking, he had never practiced this charm in the Magery class, and it didn't work.

After what seemed like an eternity, Harry surfaced, the waves pushing him closer to the rocks at the bottom of the cliff and then tossing him back again. He could hear shouts from up above and he thought he heard a splash somewhere but he couldn't be certain. Realizing he still had his wand gripped tightly in his hand, he lit it up with Lumos and got a mouthful of water for the trouble. Spitting and flailing, Harry shook his head, trying to get the water out of his eyes and off of his glasses so that he could see to swim back to the beach. He thought he knew which direction it was in and hoped he didn't make the wrong choice. The waves were hard to swim against and fighting them and the cold was going to exhaust him quickly.

"Hey!" He heard someone call and after a moment, something bumped into him. He turned but didn't see anything until suddenly Draco's head bobbed up from under the waves.

"Did you fall?" Harry asked, spitting out more water after every word.

"No, I went in after you!"

Harry could see that the blond was having as much trouble as he was.

"I think- this way," Harry said, and swam as hard as he could against the waves as they tossed him and Draco around, throwing them into each other again and again.

He didn't know for how long they swam, or how many times he and Draco went under. Draco pulled him back up twice and Harry pulled him up three times. He heard Draco cry out in pain once and was sure he'd been thrown into a rock under the water.

Finally though, Harry's feet found purchase on sandy ground and he struggled to lift his too heavy body out of the water, Draco coughing and doing the same next to him.

Draco lay on the beach next to him, waves still coming up over his legs and stomach and Harry sat up, wondering if he had enough strength to stand at this point. He was freezing and hated that they'd come down to this beach, when it would be such a long walk and then hike back up to the top. At least it wasn't raining. He looked up to the sky through his wet, water speckled glasses and saw stars.

"Ok?" Harry asked Draco, who coughed some more.

"I hurt my knee. I hate those guys."

"Harry! Draco!"

Harry could hear Hermione and squinted into the darkness where he finally spotted a bobbing yellow light, and after another minute or two, Hermione dropped to her knees next to them in the sand.

"Where's Ernie?" Harry asked.

"He's ok. He's already taking the others back up to the school. Acel's arm is bleeding from where Draco bit him," (Harry took a moment to appreciate Draco's assistance then as he looked over at him), "and Petr was complaining about his head hurting when I unfroze him. I think Nikola was all right."

"Who cares about them," Draco said, voice still full of anger and bitterness. "Nobody attacks someone from Hogwarts and gets away with it."

Harry laughed then, and Hermione and Draco both stared at him. "Well, I'm glad you were from Hogwarts tonight and not Slytherin."

"Whatever. Are you going to help me back to the school or leave me here to freeze to death?"

Harry stood, still feeling very heavy after having been in the water for so long, and helped Hermione drag Draco to his feet. Draco lifted his injured leg and tried not to put any weight on it and Harry and Hermione struggled to get him up the beach, up the cliff path and to the top.

"What are you, a baby walrus?" Harry asked when they were halfway up and he felt like Draco weighed a million pounds.

"Shut it, I saved your life."

"Well now I'm repaying the favor."

They finally made the top, and heard shouting in the distance. Harry and Hermione paused and Harry could tell that even Draco seemed alert. They heard Ernie shout something about it not being true, and then heard Nikolas say that Ernie was lying and they had been attacked.

"If that's a professor," Hermione said, voice filled with worry.

"They're going to kill you," Draco finished.

"Harry- go," Hermione commanded then.

"I can't just leave you here."

"No, you have to go." They saw a light bobbing towards them and Draco shoved Harry away from him, before leaning more heavily on Hermione.

"Go and lock yourself in your cabin. Spell it closed."

Harry bit his lip. Maybe it was because he was tired and shivering that he felt so indecisive.

"Potter, password protect it with Bloody Baron. We'll make sure only Snape can get in."

Harry wasn't sure if Snape would be any better than one of the other professors, but after seeing such a display of his other Hogwarts peers standing up for him, he nodded and ran off as fast as his heavy legs could carry him. He made the base of the hill the cabins were on and heard August shouting at him to stop, and ran as hard as he thought he'd ever run before. At the top he threw open the door to his cabin, slammed it closed and threw every locking spell and charm at it and his windows that he could remember, silently adding Bloody Baron as the password to each one. If it worked like he hoped it would, then Snape, or preferably Hermione or Draco would be able to say the password once and unlock all the spells simultaneously.

Just as he finished he heard something slam against his door hard and he jumped, startled.

"I know you're in there Potter!" August shouted. "Unlock this door now!"

He shook his head, but didn't say anything. There was another bang and then a bang on his front window, followed a few moments later by a bang on his side window. Suddenly he wasn't feeling as safe in his little cabin as he once had. If the man thought hard enough Harry was sure he could come up with a spell to tear off the roof to get at him or pry boards loose in the side. He heard the man curse loudly and then there was nothing.

Minutes ticked by... maybe half an hour, before Harry finally sat down on his desk chair, eyes still glued to the door and wand at the ready. He didn't think he'd be able to fight August if he came through the door, or any of the other professors. He almost hated to think it, but he wished Snape were there to protect him. Maybe the man's sense of duty to Hogwarts and to Dumbledore would make him do it. Maybe not.

Harry shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. His clothing from the night before still sat in the corner, wet and cold. He felt numb and he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering. He looked at his watch but it seemed to be broken and even if it wasn't, he hadn't looked at it when he'd got there so he wouldn't know how long it had been.

Hanging his head he sat and worried. He was sure they'd throw him out this time, if not for fighting then for going to explore the cave, or some other stupid mistake. Maybe Snape was right, maybe he was reckless and foolish and always leading his friends into danger.

Finally, when Harry was gripping his arms so hard they hurt just trying to stop from shaking so bad, there was a sound out on his porch and he startled, wand out. His hand shook though and he was certain he'd be useless and unable to cast any spells. He heard Snape's muted voice from the other side of the door though and just prayed he didn't have other staff with him. The door opened and there stood the foreboding man alone, and Harry wasn't sure whether to be worried or relieved.

Snape scanned the room and Harry dropped his wand.

"Potter," he said cautiously.

"Are- are they out there?"

"Who?"

"August, and Blazhe."

"No, they are with their own students."

Severus watched with some curiosity as relief washed over the Gryffinor's features. He also noted that he was still soaking wet and shivering violently.

"Put some dry clothes on," he ordered him, and Harry moved to obey, setting his wand down on the table and going to open his trunk at the foot of his bed. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before. He still had a dry pair of shorts and a dry shirt left in his trunk.

He changed with some difficulty because he couldn't get his hands to hold still, but finally he was done and he sat nervously back in his chair. Snape was still standing in front of the door, blocking it. For the first time in... well, ever, Harry didn't feel trapped and threatened. He was glad he was there.

"Are you injured?"

Harry looked down at himself. "I don't think so," he said through chattering teeth. "D, D, Draco? Hermione?"

"She is with Draco in the infirmary. He will be fine after a night there."

"A- And Ernie?"

"Also fine."

Harry nodded, and Severus wondered that the boy cared at all for those from other houses, especially Draco.

"I've heard two disturbing sides to a disturbing story tonight Potter, and I already have a headache. What happened, and I warn you now, if you lie to me, there will be consequences that I will not take responsibility for." He sent Harry a deadly glare and Harry nodded.

"We w, went to explore a cave. A, Axle, Hermione, and B, B, Basia, ‘n me. Got there o, ok. Came b, back out when we h, h, heard voices. Was boys from other sc, schools. Th, they wanted to fight."

"So you obliged them?"

"No, wasn't going to, but the one- he attacked Draco!" Harry shouted the last bit out in earnest and found that if he shouted he didn't stutter as bad through his teeth chatter.

"And then?"

"Fought, and I fell."

"To the ground?"

Harry gave a particularly nasty shake and said, "To the ocean. D- Draco went in after me. We- we- we swam back."

Draco, Hermione and Ernie had all given him the same story but with more detail, and were adamant that none of them had done anything wrong. Apparently Draco had seen the boys from the other school following Harry, Hermione, Basia and Axle, from the top of the path and decided to follow. When he'd gotten to the top of the path, the other boys were demanding a fight and had attacked first. Hermione was adamant that Harry hadn't started it, and Ernie, being more impartial than he considered Draco and Hermione, corroborated their story. Axle had also given a small piece as had Basia. The other boys however, were claiming that they'd gone on a hike when Potter had leapt out at them brandishing his wand and demanding a duel, at which point they politely declined but he insisted anyway. They didn't have any explanation for why Hermione, Axle, Draco or Ernie were involved, but that didn't stop their own professors from believing their story. Hermione and Draco had also insisted that August had taken off after Harry and given him a password to get into Harry's cabin. They were adamant that only he could go in.

"You don't know the trouble you have caused Potter," Severus said, rubbing his throbbing temple. This was supposed to be a school to help unify the various magical governments, and here they were on the brink of starting up some sort of international incident.

Harry's teeth only chattered in response, and Severus yelled, "For pete's sakes Potter! Where's your blanket?"

Harry looked at him seriously and said, "You took it sir."

Severus rolled his eyes, seeing the boy's empty bed. "Your real blanket Potter. Where is it?" He had no time for the boy's childish attention seeking games.

Teeth still chattering, Harry looked him in the eye and said, "I only have one blanket. You took it."

Narrowing his eyes at him, Severus thought back to the ratty gray blanket he'd banished a week ago.

"I'd really like it back. It's the only blanket I've ever had."

"That was NOT your blanket!"

Harry jumped as Snape suddenly yelled at him, and sat staring at him, wide eyed. He was rubbing his temple again and looking like he was trying desperately hard not to lose his cool again.

"It- it has my name on it," Harry tried. There was a tag at the foot and his name was sewed into it. He liked to think his mother had perhaps sewn it for him as a baby and lovingly sewn his name into a tag so he'd always remember.

"It did not," Severus said in a voice that clearly told the brat shivering in front of him that he was feeling testy.

Harry leaned forward, arms wrapped around himself and insisted, "yes it did! I think my mum gave it to me! I've slept with it since I was a, a kid! What did you do with it?" He didn't like where this was going at all. It was one thing to take it from him, it was another to refuse to give it back at all.

Snape gave him a hard stare, and then with a sudden movement that startled Harry reached down and wrenched his trunk open. He stared inside and then let the lid fall closed, and got on his knees and peered under the boy's bed. There was no blanket. When he stood back up he said, "I burned it Potter. It looked infested."

"You- you burned it? That was the only thing I had left of her! Why would you do that!?"

"Why would you sleep with it until it was worn through instead of tucking it away in a keepsake box?" He was angry now. It wasn't his fault that the boy had ruined his own keepsake to the point where it really should have been thrown out.

"It's the ONLY blanket I had!" Harry was standing and shouting, forgetting that he was freezing and his arms and legs, and especially his fingers and toes were starting to really go numb.

"Why didn't you buy another one?"

Harry simply stared at him. What did he mean why didn't he buy another one? He never even had any money until he'd gone to Hogwarts, and even then, if he'd bought one, the Dursleys never would have let him keep it. They never let him have anything that was nice or good. "I don't have any money," he finally said, feeling defeated. He sank back onto the chair and put his head in his hand.

"Potter, your parents left you a vault full of gold, and you bought a Firebolt."

"I emptied the vault trying to come here, but I was short twenty galleons, so I sold my Firebolt and now I don't even have that. It was the only thing I had that Sirius gave me."

Severus paused and closed his mouth, suddenly forgetting what he was going to say. Instead what came out was, "Your vault?" His voice was muted somehow, soft, and Harry noticed.

"Yeah I only had 80 galleons in there. I had to sell my broom to Draco. Maybe that's why he gave me the supplies. He saw I was using the pink stuff Hermione gave me and said I was making him ashamed to go to Hogwarts, and then the next morning the pen and notebooks were on my porch."

Staring at the floor, he continued, "I didn't have money left over for supplies or a coat or anything. I have what I have and I didn't expect you to go burning it or trying to steal it away from me!" He was practically in tears. It was just to much and it had finally gotten the best of him. He'd been put down and trampled on, tossed off a cliff, and he'd lost the only things he had of Lily and Sirius. Tears did come, but they were silent and Harry let his head hang low so that Snape wouldn't see and laugh at him.

After a long, quiet moment, Severus finally said quietly, "Draco has your Firebolt?" He had been so certain that Albus had paid the boy's way with the way he'd hurried Harry through the process of getting into Gemini. He'd been aware of Hermione, Draco and the others trying to get in all year, and then suddenly out came Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived asking for signatures and Dumbledore smiling at him. He'd been sure the old man had put the boy up to asking for his signature in front of the whole school, just to ensure he'd say yes.

"It's in his cabin," Harry said, wiping his eyes across his bare arm. "He took it off me in Diagonalley in the used clothing store before we met at Fortescues."

Severus sighed. He felt like an ass and really, it was more than that. He felt like his father, and that was an all-time low he never thought he'd see. He'd piled one assumption on top of another until he'd worked himself up, and then he'd put the boy down. He'd also given the rest of the staff and students here the wrong impression, and look where that had lead. Draco and Harry had both gone over a cliff and into the sea. The night could have turned out more disastrous than it already had, and if any of the children had died or been seriously injured, he never would have been able to forgive himself for it.

He rubbed his temple hard and considered the child before him, maybe for the first time. His eyes traveled from the shivering form hanging his head and staring at the floor, around the sparse walls of the room, to the pink notebook on the desk and back to the bed that didn't even have sheets again.

"Do you have a coat?"

Harry shook his head and Severus took in a deep breath. He wasn't wearing his robes or else he would have given them to him. As it was the temperature was still dropping outside as it got later and he'd have to take him down the hill and across the compound to the Infirmary.

"Stand up. We're going to the infirmary." He gave a last look at the empty bed as Potter stood and then cursed at himself internally. He had been the cause of the boy getting sick. Damn.

He opened the door and waited until Harry was through, and then lit his wand and followed Harry down the steps. Part way down the hill path they encountered Ernie who was coming up and Severus instructed him to go to bed so he didn't have to miss any classes tomorrow.

Ernie gave Harry a sullen "Hullo," and then, presumably moved off to do as he was told. Severus would be back to check on him after a while.

They didn't encounter anyone on their way to the Infirmary, but once they were inside the tiny building, they found it hard to find space to stand. Draco was in a bed at the far end where Adeline was tending to him, Ace was sitting on a stool at the counter holding a bandage around his arm (he didn't know why the boy was still there really, he'd cleaned and bandaged the bite mark himself and given him a healing potion before going to check on Potter), and Gan was standing next to Blazhe tending to Petr's head as he sat on a stool with his head against the wall. Hermione appeared to have been sent to her own cabin already to make space, or was perhaps in another building still defending Harry to the other staff. If she spoke to them the way she'd spoken to him on the field the other day, then he had no doubt she was holding her own ground and could most likely do so well into the night.

Severus motioned for Harry to sit on the bed by the door, and Gan and Adeline both looked over at them.

"Do you need help?" Gan asked.

Severus noted that Blazhe rolled his eyes, but ignored him and said, "No." He went to one of the glass cupboards and slid the glass door open, pulling down a warming potion, and bar of chocolate. He also got a thick gray wool blanket from the cupboard below the counter and came back the three steps to where Harry was on the bed.

He sent a drying charm at the boy's tousled black hair and then handed him the blanket. Harry was quiet and kept his eyes averted as he took it and wrapped it around his shoulders. He buried his head down inside the blanket as much as he could as well.

He measured out a dose of the clay colored potion and said, "This will warm you up."

Harry looked up and held out his hand. He downed it in two swallows. He also accepted the large bar of chocolate his Professor handed him without a word and said, "I will be back to check on you in a moment. Be certain you eat the entire thing." Harry didn't give him a verbal response or a nod, but he did start opening the candy bar, so Severus stood and squeezed past the others to where Adeline was sitting next to Draco.

"How is he?"

"He tore a ligament. It will be healed by morning but he shouldn't put any weight on it tomorrow. After breakfast I'll send him back to his cabin to rest for the day. What about Harry?"

"He has hypothermia but otherwise seems to be fine. I gave him warming potion and chocolate. The potion should warm him slowly over the next few hours."

"He should stay the night too then. The other two will be fine to return to their cabins tonight. Petr doesn't have a concussion, and the bite wasn't deep on Acel's arm. They'll both be well enough to attend classes tomorrow."

"I will be back tomorrow morning to get Draco and Harry then," he said quietly. Harry was listening across the small room though and heard Snape use his first name. It was a first, and he was certain once the shock of the night's events wore off, would probably be the last.

"Where is Miss Granger?"

"I would imagine she's in the Dining Hall with Iva and August. I sent her to her cabin but I doubt she went."

"I will retrieve her as well then before I go to check on Mr. McMillan. He was on his way back to his cabin but I want to be certain he made it there."

She nodded and Severus stood straight from where he'd been bent over. He went back to Harry and gave him an appraising look.

"You should start feeling better in the next few hours. If you do not, tell Adeline. I will be back tomorrow morning to collect you and Mr. Malfoy."

Harry looked up at him, half eaten bar of chocolate in his hand. He was too exposed here in the infirmary and didn't want Snape to leave. He and Draco were in no condition to fight. Draco was already asleep and if Gan left, then any of the other Professors or students could come in to take their revenge.

Severus turned to the door to go but Harry reached out a hand and the boy's numb fingers brushed his wrist. He turned and looked down at Harry who looked up at him with a look he didn't want to acknowledge.

"No one will harm you," he said. "There is a spell in place on this building to ensure that no harm comes to those inside." Harry looked over at Gan who gave a single nod even though he was still looking at Petr.

Severus fixed Harry with a look he hoped was reassuring and then left. He did find Hermione in the Dining Hall arguing with Iva and August. Apparently Ernie had given up but Hermione had taken up his place. It was nearing midnight and he convinced her to go back to her cabin and stay there with a stern look and a promise that it would get sorted out in the morning. He also checked on Ernie and spoke to him briefly about his exchange with the other staff and sighed heavily after he left him to go to bed.

Harry and Draco were both asleep when he went back to the Infirmary forty minutes later to check on them one last time, and Blazhe was gone, probably making sure Acel and Petr got back to their own cabins. Gan was sitting next to Harry on a low stool with his eyes closed, and Adeline wasn't there.

"The boy is afraid of you, yet you show surprising gentleness to him when he is sick," Gan observed, not bothering to open his eyes.

Severus considered the older man for long moments. He is not Dumbledore, he told himself, yet I have found him to be wise, even if he is mistaken about many things, namely his previous assumptions about his role in Harry's injuries.

"Perhaps because I found myself mistaken," Severus said. He backed out and closed the door. He'd only stuck his head inside to check on the two boys.

It was almost one am, but it would still be a long time until he was able to sleep. He had work to do, and he hurried to the lane leading out of the school and apparated away. The first thing he had to do was make sure the boy had a blanket so he didn't get sick again. The second was to wake the Headmaster, and get some sort of letter of recommendation for the whelp and the others to be certain it was made clear that Hogwarts students, were not trouble makers and did not start this fight. The night was far from over.