S.S.

Screaming erupted in the corridor and Severus hurtled out of the classroom and into the throng of students converging on the main staircase.

"Move," he growled, drawing his wand as he shoved a huddle of Hufflepuffs aside. It was impossible that the Dark Lord could already know that Harry had been pulled from the tournament. Whatever disaster was ensuing was hopefully nothing more than Weasley-related mayhem.

"What's going on?"

"I can't see anything!"

"Who fell?" a tip-toeing first year asked her neighbour.

Fell? A grim sense of foreboding stole over him as he shouldered through yet more students to get to the front of the crowd.

A body lay across the stairs. His blood ran cold as he took in the shattered pair of glasses next to the mop of messy black hair, slick with the red of his own blood. 

They killed his son! He'd murder them. He'd make sure they felt every minute of the pain, the agony, that was tearing through him.

"Who did this?" he snarled, grabbing the nearest student by the collar. "Who did this?" he repeated, shaking them roughly when all he got was a panicked, blank stare. Forget unforgivables, he knew far more creative curses that could make a man beg for the simple, bloodless pain of the cruciatus curse.

A thunderclap rent the air.

"Professor Snape, apprehend Mr. Malfoy, if you would." Minerva's wand remained high as the crowd fell silent, smoke still twirling from the thunder she had sent roaring out of its tip. Filius crouched next to the boy amidst the pool of red, his wand moving rapidly. "Poppy! Quickly!" Minerva said, anxiety leaking into her own voice.

Poppy? He lived? His steps faltered as he strode toward the quaking Slytherin. Harry needed him a good deal more than he needed to sate his own bloodlust. Severus managed only a jerk towards Harry before almost toppling over his own feet. He was stopped from tearing down the stairs by a spell sticking his feet firmly in place.

"Prefects, lead your houses to their dormitories," the headmaster intoned appearing amongst the multitude, his face severe and his eyes no longer sparkling. "Severus, accompany Mr. Potter to the hospital wing," he ordered, releasing the spell.

He heard nothing more as he tore down the steps, shoving Filius aside to assist Poppy to lift the broken boy from the stairs and onto a conjured stretcher.

"Heal him here," he demanded. He'd hit his head hard enough to crack his skull. If he wasn't dead now, he could be at any moment.

"Stop the bleeding from his arm," she ordered briskly in return, turning her attention to his skull. He let out a shaky exhale when it became clear that the blood wasn't coming from a head wound at all but a startlingly gruesome injury to his upper arm.

"Blood replenisher, bone firming balm and bruise balm, the strongest one you have, otherwise this boy will be in a great deal of pain when he wakes up," she continued, her wand hovering for a long moment over Harry's head.

"You cannot think to heal his arm with balm."

"I'll fix his arm once we've reached the hospital wing. I've healed his skull and assessed his internal damage; his condition isn't critical now." Severus had a hard time believing that as he gazed upon Harry's lifeless form. Blood matted his hair and left a brilliant streak across his face. If she had no intention of completing his treatment until they reached the hospital wing then he would waste no time in getting him there.

"TO YOUR DORMITORIES," he roared as milling students, gawking and slowing to catch sight of Harry's broken body, slowed their journey.

What if she missed something? Would it be possible for him to have suffered brain damage from a blow that hard? He was itching to perform his own scans, his mind supplying the details of gruesome and dangerous complications that could arise from Harry's injuries. More than once, Poppy snapped at him to step away and let her work.

"You're certain that there's no damage to the tissue–"

"Severus Snape, if you do not stop harassing me I'll send you outside. I don't care what Albus has to say about it."

Severus gritted his teeth and stepped back but he watched her work intently, his eyes not leaving Harry for a moment. The longer she worked, the calmer he felt, until finally Harry was breathing easily, asleep on the hospital bed, not a trace of blood left on him, just smears on his arms and face where Madam Pomfrey had applied the balms needed for him to recover fully.

Now all he had to do was trust that he would be well when he awoke. Part of him knew that he would be, muggle injuries were a simple matter to heal as long as they were caught in time, but his worry would not ease until he could see for himself, until there was no question at all.

---

H.P.

The fuzziness when he opened his eyes didn't unsettle him in the slightest. In fact, before he was woken up by the clatter of heels on wooden flooring, he had the vague sense that he'd slept a deeper and easier sleep than he had in a long time. What did unsettle him was Madam Pomfrey looming over him. "Awake at last, Mr. Potter. Are you in any pain?" She waved her wand over him as he blinked himself fully awake.

"No, don't think so, 'm just tired," he mumbled. Why was he in the hospital wing? Had something happened with the dragon? No... He never fought a dragon, Dumbledore had pulled him from the tournament.

The last thing he remembered was talking to Snape and then he'd seen Malfoy and ah. Malfoy shouldn't have been able to get the best of him; he'd let his guard down. 

"You would be, a cracked skull and numerous broken bones besides will not go unnoticed," she said with stern disapproval. "You're healed but it's been quite a drain on your system, so you need rest. Professor Snape has been asked to stay here with you until this has been sorted out." Harry jumped when he looked around and noticed him standing beside the bed, just out of his eye line. The look Madam Pomfrey gave Snape made it seem like she disapproved of his presence, making Harry wonder if everyone found Snape just as awful as he used to. "I'll be in my office if you need anything," she reassured him, sending a last, doubtful look at Snape.

Once Madam Pomfrey disappeared behind the curtain surrounding his bed he made to speak but Snape held his finger to his lips to indicate silence. He waved his wand then settled into the chair beside his bed.

"How bad was it?" he whispered once Snape indicated it was safe for him to talk.

"Madam Pomfrey is a remarkable medi-witch. You're certain that you're not in any pain?" Snape spoke in his normal tone of voice so Harry assumed he'd warded the curtains around his bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, giving his limbs a bit of a shake to see if it hurt to move them.

"Occlude. The Dark Lord is likely to try his best to break through your barriers now that there's been enough time for news of your injury and the tournament to spread. Ideally you would be able to occlude without even thinking about it, but we'll work on that over Christmas." His narration was hardly helping him concentrate on occluding his mind but he gave a jerky nod as he shut his eyes to focus.

"When can I get out of here?" he asked, skimming his hand over the bedside table in search of his glasses. It took him a moment to realise that Snape was holding them out. When Snape came into focus he had nothing of the air of smug calmness he'd exuded after Harry had been pulled from the tournament. Instead, he looked weary, worse than on those nights he'd stayed up making that potion for Harry's scar.

"Until your body has recovered from the trauma at the very least. At any rate, you cannot leave until we've found a way to ensure your safety."

"Don't you get sent to Azkaban for trying to kill someone? I don't see why I'm in danger if that's where they're packing Malfoy off to." Harry huffed, shuffling up into a sitting position. He was so busy struggling to rearrange his pillows behind him that he almost missed Snape's response.

"Draco was not responsible for your fall."

Harry stopped dead. "He cursed me to my face. He wasn't subtle about it."

"I know what you believe happened–" Snape began, his tone placating.

"You're actually sticking up for Malfoy again? And I bet you're going to say that somehow this is my fault because perfect bloody Draco–"

"You misunderstand me," Snape interrupted loudly, then continued in a level tone. "I'm certain Draco did hex you, but he was not responsible for his actions." If Snape thought he was calming Harry down he was very much mistaken. Most likely sensing this, he clarified. "Imperius curse."

"Convenient," Harry sneered, gritting his teeth in anger. His hands were curled into fists, knotting up the bedclothes, and he couldn't look at Snape, choosing instead to fix his gaze on the plain curtain surrounding them. He didn't buy it. Of course Snape wanted to believe Draco didn't really do it, he liked Draco, and he didn't want him to get expelled. Not that Snape had ever had a problem trying to get Harry kicked out of Hogwarts and for a lot less than attempted murder!

"Your anger is misdirected," Snape declared. When Harry shot him a furious glare and opened his mouth to retort, he held up a hand to forestall him. "You would do better to direct your anger at the person who is a threat to your life than a young man who you view as a threat to your position with me. We will discuss the other but not now."

"I don't–" He cut himself off, exhaling heavily. There was no point arguing with him when he had that look on his face. "I thought you were supposed to be nice to someone when they almost get killed," he groused instead.

"I'm being the epitome of patience with you."

As if he knew what epitome meant. "Fine, so who did he say imperiused him then?"

"As far as I'm aware he doesn't know but Albus may have more to tell us when he comes in."

"You haven't asked him yourself?"

"No," Snape replied as if the answer should have been obvious.

"I had my doubts that Mr Malfoy would survive the meeting," Professor Dumbledore said warmly, stepping around the curtain. "Now that you know he wasn't to blame he could do with a visit from his Head of House." 

Snape merely scowled. "Harry could do with my protection here."

"You've warded the hospital wing admirably. Although the ones I put in place would have sufficed. I can certainly sit with him until you return," he offered, conjuring his own chair on the other side of Harry's bed.

"I don't need baby-sitting. I have been in the hospital wing before."

"Shut up, Harry."

"Severus," Dumbledore insisted. Snape didn't reply but turned to silently regard Harry, who looked blankly back. "Severus," he repeated with a touch of impatience.

After a lengthy pause Snape finally gave in. "I'll be back shortly."

Every inch of Snape screamed reluctance as he stalked from the hospital wing. Harry returned to the more important matter of when he'd get to leave.

"Professor Dumbledore? What's happening now?"

"You'll be staying in the hospital wing until we've made arrangements to ensure your safety. The ministry will certainly want to be involved given the nature of the incident and the use of the Imperius curse."

"He was definitely imperiused then?"

"Most assuredly." Harry sighed, collapsing back against his pillows. He hadn't really believed Snape but if even Dumbledore thought it was true...

"And you don't know who imperiused him?"

"No, but I believe we would be wise to assume it was the same person who put your name in the cup, and, as of yet, we haven't had any luck finding the culprit."

Harry nodded outwardly in understanding but inside he was frustrated. If Dumbledore could get him out the tournament and was such a great wizard why couldn't he find this one person? They had to be in the castle after all. He, Ron and Hermione would do a better job finding whoever it was. All they needed to do was to draw them out. 

"Did Ron and Hermione come by before I woke up?" he asked hopefully.

"Visitors weren't permitted until your condition had stabilised."

"What about now?"

"Severus' presence might raise questions you'd both rather not deal with I think, my boy."

Harry nodded again. He did want to see his friends but he didn't want Snape to leave. Despite being disgruntled about Snape's news about Malfoy, he'd been pleasantly surprised that Snape had been here when he woke up. He didn't need it, but it was... well, nice of him to stay when he was obviously exhausted.

He was determined to stay awake and find out what Snape learned from Malfoy. He forced his eyelids not to close and waited for him to return.

---

S.S.

"Draco is understandably concerned. He's demanding to see his father," Severus said quietly, careful not to wake Harry as he returned to his bedside.

"I'll release a statement indicating his innocence as soon as practicable.' The headmaster stood but continued to regard Severus sternly. "What happened to discretion? You're the very image of a worried parent. Poppy knows you better than to assume your interference was down to love of the boy, so she's taking your attitude as a sleight against her ability to practice healing."

"I had more important things to consider than whether or not I was insulting your resident medi-witch."

"You're lucky she considers your attitude in that light, but if you continue as you are she may well rethink that. She's seen enough distraught relatives in this wing to realise how you feel and I have yet to discuss your reaction at the scene of the incident. You looked every bit as distressed as I'm sure you felt."

Severus' lips twisted at the mention of distress of all things. His reaction was in line with the seriousness of the incident. "I thought he was dead."

"I won't have a spy if you cannot control your emotions and if we don't have you as a spy then I don't know what chance Harry will have when the time comes," the headmaster reproached.

"It was an exception," he snapped, resting his hand lightly atop Harry's head and tracing a line where Madam Pomfrey had healed the fracture. Selfishly, he'd rather Harry was awake. Asleep, it was too much like he was that lifeless body on those steps. He pushed the memory from his mind, remembering as he did so what he had decided regarding Draco.

"Draco is at risk as well as Harry. I'm not entirely comfortable sending him back to the Slytherin dormitories without considering his safety. The culprit could have something against both Draco and Harry."

"It seems unlikely, but if not, then it means that there is no student at Hogwarts who isn't at risk of being cursed. As for Harry's safety, something quite effective occurred to me..."

---

Severus' leg swung agitatedly, banging against the antique wood of the headmaster's desk. Heavily warded as the hospital wing was, he'd rather either he or the headmaster stayed with Harry, even while he slept. He was, after all, still vulnerable to attack.

The headmaster sent him a fleeting look telling him to compose himself as the floo flared green, announcing Lucius' imminent arrival.

"Where is my son?" Lucius' tone invited the impression that he suspected Draco's absence was due to the incompetence of the headmaster as opposed to any concerns he had about his safety.

"Quite safe, I assure you. We can by all means include him in this meeting, but he's had an alarming day. I felt it best to leave him where he is."

Lucius sneered, no doubt at the idea that the headmaster thought his son so human as to find the events of the day 'disturbing'.

"And just where is he?"

"In the care of our deputy headmistress."

Lucius' frown deepened at that and Severus felt the need to clarify. "The attacker would be as confused as you are now. They would expect that he would be in my care."

"As he should be." Severus inclined his head in agreement.

"You've no doubt been wasting all your resources protecting the Potter boy but I will not tolerate Draco being forgotten. Your thoroughly lax running of this school has already endangered my son. What are you going to do to ensure his safety?"

"We are bringing in measures to protect every student at Hogwarts. The children will be accompanied to their classes by their teachers and there will be a curfew in place until the culprit is found. The aurors have been called in to investigate and would like to speak to Draco after our meeting. We feel that until we have a better idea of who the perpetrator is we cannot allow Draco to reside in Slytherin."

"Your solution is to interrogate my son then turn him out of his House? I can only see that I have two options, pull him from this school or petition to have you removed. I've succeeded once; it is well within my capabilities to succeed again," he threatened, but the headmaster remained unaffected.

"I assure you Draco will be given the best protection we can offer. He will live in an alternative dormitory for the time-being but continue his classes in Slytherin. As for when he's in the corridors or the Great Hall, he will have a personal... guard of sorts," Severus interrupted. He'd hoped to reassure Lucius but it was impossible that he would accept this solution.

"A guard?" he questioned, no doubt hearing the doubt in Severus' tone.

"A house elf to be more exact, to watch over him twenty-four hours a day, if need be," the Headmaster suggested quite confidently.

"A house elf! That's the great protection bestowed by Albus Dumbledore."

"We're negotiating with the Head of the Aurors to have two of their team brought into the castle to protect the boys; however, until we've secured an agreement we need an alternative," he said waving away Lucius' dismissal. "It is all too easy to underestimate house elf magic but I find them to be quite intriguing beings. They can apparate inside the castle, they are loyal to their master and I think you're aware that they can defend themselves and others from a witch or wizard if need be."

It was a strain to resist rolling his eyes. It wasn't the wisest idea to remind Lucius that his own house elf had been able to attack him once it had been freed.

"I will not entrust my son to such lowly, traitorous creatures." He said creature as he would 'rodent' or 'scum'. "The board of governors would be shocked to hear such a pitiful plan. Draco will have the same protection as the Potter boy."

"I'm sure you understand that we cannot discuss the specifics of Harry's protection with anybody outside the castle," the headmaster said firmly.

"Draco will be protected as a priority in the corridors by the accompanying member of staff. The presence of the house elf will be merely to alert the maximum number of people to come to his aid if he is under threat or to prevent the attacker from being able to take Draco or any of our teachers by surprise. It's the last defence they would expect."

"No. Draco will spend the remainder of term in your care, Severus. I'm certain you can have no issues with this. It was suitable for Potter during the summer, so it will suffice for Draco. He'll attend classes and that is all. He will be the absolute priority of whichever teacher is accompanying them to their next class and, in fact, he will have a personal house elf. A Malfoy house elf," he declared, sneering down at the headmaster, daring him to deny him.

Severus' stomach sank. Lucius wanted him to take in Draco for the remainder of term? From the look on his face, he wasn't going to be swayed from his demand. 

"You cannot order me to agree to this," he erupted, once they were out of earshot.

"You did say that you didn't want Mr. Malfoy sent back to live in Slytherin."

"My quarters are not a hostel for misplaced students."

"Housing Draco for two weeks is not the worst sacrifice you could make in order to gain an advantage in this war."

"I know how long it would be for and what I would gain," he growled. Yes, it would give the appearance that his loyalties lie alongside the Malfoys' but he had no obligation to bend to Lucius' every whim. "My home is open to Harry, first and foremost."

"And Harry has no use of his room for the next two weeks. You are well aware that it would be beneficial to appear to be on good terms with Lucius. You will be of no use to us as a spy if you are not integrated with those who will most certainly be in Voldemort's inner circle."

It was low of the headmaster to use his spying to convince him, especially after what he'd said the day before. He had no choice but to agree now.

"Harry will not appreciate this development. Not at all."

"I'll leave you to speak to him then. I should expect that all the arrangements for him will be made by this afternoon. He can go back to the tower after dinner."

How easy it was for the headmaster to dismiss Harry's feelings. He wasn't the one risking his rapport with the boy and he wasn't the man Harry had chosen to rely on. This was not remotely the right moment to deal with Harry's issues regarding Draco. Ever since he'd begun testing Harry's mental barriers during occlumency his understanding of Harry's resentment of Draco had begun to make more sense. During the summer he'd dealt with the matter with so little awareness of Harry's feelings and no real attempt to find out the source of his discontent. Yet again he was utterly failing as a suitable guardian for the boy and he was about to make a bad situation worse.

---

When Severus strode back to the hospital wing it was to see Harry tying up his shoelaces on the edge of his bed.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Madam Pomfrey said I could leave in the morning."

"You aren't going anywhere," Severus declared, untying his shoelaces with a flick of his wand.

"Madam Pomfrey said I was healed," Harry replied, pulling his foot back up to redo his laces.

"It's not safe for you to go back to school yet."

"But-"

"This is not a negotiation." he snapped. Why did Harry refuse to take dangerous situations seriously?

"I'm not arguing," Harry said, holding his arms up as if in surrender. "Just hear me out. I don't want to have to hide all the time or have people following me around. It wasn't fun last year and if Sirius had wanted to kill me he could have, so it didn't do any good. Dumbledore said last night that you still don't know who it is, right? But he reckons it's the same person who entered me into the tournament so we know they're definitely keen on killing me."

"Is this getting to a point?"

"We should just draw them out now," Harry said earnestly. "They must want me dead pretty bad. It can't be that hard to get them to give it another go, only this time you can catch whoever it is."

"What's wrong with you?" he snarled, grabbing Harry by the shoulders. "I thought you'd died! I will not go through that again, no matter how inconvenient you find the measures put in place to protect you. Dear Merlin, Harry," he said, releasing him abruptly.

"Sorry," Harry stammered, eyes wide. Severus scowled. He didn't like to think that the stress was beginning to impact on him but he couldn't afford to be so unrestrained with the boy. The events of the day before had perturbed him more than he thought possible. "I just thought it would be easier if we sorted it out sooner. If whoever it is really wants to get to me, I don't see what you can do to stop them."

"I'm not interested in easy and your analysis of the situation is flawed. If this is the same person who put your name in the goblet then it is far more likely that this last attack was a rash act of anger. In that case they won't be so easy to draw out." He stopped himself from following that up with 'you blithering fool' by no small amount of willpower. "If I didn't think you would be safe then I would not send you back."

"If you don't think they're going to try again then what's with all the fuss?"

"I don't know what they're going to do. I don't know if they're working for the Dark Lord or if it's a madman with a grudge but I'm not about to risk your life to find out," he said, raising his voice once again. Not the tone he'd been going for when he'd entered the hospital wing. It seemed his store of patience was most definitely finite.

"All right, all right. I'm sorry."

H.P.

Snape paced back and forth along his isolated cubicle, his fingers tapping an agitated rhythm on his forearm. Harry wanted to ask again when he would actually get to leave but Snape's nerves seemed stretched to their limit already.

"You need to stay here until after dinner." It was lucky that Snape knew him well enough to know exactly what was on his mind.

"I have to stay here all day again?"

"You could be dead. I fail to see how a day and a half in the hospital wing is such a disaster."

Well, when he put it like that he could see that it wasn't the end of the world but it was incredibly dull here. He'd go stir crazy stuck here all by himself all day.

"Can't you just tell people I'm in the hospital wing and then I can go to yours until dinner?" he suggested hopefully.

"No and don't argue the point. We have something more pressing to discuss," Snape said grimly.

"How I'm going to be able to go back to school? You're not going to make all the teachers escort us everywhere like in second year, are you?"

"It's not a guessing game. I did have a topic in mind." Harry waited until Snape was ready to actually tell him what it was. "As it turns out, now is the time to have that conversation about your issues with Draco," Snape declared, his voice gentling slightly, as much as it could for the Potions Master.

He wasn't too keen on the direction the conversation was taking, and Snape's tone was doing nothing to make him feel any better. In fact it was quite unsettling seeing as he usually yelled at him and told him he was wrong about the whole situation.

"I heard you before. He was under the imperius curse." Even he knew he sounded sullen at that.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you're going to say," Harry sighed.

"I have no intention of saying anything until you've finished. Speak your mind," he said, sitting down and gesturing for him to begin. Harry watched him suspiciously for a moment before he decided that a free chance to rant about Malfoy was too good an opportunity to pass up. If Snape wanted to hear what he thought then he'd hear it, all right.

"He's an evil, nasty, vicious git and he might not have tried to kill me yesterday but if he thought he could get away with it then he'd do it in a second," he said quickly, all in one breath. That felt good to say and seeing that Snape was serious about listening to him, he carried on. "He's going the same way as his father. He's just as much of a racist, he's always going on about blood and calling Hermione a mudblood. He tries to get other people's pets killed and he's always going around threatening people. You know what annoys me more than all of that? It's that you don't care. Even if he had tried to kill me you'd have made out as if it was my fault. Whenever something happens it's always my fault, even though you know he starts it."

"During the summer Draco is not my responsibility, you are. If I ask you not to fight with someone then I will punish you for disobeying me."

"No matter what he does? He can get away with doing anything and I'm in the wrong if I retaliate."

"What he does to antagonise you is beside the point. I expect him to antagonise you. I have no illusions as to his character."

"And despite all that, you still like him better," Harry said, raising his voice. "You know he's a bully. He's worse than a bully. No matter what he does or how evil he is, you still like him more than me."

"No."

"You never hear me out," he continued. "You just yell at me and call me stupid and you don't even ask what happened."

"I fear you're drawing parallels from your previous family situation. How your cousin was treated compared to you was reprehensible but it is not remotely the same as how I treat Draco. It is not comparable."

"I know it's not," Harry shouted. "The Dursleys would probably never have loved me as much as Dudley even if I wasn't a freak to them but Malfoy's not your son. I'm the one who lives with you and you still prefer him. And you know what? They're both rubbish people. Dudley was a massive bully and Malfoy's worse."

"You certainly aren't a freak and if your aunt and uncle had an ounce of sense they'd have loved you as a son," Snape said fiercely, catching Harry's hand in his own.

"I said I was a freak to them. I know it was my magic."

"I've seen from your memories how your cousin was favoured over you and undeservedly so, but I refuse to believe that you truly see parallels in how I treat Draco."

Harry's mouth fell open in disbelief. There were so many, how could you miss them? And this coming from Snape who took pride in his observation skills. "You thought I was arrogant and a bully like my father and you hated me," Harry began rattling off, pulling his hand out of Snape's grip to count on his fingers. "Draco is arrogant and calling him a bully is putting it lightly and you like him. You're always calling me stupid or an imbecile and you don't say anything to him. In fact, anything you do say is praise or points to Slytherin. Whenever we get into a fight you go mental at me no matter what he's done. That's all just off the top of my head, quite a few parallels already, I'd say."

"Do you honestly think I judge people favourably based on kindness? I hated you because I hated your father. It was irrational and I was wrong." He looked like conceding he was wrong still left a bad taste in his mouth. "As for the others... We've discussed that still I have to appear to favour him publicly and not to care about you. I know you understand that."

"Yeah, publicly. Look, I don't want to talk about this any more."

"I've been neglecting these issues long enough. I shouldn't call you names; it is infantile and merely an expression of my anger at the time. Certain habits are more difficult to break than others, as we've discussed before. I believe you still have difficulty calling me Severus."

"I never really wanted to call you Severus," Harry admitted with a shrug. "I only wanted to because I found out that Malfoy did. It's a bit weird. I mean, Ron doesn't call his dad Arthur."

"No, I suppose he doesn't," Snape replied slowly, a strange look passing briefly over his face. "In any case, you are vastly overestimating my interest in Draco's welfare. You are the only child in my care. In that respect, your relationship with me is singular. Do I truly make you feel as your relatives did regarding your cousin?"

"No, no. I just– no."

"Harry," he persisted.

"No, you don't. You've been great to me," he replied, shaking his head but refusing to meet Snape's eyes.

"I've been neglecting you, so much so that you still cannot trust me enough to speak honestly with me. There is no competition in my mind between the pair of you. I don't want to keep revisiting this subject. All you are doing is hurting yourself with this imagined rivalry. Who else I like or how much has no impact on your relationship with me. I allow you to see your godfather, do I not?"

"Sirius is nowhere near as bad as Draco," Harry scoffed.

"I raised the matter of Draco because I had something to ask of you."

Harry's eyes narrowed and he regarded Snape warily. He highly doubted that he was going to ask something he wanted to hear.

"As you're aware we've made arrangements for you to be able to go back to the tower. We would have made similar arrangements for Draco but Lucius is determined that Draco be protected while the matter is investigated. He believes that Draco would be more vulnerable than you at this stage. The perpetrator may want to get rid of him so that we cannot find out who they are, and there is a significant chance that whoever cursed him is a Slytherin student. It would explain why he was chosen to be framed for your murder. It is likely to be someone he's personally offended."

"So, he's not going back to school."

"He's not going back to Slytherin," Snape corrected him. "Lucius requested that he stay with me until the end of term. I'd like to put him in your room for the next two weeks, if you're agreeable to it."

No, he wasn't agreeable to it. Snape knew he wouldn't be before he'd even asked the question. But then it wasn't terribly like him to ask for permission to do something...

Harry shot him a glare. "That's pretty Slytherin of you."

"Oh?" Snape replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah. If you get me to say yes then I've agreed to it and I can't complain about it. It's not like I can say no anyway."

"You can say no. If you truly cannot tolerate it then I'll say no to the headmaster and Lucius."

"You know I won't because you've already said that you need to act like you're mates with the Malfoys," he said crossing his arms. "I'm saying yeah, okay? I'm not going to pretend that I'm fine with it, though. What's happening when I get out of here?" he said, promptly changing the subject.

Snape looked uncertain for a moment but then fell back into his stern teacher mode. "It goes without saying that when you're out of the tower you are to be in a group of two or more Gryffindors, preferably Weasley and Granger, more if possible. Teachers will be escorting pupils between classes. It's not a strong defence against the Imperius curse, so for your personal protection, the headmaster assures me you have a quite determined friend who would do anything to protect you."

"Who?" 

"Dobby," Snape said, though not so much as a reply to Harry but as a summons for the elf. All of a sudden, Dobby popped into the hospital wing, bowing low.

"Professor Snape called Dobby?"

"I believe you're acquainted with Mr Potter." He gestured lazily at Harry and all at once Dobby's eyes brightened and he was almost vibrating with excitement.

"Master Harry Potter, sir! It is an honour to serve you. Dobby has been hearing about bad wizards attacking Master Harry but it won't happen again, no sir."

"Dobby, I can't believe you're here." He hadn't seen Dobby since he'd freed him from the Malfoys, but he looked healthier and happier than he had two years ago. "Wait, what exactly do you mean serve me?"

"Dobby has got a job protecting Master Harry Potter! Dobby won't let any bad wizard harm Master Harry. Dobby would be doing anything to protect Master Harry."

"Isn't that dangerous?" He'd had a few trips to the hospital wing in second year due to Dobby's attempts to 'protect' him. "You don't have to keep trying to save me, Dobby," Harry insisted. Even besides Dobby's sometimes over-enthusiastic efforts to keep him out of harm's way, he couldn't expect Dobby to just give up whatever he was doing to be some sort of bodyguard.

"Dobby wants to. Dobby would rather die than let anything bad happen to Master Harry Potter," he cried earnestly.

"Go back to the kitchens, Dobby. We won't be requiring your services until after dinner this evening," Snape interrupted and Dobby vanished with a crack.

"Hold on, I didn't get a chance to talk to him. Where did you find him?"

"He was working in the castle," he replied with what counted as a shrug for Snape. "House elf magic is powerful and he should be able to intervene should anyone else be put under the imperius curse and made to attack you, at least until we can get you further help. I wasn't sure it would be enough until I spoke to him myself. He's quite protective of you."

"Thought you'd know him already. He used to be Malfoy's house elf."

"They have a great many house elves. Dobby will only be answerable to me, the headmaster and you, and obviously he won't be performing any of his regular duties."

"I don't want to use him just because he likes me. It's not really fair on him."

"The way I see it he owes you for freeing him from Lucius."

"He tried to warn me about Tom Riddle so I reckon we're even." He thought it best not to mention that Dobby's version of protecting him sometimes meant injuring him. If Snape didn't think this plan was going to be safe then Harry would be stuck in the hospital wing until he graduated from Hogwarts. It wasn't like he could go back to Snape's now that Malfoy was in his room.

"If I took the job away from him I'm certain he'd be quite aggrieved. The ideal solution would be to get aurors into the castle but we're having difficulties with the Head Auror, so for the time-being Dobby will have to do."

If Snape thought it was possible to have Harry surrounded at all times by the entire auror department, every house elf in the castle and a band of protective trolls he'd probably organise it.

"Can I see Ron and Hermione now?"

H.P.

"We've been so worried," Hermione cried taking Harry by surprise as she burst through the curtains around his bed and threw her arms around him.

"Er, I'm fine. I think I was all healed yesterday to be honest."

"I guess that settles whether someone's out to kill you," Ron said grimly, dragging a chair up to Harry's bedside.

"What are they going to do? You're not going to have to leave, are you?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"No, I'm not leaving. Besides, they can't leave a potential murderer in the school, and they reckon Malfoy's in danger as well."

"Who'd have a problem with Malfoy and you?" Ron asked frowning. "You're either on one side or the other."

"Apparently not," he shrugged.

"Harry's right. Whoever imperiused Malfoy was trying to frame him," Hermione agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, poor him," he muttered.

It was hard to be that sympathetic to Malfoy. So he'd been imperiused, it was hardly that big of a deal. After all, he did get to attack Harry and get away with it; that must be the dream for Malfoy. The rational part of him knew that wasn't exactly likely and that he was being petty, but it was hard not to be when all he'd been hearing since waking up was Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy.

"So, when can you come back to school? You look all right," Ron asked.

"Ron, he almost died!"

"Madam Pomfrey can heal all that," he said, waving at Harry absently.

Ron's relaxed attitude to his fall was refreshing compared to Snape and Hermione's fretting. It was probably because Ron had his whole life to get used to magical healing. If Madam Pomfrey can re-grow bones then she can mend a few breaks. He figured Hermione just hadn't gotten used to how quick magical healing really was, even for serious stuff. Although that didn't really explain Snape's fussing.

"Yeah, she said I cracked my skull, but I was fine yesterday. I'm coming back after dinner tonight. They're going to start having teachers take us everywhere again like in second year and I'm not supposed to go anywhere alone," he said with a grimace and Ron grinned in sympathy. "Do you guys remember Dobby?"

"No... Hold on, wasn't he that nutter who almost killed you when he was trying to save your life?"

"Yeah. He's going to be following me around looking out for me." Harry couldn't help but notice Hermione purse her lips at that, but she didn’t say anything about it.

"Are you sure he's not going to be more of a danger than a help?" Ron asked, looking vaguely horror-stricken.

"I reckon Dumbledore told him to injure whoever attacks me, and not me, this time."

"It might be worth double-checking that, mate. Anyway, what's your date going to think of you taking Dobby to the Yule ball too?"

"Are you joking? I don't have a date. Do you have dates?" he asked, staring wide-eyed between the pair of them. The Yule ball had been the last thing on his mind this term. 

"No, but we've got time, don't we?" Ron replied, a worried edge creeping into his own voice. Hermione said nothing, fidgeting with the edge of her cloak.

"What?" she said finally, looking up to see two pairs of eyes on her.

"Do you have a date?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"I might," she returned, a touch defensively.

"Who is it?"

"Shouldn't we be talking about Harry? Someone did try and kill him."

"Nope, we're done talking about me," Harry grinned.

"Who is it?" Ron persisted.

"Maybe you should focus on who your date is going to be."

"Who's left?" Harry asked, panicking all over again.

"What if we get left with some ugly–"

"Excuse me?" Hermione said, rounding on Ron.

Harry, sensing danger, blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Do we even have to go? I don't dance."

"You can't not go. Even Ginny's got a date."

"She's not even in our year!" Harry exclaimed. This was getting worse by the second. Everyone's going and everyone already had a date.

"You think you've got problems; you haven't seen my dress robes," Ron said with a shudder.

"I think you'd rather wear whatever you've got than mine."

"Why didn't you get ones you liked?" Hermione asked, confused.

Harry's eyes went wide and he tried to think on his feet. "Um, I had to order them while I was at Hogwarts and I think they messed the order up, but I didn't know how to fix it... Seriously, Hermione, who's left?"

"Why do you think I have a clue?" she asked, still watching Harry oddly.

"You live in the dormitory with all the girls."

"You're Harry Potter. People will be queuing up to go with you."

"Hey, thanks a lot," Ron said indignantly.

The time passed surprisingly quickly with his friends keeping him company, even if he couldn't leave the hospital wing. At least Ron and Hermione weren't having kittens about this attempted murderer; he got enough of that from Snape. They didn't think this was something they couldn't handle.

He'd give anything to be able to tell them the truth about his living situation. Snape seemed to be getting to grips a bit more with this whole guardian thing, but Harry had no idea how to be someone's ward. He hadn't even known the word until recently. He knew his friends would be able to help, Hermione would be full of insights and advice and Ron would get where Harry was coming from. He needed someone to, for a change.

But there was something he could tell them, a different secret, but not less important. Strange though, that he hadn't really considered how to explain the prophecy. He'd been putting off thinking about it. There was the tournament to deal with first and he and Ron hadn't been speaking so he could hardly have said anything anyway. Now was the time though. Voldemort was going to come back and trying to forget about the prophecy wasn't going to make it any less true.

He cleared his throat nervously. "While we're alone and we've got the wards, there's something I need to tell you two." Hermione and Ron stopped debating who could have it in for Malfoy and want to kill Harry as well and looked up at him expectantly.

"Right, well, Voldemort came after me and my parents when I was a baby because someone made a prophecy... about me." Hermione's eyebrows shot up at that. "It said that there was going to be a baby born at the end of July and it'd have the power the Dark Lord knows not, so he came after my family to kill me before I could grow up and be a threat to him. The gist of it is that in the end either I'll kill him or he'll kill me."

"Oh, Harry!"

"Wow, that's... Are you all right?" Ron gaped.

"Yeah, I've known for a while. I was just waiting until we were back to normal to, uh, say anything."

"I'm really sorry, mate."

Harry wasn't sure whether he was sorry for the prophecy or that he had to wait so long to tell them, or both, but he appreciated it anyway.

"It's a secret, not even Voldemort knows the whole prophecy, so–"

"We're not going to say anything, Harry. Not to anyone, we wouldn't," Hermione interrupted earnestly.

"I know, I trust you guys. We didn't think telling you was going to put you in any danger, not now at least. Apparently Voldemort–" He ignored Ron's shudder at the name. "–won't think that I know or that I'll be told for a while yet."

"We're not worried that you've put us in danger. We want to know; we wouldn't make you face this alone. Look at what we've done already," Ron exclaimed, gesturing wildly as if he could visibly show Harry all that they'd done together.

"He's coming back soon, Ron," Harry reminded him. This wasn't some vague abstract threat. He would come back, thanks to Pettigrew. "Remember Trelawney's prophecy from the end of last year? The original prophecy was her too, so don't laugh, Hermione," he said glancing her way when she began to look incredulous. "She's a phoney most of the time; she doesn't even know that she does real prophecies."

"Do you know the prophecy off by heart? I'd like to hear it," Hermione asked.

"It's kind of hard to forget." He rattled the prophecy off, but it didn't sound quite as threatening when he was relaying it instead of Snape.

"Is it definitely you? Could it refer to anyone else?" she asked.

"Do you think it could?"

"The only thing identifying you for sure is the part about your birthday," Ron said, but Hermione shook her head.

"You-Know-Who has marked him as his equal." She tapped her own forehead and Harry mirrored the action, tracing his finger over his scar.

"Is this why you've been missing from the tower so much?" Ron asked as Hermione continued to mull over the wording of the prophecy.

"No, that was for occlumency and practice for the tournament."

"I did tell you that, Ron," Hermione added.

"I just thought Dumbledore would be teaching you stuff for this. How long have you known about it?"

"A few weeks I guess."

"Oh," Ron said with an odd look on his face, almost a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said firmly and his expression became determined. "We're going to be there right beside you, Harry. Whatever happens."

"I really appreciate this, but you guys don't have to..."

"Come on, Harry. If You-Know-Who comes back it's going to be war, just like last time. My family is a bunch of blood traitors, and Hermione's muggle-born."

"Not to mention we've been helping you for years. We helped you save the philosopher’s stone, and Ron went with you to fight Tom Riddle. He's going to want to get rid of us too."

When Harry made to protest again Ron interrupted brusquely. "If you found out there was a prophecy about me or Hermione, would you abandon us?"

"No. Of course not."

"Well, we feel the same about you. We've all risked our lives before."

When they put it that way, it was hard to argue, and the weight of the prophecy felt just that little bit lighter on his shoulders.

---

S.S.

Severus eyed his quarters critically, attempting to ensure there was no evidence of Harry's presence in his life strewn over the counters, the sofas or in his bedroom. He'd moved the child’s few belongings into his own room, and had one of the elves make the room up for Draco.

He'd put his foot down against having a Malfoy elf in his quarters. It could accompany Draco outside these walls but wouldn't set a foot within them. He wasn't overly suspicious of Lucius' demands, he didn't doubt that he wanted to protect his son first and foremost, but he wasn't going to have his own life interrupted to that extent.

"Severus? The aurors will be here any moment," the headmaster's head announced from his floo.

"I'll be there in a moment."

The aurors weren’t clever enough to know the right questions to ask, were too stubborn to ask for anything more than the answers they wanted, and were too ruthless to be on the right side of the first war. Moody was evidence enough of this and he'd have no part in this investigation if Severus could help it. The last thing he needed was a rogue auror preventing them from catching the real culprit.

Draco stood beside his father as he waited for the aurors to arrive but the tension in his frame betrayed his anxiety. Severus stood alongside the headmaster's desk. Their presence should be some deterrent for the aurors.

The floo flared green and the two aurors strode out, looking severe in the heavy, red robes of their department. The first was a stern, older man with streaks of grey in his short hair and a well-groomed beard. The second was an even older woman, her eyebrows drawn in a severe frown over thick, heavy spectacles that made her eyes look too large. Muggle-born, most likely.

Aurors old enough to have worked during the first war must have been sent deliberately, perhaps due to their familiarity with Lucius. They'd know not to alienate him considering how favoured he was by the minister for magic, but they'd also be aware of his tales of being under the imperius curse. Naturally there would be a question as to whether Draco was merely attempting to follow in his father's footsteps.

"Good afternoon Headmaster Dumbledore, Mr Malfoy, Professor Snape. I'm Auror Savage," the wizard said. "And this is my colleague Auror Proudfoot." He indicated the elderly witch beside him. Draco's eyes narrowed, likely at their failure to acknowledge his presence.

"We've been given information that there has been a serious attack in the castle and an unforgivable curse cast?"

"Indeed. Draco Malfoy is the victim of the unforgivable curse. He and his father have consented to speak with you to help us catch the culprit," Severus said, indicating the headmaster's and his own belief that Draco wasn't to blame for the attack.

He didn't fool himself that his views would carry any weight with these two. He would be lucky if no one brought up his own past in an attempt to incriminate him. Having been a Death Eater did him no favours; it was assumed that he had a history casting unforgivable curses and his animosity with Harry and familiarity with the Malfoys could easily put him under suspicion.

"If we could check the facts before we begin..."

"Certainly. Do have a seat, everyone," the headmaster said jovially, conjuring enough chairs for the aurors and the Malfoys.

"Thank you," Proudfoot replied, her tone clipped. She appeared disgruntled that they were being treated as guests as opposed to investigating ministry officials.

"Shortly after the first task had taken place Mr Potter was standing on the first floor at the top of the staircase. In terms of witnesses...?"

"The students and teachers were making their way back into the castle from the grounds. There were a great many students in the entrance hall and on the first floor," the headmaster replied.

"M. Malfoy has been accused of casting a jinx to cause Mr Potter to fall halfway down a flight of stairs sustaining numerous injuries, some with the potential to be fatal?"

"He suffered a fractured skull, broken bones and severe blood loss. If your office needs specifics I suggest you discuss the matter with Madam Pomfrey. She was his healer and has a record of his injuries," Severus interjected.

"Could easily have been fatal," Savage nodded, and his colleague made a note in her odd little notebook. Muggle-born or half-blood certainly, using the muggle prop to antagonise the Malfoys, perhaps?

"You were seen by a good portion of Hogwarts jinxing Mr Potter and leaving him severely injured or, for all you knew, dead, on those stairs. You must have realised that such a grievous attack would be taken very seriously, unlike your other attacks on Mr Potter?" This time the question was aimed at Draco and the accusatory tone did not go unnoticed.

Lucius' gaze hardened on the aurors, his fingers twitching, obviously aching to grip his wand.

"That wasn't my first thought when I was released from the curse," Draco returned coldly.

"What was?" Savage challenged.

"At first, I was disorientated and confused. When I realised what exactly had happened, I was rather perturbed, as you might imagine." Perturbed indeed. He’d looked terrified after the attack as Severus strode towards him.

"And how long was it before you claimed you'd been cursed?"

"You require the exact number of minutes that elapsed from the attack until the moment Draco was able to inform a member of staff that he'd been under the imperius curse for your investigation, do you?" Severus sneered. It was clear that the aurors were keen to apportion the blame to Draco despite the headmaster’s and his own assertions to the contrary.

"Perhaps there is some way you can be assured that young Draco is telling the truth?" the headmaster pressed.

"If Mr Malfoy would give his consent for his son to be dosed with Veritaserum that would speed up the investigation."

"No, I don't believe I will consent to that." Lucius stared back at the aurors stonily, his contempt palpable. Draco looked rather disgruntled by his father's refusal.

"Is there an auror capable of performing legilimency?"

"There are none available at the moment."

So, no and they didn't want to advertise the fact.

"Did anyone see you get cursed?" Savage asked, continuing the interrogation.

"I was surrounded by students, so it's possible that someone noticed."

Proudfoot made a slight note at that.

"Perhaps you could describe what it felt like to be under the influence of the curse?"

"I felt like my body was out of my control, I was carefree. There was a voice in my head telling me what to do and I couldn't resist it."

"Did you try?"

"Irrelevant," Lucius drawled.

He decided not to point out that Moody had been casting the Imperius curse on students during class, so he would be able to recount the symptoms. It wouldn't be worth the satisfaction of reporting Moody to put further doubt on Draco's story. His father's claims of having been put under the imperius curse during the first war cast enough doubt as it was.

"Can you describe the moment you were cursed? Where were you?"

"I was walking back to the castle with Vincent and Greg, and Pansy was just ahead of me with Millicent. I felt the curse come over me just as I entered the entrance hall."

"Would anyone in that group be able to verify that?"

"You'd have to ask them, wouldn't you?" he replied disdainfully.

"Draco." One word, but Lucius' tone was warning enough. Malfoys had a certain dignity to maintain.

"Greg and Vincent wouldn't have noticed at the time... They aren't terribly perceptive. Pansy is more likely to have realised something had happened."

"And after you felt the curse take hold?"

"I walked up the stairs, which was what the voice was telling me to do. I left Greg and the others and waited on the first floor."

"Where was Mr Potter at this point?"

"I don't know. I was just standing on the first floor; the voice told me to wait and do nothing, so I did."

"Were you worried? After all you could have been forced to do anything."

"No, I couldn't be worried. I didn't feel anything but... serene."

"What happened next?"

"Potter appeared at the top of the stairs and I spoke to him, I told him luck wouldn't always be on his side."

"Was that you speaking or...?"

"I said it, but they weren't my words. Potter turned away and looked over the banister and when he was about to go down the stairs the voice told me to cast a trip jinx."

Proudfoot's quill moved quickly over her muggle paper. Draco's account did match the signs of being under the Imperius curse. The wording of the threat was unusual. It gave the impression that the aim was to hurt and not to kill, which could work in Draco's favour.

"Why might someone want to use you to attack Mr Potter?"

"I'm an obvious choice, wouldn't you say?"

"Are you agreeing that this attack is typical of your attitude towards Mr Potter?"

"Draco does not have a record of violent attacks against students in this school," Lucius interrupted coldly. "I would have expected experienced aurors such as yourselves to be capable of investigating both the matters you came here to discuss. I wouldn't like to have to inform the minister for magic that your department has woefully neglected to look into a matter of an unforgivable curse cast on a minor."

Savage's eyebrows shot up, "We have every intention of looking into the matter, Mr Malfoy," he said defensively.

"What can you tell us about the voice you heard while you were under the curse?" Proudfoot interjected briskly.

"It was familiar, but I can't place it," Draco said, shaking his head.

"And we established that you were surrounded by a great number of students at the time," Proudfoot said wearily, glancing quickly over her notes. "There's nothing more we need from you at present, but we will certainly be in contact in the near future."

She regarded Lucius and the headmaster sternly. "Due to the violent nature of the attack and young Mr Malfoy's record with Mr Potter, I think it would be appropriate to keep the boys separate at all times and Mr Malfoy under close supervision until we are confident that he was under the influence of the Imperius curse."

"He has been vouched for by the headmaster of this school." Anger began to creep into Lucius’ aloof, aristocratic demeanour.

"With respect, it counts for a great deal, but we do need evidence in order to close the matter. If you were to reconsider Veritaserum..."

"I think not."

"Mr Malfoy will be separated from the student body as a whole due to our concerns over his safety but he'll be attending classes as usual under the supervision of our teachers. I trust that will satisfy your department, bearing in mind there have been no charges against Mr Malfoy and he has cooperated fully with your enquiry," the headmaster replied firmly yet kindly. "Professor Snape can arrange for you to speak with the Slytherin students that Mr Malfoy mentioned this evening, if that is convenient for you?"

"We'd actually like to speak to Mr Potter as soon as possible."

"Of course," the headmaster replied, his eyes calculating.

H.P.

Apparently Snape was too busy to speak to him again that day because he hadn't reappeared in the hospital wing. Dumbledore came though and explained that the aurors would have a few questions. He hinted heavily that it was important that the aurors begin to investigate who Harry's real attacker was and that he might consider answering their questions with that aim in mind.

Harry expected that type of Slytherin attitude from Snape, not from Dumbledore. He'd been led straight to McGonagall's office in silence where two grim aurors were awaiting him.

They weren't exactly what he'd been expecting when he'd heard what an auror was. These two didn't look like they'd be fighting any dark witches or wizards any time soon. Then again, Dumbledore was ancient, and he could be pretty terrifying if he wanted to be.

The two aurors were more controlled than any other witch or wizard he'd ever met. Their eyes flicked to his scar, and the auror who introduced himself as Savage shook his hand rather firmly, as if he was keen to impress, but other than that there was no fuss about who he was, which put him more at ease.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions about your altercation with Mr Malfoy. If you feel distressed discussing the attack then you can let us know," Savage reassured him, the simpering attitude not suiting him at all and Harry's respect for him diminished rapidly. He wasn't nervous and he certainly didn’t need to be pandered to.

"If you could run through what happened from when you entered the castle until the attack," Proudfoot suggested

"I came in with my friends, but Professor Dumbledore asked to speak with me alone, so I went with him for a few minutes to a classroom on the first floor. After I came out, I went to look for my friends and they were waiting in the entrance hall. That's why I was at the top of the stairs when I spoke to Malfoy."

"What can you remember about the attack?"

"He said something about me getting out of the tournament, that it was a lucky escape or something. I decided to ignore him because he was alone. The last thing I remember was him saying something about me not being so lucky next time. Then I fell." Proudfoot nodded sympathetically and Harry was hard pressed not to roll his eyes.

"Did anything about your conversation with Mr Malfoy seem unusual to you?"

"Well... It was odd that he was alone. Malfoy isn't the type to pick a fight without his friends to back him up."

"So, you weren't expecting an attack from Mr Malfoy? From what I understand you've been involved in altercations with him in the past."

"No, I wasn't expecting it. Like I said, if he's looking for a fight, he'd want his friends there to back him up. And I'm not saying he's above throwing a curse or two, but he'd usually stop if it meant getting caught or he'd wait for me to start the fight."

"Would you agree with that, Professor McGonagall?"

What did it matter if she agreed? It was his opinion!

"If you want to see Mr Malfoy's school record it is Professor Snape you need to ask."

"You aren't familiar with Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy's animosity?" Proudfoot asked, pausing as she scribbled notes on muggle paper.

"I am, there are few in this school who aren't," she replied in clipped tones. He couldn't help but wonder if Dumbledore had told her Draco was innocent.

"Do you think he's capable of such an attack on Mr Potter?"

"I wouldn't have thought him capable of an outright attempt at murder, no."

"There was an incident last year of Mr Malfoy being put in detention for 'behaviour likely to endanger a student', and that student is recorded as being Mr Potter," Savage said, handing over a slip to Professor McGonagall.

"What was that for, Professor?" Harry asked. He couldn't remember anything that serious happening last year.

"Mr Malfoy dressed as a dementor to distract Mr Potter during a quidditch match. I worded the detention slip more severely in the hope that he would think about the consequences of his actions."

Or because she'd been so annoyed that he'd tried to sabotage Gryffindor's chances of winning the quidditch cup. McGonagall was just as competitive as Snape was when it came to that particular trophy.

"Has anyone spoken to you about Mr Malfoy since the attack?" Savage asked, rounding on Harry. In other words, has anyone told you he was under the imperius curse?

"No one's said anything much about Malfoy," he bluffed, hoping they'd drop it. Proudfoot made another note in her little notebook. It reminded Harry of those old fashioned detective programmes that had sometimes been on at the Dursleys.

"Before the attack, who would you have said posed you the greatest danger at this school?"

"Whoever put my name in the goblet of fire," he shrugged.

"Not Mr Malfoy?"

"I don't consider him a threat. I can take him in a duel."

"Would it surprise you to hear that Mr Mafoy has claimed that he was under the imperius curse and was not responsible for his actions when he attacked you?" Savage said a little coldly. Harry knew then that they hadn't believed him when he said that no one had spoken to him about Malfoy.

"Yes, it would," he replied stonily.

McGonagall took over from that point, assuring the aurors that if they had any more questions to ask later on then she would be available to arrange it, but Harry had had a difficult few days and needed to be settled back into the tower. She accompanied them to her office door before rounding on Harry.

"Are you quite alright, Potter?"

"I'm fine, Professor."

"I would advise you to watch your attitude when you speak to the aurors. They are here to help you after all."

"I know." He considered saying that it would be more of a help if they were going to investigate who imperiused Malfoy or put his name in the goblet of fire, but he didn't know how much she knew so he held his tongue. He didn't know if he'd handled that right at all, but he'd hardly been given much direction from Dumbledore and Snape was nowhere to be found.