Harry slouched over to the Infirmary window, paying only half an ear to Herminone's lecture on the 'science' behind decongestant potions. With her still catlike eyes and bound-back hair (the fur-removing potion still needed to be applied every half hour), his friend bore a strong resemblance to Professor McGonnagal.

Such a resemblance was not lost on Ron, who had left his potions homework to the last minute (as usual) and was now finding it particularly difficult to meet Hermione's eye, especially as (Ron had been forced to admit), Snape had made a few pointed remarks regarding the similarity of Harry and Ron's essays last week.

Harry had, as a result, buckled down and hacked his way through the work, whilst Ron had settled down for an evening of Wizarding Chess with Dean. End result, embarrassed, gruff and disgruntled Ron and irritated, chiding and (it must be said), slightly smug Hermione.

Harry debated with himself a bit about whether to leave his friends to it- although Hermione had some good points, he wasn't going to re-write his homework, not when Snape would probably just mark him T on the basis that the name 'Harry Potter' automatically reduced any essay which followed it by 200 or so marks. However, despite the privacy wards around Hermione's bed and despite the fact that Ron was facing away from the Mediwitch, Harry knew that Madam Pomfrey could see Ron's ears getting pinker and pinker and Harry knew that it was only his presence which was keeping the peace- Ron and Hermione's arguments were never quite so bad if Harry was around.

His head on his hand, Harry gazed out of the window. Hagrid was apparently having a fight with thin air; god knows what monster he'd now discovered- maybe a super strong moth! Harry amused himself by thinking of Snape running around, just a few scraps of black material to defend his dignity, yelling 'get me some mothballs!' Then again, that scenario might entail a naked and unabashed Dumbledore, standing up in the great hall to explain that there was no need to be embarrassed and that everyone was more or less the same under their clothes, whilst the house elves handed out figleaves...

Shaking his head to dispel the increasingly bizarre  daydream, Harry returned his gaze to the window in time to see a small, white blond figure walking across the grounds towards the forbidden forest.

Draco! It was a stroke of luck; the scheme to get into the Slytherin Common Room had failed spectacularly; Crabbe and Goyle had somehow earned detention with Professor Flitwick, who Harry and Ron had bumped into immediately after taking polyjuice and had spent the next hour cleaning silver cups and trophies in the awards room, only just managing to get away before the potion wore off.

Making his excuses, Harry ran out of the Infirmary, down numerous flights of stairs and outside just as Draco was disappearing into the trees. Throwing on his invisibility cloak, Harry ran, fast as his legs could carry him and, panting, reached the edge of the forest in time to see a flash of white blond in the distance.

Summoning up his reserves of energy, Harry followed, marvelling at his luck. Of course the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was in the Forbidden Forest, well duh! If you were going to have a secret way into the castle, what better place to hide it. Besides, if the monster was a meat eater, it might need to come out to hunt. It was obvious, really, when you thought about it.

Of course, it had not occurred to Harry that Draco might, himself, be following another person, even less so that someone else might have also observed Draco entering the Forbidden Forest and also be in pursuit.

Had Harry had not been concentrating so avidly on all the possibilities (was it a minotaur? a giant spider like in Lord of the Rings? a dinosaur even?), had Draco not pulled up so sharply, had the tree root not stuck out at just the wrong angle, perhaps this story would have run a very different course.

However, Harry was walking in a daydream, Draco did stop suddenly and Harry did trip over the tree root.

The boys collided and fell in a heap, their fall cushioned, silenced by the thick moss. The marvel was that, for all the surprise they felt, neither boy made a sound beyond the slightest of gasps.

Harry looked up to see Draco glaring at him- the hood of the cloak had fallen awry. He opened his mouth but, to his shock, Draco lunged forward and put his hand over Harry's mouth before he could utter a word.

"Quiet, Potter, or you'll get us both expelled" Draco hissed

"What?!" Harry hissed back. Then, to his surprise, someone spoke.

"It is safe now, Fawkes."

Scrambling to their knees, Harry and Draco shuffled through the dry earth to the clearing and peaked through the trees.

Dumbledore stood, a bright, tall figure in the gloom of the clearing. On his shoulder was a large, red-gold bird.

"A phoenix" Draco whispered to himself.

Harry covered his mouth to stifle a gasp.

The phoenix fluttered off Dumbledore's purple clad shoulder for a moment before changing, right in front of their eyes, into a man.

A young man, tall and trim, with flowing, curly golden hair.

"My dear, you grow older every day" he said, in a heavy germanic accent, gentling stroking a wrinkled cheek.

"And you remain forever young." Dumbledore said indulgently. "It is fortunate, for I am not only looking but feeling older every day, Gellert. The Chamber..."

"Hush, yes, I know. It have been opened, you being forced out of Hoggywarts soon and you want I to stay and protect the mudbloods, ya? I do this for you."

Dumbledore shook his head "As always succinct. I do wish you would not use that term, however."

The young man shrugged "No sticks and stones or broken bones." he paused, observing the Headmaster's woebegone expression "I will not add to your troubles, my beloved friend. I would never wish to hurt you. Never again."

Staring wide eyed at the tableu of their Headmaster embracing the younger man, the boys did not hear anyone approaching until a heavy hand fell upon each of their shoulders.

"You will be coming with me!" hissed Professor Snape.

Even Draco, who usually addressed Snape like some sort of honorary uncle, lost his tongue in the horror of being apprehended. Perhaps, Harry thought, as the Potions Master marched them across the darkening grounds, into the castle and down to the dungeons, perhaps Draco realises that, this time, even Snape couldn't turn a blind eye. Not with Harry as a witness to Draco's wrongdoing. Out of bounds, (almost) out of hours and spying on the Headmaster to boot. They'd be lucky if they were not both expelled.

z88;

It was only when the boys had been deposited, slightly roughly, in the two chairs in front of Snape's study desk that Draco started to speak.

"I was following Harry..."

z88;

"LIAR!"

z88;

"I was, you're always going out of bounds, Potter, Professor Snape has caught you a hundred times. He's not going to believe you..."

z88;

"You..!"

z88;

"That IS ENOUGH!" Snape snapped. Draco's smug smile at Harry faded as he realised the Potions Master was glaring at both of them.

z88;

"I should report your espionage directly to the Headmaster. Whomever was following whom, you both entered the Forbidden Forest, which even dunderhead first years know is forbidden, eavesdropped on what was clearly a private conversation and neither of you alerted the Headmaster to your presence, nor, I expect, would have you. Whomever followed the Headmaster, both of you are in serious trouble."

z88;

Draco licked his lips, now slightly nervous "My father is a school governor... he needs to know if..." Draco's voice faded to a whisper under Snape's glare.

z88;

For what seemed like a century, Snape looked at the two boys. Finally he spoke.

z88;

"I should report you both to the Headmaster, however that would result in a level of... publicity that I think it pertinent to avoid.

z88;

I could, of course, merely forbid you, on pain of pain, to mention what you had seen, perhaps offering the understanding that, were you both to forget this evenings' events, so would I. However, neither of you are capable of discretion and, even if you intended to keep such a promise, the information would not be secure due to your particular circumstances.

z88;

Obliviate, is, of course, an option. However the spell can damage young minds and is, indeed, treated as an unforgivable..."

z88;

"What's an unforgivable" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.

z88;

"You're as bad as a muggle, Potter, there's the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, the torture curse, Crucio, and then there's the control curse, Imperio. Although Imperio shouldn't really be an unforgiveable per se, because..."

z88;

"You know much too much about curses for a second year, Draco, and this would reflect very badly on Lucius if you were to be overheard by the wrong sort of people."

z88;

Draco opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again.

z88;

"As I said, due to your clear inability to be discrete, the best course of action would be to obliviate you. However, even obliviated memories can be obtained through torture..."

z88;

"Who'd torture me?!" Draco exclaimed

z88;

"Any number of people, if they received the slightest whisper that you had witnessed two of the worlds most powerful wizards in conversation!"

z88;

"Two? You mean Dumbledore and that blond guy?"

z88;

"Yes, even the Dark Lord acknowledged Dumbledore to be his greatest threat and avoided confrontation."

z88;

Draco looked sullen "But the blond guy, he was nothing, he didn't even do any magic. He was probably just a pet Dumbledore transfigured because he's nuts."

z88;

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose "Mr Malfoy, I have, from your earliest youth, attempted to teach you logic. I know, having overseen your education, that you know the following facts: 1. animals cannot be successfully transfigured into other animals; their mentality remains the same- a fox transfigured into a rabbit will still attempt to hunt rabbits, a bird transfigured into a human will be unable to converse. 2. animagi of normal wizards and witches invariably take the shape of edge creatures. 3. Phoenixes are one of the most powerfully magical creatures known to wizardkind. What does that tell you about the wizard who changes into a phoenix!?"

z88;

"That he was powerful, I guess?"

z88;

"Even Merlin himself could only manage a unicorn." Snape snorted "And, with his strong German accent and the use of the word Mu... the M word!"

z88;

"Mudblood?" Draco looked perplexed.

z88;

"Do not use that term! As I was saying, anyone of your father's acquaintance would have deduced who he was. I am surprised you did not recognise him from your chocolate frog cards!"

z88;

Snape sighed heavily "Ms Granger and or your father, Draco, would be able to tell you who the man in the clearing was within minutes. Indeed, it would not take them above five minutes to produce a photograph for verification. And then you would have made a dangerous enemy. Two dangerous enemies, in fact, but whereas Dumbledore may have very pressing, albeit altruistic reasons to remain outside Azkaban, he has limits. He would not kill you, he would not kill your friends, families or anyone who had the misfortune to hear or overhear the merest detail as to what had happened in the clearing. Gellert Grindelwald, on the other hand, had apparently evaded justice for over a century and, I suspect, would go to any lengths to protect Professor Dumbledore." Snape suddenly looked tired "You do not know what a terrible position in which you have placed yourselves. On one side, the Dark Lord, on the other... on the other two of the most powerful wizards, light and dark, since Merlin himself."

z88;

Harry's eyes widened "Grindelwald... Didn't Dumbledore... the chocolate frog card."

z88;

"Yes, in the forties, Grindelwald was on his way to conquering Europe. Not just the UK, Europe. No one could stop him; he was hyperintelligent, brave, powerful, exceptionally charismatic and supported by a group of wizards and witches who loved him as a brother. Most foes who attempted to approach him disappeared or were turned before they got within a hundred miles of Grindelwald. Only the most powerful- or, more usually, those who Grindelwald wished to question, ever saw the man and, well, those he could not turn he killed. Grindelwald, for all his charm, fought to the death.

z88;

And then Dumbledore simply apperated into a little town in Germany where, unbeknownst to the world, Grindelwald was staying, fought a long, visually magnificent and technically skilled duel, took Grindelwald's wand and then walked the most dangerous wizard for several hundred years to the door of the tallest tower of the prison Grindelwald, himself, had built and turned the key."

z88;

Harry and Draco looked at each other. Even without everything that happened in the clearing, the bare facts sounded at least a bit suspicious.

z88;

"I had always wondered how Dumbledore had known exactly where Grindelwald was and the accounts of the battle were, well, more in tune with a flashy, showcase duel between two old duelling masters rather than a battle to the death. A lot of lights, self-transfiguration, and clever charms, rather than hexes or curses. And it ended after Grindlewald was disarmed, despite the fact that they both knew wandless magic... And Grindelwald's followers did nothing, just watched him being taken to prison."

z88;

Harry looked at his normally taciturn teacher in surprise. The man seemed half-talking to himself.

z88;

"So, do you think it was a... some sort of setup?" Draco asked.

z88;

"Of course. They must have known each other, Dumbledore and Grindelwald were around the same age, pureblood and exceptionally gifted. Perhaps when they had studied for their Masteries..." Snape sighed "In any case, they had been... important to one another but had parted ways. Had stayed out of each other’s way because they did not wish to harm one another. Then there came a time when Dumbledore could stand aside no longer, not just the Ministry of Magic but the governments across Europe were begging him to help. Dumbledore must have let Grindelwald know that he was coming and Grindelwald must have decided to... hand in his wand."

z88;

"But that's crazy!" exclaimed Draco

z88;

"No." Harry said thoughtfully "It's not, he must have really loved Dumbledore, not enough to change his views but too much to hurt him."

z88;

"But Dumbledore was his enemy!"

z88;

"Maybe, but you wouldn't hurt your dad, even if he was your enemy." Harry said, cunningly.

z88;

"Daddy would never be my enemy!"

z88;

"What if you fell in love with a muggleborn and he wanted to kill her?"

z88;

"I would never..."

z88;

"Quiet." Snape snapped. "Draco, you could fall in love with a muggleborn, Potter, you underestimate Mr Malfoy, Draco's father would simply invent pureblood parents for the girl and spread the story she was adopted by muggles."

z88;

Draco looked very much like a fish, with his mouth opening and closing in shock. Harry took advantage of the silence "Why didn't he just surrender, then?"

z88;

"I imagine that there was some need to hush up their acquaintance. Now" Snape looked at the two boys "You know who the other man was, why it is a very bad idea to give anyone any indication of what you know and enough of the history to mean that you do not need to independently research the facts. I imagine both of you will be able to get away with reading general books on dark arts history but no specific investigations, do you understand me?"

z88;

Both boys nodded.

z88;

"Now, I must ask you both to make an unbreakable vow."

"An unbreakable vow!" Draco exclaimed, in outraged termsz88;

"What's an unbreakable vow?" Harry asked; it didn't sound good

z88;

"It's a promise and, if you break it, you die!" Draco replied "it's illegal to make children do it!"

z88;

"Not illegal, merely, in most instances, immoral" Snape drawled "However, you two have managed to uncover a fifty year old crime implicating no less than, I shall say it again, two of the world's most dangerous wizards."

z88;

"What was the crime?" Harry asked, still trying to catch up

z88;

"Breaking out of Nuremgard, you nit." Draco exclaimed. "How did he do it, though?"

z88;

Snape rolled his eyes "Again, for the sake of you not asking Madam Pince for texts on wizarding prisons, I expect he managed it by a. building his own prison and b. being an unregistered phoenix animagus. People feel that it is somehow right to lock the villain in the tallest tower of a prison- or the deepest dungeon- and, if the gaol is one which the evil wizard built himself, they will not imprison him elsewhere- there is an essential rightness in the irony of locking up a man in his own lockup. Grindlewald was nothing if not intelligent; Nuremgard is in the middle of the stormlands, making apperation unwise and flying in impossible, has no dungeons, one exceptionally high tower (preceded by about a thousand stairs, mind you) and the one cell in said tower has a door which also locks from the inside; it would put even the most active minister off visiting. There are wards of course, very powerful ones, but phoenixes are notoriously difficult to keep in or, indeed, out. 'Fawkes', as Professor Dumbledore calls him, has often delivered messages to my home, which even a house-elf would not be able to enter. Oh, and as for food and sanitation, I would be incredibly surprised if Nuremgard's kitchens are not staffed with either the Grindlewald or Dumbledore family house-elves, who keep their masters' secrets and probably make a great play of bringing up trays of food and down empty plates three times a day."

z88;

"Wow..." Harry exclaimed.

z88;

Snape smirked "I expect that they found the plotting all incredibly amusing. However, discovery would not be a laughing matter."

z88;

Harry nodded "Yeah, okay"

z88;

Draco looked suspicious "What do you mean "ok"?"

z88;

"I mean I'm willing to take the vow. This isn't some stupid little game, Draco. Dumbledore was asking Grindlewald to look after the muggleborns but..." Harry frowned at Draco "But if I was you, I'd close the Chamber. If he catches you..."

z88;

"What do you mean!"

z88;

"You're Slytherin's Heir!"

z88;

"No I'm not!"

z88;

"What?! Well, you know who it is"

z88;

"No I don't" Draco looked panicy "Father told me the less I knew, the better..."

z88;

"Draco..." Snape said queryingly

z88;

"As I said, I don't know anything." Draco suddenly looked incredibly nervous.

z88;

"Your father, however, does know something."

z88;

"Why are we talking about this in front of him" Draco exploded angrily "Potter's the enemy."

z88;

"He is not 'the enemy', he is a little boy, just like you. A foolish, meddling, too-clever-by-half child, who sees the world in black and white and does not have the first idea of danger. Just like you, Draco."

z88;

"You've always treated him like an enemy!" Draco continued, determined to deflect the conversation from his father.

z88;

"Potter and I have our differences..."

z88;

"Yeah, because of his Dad and Evans" Draco said smartly.

z88;

"Evans?" Harry asked, knotting his brow.

z88;

"Yeah, Evans was Severus' best friend and James Potter stole him and got him killed. That's why he hates you."

z88;

Snape had gone white. "Draco, hold your tongue!"

z88;

//Evans// Harry thought, that name is so familiar //Evans... Wait, Aunt Petunia's wedding certificate. Harry had polished the curly silver frame about a million times. Petunia Evans... that would make his mum... Lily Evans?//

z88;

Harry looked up as Snape, his green eyes wide. Suddenly he realised that Snape, for all his apparent blood supremacist sympathies, had poured all his scorn on pureblood James Potter but never said a word, not a single word, against Lily.

z88;

//He loved my mum. He protected me because he promised my mum//

z88;

"I'm sorry Sir" he heard himself saying "I'm sorry that... that Evans died."

z88;

Draco looked at Harry skeptically, suspecting a trick "Why are you sorry?"

z88;

"Because losing your best friend must be terrible." Harry retorted.

z88;

"You don't care!" said Draco scornfully

z88;

"Yeah I do. I'd even be sorry for you if your dad died."

z88;

"You would not! And he wouldn't be sorry about you!"

z88;

"Actually" Snape said quietly "Lucius was very sorry when Evans died. He would have saved h… Evans, if it was possible."

z88;

"From the Dark Lord?" Draco exclaimed

z88;

"Evans was simply in the wrong place, at the wrong time." Snape looked over at Harry. Suddenly, he noticed that, although the boy's face was thinner than Lily's had been, it was definitely heart-shaped, not the narrow bullet that James' head had been. And the eyebrows, that long, gentle curve was clearly more of the Evans shape, now he came to look at the boy properly. For the first time, the eyes, those heartbreakingly green eyes, not only had Lily's form but Lily's expression.

z88;

"I doubt, however, that Evans would have wanted to be anywhere else." Snape finished.

z88;

Draco looked confused. Something had happened, something deep, a change which changed everything. But what?

z88;

"Back to your father, Mr Malfoy" Snape said coldly "I gather you have eavesdropped enough to understand that he is involved with the Chamber of Secrets?"

z88;

Draco hunched his shoulders.

z88;

//He's just a kid// Harry thought //a scared kid//

z88;

"Out with it Draco."

z88;

"In front of a Gryffindor?"

z88;

"A Gryffindor you have given every reason to believe that you are implicated. Yes, in front of a Gryffindor!"

z88;

"He just said it would open and Dumbledore would be kicked out and then it'd close again and I was not to get involved." Draco said stiffly.

z88;

"And what did he say to your mother? What did your mother say to him?"

z88;

Draco bit his lip "There's a book, a diary I think. And I think a girl's involved. A pureblood girl. Mum didn't like it, she said it was one thing if mudbloods got killed but there weren't enough pureblood families left, even if they were blood traitors. Dad said that was the idea, the girl wouldn't let mudbloods be killed, Albert would have taught her all his blood-traitor ideas."

z88;

"Albert?" Snape asked

z88;

"It might have been Arthur? It was the name of a king, I think."

z88;

Snape steepled his fingers, pressing their tips to his eyes "I see. Yes, I see."

z88;

Draco swallowed "But then, kids started being attacked... they aren't dead, though. Daddy was right. And now Dumbledore is going to be sacked and Daddy will help you to become headmaster, Sir."

z88;

Snape opened his eyes "I can see, now, that Unbreakable Vows are unnecessary. Draco, I do not wish to be headmaster and I am certain that you can now appreciate just how dangerous this Chamber of Secrets business has become, to your family and, indeed, the school. You may wish that muggle-borns were not allowed to attend Hogwarts but you do not wish them dead and, believe me, it is a miracle that deaths have not occurred as yet."

z88;

Draco swallowed "But the bloodtraitor kid..."

z88;

"Is obviously under some powerful enchantment and cannot control her actions! Did you not know that chickens have been slaughtered, viciously hacked to pieces? What little girl in her right mind would do that?"

z88;

Draco paled "But was has that got to do..."

z88;

"Last time that the Chamber was opened, the flock of chickens was also killed. Now, Draco, do you understand the danger of mentioning anything that I have told you to anyone? Even your parents?"

z88;

"Y...yes Sir."

z88;

"And, Potter, you will not imperil your friends by mentioning to them the events of today!"

z88;

"No Sir." Harry said respectfully.

z88;

"Good. Now, for your detentions..."

z88;

"Detentions?!" Draco exclaimed, dismayed.

z88;

"Yes, detentions, for being out of bounds. You will both report to me at 6 o'clock on Tuesday evening to learn Occulmancy."

z88;

Draco's eyes were wide as saucers.

z88;

"What is Occulmancy, Sir?"

z88;

"The art of hiding information, Potter. Various people, myself, the headmaster and the Dark Lord included, can, in simple terms, read people's minds when necessary. Of course, there is a world of difference between the Headmaster's definition of necessary, which is so rare as to be never, and the Dark Lord's, which is when he cannot be bothered to speak his question."

z88;

"The Dark Lord is dead!" Draco exclaimed

z88;

"No, Draco, he isn't" Harry said quietly "And he doesn't treat his followers very well, he left Quirrell to die."

z88;

"That was Quirrell"

z88;

"Who was the only person he trusted to help him. He didn't let your father know he was alive, did he?"

z88;

"Well, no..."

z88;

"Occulmancy, 6pm, Tuesday." Snape rapped out "Go to bed, it's past ten!"

z88;

Surprised at the lateness of the hour, the boys scrambled to their feet. "I will walk with you Potter, I have a meeting with Professor McGonnagal".

z88;

Harry nodded "Oh, and Draco?"

z88;

"What?"

z88;

Harry held out his hand "We're going to be stuck in detention for the next few weeks..."

z88;

"Months" Snape interrupted laconically

z88;

"So, lets just try to get along. Or we might end up in detention for real."

z88;

Draco hesitatingly took Harry's hand "This doesn't mean we are friends"

z88;

"Maybe not" Harry replied "But not enemies, either."

z88;

As Harry and Snape walked up to Gryffindor Tower, Harry was surprised at the easy companionableness. It was a shame, really.

z88;

"Sir?"

z88;

"Yes Harry"

z88;

"If... if nothing was supposed to happen this evening, I'll have to act the same way in class, won't I. And you too?"

z88;

There was a pause.

z88;

"Yes, I suppose so."

z88;

"Would it be okay, do you think, if I, well if I wasn't as rude."

z88;

"You were never rude, Potter, just a smart-alec who answered back. Perhaps with some provocation"

z88;

"Do we have to be enemies, Sir?"

z88;

"You would be safest if I was not considered to be your ally."

z88;

Harry sighed.

z88;

"But perhaps" Snape said with a half-smile "we could slide into civility and agree that any outward sign of ill-will can be taken as... shall we say insincere."

z88;

After he had bid the Potions Master goodnight in the hallway, Harry wandered into the common room.

z88;

"Hey mate" called Ron, looking up from his rather blotchy essay "where were you?"

z88;

"Bumped into Snape, got detention, yada, yada, yada. He gave me one for next Tuesday too, the git!"

z88;

"Aww!"

z88;

Harry bounced up the stairs to his dormitory and pulled out his essay; blotchy, short and written in a large, rather scraggly hand. He grabbed a fresh roll of parchment, his best pen and his potions text.

z88;

"What are you doing?" Ron asked, as Harry sat down beside him.

z88;

"Making sure he doesn't have an excuse to give me another detention" Harry replied pertly "Hermione's lecture showed me I was dead wrong about 'the science' bit."

z88;

Ron laughed "She's too clever by half, our Hermione"

z88;

"Yeah" Harry smiled. He bent his head over the essay; every carefully rounded letter, every detail of which would prove that he was his mother's son.