Aside from Voldemort, no one had ever scared Harry as much as Professor Snape could. One look from him could cause a chill to sweep through Harry’s body. His heart raced as he entered the office. He looked up at Snape and immediately blurted out, "I’m sorry I accidentally came early. I didn’t have a watch and I thought the last time I looked it was almost 2:00. I must have made a mistake." He took a breath and continued. "But I won’t tell anyone about Malfoy."

Snape realized how terrified Potter was of him at times. Awhile ago, this would have pleased him immensely, but now listening to Potter sounding so frightened, he felt uncomfortable.

"Relax Potter, but try to remember to knock next time. As long as you remember how you felt when you thought I had told Draco about your little scene in my office a few days ago, then I have faith that you won’t run blabbing to everyone about what you saw here today."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. "I won’t, I promise." He added, "er… is he okay? Malfoy, I mean."

Snape smirked. "Since when are you concerned about Draco?"

"I’m not. It’s just that he seemed really upset and I thought that maybe something had happened to his father in Azkaban."

"No, unfortunately Lucius remains perfectly fine," Snape stated with no small degree of disgust.

Potter’s green eyes widened and he stared at Snape with a puzzled expression.

Snape realized that perhaps he had said too much and artfully steered the conversation away from Lucius. "Do you believe that you are going to be able to suppress the urge to tell Draco about what you have seen the next time he harasses you?"

Harry’s brow furrowed as he tried to envision a scene in which Malfoy was humiliating him yet again. He knew it to be inevitable. Would he be able to not retaliate?

"How would you feel if the situation were reversed and Draco had been here a few days ago?" Snape asked.

Harry’s eyes sparked with anger. "Malfoy would never give me a break. He’d run straight to the Daily Prophet and tell them what he saw, and then he’d tell everyone else just to be sure. He doesn’t care how I feel. He doesn’t care who he hurts. He’s like you!" With a shock, Harry realized that he had insulted Snape to his sneering face.

Snape’s eyes narrowed and he responded icily, "so, if the situation presents itself you will use this against him?"

"No," Harry responded quietly. He closed his eyes tightly. Why did he keep provoking Snape? "Hurting people doesn’t make me happy."

Snape’s anger disappeared as quickly as it had come. Harry really wasn’t like James; he had Lily’s compassion. His tone softened.

"Did you have a good talk with Lupin?"

Harry’s stomach tightened uncomfortably. Avoiding Snape’s eyes, he answered, "yes, I feel a bit better."

"Good. Shall we try Occlumency and see if you can stay calmer and ward off the spell?"

Harry nodded, feeling very fearful that the potion hadn’t started to work yet.

"On the count of three. One, two, three, Legilimens."

Harry concentrated on keeping his mind blank, but images swarmed but faded until one broke through. He was in the graveyard again, Voldemort was being resurrected, and his head felt like it was being split in two. He had managed to stay on his feet, but he felt Snape grab him and next thing he knew he was on the sofa.

At first Snape was impressed at how well Potter was using his mind to fend the spell off, but then he felt an unbearable flash of pain and knew that Potter was in trouble. When Potter started gasping for air and shaking uncontrollably, he ended the spell and brought him over to the sofa. He grabbed the boy’s wrist and discovered that Potter’s heart was racing at an alarming rate. He jumped up and brought a cloth soaked with Icentia, a cooling potion. Potter’s hands were over his scar and he winced when Snape pulled them away. "Shhh, Potter. This will help."

Harry felt something wonderfully cool being applied to his burning scar. Snape’s worried voice drifted through his head. "Breathe slowly, Potter. Work with me, take a deep breath. Potter!" Snape’s voice grew momentarily angry.

Harry focused on taking a slow breath.

"That’s better. Do it again, another slow breath."

Harry opened his eyes to a blurry shape in front of him. He blinked a few times and Snape’s dark eyes and pale face came into focus.

"What happened, Potter?"

Harry swallowed. "I don’t know. I was feeling fine but then my scar started to burn because Voldemort came back."

"I know that, but the physical pain should have ended as soon as I stopped the spell." Snape looked puzzled.

"Sometimes after Occlumency lessons, my head really hurts. It’s sort of like this," Harry admitted.

"Why haven’t you ever told me about this? Certainly I could have given you something."

"You gave me the Dreamless Sleep potion last night, and that really helped," Harry offered, hoping Snape would give him more.

"Yes, but you shouldn’t technically take that more than once a week. I shouldn’t have even given you the dose last night, but you appeared to really need it," Snape explained.

"I had a great night’s sleep. I’d really like it for tonight too," Harry asked hopefully as he sat up, the pain starting to subside.

Snape distractedly replied, "no, you’ve taken it twice this week. That’s more than enough. I’m not certain we should continue with this lesson today. I don’t care for how fast your heart was going and you appeared to have trouble breathing."

"I’m all right now." Harry took the cloth off his head. He suddenly felt very calm and a little sleepy and he knew that the potion had finally kicked in. He wanted to see if he could ward off the spell.

Snape’s eyes narrowed. "You want to do this again, right now? Are you sure?" He couldn’t believe that after the pain Potter had just experienced that he would be so eager to try again. He realized that Potter must have made immense progress with Lupin to feel so positive about this now.

When Harry nodded, Snape stood up.

"Okay, on the count of three again. One, two, three, Legilimens!"

Harry squeezed his eyes shut as a dark cloud hurled into his mind. He gasped and suddenly he saw Professor Snape on his knees cradling what looked like a dead woman in his arms. Tears were running down his pale face as, through his sobs, he croaked, "I loved you, you’ll never know. I’m so sorry." Snape’s shoulders shook and his head fell as he pulled the limp form closer. The spell came to such an abrupt end that Harry was left wavering on his feet. With a sharp intake of breath, he opened his eyes and saw a white-faced Snape frozen in front of him.

For a moment neither one spoke. Harry swallowed and looked at his professor wide-eyed. In a trembling voice he asked, "you lost someone you loved too? Who was she?"

Snape’s startled dark eyes hooded over. "It was a long time ago and it doesn’t concern you," he snapped at Potter. His heart quivered painfully at the memory of seeing Lily’s lifeless form. He had already been a spy for Dumbledore for a few months at that time and he had known that Lily was in danger, and he had wanted to keep her safe, but he had been too late. The Dark Lord had gotten there first. Lily’s death had been an emotional turning point for him; it had made him even more determined to bring down the Dark Lord. Shaking almost imperceptively, he looked over at his pensieve. He had forgotten to take out all the things he never wanted Potter to see. He closed his eyes for a moment, calming himself. Thankfully, Potter hadn’t realized the woman was his mother.

"Well Potter, that was rather well done. You have obviously made an attempt at progressing. I’ll see you back here on Wednesday."

Harry smiled a little. Things had gone far better than he could have ever imagined. There was just one thing he wished Snape had talked to him about. "Professor Snape, when does the pain after losing someone finally go away? When did you start to feel better?" he asked quietly.

Snape turned to him, his eyes dark and unfathomable. "Never!"

Harry flinched, his eyes wide and pain-stricken, then nodded softly and walked out of the office, head down, shoulders slumped.

A wave of anger at himself boiled up in Snape. How could he have been so thoughtless when he knew how much Potter was hurting over Sirius’ death?

Harry went back to his room and carefully took out the Dreamless Sleep potion, hiding it under his bed. He would need to get more tomorrow, but at least for tonight he could sleep peacefully.

_____________________________________________________________

"Harry, I’m going over to see Hagrid with Hermione and Ginny. Do you want to come?" Ron walked into the room.

Harry thought about it for a minute. Hagrid had been trying to get him to talk about Sirius whenever they were alone, but he’d probably leave him alone if he was in a group.

"Okay."

As they made their way to Hagrid’s hut, Hermione started talking.

"Harry, something really weird happened after Malfoy apologized. We ran after him and he was being really awful and he talked about how he wanted to use the killing curse on my parents when, all of a sudden, Snape came. And Harry, he was furious with Malfoy. He yelled at him and dragged him down to his office."

Ron added, "do you think that Snape made him apologize? I mean, I know it sounds unreal, but obviously, aside from you, who else knew about the curse other than Snape?"

Harry looked at Hermione and Ron with surprise. "You mean you two didn’t go running to Professor McGonagall? I thought she made Malfoy apologize."

Hermione looked annoyed. "You told us to butt out, so we did. Except when Malfoy apologized, we went after him to ensure he wouldn’t attempt to curse you again."

"Oh." Harry looked puzzled. "So, you think Snape made him do it?"

"Well, who else could it have been?" Ron questioned.

"After all the Occlumency lessons you’ve been having with Snape, maybe Snape likes you better now and is being fairer," Ginny stated.

Hermione and Ron burst out laughing. "Right. And Snape will dress up as Father Christmas this year."

Harry grinned at that but then thought about the scene in Snape’s office again. What was that all about? Why was Malfoy so upset? If Snape had made him apologize and then, from what Ron and Hermione witnessed, yelled at him and dragged him into his office, Malfoy would have been furious - he had always been Snape’s favorite student. If Snape suddenly punished him, Malfoy would have been fit to be tied, not sobbing on his shoulder. He remembered Snape’s voice, gentle and comforting. It couldn’t have been him that made the Slytherin apologize.

Harry found himself really wanting to tell Ron and Hermione what he had witnessed, but they both hated Malfoy, perhaps even more than he did. He wasn’t sure if, when really provoked, they wouldn’t blurt it out at Malfoy to humiliate him. He had promised Snape he wouldn’t tell, so he sighed and said nothing.

They had tea with Hagrid, who kept the conversation light as he talked proudly of how well Norbert was doing in Romania - he was the best fire-breathing dragon there. Every so often Hagrid’s gaze wandered over to Harry, who saw the concern in his eyes but looked away uncomfortably. He didn’t want anyone getting close.

They soon bid Hagrid goodbye to return to the caste, but as they headed back they encountered Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy smirked. "Hey Potty, taking the mudblood and your pet weasels out for a breath of fresh air? Shouldn’t they have leashes?"

For a split second, Harry felt tempted to wipe that smirk off Malfoy’s face and seriously humiliate him in front of Goyle and Crabbe, but then he flashed back to how devastated he had seemed and that memory calmed him down somewhat.

His eyes narrowed, however, as he responded, "is that the best you can do? Or would you like to hurl a curse at me again. Oh, hang on. Then Snape would make you apologize again." Harry smiled.

Malfoy’s face fell and he glanced nervously at Crabbe and Goyle, who looked at him with more than their usual confusion. "Let’s go," he mumbled to his faithful goons. He glared at Harry and the three departed.

"See, it was Snape." Ginny smiled triumphantly.

Ron broke into a huge smile. "I guess so." Then he laughed. "Well, he turned tail and ran awfully quick in any case."

Harry couldn’t help smiling. He had kept his promise to Snape but had also managed to shut Malfoy up. Obviously apologizing to him wasn’t something Malfoy wanted to be reminded of. So Snape actually made him apologize. He couldn’t quite believe it, that after over 5 years of either encouraging or ignoring Malfoy’s antics, Snape had actually punished his favorite Slytherin for something.

After finishing some homework in the library, the four Gryffindors went down to dinner. No sooner had they sat down when the buzz went around the table that Lucius Malfoy had escaped from Azkaban and had gone into hiding. Harry shivered at the news. He hated Lucius for what he had done at the Ministry of Magic. He glanced over to the Slytherin table, fully expecting to see Draco gleaming with joy, but instead the blond Slytherin looked even paler than usual as he pushed the food around on his plate. At that exact moment, he looked up and caught Harry’s eye. For a split second Harry caught a look of sheer misery reflected in his eyes but then, realizing that Harry was watching him, his chin came up and he flashed a triumphant smile. Harry looked away again, puzzled. He shook his head. He must have imagined Draco looking unhappy.

He still wasn’t very hungry but forced himself to eat a sandwich so his friends would stop looking so concerned. When he finished his sandwich and a glass of pumpkin juice, he excused himself, saying that Snape’s Occlumency lesson had exhausted him and he wanted to turn in early. He actually wanted to go outside for a few moments and breathe in some cold air to numb him.

Since everyone was still inside eating dinner, the corridors were silent as Harry walked along to Gryffindor tower. It was another chilly night and he shivered as he stepped outside. He jumped slightly when he realized he wasn’t alone. He turned a startled gaze on Draco, who looked back, equally startled.

"Potter, what are you doing out here?" Malfoy sneered at him.

"I like the night. I came out to look at the full moon. What are you doing? Hoping your father will show up?"

A look of alarm flashed in Draco’s eyes, but he looked away. "My father will be rejoining the Death Eaters. He won’t bother to come here." He paused and the hint of his usual arrogance emerged. "However, once he’s rejoined the Dark Lord, they’ll likely come after you, Potter." Malfoy looked at him smugly.

Harry’s eyes narrowed but he resisted responding. Instead he just stared at Draco with a puzzled look. What was up with him?

Malfoy faltered under his stare. He looked away and stared out into the dark night.

"Are you all right?" Harry softly asked.

Malfoy glared at him. "Of course, why wouldn’t I be? My father broke out of Azkaban like I said he would. You’re on the wrong side Potter."

"I’m on the only side worth fighting for," Harry stated.

Malfoy didn’t respond at first, just narrowed his eyes. "I’m going back in. You can howl at the moon by yourself."

Harry contemplated Malfoy’s strange behavior. He was still being nasty but much less than usual, definitely not up to his usual standard. He stood outside for a few more moments staring up at the stars. "Sirius, are you out there somewhere?" he whispered, tears welling up in his eyes. "I miss you so much." He swallowed painfully, blinking the tears away. He went back inside wanting nothing more than to drift off into a dreamless void.

Just before he turned the corner to head upstairs, he saw Snape standing down the darkened hall in front of Malfoy. The professor was handing him what looked like Dreamless Sleep potion.

He quickly turned the corner, not wanting to be seen. So Malfoy would be taking the potion also tonight. Rather strange considering he should be happy that Lucius had broken out. He put the puzzling thoughts out of his mind and readied himself for bed. He drank the potion quickly, hiding the bottle under his bed and lay down, falling asleep instantly.

"Thought you might like this for tonight." Snape handed Draco a vial of Dreamless Sleep potion. The boy looked tired, worn, and much older than his scant 16 years. "You are safe here. Lucius can’t get in."

Draco took it, glancing at him then away.

It was obvious the boy was rather embarrassed around him. Snape quietly said, "It’s okay."

Draco gave a soft smile, staring distractedly at his feet. He added wryly, "I wish… I wish he was different."

"I know, but you have to accept he will not change. He’s in too deep and he derives too much pleasure from hurting others and from killing. Your only purpose in his life was to add pride to the Malfoy name and, instead of seeing your accomplishments, he only wanted to see you at the very top. Nothing else was worth anything to him," Snape spoke quietly. He didn’t want to drop further pain on Draco, but he also didn’t want to coddle him and make him believe that someday Lucius would miraculously become the father that he so desperately wanted.

Draco’s gaze fell to the floor. "I know. I’ve known for a long time. I just kept hoping." He looked at the vial in his hand. "Thanks for this. I doubt I would have actually slept tonight."

Snape nodded as the blond boy walked slowly down the hallway.

The next morning, Harry woke up feeling disoriented. For a split second of panic he thought he was in Snape’s office, but then realized that had happened days ago and he was safely in his own bed.

"Hey Harry, do want to practice Quidditch today?" Ron looked at him closely. "Are you okay? You’re all flushed."

Harry did feel rather warm and he had a slight headache. He decided his jaunts out into the cold air must have given him a touch of flu. He got out of bed, feeling a bit lightheaded.

"I think I might be coming down with the flu."

"Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey? She’ll probably have something for that."

Harry shook his head. "It’s not that bad." The boys got ready and met Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindors at the breakfast table. Harry drank down a large glass of orange juice, hoping it would help him feel better. He glanced over to the Slytherin table and noticed that Malfoy was missing. Probably slept in after taking the Dreamless Sleep potion last night.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and Harry’s spirits lifted while he and Ron flew around the field, outmaneuvering each other with their broom skills. When they touched down, Hermione was there to greet them with a big smile. "Well done. I can’t see any other team beating Gryffindor this year."

They started walking back when suddenly Harry found himself face first in the grass.

"Harry!" Hermione ran over to him.

Harry shook himself off, laughing. "I’m okay. Just tripped on a rock, I guess," he said.

"Potter! Falling for the mudblood are you?" came Draco’s malicious voice.

Once again Harry had to fight back the urge to humiliate Malfoy. He stood up, glaring at Malfoy, who arrogantly stood there smirking at the three of them. Ron’s temper snapped and he dove at Malfoy, his fist connecting with Malfoy’s jaw. "Don’t ever call Hermione that again." He raised his fist, but both Harry and Hermione pulled him up off of Malfoy.

Malfoy got up, his hand to his jaw. "I will call her whatever I want to!" His hand went to his wand.

"10 points from Gryffindor for Mr. Weasley’s behavior." Snape’s silky voice came from near the lake. He emerged from a grove of trees to Harry’s right. Anger boiled up in Harry again. Malfoy grinned widely.

"And 10 points from Slytherin for Mr. Malfoy’s behavior. Now I suggest you all return to your respective houses before I start handing out detentions!"

The grin disappeared off Malfoy’s face like a wisp of smoke. Angrily he put away his wand and, with black cloak swirling, turned on his heel. The three Gryffindors all looked at Snape with immense shock. In the past 5 years he had never taken points off of his own house, no matter how bad the Slytherins behaved.

With a raised eyebrow, Snape softly snarled, "do Gryffindors need hearing aids? I wasn’t speaking to the shrubs over there. What part of get inside do you three not understand?"

They quickly hurried inside.

"Can you believe it! He took points off his own house! And from Malfoy no less!" Ron said with an extremely pleased grin.

They walked up the stairs when suddenly Harry stumbled. He would have hit the stairs had Ron not quickly reached out and grabbed his arm. "Hey mate, lift your feet," he teased.

Harry shook his head; he wasn’t usually so clumsy. "I must have stubbed my toe."

"Are you all right, Harry? You look a bit flushed." Hermione reached out to feel Harry’s forehead, but he pulled away.

He coldly responded, "I’m fine."

"We’re just worried about you," Ron stated, letting go of his arm.

"Well stop it. Poor Harry is just fine. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you two to stop fussing over me. When I really need you, you’re not there!" he yelled angrily.

They both looked shocked. "We’re always here for you."

Harry looked at Ron with hurt in his eyes. "Really? Always? What about when you thought I had put my name in the Goblet of Fire? I don’t remember you being there for me when just about everyone outside of Gryffindor turned on me, thinking I had cheated, thinking I wanted nothing but attention!"

He turned his gaze to Hermione. "And you, always doubting me and telling me what to do until I was so confused I didn’t know what I was doing."

Hermione said in a soft tear filled voice, "We put out lives on the line right there with you a couple of months ago to try and save Sirius." She blinked rapidly. "It’s not our fault that he died."

Harry was breathing hard and still glared at Hermione. "No, it’s mine. All mine."

"That’s not how I meant it." Hermione turned away from him and stormed upstairs.

Ron angrily looked at Harry. Harry lashed out again. "Go ahead. You want to punch me like you did Malfoy?"

Ron just shook his head at him. "What is the matter with you?" He also turned and went upstairs.

Harry, not wanting to follow, went back down the stairs. His head ached. That feeling of being separated from everyone else choked him. He went outside even though it had clouded over and the temperature had dropped. He went down to the lake, behind the shrubs, and sat there. What he wouldn’t give right now to have Sirius sitting beside him, even for just a few minutes to be able to hug him and tell him that he was sorry for all the mistakes he had made, for all the things he had done that resulted in his death. And that he hadn’t meant for it to happen; he’d only wanted to help him.

He remembered Sirius with his wasted face. Sirius at Christmas giving him a one-armed hug and telling him ‘to be careful.’

Tears streamed down Harry’s face as the memories came flooding back. He pulled his knees close and dropped his head down. He couldn’t stop shaking as the tears kept falling and the overwhelming black hole of grief threatened to pull him into its void. When finally the tears stopped flowing and a sick feeling washed over him, he got up and headed down to the dungeons. He just wanted to be numb.

____________________________________________________________

"Harry? Harry, wake up!" Ron’s voice came through his sleep-dazed mind.

Harry opened his eyes. "Why? What’s wrong?"

"We have to get to class. Are you sick? You’re all sweaty." Ron’s voice belied his concern, the previous night forgotten.

Harry felt well rested having swallowed another draught of Dreamless Sleep potion that he had snatched from Snape’s office the night before. He felt a little hot and feverish and a touch nauseous, but concluded that it was from the flu. "It’s just a touch of that flu I felt coming on yesterday."

"Are you sure you’ll be able to play Quidditch tonight?"

Harry nodded drowsily. The match wasn’t till 4:30; there was no way he would miss a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

He didn’t eat much at breakfast but downed a large glass of pumpkin juice.

Ron and Hermione kept glancing at him. He felt very guilty about what he had said to them yesterday, but still didn’t feel like apologizing because that would just bring more concern and questions.

After breakfast, they went to Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid discussed dragons and what their various needs were. Since he didn’t have any actual dragons this time to learn from, the class seemed rather boring.

Potions came next and, for the first time ever, Harry didn’t dread it, even though he still managed to accidentally add a touch too much of silica to his potion and Snape, as usual, sneered and questioned his competency.

Harry didn’t care; his focus was on the Quidditch match and how Gryffindor would beat Slytherin. He lived for Quidditch matches, as they were one of the few things currently that added real enjoyment to his life. He felt free when he soared on his Firebolt broomstick. He was determined to catch the snitch tonight and silently dedicate the victory to Sirius.

The afternoon classes dragged by and then finally it was time for Quidditch. Before he and Ron got on their brooms, Hermione ran over, hugged them both, wished them luck, and told them to be careful. Draco Malfoy watched them from a distance - stupid mudblood, weasel and Potty. He turned and Crabbe and Goyle were there to hand him his broom. A quick flash of envy boiled through him when he glanced at the three friends again.

Harry’s heart raced with excitement when he lifted off from the Quidditch field. His time in the air was the only time he now felt truly happy.

As the game progressed, Gryffindor was in the lead 90 to 30. For the last hour and a half, Harry and Draco had chased the snitch, but it appeared to be especially elusive. Harry found himself feeling very feverish and bit dizzy at times. He had to keep shaking his head to keep his focus on spotting the snitch. Suddenly Malfoy flew past him and Harry saw why - the snitch was hovering near the goal post. He took off, hot on its trail, as it spun and swerved. He and Draco flew neck and neck. Harry almost lost his grip on the broom when Draco purposely tried to unseat him by smashing into him. Anger rose in Harry and he became all the more determined to get the snitch before Draco.

The snitch headed to the very edges of the stadium with Potter and Malfoy closing in. They flew after it, practically side by side. Harry suddenly found himself shaking and almost hit the wall. He managed to right the broom at the last moment and focus on the snitch again. He had almost passed Malfoy when again he felt himself grow dizzy and his vision blurred. He slowed down and Malfoy looked back at him with a puzzled stare.

Must be the flu, Harry decided, and the dizziness passed as he sped up again to get ahead of Malfoy. His heart jumped when Malfoy almost grabbed it. "Nooo!" he shouted. He had to get it for Sirius. He swung up high and sped along over Malfoy, his entire concentration on the snitch when unexpectedly everything went pitch black.

With an incredible pain radiating through his shoulder, Draco regained consciousness. His head throbbed and he lifted his hand to his head; his hair felt sticky. With a groan of pain, he managed to sit up and saw Potter lying a few feet away.

The Gryffindor seeker was drenched in sweat and lying on his side, clutching his ribs. "Potter, what the bloody hell did you think you were doing!" Potter didn’t answer him. Instead he just shivered, closed his eyes and moaned.

Biting his lip, Draco slowly got up, stabs of pain coursing through his body. His head felt heavy. "Damn you, Potter. I almost had the snitch!"

He glanced at him again, but Potter had his eyes tightly closed and he was still shaking. With a snort of disgust, Malfoy tugged off his robe and threw it over his rival. He mumbled reluctantly, "Hang on, Potter. I’ll get help."

He limped towards the shapes running towards them. He managed to look up into Professor Snape’s worried eyes and blurted out, "Potter’s hurt, too," before the darkness overcame him and he passed out just as Snape caught him.

Dumbledore had whisked both boys up and out on stretchers to the hospital wing. The students were very upset and wanted to follow, but McGonagall and Snape ordered them back to their towers. Hermione and Ron were especially worried.

"Do you think Malfoy did something to him?" Hermione asked.

"Well, if he did he also got hurt. Harry had the flu. Maybe he passed out and knocked Malfoy off his broom," Ron surmised.

The mood was grim in the hospital wing. Draco groggily regained consciousness. The pain was still quite bad; he groaned when he tried to move. Someone was sponging the blood of his head and out of his hair. "There, there Mr. Malfoy. Professor Snape has gone to get you some painkiller. If you can shift over just a little, I have a warmth package I can slide under your worst hurt."

Draco panted from the effort but managed to lift his bandaged shoulder so Professor McGonagall could slide the silvery, shimmering, translucent package with a gold radiating center under his shoulder. The warm heat made him sigh with relief. He looked at her, puzzled as to why the head of Gryffindor was tending to him.

As if she sensed what he was thinking, she explained, "Since Mr. Potter is the more seriously injured of you two, Madam Pomfrey is tending to him, as are others. His symptoms are rather puzzling." She paused while Draco shifted the warmth package. "Are you feeling well enough to tell me what happened?" she asked, patting his arm.

"I, too, would like to know that," came Snape's voice, "but first drink a few mouthfuls of this. It will help with the pain. Madam Pomfrey has already given you something to heal your injury, but it will take 24 hours until you feel better."

With Minerva’s help, Severus lifted a wincing Draco so he could swallow a few mouthfuls of Snape’s potion. "Ugh, couldn’t you have put some chocolate into that?" Draco responded, shuddering at the taste.

A hint of a smile crossed both professors’ faces. "So Draco, what happened?"

"We were both racing for the snitch but Potter kept lurching all over the place on his broom. It was like he couldn’t control it. At one point he slowed down and I thought he would pass out, but then he raced back up over me. I think he was planning on diving for the snitch, but then all of a sudden he fell off his broomstick and hit me on the way down. I was unconscious at first and I think he might have been too."

Snape frowned. "I see. Draco, this will seem like an odd question, but did you, at anytime over the last few days, go into my office and take some bottles of Dreamless Sleep potion?"

Weariness was descending over Draco. The gray eyes opened again and focused on Snape. "No, the last time I had any of that was the one you gave me."

Snape nodded. "That’s what I thought. Go to sleep now and tomorrow you’ll start to feel a lot better."

Professor McGonagall pulled some warm blankets over him. Draco sighed. He blocked out the worried whispers coming from the bed on the other side of the room and went to sleep.

"Severus, you think it was Dreamless Sleep potion?" Minerva asked with worry edged deeply in her voice.

"I can’t be sure because his symptoms match many potions. He could have tried to brew something himself and, judging by his lack of skill at potions, might have made a mistake. However, since that particular potion is the one missing, I suspect it. As soon as he wakes up, he will tell me."

"Perhaps you better let me talk to him, Severus. You are far too volatile when you’re angry."

"Minerva, the boy nearly killed both himself and Malfoy, likely as a result of stealing potions from me. He doesn’t need to be coddled, he needs to be made aware of the repercussions of his actions!"

"Severus, we are well aware of how grave an error in judgment Harry has made, but he is in a high degree of pain and, if it was indeed the Dreamless Sleeping draught, he won’t be feeling very well for quite a few days yet. Let’s concentrate on getting him stable; his life is still in danger," Dumbledore said seriously in a low whisper.

"When he regains consciousness, I insist on spending some time alone with him. He has to tell me what he took or I will need to find out by force, so, if possible, I can counter it. Until that time, we cannot give him anything. All we can do is alternately keep him warm and cool and monitor his rapid heartbeat."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, Severus, but do not deal with him too harshly."

Snape’s eyes glittered dangerously.