In addition to the seven or eight members of Nirvala's Unseelie raiders, five huge slavering dogs slunk out of the trees to join them. Moonheart snorted in alarm. "Nightfire, it's darkhounds! Ware their bite, it's venomous!"

"Aye, pretty mare! Best ye watch it ‘afore one o' them chomps on thee pretty leg!" cackled Black Annis. "They're hungry, haven't fed in days, and they'd just love a sweet morsel of elvensteed!"

Moonheart half-reared, kicking out at the nearest darkhound, which was the size of a large mastiff and it snarled and growled, greenish slime dribbling from its oversized jaws.

Her silveron-shod hooves clipped the beast alongside the shoulder and it howled, turning to attack the white mare. But quick as the hound was, the elvensteed was quicker, spinning about on her hocks and lashing out with both hind feet in a deadly kick.

The darkhound was lunging at that precise moment, and it caught Moonheart's kick square in the jaw. The darkhound was sent flying, its skull smashed in by the elvensteed's powerful kick.

Moonheart whistled in triumph. "Take that, you blasted scurvy cur!" She swung her head about to peer at Harry, who had the sense to just sit still and allow the filly to fight her own battle. "Are you all right, Harry?"

"Fine." He drew his wand, and chanted a Shield Charm, Severus's advice echoing in his mind. Your first spell in any battle should be a defensive one, unless you're attacking a foe from ambush."

No sooner had he cast that, then Nirvala loosed an arrow at him. "A ha! A wizardling brat! I should have known!"

But Moonheart saw it, and skipped swiftly away, and the arrow landed harmlessly in a tree trunk. "Unseelie scum! You have invaded our lands for the last time!"

"Think you so, you chattering bag of glue?" sneered Nirvala, loosing two arrows in succession from his longbow.

The first one shattered against Harry's shield, while the other grazed Moonheart's haunch, making the white steed neigh sharply at the sudden stinging pain.

Nightfire screamed in fury, and charged the Unseelie archer, intending to stomp him into the ground, Draco perched on his back, wand out, chanting some spell Harry had never heard of.

In seconds the air was filled with the buzzing of angry wasps, and soon some of the Unseelie were swatting at their faces and arms and shrieking as the diminutive insects stung them all over.

"Nice one, Draco!" Harry called, pointing his wand at a leaping darkhound and shouting, "STUPEFY!" The Stunning Hex was a new spell Severus had just taught him and this was the first time he had ever truly cast it against anything save Voldy.

The red bolt blew the darkhound backwards and off its feet, and when it landed, it lay still.

But that was when everything went wrong.

The old hag upon the lizard-wolf thing drew a gnarled staff from somewhere and began to shake it and chant sharply, and a net flew from her outstretched hand and tangled about Nightfire's hooves.

The black horse tried to avoid it, but it was too close and the strands of net wrapped about his hocks, entrapping him neatly. He shrieked as Black Annis pulled the net taut and Nightfire toppled to the ground with a thud, yelling loudly, "Jump, Draco! Before I land upon you and crush you!"

Draco managed, by some miracle, to kick free of his stirrups and roll clear of the falling colt just before Nightfire hit the earth. But when he gained his feet again, he found himself facing a smirking Unseelie warrior, who didn't look that much different from his light counterpart, except he had a crueler look and was wearing a necklace of bones and had small skulls braided into his hair instead of crystals.

"Want to play, little boy?" laughed the warrior, drawing a slender rapier. "I promise I won't be too quick to kill you."

"Shove it up your arse, freak!" spat Draco, backing away, assuming a defensive kin-sa-dor stance.

The Unseelie's red eyes widened. "So . . .you are familiar with the Shadow Dance, are you? Shall we see how well you know how to dance the steps?" He spun his sword in a lazy arc, bringing his arm up and jabbing it towards Draco's face.

But Draco knew a feint when he saw it, and ducked the sword and then blocked the other's hand. Now he thanked the hours of grueling practice Severus and Sarai had put him through, for without it he would have been dead.

He countered several more lunges and cuts before managing to launch a counterattack of his own, using a Serpent Strike to land a good kick to the Unseelie's midsection.

The Unseelie doubled over with a groan, for Draco had not pulled that blow as he did when he had fought Harry that time.

The Slytherin knew his opponent was nearly finished, and he sprang forward and chopped down on the back of the other's neck, knocking him out, or at least he assumed he was knocked out.

"Humph! Kicked your arse good!" Draco said in satisfaction.

But his victory was shortlived, as a snarl came from behind him and he spun about to face a gigantic darkhound.

Oh, bloody hell! I can't move quick enough to avoid its jaws, Draco thought frantically. He pointed his wand and cast a Burning hex. "Incendio!"

Fire bloomed from the tip of his wand and engulfed the darkhound.

Draco was sure it was dead, but suddenly it sprang out of the flames and slammed into him, knocking him to the ground so hard that he lost his breath.

As he struggled to breathe, the darkhound's huge jaws closed over the arm he had over his throat and bit down hard.

"AARRGHH!"

Draco's awful scream could be heard for miles, Harry was sure of it, and he turned away from fighting yet another Unseelie raider to see his brother upon the ground with a darkhound tearing him apart.

The beast's jaws were covered in gore and blood and it was growling peculiarly, as if it was enjoying itself. Draco was writhing on the ground, unable to move, blood gushing from his arm where the dog had bitten him.

"Draco!" Harry howled. It was part denial and part terror, and then Harry saw red.

He kicked Moonheart into a gallop and charged straight at the darkhound, screaming furiously, "Get the fuck OFF my brother, you son-of-a-bitching beast! Confringo!"

A jet of purple light shot out of his wand and struck the darkhound, and the dog exploded like a firework gone wrong.

Ignoring the terrible ringing in his ears and the gory remains of the darkhound scattered about, Harry slid from Moonheart's back and knelt beside the mortally injured Draco. "Moonheart, guard us, damn it!" he called to the white mare, his wand trembling in his grip.

There was blood everywhere, it soaked into Harry's leggings as he crouched beside Draco, who was now unconscious from the shock and blood loss. Harry knew he had only seconds in which to act and he quickly recalled all of Severus's painstaking lessons in healing in the flicker of an instant. He tapped his wand to the gaping wound in Draco's arm, the darkhound's bite had nearly severed it, and chanted the Blood Halt spell. There were other wounds on the blond wizard as well, from the vicious hound's claws, they had torn great bloody scratches down Draco's sides and abdomen.

The blood ceased pumping from the other wizard's arm and Harry recalled the Anti-Shock Charm Snape had used on Smidgen and cast that one next. Some of the color returned to Draco's waxen face as the spell combated the awful shock to his system from the hound's bite.

Meanwhile, Moonheart attempted to fend off multiple attacks from Nirvala and Black Annis, plus the other remaining raiders and hounds. It was a nearly impossible fight, but the white filly was as gallant as they came, and she refused to surrender.

Suddenly, a black shimmerling popped into view and hissed in fury. :Dark spawn in the Deepwood! Mrrrooow! Get thee hence, wicked ones!:

"Smidgen!" Harry yelled hoarsely. "Get help! Bring Dad, bring Sarai, get anybody! Quick!"

:On my way, child!"

Then Smidgen was gone to gather reinforcements.

Harry turned back to the comatose Draco, holding his head in his lap, terrified beyond belief that the other boy was going to die. Draco's breathing was still ragged and raspy and he looked awful. "Don't die, Goddammit!" Harry crooned, hugging the other to him, heedless of the blood smearing his tunic. "Don't you dare die on me, you hear?" He began intoning another spell, the first healing spell Severus had ever taught him, back when he had first come to the Dursleys. "Restituo Salus!"

The gaping wound in Draco's arm slowly began to close.

Harry found tears trickling down his cheeks at the sight and he found himself thanking God, Merlin, and any other Power that was out there for allowing him to keep his brother alive. It was the first time he had ever truly acknowledged the feeling he had for Draco as the love of a brother for a brother. "You're gonna be okay, I promise," he babbled, saying anything that came into his head. "Dad's coming and he can heal you better than I can, Draco and while he's doing that, Sarai can kick these bastard's arses. Just hold on, Draco. Y'hear me, big brother? Hold on!"

He heard Moonheart squeal in pain and Nirvala laugh mockingly, and he glanced up to see the Unseelie leader throw back his cowl and smirk gleefully. He had a large scar across his throat and cheek, but the rest of his face was inhumanly handsome, which only made the awful scar stand out more.

"You make great target practice, white mare!" he taunted, releasing another shaft at the elvensteed, who was quickly becoming exhausted, and watching her twist away desperately.

"Leave her ALONE!" Harry screeched, nearly rising to his feet to fight the heartless archer before remembering that his brother was still unconscious in his lap and barely alive despite all his efforts. Dad, where are you? I need you so much! Draco's almost dead and Moonheart's going to be and so am I unless you get here right bloody NOW, damn it all!

As if his thoughts had summoned him, Morgana burst into the middle of the battleground, Severus on her back, and immediately the battle-honed spy began casting a rain of destructive magic. He was accompanied by Sarai, who went for the Unseelie leader and the rest of his people.

Tiny balls of fire exploded from Snape's wand, and as they flew through the air, they each sought out a target and impacted them with devastating force. One, two, three, four Unseelie raiders were slammed by the Meteor Curse, and blown to bits and pieces.

Two darkhounds went for Morgana, and the black mare stomped one right in the chest with one well-timed kick and Severus turned the other into an icicle with a Freezing Gust hex. Darkhounds were immune to fire but ice and cold were lethal to them, as Severus knew from having fought them once before.

"Ooo-hoo-hoo! A master to challenge me!" Black Annis chortled, rubbing her warty palms together. "Shall we have a little duel, dark savior? Hmmm?"

Severus's eyes fastened on her and became hard as obsidian. "I'll duel you all the way to hell, hag," he spat, then brought up his wand. A blue bubble of protection encased both him and Morgana, just as Black Annis smacked her staff down on the earth and caused a hail storm to pelt her adversary.

But the hail bounced off Severus's triple strength Shield Charm, and enabled the furious sorcerer to counter the hail with a double-tongue fork of lightning.

Black Annis shrieked in rage as the lightning struck her gnarled staff and burned it to ash. "Ye have broken my Staff of Darkness, ye great carrion crow, ye son of a diseased poxy whore!" She crooked her hands into claws and a pulsating ball of energy appeared inbetween her fingers, and she threw it at Severus with a shriek.

Severus swept his wand up and shouted, "Reflectivo!" That was the Mirror Defense spell, designed to reflect a direct attack back upon the one who had cast it.

The glowing energy sphere was sent flying back towards Black Annis, who squawked and dived for cover just as the sphere hit the ground and blew a crater in the forest floor.

Morgana staggered, nearly going to her knees from the concussive force, and several of the Unseelie raiders were knocked to their knees.

"Dad! Hurry! Draco's getting worse." Harry yelled over to his father, trying to shield his brother from the worst of the blast.

"Give me another four minutes!" Severus called over to his son, then he turned his attention on the remaining darkhounds.

Meanwhile, Sarai had dismounted and was fighting Nirvala on foot, and the Unseelie warrior was not having an easy time of it.

Sarai was half a head smaller than her opponent and probably only possessed two thirds of his strength, but she more than made up for it in quickness, accuracy, and bladework. Her sword and dagger flashed in and out like streaks of silver and they scored before Nirvala even knew they had hit him.

The Unseelie raider growled in fury and tried to beat past her guard with a lightning attack combination, but Sarai was not the Queen's guard captain for nothing, and she defended with a deft twist and lunge, turning Nirvala's attack into something she could use against him.

Using that particular attack form left the swordsman open, because he overextended himself during it, and Nirvala could not recover fast enough to avoid Sarai's sword.

She stepped inside his reach and stabbed her sword right through his throat before he ever knew she was there.

He fell to the ground, dead before he ever realized he was defeated.

Sarai spared him not a glance, she simply moved onto the next opponent.

Together, the master wizard and the warrior trounced the remainder of the raiders and Black Annis soundly. Harry had never seen anything quite like it in all of his life. The two worked separately, yet somehow they managed to coordinate their attacks so that Harry and Draco were never left unguarded and neither was Nightfire, who had injured his shoulder and left front leg pretty badly when he had fallen.

In a matter of minutes the Unseelie raiders were either dead or fled, and Severus caught Black Annis with an Iron Hex just as she attempted to flee the scene on her lizard-wolf. The Iron Hex was one where tiny projectiles made of iron shot out of the caster's wand and when they struck the dark witch she screeched and withered into dust on the spot, and so too did her lizard-wolf, for iron was poison to all denizens of the Faerie Realm.

"Nasty spell, Sev," Sarai said in approval, then went over to Nightfire and began to saw through the net that was wound about the elvensteed's legs.

Severus ran over to where Harry was sitting, still holding Draco, and cried, "Harry, what happened? What did this to Draco?"

"I . . .I think it was called a . . .darkhound, Dad. I tried to heal him, but nothing's working and I don't understand it!" Harry cried, sounding perilously close to tears.

"That's because a darkhound's bite is venomous, son, and the poison is undoing all the good your healing spells wrought," Severus said softly, kneeling down beside his stricken son and summoning a stretcher. "We must purge him of the poison, or else he'll die." He gently levitated Draco onto the stretcher and laid a hand on it. "Sarai, we need to get back to the Gate. Draco's been poisoned by a darkhound and he needs immediate medical attention."

"Wait, Sev. We should bring him back to the palace, there are Healers there that know how to counteract darkhound venom." Sarai said, removing the last of the net from Nightfire's legs. "There, my lad! You're free. Can you stand?"

"I . . .will try," Nightfire said wearily, then attempted to do so.

It took the big colt three tries, but at last he was up, and Morgana and Moonheart quickly went to stand on either side of him, giving their shoulders to him to lean on.

By then the rest of the hunting party had arrived and Balin assured Severus that his personal Healers would take care of Draco and they blinked the stretcher with the comatose boy upon it back to the palace.

Then Severus turned to Harry. "Are you all right, son? Are you hurt?"

"No, Dad. The blood . . .it's not mine. It's Draco's. I-I tried to help him . . .he was bleeding all over . . . the damn dog bit him so bad, Dad." Harry said hoarsely, shivering as he recalled Draco's agonized scream. "I didn't know what to do, so I blew the dog apart first and then I tried to heal him . . ."

Severus put an arm about his son's shoulders, holding him tightly. "You did well, Harry. I'm very proud of you. You're certain you're not injured?"

Harry nodded, grateful for Severus's solid presence and he held onto the older wizard fiercely, his small frame shaking with sobs. Severus stroked his son's hair, which was coated with dust and bits of debris, murmuring, "There now, Harry. It's all right, you're safe and now we need to get back to the palace so I can see how Draco is."

Harry sniffled sharply and took a deep breath, scolding himself for acting like a little baby. He quickly mastered his tears and wiped his face, withdrawing from his father's arms.

Sarai looked up from wrapping a bandage about Nightfire's injured leg. "If you like, I can Gate us back there."

"Please." Severus said.

Sarai stood, walked a little ways away from them, and summoned the Gate to the palace to her. Within moments, a shimmering portal appeared, and Severus, Harry, and the elvensteeds limped through it. Sarai came last, banishing the construct after she was through, and then she swayed on her feet.

Severus glanced back just in time to grab her shoulder. "Great Merlin! Sarai, what's the matter? Are you hurt and didn't tell me?"

"No, Sev. This is just spell backlash from summoning a Gate twice in one afternoon." She leaned gratefully on his shoulder. "I'd forgotten it was so draining."

"You look like hell frozen over," commented the wizard, studying her intently. "Looks like you could use a bath and then a soft bed."

"So could we all, Sev," murmured the Queen's Blade, then allowed Severus to assist her into the palace as well. "I'm so sorry this ended like it did. Those Unseelie should have never gotten past the borders. I fear we have a traitor in our midst, or the Unseelie have some new magic at their command." Right then, however, she was too weary to ponder how the raiders had gotten into the Deepwood. She prayed that the Healers would be able to save Severus's son, for the tall wizard had suffered enough tragedy in his short life.

On the Potion Master's other side, Harry was doing the same, and so was Severus.

* * * * * *

Draco stirred, groaning softly, his face flushed slightly with fever. Severus wrung out a cloth in icy water and gently bathed his son's face. The fae Healers had administered the anti-venom to Draco as soon as he had arrived at the palace, and he was now not in danger of dying from the poison, but he was weak and feverish. Severus had considered giving him a Fever Reducer, but decided against it because the anti-venom was a fae elixir and might not react well with his potion. So he decided to bring down the slight fever the old-fashioned way, with cold water.

The boy's eyelids fluttered open and he gazed blearily up at Severus. "Uhhnn . . .Uncle Sev?"

"I'm here, Dragon," murmured the Potions Master, smoothing the white-blond hair away from the boy's forehead. "You're safe now. We're in the Crystal Palace, as a guest of Prince Balin. You're going to be fine. How do you feel?"

Draco coughed. "I'm hot. And thirsty."

"You're probably dehydrated a little from the fever." Severus told him, helping him sit up slightly and sip some iced lemon water from a goblet. "Better now?"

Draco nodded. Then he shivered. "What about . . .my arm? The damn hound . . ." he darted a panicked glance down at his left arm, which was swathed in bandages.

"It's still there, son," reassured his godfather. "The fae Healers are among the best I've ever seen, they mended it back to full capacity, but they tell me you'll have to keep in immobile for three days and in a sling for a week before you can use it again. They said it'll be stiff and weak for awhile after that, but they left me a list of exercises you can do to strengthen the arm and get well quicker. Are you in any pain?"

"I ache all over, but otherwise I'm okay." Draco told him, relieved beyond measure that his arm was still attached to him. As he had lost consciousness, his last thought was that the blasted dog had cost him arm or even his life. "Can I have some more water?"

Severus handed him the goblet, and the teenager drank thirstily. When he had done, Severus set the goblet down on the small table and it magically refilled itself. He was sitting in a soft chair beside Draco's bed, which was made of some kind of ultra soft material that conformed naturally to the sleeper's body and cradled the injured boy like a cloud. The blanket tucked about Draco was woven of some kind of thin yet strong plant fiber that kept a patient cool or warm as their need dictated.

Draco had never felt so comfortable in a bed in his life, it was sheer bliss, yet oddly enough, he didn't feel like sleeping just yet. He gazed about at the room they were in, it was not very large, and it had a large seascape painted on one wall and a tapestry of unicorns on the opposite one. A few feet away was another bed, and it held a slumbering Harry.

"Is Harry okay?" Draco asked upon seeing his brother. "How did you find us?"

"Harry is fine, Draco. He had a few bruises and scrapes, but nothing else. He's probably a bit sore from riding as well, but he'll never admit that to me," Severus said, shaking his head at his son's stubbornness. "He was the one who saved you, Dragon. Otherwise, by the time we arrived you would have . . .died."

"Harry saved me?" Draco repeated in astonishment. "But how?"

"He remembered his lessons in healing and he used what I had taught him to keep the blood and breath in you until I arrived and could get you back to the palace and let the professional Healers work on you."

Draco looked over at the sleeping Gryffindor, wonder written all over his face. Sure, he had begun to think of the other as a brother, and Harry had also, but to risk his neck for his former rival? Draco would have never expected anyone to do that for him. "I owe him then," he murmured, half to himself.

"No. There are no debts between brothers," Severus said swiftly. "He told me to tell you that."

"He did?" Draco was startled all over again.

Severus nodded solemnly. "Are you hungry? I can send to the kitchens for something to eat."

Draco yawned. "Not really. But I do need to find a bathroom, Uncle Sev."

"It's through there," Severus indicated a small door opposite Harry's bed. "Do you need help getting there, Draco?"

"Uh . . .no thanks, I'll manage," the boy said quickly, flushing a dull red. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, noting with swift embarrassment that he had nothing on save a soft cotton night shirt.

But the smooth tile felt good on his bare feet as he made his way to the small bathroom. He was a little wobbly and weak, but he would have rather died than admit that to his godfather. Malfoys didn't whine over a little thing like that.

Even so, he was happy to return to the most comfortable bed he'd ever been in and relax against the pillows Severus had thoughtfully propped up for him. Severus ran the icy cloth over his face and neck again and gave the boy more water to drink. Draco eyed him, and said knowingly, "You've been here all night, haven't you?"

"Not quite," the other admitted with a small smile. "It's only been half a day, and as soon as you were pronounced out of danger, Harry and I got cleaned up and then he fell asleep and hasn't woken up yet. Sarai is asleep as well, summoning a Gate two times in one day really drains your magical reserves."

"Sarai's a witch?"

"They prefer the term mage here, but yes, she does have magic, like most fae. Though she usually doesn't rely on it, she prefers her warrior skills."

"What happened while I was knocked out? Did you take those miserable bastards apart, Uncle Sev?"

"We did," the other wizard replied, and there was a note of dark satisfaction in his voice that Draco understood completely. "Furthermore, you have the deepest apologies of Prince Balin himself and he has taken out a party of his personal guard and gone scouring the Deepwood for anymore Unseelie raiders that may have gotten past the wards, though that should have never happened."

"You mean someone might have let them in?" Draco guessed shrewdly.

"It's a possibility, but I have no time to speculate on it. My first priority is getting you well, Dragon, and that is all I care about right now."

Severus's quiet words made a warm glow spread through him, filling his spirit with warmth and light. The concern and love in the Potion Master's tone was like the best healing elixir, for Draco had never received that kind of consideration from his own father. When he had been injured by Buckbeak last year, and had written to Lucius, the older Malfoy had been full of advice on how to get revenge on the hippogriff and how Draco should play up his injury to get the Ministry officials on their side, but there had only been one line asking how his son was, and he hadn't even come down to see if Draco was all right. But Severus had, he recalled. Then and now, the Potions Master had been there for him, the way a real father should have been.

"Thanks, Uncle Sev."

"For what, child?"

"For . . .for always being there," he said awkwardly. "My father never was, you know."

Severus's mouth tightened at the mention of Lucius. "Your father is the biggest idiot in the universe, for he doesn't know how to appreciate what's right under his aristocratic nose. He's greedy and selfish and you deserve better than that, Dragon. I wish I could have done more to help you before, but . . ."

"You did enough," the young wizard told him firmly. "You made sure I didn't become him. You taught me right from wrong, and that's worth more than anything. I know I can be a selfish brat sometimes, and a major pain-in-the-arse too, but it's because of you that I'm not a Death Eater. I know who I owe what to, sir. And all I owe my father is a good punch in the jaw."

"Indeed." Severus agreed, then he smiled and tousled his son's hair. "Get some sleep, dragonet. If you need me, I will be here."

"Like always," Draco muttered sleepily, then he rolled over and fell asleep, secure in the knowledge that Severus Snape was there watching over him.

Severus gazed at his sleeping son for several long moments, before he leaned down and placed a kiss on Draco's forehead. "Pleasant dreams, little dragon. Thank heaven you're going to be all right."

Then he settled down in his chair to keep watch, even though he knew perfectly well that the palace was quite safe. These were his sons and it was his responsibility to watch over them. I nearly lost them both today, I refuse to ever let that happen again, he vowed.

Nor was he the only one who felt guilty over the boys' near brush with death. Sarai also was nursing a guilty conscience for not keeping a closer eye on the two, despite the fact that no one could have known the Unseelie had managed to slip inside the Deepwood, which was supposedly warded against them. She came to see how the boys were doing as soon as she had woken, and confessed to Severus that she should have been more alert and aware of where the two were in relation to the hunting party.

"This is my realm, I know how dangerous it can be sometimes. But I allowed myself to be distracted by the pleasures of riding with you again and I forgot that the greatest danger is the one that comes from behind." She shook her head in disgust. "I was a fool and they nearly paid for it with their lives. I am sorry, Severus. I was the one who convinced you to agree to take them, so any injuries they have sustained are my fault. The safety of the children is a Blade's first responsibility, I have known that all my life."

Severus put out a hand, for the warrior's green eyes were filled with regret and self-loathing, though when she looked at Draco and Harry that changed to concern and affection. "Sarai, love, no one is perfect. Not you, not me, no one. How could you know the Unseelie would ambush them? I was just as guilty as you of assuming they were behind us and not bothering to check, I was convinced the elvensteeds would take care of them, and we would watch the quarry being killed from a safe distance and that would be all. Sarai, do not blame yourself for this. I don't."

"You are far more forgiving than I, Potions Master."

"Well then, follow my example and forgive yourself. You ought to know by now that strange things occur in this realm, since you're not God, you can't be everywhere."

"I can try," she insisted stubbornly.

He chuckled and said, "The only place I want you to be right now is my arms. Come."

She came and nestled next to him, reveling in his touch and his gentleness and the knowledge that he forgave her for her oversight. Together they watched the sun set and their charges sleep, until sleep crept upon them unawares and snatched them away.

When next they awoke, invisible air sprites had left a hot banquet upon a long table for them and they all ate hungrily together, happy to be allowed to eat in private, almost like a family, and away from the high-toned practices of the court.