He thought his plan had been quite brilliant. She wasn't going to get away with embarrassing him in public like that. Not only had she hit him, but she had hit him hard enough to knock him down. No one did that to him and got away with it. Malfoys always got even when someone publically embarrassed them. Alright, so he wasn't really a Malfoy, but Lucius' training had been hard to forget. Besides, he was a Slytherin and the son of a Marauder. Yes, he was going to get revenge!

His plan was rather simple. He had waited until a couple weeks after school started before doing anything to her and he had started small. She was having trouble in Charms one day, so while she was incanting for whatever it was that they had been doing, he used a Color-Change Charm and turned her hair a brilliant shade of bright green. He had timed it perfectly and the entire class had laughed at her. His first moment of victory had been sweet and he had savored it.

Over the next several weeks, he had taken to using many of the simple charms, jinks and hexes that had been taught so far. But he was always careful to make sure that there were people from other Houses around. After all, there was a Slytherin House Rule about presenting a united front outside the House. Oh, yes, he was enjoying this very much.

Today he was crouched in an alcove, waiting for her to walk by on her way back from dinner. A few moments later, he intended target walked by, a good six feet behind the other Slytherin girls in their year. He waited until she was at the top of the stairs leading down to the dungeons before hitting her with a tripping hex.

He turned to slip away and found himself staring at the familiar black robes of his adopted father. Draco opened and closed his mouth a few times, but found himself unable to say anything.

Severus took the boy's wand. "Go to our quarters and sit on your bed. I expect an explanation when I come, Orion John Snape." Without waiting for a reply, he went to check on his injured student.

Draco stared after him for a moment before doing as he was told. Uncle Sev had used his full name and that could only mean trouble. As he walked past, he saw the Potions Master using his wand to run a diagnostic scan on the girl. Did he know about all the tings that Draco had done to her over the last two months? Could he possibly find out? Uncle Sev had ways of finding things like this out! He'd known his adopted father long enough to know that he'd be over the man's knee tonight for sure. The real question was how bad would it be. Sighing deeply, he let himself into their quarters and settled on his blue and yellow bed to wait.

Severus was not at all pleased with the results of the diagnostic scan he had run on the injured girl. He was, however, pleased with the rest of the third year female Snakes. They had kept their distance from the new girl since the beginning of the term, but now they rallied around har. Bulstrode had run for Madame Pomfrey. Parkinson had conjoured a cloth and had been trying to stop the bleeding when he arrived while Greengrass held the girl's hand and was speaking softly to her.

"Twenty points a piece for helping a fellow Snake," he told them. The sixty points that he gave them would help offset the points he would be forced to take from his son before the night was out.

"Will she be alright, sir?" Miss Greengrass asked him.

"Madame Pomfrey will be able to heal the broken bones easily, but the concussion will take some time."

Miss Parkinson looked up at him. "Did Draco have anything to do with this?"

"I believe he did."

"Sir...she's been getting hexed a lot lately...always outside the House."

Severus nodded. "Thank you, Miss Parkinson. I will look into the matter."

Madame Pomfrey knelt beside him, "Miss Bulstrode said she fell down the stairs."

"She was tripped, Poppy," he told the Medi-witch.

She nodded. "Will you bring her to the Infirmary?"

Severus stood and carefully lifted the girl into his arms. He preferred a more personal touch with his students.

After leaving her in the care of the Medi-witch, Severus went to his office to cool down before going to deal with his wayward son. According to school rules, he was required to take points for harming another student. There were also detentions to be assigned. But was the father of the student who was responsible for the incident there was much more that he could do.

It had been several months since he had felt the need to spank either boy and he really didn't want to now. But he really didn't have much choice. He needed to put a stop to Draco's actions...now. After taking a moment to calm down and clear his mind, he headed toward the room the boys shared.

"Explain yourself," he said, standing in front of the boy.

Draco bit his lip and hesitated a moment before answering. "She hit me and knocked me on my bum and no one did anything about it. No one embarrasses me like that and gets away with it! No one!"

"So you decided to take matters into your own hands? You should have come to me, not only as your Head of House but also as your father. You harmed another student because she knocked you down with a little punch. Right now she's got three broken bones and a concussion. I'm extremely disappointed in you."

Draco looked down at his hands.

"Did I not tell you to come to me if you had a problem with another student?"

"You said to handle it ourselves first..."

"Hexing a student in the back is not handling it! And what part of do nothing to your fellow Snakes outside the House do you suddenly not understand?"

"If I had done it in the House she would have known it was me..."

"You shouldn't be hexing anyone in the back! When I said to handle it yourselves first, I meant for you to TALK it out first, not with your wands!"

Draco rolled his eyes.

Severus caught his jaw and forced the boy to look up at him. "I'll deal with your attitude in a moment. But first...as your Head of House, I'm taking fifty points from Slytherin and assigning you a weeks worth of detention with Filch. As your father on the other hand..."

--

When Harry walked into their quarters a few minutes later, he found Severus and Draco in the boys' bedroom. Draco had his face buried in Severus' robes and the Potions Master was rubbing the boy's back as he held him close. A couple of students had stopped Harry on his way in from Quidditch practice and told him what had happened. A Slytherin attacking another Slytherin was big news, especially since the attacker was the son of the Head of Slytherin.

Severus looked up and caught Harry's eyes, confirming what the boy had heard in the halls.

Harry gave him a quick nod before heading back into the other room to give them a few minutes alone. It had been a while since Severus had given either of them a smacking, though he had threatened to plenty of times or had given them a warning smack on occasion if they had gotten too cheeky. He curled up in Severus' chair in front of the fireplace and waited.

A few minutes later Severus came into the sitting room and settled on the couch. "Thank you for coming back in here, Harry," he told the Gryffindor.

"You're welcome, Uncle Sev. So he really did it, huh?"

Severus nodded. "He did. Miss Kelly should be fine in a couple days."

Draco came into the sitting room and lay on the couch next to Severus.

'Are you alright?' Harry asked through their bond.

Draco just nodded at his brother.

Severus reached over and gave the boy's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad that you are both here. There is something I've been meaning to tell you both."

"What is it, Uncle Sev?" Harry asked.

Severus sighed. "Sirius Black, your...godfather, has been cleared of all charges against him."

"Are we going to get to meet him?"

"If he decides to come here, then yes, Harry. However, he will not be too thrilled that I adopted you." Severus didn't want to tell them that Black had actually threatened to take the boys away from him. They had enough to worry about already. "He and I didn't get along at school."

"He better learn to like it," Draco said. "You adopted us and we're happy with you...even when you wallop us."

"I'm happy with you too, dragon. Even when I have to wallop you," Severus told the Slytherin. "You won't be repeating your actions of today, will you?"

"No sir!"

--

"What broom are you going to get, Harry?" Ron asked him one day at breakfast.

"I don't know yet," Harry replied. "Uncle Sev was supposed to take me to Diagon Alley to get a new one, but things keep coming up."

"But you have a game soon..."

"Not for another three weeks, Ron."

"You'll need to get used to your new broom."

"Leave him alone, Ronald," Hermione told him, not even looking up from her book as she ate.

There was a loud noise overhead as the owls flew through the window, bringing the morning post. "Look, Harry..." Ron said. "Is that Hedwig?"

Harry looked up to see Hedwig carrying a long package with the help of two other owls. "What in the..." The three owls dropped the package on the table and Hedwig perched on Harry's shoulder, nipping affectionately on his ear. "Hey, girl..."

"Open your package, Harry," Fred Weasley said, dropping onto the bench next to Harry.

George sat across the table next to Hermione. "That looks like a broom..."

The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team crowded around as Harry opened the package that had been delivered. In the box lay a Firebolt! He reached out and ran his hand over the handle of the broom.

"Was there a note?" Hermione asked, putting aside her book.

Harry searched the box and picked up the letter that accompanied the broom.

Pronglet,

I saw your last game and Moony told
me what happened with your broom.
Watching you play was almost like
watching Prongs play again. I'm sorry
that I haven't been able to be there
for you since your parents died, but
maybe the Firebolt will help make up
for that.

Sirius

P.S. You used to call me Padfoot when
you were little.

"Sirius Black bought you a Firebolt?" Oliver Wood asked.

Harry nodded. "The Ministry cleared him of all charges last week. He's my godfather."

"You're so lucky, Harry," Katie told him.

"Where did you get a Firebolt?!" Draco asked, walking up behind his brother.

Harry glanced over his shoulder. "Sirius sent it to me."

"That is so not fair!"

Severus had seen the package delivered to his Gryffindor son and the crowd that gathered around him. "Do you know anything about this Remus?" he asked the man sitting beside him.

"No, but it has Sirius written all over it..." the Defence professor said with a sigh. "Shall we go take a look?"

Nodding, Severus stood and made his way over to the Gryffindor table in time to hear his Slytherin son say that something was not fair. "What is unfair?" he asked.

Draco turned and looked at him. "Sirius sent Harry a Firebolt!"

Remus took the note from Harry and quickly read it. "I was afraid of this, Severus."

Harry looked up at Severus, hope shining in his eyes. "Now you won't have to buy me a new broom, Uncle Sev."

Severus knew that Harry would have never outright asked for the expensive broom, but he also knew that the boy wanted to keep it. What Quidditch-obsessed boy wouldn't want to keep it? The Firebolt was a fine piece of work. "I will consider the matter, Harry."

The faces of the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team fell and Harry tried hard not to show his disappointment, while Draco looked just a bit smug. It wasn't fair for Harry to get a Firebolt while he was stuck with an old Nimbus. It was only right that Uncle Sev was considering sending the broom back. He and Harry were twins after all, so if he couldn't have a Firebolt, neither could Harry.

Severus sighed. "Harry, take the broom down to our quarters, then you best hurry on to class. You don't want to be late."

--

Rae paced in her dormitory, one arm resting in the sling that Madame Pomfrey had insisted that she wear for a week. She'd suddenly found friends in her roommates because of what had happened and they were able to tell her all the details. She was going to get that little bastard back for doing this to her.

She had several ideas on what she could do to him, but that would take a little bit of reconnaissance. That would be easy enough once she got her arm out of this stupid sling. After all, she and Liam had spent many a summer hour, sneaking in and out of buildings and pretending to be the theives that they were named after. They had also shared many a laugh over how his great-great-grandfather and her great-great-grandfather's sister had been best friends too. They had both been named after their counterparts from a century before.

Rae shook her head, wincing at the pain. She had to stop thinking about her former best friend. He is the reason that she was in this trouble in the first place. Oh sure, she had actually punched someone when she lost her temper, but Liam was the reason she lost her temper in the first place.

Alright, enough of that. She dug her old cap out of her trunk and put it on her head, pulling it low over her eyes. There...that was much better. She resumed her pacing, able to think clearly again. What she needed was to find his most prized posession and take it from him. Yes, that would serve as a good warning not to mess with her again.

In two days she would be able to take the sling off and that very night she would make her first trip into the third year boy's dorm. With luck, it wouldn't take her long to identify his most prized posession.

--

Severus sat in Remus' sitting room sipping a butterbeer and wishing it was firewhiskey, but he never allowed himself to drink it during the week in the rare instances that he did indulge himself. The two professors had essays spread out on the table before them and were both working on their grading.

"Have you made a decision about the Firebolt yet?" Remus asked.

"Yes," the Potions Master replied. "I'm going to wring Black's neck the next time I see him."

Remus chuckled. "How did you come to that conclussion?"

Severus sighed. "Not only do I not approve of that stupid broom on principal, but now my sons are barely speaking to each other or me for that matter. Draco insists that if he can't have a Firebolt too, then Harry shouldn't be allowed to have that one. Harry offered to give Draco the damn broom and take Draco's Nimbus, which Draco quickly agreed to. I had to take both brooms and lock them away using the strongest locking charms that I know...and I'm not sure if that will keep Draco out.

"Draco's not speaking to Harry out of jealousy. Harry got tired of Draco only talking to him about the stupid broom and is not speaking to Draco. Neither one of them is speaking to me because I took both brooms."

"I'm going to wring his neck!" Remus exclaimed. "Sirius should have known better than to send something to one without sending something to the other. He and his brother fought over things often enough...and with twins its even worse."

"Draco is so selfish and Harry is so selfless that I just don't know what to do, Remus. I most certainly can't afford to buy another Firebolt."

"Have you thought about returning it and getting Harry another Nimbus?"

Severus nodded. "I did. And I contacted the store. They said that Firebolts are non-returnable items. I think they were just thrilled that they actually sold one of the damn things."

"You're probably right."

"So...when are we going to go wring the mutt's neck?"

--

Rae sat in the common room, hard at work on her homework. Every night in the last week she had snuck into the boys dorm room and looked over Draco's belongings to find the item that she was going to steal. It had been almost too easy. She had spotted it the first night, but had gone back every other night to be sure.

She had slipped away from dinner early, claiming that she needed to go to the library, but instead had gone back into the third year boys' dorm and had stolen the green and silver blanket that Draco slept with every night. She figured that it had to mean quite a bit to him with the way he clutched it in his sleep.

That blanket, which she had to admit was one of the finest she had ever seen, was now safely tucked in the bottom of her trunk. Now she just had to decide if she was going to keep it or if she was going to destroy it and then return it to him.

--

Severus walked into the headmaster's office and dropped into one of the chairs. "What do you need, Albus? I'm rather busy."

"Ah, yes, Severus. I heard that your boys were squabbling over the broom that Sirius sent to Harry."

"Don't even start with me, old man. I will handle my boys the way I see fit. They are alone in my quarters so just tell me what you want so that I can go back and keep them from trying to kill each other."

"Very well, my boy. How much of the prophecy did you hear?"

Severus sighed. "Only what I told the Dark Lord."

"I will tell you the rest of it now. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."

Severus swore. "You are not going to tell my son the rest of that prophecy, Albus."

"Severus..."

"No! This is one prophecy that won't come true. You know as well as I do that not all of them come true...and this one won't. I won't put that burden on my son."

"He should know, my boy."

"You let me decide what my sons should know. Do you have any idea what something like that would do to him?"

Albus stared at him for a moment before nodding. "What do you know about horocruxes?"

Severus sighed. "I know the Dark Lord mentioned something about them to Lucius, Bella and I once..."

"It is my belief that Voldemort created six of them."

Severus swore again. "Six? Are you certain?"

"With himself as the seventh part, yes. Severus I'm fairly certain."

"Do you know what they are?"

Albus placed a book on his desk. "Do you recognize this?"

He leaned forward and picked up the book. "This is the diary that Harry destroyed at the end of last year."

"I think this was one of them."

"What do you think the others are?"

"He was quite facsinated with the founders when he was here, so I believe that he probably tried to find something that belonged to each of them to use. As you know, he was descended from Slytherin himself and a member of the Guant family."

"I don't want you involving Harry, Albus. Use whoever else you need to find and destroy these damn things, but not Harry."

"Severus..."

"Albus, I've told you before not to involve my sons in your plans or you will find yourself short a Potions Master as well as two students. And I think that you might be missing a Defence professor as well."