Disclaimer: If you know it, it's from Prisoner of Azkaban. Tragically, I did not write that book. JKR did. Thus, I do not own it.

Edited and reloaded 24 July 2013


At Sixes and Sevens


Nott continued to channel Prat Draco. He pulled the exact same stunt Draco had executed when he'd returned from his injuries inflicted from insulting the hippogriff. Late Thursday, while the Gryffindors and Slytherins were halfway through double Potions, Nott strolled into the classroom with his arm covered in bandages and in a sling. His fellow Slytherins jumped to attention and began to cause a great deal of fuss at his appearance. (Well, other than Blaise's group, who continued to work as if no one had entered the room.) Nott behaved throughout the entire thing as if he'd survived a battle as the hero. The only thing that broke the whole charade was the fact occasionally Draco caught Nott winking at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Settle down, settle down," Snape idly said after Nott had been causing chaos for at least ten minutes.

Harry and Draco exchanged looks over their bubbling cauldrons.

"Mr Nott, please find a seat," Snape said, flapping his hand in the general direction of a few empty seats.

Nott heaved his bag onto his shoulder and with the aid of Pansy Parkinson took the empty spot between Harry and Draco. Parkinson sneered and begged Nott to join her at her table, but Nott waved her off. Harry tensed up as Nott settled into his seat and Parkinson flounced off, but Draco rolled his eyes.

Did Time not allow Nott to have an original idea? Was Draco's role in the events last time around so important that Theodore Nott had a whole new personality and turned into a clone of Draco the Utter Ponce?

Harry set his mouth and went back to painstakingly cutting up his ingredients. He put his whole attention onto the roots he was cutting, ignoring Nott, who was pretending to be confused and helpless when faced with his own ingredient prep.

"Sir," Nott called out. "I'll need help with my roots. My arm…"

He made a half hearted attempt to lift the arm up.

"Potter, cut up Nott's roots," Snape ordered.

Harry's jaw locked and his teeth ground together loudly enough Draco heard it. Harry lifted his eyes up off his own roots and stared at Nott.

"There is nothing wrong with your arm," Harry ground out.

Draco grabbed Nott's roots and began to carefully chop them up.

"There is too. Look, it's in a sling," Nott said, not noticing Draco was cutting the roots. Nott grinned and stuck his nose in the air a little. "You heard the professor. Cut my roots— hey, where'd…"

"Here," Draco said, shoving the pile of neatly chopped roots at Nott.

Nott pressed his lips together as his ears turned brilliant red.

"Well, Malfoy, if you like preparing my ingredients so much, shave my shivelfig."

Draco did just that.

And it seemed to make Nott's ears even more red, yet he said nothing. He almost looked as if he was too angry at Draco for aiding him in his time of need to form words.

Harry hid a grin behind his hand, then bowed his head over his own cauldron. Draco finished shaving the shivelfig and went back to his own work. Nott was quiet for a long time, till his need to be a git got in the way of the peace and quiet.

"So, Potter, seen your pal Hagrid?"

"None of your business."

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer. Father's not very happy about my injury," Nott lamented.

"I thought he'd be thrilled," Draco drawled, dumping in his next ingredient. The cauldron hissed and the potion began to turn a faint orange. "Son gets mere scratch and acts like a big baby. Bet it was his proudest mo— oh, wait. You said he wasn't happy to realize his son is a huge, pathetic waste of space who can't even live through a scratch without causing a scene and wailing. Can't handle a little pain, can you Nott?"

Nott turned brick red— ears, face and neck.

It seemed when one made Nott very, very mad he turned red.

Draco learned something new this afternoon. Brilliant. The lesson had been such a bore till Nott turned up.

"My father has a lot of influence at the Ministry, unlike your father," Nott spat out, spit flying out of the corners of his mouth. "My father plans to exact revenge for the failure at teaching here."

Draco quirked an eyebrow. "Does he now? I bet that'll go a little better for him than it went for my father. Or, maybe not? Revenge is a dish best served cold, right? Or is that ice cream?"

Harry was trying so hard not to laugh out loud, he was banging his forehead on the rim of his cauldron.

"Your father miscalculated and didn't work within the system," Nott sneered. "My father knows the system and how to work it without throwing gold all over."

"Does he?" Draco asked, widening his eyes. "Golly gee, that's just great. Do you want me to cut up your caterpillars? I don't think you'll be able to with that arm. Here, gimme."

Draco grabbed the caterpillars from Nott's pile of stuff and began to cut them. He wanted for the anger and injustice to swell, but he felt nothing of the sort. His father had made a stupid decision and was currently paying the price. He'd gotten away with it (kind of) the first time around, but this time around he was paying in a manner that clearly wounded his pride far earlier than he had the first time around. He'd lost what little influence he'd had within the Ministry and Hogwarts this time around and not just within the ranks of the Death Eaters.

Influence was everything per Lucius Malfoy.

Draco briefly looked up to find Nott was still red and scowling deeply and felt some glee at annoying Nott to such an extreme.

Draco began to hum as he worked, carefully choosing a tune Nott would be sure to remember. Draco glanced up to see Nott twitching a little and grinned larger. He was about to shove the cut up caterpillars to Nott when Neville decided it was high time to remind the room he was in it, as from somewhere behind Draco several high pitch noises issued and Snape snapped, "Orange, Longbottom! The potion is supposed to be orange right now!"

Draco turned around to find Snape ladling some of Neville's potion up and allowing the entire class to see Neville's potion was bright, acid green and not orange. The green potion splashed back into the cauldron.

"Orange. Do you know what the looks like?" Snape went on. "Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Neville was bright pink and trembling. He was unable to speak. The silence in the classroom became pressing.

"Sir?" Draco ventured when he realized why the room was silent. There was no Granger to swoop in and save Neville. No Weasley to loose his temper on Neville's behave and no Potter to join in. "I could help him put it right."

Snape turned slowly and glared at Draco, yet said nothing. Since he didn't object, Draco picked up his own cauldron and headed for Neville's table. He set it back down and hurried back to get the rest of his things and shoot Harry a look of apology for leaving him alone with Nott.

"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of your Shrinking Solution to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly," Snape snapped as Draco sat down on the other side Neville. "Let's hope Mr Malfoy knows what he's doing."

Snape turned around and moved away, leaving Neville hyperventilating.

"Calm down, Nev," Draco soothed. "We'll set this right. Can't be that hard to get from green to orange, right?"

Neville shook in his shoes.


By the end of the lesson, the potion was orange. Draco's hair was damp and matted to his forehead and he was pretty sure he'd loose his pinkie fingernail on his left hand at some point (it had turned black after some of the green potion had slashed on it), but the potion was orange. When Snape fed it to the toad, the toad shrunk to a tadpole and lived to escape another day.

Just like the first time around. Draco grinned as Snape scowled at the tadpole in his hand and Neville appeared as if he was going to collapse at any second.

"Five points from Gryffindor," Snape said, which caused the grin to slip off Draco's face.

Snape gave no reasoning for this point deduction, simply glared at everyone and swept out of the room after returning Trevor the Escape Artist to his former size.

Harry and Draco headed for the Entrance Hall as quickly as their feet would take them. Draco realized something was off with Harry as they neared the top of the stairs.

"What's eating you?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you're not bad mouthing Snape or telling me how unfair he is," Draco commented. "So, what's up?"

"Just something Nott said after you went to help Neville," Harry admitted. "Seamus told me they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."

Draco nodded.

"Not too far from here," Harry continued. "Some Muggle saw him so she called the hotline. The Muggles, you know, think he's just an ordinary criminal, not a mad wizard killer."

"He's not," Draco reminded Harry. "What did Nott say?"

"He was real keen on the idea of me catching Black myself," Harry explained as the boys made their way through the pre-lunch crowds. "He said if it were him, he'd done something before now. He wouldn't be staying in school like a good little boy. He'd go looking for Black."

"Harry, do you remember why people think Black is after you?"

Harry paused, then nodded.

"All right. Let me guess, Nott said he'd want to get revenge? Seemed to be on his mind," Draco muttered. He went on before Harry could answer. "People think Sirius was the one to tell Marv where your parents and yourself were hiding. People think the reason your parents are dead is because of what Sirius told Marv. If this were true, wouldn't you want to get him? He was your dad's best mate and he traded sides, fooled everyone and went Dark. Wouldn't that make you mad?"

Draco carefully watched Harry. The brilliant green eyes darted back and forth for a moment and a frown appeared on his face.

"Okay, wait a second. If I believe you, then Black didn't do anything wrong, right?"

Draco nodded.

"So, what Nott and everyone else thinks is just a bunch of…malarkey," Harry said.

Draco snorted. "Yeah. A bunch of malarkey."

"But, if you are wrong and Sirius Black actually did everything people think he did…I'd be…"

Harry trailed off and turned away from Draco, staring off into space.

"If I am wrong, you'd want to do exactly what Nott wants you to do: go off and get yourself killed."

Harry turned back to Draco with a helpless look on his face.

"Draco, you have no proof," Harry reminded him. "You have a theory, but nothing more."

"The Ministry has no proof Sirius did anything he's accused of either," Draco reminded Harry in turn. "What does your gut want to believe? That the man your parents made your godfather betrayed them or that maybe he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and got framed?"

"But, why didn't he escape before now if he was innocent? Wouldn't he…"

Draco waited, but Harry never finished his thought.

"Well? Why did he wait till now to escape?" Harry asked again, looking up at Draco.

Draco had often wondered exactly what had caused Sirius to finally escape when he did, but he'd never really figured it out. He knew it was to do with the rat. Something between Sirius and the rat caused the rat to make a break for it and go to Marv.

It would make sense, knowing Pettigrew's ratty personality, once Sirius was loose, he'd go after the rat to make him pay for what he'd done, but why did Sirius pick this year of all the years to choose from to track down the rat?

Wait a second…how'd Sirius figure out where the rat was located?

"Oh!" Draco breathed, a realization dawning. "Didn't Weasley say his rat went peaky in Egypt?"

"I don't know," Harry said, frowning.

"He did!" Hermione shouted in Draco's ear.

Draco jumped, whirling around to find Hermione standing behind him.

"Where'd you come from?" Harry asked, staring at her with big eyes. "I swear you weren't there a second ago."

"Tosh," Hermione said, looking at Harry as if he was batty. She turned to Draco, her face shifting to show excitement. "Weasley did mention his pet rat went peaky whilst in Egypt! That's why he was at the pet store buying the tonic, remember? I don't think it is helping. Scabbers still appears to be sickly and Weasley is still complaining about how Egypt messed with his rat."

Draco's eyes darted back and forth between Hermione's.

"What?" Harry asked impatiently. "I thought the Weasley's weren't…well, I thought…where…"

Harry failed miserably at stating the fact the Weasleys had a lot of kids and not a lot of money.

"OH!" Draco shouted suddenly. "His father won a bunch of gold this summer and they used it for a holiday! The photo was in the paper!"

He'd seen it. He'd muttered something about history repeating itself and his mother thought he was coming down with some sort of magical flu.

"Was the…er, rat in the photo?" Hermione asked.

"Why would that matter? Why does any of this—" Harry started.

"HE SAW THE RAT!" Draco shouted, making everyone within a hundred feet stare at him.

Draco grabbed Hermione and Harry and dragged them into an empty classroom. Once the door was shut and the room was protected by silencing spells, Draco began to explain.

"Okay, Sirius is innocent, but because of the fact he's in hell with the dementors, he has no drive to escape. Also, if he's like my mother says he is and the rat did betray him and his friends, he likely thinks it is somehow his own fault, so he thinks he belongs there. But, he saw the photo when the Weasley's won the gold. The rat was in it and Sirius knew who the rat happened to be! And…oh! It makes sense! They said before he escaped, Sirius kept muttering, 'He's at Hogwarts.' They assumed he meant Harry, but seriously, he'd know Harry was at Hogwarts. Where else would Harry be? OR! How did he even know? Harry Potter went missing to the wizarding world after that…er, night. And nothing announced your return! So, why would Black randomly decide you were at Hogwarts? I doubt he knows what year it is! Or…why randomly decide to care after the past three years of you being here?"

"Draco, you sound slightly…" Hermione trailed off, unsure what to say.

"Mental? Daft? Insane? Crazy? A complete nutter? At sixes and sevens?" Harry helpfully offered.

"At sixes and sevens?" Draco asked, staring at Harry in confusion.

Hermione huffed. "Honestly."

"I heard my uncle use it once," Harry offered. He turned to Hermione and said, "But…he's kind of right. I mean, the rat was in the photo. I saw it and remember wondering why the rat was trying to eat Weasley's hat."

Hermione stared at Harry for a long beat, then looked at Draco. Her mouth suddenly set into a flat line.

"Be back," Hermione abruptly announced, dashing out the door.

"Where she's going?" Harry asked, whirling around.

"Library. Where else would she go in a crisis?" Draco asked, waving his wand and undoing the spells on the room. "So, you believe me?"

"I don't know. I…I don't know, Draco," Harry admitted. "How would Black have gotten a paper in jail? They just don't hand them out, do they?"

"No. Most of the people there are insane and unlikely to read a paper. Maybe someone dropped it? I don't think they are really locked up in the same sense Muggles lock criminals up. We've got dementors," Draco reminded Harry.

Harry shifted on his feet and tightened his grip on his school bag. "But, they say the dementors don't effect Black."

"They do?"

"Er, yeah."

"Heard that where?"

"From Nott," Harry admitted. "He said Fudge told his dad. I guess they are best mates or something."

Draco snorted. "Well, I don't know if they effect him or not, but even if they didn't drive him…to sixes and sevens to use your own term for bonkers, they still would have drained him of energy. They do that to anyone. Even Muggles."

Harry frowned deeply.

"So, DADA this afternoon?" Draco asked changing topics and steering Harry out of the classroom. "I've only heard good things about Lupin."