After a while, Draco heard two people approaching. Mr. Filch had brought Professor McGonagall. "Well, well, well. The Fat Lady was correct. We have a Slytherin out during curfew. It seems somebody caught him and tied him all up for us to find and punish him." He grinned satisfyingly and asked the professor what she would like to do.

She got out her wand and undid the spell that bound him, but asked, "Draco Malfoy, explain what you are doing here after hours."

"I would be happy to, but may I do so while I go to the infirmary? I think I had better check myself in." Draco hoped that he could think of something on the way that would sound reasonable, because he sure could not tell her the entire truth.

She raised an eyebrow and examined his eye, but with her hands instructed him to lead the way. She also thanked Mr. Filch and said that his services were no longer required. Draco thanked the fisherman and told him to thank the Fat Lady. The two then headed for the hospital ward. They did not get far before Professor McGonagall stopped him and told him to raise his shirt on the right side. Upon seeing his bruise and noting his labored breathing, she levitated him and said that she would be taking him to Madam Pomfrey.

"Thank you."

"Who did this to you?" Seeing Draco hesitate, she added, "Beating up another student is not allowed at Hogwarts. What they did to you is grounds for expulsion. We will protect you, but we can do that only if you tell us who did it."

"If I tell you, the next time instead of beating me up, he may kill me. No, I think I do not need anyone else wanting to kill me. So, thank you, I really do appreciate it, but I must decline."

Professor McGonagall looked horrified, but she continued on her way towards the infirmary. "You have had other attempts on your life. How can we better protect you?"

"This beating was not an attempt on my life. I am well protected while I am at Hogwarts. My family's enemies will find it hard to get at me behind Hogwarts' defenses." He then looked at her questioningly and said, "Thank you for your concern though."

"Are there any children from your family's enemies at Hogwarts?"

Draco thought about it. His main enemies were Malfoys, so no to them. Yet, his father had other enemies, most of whom he did not know. They might have children who were attending Hogwarts and might be a concern for him. Yet, his father had said nothing about that. True, his father wanted him to be able to defend himself, but surely, he could not defend himself against an older student. Would not his father have told him if there was a threat at Hogwarts? Draco hoped so, but he felt uneasy about it. "None that I know of. I hope that if there is, that my father has told the school about it." Draco then asked her if his father had said something about there being a threat to him at the school.

"Not to my knowledge, but I will ask the headmaster."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome. Now, before we arrive, will you kindly tell me what you were doing out during curfew and why you were so near the Gryffindor Common Room?"

Draco had been thinking about his reply ever since she first asked it. He decided to tell her as much of the truth as he could without getting into any more trouble, meaning he could not tell her a lot. "I knew that Neville had been released from the infirmary and I wanted to see him." He guessed that she knew he had visited him in the infirmary, so he hoped it sounded believable. It was the truth though it was only a small part of the truth. "If he had gotten any further, I would have missed him." Now that was so little of the truth that it was almost a lie. Neville could not have gotten further because he had forgotten the password. "Fortunately, I caught him right before the entrance into his dormitory." Never mind that he was sound asleep on the floor because he could not get in until Draco had supplied the password. He was unsure what she would think if she knew that a Slytherin knew the password to the Gryffindor dormitory, but he was sure that she would look into how he knew, and he did not want that. No, because if she found out, he would lose a lot of his privileged information.

"Draco, how would you have known when Madam Pomfrey released Neville, for Merlin's sake?"

Draco had expected that. "What difference does it make who told me? I knew, that much is obvious. I promised not to tell." No one actually told him, so that was not true. Yet, he did know, so that was true. And he did promise not to tell, but the promise he made was to himself.

"Hmm, OK. It is not important. I hope you now realize why students are not allowed out of their dorm after curfew." That, Draco had learned very well. He had originally thought it an inconvenient rule, now he understood why it existed. "And I hope you learned something tonight."

"Learned something? You mean that it is dangerous for me to be out after curfew? Yes, I learned that. Or do you mean did I learn that some Gryffindors are dangerous to me?" Jake was an example. "While some will not lift a finger to help." Potty and the Weasel. "And others are concerned and will help me." Professor McGonagall and the Fat Lady. He also learned that the Fat Lady could move into other portraits and get help, but he was sure the professor did not mean that.

The professor looked at him approvingly and then turned him over to Madam Pomfrey. The nurse made him take his shirt off and her first words were, "Yikes! Who did this to you?" Draco said that he could not tell, so she looked closely at his eye. "I can repair both damaged areas, but it will take a while and you will have about the same amount of pain for quite some time. Do you want me to kill the pain?"

"No, I can manage. Except maybe for a little while to let me get to sleep. I assume I will be sleeping here. And can you repair the damage but allow the discoloration to continue for a few days?"

Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall both raised their eyebrows at that. "Yes, Draco. You will be staying here until I release you probably sometime tomorrow morning." She then looked at him questioningly and asked, "May I ask why you want the discoloration of your bruises to continue?"

"So that others may learn from my misfortune."

"You are not planning on retaliation, inter house fighting or anything like that are you?"

"No mam. Nothing like that. I just want a few people to learn from my appearance."

"Yes then. I can repair the damage and leave the discoloration. It will slow the healing a little and the discoloration will fade after two days, but I think that will be about what you want." Draco nodded his head. It was more than he hoped for. It sounded like he might be a little swollen tomorrow. That might help his plans. He would let her heal him, get some rest, think about his schemes, and then put them into play tomorrow.

The next day, he was released from the infirmary to attend his second class. With his swollen and black and blue eye, he got many stares but only his friends asked about him. He would only say that he spent the night in the infirmary. He was pleased when Neville asked about him and pleased that Hermione only asked through Neville. In return, Draco asked about Neville's flying legs.

"I've been reluctant to try."

"Do you think that wise? You will have to fly at our next flying class, and I think you would rather do something embarrassing when no one is around to watch."

"I am afraid Draco."

Draco pursed his lips, he should have guessed that. Yet, he really wanted Neville to try before he was in front of a class. He knew Neville would be worse if he was nervous, and he'd be much more nervous in front of others. "If I fly with you, and we start out really slow and low, would that help?"

Neville looked at the Slytherin in amazement wondering why he was being so nice to him. He had proved to be pretty poor in just about everything, and Draco was just the opposite. And when it came to flying, there was no one who was better at it in their class, except maybe Harry, and Harry was a lot more reckless. No, if he wanted any of his classmates to help him fly, it would be Draco. "OK, what do you want in return?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Neville. Could he possibly know what his scheming with him was about? Considering how convoluted it was and Neville's naïve nature, he doubted it. "I did not ask for anything, but your friendship would be nice." Partly to change the subject, and partly to keep Neville from thinking about why he wanted to help, Draco suggested that they should practice during the break in their classes. He also suggested that he bring something small that he valued, but something that was not fragile, such as the Remembrall.

Neville was confused about bringing something of value, but when he asked, he agreed with Draco's logic totally.

Though Draco was still sore from his beating, he went flying with Neville during their break that day. Draco surprised himself in being so patient with the goofy Gryffindor. He started low and slow, flew beside him when Neville seemed unsure of himself, and offered encouragement. He even laughed good naturedly when Neville lost control of his broom and offered a suggestion on how to regain control that almost always worked, unlike Madam Hooch who just yelled at him to get back to the ground. Things were going really well, until Potter and Weasley showed up on their brooms. They must have decided to go flying during the break as well.

"Neville, what the heck are you doing out here with that son and heir of a Death Eater? You need to make friends with the right sort, and that ain't a Slytherin or a Malfoy." Draco just frowned at Ron, he could do better than just repeat their earlier conversation. Ron would not be a serious challenge, just an annoyance. Potter on the other hand would prove a challenge.

"Give that back Draco, or I will knock you off your broom!" There was hatred in that shout, though Draco did not know why.

"Cannot you two just leave us to fly in peace? We are not bothering you so why are you bothering us?" He doubted that Potter would listen to reason, but it was worth a try because he really did not want to fight with his wounds still healing. "You can see my eye. It is so colorful and swollen." He then lifted his flying robes and his shirt to reveal his side. It was all black and blue from nearly his armpit to his lowest rib. "As you can see, I am in no mood for fighting." He then looked sharply at Potter and the Weasel, saying, "And when I asked you two noble Gryffindors to untie me last night and allow me to go to the infirmary, you left me alone unable to do anything and to suffer with my wounds. They hurt Potter, they still do."

"I should have let Ron leave such marks on you as well. He wanted to."

"Harry," Ron said with agitation. "You know that is not true. Besides, you saw those bruises! I am not strong enough to make anything like that. They must have come from an upper classman, and a mean one at that."

Draco raised an eyebrow at Ron. He was not as stupid as he had thought. And since when did Ron sympathize with him, a Malfoy? He must have a little of his father in him after all. "If you would have beaten me, then I would have been beaten by two noble Gryffindors last night. Noble Gryffindors who are supposed to defend the weak and helpless, such as a younger boy who was all tied up."

Potter had flown very close to him with his left hand held out as if he expected Draco to hand him the Remembrall. "You got what you deserved. Now give me the ball you thieving Slytherin scum."

Draco pinched his eyebrows sharply at Potter but said nothing. He did not like being called a thieving Slytherin scum and he certainly did not deserve his beating. He decided to ask Neville what he wanted him to do, which proved a big mistake. To talk to Neville, he looked down, taking his eyes off Potter. Potter took the opportunity to collide roughly into him and try and grab the ball. Draco dropped the Remembrall and nearly fell off his broom. He managed to save himself by quickly grabbing onto his broom handle with both hands and spinning his body around the broom, but it hurt his side. Harry cursed at failing to retrieve the Remembrall and dived in pursuit of it.

Hearing all this, Neville finally realized that it was because Draco had come up to the Gryffindor tower to help him that he had been beaten. He had had enough and yelled up, "Harry Potter! What the heck is the matter with you! You leave Draco alone or I am reporting you! All he has done is help me learn to fly, while you almost knocked him off his broom and never helped him get to the infirmary last night. I am sure that Professor McGonagall would not take too kindly to either."

Potter stopped his rapid descent and came level on his broom. He looked at Neville and asked, "What? You want him to steal your Remembrall?"

Draco saw Neville roll his eyes. Apparently, Neville thought that Potter was as thick as Draco thought he was. Draco decided to join Neville on the ground and let the other boy talk to his fellow Gryffindors. "He was not stealing it! He was using it to help me learn how to fly. He was putting it somewhere where I had to fly to retrieve it"

Seeing Draco fly towards Neville, Potter decided to do the same. As he approached, he asked Neville, "If so, then why was he placing it up so high? Why not place it somewhere low where you could have a chance of actually reaching it?"

Neville frowned. Potter had little faith in his housemate's flying skills and was insulting his ability to retrieve the Remembrall. "We started low and easy. Believe it or not Harry, I have worked my way up to flying near where Draco was going to place it."

Potter finally understood how insulting his words were. "Sorry Neville, I did not know."

"It is not me that you need to apologize to." Neville looked at Draco to make his meaning crystal clear.

Draco probably should not have said it, but he just could not help himself. "You appear to not know a lot of things Potter. I offered a solution." Meaning that he was willing to help. However, he never got the chance to say anything further about it.

"I am not apologizing to lowlife."

"Lowlife?" Draco's cheeks got red in anger. "Look who is talking you, you half-blood!" Draco noted with delight that Potter's cheeks became red after being reminded that he was only a half-blood. He had discovered Potter's sore spot, and it was time to put the nails in the coffin. "Unlike you, I am a pure-blood and a Malfoy," emphasizing the words pure-blood and Malfoy to imply that they were something special. "My family is ancient and is one of the most powerful and wealthy. We were once nobility before the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy came into effect in 1692."

Potter looked sharply at Draco and fumed. "Yes, you are a Malfoy." Draco was not surprised but pleased that Potter chose not to discuss the purity of his blood, only that he was a Malfoy. "I am not apologizing to the scum whose father was a Death Eater and whose family aided in my mother and father's murder." He then turned to Neville and said, "You should realize a Malfoy never does anything unless it benefits him in some way. If this Malfoy is helping you, it is only because he wants something in return."