Fatal Innocence

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Note: Not edited once again.

Chapter 10:

Harry loved flying. In fact, on his first birthday with Severus, he'd been promised a broom. That Christmas he'd gotten one. The best on the market at the time. He'd been overjoyed. So overjoyed, in fact, that he had raced around the house on said broom causing more than a little destruction. That has gotten him a stern lecture and he'd had to clean up his mess by himself.

Still, the joy of a broom, and the joy of flying had been worth it.

So the day after his first, disastrous Potions lesson, he had his first flying lesson. He wasn't late this time.

"So you know how to fly then Harry?" Draco asked as they walked outside.

Harry nodded and glanced over at Hermione. She was a few paces behind them both looking very reluctant to join the class. Harry was worried about her. Her usually perky smile and hyper active nature had been dampened throughout the morning, and it had just gotten worse as flying class drew closer. Draco's eyes followed Harry's gaze, and he frowned at the skittish Hermione.

"She doesn't like flying I see." Draco tried, once more, to drag Harry into a conversation.

Harry's head snapped back to Draco and he gave a half hearted smile. "I don't guess she does. Come to think about it, she always refused to ride my broom. I always assumed she was afraid of me doing the flying."

Draco nodded. "My cousin is afraid to fly as well. Maybe it's a girl thing?"

Harry laughed. "Somehow I think Hermione would be offended at that thought." They reached Madame Hooch at that moment, and they were all instructed to stand by a broom.

"Do nothing else. I don't want anyone taking a foot off the ground before I tell them to." Hooch demanded of her students. Harry fidgeted as he waited impatiently to take off.

To his left, a small, pudgy boy was holding a ball in his hands. He was muttering something about having forgotten something important when a red head boy grabbed the glass object out of his hands.

"Will you shut up about your bloody Rememberall, Neville? No one cares." The red head threw the ball high up in the air and caught it again. Madame Hooch turned a warning eye on them, and Neville didn't have a chance to ask for his ball back before Hooch continued her instructions.

"On my count, you will all say up. The broom should snap into your hands. You may then mount and hover above the ground. Did you all hear me? Hover. Nothing more. If any of you even think about going any higher, you'll serve a detention with Filch." Everyone did as they were told. Harry spared a sympathetic glace at Hermione as she tried in vain to make her broomstick obey.

The pudgy boy on his left had managed to do alright until he got into the air. Harry watched in horror as he rose high into the air. Madame Hooch yelled for him to come back, but it seemed that Neville couldn't control his broom at all. He soared in the air and then came hurtling back down to earth only to stop suddenly. The quick jerk caused him to fall off the broom, and when he hit the ground, Harry heard a sickening crack.

Harry winced at the sound. Madame Hooch ran to the boy's aide and sighed with frustration when she discovered a broken bone. "Class is dismissed for the day. Not enough time to teach you much more anyway. Put the brooms in the shed. No flying." She barked as she levitated Neville off the ground.

Harry stood still as Hooch took Neville away. He'd never seen that side of flying before. He looked at the broom that was now in his hands. Flying was too amazing to be dangerous. He couldn't imagine what had happened to Neville would ever happen to him.

That night at dinner, Harry had already forgotten about Neville's accident earlier in the day.

"Have you heard Harry?" Draco asked. Harry shook his head and jumped slightly as Draco thrust a newspaper into his hands. He read it over quickly.

"Gringotts was broken into? That's crazy." Harry smiled.

"Isn't it? Dad wrote me this morning. The vault that was broken into? It was Dumbledore who withdrew whatever was in it." Draco looked at him with wide grey eyes. Harry gasped.

"It must have been something important then. Wonder what it was?" Harry was almost too excited to eat now.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. Father didn't either. Doesn't seem like it would be gold does it?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not very hungry now." Draco laughed and shook his head.

"I'm not either. Let's go see if we can steal Hermione away." Harry got up to signal his agreement, and they headed in the direction of the Gryffindor table.

Hermione didn't have to be asked. She got up as soon as she saw they were headed in her direction. She fell in step beside them and they were all quiet until the reached the library, the unspoken destination.

"I think whatever was taken form that vault is here." Hermione said after Draco and Harry finished stumbling over each other to tell her their thoughts from dinner.

"Why would it be here?" Draco asked incredulously.

"The Twinkly Man always said that there was no place safer than Hogwarts." Harry said, more to himself than to anyone else. Hermione giggled.

"You still call him that Harry?" Harry glared at her.

"Admit it. You still call McGonagall Glinda." Hermione winked at him and Draco began to laugh.

"I don't even begin to understand what you two are talking about." Draco shook his head and took a random book off the shelf.

Hermione quieted and the sober, studying look took over her face. "I still say whatever was in that vault is now here at Hogwarts."

"Well, where it is isn't an issue. It's what it is." Draco flipped the pages of the book aimlessly.

"Do you think Professor Snape would know?" Hermione looked at a quiet and pensive Harry.

"I don't think he'd tell us." Harry said, shaking his head. Hermione nodded silently, and the only thing they could hear in the library was the page turning as Draco scanned the words lining the book's pages.

"This is interesting." Draco smirked at Harry and Hermione as he held up the book.

"A stone that can give the drinker everlasting life." Hermione read. "Interesting, but not on topic Draco."

Draco rolled his eyes and snapped the book shut. "Well then."

Harry shook his head at the two. He could see a fight brewing, and he wanted to stop it in advance. "It couldn't hurt to ask Severus."

They all walked out of the library leaving the book on a nearby table, the page still open to the page about the stone that gave the drinker everlasting life.

Severus hadn't been very happy with his charge when he had rushed into class late, but he got over it fairly quickly.

He had more on his mind. After all, if Draco Malfoy was friends with Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy must be behind it.

Not only that, but Albus had put him in charge of keeping an eye out for the new Defense professor who was, in his humble opinion, a raving lunatic. The man was after something, and with the removal of the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts, and its relocation to Hogwarts, Severus was willing to bet that that something was the Stone itself.

A/N: That's it for this chapter. Now I've got everything set up for the next chapter, and hopefully it will be out soon. Please review. Cheers!