Disclaimer: I Own Nothing. Well, a couple of things, I suppose. But the closest I come to owning Harry Potter is owning the books, so find somebody else to sue.
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It was several days before Harry left the hospital wing and returned to class. His friends, Draco, Sirius, Remus, and the teachers decided that Harry and Draco were not to go anywhere alone, in case the students who attacked Harry decided to do it again. Teachers were keeping a special eye on them, and friends would walk with the boys to each of their classes. Everyone was on the look-out for any student who appeared suspicious, as they had yet to find out who Harry's assailants were. They were more concerned about making sure that Harry was well first.
The day Harry returned to classes, Draco and Hermione walked with him to Potions class a few minutes early. The boy was still very weak, and with the tight bandages around his chest, every breath he took caused him pain. He also had a cast on his broken arm, which would present problems in his classes. His teachers assured him that he would be given assistance if he needed it.
"Hello, Mr. Potter," Snape greeted him. Ever since Draco had spoken to Snape about him and Harry, and even moreso since the attack, the Potions master had been a lot nicer to Harry. "Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy."
"Hi, Professor," Harry said. He handed Snape a few pieces of parchment, the assignments he'd given the boy for the days that he'd missed. "I'm pretty sure that's everything." Draco, Hermione, and Harry went back to their tables and put their books down, and Draco pulled his chair over to the other table.
"From now on, if we do potions in pairs, Sev's going to pair me and you together, I think," Draco told Harry, who nodded, then frowned and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What's wrong, love?" Harry shook his head, brushing the question off. "Harry, you don't have to act so brave. You can tell me if something's wrong."
"It just, um... It kind of hurts, when I sit," Harry mumbled, looking at his hands. Draco sighed and leaned in to rest his forehead against Harry's, placing his hand on the back of Harry's head.
"I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better," Draco whispered.
Harry didn't reply. He just leaned into Draco's arms and rested his head on the blond's shoulder. Draco kissed Harry's forehead and ran his fingers through the boy's hair. Hermione gave Draco a sympathetic look.
"Harry, maybe you just aren't ready to be back in class," Draco suggested. "You're obviously still in a lot of pain, and--"
"I've missed too much already," Harry cut him off. "I can handle a little pain. This is nothing compared to some of the things I've dealt with." Draco sighed, shaking his head and leaning back in his chair. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at Harry.
"You just worry me, you know, Harry?" he said, softly.
"Well, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make you worry. I'm just trying to get over it and get on with my life." He shook his head as the other students began to enter the room. "Just don't worry, all right? If I think something's really wrong, I'll tell you. Until then, don't worry about it." Draco nodded reluctantly and slid his chair back to his table.
"Copy down the recipe on the blackboard," Snape said loudly as the students sat in their seats. "Can anyone tell me what this is a recipe for?" Harry raised his hand a little. "Mr. Potter?"
"It's a Secret-Revealing Potion. When it's finished, you put a piece of parchment in it, and your biggest secret is written on the parchment."
"Five points to Gryffindor," Snape said, nodding. "You will make this potion with partners, and you will each test your potions with a piece of parchment. You will place the parchment in the potion, and then take it out and read it to yourselves. If what is written on the parchment is, in fact, your biggest secret, then obviously the potion has worked. You will not have to show the results to anyone other than yourself unless you want to. Of course, since it is supposed to be your biggest secret, you probably will not want to." He put the students into pairs, and Draco and Harry were together.
After an hour, the potions were ready to be tested. Just about everyone's potions were done correctly, or so they said. Crabbe and Goyle's were wrong, of course, as was Neville and Ron's.
"Mr. Malfoy, it is your turn," Snape said, standing in front of Draco and Harry. Draco took a breath and placed his parchment in the potion for a few seconds, then withdrew it. He read it, and his face paled as he nodded his head.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked, resting a hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco nodded again, crumbling the parchment in his hand.
Harry was the last to test his potion. He put the parchment in and took it out. When he looked at the parchment, his expression became that of confusion. He looked up at Snape.
"There's a line drawn on it, and that's all." He handed the parchment to Snape, who also looked at it.
"Do you know what that means, Mr. Potter?" Harry shook his head. "That means that you have a great many secrets, and all of them are very big secrets that take up your mind. The biggest secret cannot be distinguished." Snape stared at Harry for a moment, making Harry feel like the professor was reading his mind. He looked at the boy speculatively until Draco gave Snape a small kick in his leg.
"Sev, stop," Draco whispered loudly. "You're scaring him." Snape shook his head and headed for his office, speaking as he walked.
"Class dismissed. Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, Mr. Longbottom, and Mr. Weasley, you will all report here at five o'clock this evening to get your potions right."
Draco and Harry stood up and headed up the aisle to Snape's desk; Draco wanted to speak with his godfather. On the way up, Draco ran into Pansy Parkinson, who glared at him as she dropped her wand. She picked it up and left the room, as did everyone else except for the two boys. Draco took Harry's hand and began to walk again, but Harry didn't move.
"Harry, what--" Draco started to say as he turned around.
His eyes widened when he saw that Harry's face was pale and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. The black-haired boy was shaky and breathing irregularly. Draco caught Harry after the boy's legs collapsed from under him.
"Severus, help!" Draco shouted as he carefully lowered Harry to the floor. Draco took his robe off and folded it up, placing it under Harry's head. Then he rested one hand on Harry's cheek, and the other on the boy's chest. "Harry, love, calm down. Try to breathe and tell me what's wrong. Severus, get your arse in here!" Snape rushed into the room from his office, and at the sight of the boys on the floor, he knelt down next to them.
"Pansy...wand...broken..." Harry barely whispered, closing his eyes as the pain in his chest grew.
"Pansy's wand was broken?" Snape asked. Harry nodded as Draco squeezed his hand. "Harry, I need you to tell me for sure: Was Pansy one of the students who attacked you?" Harry took a shaky breath, then winced in pain.
"Yes," he murmured. Snape looked at Draco.
"Try to keep him awake. I have something in my office that will calm him down."
The professor ran to his office and soon returned with a bright blue potion. He pulled Harry up into a sitting position and helped him to drink from the vial. Within minutes, Harry was no longer shaking, and the pain in his chest eased, so that he was able to breathe properly.
"You're going to be the death of me," Draco sighed, shaking his head as he gently hugged Harry. "I'm starting to think you enjoy scaring me."
"Oh, right..." Harry muttered. "I really enjoy not being able to breathe. I do that just so I can scare you..."
"I need to speak with Dumbledore about this," Snape said. "I'll take you two up to the hospital wing on my way."
"Draco?" Harry said a while later from his bed in the hospital wing.
"Yes, love?" Draco smoothed Harry's hair back from his forehead.
"Don't go and kill Pansy, all right?" Harry requested in a small voice. "I know you want to get revenge for me, but if you kill her, or anyone else, they'll make you leave me, and I don't want you to leave me. So don't kill anyone, please." Draco gave him a small smile.
"Anything for you," he said, softly. "Though it will be tempting... Can I hurt them, at least? Maybe just a little hex here and there?" Harry shook his head. "All right."
After a few moments, Snape came in with Dumbledore, who sat in a chair by Harry's bed. The Headmaster gave Harry a warm smile, but the sparkle that was usually in his eyes had faded.
"How are you feeling, Harry?"
"Fine," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Can I go back to class?"
"Possibly tomorrow, child," Dumbledore told him. "I wanted to speak with you about a decision that I've made about the best way to find out who did this to you, aside from Miss Parkinson." He took a breath. "Harry, do you know what the Memorius Spell is?" Harry shook his head. "It is a spell that, when cast upon someone, allows that person's memories to be projected for others to see. If we use that spell on you, we may be able to see who attacked you."
"Will you see things besides what happened that night?" Harry asked, frowning and fidgeting with his blanket.
"No, child, we can set a timeframe for the memories that are shown."
"But you'll see everything they did to me..." Harry mumbled. Dumbledore confirmed this. "I don't know if I want you to see."
"Harry," Dumbledore said, softly. "It's the easiest way." Harry sighed and nodded. "We will not have many people in the room when we perform the spell. Just myself, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, Sirius, and Remus. All right?" Harry nodded again. "When we find out who the students were, we will question them with Veritaserum. After that, they will most-likely be expelled and turned over to the Ministry for further punishment."
"When are you..." Harry's words trailed to an end, but Dumbledore knew what he was asking.
"Tonight. Professor Snape will bring you up to my office. I've already asked Sirius and Remus to come. Before we do the spell, I'll explain to you what will happen, all right?" Harry nodded.