"Someone's definitely there," Harry whispered. He snatched the Invisibility Cloak off the edge of the bed and pulled it around him.
He and Draco had been fooling around aimlessly on the green and silver sheets as usual when they heard the dormitory door creak open.
Draco poked his head out of the bed curtains. "Blaise, mon amie," Harry heard him say sarcastically. "To what do I owe this displeasure?"
"Get stuffed," Blaise said conversationally. "Snape's looking for you. Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"
"I told you not to bother me," Draco said smoothly, pushing the curtains aside. "What does he want?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know? Go ask him yourself," Blaise said dismissively. A moment later the door closed with a click.
"What are you doing to piss Umbridge off, Potter?" Draco asked as he fussed with his hair.
"I told you I wasn't going to answer that," Harry said, pulling the cloak down slightly.
Draco flicked his eyes up to meet Harry's. "I'll find out, you know," he said, rather smugly for someone who didn't know anything.
"Well, it's not going to be from me," said Harry. He had no intention of telling Draco anything, neither the DA nor anything about Voldemort. He hadn't forgotten who Draco was, after all.
"That's great, Neville," Harry said encouragingly.
The meeting was nearly over. Harry had decided, after some deliberation, to teach them Patronuses.
"But it hasn't got a form," Neville said, sounding frustrated, as the silvery cloud hovered in front of him.
"You've been doing brilliantly, though," Harry assured him, turning and surveying the rest of the room.
"They're so pretty!" Cho said, watching her swan glide gracefully past.
"Well, they're supposed to be functional," Harry said, grinning.
"They are sort of cute," Hermione commented. Her Patronus, an otter, gamboled playfully in the air, leaving silver streams of light wherever it passed.
At that moment, Dobby came bursting through the door.
"Harry Potter!" he cried, panting, looking utterly disheveled.
"I'm here," Harry assured him, hurrying over. "What's up?"
"She..." Dobby said. He seemed to have difficulty talking. "Find you, Harry Potter, sir!"
"She... she who?" Harry repeated, confused.
"She!" Dobby said. He rushed away and began to bang his head off the wall. Harry grabbed him and dragged him away.
"Thank you, sir," he squeaked.
"She who, Dobby?" Harry said urgently. "Who's going to find us?"
Dobby shook his head. He couldn't speak.
Harry's stomach dropped. "Not Umbridge?" he said.
Dobby nodded a tiny bit. "Very soon, sir," he said quietly.
Harry stood up and blew his whistle. "All right, everyone," he shouted. "We've got to get out of here. Don't bother taking anything but your wands. Split up."
There was a sort of pandemonium.
"What do you mean, we've got to get out of here?" Dean Thomas shouted angrily.
"Umbridge!" Harry snapped. "Just go, go!"
Everyone stormed for the exits, Harry included.
He ran down the most deserted corridor, keeping an eye out for Umbridge or anyone else, when he tripped on something invisible and went flying.
"Trip Jinx," Draco said gloatingly, appearing from the shadows. He knelt next to Harry. "I told you," he whispered.
Harry just stared at him with loathing in his eyes.
"Excellent work, Draco!" Umbridge trilled, appearing behind Harry. She hefted him up by his armpits. "Headmaster's office, I think, Potter," she hissed in his ear.
Draco pocketed Harry's wand.
"Go get the girl and bring her to the headmaster," Umbridge instructed Draco.
Harry sighed. Damnit, damnit, damnit, he was an idiot.
"... So with that information from Willy Widdershins, I got a list of students, found one most likely to open up to me... and so I caught them," Umbridge finished with relish, "the whole band of Potter's scofflaws."
Harry was standing in front of Cornelius Fudge, Percy Weasley, and several Aurors (including Kinglsey Shacklebolt) on Dumbledore's rug.
Professor McGonagall and Snape were there, too, looking rather miffed.
Draco entered the office quietly. Everyone glanced over at the sound of the door opening.
"Well?" Umbridge demanded of him. "Where's the girl?"
Draco paused and looked at the ceiling, then at Harry. "I'm not too sure," he replied, his voice rather strained.
"What?" Umbridge snapped. "What do you mean... you silly little boy, what do you mean you're not too sure?"
Percy Weasley stopped scrawling and looked up.
Harry glanced at Dumbledore, who just looked contentedly over at Umbridge, his fingers steepled.
"I mean, I had her one minute, and the next minute she was gone," Draco replied. Harry noted a tiny bit of a smirk in his voice.
"Well, go find her!" Umbridge roared, her voice rising in pitch.
"Is that really my job?" Draco replied.
"Insubordination!" Umbridge hissed. "Twenty points from Slytherin!"
"Let's not overreact," Snape interjected.
"Dolores," Fudge said impatiently, "if you don't have a witness, and you don't have any evidence... Believe me, I like to see rule-breakers expelled as much as the next person--" he looked at Harry pointedly as he said this, then continued, "I can't really do much about it--"
Draco glanced at Harry again, less furtively this time.
"Did you see that?" Umbridge roared, seeming to lose her cool entirely. "They're conspiring against me! Malfoy and Potter!"
McGonagall began to laugh openly. "Malfoy and Potter working together? You'd just as soon see hippogriffs dropping from the sky, really, Dolores..."
Fudge began to laugh nervously. "What an accusation," he said, "Dolores... Really, you're grasping at straws here--"
"No!" Umbridge yelled. "I have evidence!"
She pulled a sheet of paper out and, with a flourish, handed it to Fudge.
"Gobstones Club," he read aloud.
Percy Weasley continued to write furiously, spraying ink in all general directions.
Umbridge's face dropped. "Let me see that," she said, her voice in dangerous tones.
Fudge handed her the crumpled paper.
"No!" she shrieked. "It was a list, of all their names, with the title 'Dumbledore's Army!'"
"Dumbledore's Army?" Fudge said, suddenly wildly excited. "Well, where is it? Let's see it!"
"This was it!" Umbridge yelled, slapping the paper with her hand.
The room got very silent.
Harry chanced a glance at Draco. He looked as utterly confused as everyone else. Either he was an excellent actor, or he'd had nothing to do with it. Harry would put his Galleons on the second one.
"Dolores," Fudge said timidly, edging away from Umbridge, who was rapidly beginning to resemble an angry pink rhinoceros.
"I think," she said, very quietly, "that we should just give Potter some Veritaserum."
Everyone's eyes were on Harry.
"You can't administer that potion to students, Dolores," Snape said dismissively. "Though it would be a waste on Potter, regardless."
"If you have no evidence of Harry's general rule-breakery at this time, Dolores," Dumbledore said softly, "perhaps we should mark this case closed for now. Rest assured, if you bring proof to me, I'll be more than happy to take it into consideration."
"Back to class, you two," McGonagall said, ushering Harry and Draco out of the office, just as Umbridge seemed about to blow and Percy Weasley scrawled faster than ever.
They walked at opposite sides of the hallway in silence until Harry walked in front of a broom closet. He motioned that Draco join him and slipped in.
"Don't step on me," Harry snapped as soon as Draco had closed the door behind himself and trod on Harry's foot. "What the hell did you do?"
"I just lost the redhead with the boils on her face, is all, I didn't fake the Gobstones thing," Draco replied. "And I didn't do it for you."
"I'm sure," Harry said sardonically.
"I'm not done with you yet, Potter," Draco snapped, "and if you get it expelled, I want it to be on my terms."
Harry snorted disbelievingly. "Where'd you lose her?"
"Vanishing Cabinet," Draco replied. "Same thing that happened to Flint. Thought it was a nice touch of irony. By the time they find her, I'm assuming she'll be too delirious to even know her own name, let alone point the finger at you."
"It just doesn't make any sense, Malfoy," Harry said.
"I told you," Draco said, sounding agitated, "I'm not done with you just yet."
And he met Harry's lips.
It was sort of nice, Harry considering, despite the fact that he was sitting in a bucket.
A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed the extra long chapter, because I'm unfortunately going out of town with the 'rents for the next four days and can't update. At least you have a lot to ponder... Draco's ulterior motives, who switched out the lists, et cetera. Happy Memorial day, everyone!