It was almost the end of the school year and it was filled with tests and, for the upper years, exams. Everyone was busy studying, to the point where they lost sleep.

His birthday had also passed. It wasn't much, no party or and only a small slice of cake, he preferred it that way. After years of not celebrating his birthday it had sort of lost its meaning. His dad did get him a small present, which was nice. He still had to ask Draco when his birthday was. Zephyr hoped it hadn't already passes like his own.

He used his study time to look up everything there was to know about unicorns and their blessings. It took a while but he finally found a book that held all the answers. Basically, the blessing of a unicorn was gifted to an individual they like. The blessing manifested itself on the body and resembled something from that night. So the moon on his shoulder blade was from the full moon last night. The blessing was a way to let other unicorns know not to kill this person on sight because they were friends or friendly. That was nice, it meant he didn't have to be scared that unicorns would kill him. Knowing this was the highlight of his day, which didn't last long as soon as he heard what happened.

Three more Slytherins had been hit with the curse and were in the infirmary and it was time to put a stop to it.

Draco and Zephyr had planned to go to the greenhouses during dinner. But they would need a distraction to make sure Pinkblossom wouldn't notice them sneaking away. They didn't want her to get suspicious, not now that they were close to getting enough evidence to lock her away. Luckily, Zephyr knew just who to ask for a distraction.

It was by chance that he ran into them. The Weasley twins, Fred and George. He had also finally learned how to tell them apart. Draco couldn't see it, but the two were very different if you knew where to look. For example, their voices, there was a subtle difference in tone. And the way they behaved was also different. Fred was more outgoing than George, not much, but enough for him to notice.

"Fred! George!" He called out to them, catching their attention.

The twins turned around, and at seeing Zephyr, walked towards him. They were near an alcove, pretty much out of sight and the two were standing in front of him.

"Ah, our favourite snake, how's it going?" Asked Fred.

"Good, we hope?" Added George, slinging an arm over his brother's shoulder.

Zephyr nodded and opened his mouth to speak but before he could ask his question Fred asked his own.

"And how far are you with out little bet?" He smiled.

"Completely done, Fred." He said, looking at Fred and then looked at George. "George."

"Nope, don't believe it, try again." And the two spun around each other really fast, then they spun around with him, making him a bit dizzy.

As soon as Zephyr righted himself again and glanced at the twins he knew immediately who was whom. He pointed at the right person as he said the names. "George. Fred."

George nodded. "Look at that, Freddie, the little snake did it."

Fred sniffed dramatically and wailed. "I know, I'm so proud of him."

"You know, I told your little brother he had to come up with a better insult than 'snake'. Do I have to tell you the same thing?" Zephyr asked.

"You misunderstand, Zephyr." Began Fred.

"It's a nickname, you see." Said George.

"A nickname? Why?"

"Because you're ours now." Continued Fred.

"We've adopted you, you're now an honorary Gryffindor." George said seriously.

"Uh.. no offence, but no thanks." He said with a grimace.

The twins stared at Zephyr for a moment before breaking out in wide grins.

"No worries, we're just joking." George said as his brother burst out laughing.

"You should have seen your face!" Fred snickered after he caught his breath.

Zephyr blushed brightly. "Very funny." He scowled.

"Thanks. We thought so too." George grinned, came to stand next to him and ruffled Zephyr's hair. "Ah, don't be like that, Zephyr."

"Yeah, now ask your question." Said Fred, still standing in front of him.

"I need you two to create a distraction tonight during dinner. Make sure professor Pinkblossom doesn't leave the great hall. Should be doable, right?"

"Are all Slytherins this much into mischief?" Asked Fred.

"No. You just got lucky. Will you help me?"

George and Fred shared a look and nodded, making Zephyr's shoulders sag in relief.

"Thanks guys." He said.

The hours leading up to dinner were tense. If he could he would have gone right now but Draco said that going in broad daylight was not smart and not what a Slytherin would do. So they waited. Draco braided his hair again, this time in a more intricate design which kept his hair out of his face. Draco had stopped gelling his hair back since the first time he braided Zephyr's hair. And it was now hanging around his ears, too short to be annoying. They did their homework, chatted a it and went over their 'battle plan', as Draco called it.

Soon they went to the great hall, trying to look as if they weren't up to something and, judging by the way no one questioned them, they were succeeding.

Glancing over to the Gryffindor table he noticed that Harry and his gang were not there. They were probably going after the philosopher's stone. Fred and George were whispering to each other before looking over at Zephyr. Zephyr noticed and glanced at Pinkblossom and then nodded to the twins.

He nudged Draco in the side and placed his fork and spoon down on the table.

A few minutes later fireworks exploded over the tables and the utensils started dancing. The teachers jumped from their seats with their wands in their hands. There was chaos everywhere as students ducked and ran so as not to be hit with the sparks. It was perfect, no one paid attention to them as they snuck away from dinner and made their way outside.

"You can tell they are absolute Gryffindors." Said Draco as they walked.

"How so?" Asked Zephyr. He could see the greenhouses in the distance and quickened his pace.

"The fireworks were loud and annoying. Just like them." Explained Draco

"It worked, didn't it? We got out undetected."

"I'm not saying it's bad, it's just so Gryffindorish."

"'Gryffindorish.'" He snickered

"It's a word." Draco pouted. They came to a standstill in front of one of the greenhouses that was unused.

"Sure it is, Draco." Zephyr pulled out his wand and cast alohomora on the locked door. He looked inside but there was no trace of black roses, or any kind of flower. He relocked the door and this time Draco lead the way to one of the greenhouses. It was completely empty, no pots, no fertiliser and no worktables.

The last greenhouse was the largest of all. They quickly went in and looked around. Zephyr thought he saw something at the side and stepped further in, Draco followed and them the door closed behind them with a bang.

Zephyr whirled around and watched as Draco tried to open the door. With no luck, it was locked and they were stuck.

"Zephyr, it won't open." He hissed as he pointed his wand in every direction. Zephyr was just as panicked as Draco and tried to calm down. So they were stuck, they just had to find a way out and they'd be fine.

At least they would have been fine if Pinkblossom hadn't just stepped out from the shadows with a malicious and slightly crazy grin on her face. Draco froze at first before hurling a stunning spell at her which she easily deflected.

"Now, now children. Let's talk about this like adults and things will go a lot smoother." She smiled an insincere smile that smelled of deceit from where he stood.

"We're not adults, you said so yourself." Zephyr pointed out, shuffling closer to Draco.

"Did I? Oh, well. I won't expect much from you, then. I'll give you two choices, yes?" Her wand was in her hand and alternating between pointing at Draco or Zephyr. They were watching Pinkblossom warily, waiting for an attack.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked, ignoring what she said. Were they in some sort of superhero film or something? Although, he was talking the villain out of doing whatever evil she was planning to do further. He didn't see himself as some sort of hero, he was doing this because she had messed with the wrong house, he wasn't brave, even now he shivering in his shoes, but with Draco at his side he felt confident enough to stand up to this mad woman.

With shock he noticed he had zoned out and hadn't heard anything she had said.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Could you repeat that, please?" He smirked, a challenge in his eyes.

"You impudent child!" She snarled. "My Lord ordered me to weed out the traitors in his House and I will fulfil my mission ! Did you think I didn't notice you in my office? I had hoped that the presence of my Lord would have scared you away but I see I was wrong." She paced around until she stood between them and the door, leaving them with no escape route. "Your choices are this: you walk away and let me do as I please or you both die right here, right now."

"Uhm… neither." Said Draco, having gotten back his nerve. "How about you tell Dumbledore everything you did and then spend a few years in Azkaban. How does that sound?"

"No I don't think so. What are you going to do, fight me? Two little first years fight me, an experienced duellist?" She began cackling, as if the mere thought of them fighting her was hilarious.

Zephyr glanced at Draco and nodded. As one they started firing off spells left and right. Pinkblossom reacted quickly with a protego and then shot a few unknown hexes at them. Zephyr sought cover behind a large pot while Draco flipped over one of the worktables and hid behind it.

"Come out and fight me!" She screamed. Her spells steadily became more destructive. A large crack began to form on the table and broke it in two, leaving Draco with no protection. Draco shot up and cast stupefy rapidly at her, forcing her to take a few steps back, her shielding spell not able to hold up much to the attack.

Zephyr joined in with his own hexes and together they managed to make her trip. One more stupefy or petrificus totalus and she would be down for good. Only, a bombarda made its way towards Draco as he was in the middle of casting a stupefy. He acted without thinking and jumped in front of the spell, much to Draco's horrification.

The blue light of the spell hit the stone of Zephyr's collar, shattering it in millions of little shards that cut into his neck and made it bleed. His head hurt and the last thing he noticed before he passed out was Pinkblossom going down as well from Draco's stupefy.

Too bright!

He groaned after he tried to open his eyes, everything was white and way too bright, making the headache he had more piercing. His groan had not only alerted Draco to the fact that he was awake but had also made stinging pain flare up from his neck.

"Zephyr! Madame Pomfrey, he's awake!" Yelled Draco

His eyes opened again, this time slower and as they adjusted he sat up and looked around. Draco was on his left looking worried but relieved and on his right he saw madame Pomfrey striding towards him.

"Mr. Malfoy, no yelling in the infirmary!" She scolded him. "Now, Mr. Snape, any pain?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"Ye-" He coughed a little. "Yes, my neck." The mediwitch nodded and started casting spells.

"Here, drink this." Draco held up a goblet filled with water. Zephyr took careful sips from it and his throat immediately felt better.

"How long was I out?" He asked Draco.

"A few hours. You hit your head when you fell down." Said Draco.

"What about Pinkblossom?"

"Apparently we made a lot of noise with our fight so some kids got professor Mcgonagall to investigate. She arrived a few minutes after you fainted and Pinkblossom was stunned. She's right angry with us, I got an hour long lecture about recklessness. Uncle Sev was here as well and told me to tell you he wanted to see as soon as you were out of here." He grinned. "I do not want to be there. I can only imagine the conversation. Aurors arrived a while ago and interrogated her, they declared her insane and she's been shipped of to the Janus Thickey ward of St. Mungo's.

"What you boys did was indeed very reckless, but I can't deny that it was good. Everyone affected by the curse has been healed. Pinkblossom told me the spell she used and the counter curse was easy to find. Your neck, Mr. Snape, is a whole other story. From what I gathered, the stone in your necklace shattered and tore into your neck, luckily missing the main artery, but because of the spells on the stone your wounds couldn't be properly healed and scarred." She conjured a mirror and held it in front of him, he saw the tightly wrapped bandages around his neck. She gestured for him to undo them.

The white bandages fell away and he stared at his reflection. Zephyr raised one hand and ran his fingers over the scars. They were thin, small, raised and pale silver, different than the mark he had on his shoulder, these were noticeable. He twisted his head left and right and noticed that the scars hugged his neck, not fully encircling it. She put the mirror down again.

"They will fade as they age and the phantom pain you're feeling will also disappear." She tried to comfort him, but he didn't mind the scars. She gave him the leftover pieces of his collar and then left.

"Zephyr…" he turned to Draco, curious about what Draco was hesitating. "Why did you jump in front of that spell?" He asked.

Why did he jump in front of Draco? He'd just acted without thinking, not wanting Draco to get hurt.

"Instinct, I guess. My body just moved and shielded you. I didn't want you to get hurt." Zephyr explained.

Draco nodded. "I- thank you, Zephyr. Really." He said, heartfelt.

"Zephyr, Malfoy." Said a voice from across the room. It belonged to Harry potter. "Ugh. What time is it?" He asked. Zephyr looked to Draco, not knowing the time as well.

The blond rolled his eyes before answering. "It's a bit after eleven."

"Did you catch your thief?" He asked Harry.

"Yeah, I did. It was Quirrel, just like you said. Only, he had a little surprise underneath his turban."

"Hah. I was right and let me guess," they were alone in the infirmary so he felt safe enough to say, "it was Voldemort." The other two boys looked shocked, although for different reasons. Draco had flinched and started stammering that he shouldn't say that name.

"You- you just said his name." Said Harry flabbergasted.

"Yeah, is that wrong?" He asked, a bit worried as he looked between the two boys.

"No, no. Everyone's been telling me not to say his name and I don't understand why, it's just a name and everyone's so afraid of it, but you said it as well, so I'm not the only one." Harry explained.

"Its because everyone fears him and rightly so. So if you don't mind not saying his name while I'm here that would be great." Said Draco, looking uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy." Said Harry.

"So? What happened." Asked Zephyr and the two Slytherins listened to Harry's story before telling their own.

Harry yawned and all three decided it was time to sleep, Draco left with a good night and a promise to visit in the morning.

It was morning and Zephyr had just finished breakfast. Madame Pomfrey had just by to tell him he was free to go after he had eaten but he was waiting for Draco to come.

Harry was also awake so the two were chatting while he waited. Suddenly the door banged open and Weasley and Granger appeared.

"Harry, you awake mate?" He said, pretty loudly before Granger shushed him.

"Harry, how are you feeling?" She asked. Zephyr, being only across the room and thus not far away from them, could hear everything.

"I'm fine, guys. How's the arm, Ron?"

"As good as new."

"Snape, what are you doing here?" She asked, having noticed he was here.

"I had a little adventure of my own." He smirked and then smiled as Draco came in. At the same time a paper bird flew towards him. With a puzzled expression he caught the bird and unfolded it. Draco was with him when he read the note that was on the now unfolded bird.

'Thank you.'

"You got one too, then?" Asked Draco, holding up a piece of paper.

"Yeah, I got one. I'm glad everyone is alright."

"Me too. Ready to go?"

Zephyr nodded and stood up from where he sat on the bed. "See you later, Harry." He waved to Harry and followed Draco out of the infirmary.

When they were in the common room Zephyr remembered that his dad wanted to speak with him.

"I still have to speak with my dad, want to meet in the library after?"

"Alright, I'll get Vince and Greg too."

"Okay. I'm going to find my dad, now. I'm sure he'll have something to say about our adventure." He said.

"Alright, I'll see you later." Draco said. "Wait!" He exclaimed as Zephyr turned to leave. "Stay here, I'll be right back." And left, coming back moments later with a Slytherin scarf which he wound around Zephyr's neck, hiding his scars. "There, now no one will bother you."

"Thanks, Draco." He smiled and left.

He was waiting for Zephyr to arrive, hoping they could talk about what happened last night. Severus was pacing about in front of the window when his wards gave a sound that told him someone was coming.

Severus moved to make some tea and told his son to come in and sit down. As he took off his scarf Severus couldn't help but stare. Those scars were there because of him. Because of his gift. But what would have happened if he hadn't had it on? Draco told him Zephyr shielded him from a blasting curse, those could be powerful enough to disintegrate a person. He shuddered to think what could have happened to either Zephyr or Draco.

A few minutes later he joined him on the couch. The two of them sat in silence, Severus hoped Zephyr would begin talking because he had no idea how to start. He had to admit, even if it was to himself, he was slightly out of depth. When, moments later, it was clear his son wasn't going to speak, he began.

"What you did was reckless."

"I know."

"Both you and Draco acted like Gryffindors."

"I know."

"You could have died, Zephyr."

"I- I know. But I didn't, and we stopped her!" Zephyr burst out suddenly, standing up. "We stopped her, and nobody got hurt."

"You got hurt, and you were this close to dying!" Severus said, standing up as well. They faced each other, both equally passioned.

"I'm sorry, but I had to save Draco!"

"What do you mean?" He asked, as far as he heard, Zephyr had just gotten injured by the duel.

"The spell was going towards Draco and he couldn't protect himself because he was trying to stun her. So I jumped in front of it so Draco could finish."

"Why couldn't you stun her then?"

"Because it was a blasting spell. Draco would have hit the wall and snapped his neck or something." Zephyr explained. "I had your chocker, I knew I would be alright, or at least less injured than Draco would have been."

"Your logic is sound but it was still a foolish thing to do." He said, resigned.

"I know."

"Please don't do it again?" Severus smiled. "You're going to give me grey hairs if you do."

"I promise not to try." Zephyr sat back down on the couch, a hand going to his throat. "I can't promise anything more, unless you want me to lie."

Severus sighed. "It will do." He walked to his potions supply and grabbed a pain reliever. "Here, drink this. It should help with the pain."

Zephyr immediately gulped it down and sighed in relief. "Thank you." He felt the effect immediately and the pain left his throat.

"The end of the year feast is in a few weeks." Dad told him. "And after that everyone will go to the carriages and then board the train. We'll go by floo instead of the train."

"Why?"

"Because it is unnecessary for you to ride the train and I would have to floo home, wait for hours and then come back to King's Cross to pick you up. This is more efficient for the both of us."

"Couldn't you ride with us on the train?"

Dad scoffed. "Me? Between hyperactive, loud children for nine hours? I'd go mad. Besides isn't it enough that I spent most of the year teaching said children?"

"If you hate teaching so much why do you do it?" Zephyr frowned. It was obvious that dad didn't like being a teacher, so why torture himself?

"Ah, I might tell you my reason when you're older. Now, I've held you here long enough, I'm sure you have other things to do, like studying for that Potions test tomorrow." He urged. "Come to me if you neck starts hurting you again."

"Alright, see you tomorrow, and thanks for the tip, dad." He said with a grin.

He knew that 'I'll tell you when you're older' is grown up talk for 'I'm not going to tell you' and that pushing for an answer would result in nothing.

"Vince, Greg, ready to leave yet?"

They were currently packing their stuff in, Zephyr had to shrink his to take with him while the others could leave theirs in the dorm room. He was a bit sad that he couldn't travel with the others but he understood the why of it.

"Yeah, all set." Vince shut his trunk, while Greg added, "To be honest I don't want to go."

"I know, me too, but we'll be back in seven weeks. Let's just hope there won't be any crazy teachers."

"And that we'll win the House cup." Said Greg.

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you were sorted in the wrong house." Said Vince, and to Greg, "And Dumbledore did that because he likes Gryffindor more than Slytherin."

"What do you mean?" Asked Zephyr. Did they think he wasn't Slytherin material? The sorting hat had said he'd do well in Ravenclaw but that he had a Slytherin outlook. They obviously weren't talking about his love for books.

"Everyone's heard what happened a few weeks ago. How you shielded Draco. It makes some think that you're a Lion instead of a Snake."

"You mean because I saved a friend? That's not bravery, that's loyalty."

"Sounds Hufflepuffish."

"Are you saying that Slytherins can't be loyal, Vince?" Asked Draco, who had finally finished his own packing. He stood beside Zephyr. "Either way, you just insulted him." He said threateningly, holding his wand.

The two looked panicked for a moment until they noticed that Draco was holding back a grin. Still, they apologised to Zephyr who told them it was fine.

"I owe Zephyr a life debt. Not many can say they've got a Malfoy in their debt, and Zephyr can, very cunning if you ask me."

"But Draco! That's no- hmpff." He was cut off by Draco's hand and a glare. He huffed before deciding to do something very childish. He licked Draco's hand, making him shriek loudly.

Vince and Greg laughed as Draco wiped his hand with a grimace.

"Are you five?!"

"Yes." He answered. "By the way, when's your birthday?"

"I'll owl you about that." Draco said with a mysterious smile.

"Why not tell me now?"

"Because I don't want to."

"Now who's five?"

They grinned at each other.

"It's almost time." Said Greg. "We should go."

Zephyr had to stay in Hogwarts while he waited for his father so he couldn't go with them to Hogsmeade. Instead he walked with them until they were outside, Pansy joining them along the way. As they were walking he heard Daphne Greengrass say, "I can't wait until I'm away from this stuffy castle." Which was the complete opposite of what Zephyr was thinking. He couldn't wait until they were back again.