Author's Note: Thank you to Lana D for the beta job.

oOoOoOo

The Bodyguard

Chapter 25: Dead Ferrets

Harry felt his knees give way, and he sank into a crouch on the floor of the Slytherin dorm. "Dumbledore knew? He planned his own death?" he whispered.

There was no denying what he'd seen in Filch's mind. The Headmaster's murder had looked spontaneous, but in light of Filch's memory, certain things that hadn't made sense suddenly did. Had Dumbledore frozen Harry, up on the Astronomy Tower, so he couldn't interfere in his scheduled murder? Had Dumbledore begged Snape for death, not mercy?

"I don't know," said Filch. "But Professor Dumbledore DID tell us to be proud of Severus, whatever happened. That's why we went to his funeral." Taking advantage of Harry's confusion, he edged slyly towards the door. Harry noticed, and stood up. Intimidated, Filch took another step backwards. "Can I go now?" he asked, in a quavering voice.

Harry hesitated.

"You're not going to report us, are you? Eileen's a harmless librarian," wheedled Filch, beads of sweat running down his face. Harry sighed with indecision, and ran a hand through his hair. He had memories of being beaten savagely around the head by a Hogwarts library book he'd idly scribbled inside. The Librarian's magic wasn't exactly harmless. But, if Filch's memories were true, Prince had definitely left the Death Eaters and given herself up to Dumbledore before committing any crimes. And her behaviour since her son left Hogwarts, struck Harry as trustworthy. Snape was the leading Death Eater, since murdering Dumbledore, yet Prince had stayed on at Hogwarts, living the thankless life of a Librarian, and not taking advantage of her son's notoriety.

Reluctantly, Harry took a step away from the door. "You can go, I won't tell the Ministry," he said. The caretaker scuttled off immediately, and Harry shouted after his retreating figure, "But I'll be keeping an eye on both of you!"

"Blimey, Harry," said Ron, the moment Filch's footsteps died away. "Maybe Draco was right, and Snape WAS working for Dumbledore when he killed him."

Harry sank down onto the bed, momentarily overcome. He told Ron what he'd seen in Filch's memories. "Strange morning, isn't it?" he said dryly. "The boy I thought loved me is really my enemy, trapped behind the Vow, and the man I thought was my enemy might just be Dumbledore's greatest servant."

"You don't know for sure Draco's your enemy," said Ron awkwardly, levitating the Slytherin's trunk.

Harry got to his feet. "I do, but I don't want to talk about it, Ron. Let's go and see Hagrid and find out what HIS memories have to say about Snape."

oOoOoOo

It was a long walk from the dungeons to the sixth floor. Draco's trunk bobbed behind them, level with their waists. Ron was watching Harry intently, but he didn't seem inclined to be the first to speak.

At length, Harry broke the silence. "We have to free Draco from the Unbreakable Vow," he stated.

"If we can," said Ron. "How do you break something that's unbreakable?" He shrugged helplessly and the trunk wobbled behind him, making the inkbottles inside rattle.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes. "I wonder what it's like to be under an Unbreakable Vow?" Ron wondered. "Maybe underneath, Draco's hating us and swearing at us, but he can't show it on the surface?"

Shuddering, Harry said: "You're probably right." He felt ill at the thought he'd made love to someone who secretly hated him. "YOU were under a Love Potion once," he reminded Ron. "What was it like?"

"Awful," said Ron seriously. "I had no doubt at all that I utterly loved Romilda Vane. Okay, it felt a bit crazy, and when I look back, it was pretty disgusting," Ron made a face. "But at the time I really felt it. The Love Potion crushed my whole personality, and I didn't even realise."

Harry's heart ached. "The Vow must have done that to Draco," he said.

"But Draco didn't HAVE a personality before the Vow, Harry. At least not one I liked!" said Ron, with a grin Harry found rather malevolent.

"Don't joke, Ron," said Harry, seriously. "How would you feel if you were in his place?"

Ron's face fell. "If I were the one under the Vow, I'd want Draco to help me," he said. "Though I wouldn't expect him to - Draco always HATED me." The grin returned. "See what I mean, Harry? No personality!"

Steadfastly ignoring Ron's last words, Harry said, "So we'll help him."

"We'll help him. But Harry, if you free Draco from the Vow, he'll hate you again."

"Better that he hates me, and it's the truth, than he loves me and it's a lie," said Harry miserably.

oOoOoOo

Harry smelled Hagrid's quarters before he saw them: a sharp, pungent aroma of magical animal dung. Hagrid's hut had always been rather fragrant, but it had been open to the breeze and the smell had been able to escape. Trapped here in the depths of Hogwarts, the smell had collected until Harry could practically see it shimmering in the air.

"Don't make sparks with your wand, or we'll have an explosion, Harry," said Ron, in an amused but revolted tone, his voice muffled by the corner of his robe he was holding across his nose and mouth in a desperate attempt to block out the smell.

Harry heard the sound of a door opening. Further down the corridor, Hagrid's wild, shaggy head poked out of his door, his black eyes twinkling amid his hair. "Bin wonderin' when yeh'd come ter see me again. Dobby told me yeh was here, an' helped me clean up a bit," he said.

Harry and Ron looked at each other. This was how Hagrid's quarters smelled when clean?

"Hullo, Hagrid," said Harry, taking shallow breaths. Ron said nothing behind the corner of his robe, but waved his free hand.

"I was jus' goin' out ter feed Buc ... Witherwings. But c'min an' have a cuppa tea, an' tell me what yeh've bin up to. Where's Hermione?" asked Hagrid, stepping away from his door so the Gryffindors could enter.

After a few minutes, in Hagrid's quarters, Harry's nose seemed to have died under the onslaught. Holding his giant-sized mug of tea in both hands, he looked around the room, which was in its usual state of disarray, despite Dobby's cleaning. Pitchforks leaned against the walls, and cages were piled up everywhere, filled with sinisterly rustling straw.

"I thought you were keeping Witherwings in the castle?" Harry asked. The grey hippogriff was nowhere to be seen.

"I was. But Mrs Norris came sniffin' around las' week an' Witherwings bit her. An' Filch went to Professor McGonagall an' she, made me put Witherwings outside. They got it in fer interestin' creatures," said Hagrid indignantly.

"We saw the bandage on Mrs Norris's tail," said Harry.

"She deserved it! Always spyin' on me!" exclaimed Hagrid.

"Maybe Professor McGonagall wanted you to keep Witherwings outside from the beginning?" Ron pointed out. "Maybe she gave you this room in the centre of the castle, when your house burned down, so wouldn't be able to bring your creatures inside?"

"Nah! Professor McGonagall couldn' have wanted that!" said Hagrid, chuckling indulgently at Ron. " Me pets'd miss me! An' it's easy ter get a hippogriff up the stairs. I jus' tuck him under me arm. I offered ter give Professor Firenze a lift up the stairs las' month. But he said he had urgent business elsewhere. He ran off pretty quick, come ter think."

"Witherwings must be happier living outside," said Ron.

"Well, he likes the fresh air," admitted Hagrid.

So do I, thought Harry, wondering if his nose would ever recover.

"So tell me yeh news," said Hagrid eagerly, leaning forward.

Harry gave Hagrid an abbreviated tale of what had been happening, leaving out Filch and Prince, because he'd promised not to tell.

"Yeh welcome ter look at me memories o' Professor Snape, Harry," said Hagrid. "But I can' believe yeh datin' Draco Malfoy. I though' yeh hated each other? He was the kid tha' called Hermione a Mudblood, an' tried ter get Bu ... Witherwings's head cut off! If it wasn' for him, Professor Dumbledore would still be alive an' I'd still have me house."

This was a very unwelcome reminder for Harry. Feeling queasy, he told Hagrid about what had happened at the Wizengamot.

"Unbreakable Vow, eh?" said Hagrid, munching a rock cake that closely resembled a rock. He'd offered one to Harry and Ron, but they'd both declined. "Tha' sounds like Umbridge. Wha' a bitc-" He looked flustered. "I mean woman."

"You can swear in front of us, Hagrid," said Ron, who had lowered the corner of his robe. "We're not students any more."

Hagrid looked embarrassed. "Shouldn' have said that," he said. "'S'not, polite. But I can' believe yeh though' Draco Malfoy loved yeh, Harry. Such a rude kid, he was. Always followin' yeh around, tryin' ter get yeh into trouble."

Harry straightened up suddenly. "I've got to go," he said, putting his giant teacup down on the table. "Bathroom," he added, when Hagrid and Ron looked at him with concern.

"Alrigh'," said Hagrid, looking at Harry doubtfully. "Ron and me'll get Witherwing's food an' meet yeh outside."

Nodding, because he thought he'd be sick if he spoke, Harry rushed from the room.

oOoOoOo

Barely taking stock of his surroundings, Harry dashed into the nearest bathroom. The door banged shut behind him and he grabbed the nearest sink with both hands and leaned over it, hanging his head and squeezing his stinging eyes shut. The porcelain was cold and hard under his fingers and his loud, unsteady breathing echoed. Hot tears burned cheeks and dripped into the basin, as he tried to control his churning stomach.

It was no good. He'd lost the love of his life so far and he couldn't pretend everything was normal. Everything he heard, and everything he saw, reminded him of how badly he'd been fooled, and how much he'd lost or never even had. Trying to regain control, Harry took a deep breath, opened his eyes...

...and swore. The bathroom, reflected in the dirty mirror, was horribly familiar. Here, he'd performed the Sectumsempra Curse on Draco, and seen the Slytherin's bloodstains spreading across the wet floor like crimson flowers. The blood had long since been washed away, but a new cistern gleamed from one of the toilet cubicles. Harry remembered how he'd smashed the old cistern with a Leg-Locker Curse, which had bounced off the wall behind Draco's ear. Draco had been standing just where Harry was standing now, and tears had been streaming down his face too - a face that had contorted with hatred, the moment he'd laid eyes on Harry...

Remembering Draco's demonic expression, as he'd been about to fire off the Cruciatus Curse, Harry felt the full weight of realization crash over him. I'm madly in love with someone who couldn't possibly love me, he thought. On the contrary, Draco HATES me. If I hadn't used Sectumsempra, he would have tortured me into insanity with an Unforgivable Curse, and earned himself a one-way ticket to Azkaban...

The queasiness, which had threatened since he'd spoken to Dobby, caught Harry with a vengeance. Abruptly, he dashed to the toilet with the new cistern and was violently sick. He was still crouched, gagging and miserable, beside the toilet, when he heard a most unwelcome voice from inside the U-bend.

"Harry, is that you?" asked Moaning Myrtle. Harry guessed she was trying to sound flirty, but instead, her muffled, singsong voice sounded taunting. "I've got a message from your boyfriend!" Moaning Myrtle giggled. "He says he loves you..."

Harry choked. The next thing he knew, he was on his feet, and his finger was pressing the button down on the new cistern as far as it would go. There was a squeal from the plumbing, almost inaudible above the flush of water, and Moaning Myrtle was rushing down to the lake, with the contents of the toilet.

Hurrying to the sink, Harry bent over and started washing his face and rinsing his mouth. He glanced into the mirror. To his dismay, he saw the pearly, translucent form of Moaning Myrtle rising up out of the toilet. He ducked down below the level of the mirror, so she couldn't see his tear-stained face.

"You were sick, Harry," said the ghost girl, with evident morbid delight. "What's wrong?"

Harry did not want to think about how Moaning Myrtle knew he'd been sick. "Stomach trouble," he muttered into the sink.

"Have you been POISONED?" whispered Moaning Myrtle dramatically.

I suppose, in a way I HAVE been poisoned, Harry thought. Damn, Umbridge. Damn her to hell. Aloud, he said, "No, of course not." He sensed a chill behind him, as the ghost floated closer.

"Your friend Hermione, and your boyfriend, Draco," Moaning Myrtle giggled childishly. "They sent me to find out why you and Ron are taking so long. I'll go back and tell them you're violently ill, shall I?"

Harry kept his head low. "Don't say that, Myrtle," he said. He sensed Moaning Myrtle leaning over him, trying to get a look at his face, and he placed his hands on either side of the sink and lowered his head between his arms.

"I hope that big, silvery stag has gone," Moaning Myrtle sniffed. "Draco sent me away when it arrived. So, of course, I HAD to go back and peek a few moments later. It was strange. The stag was talking to Draco, in a man's voice. Draco told it he loved you. I'm amazed you and Draco are in love, Harry. I thought you hated each other?"

Harry squeezed his eyes shut.

"But you know what's even more amazing?" Moaning Myrtle went on. "Hermione and Draco actually talking to each OTHER. Draco used to tell me she was a Mudblood, and that he was proud he'd never spoken a civil word to her in his life."

A knife went through Harry's heart. "It's not so strange," he heard himself whisper. "I ordered him to be polite to my friends." Draco's a puppet of the Vow, he thought. He doesn't love my friends ... he hates them ... he doesn't love me ... he hates me ... hates me...

He clenched his hands around the sides of the sink, deafened by the screams of the creature in his chest. The very light in the bathroom was fading...

Beside him, Moaning Myrtle gave an awed gasp. "Harry, what's wrong?"

Harry raised his head. His hands had sunk into the sides of the sink, as if he had involuntarily Transfigured the porcelain into putty. Even as he watched, more porcelain squeezed up between his fingers. He snatched his hands away from the mutilated sink, panting with horror.

But now, Moaning Myrtle had seen his face. "Harry, you've been crying!" she squealed, with miserable joy.

"It's none of your business!" snarled Harry, turning away from her. The bathroom grew darker, as if his pain were drawing in the light.

"Don't cry, Harry ... tell me what's wrong ... let me help you..."

"Leave me ALONE!" screamed Harry. And the room reacted around him, like an extension of his magic. The lights winked on and off overhead, then exploded in a shower of sparks. The tiles on the walls were rattling. One by one, a spider web of cracks ran up each mirror, and then each one exploded, sending tinkling shards of glass into the eerie twilight that now filled the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle let out a deafening scream.

"HARRY POTTER'S GOING MAD IN THE BATHROOM! HE'S SMASHING EVERYTHING!"

The door banged open and an enormous, shadowy figure burst in.

"Harry!" cried Hagrid. "Stop tha'!" Harry found himself being lifted off the floor, and his face pressed into the soft, worn leather of Hagrid's coat. Only Hagrid, of all his friends, would have been uninjured by the uncontained magic Harry was sending out in all directions.

A much smaller, red-headed figure stood by the doorway. "We've got to get him to Draco and Hermione. Quickly!" cried Ron.

Pressed against Hagrid's shoulder, Harry finally let himself go and sobbed, feeling his wild, uncontrolled magic fade, as the half-giant bore him away.

oOoOoOo

"Thanks, Hagrid. You can put me down now," said Harry. The first paroxysm of his grief had faded, and he felt very tired and ashamed of himself. He didn't want Hermione or Draco to see him like this - draped over Hagrid's shoulder like an infant. Besides, Hagrid had a string of dead ferrets around his neck, ready to feed to Buckbeak. Harry was face-to-face with one of them and it was a hideous sight; with glazed eyes and dried blood crusted around its mouth. It made Harry think of Draco dead, though the ferret was brown not white.

Hagrid grunted. "You don' deserve ter be put down," he said. They were walking down the endless main stairwell, and the portraits were gossiping loudly as they went past. "Wha' yeh were doin' in that bathroom weren' dignified. Yeh too powerful an' dangerous ter let yehself lose control, Harry."

Feeling chastened, Harry wriggled out of Hagrid's grip and sat down on his massive shoulder. "I know, and I'm sorry, Hagrid. It won't happen again," he said, firmly. I've been so selfish, he thought. He imagined how Draco, as he'd been at Hogwarts, would have felt about making love to him and he shuddered in sympathy. He'd protect him from THAT! "I should go back and fix the bathroom," he added.

"Let Filch fix it!" said Hagrid with satisfaction, and Harry grinned, despite himself. There was no love lost between the half-giant and the caretaker. He wondered if he should tell Hagrid that Madam Pince was an ex-Death Eater, and Filch knew. But he rejected the notion immediately. Hagrid wouldn't hesitate to have Filch slung into Azkaban.

Ron walked by Hagrid's side, looking up at Harry. "What are you going to do to Hermione, for not telling you about the Vow?" he asked, looking wary.

"I'll hear her side of it," said Harry grimly. "I think I've gone crazy enough, for one day."

Just before the main doors in the Great Hall, Hagrid set Harry down. He could hear Draco talking to Hermione.

"The forty-eighth time, the Muggles took Wendelin the Weird wand and the flames didn't tickle. She burned to death. It's all in The Burning Times by Facina Memoria. Have you read it?"

"No. That's a Ministry-banned book. But it sounds like it will help me understand why pure-bloods hate Muggles so much," answered Hermione, in a fascinated tone.

"I can lend you a copy," said Draco.

Harry thrust the doors open. "You don't have to be polite to my friends, even if they're not being stupid, Draco," he said. He had only taken one step outside, when he was grabbed from both sides.

"Harry!" cried Draco and Hermione together. Both of them spoke so fast Harry had trouble understanding them.

"Moaning Myrtle said you'd been poisoned!" cried Draco, his face even paler than usual. He'd put the magically patched jumper and t-shirt back on, and the jacket was draped over his arm. Even knowing about the Vow, Harry couldn't take his eyes off him. He was gorgeous.

"She said you were crying!" exclaimed Hermione, scanning his tearstained face.

"Then you went crazy and blew up the bathroom. What happened, Harry? Was it Pince?" Draco cupped Harry's face in both hands. Harry's skin tingled at his touch, and he felt a pang of loss. "You HAVE been crying," Draco murmured. His eyes were bright with worry.

"What happened, Harry?" asked Hermione. She glanced at Hagrid, who gave her a serious nod.

"We've been stuck out here worried sick," added Draco.

"I wanted to go in after you, but I was afraid Pince would come after Draco," said Hermione.

"Pince? The Librarian?" asked Hagrid curiously.

"I haven't been poisoned," said Harry, gently lifting Draco's hands away from his face, and fighting the urge to hold them. "And I'll tell you about Pince later. She wasn't the one who ... upset me."

"So who upset you?" asked Draco breathlessly. He reached towards Harry, who took a step back. Draco blinked.

"Dobby," admitted Harry.

"My old house elf?" asked Draco. "What did he tell you?"

"What the Unbreakable Vow means." Harry looked into his boyfriend's brilliant, grey eyes. "Draco, I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I never intended you'd be bound to me, at the Wizengamot, but that's what happened."

Hermione gasped, and clapped both hands to her mouth, in such a suspicious way that Harry knew she had known what the Vow meant all along.

Draco merely frowned, and looked a little puzzled. "I thought the Vow had gone," he said. "I used to feel it, around my neck, as though it were about to strangle me. But I haven't felt it in days..." His voice trailed off.

"You love me," said Harry painfully. "That shows that the Vow is still working. Dobby said it bound you to me: heart, body and soul. What you feel for me isn't real-"

"The Vow's a Love Potion?" interrupted Draco, with the tiniest hint of scorn. "Has Professor Slughorn's potions prince already forgotten? Love Potions aren't permanent. I love you and it's been days since Umbridge cast the Vow. A Love Potion would have worn off by now, not gotten stronger-"

"The Vow isn't a cheap Love Potion from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," Harry said despairingly. "It's a Ministry-strength mind-control spell. And it's permanent!"

Draco fell silent, grey eyes looking uncertain. He reached out to Harry, then froze, withdrew his hand, and stared at it, as thought seeing it for the first time.

Harry couldn't bear to look at him. "I know you knew what the Vow meant, Hermione," he said, turning towards her with only the slightest hint of accusation in his voice. Ron took a protective step closer to his girlfriend.

"I knew," said Hermione tonelessly, staring at the ground as if in remorse.

"Why ... why didn't you warn us?" Harry breathed.

Hermione lifted her head and looked Harry straight in the eye. "You even need to ask?" she said bitterly. "What was the first thing Ron did when he saw Draco? He tormented him about those dress robes! How could I have trusted either of you with the knowledge Draco was your slave forever?"

Draco closed his eyes.

"I thought it best to say nothing and see if some respect developed between you, over time," Hermione said.

"A lot more than respect developed," said Harry.

"Yes," said Hermione. "It surprised me. The moment you all started ... behaving yourselves ... you fell in love with Draco, Harry, and Ron became his friend."

"So Harry really loves me? It's nothing to do with the Vow?" asked Draco, opening his eyes.

"The Vow only affects you, Draco," said Hermione. The Slytherin hung his head, and his white-blond hair fell across his face.

"I still think the Virginity Trap was cool, Draco," said Ron suddenly. "I want to be your friend, Vow or no Vow, and I want to free you, if I can." He offered Draco his hand, and the Slytherin, looked up in surprise, and shook it.

"I want to free you too. But I don't know if it's possible," said Hermione.

Draco gave her hand a squeeze as well. "Thanks," he said softly.

Harry stared at Hermione. "Why did you help Draco, by not telling us about the Vow?" he asked, with a touch of incredulity. "You owed him nothing. He did nothing but call you names all through school."

Hermione gave a loud 'ha!' of laughter. "You never listened to me, Harry," she said. "How many times did I tell you to ignore Draco when he called me names? I didn't CARE what he called me. In fact..." she added hesitantly. "Sometimes, I found him ... quite ... amusing..."

Draco squirmed, and his cheeks turned faintly pink. Hermione winked at him.

Harry knew there was going to be trouble, the moment he opened his mouth, but he couldn't let things rest. He remembered Draco's diary. Surely all that pent up hatred couldn't have disappeared so quickly? He could still see the Vow at work, in Draco's friendliness towards Hermione and Ron. "The mutilated photo of you in Draco's diary wasn't so amusing, Hermione," he stated boldly.

"Wha'?" roared Hagrid and glared at Draco.

Hermione looked shocked, and Draco's cheeks darkened to crimson. "You read my diary?" The Slytherin was horrified. He seemed to have forgotten he'd told Harry they had no secrets. "How dare you? I wrote ... private things..."

"Yeah, we know. We read them," said Ron.

Draco's mouth opened and shut like a goldfish. Finally, he gave Harry and Ron a mortified look, crossed his arms and stormed off towards the gate. Hermione frowned at them too, and followed him.

Harry watched them go. He could hear a distant noise, somewhere between a whinny and a roar, coming from the vicinity of Forbidden Forest.

"Bu ... Witherwings, is hungry," said Hagrid. "'Spect those two'll catch up if we go an' feed him." He didn't seem keen be around Draco, but at that point, neither was Harry.

oOoOoOo

Pumpkin vines twined around the burned shell of Hagrid's hut. Buckbeak stalked among them, occasionally snapping at an insect. He lifted his head as Hagrid and Harry approached, and trotted eagerly towards them. Harry had forgotten how huge the hippogriff was. He bowed respectfully, and Buckbeak bowed back, and started tugging at the dead ferrets slung around Hagrid's neck.

The half-giant chuckled affectionately. "Loves his food, doesn' he?" he said, and threw a ferret. The hippogriff leaped off clawed front feet, caught the ferret with a snap of his beak, and swallowed it in one gulp, his throat stretching as the ferret went down. Then he looked at Hagrid, hungry for more.

Harry glanced at Hermione and Draco. They were standing by the gate, deep in conversation. As Harry watched, they turned and started walking towards the hut.

Ron was sitting on Draco's trunk, casually swinging his legs. "So Snape and Dumbledore used to go to the Forbidden Forest and talk all the time?"

"Tha's right," said Hagrid, throwing another ferret, which Buckbeak caught with a loud snap. "Used ter see them in there, when I was doin' me rounds."

"Why the forest?" Harry wondered.

"Didn' want ter be seen, I s'pose," said Hagrid. "No one goes ter the forest. 'Cept me." He threw another ferret, a little too high this time, and the hippogriff flapped his wings and took off a few metres to catch it. "Well done, Buckbeak!" shouted Hagrid proudly.

"Buckbeak?" echoed Draco waspishly, behind them. "I thought Buckbeak escaped? You mean that hippogriff is the same one that attacked me?"

Hagrid looked stricken. He flushed under his bushy hair, and struggled for words. "I mean', well done, Witherwings!" he said.

Draco looked unconvinced. "Rubbish," he said. He put his hands on his hips and stared at Buckbeak and Hagrid with fury and revulsion. "That hippogriff is a menace! It was supposed to have been executed!"

"Buckbeak's no' a menace!" said Hagrid angrily, apparently forgetting he was supposed to be protecting the hippogriff's identity. "'E never woulda hurt yeh, if yeh hadn' bin rude ter him firs'!"

Shaking his head petulantly, Draco said, "Buckbeak was going to attack me, anyway. It wouldn't have mattered what..." He took a sharp, indrawn breath, as the hippogriff focused hungry, orange eyes on him, whinnied, reared skittishly and trotted towards him.

"See! He jus' wants ter be friends with yeh," said Hagrid.

Draco backed away, shaking his head, his face a mask of terror. "Get him away from me!" he cried in a panic.

Hagrid threw another ferret, and as Buckbeak chomped into it, still glaring hungrily down at Draco, it was suddenly blindingly obvious to Harry why Buckbeak had attacked Draco all those years ago. Could the hippogriff tell Draco's Patronus was a ferret? As Buckbeak took another threatening step forwards, Harry realised the answer was yes.

"He's going to kill me!" yelled Draco, holding an arm protectively above his head.

It occurred to Harry that Draco was right. Though the Slytherin's physical form was human, his magical form, in hippogriff terms, was lunch. Harry remembered and marvelled at the way Draco, in Third Year, had summoned up enough courage to pat Buckbeak, an animal he must have sensed wanted to kill and eat him. And all because a certain school rival had patted the hippogriff first, and the Slytherin didn't want to look a coward by comparison. Harry remembered Draco's scornful appraisal of Buckbeak - "I bet you're not dangerous at all" - and realised it was the bravado of a terrified boy, who had the strange intuition he was about to be eaten. No wonder he had gloated so much at the hippogriff's imminent execution...

Harry dashed in front of Draco and shielded him with his body. The hippogriff backed up a step, with a whinny that was more like a growl, and then tried to circle around, to get at the Slytherin. "Hagrid, Buckbeak IS going to kill Draco. Tie him up," Harry ordered desperately. The hippogriff loomed over both of them, clicking his sharp, hooked beak in frustration.

"'E's no'," insisted Hagrid, looking puzzled. "All Draco has ter do is bow."

'Bow to death!' Harry remembered Voldemort's words and shuddered. "Bowing won't help," said Harry. He pushed Draco, who was frozen with horror, aside just as Buckbeak snapped at him. The razor sharp beak clashed together just over their heads. Harry raised his voice, "I'll explain later, Hagrid. Just tie Buckbeak up NOW! PLEASE!"

The hippogriff reared up, lashing out with steely talons...

oOoOoOo

Author's Notes: I think this would be a good place to stop and beg for reviews. Forget to review, and you know what will happen to the boys! Bwahahahaha! ;-)

Replies to reviews:

Thank you to the following people for reviewing: Kira, Morrigan, sasunaru lover, txcalbud, Ripuku, Sinful Sakura, ThePotionsMiss, willa, Fmh, bug0112, NinjaoftheDarkness, HecateDeMort, thrnbrooke, Moyima, Die Kikyo Die, LunaSky, Potter's Wifey, The Earth Mystic, Mak Hertz (who was Mak Felton), Yellowwolf, ProperT, Yukari, Crowley Black, poofsizzle, and Kristin.

Emu Alive and Kicking, Kit turned Mighty, Moonsign and silversongs: Thanks! The diary will definitely turn up again, but maybe not in the way that you think. And thanks for saying I write like JKR, Kit!

Melissa: Hermione never wanted to hurt Harry, but she figured hurting Harry a little, by not telling him the whole truth, would be better than hurting Draco a lot, by letting Ron and Harry torture him early on.

YourMomIsTooLazyToLogIn: Thanks! Yes. Irma Pince, becomes I'm a Prince. A bit obvious, but I suppose she felt very safe, with Dumbledore as her Secret Keeper.

Katharina-B: Harry's certain the Vow has changed Draco's personality completely. Whether he's right remains to be seen! ;-)

fragonknight01: Ah, yes, exactly! Like mother, like son. Snape and Prince were both unpleasantly obsessive about their Hogwarts jobs.