Disclaimer: Still not mine. Trudi is a free spirit.

This chapter is dedicated to Zafaran (who may not even be reading this story) for pointing out in a review for "Katabatic" that there is a type of fish called a dolphin, complete with gills and not to be confused with the aquatic mammal. Hemmingway is thus redeemed and it's darn lucky I never took that marine biology job.

ooOOoo

Chapter 37: Shiny New Shoes

Hermione was glad to have some help. And if she wondered why Harry was upset, she had the sense to let him tell her in his own time.

"I wonder what Malfoy's plan is," she mused as she and Harry settled around a small table in the Gryffindor common room. "It would help to know if we're not chasing up something the other has already ruled out as an option." Harry agreed. He would have loved to find out what Draco's plans were. It might have been more useful to pool resources. But if Draco was being cagey then it was best just to stay back and allow Hagrid to keep the situation from getting out of hand.

ooOOoo

Over the next few days Hagrid seemed to be doing just that. It was odd that Draco and the half-giant seemed to be talking like they were… not enemies; odd but reassuring. Harry hadn't talked to Hagrid when he'd been back in time, mostly because he hadn't wanted to involve his friend. Back then he'd have loved to have talked to Hagrid, but hadn't dared. It would have been too easy to let something slip.

Given how much he'd told people back then he shouldn't have worried. Hagrid could have had his memory wiped with the rest of them, Harry thought sourly.

But it was still odd to spend part of a sunny afternoon sitting outside Hagrid's cottage with Hagrid and Draco and an almost silent Trudi (who still seemed to think Draco's eyes might fail at any moment, but in the meantime was enjoying being allowed to hang around with the older students), talking about simple, neutral things like horses, blast-ended skrewts and how the centaurs were doing. Hagrid was still worrying over the Forest being divided by the barrier. The Blockade was affecting more than the wizard world.

They hadn't had any letters through since well before Harry's adventure.

That was another reason Harry liked to spend time outside of the castle – he was getting sick of the tension of all the students worrying about their parents. Harry, who didn't have parents, wasn't as sympathetic a friend as Hermione and Ron needed. Just earlier he'd accidentally said something that made Ginny and Ron furious, and still didn't know exactly what it was.

Sitting out here with Hagrid and Draco (and even Trudi, who was remarkably stoic about lack of contact with her family, although Draco had confided that she was terribly worried about them) was much more relaxing than waiting for someone inside the castle to explode.

Or run into Lupin or Sirius again. Hermione had said that Sirius had been so busy patrolling the edges of the Forest lately that he hadn't turned back into his human form for two days, but when Harry had abruptly changed the topic she'd been silent for a moment before agreeing cautiously that, yes, the Chudley Cannons might have a better chance if they changed Keepers. Harry wondered sometimes if she missed hearing from Victor Krum, but then it seemed unlikely as she and Ron were now going steady.

Harry yawned comfortably. "I was riding Simon this morning when one of his feet started making a funny noise. Luna says it's because his shoes are wearing out and getting loose."

"They're metal," Trudi pointed out. "Can they wear out?"

"Apparently. Especially if you ride a horse on the road a lot, which isn't really an issue with Simon, of course. But it's more a case of his hooves growing. They're a bit like our fingernails – they always keep growing and the nails that hold the shoes on the hooves get bent out of shape, or come loose. So every four to six weeks you have to take the shoes off, trim the hooves and nail new shoes back onto them. It keeps the hooves in the proper shape, too."

He nearly missed the look that passed between Hagrid and Draco.

"What?"

"Oh, nothin'," Hagrid said. "'Nother cup o' tea, Harry?"

ooOOoo

The next morning Simon wasn't in his paddock. Harry went around to the field where Luna normally rode, but the field was decidedly empty of black thoroughbreds, with or without riders.

Almost as an afterthought and only because it was on the way to the Forest, where he was really dreading going, Harry passed the barn where they'd first stabled Simon. The horse hadn't been inside since the vrikolaki attack, but then neither had Harry. He didn't know who'd cleaned up the mess. Filch, he hoped.

He was intrigued by the sound of metal hitting metal, and followed his ears around to the back where the sun hitting the side of the barn had made a nice warm spot. He was pleased to find Simon and Hagrid there. The horse looked up and whinnied softly, bobbing its head in a friendly way when it saw Harry. Hagrid looked up and around when the horse whickered, and when he saw Harry he nodded, too. Harry took a moment to realise that the boy hammering the arc of bright metal on an anvil was Draco Malfoy; as if the sight of Draco doing something that looked like hard work wasn't enough, Harry was even more astonished by the sight of Draco wearing trousers and stripped to the waist. Draco's pale back glistened with sweat in the sun. For some reason this seemed to be quite fascinating to the three young Slytherin girls sitting quietly along a makeshift bench by the side of the barn. Harry shook his head, amused.

"Hi there. I wondered where Simon had got to."

Trudi gave him a small wave when he nodded to her. The other girls (two third years, Harry guessed) looked displeased, but didn't frown at Harry like they would have a few weeks ago.

Draco straightened and wiped the sweat off his face. "Hey, Potter. Sorry – I told Luna I was going to bring Simon down so that Hagrid could show me how to shoe him. She mustn't have passed on the message. I hope you weren't too worried."

That was terribly polite and thoughtful – Malfoy was definitely trying to impress his fans.

Rather than let Draco see him smile, Harry ran his hand along the horse's crest. Always on the search for sweets, Simon turned to sniff at his pockets. He was in luck: Harry pulled out the peppermint he'd brought to catch the horse. Simon's whiskers and velvety muzzle brushed Harry's palm briefly and the peppermint was gone.

"I hope he'll still be my friend when Hogwarts has run out of peppermints."

Draco grinned. "We'll just have to plant some carrots." Despite the manual labour, he seemed to be in an excellent mood. Maybe Hagrid was a good influence. More likely it was having his own set of groupies that did it.

"So this is your grand plan for defeating Voldemort? New shoes for Simon?"

Draco glared at him. "The Sickle gave me an idea. I'm working on some metallurgical spells. Hagrid's been teaching me how to do some basic work with a forge."

Harry smiled inwardly. "So how is it going?"

"Well, I've taken the old shoes off. I've trimmed the feet – that was tricky, I can tell you. And when I say 'I', I mean 'Hagrid', because Hagrid ended up doing most of the levelling. I just don't have the eye for it."

"Ah, it's summat ye'll develop wi' practice," Hagrid said, his thicket of beard twitching. Simon was scratching his head on Hagrid's arm – anyone not a half-giant would have been knocked sideways, but Hagrid smiled down at the horse and gave him a gentle (by Hagrid's standards) pat on the side. The horse shook itself off after it got its balance back. It was good to see Simon didn't think of Hagrid as such a threat any more. "Lucky he's no shorter than he is," Hagrid added. "Otherwise we'd'a had to tip 'im upside-down fer me to see to 'is 'ooves. An' I doubt he'd take that kindly."

Harry agreed that no, Simon probably wouldn't take to being tipped upside-down kindly, and pointed out that maybe Draco had it a little easier, being so much shorter than Hagrid.

Draco sniffed. "Not on your life, Potter. My back's already protesting. And I haven't even begun to nail the shoes on yet."

Harry frowned. "And will Simon just… let you stick nails in him?"

"Providing I don't stick them in too far – the hoof isn't all hoof. There's bone and blood vessels and all sorts of interesting things in there – you don't want to get any nails in too far."

Funny what a Malfoy thought was interesting. "How do you know if it goes in too far?"

"Ah, well, that'll be the bit where Malfoy gets kicked in th' head," Hagrid beamed. His smile faded as Draco looked up at him in horror. "Not that I think ye'll do anything wrong, a'course… but horses aren't th' sort to mull things over and give a body the benefit o' the doubt."

"Great." Then Draco brightened. "While you're here, Harry…"

"No."

"But…"

"But I'm pretty sure this is your project," Harry said firmly, crossing his arms. "Up to and including the getting-kicked-in-the-head bit."

"Thanks," Draco grumbled. "Let's have another look at that diagram, Hagrid."

Hagrid passed him a thin book. "If'n you think you'd better not, I can do it," he offered.

"Thanks, but I think I really should do this myself," Draco conceded reluctantly.

"Oh, righ'. That'll be ter set the…" Hagrid looked around guiltily as Draco glared at him and Harry gave them both a puzzled look. "Oh, now. Here comes Luna. Ain't that good timing!" he finished in relief.

"It is, actually," said Draco. "If I get the nail in the wrong part of the hoof, maybe she can get it out before I get trampled into the ground."

"Simon wouldn't really hurt you, would he?" Trudi said, brow furrowing.

"Er… Simon's a horse and horses don't really think too hard about what's hurting them – just the fact that they're hurting and they need to stop it now," Draco said. "But I'm pretty sure he'd know it's me, and he wouldn't deliberately kick me."

"He's bitten you," Trudi pointed out.

"Well, that was different."

"How?"

"Because… um… Hi, Luna. Just in time."

"I know."

Draco tilted his head. "You… do?"

"Yes. It's so hard to be late when time is all one big place and there's no other thing you can be but in your time. You can ask Harry if you don't believe me."

"Rrright… I'll do that some time. Anyway. I'm going to try and nail some bits of metal to Simon."

"Sounds good."

"Glad you think so. But I'm a little worried that the nails will go into the wrong place and hurt him."

Luna smiled mistily. "Oh, you won't do that."

"You seem very sure."

"Well, you must know that if you stick nails into the sensitive parts of Simon's feet he's going to stamp you into the ground."

"Ah. Yes. That's what concerns me. So that's why I want you to keep your wand ready to stop him from kicking me… and to get the nail out of his foot. He trusts you with a wand – in fact you're still about the only one he does trust with a wand."

"Oh, okay. When do you want to start?"

"Well, I still need to fire up the forge… I was going to cold shoe him, but Hagrid says that hot shoeing makes the shoes fit better."

"Hot shoeing? Yes – it scorches the hoof into shape. And it's easier to hammer the shoes into the right shape while they're hot, too. But you don't need a forge."

"No?"

"No. Ready?"

"No. Hang on…" Draco picked up a shoe in a pair of tongs and slid a hammer into the pocket of his trousers. He tied a couple of pieces of dragonhide around his legs. He dithered for a moment about where to keep the nails, which looked a little vicious, then held them between his lips.

Where was Colin with his camera, Harry wondered. Draco looked like a painting he'd seen of a Muggle blacksmith from a couple of centuries ago.

Unaware or uncaring of his new look, Draco picked up a front hoof and, standing looking towards the horse's tail, tucked the foot between his knees. He held the pincers with the shoe in them gingerly as he looked up at Luna.

"You sure that's one for a front foot?" she asked.

"Yes. Round. More of a diamond shape for the back feet," Draco said shortly, mumbling around the nails. "Now let's get on with it. My back's going to be killing me by the time we're finished."

"That's true," Luna said with the happy certainty of someone whose back wasn't going to be killing them by the time things were finished. "Well, here we go." She waved her hand and the air above the shoe began to shimmer as if heat waves were rising through it.

Draco turned the shoe over and, careful of the placing, put it down firmly on the hoof.

There was a hiss and a small cloud of black smoke rose. It smelt a little bit like burning hair. Putting his ears back, Simon raised his head but didn't pull away. Draco lifted a hand. It was hard to understand what he was saying through the nails, but it sounded a lot like, "Oh, bloody hell."

"Forgot your gloves?" Luna said cheerfully.

"Well, I'm hardly about to hang onto a red-hot shoe with my bare fingers," Draco snarled around his mouthful of nails.

Luna smiled and patted Simon before he could give the bending Draco a bite on the backside.

"Normally a farrier would put the shoe somewhere to cool for a bit. But I've got a better idea. Adhaero. There. It's very light and won't hold if you drop the hoof, but at least now you can bang some nails in without worrying about fiddling around keeping the shoe in place. Oh – refrigesco. Try that."

Draco touched the shoe tentatively then with more confidence. "Oh, well done. Much better," he mumbled. He dropped one nail, which Luna picked up.

"Can't leave these around for someone to stand on," she said. "Now… as for the nails going into the hoof, I've got a spell for that, too."

"Have you done this before?" Harry asked.

"No. But I've been thinking about it. Especially after that loose shoe yesterday. I'm glad you're doing the hard work, though, Draco. I wasn't looking forward to shoeing Simon."

"Uh," Draco said, as if that was as good an answer (and probably more polite) than anything else he could say.

Luna drew a line of pale yellow light around the hoof Draco was holding. It wavered for a bit, then resettled more firmly in place about a thumb's width up the hoof from the shoe.

"There's a start," Draco said, nodding. "Now I put – how many nails, again?"

"Six or seven should do it," Luna said. "But preferably not right by the old nail-holes – the hoof might be a bit weak there. I think. I'm not altogether sure about this…"

"Ah, well, don't look at me," Hagrid said, shrugging. "I've never done this. Just read up on it a bit."

"Yes," Draco sighed. "And those books were over a hundred years old and written by a wizard."

"So why didn't you use something more modern?" Harry asked.

Draco, who'd been going red-faced from bending over holding a hoof for so long, reddened further. "You may not have noticed this, Potter," he said as acidly as anyone could while holding nails between their lips, "but Hogwarts is slightly less than well-equipped with books on equine maintenance."

Simon's muzzle wrinkled a little and Luna patted the horse on the neck. "It's all right, Simon; Draco's just a little upset that he's not sure how to do the best job for your feet."

"I'm a bloody horse podiatrist now," Draco grumbled, sounding less tetchy. Whether that was because he really was less tetchy or because Simon might deliver a strategic bite was up for debate.

"Um… let's try this." Luna cast another spell. The yellow line around the hoof sparkled and divided into little points of light. "There. Aim the ends of the nails for the stars."

"Okay. Here goes nothing…" Draco picked up the smaller of the hammers and took a nail out of his mouth.

ooOOoo

It took less time than Harry would have thought, thanks to Luna. She knew a good spell for cutting metal, and the ends of the nails were neatly pinched off a little way above where they emerged from the hoof, bent over, and flattened against the wall of the hoof so that they were flush with it.

The only nasty moment was when a fly bothered Simon right when Draco hit a nail into a back hoof. Simon flexed his hind leg. The nail went too high. But instead of kicking Draco, as everyone had feared, Simon simply shoved Draco aside with that back hoof and shook it. It was obvious that the horse was in pain, but a great relief Draco hadn't had his head smashed. Luna bravely grabbed the kicking foot just above the hoof (and nearly gave Harry a heart-attack), took out the nail quickly and healed it with another wave of her wand. Trudi was tending to Draco, whose hand had been gashed by a nail that hadn't had the point pinched off it. Simon had pulled his foot back quickly and without taking account of any of the nails sticking out of it other than the one hurting him.

Luna offered to finish the job, but Draco, somewhat paler from the sight of his blood, and flexing his hand to make sure all the tendons were working properly, insisted he wanted to keep doing it himself. "I haven't completely destroyed my back yet," he said wryly. "Besides, I don't want Simon thinking I go around stabbing him with nails on a whim."

But Simon didn't seem to harbour any grudges, although he was initially reluctant to let Draco pick up that back foot again.

The rest went smoothly.

"Thank God that's over," Draco groaned as Luna finished off the nails for him. Simon stood with his head curved around to watch with interest as the last nails in his front foot bent themselves over and flattened against the outside of the hoof. "My back may never recover… I'll live out the rest of my days as a hunchback."

"How's your hand?" Harry asked. He'd been impressed by Trudi's quick spell. Not bad for a first year.

"Good. Thanks, Trudes – that's another one I owe you for."

Trudi blushed happily and tried to look like it was nothing. The other two girls arched their eyebrows as if it really had been nothing. Jealous, Harry recognised.

"He might want to stretch his legs now," Luna said. Simon yawned, back to being World's Most Relaxed Horse now that there was no danger of sharp things being stuck in the tender parts of his feet. "Accio tack."

They didn't have to wait long for the saddle and bridle to come flying down from Squirrel Hill. Luna tacked the horse up quickly and Simon's eyes brightened at the prospect of getting some exercise. Then Luna looked up at the sun, frowned and slapped the saddle. "Oh, blow. What's the time, Hagrid?"

"Getting on to ten," Hagrid replied after consulting a fob watch he pulled out of his moleskin coat.

"I've got classes. Charms, or I would stay here. Harry?"

"I've got a free period."

"Me, too," Draco said. "What about you lot?" he said to the trio on the bench.

"I've got class, but it's Transfiguration. I might as well skip it," Trudi said. Then seemed to realise Hagrid was there. "Oops, sorry, Professor Hagrid. I mean…"

"Oh, I guess I never heard you say anything about class," Hagrid said, beard twitching into a smile again. "Perhaps you're down here helpin' me with the animals fer yer next lesson…?"

Trudi smiled up at him shyly. "That must be it."

"We could help you, too," said one of the other Slytherins cautiously. Hagrid still wasn't someone Slytherins were sure about. "It's only Potions, and we already know everything for that. Everything we could learn from one of the teachers filling in, anyway."

"Aye… well, I never heard that, either. Did you, Harry?"

Harry wriggled his little finger inside his ear. "What? I've been a little deaf since I got out of the Infirmary."

"So if I called you a…? Never mind," Draco finished with a smirk. "Even if Hagrid didn't get cross, Simon might." He slapped the horse on the shoulder. "Well! Pony ride, anyone?"

ooOOoo

It didn't take much persuasion to get Trudi on Simon's back. Simon, who had gone back to being half-asleep when Luna left for her classes and it looked like he wouldn't go for a run after all, seemed a little surprised by this new rider at first, but waited patiently with Harry at his head as Draco helped Trudi into the saddle. And then while Draco readjusted the stirrups.

"Just hold on to the front of the saddle," Draco instructed.

Trudi, a little pale around the mouth, obeyed. "Don't I need to hold the reins? How do I stop Simon if he starts running?"

Simon looked about as ready to start running as Fang, who was stretched out in a sunny patch behind the anvil, out of the way of anyone who might stand on him.

"No. If you get a fright and tug on them you might hurt Simon's mouth. And then… well. Just best not to. Don't worry. I won't let go of him."

Trudi managed a watery smile, already looking like she was regretting this, but refusing to back down in front of Draco or the other Slytherins who were looking on, perhaps in support, but probably to see what could go wrong to someone stupid enough to get up on a Muggle animal that even Dumbledore had implied should be avoided because it was completely bonkers.

"Just relax," Harry said reassuringly, handing the reins over to Draco. "Simon knows you. He won't hurt you."

"That's right," Hagrid said. "Ah, look at 'im. 'E's just an old softy."

Trudi squeaked and clutched at the saddle. The other Slytherin girls grabbed each other in terror, probably thinking that the horse was about to grow tusks and gore them to death. Harry couldn't blame them. Aragog was an old softy by Hagrid's standards. But apart from waking up from a light doze and flicking his ears in mild astonishment at Trudi's terror – and the fact that there was nothing visible to cause it – the horse didn't move or do anything to startle the girl. And Draco had to tug on the reins firmly to get him moving.

Simon yawned and grudgingly followed, head at Draco's shoulder.

Harry walked by Simon's side, just in grabbing range of Trudi's ankle should she begin to slide. He kept his wand in his pocket – he trusted Simon not to do anything stupid, but this was Hogwarts and stupidity seemed to be something people acquired along with magic, he privately considered in his more pessimistic moments. Best not to forget Colin and his camera.

"How are you going up there, Trudes?" Draco asked.

"Um. Okay." Trudi's knuckles were white as they gripped the pommel.

"Want to go faster?"

"No! Um. No. Not just now."

Draco nodded. "He's got long strides. First time I tried cantering I got seasick."

"Really?"

"Well, nearly seasick. I imagine a camel would be about as rocky as that."

Simon didn't take offence at this slander. He kept plodding along in the large circle Draco led him through the thick grass. Draco was careful to keep them in sight of Hagrid and the other Slytherins.

"Malfoy's exaggerating," Harry said. "Simon's not that bad."

"Ridden lots of camels, have you, Potter?"

"Loads. We graze them in Surrey and train them up for the Camel Derby. Didn't you know?"

"What?"

"He's joking, Trudi. Come on, Simon. Let's see how your new shoes hold up. Want to try a trot, Trudi?"

"What's that?" she asked nervously.

"Sort of like a slow run."

"No!"

"All right. Just a walk. If this old nag doesn't fall asleep on us." Draco patted Simon's nose. "Keep an ear out for snores, Potter."

Harry grinned. "Sure thing. Funny how relaxed he's become."

"You may not have noticed this, but no-one has attacked us lately. I guess he thinks he's on holiday."

"Well, not in your 'lately'."

"Oh, right. Keep forgetting you're working on a different timeline to the rest of us."

"So…"

"Sew, a needle pulling thread. What?"

"So… everyone knows you've got your sight back now?"

Draco smirked. "Oh, yes."

Glancing upwards, Harry noticed Trudi trying not to grin. "So everything's settled, then?"

"For now."

Trudi laughed.

Disgruntled at being excluded, Harry supposed it was a Slytherin thing. He'd have to ask Hermione if she was up on the gossip – begging Malfoy for information seemed weak, somehow.

Was this the first part of it? The old powerplay between him and Malfoy, right back to square one because Malfoy wanted to be Mr Exclusive again, guarding information like a dragon guarding treasure, lording it over Harry when he knew something Harry didn't?

Harry, feeling a nasty sinking feeling like he was about to watch another friend turn away from him, kept his tone light as he said, "Oh – a Slytherin thing?"

Draco shrugged. Harry, knowing that he hadn't been able to expect anything better from Malfoy, told himself he was a naïve idiot, just like Severus had accused him of being.

And then was taken by surprise when Draco replied, "Pretty much. It's a little hard to explain to someone who doesn't know all the dynamics. But… let's just say that all Slytherins are ambitious for one thing or another – and only you Gryffs think we're all about fame. Pansy wants power. Not that that's unusual. But she wanted power through me. She thought she could ally herself to the Malfoy name. You following?"

"Is this what you were meaning by 'long term' – thinking of a wife or a husband?" Harry said carefully.

"Exactly." Draco nodded. Harry noticed their circle was taking a slightly longer loop away from the barn so that the others couldn't hear. Presumably Trudi was safe, then. "The Parkinsons have known my family for ages. It's been accepted between our families for years that Pansy and I would be strong candidates for tying the names together. But when I went blind, well…" Draco smiled. It wasn't his usual smirk. Harry had seen Lucius smile like that, once: it was the predatory smile of someone whose prey was being handed to him on a plate. "It was very interesting to see who stood where."

"I… haven't seen Crabbe or Goyle around with you for a bit," Harry said, wondering if he'd pushed it too far.

Draco shrugged, but not before Harry had seen a brief flash of genuine pain. "No. For the best, really. I might forgive them eventually. When they give me enough cause to. But they're always going to know now that I'm only keeping them for hired muscle, as it were. They can't expect me to trust them." His mouth twisted in a smile. "Funny how Hufflepuff loyalty is considered so boring. It's an integral part of forming social networks."

"And when you know you can trust someone then it's easier to give them more power," Harry mused.

Draco looked around, surprise and amusement equally mixed on his face. "Now you're thinking like a Slytherin, Potter! Yes. It's all about power at the end of the day. Which brings me back to Pansy. She wanted more power in Slytherin. But the others weren't sure she'd proven herself – she moved too quickly. She might have wanted to be leader, but she hadn't shown herself strong enough. And then she tried to array others against me, possibly to keep me weaker in case our parents did make us marry, because she'd then be assured of a greater influence over the Malfoy money and any heirs. So she wasn't stupid," (he ignored Harry's look of horror at Draco's matter-of-fact appraisal of married life) "just hasty. And not sure of her facts. And there were a few others who didn't appreciate that she was moving so fast to take power. Remember that one, Potter – people are suspicious of the new."

"Huh. They're suspicious of anything the bloody Ministry tells them to be."

"Yes." Draco's brow furrowed. "That's true. Something needs to be done about that. But that's beside the topic," he added hastily, as Harry shot a sharp look at him. "Let's make a long story shorter than it takes to get back to the barn. Pansy was trying to push me around. She didn't know my sight was coming back. Dumbledore did – I'd gone to see him, ha ha, to get my wand back. And Trudi. Oh, and I'd let Milli' know. But no-one else. Luckily.

"Pansy thought she'd score points by lording it over me a bit. There was some, ah, tension, shall we say, between her and Millicent. Milli's taken it upon herself to keep things under control now that Snape's gone and even the seventh years hadn't shown any inclination for taking charge."

"Good for her."

"Hmm. Putting her head up like that may rebound on her. She's taking power of a sort, even though she doesn't want to use it against people. But there'll always be someone suspicious of that, especially in Slytherin. We're not used to altruism."

"Is that what Bulstrode's doing?"

"Sort of. But really what she's doing is storing gratitude for a future time. Not that that's a negative thing – it's what keeps the world turning."

"I… think I understand." And Harry did. But it was alien. Doing good deeds to store up future favours was, well, it was a bit sneaky. Underhanded. Human. And very Slytherin, now that he considered it. He had a flash-back to Severus: What's in it for me?

"Yes. Well, we'll see. So there was Milli', being a rock, and there was Pansy, worrying about Milli' becoming the next power. So Pansy decided to test Milli's resolve on matters. She couldn't use one of the younger ones as a Quaffle – that would have looked really bad – so she decided to hex me instead. If Milli' defended me against Pansy, that would have made me seem weaker than Milli', which would have been disastrous as far as she was concerned… Milli's been banking on me getting my sight back, you see."

Harry, who didn't understand how Bulstrode defending Draco against Pansy could be seen as being weak, nodded anyway.

"We have Milli', wand in hand, wondering what to do. She's not a fast thinker, unfortunately. Deep, yes. Fast, no. And in the other corner we have Pansy, in front of half the house, saying she was going to practise all the lovely little hornet hexes on me until I acknowledged her as my superior."

"But you had your wand." Harry could see where this was leading. He grinned. "What did you do?"

"Nothing much."

Trudi was giggling. "It was so cool. He stuck that cow's tongue to the roof of her mouth. The old peanut-butter jinx."

"I've never heard that one."

"No. It's an old one. And then Draco told her he'd had enough of her posturing and told her to be someone else's breeding stock. She was going purple trying to curse him, but the jinx wouldn't let her say anything. And Pansy couldn't lift it, because hardly anyone's seen it and so hardly anyone knows the counter-curse. Even Professor Flitwick didn't know it. And they couldn't get Draco to lift it…"

Draco, smirking, broke in, "…Because she couldn't tell anyone it was me who did it. There were over a dozen witnesses who said Pansy had brought it on herself."

"Which was true," Trudi pointed out.

"Just not accurate as to the point of truth they wanted to know."

"So things are back to normal in your House?"

"As normal as things ever are. This is Hogwarts." Draco sobered and shrugged. "Some of the teachers look in on us a bit more often. Luckily they're not as obsessive as, um… but then it's stopped Milli' from getting too controlling."

"Milli-tant Bulstrode," Harry said, to cover the awkward moment left over from when Draco had nearly mentioned Snape.

Draco laughed. "Not half."

Harry was still grinning as they reached Hagrid and the others.

ooOOoo