A/N: Here we go! These next couple of chapters are probably my favourite in the entire story - so buckle up!

Chapter Twelve: The Sweetest Thing

I was in a good mood the following Monday; I'd had an un-interrupted nap during History of Magic and had successfully banished my object in Charms (right into the back of Ernie MacMillan's head as an added bonus). So, by the time we headed down to Care of Magical Creatures after lunch I was confident not even whatever weird creature Hagrid had for us today would ruin my mood.

"Did you hear apparently Granger got hate mail this morning?" Daphne asked me as we walked.

"She what?" I frowned in confusion, glancing in the direction of the greenhouse and seeing Harry and Ron coming from Herbology - with no Hermione in sight.

"Probably because of her skank ways," Pansy remarked snarkily from behind us, "A lot of people read Witch Weekly, you know."

We both ignored her, exchanging an eye roll before I sped up to catch the two Gryffindors as we reached Hagrid's cabin.

"Is it true people were sending Hermione hate mail?"

They both nodded, "Yeah, most of them were harmless - but someone sent an envelope full of undiluted Bubotuber pus. She's been in the Hospital Wing all morning," Harry replied grimly.

My eyes widened, "You're joking! That's awful…"

"We warned her about Skeeter," Ron said, "It's only gonna get worse I reckon."

"I don't know how it could be worse than her hands being covered in sores," Harry grimaced at the memory.

"Yeah, you're right." Ron agreed - looking slightly sick, "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

And suddenly - it hit me. My face lit up, and both boys looked at me with wide eyes.

"Oh no," Harry groaned, "We've just given you an idea haven't we?"

I grinned, "Nothing that you need to be concerned about. Just something that is extremely overdue."

Harry looked like he wanted to protest - but Hagrid drew our attention before he could. For a horrible moment I thought he'd brought his Skrewts back, but then relaxed when I realised the crates held an array of fluffy black creatures instead.

"Thes're Nifflers," Hagrid explained, "Yeh find 'em down mines - they like sparkly stuff, see!"

A Niffler had attempted to steal a sparkly bracelet from Parkinson's wrist - who shrieked and jumped away like it had attacked her. I grinned; I think I was going to like this lesson.

"All righ', I've buried some coins around - e'ryone grab a Niffler and whoever's digs up the most gets a prize!"

There was a mad scramble for the crates, most of the girls cooing and exclaiming how cute they were as they ran towards them. I peered into the crate and picked one out, and it immediately stretched its long snout out and sniffed my face.

"I want one," I giggled, leaning away as it continued to snuffle loudly.

"Yer dad'd go mad, they wreck houses Nifflers," Hagrid grinned as everyone set their Niffler down and watched as they started to bury into the ground enthusiastically - I let mine down as well and it immediately dug into the ground at my feet. I glanced around and saw pretty much the entire class was grinning as the little creatures dug enthusiastically and then returned gold coin after gold coin to their laps.

"Nice one Hagrid," I shot him a wink, and he beamed back at me - ever since Skeeter's articles he'd been much more stressed about everyone enjoying his lessons.

"'Ang on," he said a couple of minutes later, looking around with a deep frown, "Where's 'Ermione?"

Harry looked up from the ground for a moment, "She had to go to the Hospital Wing, we'll explain later," he said quietly, obviously as aware as I was that Parkinson was straining to listen to our conversation.

"Bloody hell Ron, yours is well good!" Seamus exclaimed, and I looked over at Ron to see his lap practically overflowing with gold - the redhead looking incredibly pleased.

"Probably the most gold he's ever seen," I heard Malfoy mutter, Crabbe and Goyle both snorting with laughter in response. Thankfully, I don't think Ron heard him as his smile didn't even falter - but I still made sure to shoot the blonde a glare. He seemed to be one of the only ones who wasn't impressed by the lesson, lounging lazily on the grass and all but ignoring his Niffler as it diligently worked. He must have felt me glaring at him, because his eyes moved over and met my own. He simply raised his eyebrows with a smirk when he noticed my fierce expression - and I turned away quickly when I felt my cheeks growing hot.

"I reckon they've nearly got the lot," Hagrid examined the ground, "I on'y buried a hundred coins - oh, there y'are 'Ermione!"

I glanced up and saw Hermione was in fact walking towards us, her hands were all bandaged up and she looked miserable. I narrowed my eyes when Gorgia and Pansy immediately started whispering and giggling together, but Hermione ignored them as she came over to stand near us.

Hagrid got everyone to count their coins - most of us having a good laugh when Goyle tried to pocket his only to have Hagrid inform him it was Leprechaun gold, so it would just disappear later. Ron's Niffler had ended up being the most successful by far, and he was rewarded with a huge block of Honeydukes chocolate. The bell rang for lunch; most of the class setting off back to the castle but I hung back with Harry, Ron and Hermione to help Hagrid put the Nifflers back.

"What happened to yer 'ands 'Ermione?" Hagrid asked in concern.

"Hate mail," she responded miserably, "Someone sent a letter full of Bubotuber pus."

"Ah," Hagrid nodded in understanding, "Don' worry, I got letters like tha' after Skeeter wrote her article on me. They're jus' nutters 'Ermione, don' open em if yeh get any more."

We all said our goodbyes to Hagrid, before heading back up to the castle.

"You missed a good lesson," I said sympathetically to Hermione, the two of us walking behind the boys, "How bad was the pain?"

She looked at me curiously, "Why are you asking?"

"Just concerned," I responded innocently, "I wouldn't want you to be in pain Hermione, you're my friend."

She didn't look completely convinced; she knew me well enough to know if I wanted information like that it was probably for the wrong reasons.

"I guess it was pretty awful...I wouldn't want to experience it again," she responded anyway as we walked into the Great Hall.

"Good to know," I smirked slightly, ignoring the disapproving look she sent me as I parted ways with the three of them and headed for my own table.

"Why do you have that look on your face?" Daphne asked as I sat down, looking at me suspiciously.

"What look?" I responded innocently.

"That's the look you get when you've just had an idea for a prank," Theodore answered for her with a sigh.

"So, what is it then?" Tracey inquired curiously.

"I have no clue what any of you are talking about," I continued to act oblivious.

"Whatever it is, just warn us in advance so we can hide yeah?" Blaise smirked, and I simply shot him a wink in response.

"I think you'll enjoy this one."

Any further discussion or disapproval was cut short when Madi let out a frustrated growl and ripped a letter in half before tossing it on her empty plate angrily.

"What is it this time?" Blaise asked knowingly, and I immediately looked at my best friend in sympathy. We had known it was from her parents as soon as it had arrived during breakfast that morning – the seal was painfully recognisable.

"The nerve on my mother," Madi hissed through her teeth, "Apparently my 'presence is required home' for Easter break this year. She's never wanted me home for Easter once in her life…"

"Did she say why?" I questioned with a frown, the rest of the table had filtered back into their own conversations with only Blaise and I still paying attention to her.

"No, she never does. Just subtly implies I have no choice," Madi sighed irritably, Blaise reached over and squeezed her hand comfortingly – the two of us exchanging a slight worried look.

"Well are you going home?" he then turned to me, "Coz there's no way I'm staying here if both of you are going."

I snorted, "Do you really think I could get away with not going home this year?"

"Fair enough," he shrugged, "Guess we're all having Easter at home, then."

"Wait," Lillian tuned back in, "You aren't staying this year?" While most members of our house went home for Easter break - due to most of them being purebloods and their families expecting it - the majority of our little group stayed here. We always had so much homework in this break it almost didn't feel like one sometimes, add to the fact the Common Room was considerably emptier and it was even more fun. Usually only Malfoy and Daphne ended up going home as their families requested them to do so, but it had become kind of an Easter tradition for the other six of us to spend Easter together.

"Mads and I don't really have a choice," I responded with a shrug.

"That's depressing," Tracey frowned, "Who's going to hide all the exploding eggs in Parkinson and Avery's beds?"

"My favourite Easter tradition," I said with a wistful smile, ignoring the seething look Pansy was now shooting me from next to her boyfriend.

"I don't know why you even stay here," Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Why would you want to stay at school more than you have to?"

"Some of us would rather be here than with our families," Theodore muttered, Madi and Blaise nodding in agreement.

"I always have way more fun here," Lillian agreed, "Besides, more people stay behind for Easter than go home. Practically all the fifth years and above because it's so close to N.E.W.T's and O.W.L's."

"Well, some of us like going home," Daphne said indignantly, seemingly offended by the whole conversation.

"Lucky you," Madi mumbled under her breath, earning her a dirty look from Daphne.

"Can we be expecting your new brilliant idea before or after break then?" Tracey turned back to me, her eyes twinkling.

I smirked, "Why ruin the surprise?"

The collective groan I received only further excited me. This was one act of revenge I was going to enjoy very much.

The timing actually worked out quite well in the end. I figured if I left it as late as possible I could escape any risk of retaliation for at least two weeks while we were on break. So, that was why as we all made our way down to breakfast on the last day of classes for the term I was grinning like a maniac - and it did not go unnoticed by my friends.

"Just a hint, please?" Lillian was begging as we walked, but I shook my head with a giggle.

"Trust me Moon, it will be worth the wait."

"Is it happening at breakfast? In classes?"

I simply shook my head again, still not being able to help the smile on my face as we all took our seats.

"This is about Avery, isn't it?" Madi said to me quietly, her eyes glinting knowingly. I shot her a wink in response, and she smirked in amusement – looking very pleased she would finally get what's coming to her.

"I still don't think it was the best idea for you to retaliate," Blaise – who had obviously heard his girlfriend's question from her other side – leaned back to look at me, "What if she just comes back at you harder? She's clearly shown what she's capable of."

"She can't do anything worse to me, Zabini." I shot back with a small glare, and he relented – sitting forward again with a sigh. I had no intention of just letting her get away with what she'd done.

"Tell me you haven't done something stupid." Malfoy spoke up in a low voice.

"I haven't done something stupid." I shot back automatically, turning to look at the blonde across from me.

He rolled his eyes, "Let me rephrase, tell me you haven't done something any rational person would consider stupid?"

I smirked, "I could. But I'd be lying."

His face darkened, "Just leave it alone Black, she's barely spoken two words to you since Christmas. Why can't you just leave it at that?"

I glowered back at him, "Because she's only left it alone because she thinks she's beaten me, and I will not let her think she has."

"Your stubbornness will get you killed one day," he hissed back.

"Sweet that you care."

Blaise and Madi were both rolling their eyes at us, but before Malfoy could retort any further the beautiful sound of the morning post arriving pulled my attention away. I watched the owls fly in eagerly, not being able to stop the grin from growing on my face.

"It is happening now!" Lillian exclaimed excitedly, noticing my expression right away.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Malfoy said one more time, but I ignored him - I was far too excited for what was about to happen. I spotted Gorgia Avery sitting just down the table, chatting away to the Carrow twins and shooting not at all subtle glances towards where Malfoy was. Daphne had informed me Gorgia had figured Malfoy would have gone running back to her by this point - and was getting increasingly agitated that he hadn't. It had actually been a common topic of discussion between the girls in my house lately, all of them were just as surprised as Avery that he was holding firm on their 'break up'. Luckily, none of them had made any connection to me in the situation.

But, the whole thing had turned out to become very helpful to my plan.

I moved my eyes back down to my plate just as I saw the owl drop a neatly wrapped box on Gorgia's plate, not wanting to give her any ideas on where it might have come from.

"Ooh what is that?" Flora Carrow squealed.

"It says 'from your secret admirer'," Millicent Bulstrode read, practically swooning.

Blaise almost choked on his pumpkin juice as I hid my smile behind my own goblet - sipping it carefully. Malfoy was glowering at me, already knowing exactly where Gorgia's mind was going to go.

As predicted, she looked down the table towards us - her eyes glinting triumphantly, "Draco! You shouldn't have."

"I didn't," he snapped back automatically, "Not really my style."

His eyes flickered onto me momentarily, his smirk returning to his face - and I took another big gulp of my drink to hide the blush creeping onto my cheeks.

"So, it's a mystery suitor then," Flora remarked. Gorgia looked a little disappointed that it hadn't been Malfoy - but thankfully didn't let that deter her from her eagerness to receive such a gift.

"Ha! You aren't the only one who can get mystery presents, Black," she called down to me snarkily.

"Lucky you," I responded drily, popping a grape into my mouth and not even glancing in her direction.

"Is that going to explode?" Theodore asked quietly, eyeing the situation warily from the corner of his eye.

"You said you would warn us if we got in the crosshairs!" Tracey hissed, looking ready to duck under the table if need be.

I didn't need to respond to her, Gorgia suddenly letting out a screech as she finally opened the box and it promptly exploded with a small 'boom' - as promised affecting no one else but her.

"Do I win a prize?" Theo drawled, shaking his head as we all watched the small cloud of smoke engulf the still screaming brunette.

"After all that, that's it?" Lillian looked disappointed.

"Wait for it," I smirked, watching in amusement as the Carrows waved their hands around her in horror helping to clear some of the smoke.

Daphne was sitting the closest to her out of all of us - and her horrified gasp was what let me know it had worked perfectly.

"Oh my," was all Millicent could get out as the entire table stared open mouthed at the brunette, who was still screaming but now grabbing at her forehead.

"What the HELL is on my face? IT STINGS!"

"Black..." Blaise breathed, his eyes wide - not being able to stop the grin from spreading onto his face, "Have I ever told you you're my favourite person?"

Spelled across Gorgia Avery's forehead - made out of exploding Bubotuber pus - were sores spelling out the word 'SKANK'.

"Brilliant," Lillian grinned, Tracey hiding her head in her hands to try and conceal her laughter.

"Since she seems to like to call me one so often," I said coolly, buttering another piece of toast like this was just a regular morning.

Gorgia was still screaming, at some point one of the Carrows had handed her a mirror - and the fury set on her face once she realised what exactly was on her forehead, looking down the table to glare viciously right at me.

"I know you did this!"

"I have no idea what you're on about, Avery," I smiled back innocently, "I had absolutely nothing to do with this."

"Liar!" she yelled back; her face almost as red as the sores on her head.

"You know, something like this just happened to Granger…" I pretended to ponder, "Although her attack didn't send as quite a specific message," I gazed back at her with a triumphant smirk. I wasn't daft, there was no way that she could trace this attack back to me. I had sent an unnamed owl, in unmarked post and had stolen the Bubotuber pus from the greenhouse under Harry's cloak. I had thought of everything, there was no chance I was going to risk screwing this one up.

"Come on Gorgia," it was Daphne who spoke up - shooting me a disappointed look as she did so, "I'll take you to see Madame Pomfrey."

Gorgia sent me one more threatening glare (which didn't really come across as threatening as she probably would have hoped due to the word still on her face) before following Daphne out of the hall, making sure to whine the whole way.

The rest of the table went back to their breakfast, and I noticed a lot of students from other houses had been watching as well. I caught Fred's eye as I glanced over at Gryffindor table, both him and George sending me a wink and subtle salute.

"You're asking for it now," Theodore warned, but even he couldn't keep the amused smirk off his face.

"Like I said," I took a bite of my toast, chewing proudly, "I had nothing to do with it."

"I'm so glad you're my best friend," Madi knocked my shoulder with her own gently, exchanging a quick grin with me.

Everyone returned their attention to finishing off breakfast and discussing Easter break, and I continued to eat my breakfast not being able to keep the triumphant smirk off my face. I snuck a look at Malfoy, wondering how mad he was going to be that I'd almost gotten him caught in the crosshairs - but was shocked when I saw him eating his own breakfast with a ghost of an amused look on his face.

I grinned, staring at him triumphantly, "Admit it. You thought that was funny."

He rolled his eyes slightly, "I think it was immature, and still ridiculously stupid of you to retaliate."

"Right, but what I'm not hearing is you saying you didn't enjoy it anyway?"

He didn't say anything, holding my gaze and taking a sip from his goblet. I grinned; he didn't need to respond - I already knew the answer.

"So, I'm guessing that little show at breakfast yesterday was your doing?" Harry asked me knowingly as we boarded the train the next morning.

I looked at him with a grin, "I can neither confirm nor deny that theory."

He snorted, rolling his eyes but still looking a little proud, "Hermione was well angry - she kept going on about how she knew she shouldn't have answered when you asked her how much pain she was in."

I scoffed, "She should be relieved, I could have done something much worse."

"She would have deserved it," Harry agreed angrily as we settled into a compartment, "I'm surprised you went so easy on her."

I shrugged, "It was simple, but effective."

"At least now I know why you wanted the cloak last week," he said. "Do you think you'll get caught?"

I shook my head, "She has no solid proof that it was me, besides - I honestly think Snape would let it slide anyway. He knows what she did to me first."

"Yeah, maybe." Harry didn't sound as convinced, but I wasn't surprised. I don't think Harry believes Snape was capable of any emotion other than disdain.

"I'm surprised they let you come home," I gazed out the window as the train started to pull away, "With the tournament and all."

"We don't even know what the next task is yet," he shrugged in response, "I suppose even champions deserve a break."

I laughed, "I guess so."

"It does feel weird coming home for Easter though," he admitted, "The only other year we've done that was first year."

I nodded, "I get why they wanted us to though, I think any moment James can have you near him right now he's taking."

Harry sighed, "We wrote to Percy the other day," I looked at him questioningly, "Just asking about Mr Crouch, where he is and all that…"

"Who knows?" I sighed with a small shrug, "Maybe he really has gone nuts like everyone says."

"Maybe," Harry mused, gazing out the window not looking very convinced.

We stayed mostly silent after that, playing a few rounds of Wizard Snap and swapping magazines to pass the time. I was spread out across the bench, dutifully starting work on the load of homework we'd been assigned for break when our attention was drawn by the compartment door opening.

"What do you want?" Harry immediately glowered, fixing a glare on a smirking Malfoy in the doorway.

"I'm not here for you, Pothead. I came to talk to Black," he turned to me, leaning casually on the side of the door.

I raised an eyebrow, making no move to get up, "What can I help you with Malfoy?"

His eyes flicked to Harry, "Privately."

Harry scoffed, crossing his arms and continuing to glare at Malfoy. I rolled my eyes, shoving my books to the side and standing up - giving Harry a reassuring look as I followed the blonde out into the corridor and closed the door behind us.

"This couldn't wait?"

He shook his head, pulling his hand out of the pocket of his robe and producing a shiny black envelope with my name engraved on the front - smirking smugly at me as he did so.

"What is this?" I questioned suspiciously, not moving to take it from him.

"Well," he said a little impatiently. "Every year us Malfoy's throw a little Easter shindig, because my mother will use any excuse to throw a ball. And seeing as you will actually be home for Easter this year I thought it only polite to extend an invitation."

I stared back at him incredulously, "You're inviting me to your ball?"

He rolled his eyes, "Technically it's my mothers."

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not," I continued to stare at him in shock. To be fair, ever since the last Hogsmeade trip when we had agreed to be friends, he had given me no reason to think that this invitation wouldn't be legit - but I was still struggling to not second guess everything he did.

"Why would I ask if I wasn't being serious?" he scowled, "I thought we were friends now, friends invite each other to things, don't they?"

I blinked at him a few more times, before hesitantly reaching out and taking the invitation from him. His smirk immediately fell back onto his face and he straightened up a little more, evidently pleased.

"I invited Zabini and Onyx, since they'll be home too. Greengrass will be there as well."

"I'll think about it," I responded, fiddling with the envelope a little bit.

"Don't have any ideas about plus ones," he drawled, "The invitation doesn't extend to any red-heads or chosen ones."

I rolled my eyes, "I figured as much. Fred's staying at Hogwarts anyway."

He looked even more smug, "Even better. I hope you decide to come, it will be nice to be able to dance with you without him interrupting."

"Malfoy!" I called warningly after him as he headed back down the corridor without another word, but he didn't even turn around. I rolled my eyes at his back, feeling my cheeks burning a little as I stared at the invitation in my hand. This had been a common occurrence lately, apparently to him us being friends meant he could subtly flirt with me whenever he wanted to. I hated to admit that most of the time he was damn good at it too.

Surely I couldn't even consider going. This was still Malfoy, and even if we were friends this seemed a little too nice for him still. Besides, I couldn't even imagine broaching the subject with Harry or my Dad - or having to tell Fred about it. Letting out a sigh, I decided to stop thinking about it for now and slipped the invite into my pocket before re-entering the compartment.

"What did he want?" Harry asked bitterly as I sat down again.

"Was just something about Potions," I responded, picking up the parchment I'd been working on before.

"It was so urgent he just had to ask you now?" Harry didn't seem convinced.

"Who knows how his brain works?"

"Hmm," Harry murmured, looking at me suspiciously for a few more moments before giving up and going back to his copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Anything about Hermione in there today?"

"Not today, doesn't matter though. She's already started a revenge rampage on Skeeter, she's convinced she's still getting into Hogwarts somehow," he responded with a small eye roll.

I snorted, "That girl needs to learn how to take a break every so often."

"You're telling me."

It was only another hour before the train pulled up at Platform 9¾, Harry and I gathering up all our stuff and making our way off the train. We spotted our dad's quickly, heading down the platform to meet them.

"Hi," I smiled happily when we did, letting my dad pull me in for a tight hug.

"How are you?" he asked when we pulled back, looking me up and down a little.

"Better than last time you saw me," I joked.

"Ah yes, you do look like less of a drowned rat this time," he said back with a grin, and I laughed along.

"I'm glad you're here," he said after we'd stopped laughing, smiling softly.

"Me too," I said, "Even if it feels weird. And don't be surprised if I spend the entire two weeks trying to do this ridiculous amount of homework they've set us!"

He looked offended, exchanging a mock horrified look with James, "Who's child is this?"

"Dad!" I protested, rolling my eyes a little as he and James roared with laughter.

"Seriously though," James agreed, his eyes twinkling, "I could count on one hand the times I saw your father ever doing homework."

"You wouldn't even need the whole hand."

Harry and I exchanged an exasperated look, choosing to ignore our fathers as we walked off the platform.

It was a week into break, and surprisingly I was glad that I had ended up coming home. My dad and I were staying with Harry and James in Godric's Hollow, and it felt much more like a holiday here than in London since there were so many muggle and wizard children in the village, so it was full of Easter decorations.

The only thing that was bothering me was Malfoy and his stupid ball. I had stashed the invite in my trunk, avoiding thinking about it as much as possible - but now the ball was only two days away and I still had no idea what I wanted to do. On one hand, part of me actually wanted to go. It would be nice to see my friends and have a fun night together, even if it was at Malfoy's. But the other part of me knew it was a terrible idea, and I still had no idea how I would bring up the subject with my dad or Harry - especially now that I've left it this late.

"Hedwig still hasn't come back," Harry pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked across the breakfast table to see him staring out the window with a frown.

"Percy's probably busy."

He snorted, "Or pretending to be. Maybe he did poison Mr Crouch, like the twins said."

"Who's poisoning Crouch?" James raised an eyebrow as he entered the kitchen.

"Percy Weasley," I replied with a smile, "To get his position."

"Ah, right. Sounds plausible," James responded, pulling up the chair next to Harry's.

"Maybe Hedwig took it back to Hogwarts cos Ron is there? We did send the letter together, and he's Percy's brother so it would make sense..." Harry pondered, not quite ready to give it up.

"Do you have separation anxiety from that owl or something?" I rolled my eyes, and he shot me a small glare.

"What's so important you need to hear from Percy, anyway?" James asked, biting back a laugh from my previous comment.

"We asked him if he knew where Mr Crouch was, why he's been ditching his tournament duties," Harry explained, finally turning away from the window.

"I still think they've thrown him in the loony bin," I muttered, sipping my coffee disinterestedly.

"Who's been thrown in the loony bin now?" my dad asked as he now entered the kitchen, raising a questioning eyebrow at me as he headed for the coffee pot.

"Barty Crouch apparently," James supplied.

"Which one?"

"What do you mean 'which one'?" Harry and I both sat up a little straighter, looking between our dads in confusion.

"Crouch's son was named after him," my dad explained, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"He has a son?" Harry looked surprised.

"Not anymore," James said grimly, "He died years ago, in Azkaban."

My eyes widened even more, my attention well and truly piqued, "Hold on, how did Crouch's son end up in Azkaban? And why don't we know about it?"

"It was a huge scandal back in the day," James continued. "He used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Crouch - tipped to be the next Minister even."

"When was this?" Harry asked, looking just as intrigued as me.

Our dad's exchanged a look, and they didn't need to say anything else for me to understand. I'd seen that look far too often.

"Last time," I supplied quietly, "Last time he was in power."

"How did you know?" my dad asked, eyebrows raised.

"The looks on your faces."

"You have to understand what it was like," James continued with a sigh, "Everyone was living in constant fear, there was so much about it all that was unknown. Crouch probably had the hardest job of anyone."

"He got a bit extreme," my dad frowned, his eyes getting a far off look in them as he reminisced, "He authorised for Aurors to kill on site, the use of Unforgivables…"

"That makes him as bad as them," Harry looked furious.

"Some said he was," James responded, looking solemn; "But other people agreed with him though, and after Voldemort disappeared it seemed like he really was going to be the next Minister…"

"But?" I raised an eyebrow, looking between the two Marauders.

"Something rather unfortunate happened," my dad was grim faced, "Crouch's own son turned out to be a Death Eater."

My eyes widened, exchanging a look with an equally as shocked Harry.

"So what? He tried to get his son off and everyone turned on him?" Harry questioned in confusion.

My dad snorted, James letting out a bitter laugh as well, "No, anything that threatened his reputation had to go, even his own son. He sent him straight to Azkaban."

"That's horrible," I managed to get out. "How could someone be cruel enough to send their own son to that place?"

"He died after a year," James said, "Then Crouch's wife died not long after - everyone said it was from grief. He lost everything, and he was nowhere near as popular as he used to be. Everyone always speculated he never cared enough for his son, and that's what drove him to it."

We stayed silent for a while. I couldn't help but think of my friends - would their rocky relationships with their parents ever drive them to the same position it had driven Crouch's son? I only hoped that they would never be faced with that choice, and that they would make the right one if they were. I felt my dad's eyes on me and turned to see him watching me with a knowing look, I shot him a small smile in reassurance, but I knew he understood what I was thinking about.

"Moody says he's obsessed with catching dark wizards," Harry said finally.

My dad nodded, looking back over at him, "I reckon he thinks if he catches one more Death Eater all will be forgiven."

"That's why he was sneaking around Snape's office then," Harry seemed triumphant, and I bristled.

"No, that doesn't make any sense actually," my dad frowned, cutting in before I could tell my godbrother off. "If Crouch wanted to investigate Snape why wouldn't he just show up at the tasks? It's the perfect excuse for him to be around and keep an eye on him."

"So, Snape is up to something?"

"Harry!" I snapped in frustration, not in the mood to rehash this particular argument right now.

"Just because you refuse to listen to the facts-"

"This isn't fact, it's all speculation! You're blinded by your ridiculous hatred!"

"You're blinded by the colour of your robes!"

"Harry," it was James who spoke up, looking at his son warningly and stopping me from leaping across the table at him.

"You can't think that he isn't up to something, he hates us!" Harry said back to his father in exasperation.

James pondered for a moment, looking between the two of us thoughtfully, "Snape and I have never gotten along and I doubt we will ever see eye to eye on anything, but even though he was a bit of a slimy git back in the day there were never even any rumours of him being a Death Eater."

"I highly doubt Dumbledore would ever hire him if there was," my dad added, "He made friends with a lot of people who did but that doesn't necessarily mean he followed suit. He's too much of a coward for that in my opinion."

"But-"

"If he's so evil, Harry - then why did he save your life as many times as he has? Why doesn't he hate me blindly just because he hates my dad?" I snapped, interrupting him.

"She has a point there," my dad spoke up before Harry could respond, "That's always surprised me - sometimes I reckon he hated me more than he hated Prongs."

"Hang on," James actually looked a little offended, "Let's not go that far, Padfoot."

Despite the cold conversation the two of them let out a little chuckle, but Harry and I refused to budge and continued to glare at each other across the table.

"Try not to think about all this too much, Harry," James said gently, trying to diffuse the tension, "You have enough to worry about already."

"Leave all the grown-up stuff to the grown-ups, yeah?" my dad winked, and Harry finally cracked a small smile.

"Maybe Percy knows more," he said half-heartedly, ending the conversation. I was still a little angry at him but knew it wasn't worth holding onto, Harry was never going to trust Snape and that was fine. But it didn't mean that I didn't, and I trusted that the man I knew would never be a Death Eater. It just didn't make sense to me.

Later that afternoon, I was sitting in the garden working on the last bit of my Charms essay when Harry came storming into the garden - stopping right in front of me and blocking the warm sun I had been enjoying.

"What the hell?" I questioned in irritation.

"When were you planning on mentioning Malfoy invited you to a ball?" he shot back, his eyes cold.

I stood up abruptly, "Did you go through my trunk?" I accused, choosing to ignore his initial question.

"I just wanted to use your notes from Potions, and I didn't think it would be an issue considering we don't keep secrets!"

"You still had no right!" I yelled angrily, staring him down.

"You didn't answer my question," Harry continued in a low tone, "When were you planning on mentioning your little invitation?"

"That's none of your business," I snapped, grabbing the parchment at my feet and pushing past him back inside.

"Since when does Malfoy invite you to balls?" Harry followed me in, not seeming like he was giving up any time soon.

"Since now apparently," I turned back around, dumping my books on the kitchen table.

"What?" he scoffed, "Are you two friends or something now?"

"So, what if we are? It would also be none of your business." This was not exactly how I'd envisioned this conversation going, I still hadn't even decided if I was going to bring it up at all.

Harry looked horrified, "You're joking right? He's an absolute prat, how could you ever be friends with him?"

I let out a sigh, "It's more complicated than that, Harry. You know it's easier if we get along, we're in the same bloody house for fuck's sake!"

"I don't want you to be friends with him," he shook his head, and I immediately narrowed my eyes - not the least bit happy with him telling me what to do.

"It's not up to you."

"I'm trying to protect you!"

"I don't need you to protect me! Especially from Malfoy, you have no idea what you're even talking about!"

"Apparently I don't! Fred was right then - you are keeping secrets!"

I immediately flinched, and the look on Harry's face let me know that was exactly what he'd been trying to achieve.

"Screw you," I bit out, before storming out without another word and up the stairs into his room - throwing myself on the mattress on the floor and letting out a frustrated scream into the pillow. This was exactly why I hadn't said anything to him in the first place, I knew exactly how he would react. I didn't blame him really, Malfoy was awful to him and the rest of them, but I wasn't about to let Harry dictate who I could be friends with.

I didn't lift my head when I heard footsteps approaching the doorway, "Go away Harry," I mumbled angrily into the pillow.

"Not Harry," I turned, seeing my dad walk in and sit down on Harry's bed - looking at me with an amused half-smirk.

"I'm guessing Harry filled you in?" I grumbled, sitting up and tucking my knees up to my chest.

"He didn't have to," my dad chuckled, "James and I heard the two of you screaming at each other just fine."

"He's being a git," I glared down at the mattress I was sitting on.

"He shouldn't have gone through your things..." he agreed.

I sighed, hearing how his tone drifted at the end of his sentence, "But?"

"You can understand why he's upset, can't you?" he continued, "And he was right about one thing, since when do the two of you keep secrets?" The comment stung more than it should have, if only he knew what other secrets I was keeping.

I rested my chin on my knees and looked up at him, "I only didn't say anything because I knew this was how he was going to react."

"It's only because he cares," my dad said gently, looking meaningfully at me, "Do you want to go?"

"No," I said, then sighed, "Maybe? I don't know…" I glanced at him again, "You probably think I shouldn't, right?"

He raised an eyebrow, "When have I ever stopped you from doing anything?"

I smiled softly, "Never."

"Look kid, you do what you want to do. Don't let what Harry or I think make the decision for you. If you really want to go you should."

I let out a long sigh, "Is it bad I kind of hoped you'd forbid me from going so I wouldn't have to decide?"

He laughed, reaching out his hand and pulling me up, "You think I didn't know that?" I ducked out of the way as he tried to ruffle my hair, exclaiming in protest.

"Are you and Malfoy really friends?" he questioned as I finally straightened up, a small frown on his face.

"It's complicated," I repeated with a sigh, not really wanting to get into the subject right now - which he must have understood, because he simply nodded.

"Just be careful."

"I always am," I gave him an assuring smile, before the two of us headed out of the room and made our way back downstairs. My dad was right, it shouldn't matter what anyone else wanted me to do. If I wanted to go I should go - what's the worst that could happen anyway?