Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any character, story element or plot item originally published in the Harry Potter books or movies that I may refer to in this story. I'm merely playing in the sandbox.

In the halls, the crowds thinned as friends walked into classrooms. Sarah had fallen a step behind Brahm as she laughed at something Susan said. The red-haired girl had brightened over the last couple weeks. She was certain that the increased proximity of a certain Gryffindor had been the source of it, and she enjoyed it.

Hermione had surprised her, publicly apologizing for her behavior to Neville. He'd accepted but told her he wasn't interested in continuing anything further except as friends and she nodded, retreating slightly back into the friendless role that she'd had when Harry had first met her. She hadn't known that he knew, but Neville point blank said that if she'd wanted to date Harry, she should have told him that rather than helping drive him away from the country. Hermione walked away with her head hung low and Dumbledore had approached Neville, still quietly pursuing any and every mention of his missing weapon.

Sarah laughed again at the memory, then froze as a slender hand grasped her upper arm, turning her. "Something funny, Taylor?"

Draco Malfoy stood in the corridor, holding her arm, and pressing her against the wall. Another Slytherin, Nott she thought, held a wand on Susan. "What do you want?" She was proud she'd said the words without shaking. It had to be him.

"Your little boyfriend is messing with the wrong people. We've been told to warn him off interfering again. How strong the warning will depend on whether he listens." The blonde gave what passed for a smile from him, the cold eyes running over her. "We are interested in making an example if necessary."

"Interfering…what?"

"The Dark Lord has expressed displeasure in his men being attacked by a mudblood, but then to find out that it was him that took my aunt's wand arm and killed several others of his men, well, he's very close to becoming a major target himself." He smirked as he leaned in. "Aunt Bellatrix certainly wants to get her wand on him."

She didn't get to respond to him as he suddenly vanished from her view, slammed against a wall. Neville stood to one side, kicking Nott in the chest as Brahm held Malfoy against the wall by his throat, staring intently into his eyes. "I believe you wanted a word, inbred."

"You…don't…know…" Malfoy choked out and Brahm rolled his eyes.

"Let me guess, I don't know who I'm dealing with. You'll get me in the end. Wait till my father hears about this…oh, wait, he died by a goblin blade because he was an idiot. Guess you can't go to what's reported as your favorite line. Pity that."

He met the boy's gaze again and glared, but the blonde didn't say much more before his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and his body fell limp. After dropping him and wiping his hands on his robes, Brahm reached out to her and she turned to face him, forcing herself to breath. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I…yeah."

Susan was in Neville's arms now as Brahm cast stunners into both Slytherins. He turned and the spectral version of Ghost ran down the corridor, heading to the infirmary. Neville patted Susan's back and she shook her head. "This is my fault. I should've kept my mouth shut, but everyone knows about you and Bellatrix Lestrange because of me."

"Hey, Susan, look, it happens." Brahm stepped forward and Sarah nodded, pushing her own feelings aside for a moment. She took Susan from Neville and hugged her.

"We were all in a bad place that day. Trust me, I understand."

The four moved on to class, but Sarah didn't feel like going. She wasn't sure what bothered her more, that Malfoy was that close to her or that she didn't like the look Brahm had on his face. She didn't know what was bothering him, but it had to be something significant.

"Mr. Evans, we have a problem."

Brahm sat in Dumbledore's office and glanced around the room, affecting a bored mien, before meeting his gaze. "I don't understand."

"You assaulted two students in the corridor."

He eyed the old man, noting his careful movements to not directly make eye contact. It was a familiar dance between them, not that anyone other than Brahm knew it. Snape stood behind him and seemed indecisive as to how to respond. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You broke several of Mr. Nott's ribs and choked Mr. Malfoy into unconsciousness."

"Ahh…" Brahm smiled softly. "Now I understand. I didn't do anything to Mr. Nott. I did have a conversation with Mr. Malfoy after he threatened my betrothed, which I don't believe I exceeded the bounds of the law on."

"Conversation?" Snape asked, incredulously. "Mr. Malfoy had a bruise in the shape of a hand imprint on his throat."

Brahm thought about looking over at Professor Sprout sitting next to him but decided to meet the problem head on. "Yes. He grabbed Sarah's arm and threatened her with retribution from the Dark Lord for the incident on our last Hogsmeade visit. I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall, informing him to stay away from my betrothed. I don't know that he got the warning, he passed out before I finished speaking. I would appreciate if you reminded him of the laws of betrothal and what I was in my rights to do. My next reminder will not be so kind."

The older man seemed dumbfounded as he sat there. "You admit to assaulting a student."

Brahm nodded. "I was within my rights to call him out in a duel or simply slit his throat. I may not be a pureblood, not that it matters to anyone other than your government, Mr. Dumbledore…are you Headmaster or Chief Mugwump at this meeting? As the law supersedes the school's regulations in this case, I need to know who I am talking to."

"Headmaster," the man said softly. All of them knew that the Confederacy wouldn't get involved and that Britain's Ministry's hands were tied by their own laws.

"Ahh, well, that ends that. I don't see any further need for conversation."

"You are demonstrating some concerning behavior, Mr. Evans."

Brahm was silent, counting off tics in his head. At five, he narrowed his eyes, canting his head. "Concerning to whom?"

"To me."

Brahm nodded. "Your concerns are noted."

The room was silent and finally, they were dismissed. He thanked Professor Sprout for accompanying him as they walked down to her office. She stopped him. "Would you have killed him?"

"For grabbing her arm and making his rumored usual brand of threats? No. Public duel with him being humiliated and possibly maimed for a permanent disfiguration seems suitable. Since he wants to bring up his Dark Lord, maybe I'd cut his nose off so he could look like him. If he hurts her…I've been told that there are acromantulas in the forest. I'd feed him to them while alive."

She nodded. "Be careful with your enemies, Mr. Evans."

Brahm nodded back, then headed to his common room. Sarah sat with Susan, both seeming to be studying until their books fell on sight of him. "What happened?"

"Bluster. I'm a concern now, apparently." Brahm shrugged, sitting next to Sarah, and taking her hand. "Nothing I'm worried about."

Susan stood. "Okay. I'm going with Hannah to Greenhouse 4. I have a project going on."

"Don't get separated. The idiots are moving in the hallways now." The redhead waved to the blonde and the pair went out the door. Sarah looked at him. "Is that really all?"

"I left Neville and Susan out of it. He didn't bother to mention them so I figured I wouldn't either." He was silent as he considered her. "Are you ready to talk about it?"

"Talk…about what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you."

The question hung before Sarah gestured to the corner chair. They once again sat in a familiar position, her in his lap and he pulled a wand out, openly casting a very obvious silencing charm. With everyone knowing about Malfoy's behavior, he was certain no one would say anything.

"Malfoy was one of them, that's all. He had me pinned by the arm and…I was back there for a second. I couldn't think or react…I just…"

Brahm nodded, hugging her tightly. He was sure that that was the last he was going to hear from her. She had this set about her lips as though she'd been hit with some kind of sealing charm. "I knew he was marked, but I didn't know he was one of them. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. What's been bothering you?"

Brahm sighed. "I know what Malfoy's up to this year."

They'd noted it as an oddity, discussing things over the past few months. Malfoy, other than a few incidents, had fallen off the map. He wanted to hurt a few people, but he was nowhere near the strutting pain that he had been before.

"What?"

"He's marked. He was marked on the grounds that he guaranteed something would be done."

"What?" She was silent. "I knew he was marked, but what was he supposed to do?"

"He's here to kill Dumbledore…and I have to stop him."

There was silence and suddenly Sarah giggled. "You're serious."

"He may be an evil man, but I can't let a moron be the one that beat him. You should see some of the plans the idiot had in his head." Brahm sighed. "A cursed necklace brought in by a student. Good thing I wiped out the Malfoy fortune and influence enough that no one would sell it to him, even if he had the money. A random bottle of poisoned mead? Who knows who would have gotten that?"

He ran his fingers through his hair before speaking again. "You should have seen the major plan, Sarah. He wanted to use the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Lost Things to transport Death Eaters here!" He said the last in a hiss.

"What?" Sarah's face paled.

"Yes, to bring others here to capture the castle and kill the ones who don't fall in line or who aren't the 'right kind'." He shook his head. "The rage the little idiot felt when he found the room empty was amazing. I think the smartest thing I did other than rescuing you was to clean the room out."

She was silent. "You did it on a whim, too."

Brahm shook his head. "I even know how it got there. Nearly Headless Nick smashed the cabinet to get me out of trouble with Filch. That's the reason it was broken. Algie had shown an interest in it because when paired, those things are fun, but now…I sent a message to him with the location, and he's purchased it with Black money. I now own a pair of transportation cabinets. The goblins are making arrangements to find an artificer who can fix the broken cabinet and correct the linkage between them."

"Fun to have if we stick together. You have one and I the other."

He rolled his eyes as she tried to flirt but could see some hesitation. "You can tell me what happened when you want. I won't push. You definitely don't need to appeal to my darker nature to distract me."

"Maybe I enjoy it."

It was difficult for him to protest with her nuzzled up to him. For a moment, he closed his eyes, visualizing the real pair of them sitting like that. He wondered what kind of reaction that might get from the school.

Author's note: A double post today once I complete the next chapter's editing. I'm celebrating the ending of a class. My first degree was in print media and I wrote less in classes for that than I did this one in cybersecurity…go figure.