The Devil in Me

Does Anyone Even Know Who I Am?

The chapter title is from the song:

Belief by Ben Fankhauser.

A few nights after he and Daphne's first 'fight' as a couple (not that it had been much of a fight since she had curled up with him in the common room that very same evening). Harry stuck his head into the study hall at the end of his free period to ask his resident Ravenclaw best friend for advice.

"Lil."

Lily looked up at Harry and raised an eyebrow, "What do you want?"

"Seriously? How did you know I wanted something?"

"You called me Lil," She snapped her book shut, "You obviously want something – so what is it?"

"Well, I need to get someone who hates me to join us," Harry said, sitting down opposite her.

"Which one? There are so many people out there who hate you," Lily said sarcastically.

"Ha, ha," Harry said dryly, "In this case, it's your fellow Ravenclaw, Stephen Cornfoot."

Lily frowned, "Why does he hate you?"

"Because he had a lifelong crush on Cho Chang, and he walked in on me complaining that she was a wet kisser?"

Lily snorted, "Go figure. So what, you want me to use my Ravenclaw-ness to get him on board? Cause you do realise that the entire school knows I'm a Death Eater, and the other half suspect I'm sleeping with a professor?"

"Yeah," Harry admitted with a grimace, "I'm starting to realise this wasn't the best plan in the world, but the Cornfoots are a neutral family who have to pick a side. If they don't side with us, they'll get swept up into the Jones rebellion."

Lily sighed and slung her bag over her shoulder, "I'll talk to Stephen and prep him for the fact you're coming for his family, but you might need to consider going over his head and talking to his father like you did with the Browns."

"Noted, and as per usual, you're a star," Harry said, grinning at her as he disappeared out of the room, "Thank you!"

He jogged down the stairs towards his next class, and on the way, he bumped into Ernie MacMillan, "Hey, Harry."

"Oh, hey Ernie," Harry replied, "Enjoying having your castle back?"

"Yes, we are, thank you," Ernie replied, "And my father is incredibly grateful to you for what you did. I hope you know we will support you in any way you wish."

"I do know that, and I highly appreciate it," Harry said.

"I would even join your ranks if you required it," Ernie pushed.

Harry wanted to grimace, but he kept a straight face, "No, no, Ernie – don't you worry yourself about that. Our numbers are all good. You just focus on that strong political career you're bound to have, alright?"

Ernie's cheeks flushed, and he nodded, "Alright, see you later, Harry."

Harry blew out a sigh of relief as Ernie disappeared in the other direction.

Harry deliberately didn't push Susan. He left her to her own devices and didn't talk to her any more than he would have done beforehand – Daphne had informed him that Susan was the kind of person who would join them if they pretended they weren't interested but would say no out of spite if they tried too hard to recruit her.

With that in mind, Harry focused his energies on the next neutral family that he needed to turn – the Cornfoots. Thus far, he had tried to talk to Stephen Cornfoot twice, and both times, he hadn't managed to make it past the small talk phase, which wasn't exactly encouraging.

He was just thinking about going straight to Stephen's Dad, Stefan (he couldn't quite believe how unoriginal purebloods could be), when he was summoned to Tom's office.

"Good evening," Harry said politely when he stepped in.

Tom didn't seem to think it was a good evening – he was standing by the window with his arms crossed, a brooding look in his eyes.

"And here was me thinking I was the broody one," Harry remarked.

Tom didn't find the comment amusing. He looked at Harry seriously, "Do you think Severus is a spy?"

Harry frowned, wondering where that had come from, "As I told you weeks ago, I personally don't trust him, but as I said back then, that's probably due to a personal grudge I can't shake."

"Because of his love for your mother," Tom said, waving his hand and rolling his eyes, "Yes, I am aware. However, when you listen to your instincts, you seem to come to profound conclusions, so do your instincts tell you that he can be trusted?"

"No," Harry answered honestly, "And yours must not either, or you wouldn't be asking for my opinion."

"Correct," Tom said, "Since I took up my post at Hogwarts, I have witnessed Severus leave the castle on three occasions – each time when I know he does not have any business of mine to attend to."

"You think he's an informant for the light?" Harry asked.

"The thought crossed my mind," Tom confessed, "Then I thought on it in further detail and asked myself why he would not simply inform to Minerva, who would then relay this information to the Order of the Phoenix?"

Harry's eyes darkened, "Because he's not informing to the Order of the Phoenix, is he? He's informing to the Army of the Phoenix?"

"Possibly," Tom said, "Or it is also possible that Minerva has taken a step back from the Order, having seen how amenable our rule has been at Hogwarts."

Harry wasn't sure that amenable was the right word for their rule at Hogwarts. They had killed and replaced Charity Burbage, after all. Then there had been the small matter of Hannah Abbott…

Tom ignored these idle thoughts of Harry's.

"Were this any other Death Eater, I would force veritaserum down his throat and make him tell me the truth, but Severus drinks a small amount every day to make himself resistant to the potion."

"Surely you can get in his head, though?" Harry asked.

Tom shook his head, "I may be a master Legilimens, Harry, but so is Severus. Being a master at getting into other peoples heads also lends to being a master at keeping others out of yours. If I were to force my way into his head, then it is likely that Severus would in essence self-obliviate himself, leaving his mind nothing more than a desolate ruin."

Harry nodded, "Right, which leaves little options. I mean, I suppose we could put a tail on him? But he'd know, wouldn't he?"

"Not if we chose the right person," Tom said, pushing himself away from the window, "And as you concur with my opinion, I will assign Gibbon immediately."

"Good choice," Harry agreed.

Tom fell silent and sat down behind his desk, and Harry wondered if he was excused. He didn't like to make assumptions, especially not when Tom was in such a brooding, suspicious mood.

"Is that all, my lord?"

"No," Tom answered. He didn't look up from what he was reading, and Harry realised it was a letter.

Harry raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

"The Chang family were caught trying to flee the country," Tom said; he scoffed, "They would rather die than bend the knee? Well, so be it. Would you go to the Manor and inform Lucius?"

Harry nodded and turned to leave.

"And Harry?"

"Yes?" Harry said, turning to look at Tom.

"You had a romantic relationship with the girl, didn't you?" Tom asked.

"I doubt if you could call it that," Harry said with an amused smile, "We kissed; that was the extent of it. She was a bit whiny."

"Then I don't suppose you will have any problem with disposing of her?"

"No, my lord," Harry replied and, worryingly enough, he meant it.

"Good," Tom said, dismissing Harry with a wave of the hand.

Before he left for the Manor, Harry nipped down to the dungeons to get changed out of school uniform, and when he was done, he jogged through the common room.

"Hey!"

Harry turned around and looked for the source of the voice, "Hey," he said, smiling briefly at Daphne.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Daphne asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Oh, I'm just off to murder my ex-girlfriend," Harry replied calmly.

Draco's eyebrows shot up, and Daphne gave Harry a sceptical look, "Why?"

"Her family got caught trying to escape, and the Dark Lord likes to test my loyalty," Harry replied offhandedly, "See you later!"

Without another word, he jogged out of the room, and Daphne shook her head. She looked over at Draco and asked, "Why do we even bother asking anymore?"

"I don't know," Draco answered with a snort, "Fancy a game of chess?"

Killing Cho Chang was remarkably easy. If it weren't for his questionable morals, Harry would have worried himself sick over how easy it had been. Once the deed was done, he sat down and had a scotch with Lucius like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Then, when he went back to the common room, he played chess with Draco as he usually would – it was like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Until, of course, he went to bed. The moment Harry lay down, Cho's tear-stricken face swam in his vision, her pleas rang in his head, and he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

So he got up and made his way into the head common room, which had become Daphne's lounge these days since Lily basically lived in Tom's quarters. As such, it wasn't a surprise that she was there.

"I thought you'd gone to bed," Daphne said, looking up from her book.

"I tried to," Harry agreed. He sat down heavily next to her and glanced at her book, "You study a lot."

"Uh-huh," Daphne agreed, "I want to be a Cursebreaker, and you need straight O's for that so," she shrugged.

Harry rested his head on her shoulder, studying the runes in her book, "Ancient Norse?"

"Yes," Daphne said, she was translating the words as she spoke, "I find them more difficult than Egyptian or Greek."

"They are meant to be the hardest to translate," Harry agreed, "You stuck on that one at the top?"

Daphne's eyes flitted to the rune in question, "Yeah, I don't know if it means prosperity or chaos."

"Important distinction to make," Harry said with a tired smile, "It's 'chaos' though because of the two scratch marks here, see? If it were one, it would be prosperity."

Daphne sighed gratefully and put a mark next to it, "Thank you," she said, turning and kissing him on the cheek, "I'm exhausted, but I wanted to finish this page."

Harry smiled at her, "No problem. You going to head to bed?"

Daphne nodded. She got to her feet, packed everything into her bag then hesitated before holding her hand out to Harry.

Harry looked at her outstretched hand in confusion.

"Nothing is going to happen; I will make sure of that," Daphne began, "But you look like a dead man walking, Harry – you need sleep."

Harry shook his head, "I know what you're thinking, and honestly, don't worry about it. If anyone sees you coming out of my bedroom, it will stain your honour, won't it?"

Daphne cocked her head at him and gave him a knowing look, "What's the longest night of sleep you've had since Theo died?"

Harry shrugged evasively.

"Harry," Daphne said sternly.

With a sigh, Harry answered, "A combination of alcohol and Reyna meant I slept the whole night after Theo's funeral but since then? I don't know, 3 hours, maybe?"

"And was that in a bed or on my shoulder in the common room?" Daphne asked.

"I think you already know the answer to that, Daph," Harry said.

"Exactly," Daphne said, grabbing Harry's hand, "So come on, let's go to bed."

"You sure?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure," She promised.

So Harry didn't fight her any further. He just let her pull him back into his bedroom.

The following morning at breakfast, Harry was positively bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"What is up with you?" Blaise asked.

"He actually slept last night, so now he remembers what it's like to be a fully functioning human," Draco replied, shooting Harry an amused grin.

Tracey raised a knowing eyebrow at Daphne, and Pansy opened her big mouth to gob off, but before she could, Sadie cursed her under the table so that she was silenced.

Daphne gave Sadie a grateful smile in response and poured herself a glass of orange juice.

"Why is Stephen Cornfoot looking at you like he wants you to combust spontaneously?" Tracey asked, nudging her head at the Ravenclaw table behind them.

Harry turned around and saw the look on Stephen's face. He tried a tentative wave but was greeted with an even more violent glare.

"Dude – what did I do?"

"I know you killed her!" Stephen hissed.

Harry turned around and grimaced, "Bugger."

"Yeah," Draco agreed, giving Harry a knowing look, "If you were trying to get him and his family to turn, maybe murdering his one true love wasn't the best idea?"

Harry shot Draco an irritated look, "Oh, I'm sorry – are there any other inopportune deaths you fancy shoving in my face?"

Draco smirked, "Give me a week. I'll get you a list."

"Prick," Harry muttered under his breath.

"Just do what Lily said and go to his father," Daphne remarked calmly, "You'll have more luck with the Heads of the families as a rule because they have the most to lose and the highest chance of getting the rest of the family to fall in line. I mean, persuading Stephen is all well and good, but I doubt the rest of his family would listen to a schoolchild at the end of the day."

"Wise words, indeed," Harry agreed, "Fancy coming with me for a visit to Cornfoot House?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "I thought I wasn't allowed to?"

"No, the wording of the clause in our marriage contract dictates that I can't bring you with me when I'm knowingly walking into danger. However, a meeting at the home of a neutral, notably amenable family? Why would I expect that to be dangerous?"

Daphne smirked, "I like it when your Slytherin side comes out, and yes, I would like to join you."

"Enough flirting," Tracey said distastefully, "I think I might vomit."

Harry and Daphne shared an amused look but said no more on the subject.

That evening, Harry and Daphne apparated to Cornfoot House together. Harry, not knowing much about the Cornfoots, had expected them to be a relatively minor pureblood family until Daphne had confessed that her grandmother was a Cornfoot.

It was apparent that the family had some money as soon as Harry saw Cornfoot House, looming behind grand bronze gates, topped with life-like eagle statues.

It was Georgian therefore built to look grand and impress any who visited.

"He thinks a lot of himself, Stefan Cornfoot," Daphne mused as they walked towards the large square manor house.

"Don't all purebloods?" Harry countered.

Daphne gave him an amused look, "Stefan Cornfoot, in particular, thinks a lot of himself, but the truth of the matter is that his family is dying out just like every other pureblood one. The Cornfoots have mixed with Muggles more than most, though, so we might have to tread carefully.

"Give me a brief rundown of the family history," Harry said as they strolled up the path.

"Stefan is the head of the family. His father, Atlas, married a pureblood from a Caribbean family," Daphne explained, "Atlas's sister, Aphrodite married Hyperion Crouch, my grandfather."

Harry nodded, "And Stefan is the only boy, right?"

"Yes, he had two sisters," Daphne answered, "His older sister, Johanna, married a muggle, and they have a son together who was in Reyna's year at school."

"House?"

"Gryffindor, I think," Daphne answered, "Stefan's younger sister, Gaia, was a squib. She was cast out when she was a teenager and lived in poverty until she died last year. There are rumours she has a kid with an Auror who took pity on her and helped her, but nobody ever cared enough to confirm it."

"Go figure."

"Stefan himself is pretty straight-laced," Daphne admitted, "Works in the Department of International Magical Co-operation, married a pureblood, had a son and heir, you know?"

"Typical pureblood to-do -list," Harry snorted, "1. Get a pureblood wife. 2. Get a job in the ministry. 3. Have an heir."

"Normally in that order," Daphne agreed, chuckling in amusement.

They reached the door, and Harry knocked, "So who's taking the lead here?"

"You, of course," Daphne replied, giving him an overly sweet smile.

"Thanks for that," Harry muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll dive in if I see you drowning," Daphne promised him.

Harry smiled in response as the door opened.

"Hi there," Harry said to the elf inside, "We're here to speak to the Lord of the Manor. Is he available?"

The elf nodded and invited them into the parlour. They sat down and waited for a few minutes until Stefan Cornfoot made his appearance.

Harry instantly understood what Daphne had meant about Stefan thinking a lot of himself. He strolled into the room in a fancy deep blue suit/cloak get-up and smiled charmingly at them. He looked to be in his late 30's. His hair was still its original colour, but some age lines had begun to appear on his face, and the light covering of stubble on his face was flecked with the odd grey hair.

"Lord Potter and Lady Daphne," Stefan said politely, "What a pleasant surprise."

Daphne smiled and nodded her head, "How have you been keeping, as of late?"

"Alive, which is a pleasant state of affairs considering the war that rages all around," Stefan replied calmly, "How is my dear cousin?"

"Mother is as well as she can be, all things considered," Daphne replied.

"Yes," Stefan agreed with a sigh, "That awful business with your sister."

Harry had to bite his lip to stop himself from saying anything too rude.

"I think 'awful business' might be an understatement, Lord Cornfoot. Astoria was captured by a militant group of terrorists and repeatedly tortured with the cruciatus curse. Most adults would be unable to cope with that, let alone a 15-year-old girl."

Stefan turned to look at Harry. Before he said anything, he surveyed him – in particular, his eyes – then he said, "I had heard that you were your father through and through, but with your mother's eyes."

Harry frowned slightly, "You knew my parents?"

"Yes, I was in their year at Hogwarts," Stefan said. He sat down by the fire, "I was in Ravenclaw, so as you can imagine, I had much contact with your mother in the library. She was so brilliant and focused. She wanted to go into the Department of Mysteries, did you know that?"

Harry shook his head.

"She would have made such a difference," Stefan said, his eyes shining with sorrow, "But she fell in love with James, and he dragged her into a war she had no interest in fighting."

Harry's frown deepened, and Stefan noticed.

"She never wanted to fight," He explained to Harry, "She hated Severus for mixing with the people he did, but she didn't actively want to fight on the other side either. She wanted to go into the Department of Mysteries and find a way to stop the fighting – something that would make both sides happy, some proof that Muggle-borns didn't steal magic, and she would have done it too if your father had let her."

Harry felt a surge of anger towards his father, but he pushed it down, "You were friends, then?"

"We were," Stefan agreed, "And I see so much of her in you – so much more than just her eyes."

Harry leant back in his chair and gave a slight nod, "I agree with her point about Muggle-borns not stealing magic. Thus far, two of my supposedly 'Muggle-born' friends have turned out to be Half-bloods. My mother was right; magic does have to come from somewhere."

Stefan appeared thoughtful, "Indeed it does. However, I presume you are not here to reminisce about my friendship with your mother?"

"No," Harry confessed, "As I am sure you know, the Dark Lord now has control of both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. More families than not have pledged their loyalty to the Dark Lord, and only a small, foolish band of rebels continue to fight against us. In such trying times, we are ensuring that all neutral families make a vow, so we know that they do not intend to stand against us."

Stefan bowed his head, "I see. So you wish me to bend the knee to your lord?"

"Yes," Harry answered, "And I understand that you would not necessarily do that out of the goodness of your own heart or out of fear. You are a smart man, that much is abundantly clear – you will listen to reason, but having a Slytherin streak, you will also want to get something out of the arrangement."

Stefan chuckled, "I can see why you rose in the ranks so quickly. You really are more like your mother than you realise. She had a Slytherin streak too, you know? It was why Severus was so enamoured with her."

Harry tried not to let his disgust at that show. He leant forward in his chair, "Can you see sense in this, Lord Cornfoot?"

"Of course I can," Stefan answered, "All of the legislation I have seen pushed through by the Wizengamot since the take-over has been designed to save wizardkind from extinction. The man who stepped forward to do that was never going to be a hero; he would always have enemies because to save ourselves? It's at the expense of others."

"Unfortunately so," Harry agreed, guilt flashing in his eyes.

Stefan noticed and looked Harry in the eye, "If you worry that your mother would be disappointed in you because you are a killer, I believe you are wrong. If we are correct to listen to the rumours, then the people you killed deserved to die."

"What rumours have you heard?" Harry asked.

"That you killed Peter Pettigrew," Stefan said, his eyes on Harry's, "And she couldn't stand him. I can only imagine the argument between her and James over him being made the secret keeper; she never trusted him."

"Well, she was a good judge of character then," Harry said dryly.

"And that you killed Stuart Fawley for abusing a young girl," Stefan continued, "She knew a thing or two about abusive relationships, Lily."

Harry's eyes flashed, "Are you saying what I think you are?"

Stefan raised his hands, "All I am saying is that Lily was always worried about her sister's boyfriend. Every time she came back from a visit home, she'd talk about strange bruises and how Petunia would cover them up."

"Yeah, I'm well aware of how fist-happy he was," Harry said offhandedly, "But you seem to have something against my father."

"I would never suggest he was abusive towards your mother without having any proof to support it," Stefan promised, "But I do know that he was a very controlling man. When Lily fell in love with him, something he had been trying to achieve for years, he became so terrified of losing her to someone else that he controlled every aspect of her life."

Harry didn't want to show weakness in front of Stefan, so he held in his tired sigh. Instead, he shook his head, "All in the past now anyway, isn't it? It doesn't affect the present-day question of whether or not you will join us."

"Not in an official capacity," Stefan replied instantly, "Neither my son nor I will become a Death Eaters, but I will swear our families loyalty to you."

"In return for?"

"Fawley House," Stefan said. He leant back and smirked at Harry, "It's not too far north from here, and while it's small, it's conveniently placed – the gateway to the north. It would give us one over on our Smith neighbours, which would make Ezekiel incredibly unhappy."

Harry chuckled, "Hey, anything that makes the Smith's unhappy is a good plan as far as I'm concerned. Fawley House has been sitting empty since I disposed of Stuart and Kevin Brown offed his wife. You and your son bend the knee on the full moon next week, and it's yours. I'll have the goblins sign over the deeds."

Stefan held out his hand and smiled, "We have ourselves a deal."

Harry smiled back and shook his hand, "Pleasure doing business with you."

Later that evening, Harry sought out Tom, which was something he rarely did. Most of the time, if they needed to talk, they did so via the mind link, but sometimes a face to face chat was required.

Thankfully, when Harry walked into his office, he was alone.

"No Lilith tonight?"

"No, she is at Peverell Court," Tom replied, without looking up from the ancient tome in his hands, "Apparently, manor houses need to be baby-proofed. This was not something that I was aware of."

"Well," Harry mused, "Open fires, balcony's, you know? They aren't the safest environments for a crawling child, I suppose."

"Amalthea is weeks old," Tom said dryly, "She will not crawl for many months yet, even if she is ahead of other children due to her advanced cranial development."

"Why not just say 'even if she is a smart baby'?" Harry asked with a shake of his head.

Tom glanced up at Harry, "That is not how I speak, Harry – you know that."

Harry just nodded in response.

"You seem troubled," Tom noted.

"No, I'm actually having an epiphany, I think."

"Sweet Salazar," Tom muttered under his breath.

Harry shot him an amused look and sat down opposite his desk, "You said a while ago that you were thinking of bringing back apprenticeships."

"I did," Tom agreed.

"Are you still thinking of doing that?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but if you are about to tell me that you would like to be mine, the answer will be no," Tom said, looking up at Harry properly.

"I have already taught you a large portion of what I will, and as you get better at Legilimency and Occlumency, you will learn even more if I feel that you are capable of it."

"I wasn't going to ask to be yours," Harry admitted, "I already feel like I've learned enough from you, and I don't think teaching is really for me. What I was going to ask was if that apprenticeship scheme would extend to the ministry?"

"To those in significant positions within the Ministry, yes," Tom replied, looking back down at his book.

"Such as the Heads of Departments?"

"Yes," Tom said, flicking the page over, "So I suggest you talk to Augustus about it after the full moon."

"I will," Harry promised.

Despite visiting Cornfoot House together, Harry and Daphne didn't talk about anything Stefan Cornfoot had said until much later that night. Harry surprised himself by being the one to initiate the conversation.

"You remember when your father asked me what career I had planned?" Harry asked.

His dorm room was pitch black, it was past midnight, but Harry could tell that Daphne was still awake. Her breathing was too fast; when she was asleep, it was slower; it relaxed Harry into slumber when even the darkest thoughts floated through his head.

Daphne shifted against him. She was lying next to him in her usual nightwear -satin shorts and a strappy satin vest top. She had so many sets, each in a different colour, but all with the same black lace trim.

"When you fobbed him off with some bullshit answer about how you were between careers?" Daphne murmured.

Harry chuckled, "Caught that, did you?"

"Course I did. You're a terrible liar," Daphne said.

Even in the dark, Harry could tell that she was smiling. He turned onto his side and cupped her face in the dark, running his thumb along her cheek.

Daphne brushed his hand away, "Why are you asking about that, anyway?"

"Because," Harry said, resting his hand on her hip bone, "I think I know what I want to do."

"Department of Mysteries, like your mother?"

Harry smiled. He wasn't surprised that she had worked it out, "Yeah. Tom has been talking about apprenticeships, not just within Hogwarts but at the ministry too. I think I want to apprentice under Gus."

"Ironic considering the amount of time his daughter has spent under you," Daphne teased.

Harry chuckled, "I know, and there's every chance he'll say no. I'm going to ask him after the initiation on the full moon."

Daphne moved a little closer to him, resting her head on his chest, "He'll say yes," she assured him.

"You think so?"

"I know so," Daphne promised, "And Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Go to sleep. It's 2 am."

"I know," Harry said, moving his hand to her back and kissing the top of her head, "Night."

She was silent, and as she drifted off, Harry ran his hand up and down her back to soothe himself as much as to soothe her, until eventually, he drifted off too.

"Are you sleeping with Daphne?"

Harry glanced over at Draco, they were in study hall, but Harry wasn't actually studying. Well, he was, but he was studying a person, not a book – Michael Corner was next on his to-turn list, and as a Ravenclaw, he liked studying.

"That depends on your definition of 'sleeping with'," Harry answered.

Draco raised an eyebrow and whispered, "Are you shagging her?"

"No, but she does sleep in my bed," Harry replied, "I sleep better with company, don't ask me why. Something about a human heartbeat is comforting."

"No, I kind of get it," Draco admitted, "I mean not with the human thing, but I sleep better at the Manor with Nova than I do here."

"You're too attached to that cat," Harry muttered.

"Says the guy with a pet Basilisk who sleeps in his bed?"

"She doesn't sleep in the bed anymore," Harry said, shooting Draco an amused look, "Theo didn't mind it, but Daphne is less okay with it. Don't get me wrong, she likes Artemis enough, and Artemis likes her, but she says it's all about mutual respect of each other's habitats or something."

Draco snorted, "It's too early for Daphne's special brand of psychology."

Harry rubbed his eyes, an amused smile on his lips, "Yeah, that I agree with."

"Why are we studying so early on a Sunday morning anyway?" Draco asked.

"Because I'm not studying, I'm spying on Michael Corner," Harry replied.

Draco rolled his eyes, "And I'm here because…?"

"Because I'd look like a total creeper otherwise. Don't you remember what everyone was saying in sixth year?"

"What, you mean when you were stalking me, and half the school thought we were shacking up in bathrooms?"

"Yeah," Harry said, glancing down at his book when Michael looked up, "That's exactly what I don't what to happen again."

"Look, I hate to be the one to point out the obvious here," A new voice said, "But how is stalking him going to help you get his family on board, exactly?"

Harry glanced over and smiled, "Morning, Susan. You don't strike me as an early riser or an early studier. What are you doing in a place like this on a Sunday morning?"

"Looking for you, you moron," Susan said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"A reliable source told me I would find you wasting your Sunday morning spying on Michael Junior when in reality, you would be far faster just going to Michael Senior."

"Daphne told you then," Harry deadpanned.

"Uh-huh."

"Well," Harry said, closing his book, "Congratulations, you found me."

"Are you always this sarcastic?"

Draco snorted, "You think this is bad? This is him in a good mood."

"Worryingly enough, the ferret is right," Harry said, grinning over at Susan, "Are you here to finally give in to your desire to prove yourself and thus offer your services to the Dark Lord and me?"

Susan gave him an amused look.

"Oh come on, you know you want to," Harry said, smirking at her, "There's this burning desire inside you. I bet you always thought it was a need to fight for what's right, but now that you're older and thus all-knowing, you see it for what it is. The little Slytherin part of yourself, the bit that's there in all of us, but only some of us let out, the part that whispers to you, that tells you to prove yourself."

"Yes," Susan agreed, "I was coming to tell you that I wanted to join, but not because of your sales pitch. Although I do feel like I've just been sold something that I didn't want and don't need."

"Don't feel bad; he does it to everyone," Draco said, without looking up from his book, "Harry could sell ferrets to a hippogriff."

"Didn't realise you were up for sale, Draco."

Draco shot him a glare, "Shut up."

Susan chuckled, "I want to join because of ambition, in a sense, but from a political point of view more than anything else. I want to follow in my aunt's footsteps, I want to dominate the DMLE, and the best place to do that is to start in the Dark Lords ranks since he runs the world now."

Harry nodded, "Uh-huh."

"Your mind veered off track when she said 'dominate', didn't it?" Draco deadpanned.

Harry nodded again, "Yep."

Susan rolled her eyes, "I genuinely do not know what Daphne sees in you. Besides the superficial aspect, anyway."

Harry smirked, "You think I'm hot, Bones?"

"Yes, Harry, I do," Susan said as she pushed herself to her feet, "But I also think you're a douchebag. Tell the Dark Lord I'll see him on the full moon."

She left without another word, and Harry was just thinking about getting up to go and find Tom when the very man he was thinking of spoke.

"I see that played out in your favour."

Harry jumped and spun around, "What are you doing supervising study hall?!"

"I am a Professor, Harry," Tom smirked, "I must perform my duty."

"Were you spying on me?"

"Not you," Tom answered, nudging his head in the other direction.

It was subtle, subtle enough that Draco didn't have a clue what he was talking about. But Harry saw Snape and McGonagall conversing behind a glass panel in the office attached to the study hall.

He gave Tom a nod, "I see. You heard what Susan just said?"

"Indeed. Right down to the 'douchebag' comment," Tom smirked.

Harry snorted, "All the same, that's a win."

Tom gave a slight nod, "Yes, it is. How many more families remain neutral?"

"Two," Harry replied, "Corner and Smith, I'm leaving the Smiths to last because I've got a feeling it's going to be a fight."

"Yeah, I'm going to agree there," Draco spoke up.

"As am I," Tom said, bowing his head to the two of them and walking away.

"Whose he spying on?" Draco asked.

"Can't tell you," Harry replied, "How are things going on the Sadie front, by the way? She's been pretty quiet lately. No bitch slaps or loud comments about you being a dick?"

Draco shrugged, "I think she's just realised that there's no use fighting. She's in this situation, whether she likes it or not. Your rant to her seemed to help on that front."

"Good, because she was always going to have to realise that sooner or later."

Draco nodded, "Yeah. Whether she ever stops hating me, though? Well, that remains to be seen."

"Oh, I don't know," Harry mused, "Girls like her are fickle enough. Do something heroic and save her life, and I reckon she'll change her mind."

With one last sceptical look towards Harry, Draco got up and left the hall.

* TBC *