Parts of this are word for word from the first book which I own a copy of but nothing more in case you thought I did.
The rest of the lesson is spent in silence as Professor McGonagall quickly takes them through the basics of flying. By the time the lesson has finished and everything has been packed away Neville and Madame Hooch are just returning from the hospital wing.
"Are you okay Neville?" Hermione asks worriedly. The boy smiles awkwardly.
"Yeah- I wasn't hurt in the first place so Madame Pomfrey just gave me some Calming Draught and made me wait for half an hour to leave. I feel a bit silly now- Madame Hooch says if I had just stayed calm I would have been fine." Ron pats him on the back.
"That's alright mate- first time nerves, everyone gets them. You should have seen Hermione!"
"Ronald!" The girl shouts furiously.
"Draco Malfoy- what do you think you are doing!" Shouts Professor McGonagall at almost the same time.
Everyone turns to look at Malfoy who had been trying to sneak away while both Professors were distracted. The boy blushes and slopes back to the teachers.
"Well- what are you looking at? Lesson's over." Says Madame Hooch firmly. Slowly the mass of children troop back to the castle. Harry hands back the Remembrall and Neville looks at it curiously before slipping it into his pocket.
"Thanks Harry."
As soon as they are out of earshot of either teacher Ron starts telling Neville about Malfoy getting caught flying.
"And he fell right off his broom!" The boy laughs as they find seats in the Great Hall, "It hit him right in the face!" Neville smiles distractedly, filling his plate. Hermione frowns disapprovingly.
"I know he's a horrible person but that doesn't mean you should make fun of him, Ronald." She lectures. Ron rolls his eyes, stabbing his fork into a sausage.
"You're not my mum." Hermione flushes angrily and turns away.
"Good because I'd hate to have a son as awful as you." Ron grits his teeth and turns away too. Neville looks at Harry helplessly who looks between the two friends, equally lost.
"Lost your brain Potter? Bet that's why you summoned the Remembrall- it's about the same size." The blonde from earlier appears with his two goons.
"I didn't summon it- Professor McGonagall said that Neville's grandma probably put a spell on it, remember?" Says Harry, hoping to distract him from the truth. Malfoy only gets angrier.
"We all know it was you! You were too chicken to fly without any teachers though- obviously you're a teacher's pet." The boy taunts.
"No he isn't!" Shouts Ron as Harry tries to come up with something more convincing to hide that he already knew summoning magic. Malfoy sneers.
"I'll take him on in a Wizard's duel then! Wands only- no contact." Harry stares at him blankly- does he really think he could take him on? "What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?" Harry sighs.
"I'm not fighting you Malfoy."
"Yeah- you're way too weak for Harry to even bother!" Says Ron, spooning some more mash onto his plate.
"It's not that-" Responds Harry diplomatically. The blonde goes paler, teeth clenched.
"Obviously you're scared of me!" Frankly Harry can't believe that anyone would be scared of Malfoy and is about to refuse again when Rowena comes unbidden to his mind.
"Sometimes, my wee lad, you have to just let people fail so they know where their place is. It's a harsh lesson but you know the difference between the two herbs now, don't you?" The momentary shock of the pain has already disappeared- Rowena saw to that even though they were in a dream state, teaching him the healing salve that would counteract the real life effects of the plant- and Harry nods.
"Okay," The dark-haired boy sighs, "I'll have a duel with you." The blonde sneers again.
"Midnight in the trophy room. Bring as many people as you want to watch you get defeated." The boy leaves, his goons trailing behind him emotionlessly, one of them cracking his fist in his palm before following their leader.
"You are not going to duel Malfoy." Says Hermione at the same time Ron says,
"I want to watch you beat up Malfoy." Both end up arguing and Neville sighs.
"Are you really going to fight him, Harry?" Harry just looks at the boy who nods.
"Be careful." He says quietly and the green eyed boy nods back.
"I'll go easy on him."
That night he talks tactics with Rowena. The older which is both proud of Harry and worried.
"Make sure that you don't do anything that they can prove was you and that you cover your tracks well. It's even more important in an environment which is as heavily warded as Hogwarts is- be absolutely certain you won't get caught." She stresses to him until it's time for him to wake up again.
"Don't get hurt, Harry." The sentiment is less than a whisper but Harry hears it and nods.
"I won't Auntie Rowena." Rowena smiles at him, eyes crinkling in pride. Harry wakes and immediately places a sleeping spell over both the waiting and sleeping members of his dorm. He hears Ron's head hit his pillow.
He creeps down the stairs, invisibility and silencing charms concealing him from Hermione's watching eyes as he walks past her. She drops off too as the sleeping charm hits her. Harry sidles out of the portrait hole before the weak spell he had placed on her breaks.
He casually strolls down the corridor, feeling out for a powerful stone with less of the interference of people in the way. He feels nothing all the way to the trophy room.
He waits for Malfoy, sitting on top of a display case. He expected that the boy would already be there but the blonde is nowhere to be seen. Mrs Norris and Filch pop by about ten minutes after he sits down.
Mrs Norris sniffs cautiously, nose to the ground. Harry half wonders what the strange cat is doing until he realises that he hadn't cast a scentless spell- in fact he couldn't remember how.
The cat comes closer and closer and Harry cycles through ideas, eventually discarding them in favour of running as the caretaker pushes the door open and Mrs Norris begins yowling.
"You've found them, my sweet! He said they would be here!" Harry races to the other end of the room, cat and grumpy man in pursuit. He swings through a doorway, running wherever his feet take him.
He's presuming that Malfoy wouldn't be coming.
He races down corridor after corridor, completely oblivious to where he is. He can hear the cat, effortlessly keeping pace with him despite the fact her human is trailing far behind, cursing in rage. He runs through some kind of curtain, sealing the ends together when he's passed through. As he comes out the end of a tunnel he hears Filch shouting angrily, stopped by the curtain. The cat is still yowling beside him.
Harry hears the rip of fabric and guesses that he has seconds before the man reaches him.
The cat falls asleep instantly and Harry dashes through to the end of the corridor and through a momentarily unlocked door.
He turns around, casting a small light to see by so he can catch his bearings. A three headed dog growls at him and Harry acts on reflex. The dog collapses to the floor.
It's then that Harry feels the pull on his magic.