Chapter Ten: Patronuses and Punishments

Harry glanced back at Malfoy. The prefect had followed Harry's instructions and retreated back to stand by the beech tree. He's safe. They'll come for me first now.

"Malfoy - Malfoy, you should run - fly away," Harry called, hoping that Malfoy would leave. "You're fast - faster than me. I'll lead them away on my broomstick."

"That's an idiotic plan, Potter!" Malfoy shouted back. "Just cast your patronus - you cast it at me in third year, do it now."

Harry sharply recalled the incident from their third year. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had tried to distract him during the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match by dressing themselves up as dementors. They had even managed to get another involved, Marcus Flint, who'd been Captain of the Slytherin team at the time. Their plan hadn't worked. Harry had cast the patronus charm at them, which had effectively knocked them down and blinded them.

That was the first time I managed to cast a corporal patronus successfully.

"I don't have my wand," Harry replied quietly.

It was settled. He had forgotten his wand. And Malfoy was refusing to leave. This is how it ends. A feeling of despair grew in his chest as five of the dementors reached the shoreline. Four remained behind, floating eerily above the lake's surface. Their presence was making the air cold and unbearable.

"Pardon? I didn't hear you."

He turned and shouted in response at Malfoy, "I don't have my wand, all right!"

Malfoy gaped. "You - you bloody imbecile! Are you sure, Potter?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he stepped warily back, his hands outstretched, holding his Firebolt in one and leaving the other free. Upon his movement, the dementors soared in, two gliding to his left whilst the others flew to his right. He was surrounded. He was cold, scared, and without a wand.

One dementor slid in, approaching him slowly. The air thickened as the dementor raised it's head, so that it's hood no longer hid the its hideous, scabbed face. It had empty eye sockets and a large, toothless hole where it's mouth should have been. Harry's breath caught in his throat and he dropped to his knees in terror. I can't cast - not even wandlessly. Expecto...Expecto Patronum. It wasn't working. He was useless at non-verbal magic.

He heard a distant scream, and knew what was coming. His mother began screaming in his ears. The screams as she died always came to him around dementors. No...no, please. Not again. A strong pair of clammy hands grabbed his neck and forced his head upward. The screams continued.

"POT -!" Harry barely heard someone shouting his name. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see Malfoy hollering at him. "MY WAND - THERE, BESIDE YOU! PICK IT UP, YOU PILLOCK!"

Forcing his head to move in the dementor's hands, he looked down and saw Malfoy's wand lying on the sand to his left. He seized it with his free hand, and remembered when he had last seen his parents in the Mirror of Erised.

"Expecto Patronum!"

He pointed the wand upward and shone it at the dementor. A deafening shriek left the dementor before it rocketed backwards and made to flee back across the Black Lake. The blinding light from the wand quickly grew in strength. The remaining dementors scattered, swooping away from Harry. He kept the spell going until he saw the backs of their cloaks fleeing over the Black Lake, before he released the spell and turned around, panting.

The last four of the nine dementors were circling Malfoy, having not been touched by Harry's patronus. Malfoy lay on the sand. He wasn't screaming, he didn't even look like he was breathing. One dementor was bent over him.

Harry thought back to all their conversations so far this year: running into Malfoy in Caroline's shop and finding out that his attitude towards the Weasleys had changed; seeing Malfoy visit Sirius in St. Mungo's, and later talking to him about Sirius' health alone in their dorm room; being saved from Snape sending hexes at him in class due to Malfoy's superb wandless spell-casting; witnessing Malfoy and his fellow Gryffindors get along; and seeing Malfoy protect a group of first years.

Afraid, he raised his wand, and shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The dementor bent over Malfoy dashed back before retreating for the forest. The remaining dementors swiftly followed it. Harry gasped, and ran a hand through his hair. He stared at Malfoy's body. He looked like Cedric Diggory after the Hufflepuff had been hit with the killing curse. Malfoy looked despondent, lifeless.

"Malfoy?" He blinked when the blond didn't respond. "Draco Malfoy, come on."

When the prefect didn't respond, Harry ran towards him. He knelt and turned the blond onto his back, trying to accommodate for his massive thestral-like wings although that in itself was a hardship. His wings were so bony and thin, they looked like they could be crushed by his own weight.

He pushed Malfoy's fringe back from his forehead. That was when the Slytherin took a deep, wretched breath for air. He's okay.

"Malfoy -" Harry smoothed his fringe back even more, too scared to care that Malfoy disliked being touched by those that he didn't consider his friends "- Malfoy, you're alive? C'mon, talk to me. You all right? They didn't...they didn't hurt you, did they?"

The prefect groaned. "I still have my soul, Potter. I think."

"You think?" Harry spat bitterly. Malfoy had stayed behind and given Harry his own wand, and now Malfoy was acting glib about the matter. "You flew out here alone - you could've been killed!"

"Wasn't thinking clearly, Potter. My wings hurt, I've been hiding them all week. Severus knew they hurt. But we...we argued -"

Harry frowned. "What did you argue about?"

Malfoy groaned and made to stand up, if unsteadily, his white wings trembling. "Severus is the one Sirius needs. Severus told me in my detention, he refused to use his Legilimency and act as a Mental Health Healer to help Sirius. Tonks had wrote to him, asking, and he just refused." Harry scowled, incensed by the professor's actions. He wanted to ask Malfoy if Snape intended to ever help, but stopped himself on seeing Malfoy place a shaky hand against his forehead. "Got any chocolate on you, Potter? I don't...I don't feel well. And put your fangs away, Scarhead."

"What?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. He touched his lips, and found to his astonishment that his fangs had come out again. "Oh, sorry, didn't realise. I can't control them. Don't even feel when they come out, to be honest." He gave the blond a sheepish smile, which he, afterwards, decided wasn't one of his best ideas, as he was certain that the sight of a smiling vampire must have looked silly to Malfoy. "Look, Malfoy, I don't have any chocolate on me. Sorry."

Malfoy glared at him. "Of course not. You've no wand, no chocolate, no control." He sighed. "We should go. Fly back."

The prefect tried to take a step forward, but he wobbled on his feet. Harry caught him around the waist before he could fall onto the sand.

"Okay, Malfoy. No more flying for you tonight. We're going to the Hospital Wing."

"No, no, no," Malfoy repeated, assuredly dazed now, "I hate the place. Pomfrey is a pest."

Harry chuckled. He used Malfoy's wand to cast a summoning spell on his Firebolt. The broomstick flew to him, and he managed to grab it but barely. Carefully, he made to seat Malfoy on the broomstick first before climbing on behind him. The journey back to the school would be a slow one, but he couldn't risk Malfoy falling off the broomstick.

I'll have to hold onto him the entire way. The thought made him blush and his stomach grow tight. He couldn't blame the cold. The jacket was keeping him warm, and the dementors had left, so he was no longer freezing, no longer filled with despair. What are you doing to me, Malfoy? The thought crossed his mind that Malfoy could've been left soulless, and he shook his head. He didn't want to think about losing Malfoy.

Harry flew them back to Hogwarts' Entrance Hall. By then, his fangs had thankfully rescinded up into his mouth, transforming back into their normal toothy forms. As he glided his broomstick down to the ground outside, though, the entrance doors flew open.

"Well, really, Mister Potter, as if hearing the train incident wasn't enough. Now this?" It was Professor McGonagall. She strode out of the doors, tired eyes blinking at the moonlight. "And...oh, my, is that Draco Malfoy?"

Harry brought his broomstick to a silent hover. "We were attacked by dementors. He doesn't feel well, Professor, he needs to see Madam Pomfrey."

Malfoy had fallen asleep, or at least that was what Harry hoped. The blond was leaning against Harry's chest now, eyes shut, wings bent and practically folded-in. Harry still had his left arm wrapped around the man's waist, and while he wanted to loosen it, feeling embarrassment at his Head of House having seen him sitting atop a broomstick with the prefect, he wouldn't risk Malfoy falling off and hurting himself.

Professor McGonagall took out her wand from her robes. "Release him, Potter."

"Professor, he'll fall -"

"No, he will not." Reluctantly, Harry released him. McGonagall then cast a levitation spell and Malfoy's body rose helplessly from the broomstick and floated towards her. "Come with me, Mr Potter. Professor Snape will need to be called. You will need to explain this to him, as he is Mr Malfoy's Head of House."

Harry nodded unenthusiastically. He didn't want to explain his or Draco's actions tonight to Professor Snape, not when the professor had refused to help Sirius Black recover from last summer's events. No wonder Draco was mad enough to go out.

Professor McGonagall led the way to the Second Floor, always keeping Malfoy's floating body safe and ahead of her. Harry trailed behind silently, wondering how he could explain the events of the night to the professors. McGonagall was bound to ask him at one point; given how late it was outside, Harry knew he'd likely broken curfew and she would want to know why.

They entered through the doors of the Hospital Wings, where the Head of Gryffindor House laid Malfoy down onto a bed. She then left for the back office to gather Madam Pomfrey, who, upon seeing Malfoy atop his quilts on the bed, quickly went about casting diagnosis spells and examining his wings. Harry laid his broomstick down by the bed.

"Why are Mr Malfoy's wings out?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"We went flying." Harry didn't want to tell them that Malfoy had gone out first alone, not if he could avoid it. "Dementors attacked us by the Black Lake. I didn't have my wand, Draco tossed me his so I could cast a patronus. Will he be okay?"

Madam Pomfrey hummed thoughtfully. "It looks like he fainted. From exhaustion or dizziness, I can't tell. With a bit of sleep, I'm certain he'll wake up fine."

"I need to send a patronus. The Headmaster and Professor Snape should be here." Professor McGonagall summoned her patronus, a tabby cat with a smoky rings around its eyes. "Professor Snape, come to the Hospital Wing. It is an urgent matter that concerns one of your sixth-year students," she instructed. The cat stood and ran through the Hospital Wing's doors for the dungeons. She formed a second patronus, and sent that one to the Headmaster's office, requesting his presence as well.

Harry took Malfoy's wand out from his jacket and placed it on the bedside table. Would Malfoy want me to hold his hand? Actually, no, not in front of McGonagall. He placed his hands on the bed sheet, inches away from Malfoy's left hand.

"Why did Mr Malfoy loan you his wand?" Professor McGonagall asked. "Where is your own?"

"I left my wand in the dorm," Harry muttered.

Professor McGonagall huffed. "Indeed, did you? You will sit a detention for your recklessness tonight, Mr Potter. With me, this Friday at eight p.m. Forgetting your wand, honestly? It is a great wonder why Malfoy's wand even worked for you."

It still irritated him that the blond had left himself defenceless by tossing Harry his own wand. Looking at the sleeping Slytherin, however, Harry couldn't bring himself to stay angry. He wasn't even angry about having got a detention - no, he had expected it. What he hadn't expected, was the sheer amount of concern he felt for Malfoy. Malfoy's fringe is in his eyes again. If McGonagall weren't here...

He remained silently seated at Malfoy's bedside, unwilling to move and lay on another bed despite Madam Pomfrey's incessant suggestions. Malfoy's never faced dementors before. He didn't want the Healer to check him out, he wanted her attention solely focused on Malfoy.

It was another half an hour before the Headmaster appeared at the hospital's entrance. Headmaster Dumbledore strode into the room in a pair of casual, button-up robes, his long beard lying smoothly down the front of them.

"Good evening, Minerva, Poppy." He walked further into the room. "And ah, Harry...what has happened?"

Professor McGonagall marched up to Malfoy's bedside. "It would appear, Headmaster, that the two boys left the safety of the castle by broomstick to fly over to the Black Lake. They were then attacked by those idiotic dementors. Merlin knows why we allow them near the grounds. Potter was forced to use Malfoy's wand to defend them. Didn't think to bring his own, foolish boy."

"The dementors have kept to the outskirts of the forest, as agreed with the Minister of Magic. I believe, though, that in this case the reason for the attack is, the boys went too near the forest. Am I correct, Mr Potter?"

Harry swallowed nervously. "We were near the beech tree, north of the castle."

"Ah, the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Yes, I thought so." Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I must ask, Harry, why isn't Mr Malfoy hiding his wings? It is a delicate question, and I realise you may not know, but he is being quite careless. The agreement, between himself and the Ministry, was that he would keep his wings retracted and hidden from other students."

"But it was agony hiding them! Why would the Ministry make him agree to that?" Harry asked, angrily. He hadn't known that the Ministry had forced such a restriction onto the Slytherin. "Draco told me. He said hiding his wings was hurting him. He flew out of the dorm room by the balcony, he wasn't thinking right - I had to fly after him!"

I care about him. That's why I'm fighting this. He knew that he had just called Draco by his first name aloud; he had basically just announced to the Headmaster, Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall that he and Malfoy had become friendly, or at the very least, were now on comfortable speaking terms. I don't care what they think. Draco argued with Snape about Sirius. Draco's been in pain all week, too, and Snape knew. Snape knew all of it.

Madam Pomfrey approached the bedside then, wand outstretched. "Little is known in the British Ministry for Magic regarding veela biology. I imagine, the Minister of Magic thought it wouldn't do young Malfoy any harm."

"I will speak to the Minister of Magic. Draco Malfoy must be made to feel at home here, as you and your fellow dorm mates do." Headmaster Dumbledore inclined his head. "He has my sincerest apologies for any pain he experienced. I was unaware, Harry."

"Unaware of what, Headmaster?"

Snape was at the entrance of the Hospital Wing. He marched into the hospital. He was dressed in his usual set of black robes, collar high up at his neck. Looks like I know where Draco got his fashion sense from now, Harry thought.

"Mr Malfoy has been suffering during his first week back at the school. I asked you to keep an eye on your pupil, Professor Snape," the Headmaster chastened. "Were you aware of the fact that hiding his wings was causing him significant pain?"

"Draco informed me, he felt an ache on his first day. Due to the explosion on the train, however, I thought his pain as a consequence of his earlier accidental magic. The boy had many injuries and was exhausted. He did inform me again the next day, so I made it clear that he had agreed to this impairment, since he'd submitted to the Ministry of Magic's letter and returned all too willingly to Hogwarts. I wonder, was Mr Malfoy prepared to spend his remaining years suffering at Hogwarts?"

"You should have informed me, Severus. We will discuss this at depth afterwards in my office," the Headmaster reiterated. "Let us return to the matter at hand, now. Mr Malfoy, in pain, to my understanding, was forced to fly from the boys' balcony. Mr Potter then felt the need to follow him on broomstick. They retreated to the Black Lake, where - how many dementors, were there, Harry?"

"Nine," Harry replied curtly, not wanting to remember the incident and the feel of the dementors surrounding him. "There were nine in all."

"Ah. Nine dementors attacked them. Harry used Malfoy's wand to fend them off, not having his own on his person. That was where we reached, Severus. May you continue, Professor McGonagall, Harry?"

The conversation lasted another few minutes. Harry didn't partake much. Once he returned with Malfoy on his broomstick, after all, it was Professor McGonagall who had led them to the Hospital Wing.

"...Headmaster, Mr Malfoy acted foolishly. His mother would be appalled," Professor Snape said. "The way I see it, he should be banned from joining his fellow students on the Hogsmeade trip next month."

Professor McGonagall slapped a hand over her mouth. "Now, really, Severus -"

"I warned him of the consequences of his behaviour. First, the Hogwarts Express. Next, his insolence in class, casting two spells at once. Inexplicably dangerous - never before has a student displayed such a reckless use of magic, casting a wandless, non-verbal spell at a professor while casting another at a fellow student. And now...now, he expects to go out as he pleases -"

Harry slapped his hand against Malfoy's bed sheets. "He wouldn't have gone out if not for you! You knew his back has been killing him...he had to hide his wings from everyone to remain at Hogwarts. And then, then, he spent detention with you today, where you told him that you refused to treat his cousin, Sirius Black. My godfather! You're the only person qualified enough as a Legilimens, the only one trustworthy enough, and you refused to bloody help! Of course Draco was angry."

"You presume to know how young Malfoy feels now, Mr Potter?" Professor Snape drawled. "How very quaint."

Dumbledore calmly raised his hand. "Harry, please, rest assured, young boy, I agree. Professor Snape, he will endeavour to assist Sirius Black in his recovery from this moment on, I must insist." The Headmaster glanced at the professor, looking as self-assured and confident as his words.

Professor Snape returned it with a surely look. "Black will be fine, in time. And even if I did agree, I doubt he will appreciate my going through his thoughts."

"You will assist him, Professor Snape. Whether you care to or not. He is important to the students, and being a former student, he is important to me." The Headmaster then turned his attention to Professor McGonagall. "Now that is settled, I must say, the ban on Mr Malfoy's first trip to Hogsmeade must stand, Minerva. I think it an acceptable punishment from his Head of House. Mr Malfoy did put himself and Mr Potter's life at great risk by heading out to the forest."

"But that wasn't Draco's fault! I followed him because I wanted to, I didn't do it because he asked me," Harry said, not willing to accept that they were punishing Draco because of him.

Dumbledore sighed. "Even so, Mr Malfoy still put himself at risk. Has done several times so far this year, Harry."

"Perhaps if Mr Malfoy had a more caring, more competent Head of House, he would not have felt the need to go dashing off his dormitory balcony," Professor McGonagall said, eyeing Professor Snape from across the room.

"Your student went after him, remember, Minerva," Snape retorted. "To Potter, curfew and rules mean nothing."

"I have already informed Mr Potter that he is to receive a detention next Friday with me for being outside curfew."

"Oh, really, now I must protest." Madam Pomfrey made to move from the end of Malfoy's bed to stand beside Harry. "Both of my patients have received their punishments, the matter is done. You can discuss any matters of incompetence or blame outside of my hospital. I recommend thinking of ways to treat for Malfoy's need to stretch his wings. They are bones and muscles, much like any part of the body. I expect you all to think of them as such."

"You are right, Poppy. We will indeed leave your patients to rest now," the Headmaster said, excusing himself. "Mr Potter, I would consider it a personal favour if you could continue to keep an eye on Mr Malfoy here? He must have greatly trusted you, to give you his wand." Harry nodded. And then, Dumbledore turned for the Hospital Wing entrance. "Professor Snape, alas, it is late, but I'd be glad if you'd follow me to my office. I fear we have much to discuss. Minerva, do you wish to return to your post and speak with me tomorrow? "

"Yes, that is fine, Headmaster. I should be going back to the Grand Hall now, an Auror isn't due to take over the watch for another hour." She bid her goodbyes and left the Hospital Wing.

Dumbledore inclined his head politely. "Goodnight Poppy, Harry," he said, before he and Professor Snape then vacated, leaving the hospital eerily quiet.

"Have you drank your evening dose of blood, Mr Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked. She retreated back to the curtain and swung it closed. "I'll keep the curtain closed, to give Mr Malfoy and you some privacy in case any more students or professors walk in."

"Thanks. And no, I haven't had blood yet tonight."

"I'll order some."

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand, and almost immediately, Dobby appeared before her. She ordered Dobby to collect a jug of pig's blood from the kitchen and to place it upon Malfoy's bedside table.

"Dobby is only too happy to be helping Harry Potter," the elf said, before dissipating. He reappeared soon after with the jug, placed it as agreed, and then vanished with a snap of his fingers. Harry drank from the jug under Madam Pomfrey's watchful eyes.

"Good, now I will permit you to stay overnight for observation. A dementor attack is no minor thing. And since you refuse to let me examine you on a bed in this wing -" she gave him a pointed, disapproving look "- I will get you a blanket so that you may sleep in that chair at Mr Malfoy's bedside. You really must get some sleep, but I will not, however, tolerate you sleeping in the same bed as your new friend, am I clear?"

Harry coughed, embarrassment heating up his cheeks. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. There's, err, no chance of us sleeping together. Draco and I...we're not a couple." He looked back at Draco, trying to think of something to change the subject. "Could I have a bar of chocolate? For when Draco wakes up during the night? He'll be hungry, is all."

"I'm quite sure I can procure some. Do try to get some sleep tonight, Mr Potter."

"I'll try."

Madam Pomfrey redrew the curtain again and left. Harry quickly rose then from his seat. He bent over to brush Draco's fringe from his face. The blond gave a soft groan in his sleep, making Harry sharply withdraw his hand and retake his seat.

I'll make sure you survive the year, Draco, he thought. I'll keep you safe.