Draco woke in the hospital of Hogwarts, which was strange because Potter had Hogwarts and no one was allowed in. With that thought he sat up quickly and looked around to find Severus Snape by his bed. He sighed with relief for a moment.
"Don't." Snape shook his head minutely.
"What?" He asked in shock.
"Don't sigh in relief." Snape shook head, "I can't help you."
"Help me with what?" he asked.
"You're recovering from being beaten and having seventeen bones broken." Snape answered.
"He can't do this to me." Draco yelled, "I never betrayed him. I've always hated him and never wavered."
"Awwww, I love you too Draky." Harry's voice had him stilling on the bed.
"What are you going to do?" Snape asked.
"Same as everyone else." He shrugged, "Are you going to fight me on it?"
"No." he looked at the ground.
"Why not?" Draco asked.
"I'm…" he couldn't answer.
"I'm sorry I broke him." Harry explained, "But it happens."
"Are you going to break me?" Draco asked fearfully.
"Don't worry Drake." Harry patted him on the head, "You're going to finally see which of us is truly better."
"Me of course." He boasted, "How do you think you're going to test me?"
"Nothing too difficult." Harry grinned, Snape shuddered and Draco began to worry, "You know first year I faced Voldemort here in the lower levels."
"No, you didn't." Draco sneered.
"He did." Snape mumbled.
"But…" Draco looked at his head of house.
"I didn't know at the time." Snape shrugged, "He stopped the Dark Lord and killed Quirrell."
"You murdered him?" Draco turned a reassessing eye on Harry.
"Not purposely." Harry shrugged, "He couldn't touch me because of my mother's protection. When he tried to kill me with his bare hands, he disintegrated; we can't redo that part but you can face all the stuff up to that point, starting with the troll on Halloween."
"What about the troll?" he asked, "The teachers took care of it."
"They didn't." Snape shook his head, "The three of them did."
"And since you're all grown up, you'll be facing one alone." Harry grinned manically, "You can certainly do what three first years did."
"Of course, I can." He stood, "When do we go?"
"Now." Harry gave an exaggerated bow, "It's in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."
"M-Moaning M-Myrtle?" Draco froze half way off the bed.
"Yep." Harry's grin changed to one of enjoyment and Draco found himself shaking.
"Why do I have to face it there?" Draco tried to question but it came out whinier than he intended it to sound, "Why not let me face it where you did?"
"That is where we faced it." Harry turned and began to walk, "Snape make sure he doesn't get lost on the way."
"He has wards that prevent us from leaving the castle without him." Snape explained as he walked with Draco, "Hiding in the castle won't work either."
"How do you know?" Draco asked quietly.
"It's been tried." He shivered, "The consequences are always worse when they try to escape. If you think you can handle the trial then just do it and don't try to get any deals out of him. It will sound good up front but it always ends worse for you in the end."
"Is it true he fed Weasley to a dragon?" he asked.
"Weasley made a deal with him." Snape shuddered, "If he could get an egg from the dragon, he would get a thousand galleons and go free."
"The tournament?" Draco gasped seeing where this was headed.
"Yes." Snape nodded, "When Harry left the cage, I asked how long he had faced the dragon."
"Less than ten minutes." Draco recalled.
"I asked if he would let Weasley out after ten." Snape shivered again, "He said, nope he chose the gold. I asked if Weasley knew of the exit after ten minutes as an option. He said..." Snape swallowed convulsively.
"I said I knew I forgot something." Harry stated from several feet ahead, "His greed killed him not me."
"Weaslette died of basilisk poison?" Draco asked, "And Granger is in the loony ward?"
"Those two got off way too easily." Harry huffed, "So did Dumbledore."
"How far did he get?" Draco didn't want to know but couldn't stop himself from asking.
"He didn't get past the werewolf." Harry shook his head, "Slow old fool. If you're not willing to do something then don't send someone else to do it."
"What year did that happen?" Draco asked.
"Third." Harry shrugged, "I even gave him a break he didn't have Granger along to slow him down."
"I'm surprised he didn't know some magic to help." Draco muttered.
"I limited him to wandless magic." Harry chuckled, "His wandless is better than any spells a little third year would know."
"So, you're using Lupin to bite people?" he asked horrified.
"Of course not." Harry huffed, "I have Fenrir for that."
"Greyback?" Draco was even more horrified, "But he's wild and…"
"He prefers living wild and he knows who his Alpha is." Harry's power throbbed a moment then it was gone again, "Here we are and in you go. Better pull your wand."
Draco quickly pulled his wand as Harry shoved him through the doorway and put up a ward. Draco looked back at him confused.
"I want to see how you do." Harry answered his unasked question.
Draco slipped into the room hoping the troll wouldn't sense him. However, he was not very lucky. The troll spied him right off and raised its club with a yell and swung it. Draco rolled out of the way and came up with a dark spell that would knock out anyone but the spell fizzled out.
"Nothing dark." Harry explained, "We used first year spells."
"That… would have been nice… to know ahead of… time." Draco screamed as he avoided the swings.
Harry tossed in a shield when Draco didn't move fast enough, "That is the only help you're getting from me."
"Thanks." Draco said sarcastically as he threw a few more spells.
"Come on, I'm getting bored." Harry yelled in at him, "You've already taken twice as long as we did."
The distraction was costly and Draco was hit with a glancing blow. Harry huffed and dropped the shield over the door and stomped in, "Back."
The troll took one look at him and backed off. Harry grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him out of the room. He deposited him at Severus' feet and stalked off.
Snape levitated him back to the hospital and patched him up. It took Draco a couple days to wake up and when he did, he had the worst headache in the history of headaches. At least that is what he thought at any rate. After Snape gave him a potion, he sat up gingerly.
"I don't remember beating it." He held his head. It was better just not really good.
"You didn't." Snape sighed, "You caught a glancing blow to the head. It would have killed you had Harry not stepped in."
"Why would he do that?" Draco asked bewildered.
"Who knows?" Snape shrugged, "I certainly don't understand how his mind works."
"No one can understand an insane mind." Draco agreed.
"Finally, someone who gets me." Harry entered, "Good to see the ferret is awake finally."
"Why?" Draco turned to him.
"You will get to experience everything." Harry explained as he took a seat on the bed opposite Draco's, "You are going to see what it was that I was going through as you were giving me all kinds of crap."
"Then why should I even try if you're going to save me?" Draco wondered what he was thinking.
"We win on the troll." Harry grinned, "Levitation spell is what we used."
"How do you expect me to keep up with how Granger thinks?" Draco was sure he knew who the brain behind the trio was.
"Granger didn't think of it." Harry grinned evilly, "Weasley did."
"No, Merlin no." Draco groaned.
"First year Ron beats seventh year Draco." Harry sneered, "How does that make you feel?"
"What's next?" Draco steeled his resolve.
"A trip into the bowels of the castle." Harry explained, "I don't mean the dungeons."
They made their way to the third-floor corridor on the left side and Draco remembered what was behind the door. The monstrous dog would eat him in one bite if he didn't think of how to get around it. Snape interrupted his train of thought.
"You're acting like a Gryffindor." He hissed.
"I am not." Draco huffed, "I can outdo anything he has done. He's not even a smart Gryffindor for Merlin's sake."
"You don't have a clue Draco." Snape snapped.
"He is nothing but a crazy Gryffindor." Draco huffed as they reached the door.
"The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin." Harry grinned, "I didn't think you'd survived the night so I asked for Gryffindor. Puts a different spin on things doesn't it."
Draco could do nothing but gape at Harry. He couldn't believe what he was hearing but Snape nodded along at the side. He wasn't prepared for Harry to shove him into the room.
"WAIT!" he yelled.
"You big baby." Harry scoffed as he followed him into the room, "I'm giving you the same head start we had. Quirrell had already put Fluffy to sleep with music so you won't have to deal with him.
"I'm going to die of a heart attack before I even get half way if you keep this up." Draco huffed.
"No one told us the dog was asleep." Harry grinned, "We found out when we opened the door."
"Now what?" Draco grumbled.
"Find the way out without using this door." Harry thumbed over his shoulder. Harry was yawning twenty minutes later when Draco finished examining the walls, "Maybe I should give you a hint."
"I doubt you can tell me what Granger did." Draco huffed.
"Remember this is first year." Harry chuckled, "You're trying too hard. Remember the bowels of the school."
Draco looked at the floor and dropped his head into his hand. He walked over and jerked up on the door and peered in. Even with a lumos charm he couldn't see what was there, "I suppose you jumped and hoped for the best."
"You got it." Harry grinned and looked back at Snape, "Are you coming?"
"Shall I just wait in the hospital?" he asked in return.
"Suit yourself." Harry agreed and waited until Draco jumped before he pulled the broom from his pocket. He jumped on and glided through the hole to find Draco struggling with the plant, "What do you think it is?"
"Devils snare." Draco sneered it was quite obvious to a person who grew up around such things.
"But you're still struggling." Harry observed, "How do you get around this?"
"If it wasn't trying to strangle me, I'd probably remember faster." He growled before lashing out, "Incendio."
"Congratulations. That was several seconds shorter than first year Hermione." Harry floated past the burnt plant, "Keep going."
Draco stood and brushed off his pants as Harry chuckled at him. He refused to admit that Harry's mere presence unnerved him. Snape was right, he was being a Gryffindor. If he was reacting as a Slytherin should he would be failing quicker. But he just couldn't let the man win at this. He would not be thought of as a weaker man or a weaker wizard. How very Gryffindor he seemed to be.
"Is that birds?" Draco asked as they got close to the next room. He entered the room and gasped, "Keys? For the door I assume."
"That part was a bit too simple. Can you believe they thought they would keep an adult wizard out with these protections?" Harry shook his head, "I kind of wonder why it took Quirrell all year."
"Are you sure he knew it was down here?" Draco asked as he grabbed the broom.
"His protection idea is the second one after this." Harry looked at his watch, "Now to see who the better seeker is. I caught it in one minute and twenty-seven seconds. Let's see how you do. And I'm already giving you time. Mine was from the time I touched the broom."
Draco looked back at the door and the searched the keys. He'd find it first and then go after it. He spotted one with a slightly bent wing and mounted the broom. Of course, the keys were moving and trying to get away. He caught the key at the two-minute mark.
"I win." Harry grinned as Draco floated down to the floor, "Two minutes flat."
"You had it easier." Draco huffed, "You would have fit around the supports easier."
"True but I took off then found the key." Harry grinned.
"At the worst I'd say we were even." Draco muttered.
"But you're not keeping score." Harry grinned, "I am. Keep going."
Draco stepped into the next room. Harry had to leave his broom behind because of the ward at the door. McGonagall didn't want anyone to fly over her chess set. Draco was already half way across the board and nearing the opposing pawns. Harry grinned when he jumped back at their movements. Draco was still staring when Harry reached the King.
"You didn't happen to bring your broom, did you?" Draco asked without looking back.
"Nope." Harry tapped the King, "Leg up please."
"Oi, I want the king." Draco finally turned around and saw Harry sitting on the shoulder.
"Nope." He grinned, "McGonagall didn't allow it. I've made the adjustment so I can watch. Of course, none of the pieces will hurt me."
"What makes you think I won't sacrifice you to win and then escape with Snape?" Draco asked.
"Two things really." Harry grinned down at him, "One you want to prove you're better than I am and two you can't get back out until I unlock the door. It won't release if I'm dead so if I die down here you die with me. Oh, and house elves are blocked from coming down here."
"I'll take the knight." Draco frowned.
Twenty minutes later the opposing king dropped his sword in defeat. Harry gave Draco a nod, "Well done. You can tie first year Ron at chess."
"How long did he take?" Draco asked.
"He was also the knight and took the same amount of time but he chose to sacrifice himself to win." Harry offered with a bow of his head after he reached the floor, "I then took the king being a bishop; you used the bishop to distract the queen. He wouldn't have killed me back then."
"He would now." Draco offered, "If he was still alive."
"He was one of the many ready to put me in Azkaban." Harry nodded, "I think he would have jumped to first in line if he thought he could take me. Instead, he cowered behind Dumbledore and the Order."
"You have horrible taste in friends." Draco observed, "You should have been my friend back in first year."
"Don't fool yourself." Harry scoffed at him, "You would have been the first to hand me over to Voldemort if we had been friends."
"Well, yes that is true." Draco gave a slight smile and reached for the door. He eased it open and peeked in before pulling it back quietly, "Will you promise not to make any noise?"
"Sure." Harry agreed.
"It's asleep." Draco pointed out, "Do nothing to wake it up ok?"
"Ok." Harry agreed and the two of them slipped through the room.
Harry didn't bother to tell him the troll was dead when he and Hermione came through. It was the same troll Draco fought in the bathroom. He had no idea that after each fight Harry would bring it down here and put it under a sleeping spell. It ate in that room too but Draco didn't need to know that. Harry always cleaned up after his pets.
"That was Quirrell's?" Draco asked when they had closed the door. The flames started and made him jump.
"Yep." Harry gave him the maniacal grin that scared everyone. He was glad his power to freak people out was still going strong when Draco shuddered and turned to the table.
"Snape." He observed easily.
"Yep." Harry nodded.
Draco studied the riddle for several minutes before he gingerly picked up a bottle, "Here goes nothing."
Harry hadn't put the poisons that Snape had. It was one that would make the Slytherin very sick instead. Had he used Snape's Draco would be dead by now. Instead, Harry grabbed him and dropped him off in the medical wing.
"He lost at your riddle." Harry said as he dropped him on the bed, "Good thing I didn't let you put the same poisons in as last time."
"He never had a lick of sense." Snape sighed, "Did he even read the riddle?"
"Yes, but he needs to work on his left and right." Harry grinned, "He would have gotten it right otherwise."
Harry let Draco rest for a few days before he grabbed him up and headed off without speaking. Snape followed behind with his head bowed. He wasn't too worried this time. Harry had the phoenix tears and he would use them if it got too close.
"Moaning Myrtle again?" Draco whined.
"You're going to like today's trip." Harry waved his wand and vanished the wall that blocked off the hole where the round sink once sat.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Chamber of Secrets." Harry proclaimed and waved at the hole in the floor, "You first, jump down or be pushed."
Draco sat and twisted himself so he could lower himself rather than jump. However, he couldn't feel the floor and he was dangling by his fingertips. He was just about to ask for a broom when Harry stomped on his fingers making him let go. He fell and screamed like a little girl though he would deny it. He was slow to move away from the bottom and was thrown clear by Harry's spell that came out first. Harry was helping him up by the time Snape made it down.
"What hid the hole?" Draco figured something must have or they would have found the chamber a thousand years before.
"One of the round sinks." Harry explained, "You had to speak the password in parseltongue to get it open."
"Slytherin was clever." Draco puffed up.
"Not too clever." Harry scoffed, "The password was open."
"How did you find it?" he asked as they walked down the passage.
"Moaning Myrtle was killed by Voldemort and the basilisk fifty some odd years ago." Harry shrugged, "I just asked her how she died and she pointed at the sink and said she heard hissing then looked out to see a pair of big yellow eyes and she died. Not too difficult to figure out. I think Dumbles knew but couldn't open it without me."
"Not to mention he didn't want to face the monster." Snape explained, "So he sent a child in his place."
"He was trying to kill me via accident but I just kept living through things." Harry told them both, "I'm almost positive he knew from day one about the horcrux in my scar."
Draco climbed into the chamber proper and gasped as he looked around, "Is that…"
"Slytherin supposedly." Harry shrugged.
"I meant the bones." Draco huffed.
"The basilisk I killed. Unfortunately, I can't get another one that size so you can't do the whole running through the tunnels being chased or fighting it." Harry observed dryly, "The only part I can share is being bit."
"By what?" Draco began to feel sick thinking he knew the answer.
Harry held up two vials, "This one is basilisk venom and this one is phoenix tears. I lasted about five minutes before Dumbledore's phoenix came to help me. If you're still alive you get the tears too."
Draco tried to keep himself calm as he took the venom. He couldn't even grumble about his quickly beating heart spreading it quicker because little Harry had been chased around by the monster first. His was probably beating just as fast. He just kept thinking, if Harry can make it I can. Even as he began to feel his death approach, he continued thinking the same thing.
"Well done." Harry gave him the tears, "Ginny died after four minutes, I think. No one has done as well as you at calming themselves. I'll call it a tie today. Do you want to look around the chamber?"
"Can we come back later?" Draco did want to look around, "I don't feel well right now."
"That's because you were within two minutes of going on your next great adventure." Harry grinned, "Go rest, the next test will be here before you know it."
"Who was controlling the snake?" Draco asked as they began to leave.
"Voldemort." Harry answered with a slight grin, "The book your father gave to an eleven-year-old girl was a horcrux. It used her life energy to regain a body. I stabbed the book with the basilisk tooth that had broken off in my arm when it bit me. Basilisk venom is one of very few substances that can kill a horcrux. Lucky for Ginny she wasn't too far gone that time."
"Is that why you did to Father what you did?" Draco asked, his father had been killed in Azkaban. They had found the pieces left in a pile.
"He suffered for nearly killing two small children." Harry nodded, "He got off easy though. Ginny had nightmares for years. I did off and on, but honestly some of the other things were worse for me."
"Don't you find it kind of cruel that she died here of all places?" Draco asked as they reached the pipe to go back up.
"If she wasn't so weak, she wouldn't have had to die here." Harry shrugged, "Still, I'd call it ironic not cruel. It would have saved me a lot of hassle had she just died here the first time."
"That is…" Draco began but stopped, "Did the rest of the snake just dissolve?"
"That's what everyone thinks." Harry answered.
"Is it the truth though?" Draco wondered.
"No." Harry grinned.
"What happened to it?" Severus was stunned he'd never thought to ask.
"Between my fourth and fifth years here Remus smuggled Sirius and I to Gringotts." Harry explained as he handed out brooms. All three flew out before he continued, "It was Sirius' idea and Remus was just helping. Anyway, the goblins knew he was innocent so they were willing to work with Sirius."
"Is that when you moved your money?" Draco asked.
"Sirius and Molly never really got on." Harry grinned, "He thought she was going to try to get me trapped into a marriage with Ginny. So, he had me move almost everything to a new vault that neither Dumbledore nor the Weasleys could touch. We left about a hundred thousand galleons there in case they went to get some."
"Why let them have any?" Draco asked.
"Are you sure you're Slytherin?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but why did you do it?" he asked again.
"To hide the fact that we moved it all. No one knew how much was there." Harry told them.
"Remember he's a Slytherin in red and gold." Severus reminded
"I forgot." Draco shook his head, "Continue."
"Right." Harry chuckled, "We put in a stipulation that if Sirius died his money would be moved to my new vault along with everything that Sirius had. I was to take care of Remus since the new laws at the time restricted werewolves from inheriting anything. While we were waiting for everything to be done, I was telling them about fighting the basilisk. The goblins over heard."
"Surely they couldn't just come get it." Draco argued.
"Nope but they did tell me the carcass was mine by right of conquest." Harry grinned widely, "We waited until Dumbledore was tied up at the ICW for a week and snuck in. Once I showed them where it was, they could just portkey back and forth from the chamber. The anti-portkey wards never extended to the chamber. It was a backup escape plan in case of raids back in the founder's time. Of course, the wards do include it now so you can't go down there and escape."
"You think of everything." Draco huffed.
"Why did they leave the bones?" Severus asked.
"Sirius wanted to leave the evidence that it had been there." Harry shrugged, "They did take a few bones but left most of them. I was going to have the goblins remove them a year ago but Neville convinced me it was great for an additional scare factor."
"As if the bloody place wasn't scary enough." Draco shuddered.
"Well Neville didn't have to go through the venom." Harry grinned at him, "He has always been a loyal friend."
"It serves a purpose I suppose, it lets everyone know exactly what you faced." Severus acknowledged, "Most who know what you did were told it wasn't very large. It proves that was a lie. Therefore, they should be wondering what else Dumbledore lied about." Severus stopped with wide eyes, "Wait a minute. I saw the basilisk when you killed Weaslette and I know it was here for Granger."
"Illusion." Harry grinned and kept walking, "It's been not but bones for a couple years. Can you produce a patronus, Draco?"
"No, why?" Draco only wondered for a moment before he paled, "Third year was dementors wasn't it."
"Severus, I'm giving you five days to teach it to him." Harry stated.
"No one can learn it in five days." Draco huffed.
"I did." Harry grinned at him before he turned away from them and went down another hallway, "I was thirteen at the time."
"Did he?" Draco turned to Snape only to be answered by another voice.
"He did." Both turned to find Remus just rounding the corner, "He also faced Moony."
Once the man was out of earshot Draco asked, "Who is Moony?"
"Lupin's werewolf." He replied
"He named his werewolf?" Draco squeaked.
"His friends did." Severus explained as he pulled Draco to the infirmary to rest.