There is soot in Harry's lungs he can't breathe, and his vision is blurry. He can hear the screeching of the dragon standing feet from him. He can feel the ground shake, and his body shakes with it, pain ripples through his broken body. He looks back at himself and can see the bone- he is going to die.

Harry sits at the edge of the lake, no one is coming. Daylight isn't for hours no one patrols the lake. Harry can hear his mother screaming for her life, screaming for his life. He can feel the dementors as they circle in, he sees the life draining from Sirius. He looks more skeleton than man in Harry's arms but Harry can only see him for so long. His vision is fading, he can only hear the screaming and he knows he is going to die.

Tom Riddle stands over him pointing Harry's own wand out to the basilisk. Harry holds a sword as large as he is and points it blindly. The only thing Harry can hear over his own screaming is Tom's laughter and Harry knows he is going to die….

The golden egg sat in the middle of the classroom Harry laid curled up next to it frozen from when the screeching had started. Draco who had just shut the clasp sits back down next to Harry staring at the egg with a thoughtful expression. Hermione and Ron are perched at the window sill hands slowly falling from their ears as the echo of the sound reverberates into nothing.

Nev was the first to speak, "So the whole they may just torture the lot and call it a night theory, we can see why that might hold up?"

Draco sighed, "No, no Nev, first of all think of all the lawsuits if they did that. Secondly, that particular scream sounds like a mix of a seagull, a tiger, and the death cry of a hare- the exact call of a Northern English mermaid."

Hermione sighed, "Well we can't be certain that was the exact call…"

"The both of you are forgetting the task is in JANUARY. They'll die of hypothermia if they get in that water." Ron had made this argument several times and really he had a good point.

"I don't know, it could still be a yeti, none of you smart people have even considered that. It's what Harry thinks, right? Harry?"

Harry hadn't moved since the sound had stopped, Draco bent to see Harry's eyes were open but he was just staring off into space. His pupils had almost disappeared they were so small his eyes were like two emeralds set into the whites. Draco placed a hand on his back giving him a small push. Harry relaxed slightly and closed his eyes before sitting up. "I'm fine, sorry, I just really didn't like that."

Hermione looked to Draco who's eyes flashed to Harry before they both tried to pretend it hadn't happened. It was the first thing Harry saw once returning to himself and it filled him with shame; he used to be so strong, no one used to look like that when he was afraid, no one used to even know.

Harry sighs, "I agree with 'Mione we can't be sure… We should keep looking through textbooks right now. Figure out if there are any plants? We should also find someone who knows about magical creatures. That might give us a leg up..."

Ron shrugged, "My brother's back in Roumania I don't think he'll be much help. The back and forth will take too long but I can try."

Hermione looked thoughtful but couldn't seem to come up with anyone, Nev was the same.

Harry looked to Draco who shook his head, "Anyone in my house who was interested in magical creatures has dropped it at this point."

Harry frowned sympathetically, he would never admit it out loud but Hagrid had done a similar thing to his interest in magical creatures.

"Okay that's two bits of homework I guess, research and find someone who's a better researcher than us." He stared at the egg for a moment and then put it back in his bag. "I'm gonna get some fresh air but then we should all go to the library and try to get some leads if we can."

Harry got up before anyone could say anything and made sure to be out of the room as he finished speaking. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to be alone but he sure didn't want to be in there anymore.

He rushed outside to stand in the wind, waiting to feel calm, waiting for the air to take it all away but it didn't seem to be working today.

"Potter, funny running into you here," It was Mad Eye, grisselled and grey and not sounding at all surprised to see Harry. He sat on one of the stone benches at the edge of the clock tower courtyard. He was smoking, something Harry was fairly sure wasn't allowed on school grounds.

Harry sat next to him, "Evening Professor how are you?"

Mad Eye growled, "I've been better, this getting old thing isn't as easy as everyone makes it out to be." He stretched and several things popped and cracked, along with several sounds that really no human body should be able to make.

Harry wasn't sure what to say, he'd never thought about getting old. "Are you liking teaching here?" That was the next best thing he could think of saying, better than 'Getting old won't be a problem for me since I'll probably be dead by the end of the semester'.

"Potter, you know there is one thing about teaching here I can tell you for sure. The students are watching, the teachers are watching, even the bloody furniture. Everything in the castle is taking notes on you, mark my words, they're trying to see what makes you tick, and Potter they'll crack you open like a pocket watch just to get at those gears."

Harry swallowed, it was uncomfortable to think about but Mad Eye probably wasn't far off. "I guess that's why you tell us to prepare all the time right?"

Mad Eye smiled, "Constant Vigilance Potter! You've nailed it, just remember you can't trust anyone. Not your friends, not your teachers, and especially not a death eater. Remember Potter once a death eater always a death eater- keep a close eye on Snape and that Bulgarian fella... Maybe even that Malfoy boy."

Harry's heart sank, he already felt like he couldn't trust anyone but now he knew he couldn't trust Mad Eye- not if he might turn on Draco. "You're right, you really can't trust anyone here." It wasn't an outright lie but Harry was ready for this conversation to be over.

"I heard you and him were getting close at the beginning of this year. What happened?"

Harry couldn't tell this man the truth, though he liked him, Mad Eye just wouldn't understand. "It's like you said, can't trust anyone." He tried to sound hurt, he used the hurt from Ron. An emotion taken slightly out of context, it was the only way Harry could lie convincingly.

"It's better to go it alone," Harry added, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up. He was better at avoiding the truth than outright lying but avoiding would only draw Moody's suspicion further. If that happened he might try to get involved or worse might tell McGonagall it was still happening- she dropped another not so subtle hint about the dangers of keeping with the wrong crowd again and implied they may want to consider distancing themselves for both their sake's. Snape had done the same.

Mad Eye nodded, "It's a tough lesson to learn. You're a smart kid Harry, you know where your allegiances lay." With that Mad Eye stood flicking away his cigarette and turning away from the cold.

Harry watched as Mad Eye left, and as soon as he was gone Harry started to pace. The interaction was weird, he knew Mad Eye was weird but... Maybe Mad Eye already knew Harry was still hanging out with Malfoy. Maybe that had been a threat, or a warning.

Harry put a hand through his hair trying to brush it slightly with his fingers. If Mad Eye knew maybe others did, who would Mad Eye be trying to warn him about. Ron maybe he couldn't be trusted, maybe he was just there to find some evidence to back up his wild claims again. It couldn't possibly be Hermione she would never, could never hurt him like that right?

"Your attempts to create a tornado not going well?"

Harry jumped at the sound of Malfoy's voice. When he finally turned to find him, Draco looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

"No, Moody was out here and fuck that guy makes me paranoid. He kept going on about how you can't trust anyone, and the castle has eyes everywhere, and Jesus Christ I can't fucking breath."

Harry felt hot and frustrated and tired. He pulled at his tie and tried to open his robes more but Draco was stopping him. "Your shivering, lets go inside, then you can strip if you still find it necessary."

Harry made a face but followed him inside, he did however take off his robe and sweater when they got in.

"You were in quite the hurry to get out of that classroom earlier. This doesn't have anything to do with that though?" Malfoy was already prepared for Harry to be difficult. Harry hated when he was prepared it meant he couldn't get a word in without a rebuttal of some kind.

"I mean a little but not as much as you think." Harry was being defensive; he knew it, he hated it. He wanted to scream or punch something he hated feeling so trapped. Instead he took a breath, "You were all looking at me weird. Like I'm doing something wrong, like there's something wrong with me."

Draco sighed, and put his hand in Harry's leading him down a hallway few people used. They were taking a very long way to the library. "We're scared for you Harry, we're starting a new task, which means we are back to where we started in October. You don't even remember the first task so it really does feel like we went straight back to square one."

Harry glared at him stopping in place, "I'm not going to jump off the astronomy tower."

Draco smiled, " I know that." He paused a moment looking at Harry before continuing. "Ron, Hermione, and Nev however are just a bit more concerned. When you drop shit like I tried to commit suicide a month ago people freak out sometimes. Especially when they realize they contributed to it, or didn't do anything to stop it."

Harry went quiet thinking, "Did you freak out?"

Draco held back a laugh, "Oh my god do you not remember me yelling as you came down?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, "You were yelling?"

Draco put a hand to his mouth as he started to blush, "You know what let's not talk about this after all."

Harry chuckled, "You know what? There's not much else I have to say on the topic anyway."

Draco gave him a worried look, "I'm sorry for just bringing it up I didn't- You're fine." Harry assured him, Draco gave him a small smile in return.

"I think this one is going to be easier anyway, you have a clue this time and that helps. Even if it is kind of useless, not like the clue says anything helpful."

Harry shrugged, "Better than nothing right?"

It felt natural to do this, to share their concerns with one another and find comfort in their responses. Their conversations never seemed to end, only evolve and grow. It was a different kind of relationship it wasn't like with Ron or Hermione or even Nev. Him and Draco were just so similar even though their personalities were quite different they seemed to think in the same way. It was easy to understand Draco's fears and doubts because they were so similar to Harry's they made sense in a way that other people's fears never had to him.

For a moment Harry didn't care who was looking or what they were seeing. So what if the castle had eyes, Harry had nothing to hide. There was nothing frightening enough to pull him away from his friends, nothing so terrible they couldn't face it down together. Like Draco said they had a clue and that was worth something.