A/N: I wanted to acknowledge in this chapter that Draco's got problems too (besides the psychological ones I made clear in the previous chapter). Thanks to those people kind enough to review!!

Disclaimer: Characters and Hogwarts belong to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 6

Just when Snape was sure he had Harry in trouble, he was once again bitterly disappointed. Dumbledore, who was aware of the circumstances with Harry and Draco, spoke with Snape to give Draco only two weeks' detention.

" But Headmaster," he had argued. " You would only be encouraging the boy to believe he is above the rules… which he most certainly isn't!"

Nevertheless, the Headmaster got his way and Draco was not as severely punished as he thought he would be.

* * * * *

The morning after Draco's 'adventure', Harry sat in the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle. He tried to swallow his bacon, but he was too angry. Malfoy was extremely irresponsible and selfish to do what he did, and Harry thought he did it just to get him in trouble. In Harry's body, Malfoy did have the ability to do as he pleased and have Harry blamed for it.

Why else would he set his own friends' beds on fire? He wants Snape to hate me more.

Harry was so distracted that he had to be brought to attention when a large package landed in his lap, dropped by a brown eagle owl, which was gliding around in circles over Harry's head.

He ripped open the package. In it was Cauldron cakes, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Acid Pops, Sugar Quills, and Chocolate Frogs.

Was today Draco's birthday? Harry laid the sweets on the table, so surprised he almost didn't notice the letter that came with the package.

Harry wasn't sure whether he should open it or not, for it was Draco's letter, not his, and it could contain personal information Harry knew he didn't have a right to know…

He opened the letter.

Dearest Draco,

You may not hear from your father in a while. He was forced to flee, because the Ministry is asking questions using Verisaterum. He has gone to the country your great-grandmother lives in; you know where that is.

I do not know when he will come back, but I want you to keep your head low and if the Ministry is ever to question you, act oblivious.  

I sent you some sweets and I do hope you enjoy them. Owl me when you run out.

Love, your mother

Harry folded up the letter and stuffed it back into the envelope. Should he give the letter to Malfoy?

He scribbled Library at 8:00 beneath the message. He tied it to Draco's eagle owl and sent the messenger bearing the very personal letter to Draco at the Gryffindor table. He then left the Hall quickly, leaving his uneaten food behind.

* * * * *

The prospect of having detention for the next two weeks, three hours a day, was bad enough for Draco. But the worst of his troubles arrived by owl that morning, when he received a letter from his mother.

Since the Dark Lord's return, Draco grew inured to his father's frequent disappearances. He fled very often to different places in the world, living in fear that somebody from the ministry would place him in Azkaban.

Subsequent to Voldemort's return, a death eater, possibly a spy, ratted out the names of several of Voldemort's supporters to the Ministry. Lucius Malfoy was on the list.

Now, Malfoy had to endure his father's disappearances and his very worried mother.

Distracted, he followed Ron absentmindedly up many flights of stairs to the North Tower for Divination.

Draco stepped into the extremely hot and stuffy room, perfumed waves danced around him and he immediately felt sleepy.

Draco had never taken Divination before, and was instantly startled by the appearance of Professor Trelawney.

She emerged from the shadows silently and approached Draco, her insect eyes wide with fear behind her giant spectacles.

" My dear, you look troubled. I can almost see Neptune in your eyes. Its most interesting alignment tells me people with green eyes are currently going through a very difficult and pivotal time in their life."

Ron rolled his eyes and led Draco to their usual table, far from the fire. " Barking mad," he muttered and Draco privately agreed.

" Class, we will be starting with Divination cards now." She pulled out a deck of large cards. Lavender and Parvati looked more excited than ever. Professor Trelawney pulled out from the deck a card with a turquoise planet on it. " Beware of this card," she said sadly, " for Neptune is the planet that only brings bad luck." She glanced at Draco.

After an hour of flipping through meaningless cards, the bell chimed indicating the end of class.

" Harry, may I see you for a moment," Professor Trelawney called sadly. Parvati gave a concerned look towards Draco before descending down the ladder.

Draco approached Trelawney and was surprised to see massive tears behind her glasses. " Oh, Harry…" she said, sniffling loudly. " I don't think there is any easy was to tell you this, so I will just go right out and say it…" She wiped her eyes slowly on the edge of her shawl. Draco grew impatient as she took her time to blow her nose into a handkerchief.  " Like I said, Neptune is not a good sign, and as I was looking over the cards… I realized that the alignment has never made more sense! Harry Potter…" she said. Draco stared at her, waiting for her to finish. What was so important?

" IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT!" she wailed at the top of her lungs, her head tilted backwards. She was bawling now, tears overflowing out of her insect eyes and streaking down her face. " All these years, I have waited and waited, and now I am sure. You will die, Harry, and it will happen tonight!"

" What?" Draco stared at Trelawney, who continued to cry at the top of her lungs. She was now clutching Draco's shoulders tightly. " How – how am I going to die?"

Draco stood in absolute shock. He wasn't one to believe any of this phony, but her serious tone frightened him What if he did die tonight? Besides, how many times did one ever get told they would die?

* * * * *.

Harry met Draco in the library at 8:00, as he promised. Neither could stay for long, however. Draco had detention and Harry had Quidditch practice at 8:15.

" You read the letter, didn't you?" Draco said as Harry approached him.

" Doesn't exactly compare in the crime factor to lighting beds on fire, does it?"

Draco recoiled. " The letter was personal," he said. " And you had no right to read it."

" Why did you set the beds on fire?" Harry asked angrily.

" Because I like to set people's beds on fire," said Draco sarcastically.

" You got me in loads of trouble!"

" It doesn't matter, Potter. I'm the one who has to serve detention."

" That's not the point, Malfoy. Snape and everybody else think it was me who snuck into the dormitory! Snape's gonna have that hanging over my head for the rest of the year!"

Draco was suddenly reminded of Harry's fate. Off-topic, he said, " There may not be a rest of the year."

" Huh?"

" Trelawney said you're going to die tonight," said Draco in a whisper.

Harry stared. " You're kidding."

Draco nodded. He wouldn't have felt bad if Harry wasn't currently in his body.

To his surprise, Harry raised his eyebrows and laughed. " You believed her?"

Draco grew angry. Here he was, concerned for himself and Harry was laughing. " Well, how many times do you hear that kind of news?"

" Er—only every time I see her. Stupid git, she tells me I'm going to die all the time!"

Harry's statement slowly sunk into Draco. " Oh," he said feeling stupider by the second.

" I have Quidditch practice. I'm leaving," said Harry, a smirk visible on his pale face. He picked up his bag and left.

Draco gathered his things and headed for the dungeons, where he was to receive his detention assignment.

* * * * *

Snape sat in his office at his desk, fervently working on something. Draco came in, and Snape quickly pulled to paper out of sight. " Potter," he spat. " You're late."

Draco glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it read 8:10. " You told me to come at 8:15."

Snape rose from his chair, not taking his cold black eyes off of Draco's. " I specifically said eight o'clock."

Draco frowned. He knew Snape said no such thing. He had told Draco to come at 8:15.

" You are to go out to Hagrid's cabin, Potter, where you will be accompanied into the Forbidden Forest." Snape emphasized Forbidden with much glee, no doubt hoping to scare him.

Draco recalled the last time he entered the forest, in his first year. He knew he didn't want to go back in there again. Nevertheless, he tried his best to look indifferent as he left the office.

Down the sloping lawn to Hagrid's lit cabin Draco went. He approached the garden, where Hagrid was standing with Fang.

" Harry!" he said excitedly. He then lowered his head to look at Draco straight in the eyes. " I her'd what yeh did ter th' Slytherins." He shook his massive head. " Not th' way t' go, Harry. Sure, they're a slimy lot, but yeh shouldn't go lightin' they're beds on fire…"

Draco glared at Hagrid. Shut up you half-blood oaf, he thought.

The door to the cabin opened and a figure emerged with Fang at her heels.

" Yeh'll be goin' with Ginny and Fang inter th' Forest," Hagrid said with a grin. " I trust yeh ter behave and collect root o' Wechter and some bark o' ash. Dumbledore's needin' it fer some special potion."

Draco felt ready to run away. This was possibly worse than the last time he went into the forest, for now, annoying Ginny was to be at his side.

" Let's go," he said to Ginny, leading the way. He wanted to get this over with. Fang growled at Draco as they followed.

Into the dark and quiet forest they went, the tips of their wands illuminating the ground as they walked ahead. Ginny stumbled clumsily over her own feet several times, jumping at the small noises that erupted in the darkness around her.

" Do you know what Wechter looks like?" asked Ginny. Draco nodded. Wechter was a small violet flower that grew in bunches away from trees.

" We're going to have to find a clearing, as they don't grow by trees," he said.

They followed the path, Fang panting at their heels. Draco had not said a word, and didn't plan to unless it was absolutely necessary.

" So…" started Ginny, her voice almost a whisper. " What did you do to get detention?"

Draco didn't plan on answering, but even if he had, Ginny wouldn't have heard. Something jumped on her and threw her back to the ground screaming. Her lit wand rolled out of her hand as she hit the soil.

" Get out of here fireball," said a new voice. The small creature suddenly jumped off of Ginny and scurried away, leaving Ginny groaning in pain.

Draco approached the shaken figure and helped her up with his hand. By the wand light, he could see her face was very red.

" What was that?" she asked.

Draco shrugged. If he was much mistaken, the creature had talked. Trying very hard not to let his fear show to his face, he turned around and continued walking.

Ginny picked up her wand and more nervous than ever, followed. To Draco's satisfaction, she had forgotten about her previous question.

They continued to walk, alert and silent. Draco kept his eyes open for clearings.

" Do you reckon any of these trees are ash?" asked Ginny.

Draco knew what ash looked like; his wand was made of it. " No," he simply said.

They trudged on.

Without warning, a small cry permeated the air. Something fast, black, and small swooped over their heads, skidding Draco's messy hair. Behind him, Ginny shrieked. Draco suddenly felt her arm grabbing his. " Let's go!" she shouted, pulling him ahead, Fang at her heels.

Draco had just enough time to turn around to see the small black thing that swooped over him… and about five hundred of its friends.

They swarmed like angry bats, apparently angry with the intruders in their midst. Without thinking further, Draco ran with Ginny, through thick branches, their feet pounding on the soil as they moved forward.

* * * * *

On the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest lay the Quidditch pitch, where Harry was fervently training with the Slytherins. He found he liked being captain and taking control of an entire team. He had to admit, the team had improved since their first practice.

At the end of practice, they went into the locker room. Even after a rigorous practice, Harry saw that Draco Malfoy's face did not have a hint of red; it was paler than ever.

Somewhere on the other side of the row of lockers, Harry heard a soft scratching sound followed by lots of laughter. He went to inspect and saw the rest of the team was crowded around a wall.

" What's up?" he asked. The crowd dispersed.

" We're just laughing at the stuff you wrote on this wall last week!" said Baddock, smirking. " And we're adding to it."

Harry leaned over the see just what Draco had apparently inscribed on the wall the previous week. In big letters, it said: Potter has no broomstick.

The Slytherins were laughing heartily and Harry managed to force a small laugh, but his insides were mangled with fury.

" Look what I wrote!" said Baddock. He stepped away from where he was, staring at a different spot on the wall.

The Slytherins crowded around it and roared with laughter. Harry, trying his best to keep his arms from punching everybody around him, read the new comment: Potter can catch a snitch, but he sure as hell can't catch a girl.

" My turn!" exclaimed Alderby excitedly. He forced a loose nail out of the wall. 

" No!" shouted Harry. The team went quiet and looked at him. Harry was glad he couldn't turn red and said as calmly as he could, " It'll be obvious we did it. We'll get in trouble." He stalked off silently.

The rest of the team left the locker room, except for Crabbe and Goyle who stayed behind to wait for their leader. As Harry walked out with his cronies, he stopped and said, " I forgot my socks. I'll catch up."

When he was sure they were gone, he took a nail from the wall and carved beneath what Malfoy had written: Impotent bouncing ferrets have no right to make fun of others.

* * * * *

The bats chased Draco, Ginny, and Fang through the forest, tittering loudly. They flapped their tiny wings hard, trying to catch up. Out of exhaustion, Ginny fell to the ground and brought Draco down with her. The bats unknowingly flew over their heads and disappeared in the dark.

Panting but not getting up, Ginny said, " I thought bats were gentle."

" Apparently not," muttered Draco. He tried to get up, but he felt warm weight on his back. " Weasley, get off me."

" Oh!" Ginny rolled off Draco, extremely embarrassed and stood up as he did. They brushed the leaves and dirt off of their robes.

Draco found his robes were torn at the hem. At least they're Potter's, he thought. Without warning, his stomach suddenly growled loudly.

Ginny chuckled quietly. " I'll bet there's something we can eat in this forest. Let's just follow the trail and see what we come across."

Fang trotted alongside them, whining softly. While Draco kept his eyes open for Ash, Ginny kept hers open for food.

" Ah," she said after a minute of silence. She knelt by a bush. Draco saw, by his wand light, what looked like blueberries grew from it. Ginny picked some and scooped them in her chest pocket.

" Give me some," Draco demanded coldly.

Ginny frowned. " Not unless you ask nicely."

Draco wondered whether he should hit Ginny with something heavy, but his hunger got the best of him and he found himself saying, " Can I have some?"  By the faint light, Draco saw Ginny's red brow rise. " Please," he muttered.

Ginny put some berries in Draco's hand and without hesitation, he at them. The sweet juice bust from each berry and quenched his thirst as well.

Ginny had pocketed hers and did not eat any. She stood up and they continued walking.

Draco saw ahead of him a clearing. He rushed forward and stepped into it. It was as if a violet carpet spread before him on the ground.

" Is this Wechter?" asked Ginny behind him. Draco didn't bother answering her. He knelt down and scraped some of the roots out of the soil. Ginny did the same.

After collecting what seemed like a sufficient amount of Wechter, they grabbed Fang and started heading back to Hagrid's cabin as fast as they could. Draco didn't want to be in the forest with Ginny any longer.

The journey back was rather uneventful, except for when a centaur trod their path and told them " Mars is bright tonight."

When they approached Hagrid's cabin, Fang broke into a run and started scratching the door eagerly. Hagrid swung the door open and his face lit up when he saw Draco and Ginny carrying Wechter roots and all their limbs were intact.

" 'S a dangerous place, th' Forest," Hagrid said, collecting the Wechter out of their arms with one enormous hand. " Yeh'll be back tomorrow t' get th' Ash."

Draco had been hoping that tonight's trip into the Forest would be his last, and was bitterly disappointed at the prospect of another night of going into the forest with Ginny for the second time.

I want my life back, he thought bitterly on his way up to the castle, Ginny panting to catch up behind him.

* * * * *

A/N: This is an FYI – the first little creature that attacked Ginny was a Jarvey. Consult Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them for details.

~* PLEASE REVIEW *~