Disclaimer: Much as I'd like to, I don't own Draco Malfoy, or any part of the magical world that J.K. Rowling has all the copyrights to ... please don't sue me. There are some parts of this story that are quotes from the book - it can't be helped - events are the same as in the book, but Draco's opinion of these events may vary from Harry's.

Author's Notes: I needed to do some re-writing, after reading OotP. I have made some minor changes to this chapter, mostly spelling and grammar.

Sorry it took so long to reply to your reviews, but my inbox was overflowing.

angelkas: The Malfoys live in Wiltshire, which is in the south of England ... Britain is technically separate from Europe ... well, it was last time I checked. I am editing it as fast as I can ... PoA is gonna have more changes, but I am working as fast as I can.

shinigamisangel: Yes, I am going to re-write it every time a new book comes out. And I can't be writing ATHSS-next-gen, because writer's block still won't let me go near it.

Cassiopeia Andromeda Heracles: Yeah, well according to my favourite fanfic (Slytherin Rising) Quirrell's first name is Samel, and that's why I used that name for him.

Robin: Did it actually say outright that Lucius didn't work at the Ministry? Because I kinda assumed he did ... obviously, a higher-level job than commoners like the Weasleys, but still ...? I still need to re-read OotP, a few times, before I memorise it, so I could be wrong.

Last Hope: Hi ... thanks.

Bob: Yes, you were the first to ask, weren't you? Thanks for the questions - I'm still working on it, so more would be appreciated, but these ones are great, thanks again. As for ATHSS, sorry to say total writer's block - don't hold your breath waiting for it.

seanmulligan2000: hmmm ... well ... yeah, but I'm not going to redo that again, before book 6 is published.

~Ravenclaw@Heart~: Thank you, but really, I'm not as good as JKR, I'm just good at copying character-behaviour patterns ... and warping them to my own ends.

cliff w: here's some more.

Last Hope: Sirius and Draco being related won't havee much, if any affect.

Sinical-Sarchasm: With a reviewer like you, I can imagine I would be updating a lot faster ... I love your reviews ... I love being told what part of each chapter someone liked!

Chapter 12 - Snakes, Ravens ... and Cat-People

I didn't see or hear anything even vaguely interesting, until the third day of term, at breakfast, "Hey, Draco. You'll never guess what I heard." Cat said, grinning like a Cheshire - ... that's not even funny.

"What?" I asked.

"I heard Granger's in the Hospital Wing. No one knows why, but they think it might have been another attack. She was brought in by Potter and his Weasley, on Christmas night. Pomfrey won't let anyone in to see her." Cat replied.

"And you know this, how?" I asked.

"Usual way." she replied. That means the Raven-gossipers.

"Right." I said sceptically. "I'm going to see her."

"How? I just said, Pomfrey won't let anyone in." Cat asked.

"And I always find a way past people. I'm good at that." I said vaguely, as I stood up and wandered off, noting that the Two Twits were still stuffing their faces.

* * *

"No, Mr Malfoy." Pomfrey said sternly, "No one may see her."

I pouted and tried the puppy-dog eyes ... she wasn't budging. Then I heard Hermione's voice, "It's O.K. Madam Pomfrey. Let him in, please." At least she wasn't petrified. Madam Pomfrey did her Jewish-mother impression, but let me in. "Stop right there." Hermione said, as I was just about to turn round the curtains.

"Why?" I asked, stopping.

"Because I don't want you to see me." she replied.

"Why? What happened?" I asked, smirking but not passing the curtains.

"I was experimenting with animal transformations, and it sort of went wrong." she muttered.

"And what did you turn yourself into?" I asked, desperately wanting to look, but still not doing so.

"I was trying to turn into a cat, but all that happened was I grew fur and ears." she answered.

"That's all?" I asked sceptically, "And you're embarrassed to be seen like that? I'll not laugh - I promise."

"And a promise from you means how much?" she asked, implying she thought my word meant nothing.

"In this case? Enough to stop me from actually laughing." I said simply.

She sighed, before saying, "Fine, then." I stepped around the curtain, and saw her. She was right about the fur and ears, but her eyes had gone cat-like, as well.

"You make a cute kitten." I said, smirking but not laughing.

She glared at me, but didn't say anything rude, instead asking, "So why are you here?"

"I wanted to see that my favourite Gryffindor wasn't petrified - that's the popular rumour, you know." I said, sitting on the foot of her bed. As I did so, I saw something move under the sheets to get out of my way - it definitely wasn't a foot. I grinned, "You've got a tail?" I asked.

Her eyes widened in surprise, but then she realised how I'd figured that out and nodded slowly, "I'm going to be stuck here for another couple of weeks." she noted.

"What did you use to do that to yourself?" I asked sceptically.

"Ummm..." she turned away, not looking at me.

"Well?" I prompted, hoping she'd give in and tell me. She remained silent, "Most Transfigurations can be reversed using the same magic. It had to be something stronger."

She looked at me and I stared into her cat-like eyes. I won the staring contest and she answered my question, "Polyjuice."

"That'd take some work ... and some ingredients you can't get without Snape knowing about it." I noted, "And it's only for human transformations - surely you'd know that." then the Knut dropped, "It was you three, wasn't it? Potter and Weasley. That's who was impersonating Crabbe and Goyle, on Christmas, wasn't it?" She looked up at me with a rabbit-in-headlights expression. I smirked, "Caught out." I said triumphantly, "Who were you trying to turn into? I know a lot of Slytherin girls who have cats."

She looked as if she HAD been petrified, now. "I - I - How'd you know it wasn't really them?" she asked.

"One, Goyle was acting too smart. Two, Crabbe never gets indigestion. Three, they ran off for no good reason. And four, I found the real Crabbe and Goyle locked in a cupboard in the Entrance Hall, ten minutes later, claiming to have been stuck there for an hour and a half." I said, grinning at her unease. "Why did you do it?" I asked.

"Umm ... we thought you were the Heir of Slytherin." she said nervously, not looking at me. I laughed. "Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"I said I wouldn't laugh at your feline appearance. I never said I wouldn't laugh at your stupidity." I answered. "What is it about me that screams 'Heir of Slytherin' to all you Gryffindors?"

"It's the fact that you're evil and the way you treat Muggle-borns ... and your reaction to the writing on the wall wasn't exactly very good P.R., was it?" she said coldly.

I sighed, "The Weasley twins already interrogated me." I said, "I'm surprised you didn't hear about that? And besides, of all the people to impersonate, you picked those two idiots? They're probably rooting for the Heir, this year. I don't trust them with any of my real opinions, let alone with the details I know about the Heir."

"And those details would be?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Well, aside from the obvious fact that they're trying to frame Potter ... I also know -" I stopped talking, as I heard the door open - it was Pomfrey. She told me to get out and leave her patient alone. I shrugged to Hermione and left her alone.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, the four of us (Cat, Blaise, Theo and I) were walking back to our common room. The quickest route from DADA to the dungeons, on a Friday afternoon, was right past the crime-scene of the Squib's cat.

And as we walked past the red paint on the wall, I heard footsteps coming towards us. We all stopped and looked at each other. Cat took out a mirror and glanced around the corner with it. "Weasley girl." she whispered.

I nodded, "We ought to go another way." I whispered. But too late, as Weaslette turned the corner with her eyes down, clutching the all-too-familiar book to her chest, like it was a lifeline.

She ran right into Cat and yelped, jumping backwards, "What? What're you four doing here?" she asked.

"We could ask the same of you." Theo noted, a lot braver than I thought he was, considering the fact that he knew exactly who was behind the attacks.

"I'm going that way." she answered, pointing past us.

"And we're going that way." I said, pointing towards the staircase that would lead to the Entrance Hall, from which we could reach the dungeons.

"Right." Weaslette said, sidestepping Cat, but Blaise stepped in her way. "Would you please let me past?" she asked angrily.

"Nope." Blaise said, snatching the diary from her. "What's this? Weasley's diary?"

"Give that back." Weaslette growled.

Blaise grinned, "No." she said, holding the diary out of Weaslette's reach. Then, in a very childish yet still amusing display, she threw the book to Theo, almost-singing, "Keepaway!"

Theo caught the diary, holding it gingerly as if he was afraid to drop it. Weaslette moved to try to retrieve the book, but both girls grabbed her by the arms. "What's so special about this, that you're willing to take on four older Slytherins for it?" Theo asked, opening the book and flicking through the blank pages. "Gee, this is an exciting read." he added sarcastically.

"Give it back." Weaslette repeated slowly, putting as much venom into each word as she could. When Theo shook his head and the girls didn't let her go, she turned to me. "I want my book back." she all-but-hissed.

I bit my lip and said nervously, "Theo, give it back." nervous is not a tone I usually use, and I think Theo picked up on the hidden meaning that I was just trying to cover myself from any potential retribution.

"Nu uh." Theo said, sounding cool and calm.

"You really don't want that book, do you, little Weasley?" Blaise whispered in her ear, "Don't tell me it's any good to you - why not just dispose of such a worthless item?"

"Yeah." Cat said, "I don't understand why you keep it. I think it's a bad book."

"Totally pointless." Blaise added.

"And you would never write in a book like that. It's so old ... and filthy." Cat continued.

Something snapped in Weaslette - I saw it. It was like she'd just realised something important. "It's evil." she whispered.

"That bad?" Cat asked, feigning ignorance.

"If it's evil, you should throw it away and be glad for its absence." Blaise said. Ginny nodded anxiously. The girls then let her go and Theo reluctantly let her take the book. She ran into the toilets and Blaise followed her. I heard a flushing sound and both of them returned after less than a minute. "Book gone. All better." Blaise said, ushering the little Gryffindor in the direction she'd said she'd been heading.

"That was good." Theo said, grinning.

"Yeah." I said, smiling, "Good riddance."

* * *

I was able to relax, for the first time since Halloween. I was in such a good mood that when Lockhart started boasting that he'd gotten rid of the Heir, by himself, in our next class, I decided to say, "Yeah, you're the best, sir." of course, the illusion of sincerity in my tone must have added to the going-insane factor. Rule number 26 - 'Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies'. The strange look he gave me was proof enough that he thought he was hearing things, "You must have done something brilliant to have gotten rid of him. Please tell us how you did it." I added, in the same voice-that-sounds-sincere-but-really-isn't.

And Lockhart started another one of his little acts. He called me up to the front of the classroom, to play the part of the Heir, and ended up wrestling an imaginary monster and chasing me back to my seat. It was actually funny, and everyone laughed at my own personal contribution to the act (my Lockhart-impersonations, when his back was turned). It did help that Lockhart wasn't trying to be funny when everyone burst into fits of laughter.

* * *

The day of the Snakes-and-Ravens Quidditch match, the sun decided to shine out, over the still-snow-covered grounds. The pitch itself had been cleared, but by the time of the match itself, you could still just about see your breath in front of your face. There was a temperature-resisting charm on my Quidditch robes, which meant that however hot or cold it was, they would always keep me at a comfortable temperature. Still, my face was freezing and I had lost some circulation in my fingers. I wasn't complaining, though - every time I felt like whining about the cold, I deliberately reminded myself of to be grateful I was a little bit cold, rather than bursting into flames, as Higgs would like to see.

"Malfoy, if you screw this game up, I will personally turn you into the wide-mouthed-tree-frog you suggested the Gryffindors enlist, in first year!" Flint snarled, as we prepared for the game.

"I doubt Potter's going to make a spectacle of himself, in this match ... considering the fact that THIS IS THE RAVENS MATCH! I was only distracted by Potter because of how much I hate him." I replied coldly.

"Yeah." Flint said disbelievingly.

And we made our way out onto the pitch for my second official game.

As Flint and Davies shook hands - not exactly friendly, but not as bad as last time, when we faced Wood - I tried to stare down the Ravens' Seeker, Cho Chang. She stared back defiantly. This was going to be fun. I winked at her and she broke eye-contact first. I was winning already.

On Madam Hooch's whistle, we all took off. Both Chang and I flew higher than everyone else. I started searching for my target immediately, but Chang tried circling around me, getting in my line of sight. She did it once too often and I flew sideways into her, sending her falling ten feet before she recovered. She glared up at me. "I never make the same mistake twice, Chang!" I shouted. She pulled a face at me and flew off to the far end of the pitch, proceeding to hover around the Snakes' goals. I looked down, scanning the area - still nothing.

It can get very boring, looking for something so small in such a large area - especially a moving object. If it were stationary, at least a systematic search would find it. Still, I was good enough to find it, the question was mostly one of being lucky enough to spot it first ... the skill was only in stopping the enemy from getting there first, once it's out in the open.

During the half-hour that I was searching for the Snitch, I did note that my father was present for this match, as well. And he was giving me that look again - the same way he watched me for the Lions match. It was unnerving, but I didn't let it distract me. I refused to let anything distract me, this time. I was NOT going to fail again. For a brief moment, the memory of exactly what happened last time, and what would happen again if I did fail this time, came to my mind. I shook my head, chasing that thought away as fast as possible, "That, Draco, is what you call a distraction." I muttered to myself, making reference to the offending thought.

I looked around, trying to locate the opposition (Cho Chang). I saw her in time to see that she was flying towards the Ravens' goal-hoops. I swerved round as she passed me, and started after her at top speed. I drew level, but still didn't see the Snitch. She reached out and tried to accelerate, and I followed her concentrated line of sight. There was, a sparkle of gold, just below the highest goal. I sped up (a Nimbus 2001 is, by its very definition, far faster than a Nimbus 1900, which Chang was flying), swerved across her path, to throw her off, and caught the Snitch while Chang was still spiralling off-course.

Only then did I even bother to look at the rest of the game, or the scoreboard. I knew that with such superior brooms, we'd have been well in the lead, but when I saw the score update to account for my capture of the Snitch, I was stunned. Slytherin - 390. Ravenclaw - 30. "We won by three hundred and sixty points!" I whispered, hardly daring to believe it.

"Lucky." Chang growled, from just below me.

"Yeah, right." I replied sarcastically, "A win by that much can be explained away by luck. I don't think."

"I meant you." she said, floating up to hover level to me, "You'd not have caught that if you hadn't spotted me pass you."

"Still have been a two-ten win." I noted.

"Unlike some people, we don't have the resources of a self-important rich-kid on the team." Chang snarled, "Play us on an even field, and we'd have beaten you."

"Believe it or not, we do have talent behind all the amoral accessories." I said, smirking.

"Talent for finding the next best thing to cheating." she replied, with a smirk. I glanced down to see the rest of my team on the ground celebrating in the most undignified manner they could find (don't ask), and not seeming to notice they were missing one. The Ravens were slinking off the pitch, trying not to be noticed. Chang flew closer to me, "You know, you are a good player. Anyone else would have just overtaken me, but you made sure I'd not make the catch if a Bludger had gone for you."

"Did I?" I asked, "I thought I was just trying to send you into a tailspin."

"You nearly did." she admitted.

I started slowly down towards the ground, and she kept level with me. "Would have worked on Harris." I noted, referring to the seventh-year Hufflepuff Seeker.

"Probably." she said, smirking, "I'd try it, if I hadn't already beaten him."

"You must be a damned smart book-worm, to be in Ravenclaw." I said, pausing just out of earshot of the ground.

"Not all Ravenclaws are that good, you know?" she informed me.

"But you show a lot of Slytherin traits. To be a Raven, your intelligence and bookishness have to outshine your Snake-traits." I said, explaining my previous comment. "It's like that Granger girl must be very brave to have stayed out of Ravenclaw."

"Since when were you so polite about her?" Chang asked, "I heard what you said at Halloween, and saw you looking straight at her when you said it."

"Well, I didn't want to offend you, and I don't know what way you would react to language like that." I admitted. It wasn't true - I was actually trying to sound rude, with the tone in my voice, when I had mentioned Hermione's name. I looked down again and saw my father standing in the doorway the Snakes' team were currently exiting through. He was looking straight at me. "I'd better go. See you later, Cho." and with that, I dived down to where Hooch was waiting to finish packing up the Quidditch balls. I handed her the Snitch and trudged across the pitch, to my father.

"Well done, Draco." he said. He wasn't so much as smiling, but I could see a glint in his eyes. He often gets what can be described as 'a glint in his eyes', and it took me years to figure out the difference between at least a dozen different emotions that it could mean. This time, it looked suspiciously like pride, but I wasn't committing myself, until I was sure.

"Thank you, Father." I replied politely.

"That was an excellent manoeuvre. If only you had been so attentive, last time." he replied. Now, I wasn't about to tell him that I had spotted the Ravens' Seeker pass me just as I looked back from being distracted, was I? How stupid would I have to say to do that? I didn't reply, knowing he would continue, "At least I know you can concentrate, if you try. But if Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup this year, you will be off the team, both Flint and I agree on that."

"Yes, Father." I said, nodding. I knew well enough that it was the only logical thing to do, if we did fail.

"But with a win like that, you're well in the lead." Father said, now smiling slightly. Now this time I was sure it was pride I saw in his eyes. I couldn't help but smile. They say 'those whose approval you seek the most give you the least', and it certainly applies to me. All my life, I have tried to live up to the standards he sets for me (not just to avoid punishment - if I really put my mind to open rebellion, I could stand the punishments), and he is so rarely proud of anything I achieve. He always manages to pick fault in everything I think will please him. In spite of the fact he still supports Snake-Face, I still feel the need to make him proud of me. If the Dark Lord did return (although I would do all I could to stop that from happening) I would join him if I knew it would make my father proud.

"Thank you, Father." I said, really smiling - something I rarely do - so far, in my whole life I have only ever truly smiled to three people.

* * *

End of chapter 12