Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and can't get money for this, but I can make him into a Mafia Prince.

Warning: Some chapters (the ones including pranks) might not be appropriate to read at work. Laughter may ensue leading your co-workers to see you as even more insane than they previously thought.

Chapter 20: Flight and Fight

Classes started again on Monday much to the chagrin of Harry and Blaise. They had been having fun exploring the old castle and some of the grounds. In the castle things were always changing and one day they would discover a new room only to be unable to find it the next, or a passage would lead them to a totally different location then it had minutes before. They could still explore during the week of course but classes, meals, and homework would cut sharply into that time. One thing that had raised the hope in both of them had been the sight of stables on the far side of the castle near the edge of the Forbidden Forest where no one seemed to go. Harry missed riding Azrael something fierce and would love to at least have somewhere to go to be near horses if he could. Their joy at the discovery of the stables had been short lived though, there were no horses there and it seemed that only magic kept the stables in such pristine conditions. No one had set foot in the abandoned building in quite a while. So they had planned on ways to sneak into the Forbidden Forest to explore a bit, only they now had to figure out how to do it without alerting Hagrid who had started to keep a sharp eye on them along with the Weasley twins when they got too near the tree line. Not that slipping past Hagrid would be a whole lot of trouble, but Fang could scent them and never hesitated to pounce playfully on them and slobber all over their robes.

So it was that on Wednesday the Slytherin and Gryffindor first years found themselves trooping down onto the vast grounds for their first flying lesson ever. Many of the pureblooded or halfblooded students were boasting about their skills with a broom and all sorts of adventures they had found themselves in while flying.

It began to get sickening after a while and a few stopped their telling of tales after Harry said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "I doubt half of these stories are true but I guess we'll find out the liars in a few minutes when we have the lesson."

Weasley glared at the smirking Mafia Prince while Draco gave a small smug laugh calling, "looks like you were shown your place Weasel."

"That's enough Mr. Malfoy," Madam Hooch snapped as she came striding towards them, "everyone beside a broomstick. Now put your right hand out over your broom and say 'Up!'"

Naturally the air was soon filled with the yells of frustrated students trying to get their brooms to obey. Those who had spoken with clear confidence though were already holding their brooms and having Madam Hooch inspect their grips. Finally they were all allowed to mount up after being shown how to do so properly and not slide off the end to land on their asses like untrained novices.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch.

"Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle—three—two—"

Neville took off in a panicked rush not to be the last one left on the ground. His hands were practically white from clutching the vibrating broom as it rose higher and higher before shooting straight off towards the castle wall at a speed the old broom shouldn't have been capable of. With a sickening thud that sounded like wet meat hitting a rough surface really hard Neville rammed into the castle wall, fell off the splintering broomstick to smack into the ground with a crunch, and lay deathly still upon the grass.

"Broken bones," Harry whispered to Blaise, "an arm most likely."

Blaise nodded, remembering when they had heard a similar sound. It had been the one man left alive from the attack on the amusement park. He had been gagged so his screams could not be heard through the rest of the house, but standing right outside the door where no one could see them had been Harry and Blaise. They had heard the crack of bone as various limbs were pushed to the breaking point and beyond. The unfortunate man had finally given in and started to spill the information he knew as the Daggers had started sectioning off his arm and cracking each bone one at a time, allowing the broken shards to grind painfully against each other for added effect. Harry and Blaise had fled not wanting to hear as the man broke from the torture placed upon him.

"Broken wrist," they heard Madam Hooch mutter as she helped Neville up before giving a piercing glare to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.'"

… … … … …

Severus Snape strode quickly onto the school grounds towards where the flying lessons for Gryffindor and Slytherin first years were being held.

"Idiot woman," he muttered, "leaving them unattended like that. They're Slytherins and bloody Gryffindors for Merlin's sake. No one in their right mind leaves that group alone together."

And naturally the potions professor was right for as the class came into view he saw Draco Malfoy dart forward and pick up a shining sphere from the grass.

"It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

"Give it here Malfoy," Weasley shouted, his face turning red enough to rival his hair.

Severus could have easily hexed Hooch as Draco's face lit up with the patented Malfoy smirk and the blonde boy hopped onto his broom.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find—how about—up a tree?"

Severus continued to watch as Draco flew up into the air and Weasley foolishly followed in an attempt to flaunt his Gryffindor bravery. He continued to wait until Draco grew tired of the brief game as Weasley clumsily flew around trying to catch him and launched the sphere through the air so that it landed in the trees. Landing with grace Draco hopped off the broom and Severus saw his chance to reveal himself.

Striding the rest of the way to the waiting students who had been yelling various things throughout the aerial exchange he barked out sharply, "Weasley! Get down here this instant!"

Shaking and pale Ron Weasley did as commanded, all thoughts of the rememberall gone as he tried to protest his innocence in the matter, his house mates backing him up.

Severus sneered down on the boy, "Fifty points from Gryffindor, a weeks detention with Filch, and a visit to the Headmaster is in order. Madam Hooch informed me that she distinctively said that no student was to be on a broom without her presence; you have disobeyed."

Severus began marching the even paler Weasley towards the castle, ignoring his stuttering of, "but Malfoy—," when a summoning spell caught his attention.

"Honestly," he heard the distinctive voice of Harry Potter, "you would think that Weasley didn't know that there was magic that could be used to get this. Make sure Neville gets this back."

A heavy accented Irish voice answered Harry and Severus had to repress a slight upturning of his lips towards a smile, it wouldn't do to reveal to anyone that Hogwart's potions master could be nice and had a sense of humor. It seemed that Potter had the attitude and thoughts of a Slytherin, but he also had a sense of decorum, or perhaps nobility, that most other Slytherins lacked.

Severus sneered down at Weasley, pleased at the chance to intimidate and belittle the Gryffindor further, "come along Mr. Weasley."

… … … … …

To the dismay of the Slytherins Ron Weasley did not get expelled or even suspended though his detentions with Filch remained. The greatest laugh though came when Weasley foolishly challenged Draco Malfoy to a wizards duel to regain his honor. Draco went through the motions and accepted the challenge but wisely the blonde Slytherin did not swear to his acceptance by an oath made by his blood, magic, or name. As well there were no witnesses besides the chosen seconds so no oaths were broken when the blonde Slytherin decided not to show up and tipped off Filch instead. The next morning Draco was a bit put out at breakfast to see that Weasley had not been caught in his nighttime wanderings though the red-head looked tired and pale. Harry and Blaise found out later that day why the boy had a frightened look deep in his eyes.

"—keep such a thing locked up in a school. The bloody thing could have ripped me in half."

"Ron," Dean snapped, "you weren't the only one there; it could have gotten us too. And the Headmaster told us that corridor was off limits—"

The voices trailed off as the Gryffindors moved on and Harry looked at Blaise. They had been quite interested by the mention of the forbidden corridor. If you tell a Darkov or Zabini not to go somewhere they will eventually end up there. This overhead conversation only piqued their interest more and not even the mentions the Headmaster made of death would keep them away now. It was about time they broke a few rules.

"Bloody fucking hell," Harry swore after performing a simple alohomora and opening the door to the forbidden corridor.

Before them stood one mean, drooling, three-headed dog that looked as if it really needed some exercise. Their quick eyes quickly scanned the room and saw nothing visible that it could have been guarding so they looked for the next obvious thing and found the trap door under the dog's paws. Nodding to one another they slowly backed up, they didn't want to test their weapons or their wands on that thing and didn't think their fathers would be too happy if they died a young and painful death for acting foolishly. The door closed and with a flick of Blaise's wand the door was once again locked.

"Want to explore some more," Harry asked as they turned away.

Blaise shrugged, "might as well. Too much adrenaline to sleep, unless you want to fight it off?"

… … … … …

Severus groaned as a section of wall in his quarter's glowed red and a small alarm went off. The wall flashed twice and went still before flashing twice again. He had two students out of bed. He also highly doubted it was one of the older years, most of them had already realized that he knew when they left the Slytherin dorms. No, these were probably first years and he had a very good guess as to who it could be. It was unlikely that it was two from the girls dorms, their minds just didn't work that way. They'd be talking about makeup if they were awake, not sneaking out, and Crabbe and Goyle would never think of doing something without Draco telling them to. And it wasn't Draco either, he had different warnings set up for the Malfoy heir as he was most likely to be a rallying point for Slytherin because of his family's position. That left the most likely duo of Zabini and Potter; he would need to set up specific wards for them as well it appeared. Laying his book of potions down he swept out of his personal chambers and began to walk the halls of Hogwarts after tracing his wards to learn that they had already left the dungeons.

It was in the left hand side of the third floor corridor that Severus finally found them. They moved gracefully up and down the hall as they fought each other. For a moment he considered breaking the fight up but he recognized it as a training exercise and decided to take the chance to study them. He had once done similar things when the Dark Lord had been at the height of his power and he had been working as a spy for Dumbledore. He had learned early on in the service of the Death Eaters that you could not rely solely on a wand. Watching Potter and Zabini made him aware that he had neglected his training since the Dark Lord's defeat and knew that these children could probably beat him in a hand to hand fight if it came down to that. He studied their moves as Zabini flipped in the air only to have her feet swept out from under her the moment she landed and Potter ended the match by lightly placing his foot at her throat. Zabini conceded, accepted Potter's hand up, and the duo left the hall to head in a direction that would take them back to the dungeons near the common room.

Pensively Severus moved from the shadows and without conscious thought began to move through a basic self-defense routine. After a few minutes he had to stop and relax his body, he was stiff and not in the right condition to do any more than what he had already done. His muscles were already protesting the now unfamiliar routine and he knew that he would feel the effects in the morning unless he took a potion. Silently he made his way back toward his chambers, his robes not flowing out behind him as they usually did. He did not notice the silent figures that had taken up occupancy in the very shadows he had used to watch them from. They had decided to return the favor of being spied on and now they were glad they had realized someone was watching them. They didn't know to what use they could put their head of house's actions quite yet, but they would worry about that in the morning and discuss it during their run.