Reaching Maturity

Disclaimer: see previous

A/N: This is a good point to reiterate that this was written before OotP came out, so really, don't bother flaming to say "but they did this in fifth year" – I know that, but I really cannot be bothered to rework vast amounts of this story because, quite frankly, I don't have the time or the incentive. I like this story the way it is. So there. Let's just say that in the summer between 5th and 6th year, the Ministry regained control of the Dementors and reinstated them as the guards of Azkaban. Any flames will be used to toast marshmallows.

A/N 2: apologies for the long delay in posting, but I had a few days without Internet access and now I'm back at college I have work – and the dreaded ESSAYS. Three 3,500-word essays and a 3-hour exam – clinical governance, mental health policy since Blair came to power (am not going to start going on about that man) and community care, and the exam is on physical health and trauma. Not that you're interested, I suspect.

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Chapter 11: Learning the Patronus Charm

The following Saturday dawned sunny and crisply cold. The Quidditch match was Hufflepuff v Slytherin, the latter of whom had been forced to replace Draco with a big, sullen sixth-year as Seeker. It caused the Hufflepuff Seeker to eye him warily.

The match didn't last long. The Snitch was caught after fifteen minutes, and Slytherin won 170-10. That meant that Slytherin were two hundred points behind Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff were behind them by two hundred and fifty, with all three having played two matches. Ravenclaw had currently only played one match.

Harry went up to the hospital wing after the match – a Bludger, hit by a Slytherin Beater, had, he suspected, broken his wrist. Madam Pomfrey immediately healed it and told him to be careful for the next few days and that he should be grateful that it wasn't his wand hand.

"Can I see Malfoy?" asked Harry when Pomfrey had finished bandaging his wrist.

She shook her head. "Absolutely not."

"Why?"

"He's got worse. Too ill for visitors. Wouldn't know you were there. Go back to your common room and tell Miss Abbott the same if you happen to see her," she returned brusquely, practically throwing him out of the infirmary. She watched him go before returning to check on Draco. Snape and McGonagall were both there, keeping vigil. Draco had resumed his tossing and turning and incoherent mumbling.

"What did Potter want?" inquired McGonagall.

"Injured wrist. One of your Beaters, Severus, hit a Bludger into the crowd."

"And you want me to do what, exactly, about it?" inquired Snape testily.

"Instruct them to refrain from hitting those vile things at innocent spectators!" Pomfrey snapped. "The other house teams manage it; why can't yours?"

"Are you implying that I cannot control my students?" inquired Snape in a cold, cutting tone.

He received an extremely irritated "Hmph!" from Madam Pomfrey.

"Can you two please refrain from childish squabbling for once?" McGonagall interrupted irritably.

Snape straightened. "I must go. I have the entirety of the Ravenclaw sixth-year in detention. Not a single one of them made the Extinguishing Potion correctly." He swept out of the room.

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Harry and Ron were the first to arrive for DADA on Monday. To their surprise, both Lupin and Figg were there. Lupin greeted them cheerfully and Figg nodded briefly in their direction. The rest of the class arrived soon afterwards and were quick to settle down after a pointed look from Figg.

Lupin stood up. "I'm about to teach you all some extremely advanced magic – the Patronus Charm." He winked at Harry. "A true Patronus will charge down Dementors and get rid of them from where you are. I'm pretty certain that nobody's established where it is that they flee to, but I generally wouldn't worry as long as they're nowhere near you. I'm certainly not expecting you to conjure anything like a true Patronus in your first lesson; it took Harry two terms to master it, and he's an exceptional wizard." He began talking about the Patronus and the theory behind it – which they would need to know for the NEWT exam in the summer.

"What that cool or what?!" Seamus exclaimed at the end of the lesson. "I'm not sure what my happy memory'll be, though."

"Mine definitely won't be Potions," remarked Neville wryly, making everyone laugh. Laughing and joking, they made their way back to their common room to drop their bags off before heading down to the Great Hall for lunch. The teachers' table, surprisingly, had Professor Trelawney sitting at it.

"What's she doing down here?" hissed Ron in amazement. "She never leaves her tower room!"

Harry snorted derisively and rolled his eyes. "She probably looked into her crystal ball and saw her joining us for lunch – and who is she to resist the call of Fate?"

"Have you no respect?" Parvati demanded, overhearing. "I'd love to have the ability to See like her." She sighed dreamily.

The boys looked at each other and burst out laughing. "I can See past that fake personality a lot more than you can!" Ron wisecracked.

"Just because you can't See like she can, it doesn't mean you're allowed to mock her for it!" Parvati retorted. "I think she's amazing; despite all the attitudes against her –" here she glared at the boys, who were still shaking with laughter, "– she still perseveres with it."

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Parvati, put a sock in it!" Seamus retorted scornfully.

"Remember Harry's Divination exam in third year?" persisted Parvati.

"Yeah – a grand total of oooh…two predictions over the span of what? Twenty years? Come off it, Parvati," Harry reasoned. "Even Hermione can tell the difference between a real prediction and vague guesswork, and she doesn't even take the stupid subject!"

"Some people have no respect for their teachers," Parvati sniffed haughtily.

"Not the fake ones, no," Ron agreed. "Or prats like Lockhart."

"Hey, I've just had an idea – maybe the Fates will inform her of what's on our summer exam," said Neville hopefully. "That could prove to be useful."

"Honestly!" Parvati uttered a long-suffering sigh and, having finished her lunch, flounced out of the Great Hall.

"How pathetic is she?" asked Ron impatiently, jerking his head towards Parvati's retreating back. "I mean, I could understand if she was going on about respecting Lupin or McGonagall or someone like that, but Trelawney is just not worth it."

"Don't be too harsh on her, Ron!" Ginny chastised from nearby. "She has made some proper predictions, after all."

Dean shrugged. "She's still not worth revering."

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"Please, Madam Pomfrey! I feel fine!" Draco wheedled a week later. He seemed to have recovered from his illness, although his cough hadn't shifted completely. "I've been up and about for the past two days and I know I can cope with lessons. Please? Look, just see how I get on in lessons this morning. If I feel ill, I'll come back up here. I promise."

"I'll make sure of that," added Hannah. She'd been coming to see him every day, and the two had struck up an unlikely friendship that had surprised everyone, save perhaps Dumbledore.

"Hmmm…" said Madam Pomfrey, wavering. "Maybe…"

"We've got twenty minutes till lessons and I still have to get my books," Draco informed her.

"Oh, go on then," Pomfrey said, relenting. She shook her head. "I can't remember the last time a student was so eager to get to lessons. But report to me at lunchtime, Mr. Malfoy. Miss Abbott, see that he does."

"Yes, ma'am," they replied in unison, saluting her before hurrying off.

"And don't run in the corridors!" she hollered after them.

Obediently they slowed to a fast walk. "What's your first lesson?" asked Hannah as they neared her common room.

"Potions. You?"

"History of Magic," she groaned. "Why I took it I don't know. So I'll be half asleep by the time I see you in Herbology."

"See you then. You have my sympathies, by the way." He glanced at his watch and quickened his pace as he made his way down to the Slytherin common room. On arrival, he noticed that it was virtually deserted apart from three fifth-year girls discussing and applying makeup. Draco didn't think that any amount of makeup would make any of them even remotely pretty. He ignored them and headed up to his dormitory, collected his books and went to Snape's lesson. The head of Slytherin was the only one there when Draco arrived, and he glanced up when his student walked in. "Poppy released you?" he inquired, a hint of surprise in his voice.

Draco nodded.

"Don't overdo it," the teacher advised him briskly. "Now sit down and get your things out. We're working on the theory behind a powerful sleeping draught that we shall be attempting next lesson. The rest of the class should be along shortly –

"Peeves! Get out!" he barked suddenly as the annoying poltergeist floated casually into the room. Snape raised his wand. "Accio Bloody Baron!"

Peeves froze as, moments later, the Slytherin ghost came zooming into the dungeon. Draco couldn't stop himself from shuddering; even the most hardened Slytherin was uneasy around the silent spectre. Peeves began stammering an insincere apology as the Bloody Baron slowly advanced on him, and he shot off, the Baron close on his heels.

"I will not hesitate to do that again if need be!" Snape called after the disappearing poltergeist, just as the rest of the class walked in. "Sit down. Now," he ordered.

Harry sat down next to Draco, where Snape had insisted he sat at the start of the school year. "You OK?" he hissed as Snape cleaned the board and put his papers in order.

"Apart from the cough. Trying to persuade Pomfrey to let me come was tough, but she let me in the end," Draco replied.

Snape cleared his throat pointedly and silence fell. The lesson had begun.

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"…So you see, I'm fine!" Draco concluded triumphantly.

"Just let me give you a quick check," Pomfrey insisted. "Come on now, or I won't let you join the others for lunch or go to your lessons this afternoon."

Draco reluctantly got up onto the bed and allowed her to examine him. Satisfied, she nodded. "You'll do. See me before you go to bed tonight – and yes, you can sleep in your own dormitory. But absolutely no Quidditch! Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now shoo."

He obliged, as quickly as possible, meeting Hannah outside the hospital wing door. "All OK?" she asked.

"All OK," he confirmed. "I've still got to report to her before bed," (here he rolled his eyes), "but at least I don't have to spend another night in there." He reached for her hand and squeezed it briefly. "Thanks for coming; apart from Harry, everyone's stopped coming – although regarding Pansy, that's something of a relief. I doubt Crabbe and Goyle have even realised I've been missing. And hopefully Pansy will hook up permanently with Blaise. I owled Father to tell him. He wasn't too happy about it. I, on the other hand, couldn't be happier."

"Let's go for lunch."

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"Reading the stars correctly requires a lot of skill," Professor Trelawney intoned in her misty voice. "We have studied such things before, so please take out your star charts, which I requested you bring to today's lesson."

"How many times is Voldemort going to kill me this time?" Harry murmured under his breath to Ron. "If I died even half the times she said I would, I'd be a medical miracle."

"Tell me about it," Ron agreed. "And –"

"Boys!" snapped Trelawney. "Pay attention – we are going into more detail than before. The Fates have notified me that star interpretation will be an integral part of your NEWT examination, so I strongly advise you to pay attention."

The Gryffindor boys, after the conversation at lunch yesterday, didn't dare look at each other, though they were all aware of Parvati's glare boring into them. Harry looked out of the open window, which he'd sat beside to minimise the effects of the heat and perfumes of the Divination teacher's classroom and increase his chances of staying awake. He glanced out of it and spotted a large, shaggy black dog in far below in the grounds. His stomach tightened; what could Sirius want?

The dog disappeared into the castle. Harry couldn't shake off the feeling of intense foreboding that was now beginning to grow.

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That evening he was summoned to Dumbledore's office. He had managed to put Sirius' earlier appearance to the back of his mind, but now, in the presence of his godfather, it all came flooding back.

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore greeted him. "Do come in."

Harry did so. Sirius was standing there, his face tense. "I won't beat around the bush. Voldemort's been seen. Yesterday. Near Carlisle, according to reliable sources. I gather he's been staying down in the West Country. Nice and isolated, the Malfoys' home."

Harry had to grip the edge of Dumbledore's desk to keep himself upright. "Carlisle? But surely that's not that far from here? I mean, aren't we in Scotland somewhere?"

Sirius nodded grimly. "He and Pettigrew have been staying with Malfoy for quite a while now. I'm not sure what it is exactly that they're plotting, but I'm pretty convinced that, a) it can't be anything good, and b) that it concerns Harry in some capacity."

Harry sat down heavily in a chair. "Can he get into the castle?"

"No," said Dumbledore firmly. "All the…ahem, little-known entrances into the castle are under scrutiny. But we have no doubt that he has other ways." He looked meaningfully at Sirius.

"He already knows that there's a Death Eater in the school, Albus," Sirius answered brusquely. "What we don't know – even you don't – is who it is."

"Malfoy said something about Joseph Flint," Harry supplied.

"Flint?" said Sirius keenly. "I was a few years below his father, Warno Flint, at school. He went to Azkaban last year for Death Eater-related activities. His elder son Marcus went down with him, if I recall correctly. It wouldn't surprise me if Joseph was a Death Eater." He paced the room impatiently. "But we don't have any evidence." He sat down. "We need to think this through."

"If you'll excuse us, Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry got the message and left. He spent the rest of the evening playing chess with Ron – and lost spectacularly.

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TBC

Author thanks:

Actionmaster: sometimes you have to have slower chapters – it can't all be fast and furious. Besides, there are one or two significant things in chapter 10.

Rebell: hmmm…you've given me an idea for a one-shot humour spin-off from this fic…And I have essays and an exam soon! Noooo! I wrote the whole migraine thing from experience; I've fortunately only had a few, but they are absolutely horrible.

Lucidity: I wish I could answer the Peeves thing. I wonder if maybe the Bloody Baron was the cause of his death…? JK's probably got some unexpected twist up her sleeve about Peeves; I wouldn't put it past her! I thought you'd like the Snape bit. I'm not telling you about whether Voldemort or Lucius did anything to Draco, or whether he's just very vulnerable to illnesses at the moment. Narcissa's sidelined for a bit at this point in the story.

Rinkurocks: Yay! More Draco sympathy! I'm very good at angsty stuff; I write a lot of it. I can't answer your question about why some people think Blaise Zabini is a girl; JK only recently said anything on the matter. I'd actually written Blaise both ways until JK said that that particular character is male.

A Monkey's Harp: I'm not commenting on Draco's illness – although there is a possibility that some reviewers are reading slightly too much into this topic…Hermione's actually really easy for me to keep in character; I'm a lot like her – although not anywhere near as bossy! I confess that I am not actually a huge Ron fan. He irritates me sometimes. (blushes red at compliments) Thank you.

Cloud of Dreams: comments have been taken on board and I will endeavour to learn from them. I didn't want to make the romantic pairing too subtle. Yes, I know Hannah said ten minutes, but that was how long she had and she wasn't anticipating Madam Pomfrey having different ideas and deciding to throw her out early! Regarding Draco's illness, it's a little more complex than just one condition. And while I appreciate your comments about Harry, remember that he's not always the subtlest of people – and Hermione is rather more perceptive than the average person, and Ron tends to be fairly dense when it comes to some matters.

Samhaincat: oooh, I hate it when you can't log in! It's done that to me a few times – and Hotmail's done it more often than it hasn't over the last 3 weeks while I've been at home (but that could just be our old and temperamental computer). Love that you're loving this fic! Keep up the Draco sympathy!

AshleyPorter: don't ask me questions I can't answer without ruining the plot! You're just going to have to keep hanging on and reading; all will (eventually) be revealed!

Evanescent Dawn: oooh, homework does have that annoying habit of getting in the way, as do essays and exam revision! With Ron, he's always learned to hate everything about the Malfoys and to not even contemplate the fact that perhaps they could accept a second chance. He strikes me as the sort of person who tends to see things more in black and white and to largely ignore the grey areas. I suppose also, as I'm not a very big Ron fan (he irritates me a lot), there is a slight bias against him. Don't know where you'd pay to see Snape blow up – perhaps just watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves? That could be the closest you'd get – apart from when OotP movie comes out! Snape does look out for Draco, and I suspect more than we realise – perhaps he thinks that Draco has the potential to be saved? Note also how, in OotP, he calls Draco by his first name rather than his surname. I love Poppy; she's great. Draco's not used to such maternal warmth. If you don't want to broadcast who you think the Death Eater is, tell me in an e-mail; I'm curious.

TinorialPeredhil: I refuse to comment on the romantic situation, but you do know me well!! And no, I'm not a great Ron fan. Peeves is fun to write.

Ruperts-a-honey: not commenting on Draco's health – although there's more suffering for him still…(cackles evilly)When you say "action", I do hope you're not implying romance! Because if you were, you'd be on completely the wrong track! Don't get me wrong, I haven't got a problem with slash fics (there are some excellent Harry/Draco and Lupin/Snape ones out there) but it wouldn't fit in with this story.