A/N: Contrary to rumors abounding, I have not died! Here it is! Hope you
enjoy! Sylvia
"I think Snape and Draco are doing something to Harry. Poison, or something addicting." Ron told her. He had decided that skating around the issue would only annoy her. He looked up and froze when he saw her. She was laughing at him! She had her fact buried in a pillow, laughing at him. "What?" he asked, perplexed about what she was finding humorous.
"I don't think that's it." She said, catching her breath and settling herself into her lecture mode. "I spent some time with Harry, Draco, and Snape." She said, leaning forward. "They all acted like friends. Harry trusts them. I don't think that Harry is in trouble." Hermione paused for a moment. "What made you think that he's in trouble?"
"I saw them give Harry something in a vial. They said it's medicine, but Harry doesn't seem sick." Ron told her. "There is no medical potion used that needs to be done in doses over time. Not like Harry is taking it." Ron sat back and sighed. "I just have a feeling that there's something more here that he's not telling us." Hermione chewed her bottom lip and frowned.
"Did you try asking him?" She asked, folding her blanket. "Since you woke me up so early, I'm going to go check over my essay and make sure it's okay. Want to join me?" Ron sighed and nodded.
"Sure, why not?" he said. "Meet you in half an hour down here?"
"Okay." Hermione smiled at him and went back to her dorm to get ready for the day. Ron frowned. He needed to talk to Harry, and hopefully soon.
"All rise!" The courtroom door opened and the judge walked in. Harry watched as she settled herself at her bench. "Court is now in session."
"Prosecution, call your first witness." The judge said.
"The court calls Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt to the stand." Harry watched as the Auror got to his feet, made his way to the front of the courtroom, took the stand, and was sworn in. The prosecutor, a little beady man called Benjamin Michaels, approached the witness stand and smiled at the Auror.
"Could you state your name and occupation for the record, please?" The Auror nodded.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt, Auror for the Ministry." The prosecution nodded. Shacklebolt looked out over the crowd at the trial. His eyes found Harry Potter. When he had first seen Harry at the manor, he had looked like a kid. Sitting in the audience now was a young man, who was looking as though he had taken Tom Riddle's arrest personally. Shacklebolt decided that he would never want to meet this young man in a dark alleyway without some serious protection.
"What, if any, experience have you had with Vol-, er, You-Know-Who, or his Death Eaters?" Harry smiled and held out a hand towards Draco, who only scowled at Harry and slapped a coin into his palm. Harry happily slid the coin into his pocket. Severus Snape leaned forward and lightly smacked both boys in the back of the head for betting on whatever they had been betting on. Both glared at him, and then smiled. There was no reason to stop, just continue without letting Severus seeing them.
"I've fought against him and his forces in the last war, and find myself fighting against him now." Shacklebolt answered. "I've arrested a few Death Eaters. Their names are in my file, should you be curious." The prosecutor nodded, as in assent, and turned back towards him.
"Have you ever seen Vold-, er, You-Know-Who face-to-face?" Shacklebolt grew grim and nodded. Harry nudged Draco lightly. The other boy mouthed "later" and returned his attention to the trial. Harry nodded and watched as Shacklebolt seemed to need to collect himself before answering.
"Yes, just once." He replied. "Very creepy, he was too. Red eyes, spoke with an odd slithering noise to his voice, and shrouded very well." Mr. Michaels nodded.
"Can you point him out in this courtroom?" Shacklebolt nodded.
"The defendant looks like him, save the eyes and voice." Michaels smiled and turned back to the audience. "Let the record show that the witness identified the defendant as You-Know-Who." The prosecutor turned back to the witness stand and smiled.
"Now, could you tell us what happened when you went to Riddle Manor to rescue Harry Potter?" Harry glared at the man and wondered how long it would take to reach the front of the courtroom if no one got in his way. Draco smiled at him, as though he knew what Harry was thinking about.
"We found Harry Potter in the living room. He looked quite surprised to see us there."
"Surprised?" Mr. Michaels questioned. "In what way?"
"He looked as though he couldn't believe that we were there." Shacklebolt explained. Michaels nodded.
"No further questions." Michaels said, turning away from the Auror. "Your witness." He commented to Mr. Connell. Mr. Connell rose to his feet and regarded the witness.
"Auror Shacklebolt, you mentioned that the differences between Voldemort," the courtroom erupted once again. He hurriedly looked at his watch, timing the outburst. He grinned at Draco. One and a half minutes. Draco only rolled his eyes. He owed Harry another coin. "Excuse me, the differences between the Dark Lord and my defendant only amount to two, his eyes and his voice. Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir. It is." Mr. Connell nodded, as though thinking about something.
"So you are saying that the voice of my client does not match that of the Dark Lord's?" He asked. Shacklebolt looked slightly nervous. Mr. Connell waited for a few seconds before raising his eyebrow. "Mr. Shacklebolt, does the voice of my client match that of the Dark Lord's?" Shacklebolt sighed.
"No the voice doesn't match." Shacklebolt answered. Mr. Connell nodded as though he was satisfied.
"You also said that the Dark Lord's eyes are different than my client's eyes. What color are the Dark Lord's eyes?" Connell asked, coming forward to stand next to the bench.
"Well, they're red. Almost like blood." Connell nodded.
"I see. I can tell you for a fact, or I could have Mr. Riddle brought over here if you don't believe me, that Mr. Riddle has blue eyes." Shacklebolt chewed his bottom lip. "Now, does the Dark Lord have blue eyes?" Shacklebolt shook his head no. "But Mr. Riddle does. Interesting. So, Auror Shacklebolt, how is it possible that you identified this man, my client, as Voldemort," the entire courtroom gave a collective shudder. "if the traits of voice and eyes are not the same."
"He could be using a spell." Shacklebolt said. Connell smiled.
"There is that, except that you and I both know that all spells guarding appearances, animagus transformations, and dictoquills are deactivated the minute that we all step through the doors." Shacklebolt fell silent after that, processing what had just been said. "No further questions."
"And the first prosecution witness gets shut down hard. That has to hurt." Harry commented under his breath so that no one could hear him. Draco stuffed his fist into his mouth to keep from laughing. Well, almost no one. Harry grinned over at his friend and sighed. Draco was hopeless when it came to keeping his cool. Draco had proceeded to slide off the bench in hopes of hiding his laughter from the courtroom in general. Snape bent down behind Harry, and he could hear Snape berating Draco to get off the floor and act normal.
Michaels stood up and took a deep breath. "I call Minister Fudge to the stand." Harry almost laughed aloud. Percy was there behind Fudge, still looking as hopeless as ever, while Fudge continued to ignore him. Harry wondered why Percy hadn't been placed in Slytherin, because Percy had enough ambition in him for his entire family. Fudge managed to get to the stand without falling over himself. Harry had to give him points for that. He couldn't figure out how the Minister managed to walk, being that full of himself. "Hello, Minister Fudge." Draco finally managed to pull himself off the floor and back into his seat. Harry smiled again and wondered how long it had been.
"Hello, Mr. Michaels." Fudge returned.
"Could you please state your name and occupation for the record?" Fudge nodded and seemed to puff up even more.
"Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic." Harry wondered if Fudge would explode, he was puffed up so far.
"Now Minister, what has been your experience with Vol-, er, You-Know- Who?" Harry smiled at Draco, who only rolled his eyes.
"My office has been fighting against him every step of the way." Harry ducked his head so that no one would see him ready to burst out into laughter. Snape's hand on his shoulder stopped him from scoffing aloud. "The public's safety is our prime concern." Harry bit his lip. No way would he ruin these oh-so-quotable words from the Minister. He hoped that the court recorder got that all. He wanted to throw it in Fudge's face later.
Twenty minutes and three witnesses later, Harry was ready to regress into a five year old and whine that it was the defense's turn to call witnesses. He was bored with the prosecution and the same questions over and over. What is your experience with the Vol-, er, You-Know-Who? Have you ever seen him face-to-face? Can you point him out in this courtroom? Harry rolled his eyes. Then the defense basically tossed everyone out. Why had this trial even started? There was no point to it. He was bored to tears. He nudged Draco, who returned it. Yep, Draco was bored too. Harry decided to count ceiling tiles, discreetly of course, to pass the time. He almost jumped out of his chair when he heard the next witness called.
"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Harry watched as Dumbledore went up to the witness stand and was sworn in. "Headmaster, you've fought against Vol-," he was cut off by Dumbledore.
"Voldemort? Yes, I have fought against him from the beginning." Dumbledore answered. His cutting off the other man's words seemed to upset the prosecutor just a bit and Harry smiled. Oh, this was going to be fun.
"So, you've probably seen him many times." At Dumbledore's nod, the prosecutor seemed to become a little bolder. "How many times, would you say?" Dumbledore gazed off for a few seconds before answering.
"Far too many to keep count, Mr. Michaels." Dumbledore answered. Michaels nodded.
"Can you point him out in this courtroom?" Michaels asked, as though completely sure of what the answer would be.
"He's not here." Dumbledore answered. A few people in the seats laughed as Michaels did a double take.
"Excuse me?" Michaels said.
"He's not here." Dumbledore said. He looked over Michaels and started searching for something in his pocket. He made a small noise of success and pulled out a small bag. "Lemon Drop? You look as though you need one." Harry chuckled. He heard Snape snort behind him.
"Lemon Drops laced with Calming Potion." He whispered to himself. Harry and Draco turned to each other. Both smiled. That was a nice trick. Now, if only they could feed to the Slytherins.
"Er, no thank you. So, the Dark Lord is not in this courtroom?" Dumbledore started to nod, paused, and looked to Harry.
"Harry, how's your scar?" Dumbledore asked.
"Fine, sir. Not a twinge." Harry answered. Dumbledore smiled, nodded, and thanked him.
"Yes, I am certain that he is not in this courtroom." Dumbledore told him. Harry snickered and wondered why everyone was staring at him. Oh. The scar. Nothing new there.
The judge banged her gavel on her bench and sighed. "All right, that's all I can take today. Mr. Michaels, approach the bench." She bent down to whisper to him. Harry heartily wished that he had had a pair of Extendable Ears at that moment. He wanted to hear what the judge was saying to him. She straightened and sighed. "Recess until tomorrow morning." The courtroom started to empty. Harry fought against the wave of people and went up to Tom.
"That was fun." He told Tom. Tom smiled at him and nodded.
"I especially liked that part with Dumbledore and his Lemon Drops." Tom said, looking over Harry. "You're not sleeping." Harry shrugged. "No, I can tell. Nightmares? Visions?"
"A little of both. I'm fine. Draco's been spying for Matthew. They think I don't know, but you taught me how to spy on a room so well." Harry said.
"This coming from the boy who was caught eavesdropping on me and one of his professors." Harry smiled at Tom.
"That was practice. I'm much better at it now." Tom smiled and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry reached up and grabbed it.
"I'm glad to hear it." Tom looked his boy over, wondering when Harry actually slept, and if Draco even knew about it. He saw the boy standing a bit behind Harry. He gave the lad a look, and Draco nodded. Ah, so he did know.
"All right, you two can stop talking about me like I'm not here." Harry said.
"I didn't say a word." Tom said. Harry smiled and shook his head.
"You can't fool me. I can feel it." Tom sighed. He was found out.
"Alright, I admit it. But, it's for your own good." Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled in spite of himself. Tom cared and was showing it. Not that others hadn't in the past, but this was different.
"I promise to get one of my professors or go to the Hospital Wing if it becomes too much." Harry told him. Tom fingered the chain hung around Harry's neck, knowing that the protection charm was hanging there. Tom pulled Harry into his arms. Harry sighed and rested his head on Tom's shoulder.
"I love you, Harry. Take care of yourself." Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. "You hear me?" Tom asked.
"I heard you." Harry answered as Tom released him. "You take care of yourself, too." Tom nodded. Harry leaned forward and sighed. "I love you, too. Please don't get hurt." Tom nodded again and smiled at the boy.
"No worries about that. I've got my own room." Harry chuckled and felt a slight tug on his arm. He turned and saw Professor Snape. He nodded.
"I've got to go." Harry told him. Tom nodded and motioned for him to go. "Bye, Tom." Tom allowed himself to be led away. Harry followed Professor Snape out of the courtroom and through the Floo system. He waved good-bye to Draco and started off towards Gryffindor tower to retrieve his broom for Quidditch practice. He never heard the spell that knocked him out.
A/N: All right, several of you probably want to kill me for that cliffy, especially after waiting so long for this chapter. Instead of answering individual reviews, I'm going to work on the next chapter. Hopefully, that will keep everyone from killing me. I have also been warned that ffn is freezing stories that have too much "chat" in them. So that means I won't be answering individual reviews anymore. However, if you leave your email in the review, I'll be happy to give you answers through that. Thanks again for your support! Sylvia
"I think Snape and Draco are doing something to Harry. Poison, or something addicting." Ron told her. He had decided that skating around the issue would only annoy her. He looked up and froze when he saw her. She was laughing at him! She had her fact buried in a pillow, laughing at him. "What?" he asked, perplexed about what she was finding humorous.
"I don't think that's it." She said, catching her breath and settling herself into her lecture mode. "I spent some time with Harry, Draco, and Snape." She said, leaning forward. "They all acted like friends. Harry trusts them. I don't think that Harry is in trouble." Hermione paused for a moment. "What made you think that he's in trouble?"
"I saw them give Harry something in a vial. They said it's medicine, but Harry doesn't seem sick." Ron told her. "There is no medical potion used that needs to be done in doses over time. Not like Harry is taking it." Ron sat back and sighed. "I just have a feeling that there's something more here that he's not telling us." Hermione chewed her bottom lip and frowned.
"Did you try asking him?" She asked, folding her blanket. "Since you woke me up so early, I'm going to go check over my essay and make sure it's okay. Want to join me?" Ron sighed and nodded.
"Sure, why not?" he said. "Meet you in half an hour down here?"
"Okay." Hermione smiled at him and went back to her dorm to get ready for the day. Ron frowned. He needed to talk to Harry, and hopefully soon.
"All rise!" The courtroom door opened and the judge walked in. Harry watched as she settled herself at her bench. "Court is now in session."
"Prosecution, call your first witness." The judge said.
"The court calls Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt to the stand." Harry watched as the Auror got to his feet, made his way to the front of the courtroom, took the stand, and was sworn in. The prosecutor, a little beady man called Benjamin Michaels, approached the witness stand and smiled at the Auror.
"Could you state your name and occupation for the record, please?" The Auror nodded.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt, Auror for the Ministry." The prosecution nodded. Shacklebolt looked out over the crowd at the trial. His eyes found Harry Potter. When he had first seen Harry at the manor, he had looked like a kid. Sitting in the audience now was a young man, who was looking as though he had taken Tom Riddle's arrest personally. Shacklebolt decided that he would never want to meet this young man in a dark alleyway without some serious protection.
"What, if any, experience have you had with Vol-, er, You-Know-Who, or his Death Eaters?" Harry smiled and held out a hand towards Draco, who only scowled at Harry and slapped a coin into his palm. Harry happily slid the coin into his pocket. Severus Snape leaned forward and lightly smacked both boys in the back of the head for betting on whatever they had been betting on. Both glared at him, and then smiled. There was no reason to stop, just continue without letting Severus seeing them.
"I've fought against him and his forces in the last war, and find myself fighting against him now." Shacklebolt answered. "I've arrested a few Death Eaters. Their names are in my file, should you be curious." The prosecutor nodded, as in assent, and turned back towards him.
"Have you ever seen Vold-, er, You-Know-Who face-to-face?" Shacklebolt grew grim and nodded. Harry nudged Draco lightly. The other boy mouthed "later" and returned his attention to the trial. Harry nodded and watched as Shacklebolt seemed to need to collect himself before answering.
"Yes, just once." He replied. "Very creepy, he was too. Red eyes, spoke with an odd slithering noise to his voice, and shrouded very well." Mr. Michaels nodded.
"Can you point him out in this courtroom?" Shacklebolt nodded.
"The defendant looks like him, save the eyes and voice." Michaels smiled and turned back to the audience. "Let the record show that the witness identified the defendant as You-Know-Who." The prosecutor turned back to the witness stand and smiled.
"Now, could you tell us what happened when you went to Riddle Manor to rescue Harry Potter?" Harry glared at the man and wondered how long it would take to reach the front of the courtroom if no one got in his way. Draco smiled at him, as though he knew what Harry was thinking about.
"We found Harry Potter in the living room. He looked quite surprised to see us there."
"Surprised?" Mr. Michaels questioned. "In what way?"
"He looked as though he couldn't believe that we were there." Shacklebolt explained. Michaels nodded.
"No further questions." Michaels said, turning away from the Auror. "Your witness." He commented to Mr. Connell. Mr. Connell rose to his feet and regarded the witness.
"Auror Shacklebolt, you mentioned that the differences between Voldemort," the courtroom erupted once again. He hurriedly looked at his watch, timing the outburst. He grinned at Draco. One and a half minutes. Draco only rolled his eyes. He owed Harry another coin. "Excuse me, the differences between the Dark Lord and my defendant only amount to two, his eyes and his voice. Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir. It is." Mr. Connell nodded, as though thinking about something.
"So you are saying that the voice of my client does not match that of the Dark Lord's?" He asked. Shacklebolt looked slightly nervous. Mr. Connell waited for a few seconds before raising his eyebrow. "Mr. Shacklebolt, does the voice of my client match that of the Dark Lord's?" Shacklebolt sighed.
"No the voice doesn't match." Shacklebolt answered. Mr. Connell nodded as though he was satisfied.
"You also said that the Dark Lord's eyes are different than my client's eyes. What color are the Dark Lord's eyes?" Connell asked, coming forward to stand next to the bench.
"Well, they're red. Almost like blood." Connell nodded.
"I see. I can tell you for a fact, or I could have Mr. Riddle brought over here if you don't believe me, that Mr. Riddle has blue eyes." Shacklebolt chewed his bottom lip. "Now, does the Dark Lord have blue eyes?" Shacklebolt shook his head no. "But Mr. Riddle does. Interesting. So, Auror Shacklebolt, how is it possible that you identified this man, my client, as Voldemort," the entire courtroom gave a collective shudder. "if the traits of voice and eyes are not the same."
"He could be using a spell." Shacklebolt said. Connell smiled.
"There is that, except that you and I both know that all spells guarding appearances, animagus transformations, and dictoquills are deactivated the minute that we all step through the doors." Shacklebolt fell silent after that, processing what had just been said. "No further questions."
"And the first prosecution witness gets shut down hard. That has to hurt." Harry commented under his breath so that no one could hear him. Draco stuffed his fist into his mouth to keep from laughing. Well, almost no one. Harry grinned over at his friend and sighed. Draco was hopeless when it came to keeping his cool. Draco had proceeded to slide off the bench in hopes of hiding his laughter from the courtroom in general. Snape bent down behind Harry, and he could hear Snape berating Draco to get off the floor and act normal.
Michaels stood up and took a deep breath. "I call Minister Fudge to the stand." Harry almost laughed aloud. Percy was there behind Fudge, still looking as hopeless as ever, while Fudge continued to ignore him. Harry wondered why Percy hadn't been placed in Slytherin, because Percy had enough ambition in him for his entire family. Fudge managed to get to the stand without falling over himself. Harry had to give him points for that. He couldn't figure out how the Minister managed to walk, being that full of himself. "Hello, Minister Fudge." Draco finally managed to pull himself off the floor and back into his seat. Harry smiled again and wondered how long it had been.
"Hello, Mr. Michaels." Fudge returned.
"Could you please state your name and occupation for the record?" Fudge nodded and seemed to puff up even more.
"Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic." Harry wondered if Fudge would explode, he was puffed up so far.
"Now Minister, what has been your experience with Vol-, er, You-Know- Who?" Harry smiled at Draco, who only rolled his eyes.
"My office has been fighting against him every step of the way." Harry ducked his head so that no one would see him ready to burst out into laughter. Snape's hand on his shoulder stopped him from scoffing aloud. "The public's safety is our prime concern." Harry bit his lip. No way would he ruin these oh-so-quotable words from the Minister. He hoped that the court recorder got that all. He wanted to throw it in Fudge's face later.
Twenty minutes and three witnesses later, Harry was ready to regress into a five year old and whine that it was the defense's turn to call witnesses. He was bored with the prosecution and the same questions over and over. What is your experience with the Vol-, er, You-Know-Who? Have you ever seen him face-to-face? Can you point him out in this courtroom? Harry rolled his eyes. Then the defense basically tossed everyone out. Why had this trial even started? There was no point to it. He was bored to tears. He nudged Draco, who returned it. Yep, Draco was bored too. Harry decided to count ceiling tiles, discreetly of course, to pass the time. He almost jumped out of his chair when he heard the next witness called.
"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Harry watched as Dumbledore went up to the witness stand and was sworn in. "Headmaster, you've fought against Vol-," he was cut off by Dumbledore.
"Voldemort? Yes, I have fought against him from the beginning." Dumbledore answered. His cutting off the other man's words seemed to upset the prosecutor just a bit and Harry smiled. Oh, this was going to be fun.
"So, you've probably seen him many times." At Dumbledore's nod, the prosecutor seemed to become a little bolder. "How many times, would you say?" Dumbledore gazed off for a few seconds before answering.
"Far too many to keep count, Mr. Michaels." Dumbledore answered. Michaels nodded.
"Can you point him out in this courtroom?" Michaels asked, as though completely sure of what the answer would be.
"He's not here." Dumbledore answered. A few people in the seats laughed as Michaels did a double take.
"Excuse me?" Michaels said.
"He's not here." Dumbledore said. He looked over Michaels and started searching for something in his pocket. He made a small noise of success and pulled out a small bag. "Lemon Drop? You look as though you need one." Harry chuckled. He heard Snape snort behind him.
"Lemon Drops laced with Calming Potion." He whispered to himself. Harry and Draco turned to each other. Both smiled. That was a nice trick. Now, if only they could feed to the Slytherins.
"Er, no thank you. So, the Dark Lord is not in this courtroom?" Dumbledore started to nod, paused, and looked to Harry.
"Harry, how's your scar?" Dumbledore asked.
"Fine, sir. Not a twinge." Harry answered. Dumbledore smiled, nodded, and thanked him.
"Yes, I am certain that he is not in this courtroom." Dumbledore told him. Harry snickered and wondered why everyone was staring at him. Oh. The scar. Nothing new there.
The judge banged her gavel on her bench and sighed. "All right, that's all I can take today. Mr. Michaels, approach the bench." She bent down to whisper to him. Harry heartily wished that he had had a pair of Extendable Ears at that moment. He wanted to hear what the judge was saying to him. She straightened and sighed. "Recess until tomorrow morning." The courtroom started to empty. Harry fought against the wave of people and went up to Tom.
"That was fun." He told Tom. Tom smiled at him and nodded.
"I especially liked that part with Dumbledore and his Lemon Drops." Tom said, looking over Harry. "You're not sleeping." Harry shrugged. "No, I can tell. Nightmares? Visions?"
"A little of both. I'm fine. Draco's been spying for Matthew. They think I don't know, but you taught me how to spy on a room so well." Harry said.
"This coming from the boy who was caught eavesdropping on me and one of his professors." Harry smiled at Tom.
"That was practice. I'm much better at it now." Tom smiled and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry reached up and grabbed it.
"I'm glad to hear it." Tom looked his boy over, wondering when Harry actually slept, and if Draco even knew about it. He saw the boy standing a bit behind Harry. He gave the lad a look, and Draco nodded. Ah, so he did know.
"All right, you two can stop talking about me like I'm not here." Harry said.
"I didn't say a word." Tom said. Harry smiled and shook his head.
"You can't fool me. I can feel it." Tom sighed. He was found out.
"Alright, I admit it. But, it's for your own good." Harry rolled his eyes, but smiled in spite of himself. Tom cared and was showing it. Not that others hadn't in the past, but this was different.
"I promise to get one of my professors or go to the Hospital Wing if it becomes too much." Harry told him. Tom fingered the chain hung around Harry's neck, knowing that the protection charm was hanging there. Tom pulled Harry into his arms. Harry sighed and rested his head on Tom's shoulder.
"I love you, Harry. Take care of yourself." Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. "You hear me?" Tom asked.
"I heard you." Harry answered as Tom released him. "You take care of yourself, too." Tom nodded. Harry leaned forward and sighed. "I love you, too. Please don't get hurt." Tom nodded again and smiled at the boy.
"No worries about that. I've got my own room." Harry chuckled and felt a slight tug on his arm. He turned and saw Professor Snape. He nodded.
"I've got to go." Harry told him. Tom nodded and motioned for him to go. "Bye, Tom." Tom allowed himself to be led away. Harry followed Professor Snape out of the courtroom and through the Floo system. He waved good-bye to Draco and started off towards Gryffindor tower to retrieve his broom for Quidditch practice. He never heard the spell that knocked him out.
A/N: All right, several of you probably want to kill me for that cliffy, especially after waiting so long for this chapter. Instead of answering individual reviews, I'm going to work on the next chapter. Hopefully, that will keep everyone from killing me. I have also been warned that ffn is freezing stories that have too much "chat" in them. So that means I won't be answering individual reviews anymore. However, if you leave your email in the review, I'll be happy to give you answers through that. Thanks again for your support! Sylvia