Draco was about ready to give up, studying had never been his strong point, but it was even worse with this blasted headache. The situation seemed strangely ironic to him. He had always maintained, mostly to himself, that he was more than able to do well in his schoolwork, if he made the effort, he simply never had. Now, for once he was actually trying to do his work, he was actually putting in some effort, and he was getting nowhere. Twice now he had tried to get through the reading for this stupid project with no success. He couldn't concentrate in the library, Hermione was always there. Trying to do some actual work with her around had proven impossible. He had been hours trying but he had spent the entire time daydreaming about her. Studying in the Slytherin Common Room wasn't an option either, he couldn't escape Pansy and her perpetual whimpering and moaning about his hand. The Prefect's Common Room was his last refuge. Hopefully nobody would bother him here. He had hoped to find it deserted but was disappointed to find a couple of Hufflepuff prefects inside, laughing and joking by the fire. Draco turned to leave, but hesitated. Where else could he go? He marched over to one of the armchairs and turned it so as it faced the wall, he pulled a small table over in front of it and sat down. Tuning the noise of the others out, he opened his book and started to read.

Hours passed, Draco lost track of time. Studying was boring enough but studying this stuff was worse. Arithmancy seemed to consist of nothing but complicated equations and proofs. But hey, that was nothing new, what else did he expect from a subject entirely devoted to theory? He shifted, growing uncomfortable in the chair. He lifted his arm out of the sling and worked his shoulder in circles, stretching the stiffness from his muscles. Setting his book down, he turned his attention to his right hand, squeezing it with his left. It was still almost completely numb, he could feel pressure as he squeezed, but not the actual touch. He continued to rub and massage his wrist as he tried to move his fingers. Again all his effort and concentration could only produce a slight twitch. Draco sighed and turned back to his study, his head rested against the leather of the chair and he yawned. The last thing he remembered before his eyes closed was trying to follow Dumbledore's explanation of his proof of the third level Animagus transformation.

THUMP! His eyes slammed open as someone burst into the room. He didn't have to turn round to know who it was. He recognised their voices instantly,

"What the hell were they playing at?" Weasley roared, "How could they let him get away like that?"

"Try to calm down Ron, this isn't helping," Potter answered him,

"Calm down? You want me to calm down? They had him, he was within their reach and they let him get away."

"It wasn't their fault Ron. There were only two of them,"

"There was only one of him though, they had him cornered and outnumbered, what else did they want?"

"It's not like they didn't try Ron, you heard what Dumbledore said. Kingsley Shacklebolt is in St. Mungo's for heavens sake. He's lucky Lucius didn't blow him to smithereens." Draco tensed, Lucius? They were talking about his father. What had he done now? He shut his eyes and buried his head in his hand. Still unaware of him, they continued talking,

"They are supposed to be Aurors Harry. They are supposed to be trained to deal with situations like that, with people like him."

"They are Ron. Lucius was just lucky that's all."

"Yeah," he heard Weasley sit down heavily, "Well, one of these days his luck will run out, just you wait." Before he could stop himself, Draco sighed. Their conversation stopped as they both heard the sound. 'Shit!' Draco shook his head and stood up, he yawned as he turned to face them, hoping they would believe he had been asleep, that he hadn't heard anything. It didn't work.

Weasley leapt to his feet and advanced on him, "Will you look who it is?" his face flushed red with anger, "Hiding out in here are we?"

"What do you mean?" Draco snarled at him, "I have every right to be here," Weasley moved forward again, Potter moved in front of him, blocking his path. Weasley tried to get around him, Potter had to grab hold of him to stop him.

Potter turned back to Draco, "What the fuck are you doing here Malfoy?"

"What does it look like Potter?" Draco gestured with his book, "I'm studying. At least I was, it seems to be impossible to find some peace and quiet around here," Potter didn't seem to believe him,

"Pull the other one Malfoy. You were hiding, listening in on our conversation. I bet you can't wait to run off and gloat to everyone about how clever your father is, about his latest escape act."

Draco scowled, "Believe it or not Potter, I have better things to do with my time than spy on you two," he turned to pick up his bag, "And," he paused, "not that it's any of your business, but I really don't care what my father does."

Weasley pulled free of Potters grip and moved to stand toe to toe with Draco, blocking his path, "You don't care?" pure rage filled his voice as he seized Draco's robes.

Potter reached out and grabbed his shoulder, "Ron…" he started but Weasley shook him off.

"No, Harry, stay out of this," he turned back to Draco, "You don't care what your father does? He attacks Harry and you don't care? He escapes from prison and you don't care?" he moved forward, pushing Draco back, "He puts Aurors in hospital and you don't care? He kills my brother and YOU DON'T CARE?" his voice had risen, he was shouting now.

Draco had had enough. Dropping his book, he shoved Weasley back as hard as he could. Weasley tripped and fell to the floor, Potter stepped forward but Draco was quicker than him, his hand flew to his pocket. He drew his wand and levelled it at Potters heart. "Don't," he fought to keep his voice level, "Now, I am only going to say this once. I am not my father. Whatever he did, or didn't do is nothing to do with me!" he turned to look at Weasley, "I really don't care what you think of me but remember one thing, I did not kill your brother." Weasley sat up. He didn't speak, he just glared at Draco. Potter moved, Draco saw it out of the corner of his eye, not that it did him any good. By the time he had gotten his attention back to Potter, it was to see the business end of his wand trained at him. 'Damn!' Their eyes locked onto each other, tension filled the air, which would strike first? Neither, before either could act, the door of the Common Room opened,

"There you are Ron," Hermione sounded anxious, "you shouldn't have stormed off like that, Professor Dumble…" her voice trailed off when she saw Draco at odds with Potter, "What's going on?" the question wasn't directed at anyone in particular.

Draco answered, "Ask them," he nodded at Potter and Weasley, "They started it,"

"We didn't start anything," Potter barked, "You were the one spying on us,"

"Spying?" Hermione raised an eyebrow and stepped towards them, "You were spying?"

"No," Draco sighed, "I was studying. They came in arguing, then attacked me," he turned to look at her.

She frowned, "If they attacked you, why are you the one holding them at wand-point?"

Draco shrugged, "I am just defending myself."

Weasley stood up, his own wand in his hand, "Shut up Malfoy, I'll give you reason to defend yourself," he lifted his arm to aim it at Draco but Hermione moved over and stopped him.

"Don't Ron, this isn't the time," she pleaded.

"You should listen to her Weasley," Draco lowered his wand, never taking his eyes off Potter, ready for any movement, "She's clearly trying to save you a great deal of unnecessary pain," he turned and picked up his book, "Though I'm at a loss to know why," he stuffed the book into his bag and turned to leave. "Now, I do have work to do, and it does not look likely that I'll get it done here."

"That's it, run away," Weasley shouted over Hermione's scolding.

Draco stopped, "I am not running anywhere Weasley," he gave Weasley his most confident stare, "But like she said, this isn't the time."

"Alright then, name your time, anytime you want," Weasley stopped pushing against Hermione and stepped back, still staring at Draco with hate in his eyes.

Draco frowned, "Are you challenging me Weasley?"

Weasley puffed out his chest, "Damn right I am."

"Ron!" Hermione shouted.

Weasley glared at her, "No Hermione, this is between me and him. So," he looked up at Draco again, "when will it be then Malfoy?"

Draco looked at him feeling the familiar urge to knock his block off come back. He was tired of him staring, tired of the angry glares. He turned to face him, setting his face, "Midnight tonight…The trophy room…Just you and me."

Weasley didn't say anything, he just nodded. Hermione glared at Draco. He shut his eyes and turned away to march out of the room. Outside he headed toward the dungeons. He checked his watch, it was after nine, three hours until he was to meet Weasley. He closed a fist with his left hand, he would enjoy beating him.

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Etean ducked under a bludger then banked hard to the right, snatching the quaffle an instant before Nott could catch it. He turned and sped off toward the opposite goal with Nott and Daniels in hot pursuit. They ducked and bobbed at high speed, but neither chaser could catch Etean. He crossed the halfway line, heard the whistle blow and he stopped.

Blaise flew up, hollering at the top of his voice at Nott, "Theo, what the hell were you doing? You have to keep your eyes on the quaffle at all times. You look away for one second and it's gone," he drew level with Etean and snatched the quaffle from his extended arm. Nott hovered in front of them, Blaise hurled the quaffle at him. "Back to positions, we do it again. This time, try to get it right."

"Sorry captain." Nott's voice overflowed with sarcasm, "But, before you get into full flow lecturing me, you may be interested to know," he pointed to the stands, "we have an audience." Blaise and Etean both followed his gesture. Below them, sitting in the stands was a girl. The evening light lit up her red hair, leaving no doubt as to her identity.

Blaise scowled, "The Littlest Weasley! Spying on our tactics," Etean raised an eyebrow. Did Blaise actually think that his tactics were worth spying on? Etean reached out to Ginny, sensing how upset she was. As far as he could tell, she wasn't even aware that they were staring at her. Blaise dug around inside his robes and drew out his wand, "I'll teach her to spy on us," he aimed at Ginny,

Etean leaned over and seized his arm, "Whoa there, what the hell are you doing?"

Blaise looked confused, "What do you mean what am I doing? What are you doing?"

"I'm stopping you from hurting the girl for no reason," said Etean.

"No reason?" Blaise was close to sounding hysterical, "She's spying on us, trying to learn our tactics."

"Come off it Blaise. That doesn't make sense," Etean said as he let him go.

"Maybe not to you," Blaise retorted, "but I know those Gryffindor bastards a hell of a lot better than you do. Theo, nail her."

Etean extended his hand, without turning round he pointed at Nott, "Don't you as much as twitch," his tone was ice, Nott didn't move.

Blaise moved closer to Etean, inches from his face, "I'm the captain here, not you," he growled.

"Are you?" Etean closed the distance between them even further, "Then why don't you act like it? Focus on the team, not the spectators," Blaise held his stare for a second before backing down.

He turned and flew away, "Fine, back to positions," he roared over his shoulder. Etean watched her fly away for a moment, then looked to Nott. He was hovering in the air, staring at Etean. Etean scoffed and flew off back to his starting position, sparing a glance at Ginny.

Blaise kept them at it for another hour, they repeated the play pattern over and over until at last he was satisfied that they had gotten it right. The team left, heading to the showers, Etean paused. Ginny was still sitting in the stands, he sensed that her mood hadn't changed. He turned his back on the others, ignoring their calls and headed toward her. As he approached the stand where she was sitting, she didn't look up. From what he could sense of her emotions he wasn't surprised to see her crying. He orbited the stand once and landed behind her. She still didn't notice him, she was staring at the pitch. Etean sat behind her and leaned forward,

"Enjoying the view?" he said quietly in her ear. She jumped, startled and looked around. He smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Ginny wiped her eyes, "I didn't see you. How long have you been there?"

"Not long, I was out there," he nodded to the pitch, the rest of the Slytherin team were disappearing into the team tunnel, "with them."

She looked up and frowned, "Quidditch practice? I didn't know you were on the team,"

Etean shook his head, "I'm not, not really. I'm just filling in as seeker while Malfoy is hurt," her face fell when she heard the name, he paused before he spoke again, "What are you doing out here?"

"Thinking," she said quietly.

Etean smiled, "I gathered that, it's clear you have a lot on your mind."

She shut her eyes and nodded, "You could say that," she folded her arms and hugged herself.

"Your brother?" he asked quietly even though he knew the answer, she nodded again, "You want to talk about it?"

Ginny shook her head, "Not really. He's dead, there's nothing else to say."

Etean climbed down onto the seat beside her, "I don't believe that. He was your brother, you can't just dismiss his death like that," anger started to creep into her voice,

"Why can't I? Who says I can't?"

Etean drew back from her slightly, "Nobody, but it won't help, that much I can guarantee you,"

She stood up, "How do you know? You didn't," she paused, her lip quivered, "You didn't even know him,"

Etean stood beside her, "No, I didn't. So why don't you tell me about him?"

"Because I don't want to," she shut her eyes, "I don't want to talk about it OK," she turned her back on him.

Etean checked his tone, "Because you're too mad?"

She rounded on him, her voice sounded really angry now, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like I mean. He's dead and you're mad. Mad at him for dying and leaving you, mad at the Death Eaters for killing him, mad at the world for not saving him…just plain mad."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

Etean raised an eyebrow, "Don't I? You'd be surprised,"

"Surprise me then."

Etean looked at her for a moment, considering, then shook his head, "Believe me, you don't want us to start trading horror stories Ginny. But I think I know where you're coming from. I know why you're mad and I think I can help you understand why he died, if you let me."

She looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes again, "I understand fine, he died because they killed him."

Etean was silent for a moment, watching a spider crawl along the railing beside them. He turned back to her, "Things are never that simple Ginny," he paused. Quick as a flash he moved his hand and trapped the spider, "As I understand it, your brother didn't have to be anywhere near the Death Eaters during their attack, but he was, because he made a choice. He chose to try and stop them and they killed him."

"He was doing his job…his duty," her voice sounded shaky.

Etean nodded, "That's not a reason not to be mad at him, it doesn't mean he did the right thing," she opened her mouth to argue but he cut her off, "Let me tell you a story, hopefully then you'll understand what I'm trying to say," she shut her mouth and frowned at him, he took a deep breath before continuing, "When I was about four, there was…an incident in my home. One that has stayed with me ever since."

"What?"

"One day, I was playing in my room, just as any four year old does. I heard a noise and looked up. There was a man, a stranger I had never seen before, standing over me. I was terrified…I screamed. One of the guards assigned to protect me heard me scream and came in. He killed the intruder where he stood. The man fell dead less than two feet from me," Etean shut his eyes, "To this day, I can still see the look on his face as he died."

Ginny's face paled, "He died right there in front of you?"

Etean nodded, "He died because of me. Duncan, the guard who killed him was my bodyguard. His job was to keep me safe. He saw what he decided was a threat to my life and he acted."

"That's horrible…but I don't see what this has to do with Percy."

Etean carried on as if he hadn't even heard her, "I was too young at the time to understand what was going on. I didn't know why Duncan had killed him. So I was scared, terrified, terrified of strangers sneaking into my room during the night. But I was even more terrified of Duncan, he was someone I liked, someone I trusted. He was always there, at my side and now I was terrified of the man. As time passed, I grew older but I still didn't understand what had happened. My fear turned to anger, I hated him. Eventually I snapped, one day I attacked him,"

"What happened?"

Etean laughed, "What do you think? I was a ten year old kid and he was a fully trained wizard. He beat me. I thought he was going to kill me,"

"But he didn't?"

"No, he didn't. He was my bodyguard, sworn and willing to die before he let any harm come to me," Etean turned and sat against the railing. He raised his hand, still holding the spider captive in his fingers, "You see, in my head I had portrayed Duncan as a monster, it was how I had chosen to deal with the situation. Because I didn't know any better, I had painted him as a heartless killer of an innocent man."

"But he wasn't? The man he killed wasn't innocent!"

Etean smiled again, "I told you things are never that simple. After I attacked Duncan, after I realised how wrong I was, I decided to learn all I could about that man, who he was, what he wanted. His name was Antoine DeSalle. He was a small time businessman, ran a shop selling potions in Marseille. We, my family actually owned the shop, he was our tenant. Apparently he was a nice enough guy, just a bad bookkeeper. He fell behind on his rent, and my father called in the debt. He evicted Antoine, shut down his shop."

"Your father sounds like a great guy!" her tone was biting.

Etean paused, swallowing his anger then he shook his head, "He was a businessman. He didn't know Antoine, I'm fairly certain that they never actually met. Antoine was nothing more than a name on a lease to my father. But to Antoine, my father was the man that ruined him – destroyed his whole livelihood with the stroke of a quill. He decided to take his revenge on my father. That's why he broke into our house that day, to have his revenge. Not the best decision he could have made, attacking my home was almost as good as committing suicide,"

"But that means he wasn't innocent, he attacked you."

Etean shrugged, "Guilty or innocent, it isn't for you, or me to decide. Antoine was just a man that made a choice. And his choice led to a lot of people making a lot of choices. My father decided to evict Antoine, did he have to? No – but he chose to. Antoine chose to take his revenge, chose to climb into my room. Did he have to? Did he even mean to? Of all the rooms he could have chosen, he picked mine. Was that part of his plan? Was I his target or did he pick my window by accident? Who knows? And then there's Duncan – he made a choice too. He saw what he thought was a threat to my life and he chose to kill Antoine. He chose to do it right in front of me. Did he have to? No, I suppose not, maybe he could have done it another way, but he didn't. It was his choice to make and he made it. If he had chosen any other way he wouldn't have been him. That was the thing I needed to understand, and what you need to understand. People make decisions the best way they can, Percy made his choice to try and stop the Death Eaters. Was he right?" he shrugged again, "Maybe, maybe not. But it was his choice and he made it the only way he could." He lifted his hand.

"Life, all life is about choices. My father made a choice, Duncan made a choice, Percy made a choice, and now I have a choice, I can close my hand," he tightened his fingers, nearly crushing the spider, "Or, I can open it," he spread his fingers, the spider ran along them and off onto the rail again. "Percy made a choice and it got him killed. He did what he had to do. For him to do anything else would mean him not being the person he was, the person you remember." Ginny started to cry again, Etean put his arm around her, "What you need to realise Ginny, is that it's OK to be mad at him, he wasn't perfect, he was human. He made a decision that got him killed, and that hurt you…he hurt you. It's only natural for you to be mad at him, like it was natural for me to be mad at Duncan,"

Ginny looked up at him, "Are you still mad at him?"

Etean smiled and shook his head, "Not anymore. It took a long time for me to get over what happened. But, in time, I came to realise that Duncan only did what he thought he had to do. He didn't want to kill Antoine and he didn't want to scare me. Understanding that allowed me to get over the fear, and the pain faded. It will for you too."

She shook her head, "I don't think so. It hurts too much."

"Yes, I know it does, and in a lot of ways it always will. You have lost someone you love, that pain won't ever go away completely. But it will become part of you. You will learn to live with it." Etean let her go and bundled his quidditch robes around him, shivering in the wind. He looked at her and smiled, "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm fucking freezing here," he extended his hand, "Come on, let's go inside."

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Draco paced across the trophy room floor, "Where is he?"

Etean didn't look round, he continued to examine the assorted trophies and medals, "He'll be here, have some patience Draco, relax."

Draco scoffed, "Yeah right, relax. It may have escaped your attention my lord, but us mere mortals often have trouble dealing with our emotions. We get nervous!"

Etean straightened up and paused for a moment before shaking his head, "Commoners!" he said sarcastically.

There was a moments silence before they both laughed. When the silence returned, Etean turned his attention back the trophies. Draco smiled and checked his watch again. Weasley was over ten minutes late, he sighed and started to pace again. Etean's voice shattered the silence, "I still don't think this is a good idea."

Draco frowned, "We've been over this, I can beat him," he sounded as confident as he felt, Weasley couldn't touch him.

"Yes we have, and yes, granted, you have learned more than enough to deal with him. But that is not my point and you know it. I don't see any point in fighting Weasley, it won't solve anything."

Draco shrugged, "Maybe not, but it will make me feel good. Weasley and Potter have been getting on my nerves for years, now is my chance to shut them up once and for all."

Now Etean turned round, "Are you really that short sighted Draco," Draco frowned but Etean kept talking, "Even if you beat him, even if you wipe the floor with him, it won't change a thing. He'll still blame you for his brother's death."

"Maybe, but it will be fun. You can't tell me that you didn't enjoy beating Potter."

Etean shrugged, "A bit, but it was nothing personal. He just got on my nerves that's all. I have a problem with people who show off too much."

"Well, maybe, but look at it from my perspective. I have to do this, he…they have been getting on my nerves since the day I met them."

"Potter and Weasley?"

"Yes, Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee," Etean seemed pensive, "What?"

"Well, I understand that you have a pretty large problem with them. But the way I heard it your fight was with Granger as much as it was with the other two – the Golden Trio, that's what you and the rest of the Slytherins had taken to calling them, yes?"

Draco frowned, "Yes, well…"

"Well?"

"That was before."

"Before what?"

"Before…before…Oh I don't know. Like I said the other night, everything seems different now."

Etean paused, then raised an eyebrow, "Everything except your fight with Weasley and Potter?"

Draco turned and jabbed his finger in the air, pointing at nobody in particular, "It's not me. They are the ones carrying on the fight. Weasley has been itching for a chance to attack me since we got back,"

"You're Lucius Malfoy's son Draco! Do you really blame him for that? Like it or not your father killed his brother,"

"I know that, but I have enough to worry about without carrying the blame for my father's crimes."

"You'll get no argument from me on that but…" he stopped, turning his head to the side he shut his eyes.

"What is it?"

Etean didn't answer for a moment, "Someone is coming," he opened his eyes and frowned at the door.

"Weasley?"

Etean shook his head, his frown remained, "No," he raised an eyebrow, "I believe your duel may have to wait for another time. I suggest you hide."

"What?" Draco asked but Etean didn't answer, he stepped back, disappearing into the shadows as the door opened. Snape marched in, fixing his stare on Draco and making Draco freeze with fright.

"Mr. Malfoy," Snape snarled, "what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I…" Draco foundered. What could he say?

Etean's voice sounded in his head, 'You're a Prefect – on your rounds!'

"Well?" Snape prompted.

Draco shook his head and sorted his thoughts, "I'm just on my rounds Professor. Tuesday is my turn to patrol," Snape raised an eyebrow, his gaze moved about the room, staring into every shadow before returning to Draco.

"I must say Mr. Malfoy, that I am impressed with the level of effort that the school prefects are putting in this year," he placed his hands on his hips and glared at Draco, "I have just met Ms. Granger in the hallway. She too was out patrolling the corridors after hours. Now, as I just told her, even prefects must obey the rules and this is too late even for you to be out," he raised his eyebrow, "Strange for the two of you to show such vigorous dedication to your duties at precisely the same time. I hope that is all that is going on, it wouldn't do for two prefects to so flagrantly defy the school rules for," he paused, his voice dropped to a gravely bass tone, "any other reasons. Do I make myself clear?"

"P…Perfectly Professor," he shuffled in place, "I suppose I had better be heading to the dorm now."

"Indeed, I think…" Snape stopped and spun round, glaring back out the door he had entered through.

"What's wrong Professor?" Draco asked, genuinely puzzled.

Snape continued to stare out the door, "I heard…" he paused and half turned round to Draco, "What are you still doing here Malfoy? Off to bed with you." Draco jumped at the sound of his tone. He nodded and turned to leave. He exited via the other door and headed down a back staircase at top speed. Once safely away from the Trophy Room, he slowed his pace. Etean materialised beside him as they reached the dungeon level,

"That was close," Draco hissed at him, "Thanks for disappearing like that."

"Hey, you're the Prefect here, mate, not me. Besides I did try to warn you."

"You could have given me a little more time. I was sure Snape could see you for a minute there."

Etean shook his head, "No, he couldn't. But he was looking awfully hard. He has a very suspicious mind that one. I thought it best to distract him."

"I noticed, what was that all about?"

"Well," Etean shrugged, "it seems Snape doesn't exactly trust you. He was going to escort you back to the Common Room. I just gave him something else to worry about."

"What?"

"He heard a noise. He thinks it was the sound of a couple of errant students sneaking about."

"How do you do that?"

Etean smiled, they bypassed the Common Room and headed to the training room, "You're nowhere near ready to start that, first you have to get the hang of reading peoples thoughts. Communication is one thing but believe me, it's a lot tougher to put a thought in someone's head than it is to read what's already there. It's even harder to do it without them realising what you've done. As for telepathy, have you been practicing? Or were you just too busy picking fights?"

"I didn't pick any fights, and yes I did practice. All bloody afternoon, but it made my head hurt."

Etean nodded, "I know, it takes some getting used to," the training room opened at Etean's touch, "But you'll get the hang of it, then we can progress to more difficult tasks."

'More difficult?' Draco didn't like the sound of that, "Great!" he said weakly.