I know it's been a while coming, but hey, you get two at once! I've finally got it moving again - I've got up to chapter 25 written. I think the plot actually makes itself known in the next few chapters... something that I'm sure you'll agree doesn't often happen with me, if you've read my work.

In other news...

My sister is home for Christmas and she just won't stay still.

Also, I am being stupid with Damned Blood and missed two months out, jumping straight to December... with little bits in between... can't be good. I'll post once I've written the next bit. But that might be a while.

"In the Amazonian rainforests there are tribes of Indians as yet untouched by civilisation who could produce a better Dampening Draught than you," Snape sneered as he paused beside Harry's cauldron. He forced himself to ignore the snide remark and keep brewing by himself. Trust Draco to choose today of all days to get stuck in the Hospital Wing after a nasty accident involving Ron and a fist. Especially this lesson, in which Snape was making them brew random potions as their end of term test.

Harry peered at his runny green solution then over the room at Hermione's whose was the same colour but considerably more viscous. He bit his lip and read the list again, trying to work out where he had gone wrong. Ah, there it was. He had added too much Hippogriff urine. 5 grams too much, in fact.

"Sorry sir," he said quietly, hoping the man would just go away and ignore him. But the gods were against him, as they always were in Potions.

"Sorry?" Snape said softly. "You're sorry? Will sorry replace all those ingredients that you have just wasted? Will sorry create a new potion in a split second? Will sorry complete your end of term exam? No, I thought not. Detention at eight, Antares."

"Bastard," Harry said under his breath as Snape turned away.

"What did you say?"

Harry froze as the silky voice came floating through the air.

"Nothing, sir," he said quickly, realising as soon as he'd said it that it was not a good idea.

"I don't think it was nothing. Not at all. In fact, if I heard correctly, you called me a 'bastard'." Harry's breath caught in his throat and he swallowed painfully.

"No sir."

"Don't contradict me, mmm!" Snape choked as the Fidelius prevented him from revealing Harry's real name. He looked contemplative for a moment, which soon subsided into a feral grin. "I bet you're just like your father was. But then, you wouldn't know, would you? You never did know them."

Harry bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from retorting. But Snape continued.

"I am sure that he would be very proud of you. I'm sure you're exactly the same as he was. Exactly the same characteristics, attitude, ego…"

A year ago, Harry might have been contradicting Snape. But now he knew better – now he knew that Snape was right. James was every bit as arrogant as Snape said. It was true, he'd seen him at it. His father had been an idiot. An idiot with an ego the size of Bournemouth.

"You ought to watch your tongue, Antares. Or you'll meet the same sticky end that your parents did," Snape finished in a soft voice.

"You know what?" Harry said suddenly. "I probably will. Yes, I think so. I'm sure Voldemort would be thrilled to kill me after all I've done."

Several audible gasps and one quiet scream came from the rest of the class, and Snape went white.

"Do not speak the Dark Lord's name in my class!" he hissed.

"Oh is Tom alright then?" Harry asked innocently. Snape went red.

"Get out."

"What?"

"You heard me. Get out of my classroom."

"Fine!" Harry yelled. He Vanished his cauldron and threw his equipment into it, slinging his bag over his shoulder and hauling the solid silver cauldron off the desk. The door slammed forcefully against the door as he approached and crashed shut as he got into the corridor.

Dropping his cauldron on the floor he yelled a stream of colourful expletives at the door, gold sparks flying off his hand.

That bastard! Harry had honestly thought that Snape was over his petty grudges. Well, Harry knew that his father and Sirius had made life hell for the greasy git when he had been at school, but that was still no reason to still take it out on him. Fuming, he slapped his hand flat on the door.

For a few seconds his kidneys felt normal, then there was a sudden explosion more powerful than the previous ones. A deep, roiling heat burst forth, shooting up through his arm and storming furiously into the woodwork of the door.

The foundations of the school shook as the magic blasted into the door. The force knocked him off his feet and he crashed into the opposite wall. Senses reeling, he wasn't sure if he was sat on the ceiling or the floor when the door slammed open, banging on the wall behind it, revealing a particularly apoplectic Snape.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" he bellowed. Once Harry was rather certain of which way was up, he shrank backwards into the wall.

"Side effects of the potion me and Malfoy took," he said nervously. For a moment Snape looked perplexed, but then realisation dawned on his twisted face and he swooped down, grabbing Harry by the arm and dragging him upright.

"Did you not think to go see the Headmaster about this?" he hissed, face mere inches from Harry's own. On closer inspection, his nose was very greasy as well, and he had a small scar just under his left eye.

"This hasn't happened before," he answered honestly. Well, it was true. He hadn't tried to blow up the door before now. Then again, maybe it wasn't the best idea to get smart. Snape angry was bad; Snape furious was deadly.

"We're going now," the Potions Master snarled and dragged him down the corridor, leaving his bag and cauldron upset on the floor.

"Why did you not come to me sooner?" Dumbledore asked, sounding exasperated and disappointed as he gazed at Harry. Harry himself felt like a naughty first year that had been caught not doing his homework. "I thought we were agreed that you would tell me when something happened."

Biting his tongue to stop himself from saying that they had not in fact agreed to anything, and merely stared at the floor.

"You could have seriously hurt someone. If Professor Snape didn't have wards on his doors, the explosion from your magic could have killed the people on the other side. You don't know what would have happened."

Suddenly realising just how stupid he had been, Harry flushed and brought his gaze to meet the Headmaster's.

"I'm sorry sir." He said quietly. "I didn't think. I'm not even sure why I did it. It's hard to control. The extra magic just comes as a kind of explosion around where our kidneys are…"

"Our?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

"Yeah, me and Draco, it's the same for both of us."

"Have the same side-effects taken place in Mr. Malfoy also?"

"Well not quite," Harry explained. "I can sort of make things shrivel up and die, but Draco makes them come alive again."

"Interesting…" Dumbledore murmured. "You say that your potion contained phoenix tears, and Mr. Malfoy's had Basilisk venom?"

Harry nodded.

"I have completed the tests on the potions, Headmaster," Snape put in from the corner. Harry started – he had forgotten that the man was there. "It appears that Malfoy and Potter took the wrong potions – that is, Malfoy drank phoenix tears and Potter drank Basilisk venom."

"Where is Mr. Malfoy now, Severus?"

"He's in the Hospital Wing. I doubt it would be a good idea to bring him up here today though, sir. He's not in the best of health at the moment. Weasley saw to that," Snape sneered.

"Alas," Dumbledore said mildly. "In that case, I am afraid that you will have to do, Harry." He said, and with a flourish of his wand, produced a branch out of nowhere. "Please show me the extent of what you can do," he said to Harry, and indicated that he should use the branch.

Taking a deep breath, Harry laid his hand on the bark. Concentrating on the extra magic, he built it up inside himself and forced it out through the scar on his hand. Familiar gold sparks danced over his hand and onto the desk, and the wood shrivelled, turning black and dead beneath his hand. He removed it and sat back in his chair.

Using his wand, Dumbledore levitated the branch and turned it this way and that in the air. Snape moved out of the corner and peered at the branch. After a while of umming and ahhing and hushed whispers that annoyed Harry no end, they set the branch down and Snape moved to the side of the desk.

"I am going to conjure a Dark creature, Harry. You will be in no danger with myself and Professor Snape here, but I would like you to try and perform the same procedure on it as you did with this branch." He pointed and the branch in question.

Harry nodded and braced himself as there was a pop and a puff of smoke that cleared to reveal a Fligglebutt. These were small, rabbit-like creatures that lured you towards themselves with their cuteness, then when you were close enough leapt on you and sank inch-long teeth into you skin, sucking your magic out of you. The best way to defend against one was to just steer clear, as they rarely approached people, but Lupin had taught them a spell to keep them at bay.

Harry stepped towards the rabbit, which immediately turned its quivering nose towards him and waited patiently for him to get closer. He complied, and once within three feet of the creature it sprang off the floor like it had springs attached to the bottoms of its paws and sank its teeth deep into Harry's left arm. He felt the dull throbbing of his magic as it pulsed through him, being sucked out of him, and for a moment panicked before gathering his wits.

Placing his right hand on the Fligglebutt's back, he concentrated on his magic, drawing it back out of the creature and forming it into a ball of something that he could see. With an extra push form his mind it exploded out of his hand.

The Fligglebutt stopped sucking straight away, going stiff all over. Then the thing shrivelled like the branch before it, dropping off his arm as a corpse, skin stretched taut over deteriorating skeleton, fur lank and eyes flat and glassy.

Harry swallowed audibly and just stared at the Fligglebutt's body. He was vaguely aware of hearing Snape move behind him and dispose of the dead animal. Then Dumbledore touched his arm, and his vision exploded in a burst of black spots.

"Harry!"

He whirled around, and was shocked to see that his vision seemed to have changed. For some reason, he could now see Dumbledore and Snape's magical essence. Dumbledore himself was glowing with an extraordinary white light, and his smoky magic was the same. Snape's was black and slithered around its owner like the snake he was.

Then suddenly he caught sight of another wisp of smoke. It was blue and feathery, but as Harry watched it, he noticed that it was all originating form the same spot – beside the grandfather clock in the corner. He walked over to it curiously, ignoring Snape as he strode past the Potions Master. He peered at where the magic as coming from and reached his hand out.

It hit something warm and solid that most definitely wasn't the wall, but a somebody.

He yelped and stumbled backwards. The person threw the Invisibility Cloak and off and with a growl stepped forward, wand raised. The blue smoke swept over Harry and he blacked out.

"Draco?"

"Yeah?"

Harry opened his eyes and glanced around the dark Hospital Wing. The torches on the walls were turned down and Harry guessed that it was probably night.

"Who was it?"

"You sure you want to know?"

"Of course I bloody want to know." Harry snapped. Draco gave him an affronted look. Sighing heavily, Harry buried his face into the pillow and groaned. "I'm sorry."

"It's OK. You're stressed out. It's perfectly understandable."

"Come up here," Harry shuffled over on the bed and Draco climbed up beside him, settling along his warm length and wrapping his arms around the Gryffindor.

"It was Cho Chang."

Harry head's snapped up and hit Draco's chin.

"Ouch." The Slytherin complained.

"Sorry," Harry said quickly and planted a small kiss on the point of impact. "You're kidding?"

"No. It was her. They're not sure if she was under Imperio or not yet. Whatever she was doing, something about her made you fall unconscious. Dumbledore and Snape quizzed me on my powers as well, which was unnerving to say the least."

Harry chuckled.

"They made me kill a Fligglebutt."

"I do hope you're not being serious."

"Why?"

"Because you'll have absorbed all the Fligglebutt's power as well as any it had already sucked out of other people. I sincerely hope that they had the sense to use a kitten at least."

"Um, it actually looked quite old," Harry said sheepishly. Draco pulled back to glare at him for a moment.

"Fool."

Harry smiled and snuggled into his boyfriend's chest, falling asleep in his arms.

Reviews extremely welcome and very much appreciated. You've taken the time to read the chapter - now please, spend just an extra half minute telling me what you think. It really does help me write.

Oh yeah thanks FireOpal...

smokey

isn't half as excited about Christmas as she should be.