Author's Notes:

Hi everyone! I hope you guys have all had an awesome week! We've been getting a lot of stuff done here. For example, my last name has (finally) legally changed! Yay! On top of that I've been working hard at bar prep and I'm pretty sure I might murder my prep course for allowing the property person to lecture. Not only does she constantly sing about property law (which, honestly, is just horrible) but she whistles when she makes the 'S' sound. It's awful.

Beer of the Week: This week I went basic bitch and had a white claw while I wrote this chapter. I worked on it outside and it was fuckin hot so I wanted something to cool off with. I know, I know, hard seltzer isn't beer! It's for people who have no taste in beer! Nah, I really like these hard seltzers. I finally tried the Bud brand and they're pretty amazing. Their strawberry is to die for! If you want a good beer, beer suggestion, though, I'll give y'all another PA brand to try—Zeroday Brewing has their summer seasonal out called Positive Vibes and it is absolutely refreshing! It's an American Wheat Ale with a hint of grapefruit (for sweetness) and pink peppercorns (for a bit of tang) and it goes down soooo smoothly. Almost too smoothly if you know what I mean! So, if you ever get over to Harrisburg, consider dropping them a line for some amazing beer!

Reviews: Midnitewanderer: You reviewed so quickly I hadn't even gotten into bed yet when I got the email! (I tend to get to bed right after my updates). I'm glad you loved the chapter—I can't wait to have more Harry/McGonagall interactions. I agree that Lucy's "pull" with the Ministry and Hogwarts is going to be an obstacle so I'm excited to see how you feel about where it goes! As to your questions, no spoilers here—but I definitely can't WAIT to get to Umbitch. I'm so excited for those shenanigans. ProfessorMarauder: I like to think that McGonagall's silence was Harry's "punishment". She knew she couldn't let him get away without punishment, but she didn't want to give him detention so, knowing Harry's mind and his conclusion jumping, she figured that would be a good punishment for him. Nesciamema: James and Sirius have, honestly, just sort of forgotten to/didn't want the burden of claiming their seats. Neither one of them are super into politics when they don't need to be. However, I definitely think they can do some good if they were to finally take them.

PunksterNL: "What do we want?!" "Beer!" "When do we want it?!" "Yesterday!" hell yeah! I always love meeting a fellow enthusiast! You know, I hadn't really thought about that. I do agree that bloodism wasn't punished by the staff at Hogwarts but I don't think it was really "accepted" more so that staff weren't around to hear the comments to discipline students and, if unreported, they wouldn't be aware of it occurring. I'll have to think about how to handle that in the future. As for this incident, no, he won't be—there weren't any professors around who heard the speech and Harry and Co. aren't likely to tattle. I'm glad you're enjoying my portrayal of Lucy! Guest: Thank you! And thanks for that tip—I'll go fix the typo! I'm forever getting them mixed up. Winking Skeever: Ask and you shall receive.

Potter671: Oh now I'm hooked—what is deadwood and did you enjoy your trip?! Now giving Ginny a mirror would be interesting….hmmmmm….all those lovely ideas….I'm glad you liked my use of Zabini, he's such a blank character. I don't want to make all of the Slytherins 'evil' so be on the look out for the friendlier ones I'm going to utilize! Thanks for the awesome review! Smallwjl: Hope everything is ok on your end! You went poof for a little again. Sending positive vibes! But, yes, I always thought of Lucy as a dog that's all bark no bite—I think he's going to mellow out as he realizes some of the more dire consequences of his actions but I've never been a huge fan of Lucius.

Thank you everyone for the reviews! They really helped me out this week with everything going on in the world and in my life. I can't wait to hear what you all think of this update. And, don't worry, there will be more Hinny and more Remadora next chapter. Enjoy reading Ignoring Destiny and if you still haven't, please check out my one shot of Harry's little league quidditch game!

And a HUGE shout out to Midnitewanderer for the Nickname of "Lucy" for Lucius Malfoy! I'm now realizing I never gave them the official credit for that awesome name. So, thank you Midnitewanderer!

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Fluffy

When the bell tolled signaling the end of class, Draco quickly packed up his books and supplies, already thinking about what he was going to eat for lunch. As he screwed the lid back onto his pot of ink, a hand laid itself on his desk and a voice spoke.

"Malfoy. I've been meaning to have a word with you," Zabini said as he leaned in closely to Draco, his voice silky and soft, "I've been made aware of your predicament and I wanted to see if I could lend you a hand—keep you in with the right sort of people."

Draco looked up into Zabini's dark brown eyes and shook his head, "Look, I know we were mates when we were young but now—I think we just want different things from life. And I heard about what you said to Hermione," Draco added, his grey eyes darkening like a storm, "And if you think I could ever—"

"Now come on, Malfoy," Zabini said smoothly, a toothy grin on his face, "you know I didn't mean it that way. Besides, she's a stupid, know-it-all, bitch, anyway. She's not even that pretty—what do you want to be hanging around her for when you have ties, real relationships, with us?"

"Hermione is not a bitch," Draco spat through clenched teeth, his hand balling into a fist, "By 'us' I assume you mean you, Crabbe, and Goyle? As if those two trolls have the ability to form relationships—they're lucky they can tie their own shoe laces."

Zabini cocked his head at Draco, his smile becoming more menacing, "Defending the mudblood, are you? Can't say I'm surprised. Regardless, I'm still happy to help you tell the right sort; for old times sake."

Draco looked into Zabini's eyes as the last student made his way out of the room and replied, "I think I can tell the right sort myself, thanks."

Draco made to move away from Zabini as he threw his bag over his shoulder as his mirror heated up in his pocket—Zabini simply stepped in front of him, blocking his path. Draco let out a deep sigh as his hand tightened on his bag strap, "In case you were incapable of reading social queues, I'm trying to head to lunch if you don't mind."

"No, I understood. This is me saying you're not leaving yet. At least, not until I've said my piece," Zabini glanced around the classroom, his dark eyes scanning for any indication of someone listening, "You need to watch yourself here at Hogwarts—who you talk to, who you associate with. We—a few of us in Slytherin who's parents know your father, have been told to report back about your doings. We were always decent friends when we were young, I'd like to continue that. I don't care who you decide to associate with but our families do. I can't afford to disassociate with my family like you have. I wish things could be different."

Draco was utterly confused now. Zabini had taken a complete 180 on him. He knew they had been somewhat close as children but they had grown apart over the years—they actually hadn't spoken to one another in nearly three years now. "What are you going on about?"

Zabini tilted his head, "I'm trying to do you a favor. We were friends, Malfoy. Good friends. If it weren't for the differences in which paths we can take we probably still would be."

Draco looked away—of course he remembered all those days he spent with Zabini on the Malfoy estate. He wasn't lying, the pair had been good friends. But that had been before his friendships with Harry, Ron, and Hermione and, if he were honest with himself, he had always questioned some of Zabini's beliefs and statements. "Well, that was then and this is now. And, right now, I want lunch. So, message received, I'll be on my way, thanks."

Draco pushed passed Zabini, confusion still etched on his face as he made his way down to the great hall. However, he didn't make it more than a few feet before he ran into a frantic looking Harry.

"Draco!" Harry said as he caught sight of Draco with Zabini trailing close behind him, "We were getting worried. Is everything ok?"

Draco nodded as he looked back at Zabini, "Yeah. I was just leaving."

Zabini gave Harry an evil grin, "So when do you catch the train back home, Potter? I expect you won't be at Hogwarts much longer after your stunt at flying practice the other day."

Harry's eyes darkened as he looked at Zabini, "Braver now that you're back on the ground, aren't you, Zabini? As if you could take me on a broom."

Zabini's eyes flashed dangerously at Harry, "You wish. I could take you on my own any time. How about tonight? Wizard's duel. Wands only—no contact."

Harry hesitated before Draco spoke up, "Done. I'll be his second, Ron will be his third. Who's yours?"

Zabini frowned, "Crabbe and Goyle."

"Those two idiots? Good luck with that," Draco snorted.

"Midnight. In the trophy room—it's always unlocked and I have it on good authority that Filch will be patrolling the dungeons around that time," and, without waiting for a response, Zabini's cloak swung around as he turned on his heel and headed off in the opposite direction.

Harry and Draco watched him go, both utterly confused with what just occurred. Harry turned to Draco and said, hesitantly, "What in the world—?"

"I—I don't know. Are we, are we actually going to go?"

"I mean, I'm not backing down. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Draco shook his head, "No, I'll come. Honestly, how much magic do you know? You'd be shit in a duel."

"I can do a shield charm," Harry said nonchalantly.

"For real?" Draco asked, surprised.

Harry nodded, "Yeah. I learned how to do it a few years ago wandlessly. I figure if I can do it wandlessly I can do it better with my wand. I also learned the disarming charm."

"I know the tickling jinx and the jelly-leg jinx. Does Ron know anything?"

"Nah I don't think so. Not anything we haven't learned in class, anyway."

"We'll figure it out. Lunch?"

"Yeah."

The two of them began to head back down to the great hall for lunch, still discussing the events and how they were going to make it to the trophy room at midnight that night. It wasn't until about half way there that something in his pocket grew hot against his leg and Draco remembered that he had missed a call while Zabini had him trapped in the classroom. He quickly glanced around before dashing into an unoccupied classroom and pulled out his mirror.

He could see James' face reflected back at him in the glass, a relieved look on his face once he caught sight of Draco.

"Draco, I was getting worried. This is the second time I tried to call you."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't answer. Zabini cornered me and I didn't think I should pull out a magic mirror in front of him. Also, I wasn't sure who to call back—this thing doesn't tell me who I missed a call from."

James frowned for a moment, "You know, I never thought of that. A voice mail system for the mirrors would be useful now that we have more than two linked together. I'll talk to Remus about seeing if that might be possible. I'm sure he'll have some clever idea. Sirius and I made one for Remus, too, by the way, so he has one even though he's at Hogwarts with you two. That way you don't have to try to sneak down to see him. I just finished talking to Harry and he had mentioned that you were late to lunch—we were both worried."

"Zabini cornered me after class. He said he was trying to do me a favor and then went on and on about all the Slytherins keeping an eye on me for Father. Harry just came to find me, actually."

"Hi dad!" Harry chimed in quickly before James could respond.

"I'm sorry, what? Lucy's doing what now?" James asked, his mouth wide.

"Either paying or blackmailing the parents of some of the Slytherin house to keep an eye on me here at school to make sure I don't keep up my relationship with Harry and everyone. I've been ignoring it since I talked to Sirius."

"Yeah, about Sirius," James started, his eyes darkening, "He had a run in with ol' Lucy at the Ministry. We debated whether to tell you, but we thought you should be aware of what's going on."

Draco sat up, his face paling, "What did my father do now?"

Even though he couldn't see James' shoulders, Draco was sure he shrugged them, "Threats mostly—how he's on the board of governors and can get Remus ousted from his job. Stuff about the legislation before the Wizengamot. Sirius and I are going to handle it, we've already worked that out."

"Father must be backed into a corner," Draco commented quietly.

"Why do you say that?"

Draco thought for a moment before replying, choosing his words carefully, "Father enjoys having his power, and he likes to flaunt it, but he doesn't directly threaten people outside of the family unless he doesn't think there's any other way to get what he wants."

"That's good to know. Like I said, Sirius and I have a plan—just stay safe and keep your nose out of trouble."

Draco rolled his eyes before smiling at James, "I will. I'm just headed to lunch now. Bye."

James waived before the mirror went back to normal, reflecting Draco's face back at him.

~ID~

James put his mirror back into his pocket and looked up at the person entering the library. He gave Sirius a quick nod before picking up his research where he left off.

"Who was that?" Sirius asked as he took a sip of his soda.

James looked up, his eyes blurred from the transition of looking at a book to looking at reality, "Draco. I was on the mirror with Harry during his lunch break and he mentioned that Draco was late. I got worried."

"Is he ok? Why was he late?" Sirius' hand shot to his pocket with the mirror half way out before James replied.

"He's fine, Padfoot. He was on his way to lunch. One of his classmates stopped him on his way to give him a warning from good ol' Lucy."

Sirius let out an audible sigh as he put the mirror back in his pocket, "We need to do something about him. He's a fucking git but, he's right, he has power and we don't."

James nodded, "Yeah, I kind of lied to Draco and told him we had a plan. We—we have a plan, right Pad?"

Sirius sat down as he shook his head, "I don't know what. We're not on the board of governors and I didn't know that new werewolf legislation was up before the Wizengamot."

"Well, what if we stopped the legislation going through?"

"How? Taking our family seats back?"

"I mean, yeah. I know neither of us really wanted to engage in politics much, it was always just talk, but maybe it's time," Sirius replied reluctantly.

"Do you know anything about this legislation he was talking about? Remus already had to register confidentially with the Ministry, how much worse could it get?"

"I'm worried about his access to the Wolfsbane potion. Lucy mentioned something about that. How do we go about taking our seats, anyway? Didn't you take your seat during my trial?"

James shook his head, "Technically I sat in my family seat, yeah, but I never formally took my place in the Wizengamot. I just sat in the seat because it's mine and it was your trial. Would we need to write our W.O.M.B.A.T.s?"

"Definitely not. Family seats don't require us to write the exam."

"Hold on, I think there's a book in here about the history of the Wizengamot. I bet it would explain the process to us."

James used the magical library system to search for the books about the Wizengamot while Sirius ran around collecting them. After an hour or so, Sirius' head shot up and he exclaimed that he had found it.

"Finally!" James exclaimed, "What does it say?"

Sirius skimmed back over the passage he had been reading before summarizing, "Basically we need to make application to the Wizengamot that we intend to reclaim our family seats. In that application we need to provide evidence that we have the right of taking those seats—that we're next up in the family line. And then the application gets approved by the Supreme Mugwump—Dumbledore—and we can take our seats the next session. It says here that sessions are held every other Wednesday evening. Think you can get off for the sessions?"

"The team will have to let me. We don't normally have practices on Wednesdays so it shouldn't be too much of a problem anyway."

Sirius smiled mischievously, "Sounds like we're writing some letters."

~ID~

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat up in the Gryffindor common room; Hermione had been trying to convince them both to not go to the trophy room that night. Ron, after hearing about the confrontation with Zabini, had immediately agreed to go with Harry to be his third. He was only upset about the fact that he wasn't Harry's second and that Draco had beat him to that honor.

"Really," Hermione continued, "Think of all the points you'll lose Gryffindor and Ravenclaw if you're caught! That's incredibly selfish of all of you."

"Hermione," Ron whined, "You just don't understand. We can't back down from this or else Zabini will always think he can stomp all over us. We can't give in to that snake."

Hermione frowned at Ron, "And how exactly do you intend to be able to make it down there undetected and meet up with Draco?"

Ron rolled his eyes, "We've already told you. We're meeting Draco down on the sixth floor and then we'll all go to the trophy room together. And now it's half passed and we need to get going." Harry and Ron made their way out of the portrait hole, Hermione following close behind them.

Hermione frowned, anger filling her brown eyes, "Don't you care about Gryffindor? You seem to only care about yourselves! I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup again—you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

Ron turned to Hermione and said, loudly, "Go away, Hermione. You don't need to be a part of this!"

"Fine! When you two end up on the train home because you got expelled, I won't feel bad for you!" Hermione turned back to the portrait hole only to realize too late that the Fat Lady had gone for a nighttime visit, locking the three of them out of the tower until she returned, "Oh no!"

"How are you getting back in?" Harry asked as he examined the portrait.

"I'm not," Hermione said sadly, "I guess I'm coming with you."

"No you're not!" Ron said angrily.

But neither one of them were able to continue their argument because at that moment they all heard a sound further down the corridor. They quickly and quietly made their way towards it only to find Neville on the floor. Neville explained to them how he had forgotten the password to get into the portrait and he ended up joining them as well.

The four of them carefully made their way down to the sixth floor where they met up with Draco who was extremely confused as to how their party had nearly doubled but continued along with them regardless. It didn't take them all long to get to the Trophy Room without being detected. Not once had they caught sight of Filch or Mrs. Norris.

As they reached the Trophy Room, they noticed that Zabini, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't there yet, but Harry, Ron, and Draco took out their wands just in case they leapt in on them. But then a noise in the next room made them jump—they heard Filch talking to Mrs. Norris, telling her to search for someone. They all quickly ran out the other door, Neville's robes just barely making it around the corner.

Filch came into the Trophy room and they could hear him muttering, "They're in here somewhere."

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. As they moved, they could hear Filch getting closer before Neville's fear got the better of him and he began to run, tripped, and then toppled into a suit of armor.

The clanging and crashing of the armor alerted Filch to their approximate location and each of the 5 children knew that. Fearing being caught, they made a break for it. They broke out in a run down the gallery, never looking back, before swinging around the corner and down another hall where they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway. They hurtled along it and ended up near their charms classroom which was miles away from the Trophy Room.

But they weren't out of the woods yet. As they all bickered, trying to determine how to get back to their dormitories, they heard a door knob rattle and something large come bursting out of the classroom in front of them. Peeves the poltergeist caught sight of the five children and smiled with wicked glee.

Draco pointed his wand at Peeves, "Be quiet, Peeves, or you'll regret it!"

Peeves cackled, "Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughy!"

"Not if you don't give us away!" Harry replied.

"Should tell Filch, I should," Peeves said in a saintly voice while his eyes gleamed wickedly, "It's for your own good you know."

Draco attempted to hit Peeves with a get of red light at the exact moment that Ron took a swipe at him. Irritated, Peeves shouted, "Students out of bed! Students out of bed in the Charms corridor!"

The race was back on. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Neville were once again running for their lives right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a locked door. Draco, quick thinking, used the unlocking charm and pulled the door open, ushering everyone else behind it before slamming it shut again. Winded, they all stopped for a moment to catch their breath and listen at the door. They heard Filch and Peeves arguing in the hall as they hoped that Peeves wouldn't give them away. In the end, he didn't. Then, Neville began tugging on Harry's robe.

Harry turned to hell at Neville, but as he turned he caught sight of the monstrous, three-headed dog standing behind them in the otherwise empty room. It was then that Harry suddenly realized why this corridor was off limits. Harry groped for the door knob behind him before twisting it, causing the entire party to fall backward and into the corridor. They all stood up and slammed the door shut again before taking off.

Each of them ran, they ran and didn't stop until they had reached their appropriate dormitory and gotten through the door and into their common rooms. Once they had caught their breath, Harry pulled out his mirror and called for Draco who quickly appeared in the reflective surface.

"What in the bloody—" Draco said as Ron cut him off.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?"

"Did any of you use your eyes?" Hermione asked to the generally confused group of boys, she sighed, "The thing was standing on something. I think it was a trapdoor!"

Harry frowned, "I mean, in my defense, I was busy looking at its heads, not its feet."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "It's clearly guarding something. But what?"

"Right now I don't care what it is, we could have died!" Draco said loudly, "Did Zabini set us up?"

"Of course he did," Harry said, his eyes flashing.

"I don't know what that was all about but I'm going up to bed," Neville said as he made his way towards the dormitory stairs, "And I suggest you all do the same!"

The four of them all made eye contact and silently agreed that that was the best course of action. They all agreed to meet up tomorrow morning before getting to work on their homework to discuss the events of that evening.

This school year was certainly shaping up to be something other than ordinary.

End Notes:

Thanks for reading Ignoring Destiny! And a HUGE shout out to Midnitewanderer for the Nickname of "Lucy" for Lucius Malfoy! I'm now realizing I never gave them the official credit for that awesome name. Please like, follow, and review!