Author's Notes:

Hi everyone! I want to apologize again for such a late update on my chapter. You guys and your patient waiting has been on my mind since my last update and I'm telling you, my friends and husband are sick of hearing about it. On top of my responsibilities (family, interviews, new job) I had massive writers block as I desperately tried to figure out how to get all of the characters where they needed to go. Once I finally worked that knot out, it really just flowed.

That being said, I think I'm going to change my update schedule from once a week to once every other week. I start my new job as an ADA next week and I really need time to adjust to that schedule and make sure I'm handling all of my responsibilities appropriately. I am super excited to start this job though. Because of my experience I get to skip the normal grunt work in general criminal (DUI's, petty theft, criminal mischief, that sort of thing) and go right into the Domestic Violence and Special Victims Unit. I'm so excited to be able to work in an area I've wanted to for a long time while also making the wages I've been hoping for.

I hope you all have had a wonderful Holiday season and are back in the swing of things now.

Reviews: Iwik: So, a lot of the first 3(ish) books will be similar to the originals. You're going to start seeing some deviations in this chapter, but the larger, more impactful deviations are going to start at the end of the 3rd and definitely in the 4th. Some of this stuff I wanted to change, but can't because of plots I have prepared for 5th-7th years. Minerdude: I have some ideas for Blaise that I haven't fully formed or decided on. He's definitely a wibbly character that has a lot of potential and I'm excited to see it bloom. ProfessorBowties: Really? I had no idea. I thought boxing day was a Brits thing. The more you learn! Here in my state in the US we have the first day of hunting season off. I guess it's like that then? A kinda rando, cultural day off.

Midnitewanderer: Omg I'm so glad you're back! I've missed your reviews deeply! I'm back now too! Thank you for sticking with me and I hope work got better. I'm glad you enjoyed the Chonks bonding! I enjoyed writing the scene and I really hoped it was natural. I definitely have MAJOR plans for the werewolf registry for the upcoming chapters. It'll be an interesting twist that I can't wait to implement. I think the Mars thing was their indication of the prediction involving Harry's death in the forest. But who knows. Bookboy: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you've liked it and hope you enjoy this chapter! Nightwing2013: I'll respond to all of yours all at once. I'm glad you're enjoying rereading! So, with Lucy, since Sirius was super against Slytherin and his family basically disowned him, my assumption is that he didn't speak much to Narcissa and, thereby, Lucy. Yes the pet names! And thank you, I'll review that chapter again! Hippothestrowl: It's wellknown that at the time of the Potter's betrayal that there was suspect of an insider giving information to Voldemort. At the time, everyone suspected everyone and no one had any idea who it had been. Many people believed it to be either Remus or Sirius which is why, in cannon, Sirius opted not to be the secret keeper. At the time of writing my story's first chapters, I hadn't fleshed out everything I should have and I apologize for that. I hope this background information is helpful.

Beer of the week: Cream Team Milk Stout from Flying Dog. this is by far the best cookies and cream stout I've ever had. Seriously. It's smooth, flavorful without being overly sweet or artificial. It goes down way too well on a cold day and is a wonderful dessert.

Posting schedule: Bi-monthly

Thank you again for sticking with me through my unannounced hiatus. I can't wait to get into COS with you guys in the coming weeks!

Chapter Fifty-Two: For Your Protection

James found himself sitting in his in-home office staring blankly at the pages of income reports for the multiple Potter Family Investments when his mirror vibrated abnormally in his pocket. Frowning, he quickly took it out and glanced at the screen. Written on the frosted surface in neat, tidy handwriting were three words.

Harry was attacked.

James nearly fainted as all the air left his body. Black spots appeared in his vision as he stared at the melting words. Then he sprung into action.

"Sirius!" James yelled as he rushed out of his office, "Sirius! Get your ass to the library! Harry was attacked!"

The door several rooms down from him burst open as a naked Sirius fell through the opening, "Bugger! What's going on, Prongs? I was in the middle of important things. What's going on with Harry?"

"He's been attacked!" James shouted exasperatedly, "Get your cock into a pair of pants and come on, man!"

"Harry's been—is he ok?" Sirius asked, springing to his feet and racing back into his room.

"No, no—I have to—no I have to go," James could hear Sirius saying to someone he couldn't see.

"But, Siri—" a voice said softly.

"It's Harry."

"Go. Go and then write to me."

James quickly turned away from the door and pretended as if he hadn't been listening as Sirius raced back through the doorway. He made it halfway down the stairwell before turning back to James, "Aren't you coming? Come on, mate!"

"Who's in your room?" James asked as he jogged to catch back up with Sirius.

Sirius looked away and rubbed his face with his hand, "No one. Just a woman from the pub."

"Just a wom—" James and Sirius skidded into the library and dashed to the fireplace, "Padfoot, no, Padfoot listen, why would she understand how important Harry is to you if she's 'just a woman from the pub'?"

"Harry's what's important right now, Prongs," Sirius replied calmly, his eyes hard and full of fear as he threw floo powder into the fireplace. James watched as the deep green light engulfed his friend's features before they stepped into the fireplace.

~ID~

"You did what?" Harry shouted, incredulity and betrayal discernable in his voice.

"Blimey, mate," Ron said, frowning, "Mr. Potter will yank him out of Hogwarts."

"Better pulled from classes than dead," Draco replied quietly and calmly. He stared pointedly at his hands which were clasped firmly in his lap, the skin white and taut against his bones as he squeezed what little life was left out of them. "If—if that was the Dark Lord, that means he's here, somewhere, at Hogwarts. And, more importantly, that means he knows Harry is here. From what Father has told me, the Dark Lord will never rest if he knows Harry is alive and near."

"Draco, this means the Stone will be completely unprotected! No one knows about Snape trying to steal it! No one who can do anything about it, anyway," Harry spat.

"We can tell Dumbledore," Hermione suggested, "He's always been close to your family, Harry. He may believe us."

"Dumbledore trusts Snape," Harry snapped, "Do you really think he would believe that Snape is after the Stone?"

"Hey! There's no need to snap at her. She didn't do anything to you. Just because you're angry at me doesn't mean you get to take it out on her."

Harry's eyes flared dark green as he rounded on Draco, "If you hadn't said anything we wouldn't be in this mess. Why would you do that? You weren't even there—you don't know that that was Voldemort."

"According to Firenze, it was. And, if it truly was the Dark Lord, then he will not stop until you're dead, Harry. You're my best mate. I can't let that happen."

"Harry," Hermione said quietly, "I agree with Draco on this. If You-Know-Who really was in the forest last night, it isn't safe for you here anymore."

"Well I for one think Draco should have kept his mouth shut," Ron supplied, "It's none of our business whether Harry tells his dad or not. What? It's not."

Harry looked up to see Hermione giving Ron a reproachful look.

"Quiet! It's McGonagall." Draco hissed.

The four children quickly looked down at their work, trying to appear absorbed in their assignments as they heard McGonagall's footsteps get louder as she approached them.

"Mr. Potter," Harry looked up at McGonagall, "please come with me."

"Yes, professor," Harry replied solemnly as he began packing his things up. As they walked out of the library Harry asked, in a barely audible tone, "Is my dad here to take me home?"

He peeked out from under the fringe of his hair to look at McGonagall. When he caught sight of the thin line that was her mouth he knew the answer without having to hear it.

"James and Sirius have arrived to take you home, yes. We will discuss the terms of that decision in my office."

"Nana, I need to tell you something before I go!"

Shocked, McGonagall replied, "What is it, Harry?"

"I think someone is trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone," he whispered, "And I think it's Professor Snape. He used to be a Death Eater and he's been acting really suspiciously and—"

"Harry," McGonagall interrupted as she stopped in the hallway to look at him, "Firstly, I have no idea how you found out about the Stone. Secondly, why do you think Severus is trying to steal it? What evidence do you have?"

Harry took a deep breath before continuing, "Well, Hermione and Draco saw him muttering something during the match where my broom was cursed. He wasn't breaking eye contact and I didn't get control over my broom until after Hermione made him lose eye contact."

"Ms. Granger set that fire?" McGonagall asked, her eyebrows arching.

"Yes, keep up, Nana. Then, during Halloween, he had a bite on his leg. I think he snuck up to the third floor to try to get passed Fluffy, the three-headed dog that guards the trap door."

"How do you know about the dog?"

"We stumbled upon him, Nana. Keep up! Then I saw him confronting Quirrell, trying to get him to tell Snape what his enchantment is that's protecting the Stone. Why would he do that if he wasn't trying to get in? Snape threatened Quirrell, Nana!"

"These are very serious accusations, Harry."

"It's all true Nana. Why would I lie to you?"

McGonagall thought about that for a moment before she continued to walk down the corridor, "Harry, I've known you for nearly ten years now and I have never known you to lie. I believe that this is what you've witnessed and this is what you believe. But you need to let the adults do the protecting here. You were attacked in the Forest during your detention, we are aware that there is someone after the Stone, but we do not know definitively who it is. Let me do my job, Harry. Ok?"

"But you and Dumbledore know that someone is after it?"

"Now that we know about the events in the Forest last evening, yes, we are aware. And we are making efforts to better protect the Stone."

"No! You need to move the Stone!"

McGonagall suddenly stopped and turned to look at Harry as she placed her hands on his shoulders, "Harry, moving the Stone right now is not an option. That would be a prime opportunity for the would-be thief to take it. Please, trust us to keep it safe."

Harry frowned and thought for a moment before nodding slowly.

McGonagall let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you. Now come along. James is waiting."

The rest of the walk to McGonagall's office Harry's heart was pounding in his chest. Was his dad really going to pull him from Hogwarts before classes were over? Would Dumbledore believe Nana about the Stone?

Thoughts and worries swirled around his mind as he stepped into McGonagall's office and saw his dad, Remus, and Sirius pacing around the room. The moment they caught sight of Harry they rushed to his side and engulfed him in a bone shattering hug.

"Harry! Thank gods you're ok."

Harry glanced over his father's shoulders at Remus and Sirius and smiled half-heartedly at them, "Hi Uncle Padfoot, Uncle Moony."

"Don't you 'Uncle Padfoot' me, Harry. Do you want to sit down and explain to us exactly what happened?"

Harry frowned as James pulled back from him, "Well, you see…"

McGonagall took her seat behind her desk and waived her wand, causing four cushy armchairs to magically appear and land behind each of the men in the room, "Please, sit. And explain."

All four of them carefully took their seats. Harry couldn't help but notice his father and Sirius both looking as if they were prepared to listen to a lecture before relaxing in their seats. He wondered if that was some kind of residual reaction to being in his nana's office.

"Well, I was having my detention with Hermione, Neville, Zabini, and Hagrid and we were told we had to go into the forest to find the injured unicorn. We ended up splitting into two groups when the path split and I was put with Zabini because he scared Neville. Then we walked up on something—something in a dark cloak drinking—drinking blood from a dead unicorn. When it—saw me—it came towards me and my scar hurt. It's never hurt like that. I thought—well I thought it was Voldemort.

"Anyway, the cloaked figure was coming at me and I fell—Zabini, he tried to defend me when I couldn't get back up right away. He—he stood in front of me and held his wand up. Then Firenze showed up and drove the figure away. He stayed with us until Hagrid came to get us.

"Nothing else happened and I wasn't hurt. I swear."

James stared at Harry, his ever-changing eyes a dark sea blue as he took in his son's form. Then, his eyes caught sight of Harry's forehead, "You said you weren't hurt!" he exclaimed as he brushed Harry's hair away from his scar and examined the recently opened wound, "Your scar bled."

Everyone in the room sat up stock straight, their eyes glued to Harry's forehead as James examined him. McGonagall quickly stood up and whipped around her desk to personally examine Harry more closely.

"Harry, why didn't you go to the hospital wing? This could have been healed right away."

Harry shrugged, "It stopped bleeding and I honestly forgot about it."

Sirius and Remus looked at James who nodded silently at them, "Harry," James said, "can you please step outside the office so we can talk?"

Harry frowned, "Why can't I stay? This is about me and being able to stay at Hogwarts. Shouldn't I be involved in that conversation?"

"Normally I would say yes, but not this time. There's—we need to discuss stuff that you aren't a part of."

"But this has to do with me and my life. Shouldn't I have a say?"

"No," James said more forcefully, "Harry, I promise that I will always keep you informed of anything you need to be, but you need to trust us to tell you what you should know when you need to know."

"So you're going to kick me out of the room," Harry said slowly, his anger rising, "while you discuss my immediate future? You're discussing whether I should stay at Hogwarts but that isn't something I need to be informed about?"

James' eyes hardened as he looked at his son. He took a moment to compose himself before responding but Sirius beat him to it, "No, it's not something you need to be informed about right now."

"So you all feel that way?" Harry folded his arms over his chest.

Remus eyed James and Sirius, a frown on his face, "Well, quite frankly, no. We aren't all in agreement. James, I personally think Harry has the right to hear what we're discussing. It involves his future in more than one way."

James' eyes flashed as he turned to look at Remus. He stared at Remus, his eyes hard and his face straight and taught. "I was under the impression," James paused to take a deep breath, "that we were all on the same page with this decision."

"Being on the same page and being in agreement are two different things, Prongs. I understand that you two think this is the best course of action but, given the circumstances that we are aware of, I don't agree with the decision."

"The circumstances," James spat, "doesn't change that there are others out there."

"And much more of them than just the one we had been worried about originally. Shouldn't Harry be made aware of that?"

James gave Remus a hard look before turning to McGonagall, "I think we've decided to take Harry out of Hogwarts for the remainder of the term."

McGonagall nodded, "And classes? End of year exams?"

"We'll allow him to floo in each morning in time for classes but he'll be required to floo back during breaks and after classes end. Any detentions he may earn can be overseen by Remus in his office or the like."

"You can't just force me to come home! I have friends and quidditch and—"

James looked at Harry, "Harry can continue with quidditch so long as one of the three of us are allowed to supervise his practices so there isn't any unapproved wanderings. And, yes, I absolutely have the power to force you to live at home."

"That—that's absolutely archaic!" Harry shouted.

"Harry," Remus said calmly, "Harry, listen, we're doing this for your benefit—"

"My benefit?" Harry spat, "My benefit would be taking my opinions into consideration. You're not doing that."

"Harry, you were attacked. On school grounds non the less. How exactly do you expect us to react to that? We don't know who it is or how they managed to get onto the property. For all we know they could be hiding inside of the castle. And there's only a few weeks of term left, anyway," Remus replied softly. His calm and reassuring voice helping to ease the tension in the room.

"Uncle Moony, you're not seriously on board with this, are you? I mean, you're here in the castle with me!"

"And yet this all occurred under my watch. Harry, none of us is willing to risk your life or safety just so you can run around with your friends. I'm sure that, once we determine how this occurred, you'll be allowed to return to Hogwarts full-time. Please, work on this with us so that we can keep you safe."

Harry folded his arms and stared at his father with contempt and loathing. After a breath, he countered, "I get to stay for lunches. And come for breakfast when I want to."

"This isn't a nego—"

"Done. We'll give you until seven to pack your trunk and let your friends know what's going on and why you're not staying at Hogwarts for now," Remus interjected as he looked cautiously at James.

"Go," James snapped as he stared at Remus, "Be back at Remus' office at seven."

The group watched as Harry shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly made his way to the door and looked back.

"Close it on your way out, please," James asked, the anger still evident in his voice.

Harry nodded and reluctantly closed the door. The group waited a moment before McGonagall spoke, "Well, I think that went better than expected."

James held up a finger and looked back at the door again as he pointed his wand, "Muffliato. Impervious. There. That should help him from being able to eavesdrop on us."

"You think he'd eavesdrop?" McGonagall asked, shocked.

The three men simply stared at her in astonishment and disbelief.

Sirius clutched at his chest, a pained expression on his face, "Honestly, Minnie, I'm so disappointed. That actually hurt. You would believe that we didn't teach that boy anything."

McGonagall frowned and then rolled her eyes, "Of course. Look at who I'm speaking to. In any case, you know that I don't fully support this decision but it's not mine to make. However, as Harry's head of house I will make sure that the agreement we've come to is upheld and that Harry is watched carefully while he's within the walls of this school."

"Do we have any idea who it was out in the forest?" James asked, "Or how they managed to make it passed the school's protections and boundaries?"

Remus and McGonagall shook their heads, "It must be someone exceptionally skilled at bypassing protective measures," McGonagall started.

"Or someone at the school granted the individual permission to enter the grounds," Remus added gravely, "Either way, this person is clearly dangerous. We—the professors, Albus, and I—have been working tirelessly since the occurrence to figure out who they are and how this happened. As of now I believe Albus thinks someone here at Hogwarts granted the person permission as there has been no sign that the warding was breached. Who did, however, is still unknown."

"Are there any leads?" James asked.

Sirius shook his head, "Tonks and I have been assigned to the case for investigative purposes but we haven't found anything yet. We have been able to rule out a few of the professors—Dumbledore, Minnie, Mooney, the usual suspects. I'm keeping Snivellus on the table, personally, and Nymphy agrees with me on that front."

Remus snorted, "Good lord don't let her catch you calling her Nymphy. She'll curse your buttocks off."

Sirius shrugged, "Anyway, we're on the case but so far it's been cold. The warding definitely hadn't been mettled with and were still intact when we checked them."

"And there's no way it was You-Know-Who?" McGonagall asked.

All three men shook their heads as James responded, "No. We destroyed the artifact that could have tethered him to this world. He couldn't have been here."

McGonagall hesitated, her lips a taught line across her face, before replying, "You three know you're like family to me. Sure, you were hellions as children, but you were always inherently good children and I love you all. So, please, take my advice with a grain of salt. I have known Albus for nearly a half a century and in all that time I have known him to be a brilliant man capable of formulating and executing ingenious plots and plans. However, there has never been a time that I've known him when those plans have be executed without fault, mistake, or mishap. Whatever it is he had you do, know that there is most likely more accompanied with that task that you aren't aware of."

James, Sirius, and Remus looked at one another carefully before each nodding. James turned to McGonagall and took a deep breath, "Minnie, perhaps it's time we tell you what's really been going on."

~ID~

Harry could feel his magic building with his anger his entire trip back to Gryffindor Tower. He either didn't notice or didn't care about the loud bangs from suits of armor and portraits falling on the floor that followed him down the winding corridors. By the time he reached the common room, his radiating magic was nearly a glowing aura around his body.

"Yule log!" Harry shouted at the Fat Lady.

"There's no need to shout. I do have working ears you know," she snapped back as she swung open to allow him entrance.

As he stomped in Harry caught sight of Ron and Hermione sitting by the fireplace. Ron had his head in his hand, his quill moving slowly around his parchment as he worked on his homework. Rather than attempt to answer questions in front of all of Gryffindor Tower, Harry stormed passed them, hoping they would catch sight of him and come up to the dormitory after him.

He was half way through packing up his trunk, albeit haphazardly, when Ron and Hermione finally found him in the dormitory. They watched him curiously as he tore his telescope apart and threw the pieces into his trunk and turned back to his bed, looking for any leftover objects.

"What's with the spring cleaning?" Ron asked as he flopped down on Harry's bed and produced a chocolate frog from his pocket and began munching on it.

Harry glared at Ron as he shoved some socks into the corner of his trunk, "My dads found out about what happened in the forest. I'm moving home for the rest of the term."

"What about end of year exams? We still have a week of classes!" Hermione asked, outraged.

Harry shrugged, "I get to come back during the day for classes and exams. And I get to have lunch here. But not breakfast or dinner and I sleep at home."

"Do they honestly think something else is going to happen to you?" Ron asked, his mouth full of chocolate.

"They don't want to risk it."

"Oh, but Harry, this might be the best option. We don't know who—or what—that was in the forest. What if it does come after you? It's concerning it's on the school grounds."

Just then a very sweaty and out of breath Draco came wheezing into the dormitory, holding his mirror up, "I—heard—about—packing."

Harry frowned, "How—"

Ron casually held up Harry's mirror, "This fell out of your pocket. I called Draco while you were throwing rubbish about."

"How did you get into the tower?" Hermione asked, frowning, "No one but Gryffindor's are supposed to be able to enter the house common rooms."

Draco shook his head, "Nah. Normally people can't get into other houses because of passwords and stuff but since I knew where your entrance was, I just waited until someone came by and let me in. Fred and George made fun of me for a few minutes before saying the password, but they let me in eventually.

"I know this seems like the worst thing in the world, and it's pretty bad right now, but maybe this will be a good thing. James, Sirius, and Remus are just trying to do what they think is best."

"Look, since I'm going to be gone you guys are going to have to keep an eye on Fluffy and the Stone. I'll help while I'm here, but Nana knows that we know. I'll leave my cloak so that you guys can use it to keep hidden from her and the other Professors."

"I don't know about this, Harry," Hermione frowned.

"Do you want Snape to get the Stone? This is the only defense we have left."

"Don't worry mate, we're with you on this," Ron assured as he tussled Harry's hair.

"Yeah," Draco nodded, "we'll do what needs to be done. And if that means staking out Snape, then so be it."

~ID~

"Albus, I really think there's some merit to their concerns," McGonagall argued to a stoic and calm Albus Dumbledore later that evening. The only sounds that could be heard were the small puffing of smoke from his various instruments, the crackling of the fire, and Fawkes' various crooning sounds. "I don't think Severus is the issue, or the one going after the Stone, but I think Harry is right. Someone is after it and I think we need to strengthen our patrols. Especially after the incident in the Forest."

"Minerva," Dumbledore said as if he were speaking to a child, "I assure you that our protections are sufficient. There is no one in this school who could possibly benefit from stealing the Philosopher's Stone."

"There is clearly something sinister going on here at Hogwarts," McGonagall argued, "The incident involving Harry and the Forbidden Forest is evidence of that."

"I have taken great lengths to protect the Stone. Only someone who doesn't want to use the Stone would be able to find it—this I can assure you of."

"Albus, I don't think you're taking this breach of security seriously."

"I'm unsure of how much more seriously I could take this breach," Dumbledore said seriously, "If you recall, we had the aurors here to investigate immediately upon being informed of the incident."

"And they found that someone within the school must have granted the attacker permission to enter the grounds," McGonagall reminded him, "Which should have triggered an inquiry as to this breach. We haven't had issues of this magnitude since the war. And even then, those incidents never reached the school grounds. There are few members of staff who have been added to our school in the last decade. I propose we make a list of those individuals who have joined our ranks since You-know-Who's downfall and we vet those individuals through thorough investigation."

"Don't worry, Minerva, everything is under control," Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and gave McGonagall a soft smile as his eyes twinkled from behind his spectacles.

~ID~

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco quickly found themselves in the throws of end of year exams. Though they had complained about the study schedule Hermione and Draco had made, Ron and Harry were secretly happy they had followed it. They both knew they wouldn't receive top marks in any class, but they at least felt comfortable knowing that they passed for the year.

As they walked out of their last exam for the term, the small group of four found themselves sitting outside during the particularly fine afternoon under a beech tree by the lake. They had piled their cloaks on the ground as they tried to soak up as much sun as they could. Ron had immediately flopped down and lain on his back. Harry thought he could hear him snoring already despite having only lain down a few minutes prior.

"Is James letting you come back for the end of term feast?" Draco asked as he pretended to be occupied with his journal.

"Yeah. Dad said it's an important event and it's highly unlikely that anything will happen to me during it."

"It's good James is letting you come," Hermione said, "I still think he's in the right keeping you home in the evenings though."

"Hermione," Ron wined, "don't get started on this again. You'll only piss them off. You're lucky they're even talking as it is."

"Honestly, Ronald, neither of them should be angry with the other to begin with."

"Come off calling me Ronald!" Ron chided as he turned pink.

"Do you two ever give it a rest?" Draco asked, "Honestly, you're like walking timebombs."

Harry leaned back and looked out over the lake, "I wonder if Nana told Dumbledore about Snape and the Stone."

Ron snorted, "Probably not. Honestly, Harry, do you expect her to?"

"Yeah, kind of, actually."

"Well I—"

"I think it's time for you to leave, Harry," Draco said quietly, "I see Remus coming this way."

Harry groaned and threw his arm over his eyes, "They never stop. Honestly, I can't get a moment to myself. When I'm at home, dad and Uncle Sirius are always all over me. I know they missed me but that's ridiculous."

"Harry!" Remus called from across the grounds, "Harry come on! James is expecting us for dinner."

"Am I being punished now too? Why's he yelling across the grounds like that? Everyone will hear him," Harry muttered as he snatched up his robes and bag, "I'll see you guys tomorrow, I guess."

Draco, Ron, and Hermione watched as Harry stomped away, blew passed Remus, and made his way into the castle.

"Well then," Ron said as he sat up, "Early dinner?"

It wasn't long before Ron was sitting happily at the Gryffindor table with his plate piled high with food. Draco and Hermione were discussing what they thought the correct answers on their exams had been. Hermione was especially worried that she had improperly explained the theory behind transfiguring a match into a needle. Draco tried to assure her she had explained it properly to no avail.

"Hey," Ron interrupted as he gestured with a chicken wing, "Where's Dumbledore?"

Draco and Hermione's heads whipped around to look at the head table where they, too, caught sight of the glaringly empty head seat typically occupied by Albus Dumbledore.

"That can't be good," Draco whispered.

"He might just be eating in his office," Hermione said slowly.

"Course not, he always eats here in the hall," Ron supplied.

Draco and Hermione eyed each other as Ron continued eating his dinner. Draco briefly wondered where he managed to put all of his food once he ate it because he never seemed to gain any weight.

Once they'd finished dinner the three of them headed back to their common rooms to have a quiet evening. Or hoped to have a quiet evening is the more appropriate language. Nearly as soon as Draco entered Ravenclaw tower her caught sight of his family's Eagle owl sitting on the widow ledge waiting for him to let it in. He glanced around the nearly empty room before dashing over to receive the letter the bird had brought him. He quickly tore it open and read through the neat handwriting. He couldn't believe what he had read.

Draco,

Your behavior this past year has been exceptionally disappointing. You have been an utter disgrace to the Malfoy family name. Your mother and I have given you chance after chance to correct this poor behavior to no avail and I shall never forgive your mother for introducing you to that wretched Potter family.

Despite you failing the multitudes of opportunities I have presented you, I shall once again provide another. I have received notice from an old colleague that in approximately 5 hours our Dark Lord shall finally be in possession of the object that shall return him to full power. As I understand it, you and your gang of ne'er-do-wells have been doing everything within your limited power to circumvent this momentous occasion. It is my assumption that you have already determined this is the situation and that it will be occurring imminently. Should you wish to continue to remain in my good graces, in any sense of the phrase, you will not impede these plans. Under no circumstances will you act on this information and alert any authorities including, but not limited to, Albus Dumbledore.

Do not disappoint me, Draco. Do not continue to disappoint this family. And, as a gentle reminder, your grandfather intends to visit our home sometime early this summer. I look forward to being able to tell him about your success in this regard.

Lord Lucius Abraxas Malfoy II

Draco carefully lifted his wrist and looked at his watch. Assuming the timing was correct, Snape would be heading for the Stone around midnight that night. He sat quietly as he folded and unfolded the letter, his eyes staring into the bright red flames of the fire. A part of him wished that deciding what to do was a difficult choice. But the other half of him knew that, if it were, he wouldn't be the person that he is. The most difficult part of it all was how to go about his decision.

It was such a difficult plan to make that Draco hadn't fully formed it, and decided to act on it, until nearly quarter to midnight. When he finally looked away from the dancing flames, Draco was shocked to realize that the common room was devoid of life. He had been so absorbed in is plan tha the hadn't noticed others trickling off to bed. As he slowly looked around the room he nodded to himself—this would work well. He slowly pulled his mirror from his pocket and took a deep breath before saying Harry's name.

"Blimey," called a voice from the other end of the mirror, "It's midnight Draco. Why are you trying to call Harry?"

"Ron?" Draco asked as the familiar, freckled face appeared in the mirror, "Why do you have Harry's mirror?"

"Harry left it by accident today. It must have fallen out of his pocket when our robes were all piled up this afternoon because I found it tangled in my sleeve. He did leave in quite a hurry. I figured when he realized it he'd call you and ask for it.

"What do you want Harry for, anyway?"

"I—well—I just—"

Ron looked at Draco's pale face, scrutinizing his expressions. "Look, I know I can be thick when it comes to people and stuff, but please don't tell me you were planning on going off to the third floor and convincing Harry to come with you."

"Well—you see, I got this letter—from my father—"

Ron's eyes widened and Draco could tell he had sat up further in his bed, "Your father? About the Stone?"

Draco nodded slowly, "It's no big deal. I was just going to check on Fluffy—to be sure."

"Let me get Hermione."

"What—no! Ron!" Draco said to the empty mirror, "Bollocks!"

Draco stood up and quickly made his way through the concealed door and slowly crept down the stairwell. Once he'd reached the sixth floor, Draco crept through the corridor, glancing around corners before continuing toward the staircase that would take him to the third floor. He hoped beyond hope that Ron and Hermione wouldn't follow him and, once they realized he'd gone in, they contacted Dumbledore for help.

Somehow, beyond his belief, Draco managed to make his way to the door that concealed Fluffy. He carefully leaned his ear against the door and listened intently to the soft, musical noise he could hear through the thick oak. Slowly and cautiously, Draco pulled the door open and peeked his head inside of the room.

His eyes widened as he caught sight of the massive cerberus sleeping in the center of the room. A stand-alone harp was sitting in the corner playing a soft and soothing melody which was accompanied by the deep, grumbling snores of the dog. Draco tiptoed his way into the room and pulled the door quietly shut behind him. When Fluffy's snores paused, Draco froze in place, praying that the animal hadn't awaken.

Draco waited a few moments after Fluffy had resumed snoring before he moved further into the room, opened the trapdoor, and peered inside. Upon realizing he couldn't see into the room below, Draco quickly lit his wand and laid down on the floor, hoping to point his wand as far into the hole as he could to see what laid below.

Once he realized all he could see was darkness, Draco took a deep breath and leapt into the unknown.

~ID~

Harry woke with a start as he felt his hand suddenly blaze with heat. Turning on the light beside him, Harry lifted the mirror to his face, socked to see Ron and Hermione looked back at him, surprise and fear in their eyes.

"Harry!" Hermione said in a harsh whisper, "Harry why do you have Sirius' mirror?"

"I lost mine at school. I nicked it in case one of you found it and called me. I guess you did find it," he added annoyed, "Why didn't you tell me? And why are you calling at, gods, midnight?"

The pair looked at one another, their faces white, before Ron turned back to Harry, "It's Draco. He went to the Stone. He wanted to check to make sure nothing happened to it and I've tried calling him again but he won't answer. We're worried and with Dumbledore out of the school—"

"Dumbledore isn't at the school?" Harry said loudly as he sat up in bed, "What do you mean Dumbledore isn't at Hogwarts?"

"Well," Hermione said slowly, "he wasn't at dinner and he never misses dinner so we assumed—"

"That he'd left for the night," Ron finished timidly, "Harry—Harry don't do what I think you're going to do. We're already here at the door. We had to petrify Neville and everything. You should have seen Hermione do it. It was bloody brilliant."

"Why did you petrify Neville?"

"Later. We're about to go in."

"No, wait for me! I'll be there in 15 minutes."

"Harry—" Hermione started.

"Wait for me."

Harry quickly put the mirror in his pocket and dash out of his room. He carefully tiptoed his way down the hall and stairs, making his way to the library so he could use the fireplace. After glancing around the first floor, making sure he was alone, Harry flooed to Remus' office at Hogwarts.

~ID~

"No, no, you move your wrist like this," James said as he twisted his wrist and flicked his wand, turning the rat in front of him into a goblet in the process, "I think that's your issue. Go ahead and give it a go."

The younger boy nodded determinedly, "Like this?" he asked as he twisted his wrist as well. The boy smiled as his own rat turned into a hairy goblet with a tail-like stem.

"That's it! a bit more practice and you should get it right. You really need to visualize what you want the goblet to look like. Picture the clear crystal and the embellishments in your mind as you say the spell and do the movements. The true power in transfiguration is your ability to picture the outcome."

The boy concentrated, sticking his tongue out through his lips as he thought about the process of the spell. Then he twisted his wrist and watched delightedly as the rat turned into a beautiful, crystal goblet.

"I did it! I did it! Thank you, James!"

"No problem Steve. I knew you could. It's all about the right movements and getting in the right headspace," he encouraged as he heard a noise in the doorway to the empty transfiguration classroom. James briefly glanced up and caught sight of a beautiful redheaded girl with brilliantly green eyes softly smiling at the pair of boys huddled around a work table. "Steve, why don't you practice a couple more times. I need to speak to the head girl for a moment."

"Sure thing, James!"

James ran his fingers through his already messy black hair and flashed a crooked grin at Lily before slowly making his way to the entryway.

"Evans! What a wonderful surprise. What brings you to my tutoring lessons? And so early in the school year I might add."

Lily rolled her eyes, "I heard you were hosting tutoring in here but I couldn't believe it without seeing it for myself. And you've actually managed to convince a student to come. What on earth are you on about doing this?"

James frowned, "What do you mean, Evans? McGonagall sanctioned my sessions—actually, she's sent me a few individuals from her classes."

"And, what, this is in exchange for a detention? Multiple detentions?"

"No," James shook his head, "Minnie pulled me aside after our first class and asked if I would be willing to tutor younger students and I agreed. I like transfiguration. Plus I had to tutor Wormy during fifth year so he could pass his O.W.L.'s. And, if you recall, he managed and Exceeds Expectations in transfiguration thanks to me."

Lily's eyes widened as her lips parted slightly, as if she were going to gape at James, "You—you're the one that tutored Peter? My god he couldn't so much as transfigure a hedgehog into a pin cushion."

"That's why Minnie asked me to tutor the younger students. She thought it would look good to have the head boy assisting outside of his usual duties."

Lily frowned, "What's with the sudden change in attitude, Potter? You're not the kind of person to tutor kids without some sort of gain."

"I've always tutored other kids, Evans. You've just been too busy saying no to me to notice. I mean, I have a heart, Lils. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another student coming in five minutes and I need to finish out with Steve here."

Lily nodded and watched James walk away from her. Then she hesitated and called out to him, "James?"

James turned around and smiled his lopsided smile at Lily, "Evans?"

"James I'm sorry for being so harsh. I—it was wrong of me."

"S'okay, Lils," James said as he turned back towards Steve.

"What? You're not going to make some comment about making it up to you?"

"Nah. It's never worked before. Why would it now? I'll talk to you later, Lils."

Lily stayed standing in the door way and bit her lip. She watched silently as James finished up his lesson with Steve and sent him on his way, leaving the pair alone in the transfiguration classroom.

"Evans! You're still here?"

Lily bit her lip again and smiled shyly at James, "I—yeah. James," Lily slowly made her way toward James, "I wanted to ask you—"

James awoke to the shrill sound of the floo alarm going off in his ear. For a few moments James couldn't comprehend what the noise was or why it had rudely awaken him from such a wonderful dream. It had been about the day Lily had finally agreed to go out with him. Well, the day she had asked him out, if he were completely honest with himself.

Then the seriousness of the alarm sunk in to him and he jumped out of bed. The floo alarm had gone off. Why had the alarm gone off? Who was in the Manor? Or, more importantly, who had left?

James spent the next half hour searching the entire Manor for anyone who could have come in by floo. At first he thought maybe Remus had decided to spend the evening at home rather than his suite at Hogwarts. But, when he didn't find Remus anywhere in the Manor, James realized his mistake and dashed to Harry's room, his heart ready to leap out of his chest.

~ID~

Hidden under his invisibility cloak, Harry dashed down the corridor and tore through a tapestry into a hidden passageway that would take him right to the door concealing Fluffy. As he turned a corner he caught sight of Ron and Hermione standing in front of the door, their faces pale and scared. Puffing for breath, Harry ran up to them and tore his cloak from his body.

"Draco?"

"Already inside," Ron said, his voice low and trembling, "Should we—should we go in after him?"

"We should get a professor," Hermione whispered, "We have no idea what's waiting under that trap door."

Harry shook his head, "There isn't time. We have to go get him. He could be hurt!"

Hermione and Ron glanced at one another before slowly nodding.

"Ok. Hermione, can you unlock the door?"

Hermione nodded and turned toward the door. She held up her wand before she frowned, "It's already open. That idiot didn't even shut the door behind him."

She carefully pulled the door open and peeked her head inside. Turning back, she motioned for Ron and Harry to follow her into the room, "It's sleeping. Someone left a harp playing in the corner."

The three friends tiptoed into the room and quietly closed the door behind them. Hermione made sure that it latched so that it wouldn't swing back open, revealing someone had gone into the room. They quickly made their way to the trap door and opened it, revealing its darkened interior.

"How deep do you think it is?" Ron asked, "Is it safe to jump?"

Harry sighed, "Look, let me go first. If I don't call out to you, you'll know it's not safe and you should leave."

"No, I should jump in—" Ron started to say when Harry jumped into the gaping hole, ignoring everything Ron had said.

"Merlin's pants!" Ron hissed, "Alright, let's go."

Ron quickly jumped into the hole in the floor, pulling Hermione with him.

The three friends made quick work of the devil's snare and the flying key room. The next room, however, stopped them in their tracks.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stepped into the large stone room illuminated completely by moonlight. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the large pillar in the center of the room and the 8 phases of the moon floating around the room in a wide circle. And standing right by the pillar, scrutinizing it with his deep, grey eyes, was Draco Malfoy.

"Draco!" Hermione shouted as she ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, "We were so worried something happened to you! How could you be so stupid to come on your own!"

"Yeah mate, what's your deal?"

Shocked, Draco hugged Hermione back before stepping away, his face pale and translucent, "I got that letter from my dad—I had to stop Snape. I—I don't want to know what happens to me, my family, if the Dark Lord returns."

"Draco, we would have come with you! Hell, we came after you," Harry said exasperatedly, "We're just glad you're ok."

"You're hurt," Hermione said as he inspected Draco's arms and neck, "You have a lot of scratches. What happened?"

Draco rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I scraped myself while getting away from the devil's snare. For a few moments I forgot what it was. Stupid of me, really."

Ron ruffled Draco's hair, "S'okay mate, people forget things."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You mean like you, Ronald? Honestly, you would have died if it weren't for me and Harry."

"Well—we weren't talking about me, were we?"

Harry let out a laugh and then turned to the large obelisk, "So, what do you make of this, Draco? Any ideas? It's definitely Uncle Moony's challenge."

Hermione frowned and looked around the room, "How do you know?"

"The full moon," Harry and Draco said together without looking away from the pillar.

"The full—what does the moon have to do with Professor Lupin?"

Harry and Draco exchanged a knowing smile, "Oh," Harry said, "nothing special. He just really likes the phases of the moon."

"You could say he goes out every full moon to inspect it," Draco added.

"I don't—what am I not understanding?" Hermione asked, annoyance and aggravation evident in her tone.

"Yeah, normally I'm the only daft one here," Ron added.

"Look, we can discuss Uncle Moony's various issues and complications with the lunar cycle once we get out of here. Hermione, do you think we could go back through the other rooms?"

"Probably. But not all of us. There were only three brooms in the last chamber."

"Ok. Draco, Ron, and you will go back. I'll stay here and try to get through to Snape and hold him off. You three can get Dumbledore."

"No way!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Are you mental?"

"It's the only good plan!" Harry replied angrily.

"We'll all go," Draco said calmly, "And in the event that one or more of us is injured, then someone will take those people back and get Dumbledore. My guess is that James and Sirius already know you left the house, Harry. Unless you remembered to deactivate the floo alarm?"

"The floo alarm?"

"Yeah. The alarm on personal floo fireplaces? The ones parents set up so their kids can't sneak out? Have—have you never tried to sneak out at night?"

Ron nodded, "My parents set up a strict one after they caught Fred and George coming back at two in the morning one day."

"How am I just now hearing about this?"

"Well—not to be rude," Draco said, "But you've always been a—a rule lover. You always followed the rules too much as a kid. So, probably, James never put one on until now. But, in any case, you tripped the alarm so I'm sure they're rushing here now."

"Who knows how long they'll take though. What do you guys think we need to do?"

Hermione examined the pillar and the hole inside of it before walking along the opposite wall and touching the stones placed there. Harry watched as she closely inspected a few of them, brushing her fingers over something carved into the rock.

"There's carvings here. I think they're runes but I don't know what they mean. I've never studied runes."

"Something our Hermione doesn't know?" Ron said sarcastically, "Someone kill me because the world is ending."

"Ha-ha. Very funny," Hermione said as she turned to Draco, "Do you know what they say?"

Draco frowned and examined the runes, "Well, this one says 'hello'. And that one says 'full moon' and this one says 'stone'…they don't make any sense to me."

"Is there one that says 'open'?" Hermione asked as she moved closer to the wall with Draco.

"Er—this one," he said hesitantly as he pointed at a stone on the wall.

Hermione carefully touched the stone and ran her fingers over the markings. Then, testing her theory, she applied pressure and pushed the stone into the wall. They heard a churning noise, like a pipe turning on, but nothing happened. Hermione frowned and glanced around the room. "Did you guys hear that?"

Harry and Ron nodded as they looked around the room for the source of the noise.

"Guess it was a coincidence?" Harry suggested as he started walking across the room, the bottom of his pants dampening. As he walked passed the pillar, he brushed against it, causing it to move to the side slightly with a rough, grinding noise.

"Wait, that moves?" Ron asked surprised, "Why would that move if we're supposed to push the stones on the wall?"

Draco frowned and walked back over to the pillar, his trainers dampening from the puddles on the floor. He carefully pushed the pillar to the left, letting it stand directly in front of the half-moon. "And why the phases of the moon? What purpose do they serve besides decoration?"

"Wait! Stop moving the pillar!" Hermione cried from the wall, "Look! It magnifies the light from the moon. It's landing on a stone."

"Hey," Ron said as Harry and Draco ran over to the wall, "Is no one going to mention all the water on the floor?" Ron lifted his foot off the ground, revealing the water had now completely engulfed his shoes.

Harry frowned and looked down at his shoes, "I mean, there were puddles—but why would it be getting deeper?"

Without warning, Draco pushed the stone on the wall and the group heard the grinding pipe noise again. This time the effect of their mistake was evident as the water level began rising more drastically. Within a minute it had risen to their knees. At this rate they would only have 10 minutes before the room filled completely and they drowned.

"Stop. Pushing. Buttons!" Harry shouted, ending every word as if it were its own sentence, "Stop! We need to figure this out! What do we know about this puzzle?"

"Well, we know that the runes are stone buttons on the wall and we can push them. but if we push the wrong one the water level starts rising faster," Hermione supplied.

Draco nodded, "And if we move the pole around the room, it enhances the light from the different moons. And that light lands on different stones."

"So we need to get the right moon for the right stone," Ron finished, "But which one?"

"That's it! Ron, you're a genus!" Harry shouted as he slapped his hand on Ron's back before running to the pillar. The water was up to his chest now, making it difficult to move through the room, but he managed to move the pillar so that the opening was directly in front of the full moon. "Uncle Moony would have definitely made it the full moon! It makes sense!"

Draco quickly followed the beam of light to the rune stone on the wall and pushed it, "Brilliant! This should—" Draco was cut off as the water level quickly increased and rose to his shoulders, "What—bloody hell! But the full moon—it made sense!"

"Why would that make sense? Why would the full moon be that important to Professor Lupin?" Hermione shouted as she carefully tread water next to Draco.

"He's a werewolf—he changes during the full moon," Harry explained.

Hermione and Ron cried out in shock, their eyes wide.

"He—he's a werewolf? And Dumbledore lets him teach?" Hermione asked, outraged.

"Yes, yes. He's dangerous two nights out of the month. Get over it and help us with this puzzle! We can deal with your prejudices later," Harry scolded.

"Why would he want it to be the full moon though? Wouldn't he change on those days?" Ron asked as he swam to the pillar, "Wouldn't he want it to be any day but the full moon?"

"Or no moon at all," Draco said slowly, "That's it! Ron, push it to the new moon slot."

"But then there won't be any light!" Ron objected.

"Just do it!" Hermione shouted.

Ron rolled his eyes and slowly pushed the pilar through the water until it was placed in front of the new moon. Suddenly, the room around them brightened, revealing a streak of darkness emanating from the stone pilar and landing directly on a stone obscured by the water. Harry, who was closest, quickly dove down and pushed the stone that was engulfed by the darkness. As soon as he clicked it he felt himself being sucked out through an opening as the water poured out of the room.

"Brace yourselves!" Draco yelled as all of them were sucked out of the room.

~ID~

James, Remus, Sirius, and McGonagall dashed through the castle. Lanterns blazed to life as they ran, illuminating their way. All four had their wands out and ready, preparing for the absolute worst as they burst into Fluffy's chambers and all four sent stunning spells at the now-conscious dog. Fluffy let out a loud yelp as he collapsed to the floor, unconscious once again.

James flicked his wand and Fluffy's large paw levitated off of the trapdoor opening, "Everyone in."

"No!" McGonagall shouted as she grabbed Sirius by the robes, stopping him from jumping, "There's devil's snare at the bottom. Hold on, I'll create a barrier so we don't touch the vines. We'll be able to walk across it and into the second chamber."

McGonagall pointed her wand into the opening and made a few complicated movements with her wand and then nodded, "It'll be secure and soft for the landing. Go! And remember, when you get to my chess board, you don't actually need to play, you just need to say 'checkmate'. The children won't know that though and could be injured from playing. The pieces are designed to kill their opponents, not go easy on them."

James, Remus, and Sirius nodded at McGonagall as they all jumped into the open hole.

"Hey it really was cushioned," Sirius said as he patted the invisible landing the three of them were sitting on.

"We don't have time to enjoy the luxuriousness of Minnie's cushioned landing, Padfoot! Let's go!" James yelled as he stood up on the platform and began making his way toward the door.

Remus bent over and helped Sirius up, "This isn't the time to play around. Have Minerva make another one for you to play with later."

"Yeah, yeah. James! Are you catching the key?" Sirius said as he ran after his best friend.

~ID~

"I'll go on. You stay here with Ron," Harry argued.

Hermione shook her head, "He'll be fine. You'll need help for the last two challenges, Harry."

"I'll be fine! Look, you take him back up to the castle and find Dumbledore. He'll be able to help."

"Absolutely not, Harry. We can move him out of the way and he'll be fine."

"Hermione would you just—" Harry froze, "Did you hear that?"

Hermione frowned, "Hear what?"

Harry shushed Hermione and pulled her and Draco behind a chunk of a broken pawn, "Stay down," he whispered.

The three children crouched behind the white stone as they heard several footsteps racing into the room. The footsteps slowed as they approached what Harry assumed was the chess board.

"Ron!" they heard a voice shout as the footsteps sped up, "Padfoot, is he ok?"

"Uncle Sirius?" Harry whispered to Hermione as he peeked out from behind the stone. From around the corner Harry was able to see his dad and uncles huddled around Ron, "Distract them. Come on Draco!"

"Harry where are you—" she watched as Harry crept behind another chunk of stone, heading toward the door. She looked silently at Draco, pleading him to stay. He frowned and shook his head, looking back at Harry and then at her. Then, he too carefully crept towards the door.

"Boys!" she quickly popped her head out from behind the stone, "Mr. Potter and Black! Professor Lupin! You scared me."

The three men looked toward her and Remus stood up and quickly made his way to her side, "Hermione! Thank Merlin you're safe. Where's Harry?"

"He—he—er—" she stammered.

James' face paled, "He went on ahead, didn't he? Remus, what's next?"

Remus thought for a moment, "I think it's Quirrell's task. But, if whomever is after the Stone has already been through there, he won't have to do anything. He won't make it passed Snape's task."

"What about Ron? He's injured! And—and I'm injured too," she lied, "I—my ankle, I think I broke it."

Sirius made his way over to Hermione to examine her ankle while Hermione hoped beyond hope that Remus was right and there was truly only one task standing before Harry and Draco.

~ID~

Harry and Draco dashed through the next chamber and through an unlocked door. The smell washed over them, causing them to gag and for Harry to nearly vomit from the stench.

"Merlin—what is that?" Draco gagged.

Harry pointed ahead of them to a large figure on the ground, "Troll. Unconscious."

Draco grabbed Harry's robe and dragged him through the room and into the next, "C'mon."

Once they were in the next hall both boys gasped for fresh air. Harry was doubled over, his hands resting on his bent legs as he tried to clear his sinuses of the putrid scent that had assaulted them.

"What in Merlin's—"

"I think that was a cave troll. They smell worse than mountain trolls," Draco explained, "What's on in here?"

For the first time Harry took in his surroundings and noticed the table full of bottles with different colored liquids. Laying next to the seven bottles was a piece of parchment written on in a familiar handwriting. Harry watched as flames burst in each doorway, blocking their exit from either direction. Harry noted the drastic difference in color, one was black and the other, purple. Draco carefully picked up the parchment and read through the script and frowned.

"Maybe we should have brought Hermione. She's much better at riddles than I am."

"What's it say?" Harry asked as he looked over Draco's shoulder. He was able to make out the words.

Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind.

Two of us will help you, whichever you would find.

One among us nine will let you move ahead.

Another will transport the drinker back instead.

Two among our number hold nettle wine.

Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.

Two more in line contain the poison's cure.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore.

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues five:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hid

You will always find nettle wine on its left side.

Second, different are those who stand at either end.

But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size.

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second from the left and the second on the right

Are safety once you taste them, though different at first sight.

Fifth, safety lies in numbers, on the right and in the middle,

You'll know them only if you can solve my riddle.

"I have no idea what it's saying. Do you?"

"I think so? I think two bottles are nettle wine, two are antidotes to the poisons, one will let you go forward, and one will send you back. But—to figure out which is which? I'll need a minute."

"I think you have about thirty seconds," Harry warned as he tried desperately to see through the flames, "Or however long Hermione can stall them for."

Harry watched as Draco read through the paper and pointed at different bottles, opening their lids and sniffing their contents. Some of the lids he left off, a few he closed back up. Finally, Draco turned to Harry, a frown on his face.

"Well, I have two possible answers," he said as he pointed, "This one is definitely the one that will take you back through the black fire. And this one is definitely an antidote to the poison. But these two—one is a poison and the other will take you through the purple flames."

"Well, which is which?" Harry asked desperately.

"I—I don't know. your guess is as good as mine. We'll have to try each of them to find out for sure."

"What do we do for the person who drinks the poison?"

"Pour the antidote down his throat," Draco said, shrugging.

"And just—just leave them here?"

Draco held up the black potion, "We can get back out to James, Remus, and Sirius with this."

Harry frowned, "Which do you think is the poison?"

He held up the larger bottle, "I think it's this one. But I'm not—"

Before Draco could finish Harry had snatched the bottle from his grasp and downed a mouthful of the amber liquid. The effect was instantaneous. Harry immediately doubled over, his stomach churning, blood seeping from his nose as he fell to the floor.

"Harry!" a voice shouted as they burst through the black flames, "Harry! What happened?"

James stared in shock at his son, watching the blood drip from Harry's mouth. Draco quickly handed James the antidote and watched as he inspected the bottle before shoving the liquid down Harry's throat.

While James was distracted, and Draco knew Harry was safe, he quickly downed the remainder of the potion. An icy feeling trickled from his head down to his toes as the potion began working. And, without a second thought, just as Sirius entered the room, Draco stepped through the purple flames.

"Draco!" Sirius shouted as he ran toward the purple flames. He reached out a hand, hoping to pull Draco back through, and felt an ice hot fire touch his fingertips. As he pulled back his hand, Sirius realized what he was dealing with. The frostbite quickly made its way down Sirius' fingers. Thinking quickly, he whipped out his wand, pointed it at his skin, and whispered, "Ciepto."

Sirius sighed in relief as his skin pinkened and warmed. He flexed his fingers and turned back to James who was propping Harry up on his chest, "What happened? And which Potion did he drink?"

"We had to stop Snape. You would have made us leave and he would have gotten the Stone! Draco went in to stop him."

"Draco is most likely facing one of Voldemort's supporters! How did he get in, Harry? I won't ask again," Sirius said in a firm and demanding voice.

"The empty bottle on the table," Harry said as he pointed, "We weren't sure which one was which. One was poison and one was the way through the fire. I—I couldn't let Draco sacrifice himself. And Snape—he likes Draco. His family is friends with Snape. Snape won't hurt Draco but he would have hurt me."

"You two were incredibly foolish," James chastised, "Absolutely incredibly foolish. Did any of you think, for just one second, that the adults were able to handle this situation? That there were more protections than any of you knew about? I have one word for you, Harry James Potter. Grounded. Padfoot, go get Draco. Don't let him get hurt."

Sirius looked up from the now full bottle, "Already on it, Prongs. Get the rest of the kids to safety."

James nodded as Sirius tipped the contents of the bottle into his mouth and stepped through the flames.

~ID~

McGonagall paced around the third-floor corridor, her heart nearly beating out of her chest as she waited for anything—news, events, Dumbledore; whatever would happen first. At every sound, including her own footsteps sometimes, she glanced around the hallway, hoping that all was well again, only to be disappointed in the lack of change.

Then, the door guarding Fluffy's chamber burst open, revealing a disheveled Remus Lupin, an exhausted James Potter, a half-dead Harry Potter, a barely conscious Ron Weasley, and a terrified Hermione Granger.

McGonagall rushed over to Remus and assisted him in helping Ron make his way out of the room, "What happened? Where are Sirius and Mr. Malfoy?"

James' eyes flashed a deep, stormy blue, "In the mirror room. Draco went through the flame and Sirius had to go after him."

McGonagall clapped a hand over her mouth, "He didn't! Mr. Weasley, Harry—what happened?"

"Ron got injured on your chess board and Harry drank the poison in Snapes room. I guess they couldn't solve the riddle," James chastised.

"They, they made it through my chess board?" McGonagall asked, her mouth wide, "Ms. Granger, how did you manage to beat me?"

"Oh," Hermione smiled softly, "It wasn't me, Professor. I'm rubbish at chess."

"Then who—Harry?"

Harry shook his head, "Nah, Nana. I've never beat you in chess. You know that. It was Ron."

"Mr.—Ron? How—"

Ron frowned and shook his head, "Rookie mistakes, Professor. Rookie mistakes."

McGonagall's lips formed a straight line across her face, "Rookie—I'll have you know, Mr. Weasley, I am a chess champion—"

"Minerva," said a soft, calm voice from behind the group, "Now is not the time to argue your chess expertise. Now, please explain again where Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Black are?"

Everyone turned, shocked to see Dumbledore standing tall and calm before them in the hallway. James paled and pointed into the doorway, "They're—they—"

"Draco went into the mirror room so Harry didn't have to, didn't he?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

Everyone nodded and watched as he calmly strode into Fluffy's room and stepped into the hole in the floor.

~ID~

Draco walked slowly down the amphitheater-like stairs, his eyes glued to the large, ornate mirror standing in the middle of the open floor. He immediately recognized the mirror and the person standing in front of it.

"Professor Quirrell?" Draco questioned, "Where's—where's Snape?"

"He, unfortunately, couldn't be here with me today. Did you receive your letter from your father, young Draco? Have you come to assist me or thwart me?"

"But, you—you're after the stone?"

"Don't be daft boy! Of course I'm after the Stone! The Dark Lord instructed me to get it and I shall."

"But Snape—"

"Snape, Snape, Snape. Yes, he was certainly unable to stop meddling in things that he shouldn't be meddling in. It's no wonder no one suspected p-p-poor st-stuttering p-professor Quirrell next to a known Death Eater," Quirrell turned around to look at Draco and pointed his wand at him, "So, Draco Malfoy, have you come to assist me or inhibit me? I shall warn you, there isn't a good outcome if you've chosen the latter."

"I—I—" Draco thought quickly, "How can I help you, Sir?" Draco quickly added a low bow to his question, not making eye contact with the man who had been his professor.

Quirrell assessed him for a moment before turning back to the mirror, "Do you know anything about this mirror, Draco?"

"Some, Sir."

"Tell me, how does it work?"

"Well," Draco gulped as he walked closer to Quirrell, "It—it shows you what you want. Your heart's deepest desires."

"I can see it," Quirrell whispered, "I can see myself holding the stone. But I can't find it! Show me where it is!"

Draco flinched as Quirrell yelled at him. Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Sirius creeping down the stairs behind them, his wand pointed directly at Quirrell.

"Sir," Draco interrupted, if he didn't act fact, Quirrell would see Sirius and it would all be over, "Sir, could I try? Maybe—maybe it—"

Draco's eyes widened as a raspy, harsh voice called out from where Quirrell was standing, "Move aside!"

Quirrell's eyes widened, "But—but sir—"

"Move aside, Quirrell! Let the boy look," the voice hissed.

Quirrell nodded and slowly stepped aside, allowing Draco to stand in front of the mirror. In its glass he could see Sirius had made it halfway down the stairs. He gulped and hoped he could stall Quirrell for long enough. But that voice—there was something about that voice that set him on edge, that gave him chills down to his toes.

He glanced around the room slowly before looking directly at the Mirror of Erised before him. Then, his eyes widened—what he was seeing before him in the mirror wasn't the same as what he'd seen the last time. Last time he had seen himself with a loving family who accepted him for who he is, not who they want him to be; but this time he saw himself—he saw himself with the Philosopher's Stone. Draco watched, wide eyed, as his mirror self held up the brilliant, red stone, and then slowly placed it into his pocket. He tried to keep his face stoic as he realized there was a new weight in his left pocket.

Refusing to give any indication that anything had changed, Draco turned to Quirrell, "I'm sorry, Sir—I only see myself with my family."

"He's lying!" Hissed the mysterious voice.

"Stupify!" Sirius shouted, his wand pointing directly at Quirrell.

Draco watched as the jet of red light soared directly at Quirrell's chest and was somehow deflected and ricochet to the ceiling, taking a large chunk of stone with it.

"Ah, Mr. Black. How lovely it is to see you," Quirrell hissed.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sirius asked, "No, seriously, who are you? I've never met this man."

"No, but my master recognizes you. He knew your brother, Regulus, quite well."

"I hate to break it to you, but your master is dead. Been dead. Not coming back."

Quirrell laughed, a loud, hearty sound, "My master is safe and—well, I suppose well would be the word. He's not dead, just in limbo at the moment."

"You haven't tried to contact him in a while, have you, bun head? If you had, you'd wonder why he hasn't responded to you in weeks."

"My master is with me. Always," Quirrell said sternly, "He, quite frankly, never leaves my side."

"Who the fuck is your master then? Because it's not Voldemort."

Then, the voice spoke again, "Let me see them. Show my face, Quirrell."

"Your face?" Sirius asked the air, "Bitch I don't even know who you are! You know what? I think it's time you shut up. Silencio!"

This time, the spell caught Quirrell off guard, causing him to lose his grip on his turban and attempt to shout at Sirius as the fabric fell from his head. Unknownst to Sirius, Draco could see a grotesque and misshapen face protruding from the back of Quirrell's shaven head.

Sirius let out a bark like laugh and looked over at Draco, "You see what I did there, Draco? I made him shut up. Stupefy!"

Quirrell raised his wand and simply flicked the spell away from him, shooting a jet of green light towards Sirius who managed to dodge the spell at the last moment.

"What the—really?" Sirius shot a jet of purple light which missed and nearly hit Draco who fell to the ground at the last moment, "Draco, hide!"

Draco quickly sought cover behind one of the large stone pillars in the room, gripping his wand tightly in his hand as he peered around the corner. He attempted to hit Quirrell with a petrifying jinx but missed and hit the wall behind him. Luckily, Quirrell was distracted.

He watched as Quirrell turned, allowing the face in the back to take control of the body and wand of Quirrell, it's distorted, snake like features sharp and enraged.

Sirius' eyes widened at the sight before him. Never before in his life had he seen anything so grotesque or deformed as this face was and yet he knew immediately who it was.

"No," Sirius whispered, "No. You're dead!" he sent a stream of the purple fire barreling towards Quirrell/Voldemort, landing a blow on their arm.

Quirrell cradled his arm against his stomach, the voice of Voldemort ringing clear in the air, "I am not dead! I have not died! You think an infant could defeat me? Lord Voldemort?"

"Yeah, I fucking do!" Sirius sent another jet of purple flames towards Voldemort, missing him by inches. Voldemort redirected the flames, turning it back toward Sirius. Sirius flicked his wand, turning the flames to water which splashed harmlessly on him. Then, turning to Voldemort, Sirius sent a jet of lightning towards him, hitting the ground where he stood.

"Give up you fool. You are no match for me! Draco, give. Me. The. Stone! Give it to me and I shall reward you beyond your imagination."

"No, I don't think I will, thanks!" Draco shouted from behind the pillar as he shot another petrifying jinx at Voldemort, "Eat dirt, Moldy!"

"Moldy?" Sirius laughed, "I love it! Eat shit Moldy!" Sirius blasted a chunk of rock off the stone floor and sent it flying at Voldemort who flicked his wand and caused it to burst into miniscule chunks and sent them shooting back at Sirius. Sirius jumped behind a pillar, narrowly avoiding the stone bullets. He carefully poke his wand out from behind the pillar and caused a chasm to open under Voldemort's feet. Sirius watched in glee as Voldemort fell into the hole and then in horror as he used his wand to propel himself back out of it.

Voldemort formed a stream of light acting like a whip out of his wand and sent it snapping at Sirius, cutting the stone pillar into pieces. Forming a shield in front of him, Sirius managed to avoid most of the damage that could have been caused, but took a serious cut on his chest, blood pouring out of it.

"Fuck." He healed it the best he could and sent ropes at Voldemort, hoping to capture him or detain him. They missed, latching themselves around the Mirror of Erised.

Just as Voldemort was preparing for another attack, a tall, bearded man stepped through the purple flames, his wand high in the air and a jet of orange light propelling toward Voldemort.

"Ah, Tom. I was wondering who it was that had managed to get into my school. Piggybacking on a professor I see?"

"Dumbledore," the voice hissed, "The biggest fool I've ever met. You didn't even realize I was here, all this time, right under your stupid, crooked nose."

"I must admit that I did not, Tom. I suspected, but I did not know for sure that you were here. However, I now know I need to vet my professors more thoroughly."

"Well, Dumbledore, another time, perhaps," Voldemort spat as, suddenly, his face erupted from Quirrell's body as a blood curdling shriek was heard. As the ghostly and smokey form of Voldemort severed from Quirrell's, Quirrell fell to the ground, his body crumpled and broken.

Draco watched in horror as the ghastly form of Lord Voldemort erupted in noise and fled.

End Notes:

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