Chapter 27- Caught

*****Draco*****

Muggle Studies with Alecto Carrow was the worst class imaginable, because… it seemed like a normal class. Dark Arts was terrible too, but at least… it wasn't hiding its horror. Pretending to practice and fail at the Cruciatus Curse… occasionally screaming in agony when his partner for the moment succeeded… wondering if he could actually practice the Imperious Curse and what his own thoughts were on its morality. Surely it mattered who you targeted and what you made them do? But thus far they hadn't covered that.

Perhaps Dark Arts was worse, but Muggle Studies made him feel sicker.

Thinking that in a different life he would have easily believed all of it. It focused on the evil past and present of muggles. Witch burnings, hunting animals- magical and not- to extinction to the best of their abilities, extermination of humans who looked different- unusual hair and eyes, albinos, indigenous peoples from every region. Wars with massive effects, instruments of torture… and Draco suspected that much of it was true.

But that wasn't all of it, all that muggles were.

That didn't encompass watching football and cricket on the telly with Uncle Ted. Ted using the telephone to talk to his relatives. Free schooling available for all children. Draco didn't really know what poor muggle families did, if both parents had jobs. He's never asked. Muggles had whole systems for it. And they had films, television shows, art, music. Computers, which Draco had little understanding of, because Uncle Ted didn't have one, but he had been considering it two summers ago. Before the world was mad. 1998 was supposed to be a great year for sports. The football World Cup in the summer- Ted bemoaned that England and Scotland were different teams, or they'd be amazing. And the Olympics in February- the Winter Olympics, which didn't sound as good as the Summer Olympics (which Draco had watched bits of in his first summer with the Tonkses, but he had been… less invested at that time, more on his own), but Draco hoped that Uncle Ted would get to watch. Draco had been fascinated by the idea of such a grand scale international cooperation. There were special previsions for peace, and countries that hated each other met amicably for sport. It wasn't perfect- some had been cancelled for wars, and some had been boycotted by certain countries, but it was a system that largely worked.

The Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament was the most wizarding international interaction that Draco had seen, and the Triwizard Tournament should hardly count with what a disaster that was. And the World Cup was only two countries in any given match, though attendees could come from anywhere. Draco had been to the finals match of the 1990 Quidditch World Cup with his father… which probably led to him being so open to football as a better thought out sport. A five day match where the Scottish team he had intended to cheer for over the Canadians was losing miserably for all of it… had not made a ten year old Draco Malfoy happy.

According to Carrow in one class period, muggles were a serious threat with numerous, creative methods of death (as if wizards didn't have just as many), and the next, they were idiots, dangerous only by their vast numbers, and the next, they were so incompetent that they needed civilized wizarding guidance.

And Draco could imagine himself believing every one of those narratives.

As if a small number of wizards couldn't destroy muggle existence.

As if wizarding society didn't use muggle goods- food, fabric, metals, and other things more often than Draco probably knew.

As if the Death Eaters weren't the reason that Uncle Ted had had to flee his home. Draco hoped that Ted was safe and relatively happy hiding in the muggle world. He didn't know if that was possible. He hoped that they could be together by summer and watch the football together.

Draco had to write an essay on the incredibly vague topic of how the muggle world would be better under wizarding rule. He wondered what had happened to the last teacher. Burbage, largely pureblood herself, but along the vein of Arthur Weasley. Thought odd in even the nicer circles for teaching the subject. Best case, she had fled like Uncle Ted. How long could the Weasley family be even relatively safe?

*****Draco*****

This was where the world made sense. When he was kissing his girlfriend. Snogging. His fiancé whom he actually loved and was going to marry. And it didn't even feel like too soon. When was it going to happen? No one was telling them when to have the wedding, because the world was in shambles, and he couldn't contact his mother, wasn't sure if he wanted to contact his father- maybe not his mother either- and Ginny's parents were definitely being monitored by the Ministry and trying to pretend that one of their other children wasn't on a mad quest with Potter.

But when he closed his eyes, the world made sense. When he only had to wonder where was okay to put his hands.

"Hey," Ginny whispered. She was beautiful. He wished he was really spending his nights with her, instead of alone in secluded classrooms under the monitoring of Dobby or a house elf he trusted. Most recently, the elf was wearing typical Hogwarts house elf uniform, the only eccentricity being the Slytherin hat that had once been Draco's, with the ear holes cut into it. Draco hoped that half-conformity was a personal choice, and not any Death Eater attention. It seemed unlikely that they saw or noticed any house elves. Maybe the strange little elf was fitting in better- which Draco also wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. And why the hell was he thinking about house elves when Ginny was looking at him?

"Yeah?" Draco asked back.

"You okay?" she checked.

No. Of course he wasn't.

"Right now I am," he said instead.

"So… if I was going to do something that you might think is dangerous and stupid, but I think is necessary and not that dangerous… do you want to know about it?" she asked.

Draco leaned his forehead against hers, eyes closed. Gryffindor, Weasley witch. "Are you going to do it regardless?" he asked.

"Yes. Sorry," she added.

"Tell me about it, then." He promised himself that no matter what this plan was, they would go back to snogging after he heard it. He needed that.

*****Draco*****

Ginny thought she was good at making plans. Draco didn't think she had much to compare herself to. Not that he had any more. As far as he could tell, the Gryffindor trio and those they brought along, didn't typically make plans. Which didn't make him feel good for whatever mission they were on now. The Order certainly didn't make adequate plans, as Draco saw the past summer. And, apparently, it had been the second time Order members took Potter from his muggle relatives by broom, and another time the Weasley twins and Weasley took him in a damned flying car- which Potter and Weasley used a month later to get themselves to school. The whole lot of them reused bad plans all the time.

Ginny's plan had Draco as the distraction. Not being seen with them if it were to go wrong, complete deniability of involvement. Ginny wouldn't agree to not being directly involved herself, but Draco wouldn't have expected any different.

They'd already gotten the password to the room, assuming it hadn't changed from the day before.

Abbott was off convincing Peeves to cause havoc, which was distraction plan B or possibly C. Or maybe there were two A's. But all of those distractions relied on someone else giving the information to Snape, because Abbott doing it was hardly likely. Still, it was probably the best part of the plan, and it almost hadn't happened. Abbott was a step removed, perhaps, like Draco. Not that Draco wanted to be inner circle. He would just prefer if Ginny wasn't either.

"Sir, can I talk to you for a moment, privately?" Draco asked, after locating the man in the dungeons. Snape wasn't Slytherin Head, and he wasn't teaching potions, and he didn't even have an office there anymore, but he was often found walking the dungeons nonetheless. Draco had sent the message on his coin. Different coin than the new iteration of 'Dumbledore's Army' used. It didn't say anything, just a blank message, but they would know it was sent.

"I suppose. If you follow me to my office," the man said, talking off at a brisk walk.

Of course Draco had anticipated that as a possibility. It was one of the things that made the plan stupid. But he also couldn't just watch the man walking the halls for an unknown amount of time, and there were too many ways to leave the dungeons if a person knew them all, even though students usually used the same one.

"Perhaps, your old office?" Draco suggested. It was empty, because it had been Snape's the year before when Slughorn had his own, and the Carrows had chosen elsewhere. Not all former Slytherins like the cold, windowless dungeons. "I- don't really want to be seen walking to the Headmaster's office for a… personal matter. I… was curious about my mother," he said. It wasn't a lie, none of it was exactly.

He wouldn't lie to a master legilimens.

Severus Snape stared at him for all of three seconds.

"Your mother is in good health," he said. "If you have any specific questions, you may follow me to my office," he said.

"No, that's enough, thank you," Draco said. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Following him would do no good, just look more suspicious and give him no time to message the others. But Abbott didn't really have time… her distraction was supposed to cover them leaving the office area and getting to the tunnel entrance…

Shit.

*****Ginny*****

Observation plan A must not have worked. Diversion plan A-C definitely did not work. Though, really, if A hadn't worked at all, B and C never had good odds.

"Sit down," Snape commanded. "All of you."

There were only two chairs on the opposite side of the couch, but Luna sat on the floor before it was an issue. Ginny and Neville took the chairs.

"Miss Lovegood, are you incapable of conjuring a chair for yourself?" Snape drawled. Ginny wasn't sure she could conjure something she would be willing to sit on herself, at least in front of Snape.

"You have very nice carpet," Lovegood said instead. Much better than in the Ravenclaw dormitories. Or the Gryffindor ones," she added. That was admitting to breaking a rule, wasn't it?

Snape looked like he wanted to murder all of them.

And then he turned all of that right onto Ginny.

"You were not here, got that? You will leave right now, and you had best hope that you are not seen by anyone who would care. And if you are, you will say that you caught perpetrators sneaking into my office for a reason you know nothing about, and that they are being dealt with privately. And Mr. Malfoy certainly had no hand in any diversion plan, and you will do nothing to endanger his life or your own. And you can be assured that this is not for your sake!"

At least Hannah hadn't been caught.

"The gargoyles let you in," Neville said, entirely nonsensically.

"I am the headmaster. They shouldn't have let you in, Longbottom," Snape spat. He could have said far worse things.

They'd used extendable ears and disillusionment charms, and caught the password from when one of the Carrows entered the office. The only part of the plan that had gone well. What Ginny wouldn't give for an invisibility cloak and a Marauder's Map. She had been intending to ask about the map… those three clearly didn't need it. But it was one of the few things Harry had from his father, and Ginny probably wasn't even supposed to know about it… so she'd put it off. She hadn't anticipated the abrupt end at the wedding.

Ginny, Neville, and Luna had only just found the sword when it was already over. Stored in a well-locked cabinet instead of on the desk.

They should have left as soon as they'd gotten Draco's second message, but they'd already found it, and what if he moved it off the grounds entirely after this?

Neville was still on his previous thoughts. "They sealed themselves when Umbridge was Headmistress, and she was chosen by a more official force than you were… at least allegedly. Unless you were chosen by someone else too. Also, the staircases change more often when one of the Carrows or visiting Death Eater are on them," Neville said. Because he had no fear. The boy who the whole school had known had Snape as his boggart in his third year.

"Longbottom, I had no idea that I would ever wish for you to return to as you were as a first year, rather than this adolescent so incapable of staying out of trouble," Snape complained. It was… strangely human.

"So, Ginny wasn't part of it. What happens to Luna and I? I can take the blame all by myself," Neville claimed.

"You will not like your punishment, but I might make it lighter if you told me willingly what you were doing here."

"We were going to take the sword of Gryffindor," Neville started.

"Neville!" Ginny couldn't help herself. It wasn't any more incriminating, her reacting… she could have been acting. Except he's a master spy and legilimens, and Ginny knew two occlumency exercises that would definitely not do her any good.

"Professor Dumbledore left it to Harry in his will, and we believe that Harry needs it for something to do with the mission he's on. Or, he might need it at least," Neville said.

No. No.

"And you've told me this, Longbottom, because you think I'm 'safe,'" he said.

"Safe enough in this case," Neville answered.

"Are you certain about that? Most of the staff has known me since I was eleven, and every one of them knows that I am the Death Eater that I can assure you that I am. Foolish child."

"I trust the castle more than people," Neville said. "Including what you say now."

But the castle had to listen to the Headmaster, didn't it? Maybe Umbridge was the anomaly. Maybe Snape had been… appointed by Dumbledore in the event of his death… that didn't mean that Dumbledore was right to trust him. Or maybe the School Board was involved? Ginny still didn't know what those people did.

"If Miss Weasley weren't here, this would go worse for you."

"But, Miss Weasley isn't here," Luna spoke up.

Neville started a poorly concealed coughing laugh.

"Weasley, out!" Snape snapped.

"Sir, you didn't answer when Neville asked what would happen to us," Luna said.

Another thing for Ginny to worry about.

"The Forbidden Forest, tomorrow night just after dark. Hagrid has been asking for help, and hopefully you two are of slightly more use than first years that some idiots might have chosen."

"Thank you, sir," Neville said.

"Weasley, leave," Snape said again, firmly rather than angrily.

Ginny stood and walked to the spiral staircase.

That was all proof now, wasn't it? That Snape was one of them? Not really. It only really proved that he cared about Draco which she already knew. And perhaps Snape wanted Neville to trust him- which could be a very powerful thing, given Neville's current recognition among the students who are the most trouble for the Death Eaters.

"Is the hall clear?" Ginny asked the wall. The gargoyle could hear, probably. It opened and no one caught her leaving, so it seemed good enough to her. Something unambiguously good. Though Ginny was almost jealous of their detentions.

*****Draco*****

"You don't have to worry about him, Abbott. He'll be fine."

Draco was thinking about the boy's last time in the Forbidden Forest, with Draco. Draco trying to act like he wasn't just as scared as Neville was. Of course he was scared. Left with just the near-squib and a dog who looked intimidating, but would run from one of the Malfoy peacocks. He'd wanted the gameskeeper to decide he needed to keep an eye on Draco himself, not ditch Potter with him. Even if Draco had felt a bit safer. Completely unfoundedly, because Potter attracted trouble like no other being in the world.

Neville Longbottom wasn't that little boy anymore.

"I know," she said, head thrown back, eyes closed. It had to be difficult on her this year, her best friend gone. "But I should have been with them at least," she complained.

"My fault," Draco muttered.

"You talking to him never should have been the plan. He can read people's minds," Hannah brushed off. "And he's taught students for like as long as we've been alive."

No one was around, and they were speaking quietly, but Draco still knew he should leave soon. Even if Abbott would be the best of the little group to be seen with, that wasn't saying much.

Longbottom thinks it's handled," he murmured. Ginny had told him. That Longbottom had told Severus- Snape- everything, and expected him to fix it for the side of the 'Light'.

"What do you think?" she asked, turning full gaze and attention to him.

"I don't know," Draco said.

Hannah nodded, like she expected it.

"I just wish I was out there with them," she complained again.

Draco thought about teasing her about liking Longbottom, about wanting to be out there instead of Lovegood, but it wasn't his place. And it might give her courage to act before Lovegood did, which was none of his concern. He could almost joke that it was convenient for him that the woman Draco loved was incapable- under threat of horrible pain and other consequences- of kissing someone else. Not that he thought the joke would go over well- or that he thought Abbott loved Longbottom. He almost thought that all of them were too young for love, but it didn't stop how he felt.

"Good night, Abbott."

"Good night."