AN: Hey guys! We hope you've had a great week and enjoy the chapter..

DaOneInDaCorner: Hello, I tend to keep my silence in terms of interacting with the readers, but seeing as I actually contributed to this chapter in terms of writing (You guys won't notice really, it's so small there's really nothing to be said for it, ha) and now I may actually need to start doing this a bit more as I'm going to need to do more of my own work so that our favorite writer here isn't pushed into madness by the huge workload she's taken upon herself. Fuck, responsibility sucks, ha. Anyways, I literally had nothing of note to say in this, other than that you all now have my atrocious writing to look forward to atop the fantastic writing of our godly author. For this, I can only say one thing. I'm sorry.

Hplover4ever3: I'll still edit everything he writes^ ;)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks


CHAPTER 18: DIABOLICAL

The curious silvery instruments that stood on the spindle-legged tables continued whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The ancient clock that rested on the desk ticked away into the silent bliss. The fiery red bird sat perched in its cage, blinking. And the old man just behind it went on with his speech, though not a single word that was coming out of his mouth managed to reach Draco's ears.

Draco sat there, watching Dumbledore go on and on, while thinking that he probably shouldn't have skipped dinner to meet him here and that now he'd have to enlist James' help in nicking food from the kitchens, especially since the elves weren't going to be too kind, be it a Sunday night and everything.

A silvery blue light suddenly exploded in front of Draco's face and he snapped back to the present.

"What was the question?" he blurted out, eyes on Dumbledore.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Well, my apologies for boring you," he began. "I'm sure there are plenty of other, more useful things that you could find to do with your time."

"No," said Draco, quickly. "I...look, I'm sorry, professor. But you don't have to throw your Patronus in my face to get my attention."

"Somehow, it is the only thing that'll do the trick," said Dumbledore. Draco sighed. "As I was saying, your ideas of revenge and retribution are quite alarming and I find myself feeling nervous as to what trouble you will get up to without my supervision."

"Well then I guess I'm lucky to have you, aren't I?" Draco mumbled.

"Beg your pardon?" said Dumbledore.

Draco sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? I just...I don't get you!"

He stood up and walked across the office to stand by the window.

"I've given you evidence that this Wilkes kid is dangerous. He wanted to poison me, professor. Poison me! And yet you refuse to do anything about it!"

"Unless you provide me with physical evidence of this accusation or one of your witnesses is willing to step forward to confirm it, you know I can't do anything," said Dumbledore.

Draco scoffed and turned to look at Dumbledore. "What, you don't believe me?"

"That is not what I—"

"Yeah but it's what you meant!"

There was silence.

"Look, Draco," said Dumbledore, taking a few steps towards him. "We are on the same side here. But I don't think you realize that I have a whole school board that has to be involved in decisions. Wilkes comes from a powerful pureblood family that has a lot of influence. Even if I were to expel him based on something you say you heard from someone, the board would never let it pass through easily."

Draco frowned at Dumbledore, and then stepped away from the window.

"Why are you so afraid of the purebloods?" he said. All of the portraits on the walls were now listening to their conversation intently.

"What?" said Dumbledore.

"Well you're clearly afraid of them," said Draco. "So my question is, why? A-and why do you know so much about Legilimency? And..."

"Draco, what is it that you're really asking me here?" said Dumbledore.

Draco hesitated, and then turned back to the window and fixed his eyes on the Quidditch pitch in the distance.

"What happened between you and Gellert Grindelwald in 1945?" he said.

"That has no relevance here," said Dumbledore, quietly.

"I still want to know," said Draco after a moment's silence.

Dumbledore watched him carefully, and then glanced at one of the portraits on the walls before answering, "I think I have made my point clear here tonight. You are not to carry out any attacks on Wilkes in the coming days, do you understand?"

Draco did not answer, but simply crossed to the other side of the room and let himself out. He knew that no matter how he explained it, Dumbledore's morals would get in the way. He was just going to have to do this on his own. No big deal.

But to think, even for one second, that he wasn't going to do anything about this kid, was ridiculous. Of course he was going to get even. Didn't Dumbledore know him better than that by now? And what better way to send Wilkes a message than some haunting revenge?

Draco stopped in the middle of the moonlit corridor, heart pounding. He knew exactly what he had to do. But how to do it was the tricky part...

"Snickerdoodle," he muttered to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Right you are!" she said, swinging aside to let him in.

He bit back a groan and climbed through the hole. The passwords were getting lamer every week.

"But you should—"

"Remus, stop. You know that's not a problem. Not with us and certainly not with Draco."

Draco stopped just outside the portrait hole and stared at his four buddies who were hanging out by the fireplace, no surprise there.

"Hey Draco!" said Peter, suddenly.

The four boys turned to look at Draco and lost their serious expressions at once.

"Hi," he said, slowly, as he walked towards them. "What's going on?"

"Just trying to decide some stuff," said James. "What did Dumbledore say?"

It took Draco a second to remember what excuse he'd used to leave dinner early and go see Dumbledore. But eventually he caught on and took and seat on the couch.

"He said that none of the other heads of house had a problem with the banner so no matter what other students say, we're good to keep it."

"Sweeeeeet," said Sirius.

"I didn't really expect anyone to have any problems with it," said Remus.

"Oh who cares what anybody else thinks?" said James. "We're allowed to get extra materials to cheer our own team on, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody."

"Those blokes were just jealous, that's why they complained," said Sirius.

"I actually heard that it was that Rosier kid who started it," said Peter.

"Typical," said James, Sirius and Draco at once.

Remus met Draco's eyes for a split second and gave him a small smile.

"Guys..." said Draco, slowly. "You know that prank I told you about in Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah?" said Sirius.

Draco looked from him to James to Remus to Peter. What would they say if he told them his diabolical plan? Were they really the boys he thought they were, or would their reactions be that of Dumbledore's? Draco had been in Gryffindor for just two months...what did he know about it, really?

He sighed.

"Let's do it next Friday," he told the boys instead.

They grinned.


"...so you can imagine, my dear students, my utter surprise when the other professors didn't even know about the compounds of this mixture...it's only the most important Potions discovery of the last century!"

"Oy!"

Draco turned away from Slughorn to look at Sirius.

"Evans is watching you at 3 o'clock!" he hissed.

Draco looked back to find Lily wanting him, and Severus watching Lily. He groaned and turned back to the front. He didn't have time for this nonsense.

"...and it's quite marvelous that many of them even got beyond exceeds expectations on their Potions OWLs!" Slughorn went on. "I mean, to think that after all these years I've taught them nothing!"

"Still watching you!" Sirius hissed into Draco's ear.

"Still don't care!" Draco hissed back.

From the corner of his eye, James was whispering something to Remus, both completely oblivious to the situation. Thank bloody Merlin.

"...so now if you'll all fetch the ingredients and get to cooking, you might have your Potions ready by the end of class," Slughorn concluded.

"I'll go," Draco said at once, hopping off of the stool and heading for the storage cupboards so that the marauders wouldn't follow. Once there, he made a scene of knocking down several jars of beetle wings, and thus getting everyone's attention.

"It's alright, Mr. Black, I'll clean it off," Slughorn kept saying as he waved his wand to clean the mess, disregarding Draco's constant apologies.

"Professor, at least let me go fetch more for the class," Draco insisted.

Slughorn smiled at him, and then, quite predictably so, handed him a chain of keys and pointed out a long and spiked one. Draco slowly backed into the corner of the classroom and let himself into one of the storage rooms. Wand out and lit, he pocketed the keys and looked around.

After the lesson, Sirius hurried after Draco out of the Potions dungeon and hulled him away to an empty classroom so that they'd escape the traffic out in the corridors.

"We'll be late to history," Draco sighed, dropping his book bag onto a desk.

"Like Binns will miss us," said Sirius. "So...why was Evans watching you? Is something going on between you two?"

"No," said Draco, who was looking out the window now.

"She's been watching you a lot lately," Sirius pointed out. "I've noticed."

Draco turned his head. "Why have you been watching her?"

"Because James is too scared to and I'm just doing the best friend duty here," said Sirius, casually.

He sat at a desk and pulled his feet up, his hands behind his head.

"So what did Frank pull you and James aside for, back in Hogsmeade?" Draco asked.

"Ah that's nothing," said Sirius. "Just some seventh year rubbish he wanted us to know. Rumours and gossip, you know?"

"Fun," Draco sighed, turning to lean against the wall and watching the crowd from the corridor outside move quickly and noisily.

"Look Draco," said Sirius. "If there is something going on...you know you can tell me, right?" Draco looked at him. "I mean, tell me and trust that I won't tell James...'cause I won't. I wouldn't do that to you."

"Relax Padfoot, I've already told you there's nothing going on," said Draco, smirking. "Lily's just got some stupid crush but she'll get over it soon."

"And you?"

There was a pause.

"I already told you once that she's not my type."

Draco picked up his bag and approached the door.

"Probably not," said Sirius. "But me and Jamesy just don't see you that way...we like you but we'd prefer to just stay friends, if that's alright."

"Dude, shut up!" cried Draco, hitting him with the bag as he opened the door.

Sirius laughed the entire way to History of Magic. As predicted, Professor Binns took no notice of their late entry and just continued to drone on about the same old rubbish that nobody cared about anymore. Sirius winked at Remus as they passed his desk and sat in their usual corner. All the other students watched them with curiosity, but they took no notice of this and only continued to smile and look rather pleased with themselves.

As usual, Draco did not take in a word of the lesson, but thought a lot about what Sirius had said. It was amazing, even to him, how far they'd come in the last two months. Never had he ever thought he'd have such a good relationship with Sirius Black. And talking to Sirius was not like talking to Regulus. They were brothers, yes, but Regulus was a more serious, less risk-taking, and insecure version of Sirius, whereas Sirius was the real thing. Draco was just starting to wonder whether the Weasley twins could have some sort of relation to Sirius when the lesson ended and Sirius tapped him on the shoulder.

"I gotta go take care of something, I'll see you later," he said before hurrying out the door with the rest of the class.

Draco slowly packed up his bag and followed suit, mindlessly walking along the corridors until he reached the Great Hall which was jam-packed with hungry students. He glanced up and down the Gryffindor table but the marauders were nowhere in sight so he just took a seat and opened the Daily Prophet to occupy himself with while he ate.

More than a few times, however, his eyes glanced curiously at the Slytherin table, where the gang was seated together. Regulus was just on Severus' other side, as usual, and looking rather grim. Severus was listening to Rosier talking about something, as was everyone else. Wilkes had his back to Draco, but Draco was still sure he could feel his eyes on him. He glared furiously.

"Hiya," said Frank, taking a seat across from Draco.

"Hey," said Draco, looking away from the Slytherins. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," shrugged Frank, taking a bite of an apple and sitting back. "I saw Cresswell today. His arm is healed."

"Good for the team," said Draco.

There was a pause. "So you're sure you don't want to join in full-time?"

"Yeah," said Draco. "I've just got a lot to do...you know, no time and all..."

"Yeah, I get it," said Frank. "Time is everything. Listen," he leaned forward, "Are you okay after Alice?"

"Perfectly," said Draco, who'd been expecting this question sooner than later.

"Good, good," said Frank. "There's other fish in the sea, you know?"

Draco smirked. Frank could try telling himself that for a change.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "I'll see you later then?"

"Will do," said Frank.

He tossed the apple core onto Draco's empty plate, grinned and then moved down the table to his seventh-year buddies.

Draco laughed and looked back down at the paper. He wasn't sure which was the bigger surprise...that Neville Longbottom's father was wicked cool, or that Harry Potter's mother had a crush on him? If only Potter knew...

Draco's eyes skimmed the front of the Daily Prophet for eye-catching headlines, but most of what he saw on there was normal for those days...new attacks, new raids, and new cases of captivity every day...it truly was a war.

He looked up again and watched the Slytherin gang move from their seats and wave to passing classmates as they made their way out of the Great Hall. Regulus followed just behind, then stopped at the last minute, whispered something to Severus, and turned to look at Draco. Draco did not look away, but only watched the last of the gang leave the Great Hall, Severus included. After, and only after they'd left, Regulus approached Draco. He stopped just in front of him, looked around at all the Gryffindors watching him, and then took a seat.

Draco looked back down at the paper.

"People can see," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well..." said Regulus, quietly. His eyes landed on the paper in front of Draco. "Anything interesting?"

"Just a couple of attacks," said Draco, casually turning the page, "You know, the usual." He paused. "How are your friends?"

"They're fine," Regulus mumbled. "Look Draco, I just wanted to apologise again for what went down at Zonko's over the weekend. That was not cool of me and Sev and I'm—"

"Why are you friends with them?" Draco blurted out.

"W-what?"

"Why—are—you—friends—with—them?" said Draco, more slowly.

"I...where is this coming from?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I just see you trotting around that no-good piece of trash you call Wilkes, and you know, silly me, I'm just wondering what the bloody hell are you thinking?"

"W-why are you asking me this...?"

"Oh stop answering questions with more questions," said Draco. "Just tell me the truth, Regulus."

There was silence.

"What do you see in them?" Draco pressed.

Regulus scoffed. "Okay, need I remind you that you are friends with Sev too?"

"I realize that but we're not talking about Severus here," said Draco. Unwilling to let this go, he forced Regulus to look at him. "What does Wilkes have on you?"

"What makes you think he has something on me?"

"Because only a bloody fool would still be trotting after a sadistic guy like that if they had the choice..." he leaned forwards and Regulus looked away. "And you don't strike me as a fool, Regulus Black, so I'll ask again...what does he have on you?"

Regulus glanced briefly at Draco and then at the door to the Great Hall.

"Regulus," Draco said again.

"N-nothing!" said Regulus. When Draco narrowed his eyes at him, he hastily added, "We've all just kind of been friends since the beginning and you weren't there in the beginning so you're in no place to judge, Draco."

"I'm not judging," said Draco, instantly. "On the contrary, I'm trying to be as subjective as possible here...trying to understand why you could wish to hang around a person who openly tried to have me poisoned."

"It's not that simple," Regulus whispered.

"Trust me, I know," said Draco. "But it's not like you don't have people to help you when all hell breaks loose." Regulus looked at him. "You have Severus...you have Sirius..."

"Funny," Regulus muttered.

There was a pause.

"You have me," said Draco. Regulus met his eyes again. "And I'm not going anywhere and this Wilkes kid can try anything on me."

It was amazing, how easy and simple things looked from this side. Draco had been on Regulus' side not that long ago...feeling scared and hopeless to do anything about it...but that was different. He'd actually had nobody on the other side to help him. And Regulus did.

"That's nice but you really have no idea who you're dealing with when it comes to Wilkes," he said now. He then rubbed his head and sighed. "This is heavy talk for a Monday...I just came over because I wanted to apologise again for yesterday..."

"Don't worry about it," said Draco, quickly. "You didn't poison me. That's something, I guess."

Regulus let out a small laugh. "I guess."

He got up from the table, gave Draco an acknowledging nod, and turned to the doors.

Draco's eyes followed him sadly out of the Great Hall, and then he jumped in his seat at the realization that Lily had moved to sit next to him.

"Bloody hell," he muttered.

"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Yeah," said Draco, dramatically flipping his newspaper and pretending to read it.

The situation with Regulus wasn't going to solve itself if he didn't do something about it soon...and he knew that it could only get worse from here...

"So..." Lily said, in an obvious but horrible attempt at keeping her voice casual. "How's...your day going so far?"

"Fine," Draco answered the newspaper.

"Good," said Lily momentarily. "Yeah, that's nice."

"Yep."

Another moment of silence.

"Uh, Draco could you maybe put the paper away when I'm trying to talk to you?"

"Why, does it bother you?"

"Yeah, it kind of does."

"Then don't watch."

Lily sighed.

"Why is it so difficult for us to get along?" she said, snatching the paper away from him so that he would look at her. "What is it? Do you still think that I look like that kid from the orphanage that bullied you?"

Draco hesitated. "No."

"Well then what is it?" Lily asked, softly.

Draco sighed. Truthfully, he didn't even know the answer to that anymore. At first, it just felt right. It felt like he was obligated to be mean to her, just because of who she was (or would later become). Then it just became a lot of fun to annoy her. But now, he didn't even know anymore.

"Well I know you're not who you present yourself as," Lily filled in.

"Huh?" said Draco.

"Jarine told me what you did for him on Saturday."

"Who?"

Lily tilted her head. "Jarine Atrenus? Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team? You played alongside him two fricking days ago?!"

"Yeah, I got it," Draco muttered. "What, uh, did he tell you exactly?"

Lily paused. "He told me how you helped him get over his fear...that he was really nervous at the beginning of the match, but that you were very kind and you got him through it."

"How do you even know him?"

Lily smiled. "I'm his tutor."

Of course you are, Draco thought.

"Anyway," she said, "I just thought that it was very kind of you to do that for him." She paused. "So you're not at all the bad boy that you present yourself to the world."

"No, you're right," said Draco, turning his head to look at her. "I'm worse."

Lily said nothing.

"Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?" Draco said, knowing perfectly well that she'd hadn't just come over there now to talk about some third year kid.

Lily bit her lip and looked around before asking, in a low voice, "How are you doing? I mean, really...how are you doing...with the whole breakup?"

"Really?" said Draco. "I'm doing just fine."

"Come on," said Lily. "Alice is a great girl. It's okay for you to be upset, you don't have to hide it."

"I'm not upset," said Draco, truthfully.

"But...I saw you two," said Lily. "You guys were all over each other and...you seemed to really like each other...how can you just be okay with a breakup that quick?"

"Like this," shrugged Draco. When Lily didn't look convinced, he added, "My relationship with Alice was more...physical than emotional...if you know what I mean." He paused. "That's not to say that I don't care about her or anything, because I do. In fact I'm sure you've seen her and Frank hanging out together more and more so I'm pretty sure that'll become a thing soon enough, and..."

His voice trailed off because Lily's face had changed and there was something very prominent there. Draco started.

"What...what did I say?" he said, slowly, unable to read her mind even a little bit.

"Exactly how physical did you two get?" Lily asked him.

Draco stared at her. It was a bold question, alright...even for her. But the confidence with which she said it was remarkable.

"I..." said Draco, unable to string together any more words.

Lily eyed him carefully. Clearly it was important to her to get an answer even though Draco couldn't see how it was any of her business, crush or no crush. He frowned. He could go the usual route and tease her about all the stuff that he and Alice could've done...but was it becoming mean at this point?

"We didn't do anything," he finally said, looking away from her.

"I mean it's not my business or anything," she said quickly, blushing furiously. "Just curious..."

"Yep," said Draco.

Lily suddenly jumped from the stool. "I've got to go to the ladies' before class. See you later."

And she left.

The Astronomy lesson that day was actually fairly difficult, reminding Draco that he was falling behind in his studies and that this was a lot more serious than failing through school. He had a cover story to keep up with here. But even Remus was struggling with this work, which at least told Draco that it wasn't his fault. It was the teachers'.

Draco tried figuring out a way to ask Remus about where he and the rest of the boys had been at lunch, but the lesson went on and on without any breaks and Draco had to resort to taking notes. And finally, at the end of the Astronomy lesson, Draco said goodbye to Remus and Peter and headed straight for the abandoned seventh floor corridor for his free period. Severus was already there, which suddenly lifted up Draco's spirits. He looked up at him as he approached the spot and sat down.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Draco asked, noticing how broken Severus looked.

Severus looked back down at his notebook.

"What's happened?" Draco urged. "Seeeev, talk to me!"

"Why was Lily watching you this morning?" he whispered.

Draco's face changed. "Don't bloody do that to me again!" Severus looked up. "Fuck, I thought something serious had happened!"

Severus said nothing, but only looked at Draco with those lost-puppy eyes of his. Draco sighed.

"I have no idea, okay? I didn't even notice her."

"D-do you...?"

"Do I like her? No. Does she like me? I don't know! But even if she did, it's not like it would make a difference. I don't care what she does, okay?"

Severus nodded slowly.

"You need to get over her already," Draco said.

Severus looked up at him again. "I just...I just need to talk to her. We never had our talk and we need to have it."

"I agree," said Draco. "But that's something you guys have to figure out on your own. Leave me out of it."

Severus nodded again.

"Listen," said Draco, moving his bag aside. "I need to talk to you about something very important." Severus waited. "It's about Wilkes. And Regulus. And you. And your whole group gang thing."

"What are you asking?"

"I'm asking how the hell you lot came to be!" cried Draco. "I wanna know how a guy like Wilkes manages to get a kid like Regulus to be afraid to breathe without his approval, let alone talk to whoever he wants." He waited, but Severus said nothing. "I want to know why you both are still following him around, even after he tried to get you to poison me."

Severus looked down at his book and very, very slowly closed it in his lap. Then he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Draco watched him carefully.

"My first train ride to Hogwarts will always be one I'll never forget," he began. "I rode the train with Lily…for the most part…we'd gotten separated on the station platform and I spent most of the first half hour looking for her compartment. But then I finally found it and we sat together." Draco noticed that he neglected to mention the detail about James and Sirius being there too, but he didn't press him. Severus opening up about something was a rare occasion, so Draco knew better than to interrupt. "After the sorting, I was too depressed to do anything so I just went to my table and sat there for most of the feast. I didn't even eat." He paused and opened his eyes to look at a random spot on the opposite wall. "When we were brought to our common room, I went straight to bed and didn't talk to anyone. I was too upset. And a second-year called Wilkes was the only one who seemed to notice." He paused again, his eyes landing on Draco now.

"So he befriended you then," Draco finished for him.

"I've never had friends," Severus said, thoughtfully. "But he was the only one who'd noticed that I had gone to bed early. The next day, I came to Gryffindor Tower early to escort Lily to the Great Hall. And from then on, we did everything we possibly could together. We sat in classes together, did homework at the library together…we watched all the Quidditch games from the Astronomy Tower instead of the pitch..." Severus' face changed. "But then Wilkes started telling me that I was a fool for being friends with her. He started explaining that she came from a different world…the world of muggle-borns. And that one day she would turn on me."

"Well why would that happen?" Draco wondered.

Severus shrugged. "He didn't forbid me from talking to her or anything. I mean, he couldn't, really. But I still hung around her and the older we got, the more difficult it became."

"Why?"

"Lily started disapproving of the people that I hung around…you know, Rosier, Avery, all those guys… I mean, she tried to be their friend in the beginning but, well you know…they didn't want to…"

Draco nodded. He could see exactly how that scene would've played out. Lily, in her naivety, trying to shake hands with Wilkes and Wilkes staring at her as though she were contagious… Yep, that seemed about right.

"By the time we were in fourth year, the guys and I had this sort of understanding…you know about purebloods and stuff…" Severus looked up at Draco. "Who am I kidding, you don't know…you were raised by Dumbledore."

"Actually, I do know," Draco argued. When Severus raised an eyebrow, he added, "I'm a Black, or did you forget?"

"Really?" said Severus. "And tell me, does your pal Sirius know that you're that Black?"

Draco said nothing.

"Does Potter?" said Severus, cleverly.

"What happened next?" Draco sighed.

Severus looked down.

"The fight last year," he answered, quietly. "After that, she turned on me completely. And I realized that Wilkes was right. He'd always been right. Lily didn't just turn on me because I called her a mudblood . She turned on me because of everything that I represented and everything that she was against. And Wilkes had been right all along—he'd known this would happen from the very beginning when he realized that she and I were friends."

"And Regulus?"

Severus thought for a minute.

"When Regulus came around and he was sorted into our house, I knew right away that I wanted nothing do to with him. He was Sirius' brother and your pal and his friends had so far made my life miserable at Hogwarts."

"So you thought his brother would be the same," nodded Draco.

"I could tell Regulus was very scared," said Severus, quietly. "He was willing to do anything that he was told. All he wanted was approval—his parents' approval more than anything."

"So Wilkes befriended him too then?"

"Not exactly," said Severus, slowly. Draco sat up, fully alert, and listened. "There was this incident one night…in our third year. I won't get into the details of it. If Regulus chooses to tell you, then so be it. But basically he got himself into some dirt."

"What kind of dirt?" Draco dared ask.

Severus bit his lip. "The kind that would make Mr. and Mrs. Black come to the school for a chat with the headmaster."

"Ah," said Draco. "Gotcha."

"So Wilkes, being the powerful guy that he is, somehow managed to convince some kid in his year to take the fall for what Regulus did...now that kid's parents just happened to work at the ministry, so with just one simple owl, the kid got off with just a month's worth of detentions...and Regulus was off the hook."

"Okay so he saved his arse once," said Draco. "Big deal."

"You still don't get it," said Severus, sadly.

"No, I do!" cried Draco at once. "Seriously. It's...you know...poor Reg, stuck at Wilkes' mercy for the rest of time."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Your sarcasm is greatly appreciated."

Draco grinned.

"Anyway," said Severus. "Now you know what has to be done."

"Yeah, I think I do," said Draco.

The only way that he even had a chance at rerouting Regulus (and Severus for that matter) was if Wilkes was completely out of the picture. Why couldn't Friday get here any sooner?

The rest of that week wasn't terribly bad. The Marauders stopped acting so strange and didn't leave Draco by himself anymore, which was both good and bad, considering he didn't have time to himself so that he could at least try to talk himself out of the prank he had in mind. But nonetheless, it was a fairly okay week.

On Tuesday, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had a meeting wherein Cresswell's return was announced by a very disgruntled-looking James. Both he and Sirius kept shooting Draco equally frustrated looks.

On Wednesday, James and Sirius decided to boycott the midnight Astronomy lesson, rescuing Draco, Remus and Peter along the way. The boys ended the night in the kitchens with the elves, who were more than pleased to treat them to some food (Draco now understood that James and the elves went way back).

"Treat them nice and they'll treat you nicely right back," said James simply.

"Yeah, but I mean you've never had a house elf?" Draco said. He couldn't believe it. His parents were of a respectable pureblood family.

"We don't do the whole elf thing," James explained. "That's more the Blacks' territory."

Sirius made a face, but Draco silently said "oh". He was actually looking forward to meeting Kreacher one of these days and learning why Regulus was so fond of the elf.

On Thursday, Gryffindor House awoke to some apparently very exciting news—Alice and Frank were back together for good. All up and down the table in the Great Hall, fellow Gryffindors congratulated the happy couple and shouted things like "finally!" and "about time!" The pair did look very happy of course, but even so, Alice kept shooting Draco nervous looks.

Draco simply sat there with the boys, smiling to anyone who passed by so that they wouldn't get any ideas about how "completely and utterly depressed and heartbroken he must be at this news!"

But finally, as the crowd subsided, Alice made her way over to where Draco sat and gave him a warm smile.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, grabbing his bag and ignoring Sirius' stupid grin.

They walked along the lake's shore for about fifteen minutes. The day was slightly chilly but definitely tolerable, and as they walked, the waves from the beach sang in their ears.

Alice began her speech about how she was very sorry for announcing her reunion with Frank so soon after her breakup with Draco. Draco kept trying to stop her and assuring that he was fine and that it was okay and that she needn't apologise and that he was very happy for the two of them and would she just calm down about it already?

"I just feel like it was so insensitive of me!" she told him. "You've been nothing but kind and...I'm so, so, so, so sorry, Draco."

He shook his head and pulled the purple-wrapped package of chocolate from his bag, handing it to her silently.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it.

"A thank-you for what you told everyone about the circumstances of our breakup," he said. She looked up at him, wide-eyed. "If I heard another rumour about me being gay, I swear I would've snapped."

Alice giggled, then grew serious suddenly and pulled Draco into a hug.

"You're a really great friend, Draco," she told him.

"Yeah," he managed to say, feeling startled.

Sure, he and Alice had kissed a few times, but a kiss was a kiss. They'd never done something so intimate as hugging. It felt weird, yet at the same time nice.

"So," Alice said, pulling away, "What say we get you a girlfriend, huh?"

Draco laughed nervously. "Don't you dare."

Their laughs echoed away as Draco grew serious again and eyed Alice.

"You're really happy?"

She nodded, smiling pleasantly.

"Good," said Draco. "Frank's a great guy —can't believe it took you this long to figure it out."

Alice hit him playfully on the arm and he chuckled.

"You girls are weird," he added as they started slowly heading back up to the castle together.

"Sometimes, we just need assurance that you guys are serious," Alice explained. "We need to know that we matter to you."

"You matter more when you're not so bloody annoying," Draco muttered, but he wasn't sure Alice had heard him because she didn't say anything, but rather admired the package that he'd given her.

Once they reached the Entrance Hall, several students turned their heads as they passed and frowned at them.

"Well then," said Draco as they entered the Great Hall and made for the Gryffindor table, stopping just before the Marauders. "The rumours will probably start again."

"Huh?" said Peter.

"Alice walked with me along the beach," Draco explained. "They're bound to make something of that."

"Oh well," shrugged Alice. "Perhaps they'll assume you, me and Frank are a very happy threesome."

Sirius choked on his orange juice.

And finally, at long last, Friday morning arrived. The Marauders awoke bright and early, as agreed upon, and silently crept out of their dormitory with cloak and map in hand, tiptoeing down the spiral staircase and checking around all corners before they proceeded down the tower.

"So are you gonna tell us what it is that we're actually doing?" James asked as they walked. "You know, besides the very vague details you mentioned in Hogsmeade."

"Nope," said Draco, who was leading the way.

"Oh come on, man, that's not cool!" hissed Sirius.

Draco only shook his head with a failed attempt to cover up his grin.

They slowly and cautiously made their way over to the third floor, Draco all the while watching the map for any oncoming footprints besides theirs.

"It's pretty epic though," he teased after a moment's silence.

"What is it?!"

The questions came flooding in after Draco's declaration, Sirius by far interrogating him insistently, and for that matter, loudly.

"Not telling, it's a secret," Draco answered with a smirk, chuckling inwardly at the over-exaggerated look of utter betrayal on Sirius' face. "Trust me, this is one that you'll want to be in the dark on."

"I'll fill you all in later," he added after James and Sirius exchanged a look.

Each of the boys were now frowning in silent debate, however they soon seemed to reach a consensus, with James looking directly at Draco before allowing a grin to spread across his face.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, that's all I ask."

Draco only smirked.

He couldn't believe how long it had been since he'd originally planned the prank. His patience that week had been dangerously tested to the point where he was on the edge of a serious breakdown. Time seemed to be always standing still for some reason, whereas in his original timeline, it had always been flying with the speed of light.

Finally, they stopped by the door to the girls' bathroom and Remus sighed of relief. The entire way there, he'd been silent as a doornail, no doubt expecting to run into a teacher at any moment.

"Okay," said James in a hushed voice. He turned to Draco. "What's the plan?"

"We go in and I talk to Myrtle," said Draco.

James and Sirius stared at him.

"You're on a first-name basis with the ghost," said Sirius, wide-eyed.

"I'm gonna stay out here to keep watch," Remus informed the group.

"Okay," Draco agreed, looking over his shoulder to make sure there was no one around.

"You're actually on a first-name basis with the ghost," said Sirius.

"Maybe you should stay with him, Pete," Draco said.

Peter nodded, then took the map from him and folded it up before pocketing it.

"Why are you on a first-name basis with a ghost?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Just...later!" Draco hissed. "Now come on!"

He pushed the door open and entered the bathroom, followed closely by James and Sirius, whose facial expressions would otherwise suggest that they were entering a muggle theme park.

"Never been here before, have we?" James whispered to Sirius, both boys looking up at the ceiling and the walls, which looked gloomier and uglier than ever.

Draco was actually pleasantly surprised. They'd spent five full years exploring the castle and yet they'd never stumbled upon this place?!

"Myrtle?" he called out, glancing at the row of stalls, most of whose doors were wide open. It was clear that Myrtle had had quite a night, banging them open again and again in yet another tantrum.

Water droplets echoing from the corner told Draco that Myrtle was hiding in one of the stalls. But he knew better than to seek her out by now.

"It's Draco!" he said, letting her come to him.

Sirius and James both stood behind him, practically bursting with anticipation yet watching with fascinated looks on their faces.

More water echoed and then Draco caught a glimpse of Myrtle's hand peeking out from the end stall.

"Myrtle," he repeated, unable to mask the desperation in his voice this time, "Please come out. I-I've brought friends that want to meet you."

Sirius gave a small laugh, which started out bark-like and, strangely, ended in a sort of choke. Draco spun around instantly. Sirius was standing pale-faced and wide-eyed, with Myrtle floating literally inches away from his face.

"Something you wanted to say?!" she shrieked in his face.

"I—" he stuttered.

"Um," said James, who'd jumped several feet away. He gave Draco a panicked look.

"Myrtle," Draco said, loudly.

She slowly turned her head to look at him.

"Remember me?" he said.

She gave a girlish giggle and moved away from Sirius, who let out a shaking breath.

"You came back," Myrtle told Draco.

He smiled awkwardly. "Of course I did. I promised I would, didn't I?"

Myrtle sighed happily.

And just when Draco thought she was about to try to hug him (or even worse), he cleared his throat. "I brought friends to meet you." He turned her attention back to James and Sirius, both of whom suddenly smiled widely.

"This is James Potter," said Draco. "He's a Quidditch god and one of the coolest blokes in this place." Sirius gave a loud cough and Draco smirked again. "And this is Sirius Black, the prank genius and relationship master."

Sirius grinned.

"The friend you wanted to find," said Myrtle.

Draco smiled. "You remembered?'

Myrtle turned to look at him. "How could I ever forget? I mean, it's you!"

Behind her, Sirius pretended to vomit and James kicked him.

"Right," said Draco, smiling awkwardly. "Well guys, this is Myrtle Warren, the nicest ghost in the castle to this date."

Myrtle sighed happily again, while James and Sirius exchanged looks.

"Uh, nice to meet you," James managed to say.

Myrtle ignored him. "So what brings you to my chamber this morning, Draco?"

But before he could answer, a familiar voice out in the corridor said, "Mr. Lupin and Mr. Pettigrew, what brings you to this side of the castle at this early hour?"

Draco watched both Sirius' and James' eyes grow round at alarming speed.

"What?" said Myrtle, looking at all the boys.

"N-nothing!" said James. "We, uh...we just forgot to rehearse what we need to say so that we can...um...communicate effectively, on this our first ever meeting..."

Draco frowned at him, but he didn't stick around to explain. Pulling the cloak out, he pulled Sirius towards the door and threw it over the pair of them. Draco and Myrtle watched the bathroom door open and close. As soon as the boys were gone, Draco turned to Myrtle.

"I need your help," he declared.

When Draco was finished explaining what he needed Myrtle to do, she was no longer smiling happily. She had a strange expression on her face and moved gaunt-like towards the window ledge at the back of the bathroom. Draco followed suit.

"You do realize that none of the other ghosts here talk to me..." she said, gloomily.

"Well that's their loss," Draco quickly said. She looked up at him. "Seriously, those other ghosts are stupid!"

"Helena is nice," Myrtle said, sniffing.

"Eeeeexcept for Helena!" Draco added, laughing nervously. "Of course! That's what I meant."

Myrtle sighed. "Oh I don't know, Draco..."

"Myrtle, if anyone can do this job, it's you. You are the only...uh, person, that I know who can convince those ghosts."

"Well then you clearly don't know me that well," she said, sadly.

Draco sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than he'd thought trying to compromise with a low-self esteemed ghost who completely lacked confidence would be.

"But I do," he invented, taking a seat at the window ledge with her. "You're Myrtle. Brave and not afraid to speak your mind. Strong yet so vulnerable. Kind-hearted but seriously misunderstood."

And then, to Draco's horror, Myrtle exploded into sobs.

"What did I say?" he asked weakly.

He was beginning to wonder whether taking the ghosts out of the equation would've been much simpler.

"No one's...ever...said that...to me...b-before!" she wept.

Draco glanced nervously at the door and then back at her.

"Pleeeeease, Myrtle?" he pleaded. "I really need your help."

Alarmingly fast, her crying ceased, and she looked at him with curious eyes.

"Why are you after this kid anyway?"

Draco hesitated before answering. "He was mean to my friends, that's all. I think he should be put in his place."

"I wish someone had done that for me once," Myrtle whispered.

It took all of Draco's willpower not to roll his eyes at this. He'd heard that story too many times during his first sixth-year and quite frankly, he got it at this point. Olive Hornby was a bitch.

"Okay," Myrtle finally said. "I'll arrange it."

"You will?" Draco exclaimed.

"Yes, for you Draco, I'll get it done," she said, hopping off of the window ledge.

"Sweet, thank you so much, Myrtle!" Draco exclaimed. "Seriously, I owe you big for this!"

He crossed over to the door and pressed his ear against it, but all was silent which meant that the coast was clear. He had no idea how the marauders had managed to get rid of Professor Livesey, but he was definitely impressed.

Myrtle floated over to the ceiling and settled herself on the chandelier that hung there. She waved goodbye to him, and he winked at her before exiting the bathroom.

Draco had one more stop to make before setting out to find where the marauders had gone to. At that moment, he was definitely grateful to have befriended the marauders, for without them, he would never have learned the shortcut to the kitchens. Well, there was a bunch of other stuff that they were good for, but nothing nearly as important as that.

But by the time he reached that corridor, to his great surprise, he found the Marauders lurking not far from it. Well, most of them, that is.

"What's—?"

"Where've you been?!" Sirius exclaimed at the sight of him.

"I—"

But the boys never let him finish.

They pulled him to the side and looked over their shoulders several times to make sure they were out of earshot of anyone.

"Where is Remus?" Draco asked.

"He went to fetch some muggle object that he wanted Livesey's opinion on," said James.

"Why would he—?"

"He wouldn't," said Sirius. "He did that to distract her from the fact that he and Peter were hanging out by the girls' toilet. She's waiting for him in the Great Hall now."

"We wanted to wait for you before we went there," Peter added.

"Ah," said Draco.

The boys looked around again. Several students were walking along the end corridor, on their way to breakfast. Draco turned back around to face the boys.

"So what did Myrtle say?" Sirius asked him.

James' head snapped up and he eyed Draco carefully, apparently curious as to whether he'd managed to pull it off.

Draco smirked. "It's a done deal."

"You're kidding," said James and Sirius together.

Peter looked over Draco's shoulder nervously.

"Well it's not like it was that hard though," Sirius added momentarily. "The freak's obsessed with you."

"Hey," said Draco, feigning hurt. "Don't mock the master."

Sirius grinned, but as the boys prepared to go to the Great Hall, Draco instead turned the other way and let himself into the kitchens without a word to the boys. Confused, they quickly followed.

Draco stood at the door awkwardly, unsure as to how to go about this. All of the elves were rushing about the kitchen with breakfast things, some of them squeaking orders at each other. A small number was grouped around a fully-stocked table at the back. Every couple of seconds, they snapped their fingers in unison and food disappeared from the table. Draco's eyes landed on the elf stationed at the juice table. He began to approach him when Sirius said, "Wait, where are you going? They're sending all the food to the Great Hall anyway."

"There's just something I gotta take care of," Draco mumbled.

He made for the table again when James suddenly grabbed his arm and turned him around.

"What are you up to?" he asked in a serious tone.

Draco shrugged his arm off and proceeded to the table. James, Sirius and Peter followed quickly.

"Hey," he said to the elf in charge of the juice.

It turned around to look at him, eyes wide with shock and nose pointing slightly upward.

"Sir?" it squeaked.

"Uh hi," Draco said, stopping before him. "I need your help with something."

"Manny's help, sir?" it replied.

"More like his cooperation," Draco corrected, reaching into his pocket now with a sideways glance at James, who was more confused than ever.

He pulled out the little vile that he'd taken from Slughorn's private stores and showed it to the elf. Its eyes examined the substance in Draco's hand before it looked back up at him.

"What does sir want Manny to do with that?"

"Pour it in a pitcher...and guarantee that the pitcher is only drunk from by one individual."

"Which individual, sir?"

"A seventh-year Slytherin student by the name of Wilkes," Draco declared, ignoring the Marauders' looks of outrage. "He'll be sitting at the corner furthest from the staff table."

"Draco," said James, but Draco watched the elf carefully as it contemplated the object in Draco's open palm.

"Manny is not sure if he wants to break the rules, sir," it finally said, quietly. "Manny is not sure if this is legal, sir."

Draco slowly dropped to his knees so that he was levelled with the elf and smiled at it. "Oh but it's fine, I'm only pulling a harmless prank here. It's not going to hurt him. And besides, I can guarantee that you won't get into any trouble for helping me with this." He paused at the elf's confused expression. "I suppose I neglected to mention that I'm Draco Black."

And instantly, the elf's whole expression changed.

"Certainly, sir," it said, taking the vile from Draco and clutching it tightly in its long-fingered hand.

Draco smiled. "I knew you'd understand."

He stood back up and the elf looked up at him.

"Oh and could you also hand me the pitcher that you're gonna use? Just for a second..."

The elf reached over the table and handed him a full pitcher of freshly-squeezed orange juice. Draco grinned down at the elf and took the pitcher in his hands. Then, he pulled out his wand and waved it over the drink once. When the spell was cast, he handed it back to the elf.

"That'll just make it self destruct after it's been drunk," he explained.

"So there's no way of tracing it back to you," Sirius breathed behind him.

Draco snuck a glance at his friend but then looked away quickly.

"Manny understands, sir," the elf told Draco. "Manny will make sure it gets done, sir."

"Thank you, Manny," Draco said, pleased.

With his morning's work done, he turned away from the elf and pulled the boys out of the kitchen. They walked in silence until they reached the Great Hall. Remus was seen to be standing near the staff table, apparently showing something to Professor Livesey, both of them deep in debate-like conversation.

The Great Hall was slowly filling up with students, and the Slytherin gang had not yet arrived. The boys took their seats at the Gryffindor table and almost at once, Sirius pushed the nearest orange pitcher away.

"Relax," Draco told him. "You're good."

"Don't wanna risk it," he grumbled. "Especially since Hogwarts is now filled with students looking to poison each other."

Draco blinked.

"It is a bit sketchy, mate," said James. "I mean this so isn't what we talked about in Hogsmeade." He lowered his voice. "What on earth are you planning?"

"I...it's nothing!" said Draco. When the boys didn't look convinced, he hastily added, "I'm just doing you guys a solid here. Come tomorrow, you'll be thanking me."

"What's tomorrow?" said Sirius.

"Yeah and what was that stuff that you spiked the pitcher with, if it wasn't poison?" said James.

Draco grinned at the sight of the Slytherin gang slowly making its way towards its table.

"Call it liquid courage," he told the marauders, who now exchanged worried looks and slowly turned in their seats to watch.

"Just be thankful that Remus doesn't know about your little detour to the kitchens," James muttered as the four boys watched the Slytherin table with anticipation.

Draco didn't answer, but rather fixed his eyes determinedly on the group seated at the end of the table. As he'd predicted, one of the boys fetched the pitcher and poured the first drink for the most important person there. Wilkes nodded as he took the goblet from Rosier. He then brought it to his lips. His eyes found Draco's, and a split second later, he drank.

The corners of Draco's mouth twitched slightly into a very subtle smile.


It was the most bizarre day of his existence. Amidst the whispering and the pointing, he, like all the rest of the school, watched Wilkes slowly and excruciatingly painfully self-destruct throughout the course of the day.

The Marauders kept expecting all of the school's ghosts to burst through the doors and start following random students around. Sirius was constantly looking over his shoulder and James kept repeating the question, "Are you sure you told them not to go after us?"

But what's more, they still hadn't figured out how the two events of that morning were connected. All Draco knew was that the questions weren't stopping, and for some strange reason, Remus hadn't yet been briefed on the boys' unplanned visit to the kitchens. In fact, he had no clue of the entire incident. All he knew, like anyone else, was that Wilkes was suddenly very, very paranoid.

Rumours were flying here and there as Wilkes walked about the school in between classes, uncharacteristically loud and obvious. He mouthed off to teachers, he told random stories to random students, and he babbled endlessly about a voice that only he could hear and no one else. To say that eyes were wide as they watched the teen slowly lose his mind was an understatement. Draco almost found it painful to watch, rather than enjoyable. Perhaps his spirits would be lifted once the ghosts did their bit.

He so hoped Myrtle had managed to convince at least a few of them.

"When are they gonna do the show?" Peter kept asking.

"Yeah, I thought we were supposed to be pranking the whole school," Remus added.

"Apparently, that plan's been thrown in the gutter," James said, his eyes on Draco.

As the day went on, it didn't get any easier to keep them in the dark. A part of Draco really wanted to tell them about why he was doing this...about what Wilkes had tried to get Regulus and Severus to do. But the other, more reasonable part of him knew well that if the Marauders knew, they'd take matters into their own hands. And it was better that he be caught for an incident like this, than they. After all, he was a time traveller sent back to potentially save the wizarding world from ever destructing. There was no way in hell that Dumbledore was prepared to expel him.

By evening, there was a mixture of reactions to Wilkes' behaviour from the student body. Some were finding it amusing and cheered him on through his obsessive rants over useless things, while others looked more concerned. And then there were those who were watching him with pity and sadness...as though he was in pain or something...those people were namely one person. And it really bloody annoyed Draco that she was capable of feeling sorry even for a ghastly creature like Wilkes.

The students gathered around the Entrance Hall that evening, after a full week of notorious homework piles and dull lectures. Some went about their activities and conversations, but most were watching Wilkes, who was now acting like a madman. The effects of the potion that Draco had spiked his drink with seemed to have gotten only worse as time passed. Wilkes was now pacing about the Entrance Hall, his eyes round and bulging red and his fingers tapping nervously against his legs as he walked.

The Marauders and Draco were sitting atop the stairs in their usual spot. They hadn't said a word since their arrival there, and all of them were watching Wilkes intently. Draco seemed to be the only one among them who was amused by this show. Peter was occasionally glancing over his shoulder, expecting the ghosts to appear at any moment. James and Sirius had dark looks on their faces and Remus was scanning the hall for any signs of the out-of-the-ordinary.

Finally, at about half past 9, a third-year Slytherin girl let out a shriek. The show had begun.

Dozens and dozens of shadowy silouettes flooded their way into the Entrance Hall from various corridors. These ghosts, which on a regular day would look quite familiar, were more zombie-looking than ever, and quite frightening too. They started floating through gasping students and committing unnerving gestures. Some of them began tossing a head around the Entrance Hall. Most of the students parted to make way for them. Some even shrieked, though whether it was of terror or excitement, Draco wasn't sure.

His eyes had now landed on Wilkes, who was looking more paranoid than ever. And shortly after the show began, the only thing that Draco had come there for really, occurred.

He watched Wilkes intently, and Wilkes flew backwards, a ghost having appeared in front of him with a manic grin. Nearly Headless Nick may have scared the first years at times with his appearance, but there was a reason most of the ghosts stayed in places where they weren't going to be seen.

Tongue hanging jagged with little bits plastered in translucent blood, the eyes were most terrifying as the first hung lopsided from its socket, while the other seemed nothing more than a half-melted pile of goo.

Wilkes squealed at the sight, all students' activities coming to a halt at the scene. The ghost leaned down closer and the grin only widened, as Wilkes' own face turned an unhealthy shade of blue, his breath hitching nervously.

"Ya know, I met a great deal of little tikes like yourself when I was growing up in this castle, even taught a few myself!" the mysterious ghost told the teen in a slow, matter-of-fact manner, pitch staying at a high note in what amounted to an incredibly eerie tone. "Lotta kids willing to do the darkest deeds and with the power to face no justice for their crimes."

For the first time since coming up with his plans of revenge, Draco suddenly felt the slightest bit of hesitance in carrying out his retribution. Perhaps Myrtle had done a bit too well of a job in finding someone who'd be able to get back at Wilkes...

Draco sighed in acknowledgement that the boy would be needing counseling for years to come, but there was little room in his heart for pity towards the boy who'd tried to turn family upon family; the boy'd brought it upon himself.

From the corner of his eyes, he spotted Sirius watching him but wouldn't dare look to meet his eyes. The time for explanations would no doubt come later that night.

Draco was brought out of his introspection at the sound of a high-pitched cackle as Wilkes' robes began to dampen around the crotch.

Before anything else could be done, the now soiled teen was on his feet in a flash, eyes bloodshot and wand already in a death grip, the first sounds being little more than incoherent screams before he managed to get out his first sensible word since the ghost had jumped him in the hall.

"Crucio!"

The Entrance Hall suddenly filled with piercing screams as a bright light filled the area, no longer a public spectacle to be seen, as the curse travelled through the non-physical being. Students dropped to the floor in a panic while more and more curses travelled around, all originating from Wilkes' wand. Draco suddenly wished he hadn't gone through with it. It was a bloody massacre and the screams only seemed to get louder as the boy seemed to have finally lost any sanity he'd retained throughout his day's torment.

Draco, who was crouched atop the stairs with the other boys, couldn't see anything over the bodies of students on the floor, all shaking with fear. He didn't dare look up, afraid that one of the torturous curses that Wilkes was shooting would possibly hit him. He wasn't sure how time travel worked exactly, but he doubted that his death in this timeline would have no effect at all. And he wasn't quite yet ready to die.

Suddenly, all sound seemed to stop. Draco dared to glance over Peter's back to see what was happening. All the students seemed to be slowly and shakily getting to their feet now. The curses were no longer flying and the other ghosts were gone.

"Have I gone deaf?" Sirius muttered beside him.

Draco's eyes wandered to each of the boys and then throughout the hall until he found Frank, Alice, Mary, Lily, Jarine Atrenus, Dirk Cresswell, Severus, Regulus, and any other person he actually hoped hadn't been hit. All seemed to be fine. In fact, it was a miracle that no student whatsoever had been victimised by one of Wilkes' curses.

Draco's eyes finally landed on the boy, who was standing at the center of the hall in a combination of a body-binding curse and a frozen state. Surrounding him were Professors McGonagall, Slughorn, Claybrook and Livesey. Draco groaned.

"What has happened?" McGonagall demanded of the students nearest her.

They instantly delved into explanation of what they had seen and what had happened to their neighbours.

"He just started shooting the curses at us all for absolutely no reason!" a fourth-year Hufflepuff girl said.

"Yeah, it wasn't even self defense or anything!" her friend agreed. "He just lost it on all of us!"

"Went crazy and started shooting random curses," a scrawny-looking boy added.

"We heard him talking in class today about how smart he'd been about Wilson's cat," an older Ravenclaw boy told the teachers.

"What do you mean, Parker?" McGonagall said.

"Professor, he admitted to being responsible for what happened to that cat," a blonde girl beside her answered. "He said that he was the one who hung it!"

"Yeah, I heard him too!" a seventh-year Hufflepuff girl agreed.

"We actually heard him say that he was the one who flooded Hagrid's cabin two years ago," a fifth-year Gryffindor added.

"Yeah, he said that he wanted him to drown!" a second-year girl added.

Professor McGonagall now had her hand to her mouth and her eyes wide as she listened to the students' tales, which didn't seem to end even after ten minutes of this.

Draco, who had been watching with everyone else, glanced at the Slytherin Gang, which was strangely silent about the whole situation. Most of its members looked rather grim and anxious. Regulus was standing close to Severus, both their eyes on Wilkes' frozen form.

"...but the ghosts were just playing with us, professor!" a younger Hufflepuff girl squeaked.

"Yeah, they said it was part of an early surprise Halloween show," an older boy of the same house said. "They weren't just targeting him, they did it to all of us."

"But he's been acting paranoid all day long so he was the only one who was affected so much," a Ravenclaw prefect said, his eyes narrowed suspiciously at Wilkes' frozen figure.

"Naturally," said Professor Claybrook, whose wand was pointed at Wilkes now, in case the kid came to and resumed his attack.

"...he kept promising that she'd be his next victim, professor," a Ravenclaw girl was now saying.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," McGonagall suddenly said.

The hall fell silent again.

"Very well then," she continued, still looking shocked. "I suggest you all go back to your houses...immediately, I might add." She paused. "I don't know how is it that none of you managed to get yourselves attacked tonight, but you should all consider yourselves beyond lucky."

"And I think, for the time being, these nightly hangouts should stop," Claybrook added to the room at large.

"Off you go!" McGonagall called, and instantly, students began to scatter and climb up stairs hurriedly and panicky.

The teachers all grouped together now, but Draco only heard the words "hospital wing" over the ruckus and chaos.

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, and his eyes widened. Professor Livesey was standing before him, looking very much suspicious.

"'Evening, boys," she said, glancing at the five of them.

"Hello Professor," said Remus, his voice evidently nervous. "Is something wrong?"

She shrugged. "I'm just wondering how big of a coincidence it is that two of you were wandering in strange corridors just this morning, and then all of this happened." She gestured at the Entrance Hall before her eyes landed on Draco.

"A big coincidence," he simply said.

"You boys wouldn't happen to know why this happened, would you?" she asked.

"Not a clue," said Sirius.

Livesey did not look convinced, however she still let them be. Once they were gone from the hall, James rounded on Draco.

"You wanna bloody tell me what all that was about?!"

"Nothing!" cried Draco, turning to leave.

James grabbed his arm again.

"Nuh uh, you're not getting away this time," he said. "You may not have to answer her questions but you're sure as hell gonna answer ours."

Draco anxiously looked at all the boys waiting for an answer. But before he could answer, Sirius said, "Let's talk in the common room."

"Hell no, we're going after them!"

It wasn't Remus who said it. It was James. Draco stared at him, astonished. But he wasn't alone in that reaction.

"W-what?" Sirius said.

"We're turning ourselves in," Remus agreed. He glanced at Draco. "Tonight."


Do you guys reckon Draco should've listened to Dumbledore?