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CHAPTER 26: RESPONSIBILITY

"But what I don't understand is how you come to that conclusion...if what you're saying coincides with the facts of the case (and it does), then where comes the result that the victim was able to perform a nonverbal spell before the perpetrator killed him?"

"I don't know, but like, isn't it weird that the vase just sort of exploded on its own?"

Claybrook shrugged simply. "When there are large amounts of magic being performed in one room at a single time, powers have the ability of escaping their masters, very briefly of course. No one is an ideal wizard, Miss Brown."

"I just...I dunno, I mean you told us to think outside the box, professor, and you've been focusing on nonverbal spells more than anything else so far this year, so I figured the two were connected to this case..." said Emily Brown.

Claybrook shifted on his desk and bit into his apple again.

"I am trying to get you to dig deeper, Miss Brown," he sighed. "I am not telling you that you are wrong—I am asking you to explain to me your reasoning."

"And I have explained it, professor," said the girl, looking thoroughly confused.

Slightly annoyed, Claybrook looked away from her and scanned the classroom for a few moments before his eyes landed on Remus.

"Care to offer some insight here, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus looked up from his notes, not knowing what to say.

"He's gonna explode now, watchit," Sirius whispered in Draco's ear. Draco suppressed a laugh.

So far in the year, Remus had made it perfectly clear to pretty much everyone that Claybrook was his least favourite professor at Hogwarts. And every chance that he got, he argued with the professor—and all the rest of the class never lost interest in watching his feeble attempts to outsmart the undoubtedly experienced, well-informed man. Draco had grown to respect Claybrook, but he'd also grown to really care for Remus as well, so he knew better than to poke his nose in this particular matter. Whatever it was about Claybrook that bothered Remus, it wasn't Draco's business.

"I never said anything about nonverbal spells in this case, professor," Remus answered now, his eyes at the board behind rather than at the teacher.

Claybrook sighed again. "Well then allow me to refresh the facts of the case for you, once again, and you can make an educated guess as to what is going on here." He hopped off the desk and tossed his apple core into the nearest garbage can before turning to face the class. "The mouse was sitting on the window ledge when two wizards entered the room promptly at noon on a Thursday in December. They spoke briefly before choosing to embark on their duel. They were the only ones in the room, where there were a few tables with a few vases on them. Nothing else. There was no one else in the room. The wizards both had their wands out and shouted their spells out verbally. Just before one wizard killed off the other, a vase exploded in the room and shattered to bits and pieces, almost hitting the perpetrating wizard. Unfortunately for the victim wizard, the vase shattered a couple of seconds too late. As for the perpetrating wizard, he did not manage to cast a protective charm because he'd been preoccupied with killing his companion, but he did duck. And that physical act alone was what saved his life in that moment. So my question is...what caused the vase to shatter?"

"Well," said Remus, also shifting in his seat slightly. "It's like you said then, professor. They were using large amounts of magic at a single time so some of it was bound to slip away and I guess one of their spells hit the vase at some point."

"That's what I think," said Claybrook, impatiently, "But I want to know what you think."

Remus opened his mouth but nothing came out. Looking actually fairly pleased with himself, Claybrook turned away from him.

"What about you, Draco?"

Draco suddenly looked up, alarmed at being called by his first name by a teacher.

"Sir?" he said, slowly and casually shifting his quill away from the spot on his notebook where he'd been drawing a winged horse.

"I want to know what you think of this case," Claybrook repeated.

Everyone in the classroom turned in their seats to face Draco. Beside him, Sirius tried to make himself small so that he wouldn't be picked on next. His own notebook was sporting a very thorough sketch of Wilkes with two long braids and a plaid skirt.

"I..." said Draco, his eyes landing on James next to Remus, who also looked like he was out of answers. Why on earth was Claybrook doing this? Did he not realize that it was too early in the day to be thinking this deeply?

"I would...I mean I think I'd question the mouse's relevance in the story..." he mumbled.

Claybrook tilted his head slightly. "Indeed—why do you say that?"

"Well you clearly went into great detail about the story...so you want us to know the details...and every other detail seemed relevant, so I'm just wondering why it's important for us to know that there is a mouse on the window ledge. I mean, how does that help us in any way?"

"And?" said Claybrook.

Draco glanced once at Sirius and then at James before saying, "My money is on the mouse being an animagus."

"Whoa," said Emily Brown from the front of the classroom. She turned to look at Draco. "That's just absurd, okay? Animagi have nothing to do with this case! Don't go throwing in third year curriculum, irrelevant facts and trying to confuse us all here!"

"Who said it's got to be absurd?" Draco argued back angrily. "The mouse is an animagus...it witnesses two wizards duelling. It senses things getting out of hand and thus, it performs a nonverbal spell to try and calm the madness." He turned back to Claybrook. "Unfortunately for the victim wizard, he was too late, but the perpetrating wizard survived so the animagus was 50% successful in trying to resolve things. And, that's another giveaway right there...it was only halfway successful, which is said to be true about wizards who try to perform spells—any spells—while transformed. Their efficiency is almost always cut down by at least half because of their physical state."

Claybrook now had a smile on his face and everyone in the class turned to look back at him. His eyes on Draco, he began to applaud. Several seconds later, the classroom was silent again and everyone was beyond confused.

"Now you're thinking like the dark arts," Claybrook told Draco, who sighed of relief.

As Claybrook turned back to the board and continued on with the lesson, finally moving the focus off of Draco, Sirius said "Daaaaaaamn" in his ear and gave him a thumbs-up. Draco shrugged. He was just mighty relieved to be out of the spotlight.

At the end of the lesson, Emily Brown, the angry-looking girl from Hufflepuff, pushed past him and out of the classroom.

"Jeez, what's with her?" Sirius complained as he'd dropped a book. "Seriously, girls are way too emotional, man."

"Um, excuse me..." said Lily, walking past him, "...while I try not to get emotional on my way to Muggle Studies."

Sirius snorted and Lily walked out of the classroom with Mary. James walked over to Draco and gave him a high five.

"That was bloody brilliant work there today, mate," he cried. "I was seriously impressed."

"I wasn't impressed," Remus said, "You didn't show us anything new today."

"Yeah, you've always been like way smarter than all of us," Peter agreed.

"Hey, I may not be book smart," Sirius began, guiding the way out of the classroom, "But I sure as hell know a lot about life."

"Mr. Black!"

Sirius froze, eyes round.

"Spoke too soon," he muttered under his breath, turning to look back. "Yes, professor?"

"Not you," said Claybrook, pointing at Draco.

Draco hesitated before walking back into the classroom.

"The rest of you, off you go," Claybrook said to the Marauders.

They too, hesitated and gave Draco worried looks before heading off. James closed the door behind him, leaving Draco alone with the professor, who was still standing behind his desk.

"I'm, uh, gonna be late for Muggle Studies," Draco tried.

"I only wanted to congratulate you on a job well done today," Claybrook explained. "That Emily Brown sure was starting to make me lose faith in my teaching skills, but you've reminded me that not everyone here is a total...well, for lack of a better way of saying it, a total loss..."

Draco stared at Claybrook, surprised to hear such things from a teacher.

"Yeah well," he said awkwardly, "Um, you're welcome then."

He turned to leave.

"I have something I've been meaning to ask you," Claybrook began.

Draco slowly turned to look at him again.

"Draco," he said, in a less formal voice now, "You and I both know that you are my best student in sixth year." Draco let out a small smile. "And students like you don't come around very often." I'm sure, Draco thought. "And I have, somewhat of a request to ask of you..." Uh-oh. "You see, I have this student, in one of my younger classes, who is in need of, shall we say, a little bit of tutoring. Now, before you turn down the idea, let me assure you that this student is very brilliant as well. I have high hopes for him, but...he's not up to his usual standards lately and I'm worried it might cause him to fall behind farther than he can ever care to catch up."

"Wait," said Draco. "You...want me to...tutor someone?"

"Yes," said Claybrook.

"Professor," said Draco instantly, "Look, I'm...flattered that you think so highly of me and I'd definitely be happy to...honour this request, I would...but I'm just so busy right now with like...school stuff and...Quidditch stuff and...m-more school stuff..."

"It would only be two, maybe three lessons maximum," Claybrook assured him. "This isn't a regular thing—I just want you to help him get back on track with things before he messes up beyond repair."

"Beyond repair," Draco repeated, laughing slightly. "I thought teachers aren't supposed to believe that of students."

"Do I look like your typical teacher?" said Claybrook.

Draco smiled again. He didn't understand why Remus hated the guy so much. He looked like an alright guy to him...one that he definitely respected, anyway.

"Just two lessons," Claybrook repeated.

"I..." said Draco, shrugging. Claybrook waited. "Two lessons then."

"Perfect," said Claybrook, happily. "You have third period free tomorrow and this student happens to have my class at that time, so I've excused him from it so that he could meet with you." Of course you did, Draco thought. "You will meet him in classroom 42C on the fourth floor just at the bell." He paused. "Oh, I realize you probably wanted to use that free period tomorrow to study but I reckon you're doing just fine in your classes that any last minute studying will be time wasted?"

Draco nodded slowly. Truth be told, he actually was all ready for his exams. And they were only midterms anyway.

"Anything in particular that you want me to catch him up on?"

Claybrook smiled now. "Nonverbal spells, if you will."

"Nonverbal—how old is this kid, anyway?" cried Draco.

"He's a fifth year, no less," said Claybrook straightaway.

"Damn," said Draco. "I thought when you said kid you were talking about some second year or something..."

"No," laughed Claybrook. "I wouldn't put you through that."

Draco stared at him.

"So it's settled then," said Claybrook, clapping his hands once. "Now, you'll really be late to Muggle Studies if you don't get going."

"Why me?"

"Well, while I admit I haven't known Professor Livesey for very long, she doesn't strike me as the type who likes it when her students are constantly late to her—"

"No, I mean, why did you ask me to do this and not someone else?" said Draco. "I'm hardly the smartest student you have. There's Remus Lupin...there's Lily Evans...there's...James Potter...Severus Snape..."

Claybrook paused.

"You have plenty of students in seventh year who are smart too, I'm sure," Draco went on. "Why, out of everyone, you picked me?"

"You are the adoptive son of Albus Dumbledore," Claybrook declared, causing Draco to frown. What did that have to do with this? "In the public's eye, you are prodigal. You are to continue Dumbledore's legacy throughout your entire life."

"I-I am?"

"Witches and wizards everywhere are expecting great things from you one day."

"They are?"

"And I know you wouldn't want to disappoint Dumbledore by not living up to said expectations," Claybrook continued. "You have been walking around this school for four months now, not once realizing the impact that you have on your fellow classmates. They look up to you, whether you like it or not."

"Yeah, but—"

"It is time for you to show more responsibility than just Quidditch, Draco."

Draco paused now to really look at Claybrook, and who he was starting to sound a lot like.

"Dumbledore put you up to this, didn't he?" he now said, in a somewhat quiet voice.

"Not exactly," said Claybrook. "I'll admit to having discussed this with him prior to asking you, but he and I are in agreement here."

"Of course you are," Draco muttered, now knowing exactly how to greet Dumbledore during their lesson tomorrow night.

"We are not trying to trick you here, son," Claybrook repeated. "We want you to take on more responsibility than you have so far. We are giving you a chance here."

"To tutor some random kid," Draco muttered.

"Baby steps," said Claybrook, smiling softly.

"Tutor someone?" said Sirius, a look of disgust on his face when Draco told the boys together at lunch.

"Yep," said Draco.

"But..." said Remus.

"We thought..." said James.

"Nope," said Draco, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"I think it's cool," Peter offered.

Draco smiled at him briefly.

"Yeah, he's the only teacher who let us replace our midterm with a lively class debate," said James. "Sounds pretty cool to me."

Draco nodded. The rest of the day would consist of exams, exams and more exams. And tomorrow was going to be the same thing. How anxious he was for midterms to finally be over...

"He didn't like," said Remus, suddenly leaning forward, "He didn't say that you have no choice in this, did he?"

"Nah, it wasn't like that," Draco assured him. "He was...very convincing actually." The boys exchanged strange looks. "Look guys, he's right. People see me as some kid who's gonna one day rise up to Dumbledore's level."

"Damn right, you are," said James.

Draco shook his head at him. "I have no interest in ever doing that, I promise you. But because my life is very public right now, I should be doing all this...respectable stuff, I suppose...you know, to try and make things easier for Dumbledore. Otherwise he'll have a lot of explaining to do when Daily Prophet reporters barge into his office demanding to know why his adoptive son doesn't care about anything other than Quidditch and running around the woods as an animagus."

"Shhh!" hissed Sirius. "Quiet down, will you?"

Draco looked around at the noisy hall and then mouthed 'sorry' at his friend.

"A-and this wouldn't, by any chance, be some sort of a trick, would it?" Remus asked, cautiously keeping his voice levelled.

"Of course not," Draco said. "You know, I don't really get what you have against him. He seems perfectly—"

"Seems," Remus repeated angrily before stabbing his food with a fork.

James rolled his eyes at him and shook his head at Draco who resolved to say nothing at all.

Definitely not a matter he wanted to get involved in.

The rest of the day was definitely quieter than the morning had been. Draco got through his Transfiguration exam in a jiffy and Charms was pretty excellent too. He and the Marauders spent the entire afternoon studying and by dinnertime, they were all ready for Potions tomorrow. But even so, Remus insisted on having Draco quiz him on some of the theory back in the common room. While they did this, Peter sat cross-legged on the couch and made notes of everything they said. James and Sirius started a game of Wizard's Chess on the carpet just next to them. They did this all evening until the last of the Gryffindors went up to bed. Then, Sirius let out a long yawn.

"Alright, I'm outta here," he declared, ducking James, who was about to push him again for winning yet another round.

"Yeah, I'm tired too," said Peter, rubbing his eyes.

"We should probably get some sleep if we're gonna ace that midterm tomorrow," Remus agreed, also getting up.

"You coming, Draco?" said James, noticing that Draco hadn't moved from his spot on the couch. He looked up at his friends.

"I'll be up soon," he said.

They shrugged and continued on upstairs, while Draco's eyes landed on the fireplace before him. The truth was, what Claybrook had said earlier really made Draco on edge now, because he was completely right. Draco's life was totally public and that meant that every move he made reflected Dumbledore. That was a huge burden to be carrying around. And if Draco messed up, even in the slightest way, Dumbledore may turn away from him completely. Sitting there in the common room now, he wondered how he couldn't see it sooner. He'd been so preoccupied with everything that he had to deal with, that he'd completely neglected what Dumbledore had to deal with, and probably on a daily basis too.

Suddenly, that lesson tomorrow night couldn't come sooner. Draco glanced at his watch, wondering if it was too late to go see Dumbledore tonight. And he was halfway out of the common room too, when he decided against it and turned back around. Dumbledore was probably very busy right now and didn't have time for Draco's nonsense. But it wasn't even nonsense! He just wanted to go talk to him—tell him that he wouldn't disappoint him and promise that he'd be really good from now on.

Don't make promises you can't keep, said a voice in his head now. Draco sighed and collapsed back on the couch. This was all getting way too complicated for his liking. Here he was, sitting alone on a Thursday night, having what could only be described as a panic attack, over something silly that some professor mentioned as a 'by the way'.

"Get it together, man," he told himself out loud now, his face buried in his hands. He really did need to calm down. Claybrook hadn't told him something he didn't already know—he only reminded him of a little fact that he should've paid more attention to. That's all.

"Draco?" said a voice from the staircase.

Draco hopped off the couch and looked around. Mary was standing at the top of the stairs in a nightgown, sporting a long blonde braid at her side. Her arms were crossed as she stood there, confused.

"S-sorry," Draco said. "Did I...wake you?"

"No, not at all," she quickly said, starting to slowly make her way down the stairs. "I was just going to go to the kitchens and ask for some tea."

"T-tea?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep."

She was finally at his level now and moving over to where he was by the couches near the fireplace.

"What are you doing up?" she wondered. "It's rather late."

"Um," said Draco, looking around at his scattered books, "Just doing some last minute studying, I guess."

"You don't need it," Mary smiled softly. "Your performance in class this morning was very impressive."

"Yeah," said Draco, scratching his head. "Do you, uh, want me to go with you?"

"Sorry?"

"...to get the tea..."

"Oh," said Mary, letting out a small laugh. "Sure. I'd like that."

They walked in silence, Draco emitting light from the tip of his wand and making sure to keep it from pointing at any of the portraits on the walls, so as not to wake anyone. He'd had experience with that firsthand and knew how dangerous it was to point at them. They'd start yelling into the night and bringing unwanted attention to corridors where students ought not to be wandering at night.

When they finally got to the kitchens, they found the elves gathered round a circular table, looking very busy with what Draco could only assume was some intense card game. At the sight of the two students who'd wandered in, the elves instantly jumped to their feet.

"Draco Black, sir!" cried Manny, pushing through the little crowd so he could be at the front. "How nice to see you again!"

"Uh, likewise, Manny," said Draco, taking his hand and shaking it.

"What brings you to the kitchens at this time of night, sir?" Manny asked, looking enthusiastic and pleased.

"Well, my friend here was wondering if she could get some tea..." said Draco, his voice trailing off as Manny shooed his fellow elves away and was back in no time with several different kinds of tea bags in his hands.

"What kind would miss like?" he asked.

"Uh," said Mary, looking round at Draco in confusion, "Black would be fine, please."

Manny whipped up the tea as quickly as he could and handed her a steaming cup, his head bowed before her.

"Thank you, Manny," Mary said kindly, taking it from him.

"Hey," said Draco, kneeling down to level with the elf, who looked at him now. The others were back at the table, back to their card game, and oblivious to Draco's and Mary's presence in the room. Still, Draco lowered his voice. "I never did thank you for your help that day."

"Manny will always be pleased to serve you, sir," Manny promised.

Draco smiled at him. He wasn't sure why Manny was so willing to help him, but he wasn't about to complain.

He bid the elf a good night and escorted Mary out of the kitchens. Unfortunately, the trip back to the common room wasn't as silent as the trip to the kitchens had been. Mary now had many questions.

"He just helped me out once and I figured I owed him at least thanks," Draco kept saying. "Anyway, how's the tea?"

"Hot," Mary answered. "And I'm just surprised is all. I never pegged you as the type to be on a first name basis with...elves..."

"Why not?" said Draco, turning as they entered another hallway.

"I don't know," said Mary, shrugging. "There's something different about you that I can't really explain. I'm not the only one who sees it."

"Sees what though?"

"You're...I mean, yeah, you're a Gryffindor, but...sometimes you act like you're in all of the houses."

"I do?" Draco cried out, stopping to stare at her. He'd never gotten this sort of comment before...in either timeline.

"Yeah," said Mary. "I suppose that's how I'd describe it."

"That's..." said Draco, unsure of what to make of this.

"Come on," Mary laughed, leading the way once again.

They reached the common room undetected by teachers along the way (from some strange miracle) and Draco made for the couches again when he saw Mary heading up the stairs.

"You're not staying?" he asked.

She turned to look at him. "No, I think I'll take my tea up to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

Draco only nodded.

"Thanks for escorting me," she said.

"Yeah," Draco said, slipping his hands in his pockets.

Mary hesitated on the stairs, looking down at her teacup and then again at Draco. "And...I'd be happy to escort you...to Slughorn's Christmas party."

Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise, having forgotten about that completely.

"Okay," he said, not knowing what else to say.

"Okay," said Mary, smiling sweetly at him. "Good night then."

"Good night."


The Potions midterm had to be the easiest thing Draco had ever gone through. It was definitely a nice start to the day and by the end of it, Draco was positive that there was no way he'd gotten any less than perfect. The rest of the Marauders seemed rather pleased with it too. On the way out of the Potions dungeon however, Sirius accidentally bumped Severus. No one fell or dropped anything, but there it was, the two of them standing before each other, not knowing what to do.

"S-sorry," Sirius said, glancing at Draco beside him.

Severus said nothing but walked out.

"Freak," James hissed, following Sirius out too.

Remus gave Draco a questioning look but he only shrugged. He doubted this war between them would ever truly end. He could hardly ever see himself becoming best friends with Harry Potter and the Weasleys, so he totally understood it.

That day's Defense against the Dark Arts lesson was just as interesting as the previous day's, except this time, Emily Brown was smart enough to keep her mouth shut for the entire duration. But everyone else was now paying closer attention to details, just as Draco had demonstrated yesterday. At one point, Claybrook caught Draco's eye and gave him an "I told you so" smile. Draco smiled back. It was true. Everyone in the class actually was looking up to him. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before.

After the lesson, James and Sirius disappeared somewhere and Draco went to the Great Hall with Remus and Peter for lunch. Once there, Remus let Peter recite entire passages to him in preparation for his Care of Magical Creatures exam next period. Meanwhile, Draco ate in silence and skimmed through the usual stories in the Daily Prophet—more raids, some more disappearances and a minister's message declaring that all would be well and safe soon enough. What bullshit.

When Peter was finally done reciting, he excused himself to go to the bathroom, but Draco and Remus both knew he was having a panic attack and needed to be by himself to get through it, so they didn't question him.

"You're gonna have that tutoring session next?" Remus asked Draco instead.

"What? Oh, yeah. That's today."

"Hope it goes well."

"Thanks."

Draco continued to read through the Daily Prophet, occasionally flipping a page and staying immune to the noise of the Great Hall.

"Draco," said Remus.

"Mm?" said Draco without looking up.

"Are you sure that this animagus thing is what you want?"

This prompted Draco to look away from the Prophet at once. He stared at his friend, wondering where this was coming from. It wasn't exactly out of the blue—ever since he'd begun this process, Remus had been the least enthusiastic out of all the boys. But still, it was quite random to bring it up now.

"I mean, you're not just doing this to impress James and Sirius, are you?" he went on now.

"No, of course not," said Draco at once. "What would make you think that?"

"It was just a theory," Remus shrugged. "Listen, I want you to reconsider this—no really, listen. It's...it's not a joke, okay? You could get into some serious trouble for even pursuing this. It is a serious crime to be an unregistered animagus and...you being connected to Dumbledore..." he lowered his voice to that of a whisper now. "I mean, if this ever got out, it...it could ruin you both...and I couldn't live with myself if that happened because you're only doing this for me even though I've practically begged you to stop already and—"

"Remus, stop," said Draco now. "This has nothing to do with you, okay? I want this."

"But—"

"I don't care about the consequences. I think I'm adult enough to make this decision for myself. As for Dumbledore, you needn't worry. He won't find out."

"Yeah but if someone else does and they leak this story—"

"We'll deal with that when and if we get there, but for now, it's pointless even worrying about it because it's not a problem for us right now."

Remus sighed.

"I want this," Draco repeated, hoping he'd hear him this time. "I do. I've always wanted to become an animagus and I can't wait for the process to be finally complete."

"It is nearly complete, isn't it?" said Remus.

Draco nodded, a smile on his face. He could hardly wait. But Remus's face was serious again.

"What?" said Draco.

Remus glanced around before adding, very quietly, "Are you sure there's no way I can change your mind?"

Draco smiled and shook his head confidently. "Absolutely not."

Remus sighed again. "You're ignoring me..." Draco looked up at him. "That's very marauder of you."

When lunch was over, James and Sirius finally came back, looking mighty pleased with themselves. They explained that they'd gone off to get some 'brain enhancements' from some older kids to help them get through this Care of Magical Creatures exam they had to take. James went into another rant about how Hagrid was long overdue as teacher for that class but how it was no use because Dumbledore wasn't listening. Peter came back from his panic attack too, looking slightly relieved but also very nervous. The three departed for their exam while Remus wished Draco good luck and headed off to write his Arithmancy midterm. Draco remained in the Great Hall until it was nearly completely deserted. It had already been ten minutes since the bell had rung. Finally deciding that he couldn't delay it any further, Draco stood up and left the Great Hall.

By the time he reached the fourth floor, he knew that he would rather just get this over with already and never look back on it. Tonight's lesson with Dumbledore was all he looked forward to, so he tried to focus only on that and nothing else.

But when he pushed open the classroom door and let himself in, he found out just how conniving karma could be.

"Draco?" said Regulus, who was standing near the window at the back of the class.

Draco stood at the door, not sure what was going on here.

"Um," he said, looking around the class for the student he was supposed to tutor, before it hit him. He looked at Regulus. "You're the fifth year who's struggling in Defense against the Dark Arts."

"And you're the sixth year sent here to tutor me," said Regulus, crossing his arms. "Fantastic."

"Look," said Draco, closing the door behind him and taking a step forward, "I had no idea it was you when Claybrook told me yesterday, okay? No seriously, I didn't know! I...I think now that he set this up on purpose maybe..."

"What, to just screw with us?" said Regulus.

Draco shrugged. "But you're a prefect...how can it be allowed for you to fall behind?"

"I'm not falling behind, okay?" snapped Regulus. "I'm just...I just need help catching up is all."

"But why?"

"You know what, it doesn't even matter because I'm not gonna go through with this lesson now," said Regulus, suddenly grabbing his books and shoving them into his bag.

"Regulus wait," said Draco, blocking his way to the door. "Please talk to me."

"Why should I?" said Regulus. "You've clearly shown me that that's the last thing you would rather do."

"That's not true," said Draco. "Severus told me that—"

"Never mind what Severus said, Draco, he's just a nosey git!"

"Regulus, stop," said Draco. "He's your best friend, you don't mean that."

"Yeah, I do," said the boy, turning away from Draco and looking out the window again.

Draco stood frozen to the ground, unable to process things. How could he have let things get so screwed up?

"Regulus, talk to me," Draco tried again. "What's been going on with you lately?"

"Oh you mean in the past two months that you've been ignoring me?" said Regulus, turning round to look at Draco with fury on his face. "Not much, just the usual."

"Come on, that's not fair," said Draco. "You were the one who said we shouldn't talk anymore. I just figured I'd give you your space. You clearly wanted it."

"You don't even know what you want, Draco," spat Regulus.

Draco took a moment to breathe and keep his voice leveled when he spoke. "You're right. I don't." He looked Regulus in the eye, trying to form some sort of connection here with his younger cousin. "But I do know that I would like it if you would talk to me now."

"It's not gonna change anything," Regulus said, turning away from him.

"Well why the hell not?"

"BECAUSE YOU DON'T CARE!"

Draco froze again, staring at Regulus with pain swelling up in his stomach now. The boy was shaking from head to toe, not because he was afraid, but because he was angry. Angry that Draco had abandoned him.

"YOU HAVE MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR WHO YOUR FAVOURITE BLACK COUSIN IS," Regulus was now yelling. "YOU AND THE REST OF THE BLOODY WORLD HAS."

"What are you talking about? You know that's not—"

"—true?" Regulus let out a cold laugh and approached Draco. "You've never been to my house, Draco. You don't know shit about what's really going on."

"Sirius has told me that you're the favourite at home," Draco defended, weakly.

"Guess again," said Regulus. "No matter what the bloody hell I try to do, Sirius is all our parents can talk about. How he's disappointed them. How he's a disgrace to the Black family name. Sirius this, Sirius that, Sirius, Sirius, SIRIUS!"

"Okay," said Draco, attempting to wrap his head around the words but feeling pained just hearing them. "Okay you're right. But what does this have to do with—?"

"—you?" cried Regulus. "Everything. You've abandoned me, Draco. For the last two months, you've shown me exactly where your loyalties lie. You and Sirius are best pals now, tra-la-la-ing about the castle with the rest of his pathetic little friends, caring about stupid things like bloody Quidditch and your little mudblood girlfriends—"

"Regulus, stop—"

"—and you're all safe with Dumbledore's protection, day and night, while the rest of us fear for our lives and can't even go to sleep normally at night—"

"WHY? Regulus, what's stopping you sleeping?" Draco said, now both his hands on Regulus's shoulders. Regulus shrugged him off.

"It doesn't matter," he spat. "You don't care so I don't have to tell you."

"Will you bloody listen to me already?" Draco hissed at him, grabbing him again so that he wouldn't turn away from him. But Regulus was too quick for him. He ducked, threw off one of the nearby chairs and drew his wand, now standing with it pointed at Draco. Draco slowly raised both his hands in surrender and waited as Regulus watched him, wand slightly shaking in his outstretched hand.

"You're right," Draco was saying now, "Okay? You're absolutely right. I've made a series of poor choices in the last few months. I've been way too focused on the wrong people and for that, I am sorry." Regulus tightened his hold on his wand and glared at Draco. "But you know I can't help you now if you don't let me in." Regulus continued to stare at him, looking a mixture of frightened and angry (and maybe even a little bit guilty).

"Please," Draco said, quieter now. "Please just...talk to me."

And then, to Draco's great surprise and relief, Regulus lowered his arm and took a deep breath. Draco stepped forward.

"Talk to me," he said, his voice just shy of a whisper, never taking his eyes off the kid standing before him.

"I couldn't stand it that you agreed to never speak to me so easily," Regulus whispered. "I was mad that day, Draco. I was mad because you took matters into your own hands even though I told you to drop it. You still went behind my back and took care of things your way. So yeah, I might've told you to back off but I didn't bloody mean it!"

Draco let out a soft laugh now. "I'm not a mind reader, Regulus. How was I supposed to know that?"

"You weren't," said Regulus now. "But you weren't supposed to become best friends with Sirius. You're...you're not supposed to be that Black."

"What Black?" said Draco, confused.

"The rebel Black," said Regulus, quieter now.

Draco sighed deeply. He really had messed up the kid.

"I'm not going to rebel against anyone," he now promised, knowing perfectly well that his next few words were crucial to getting Regulus back on track—back to the way things were before. If he messed up in any way now, any chance of that would be gone in an instant. "I'm not your enemy, Regulus."

"You sure have been acting like one," Regulus declared.

Draco nodded his head once. "I deserve that." He placed both hands on Regulus's shoulders again. "I did what I did to protect you from a scumbag who is now exactly where he belongs...in a psych ward. But I'm not perfect, Regulus. I neglected you and...I abandoned you, and I am truly sorry for that. I will spend the rest of my time trying to make this up to you and be the cousin and the friend that you deserve." He paused now. "It doesn't have to be me and Sirius against you, you know. It could be all three of us against your parents...against Wilkes...against the Death Eaters."

Regulus's eyes went round. "What do the Death Eaters have to do with this?"

"I'm no idiot, Reg," said Draco now, "I know exactly what goes on in the Slytherin common room most nights...and if not yet, then it will soon. I know exactly what most of your housemates are aspiring to become." He looked at Regulus again. "I know what Wilkes was trying to make of you." Regulus looked away. "HEY," said Draco, forcing him to look back at him now. "I am not going to let that happen to you."

"You're not gonna be here when it happens," Regulus whispered.

"You can bet your fifth year arse I will," Draco promised, trying hard to ignore Regulus's use of the word 'when' rather than 'if'. "If you flunk a class, I will be there to smart talk the teacher into giving you a passing grade. If you're fired from a job, I will bribe the board to have you replace your boss. If you're broke, I'll rob a bank with you and if you kill someone..." Regulus stared at Draco now with fear in his eyes, "I will bury the body and give you an alibi," Draco promised. "I'm not gonna leave you, kid. From here on out, no matter what happens—Hey look at me—no matter what happens, you're stuck with me. Understand?"

Throat too tight to speak, Regulus nodded.

They spent all of Draco's free period in that classroom talking, but not once did they talk about anything dark arts related. Instead, they caught up on everything that they had missed in the last two months. Draco congratulated Regulus on all those marvelous moves that he'd showcased during the match and Regulus admitted that he'd taught them to the team because he'd been angry with Draco. But Draco didn't hold it against him. The way he saw it, he owed the kid. Big time. And he was going to have to work at it really hard from now on to regain Regulus's trust.

But Regulus seemed to really enjoy talking to him now. They even briefly mentioned the Slug Christmas party which was tomorrow night. Regulus revealed that he was going stag because there wasn't anyone besides Claire whom he was interested in taking, and she was a member too.

When the bell rang and Regulus hurried off to his next class and told Draco he'd see him at the party tomorrow, Draco came to an important conclusion—Ajax Claybrook was the wisest teacher he had ever had at Hogwarts, aside from Snape.

Because Draco's conversation with Regulus was still playing over in his head, he did rather poorly on his Muggle Studies midterm. Even though it had to have been the easiest subject in bloody wizarding history, Draco couldn't concentrate one bit. He kept thinking back to when Regulus had pulled out his wand and how frightened he'd looked when he'd pointed it at him. He kept thinking back to all the promises he'd made and how even he, Draco, had no idea whether he'd be able to keep them. But he knew he would sure as hell die trying.

After class, Draco escorted a sick looking James to the nearest washroom where he threw up the contents of that brain enhancement he and Sirius had bought earlier.

"Never again," James kept moaning over the toilet as Draco stood near him, waiting.

When he brought James back to the common room and helped his friend up to his bed, he found Remus and Peter doing the same with Sirius.

"Well isn't this a funny turn of events," Remus was now saying. "Usually it's you guys putting me to bed and not the other way around."

Sirius gave him the finger and turned his back on him. Remus let out a laugh.

"Serves you right," he declared. "Maybe next time you guys will try actually studying rather than trying to cheat through the system."

"Do we even know what was in that stuff they bought?" Peter asked.

"Could be anything," Remus said. "Their suppliers were seventh year gits, not professional chemists."

Draco smiled weakly, his mind still elsewhere.

He spent the afternoon hanging out with Remus and Peter in the common room and really just enjoying the fact that midterms were over and he could finally have a break from school. And at eight, he bid farewell to the two boys and headed off to Dumbledore's office to have the lesson he'd been looking forward to all week. But when he got there, he realized that Dumbledore was yet to arrive as well. Sighing deeply, Draco made himself comfortable in his office as he waited for Dumbledore to show.

Phineas Nigellus's portrait watched him fervently.

"What?" Draco asked it.

"It is just curious to watch a young boy have something on his mind, Mr. Malfoy," said Phineas Nigellus cleverly.

Draco looked away from him, muttering, "It's not that curious."

"Dumbledore sure seems to think so," Phineas Nigellus argued.

Draco glanced up at him again. "Has Dumbledore said something to you?"

"Quite a bit, yes," said the portrait.

Draco waited. "Well what did he say?"

"Oh no," said Phineas, quickly. "No, I am inclined to reserve all retellings of my conversations with Dumbledore."

"Git," Draco wanted to say, but stopped himself at the last minute. He never did like Phineas Nigellus.

Growing slightly impatient, he stood up from his chair and walked over to the window to look out at the Quidditch pitch in the distance. It was a very bright night indeed, with soft snow falling from the sky in a quiet and peaceful manner. And it made Draco think things. It made him realize that he in fact had so far survived four whole months in this twisted timeline and he hadn't managed to kill anyone yet. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

"What are you thinking, boy?" Phineas Nigellus tried again.

Draco did not turn to look at him but continued to stare out the window, waiting. Waiting for Dumbledore to arrive, waiting for shit to really hit the fan...just waiting for something to happen.

"I'm thinking," he began, talking mostly to himself, "I'm thinking that Regulus Black is in danger of losing himself completely." He turned to look at the portrait finally, where Phineas's eyes were round and confused. "A-and I've sent him to this danger myself."


Wondering what Dumbledore shall say about this...

Also wondering which reader can correctly guess where Draco will end up this holiday season. . .

Find out next chapter!