Yay another chapter.
Thank you for the reviews, please do keep them coming I love hearing from you. This is the first time I've written in flashback format so I hope it's alright.
Erimenthe: I'm glad you like Newt's involvement in the story. I really want Newt to play a part later on in this story (although I haven't decided what yet) so I can't have him disappear for several chapters so hopefully we will see more letters from Newt. Plus I really enjoy writing in the letter format.
Navyangel85: I can say your wonderings aren't answered in this chapter, but they will be answered soon
Dramatic Detentions
Narcissa sighed as she studied the two boys in front of her.
"Don't think that because I am your mother, I will let you get away with this. It is appalling behaviour, I do not care if you like the lessons or not, you cannot do that to a Professor! I'm in half a mind to make you clean Severus' cauldrons without magic, but I know that will not get through to you. So your punishment is different for each of you; Draco you will spend two weeks helping Professor Hagrid with his classes during your free periods, no matter what you planned to do in those free periods, and Caelum as the instigator, you will spend three weeks with me marking essays, every night."
"What?"
"That's not fair! I have to do manual labour and he gets to mark essays!" Both boys complained about their punishments like she expected them to.
"Both of you are doing something you will feel punished doing. Draco you are spoilt and despise working outside, so that is exactly what you are doing. Caelum you loathe any type of paperwork so that is what you shall be doing." Both boys had fallen silent, they communicated between themselves, something that sent fear dancing through Draco's eyes.
"We won't be forced to stop talking to each other during our detentions will we?" Caelum's voice was steady but she could hear the fear that trembled underneath. As much as she would love to do that as part of their punishment, it would probably be detrimental to the two of them, and unfair. "No. Severus and I are the only two who know of this, no other teacher would know to stop you from talking. But if I find you prioritising that over your detentions, I will ask you to stop." Narcissa didn't miss the identical looks of relief that flashed across their faces.
? ゚ミノ? ゚ミノ?
Caelum waited outside his mother's office at the end of dinner, waiting for her to start his detention. It sicked having your mum as a teacher because she knew what type of detention to really hammer home the point that the detention was trying to make. It was his first detention of the three weeks and the usual dread was hanging around him, he was certain that this would not be as bad as it looked on paper. No detention with his mother could be any worse than how Draco's detention with Hagrid has gone.
"Come in Caelum." His mother was standing at the door, dressed impeccably in a grey silk robe that had a metallic sheen to it. Narcissa was smiling kindly at her youngest and that sent warmth down his spine. He was right this wouldn't be too bad. Distantly he felt Draco's annoyance at his feelings of comfort and suppressed a snigger as he sat down in the chair Narcissa had gestured too.
"How are you darling? Had a good day?" It was nice to start a detention like this, it certainly cleared the dread that he had felt.
"It was okay, I really liked your class today mum, not that it was hard or anything, but it was fun. I like the practical lessons. All the other lessons are getting boring because I already know the cause due to the tutoring with Snape over summer. My free period was awful though; I wanted to get my transfiguration essay done but all I could focus on was Draco's anguished feelings. It's a bit of hands-on work not torture. I've been ignoring him since." Narcissa listened in silence as Caelum summarised his day. She was very pleased with how open he seemed to be in comparison to how he was in the summer, Draco's trip had really helped him, so had being back at Hogwarts.
"What did Draco have to help with?" She asked, amusement colouring her tone.
"Had to help with the hippogriff lesson for the seventh years." Caelum replied with a snigger, Narcissa frowned. "Mum, hippogriffs aren't dangerous if you don't act like a prat." Caelum spoke quietly, trying to comfort his mother's fears about the beasts attacking Draco again. "When Draco got attacked by Buckbeak in third year, he was insulting the hippogriff after being told not to, due to the fact that hippogriffs are proud and vain creatures. The only who is to blame for that incident is Draco and I'm pretty sure he learnt his lesson." Caelum smiled at his mother as she relaxed. "Draco and hippogriffs have a lot in common." She laughed and he felt the guilt from accidentally upsetting her vanish.
"Well, let's get on with your detention. Here are the first years' essays on the use of defence spells. Each had to choose three defensive spells and write their use and the effect they have on others. I want you to look through these and sort them based on whether or not they are a foot long, contain three different spells and whether or not they have described both effect and use. I will mark the content. If you find something that you know is wrong please highlight it." Caelum sighed, that was a lot to do, but at least he was being kept busy. He took his wand and began the task Narcissa had set him, chatting quietly with his mother.
? ゚ミノ? ゚ミノ?
A week had passed, and Narcissa and Caelum had spent each evening together for his detention and not once did he explain the reasoning for his actions. Narcissa was getting a little frustrated. All that she had heard was Draco moaning that the actual actions were in no way deserving of their punishments. Narcissa had no clue whether the statement was correct or not, all she had been told was that the boy's had let off some fireworks in the classroom and talked back to the teacher when questioned. The Professor in question, Professor Trelawney looked absolutely furious and had gotten Professor Mcgonagall involved which was why she punished her boys so severely, if she hadn't done it, Mcgonagall would have. Finally curiosity got the better of her.
"Caelum, I'm talking to you as your mother not your professor, what did you do in Divination to warrant such a harsh punishment?" Caelum looked at her in shock.
"I thought you had been told. Alright, but as my mum can I ask you not to be annoyed because we're already being punished enough." He gave her a cheeky grin, he wasn't really classing an excuse to talk to his mum every night as punishment, he was actually quite enjoying it.
"Alright. I suppose I cannot reprimand you any more than I already have."
*FLASHBACK*
Tuesday afternoon saw Caelum and Draco sat in the Divination classroom with Estella and Pansy. Both girls had become good friends and both liked to mother the twins. Estella was quieter than normal, that day and both Caelum and Draco kept sending each other worried glances, both knowing that her mood was due to the letter she received at breakfast. Caelum presumed it was from her not-too-kind aunt, it was her first piece of post since she had started Hogwarts and Caelum had relayed his concerns to Draco that he thought her aunt might not have liked the results of her sorting. Determined to do do something to cheer up their newest friend, Draco and Caelum took lunch in the kitchens to discuss what they could do to cheer her up.
"We have Divination last, Trelawney probably won't see anything if we do pull a prank. Her glasses will probably stop her from being able to tell who started the prank if she does notice it." Caelum spoke with a surety that Draco was pleased to hear colour his brother's tone again.
"That unless she 'sees' the prank before we do anything." Draco laughed. His laughter was cut short by Caelum's stern face.
"As much as she seems useless in class, she is a legitimate seer, she predicted Peter Pettigrew returning to Voldemort in third year. We thought she meant Sirius at the time. I'm pretty sure she was the seer who made the prophecy." Draco nodded at Caelum's response, unsure of what to say in response to that information. In his mind, the cogs were whirring and Draco knew that he had to tell his mother that information, it could help her search for answers. "Anyway, her class will be the best place to do any sort of prank, for several reasons. One, there's a chance she won't register what is happening, and two, I plan to use some of Fred and George's fireworks so it can easily be blamed on the Gryffindors." Draco nodded, a slightly sinister smile stretched across his face.
"Okay, when do you plan to set them off? And where in the classroom?"
"We can get to Divination slightly early, Trelawney will be hiding in her office drinking tea, and we can put a firework under each table, and protective spells on all the crystal balls and teacups just in case. Then not too long before the end of lesson, I set the fireworks off and each table should fly up into the air, making it rain tea. That'll be a laugh." Draco just nodded and picked up the chicken sandwich from the table in front of him and took a large bite, Caelum had thought of everything.
Ten minutes later, they were in the vacant Divination classroom, Trelawney had, for once, left the sanctuary of her tower and headed down into the Great Hall for lunch. The two of them used the Marauder's Map to avoid any other students, whilst Caelum bemoaned the fact that his invisibility cloak was sat in his trunk all the way down in the dungeons. Surprisingly, to Draco at least, they managed to get to the tower unspotted by any of the wandering teachers or students. As soon as the trapdoor closed behind them, Caelum took charge.
"You start the charms on the crystal balls and teacups, so they bounce when dropped not smashed, and I'll start to position the fireworks." Draco nodded and walked to the opposite side of the room as Caelum dropped to his knees and crawled under the table.
It took them ten minutes to rig the fireworks and protect all the breakables. But when they were done, they hurried out of the classroom and down to the floor below. There they sat in an empty classroom, until it was time to go to lesson. Leaving the classroom they were spotted by Professor McGonagall who looked at the two boys suspiciously.
"What are you two doing up here instead of down in the Great Hall with all the other students for lunch?" She asked, her eyes not unkind but not as soft as Caelum remembered being when he was Harry Potter.
"Draco was struggling with the Protego Horribilis charm and I understood it in class, so I said I would help him, so we used a classroom we knew was going to be empty." Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes, but let them past without saying anything.
"If you were still in Gryffindor, she'd have given you points for helping another student during your lunch hour." Draco grumbled under his breath. Caelum laughed.
"No she wouldn't have. Professor McGonagall knows that if we were Gryffindors we most certainly would not be as innocent as that. With us being Slytherins, she isn't sure that we were doing what we said or causing mischief. She may be head of Gryffindor but she isn't that biased."
Divination was boring. Trelawney had them read their fortunes in crystal balls, and so far neither Caelum or Draco had see anything other than white fog.
Are you going to set them off yet? I'm bored to tears already! Caelum struggled not to laugh, Draco had sounded a lot like the annoying spoilt PureBlood that Caelum always teased him of being.
Five more minutes. Looking away from the crystal ball, Caelum noticed that Estella looked as if she wanted to smash the crystal ball and then punch Trelawney for putting her through this. Caelum hoped those five minutes would pass quickly.
Five minutes disappeared, torturously slowly.
"Scoot back from the table about a foot." Caelum whispered to Draco, Estella and Pansy. The girls looked at him suspiciously before following his directions subtly. "Babbling bumbling band of baboons." He whispered under his breath. Caelum watched in glee as the firework under their table, lifted their table high into the air and exploded in a colour of bright sparks. Glancing around the room he noticed that every table had shot up into the attic ceiling of the classroom and students were being woken up from their bored stupors. Laughter filled the classroom and Caelum and Draco shared a smile as they heard Estella's laughter join the others'. Trelawney was trying to regain order in her classroom by shrieking at the students, adding to the loud atmosphere and causing the students to laugh even harder. The bouncing crystal balls had even the last few stoic students laughing as well. It was a scene from a seer's nightmare. All was going smoothly until Professor McGonagall walked into the room. All laughter stopped dead at seeing the furious expression on her faces.
"Messrs Malfoy, with me." Sharing the sentiment of horror between them, they grabbed their bags and followed McGonagall out into the corridor and towards her office.
"How did you think you would get away with this? I knew you two were up to something when I saw you at lunchtime." They were stood opposite her desk and Caelum had to fight back the nostalgia, he had been in this position too many times, usually there was a friendly twinkle in McGonagall's eyes, this time there wasn't.
"That's only circumstantial evidence Professor. There's no way to prove that it was us on that alone." Draco started and Caelum almost winced. It was better just to accept your punishment with McGonagall than argue for justice.
"This prank was a Slytherin prank Mr Malfoy. It was far too cunning for my Gryffindors, now that the Weasley twins have left, none of them would think about protecting the crystal balls or placing the fireworks under the tables. They would have thrown them as soon as they had lit them. Due to the fact that your table was the only table to have moved away from the table slightly, it had to be one of you four. With my other evidence, it was clear that it was you two that did this prank. Does that sound circumstantial to you?" Caelum shook his head immediately, whilst Draco opened his mouth to retort, Caelum elbowed him in the side to stop him from saying anything, but he refused to stay quiet.
"I think you just don't want to blame your precious Gryffindors." He snarled.
"DRACO!" Caelum screamed shocked at his brother's behaviour.
"MR MALFOY I WILL HAVE TO CALL YOUR MOTHER HERE TO DISCUSS YOUR BEHAVIOUR. SHE'LL DECIDE YOUR PUNISHMENT WHICH I'M SURE WILL BE FAR WORSE THAN WHAT I WOULD GIVE YOU. 50 POINTS FROM SLYTHERIN!" McGonagall roared at Draco and Caelum took a step back from her. McGonagall was scary, that he knew, but he didn't know she could be this scary.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
"Darling, it was lovely of you to try and cheer up your friend, but surely you could've done it without causing chaos?" Narcissa asked looking at her boy kindly. He was willing to get into a lot of trouble just to cheer up his new friend, and that was the reason many people stood by Harry Potter. She understood that her boy was incredible, but that was something she hadn't got to grips with until now.
"But it's more fun that way!" He protested laughing when she shook her head in mirth.
"I will have to talk to Draco about how he talked to Professor McGonagall though." She muttered turning back to the essays she was marking.
"Don't be too harsh, he was running on adrenalin and annoyance at being caught. He regretted what he said immediately." Caelum tried reasoning with Narcissa. "Plus he's having such an awful time helping Hagrid, I don't think he'll ever try to talk back to a teacher again!"
