Time slipped by until the afternoon meeting had come and gone.

'Hey,' Hermione muttered. 'I got Neville to get some clean clothes for you, hope you don't mind.'

He smiled, taking the pile from her while she turned and drew the curtains from the other side. Silence as he put them on and dropped his few items into the pockets before slipping out of the enclosure.

'Thanks.'

She was deep in thought by the time they reached the door, Neville faking a smile beside it. Their footsteps were the only sound as they trudged back to the common room. Harry and Hermione took one of the few sofas, Neville getting a few books from his room before sitting at a nearby table.

'Harry,' she breathed. 'I want to understand. I've thought about it all morning and I still don't.'

It had already been a long day for him and he was only at the halfway point. 'What do you think would happen in a muggle school if someone cut you with scissors, on purpose, after the teacher heard them say they were going to?'

'They… they would get into a lot of trouble.'

'Why did Malfoy say he wouldn't get in trouble?'

'He was in a tutoring session with Snape...'

'Who did Dumbledore want Malfoy to have his detentions with?'

The strands snapped into together and she nodded. 'But he's the headmaster - why would he treat Malfoy, well, specially?'

He shook his head. 'I don't know.'

She hesitated, then asked, 'Did you really mean it when you said you'd move schools?'

'Only if you, Susie and Neville would come with me. Really, I just wanted him to know I'd make a big deal out of it.'

The words calmed her and she eased back into the seat, a subtle smile in place. 'What did Pomfrey decide anyway?'

His feral grin made her shudder. 'He's got a month in isolation from breakfast to dinner, including the meals. After that, he has detention every day for a month with Hagrid. It gets better: if he does anything like this again, he'll only be allowed his wand during class until next year.'

She couldn't help but laugh. 'That's perfect! I doubt he hates anyone more than Hagrid. Well, maybe you, but you don't really count.'

'Not finished yet though. He has one other bit, but it's not important now. As for me, I have a week with Pomfrey where she'll teach me a little first aid – bandaging cuts and stuff. I think I'm the only person in history to have a detention for being "mildly disrespectful" and "continually finding himself in the infirmary" – what do you think?'

'Well, they are strange reasons, but they suit you.'

'Maybe I should ask her to give you a detention for running in the halls.'

With a smirk, she replied, 'Shame you haven't got any proof.'

'Who says I haven't?'

She dramatised her response, swaying and mock pouting, 'Why must you torment me so?'

His moment of stillness confused her. 'I don't know when your birthday is, could you tell me?'

'19th of September,' she replied, bemused.

'Well that won't do. What do you want as a late present?'

'Really, Harry, you don't need to get me one. We barely knew each other then.'

He shook his head. 'This isn't about you, just for you. So, what do you want?'

'You have a real way with words,' she dryly stated.

'How about another book? Mr Dahl has some more.'

'You know, I might have an idea.' She paused, thinking. 'In history, your drawing was really good. Maybe you could, erm, draw something for me?'

It surprised him, considering that was the only time she had seen anything he had drawn. 'It wasn't and I want to get you a real present.'

'If you weren't going to listen, why did you bother asking me?'

'I want to get you something you'd like and they're just doodles, nothing special.'

'Well, Mr Potter, this isn't about you. I would very much like a beautiful picture drawn to the best of your ability and that's that.'

He sighed, shaking his head. 'Fine, but I'll get you something else so you're not disappointed when you hate it.'

She flicked his nose. 'No, Mr Potter. You asked, I told, understand? Good.'

'At least promise to get me a birthday present that's just as disappointing. Maybe a packet of owl droppings?'

'Oh stop being so grumpy!'

'Yes sir!' She looked up to be greeted by him standing to attention and broke out in giggles, with him shortly joining her.

Monday morning brought the Gryffindors trekking into the dungeons after transfiguration. The door opened when they were near, the previous class emptying out.

'Harold,' Susan curtly said, holding an air of indifference.

'Susanna.'

She split, grinning. 'I'm not sure what happened, but Snape's acting weird. Enjoy it while it lasts.'

He wondered what counted as strange for Snape, given his normally peculiar behaviour, but waved as she caught up with the other Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins arrived shortly after and Snape called them in. His voice was distant - not gentle, but not its normal patronising tone. Instructions were drawn up and, much to the surprise of the class, he added notes on where they would be likely to go wrong and how to correct it.

With that done, he sunk into his seat, eyes glazing over. Hesitantly, cauldrons were filled and fires lit, but Snape sat still as a statue, continuing to do so until near the end. A hasty check of most brews done, he tallied through a list of who had adequately completed the potion, awarding them points; the list included a few Gryffindors, a possible first. He then did the opposite, deducting points from those who produced poor products; another first as he included Goyle. They silently exited, leaving the professor in his seat.

'You know what this means,' Ron said, Dean and Seamus looking at him puzzled. 'We might actually win the match!'

Harry knew that, if she wasn't still glowing from being on Snape's good-list, Hermione would have rolled her eyes at Ron's one-track mind. Instead, he listened as she rambled on about the extra work she had been putting in and how it had finally paid off. As much as he liked her enthusiasm, there were times when she would, basically, be talking to herself.

The Great Hall was already bursting with chattering and clattering. They slunk into two seats opposite each other at the one end, swiftly tucking into a tasty lunch. Halfway through, they were interrupted by a loud clearing of a throat.

'Excuse me, but could I have a moment of Miss Granger's time?'

To hide his grin, Harry took a long sip of his pumpkin juice. Malfoy had his face contorted between a look of callousness and hatred, slowly fading between the two.

'Of course, Draco, anything for you.'

Harry choked on his drink, playing it off as a cough when Malfoy glared at him.

'Go on, Mr Malfoy,' the ever-cheery Flitwick prompted.

'I-I would like to apologise for using that nasty word. It was very disrespectful and hurtful of me to use it and I will do my best to not use it again.' He finished off with a polite bow, which Harry thought was so he wouldn't have to look at Hermione.

'Oh Draco, I accept your most gracious apology! It means so much to me that you care about my feelings. Would it be okay if I gave you a hug?' she cooed, louder than necessary for him to hear.

That time it wasn't just Harry covering up snorts and splutters. 'No!' Malfoy hurriedly hissed, taking a step back.

To her credit, Hermione managed to look disappointed and pouted at him. 'Alright, but next time I'll insist on it.'

Malfoy nodded, beads of sweat forming beneath his blonde hairline. Flitwick read this as an ending and took Malfoy with him to the staff table, where there was an extra seat added.

'Dammit Hermione, you nearly killed me!'

'You know me; I like to succeed where others have failed.'

He eyed the bread knife she had picked up and pressed against her finger. 'Wood won't be pleased.'

'Oh? I don't have any idea what you're talking about.' Weighing his options, he held his hands up in mock surrender. In reply, she tutted and muttered, 'Boys.'

Support for him arrived in the form of Hedwig. 'Good to see you, thanks for getting that letter to Hermione.' She nuzzled closer to him, careful to avoid the clutter. 'I don't suppose you could protect me from her now?' He pointed a thumb at Hermione and dropped his notebook to the table, so she could read it.

'Ah, you fail to see Hedwig is on my side. After all, us girls have to stick together, right?'

Harry smirked as Hedwig gave her a long look before sliding along so she was in the middle of them. 'Hah!' he held up.

'Very mature, Mr Potter, very mature.' She finished off the rest of her food and found it quite humorous that Hedwig still separated them. However, something was tickling her brain about the owl.

February slipped by, Harry having all of his free time taken up preparing for the Quidditch match versus Hufflepuff. Even with the subtle change in Snape's behaviour, Wood didn't give them any slack in practices.

The tender mist dissolved in the sunlight that broke over the hills in the morning. Although less popular than the last match, most seats filled as match time approached and, much to Harry's embarrassment, a few groups of girls had banners of support for him, complete with proclamations of love and requests he didn't want to think about.

Across from him, the Hufflepuff captain said, 'May the best team win.'

'We will,' Wood replied, earning glares from his own team and a gentle chuckle from the other.

'Ready?' Snape asked, a hint of venom back in his voice. Both teams nodded. 'Mount your brooms and go on my command.' Harry eyed the opposing seeker - Cedric Diggory according to Wood - a larger boy with a similarly lean build. Snape opened the ball box, the bludgers and snitch leaping into the air before the latter disappeared into an indistinguishable blur. With a large grunt, Snape arced the quaffle. 'Begin!'

The Gryffindors switched to game mode. Harry kicked off, his stomach left on the ground as his body catapulted into the sky. Already the whipping air drowned out all sounds and he knew he could go even faster, but he also knew he needed a gentle pace to have a chance of spotting the snitch on the Nimbus.

This time, Wood's words of wisdom were to keep an eye on the other seeker. Watching the graceful, seemingly effortless dives and rolls Cedric used to avoid the odd bludger, Harry couldn't help but agree that he was a threat. His heart jumped when he saw a glitter of gold, but it was just a Gryffindor flag someone was waving. Skimming over the crowd, he was pleased to see Hermione cheering, despite her disinterest in the game, with Neville beside her. It was unnerving to see how many people were focusing only on him. He thought they must be expecting a repeat of last time, which would definitely not be happening if he wanted to fly a broom again.

The whistle sounded and Harry spotted Wood signalling for a time out. They had planned on it anyway, so they could discuss roughly how much time Harry had to get the snitch.

'It's not as bad as we thought, but I'd say you have an hour at the most,' Wood said, scratching his chin. 'Perhaps more if their beaters focus on you, but you'd have to bait them with fakes and watch out for Cedric shoving you around.'

Harry nodded and Wood spiced up his standard team talk with threats of intensive training, Fred questioning if their current regime could be any more intense. Snape blew the whistle again and again they were off.

Valuable minutes trickled by, the snitch remaining hidden. Harry took a deep breath in and slowly let it out, a little calmer from it. His eyes darted, wishing for that snitch to sparkle.

Cedric kept fairly close to him - too close for Harry's liking. He tipped the nose, leaning forwards and hastily dropped, accelerating onwards. Behind him, Cedric swore and copied his dive, trying to make up the difference while looking ahead for where he assumed Harry saw the snitch.

The crowd burst at the sudden activity, a few randomly pointed to where they said the snitch was. Harry pulled back, curving back up after skimming the grass. He glanced back, grinning at Cedric's shrinking body. It was risky, since he would be hard pressed to see any incoming bludgers, but he aimed his broom towards the sun, ploughing forwards at full speed. Reaching a good height, a sharp turn put him aiming back at Cedric, who could barely look at Harry against the sun.

Spectators roared in appreciation as Harry stole passed his pursuer, putting even more distance between them. Still, it was all for nothing if he took too long. He bent his path, following the edge of the oval pitch, looking inwards. The cheers rose and fell when he stormed passed, but the snitch hid until his ninth lap.

A tiny shimmer above one of the Hufflepuff's stands; Harry glanced at his opponent, happy to see Cedric eyeing the completely wrong area. He was further away, but all he'd need was a few seconds to ensure the lead. Gently, he curled off the boundary, attention split, biding his time.

The chase was on.

He tugged the handle across, leaning forwards until his chin rested on the broom. Already the distance diminished, his peripheral vision a blur as his eyes belonged to the snitch. Cedric realised too late, though tried regardless. Harry held his breath; the snitch whirred downwards to escape, but he nimbly twisted his body, hanging beneath his broom. His outstretched hand pounced while the other pulled to the left, narrowly avoiding the edge of play and the staring spectators. Righting himself, he triumphantly raised his arm to applause.

'Potter has the snitch! Gryffindor take the victory, four-hundred and forty to three-hundred and eighty!' boomed Lee's voice.

Harry finished off his victory lap before dropping to join the team. They already had mugs of butterbeer in hand, Katie thrusting another towards him.

'Good game, Potter,' Cedric muttered, offering a hand. Harry grinned, handing over his own drink and getting a replacement. Cedric, amused, accepted and raised it in the air. 'To the lion who caught the mouse,' he cheered.

'To the lion!' the others chorused, taking a gulp of their drinks.

After a long, impromptu party/lunch, courtesy of the twins and their unknown method of getting large amounts of good food, Harry and Hermione set off to find Hagrid and ask what was planned for Malfoy's first few detentions. He had been more than happy to fill the duo in, pointing out the stables where some creatures would be staying and need regular mucking.

Harry noticed something though, a murmur of movement. 'Sorry I have to run off, but I just remembered I promised Wood I'd do a write-up for the match.'

Hagrid looked crestfallen, but Hermione offered to stay for a bit longer, which perked him up a bit. Harry slid out, walking towards the Quidditch pitch until he was sure they wouldn't see him. The headmaster had warned them of the dangers of the forest, hence why it was called the Forbidden Forest, but he knew he had seen someone.

A small clearing a bit inside had two figures in a peculiar twilight. Harry dared not approach too close, keeping his back to a large oak and listening intently.

'My Lord; you know... I wish I could, but... Dumbledore is distancing... himself from me... and I care not... to provoke him,' Snape panted.

'Severus, you know I do not ask the impossible - merely distract him. That oaf Hagrid has aided me once more, for a dragon's egg no less, and that vile creature he calls "Fluffy" won't be a burden. Onwards from that beast is trivial at best. Honestly, if the old fool hadn't tied himself to the protections, I'd just blast through them.' Harry thought the smooth, melodic voice had some familiarity, but not enough to recognise the person.

'So mote it be... I shall have it done... before the year ends... but I'll need time... to cover my tracks.'

A whip-like sound and a scream later, the other man replied, 'Perhaps you need a motivation. What to use, what to use, the carrot or the stick?' Another whip. 'I think the carrot today. Do you wonder what potions could be brewed with a Philosopher's Stone?'

'You are too kind... My Lord.'

'Perhaps I need remind you of the cost of failure,' the voice oozed, punctuating the ending with another sharp crack. 'This is goodbye until the mission is over.' Casually, he finished, 'Crucio,' his tone bored and indifferent.

The raw scream burst out, only to be muffled within a fraction of a second, though still audible where Harry was. It lasted three seconds to Harry, three hours to Snape. The other chuckled quietly as he walked out of the clearing, a little off the opposite side to Harry, who chanced a look only to see a tall column of black mist.

Harry continued waiting though, listening to the pained sobs. He had read descriptions of what the Cruciatus curse felt like, a sensation akin to being thoroughly pierced by dozens of flaming-hot daggers or to have every nerve ending set alight.

'Oh... Evans... why did... my... life fall... apart... without... you?' His breathing started to stabilise and he eventually stood up, removing the dirt with a shaky spell. 'To choose between two evils... one must go for the lesser... but what if you don't know which that is?' Snape shook his head, muttering about the cruciatus leaving him momentarily insane before awkwardly limping back towards the school.

Cursing his own stupidity, Harry hastily wrote down every part of the conversation he could remember. Some bits weren't quite what happened, but he felt happy he had the important aspects covered. Walking to the hut, he had two problems. The first was that he wasn't sure if he should tell Hermione, since he didn't want to get her any more involved with whoever that horrible person was. The second was whether or not he should tell Dumbledore, since the old man had proven himself to be nothing like the great figure others thought him, but was still in charge around here after all.

All too soon, he tapped the large door and found himself once more in the midst of Hagrid's impassioned descriptions of obscure and deadly magical beasts. He decided that there would be a need to find out who the person was and he had mentioned something about an egg. Glancing around the room, he realised how that large cooking pot above the roaring fire was surprisingly subtle for the usually blunt gamekeeper.

Unfortunately for Harry, he couldn't see Hagrid letting him in on the secret and its disguise wouldn't allow him to claim curiosity beyond asking what was cooking. The other route to take would be to bring up Fluffy and see whether he could get Hagrid to admit to telling someone about him (or her?).

Luck, it seemed, was on Harry's side though. There was a muffled cracking sound, the pot wobbling and shortly thereafter a gentle cry. Hagrid immediately tried to nonchalantly push them out, muttering about having an early dinner, but Hermione was having none of it.

'Hagrid, what have you got in there? If I didn't know you better, I would think you were cooking a live animal!'

He cringed at the insinuation. 'No, 'Ermione, it jus' likes the heat, yer know?'

'No, Hagrid, I don't know. What animal could possibly like being boiled alive?'

'It's, ah, an ashwinder. Migh'y scary snakes, can burn through rocks. Snape as'ed me to ge' one, their eggs are used in some potions.'

For a second, Hermione looked like she took the bait, but then asked, 'Can we see it then? We won't tell anyone if we shouldn't, right Harry?' He nodded, but Hagrid was shifting about, moving himself between the duo and the pot. 'There's not an ashwinder in there, is there Hagrid?'

Hesitantly, he shook his head. 'Yer gotta promise no' ter tell, alrigh'?'

They both nodded and Hagrid sighed, reaching over and lifting the lid before scooping out the little dragon. It was still baying, but the giant's gentle petting calmed it a bit.

'Hagrid, is that... a dragon?' He nodded. 'But... but you can't keep a dragon! It's against the law!' Harry chuckled at Hermione focusing on being outraged for that reason.

'I know, I know, bu' they guy who gave it ter me, he told me abou' this li'l' guy's mum dying from dragon pox and I jus' couldn't leave him all alone, could I?'

Hermione tried to say something, but Harry held her. 'No point in telling him he can't keep it, we need to work out what to do with it and I have an idea.' He walked over to Hagrid, making a show of stroking the little dragon's snout. 'Hagrid, do you know someone who works with dragons that could look after him? Maybe an old student? I'm sure he would much prefer to be with other dragons after all, not to mention he wouldn't get to really be free if you had to hide him here.'

Hagrid twisted a bit of his bushy beard around a finger, considering. 'Yer know, Charlie was always talking 'bou' a dragon sanctuary in Romania, said he'd fallen in love on a visi' and couldn't wai' to go back.'

'Charlie Weasley?' Hermione asked, getting a nod from Hagrid. 'His parents went to Romania over Christmas, didn't they Harry?' He nodded. 'So he must be working there then! All we have to do now is send him a letter and ask if he can help.'

'Norber' would be happier flyin' with others like him, wouldn't he?'

Hermione quickly reassured him. 'Of course!'

Harry knew there was one last thing Hagrid wanted to hear. 'Norbert will always remember you and you could visit him during the holidays, to make sure he's okay.'

'You're a good lad, 'Arry, jus' like yer father and his friends.' He enthusiastically patted Harry's back, sending him sprawling. 'Sorry there, sometimes I forge' my own strength.'

'Not a problem,' Harry wrote after picking himself up, Hagrid dropping Norbet back into the large pot. 'Who did give you the egg anyway? They're quite rare and expensive I thought.'

Hagrid shifted back into his broad armchair, more relaxed with the secret out in the open. 'They are. Not sure who he was, bu' he told me he travels a lot and didn't have time to look af'er a dragon. Strange man too, kept jumping if anyone go' too close. Loved listenin' to me tell him 'bout the creatures I've looked after here. Boy was he interes'ed when I told him 'bout Fluffy – didn't believe me when I said he'd go out in a blink if yer played him some music.'

'Fluffy?' Hermione questioned, frowning. 'That wouldn't be the two-headed cat on the third floor, would it?'

'I, er,' Hagrid stammered, realising his slip. 'No, no, Fluffy is an, uh-'

'It's okay, we know about him and how he's guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Dumbledore knows we know too.'

Hagrid sighed in relief. 'Well, if Dumbledore knows, then I guess i's fine. I raised Fluffy since he was a pup, won him in a bet from some bloke from Brazil. Course, I wasn't ta know he'd ge' so big, but Dumbledore took care of it a while back. Been nice seeing him again, af'er all the years. If he didn' make me promise no' ter get another pet then I would've told him already, but how could I say no to a poor, orphan dragon?'

The next morning, Hedwig swooped down, landing in front of Harry. After taking off the note and handing her a rasher of bacon, she waddled over, separating Harry and Hermione.

'Hey Ha, Seems like forever since we properly talked. Wanted to say you flew really well yesterday and everyone over here is annoyed with you – if Cedric hadn't talked you up, you'd probably have a couple of howlers by now. Is Wood gonna let up on the training? Maybe we can study for the DADA test later (Hannah wants to too)? -Susan.'

'I still don't understand why Hedwig won't let me use her, but does let Susan.'

'That's easy: Susie doesn't threaten to kill me.'

Hermione scoffed. 'She knows I'm just joking, don't you girl?' The owl swivelled her head either side. 'But… I am!'

'Come on, Hermione, she's not stupid. You'll have to do better than that.'

'I, err, what?'

'She can see through your blatant lies. Anyway, it will come to it eventually – your parents are dentists and I'm a supporter of the Rotfang, it can't last forever.'

She stuttered, trying to process what he said, but continued falling over the bits that made no sense.

Harry tutted, turning his attention to Hedwig. 'Some people just can't handle the truth, can they girl?'

Cutting her losses, Hermione turned back to her plate, putting on an extra slice of toast. Harry pulled out a blank piece of parchment and wrote down a reply.

'Hey Su, Thanks and thank Cedric for me - I don't know what a howler is, but I'm guessing it's loud and annoying. The rest of the team forced Wood to give us a couple of weeks off, but I might ask him for one-on-one training. Hermione has me and Neville down for a few hours after lunch, so you and Hannah can come if you want. Before lunch I'm gonna see if I can cast that shield again – Hermione thinks I should be able to, but I'm not so sure. –Harry.'

It didn't take Hedwig long to return with another note. 'Hey Ha, Will do and good luck, my aunty is always telling me how hard shields are to do well, but Hermione is right, of course you can do it! See you in the library. –Susan.'

Breakfast finished off peacefully, after which Harry and Hermione found a disused classroom. They pushed the desks towards the wall, leaving a central oval with a pair of wooden chairs inside.

'Okay, so based on what Susan said it looked like, I believe it was the little shield charm, Protego Parvus. It only gets taught in fifth year, but the prefects I asked said that it was easy enough after you do it once.'

'Won't I be too weak to do it properly?'

She shook her head. 'It won't be strong, but it'll still work. I mean, even a tickling charm could get through, but you'd be able to see it.' Her wand posed, she asked, 'Ready to learn the movements?'

After a nod, she dipped wand in an arc before slicing back to the start and finishing with a spiral into the centre. He imitated her, but she shook her head before repeating them again. This time she gave him a smile and he took a deep breath.

His arm mimicked the movements, willing the shield in his mind. A momentary glimmer appeared, startling him at how close it was, then it was gone. 'You did it!' Hermione cheered, running over and hugging him, but she felt him pull away, muscles tensed. Blushing, she released him, stepping back. 'I-I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking.'

He shook his head. 'I'm not a fan of hugs, that's all. Think we've done enough for today?'

'Yeah,' she muttered. 'We can practice more next weekend.'

Nearly caught up with where I wanted to be, so I should be back on schedule shortly. Wrapping up Norbert and advancing more on the stone will take up the bulk of next chapter, along with the revelation of Skeeter's reply and how Hannah and Susan went on from it. Of course, Harry won't be distracted entirely from researching Remus, but with everything else, he'll be hard pushed to spare the time.

A little unstory, I was pleasantly surprised by the reviews for the last chapter. Speaking of which, I'm slightly unnerved to say I still haven't really received what I think of as a negative review – it makes me think I'm doing something wrong.

Until next time: fix up, look sharp and beware the Rotfang Conspiracy.