OOO

Only when they were safely in Dumbledore's office did Draco feel his heart beat begin to even out. Laying Sirius down onto a chaise that was on the far side of the office, he brushed past Hagrid and began hurriedly explaining how he'd come upon Sirius, unconscious. Beyond that, however, he couldn't say what had happened.

Nodding gravely, Dumbledore withdrew a potion from his cabinets and drizzled it into Sirius' mouth. He woke up, first blinking as a dog and then, upon seeing they were alone in the office, changing back into a human shape.

"Sirius!" Draco hugged him. "What happened?"

"I think I got attacked," he said slowly.

"I know that! I mean, do you know who did it? How did they do it, what did they use, what were they trying to…"

"Whoa. Whoa. Slow down." Sirius placed his hands on Draco's shoulders to quiet the boy. "I don't know very much. I'll tell you what I know, but I don't know how much help it will be," he said with a glance at Dumbledore. "Everything was pretty sudden to be honest. I was down at Hagrid's, enjoying the outdoors and waiting for you, when I heard somebody come up behind me. The scent was definitely human, but it was masked somehow, so it was confusing my nose. I thought it might have been you and assumed you'd gotten sprayed by or fallen into something. I was about to turn around when whoever it was pressed a damp cloth – soaked with something like chloroform I'm assuming – into my muzzle and knocked me out.

After that I wasn't aware of anything until you got me and woke me back up. And because I know you're going to ask – no, I didn't see whoever it was that did it. The scent was so muddled I couldn't even really tell you if it was a male or a female or how old the person was. There might be a footprint or something back down by the cabin, though I doubt it; it hasn't rained in a while and, anyway, there's no easy way to tell and intruder's print from a students."

"Well, do you have any idea what he might have been down there for?" Draco asked the question in general, looking from Sirius to Hagrid to Dumbledore. "I mean, are you, you know, keeping anything again, down by Hagrid's? Maybe there's something in the woods or nearby that someone thinks Sirius saw?" Without waiting for an answer, he went on. "And what about the rooster? Why kill a chicken, I mean, what purpose could it serve? It's not like the unicorn last year, there's nothing special about rooster blood or something like that."

"P'raps th' rooster was a coincidence?" Hagrid suggested without much conviction.

"Maybe. Blood-sucking bugbear or foxes. It's possible," Draco conjectured. "But I doubt it's likely. First, it wasn't eaten – which makes sense if a person killed it for some specific purpose but not for an animal. A fox wouldn't have killed a rooster for no reason and then left the body. Even if it was to sneak into the henhouse, it still would have bitten something. Which is another thing – no bite marks." Draco chewed his lip. "The neck was snapped; that's human behavior. Which is another thing – kill the rooster but knock out Sirius? That makes no sense. If you can kill a chicken for whatever reason, why not kill a dog too…"

"…unless whoever did it knew I was actually human," Sirius added, "and either wasn't prepared or didn't want to deal with the consequences of killing a person instead of an animal. Do you think it was Peter?" He asked after a pause.

"It might be, but… I don't know," Draco sighed. "This makes no sense."

"Perhaps you ought to sleep on it?" Dumbledore suggested in a mild tone. "I confess, there might be cause for concern. However, I assure you I will keep an eye on it. Even if it is seemingly natural or innocuous, an attack such as this does bear some watching. If anything else happens, I would appreciate it if you were to let me know at once."

"Yeah." Draco nodded. "Alright."

"And with that, Draco, I suggest both you and Sirius return to the Hufflepuff dormitory and get some rest. You'll clean up the animal's remains?" He asked Hagrid, who responded with a silent nod. "Excellent. Then get some rest and do not dwell too much on this. Rest assured that if anything else goes wrong, I will be watching."

With that, Sirius changed back into his hound form as Dumbledore ushered the three of them out of the room. Draco and Sirius parted ways with Hagrid at the base of the steps and went down to the kitchens, Draco frowning all the while.

No matter what Dumbledore said or how much he assured him, Sirius knew, an animal had died and Draco was still going to obsess over who had done the deed and why. The prospect of it being Peter only made the incident that much more nerve-wracking and Sirius wondered if even he would be able to sleep very soundly.

"Still worried about things being awake?" Ernie teased in a good-natured way when Draco reached the bedrooms.

"Not funny," Draco snapped. It figured; he was scared out of his wits that something was wrong but nobody was going to believe him about any of it. Agitated and figured he'd be better off keeping it to himself than getting mocked again, Draco threw himself under the covers. Outwardly, he looked as though he was sleeping when, truthfully, thoughts ran through his head at an alarming pace until exhaustion finally had its way.

OOO

Hearing a sound behind him, Harry looked up from his trunk and saw Theo.

"Hey!" He grinned. "How was your detention?"

"Exhausting," Theo sighed, collapsing onto his bed. "I had to help answer the git's fan mail, if you can believe it. Got another one for tomorrow night too, after I lost my temper while he was lecturing me on how to properly flourish the signatures."

"Good job. Glad it wasn't mine. I'm sure he's have lectured me the whole time about 'responsibilities to the adoring public' and other nonsense." With a sigh, Harry rocked back on to his heels, frustrated, but keeping his voice low so none of the other Gryffindors could overhear. "I still can't find that map!"

Leaning over, he returned to his searching, not noticing Theo look over and shake for a moment, before blinking and sitting up. "Well, keep at it and I'm sure you'll find it."

"You keep saying that…" He stood up and kicked the trunk. "I give up. You know, it figures; it would actually come in handy."

"Why's that?"

"The first year? Creevey? I think he's got my schedule memorized. It's like he somewhat appears wherever I am!"

"Maybe he's got the map," Theo teased quietly, "and is using it to track you down."

"You really think so?" Harry looked over eagerly.

Theo rolled his eyes. "No, of course not. I was kidding. How would he even know about it?"

"I guess you're right. It was just a thought. Did you get all your Charms work done?"

"I did. You?"

"No," he sighed. "And I suppose I should."

"We've got the weekend."

"Yeah, but… I have a suspicion Wood's going to be after us to start practice."

"Already?" Theo frowned. "The year's barely started."

"Well he's already been going on at breakfast about 'maintaining our reputation' and 'living up to the expectations of last year.' I'm almost – almost mind you – sorry we won last year. I don't know what's worse; Wood when we lose and he tries to get us back into form or when we win and he goes on a tear about keeping the streak alive."

"Well, good luck with that. I need some sleep, though, so…"

"Yeah, I should get to bed too, I guess." He shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Harry."

OOO

"Are you sure we're allowed to do this?" Ron nervously reiterated his question.

"That's the third time since breakfast and each time it's been the same answer!" Pansy retorted. "Of course we are – Professor Snape signed the permission form, didn't he?"

"Yes, but…"

"Even if they got there first, or whatever, we have a special permission." She dragged him along impatiently. "Now stop worrying about it! Focus on your Seeking, alright?"

"I didn't even want that position, though! You know I'm a better Keeper. And the Gryffindors are…"

"We didn't have anybody to fill the Seeker spot, so you had to make do with what was open. You'll be good either way; you're a very strong flyer and the brooms we have are the fastest around. All you have to worry about is keeping your eyes open. As for the Gryffin-dorks, don't worry about them! Look, Flint's already practically on the field. Come on, let's catch up."

By the time they'd joined the rest of the Quidditch team, an altercation was already practically underway. Flint was smirking and towering over Wood while the rest of the team, including, Ron noted with displeasure, Potter and his brothers, milled around behind looking irate. The note from Snape was being shoved in their faces and Wood was growing increasingly red.

"Who is this new Seeker anyway?" He demanded.

The crowd of Slytherins parted and, jutting his chin out, Ron stepped to the forefront.

"Well if it isn't the black sheep of the family," Fred remarked casually. "Come to shame us a little more by parading around in robes you're not fit to be wearing?"

Fighting down a blush, Ron glared. "You two are the embarrassments," he retorted. "Flying those ridiculous Cleansweeps. Too busy wasting money on smoke bombs to afford anything decent?"

Now it was Fred's turn to glare as George stepped up next to his twin. "And I suppose you have something better do you? Courtesy of your little girlfriend over there?" He spat with a jerk of the head towards Pansy.

"You know, funny you should mention Pansy," Flint laughed. "Her father made a bit of a donation to his old team. Guys?"

Each member of the Slytherin team held out shining new broomsticks. Harry could make out the gold-lettered words Nimbus Two Thousand and One glittering on the handles and his face bespoke his distaste. Noticing this, Ron felt his confidence jolt and he grinned.

"Bit better than what you'll be Seeking with, isn't it?" He laughed at Harry. "And as for your old fossils," he said with a nod towards his brothers, "why it's practically an insult to call them both broomsticks. Better to classify yours as piles of sticks." Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a bustle of movement and the smirk grew larger. "And would you look at that; it's Potty's little fan brigade – the showoff and the incompetent."

There was a spate of Slytherin laughter as Hermione and Neville walked up, looking confused, couple with the distant clicks in the background indicating the Creevey was photographing the whole incident.

"What's going on here?" Hermione inquired.

"Oh, Ronnie-kins has just been telling us about how his girlfriend's daddy bought him a place on the team," Fred informed her casually.

"Better to have the well-connected as friends than enemies," Ron shot back.

"Better to be on a team because you're talented, not because you got a handout," Hermione chimed in.

"What would you know about it?" Pansy suddenly railed. "He is talented! You've never even seem him… oh, who cares about your opinion anyway, you nasty little Mudblood?"

A strangled gasp came from the Gryffindor team and Fred and George leapt forward, only to be met by the fists of Flint and their brother who formed a wall around Pansy. Neville looked shocked and Hermione confused, the ruckus mostly erupting between the Weasleys on each side.

"Mum would be ashamed of you, you dirty little traitor!" George screamed as Wood tried to wrestle his wand out of his hand before anything regrettable happened.

"Well maybe I'm ashamed of her!" Ron panted, pointing his wand at his brothers. "And if you two take another step towards Pansy, I'll hex the both of you so bad you won't have to worry about the fact that you have Cleansweeps because you won't be able to fly at all!"

The twins glared and struggled for a moment more before they acceded to their team's assurances that Ron and his ilk 'weren't worth it' and backed down. Still glaring, they followed Wood as he unhappily marched off the pitch, the rest of the team in tow. As they went, Ron overheard Neville trying to explain, among his stutters and blushes, what 'Mudblood' meant.

As the left, Ron suddenly noted an absence.

"Where do you think the other Gryffindor suck-up was? I mean, it's obvious he fancies Herm… the Mudblood. I'd have thought he'd be first in line to take offense and start a fight."

"Who? That swot Theodore? Who cares?" She smiled brightly. "I told you we'd get the field, no worries. Now show these guys all that you've learned over the summer."

OOO

Ginny saw her twin brothers walk into the Great Hall, their faces dark and brooding. Leaving Luna at the table for a moment, she walked up to them, noticing that they were accompanied by most of the Quidditch team.

"What's the matter? You two look mad enough to strangle a troll."

"Ron," Fred growled.

"What's he done this time?" Ginny sighed, falling into step with them as they walked to their table.

"Called Hermione a Mudblood!" George whispered.

Ginny flushed; she didn't particularly care for Hermione, given her attitude towards Luna, but that sort of insult was uncalled for. "You can't be serious! Are you going to tell mum about it?"

"And make her even more upset?" Fred shook his head. "It wouldn't change him any. It would just hurt her." He sat down on the benches, swinging his legs around.

"What were they Slytherins doing out there anyway? I thought you guys had the practice field for today."

"We did," George moaned. "Until Snape meddled. "Wrote a special note that the needed the field 'to train their new Seeker,'" he mocked.

"Ron?" She said the name as though it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"One and the same."

"Well I hope he's horrid at Seeking," she said vehemently. "He'll be nothing next to Harry. Don't you think so Theo?" She looked across the table at the boy who was busy pouring over a thick Transfiguration volume. "Theo?" She repeated.

"What?" He looked up after a moment.

"I said, don't you think Harry's a much better Seeker than Ron?"

"Oh. Well yeah, I guess."

"We're you watching them?" She asked impatiently.

"Stayed inside to work on this." He sighed. "Detention again – more Lockhart."

"I thought you served that already," Ginny said, looking quizzical.

"He did," Harry chimed in, reaching for a muffin. "Until he called him a 'smarmy git' while serving the detention he had last time."

"Theo!" She tried to shoot him a disapproving look but ended up laughing.

"Well I don't think it's funny," Hermione huffed from where she was sitting with Neville. "He's a teacher and you should show him the same respect you would to McGonagall or anybody else!"

"I'm fully aware," he said coolly. "It was a momentary slip."

Ginny looked at him oddly, but Hermione seemed placated. "Don't keep slipping like that or you're going to cost us a lot of points!"

"I'll keep that in mind."

"I should get back," Ginny said suddenly. "Luna's probably waiting."

By the time she reached the table, however, she found Luna similarly occupied in conversation with Draco.

"…and so none of the other 'Puffs will listen but I was wondering if you could think of something that might be doing it."

"Doing what?" Ginny sat down.

"Killing roosters," Draco said as he sipped a glass of juice. "I wanted to keep it quiet since the others don't think much of it but… Dragon got attacked the other night," he said in a hushed tone.

"What? By what?"

"Don't know. Somebody knocked him unconscious and killed a rooster. You guys are Ravenclaws – you're supposed to be smart. Any ideas on why someone would want to do that?"

Glancing at Luna, Ginny shook her head. "No idea."

"Perhaps they like to sleep in," Luna said thoughtfully. "Or perhaps they are afraid of roosters and think they're dangerous."

Ginny giggled. "Yeah, dangerous to those who want to get an extra hour of sleep. Besides, you can't even hear them up at the castle from all the way down at the hut, can you?"

"Sometimes. It depends." Draco sighed. "I suppose… I don't know."

"We'll keep an eye out next time we're down at Hagrid's," Ginny promised. "Have you told Harry and Nott yet?"

"No. I'll try to but I'll probably get the brush-off like I did with my housemates." His face lit up and he pulled Ginny aside. "Oh! There's something I've be meaning to tell you."

"What is it?" She asked once they were in the relative privacy of a hallway niche.

"Thank you for being there for Luna." He grinned. "It might sound silly, but I was really proud of you sticking up for her and getting into the same house and all. You know how Hufflepuffs are about friendship and loyalty. And I think… I think you'll make a great Ravenclaw, Ginny!"

She blushed. "Thanks Draco. To be honest, I've been feeling a little bit out of place lately. But if you think I can make it…"

"I know you can," he told her as they went back into the Great Hall. "You certainly read enough. And you're open and you think rather than accepting answers that you're given – and that's the most important thing of all."

OOO

Is any of this really necessary? And the things you have been saying…

My, my but you are persistent. I never anticipated it would be so difficult keeping you quiet. I really would suggest you black out though. The ride is not nearly so terrifying if you do not know the path you walk. You're not going to wrest control regardless and, I assure you, you would be much less agitated if you didn't know what was happening.

So you say.

Optimism… I like it. It's why I keep you around you know. You are endlessly amusing – and intelligent, if in your own way. Quirky too – the things which bother you the most are not what I would have expected.

I may surprise you yet.

No… no, I do not think so. You are clever and there is something to be said for your tenacity but the hooks are in far too deep. In time I will learn all your idiosyncrasies and break down whatever walls remain. For now though, let us close our eyes. We've much to do and it never does to fall prey to ones own machinations.

OOO

A/N: My apologies for the lack of updates – life, other stories and a lack of inspiration will have to be my excuses. There will hopefully be a few more updates but, come July, things will die down for a bit – I'm going to actual England! So hopefully I will get to see some fun sights and come back with some details about London/settings/etc. I can use for my HP stuff.

And since it's Father's Day for all in the U.S. a note on this fic: this story (as many of mine are) has a major theme of fathers shot through it. What makes a good one, what makes a bad one, how people come to serve as surrogates and substitutes, and so forth. This will be a very major aspect in understanding Nott's character and (as a little hint which I may or may not delete after the holiday passes) in the development of his Patronus. In the Patronus of all three major males, in fact, but Nott's in particular. Nott's represents everything he does not have, wishes to have and wishes to be. And that will be quite important in the chapters and years to come. ;)

Just throwing that out there. Hope you enjoyed and I'll do my best to start moving this plot along!