Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter, except those that clearly aren't from J.K. Rowling's stories. And since I expect anyone reading this by now to be a complete HP aficionado, I'm sure you'll know which ones they are.

Chapter 5 — Difficulties

Draco Malfoy couldn't sleep. Questions kept pouring through his head and he didn't know how to answer them. He rolled over in his bed and glared angrily at the cat curled up in the corner of his room. The cat slept on, completely oblivious to Draco's frown.

Why me? he thought desperately. A year ago, he would have killed for an opportunity like this — to have Harry Potter in his power. He would have given him to the Dark Lord in an instant and been well rewarded. But now…. Ever since he had failed to kill Dumbledore, the Dark Lord had ignored him. Though relieved by this neglect, Draco was keen enough to know that such dereliction would not last. Voldemort never forgot those who failed him, and he was certain that sooner or later, punishment would come. For a brief moment, Draco allowed himself to wonder what it would be like to be free of Voldemort, to live a life where his existence was not just a tool for the Dark Lord's purpose and where his every action was not judged, to be punished with pain or death if it did not please the Dark One. To be free…

Draco shook his head at his folly. He was a Slytherin and what was more, a Malfoy. A luxury like "choice" would never be his. In a way, he envied the cat in the corner. At least an Imperius victim got to float around in a cloud of blissful pleasure, never realizing nor caring about the consequences of its actions. Draco was just as cursed to follow his master's commands as Potter was now cursed to follow his, but unlike Potter, Draco would remember every curse he ever cast and every punishment he was ever dealt when he failed to live up to Voldemort's impossible expectations. Snape had saved him once before, but the day would come when Voldemort would order Draco to kill again, and then Draco would experience his own death when he found himself unable to obey.

For Dumbledore, that fool of a man Dumbledore, had been right about one thing — Draco Malfoy was not a killer. Which was why Harry Potter was still alive in the corner of his room and not now in Voldemort's grasp.

Still, Draco would have to do something. Questions were already being raised. Luckily, no one had been awake the other night when he returned to the common room. He had even missed breakfast in the hope of avoiding the other Slytherins. He didn't dare leave Potter alone where some ignorant Slytherin might claim him for their own, or eliminate him altogether if he got in their way. Draco grinned wryly. Pets were not common among Slytherins. But if he kept the cat with him, then others would recognize it as a Malfoy possession and leave it alone. That was his plan as he headed for class — it was just bad luck that Blaise had convinced Crabbe and Goyle to come looking for him. Pansy, of course, had tagged along. He had encountered the four of them just outside the dungeon entrance.

"Draco, there you are! I thought we were going to meet at breakfast to talk about the Quiddich team. The new recruits are awful, aren't they? Curse Blechley and Montague for graduating — I don't think anyone really thought they'd manage. We're going to need to work hard this year if we're to beat Gryffindor—"

"Ooh, Drakey darling, when did you get a cat?" Pansy purred, reaching down to pick up the feline.

Draco scowled at her; Blaise broke off his recitation, puzzled.

"A cat? I didn't think you even liked them. Aren't you always complaining about the Muddblood's Orange Menace?"

"Gift from my mother," Draco bit out. "That's why I was late."

"It's adorable!"

Draco was surprised. Pansy for once had dropped the false sultriness from her voice — her face positively glowed as she rubbed noses with the cat. The look of unadulterated joy on her face almost made her look…pretty. Potter, he noted without surprise, did not seem to mind the attention. Even as a cat, people fawn on him, Draco thought in irritation.

"Put Potter down, you're embarrassing yourself," he demanded.

Pansy looked at him, startled, but obediently set the cat on the ground. "Potter?" she asked.

Draco realized his gaff. "That's what I named him. Got a problem with that?"

"No…" she said hesitantly. "But why Potter?"

"Look at his eyes," Crabbe said, speaking up for the first time. Draco looked at him sharply. He hadn't realized that Crabbe was observant.

"Yeah, I guess now that you mention it, it does look like Potter," Blaise remarked, bending over to peer at the creature. "Poor cat."

"Better looking, you mean," Pansy said, looping her hand through Draco's arm. He looked at it in disgust and calmly removed it. She didn't seem to notice, just looped it back through again. He gave up. "I, for one, would hate to have to go through life knowing I resembled Harry Potter."

"No, you just resemble a Horklump."

"What did you say, Drakey?"

"Nothing."

Blaise looked at Draco strangely. "I'm glad your dad let you have another pet. I was under the impression he had forbidden them."

Draco forced a look of disgust on his face and glared at the cat, surreptitiously wiping the palms of his hands on his robes. Since when did Malfoys sweat? "That's what I thought, too."

Blaise laughed and gripped Draco by the shoulder, a familiarity Draco allowed with no one else. "Poor man. Well, if you get tired of it, you could just drown it like you did before. Or give it to Pansy, she seems rather taken with it."

"I might just do that," Draco agreed grimly. If Potter had still been a boy, he might have welcomed the chance to get rid of Pansy; however much the thought of the two of them together repulsed him, at the same time it pleased him immensely. They deserved each other. As things stood now, however, Draco had absolutely no intention of letting Pansy get her hands on Potter again.

Draco grimaced. Maybe he should have let the girl keep Potter. Of course, the fact that Potter was under the Imperius curse did make him remarkably easy to handle. Why hadn't Draco thought about putting his previous pets under the curse as well? It would have saved him an incredible amount of frustration and the inevitable outcome once he grew bored of their antics.

With a sigh, Draco climbed out of bed, recognizing the signs of another sleepless night. As soon as his skin hit the air, the thick December chill made his body erupt with goosebumps. Hastily he drew on a shirt, and threw on a cloak for good measure. He was about to head out the door when he paused and surveyed his bedroom with a scowl. As a prefect, Snape had given him the option of having his own room, which he of course had snatched at immediately. What his father had for once been unable to buy him, his own good grades had procured. Still, like all dormitory doors, his was completely impervious to locking charms, and it would not be the first time that Pansy checked in on him.

Things tended to get ugly if she thought he was out with another girl – never mind that he had made his lack of interest towards her quite clear. Besides, if she stopped to think at all (a faculty he was not certain she was capable of), she would realize that a Malfoy would hardly deign to go to someone else's room if he wanted company. People would come to him.

Still, it was easier to play along. Turning toward his bed, he cast the habitual Illusion Charm that would make it appear he was still sleeping there, before striding out the door.

-:-+-:-+-:-+-:-

Hermione crouched by a wall. It was hard to see in the faint glow of the torches, but she didn't dare cast a spell for more light. For one thing, she was wearing Harry's Invisibility Cloak, and a light shining from something that appeared to be a blank wall would raise questions if someone were to walk by. Which brought her to the second reason she was being so cautious. She was deep in Slytherin territory and prefect or not, she did not want to think about what would happen to her if she was caught down here alone.

Her plan was simple — sneak into the Slytherin dorms, find Malfoy's room, grab Harry, and get away before anyone could notice. If she could just get him to McGonagall before Malfoy awoke, the Professor would have time to change him back, restore his memories, and break the curse. By the time Malfoy realized what had happened, Harry would be back to his normal self and completely impervious to Malfoy's wrath. The plan was perfectly simple and it terrified her. Something was bound to go wrong.

Something appeared to already have. Hermione squinted in the pallid light. She knew that the entrance to the Slytherin common room must be around here somewhere, but she had reached a dead end and there was no portrait or statue to be found. Even if I could find it, I would never get inside, Hermione thought bitterly. I don't know the password.

As if in answer to her thoughts, the stone before her rippled; Hermione gave a small gasp and just managed to step aside as someone emerged from the formerly solid wall. Whoever it was had their cloak up and was walking briskly away, but Hermione was no longer watching. The swirling of the wall that could only be the gateway to the Slytherin common room was slowing, and without pausing to think, Hermione threw herself inside.

Chapter 5 Summary:

Draco ponders whether or not to hand Harry over to Voldemort, and Hermione sneaks into the Slytherin common room to steal Harry back.