A/N: Here is a hearty farewell to 2009. Never have I been more happy to see a year end. In the course of the year, several things happened. I strained my back. (I was out of work for two weeks) I sprained my ankle. (I was out of work for three weeks.) A lady I was helping dropped a table on my foot. (Only missed one week of work.) I won't talk about the miscellaneous ailments except for one instance. To celebrate the end of the year, I came down with the flu on my first day of holiday. I ended up starting the new year by missing the first two days of work.

2010 has to be better because it can''t get any worse.

On the other hand, I now have a chance to look at my e-mails for the past two weeks. That should keep me busy. As for my health, I am tempted to quote the ogre from Time Bandits. "I can cough. I can really cough."

Chapter Six: Return to Hogwarts

Draco was up early. The truth was that he could not sleep. For someone who never dreamed, he seemed to suddenly be wide awake after only an hour of sleep. When this happened the third time, Draco gave up. It was only four in the morning and he was already dressed, sitting in the common room of the Leaky Cauldron, drinking a strong cup of tea. Since he was awake, he should try to stay awake.

Two figures shadowed the staircase. One was Jack, the other his sister, the one he had called Abby. It seemed he wasn't the only one to spend the night.

Abby had on a pink nightgown and matching robe. Jack had on pajamas that could only have been purchased by parents. They were green and covered with American footballs and helmets. They were also short enough that his wrists and ankles shown easily.

Draco waved them over, then signaled the concierge (too early for a bartender) for two more cups and a pot. As they sat down, Draco told them to order something if they were hungry. Jack was looking at the table while Abby was looking at a pair of green eyes. They said nothing until the tea was served. Jack ordered some biscuits with jam, and watched as the lady left. The girl was still watching Draco.

"Whot?"

"Can I get a wand, too?"

"No, you're too young."

"But . . ."

"Jack is almost old enough but he's still underage." When Abby tried to protest, he shushed her and learned toward her to whisper. She stood up from her chair and sat directly next to him.

Draco used his fancy voice so she would better understand his whispering. "If they find out that Jack has a wand, they'll take it away from him. Do you understand?"

The girl nodded. She was frowning. Draco gave her his best smile.

"Now, I would be willing to wager a pound or two that Jack would be more than happy to let you try using his wand IF you helped him keep his secret."

The girl smiled. "How often."

Draco kept from laughing. "Not very often, only when it's safe, and only if he's sure of himself when he shows you something. Otherwise, It would be like your Dad giving you the car keys and letting you drive. It might be fun, but wouldn't it be better if you knew what you were doing, first."

The girl did something completely natural for someone her age. She gave him a beaming smile while frowning.

Jack was looking at Draco, now. His face held gratitude that his sister would not ruin everything. Then his look became one of surprise as the concierge set down a plate of cookies, some two dozen double stacked butter cookies with assorted jam fillings.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"I ordered biscuits."

"Yes?" The woman gave him an annoyed look. "Do you want me to send them back?"

"NO." It was the girl who shouted. "Sorry. Could we have milk?"

The woman gave her an annoyed look and pulled out her wand. The tea cups disappeared to be replaced by two glasses of cold milk. She asked if they wanted anything else, then left.

"These," Draco explained as he picked up one of the cookies, "are biscuits. My guess is you call them something else where you come from." He ate the biscuit and sat back to finish his tea. The two children were still staring at the glasses of milk.

Not that they got away with it. They told their father they shared a plate of biscuits for breakfast. He nodded approvingly and ordered his own breakfast. An omelet with biscuits and gravy.

The woman called him a bloody stupid Yank. She delivered the order with a bowl of gravy on the side.


"What happened yesterday was not a common event." Dad was more in control of himself than he was the night before. His next question was a surprise. More so because of the honest interest behind it. "I was curious. Why didn't you want to return to a school of magic?"

Draco paused as he debated on answering. In the end, he decided the man deserved an answer after having his vacation disrupted. Another reason was that it would be better if he left them with a good opinion of himself.

"I wasn't going back to school. Until Jack kept asking me questions. You should have seen how relieved Uncle Sirius was when I told him last night that I would." He paused just long enough. He spoke in a low tone. "Mum died. When I met you, I was running away from her funeral. I didn't know where to go. Until I was reminded that I had a place to go, that I still had family that cared for me."

Dad nodded and even looked regretful. Mum was already on her feet by the time Draco stood up and she gave him a hug. Draco thanked her and assured her that he would be fine. Uncle Severus would make sure of that. He taught at the school.

Mum gave him a goodbye hug and wished him good luck,

Draco paused as he asked an impulse question. "Your Dad's name ain't Trelawney, is it?"

Mum laughed as she half-whispered that was her grandmother's maiden name. Draco could only nod his head.


With great relief Draco left the family and walked back to his room to pick up his belongings, a backpack and a guitar. There were people waiting for him.

Janice immediately pulled him into a hug. This time Draco didn't resist. She was telling him she knew it hurt. He told her it hurt more than it should. They heard the engines. Nigel decided to call the home. He showed Draco where she had once written down the number. Janice hugged him again, with fresh tears for being reminded about that.

Mick grabbed him next in the shortest hug possible. For Mick, that was a major show of emotion. His voice was steady as he told Draco he would be fine.

"I know, Mick, an' Sirius tol' me he was helpin' find whoever did it."

Sirius Black cleared his throat. "There is one more thing, Draco. When I talked to Andrew Givens last night, he told me he had a busy day. It seems there was a rash of pickpocketing on the underground, over twenty cases were reported. One was a diplomat"

"Sounds like a gang," Draco said, knowing that Sirius was accusing him. "Even I'm not that good."

"For my sake, empty your pockets. I already went through your belongings."

Draco snarled and emptied everything he had. Two pounds and change. The money pouch which held a grand total of two Galleons and three Sickles. His wand, which Black had added to the pile. A guitar pick. Two packets of prints. He gave one of the packets to Sirius Black, asking him to give it to Givens next time they met. Then he asked if Sirius wanted to frisk him.

Sirius sneered at him as he took the packet. "Admit it. You liked being accused just to prove me wrong."

As they went to leave, Mick suggested they check the film records for a group, at least three, probably teenagers. He added that the police were probably doing that already.

Draco put most everything back into his pockets. The wizarding money he took but asked Mick to take the British currency. He didn't need it anymore and Mick could pay him back when he came by for the holiday. Mick laughed and promised to hold it for him.

And they left. Luck was on his side as the tourists had either left or gone to their rooms by the time he came down the stairs to the common area. Sirius walked them out to Charring Cross Road. Janice hugged Draco once more before she and Mick left to go back home.

"It's just you an' me then," Draco said.

Sirius couldn't help but grin. "Not for long. Grab my hand." A second later, they apparated away.


It was with no small surprise that Draco found himself in Sirius Black's living room. Admittedly, it looked a lot cleaner than it ever had before. It also had James Potter and Frank Longbottom sitting on the couch. They were both looking at him and smiling. He frowned.

Potter asked his partner if he thought they should help the boy. Perhaps they should convince Dumbledore that he should follow his first impulse and refuse to let the boy back into school.

Draco gave them a bored stare. Inside he was frightened. Would Dumbledore throw him out of school? After all, he was only late. He had a good excuse for running away. And he thought that emotional distress was an excellent excuse. Even though he was only angry. Also, he wasn't planning on going far. To be honest, he hadn't made any plans that far ahead.

Myriad thoughts were swirling through Draco's head. One of them was to question if he was really here. Another was to question why he was here. None of these men liked him. If only because they hated his father. The thought that finally settled in his head was that they wanted something from him. What they said was probably a lie. They only wanted to scare him.

"Are you really that good a thief?" Potter asked.

"Whot?"

"Sirius told us you robbed . . . twenty? . . . people."

Longbottom was smiling. The way the police do when they want you to confess and save them the paperwork. "I was curious as well. Because," he smiled at James as his voice became a whisper, "we could work out an arrangement. If things work out, this entire matter can disappear."

Sirius smiled consolingly at his friends. He informed them that Draco had turned out to be clean. His money actually came from an honest source.

Draco, however, was interested. They had some kind of scheme. If he could get something out of this, it made the future a lot brighter. He returned Longbottom's smile.

"You want something from me. Could you skip the threats and just tell me?"

"Gringott's bank," Potter told him with a smirk. "Shall we continue?" At Draco's nod, he added, "The idea is to break in, steal something and get out in one piece. Still interested?"

It all was a tin bath as far as Draco was concerned. His skills were limited to pickpocketing and petty larceny. He was also good at keeping an eye out. Bank robbery, much less robbing a goblin bank, was beyond his abilities. Still, he was curious

"Sure. Can't give a guarantee, though. I need to ask a few questions."

Draco declined the offer for a chair. Instead he demanded to know what was really going on. James Potter had the bigger smile so he was the one to be glared at. Potter's smile grew a tad larger as he reached inside his robes and pulled out a small picture. It was a large woman holding an old-fashioned cup, like a chalice. She was holding it up and turning it around so that anyone looking could see every part of it.

"Nice." Draco was not impressed. Not on the outside. Inside, he was speechless, dumbfounded, and several other words of surprise. Not long ago, Jack had told him to "seize the cups". And now he was looking at one.

"It's the cup of Helga Hufflepuff," Longbottom explained, arching an eyebrow when Draco startled. "It belonged to one of the original founders of Hogwarts. This lady was the last legitimate owner. Years before you were even born, she was murdered and the cup stolen."

Draco nodded, carefully. It was obvious what happened. They discovered that the cup was in someone's vault beneath Gringott's bank. "Where?"

"In Gringo . . ."

"You already said. Where?"

Frank Longbottom was trying to hold his smile in place. "The Lestrange vault."

Potter had no problem holding his smile. He asked casually if Draco were curious how they found out. Not that one needed to be a genius at this point to figure it out. Casper Lestrange was best mates with William Potter. And Casper was known to have a big mouth.

"Does he even know he told you?"

Potter couldn't hold his smile. He started laughing as he shook his head. Casper had no idea.

"What's the trick to getting in?" Draco asked.

"No trick," Potter explained as he controlled his laughter. "It's possible, if you know exactly where you're going, to apparate inside. The trick is getting out. Only one person has done that so far and we know he had inside help."

Draco's next question was what did he need to watch out for. He was told of various ensnaring spells, poison arrows, wards to cancel magical illusions and protective spells, acid pools and other sundry traps. In the deepest levels, there was even a dragon.

That interested Draco. He had a plan at once on how to deal with a dragon. His patronus. It was also a dragon. All he had to do was call it up and it should convince the dragon that it, and he, were friendly or, at the least, harmless. As for the rest, Draco pondered all that he heard. He half believed the two men as to what they were telling him but it was a challenge. He couldn't resist a challenge. This could also be a trick. A convenient way to get rid off an annoying pest. He hadn't decided, but felt it best to play along. And deep inside of him he knew it was important he get this cup. Jack had told him to do it. He asked his next question.

"Do you want everyone to know it's been stolen?"

"Bloody Hell. NO." Frank Longbottom was surprised. Draco didn't know why but would file it away for later. Longbottom relaxed and added, "First, if this is successful, Gringotts would know we have a way to infiltrate their vault. We might want to do it again." This earned a grin from Draco. It was the line he used when he needed to lie about something. "Second, the Lestrange family has friends of an unsavory nature, as you well know. We would like to keep them in the dark for the same reason."

"Third," Draco said, "I'll need a duplicate of the cup. That way, they won't notice on their next trip that something's missing."

Sirius Black laughed. "Do you honestly believe we want you to do it? All we want is for you to use that scheming mind of yours to come up with some ideas." He grinned when Draco glared at him. "This IS you area of expertise?"

It was Potter who responded. "If it comes to that, we could consider having him along. If he IS as clever as you think, Sirius." He rummaged around the room, found an old book in one of the cabinets. Asking permission first, he placed it on the nearest table and waved his wand. The book was now a cup. The cup in the photograph. He handed the cup to Draco.

Evidence was Draco's first thought. If anything happens, I can now implicate all three of them.

Smiling, he took the cup from the man's hand. And he asked the question he knew they were waiting for. Why were they asking him, a fourteen year old boy. Did they honestly expect him to know how to rob a bank simply because he had an excellent reputation as a pickpocket.

"No," Potter said in an even tone. "But, to put it bluntly, you are a thief. You are a very good thief. And even now you're thinking about how you would do it. The truth is this. We want that cup. More correctly, we want to get that cup away from the people who have it. Short of a direct attack, we don't know of any way to get it. And so, we decided to go to a specialist and ask his advice."

"And he sent you to me? Who is this nutter?"

"You're the specialist."

"Ain't never robbed no bank."

Frank Longbottom nodded. "Neville was right. His accent changes when he gets emotional."

"Ain't emotional. We're talkin' business. This is me business voice. Whot's innit for me?"

"As for you," Potter told him. "you'll have two more voices of support to the Minister. If anything proves useful, I'll even add Sirius' to the tally."

"An' all this cloak an' dagger? Draggin' me 'ere an' throwin' this at me? Jus' to get me interested?"

"It worked," Potter replied. "And if you do come up with anything, let Neville know you need to talk to one of us."

"Not Harry?" Draco had to smile.

Potter smiled back. "No one will wonder why you would talk to a teammate. If you went to Harry, people would talk about that."

Draco nodded at the logic. And it was intriguing. He told them he would think about it. He slid the cup into his backpack.


Sirius Black brought them within sight of the entrance to Hogwarts. He then reached into his pocket and handed Draco a parchment. His class schedule. All of the school supplies would be in the trunk by his bed. Then Sirius offered to walk with Draco, to help carry his belongings.

"Why?" There was a hint of distrust in Draco's voice. The same way there is a hint of rain during a thunderstorm.

"I'm trying to be nice."

"Well, thank you. I'll be fine."

"Fancy voice?"

"I'm starting early."

Sirius nodded. He patted one of his pockets. "I'm supposed to meet with Givens this afternoon. I'll see that he gets the pictures. And I was curious. A ball is a walk. West Ham?"

Draco couldn't help but smile. "West Ham Reserves. Nerves."

"You made that up."

"Naw. Someone else did."

For some reason, Draco was in a good mood as he began the long walk to the school. His first class of the day had already started. It was History of Magic. If he made no effort to go to that class then he was free until lunch. It sounded like a good plan.

But he was back at school. And there was one person he wanted to talk to.

"Kreacher?" he called out, hoping the house elf would hear him.


Hermione walked into the common room and immediately ran to Draco, giving him a hug. Draco mentally noted it was his sixth hug that day. A new record.

It seemed that everyone was told the reason he was late. Several students offered their condolences including, to Draco's surprise, Harry Potter. He even responded with a 'thanks, mate'. That's how surprised he was.

Fred and George cornered him, asking how he was.

Draco wanted to tell them. When Moody died, he thought the world ended. When Miss Carmichael died, he knew it did. He wanted to ask them how they'd feel if their mum died. But the words didn't come out. He put on a fake smile and said he was fine. George and Fred nodded to each other. Then Fred turned to Draco.

"Met her once, you know."

"She was easy to like" Hermione said as they walked away. She hugged Draco again and went to put her books away. She turned back as she reached the stairs. "I made copies of my notes, so you don't have to worry about missing any classes."

"Great." Draco said it with a cheerfulness he felt. Hermione would think she was being nice. He honestly felt that she would tutor him on what he missed so he didn't have to add lost lessons to his list of things to be miserable about. And he was right. She went over the lessons all the way until lunch. And she was right. It did make him feel better, to be back at school and doing something.

"Bummer," Ron Weasley whispered to him when they were alone. "You get back to school late and she spends two hours lecturing you."

Draco laughed. "You know. She's the only person in this school who thinks she's smarter than me, and has the grades to prove it."

The first class in the afternoon was Potions. Professor Snape had his usual scowl in place but everyone could see a smile form briefly as his favorite student entered. He then returned to his brusque manner. Then it was into the lesson. They were to make a wit-sharpening potion.

Snape eyed Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas as he pointed out that while it would be useful for some of them, for others it was clearly a necessity.

As Draco copied the list of ingredients, the Professor walked around the room, pausing briefly to correct someone's spelling or criticize their handwriting. When he reached the table where Draco and Hermione were, he suggested tea after class, unless the two of them had other plans. Hermione managed a shy smile, looking to Draco first before she said yes.

As Snape walked away, Hermione whispered, "A special lesson already."

"But . . . what if it's only to have tea." Draco gave his best frown. For that remark, she gave him the task of crushing the scarab beetles.


As Severus Snape poured three cups of tea, he asked if he needed to do more then to give his condolences. When Draco assured him that returning to school was the best medicine, Severus smiled. "Then you won't mind having scones as well." He reached into a drawer and pulled out a tin, making it a point to offer one first to Hermione. She took a scone with a cautious thank you. It became obvious that this get together had a specific purpose.

First, there was a package that Draco had to open. A belated birthday present. He undid the paper and opened the box. It was a book. Dangerous Creatures: Recognition and Defense. Draco leafed through it, noting that it was 400 pages of text, pictures and diagrams. It was not what he would consider as light reading

"Shall we get down to business?" Professor Snape asked. "Draco, you do know that you have annoyed the Minister simply by continuing to exist. Had you died last year, you would have made him very happy."

"Yeah. I heard he cancelled his order for everyone to be nice to me."

"More than that. He tried to ban any outside activities for you for this upcoming year. To teach you respect. An impossible task, of course. But Albus Dumbledore worked out a compromise based on the fact that you are often accompanied on your sojourns. You may have all the private lessons you want, as long as they are not private." He turned to Hermione. "That is why you are here, Miss Granger, and why you will always be welcome in my office. You are the proof that I am not teaching the Dark Arts to our future Dark Lord."

Hermione returned his smile. "You mean I HAVE TO join in on all the special lessons?"

The Professor laughed at her enthusiasm. "Even if it means that Draco will not be the best student in his year."

Surprised and pleased by his friendliness, Hermione promised she would do her best to make sure he was.

They had an amiable conversation. When Uncle Severus asked, Draco admitted that he did have prior knowledge of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Draco added that he found out by running into the organizers as they were discussing it. He also passed along something he had discovered near the end of last term. That both Ginny Weasley and Terrence Hicks were victims of the Imperious Curse. He was assured by the Professor that his comments to Arthur Weasley were now common knowledge amongst the senior staff. The only thing they had discovered to date was that whoever performed the curses was someone from the outside. At present, the list of possibilities was narrowed down to some four dozen names.

"I'm going to enter, and win," Draco bragged.

Hermione rolled her eyes while Snape snorted. The professor added his own comment. "The Minister has already ASKED Professor Dumbledore to find a reason to keep you from entering. Something that sounds reasonable, if possible."

"That's terrible," Hermione said.

"From what I have heard, Miss Granger, the rules Albus had already decided on will require a certain level of training and skill, regardless of the Minister's request. Draco will not be eligible. Nor will you."

"They have to be at least O.W.L. levels," she asked, and frowned when she receive a yes. Not that she had any intention of entering. But she would have liked the opportunity.


At dinner, Hermione pointed out the two new teachers for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Draco recognized both of them. The first man, whom Hermione said was Remus Lupin, was the fourth man in the photograph on Sirius Black's mantle. Another old friend of his. Draco's smile faded when he was told that Lupin had the fourth thru seventh years. He consoled himself that at least Sirius Black was running out of friends. Next year would be better. Hermione noticed his frown but smiled.

Hermione told Draco he should be happy not to have the Minister's son as a teacher instead. At least Lupin would treat him fairly. She frowned slightly when Draco told her how he recognized him.

Draco looked over at the DADA professor for the junior classes, Bartemius Crouch, Jr. He hid his surprise as he remembered where he saw the man. Standing with Ludo Bagman and the others at the end of the school year, when Draco asked to talk with Arthur Weasley.

After the dinner, they returned to the common room. Justin Finch-Fletchley was with them. He had been told by Fred and George to come. He simply smiled at Draco's confused look.

It was a small group that gathered, only a dozen or so. The Weasleys, Hermione and Justin, Dean Thomas, the Quidditch team. And three dozen bottles of butterbeer. Fred and George approached Draco who was flanked by Hermione and Justin.

"Someone passed away recently. Someone we knew," Fred told him.

"It's only fitting," George continued, "that we do something to acknowledge her passing."

As Draco was handed a butterbeer, Hermione whispered that it was a wake. Justin put his hand on Draco's shoulder and said they all missed her.

"An' them?" Draco asked, nodding his head at the Quidditch team.

He wasn't as quiet as he thought. Everyone in the common room heard him. Several frowned. Angelina Johnson smiled.

"Sympathetic friends who are too curious for our own good." She was smiling. A warm smile. "You lost someone who loved you. She must have been a wonderful person."

It wasn't a rehearsed line. It was honest and from the heart. Draco bit back a sudden urge to cry.

"Her name was Gail Carmichael. Everyone always called her Miss Carmichael." He paused. "The last one who asked, I tol' 'er she was me mum."

When he was asked, Draco tried to remember the good things. The first thing he did was laugh. There were no good things. They were in one of the worst parts of London. Most of the children there were the hard to place ones. But Miss Carmichael was good. She kept a ready list of those who wanted to foster so that they could get a quicker approval for adoption. She rarely managed to place a child in less than a week. While he was there, except for Janice, no one else had been around for more than a month.

Finally, he said his first sentence. "She taught me how to laugh."

Hermione cringed and Justin turned his head. They were the only two who knew what Draco's life had been like when he was with the Dursleys. And their reactions let the others know that what happened before should not be asked about.

"Remember any of the jokes?" Fred asked.

Draco drank from his bottle as he thought of what to say. He decided to gild a few memories to make it sound better than it was. He described his first Christmas at the home. How he could have all he could eat. He received his first Christmas present although he couldn't remember what it was. How he found out that she liked asparagus, stealing it became finding a bag of food someone forgot.

Hermione mentioned talking to Miss Carmichael briefly at Draco's birthday party. Her first question was how Draco was really doing at school. Every question was about Draco. Even though he was no longer in her care, she still cared about him.

George made a comment that he saw her at the party. Whenever she looked over at them, her eyes always went to Draco.

That made Draco pause. He mentioned how Janice has said they were a family, a brother and a sister, because they decided they were. Miss Carmichael was their mother. Because they decided she was. And she had already decided they were her children.