Draco was finding himself more glad than ever that he wasn't taking any important exams this year- every day he was finding more and more demands on his time, not least of which was training both the Gryffindor and School cricket teams. It wouldn't be long 'til he had to have a team together to face the Old Hogwartians in Dumbledore's long-planned memorial match. Slowly but surely he had found out who he wanted to select and had gotten his squad of fourteen ready. There wasn't a single one amongst them who wasn't in some small way invaluable on the field, be that with the bat, ball or simply as a fielder par excellence. This team was looking to be the best one Draco had ever played in, and everyone was dedicated to their sport, even if some house rivalry had entered into it, making the captain's job of keeping harmony in the dressing room ever harder. It was as a relief therefore, that the school holidays came. With them came an end to endless essays and charts, an end to eternal reading and above all, a chance to get away from it all. He might not be going home this holiday- Noctifer had written and explained that he would be on a job for all of the Easter break- but he would be enjoying himself. IT wouldn't only be him stuck at school- Harry had decided to stay and whilst Ron and Hermione were, much to Draco's well-hidden disappointment, spending the break at the Burrow.

The school had emptied itself of all those who were going home, leaving a small knot of teachers and a tinier handful of pupils left. Suddenly the castle, which during term time felt like it was buzzing with youthful excitement now felt like it was an empty and lonely place. Footsteps that ordinarily could not be heard boomed down corridors like vast drums beating out in time to the fall of feet, to be heard by ears on different floors. The quiet snores of portraits could be heard all over the castle as what little noise there was, was magnified hugely by the overwhelming silence that filled the great building and the rooms, kept warm by the people who usually inhabited them, began to cool, leaving behind a smell of damp and old whitewash that Draco couldn't ever quite get rid of. It seemed that the school was virtually deserted – apart from Harry and Draco and a couple of Hufflepuff first years there were only teachers left in the castle. This did come with its benefits, as at meal times they got to eat at the high table, the house tables having been taken away for cleaning, polishing and repairs after a term of considerably heavy use.

To stay warm and to avoid the silence Draco spent most of his time in the library, which unlike the corridors and empty classrooms was kept heated in the holidays, to prevent damage to the books. Draco sat there, reading anything that looked vaguely interesting. The stack of books he'd read grew by the day and soon was forming a wall on the table in front of him that was tall enough and wide enough that he couldn't see anything ahead of him except books he'd read. Draco was reading through books quicker than he ever had done, perhaps it was all the practise he'd been getting on dull textbooks meant he could read the enjoyable books at three times the speed that he'd used to. Or maybe not. At any rate the pile of books stopped him seeing anything, such as Madame Pince's visitations from Filch- which he was glad not to see- and Harry coming to see him- which caught him totally by surprise.

'Hi draco.'

'Oh! Hello Harry, didn't see you coming there.'

'I'm not surprised with all those books- you turning into Hermione or something?'

'I hope not, I've gotten quite fond of this body, I've got it set up just how I like it.' Draco responded drily.

'You know our exploding snap tournament?'

'Of course.'

'Well, I'm going to have to let you down this evening. Dumbledore wants me to go with him on another thingy.'

'No problem. Anything I can do to help?'

'Don't think so, Dumbledore said something about not wanting too many people when I asked him.'

'Don't worry about it. When you leaving? Any idea when you're getting back?'

'Well, we're leaving an hour after dinner, something about not wanting to get wet with a full stomach. No idea when we're getting back. When it's done, I suppose.'

'Well, I'll see you when you get back. I might well still be in here, after all, I'm not sure Pince can spot me behind this book-fort, she seemed to forget about me yesterday- I had to let myself out.'

'So that's why you were so late.'

'Yeah, it was.'

Harry stood there for what felt like an age as an awkward silence fell between them.

'Well, I'd best go and get ready. See you at dinner?'

'See you then.' Said Draco. He waited for Harry to leave before glancing at his watch. Ten minutes to go until dinner was going to start. Enough time to finish off the chapter perhaps? No, best not, Draco felt sure that if he started reading he'd carry on until he'd finished the book or possibly even the next one. No, best head down to dinner now.

Leaving The Magic of Muggles behind him on the desk, Draco picked himself up off the chair and headed down to dinner, rearranging his clothes as he went so as to look a little less scruffy and a lot more respectable. It would never do to be scruffy, particularly if he was having dinner at high table again. Before long he was taking his seat next to Harry at dinner, right opposite Albus Dumbledore himself.

'Evening , sir.'

'Good evening, Draco. I trust you are well.'

'Yes, Sir, I am, thank-you for asking.'

'That is good. Dinner looks good, doesn't it?'

'Yes, Sir.' Draco said politely. As much as he liked it this was the third time they'd had Ham, Egg and Chips for dinner this week and Draco was beginning to suspect that this wasn't due to a lack of available food in the school pantries.

'So, Harry.' Dumbledore asked, turning his attention away from Draco, 'Are you ready for this evening?'

'Yes, Sir.'

'Good. Don't forget your cloak, it may prove useful.'

Draco had soon finished and as soon as he thought it socially acceptable, he made his excuses and left the table.

'Draco.' Dumbledore called as he was halfway across the hall, 'You couldn't deliver this to Professor Snape, could you? He should be in his office.' Draco was handed a tightly bounded scroll, sealed with wax. Great, just what he wanted, to spend more time with Severus Snape, the one man who seemed to hate him more than his father did. Mind you, that wasn't personal, Snape seemed to hate all students, particularly those in Gryffindor, it wasn't as if there was any fundamental dislike there, it was probably just dislike on a matter of principle.

Working his way down to the dungeons where Snape's office had remained, Draco felt shivers racing down his spine. The dungeons were even colder than the rest of the castle. For the first time in his life, Draco thought that he was glad he hadn't been sorted into Slytherin for reasons that didn't involve his friends- it was perishing down here! Draco arrived at Snape's office and knocked on the door three times.

'Come in.' The voice inside said. Nervously, he opened the door and stepped in.

'Professor Dumbledore asked me to give you this, Sir.'

'Thank you , Mr Malfoy.' Snape seemed to spit at him, as if the Malfoy name was nothing more than an unpleasantness that was stuck on the bottom of his shoe. The seal was broken and Snape began to read the letter, Draco turned his back to go, his job done, when suddenly:

'Wait there!' Snape barked.

'Sir?'

'The headmaster has written me this little note. It seems that you know far more than he intended about the Dark Lord's secrets. It would be most detrimental to the cause, he says, were you to be found and the information extracted from you.' Snape seemed to relish the thought of the information being extracted as he rolled his tongue over the word for far longer than seemed natural.

'It seems that I am to attempt to teach you the highly useful art of occlumency. I only hope that you pay more attention than your friend Potter.' There was no doubt about it, Snape definitely spat that name out.

'Okay, Sir. I'm ready to start when you are.'

'You want to start now? Well, I suppose I should be grateful that you are showing some enthusiasm. It won't last. I suppose you want to know about the theory? Well, all you need to know is this –It is designed to protect the user against legilimency, the reading of minds, now, the mind is not like a book, but a complex and many layered thing. The trick is to suppress all emotion, all feelings deep, for they let the accomplished legilimens slip through the layers of the mind with greater ease than you could possibly imagine. A true occlumens can not only prevent their mind being. interpreted. but also show false thoughts, to let the legilimens think that he is seeing what he wants to see, when in fact he isn't. That however takes many long months of practise, months I suspect that we do not have. You will perhaps get to the stage of being a passable occlumens, able to contain the invading mind and trap it, to keep it from being able to see what it wants. Compartmentalisation is key. Do you think you have understood me?'

'I think so, Sir.'

'Good. Then it is time to test it. legilio!' Snape cried, pointing an unexpected wand straight at Draco. Suddenly Draco felt an unwelcome presence in his mind. Resisting the urge to panic, Draco tried to work out what Snape was after. No. He wasn't going there. That was family and that was private. Draco sent Snape images of the book he had been reading that afternoon, hoping that the forceful direction of memories would prevent Snape from proceeding any further. For a moment Snape's advance halted, but then the presence seemed to disappear from the eye of the storm of memories. Had it gone? Draco let the images of today's book go, only to find that Snape was still in his head. Nothing seemed to stop him this time, bringing the book back didn't help, nor did yesterday's book. No, that trick would only apparently work once.

Draco took three deep breaths and relaxed. He had to stop Snape getting in, which would mean preparing barriers, blockades. That meant giving up some of his mind to give himself time to prepare. Yes, that would be the bait. Draco opened up his thoughts about Hermione, something that should be juicy enough to tempt Snape away from the area he was currently investigating. It worked! Draco desperately tried to erect some barriers and sure enough, by the time Snape had lost interest in Draco's thoughts on Hermione, he came back to Draco's family, only to find that this time, he would have to work harder to get in. Suddenly Draco, exhausted by the struggle, felt the presence withdraw.

'Very good. You learnt how to erect barriers. Not very effective ones, but that will improve with practise. The distraction technique was also quite effective, but it would not put off an experienced and truly determined legilimens – only your mental barriers can do that. You do however need to bring them up faster- if you don't have them working the whole time then it can make your mind very vulnerable if you can't raise them at the first sign that someone is attacking your mind. Looking at the time I think we have enough time for another go tonight, if you feel that you are up to it.' Snape said.

'Alright, Sir. I think I'm ready.'

'Good. Legilio.'

Once more Draco felt Snape's presence enter his mind. This time he tried to raise his barriers immediately. Soon his mind was full of the things. That was better, Snape hadn't even had time to look at anything before Draco had isolated his presence, much more like how it was supposed to go. Draco maintained the barriers in his mind and sat in his chair, waiting for Snape to leave. The former potions master didn't leave however, but sat there, lurking in his mind. What was this about? Draco decided that it would be a good thing to make stronger barriers- the ones that were in place had already been described as weak by Snape. Not a good thing, all things said and done. Well, if he just did that, it should help, shouldn't it? Draco's attention flitted away from the presence in his mind and suddenly Snape attacked, he began tearing down the barriers, one by one, piece by piece, with all the surety of a river washing away a dam made of loose sand. At first, there were only small leaks, with individual barriers slowly disappearing, which Draco soon replaced with others, but before long, all of his barriers were tumbling at once. This wasn't what was supposed to happen, it simply wasn't. Somehow, Draco knew he had to get his teacher's essence out of his head. What if he used the barriers as a movable shield, corralling Snape ever closer to the exit of his mind, wherever that was. Draco erected a set of strong barriers around Snape, and slowly began to move them. Then, Snape withdrew from his mind and the world came back into focus.

'Trying to force me out, Mr Malfoy? Very well done. That is the next step, first you have to contain the invading mind, then eject it from your own. You seem to have understood the basic principles of occlumency, I am surprised. That was quick, however much more practise will be required before you are in any way competent at it. I propose that we have daily meetings over the holiday, and then reduce it to weekly in term time. Any questions?'

'Just one, Sir. What are you going to do with all the thoughts that you see when you're in here.' Draco said, tapping twice on the side of his head.

'Absolutely nothing Mr Malfoy, although, judging by what I have seen, perhaps Romeo would be more appropriate.'

'Thank you, Sir.'

'Very well, you should head back to your common room, we have been here for longer than you have perhaps realised.'

Draco looked down at his watch. It really was getting late- the hours had flown by in this underground chamber where no hint of natural light ever reached.

'How long did that take, Sir? Really?'

'Several hours Mr Malfoy. It is amazing how the mind can play tricks when it is fully occupied, particularly as regards the passage of time.'

'Good night, Sir.' Said Draco, out of good manners and a sense of duty.

'Good night, Mr Malfoy.' Came the begrudging reply.

At the moment there was an urgent knock on the door. Draco opened it on his way out only to find an out-of-breath Harry leaning on the doorframe.

'Sir, Professor Dumbledore wants you. He said, to come, quickly.' Harry forced out between pants. He had clearly run all the way to the office.

'Where is he?'

'His office, sir.'

'Very well. You two had better come too.'

Snape set off at a fast trot, slow enough to be dignified, yet still fast enough that Draco and Harry had to run to keep up. At that moment the rogue thought crossed Draco's mind that Snape was really a lot younger than Dumbledore, but that nonetheless, he shouldn't have to try to keep up. Perhaps, he thought, some more fitness training would be in order if he was to do well at the cricket.

Draco was sure of that when he arrived at Dumbledore's office, completely out of breath whereas Snape didn't seem to have even raised a sweat. There was something unnatural about that man,. Draco thought.

'Severus.' Dumbledore croaked, 'Potion. Terrible potion. I drank it. Drank it all. We got it, but...' Dumbledore fell silent, the effort of speech too much for him.

Immediately Snape took control of the situation, whipping out his wand and waving it about. Draco thought that some cushions might help keep Dumbledore more comfortable, and getting his own wand out, he materialised some rather large ones right next to Dumbledore. Kneeling down, he lifted the upper body of the old man forwards, gesturing to Harry to stick the cushions behind him, to make him more comfortable. Snape had finished his muttering and with a flick of his wrist, what looked like a full potions laboratory emerged from a small box that at in the corner of the office. The fire under the central cauldron sprang into life, and its sheen and colour suggested to Draco that this was not the bog-standard pewter that they used on an everyday basis, but rather the superior bronze cauldrons that they were not allowed to use. Snape stepped up to it and with one tap of his wand the racks of ingredients closed in around him. Draco could barely make out what Snape was doing, and even his mutterings gave no clue about what was going on. Slowly but surely he brewed a potion from the ingredients, a potion which was more complicated than anything Draco had ever heard of, let alone brewed himself. Snape clearly knew what he was about- he had what amounted to an almost divinely inspired talent for potion brewing, and now Draco realised why he had been stuck in that job for so long, even though he wanted the Dark Arts post. He was so good at it. He had all these little tricks nailed down, like squashing sophorous beans to release the juices- that was something that was scribbled in Harry's old textbook. Perhaps Snape had known about it. After all, there had to be some reason for the same techniques cropping up. Indeed, in many ways, Snape was using all the little tricks Draco had remembered from the Prince's book.

Soon the potion was bubbling away nicely and Snape once more tapped the ingredients rack to free himself from their convenient embrace.

'Nearly there, Albus, hang on.'

Dumbledore made no noise at all, but merely rolled over to one side, all colour gone from his face. Soon though, the potion had cooled sufficiently that it could be drunk and after one final sniff, Snape handed over a small mug of the thick, golden liquid to Dumbledore. Slowly, the colour began to return to his face, and as he finished, he put down the mug, now horribly stained by the golden liquid, and pulled himself to a more upright position.

'Thank you, Severus. Now, Harry. Do you still have it with you? Let's have a look at it.'

Harry pulled out the horcrux they had been out for. Draco recognised it instantly.

'Hang on! We've done that one already!' Draco exclaimed, looking at the locket Harry was holding in his hand. Dumbledore grabbed it and opened it.

'A fake! What does that note say?'

Harry opened the note and began to read out loud.

'To the Dark Lord,

I know I'll be dead before you read this, but I want you to know...I discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it blah blah so that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. RAB.'

'Rab?' Dumbledore asked.

'It's the initials at the bottom of the page, Sir.'

'Well I never, so that's what happened to him.'

'Who , Sir?'

'You are no doubt aware that Sirius had a brother.'

'Yes, Sir. His room's all Slytherin green and stuff.'

'I imagine so. Well, I expect Sirius has told you how his brother joined the Death Eaters? Well, it would seem that somehow he found out about the locket and took it home to be destroyed, before he went missing. That's where we found it after all. It would seem that the time has come to rewrite the history books on the matter of Regulus Black. It would appear that, somehow, he also got to know of the horcruxes. I wonder if he managed to get any more before he died?'

'We couldn't possibly know, Albus.' Snape said earnestly.

'I suppose so. Well, I believe that I should get some rest. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight.'

The three walked from Dumbledore's office in near complete silence, all that could be heard was the fall of their feet, but at the bottom of the stairs, Draco asked a question.

'Sir? Have you ever heard of the Half-Blood Prince?'

Snape appeared slightly shocked at the question, but did , eventually answer.

'Yes, he was in my year at school. By a long way the most talented potions student in my year. Why do you ask?'

'I've got his old textbook.' Harry replied.

'I see. Well, the Prince had a bit of a taste for the Dark Arts, I'd advise you not to use any of the spells contained within that book. They are liable to be a trifle nasty.' Snape said, putting deliberate emphasis on the final word.

'Thank you for the warning, Sir. Good night.' Harry said – they had reached the main staircase and would be heading in different directions, Harry and Draco would be going up to bed, whereas Snape was apparently returning to his office. Before long, Harry and Draco were tucked up in their beds and Harry was telling Draco all about the adventure that he had just had.