"Drink it."

"Are you sure it's-"

"Yes, drink it and go," Draco assured him. "I'll figure something out."

Harry downed the potion in one gulp, and stepped through the black flames.

Just as Harry had thought, Snape had done nothing. Quirrell was still teaching, and he didn't even looked worried. Not anymore than he usually did, anyway, and that wasn't good enough for Harry. He had waited until classes were over and told everyone that he and Draco were going to go mess around on the Quidditch pitch. Then they grabbed Harry's Cloak and went straight to the third floor, where Draco sang nervously at the dog like Pansy had told them, while Harry discovered a trapdoor and got them both down it.

They were both nervous balls of energy, which was good because it meant they kept moving and avoided getting caught by the Devil's Snare that Draco identified weakly after he'd lit his wand. They'd found the flying key that hadn't been difficult to catch at all after Draco told Harry which one they were looking for, and in the next room, all those games of chess they'd played by the fire paid off.

Harry had been forced into the King position, and stood sullenly the whole time, making sure Draco didn't kill himself. The only consolation was that he could tease Draco for playing as the Queen, no matter what Draco said about it being the most powerful piece.

They'd had a bit more trouble with the troll, who, despite the fact that it hadn't really been expecting visitors and was asleep, woke when they were halfway across the room and nearly got Harry in the head with it's club. And then they were in a room with several potions on a table, and Draco had read through the paper a few times and abruptly handed Harry a bottle and commanded him to drink. Harry had read through the paper as well, and could see that there was only enough in the bottle for one, and had protested as much. Draco had shoved him toward the fire and repeated the command.

Which was where Harry was now, standing in the chamber with the mirror. Alone. He walked toward the mirror, wondering if he'd see his parents again, remembering Blaise and Dumbledore's warnings. And as much as he wanted to see them, he had other things to worry about at the moment. Like what he was doing here, making sure that Quirrell and Voldemort never got their hands on the Stone. And how they were going to get out of here, with that troll waiting for them. Harry was starting to think this might have been a bad idea. He turned and looked back at the fire, wondering what Draco would say if he went back through and suggested that they go to Dumbledore.

It was at this point that Draco burst through the black flames, panting and looking rather worse for the wear.

"Draco! What happened?" Harry exclaimed, dashing back to the flames and grabbing Draco's arm to support him.

Draco caught his breath and tried to explain. "I thought, if maybe I went back and forth, the bottle might refill itself. I was right."

"You went back to the troll?" Harry cried. "Draco, you idiot! What do you think you are, a Gryffindor?"

"Well pardon me for not wanting to let you go in here alone!" Draco said defensively. "And it worked, didn't it? Now, what's this mirror all about, then?"

And he walked past Harry, ignoring his flabbergasted expression, in order to examine the mirror more closely. "Hey, I see us with the Stone!" Draco sounded surprised. "What kind of mirror is this, anyway?"

"It's the Mirror of Erised," Harry explained, momentarily distracted. "Remember, I found it at Christmas? Where do you see us?" Maybe it would show them where the Stone was hidden?

"We're in the Slytherin dorms," Draco said. "It's sitting on the nightstand, and we're playing Snap."

Harry knew for a fact that the Stone was not currently sitting on his nightstand. Draco must want this whole ordeal to be over with, then.

"Let me try," Harry said. "I think I want to find it badly enough, it might show me." Draco stepped aside, and Harry took his place. His reflection stared hopefully back at him for a moment, then smiled and held up the stone. Harry's eyes widened as it put the stone in his pocket. He reached for said pocket, and there it was.

"Draco, I've got it!" he said excitedly, pulling it out of his pocket and holding it up. Draco stared at it in shock.

"You know, I never really thought this would work." He grinned suddenly. "Good job, Harry. Now let's get the hell out of here."

Harry nodded, and they both made their way back through the black flames. Draco was already immune to the purple fire, so Harry drank that potion too and they both poked their heads tentatively out the door to see what the troll was doing. It looked angry.

"Now what?" Draco asked after they'd pulled their heads back. Harry looked at the ceiling and bit his lip.

"We could catch it by surprise and run," he suggested helplessly.

"Now who's the Gryffindor," Draco muttered, deep in thought. "What do you say to taking all these potions and chucking them at the troll's head? Some of them are poison according to the paper, and we wouldn't even have to stick any more than our arms and heads through the fire to do it."

"Would they affect it?" Harry asked doubtfully. "It's pretty big…"

"Couldn't hurt to try, could it?" Draco asked philosophically, picking up the bottle second from the left. "It said the two second from the outside are poison, so let's try those first."

Harry carefully picked up the bottle second from the right and hefted it in his hand. "Are you any good at hitting what you aim at?" he asked Draco hopefully. "Because honestly, I could be better."

"Pick another bottle then, and lets see how good you are," Draco suggested, taking the poison. "If you miss, I'll throw the rest. It's not a very big room, it shouldn't be too hard."

Harry nodded and picked up the bottle in the very middle. He ducked his head slowly through the fire and looked out at the troll, who was looking like a rather angry and dimwitted lion in a cage. It really wasn't a very big room. Harry took a deep breath and waited until the troll looked in his direction before chucking the bottle at it's head and ducking back into the potion chamber.

"Well?" Draco asked. A furious roar met their ears in response.

"I think I got it," Harry said hopefully.

"Good. It's my turn, then," Draco said, handing him his bottle of poison back. The troll still sounded very angry. Harry held the bottle with both hands and watched anxiously as Draco stuck his head out the door and chucked his own bottle. Draco waited a second longer than Harry thought necessary, probably to see if it hit, before ducking back in and grinning at Harry.

"We both hit!" he said gleefully. "Yours had some horrid poison in it that melted a lot of his skin off! It's positively gruesome!"

Harry, while happy that it sounded like they were getting out soon, felt a bit guilty about melting off half the troll's skin and lost a bit of enthusiasm for the plan.

"D'you want to throw this one?" he asked, offering his bottle to Draco. "I think I've rather lost my taste for it."

Draco nodded generously and took it from him. "Allow me," he said, ducking his head into the fire.

Before he could do anything, though, the roaring stopped. Draco paused, and pulled his head back out. He didn't seem quite as gleeful as he had been a second ago.

"He's collapsed," he said, looking down at the bottle in his hands. "I don't think this'll be necessary."

He set it back down on the table and looked back at Harry.

"Shall we?" Harry nodded and started for the fire, but before he could go through, Draco stopped him. "Try not to look at it, okay?" The solemn look on Draco's face kept Harry from doing anything but nodding as he stepped carefully into the flames.

"So what do we do with it?" Draco asked, tossing the Stone from one hand to the other absently. Their quest had only taken a couple hours, so dinner hadn't even started yet. No one had even missed them. They were sitting on Harry's bed in the dorm, planning.

"Hermione would kill me if she found out what we did," Harry said. "So I think we probably shouldn't tell her, at least."

"I'm fine with that," Draco said, grinning. "And let's leave Blaise out of this too, okay? He'll make us feel guilty for being 'irresponsible', and probably make us give it back."

"Well, we aren't exactly going to be keeping it," Harry said with a frown. "We're just keeping it from Quirrell, not Dumbledore."

"Right," Draco said, nodding quickly. "But if Dumbledore was so bad at protecting it that we could get to it, then what's to say he'll protect it any better when we give it back?"

"That's true," Harry said slowly. "But I wasn't planning on giving it back any time soon, anyway. I'll definitely wait until Quirrell's been discovered or at least sacked."

"Right," Draco said. "And in the meantime, what should we do with it?"

Harry frowned. "I dunno, put it at the bottom of my trunk and forget about it?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry. "You're not serious."

Harry shrugged. "Think about it. If no one knows we have it, who's going to go looking for it there? It could just sit quietly at the bottom of my trunk until it's safe to give it back."

Draco shook his head. "Harry, if Dumbledore wasn't protecting it enough with all that stuff we had to get past, then how do you think putting it in the bottom of your trunk and forgetting about it could possibly be any better?" Draco folded his arms and frowned at Harry. "At the very least, put some protective charms on the trunk. No one would suspect anything. You're a Slytherin."

"That's a good idea," Harry agreed. "But do you think I should just leave it here, then, in the meantime?"

"You can put it in my trunk," Draco suggested. "My father would never have let me leave home without scores of protective charms on it."

Harry considered the idea, and decided that, yes, he did trust Draco that much.

"Alright," Harry said, handing him the stone. "Don't do anything with it, though. Just leave it in there in the bottom or something."

"Right," Draco said, opening his trunk and tucking it neatly away under a pair of socks at the bottom. "Now, let's go down to dinner. Saving the world makes me hungry."

Harry laughed at him and they left the dorm, the Stone quickly falling to the back of their minds and out of their thoughts.

And for the next two months, that was where the Stone stayed: out of their thoughts. Harry carried on with his Quidditch training, and Marcus told him that if he beat out the current Seeker at tryouts next year, which was likely, then he'd be playing first string in all the matches.

Harry continued studying with Hermione, Dudley, and Neville for exams, and after the meeting with Snape the day before Draco and Harry had gone and gotten the Stone, Blaise joined them regularly, and Draco and Pansy dropped by sometimes too. Neither Harry nor Draco said a word about the Stone after that day, and aside from a few questioning glances, none of the rest mentioned it either.

Harry also convinced Blaise and Draco to join him for tea with Filch a few times, and aside from a few awkward moments when Filch accused Draco of having tracked mud in from Herbology that day, and Draco became affronted at the idea that he would have mud on him, it went well. Harry thought it was unlikely, though, that Filch would extend any modicum of leniency to his friends unless they both got themselves part time jobs like Harry, which was quite plainly never going to happen.

Dudley and Harry began talking more often outside Hermione's study groups as well. Dudley had told Harry he could use Whitey whenever he wanted, as long as he asked first. Whitey had taken a liking to Harry, and would often perch at the Slytherin table after dropping off letters for Dudley. Harry secretly thought this had more to do with Pansy's habit of feeding her from Harry's plate than anything Harry had done, but was happy to agree to Dudley's terms, as he really did like the owl. Dudley had also told Harry he could use his extra bedroom when they got back to Privet Drive for the summer. Harry had been caught off guard by the casual way Dudley had bestowed such an uncharacteristic kindness, and resolved to buy Hermione something very nice for her birthday. Dudley too.

Anthony, as it turned out, hadn't really planned on having Harry try out the Quantum Suicide theory after all, for which Harry was grateful.

"There are rumours about you, anyway," Anthony had explained. "That you can't actually die normally, because of what happened, you know. You would throw the entire experiment off, I think."

Harry had been mildly disturbed at this, especially when Anthony had continued on after that to wonder why, how, and if that particular state of affairs had actually come about, and how to test it, but was relieved that his Boy-Who-Lived status had at least saved him from this particular experiment.

Exams finally came, distracting Harry completely. The day after they were finished, Harry sat with Draco and Blaise in the common room, feeling confident that he had done fairly well, and debating the merits of challenging Blaise to a game of chess. It was at this point that Pansy came over and dropped down on the couch next to them, clearly full of news.

"Have you heard?" she asked, looking as though she hoped they hadn't.

"Heard what?" Blaise asked distractedly. He looked very much like he would like very much to not have to think about anything at all after all those tests, which was why Harry had been thinking of challenging him, as Blaise would be much more likely to lose in that state of mind.

"About Professor Quirrell!" Pansy said, clearly thrilled to be the one telling them this news. Harry's head snapped up to look at her, Draco's not far behind.

"What about him, then?" Harry asked impatiently.

"He's disappeared!" she told Harry, leaning toward him on the couch, eyes wide. "Everyone's saying that he and Dumbledore duelled, and that Quirrell lost, and now he's gone. No one knows why though, it's strange. Do you think this has something to do with -"

Harry interrupted her with a sharp shake of his head, and she quieted immediately. He looked over at Draco, who shrugged and said, "We should probably be positive, first."

"What are you talking about, Draco?" Blaise asked, shaking his post-testing lethargy off and eyeing him shrewdly.

"It'd be a pretty pathetic rumour if he wasn't actually gone," Harry reasoned.

"He's gone," Pansy assured them, looking back and forth between Harry and Draco. "What are you two talking about?"

"We should be completely certain first, though," Harry nodded. "He'll have to announce it at dinner or something, won't he?"

"What did you two do?" Blaise demanded, sitting up straight and staring at them both.

"To dinner, then," Draco agreed, fighting back a smirk. He and Harry rose to leave.

"It's not even four o'clock yet!" Pansy objected as they passed her chair. "Stay here and tell us what you two were talking about! Draco!"

But Harry and Draco had already escaped.

"Damn them both," Blaise muttered, going back to his blank staring. "If I felt like it, we'd track them down and torture the information out of them."

Pansy gave him an amused glance. "Of course, Blaise. We'll find out at dinner, I suppose."

Sure enough, at dinnertime, Dumbledore announced Professor Quirrell's resignation. He assured them distractedly that they'd have a new Defence teacher next year, and until then, those classes would be free periods. Afterward, he sat down and leaned toward Professor McGonagall, who listened with a worried expression on her face as he spoke to her.

Harry whispered to Draco he was going to give Dumbledore the Stone after dinner. They agreed that Draco would stay behind and give Blaise and Pansy the required explanation, although Draco refused to tell Hermione, and told Harry that he had to do that himself. Harry agreed reluctantly, and that was how he found himself standing outside Professor Dumbledore's office after dinner that night, staring at the gargoyle and wondering how to get inside.