Disclaimer: Nope.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the great reviews! I loved reading what you all thought of the last chapter.

I completely understand what you're saying about how Blaise revealed his plan. The whole bragging and James Bond villain style of explanation - I personally thought that fit Blaise because in the end, no matter how messed up and convoluted his plan is, he still has the mentality of a child. Granted, what he did cannot be justified or forgiven on account of his age, but that's how he chose to reveal it. And you actually guessed part of Blaise's plan. You'll understand more as you read this chapter.

Yes, if things weren't hard enough for Draco, this is going to be excruciating for him. He now knows what the Imperius Curse feels like. What he'll do with these revelations ... you'll see.

I wholeheartedly agree about how the points should have been handled at the end of Philosopher's Stone. Give Harry as many points as Ron and Hermione, still give Neville ten, and make it a draw. It would have been a great moral for a kids' book - sharing a victory with people you don't get along with can teach a very important lesson. I thought Rowling was really going to do that in Goblet of Fire, with Harry not liking Cedric all that much and being jealous of him, but deciding to share the victory with him nonetheless. Tragically, that did not end well. I'd have loved to see Cedric survive the graveyard and have them share that experience, along with a Triwizard Tournament win. I love the fanfics where that actually happens.

Just a heads up: I go on my honeymoon this Friday. I'll try to get another chapter up before then, but I can't guarantee that I will. What with the other story I'm working on and other things in real life, I can't make any promises. If I'm unable to, I'll see you all when I get home. The fact that I didn't get any writing done during all the wedding events leads me to believe I probably won't get any done while I'm away in the UK. I apologize for that, but promise to return once I'm back here in the States.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

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Severus Snape was not at all amused by the fact that McGonagall had informed Dumbledore of their little ... encounter last night. No sooner had he roused himself from bed and gone to his office to grade papers than the Headmaster was knocking on his door, looking rather irate. It was a very different Dumbledore to the one that had spoken to Severus in the hospital wing, reassuring him that he hadn't failed Potter. That had only been five and a half days ago, and Snape was certainly not looking for another meeting with the man.

But Dumbledore had given him one. Apparently, Minerva had followed through on her plan to visit Potter the night before. "What did you do, Severus?" Dumbledore didn't shout, but there was no twinkle in his eyes. Snape felt like a small child - this Dumbledore was dangerous and knew how to cut deeply with his words. This was the Dumbledore who had dared to tell Severus, "Her son lives. He has her eyes. Precisely her eyes. You remember the shape and color of Lily Evans's eyes, I am sure?" He'd said the words that he knew would hurt Severus the very worst, knowing very well that only minutes before, Severus had looked into those eyes - the eyes that stared lifelessly at nothing, the perfect emeralds which were now vacant. The man knew very well that Severus would never forget the shape and color of his dead love's eyes. "Is this remorse, Severus?" Every syllable pierced his heart like a dagger. This man could affect him a thousand times worse than the Dark Lord ever could.

Snape had firmed up all his defenses. "I only told the boy what he needed to hear, old man, rather than what he wanted to," he snarled.

"And what, precisely, was that?" Dumbledore demanded, his eyes holding no warmth - they were like blue chips of ice. "Harry was too upset to speak with Minerva, but from what she told me, it was concerning the Philosopher's Stone."

"The brat risked his life and those of his friends needlessly," Snape spat venomously. "And Quirrell ..."

"Did you tell that child he is responsible for Quirrell's death?" Dumbledore asked harshly. "Do you have any idea of the damage you have done?"

"Damage?" Snape was livid. First McGonagall, now the Headmaster.

"Yes, damage." Dumbledore's tone softened, but his eyes were no less forgiving. "I had thought, Severus, that you were beginning to understand," he said quietly. "Only days ago I saw you in the hospital wing, sitting by that boy's bedside, guilt-stricken, monitoring his condition and waiting for him to awaken."

"I was doing no such thing!" Snape said fiercely. "Just because no one else bothered to see to the boy ..."

"Do not think you can fool me, my boy." Dumbledore's voice was sharp again, and the endearment did not come out as one at all. He sighed, steepling his fingers on Severus's office desk. "Severus, you are to go to the Great Hall for every meal from now on."

"And what, pray, will that accomplish, Dumbledore?" Severus drawled, still using anger as his shield.

"You have behaved abominably. I know that you do not enjoy eating in the Great Hall. Therefore, I demand it of you." The look in Dumbledore's eyes told Snape that he would not budge.

Snape gave the man his most vicious glower, but Dumbledore wasn't moved. Instantly, his expression transformed, and he smiled. How in Merlin's name did the Headmaster always do that? Snape despised it.

Dumbledore only patted his shoulder, his blue eyes twinkling. "It won't be so bad, my boy." This time, those two words came out as they should, but Severus hated it even more. He was not Dumbledore's bloody boy. He was no one's.

Are you so sure of that, Severus? That nasty voice in his head was back again. You know you will do everything the man orders, whether you like it or not. Including going to the Great Hall and eating with the staff and students.

"I will see you at lunch," Dumbledore said with complete surity, knowing very well that Severus would not defy him. Yes, that was how Severus thought of it. Dumbledore was a king on a throne and Severus was his subject, and going against his orders would be defying the almighty.

And before Snape could say anything more, Dumbledore left the office, his midnight blue robes which were adorned with moons and stars swishing behind him.

Snarling, Severus had tried his level best to get as much grading done as possible, but thoughts of Dumbledore kept flashing through his head, as well as thoughts of Potter. He despised the stirrings of guilt that infiltrated his being. As good as Dumbledore was at manipulating him, the look in his eyes had been full of genuine anger when he'd told him how upset Potter was. Serves him right, Snape thought snidely. He wanted my attention. He got it.

But he doesn't trust adults, his conscience argued, flashing a picture of Horace Slughorn across his eyes. He thought he had to take care of it by himself because Minerva didn't believe him.

By the time lunch rolled around, Snape's mood had only become more foul. In order not to defy King Dumbledore, however, he stalked to the Great Hall, glowering at any student who passed him. Many cowered away from him, especially the younger ones - Snape felt a smirk tug at his lips. Pathetic. What a bunch of imbeciles.

He reluctantly sat beside Minerva at the staff table, and paid no attention to the conversation that was going on between the teachers. He picked at his food, the taste of it making him nauseous. He stared at the students' ignorant faces, all conversing about mundane, ridiculous things, and felt anger hit him anew.

His black eyes happened to land on Draco Malfoy, who looked just as unhappy to have Blaise Zabini speaking to him as Snape was to be sitting at the staff table. Curious. This was a recent development, as in the past Draco had never minded conversing with Zabini. He would sometimes sneer at him in boredom, but it had never been like this. Draco looked like he wanted nothing more than to get away from Zabini.

And in the next second, Draco was getting up from the Slytherin table and beginning to make his way out of the Great Hall. Snape was rather surprised when Zabini, with an expression on his face that the Potions Master had never seen before, got up to follow him. Immersed in their inane conversations, none of the other teachers noticed. However, the Headmaster's eyes were just as sharp as Severus's, and he gave the man an extremely discreet nod.

Without a word, Severus got out of his chair and left the Great Hall, and he knew no one would suspect that he had gone into spy mode. He let his face show his usual sneering expression as he very quietly followed Blaise and Draco down the corridor. He kept himself at a distance, and Disillusioned himself nonverbally. Placing a Silencing Charm on himself as well, he put all his focus into what was going on.

Blaise Zabini was an unusually intelligent boy, although nothing had struck him as suspicious in Snape's eyes before. True, he came from a rather murky background, what with the curious way all of his mother's husbands died. Blaise had become friendly with Draco early on, and Snape made it a point to watch him. But he was just as nondiscreet as Draco, and was just as quick to run off at the mouth. He did not like Potter or any of the Gryffindors, and made it a point to disparage them. However, Snape had never caught him using the terms Mudblood or blood traitor. His mother had never supported the Dark Lord - it was clear she had her own agenda.

But as Snape watched, he felt a thrill of horror. It was a rare occasion that Snape confessed to being horrified. As a Death Eater, he'd participated in his fair share of violent acts - and he'd seen even worse. He'd perfected that poison to precision, imagining all the ways he could plant it in Dumbledore's food or drink without him being the wiser. He'd watched as children were tortured in front of their parents, as wives were tortured and murdered in front of their husbands and vice versa. He'd watched as the Imperius Curse was cast on a woman, and she'd been forced to hurt her little girl while the six-year-old had screamed, "Mummy, I didn't do anything! Why are you hurting me?" The Death Eaters had laughed uproariously, enjoying every second of it. He'd watched as the mother fell apart once she'd killed her daughter and the curse was lifted, as memories crashed upon her, as the complete and utter horror set in at what she had done.

So what he was seeing now couldn't compare, right? But yet, it did. Blaise Zabini was fourteen years old. He'd never shown himself to be the type of person who would partake in something like this. But Snape couldn't deny what he saw - "Imperio."

His wand itched in his hand. He wanted to end this now. Blaise Zabini had just cast an Unforgivable on Draco. This offense was grounds for his immediate expulsion - and an Azkaban sentence. It didn't matter that he was only fourteen. In the wizarding world, minors were often punished just as harshly for casting an Unforgivable as adults were.

But Snape had to know why. He would take action before things got too dire, but he wasn't a spy for nothing. He needed to know why Zabini had done this.

So he watched closely, and followed Zabini as he directed Draco to an empty classroom. He stood close to the closed door, listening to every word Zabini and Draco were saying. He almost snorted at Zabini's lack of thought - he hadn't bothered to put a Silencing Charm on the room. It was obvious that his childishness was showing - now all he wanted to do was brag. He listened as Blaise cast Incarcerus, obviously tying up Draco in magical ropes. Draco, under the curse's influence, did not yell or sound the slightest bit disconcerted by these events. When Draco responded to Blaise, his voice was perfectly calm.

And Snape listened as Blaise demanded to know why Draco had been acting so oddly, and he listened as Draco admitted, point-blank, that he didn't understand why Crouch had hurt him and why Potter had defended him. And he listened as Blaise, sounding incredibly triumphant, admitted to being the one to poison Potter.

Snape couldn't understand the blind rage that hit him at that moment, but every instinct was screaming at him to murder Blaise on the spot. Pure loathing roiled through him as he gave in to at least part of his instincts. He took the charms off himself and threw open the door, storming into the room at high speed. Wishing he could do far worse, he Stunned Zabini and untied Draco.

The horror that stole across Draco's face at the realization of what had happened to him softened something in Snape. He'd seen the boy looking undone recently, but this ... he looked like his entire world had been ripped to shreds. It was even worse than how he'd looked when he'd come to the realization that Crouch, not Moody, had been the one to attack him and transform him into a small animal.

He understood Draco's defensive reaction upon learning he would be taken to the Headmaster, and Snape instantly reassured him that he was not the one in trouble. He stared at Zabini, thankful for the fact that his Imperius had broken when he had been Stunned. Apparently, he wasn't yet truly experienced at casting it. With a horrified Draco beside him, Snape Levitated Zabini to Dumbledore's office.

Once Snape had said the Headmaster's most recent ridiculous password, the three of them traversed the moving staircase up to the man's office. "Enter," he said when Snape knocked sharply on the door.

"Oh dear." Dumbledore couldn't help his brief look of surprise as the strange party entered the office. "What has happened, Severus?" he asked at once, his sharp blue eyes assessing the situation.

"We now have the answer to who poisoned Mr. Potter," Snape said in a monotone, vowing to show no more emotion in front of this man - he'd failed enough today, thank you very much. "And he has been caught casting the Imperius Curse on Mr. Malfoy."

"I see." Dumbledore nodded, understanding what Snape must have discovered upon following Draco and Blaise out of the Great Hall. Instantly, he went to his fireplace. "Please retrieve the Veritaserum while I call the Aurors," he commanded.

Snape nodded curtly, left the office, and went to the dungeons to retrieve the truth potion. Once he had returned to the office, two Aurors had come through the fireplace. Severus recognized them as Hestia Jones and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Thank you, Severus," Dumbledore said as Severus handed him the potion. "Shall I revive Mr. Zabini?" he asked.

"Yes, Headmaster," Kingsley replied, his tone businesslike and holding no feeling. Hestia, however, looked at Zabini in horror. Snape could see the naivety in her eyes, the disbelief that someone could do such awful things at his age. Snape held back from sneering at her, although it was very tempting to do so.

"Enervate," Dumbledore intoned, pointing his wand at Blaise Zabini. Within seconds, the boy's eyes were flickering open.

"You will accept this potion," Kingsley said, his voice now harsh. "Do not make us force you."

Blaise scoffed. "Who are you?" he sneered, but it was obvious that the bravado Snape had heard from him earlier was fading fast - he hadn't expected to be caught. Snape sat in a chair next to Draco, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. The blond was staring blankly ahead, looking at Zabini in a kind of morbid fascination. He didn't even seem to notice Snape's presence, or that he was lending him support.

"My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt, and my companion is Hestia Jones. We are Aurors," Kingsley replied without preamble. "Now, open your mouth and do as you are told."

Blaise refused to do so. After several more commands from the Aurors, the two of them were able to force his mouth open with a spell and put three drops of potion on his tongue. He couldn't escape the chair he sat in, considering that Dumbledore had used Incarcerous on him before he had been awoken.

As the Veritaserum entered his bloodstream, Blaise's eyes glazed over, and he stopped fighting. The Aurors waited several seconds for it to truly do its work. Then, Kingsley said, "What is your name?"

"My name is Blaise Dwayne Zabini," the boy said in a monotone.

"What year at Hogwarts are you currently in, and what house?" Hestia asked.

"I'm in fourth year, and a Slytherin," Zabini replied.

"Very good," Kingsley said, staring down at the boy. "You have been accused of casting the Imperius Curse on Draco Malfoy." Snape's eyes met Draco's, and he saw the boy shudder. "Is this true? If so, why?"

"It's true," Blaise murmured, his facial expression utterly blank. "I did it because I wanted to know why Draco's not acting right."

"Meaning?" Hestia asked. "How is he not acting right?" Snape was livid at the fact that she looked down her nose at Draco with clear accusation in her eyes.

"He doesn't hate Potter like he once did," Blaise replied. Draco closed his eyes, unable to face what was happening, and Snape squeezed his shoulder.

"And why would that matter?" Kingsley demanded. "Why is it your business whether Mr. Malfoy hates Mr. Potter or not?"

"Because if he hates him, more people will think he was the one to poison him. It's not like people don't think that already, but ..." He paused. "I was getting really angry. Malfoy was supposed to be happy about Potter's poisoning, but he wasn't. My plan had to work, and I didn't understand what was going wrong. Even Weasley is looking at Malfoy weirdly now. People had to think it was Malfoy - and Weasley couldn't act weird. It was the only way my plan would work."

"What plan?" Kingsley had opened his mouth, but Hestia got her question out before he could ask his.

"I was going to kill Malfoy and frame Weasley for it," Zabini answered without hesitation. "It's obvious how much he hates Malfoy. He'd want revenge for Potter's poisoning, right?"

Snape felt another thrill of horror as Draco's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "You were going to kill me?" The whisper was full of ice-cold shock.

"Yes," Zabini responded, the Veritaserum bringing the truth forth from him. "I was still going to do it. But Snape stopped me. Just like he stopped Potter from dying. Meddling bastard."

"Exactly how were you going to frame Ronald Weasley for Draco's murder?" Hestia asked, shooting the blond a look of apology now.

"Blood," Zabini answered simply. "I was going to do the deed, then find Weasley. I don't think he likes me very much. I was going to provoke him to duel me."

"And draw blood, I presume," Kingsley surmised. "And then what?"

"My mum taught me the beauty of memory charms." Even under the Veritaserum, Zabini was beginning to sound cocky. "I was going to collect the blood I drew from Weasley, and make him forget I'd done so. I'd then make sure Draco had a little of it on him. It would show that Draco tried to fight back, but ultimately failed. And there you have it. Weasley goes to Azkaban, Draco's no longer a problem, and the friendship of the golden trio is over. Pity my poison didn't kill Potter."

Snape felt Draco shaking, and it was very hard not to do so himself - with fury. Snape knew that Draco was shaking in fear and horror. "Why?" the boy whispered, unable to help himself. "Why did you want me dead? And why did you poison Potter?"

"It's us who are asking the questions, Mr. Malfoy," Kingsley interjected sternly, but Blaise had already started answering.

"Because you're pathetic," he said to Draco, his voice calm and matter-of-fact. "You're your father's little pet. Yes, sir. No, sir. I'll do whatever you want, sir. Wait till my father hears about this. Wait till my father hears about that. It's absolutely pathetic. I only do what my mother says when I want to. And it's obvious that even though you're having second thoughts about Potter, you'll always want to please dear Daddy, won't you? And I poisoned Potter because everyone's always fawning all over him. He's pathetic, too. He's a stupid kid with a scratch on his forehead. You two are as bad as each other," he told Malfoy.

Draco looked completely undone by these revelations, and he was rooted to the spot. Snape, too, was shocked by Zabini's reasoning. How had he missed this? Again, how had he not seen the signs? How long had Zabini been planning this?

"How was the poison given to Mr. Potter?" Kingsley asked.

"I'd often stop in the kitchens," Zabini replied. "One of the house-elves ... Dobby, I think his name is. He was always lamenting the fact that he hadn't seen Potter come to the kitchens. Always singing his praises and slavering all over him. It was rather sickening."

Draco's eyes seemed to go even wider. "Dobby?" He was unable to stop his whisper. "My family's old elf? He works here now?"

"He does," Zabini replied. "After Snape assigned that ridiculous Potions project, I had a plan. My mum taught me how to brew that poison. She said it came in useful. I brewed it without anyone noticing and told Dobby I needed to talk to him. I said I had something important to tell him about Potter. Stupid little elf was so bloody excited to hear it. I made sure the coast was clear and went out into the corridor with him. Lunatic elf thought I was about to tell him a great secret. I cast Imperius on him and gave him the potion, telling him to find a way to give it to Potter. He said he had the perfect method in which to do so, and then popped away. It was like, seconds later that he came back and said it was done. He told me that Potter always drinks water from a bottle on his bedside table. I knew Potter wouldn't notice it when he drank the water. I took the curse off Dobby and Obliviated him."

Snape was stunned. There were so many things in the plan that could have gone wrong - it was, in essence, the plan of a child. The way he'd planned to frame Weasley had a huge amount of flaws in it that the Hogwarts Express could have driven through. The fact that so much of it, to this point, had gone off without a hitch was terrifying. It just went to show that sometimes, the people who acted the least suspicious were the ones you needed to watch. And it wasn't the first time that Snape feared that he was failing spectacularly in his spying duties.

But everyone else had, too. Dumbledore had regaled him with the story of how Dobby's magic had hurt Lucius when he had tried to harm Harry. Dobby had not been suspicious of Zabini in the slightest, as his magic had not kicked in to stop the plan from going forward.

His mind felt as though it could not process any more information as the Aurors wrapped up their interrogation of Zabini. He watched as the Aurors departed, dragging Zabini with them to the Ministry of Magic, to whatever fate awaited him there.

"Severus, take Draco to the hospital wing." Dumbledore's voice was quiet. "Have Poppy see to him."

"draco?" Snape called, but he knew it would be no use. As he looked upon the boy, he saw that his eyes were closed, and he gave no response as Snape gently touched his shoulder.

Draco had fainted dead away in his chair.