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Part Three

"You aren't going back to your Muggle relatives for the summer."

There have been people Harry would have given anything to hear say that. None of them are Theodore Nott sitting at a library table with a glitter in his eyes that looks as though he's going to cast the strangling ropes hex on the Dursleys.

"Yes, I am," Harry says.

"No, you're not."

Susan is standing behind Nott, and she has her arms folded and her nose pointed at the ceiling. Harry kind of hates her right now. "I haven't told all the professors or the public, Harry, because I'm not an idiot," she says, apparently reading Harry's thoughts. "But I did have to tell someone who can help me protect you."

"You don't even know what it's like!"

"Do tell us."

Nott has a friendly, inviting smile. Nott never has a friendly, inviting smile. Harry shakes his head.

Susan sits down next to Nott and reaches across the table to clasp Harry's hand. Harry lets her, but with a glare. Susan doesn't even flinch. "Harry," she says softly. "It's not right, what your family is doing to you—"

"I just told you that you don't even know what it's like!"

"You said enough that I can guess." Susan squeezes his hand comfortingly. "And you do have options. Maybe those are your only family left in the Muggle world, but there are other relatives in the wizarding one. Just more distant. Or you could get one of our families to take you in, even if they're not related."

"Why?" Harry demands. He really wants to tear his hair out, but Susan is still hanging onto one hand, and just doing it with his other one isn't really satisfying. "Family's everything, I know that! People are convinced I'm descended from Slytherin just because I can speak to snakes!"

"That gift is the reason that one of our families could take you in," Nott says softly. "Although mine would not be a good choice." Harry remembers that he wanted to do something about the relatives Nott has on the other side and opens his mouth, but Nott is talking on. "Normally, blood claims would be everything, yes. But given that you're Lord Slytherin and we've been following you for months? Certain families would honor that claim. They wouldn't want to make their children look dishonorable or as if they didn't mean their loyalty to you."

Harry feels a painful flare of hope, and stifles it, the same way he's been stifling the hope that he could live with Black.

He takes a deep breath. "There are special protections set up around the Dursleys' house that mean I can't live anywhere else."

"What kind of special protections?"

"Protections based on my mother's blood. Even if I could somehow move, the Dursleys would have to move in with me. And I'm sure that no one likes me enough to agree to that." Although the image of the Dursleys rattling around some big house with moving portraits and ghosts and magic on a daily basis is enough to make Harry smile.

Nott and Susan exchange glances. Then Susan nods, and Nott nods, and they get up and stalk out of the library together.

Harry blinks as he watches them go. But at least it seems as if they didn't expect that answer and now need to give up and go away.

Once again, he's wrong.

Hannah Abbott comes running up to him at lunch the next day, her eyes wide and bright blue. "Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry," she breathes. "I—I overheard Susan talking about it, and it's awful that you have to live behind blood protections!"

Harry stares at her. "What?"

"Blood protections." Hannah brushes some tears out of her eyes and then leans over and impulsively hugs him. Harry freezes in place, even though the hug feels nice. He's not used to having semi-strangers do this. "Those are—they're such awful magic, they're Dark and they gradually drain the strength of any wizard or witch who uses them! Sure, they might keep you safe for a little while, but then eventually you're left too weak to face whoever you were hiding from in the first place!"

"Wait a minute," Harry says dazedly.

"You're brave enough to make that sacrifice, but you shouldn't have to." Hannah hugs him one more time and pulls away from him. Her face is determined. "I know that I didn't really believe in the Heir of Slytherin thing except as something awful, but now I see where Susan was coming from. It lets us protect each other, and you don't have to be a Hufflepuff. If I declare myself a follower of yours now, do you think that will be enough time so you could come stay with my mum and dad this summer, if you wanted?"

"I—have no idea," Harry says, because he doesn't know anything about the time limit.

Hannah shrugs. "Oh, well. I'll ask Susan." She pats Harry's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Harry. We'll solve this problem one way or the other. We can't have you too weak to fight! It could be disastrous for all of us!"

She marches away with the clenched jaw and steely determination of a Hufflepuff on a mission. Harry stares after her, and then looks at Ron and Hermione. Ron has frozen. Hermione's eyes are huge.

"What just happened?" Harry asks.

A school owl brings him a message from Dumbledore the next morning, containing the password to his office, Blood Pops. Harry shakes his head as he stands up. The message didn't say what Dumbledore wanted to talk to him about, but Harry's sure he can guess.

Bloody insane Hufflepuffs.

As he's walking towards the gargoyle, he hears footsteps behind him. Harry turns around, and blinks as he sees Malfoy there. But Malfoy can't have anything to do with him, so Harry tries to turn around and keep walking.

"Potter! Wait up!"

Harry does, frowning. Does Malfoy have a meeting with Dumbledore at the same time? But he can't see why Malfoy would want to talk about insane Hufflepuffs.

"What do you want?" he asks, when Malfoy draws level with him.

Malfoy pants for a second. He must have run after Harry from the Great Hall. But at last, he straightens with a gasp, and says in a rush, "Nott and Greengrass told me that you'd probably be going to see the Headmaster soon. They can't go right now because they have Arithmancy. But I don't, so I'm going to come with you."

Harry blinks twice this time. Then he says, "You have no reason to come with me."

"You need someone with you."

"Why?"

"The Headmaster's probably going to try to convince you to stay with those awful Muggles," Malfoy says impatiently. "And because you're as self-sacrificing as a unicorn, you'll probably agree. We can't have our Lord weakening himself. If you have someone with you to poke holes in the Headmaster's arguments, you're less likely to."

Harry takes a deep breath. No, there haven't been any newspaper articles about his home life. Snape hasn't taunted him about it. Harry hasn't even got any concerned looks from his professors or any letters from Black about it.

But the knowledge is still circulating at a level that Harry isn't comfortable with, even if Susan and Nott have tweaked the language about blood protections to make everyone think Harry lives in a house with wizards and he's powering the protection himself.

"Malfoy," Harry says as gently as he can. "I know you don't like me. You don't have to do this just because Nott and Greengrass said so. I don't want to constrain anyone to do anything they don't want to."

Malfoy blinks at him in silence. Then he says, "You think I don't want to be here?"

"Obviously."

"But it's a chance to correct both Dumbledore and you! Why wouldn't I want to?"

Well, okay, put like that, Harry could see why it would sound appealing. But he still shakes his head. "He's not going to change his mind no matter what. He knows that I have to stay—where I'm living." He has no idea what Nott might have told Malfoy. "And he'll just smile at you if you interrupt him and offer you a lemon drop, or something."

Malfoy sneers. "I'd like to see him try."

In the end, Harry can't shake off Malfoy, and he doesn't want to be late to his meeting with Dumbledore. So he rolls his eyes and takes off with one of his "followers" in tow.

It still isn't going to work. And Susan and Nott are interfering busybodies.

"Ah, Harry. And young Mr. Malfoy."

Professor Dumbledore's voice is incredulous, his eyebrows creeping up. Harry feels himself flush all over, and nearly opens his mouth to say that it wasn't his idea for Malfoy to come to Dumbledore's office with him.

But even though that's true, Harry doesn't want to see the way Malfoy will probably look if he says that. Things are going to work out the way Harry thinks they will. Professor Dumbledore will just send him back to the Dursleys, maybe after a little caution about spreading the news of the blood protections around, and Malfoy will only look like a fool.

Harry doesn't have to embarrass him further.

"Um, yes, sir," Harry says, and sits down in one of the chairs in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. Malfoy takes the other with a sniff that says his father uses chairs like this to rest his feet on. Harry doesn't dare look at him.

Professor Dumbledore spends some time looking at Malfoy, but Malfoy doesn't flinch and doesn't say anything. The Headmaster finally looks back at Harry. "Harry," he says, with the kind of gentle disappointment that cuts far deeper than any scolding. "Why did you tell other children about the blood protections?"

"They wanted to know why I couldn't come stay with them during the summer. Or just live somewhere else."

"Ah. In the future, Harry, I think a little, shall we say, creative deception would be necessary in circumstances like this."

"Why?" Malfoy's drawling sneer is as irritating as ever even when he isn't directing it at Harry. "Blood protections are Dark magic, and they do weaken the witch or wizard who uses them. I'd think you would want to keep the little Savior away from magic like that. Sir."

Harry grimaces. Yeah, the misunderstanding that Susan and Nott set up is going to backfire on him now, even if it kind of protects his privacy.

"You don't truly understand the situation, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Dumbledore says in a kind but firm voice, and turns back to Harry.

Oh, shit. Harry could have told Professor Dumbledore that's not the way to handle Malfoy, the same way that he could have told Malfoy Professor Dumbledore's mind will never change. Malfoy puffs up like Neville's toad when he's getting ready to escape his tank..

"You dare to dismiss me?" Malfoy demands. "You dare to hold Harry Potter behind the kind of Dark magic protections that you're always saying the Wizengamot should dismantle?" He seems to savor the words that he speaks next. "Wait until my father hears about this."

Professor Dumbledore stares at Malfoy for a moment, and there's nothing kind or reassuring in his face. Harry finds that he sort of wants to stand up and get between the Headmaster and Malfoy. Malfoy is annoying and a bigot, but no one deserves to be on the end of that sort of glare.

In the end, Professor Dumbledore says only, "The blood magic protections are not the kind you think, Mr. Malfoy."

No, they aren't, Harry thinks. He doesn't really want to go back to the Dursleys, but he agrees with Professor Dumbledore. The blood protections can't be the ones Hannah was upset about, because the Dursleys are Muggles and can't power them.

Professor Dumbledore turns back to Harry and gives him the disappointed look again. Harry winces. "I do ask that you keep the details of the protections to yourself in the future, Harry," he says. "And please discourage the owls I am getting."

"Owls?" Harry asks blankly. If people have already told their parents outside the school and those parents are sending Professor Dumbledore owls, it's news to him.

"Yes, indeed." Professor Dumbledore peers at Harry over the glasses. "From those who claim to be, ah, the followers of Lord Slytherin?" He smiles at Harry, inviting him to share the joke. "They say that I'm keeping you captive in a dangerous situation, and there's no reason to do that, and you can as easily live with one of their families. I believe Mr. Weasley and Miss Abbott are the latest ones who offered, but there have also been owls from Miss Bones, Miss Patil in Ravenclaw, and Mr. Wood."

"Oliver?" Wow, this Lord Slytherin business has got entirely out of hand if Oliver is participating in it.

"Indeed." Professor Dumbledore seems entertained by how astounded Harry is. "So, please do tell them. And please do keep in mind that you are not the only person who is guarded by the blood protections."

Harry winces again. Yes, Aunt Petunia and Dudley are, too. And as much as Harry likes to imagine the Dursleys rattling around in a magical house, it isn't so funny when he thinks about them being tortured to death by Voldemort's followers.

"Yes, sir."

"Wait, that's it?" Malfoy demands. "That wasn't even a fight!"

"Did you anticipate that Harry and I would duel, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Dumbledore chuckles. He seems to have recovered his composure again. "I assure you—"

"No, I mean Potter just gave in! You're making him go back to a situation with Muggles that endangers him just so that, what, the Muggles could be protected? My father used to say that you cared about Harry Potter too much, but you don't! You only care about these people he lives with."

"Mr. Malfoy—"

"Look at him," Malfoy says, and gestures at Harry. "He's too thin, he hasn't heard of half the things he would have if he'd grown up knowing about our world, he flinches at loud noises, he's utterly surprised when people give him hugs. If he was growing up in a healthy situation, then your phoenix is a chicken with some Fire Charms cast on it."

Harry stares at Malfoy cross-eyed. Malfoy stares back at him, unrepentant, and then Harry does think he understands. Malfoy is here for the chance to yell at the Headmaster more than anything else. And maybe pretend to himself and other people that Harry just turned down his offer of friendship on the train because of ignorance, rather than because Malfoy insulted Ron.

Harry pushes away the thoughts and faces Professor Dumbledore again. The professor is watching him with deep sadness in his eyes.

He says, "Harry, how would you say your family treats you?"

Harry lifts his chin. There are lots of things he might say, but he's not going to say any of them with Malfoy here. "They don't like me, and I don't like them," he says. "They never told me about the magical world before I got here, and they called me a freak a lot."

All of that's true. None of it's a lie.

Professor Dumbledore sighs faintly. "That is regrettable, and I wish that your Aunt Petunia had shown you more love as the last piece of her sister, Mr. Potter." Harry notes that the Headmaster isn't calling him "Harry" anymore. Maybe he thinks it would be better not to while Malfoy's in the room. "But none of it is enough to prevent you from returning. And none of it relates to the blood protections the house is under, which are not of the kind that Mr. Malfoy is envisioning."

Harry nods. He expected all that. He opens his mouth to explain that he'll be happy to return to the Dursleys—well, not happy, but resigned—but he still hopes things work out with the custody situation in Black's case.

"See? They never told him about the magical world! What kind of guardians would do that?"

"People who thought it was more important for Mr. Potter to learn other things, such as the value of family," Professor Dumbledore says. He really does sound as though he's losing patience with Malfoy. Harry winces at the thought of that. Malfoy won't be cowed by disappointed looks the way Harry is, so Professor Dumbledore would probably do something else. "And I must say, Mr. Malfoy, I am concerned about the level of respect that you are showing me. Do calm down."

Malfoy opens his mouth, but Harry kicks him sideways. It's not subtle. It doesn't have to be. He just has to keep Malfoy from getting in trouble. And at least now Malfoy is glaring at him instead of Dumbledore, so it works.

"Thank you for talking with me, sir," Harry says, because he doesn't think he should leave the meeting on that note. Nott would probably be proud of him for being all calm and gracious, he thinks. "Come on, Malfoy." He hauls on Malfoy's shoulder until the prat gets to his feet, all stiffness and trying to stick his nose in the air.

"Harry."

I'm back to Harry when I do what he wants, Harry thinks, but he doesn't have a real basis for that thought. He turns back around slowly.

Professor Dumbledore smiles at him. "You might think," he said, "about why titles such as that of Lord Slytherin fell out of favor."

"Why do you think they did, sir?"

"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that," Professor Dumbledore says airily. "But I would be interested to see what you come up with through your own research."

Of course. Harry just sighs and nods back, and manages to get Malfoy onto the moving staircase through the dint of shoving at his shoulders when he stops and looks back as if he's going to hurl more insults at Dumbledore.

At least Malfoy has the sense to wait until they're out of the moving staircase and also a few corridors away from the gargoyle. He spins to face Harry, his hands gesturing so fast through the air that Harry has to duck.

"What was that?" Malfoy snaps. "Theo and Daphne have been telling me all about this grace and political acumen you supposedly have, and you just rolled over and played dead like a Crup who wanted someone to rub his belly!"

Harry laughs in spite of himself. "Malfoy, they don't think I'm a good politician, either. They probably told you that to get you to help."

Malfoy opens his mouth, then closes it. Then he opens it again and says, "Then they should have known this would be a disaster! I was counting on you fighting back, and I planned my strategy accordingly. They should have sent someone else, or insisted you wait until they could come with you!"

Harry shrugs. "Yeah, it's strange. I don't know why they wanted you involved."

He suspects a few things, though. One is that Nott and Greengrass, and whoever else might have planned this, wanted to draw Malfoy closer to Harry. He's been on the outskirts of the group and grumpy about half the time when he is there. Something like this would bind him closer, if only because he'd be indignant about the waste of his time.

The other…

Harry puts the thought aside. He has to get to Divination. The new professor, Tatiana Orrey, is actually interesting, and is teaching them some of the simple techniques that make a good diviner. The only downside is that Harry and Ron have to do actual homework for the class now.

But the thought keeps lingering in the back of Harry's head as he goes through Transfiguration, Charms, and Herbology later the same day, and it sprouts fully when he's lying in bed in the Gryffindor Tower. He sighs into the darkness.

The other possible reason that Nott and Greengrass wanted to do it this way is that they wanted Harry to see Professor Dumbledore wouldn't help him. They wanted Harry to hear the Headmaster say that Harry shouldn't have said anything about his family or the blood protections. Nott and Greengrass probably think that this will alienate Harry from Professor Dumbledore and make him easier to manipulate.

Harry shakes his head and rolls over. Light snores come from Neville's bed. Ron mumbles something about "…three more" and turns to bury his head in the pillow.

The thing is, Harry already knew that Professor Dumbledore would say that. He already accepted it. Nott and Greengrass are just—Harry doesn't know. Not pathetic, exactly. But too eager. Too convinced that Harry will dance to their tune for the privilege of being Lord Slytherin or something.

Harry doesn't want or need this Lordship title. He wonders idly if he should just tell them that outright.

But no, he has and they don't believe him.

Harry finally sighs himself to sleep.

"So Professor Dumbledor refuses to let you go somewhere else," Susan says. Her smile is bright, and Harry doesn't trust it a whit. They're at the groupies table in the library again. "That's just the way we planned it."

Harry eyes Susan. "You?"

"Yes," Nott says dreamily. He's sitting next to Susan, and it's one of the few times Harry can remember him smiling. Combined with Susan's smile, it's not at all reassuring. Nott raps his fingers on the table a few times. "We knew he would say that. And now, given that we have confirmation from both you and Malfoy that the Headmaster of Hogwarts knows about your situation and won't change it, we can go ahead with the deeper political plans."

Harry narrows his eyes. "Professor Dumbledore is Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, too. And Supreme Mugwump. What makes you think you can challenge him?"

"Because he doesn't pay enough attention to all the moving political pieces," Nott says, and winks at Harry, which is unnerving. "If he did, he would have convinced you to abandon the Lord Slytherin title the moment he heard about it."

"He said something about how I should do research on why the title fell into disfavor."

"Yes, you should."

Harry relaxes a little. He feels better if Nott actually says that. Then it means they're not trying to trap him into something evil by making him Lord Slytherin.

(Probably).

"Now," says Susan, and she sounds nearly as dreamy as Nott, "all we need to do is present the evidence that he knows about it and won't change things in the Wizengamot, and we only need one person willing to speak to introduce the subject. Then, per the laws that Headmaster Dumbledore himself supported, they'll have to debate things, and most likely vote to remove you from your relatives."

"Why, though?"

"Blood protections of that kind are illegal." Nott's eyes gleam. "The laws that Dumbledore supported said that any notification of their existence on a structure will necessitate a vote. And that vote will mean either you are removed or they are dismantled—at which point there's no reason to have you stay in a Muggle home."

Harry flinches. He doesn't want Nott and Susan to get in trouble for doing something like this. He shakes his head and casts a Privacy Charm around the table. Susan's eyes widen a little. Nott watches him.

"They aren't that kind of blood protections," Harry says quietly.

"What do you mean?" Susan asks.

"They aren't the kind that there are laws against," Harry says. "That are powered by witches or wizards and drain them. I'm the only wizard living there, and they aren't powered by me. They're powered by my mum's sacrifice before she died. That's why I have to live with my aunt and cousin. They share her blood, so they keep the spells alive.'

Susan blinks and blinks, and blinks again. Harry has the idea that she doesn't know what to do.

Nott bursts out laughing.

Harry eyes him sideways. Nott manages to raise a hand and get himself under control, but it takes a long moment. And when he does, there are still little snorts of hilarity making their way out of his nose.

"Theo?" Susan asks primly.

"Potter—you're saying—" Nott's eyes gleam. "They're powered by your mother's sacrifice?"

"Yes," Harry says warily.

"The sacrifice of a dead witch?"

"Yes."

Susan seems to catch on, because her hands fly to her mouth, but she doesn't say anything. So Nott says it for her, through an icy smile.

"That makes them necromantic blood protections, Potter. The kind that are so illegal and so Dark the Wizengamot banned than outright in 1779. They must be dismantled the instant they're found, and any wizard or witch living under them removed from the area for their own safety."

Nott sounds deliriously happy. Harry doesn't think that anything that makes him sound that way can be great, and would say so, but he doesn't get the chance before Nott goes sweeping on, practically burbling, his eyes shining.

"And it means that Dumbledore can be investigated, if he was the one who put you there in the first place and insisted you had to stay there. Yes, it's not the best solution, and he probably won't fall politically, because he'll be able to spin this as trying to keep you safe, not as deliberately using necromancy. But he'll still have to defend himself, and there's no way that he'll be able to justify leaving you with the Muggles. Oh, this is perfect." And Nott throws back his head and laughs like a wolf howling.

Harry leans forwards. "But don't you think that's kind of risky?"

"What's the risk?" Nott's eyes are shining, and he reaches across the table and pats Harry on the shoulder. "It won't backfire on us. We can send an anonymous owl to the Ministry with the details, and they'll go out and investigate. Even the accusation would be awful. It'll be better for Dumbledore to let them investigate than to try and hide the knowledge."

"But Dumbledore could protect you from the other side," Harry says, trying to imitate the tone that Nott used the one time he mentioned it. "He could do it better than I could because he's more powerful. Doesn't that mean you want to leave him alone?"

Nott stops laughing. He stares at Harry with a clear, blank face. Harry tries to maintain his composure as he stares back. He's pretty sure he doesn't succeed.

"No," Nott finally whispers. "Because I don't trust him. He could demand that I betray my family and other people as the price of saving me, and he could take aim at me directly if I waited until I was older to request sanctuary from him. Besides, I have a Lord already." He flashes a sharp smile at Harry. "One I'm going to save from an abusive Muggle home."

It's the first time that he's referred to it that way, and Harry flinches. Susan gives Nott a scolding look and strokes Harry's arm for a minute. "I'm sorry, Harry. But Theo is right. It's really better for you to be away from them. And if Dumbledore has to answer for a few silly decisions he made, then he should. No one is above the law." It sounds like something she's been told a lot.

Harry sighs and stares at Nott for a second. He doesn't understand all of Nott's motives, doesn't trust all of them, but Nott is putting a lot on the line to try and get Harry away from the Dursleys. He put a lot of thought into this, too.

Doesn't that matter? Doesn't that mean that Harry owes him something, even if his being away from the Dursleys benefits Nott, too, in some obscure fashion?

Nott has stopped moving and is watching him. Harry nods to him. "Please send that owl to the Ministry," he says. "Thank you. And—can I call you Theo?"

For some reason, Susan chuckles at that and mutters, "I told you so."

Nott blinks, and blinks again. Harry wonders if he's offended him somehow. Well, he told everyone he was no good at this Lordship business. He watches as Nott shifts his weight in his seat, and seems to think, and finally looks over and rakes his gaze up and down Harry with a determined glint in his eye.

"Yes," Theo says. "If I can call you Harry."

Harry smiles. "Done."

Harry doesn't regret his decisions when it comes to Theo. But he does sort of regret the sheer chaos they end up unleashing.