14. Hogwarts reacts.

Professor Snape was silent as he walked the halls, holding Draco tight in his grip. After his outburst, the boy followed sullenly, and had not spoken again either.

When Harry had come to get him, in spite of knowing better, he'd still hoped Draco merely attempted some stupid prank. Not that Draco was the kind of boy to pull pranks in a Potion's office, but it would've been better than this. All year he'd watched him and tried to reach him, but while in previous years he had been able to get the boy to talk, this year he'd just seen him get more withdrawn and more sullen towards him. Oh, Draco had always been polite, but the signs had been there. All year he'd seen him slipping away. Yet he had hoped, had to hope, until he saw the items Draco had been handling. For more than four years he'd tried to reach the boy, and he had failed.

He knew Draco was right, no one under sixteen was sent to Azkaban for anything less than the Unforgivables. He'd probably be placed with some renowned wizard family, who would be expected to raise him and keep him out of trouble. And with Lucius' influence that family would be no better than his own. There would be no one to stop him from becoming a Death Eater as soon as he came of age.

They reached Albus' office and he roughly pushed Draco on one of the chairs, instructing him to sit and stay seated.

Albus sat at his desk and offered him a chair, but Professor Snape declined. He leaned against the Headmaster's desk, preferring to stand.

As they waited for Minerva to arrive, Draco started to lose his nerve and squirmed in his chair, visibly uncomfortable.

They didn't have long to wait. While Minerva's office was slightly further from Albus' office than his own, he'd still had to reset the wards on his office. Minerva came in, visibly upset. Professor Snape sneered, couldn't the woman ever control her emotions?

Once again Professor Snape told what happened, in slightly more detail. He only left out the bit about Harry's Map, because of Draco's presence.

Once again, Albus asked Draco for an explanation, and this time the boy did not raise his voice as much as he had, yet his words were little better. He also insisted he did not know who had given him the manticore blood and the Devil's fig, and while Professor McGonagall sniffed at that, Professor Snape believed him. The Malfoys were much too smart to simply hand their son the poison, most likely Draco had met with a hooded stranger -or an acquaintance he wouldn't recognise when masked- and had received the contraband from him.

But believe him or not, he was of course prepared for this. He took the small vial of Veritaserum out of his pocket, which he'd thought to grab before leaving his office. Minerva had the gal to actually frown as he administered a few drops to Draco, but since she'd been the one to doubt Draco's story there was little she could say to protest. He sneered at her as Draco repeated what he'd already told them.

As they finished the interrogation, Albus cast a restraining spell on Draco, as well as a ward blocking all sound.

"It's a pity he refused to implicate his father," Minerva said.

"Lucius is too smart for that, he knew there was a risk Draco would get caught," Professor Snape pointed out.

"And he still allowed Draco to try?"

Professor Snape shrugged. "I'm sure he encouraged him. As Draco pointed out, he's not sixteen yet. All that'll happen is he'll get placed under supervision of the Wizengamot, which means he'll be placed in care of some other Wizarding family. And with Lucius' connections that will be a family the Malfoys approve of. He'll take the Mark on his seventeenth birthday."

"He'll be well out of here," Minerva remarked, and Snape flinched. That was too much like what Draco had said. Minerva noticed his pained expression. "Oh, he's a Malfoy. Did you truly believe you could keep him from following in his father's footsteps?"

"I had hoped so. Foolishly, as it turned out," Professor Snape replied bitterly.

"Such hopes aren't foolish," Albus put in. "After all, we do have the students here for the better part of the year."

"Nevertheless, I failed," Snape replied shortly.

"Few people are beyond help," Albus said. "Do you believe he had a chance?"

Professor Snape frowned. He wasn't sure what Albus was getting at. Draco was intelligent and could be polite and even caring if he chose to be. Yet his father and those around him had a great influence on him. And as long as Lucius had Fudge wrapped around his finger, it was unlikely that influence would be stopped, no matter what the Wizengamot's intentions might be.

"Until last summer, I had a good report with him. After he learned I was a spy it's gone downhill. It's a moot point now, Lucius will make sure he's placed with a family like the Zabini's or the Parkinson's, who always kept their hands clean but will allow Lucius free access to raise his son any way he wants."

Albus looked thoughtful. "We might be able to stop that from happening."

"You can't suggest not calling the Aurors," Minerva said.

Albus shook his head. "No. But if a dependable, well-known wizard or witch would step forward to take custody of Draco, it might be possible to convince the Wizengamot to place Draco with them. And he would finally be out of his father's hands."

Professor Snape frowned. The Headmaster had a lot of influence, and he'd certainly managed a lot in the past, but he wasn't sure if he'd allow himself to be hopeful again. He had been once, and look where it'd got him. It was easier to expect the worst, that way there weren't so many disappointments. Trying to show little interest he asked, "Do you have anyone in mind?"

-0-

It was after midnight before Professor McGonagall came to get Harry. He had been sleeping –he'd pulled the curtains around his bed and pretended to be asleep so Ron wouldn't ask him any questions, but he'd quickly fallen asleep for real. Even so it's been a restless sleep and he started when Professor McGonagall woke him.

"Wha?!"

"Sh, don't wake everyone up," she said.

He nodded and quickly got up. Since he hadn't intended to truly fall asleep he was still fully dressed, apart from his shoes. He put them on, raked a hand through his hair –it always got messier when he slept, even for a couple hours- and followed Professor McGonagall to the Headmaster's office.

He found Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape waiting for him. Draco was gone.

"Sit down, Harry," the Headmaster said. "Lemon drop?"

Harry took one and sat down.

"Where's Malfoy?" he asked.

"The Aurors have taken him to the Ministry in London," the Headmaster said. "Which is why we needed to speak to you tonight, in spite of the time. Since you were the one to discover him the Aurors will want to talk to you. Certainly at the hearing, when Draco will appear for the Wizard court, the Wizengamot. Possibly even before then."

Harry could hear in the Headmaster's voice there was more. He thought for a moment. "The Map," he realised.

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Those present at the hearing won't know about your Map and I'd rather not anyone found out about it. Most noticeably Malfoy Senior. However, lying before the Wizengamot is not something I like to ask of you."

"It's better than Malfoy finding out about it, we might as well tell Voldemort himself," Harry replied with conviction. Then he frowned. "Will they use Veritaserum?"

"They rarely do, for underage wizards, although Mr Malfoy might suggest its use," the Headmaster said. "But even without that the pressure of the questioning can be quite heavy. I do not want you to make this decision lightly."

"I am sure, sir," Harry replied. "It was bad enough Crouch had it a good part of last year, if it becomes public knowledge half the Slytherins will be trying to get their hands on it." Then he suddenly remembered Professor Snape and added, "Sorry, sir."

"I'm afraid your assessment is quite correct in this case," Professor Snape replied tersely. "However, the Headmaster is correct, there will be a lot of pressure on you. There are ways to lie without being discovered, unfortunately I can not teach you in just a few days. The only thing I can advise you is to chose you words carefully, and to stay as close to the truth as possible. Don't say you saw or heard Malfoy, say you noticed him and you may not have to specify how exactly you managed that. To some extend, this method works even while under the influence of Veritaserum."

If the situation weren't so serious, Harry would have laughed. Professor Snape teaching him how to tell lies? But as it was, he just thought about what Snape had said, it did make sense. "I understand, sir."

"Good," Professor Snape nodded shortly.

Professor McGonagall looked rather disapproving, or perhaps it was worried, Harry wasn't sure. But although he liked her, he trusted the Headmaster and Professor Snape in this. If they thought he could handle it, even if they did caution him, he'd probably be okay.

"Other than where the Map is concerned, tell them the truth as well as you can. And just in case, I will take full responsibility for asking you to keep quiet," the Headmaster said, and Harry nodded again.

"What about anyone else -can I tell my friends in the morning?"

"I will make an announcement at breakfast. It won't hurt if you tell them before then if they ask you. Oh, and if people like Rita Skeeter or anyone you don't know tries to contact you, tell them to speak to one of us."

"Definitely, sir," Harry replied vehemently. He'd had enough of that Skeeter woman last year, and while he didn't know if she'd try to pull anything him again after Hermione caught her, he'd do his best to avoid her at all cost. He noticed a small smile on the Headmaster's lips and he wondered if the Headmaster knew what Hermione had done.

"Then I believe it is well past your bed time."

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir."

As he got up, Professor Snape moved as if to stop him, then looked at Professor McGonagall and hesitated. But before Harry could ask what it was, Snape decided to speak. "Seems I owe you again."

Harry started. He hadn't even thought of it like that. Having grown up in the Muggle world, he wasn't entirely comfortable with the entire concept of Wizard's Debt. "It was just luck I saw him on my Map."

"Perhaps. Yet even if anyone else could have seen him, I doubt many would have wondered what a Slytherin was doing in my office. Or cared enough to find out."

Harry wasn't sure what to say. He had never trusted Draco and he'd had a bad feeling the moment he saw the small dot marked 'Draco Malfoy'. Yet he was well aware he'd had similar feelings in his first year, then about Professor Snape. Rather misplaced, as it turned out. And he'd never get used to being treated as a hero, Professor Snape at least didn't take part in that most of the time. Not that he really thought he'd start now, but still. "It was just luck," he repeated. "I didn't do anything special."

"Nevertheless, it is our way," Professor Snape said. "And –thirty points for Gryffindor."

"Thank you, sir," Harry managed.

Professor Snape nodded briefly and Harry knew he was dismissed. He made his way back to Gryffindor tower quickly,

Back in his room, Ron woke as he was getting undressed.

"Where'd you come from?" he asked.

"Sh, tomorrow," Harry said, pointing at the beds of their roommates.  Again, against his expectations, he fell asleep quickly.

-0-

The next morning he woke to find Ron standing next to his bed.

"You'll be late for breakfast! And you have to tell us what happened."

Harry sat up, the previous evening slowly coming back to him.

"Come on. First you come back early from your rounds, you don't want to talk to anyone, then you go sneaking around in the middle of the night -we figured you'd run into trouble with some of the Slytherins or something. But Dean was up early this morning and he says we're thirty points up. You got to tell us!"

With a sigh, Harry got up and grabbed his robes, ignoring Ron's impatient stare, and those of Neville, Dean and Seamus. Only when he'd got dressed he answered, "I can tell you now, the Headmaster will tell everyone at breakfast. I caught Draco last night, he tried to kill Professor Snape. Was about to release poison gas in his office."

Ron's eyes bulged. "What? Wow, that's big."

"He tried to –to kill Professor Snape?" Neville asked.

"What'd Malfoy do that for, he's a Slytherin for Chrissakes," Dean wondered. Of course, Harry realised, there were rumors but few people knew for a fact that Professor Snape had been a Death Eater and a spy. He looked warningly at Ron, for he wasn't sure whether that was supposed to come out now, but Ron wasn't the one to bring it up.

"Well, you know how they say Snape was one of them?" Seamus said. "I guess maybe he was a Death Eater and got on the wrong side of them or something."

Harry shrugged and glared at Ron again and Ron, who'd opened his mouth to reply, shut it again.

"So did the Headmaster give you those points then?" Dean inquired.

"Professor Snape did," Harry replied.

"Professor Snape… gave you points?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Well, I guess, if Harry really stopped Malfoy from killing him," Neville said hesitantly.

"Hey, you realise what this means? No more Malfoy!" Ron realised with a wide-eyed smile.

"He'll definitely be expelled," Seamus agreed.

"Think he'll be sent to Azkaban?" Dean asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. He was yelling and saying he wouldn't be going there since he wasn't sixteen yet, but I don't really know that much about Wizarding laws. The Headmaster called the Aurors, they took Malfoy to the Ministry last night, and there'll be a hearing."

"Yeah, that's right," Neville knew. "Under sixteen they won't sent you to Azkaban unless you use one of the Unforgivables, I think I heard that somewhere."

"Let's go down to the Great Hall," Ron suggested. "See what the Headmaster has to say."

Of course they had to stop in the common room and tell Hermione, as well as Lavender, Ginny and a bunch of other students who happened to overhear. All in all, they were almost late for breakfast.

Upon entering the Great Hall, it was clear the Slytherins also knew about Draco -their table was in uproar. Everyone was milling around Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and the other fifth years. Harry wondered if Professor Snape had meant to tell them, or whether they had found Draco missing and gone looking for him. Probably even the Slytherins would care about one of their own, even if they were cold and hard to outsiders. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws looked rather confused and a few were over at the Slytherin table, trying to find out what had happened. Several came up to them when they noticed Harry and his friends were in on it as well, but before Harry could explain, the Headmaster called their attention.

"Everyone please be seated."

As everyone scrambled to their seat, the hubbub slowly died down.

Harry turned in his seat and looked around the Great Hall. He didn't even hear the Headmaster's exact words as he looked around at the reactions of the other students. There was shock, puzzlement –the Headmaster did not say outright that Professor Snape had been a Death Eater, or had been spying on Voldemort- and everyone seemed to be eyeing him again. The Slytherins looked at him strangely, some almost appreciative and others frowning. Clearly most of them didn't hate their Head of House like Draco had, yet they were uncomfortable it had been him who'd discovered Malfoy. Harry felt himself wish it'd been someone else, too, although Professor Snape had been right. No one else would've had the means, or likely would've bothered to check it out even if they had seen Draco somehow. Professor Snape had a carefully blank expression, as usual when he wasn't frowning.

Harry was glad when the Headmaster finished speaking and the food appeared on the plates, even though this meant anyone who hadn't been there in the common room now asked him for more detail. At least he could eat and give short answers between bites.

The barrage didn't stop until the first period had started and even during History of Magic he could hear the whispers as Lavender and Parvati were talking in their seats at the rear of the class. He really should get used to this kind of thing!

Then as he left the classroom to go to Divination with Ron, Professor McGonagall intercepted them. "Harry, there is an Auror here to see you. The Headmaster's office. Ron, please tell Professor Trelawney Harry will be late."

Ron looked wide-eyed, but nodded. "Yes, Professor."

Harry followed their Head of House as she walked the halls. He wasn't sure what to expect, he sure hoped it wasn't anyone too much like Moody. To his relief he found a young woman in the Headmaster's office, and the Headmaster nor Professor McGonagall made any move to leave.

So, Harry went over everything -apart from the Map- again, and to his relief the Auror did not question how exactly he had known Draco was in Professor Snape's office. Before the period was half over he was back on his way to the Divination classroom.

At lunch Harry managed to eat quickly and ignore the stares from the other students, and Defense was al right with just the Gryffindors, but the last period of the day was Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. As it had been at breakfast, for once they didn't form one front. 

Pansy stood with Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis behind her, glaring at him and breathing through her teeth to the point she was almost hissing like a cat. But Zabini and Daphne Greengrass kept well away from Pansy, avoiding her as much as they avoided the Gryffindors.

And Crabbe and Goyle just looked lost without Draco to tell them what to do. They didn't as much as glare at Harry and even forgot to protest when Hagrid called them forward to groom Lumpy. Hagrid beamed as he assured them once again the Graphorn was quiet and gentle, and soon suggested they'd take a turn riding him. To Harry's astonishment, Crabbe let Hagrid help him up in the saddle and rode the lumbering beast around the paddock, and Goyle followed.

"They'd probably jump in the lake if someone told them, now Malfoy isn't there to stop them," Ron remarked, rolling his eyes.

Harry kept a closer eye on Pansy than on the Graphorn, he didn't trust her when she was in this state. But none of the Slytherins tried anything, during class or afterwards.

-0-

After the Auror left no one but the other students spoke to him about the incident, there were no owls and no reporters, something Harry was quite grateful for.

He was more fortunate than Professor Snape. Dennis Creevey told everyone how Professor Snape had received a Howler during third period, although no one knew what it said, Snape had let it explode rather than open it. And rumor had it several Aurors had come to see him after classes. Certainly Snape was in as bad a mood as Harry had ever seen him by dinnertime. A Hufflepuff lost ten points when she came in and barely brushed against him in the doorway.

Little happened Friday, except Professor McGonagall informed him Draco's hearing would be on Monday, and he'd be excused from all classes that day. In the evening, during their study group, Professor Snape walked out on the Animagus exercises, stating he couldn't concentrate and slamming the door so hard the ancient wood sported a crack until the Headmaster quietly repaired it.