Dancing with Fire

The Final Task is announced two weeks before finals, and sense no one is really sure what the fuck is going to happen in a maze and Hermione is his competition for Top Of Class, Draco hasn’t gotten an ounce of sleep. When he’s not studying or doing homework, he’s getting together with Winky and trying to figure out how to keep Harry alive, and when he’s not doing either of those he’s with Poppy who he is apparently indebted to. In all honesty he loves learning more about medical magic, but he’s not getting a grade for this so what’s the point other than to further exhaust himself?

He’s so tired that Severus is worried, which is an issue because if he doesn’t fix it soon then his godfather will tell his mother and Draco values his sanity thank you very much. 

But because he’s so tired and also a little busy being dragged to class by Pansy, he almost thinks the scene before him isn’t real. 

See, he’s never seen Luna cry the entire time he’s known her. Luna doesn’t do crying. She does vaguely disappointed frowns or these heartbreaking looks at best but Draco’s never,  not once, seen her cry. So when she barrels out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and directly into his chest, Draco’s a little confused, a little alarmed, and then very pissed off. 

“What happened?” He asks in Japanese to comfort her, pulling back to wipe at her eyes. His friends crowd around her like a full body wall, which he expects from Pansy and Blaise but it’s nice that Millie and Theo do it too. 

Another big red flag is that Luna doesn’t answer his question, she just grasps at his robes with shaky hands, which brings his Red Flag List to three. Luna loves answering questions, even if she’s spewing actual bullshit and knows it. Sometimes she likes to lead him to an answer in the most confusing way possible if he’s being a dick, or give some silly reply just so a reply is given. And the clothes! She doesn’t cling to people! She’s always so independent, she’s had to take care of her father her whole life for Merlin’s sake! And here she is, shaking like a leaf and refusing to meet his eyes.

“Luna…” Pansy joins in, rubbing the girl’s back like he images Fleur would do to Gabbi. 

Luna shakes her head, but lets Draco pull her in for a hug. After a moment the shaking dies down and the warning bell rings. She looks up at him with a pathetic excuse for a smile, Draco returns a grimace while he wipes her cheeks again.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” she answers back, “I’m taking some friends and we are going to retire to the tower for a bit.”

A fourth Red Flag! Ravenclaws? Missing class?! What happened?! 

“Please be careful, Dragon.” Is all he gets out of her before she’s rushing off, books held tightly to her chest, and because he’s not a complete idiot, Draco pulls his group of friends closer, casts a Patronus and sends it to Fleur.

If he can’t get the truth out of Luna, Fleur sure as hell can. Plus, Fleur’s always been good at comforting people, it must be an older sibling thing because Ron and the Twins are rather good at it too.

“Do you have any idea what that was about?” Pansy asks as they enter the room. She continues in Japanese, Draco loves her for it. The last thing he needs is people knowing how worried he gets for his family. 

“No clue. I’ve never seen her so upset before.” 

“We’ll get her tea during lunch, Fleur will be with her any minute now.”

That doesn’t make him feel any better. Someone hurt his sweet little cousin in Moody’s class and he’s willing to bet his entire trust fund that the professor didn’t do shit about it. In fact, he probably was the cause. Draco’s half convinced the man is going to torture them in this room one of these days, it has the right look for it. For some ungodly reason there are burners in the room today, flicking with flames that threaten to spill out and burn hair, the reason no one sits in the back right corner. A little more sinister than the dungeons at the Malfoy Manor, and Draco has a personal reason to hate those. 

Maybe he’ll just end up hating every dungeon-looking room he comes across, because if his father torturing him wasn’t enough, his professor is about to do it too.

For a second he’s sure he heard the man wrong. Surely performing illegal curses on underaged wizards is, well, illegal, but then again they did just risk the lives of underaged wizards for a game so maybe anything goes this year. If that’s the case Draco might end up committing a murder. 

Scratch that, Draco will definitely end up committing a murder. 

As far as he’s concerned the only reason Moody gets to live today is because he promises to only practice the  Imperius Curse, which is ‘no big deal’ to him, but apparently isn’t grounds for murder, according to Blaise.

Draco’s still half convinced this is some weird joke, and then Moody makes Padma Patil come to the front of the room. In one swift, concentrated motion Moody casts imperio and suddenly the reality of it all hits him. 

He’s fine, he has a lot of experience dealing the unforgivable that could be dealt with. His limit is five minutes under Crucio and he’d gotten to the point that he could throw Lucius’s Imperius off if he wanted a beating afterwards. Sure, it’s nearly been a year, but he doubts those skills would leave him so quickly.

Draco also knows most of his friends are safe. Belle would never let anyone control her son, Blaise is probably better off than he is at dealing with mind-control. Pansy is too damn stubborn for her own good, and Mr. Parkinson has too many political enemies to not prepare her. Theo’s dad was once a willing Death Eater and Draco knows by the sheer lack of panic in his eyes that he’ll be fine. 

Millie is the only one he’s not sure about, well, her and Crabbe and Goyle. Yeah, they’re not his problem anymore, but they were friends once and their parents are too confident. They’d rather teach their sons how to cast Unforgivables, not withstand them. Daphne is also an issue. She’s eyeing her sister with growing concern and that just can’t be good. 

Padma’s face grows panicked, but she doesn’t move an inch when Moody tells her to. She’s resisting. Good.

“I said spin.”

Padma’s left foot moves once, and just like that she’s lost to it, spinning wherever Moody’s wand sends her, which just so happens to be by the burners. Where the flames are. 

To his happy surprise, most of the Slytherins don’t like this. He sees all types of bullshit hiding techniques, some like his own, hiding their wands underneath tables, some using light jackets, some papers just big enough to hide the woods. Everyone in the room seems to be prepared, but Padma is released at the last second. She goes scrambling back, bumping into desks and chairs. Astoria grabs her by the wrist and leads her back to their table but Draco sees the way she looks in Daphne's direction. 

Fuck. 

Moody clicks his tongue like he’s disappointed teenagers can’t resist spells that Aurors can’t resist, and then eyes the Slytherin side of the room. Draco is already gritting his teeth and getting ready to stand but a loud screech of a chair from behind him makes him stop. 

“Allow me, professor.” Theo says in a voice that’s usually reserved for Justin Finch-Fletchley. Draco has no fucking clue where this is going, but if Theo makes Moody angry enough to lash out that is a perfect excuse to kill him. It’ll hold up in court he’s sure. 

“I usually prefer it when men are rough with me,” Theo wiggles his hips as he walks to the front of the room, something Draco has never seen him do before. It’s so funny he would burst out in laughter under different circumstances. 

“You will be mean to me, won’t you professor?” 

Moody snarls “Shut up.” and Theos mouth closes. Draco didn’t even see him cast imperio. 

He’d be impressed by the wordless magic, but all he’s done is get Theo to stop talking. The boy is still making silent kissy faces at him, blinking quickly as Moody rubs his eyes just for their viewing pleasure. 

“Go.” Moody glares, and then Theo’s feet are walking towards the windows. “Open them.”

No way. No fucking way. Draco doesn’t even care about hiding his wand now because if Moody thinks he’s going to let one of his friends jump out a castle window he is sorely mistaken. 

Theo looks calm with his back facing them. And then Moody says “jump” and Theo hops. Just once standing in place. Just enough to give Draco a miniature heart attack. 

“That’s not what I meant!” 

To their surprise, Theo just shrugs and turns around. “Well I rather think that’s your fault for not being specific, don’t you? Although if you were implying I should jump out the window I’ll have you know that is highly illegal.”

Moody gapes at him, then lifts his wand once more and Draco decides that is more than enough. 

“Excuse me Professor, but you’ve demonstrated an Unforgivable curse twice now, on students nonetheless. I’m sure all of our parents will be furious about this, after all a lesson with a test subject that isn’t their children would be much more appropriate.” 

Moody turns to him slowly. 

“I didn’t imply that our lesson was over, did I, Mister Malfoy?”

No. No he hasn’t. But Draco is very much ready for it to be over. 

“Stand up.”

Fucking hell. Short of killing him, there’s not much Moody can do to actually hurt him, so Draco stands and hopes his years of abuse will finally be of use to him. 

Sure enough, the second he’s standing Moody addresses the rest of the class, telling them that the other curse they’re learning about today is the Cruciatus curse. Apparently the third years weren’t as amused by it as they were when he made a third year Slytherin dance. 

Wait a moment. 

He tested the curses on third years too?

Moody makes the mistake of naming names. Telling them who he used as demonstrations. He fumes at the Slytherins who are called, and holds his breath when Moody tells them of how brave the little blonde Ravenclaw was. 

“Apparently strong will runs in the family, which is why I’ve chosen Mister Malfoy here to prove that theory. Do you think he’ll be able to resist as well?” 

The class is so not interested in finding out. They look terrified for him, some of him because his hair is starting to rise in anger and he’s sure his skin must be growing a rather awful color and he’s two seconds away from lashing out at Moody. 

And then a familiar world is spoken and Draco’s body seizes up.  The word threatens to make his brain shut down, but this is an asshole he already doesn’t trust and his father’s curse was much stronger.

No matter what, he will not scream. 

Draco stands tall, glaring at the professor and letting his anger outweigh the pain. He crosses his arms, letting a wall of violent magic protect him. It’s almost laughable, watching his professor struggle to hurt him, after a full minute Moody gives up. 

“Very impressive, Mister Malfoy.” 

Draco doesn’t say a single word. He collects his things and calmly makes his way out the door. It’s not a surprise that the rest of the class follows him. They only had fifteen minutes left anyways, and no one would want to stay if given the option. 

Pansy and Blaise catch up to him, grab his shaking arms, and lead him to a classroom. He vaguely hears them tell Millie and Theo to get Fleur and Luna, but he’s too busy controlling his anger.

He’s never been this upset before. He’s never had to focus this hard to remain in control, but he keeps thinking of everything. Of Dumbledore’s rash decisions that keep hurting his family. Harry looking dead in King Ralham’s arms. Fleur and Gabbi being manipulated. Ron put in danger. Luna trying to withstand the Cruciatus curse from the same fucker that turned him into a ferret. Sirius left to rot in prison. All the lies, the fucked up shit that keeps happening to them...

Draco’s not really sure what makes him snap, he really couldn’t pinpoint a moment or a cause that’s been boiling up since the beginning of the year, all he knows is one second the classroom is intact, Pansy and Blaise are watching him carefully, and the next second the classroom is destroyed and Fleur is holding his hands, counting down to him in French.

“With us again?” 

Draco takes a deep breath, wincing at the damage he didn’t mean to do. “Did I hurt anyone?” He whispers back.

“Nope. Scared us half to death though, Theo and Millie might need new underwear.”

Draco looks towards Blaise’s voice to see Luna in Pansy’s arms, Millie and Theo cowering in the corner.

 “He’s a Veela...oh my god that makes so much sense what the fuck.” Theo is whispering like it might be the only thing keeping him sane. 

Fleur rolls her eyes, “He is not a Veela. He is less Veela than I, and I am only a quarter.” She turns her full attention back to him, “Don’t worry, I nearly did the same to Luna’s room. Moody is lucky you snapped or he would be dead and we’d both be in Azkaban.”

Draco snorts at that, letting Luna run over and hug him. 

“I told you to be careful, yet you make a little firestorm.” She pouts, glancing at the scorch marks on the walls.

“I know, I know. I lost control.”

“Of course you did. You can’t learn to control something you never touch.” Luna says, pulling back and dusting off his robes, “You should explore all of your ancestry, not just the convenient parts.”

Draco flicks her on the forehead for that, but then he signs and pulls her in for another hug just because that’s his little cousin who just went through mild torture. “How long did he hold you for?”

“Only a few seconds.” Luna whispers after a moment. “I’m scared to tell Ginny, she’s going to react just like you and Fleur did.”

Oh fuck. Ginny...he hopes she hasn’t gone through that and oh-! Draco scrambles away, grabs his wand and casts a quick timbus to see lunch is halfway over. He nods once to himself and then looks at his group of friends. 

“We’ve got to tell Snape.”

Blaise gives him a once over, casts a couple of spells that make Draco feel like his skin is being ripped off, and then nods. “Let’s go visit your godfather, then.”

Snape is not happy about having his private lunch interrupted by almost all of the Slytherin Fourth Years, but once he sees the look in Draco’s eyes he invites them in with minimal complaint.

Because they’ve missed lunch, Snape makes them tea and forces them to sit down. Only after tea is served does he allow Draco to speak.

“It’s Moody, sir. He’s lost his fucking mind-”

“Draco Malfoy!” Snape snaps, glaring something awful. Fleur looks mildly impressed. “I will not hear that type of language from you-”

“He used the Imperius Curse on a third year!” Draco shouts over him, “He crucioed Luna, imperioed Padma Patil and Theo, and he used the Cruciatus on me. The only reason he didn’t get to use it on the rest of us is because I walked out and everyone followed. He tried to make Theo jump out a window, not to mention the burns he tried to inflict on Patil.”

Snape looks at them for a moment, blinking a few times, and it’s one of those moments right before a storm hits. Draco watches his godfather’s face fill with rage, and just to make the whole thing better Pansy says “One moment, if you will, do the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs not have the class now?”

Fuck. Harry’s about to witness someone get tortured and knowing him, that means he’ll end up getting involved and there is no way in hell that Draco will be able to refrain from killing Moody if he lays a single hand on the idiot. 

Riddle is one thing, but a pig-like professor with a bad eye? Hell no. 

Snape starts out the door and Draco can’t not follow him. If they get there and Harry has been cursed he is going to skin Moody alive. Who gives a fuck what’s illegal and what’s considered learning? Poppy would be happy to say it was an experiment gone wrong. Draco’s sure she could figure out something to explain why another professor was cut like a piece of steak. 

Unfortunately Severus has other ideas. He stops one step outside of his office, then turns to Draco and holds him by the shoulders.

“You’re staying here.”

“But-”

“No, Draco. This is not up for discussion. You’ve just been subjected to an Unforgivable while in my care, and you will go and rest.”

“But I’m not-”

Severus grabs one of his arms, holding it up so Draco can watch his own hand shake.

“If you must do something,” Severus says softly, “Get potions ready for other students. Send Luna and Pansy to gather the others affected. I’ll find a way to make sure the Huffles and Lions are taken care of, but I can’t do any of that until I know my precious godson is safe. You’ve been through enough for a lifetime so please. Just...rest.”

Draco looks into black eyes and sighs. He can’t go against Severus now, not after all that. So instead he slinks back into the office and busies himself with healing potions.

Harry is going to do something stupid.  

There’s no way around it. Moody has Neville, fucking Neville,  standing up in front of them all. 

He thought it was bad enough when Hermione nearly burned her hand under Imperius, and while he’s never been fond of Susan Bones, he hates seeing her fight back tears twenty minutes after she burned some of her bangs off. She’s lucky Hermione cast aguamenti in time, but then again that’s how Hermione got dragged into the mess in the first place.

And he knows he’s already in a death tournament, but it’s Neville, and he’s seen what Cruciatus curse does to a person. Harry still has nightmares of Draco’s body twitching on the ground...he’d prefer if his friends didn’t join that mental image.

So yeah, Harry is going to do something stupid, but, as always, it’s for a good cause. 

“Do you know what it is, boy?” Moody asks softly, like the entire class doesn’t know what’s about to happen. Like Harry doesn’t have his arm and excuse to McGonagall at the ready. He can’t wait to tell Sirius. Though, if Draco just caved and told Narcissa about the ferret incident they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. 

Neville nods, Harry tightens his grip on his wand. “Yes, sir...it’s the Cruciatus Curse….said to drive people mad with pain…”

Moody has this sick little glint in his eye, and for some strange reason Ron is nearly purple next to him. 

“Would you care to demonstrate?”

“Professor!” Hermione gasps, “That is a torture technique and highly illegal to use on underage-”

“Perhaps you’d like to take his place, Miss Granger?”

Harry and Ron both grab her arm and squeeze it. They already had to watch her nearly burn her hands, no way in hell are they going to listen to her scream without killing him. Neville squares his shoulders, walking to the front of the room. “I can do it.” 

And no, no that’s not right either! Harry starts to raise his wand, Moody fires the curse with a flick of his wrist, the door flies open. 

He’s never been so happy to see Snape in his entire life. And that’s saying something because the potions master looks furious. 

Snape strides into the room, expelling Moody’s wand and cutting off the sharp, pain-filled scream coming from the boy. He reaches Neville right as the kid’s knees buckle, surprisingly letting him lean on a black-clad shoulder.

“Professor Snape.” Moody snarls, “You’re interrupting my class time.”

“I believe I’m interrupting a torture session, actually.” Snape snarks back, and Harry kinda gets how Draco doesn't hate him. “First third years, then fourth years, tell me, Moody, were you planning on harming first years too?”

“I was harming no one-“

“Then you won’t mind when I cast an Unforgivable on you. It is for,” Snape’s teeth bare like a snarling dog, “educational purposes, you understand.”

“That is quite enough, Severus.” 

Harry looks to the door to see McGonagall fuming mad. She walks in calmly, standing in front of Neville and doesn’t bother asking a question. 

A chill goes down the back of his spine at the sight of her.

Moody still tries to explain, offering a “I was just demonstrating-” before McGonagall has him in a full body bind. She ‘harumps’ once, then turns to the class. 

“Those who have been used as ‘examples’ are to follow Professor Snape to the hospital wing, everyone else return to your dorms. I’ll speak to your teachers and Heads of house, you have the rest of the day off.”

McGonagall turns to Snape, clutching his shoulder. Harry hears her say something like ‘godson’, ‘okay’, and ‘I’ll take care of it” before Snape nods and helps Neville into a standing position. 

Hermione insists that she’s fine and she doesn’t need to go to the hospital wing but Harry and Ron refuse to fucking risk it so they force her to follow Snape, who doesn’t even comment on her tag alongs. He does, however, raise an eyebrow when Harry sneaks away from Hermione’s side and into Draco’s sheet-room.

Harry isn’t at all surprised to see Blaise and Pansy there holding his hands, or LuLu curled in a white ball on his stomach. 

“Not you too,” Draco tries to look annoyed but the relief is clear. “I’ll assume you’ve come here to nag me since you’re not hurt.”

“Which one was it?” Harry asks quietly, stepping around Pansy to cup Draco’s cheek. She pats the side of the hospital chair so Harry sits down on the arm, not caring at all when Pansy uses his back as a pillow. 

“Which one was what-“

Blaise is way too irritated for comfort. “It was the Cruciatus. Again.”

“A full minute,” Pansy adds sadly, “He was under it for a full minute and he didn’t even flinch.”

He has no words for this situation, but he has Draco’s right hand. Harry fiddles with it, playing with his fingers in an effort to calm himself down.

“We could kill him.”

“No.”

“We could tell Narcissa, she’ll take care of it-”

“No, Harry.”

Blaise stifles a laugh, he can feel Pansy shaking behind him.

“Look,” Harry says, “They’re going to find out eventually. McGonagall is probably wrangling the House Heads to write letters home. She’s going to find out tomorrow, wouldn’t you rather her hear it from your own mouth?”

Draco gives him a highly irritated but complaintive look, and Harry knows he’ll never admit it but he’s right. Narcissa would be furious to learn what the man done to her son, and honestly, Harry is all for helping her in whatever murder plot she comes up with.

“He’s right.” Pansy says quietly. 

Draco sighs, “Shut up.” He closes his eyes for a second, taking in a few deep breaths. “Who did he get from your class?”

Harry waits a beat too long, which is apparently grounds for Pansy to get angry. “Who was it Harry? Who did he torture?”

“No one.” Harry says, “Well, kinda. Snape got involved, um...well, it started with Susan Bones. He used the Imperius Curse to make her go by the fires, and she ended up with her bangs on fire, and then Hermione put it out and called Moody a barbarian, so he tried to make her burn her own hands, don’t worry, she didn’t! Ron and I had our wands ready just in case, but she fought it off...and then, well, he was going to use the Cruciatus on Neville but-”

“On Longbottom?!” The Slytherins gasp at the same time.

“That fucking prick!”

“Maybe I should let mum kill him.”

Harry is very confused, and it must show on his face because Blaise nods to Pansy who’s so irritated her explanation kinda sounds like an accusation.

“Harry, how do you not know this? Longbottom’s parents were tortured to death under the Cruciatus. Literally, Bellatrix Lestrange tortured them until they committed suicide. Their bodies were found in a river by the Longbottom estate. He was barely a year old, honestly! Why do you think he lives with his Grandmother and not them?!”

Harry suddenly has a new rage building up inside. Naturally, it was more fucked up than he thought it was. Torturing kids is awful in itself, but using the same methods on a child whose parents died from it? A whole new level.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell Narcissa-”

“I’ll have Winky tell her and Padfoot to firecall us tonight.”

Harry blinks twice. “We’re telling Padfoot?”

Draco glares at him, “If I have to tell my parents you have to tell yours.”

And okay, that seems reasonable, but if they’re bargaining right now, Harry has something he kinda wants.

“Deal. But, I want to do something nice for Neville.”

All three of his Slytherins blink at him. Pansy, in a very dramatic fashion, switches from the chair to the end of Draco’s bed just so she can stare at him.

“And you’re telling us this because?”

“Because it involves us. All of us, the whole gang.”

“What are you on about?” Blaise asks, eyebrow raising in suspicion.

“Well, since you asked, I’ve been thinking-”

“That’s never a good thing.”

Harry shoots Pansy a glare but keeps going, “We all have each other, right? In my room, Ron and I have the lot of you, and Dean and Seamus have each other and their Gryffindor pals, but who does Neville have?”

They begin to answer for him, but it was really rhetorical question.

“That’s right, no one. And before you correct me, yes we’re all friends, but he doesn’t have anyone to be close with. So, I was thinking we could add him to the gang.”

His friends don’t say anything, which is normally a bad sign for him, so Harry rushes out something he knows is important to them.

“Come on, he saved my life with the gillyweed, and he’ll probably catch on anyways, plus it’s the perfect excuse for you all to add Nott to the group.”

Draco stares at him. “You want to add Theo to our group?”

“Yeah? He always hangs out with you all, and Millie’s right, he’s not stupid, so he probably already has an idea of what’s happening. Also, Hermione is convinced he’s gay and if he’s apart of your Slytherin friends I can’t see him being awful, and this way we’ll be gaining a Lion and a Snake! No one’s outnumbered!”

The three of them share a look and then Blaise and Pansy burst out laughing despite Draco’s annoyed eye-roll.

“Merlin’s balls Harry, we’ve taught you well, huh?”

Pansy smiles, “We’ll make a Slytherin out of you yet.”

Harry’s half tempted to tell them about the whole Sorting Hat ordeal from first year, but it’s best not to stroke their egos. Besides, he has bigger problems. Like keeping Sirius from going to jail for a murder he might  actually commit.

Sirius is going to go to jail.

Rightly so this time, he is going to brutally curse a man within an inch of his life and then make him bleed out in the Malfoy dungeons. He can feel his darker magic surrounding him, drowning out the light fixtures that they just replaced, threatening to submerge him in the shadows and honestly he is fully okay with looking as scary as his mother did back in the day. 

Narcissa and Remus aren’t doing much better. 

To his left he can feel heat radiating off his cousin, her hair tickles his arms, if he looks down he’ll probably see her nails starting to file into claws. To his right Remus is visibly shaking, clenching and unclenching his jaw to an effort to stay calm.

“Moody fucking did what?”

Narcissa doesn’t even comment on his language, instead hissing out “I’ll skin him alive.”

“Use it for leather,” Remus adds.

They have been needing a new rug for one of the guest rooms. If they put fur on top no one will know the bottom layer is human skin, plus it’s a great way to dispose of a body…

“We’ve already thought of that,” Draco sighs through the fire, “And I’m fine, by the way. Didn’t feel a thing because I was so mad. Sure, he tortured me a bit, but, friendly reminder, he was going to make an underaged child jump out of a window.”

Narcissa seethes next to him, going so hot it actually hurts a bit. 

“What did Severus say?” Remus asks. 

“A lot.” Draco leans away from the image, “He was in favor of burning Moody alive but apparently Dumbledore has other ideas.”

“Other ideas?!” Narcissa snarls right as Sirius says “What, like poison?”

“Unfortunately not...finals start on Monday, and since it’s so close to the end of the year, they’re letting him stay under house-arrest.”

“They’re letting him stay?!”

Harry nods like he understands their anger completely. Sirius briefly worries that his godson might try something stupid like he always does, but then Draco is talking again.

“Under lock and key!” He protests, “Severus and McGonagall are going to conduct the DADA exams, and before you ask, yes Poppy gave us all a thorough examination. She’s also not letting me help her tomorrow morning because of it all.”

“You’re more annoyed at that than you are at the curses.” Remus sounds older than he is, more evidence of the weariness he gets after full moons. The man can never stay angry for long these days. 

Draco scoffs, “Of course I am! I’ve dealt with much worse than a lousy attempt at torture, but my grades are very important to me! Moody’s lucky Fleur was there to calm me down before I burned his classroom down!”

Narcissa goes cold in an instant, hair flouncing down in a swift drop. “You exposed yourself?”

“Not really.” Draco shrugs, “Pansy and Blaise got me to a classroom before I could do anything too bad. Millie and Theo know now, but we can trust them.”

“Draco, you know-”

“I know...he made Luna cry!” 

Remus pinches his brow, Narcissa frowns, shaking her head just once before speaking. 

“Did Fleur attack him?”

“No. She was going to, but then she had to calm me down and forgot to kill him.”

“Good.” Sirius raises an eyebrow at her, not quite believing that Narcissa is saying ‘good’ to a lack of death. “Her parents are furious about the papers, imagine if Seeker got wind of her killing a professor.”

That he can believe. Much like a cockroach, Rita Seeker is hard to kill and dealing with her is just fucking awful. It’s going to be hard to swallow, but they can always wait to kill Moody until the known Veela relatives are too far away to blame. 

Like in Paris. Maybe Sirius should pack the whole lot of them up and move to Paris. It’s certainly safer, and prettier. The food is amazing, he’s sure Harry and the Weasleys can handle learning French. And that Hermione girl is so smart she’ll probably learn it before they have their things moved. 

Sirius comes away from his thoughts to Remus chiding Harry about his studying, or lack thereof. 

“Love, leave him alone. He’s in the middle of a death tournament, which he better be preparing for.”

“I am!” Harry assures them, “Everyone’s been casting at me when I least expect it.”

“Casting at you?! With what?” 

Draco rolls his eyes, “We wouldn’t hurt him, we just need to make sure his reflexes are quick. No one knows what The Maze will be so we’re doing everything from jinxes to sneaking in objects during study times.”

“Is that why there was a banana peel next to my quill on Monday?”

“Yes, but you grabbed the right one and we were all very proud of you.”

Sirius hears a small smack and Draco’s affronted face is something they always smile at. They talk a bit more about school because Remus and Narcissa worry, Sirius pops in with a few things he remembers from Charms but at midnight he forces them both to go to bed. 

They exchange goodnights and other pleasantries, trying to maintain their happy faces. 

But the second the fire goes out Narcissa throws herself onto their couch, “I’m going to kill him.”

“Obviously, but how? Because if we go with poison I’m sure Severus can help out.” 

Sirius snorts, laying back on his side, “Poison is too quick, I say torture.”

“We’d have to use the dungeons and that’s too near Draco for my liking. Unless we do it here but you’ve just gotten all the floors redone, and I think Kreacher would have a heart attack if they got stained so soon.”

“We could use my cottage?” Remus offers. 

They mule it over for a second, but in the end they know that Dumbledore would know so it’s really not in their best interest unless they do it the long way. Narcissa seldom has the patience for the long way. 

After a while Kreacher brings them glasses of wine and a platter of grapes and cheeses. 

“Are you going to take Harry in after this year ends?” Narcissa asks. 

“Yes.”

Remus signs, “We’re still fighting with Dumbledore about it.”

“Fuck Dumbledore!” Sirius fumes, “See if I listen to a damn word he says anymore! That old ass rants and raves about keeping Harry safe and what does he do? Makes the boy participate in a death competition, nearly kills his friends and gets the King of the Black Sea pissed at him, let’s Harry and Draco be friends with a Basilisk, and that’s just this year!”

Narcissa is quiet again, and much like the last time that probably means she’s been planning something. 

“What is it?” Remus asks before he can. 

She only looks a little guilty this time. “Before Winky came to deliver Draco’s message I was planning on coming to see you anyways...when Lucius got home today he told me that he had spoken to Percy Weasley, you know, that ministry boy? He swears Fudge would collapse without him and Kingsley, but anyways…”

She’s stalling. For what he can’t imagine, and he’s getting this awful feeling in his gut, but then Narcissa smiles. 

“They’re getting you a trial.”

What?

“Lucius is going to get you pardoned, probably something more knowing him. They’ve apparently been working on it for a week, he didn’t want to tell me until it was certain, but Sirius you have a chance to be a free man again.”

Remus’s hand squeezes his, and for a moment he can’t speak. If he’s free, he can get custody of Harry. He can walk down Diagon Alley without a care in the world. He could bring back honor to the Black name. 

No more watching over his shoulder. No more waking up in the dead of night terrified that they would take him and Remus for helping him. 

He could have a life again. 

“If I kiss your husband how offended would you be?”

It’s a smart move to make the gang meet at Hagrid’s Hut. Draco hates Ron for thinking of it, but the ginger knows them well, and he was absolutely right when he said that Draco and Hermione would study if presented with a table. Considering that they’re introducing Theo and Longbottom to their group today, studying the whole time might not be the best idea. 

“I just don’t understand why we have to go ask him.” Theo whines, absolutely oblivious to what he’s about to walk into. “I mean, if you don’t know we could probably ask Flint or Cassius. They like animals, they’re good at this shit. There is no reason for us to walk all the way down here.”

Millie rolls her eyes, tugging him along the beaten path. “There’s no better place to go for information than a Professor.”

“I dunno, the library is also a valid option.”

“Don’t make me hex you,” Draco sighs. 

Pansy and Blaise walk on either side of him, the three bringing up the back of their little group in case they do have to obliviate their friend. One can never be too careful. LuLu meows from his arms. She hates being outside, and Draco has no idea why she’s been so persistent about following him everywhere recently. Narcissa said she might be upset about him getting hurt, so he’s trying to be patient, but if he can’t keep carrying her every time they go outside. He can’t, no matter how much he loves holding her.

“He’s just upset that we took him away from Fletch-Fletchley.”

Theo turns around to glare at Blaise. 

“I’m right and you know it.”

“You’re annoying is what you are.”

“Hey!” Millie snaps, “No bickering at Hagrid's! You’ll make him sad!”

She can’t see all four of them giving her a look, but she can probably hear them giggling.

They come to a halt outside of Hagrid’s hut, where he knows the others are. All of them, which is a lot of people to fit into one tiny hut, but it’s better than being seen together in school and they can trust the giant, so Millie knocks twice. She shoves Theo through the door, Draco barely hears him say ‘what the fuck-’ and then they’re inside as well.

Hermione and Luna look up from their tea, Ron and the twins wave, Hagrid is frozen in place where he’s pouring tea for Ginny and Harry. 

Neville just looks downright terrified.

“You’re here!” Harry grins, standing up to greet them all, “You took so long we were getting worried.”

Draco gives him a quick kiss on the cheek, “Theo was being difficult.”

Theo, poor sod, stands shocked and wide-eyed in the corner. And since it’s best to get this over with Draco turns with Harry’s arm around his waist to accept tea from their professor.

“Alright, Longbottom, Theo, welcome to the Gang.”

“The gang?” Theo sputters, “You mean to tell me I was right about your crush on Potter?! I didn’t know you bothered with them all!”

Hermione rolls her eyes, coming to stand by them so Pansy has someone to lean on. “We’re all friends, actually. And Harry and Draco are dating.”

“Dating?!”

Merlin, if Neville faints this early on he’ll probably have a heart attack when he finds out the usual shit they get up to.

“How long has this been going on?!”

Hagrid surprises them all by answering first, “Second ‘ear, aye ‘arry? Draco here’s not as mean as you’d expect. He saved ol’ Buckbeak you know.”

“You?!” Fuck Theo’s going to choke, “You saved Buckbeak?!”

The Gang all shares a look, glancing between a half-furious half-confused Theo and a very green Neville. Ron stands up slowly.

“Is that an issue?” 

A weird silence stretches throughout the cabin, partly because seeing Ron try to intimidate someone is funny as hell and partly because Hagrid is looking back and forth between the gang and the newcomers like they’re all scared muts. 

Neville is the one who breaks it with a shaky laugh. “Sorry! Sorry! This is serious,” He smiles and by Merlin Draco didn’t even know the boy could smile. “But I’ve never seen you take control Ron, you’re like a little dragon flower.”

“Please,” Theo snorts, “I think you’re looking for a leaping toadstool.”

“Nah, wrong shade of red.”

Draco has no fucking clue what they’re talking about, but Blaise and Hermione are laughing so it’s probably fine. The two of them leap into a conversation about Blaise’s Death Garden, dragging Theo and Neville into their cult. If they walk away wearing strange robes and bowing to the greenhouses Draco will not be surprised. 

He is kind of shocked to find out Mille does have a question for Hagrid. The two crowd around Hagrid’s kitchen to debate stone cake recipes, which leads to a small bake off that Luna pokes her nose into. 

Personally, he prefers Hagrid’s cakes, but he also prefers living so he won’t be telling Mille that. 

Pansy and Ginny hide out in the corner. Draco doesn’t know why it’s more alarming than the influence she’s having on Luna. Probably because Ginny has the means and Pansy has the motive so whatever they’re plotting might just be the end of civilization. 

Though Fred and George are also candidates for world-ending. They have some weird chart spread across Hagrid’s table, Draco can see arithmancy and what looks like building blocks, but he’s too far away to figure anything else out. 

Ron assures him it’s nothing too concerning and if he’s calm enough to play exploding snap with Draco and Harry then life might keep on going. 

Eventually Hagrid decides it’s a bit too late for them to be out and guides them back up to dinner, but Draco and Hermione have different plans.

“Have you studied for Ancient Studies yet?”

Draco likes the glint in her eyes. He likes it a lot.