"Dumbledore's told me to carry it all the time," Draco replied as he ate. "And like you say, he knows most things, so he's probably right to be cautious. I mean, look what happened this morning." He looked over at the Slytherins. "And I'm absolutely certain they'll try something again as soon as they can."

A thought made him laugh, and he said, chortling, "Maybe we could be allowed to take our classes invisibly. Umbridge would never know if we were there or not!"

"Well, I can understand why he would tell you that" he said. It had been four years, and the Slytherins had yet to try to kill him, so why would they start now all of a sudden? Because he was friends with Draco, if anything that was to make them more mad at Draco, for befriending him and not Harry "I just don't see, why I should" He said rather honestly as he glanced over at him "Well we'll worry about that when the time comes" He said

There was no point in worrying about what they might try to do it wouldn't help them stop it, or prevent it. "I'd like to just get out of her class together, that woman is horrid" He said with a sigh "You still have to worry about detention with her" He said. His voice was full of concern, which was odd since usually detentions weren't all that bad. The worst detention that he had, before this year was when they had to go out in the forest and he ran into Voldemort.

"The difference now," Draco said, "is that the Dark Lord is back. He wants you dead, doesn't he? Any Slytherin would be thrilled to move up in the ranks by offing you."

"Detention with Umbridge... yeah," Draco went on. "Definitely not looking forward to that. You've had one already, right? What did she make you do?"

"I don't think Voldemort would be very happy if anyone, but him was to kill me" He said. He remembered that night, how big a deal he had made about him being the one to kill him "He wants to do it, with his own two hands, if someone else does they won't get rewarded, they will get killed" He said

Harry glanced over at him, and then looked away. If he told Draco what she had made him to, Hermione would over hear "I'll tell you later, when were alone, before you go" He said

"Oh," said Draco heavily. "That's a good point. I guess you are, in a way, safer than me. They'd probably just try to kidnap you instead." The thought didn't make him happier, nor did Harry's remarks about Umbridge. "That bad, eh?" he asked. "Great." He glumly forked some potato into his mouth, though he couldn't taste it.

"I wouldn't say safer" He said. At least he was safe inside of Hogwarts, however once summer rolled around again, there was no telling what would happen to him outside the doors of the school. His, muggle aunt and uncle couldn't do anything to protect him and he wasn't even allowed to use magic, so once summer rolled around he was basically screwed and in a lot of trouble.

"Well, maybe it won't be that bad for you, she just doesn't like me because I'm a liar, and went against her in class and told her Voldemort had come back when she insisted he didn't" He said. There was a limit to how ignorant you could be, even Hagrid had said things were starting to happen just like they had before, and people were noticing it to, but were to afraid to admit it.

((I'm really sorry to do this, but I think I need to put our RP on hold for a few weeks. I have a big deadline coming up mid-August—the 19th, actually—and have to do a lot of work in whatever spare time I used to have for RPing. So, this'll probably be my last post for a while. Feel free to poke me, though, if it gets to be past the 19th and I haven't yet come back! I'm still enjoying it. :D))

---

"Is that what happened?" Draco said, flinching at the Dark Lord's name, and then had to quickly lower his voice. "I heard rumors about what had happened, but... wow. That was pretty brave."

He was starting to feel calmer, now that he knew he had an escape route if needed. Charles Morgan, in particular, frightened him rather a lot. Plus, no one seemed to be staring at him for sitting next to Harry, or calling him a fag, or a homo, or other rather nastier words. In fact, most of Gryffindor was completely ignoring him.

Neville, though, he realized belatedly, had heard every word of their conversation.

"Is someone trying to kill you, Malf—Draco?" he asked, eyes wide.

Draco sighed. "Well, seeing as how they wanted me to be a Death Eater, and I said no... er, yeah."

Neville looked about as fierce as Draco thought he could. "Don't worry. Gryffindor protects its own."

Draco looked Neville up and down appraisingly and thought Neville's best way of protecting anything was probably to simply lay across it. But then, Neville leaned around him and asked Harry in a whisper, "Harry, can you teach us the Defense stuff Umbridge isn't?"

Draco saw Hermione glance up, as if she'd heard, and look pointedly at Harry as well.

[[It's fine don't worry about it. Good luck with whatever it is, you have to do <3]]

“Pretty much, I did not appreciate the fact, she pretty much called me a liar in front of everyone” He said. That was what had set him off, how she had acted like she was the queen of everything and had the nerve to call him a liar in front of everyone “Haha, I supposed I’ve always been stupidly stubborn wouldn’t call it brave though” He said with a smile.

Harry glanced over at Neville “Hermione’s working on that one, I already agreed to it, since they both teamed up on me, in till I did” he said as he pointed to Draco then at Hermione

“About that, don’t make any plans for the weekend we go to Hogsmead, I have an idea, and your all going to be part of it” She said. By all she meant, Neville, Draco, Harry and whoever else she could get to come.

“Alright, alright” He said. Well now he didn’t have to worry about anything really, Hermione had made up their plans for them, and he would still get to be with Draco, and Draco would get to be in the big group he wanted to be in, so that was all that mattered.

((Phew, mostly finished! My advisor suggested some major edits, and we've got a title for the project, so I'm back on track for a timely submission.

Now... where were we??))

Draco was relieved to hear that Hermione was on top of things, getting Harry to lead a study group for Defense. He couldn't imagine leaving the school grounds without a much bigger arsenal of curses—and more extensive practice—than he already had. True, he was probably more acquainted with the spells that would be used on them, than the defensive magic side of things, but the practice would be just as important as learning more spells.

"Glad to hear," he said, and Neville nodded in agreement.

"You're one of us now, Malfoy," he said. Then his face broke into a surprisingly wicked grin. "Though I still owe you one for the Petrificus in first year."

Draco groaned and theatrically tried to hide behind Harry. Neville chuckled and waved his hands negatingly. "It's okay, it's okay. But I might sneak up on you sometime!"

Draco, much to his surprise, decided he rather liked Neville Longbottom after all. "Honestly, though," he said, straightening up and looking serious, "I'm really sorry for all the stuff I pulled on you. It was... just stupid, really. I guess I didn't quite realize what it meant, pulling pranks and stuff."

Neville shrugged. "We were kids."

Implicit in that statement, Draco realized, was the idea that they were no longer kids, that they were approaching adulthood. After all, there was a war on, and even people his age were being forced to choose sides. It was true, he no longer felt like a child.

Hermione glanced away from Ron and settled her gaze onto Harry "Your serious about this right Harry?” She asked “Because if you aren’t don’t agree to it” She said

Harry nodded “I wouldn’t have agreed if I wasn’t serious, especially when peoples safety is involved” He said with a smile.

“Good because without you, we won’t be able to do this, you’ve learned a lot more then we have because of your danger prone circumstances” She said.

“It’s not like I tried to look for trouble” He said. Trouble seemed to take a free ride on his back and show up at the worst possible moments, trouble and danger, always followed him it seemed. During the summer not so much, but once he reached Hogwarts again, the peace was over.

“And” She said and looked at Draco “I think we would benefit from your knowledge as well” She said. “You and Harry can work out teaching together, because you both bring different things to the field” She said.

Draco was mildly astonished to hear this from Hermione. He blinked at her. "Oh," he said. "Okay," he agreed.

Still, he wasn't sure how the rest of the group—if there would be a group—would take it, him being one of their teachers.

Dinner at last ended, and Draco headed upstairs with the rest of Gryffindor to try and do some homework before his detention with Umbridge.

[[Since it was Tuesday, and they already had Herbology, wouldn't that have been the last class, and then dinner?]]

((Oh, were we at dinner? Oops. *changes*))

[[At least I assumed so, judging by the schedule]]

Harry glanced over at Draco as they headed upstairs "We need to talk" He said. He was interested in what him and Dumbledore talked about, and how he was feeling about things now. Not to mention he wanted to talk about Detention with Umbridge although he had a feeling if he told Draco, it would somehow get back to Hermione, who would tell McGonagall, who would probably have a problem with it and cause a scene "Talk alone, I mean" He said

Draco let Harry drag him off uncomplaining. "We can use my bedroom, if you like," he said. The thought of having Harry in his room, just him and Harry, was awfully exciting. He twitched his robes to make sure certain parts of his body were covered as he walked beside Harry through the corridors.

"Your room is probably the best place to talk" He said. Plus they would be completely alone, which he rather liked the idea of it just being him and Draco for a bit. "Everywhere else has the risk of people showing up" He said. Mainly Ron and Hermione, they seemed to show up, at the moments when he didn't want them to, and they seemed to find out everything, no matter what the circumstances.

"Great," Draco said, trying not to let his absolute and utter glee come through in his voice, but he somehow thought he didn't exactly succeed.

He walked past the portrait hole and opened the door to his room. It had been freshened up by a house-elf, and smelled quite fresh with the autumn breeze flowing in through his little window.

Draco plopped himself down in the chair, leaving the bed for Harry to sit on.

"What's up?" he asked.

Harry followed Draco quietly up to his room, they were finally going to be alone and it was probably going to up being a serious conversation, and wouldn’t be much to enjoy about it at all “First off, what exactly happened with Dumbledore?” he asked. Curiosity had gotten the best of him, plus he was pretty interested in what had happened up there and if Draco was feeling better with what was going on between the two of them.

“Second off, don’t tell Hermione this, please, she’ll go to McGonagell and it’ll be this big thing” He said with a sigh as he pulled up the sleeves of his shirt to reveal what was left of the detention he had, had with Umbridge.

((LOL, are you on all day? I've been poking in and out today, and you're always "online" ... :D))

---

Draco first had to react to the scars Harry was showing him. "What the hell?" he exclaimed. He grabbed Harry's hand and examined it. "'I must not tell lies,'" he read. He looked Harry in the eyes. "How could you let her do something like this to you? That's crazy! Harry, this is dark magic, I've seen it before. It's a torture device. Umbridge is using a Blood Quill? On students?"

He was aghast at this. He'd seen his father use a Blood Quill before, in fact on his mother. He'd been very young, maybe four or five years old, and he'd been sneaking out of bed when he saw that his parents were both in the same room. This was exciting, and he went to peep around in the corner, when he'd caught sight of what was going on. He'd nearly screamed as he saw the words PROPERTY OF LUCIUS MALFOY being engraved, in blood, on his mother's back.

He stared straight into Harry's eyes. "You have to go to Dumbledore. Umbridge could be a Death Eater."

[[Rofl, school hasn't started yet, so pretty much. Unless I have something to do, like Thursday I went to the mall with a friend so I wasn't on at all, besides a few minutes in the morning. But I start college on the 26th soooo I won't be on as much after that probably XD

And for the first time in like, 6-7 years I haven't had summer homework]]

Harry sighed some at Draco’s reaction, this was exactly why he had avoided telling anyone, he didn’t want to deal with the reaction and what they were going to tell him to do. “I’m not going to lie and tell her that the ministry is right and everything I said before was a lie” he said firmly. He would rather suffer through her detention then take back what he said and put everyone in danger. “I didn’t let her do anything, I stood up for myself, and if I needed to, I’ll do it again, I really don’t care what she throws at me, it’s better than lying to everyone” He said

“She’s not a Death Eater Draco, she’s just a horrible excuse of a human being” He said. He was sure she wasn’t a Death Eater; she was just vile and sick. “And I’m not going to Dumbledore” he said firmly. “Nor will you” He said and stared at him.

((Yay, college! I can't remember if I already asked you, but what major, if you know already?))

---

"But, Harry..." Draco said, and he found himself somehow sitting on the bed next to Harry, instead of in his desk chair, "how can you say you stood up to her if you let her use a Blood Quill on you? They're horrid! The scars never go away. Harry, it's dark magic, I said, and if you tell Dumbledore, he can sack her, and hire someone capable!"

As he was speaking, he grabbed Harry's hand with the scars and held it firmly, leaning in towards the other boy.

[[Forensic Science, I want to work in crime labs and stuff~
At first I wanted to go for Teaching, History. But changed my mind because kids are soooooo rude]]

"Don't but me" He said as he looked at him. He wasn't going to bend on this one, he didn't want to start trouble, for once he wanted a year with almost no trouble in it. "I don't really care if I have scares for the rest of my life, I already have emotional and mental ones, what are a few physical ones thrown in?" He asked. He didn't want this to turn into something big, it wasn't that important, he would just avoid getting thrown in her detention again "Dumbledore can't do anything, the ministry is involved this time" He said

((Ooh, cool!! Yeah, kids are rude unless managed well. My mother has the gift-- she's been teaching middle school English for yonks, and her classes are always well-behaved. But authority in the classroom... yikes, it's hard. I remember having eight-year-olds try to talk back to me during summer school stints I've had.))

Draco sighed. "The Ministry... right." Harry had him there. "At this point, though, with people like Umbridge in power, how can we say that the Ministry isn't the same as the Death Eaters?"

He still thought that if Dumbledore put the case forward that Umbridge was an inappropriate teacher because of her use of Dark Magic, there'd be a chance, but if Harry wouldn't speak, there was no way that would happen. But maybe if other students... like himself...

"Fine," he said, "it's your choice as to whether you find a way for us to get rid of Umbridge."

Then, at last, he answered Harry's earlier question. "As for Dumbledore, I wanted to ask him about, well, about liking guys. Since he's, well, gay himself, he was the best person to go to. He, er, encouraged me to, er, be public about, er, our relationship."

Why had that been so hard to say? He liked Harry, right? Felt a strong attraction towards him, wanted to be with him, wanted to make him happy, right? Then why couldn't he speak out clearly, admit to himself that what he felt was normal and natural?

[[We have to do this group project in english, where we had to read a short story and create two lesson plans. I sweat the 2nd day my group was up, I wanted to hit these four guys over the head with a bat, soooooo friken rude. Wouldn’t stop talking, kept pulling their cell phones out right in front of me]]

“The Ministry is afraid, they know I’m right, they know I’m not lying and they’re afraid” he said. The ministry wasn’t stupid they had to know by now there were truth to his words, the event’s taking place just proved it, but yet they still choose to be ignorant.

“What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to start trouble” He said with a sigh. Besides it wasn’t like it was one of his best friends, it was him; he could live with the punishment.

“And are you feeling better about it?” He asked. Although the Er’s and the indirectness of what he said, got him to thinking he still wasn’t on the best terms with it, all well maybe with time he would come to better terms with it and would indeed be ready to be public with it “You know there’s no pressure to be public about it” he said

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to come out about anything” He said with a smile, them staying a secret was fine with him.

((Good grief, that sounds so immature...))

----

Draco frowned and said, "I still think you should let Dumbledore know Umbridge is using a Blood Quill. And honestly, Harry, if she uses one on me, I'm going to tell Dumbledore myself. I'm already in plenty of trouble," he added, with a wry grin.

He shrugged, and continued, "I think I'm feeling a little better. More confident. It's still weird, at least for me," he said. He looked away from Harry. "I was brought up with the assumption that I'd marry and have kids, you know, with a girl. It never even crossed my mind, until a few days ago, that I might be...that I might like guys. It's not so much an issue of caring if other people know, honestly, it's more that I've just realized I'm not who I thought I was. Like discovering your parents aren't really your parents, or something." It was hard to express.