(Gif description:/ Harry in the Half Blood Prince movie; the scene where Hagrid has a funeral for Aragog and Harry is hopped up on liquid luck. He is clicking his tongue and mimicking pinchers with his fingers :/ end description) 

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❝ 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴... ❞

― 𝑱𝒐𝒚𝒄𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒓

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Before now, Harry has never given Nina Snape a second thought. She's the daughter of the worst professor at Hogwarts; therefore, she must be the worst as well. Mean and rude, just like her father. How can she not be? It's why she's always sneaking around, spying on people. Of course, there is the fact that she's friends with Hagrid's granddaughter Fin (or she was when Fin was still at Hogwarts, anyway). Fin is alright. Harry doubts she'd talk to Nina if she were that cruel. Then again, Fin will make friends with almost anyone.

So, that doesn't actually say much in her favor. It could be that Nina is just very good at pretending to be nice when she wants to. He doesn't know.

But now Katie Bell is in the hospital. And Harry is positive Nina Snape has something to do with it. He knows, he just knows she does. It's her and Draco Malfoy. It has to be. And he's going to prove it, even if it's the last thing he ever does.

The suspicion starts the day he met Nina and Malfoy outside Gryffindor tower with Neville's toad. The way she acted... as if she knew this great big secret Harry would never be a part of.

Then, there's the day Peeves throws a piece of paper at his head. It's after the first Quidditch practice. They're on their way back to the common room when Peeves catches them in the corridor. He lobs a wadded up ball from the trash bin outside one of the classrooms. Harry would have passed it off as the poltergeist being his usual, irritating self, if not for the fact that he'd been singing, "Potter and Snape, Potter and Snape. Besties like mummy and daddy, Potter and Snape!" Then, he blows raspberries at Harry and flies out the window to interrogate some third years.

"You know, he was amusing when we were younger, but he's a lot more annoying the older you get," Ron mutters as Harry unfolds the paper. "What is that?"

Harry frowns and turns it over so they can see the list scribbled down on the paper and then hastily scratched out. It's still partially readable, though. Enough to make out Pros and Cons of befriending Harry Potter.

Ron sniggers, and Hermione jams her elbow into his side. "Be nice, Ron!"

"What? You can't tell me you don't think it's a bit..."

"Weird?" Harry supplies. He's not sure what to make of the idea. Nina Snape making lists, trying to be his friend? He doubts it. He must be her father's least favorite student. And, oh look, that's on the con's side of the list, too. There's no way they'd ever be proper friends.

"What's weird?" And there's Barbara Johnson. Harry fancies her. But dating is complicated... Because of her heritage and Harry's "destiny" or whatever. She also has an annoying habit of lecturing people on their morals, which Harry is in no mood for.

Still, she looks less cheery than normal, Harry notices. It's the first time they've been near each other all year (outside of the private classes Dumbledore has with them, but those are not important for this story). Part of him thinks she must be avoiding him for whatever reason. Her hair is darker and her eyes are far less lively. He wants to ask what's the matter, but he also doesn't think they can have a proper conversation without Ron teasing him. Besides, Barbara is the type of person to confide in the first person she sees. If there really is a problem she would say, wouldn't she?

He decides it's best to wait and shows her the list. As if they haven't stopped talking as much since it was made public, she was Voldemort's granddaughter.

"I mean, what does she need a list for? If she really wants to be friends, why doesn't she just come out and ask?"

"Who?" Barbara asks.

"I think Nina, because Peeves said Potter and Snape, and it would be weird if he met the professor..." Hermione explains.

"Yeah..."

Ron laughs again. Harry glares at him to shut him up. "But what is she playing at?"

"Well, she's obviously feeling anxious about it," Hermione says. "Or else she wouldn't have made a list in the first place. Nina is a thinker. She's probably just over thinking." She takes the list from Barbara and wads it up again before tossing it right back in the trash bin. "Maybe she's scared you'll laugh at her." She shoots a pointed look at Ron here. He shrugs.

"Or she's planning something with Malfoy and they want to get me out of the way," Harry says. "This is her idea of a distraction, I'll bet."

"Nina?" Barbara asks. She sounds confused. Maybe slightly offended.

"Think about it. They'll know I'm on to them by now. They want to distract me from figuring out what they're doing."

Barbara stares at him as if she thinks he's lost his mind. Harry grumbles to himself about it. She turns to Hermione for an explanation.

Hermione says. "Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater, and apparently that means so is anyone who has so much as one conversation with him!"

Barbara scoffs.

Harry's annoyance flairs. He knows she's just another person who doesn't believe him. She thinks she can see the best in everyone. That everyone deserves second chances and that people can change and blah, blah, blah. She's been trying to force Malfoy and Harry to go from enemies to friends since she transferred to Hogwarts. Harry thinks she's mad for it. Too much has happened between them. Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter will never be friends. Ever. Especially not now that he's a Death Eater.

"Wonder what he meant by 'besties like mummy and daddy?'" Ron says. Harry thinks he's trying to distract everyone before they start arguing. It doesn't work.

"Must be my mum," Harry says, "since Nina hasn't got one." But surely his mother hadn't really been friends with... With Snape of all people? Who would be friends with him? But then Harry remembers a certain memory of the potion master's that he'd seen in the pensive last year. His mum defending Snape from his dad and Sirius... he had thought she was just being nice. But maybe...

No. Surely not.

"But don't change the subject!"

"Yeah." Barbara grins, but it seems more condescending than what's normal for her. "Well, I think it's sweet that Nina wants to be your friend."

"So do I." Hermione gives a firm nod.

"We can't be friends with Death Eaters," Harry says automatically.

And just like that he's ruined everything. Barbara's smile is gone in a second, and with her new, darker hair, she looks rather scary for someone who's house is supposedly a bunch of pushovers.

"Harry, Nina Snape is not a Death Eater!" Hermione snaps.

Barbara is glaring at him. "Just because she's in Slytherin doesn't mean ─"

"It's not because of that!" It's partly because of that, but Harry isn't going to admit that out loud. Not to Barbara, who has friends in that awful house, somehow. "She talks to the Death Eaters. It makes sense that she's one, too ─"

"Do you even have any proof that anyone in this school is a Death Eater?"

"Well, no. But Malfoy was buying something before term and ─"

"Oh, wow! You're right. That is suspicious. We should alert the authorities right away!"

Harry glares at her. "Listen will you! Malfoy bought something for the Death Eaters." He tries not to scream when he catches Ron and Hermione exchanging exasperated looks. "And Nina made fun of Malfoy on the train. Why would she do that if they were friends?"

"Why else would she be talking to him?" Barbara demands.

Ron starts to say, "Well, maybe they're, you know, shagging ─"

"The Death Eaters!"

"I was going to say shagging each other actually..."

Harry ignores him and keeps on. "The Death Eaters are making them work together. I know it."

"Maybe she's just lonely after her best friend left? Maybe she's talking to the only people who give her attention? Maybe she doesn't actually like them? Maybe the whole reason she made a list like this was to find people more compatible with her?" Harry wants to complain that he is not, nor will he ever be, a compatible friend for someone like Nina Snape, but Barbara is on a roll. "Maybe you need to get all your facts straight before you start jumping to conclusions?" Her eyes are cold as ice. He knows he's over stepped but it's too late to turn back now. He keeps digging the whole deeper somehow.

"Well, why don't you be her friend, then, if you think she's so great?" Harry isn't sure why he's so annoyed. He and Barbara don't fight a lot. Except about Slytherins. Like last year when she wanted to invite them into Dumbledore's Army and no one else trusted them. Barbara had stopped talking to Harry for weeks over it. She even went off to start her own coven just to spite him (that's not an assumption, thanks, she's told him as much).

Maybe Harry is irritated because no one ever listens to him. Or maybe it's because he's mad at her for ignoring him.

Ron is pretending to get distracted with something on his shirt. Hermione is vigorously nodding in agreement with Barbara. Harry sometimes forgets they're very close too. Barbara and Hermione had teamed up to create S.P.E.W. after all. And in Hermione's books that means Barbara is a saint.

"I am her friend. I've just been dealing with a lot of bullshit, okay?" This takes Harry by surprise, too. He's never known Barbara to cuss before. "Maybe she feels like she'd be bothering me, I don't know. She's been hiding away a lot. But you've never even spoken to her!" Harry wants to point out how this isn't true. He's spoken to her dozens of times, each encounter more confusing and unnerving than the last, but doesn't let him cut in. "You don't even know the first thing about her! But every time she does anything you assume the worst! Even before this. Don't deny it, I've heard the things you've said. I mean, what's she ever done to you?"

He thinks of that memory again. "What's he ever done to you?" "Well, it's really more that he exists, you know what I mean?"

"Well, nothing, but ─"

"Exactly! Nothing!" Barbara folds her arms and huffs as if this will be the end of it. Hermione is next to her, nodding in agreement still. Even though she's only had a handful of conversations with Nina herself and even commented on how creepy she is once or twice. It's strange, the way girls will jump to defend each other even if they're not super close.

"Dumbledore is always trying to push for house unity," Hermione says. "Maybe it is time we give it a try. We are in sixth year now, and Ron and I really should set a good example for the younger years, being prefects and all."

"Yes," Barbara nods. "Thank you, Hermione."

"Don't drag me into this..." Ron grumbles. As the girls' glares turned on him, he adds, "What? I'm not saying she's a Death Eater or anything! I just don't think it's a good idea to start trying to make nice with the Slytherins. Not now. It's too late. They're too set in their ways."

"So are we, though, aren't we?" Hermione points out.

"Hermione, you of all people should understand. It's not just a difference of opinions! They're anti muggle borns! How many of them have called you a mud blood this year alone?"

"That's not the point, Ron! Not all of them are like that, surely?"

"Yeah, no," Barbara says. "You can't generalize a whole house because of a few idiots. That goes for all four of them. I still think the house system as a whole is stupid and arbitrary and promotes rivalries like this to begin with, but I digress." She takes a deep breath and presses her hands together, as if this is something she's said numerous times to no avail. Harry can relate. "The real issue isn't Slytherin. It's bigots."

"And we're just supposed to sift through them all and pick out the good ones from the bad ones, are we?"

"Um, a conversation or two with some of them wouldn't hurt, no."

"I have had conversations with them! They always end up making fun of my family or Harry's or shouting slurs at Hermione! It doesn't work because they're the problem. Why should we try to force it? We're all better off keeping separated."

Barbara doesn't look happy about this, but Harry thinks Ron has a point. She has a look that reads I think you're dead wrong but I'm tired of arguing with you so whatever. "Agree to disagree, I guess."

Ron shrugs, apparently giving up, too. But Harry is desperate not to be proved wrong. "But Nina's dad is ─"

Barbara cuts him off. She holds her hand up and makes a noise like, up,up,up, up, up! "Don't even go there, Potter."

"Potter? Why are you calling me ─"

"You act like a judgmental prick, you get the surname, bub."

"I'm not being a ─"

"You are literally sitting here judging people based on their family, Potter! Shut up." Barbara's blue eyes are the coldest they've ever been. It occurs to Harry that he's only ever seen her this mad once before. When she was face to face with her Grandfather in that graveyard the night Cedric Diggory died. "I'm really tired of people doing that. You don't even know her."

From the way she says it this time, Harry thinks it's about more than Nina. But he's too annoyed to ask about it at the moment. No one is listening to him. "Look, I know she and Malfoy are ─"

"Give it a rest, mate, please," Ron sighs.

"No," Harry says stubbornly. "I know they're up to something! They must be. They're dads were Death Eaters and now ─"

Barbara scoffs for the second time during the conversation. If looks could kill Harry might be dead already. "What about me? I'm the Dark Lord's Heiress, remember? Doesn't that make me just as bad? If not worse? Maybe I'm in on this whole scheme that's supposed to be happening here. Maybe I'm the one leading it. Maybe I'm only here to recruit more Death Eaters."

Harry shakes his head at once. Barbara isn't one of them. She's nice. She's not a bully. She's not a Death Eater. She's not... In Slytherin... "It's different with you."

"No it really isn't." Barbara stares back at him. "Actually, maybe it is different. Maybe it's worse, maybe it isn't I don't know. It doesn't matter. This isn't my story." Her eyes go from ice glacier to lonely waters. She doesn't look sad, exactly. More disappointed. As if he's really, really done something to betray her somehow. This is worse, Harry decides at once. He almost apologizes. Then, she glares at him again and she says, "I'll tell you another thing, Potter. You upset her over this I will actually kill you."

He's angry, too. As far as he's concerned he hasn't done or said anything to warrant threats. He's right, he knows he is. If no one wants to believe him, that's their problem. "Yeah? Well you'll have to get in line behind your grandfather!"

This isn't the right thing to say. Harry seems to hit a nerve within her; Ron and Hermione are left agast as they watch the normally pacifist girl shove Harry. They catch him before he falls. He glares back at Barbara, too angry to be stunned. 

"I mean it. She threw that list away for a reason. She obviously wasn't going to go through with anything. And you clearly weren't meant to see that list even if she was! If you embarrass her by bringing it up before she does or being a dick to her about it ─"

"I wouldn't do that!" Honestly, Harry is a bit offended she'd think otherwise. He doesn't want to embarrass anyone. He just wants to stop them from doing... Whatever it is Voldemort told them to do.

"You'd better not!" Barbara points a threatening finger at him before stomping off.

Ron smirks as she rounds the corner. "You really have a way with ladies don't you, Harry?"

"Oh, shut up," Harry huffs. He's too pissed off for this. He glares at Barbara's back as she's storming off. "First conversation we have all year and the only thing she does is lecture me. Unbelievable." He storms off in the other direction, leaving Ron and Hermione to stare after him in concern.

The next thing that causes Harry to be suspicious: the fact that Nina knows something about the Half-Blood Prince. She knows who he is. That is, if she's not lying about it. But he's sure she knows something. She's at least telling the truth about having the book before him, he thinks, because she knows about the book and the Prince's self-made spells, including the dangerous ones. Harry is secretly glad she's pointed them out for him. He's just not sure what her motivation for doing so is, but he thinks there must be one. Surely, a Death Eater wouldn't care if he hurt someone. Maybe she thinks it'll be too much trouble. Maybe it's part of a plot to get Harry to let his guard down.

That's it, he thinks. Get him to trust her and then lead him somewhere off Hogwarts grounds. Somewhere with Death Eaters and Voldemort and... well, the rest seems pretty straight forward. The same thing that happens every year will happen. Voldemort will try to kill Harry. But can the plan be that simple?

Ron and Hermione don't think so. Hermione thinks she's being nice. Ron thinks she's trying to anger her father, just like she says when she sits down that day. They're in a row so she does the one thing that's sure to piss him off: talk to the person he hates the most. Harry still thinks his theory has the most merit.

Fast forward to the end of the Hogsmeade trip. After Katie Bell's attack. Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, are in Professor McGonagall's office; McGonagall has just sent Katie's friend, Leanne, to Madam Pomfrey, the school's nurse, to receive treatment for shock. The professor waits until she's gone and then rounds on the remaining three. There's something lethargic in the way she stares at them, shoulders slumped, heaving a great big sigh. She rubs her eyes, almost as if thinking is it too early to retire? "Why is it," she mutters into her fingers, "whenever something happens, it is always you three?"

"I've been asking myself that same question for years, Professor," Ron says.

For a second, it looks like she smiles. Then, it's gone in a flash. "What happened when Katie touched the necklace?"

"She rose up in the air, and then began to scream and collapsed." Harry is quick to speak, before either of his friends can get a word in edgewise. Call him rude, but he wants to make sure they can't cut him off before he can relay his theory (what he knows) to the headmaster. "Professor, can I see Professor Dumbledore, please?"

McGonagall looks surprised. Maybe it's the suddenness of the request. Or maybe it's this: "The headmaster is away until Monday, Potter."

"Away?" Great. Just great. How is Harry meant to go to the man if he's always, always, gone? This is just like last year. He ignored him all the time, then, too, especially when it was important. It's ridiculous.

"Yes, Potter, away! But anything you have to say about this horrible business can be said to me, I'm sure."

There's a moment of hesitation. He'd rather tell Dumbledore. While he is, in some ways, more intimidating, he's also less likely to outright call him mad for suspecting his classmates. As if this sort of thing has never happened before. But seeing as how Dumbledore is gone (again) and there is no one else Harry would trust over McGonagall, except maybe Hagrid... In any case, someone's life is at stake here. There's no sense in worrying about being laughed at. Not now.

He takes a moment to steal himself and then spits it out before anyone can stop him. "I think Draco Malfoy and Nina Snape gave Katie that necklace, Professor."

There's a beat of silence. Harry waits. Ron puts his head in his hands, and Hermione shuffles away from him. Harry tries not to be too offended. But they're kind of pissing him off right now.

"That is a very serious accusation, Potter."

Another beat of silence.

"Do you have any proof?"

"No...But we followed Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes. He said he wanted something repaired."

McGonagall eyes him carefully, as if she's missed something. "Malfoy took something to Borgin and Burkes to be repaired?"

"No, Professor, he just wanted Borgin to tell him how to mend something, he didn't have it with him."

"And Miss Snape was with him when this occurred?"

"Er, well, no, but they've been talking a lot more this year. They must have planned it all together. But that's not the point, the thing is that he bought something at the same time. I think it was that necklace ─"

"You saw Malfoy leaving the shop with a similar package?"

"No, Professor. He told Borgin to keep it in the shop for him."

"But, Harry, Borgin asked Malfoy if he wanted to take it with him, and Malfoy said no!" It's Hermione. Harry is annoyed by the interruption. He can't help it. These are his friends. They're supposed to be on his side here, not Malfoy's.

"Because he didn't want to touch it, obviously," Harry snaps. Just to showcase how annoyed he is with her and Ron right now.

"What he actually said was, 'How would I look carrying that down the street?'"

"Well, he would look a bit of prat carrying a necklace," Ron shrugs. Harry appreciates the effort, but he also thinks he's just trying to lighten the mood. Fred and George are the pranksters, the jokesters, sure, but it's not like Ron is lacking a sense of humor.

"Oh, Ron." Hermione shakes her head. "It would be all wrapped up, so he wouldn't have to touch it, and quite easy to hide inside a cloak, so nobody would see it! I think whatever he reserved at Borgin and Burkes was noisy or bulky, something he knew would draw attention to him if he carried it down the street — and in any case," she presses on loudly, before Harry can interrupt, "I asked Borgin about the necklace, don't you remember? When I went in to try and find out what Malfoy had asked him to keep, I saw it there. And Borgin just told me the price, he didn't say it was already sold or anything —"

"Well, you were being really obvious, he realized what you were up to within about five seconds, of course he wasn't going to tell you — anyway, Malfoy could've sent off for it since —"

"That's enough!" McGonagall cuts in before there's an all out brawl amongst the friends. She looks at Harry.

This is the part where she tells me I'm going mad. Brilliant.

"Potter, I appreciate you telling me this, but we cannot point the finger of blame at Mr. Malfoy purely because he visited the shop where this necklace might have been purchased. The same is probably true of hundreds of people─"

Ron starts, "─ that's what I said ─"

"Neither can we place the blame on Miss Snape for simply making new friends. Neither of these actions are a criminal offense. People rarely keep the same friends all their lives ─"

"But, Professor, they're not ─"

She cuts Harry off, raising her voice ever so slightly. "─ and in any case, we have put stringent security measures in place this year. I do not believe that necklace can possibly have entered this school without our knowledge."

"But ─"

"And what is more," Professor McGonagall's tone makes it clear the conversation is coming to a close, "Mr. Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade today."

"How do you know, Professor?"

"Because he was doing detention with me. He has now failed to complete his transfiguration homework twice in a row."

"What about Nina, then?" He's not giving up so easily. "She would have been in Hogsmeade. She could have─"

McGonagall gives him a stern look. It's clear she wants him to drop it or else she might give him a detention. "Nina Snape has been attending this school since she was an infant. In all that time, even if she's had a few near misses, she has never once injured another student. I see no reason she should start now. So, thank you for telling me your suspicions, Potter, but I need to go up to the hospital wing now to check on Katie Bell. Good day to you all."

Last year it's 'have a biscuit, Potter' this year it's 'get out of my office, Potter', Harry thinks bitterly. He's pissed off at Ron and Hermione, too, for siding with her. He still joins their discussion, though. Maybe he can convince them if he just keeps springing it on them.

"So who do you reckon Katie was supposed to give the necklace to?" Ron wonders as they head back to their common room.

"Goodness only knows," says Hermione. "But whoever it was

has had a narrow escape. No one could have opened that package without touching the necklace."

"It could've been meant for loads of people," says Harry. "Dumbledore — the Death Eaters would love to get rid of him, he must be one of their top targets. Or Slughorn — Dumbledore reckons Voldemort really wanted him and they can't be pleased that he's

sided with Dumbledore. Or —"

"Or you..." Hermione looks troubled as she says this.

"Couldn't have been, or Katie would've just turned around in the lane and given it to me, wouldn't she? I was behind her all the way out of the Three Broomsticks. It would have made much more sense to deliver the parcel outside Hogwarts, what with Filch searching everyone who goes in and out. I wonder why Malfoy and Nina told her to take it into the castle?"

"Harry, Malfoy wasn't in Hogsmeade!" Hermione, actually stamps her foot in frustration this time.

"Just Nina, then. They must have used an accomplice to smuggle it. Crabbe or Goyle, maybe. She was with them today — or, come to think of it, another Death Eater. Malfoy'll have loads better cronies than Crabbe and Goyle now he's joined up —"

"Harry, please! Give it a rest!"

Harry isn't giving up. "Maybe they've got the Pettigrews to help them. Magnus is a thief, isn't he? Leave it to him to figure out how to get something like that inside Hogwarts without tripping any of the security measures."

"Harry, Magnus and Matilda haven't been at school all year..." Hermione says with hesitation.

"Yeah, because maybe they're helping the other two from the outside," Harry reasons. It makes sense. The Pettigrews are sneaky. All three of them. "And they were together, remember? When we followed Malfoy? He was talking to the Pettigrews just before going into Borgin and Burkes! Mati was saying something about 'bigger and better' and then Malfoy said the same thing on the train! Oh, why didn't I think to mention! McGonagall won't listen now." Harry took a moment to curse his head of house inside his head. "I'll bet my firebolt they're Death Eaters, too. Magnus and Malfoy were on friendly terms for a time, too. Remember? In fourth year? They kept trying to sabotage the Triwizard Tournament."

"Harry, he was trying to help you out of the Tournament. Or have you forgotten the whole thing was a trap?" Hermione is glaring at him again. Some part of him has always thought she fancies Magnus a little.

"But then Mati helped her father resurrect Voldemort didn't she?" Harry points out. Because if it's not one Pettigrew it's another.

"I, well, alright, that one's a bit difficult to defend, but they were with us at that Ministry. They helped save Sirius. And they warned us about Umbridge when she wanted to cause trouble for the DA. Why would they be Death Eaters now?"

"I dunno. Their father switched sides, didn't he? Maybe they have too. Or maybe they've just been tricking us all along or ─"

"Or maybe the Death Eaters... you know..." Ron runs his thumb along his throat. Hermione pales at the thought, but Harry shakes his head.

"I doubt it," he says. "If there's one thing all three of the Pettigrews are good at, it's surviving certain death."

Ron and Hermione exchange looks again; looks that plainly say, There's no point arguing with him. Neither of them respond to him until they get back to the common room, apparently hoping he'd have no choice but to drop it if they start giving him the silent treatment. Harry goes to bed very angry with his two best friends.

He can't help but to notice Nina is nowhere to be seen the next morning, but when he brings this up to Ron and Hermione they, again, give him the silent treatment. "What's she hiding from?" and "Malfoy seems miffed about something. I bet he's cross about Katie getting in the way of whatever they were planning."

All Hermione says in response is she's going to the library. "I want to test a theory." and "I would have gone last night, but with everything that happened... oh well. See you!" And then she's off. It's not unusual for her to get like this, plus Harry is still rather miffed at her for not taking his side, so he only gives a quiet hum of acknowledgement as she goes. Ron tries to get him to play Wizard Chess or go outside for Quidditch, but Harry's mind is too preoccupied even for their favorite sport.

Now, his every thought concerns Nina Snape and what she's doing with Draco Malfoy. He spends the rest of the week using the Marauder's Map to watch the pair of them (he's glad he's managed to get it back from the Pettigrew Twins before they disappeared). Harry thinks it's also convenient that he shares classes with Nina. It'll be easier to keep an eye on her, but Nina misses the next several days. He checks the Map under the table every now and again. Apparently she's in the Hospital Wing. He goes there one day, in the invisibility cloak, to see what's wrong with her. She can't be sick, he's sure of it. She must know he's on to her and she must be faking so he can't confront her.

Hermione scolds him for this. "And did you find anything Death Eater related, may I ask?" She says this with an air of snootiness he hasn't heard from her since first year.

"Well, erm, no. Madam Pomfrey was just giving her some calming potions. Apparently, she has anxiety."

Hermione shakes her head in disapproval and turns back to her book. Something about handwriting. Yes, a book about handwriting. Dreadful and boring, Harry thinks. But that's Hermione to a T. She'd read a book about the history of shoelaces for fun if you let her. "Honestly, Harry, I think that's proof enough. If you aren't giving her friendship a chance then just leave her alone! She's not bothering anyone."

Harry ignores her. Of course he does.

The day Nina returns to class, Harry makes sure to have his invisibility cloak ready. He's planning to follow Nina and Malfoy at the end of class to see what they do, where they go.

Nina Snape and Draco Malfoy are up to something and Harry plans on finding out what it is, even if it's the last thing he ever does.