In The Shadows² ★ Draco Malfoy

*The Marauders

Since Briar had been making large improvements in her Occlumency lessons, Snape decided to bring her to his lessons with Harry so that she could show him how to resist it properly

"So," Snape said to Harry when he arrived "Have you been practicing?" 

"Yes," Harry replied

"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we?" said Snape smoothly. "Wandout, Potter." Harry moved into his usual position, facing Snape with the deskbetween them. "On the count of three then," said Snape lazily. "One - two -" 

Snape's office door banged open and Draco Malfoy sped in. "Professor Snape, sir - oh - sorry -" 

Malfoy was looking at Snape, Briar, and Harry in some surprise. "It's all right, Draco," said Snape, lowering his wand. "Potter and Lupin are herefor a little Remedial Potions."

"I didn't know," he said, leering at Harry

"Well, Draco, what is it?" asked Snape. 

"It's Professor Umbridge, sir - she needs your help," said Malfoy. "They've found Montague, sir. He's turned up jammed inside a toileton the fourth floor."

"How did he get in there?" demanded Snape but Harry and Briar shared a knowing look 

"I don't know, sir, he's a bit confused..." 

"Very well, very well - Potter, Lupin" said Snape, "we shall resume thislesson tomorrow evening instead." 

He turned and swept from his office. Malfoy mouthed "RemedialPotions?" at them behind Snape's back before following him.Seething, Harry replaced his wand inside his robes and made to leave the room

But Harry suddenly stopped and fixed his eyes on something at Snape's desk

"Harry?" Briar asked in confusion

"That's a Pensieve" He said, looking at the source of the silver light in the room "Snape's"

"So?"

"So maybe there's something in there," he said "Come on, haven't you wondered what he's so scared of us finding out?"

"I guess, but what if he comes back?" Briar asked "He'll have us thrown out"

"What's life without a little risk?" Harry grinned and Briar chuckled. But the pair made their way towards the pensieve and they shared one last nod before Harry dipped his head in and Briar swiftly followed

She felt like she was falling through an endless darkness, until suddenly there was ground beneath her feet, and Briar realised they were standing in the middle of the Great Hall. 

House tables were gone. Instead there were more than a hundredsmaller tables, all facing the same way, at each of which sat a student,head bent low, scribbling on a roll of parchment. The only sound wasthe scratching of quills and the occasional rustle as somebody adjustedtheir parchment. It was clearly exam time. 

Snape had to be here somewhere. . . .This was his memory. . . .And there he was, at a table right behind them. Snape-the-teenager had a stringy, pallid look about him, like a plant kept in the dark. His hair was lank and greasy and was flopping ontothe table, his hooked nose barely half an inch from the surface of theparchment as he scribbled. 

They moved around behind Snape andread the heading of the examination paper:defence against the dark arts —ordinary wizarding level. Hishand was flying across the parchment; he had written at least a footmore than his closest neighbours, and yet his writing was minusculeand cramped.

"Five more minutes!" came Professor Flitwick's voice from the front of the room

Briar realised both their dad's must be in the room so she began to look for them and Harry's dad was easy to spot. A few rows away sat a boy with very untidy black hair like Harry. James's eyes werehazel, his nose was slightly longer than Harry's, and there was no scaron his forehead, but they had the same thin face, same mouth, sameeyebrows. James's hair stuck up at the back exactly as Harry's did, hishands could have been Harry's. James yawned hugely and rumpled up his hair, making it even messier than it had been.