the_debt_of_time

When they turned the corner, their eyes widened at the sight of Harry and Draco
sitting against the wall, breathing heavily, with what looked like ash smudging their faces.
Harry's glasses were partially fogged over, and Draco's normally white blond hair was
stained grey. The unconscious bodies of Crabbe and Goyle were piled into a heap nearby;
both boys had clearly been stunned and bound.
"What the hell happened to you two?" Sirius demanded.
"Malfoy.. ." Harry said in between breaths, "... saved me."
Hermione gaped. "You saved Harry?"
"Where do I collect my Order of Merlin?" Draco quipped, panting.
"Found it." Harry tossed a broken and blackened tiara at Hermione's feet. "How'd
you lot do?" he asked, a chuckle slipping from his throat, followed by several loud coughs,
clearing smoke from his lungs.
"Destroyed," Hermione said vaguely. "How'd you get rid of yours without the
sword? And why are the two of you covered in... soot?"
"I remembered seeing the diadem last year when you made me get rid of the Potions
book," Harry said, a remnant of bitterness colouring his voice. "I went in to get it and
found myself face to face with Malfoy and those two." He gestured to Crabbe and Goyle.
"They tried to Avada Potter," Draco muttered, shaking his head in obvious
disapproval. "Even if I wasn't on your side, that's a stupid move. Everyone knows the Dark
Lord wants him for himself. I stunned them before they got him."
"Not before one of them cast Fiendfyre in the Room of Hidden Things," Harry
blurted out.
"Fiendfyre?" Hermione shrieked. "How did you escape?"
"Take it down an octave, Granger." Draco scowled. "You are looking at the two
best Seekers this school has ever seen. We flew." He gestured to the two singed brooms
resting against the opposite wall.
Sirius glared at the unconscious Slytherins, and he must have been growling under
his breath, because Draco stepped into his line of vision and said, "They're just like me,
but they didn't get a way out in time."
"They tried to kill my godson."
"And they'll go to trial for that. You know what trials are, don't you, cousin?" Draco
asked pointedly. "If I was informed correctly, you never got one. You wouldn't let me