Ron said that last bit like they were talking about a pet who soiled the hallways or something.
"I'm not under house arrest, Ronald," sneered Draco as he walked forward.
"Don't call me that!"
"Sorry, I have to placate Harry," breezed the other boy, sounding not the least bit apologetic. "You know, stay on his good side, all that. And he positively insists I use your first name."
Harry thought all that was a bit of an overstatement, but he supposed it was Draco's way of saving face.
"Well... at least make it Ron," returned Ron, clearly disgruntled.
"And you?" Draco turned to Hermione, his lips curled in a sly smile. "Would you prefer Herm?"
"Would you prefer Drake?"
"Oh, Slytherins hate nick-names. Call Severus Sev sometime and you'll see what I mean. Well, after you regain consciousness. But Gryffindors, you know, they're sort of happy-go-lucky almost doltish types, so I thought--"
"You know, rude for rude's sake isn't exactly a goal you should aim for, Draco," said Harry, sighing. "And why are you here? Severus isn't going to be so happy you snuck out."
"I did not sneak." Draco shrugged, then. "Look, all these two could talk about was a hand half-burnt off. Well, when they weren't making eyes at each other. I could practically hear wedding bells--"
He grinned widely when Ron and Hermione both blushed at that. "Anyway, I had to see for myself that you were all right."
Harry moved so that his brother could see down the side of the sling.
"Hmm. I wouldn't duel for a while if I were you. Maybe some of Severus' burn salve would clear that up."
"My treatments are quite adequate, young man!" said Pomfrey in a shrill tone.
Draco ignored her. "I don't suppose it's too bad. You look like you'll heal."
An exasperated voice rang out from the doorway. "Draco, what in Merlin's name are you doing out of bounds?"
"I didn't realise a little fraternal concern would put me out of bounds," said Draco, lifting his chin. "Besides, how much safer could I have been? I came with them."
He said the last word scornfully, but his eyes spoke another message entirely. Harry caught it at once. If Snape trusted Ron and Hermione to serve as Harry's bodyguards, more or less, then how could he say that Draco had been reckless walking the halls with them?
As it turned out, Snape could say exactly that. "Oh, Merlin knows nobody ever came to harm when they were with them," Snape said, his tone just one shade shy of a full-blown sneer. "It's not as though they recently allowed harm to come to someone they were charged to protect, is it?"
He looked down the length of his long nose at Draco, who looked down.
"I wanted to see that Harry was all right."
"I'm cleared to leave my glasses off," said Harry, hoping to head off an argument. Or more of one, at any rate. "So can we just go, now?"
Snape gave Draco one last fearsome glare, then let the matter go. Perhaps he was remembering that if everything worked out, Draco would be readmitted to Hogwarts. "Very well."
Ron wrapped his fingers around Hermione's. "We'll see you Monday in classes, then, Harry."
"I should like you to come down to my quarters, actually," said Snape, his tone not exactly threatening but not exactly not, either.
Harry could tell that Ron was remembering doing all those lines. He tried to give his friend an encouraging smile, but Ron still said, "Um... well..."
"We have things to discuss."
"Yes, sir," said Ron in a low voice.
As it turned out, Snape didn't have all that much to say to Ron and Hermione. He just hadn't wanted to say it in front of Pomfrey, apparently. "Mr. Nott will not be divulging to anyone the fact that Harry's powers are fearsome rather than weak," he announced the moment he'd shut the door behind the whole group. "Nor will he be telling anyone that Harry's spellcasting so overwhelmingly requires him to have a snake at hand. Therefore, the story will be as follows. After you two left Harry alone--"
"They didn't leave me--"
Snape silenced him with a glare. "While Harry was on his own, he became bored enough to experiment with flame-throwing spells, just as Pomfrey believes."
Harry thought that story made him sound ridiculous, but he didn't argue again.
"Because his magic is so inept these days, he burned his own hand," continued Snape. "Nott happened to wander into him and seized his chance to do Harry some harm. You two heard his cries for help and came to his rescue. Now, Mr. Nott's wand has vanished into the great unknown, so it should be safe to say he cast any number of hexes. Mr. Weasley, what would you like to cast to incapacitate him?
It took Ron a moment to catch on. "Um... oh. I guess just a regular Jelly-Legs." He grinned and pointed his wand. "Ready, Draco?"
"Are you ready, is more to the point," said the other boy, sneering. "As I recall you have a penchant for casting hexes that rebound on yourself."
"Cast it on the floor, Mr. Weasley."
"That's no fun," muttered Ron, though he did do as Snape had requested.
"Sir, what are we going to say happened to Nott's wand?" asked Hermione.
"Merely that it could not be found. No-one will have an explanation for it. Interested parties will likely assume that the Death Eaters have something to do with its disappearance." Snape paused as though expecting more questions, but none came. "Now, to finish the story. After Nott was laid low by your formidable hex, Mr. Weasley, you pulled him inside a nearby building and guarded him while Miss Granger came to get me. As I'd prefer not to mention the Shrieking Shack as our point of return, we will say I Apparated you all to the far side of the grounds and walked from there."
Snape glanced about expectantly. "Are we all agreed? This story will of necessity become public information when I press the governors to reinstate Draco into Hogwarts."
"They owe me a public apology--"
"You won't get that."
"We're agreed, sir," said Hermione. "Though you know, it's not just boys who can rush in and save the day."
Snape looked a bit startled at the way she'd said that. "Ah. Well, you may say that you were occupied taking care of Harry."
"Oh, all right."
Ron, of course, didn't mind being cast in the hero role. Not one bit, so Harry didn't complain about how stupid this made him seem. He couldn't, really. It matched, more or less, what they had told Pomfrey. He was stuck with it. And anyway, if he complained his father would just say he hadn't been too clever, had he, wandering off on his own in Hogsmeade. "How are you going to make Nott tell the story right?"
Snape's eyes gleamed. "I thought you would have guessed, by now. That imbecile Lockhart is not the only wizard who can cast a competent memory charm, Harry. Nott won't know what transpired today in Hogsmeade."
Harry smiled a little bit at that. "You just couldn't make it through the school year without Obliviating a student, could you? But you won't make him forget about all the things he confessed to?"
"Of course not. He's not just going to be expelled, he's going to Azkaban."
Harry glanced at Draco. His brother had hard eyes, now, which was enough for Harry to realise that Ron and Hermione had told him that Nott was the one who had killed Pansy. He somehow doubted his friends had mentioned anything about the love potion, though. Harry chewed his lip, wondering how Draco was going to take that.
"The Aurors will no doubt need to interview you to make things official," said Snape as he showed Ron and Hermione out. "I imagine you'll be summoned at some point. Later today, most likely."
The moment Harry's friends had left, Draco looked up at his father. "Where's this dung beetle?"
"Safe. And no, you may not grind him into pulp."
"He deserves it!"
"Nonetheless," Snape said briskly. "We will leave justice to the Ministry and the governors. And remember, we still need to find out with whom Nott was working."