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Returning to Sanity	By : AchillesTheGeek Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 31212 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter books or films, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 27
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28 The Return of Rita Skeeter
Last time:
At last he couldn't put it off any longer; Arthur Flooed with him to his office, to meet up with the Auror who would take him to the Interview Room that the Ministry had provided for the interview.
And so, at two o'clock, Harry once more caught sight of the woman he would have given a lot to never see again, as the sharp, over-dressed, over-made-up form of Rita Skeeter rose to meet him.
"Mr Potter," she said, "what a pleasure!"

The room the Ministry had provided for them was light, airy and well-furnished. There was a simple conference table, and comfortable chairs. In the corners were pot-plants, giving off delicious smells. And best of all, the Auror who had been deputed to guard him today was Robin Banks. Harry had been overjoyed when he found out that Robin had no intention of leaving him alone during the interview.
All in all, if only the room had not contained Rita Skeeter, Harry thought, this would be a very pleasant experience indeed. He forced himself to look at her; and, which was much more effort, to smile convincingly. "Hello, Ms Skeeter," he said.
"Oh Harry, please, call me Rita," she said, with a slight giggle which he found slightly less irritating than the squeak of a nail being rubbed up a blackboard, if only because it didn't last as long. "Now, Harry, you won't mind me using my Quick Quotes Quill of course?"
Harry was about to accept this, but Robin gave a discreet cough. "It is a condition of this interview that it not be used," he said.
"Oh, but I'm sure you won't mind, will you Harry?" she pouted at him.
"Actually," said Harry, already sick of being told what he did or didn't think in the first minute of the interview, "I think we'd better not have it, if the Ministry has said no; you wouldn't want it thought that you were trying to do something underhanded, after all."
Harry was quite sure that Rita didn't care at all; but he knew perfectly well that she couldn't say so with the Auror present. Robin was proving to be a real blessing.
Rita was obviously grumpy at not being allowed her Quick Quotes Quill; she had indeed hoped to bully Harry into using it. She tried hard not to let her irritation show, taking out a notepad and ordinary quill and continuing in a bright voice that reminded Harry forcefully of Umbridge. "Harry, during the trials we've all been hearing about this reform of our laws called the Potter Code and I'm sure my readers are dying to know what it's all about; so Me, Myself and I have taken it upon ourselves to find out everything about it."
"How very public-spirited of you," Harry replied. Rita completely missed the sarcasm, but Robin obviously didn't, giving Harry a broad grin in agreement. "The Potter Code is a rather posh name for something very simple. And it's about a lot more than just legal reform. You see," he continued, taking care to speak slowly so she could take notes, which was useful as he could frame his thoughts much more coherently, "we've just been through a second war caused by Voldemort and I'm sure we all don't want anything like that ever again. So the Wizengamot wants to make sure that we don't just sling all the Death Eaters in Azkaban and continue as before, because that won't deal with the real causes of the war."
"And what do you think those causes were?" Skeeter asked. "Surely it was just Voldemort? And he's gone, so there's no problem, surely?"
"I don't buy that," Harry replied. "Firstly, what's to stop another Voldemort coming along? We need to investigate what caused his rise and put in place measures to stop that happening again. We know he was in fact a half-blood called Tom Riddle; he had a Muggle father and a pure-blood mother –"
This was news to both Skeeter and Robin by the looks on their faces; he could tell Skeeter had a thousand questions, but he pressed on so she didn't have time to ask any, "—and his father left his mother, who died soon afterwards and he was placed in a orphanage. So there are lots of questions we need to ask about how we can help children in this situation, particularly where Muggle relations who are not sympathetic are involved. As you can imagine, I have been asked because I too have been in that situation. We don't yet know what all the issues are, or what steps will be taken, but I'm sure that the Wizengamot will be actively thinking about it over the next few months."
"That raises a lot of questions about Voldemort," Skeeter began, but Harry cut her off neatly:
"Yes, but perhaps we'd better leave them for another time. Because, secondly, it's absurd to say that Voldemort is the only problem. He would not have got anywhere if he had not been able to bring people to his side, people who were not happy with the Ministry, who had a grievance of some sort, or were persecuted or marginalized. There are obvious things to look at here – the legislation introduced by Dolores Umbridge, for example, laws which persecuted werewolves and then later on the Muggleborn Registration Act and inquisition. Of course, these laws can be repealed, but we need to do more. As a society, we need to ask how we can ensure that people are free to live their lives. With laws in place for protection of course, but not to control people. We have to, as Remus Lupin put it, 'make a world in which we can live happier lives'."
Skeeter looked at him askance. Was this the same boy she had interviewed before? He had always been tongue-tied and angry; a far cry from the confident, easy-speaking man in front of her.
"You seem to have given this a lot of thought," she said. "Can you sum up how we're going to make such a world?"
"I have, and I've had a lot of help," Harry replied. "The Potter Code begins with treating people with respect. Accepting that we all have to live on the same planet: wizards, witches, goblins, house-elves, giants, werewolves, centaurs, merpeople, all magical creatures, even Muggles. We're all here, none of these groups is going away, and we have to work out how to live together peaceably. For us and Muggles, we've decided to keep them oblivious of the magical world, apart from contact between the Minister for Magic and the Muggle Prime Minister; I'm sure that position will be reviewed, in consultation with international wizarding groups of course, to make sure we all agree it's the best course. But we need to set up relations with all the other magical groups, and look at what legal rights and structures are really appropriate so we can live together in peace."
"I imagine your friend Miss Granger will be interested in that – didn't she have something about house-elves?"
Harry reddened a little at the thought of how vocal Hermione had been about her Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare but decided not to mention it by name; the last thing they needed was anyone making snide jokes about 'SPEW', after all. "Yes, I'm sure she will be interested," he said. "At present, she and Ron are travelling, but when she gets back I imagine she'll make her views known."
Rita Skeeter was making notes feverishly, and now here was a problem for her: she knew she had to hear more about the Potter Code, but her readers would want to know just where Hermione was, and what her relationship with Ron was; Skeeter was nothing if not a skilled gossip-hound and that would make a lovely personal touch to what she was already afraid would be a very dry article indeed. She made a small note to herself to follow this up later, and invited Harry to continue.
"I've talked about witches and wizards as though we were all one group," Harry continued, "but it's very clear from the war that we have to deal with the frictions within the Wizarding world itself. We have muggle-borns, and half-bloods, and full-bloods; we have derogatory terms like 'mudblood' and 'blood traitor'. We have to move beyond seeing people in this way. We see it at Hogwarts: the four Houses were made to provide support but have become stereotypes: for example ,Gryffindors are supposed to be courageous to the point of recklessness and Ravenclaws are incredibly studious and clever. But the Gryffindor Hermione Granger is one of the cleverest witches I have ever met, while the Ravenclaw Luna Lovegood has more courage than half the Gryffindors I know. It's just silly to think that we can define people by their blood status, or their House, or anything else really. We have to let everyone be themselves, without prejudice. Because there's no doubt that Voldemort exploited the blood prejudices; even though he was a half-blood himself, he didn't let the pure-bloods know it, and got them rallying around him because they saw prejudice against them from the Ministry; and, to be fair, were themselves prejudiced, or words like 'blood-traitor' would not exist."
"So, does the Potter Code simply boil down to saying, 'let's all be nice to one another'?" Rita asked, her voice skeptical.
"There's certainly an idea like that involved," Harry replied, smiling. "But it's not simple. After all, imagine if we were all nice to one another. Wouldn't that be a world in which we can live happier lives?"
"But you're right to doubt that that is possible. We're going to try; but we have a lot to reform. I want to see our trial process reformed so that there is a commitment to fairness, to finding out the truth, rather than to being politically expedient. The Minister has already said he agrees with this; that's why he has not presided over any trial, and only rarely been present at them himself. He wants the courts, the Wizengamot and any other bodies it sets up, to be headed by the Chief Wizard, without Ministry interference. This commitment to the truth, to fairness and justice, extends to the decision made to use the Expositor Falsitas potion on everyone present at the trial, not just the accused. It extends to the idea that just being a Death Eater can't be a crime; we have to prove that people actually broke laws, hurt people, did evil things; to judge them for membership of a group is to go right back into the world of prejudice again."
"Do you really think that?" Skeeter asked, still sounding skeptical. "Do you really think, for example, that the Malfoys should have got off?"
"Whether anyone should get off is really a matter for the Wizengamot, not for me. But I do think the Malfoys are rather a special case. As I said at Umbridge's trial, they did what they did because of the threat to their family. That may not always have been true for Lucius; I can't speak for what happened before Voldemort's return. But certainly afterwards, Voldemort was in their house, they lived in fear of death, and he held them hostage, each forced to do his bidding lest he kill the other two. And a big part of the Code is the idea, from Albus Dumbledore, that we need to look for the good in everyone. To seek to give people a second chance. The Malfoys, I'm sure, will be an important part of rebuilding our society; they know that they stuffed up, they know they've been given a chance, and I believe they are determined to show they deserve it. Lucius has already started working with the Ministry, and I understand that he's been hosting talks which are helping the Ministry deal with the huge upheaval created by the war."
"So why not give Dolores Umbridge a second chance?" Skeeter asked.
"Because she showed clearly that she had no interest in working with this process. She just wanted to go on doing her own thing. She didn't deserve a second chance because to get a second chance, you really have to accept that you need it. That you've stuffed up. I don't believe Umbridge accepted that; more importantly, the Wizengamot didn't believe it either."
"Believe that she'd, um, stuffed up?" Rita asked, confused, and hesitating over Harry's colloquialism.
"No; they didn't believe she accepted that she had stuffed up and so needed a second chance," Harry clarified.
"So," Rita said, a new tone sounding in her voice: Harry could tell she was beginning to be impressed at how well thought out this all was. "So, where does Harry Potter fit in? Why is it called the 'Potter Code'?"
Harry laughed. "Good question," he said. "Certainly, some of the ideas are mine; but at the end of the day, I'm really just an ordinary wizard—" Rita snorted at this, while Robin obviously wanted to, but managed to hold his snort in – "really, I am. I don't want to tell the Ministry or the Wizengamot what to do, and they may listen to me but they are under no obligation to do what I say. As a society we all need to work together to rebuild what we had, and to make it better. If I can help in that process, I'm honoured to be asked to. If calling it the 'Potter Code' gives it an identity and helps to make it a coherent approach, I guess I'll put up with it."
"Am I hearing that you're not entirely happy with the name, then?" Skeeter asked.
"I've never really wanted publicity," Harry answered. "I just seem to attract it. If I can use that to achieve the reforms that I see are needed, like I said, I'll put up with it; it's a price I'm happy to pay if it helps Remus's vision to be achieved."
"So, will you be working on the details?"
"Not in the immediate future; I intend to return to Hogwarts to finish my education," Harry replied, spotting an opportunity to make another point that was important to him. "As you can understand, the last year of my schooling was non-existent, and for most of my cohort, that is, my fellow students, it wasn't much better. I don't see why I should expect to go into the Wizarding world and get preferential treatment without passing my NEWTs; and I certainly hope that all of my year feels the same."
"Thank you, Harry, that's very informative; I think we have the makings of a major piece in tomorrow's Prophet. Luckily, it's the Sunday edition, so the editor will be overjoyed to have a more in-depth article," she said, and Harry was surprised by the sheer quantity of notes the woman had taken. "Now there are a couple of personal questions I'd like to ask. Firstly, you mentioned that Miss Granger was travelling?"
"Oh yes," Harry said, wondering how much to tell. But there was nothing secret about their trip, as far as he knew; so he decided to give just enough detail to make a good story for Skeeter. "Hermione and Ron have gone to Australia to retrieve her parents. She sent them out there to keep them safe in case Voldemort tried to get to her through them; and now that that danger has passed, she's taken the opportunity to fly to Australia to get them back. She and Ron have decided to use the Muggle aeroplanes; you can understand that, being the Deputy Minister's son, he shares Arthur's love of Muggle artefacts, so was really excited at the prospect." (Harry had put these details in to draw Rita off further questions about the Grangers. He didn't want to let on that Hermione had performed a memory charm on them; that wasn't the sort of thing that he felt should be public knowledge. Ron's love of Muggle things would, he hoped, be seen as a harmless and endearing eccentricity.) "She and Ron will be returning, hopefully with her parents, in time for the new term at Hogwarts."
"And is the rumour I hear true? That they are not just friends?"
Harry thought for a second; but Arthur has reassured him that the engagements were not secrets. "Yes, they had their engagement party the night before they left. As did George Weasley, to Neville Longbottom. I'm sure your readers will want to congratulate the Weasleys, the Grangers and Augusta Longbottom on these happy events."
"I'm sure they will. And what about you, Harry? Is there a witch in the offing for you? Is another Weasley going to announce her engagement?"
Harry took a deep breath. He had known he'd have to say something about this; but knowing about it and doing it were two separate things. And then his resolve firmed again: he didn't want his love life to be public property, but it wasn't a guilty secret, either.
"I do have a special someone," he replied, "but it's not Ginny Weasley, no. At the moment, we've moved from being friends to – well, we didn't like 'boyfriends', so we're lovers."
"Oooh," Rita squealed. "And who is the lucky wizard?"
"Me," Harry said with a straight face.
"All right," Rita laughed, "who's the other lucky wizard?"
"Oh I see. Yes, of course. My lover is Draco Malfoy. And, before you ask," Harry continued, cutting off the protest he could see on Skeeter's lips, "it's got nothing to do with his trial, and it's not a love potion or an Imperius curse, or anything of that nature."
"Can you prove that?" she asked. This was big news; but she knew that if Harry could prove it, anything her paper printed speculating otherwise would get them in very hot water with the Ministry.
"Yes, I can," he replied, embarking on a little speech he had carefully prepared to be absolutely truthful while leaving out any real information. "I had some tests done at St Mungo's this morning. Before I show you the results, and I will give you a copy, I have to tell you about something that comes up in them. Something that happened on the day of the Battle of Hogwarts. Something that really further exonerates the Malfoys. You see, Voldemort had cursed them so that if he died, they would die soon after. I found out about this when I gave Draco his wand back, and he told me about the curse. So I did some magic – I don't really remember what, it wasn't a spell as such, just some words that burned their way into my mind – and it set both Draco and Lucius free from the curse. But it created a Debt that they owe me; and that shows up in the scans from St Mungo's. But of course, that isn't them manipulating me; if anything, it lets me manipulate them."
Rita's mind was reeling at the thought of the Saviour, Harry Potter, getting together with his one-time arch-rival; but at that moment, only two questions came to her. "How does that exonerate them?"
"It shows that Voldemort didn't trust them. So the people who painted Lucius as his totally trusted right-hand man weren't quite right."
"And what were the words?"
"Do you know, you're the first person who's asked that. Um, actually, they are part of the Potter Code too, I guess. They make up values that I think should drive us as we rebuild our world. The words were 'Life', 'Wholeness', 'Connection', and 'Belonging'."
At this point, there came a knock on the door. Robin Banks stood up. "Forgive me, ma'am, but your time is up," he said. He opened the door, and the Minister, Elphias Doge, and a Daily Prophet photographer came in.
"I know this wasn't part of the offer," Kingsley said, "but Elphias thought you might like a photograph of the three of us."
Rita was overjoyed; and they spent a few minutes arranging the shot. Eventually it was taken, and Kingsley said, "as agreed, we expect a transcript to be delivered by six o'clock, and that will have to be approved for publication."
Rita desperately wanted more details about Harry and Draco, bu tno protest from her would convince the Minister to allow the interview to continue. Well, she thought, she could probably spin this to the editor as two separate stories, a long and boring article about the Potter Code in tomorrow's paper, she'd get Susan to write most of that; and a much more interesting one on Monday about the love-lives. She might even be able to dig up some more dirt tomorrow. She could interview that Italian chap, she decided; he'd know something for sure.

Kingsley returned with Harry to Arthur's office, where Harry was overjoyed to find Narcissa and Draco there, having tea with the Deputy Minister. Kingsley excused himself and returned to his office; Harry sat next to his lover, who placed his arm around him and gave him a seated hug. It was awkward, but Harry was very grateful for this open display of affection and support; and for the fact that the two adults made no comment but simply smiled, as Arthur poured tea for Harry and levitated the cup over to him.
"So, Draco, Narcissa," Harry said immediately, trying to forestall the inevitable questions about the interview, "what did you two get up to today?"
Narcissa's small smile made it quite clear to Harry that she knew what he was up to; but she answered happily enough, "oh, we had a little chat about how things are going at Grimmauld Place. Draco walked me through all the repairs and I must say, Harry, I'm very impressed with your spell work; another couple of weeks of work and you won't know the place."
"Thank you," said Harry, grateful for the warmth that came to him from Narcissa. "But that didn't take the whole day, surely?"
"No," Draco added, "we went to the Manor - as you'd said I might", he added, largely for Arthur's benefit; he still wasn't quite comfortable with exactly what he had to do to stay within the guidelines of his probation, and didn't want any questions asked, "- and had lunch with father."
"And Blaise," Narcissa added.
"I didn't think we were telling him about that," Draco hissed.
"I'm sure Harry wants to know that you are getting on with your friends again," she replied equably.
"I certainly do," Harry replied. "I can't be your only friend, Draco, that would be too horrid for you when we go back to Hogwarts. But what weren't you telling me about?"
"Oh, Draco has a little surprise to show you when you come to lunch tomorrow," Narcissa said, vaguely.
Draco himself decided this was actually working rather well – he had wanted to say nothing, but this little hint had obviously piqued Harry's curiosity, so why not milk it for all it was worth? "Blaise helped too, of course; perhaps we could invite him to lunch as well?"
"What a splendid idea," Narcissa agreed. "But Harry, you're very naughty, keeping us from asking how the interview went."
"Horrid," was his immediate reply, he still had no love for reporters in general and Rita in particular.
"I understand," Arthur said, "and we're grateful to you for doing it. I'm sorry we sort of pushed you into it but I'm sure you'll all be interested to know that we have investigated Mr Nott's case, and found there is some evidence of the same kind of activity we observed with Crockford and Thicknesse. So it's possible he was under the Imperius curse, and still influenced by it at his trial, which would explain his not pleading it then; and we never found it before. That 'Signum Revelare' spell you used yesterday has been adapted slightly by our healers, and seems to be very helpful in discovering this deeply hidden Imperius."
"So what will happen with Theo?" Draco asked. Harry was glad to hear the concern in his voice; Draco and Theo had been friends for a long time, he only hoped that the other Slytherin would be cleared of all charges and the friendship could be re-established.
"The Wizengamot has already agreed that if he was under Imperio then his conviction will be quashed and no further action taken," Arthur replied. "We'll know for certain by Friday at the latest. Also, you'd probably like to know that the healers got to him in time to reattach the arm; Harry gave them some interesting insights from Professor Snape's copy of Advanced Potion Making. Apparently Snape had added detailed counter-curse instructions underneath the curse and St Mungo's was able to recover about eighty per cent use of the arm."
Draco looked stunned. "They did that? For someone who had apparently attacked Harry and brought the curse on himself?"
"Of course," Arthur said. "It's what they do. The healers told me, they don't make judgements; that's up to the Wizengamot. They just do the best they can by every patient."
Draco now turned to Harry. "And you did that? I know that Snape had a counter-curse; he used it on me, he even taught it to me in case the spell popped up again; but you let them know? Even for someone who attacked you?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "I guess I just have this thing about saving people. Even if they attacked me. Or even," he said with a sly grin, "if they're Death Eaters who don't have magic any more."
Draco did the most undignified thing Harry had ever seen him do: he poked out his tongue. But he then clasped his lover tightly.
"I guess you just do. Don't ever stop."

Draco and Harry got back to Grimmauld Place at four o'clock, Narcissa having returned to the Manor from Arthur's office. Draco decided that Harry looked exhausted, so suggested they have a nap for an hour. As they lay together on the bed, he finally asked about the interview; he had noticed Harry had got away with saying just a single word about it, but he could tell there was more Harry wanted – no, needed – to get out.
"So was the interview really that bad?" he asked, softly.
Harry turned and looked at him. "Actually, I think the real problem for me was that it was Skeeter."
"I can understand that," Draco said, remembering all the tripe she had printed about him over the years – some of it, to Draco's chagrin, having come from him.
"Yeah, well, once I sort of managed to block that out, I answered her questions, and told her far more than she wanted to know about the Potter Code – those notes were wonderfully helpful."
Affecting nonchalance, Draco asked the question that was really bothering him: "and did you tell her about us?"
Harry looked at him lovingly, and Draco knew at once that Harry wasn't fooled by his pretence. "I told her I had a lover, and that it was you. I had to tell her about the Debt because it showed up on the scans from St Mungo's, but I didn't say anything about your magic. I told her you were cursed so you'd die."
"Clever," said Draco. "You told her the truth, of course, we know we would have died without our magic; but you haven't let anyone know that was the reason, so they'll think it was an ordinary 'dead-in-a-month' sort of spell."
"That's the idea," Harry said, pleased that Draco had realised so quickly what Harry had been trying to do. "And she didn't get to ask any more about us because we ran out of time. I did tell her about Ron and Hermione being engaged, and in Australia; and also about Neville and George. So hopefully it'll come out as a big article about all of us, and take some of the heat off the two of us."
Privately, Draco thought this was a little naïve on Harry's part, but he decided he didn't want to say so. "Well done, love," he said, hugging his lover, "now, let's have that nap."
They rested until five o'clock, when Kreacher came to rouse them to say that the 'blood-traitor Mistress Molly Weasley' had Floo-called to remind them to be at dinner at six.
"Thank you Kreacher," Draco drawled. "And please do not ever call her a 'blood-traitor' again. We can do without those terms now that the war is over."
Kreacher went off, grumbling and muttering to himself about young masters who defied the old ways and the sorts of sticky ends they might come to; which Draco just laughed off. When Harry looked concerned, he simply said, "Kreacher's hiss is worse than his bite. Now, you and I had better get ready for dinner."

When they got to the Burrow, Arthur took them aside and told them that the Ministry had received the interview transcript for approval, as arranged, and Skeeter had done a fair job. He didn't think they had anything to worry about. Harry was very grateful to be told this; it took quite a weight off his mind.
Dinner was a very happy affair. Charlie couldn't be there because he was on dragon watch; but Bill and Fleur came, and Percy, and the twins; and Ginny, of course, who was the only Weasley child living at the Burrow at the moment. Fleur grabbed Draco the moment she arrived, and the two of them sat in a corner conversing in fluent and voluble French. When everyone had arrived, and they were circulating a bit more waiting for dinner to be ready, Harry asked him what they had been talking about. Draco smiled and explained that Fleur had told him all about her cousins and how taken they had been to meet him; it turned out he had plenty of offers to stay in various places in France, including two very nice addresses in Paris; the cousins couldn't wait to show off such an accomplished noble-born wizard to their friends. Draco had asked Fleur about bringing Harry too; and apparently they were just as taken by the Famous Harry Potter, so that would be lovely.
Harry groaned. He didn't want to be the Famous Harry Potter; he'd had enough of that. But Draco wickedly pointed out to him that if he would give newspaper interviews he couldn't really complain about being famous. Harry, having no suitable rejoinder, simply hit Draco on the shoulder and said "twat".
"The quality of your repartee astonishes me, Potter," the blond said with a twinkle in his eye. "Truly you have an amazing grasp of invective."
"Why are we not surprised to learn / that our Harry has an amazing grasp?" the twins asked, at which Harry flushed brick-red.
"George and Fred!" Molly scolded. "Just what have you said to poor Harry to make him blush like that? On second thoughts," she said, as they opened their mouths to answer, "I suspect I don't want to know. Come on everybody, it's time to sit down and eat."

After dinner they went out into the garden to enjoy the evening sunshine and relax. At least, they were supposed to relax; but Harry and Draco didn't smell the rats quite quick enough. The twins had gently manoevred them onto just those two specific chairs …
There was a loud BANG! And Draco and Harry found themselves inside Bouncing Balloon Chairs. But these were slightly amended, Harry noticed; they were fairly transparent, he could make out the anger on Draco's face; and there seemed to be poles inside, that manipulated arms attached to the air-bag cushioning that enveloped them. Fred and George, once they recovered from the hysterical laughter they went into at the sounds Harry and Draco made, put a Beefy Bouncy Beating Baton in each hand.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Draco yelled, which only made the twins laugh even louder.
"Calm down, brother's lover!" they said. "It's a competition!"
"A competition?" Draco repeated, his anger disappearing and a sly look coming onto his face.
"Yep. So, here's the idea: / because of the balloon chairs, you can't hurt each other. / The idea is to see who can hit the other one to the ground first."
Harry was a bit worried that Draco would be mortified at this idea. He should have known better. He should really have been worrying about how good the blond was at being devious. It took only five minutes for Harry to lose the first round of the impromptu tournament. Of course, everyone else wanted a go; the twins produced a couple more sets of balloons and batons, and everyone fought it out in knock-out rounds. Even Fleur and Molly joined in, happily shrieking in delight even when they lost almost immediately to Ginny and Bill respectively.
In the end, it was between George and Draco, Ginny having just managed to beat Fred before George had defeated his feisty sister in one minute flat. The last pair were very evenly matched: it took nearly fifteen minutes before Draco finally managed to knock George to the ground and emerge as the winner of the First Annual Weasley Bouncy Beating Challenge. The twins immediately grabbed Draco, hoisted him onto their shoulders, and chaired him for a victory lap around the garden while everyone else collapsed in helpless laughter.

He should have known, really. Yes, dinner had been wonderfully relaxed, and the smile on Draco's face after winning, and especially after being so warmly congratulated, was priceless. But still, after the stress of the interview, after seeing Rita again, he should have known.
The dark cloud rose up again, but this time it was a swarm of beetles, each one with Rita's face coming out of it, yelling at him, "How do you think your parents would feel about you saving a convicted murderer? Entering the Triwizard Tournament? Standing up for Death-Eater scum? Proud? Concerned that your attitude shows a pathological need for attention? Is that it, Harry? You want attention? Or is it a psychotic death wish?"
No, he wanted to yell. But he couldn't speak, it was like when Vernon yelled at him, he just couldn't make any sound at all …
It changed in an instant. There was the red light again, and this time bands of silver started to weave through it and the darkness receded and grew smaller, smaller, until the red light snuffed it out, while the silver bands encircled him and he woke to find Draco Malfoy holding him, staring at him with frightened eyes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have set up a thread for replies at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/56042-review-replies-for-returning-to-sanity/ . I will generally try to reply to posts before posting a new chapter.
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Returning to Sanity