Author's Note: Written for the Seven Deadly Sins Challenge by ink-stained dreams on the HPFC forum. Yes, this is AU.

Prologue - Lust

Draco was having a hard time concentrating in Charms class. Flitwick didn't seem to have noticed, most likely because the NEWT class was huge, so there was nothing to stop Draco from drifting off into a heady daydream. He could see Padma Patil's bare legs in front of him, because her robes had caught on her chair, and by Merlin they were the sexiest legs he'd ever seen. From there he could easily imagine the sexiest thighs, and the sexiest arse, and…

"Draco," Pansy hissed, nudging him in the side with her elbow. "Stop drooling and do the bloody spell!"

"Shut up, Pansy," Draco muttered, but he sat up and dragged his eyes away from Padma. "Er, what's the spell again?"

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Honestly! Have you heard a word Flitwick said?"

"No."

"Fine! I'm going to work with Hermione, then." And Pansy got up and moved away, leaving Draco alone at his desk. He would have tried to argue that she wasn't allowed to switch partners, and in any other class it would have been true, but Flitwick either didn't notice or didn't care.

Now Draco was left with a conundrum. He really ought to do the classwork, because Flitwick would eventually come around to check how everyone was doing. On the other hand, he genuinely did not know what spell they were supposed to be attempting.

"I don't know what you did, mate, but thanks anyway," said a vaguely familiar voice. Draco turned to see Ron Weasley flopping into Pansy's vacated seat. The redhead must have been working with Hermione. "Hermione can be a real know-it-all sometimes."

"Sure you want to work with me, Weasley?" said Draco, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "This is NEWT Charms. You know, all houses?" He prodded his Slytherin badge.

"I know you're a Slytherin, Black."

"I was under the impression that you simply despised Slytherins," said Draco with a scowl.

Weasley shrugged. "Most Slytherins despise Gryffindors, if you haven't noticed. You're not one of them, so you're safe."

"How do you know I don't despise Gryffindors?" Draco retorted.

"Well, I don't, exactly, but your brother's all right, so I figure you must be too." Weasley grinned. "Besides, I know what spell we're working on."

Draco groaned and hid his head in his hands. "It's that obvious I wasn't paying attention?"

"Nah, I heard Parkinson complaining to Hermione. Your secret is safe, at least on this side of the room. Anyway, we're doing the Protean Charm, only Hermione already knows how to do it, so she was trying to give me all sorts of useless advice…" Weasley opened his Charms book and flipped through until he found the right page. "Don't suppose you've done this one, have you?"

"My stepfather's an Auror, not a clerk, Weasley," said Draco. "Protean Charms are used mainly in low-level Ministry jobs, where they have a lot of paperwork."

"Maybe I can ask Percy for help with the homework," Weasley muttered.

They stopped chatting as Draco pulled out his own book and read the section on Protean Charms, which were surprisingly complicated. Then they took turns trying to enchant their pieces of parchment to copy each other, but it didn't work, even when Draco wrote, Pansy Parkinson and Hermione Granger are bloody know-it-alls on Weasley's parchment in the hopes that Weasley would be inspired to send it back.

After a while it just got boring, so Weasley started doodling and Draco went back to staring at Padma Patil's legs. Unfortunately, the bunched-up robes that had revealed those tantalizing legs were also obscuring his view of her arse.

"Did you know, Black," said a low, dangerously sweet female voice, "that lust is one of the seven deadly sins?"

Draco raised his eyes to meet those of none other than Padma. Apparently she'd seen him staring while he was off in la-la land, as his mum liked to say. Uh-oh.

"I'd say it's about time," said Harry cheerfully. Draco started and looked at Weasley, who had turned into Harry. Or rather, Harry must have taken Weasley's seat sometime while Draco was daydreaming. He really needed to pay more attention. "He got all the other sins covered before Hogwarts, but never really got to lust. I suppose he's just a late bloomer."

"I am not a late bloomer," Draco argued, glaring at his brother. "And I'm not lusting!"

"Then stop staring at my arse," said Padma. She turned around and cast a Protean Charm on her piece of parchment. Draco noticed that it worked perfectly, transferring her flowery script to the parchment of her partner, Mandy Brocklehurst.

"Excellent work, Miss Patil!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. Draco tried to swallow his guilty expression and sit up straighter as the professor moved on to his desk. "Misters Black. I see you have been unsuccessful."

"Sorry, sir," said Harry conversationally. Draco decided that if his brother wanted to take the blame for Weasley's lousy work, he wasn't going to stop him.

"Well, make sure to practice this weekend!" Flitwick raised his voice to address the whole class. "And in addition to being proficient with the Protean Charm, a three-foot essay on the nine essential properties of objects that can hold the charm, due next class."

"What the hell are the nine essential properties?" Draco groused as he headed out the door with Harry at his side. "And why do we have to know them? Isn't it enough to do the bloody charm?"

"Why are you asking me, lusty boy?"

"Lusty boy?" repeated Blaise, catching up to them. "That's a new one. What's Draco done now?"

"He spent half the class staring at Padma Patil," said Pansy from Draco's other side. "It was disgusting."

"She accused him of one of the seven deadly sins," Harry added, grinning. "Lust, obviously. At which point I told her it wouldn't be the first sin he's committed."

Draco groaned as Pansy and Blaise grabbed him and Harry and dragged them into a nearby empty classroom. "Do tell," said Pansy, with a wicked glint in her eye.