All characters belong to JK Rowling
Chapter 2 – Here Comes the Sun
Draco Malfoy walked into the large townhouse he shared with his friend Theodore Nott and he shouted out, "Honey, I'm home."
Throwing his wet overcoat down upon the parquet floor of the large entryway, he shook raindrops out his blond hair even as he walked into the formal living room to his left. White sofas, glass and chrome tables, and a large, impressive marble fireplace greeted him. Nevertheless, aside from the ugly modern artwork upon the walls, there was no one around.
Walking over to a sideboard, he poured himself three fingers of scotch and began walking from room to room, calling out, "Seriously, is there anyone in this bloody place?"
He walked further into the long, four-story house, only to hear someone call his name from the billiard room on the second floor. "Up here, Malfoy, up here."
Running up the stairs, sloshing scotch on the floor as he did, he came upon a sight he hadn't expected to see that evening in his very own home, and in the billiard room.
All five members of the Viper's Den were there to meet him.
"Hello, mates, what's going on, did someone die?" Draco asked.
He stepped across the threshold and noticed Blaise Zabini sitting at the end of the sofa, which was up against the dark paneled wall. Blaise said, "No one's died yet, but if Theo finds out you left your wet raincoat on the foyer floor again, I have the distinct feeling there'll be a murder tonight."
"Go on with you," Draco complained. "Who are you, my mother?"
"No. Not nearly as pale, nor as attracted to Lucius, thank goodness," Blaise laughed.
Marcus Flint, another mate of his, was lounging against the pool table. "Malfoy's theory on that is that's what House Elves are for. Right, Malfoy?"
A third friend, Adrian Pucey, was sitting atop the room's bar, swinging his legs back and forth. The oldest of their group, he was often seen as the unofficial leader. But for now, he was keeping quiet.
Draco placed his now empty glass on the felt of the pool table and said, "Where is Nott? Is there a reason we've all been called here tonight? It's not time for our weekly meeting."
Theo walked into the room at that moment. He picked up the glass that Draco left on the pool table, rolled his eyes, set it by Adrian's legs on the bar, and said, "Yes, there's a reason. The thing I'd like to know is why you're late. The other gents got here on time, and you didn't, and you actually live here. For another thing, you're the only one who doesn't even have a job to keep him late, yet you're always the one who's late for everything."
"Hear, hear," Adrian said with a grin.
"Bang out of line," Marcus rejoined. "Being Draco Malfoy is a full-time job."
Theo banged on Marcus' leg and said, "Off the felt, Flint. Find somewhere else to park your muscled arse."
"And being a priss is a full-time job for Theo Nott," Marcus laughed, jumping off the table and walking over to the bar to pour himself a firewhiskey.
"Hear, hear," Adrian said again, with another laugh.
Marcus jumped up beside Adrian, drink in hand, and asked Draco, "Why were you late to your own house, Malfoy?"
"Couldn't be helped," Malfoy returned, sitting on the other end of the couch next to Blaise.
"Mummy kept you too long at tea, did she?" he joked.
"No, your mummy kept me too long in bed," Draco deadpanned.
Marcus gave Draco a rude hand gesture, but then laughed it off, as they were all apt to do. This was the way of things with this tight-knit group of friends. All friends since childhood, they could rib and tease each other, joke around, call each other names of all sorts, but when push came to shove, there was no group closer.
Several years ago, Adrian, the oldest of the group, (and therefore, in his mind, the wisest) decided that seeing as they all hung around each other so often and since they were all constantly doing things for each other (both altruistically and selfishly) that they should form a sort of club…an exclusive club.
They decided to call their club the Viper's Den. For one thing, they wanted it to sound as if their club was an actual place, even though it wasn't. That way, if anyone got wind of it, they would think the lads were going to an actual club instead of wasting their time hanging out at each other's homes. And the only prerequisites to joining were that a person had to be a former Slytherin and they had to be one of the five people in this room.
They even came up with a list of ten simple rules for their members.
The Rules of the Viper's Den -
1 – Be a male
2 – Be a former Slytherin
3 – Don't tell anyone it isn't a real Club
4 – Don't ever talk about boring things, like your work or personal life, during club meetings
5 – Never expose fellow Viper's secrets
6 – Snakes before Skanks
7 – If it doesn't hurt anyone, then it's okay to do, even if it's morally wrong
8 – If a fellow Viper needs you, no matter when, no matter where, no matter why, you see to your fellow snake
9 – Never leave rings on Theo's furniture
10 - Above all else, have fun
The purpose of the club was simple. It was a place, (though not physically) where the five friends could meet each week and talk about things, play games, eat good food, drink and be merry. They also picked one project every six months to be the special club project. This made them feel as if they weren't resting on their laurels, and as if they were truly doing something good with their time…even though past projects included painting Adrian's den and going to all of Marcus Flint's away Quidditch matches.
They would tell their family and other friends that their 'club' was doing some great charity work and that the projects they picked were for the good of their fellow wizards, but usually it was only good for the five members.
Really, the club was an excuse to continue to muck about with their mates and not feel guilty over it. If Draco's mother told him she had a blind date lined up for him on a Saturday night, he could say, truthfully, "Sorry, Mother, I'm going to my club tonight. We've just started a project concerning orphans. Think of the poor orphans, Mother." After all, everyone knew Blaise Zabini's father was dead, and he wished his mother was as well.
If Marcus Flint's girlfriend complained that he didn't spend enough time with her, he could say, "But sweetheart, you know I have to be out of town with the club members. We're taking an underprivileged lad to a museum." Then he would feel no guilt whatsoever the next time they all went out of town to a Quidditch match, because he never had any galleons in his pocket (he was the underprivileged one) and the museum was the ancient stadium where his favourite team played.
Overall, it was a win – win situation for everyone involved, only lately, every one of them had begun to feel as if perhaps there could be something a bit MORE to their club.
This begged Adrian to ask, "You've called us altogether, Nott, a week earlier than our normal meeting. So I must ask the question, why?"
"I didn't call us all together tonight," Theo supplied. "I was under the impression that our next meeting was Thursday night, at your house."
"I got an Owl from Malfoy," Blaise replied, "It said the meeting was moved here, and moved up two days."
Marcus shook his head and interrupted, "My Owl was from Adrian, and it said the meeting for his house was a no go, and he was changing it to here, for tonight."
All at once, everyone began to speak, contradicting each other and interrupting each other. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, please," Adrian interrupted, speaking the loudest to gain the floor. "I don't suppose any of us brought our Owls with us, did we?"
"Why would we bring our bloody birds to a Viper's Den meeting?" Malfoy asked. He looked at Theo. "Our Owls are already here, aren't they?"
Theo merely shook his head. "I think he meant, did any of us bring our communiqués with us, and no, I threw mine in the rubbish after I read it, but mine clearly stated that Blaise wanted us all to meet here tonight."
"Fine, I suppose we can safely assume all our messages seemed to be from a different source," Adrian supplied. He jumped off the bar. "This troubles me a bit. No one should even know about our little den of snakes, aside from each other. Yet let's suppose for a moment that one other person does know, who would want us all to gather together tonight, and why?"
"Maybe someone wants to kill all the best looking Wizards in the world in one felled swipe, so they gathered us all in one room," Malfoy joked.
"If they had wanted to gather all the smartest wizards together, you'd been safe," Theo waned.
Draco blinked twice, and then said, "And if they had wanted ones with wands stuck up their arses, you'd be their man."
"Good one, Malfoy," Flint said. "But let's get back to this. I don't even care who called us together, I'm more concerned with the why. The Owl to me said it was time to pick our next bi-yearly charitable project, but it's not time for that yet, is it?"
Blaise crossed his legs at the ankles and from his place on the sofa said, "Well, let's see, the last charitable project we did was six months ago, so yes, it's time for a new one." He rolled his eyes. "And I for one would like to pick something better this time than the last time. Something less boring and mundane. I'm tired of fake projects. Let's do something real."
"I'm all tingling inside," Theo said, sarcastically. "Blaise wants to do some good work. Is being a Gryffindor far behind?"
"Hear, hear," Draco said, stealing Adrian's favourite line. He held up his empty glass. "I'll drink to that one. Why…that can be our next project. Let's keep Blaise from becoming too self-righteous and Gryffindorish."
"Gryffindorish?" Adrian asked.
Draco sneered, "Look it up in the dictionary, I bet it's a word. I bet when St. Potter saved the Wizarding World they even gave him his own theme park. OH, wait, that's what we can do. Let's write our own dictionary to help other Slytherins be able to understand words that normally only Gryffindorks understand."
"We don't have time for tripe like that. Some of us have real jobs, Malfoy," Marcus waned. "And I know we aren't supposed to discuss our jobs during our meeting, but I came from mine for this, and unlike Malfoy, who has an endless stream of money coming in from his mummy and daddy, I'd like to conclude this meeting before the stroke of midnight, so I can get back to it."
"So, I was saying," Adrian continued, "as long as we're all here, no matter how we came to be here, for I know one of you brought us all here tonight even if you won't admit it, but as long as we're here, let's go ahead and pick our next project."
"Right," Theo agreed. "As always, we're all write down what we think is the most worthwhile…"
"Most entertaining!" Draco interrupted.
"Most rewarding!" Blaise interjected.
"Most fun!" Marcus laughed.
"…worthwhile project, anonymously, of course, and then we'll all vote on the project we most want to do," Theo concluded while passing out pieces of parchment and quills.
After they all wrote down their 'ideal project,' Adrian read them all aloud. One in particular shocked a few members of the club, but after much debating, arguing back and forth, and then a secret ballot, it was decided that the charitable project the Viper's Den would do next was help with Hermione Granger's to do list.
No one would admit to it being his initial choice, although in the end, everyone thought it was a splendid idea. The sixteen item 'to do list' was even reproduced, verbatim, for everyone to peruse. The members laughed at some of the items, scoffed at some of the others, but most of all, they all wanted to know one thing…WHY?
In the end, they decided it didn't matter. They would help Hermione Granger complete her list, with each member picking several items on the list that they would help her complete. Since she lived in the attic flat over Theo and Draco's house now, it was decided that one of them would inform her of their decision that very night.
Hence, the first man stood tall, found courage he didn't know he had, went outside and then up the long flight of stairs in the back of the townhouse to Hermione Granger's flat, and knocked on the door. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her yet, but he was good with words and women. Something would come to him.
The second man thought the first man was a terrible choice for the job of talking to Granger about all of this, but kept quiet. He knew he didn't want to be the one to tell her. The truth was, Hermione Granger had always rather scared him. Still, he was very curious about this list.
Another man decided he didn't care one way or another, as long as they had some fun doing some of the things on her list, and as long as he could garner some sort of favour from her. Something about the little Gryffindor always made him a bit randy.
A fourth man had to remain aloof and collected, because he was the one who stole the list and manipulated his fellow Viper's Den members to come tonight. His gentle persuasion was what made them pick her cause in the end, quite cleverly, if he did say so himself. His reason for wanting to help her was his own, and would always remain his own.
And the fifth man sat by quietly and considered everything in stride. Though shocked that his club was presented with this outrageous list of hers, he was one of only a few people who knew the reason Hermione Granger made her list of things to do before she turned twenty-seven. He knew she was cursed to die.
More than anything, he wanted one of two things: to make sure she got in a hell of a lot of living in her last six months or else to find a way to make sure she lived a hell of a lot longer than six months. After all, it was his fault that she and her fellow team members were cursed in the first place.
Thanks to my beta Eanne for getting chapters 2 & 3 back to me in 2 days!
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Can you guess who is who up above?