Author's Note: Have a great rest of the weekend, everyone! Unfortunately, you all have to wait about a week and a half for the next chapter. It'll be updated on October 15.
But fortunately. . . . . . . . . . . . . . it's gonna be AWESOME. That's a promise.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks
CHAPTER 12: PRIORITIES
Draco put down his copy of Advanced Potion Making and grabbed the other side of the blanket that James was now hoisting over Remus, who lay practically passed out on the couch near the fireplace. Together, they smoothed the blanket out over him and extinguished the candle just next to him so that its blinking light wouldn't disturb his sleep. According to James, he had woken up in the middle of the night and come downstairs, falling asleep on the couch there. But luckily, the common room wasn't very full of noise as it was still early in the morning, and everyone was feeling too lazy to get up and approach another Monday. So, Draco and the Marauders didn't bother waking Remus up or helping him to the dormitory upstairs. He would just sleep in the common room... again.
According to Draco's calculations, there were three days left until the full moon. That meant that Remus would just get worse and worse, right up until his transformation. The Marauders were of course acting very cool about it and pretending that they didn't even notice how terribly ill he was. Oh he showed up to classes and all, and he even came to dinners in the Great Hall and helped the boys with their homework and attended Prefects' meetings with Lily, like always. But there were always those few hours a day when he was almost unrecognizable. Draco had grown very fond of Remus in the last month, and so of course he felt sorry for him, but he had to work hard at pretending that he didn't notice this strangeness either. He didn't want to make it any harder for the Marauders to lie about it. But Draco's fortitude came to a test when Monday's Potions lesson showcased Remus' first ever (to Draco's knowledge) emotional meltdown.
Slughorn had told the sixth years that he would be testing them on their ability to brew the Shrinking Solution, but Remus had mistakenly noted 'Cure for Boils' instead. And so, when the boys arrived to class on Monday morning and Remus realised that he was about to be tested on a potion for which he was not prepared at all... well... Draco had not expected this.
"How the bloody hell do you expect us to brew the Shrinking Solution in just sixty bloody minutes?!" Remus hissed at poor Professor Slughorn, who was looking at him apologetically and sympathetically.
"Remus, my boy," he said, softly, but Remus was not listening.
He went on and on until James managed to pull him out of the classroom. Sirius then approached Slughorn's desk and Slughorn gave him a note that excused Remus from class. Sirius left as well, leaving Draco alone at the table with Peter. Draco stared after the boys, wishing he had been able to go with them, not because it'd be an excuse to get out of this stupid assignment (he'd done this test twice before already) but because he felt strangely left out. He found himself urging to just spit it out so that the boys would accept that he knew Remus' secret too. Instead, they made subtle excuses so that they could discuss things privately.
James and Sirius returned shortly after, without Remus, and Draco had to take over with helping them for the day (a job that was normally taken care of by Remus). At the end of the lesson, they filed out of the classroom together, but not before James approached Slughorn and apologised to him on behalf of Remus.
"It's fine, my dear boy, I completely understand!" said Slughorn, dismissively.
Draco hung around just near the door, busying himself with putting some ingredients away in the store cupboards, while listening cautiously so as to catch every word. It was easy—Slughorn wasn't doing a very good job at keeping his voice down.
"Do let Dumbledore know that it's been getting worse, will you?" he told James. "I'd hate for Remus to miss my first club meeting of the year. It's this Thursday, you know."
"Yeah, for sure," said James. "I'll make sure he knows. See you later, professor."
"Bye now, boys!"
Sirius waved and the boys left the classroom together.
"Will you?" Draco heard Sirius ask James in a whisper as the two of them walked in front of Draco and Peter.
James shook his head. He started to say something but Peter suddenly thrust his timetable in front of Draco, obscuring his vision.
"We don't have a midnight lesson today, do we?" he asked.
"No," Draco moaned, shoving the paper out of his face while up ahead, James and Sirius continued whispering. "Practical lessons are on Wednesdays at midnight—you know that, Peter."
"Oh," said Peter. "I thought it was Wednesday today."
"... it'll just draw more attention to him," Draco heard James whisper.
Sirius only nodded. They exchanged a few more whispers without looking behind them at Draco or Peter, and then they disappeared up the stairs. Draco stared after them, wondering what the heck was going on.
Remus didn't show up to History of Magic, which was to be expected of course. So, Draco took advantage of the opportunity to have Sirius alone in that class. But what Draco saw as a chance to interrogate him about Regulus, Sirius saw as a chance to show his true mood. Draco had noticed that, when around James, Sirius tended to keep a certain mask on. He rarely ever showed a bad mood in front of him. But since James was not in NEWT History of Magic, almost as soon as they sat down, Sirius' mood dropped considerably. He moped around for a while, barely listening to a word of what Binns was saying. Draco watched him for a long time, wondering what this could have to do with. Surely Sirius wasn't this upset because of Remus, was he? Draco was so itching to find out that he even considered slipping Sirius a "what's up" note, but then decided that Sirius was just not in the mood for it. Not today.
So Draco let it go, and watched Sirius and Peter run off somewhere when the lunch bell rang. He tried to follow them but they had literally disappeared out of nowhere, and so Draco almost instantly gave up and headed straight for the Great Hall. His mind clouded slightly, he approached the Entrance Hall when he was stopped by someone yelling out "Hey Black!" He turned around and saw Severus and Mulciber coming out of the dungeons. Mulciber was strangely smirking.
"Hey, what's up with your friend Lupin?" he asked Draco. "Is it his time of the month?"
"No!" said Draco, almost too quickly.
Mulciber chuckled stupidly, but Severus at least rolled his eyes and said to Draco, "He's just joking."
"Half-joking," Mulciber corrected. "I mean, Lupin has been kind of moody lately. We're all laying our bets."
"That what, he's a girl?" said Draco. "Well he's not."
"Well of course, you would know," said Mulciber, winking.
Draco stared at him, but Severus only pushed Mulciber towards the entrance to the Great Hall, so Mulciber shrugged and left. Draco turned to Severus.
"What was that about?"
"Nothing," said Severus, quickly. "He was just poking fun at the rumours that went on about you recently."
"Yeah, any idea where they could have come from?" said Draco suddenly. "Like maybe it was something I said or did in class or whatever..."
Severus reddened slightly and shook his head.
"So anyway," he began. "I've been thinking a lot about what you've been saying…"
"Yeah...?" said Draco, adjusting the bookbag on his shoulder.
"... and..." said Severus, who was chewing on his bottom lip. "Well... I suppose it's time I just sort of... accept that... you know, Lily and I... it's never gonna be the same again."
"Wait, what?" said Draco, alarmed.
"You know," said Severus, shrugging slightly. "She's clearly in love with that Potter—"
"No she's not!"
"—or Black—"
"She loathes them!"
"—and her and Lupin have always been so close—"
"It doesn't mean anything, they're just friends!"
Severus sighed.
"I just...I think it's safe to assume that she's gonna live her life... a-and I suppose I should... live mine..."
"She's been watching you a lot!"
The words had escaped Draco before he could even stop himself, but Severus' reaction, unfortunately, was instantaneous. His eyes widened as he looked at Draco, and for a fleeting second, a smile crossed his puzzled face.
"Wait, what?" he said.
Draco started.
"Um..."
"What did you just say?" said Severus.
"Well," said Draco, looking around the Great Hall for some excuse to rescue himself from this situation. No one he knew was around. He turned back to Severus. "Well yeah, I mean...I dunno, it's just something I noticed."
"When?" said Severus, urgently.
"Just in class," Draco mumbled.
Severus eyed him for a moment before he hissed, "Are you playing with me?"
"No, I'm not!" said Draco. "I swear, I have no reason to."
A fiery sort of gleam crossed Severus' black eyes for just a spilt second. It was so quick that Draco was sure that, if he had blinked, he would have missed it. But there Severus was, looking as serious as ever.
"Oy Sev, you comin'?" Mulciber called, poking his head out of the Great Hall.
Severus looked over Draco's shoulder, nodded, and then left. Draco hurried in after him, hoping that either Remus or Sirius would be at the Gryffindor table so that he could spill to them the huge mistake he'd just made. But none of the Marauders were anywhere to be found. So Draco resorted to the only other thing he could think of. Without glancing at the Slytherin table, he marched right up to where Lily was seated, immersed in the Daily Prophet and a bowl of porridge. He sat across from her and pulled the sandwich tray towards him. It took Lily several moments before she realised Draco was sitting just in front of her. She gasped and quickly folded up the newspaper in front of her. Then, she looked up at him and smiled brightly.
"Good afternoon," she said.
"Yeah," he said, busy filling his plate. "Listen, I have to talk to you."
"Yes, I think we should talk," she agreed.
"Yeah well, it's about Severus," said Draco.
Lily's smile faltered at once.
"Severus? What about him?"
"You need to quit being such a stubborn and hypocritical grudge-holder and just cut the crap already and forgive him, alright?" said Draco, without even drawing breath.
Lily opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted.
"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're gonna say," he said. "'It's none of your business' and 'This is between me and Severus and no one else', blah, blah, blah. Whatever. But you don't strike me as the kind of person who is fine with having foes. Just look at us...me not wanting to have anything to do with you. Look at what it's done to you—it's made you practically desperate for me to talk to you and—"
"Whoa, just back off there, okay?" cried Lily suddenly. "You don't have to be so arrogant, you know. I'm not desperate. I couldn't care less if you don't want to talk to me—"
"Oh yeah, it clearly shows," Draco laughed. "But that's beside the point." He paused to take a bite of his sandwich and Lily watched him chew. When he'd finally gulped, he cleared his throat and said, "Oh just forgive him already! Would it really kill you to just do it?"
"Yes, it would!" she said. "Look, it...I know I've said this many times before, but it's really none of your business so just stop poking your big nose where it doesn't belong!"
"Big?" said Draco, running his fingers over his nose. "I didn't think it was that big. Hey Alice!"
Alice turned away from her girlfriends and flashed him a grin.
"What do you think of my nose?" he called to her over the table.
"Um," she said, looking round at her friends who giggled. "I suppose it's cute?"
"Thanks, that's all I wanted to hear!" he called back to her. He raised an eyebrow at Lily and smirked. She scowled at him.
"Look," said Draco, lowering his voice even more so that no one beside them would hear. "I know you two have your issues. Fine. Whatever. But you... you don't see how much your insistence on separating is torturing him. I do."
"How do you?" she laughed. "You barely know him! You barely know any of us! This so doesn't include you in any way, that it's almost ridiculous that you're so interested!" She raised her index finger to silence him as he was about to speak. "Look, I think we should just stop talking about this altogether, and steer our conversation to more pressing matters."
"Such as?" said Draco.
"Alice," said Lily, at once.
"What about her?" said Draco, lazily.
"What do you want with her?" Lily demanded.
"Why, what's it to you?" said Draco.
"She's one of my closest friends," said Lily. "I don't want you to go hurting her just like your pal Sirius."
"Sirius and Alice?" Draco choked.
"No," Lily rolled her eyes. "But that hasn't stopped him from hooking up with all of my friends!"
"And does that bother you?" said Draco, curiously and still smirking. "Is it because you wish you were one of the girls? Oh no, don't tell me." He stifled a laugh and threw on a serious face. "You've never hooked up with anyone, have you? Oh this is brilliant!"
"Oh shut up, Black!" she cried.
"Oh, so now we're back to Black, eh?" laughed Draco. "Alright, Evans. Two can play at that game."
"You're in—suffer—able!" she hissed at him.
"Thanks very much," said Draco. He paused. "So what if I hook up with all of your friends?"
"You'd better not," Lily warned.
He smirked at her.
"I mean it," she added quickly.
"I think," said Draco, finishing up his sandwich and getting to his feet, "I'll just do what I want, thanks."
"Hey, did you hear what I said?" Lily hissed at him. "Do not mess with Alice or any of my other friends... or you'll have me to answer to."
"I'm terrified," said Draco. He caught Alice's eye, winked at her (to Lily's irritation), and then departed from the Great Hall to check the common room for the Marauders.
But once Draco was out of the Great Hall, panic seemed to rise within him. What—what had he just gotten himself into? Now, because of his stupid big mouth, Severus was under the impression that Lily was looking to reconcile... and Lily was obviously staying true to her word that she and Severus were history. Draco turned the corner and climbed up a few steps whilst resisting the urge to hit himself on the head. There had been absolutely no point in him blurting out whatever he'd said to Severus—other than the fact that, in the moment, he'd felt truly terrible for the poor boy who just couldn't catch a break with this redheaded freak. But now, he, Draco, would pay for this... dearly.
When he finally got to the Gryffindor common room, he found all four Marauders sitting by the fireplace, looking extremely tense and serious. At the sight of him, they immediately jumped to their feet and started asking random questions ("When's that History of Magic paper due?" "Was Frank in the Great Hall at lunch?" "Are you sure you haven't seen my Sneakerscope?"). Draco mumbled his responses and then followed the boys out of the portrait hole again. They chatted quietly until they reached the Entrance Hall and departed there, James and Sirius off to enjoy their free period while Draco, Remus and Peter headed to their Astronomy theory lesson.
Draco watched Remus the whole way there, and was quite startled to find that the boy looked exactly like his old self. His mood was very bright too, and he was explaining to Peter (enthusiastically, too) why Slughorn had insisted on adding 12 pinches of fluxweed to the Hair Raising Solution instead of 13. But before Draco could ask Remus how he was feeling or anything of the sort, they reached the Astronomy classroom and Remus went to pair off with some boy in Hufflepuff, while Draco partnered with Peter for their project, it being his turn and everything.
For the most part, Draco found himself incredibly distracted throughout the activity—he was either watching Remus or thinking about Severus and Lily or wondering what other memories he could use for that Patronus Charm. Though it had already been two days since he'd managed to produce it, he'd neglected to mention it to the Marauders just yet. The less they knew now, the better really.
"Draco, is this right?" said Peter, who shoved his homework in front of him. Draco forced his eyes away from Remus and stared down at the piece of parchment.
"Y-yeah, I think so," he said, slowly, though truth be told, he wasn't paying attention at all to what was scribbled there in Peter's messy writing.
"Uh, is everything okay?" said Peter.
Draco looked up at him.
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, it's all fine." But he gave himself away instantly by glancing sideways at Remus, who was now laughing with that Hufflepuff boy about something.
"He'll be fine," Peter assured him. Draco turned back to him. "He will. It's just... uh... the flu!"
"That's some flu," said Draco. "Has he ever gotten this sick before?"
"Oh definitely!" said Peter. "It's nothing to worry about! So, do you have any ideas for what'll be our next prank?"
Draco groaned. He had been so busy the last couple of days that he hadn't thought about it at all.
"I'm sure whatever you come up with will be brilliant!" said Peter, encouragingly.
Draco smiled weakly at him, and then bit his lip.
"What have they done before? I mean, what kinds of pranks have you guys pulled in the past?"
"Oh, loads!" said Peter. "They were all James' and Sirius' ideas. Sometimes they took my ideas and improved them...Remus never offered any ideas. He just sort of went along with everything."
"Yeah, that I believe," said Draco.
"No really, he did!" said Peter, looking worried.
Draco stared at him.
"Uh y-yeah, I know... I wasn't being sarcastic there, Pete."
"Oh."
They worked silently for a few more minutes before Peter suddenly began smiling.
"What?" said Draco with a small laugh.
"One time," said Peter. "We replaced all the bathroom water pipes with sewage!"
"You what?" cried Draco.
"Yeah, it was brilliant!" laughed Peter. "I mean... well, we did get detention for a week, so that wasn't very fun. But it was still really funny. Everyone thought so!"
"I see..."
"And this other time, we charmed all the furniture in the Ravenclaw common room to spout out these poetry passages to anyone who was passing by!"
"R-really?"
"Yeah... it was just little pranks like that... the rest of the time, we mostly just made fun of Slytherins... like two years ago, there was this Slytherin boy in fifth year who was teasing all the Gryffindor girls in our year, so we just levitated him so that he hung by his shirt on a tree for hours."
Draco stared at Peter incredulously. All of these pranks seemed so immature and yet so James and Sirius like. So if Draco came up with something a little more advanced, that wouldn't be too much of a problem, would it? But then again, it would have to be something that wasn't too cool so as to draw any attention to his abilities, and not evil so as to raise any doubt in where his loyalties lay, but also not lame either.
After Astronomy, Draco said goodbye to Peter and Remus, who were headed to their last classes for the day. He walked along the second floor corridor, aiming to get to the Entrance Hall so he could maybe catch Alice and talk to her about 'slowing things down'. The talks around school were really starting to annoy him, whereas Alice was ecstatic. But then, Draco reached Claybrook's classroom, from which a fifth year class was emerging, Regulus among them.
"Hey Draco!" he said once he saw him standing there. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," said Draco. "I have a free period now. Hey listen, can I talk to you for a second?"
He pulled Regulus away from the mass of students walking along the corridors now.
"What's up?" said Regulus, sitting on a bench at the end of the corridor. Draco sat with him.
"I really think you should try reaching out to Sirius," he began. "Just hear me out." Regulus waited. "He thinks you don't want anything to do with him."
"Maybe I don't," said Regulus.
"Oh just cut the crap, will you?" said Draco, tiredly. "Just be the bigger person here."
"I shouldn't have to," said Regulus, standing up. "Look Draco, I like you and everything, but you should just stay out of it, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, listen," said Draco, urging him to sit back down. "I wanted to ask you something else." Regulus waited. "Maybe you do know something... about those rumours that were going on about me a few days ago..."
Regulus reddened instantly, and Draco stared at him.
"You do know something," he said. "Tell me now."
"It... it's nothing—"
"Tell me."
Regulus sighed. He looked around the corridor to make sure no one was listening, before he whispered.
"Okay, but swear not to tell anyone," he said. Draco rolled his eyes, so Regulus went on. "Sev came to me the other night... to me, and only me, okay? It's not like he talked to the lot of us together. He's not a prick."
"Okay, and?" said Draco, growing impatient.
"Aaaand..." said Regulus, slowly. "Well... he had his suspicions, you know? I mean... the way he justified them, it seemed odd that you were this new kid who was so interested in everything going on in his life. Actually, we were all curious as to why that is."
"So?" laughed Draco. "I was interested in your life too! And Sirius..."
"Yeah, but that's different," Regulus interrupted. "We're your cousins... apparently..."
"Oh," said Draco.
"Anyway," said Regulus. "He just thought that it might be a possibility. Actually, he just sort of joked about it... and that idiot Mulciber overheard us and then he told Avery who told Nott and then Rosier and everyone else found out..." he stopped at the horrified look on Draco's face. "Uh, sorry... you probably don't know who any of these people are... but the point is, it spread out massively, and it wasn't Sev's fault. It was all Mulciber, okay?" Then, he stopped again. "But don't try to get revenge now, okay? Mulciber is not the person to challenge... trust me..."
"And what makes you think I'm the person to challenge?" said Draco at once.
"Come on," said Regulus, smiling. "You're like Dumbledore's son or whatever... you're not a person anyone needs to fear."
"Yeah?" said Draco. "Well people can surprise you."
"Yeah, yeah," said Regulus, standing up. "Listen, I've got to go to Transfiguration. But... you won't tell Severus what I told you, will you? He's trying to forget it ever happened, and now that you and Liddell are a thing, he's feeling really relieved about it all."
"Yeah, I won't tell," said Draco, dismissively. "Will you talk to Sirius anytime soon?"
"No," said Regulus, at once. "Bye, Draco."
"Bye."
He watched him go and remained at the bench for a little longer than he'd wanted to, before he remembered that Severus was probably waiting for him in that deserted corridor on the seventh floor. Draco hurried over there and indeed found Severus leaning over his book and scribbling away.
"Hey," he said, approaching him.
Severus looked up.
"Hey," he said. "Sit down, I wanna talk to you."
Draco sat.
"I saw you at lunch," said Severus, closing the book in his lap. "You were with Lily."
"Yeah, and?"
"What were you guys talking about?"
"Me and Alice," said Draco, truthfully.
"Oh let me guess," said Severus. "It bothers her that you are with Alice because Alice is her friend, right?"
"Yeah," said Draco, frowning. "How did you know?"
"I know Lily," said Severus, simply. "Did she, uh... say anything else?"
"About?"
"Me?"
"Nah," said Draco. "I was annoying her too much."
"Are you sure she's been watching me?" said Severus suddenly. Draco stared at him. He looked desperate again... desperate and eager. Crap.
"Just sometimes in class," he lied.
"I don't get her," said Severus, leaning against the wall. "I mean... she tells me she never wants to talk to me again or have anything to do with me, and then here she is, hoping for a reunion again! I mean... why doesn't she just come talk to me already?"
"Girls are weird like that," Draco suggested, but Severus simply shook his head.
"Lily is not just any girl."
There was a pause.
"Well look, maybe you should come talk to her," said Draco.
"Nah," said Severus. "I've tried that already...loads of times... and she just refuses to listen."
"Maybe she will this time," said Draco. "I mean, if she's still anything like the girl you knew back at Spinner's End, then I'm—"
"How did you know about Spinner's End?" said Severus at once.
"Uh, what?" said Draco, weakly.
"Spinner's End," Severus repeated, a little more quietly this time. "No one here knows that I'm from there. How did you know?"
"Oh," said Draco. "Um, I..."
Severus raised his eyebrows at him, but Draco was at a loss for words. He stared at him for a long time, trying to come up with something—anything—that would explain his slip up yet again. He of course remembered the day when he'd accidentally found out where Severus was from, and how Severus had made him promise not to ever mention it again. Even back then, Draco was smart enough to realise that Severus was just not the type of person who wanted to talk about his past at all.
"I guess I must've just heard it... f-from..."
"Yes?" said Severus, still waiting.
Draco said nothing. Suddenly, the strangest feeling consumed him. It was like a powerful, invisible bubble trying to circle around his brain, pushing itself further and further in, in an almost desperate fashion. Draco blocked it at once, shoving the invisible thing back out with as much force as he possibly could. And then, Severus gasped.
"So you do know it!" he hissed.
"Know what?" said Draco, blankly.
"Occlumency!" said Severus in an even lower voice. "Dumbledore must've taught you it, didn't he?"
"I..." said Draco, freezing at once. So that's what that was! It did feel strangely a little like what Bellatrix had tried to do during her interrogation a few weeks before, but Severus' attempt at interfering in Draco's mind was far more amateur than that of Bellatrix.
"How do you know it anyway?" he hissed back.
"I've been teaching it to myself," said Severus. "What is it that you think I do all day, homework and mope about Lily?"
"Well..." said Draco, slowly.
"Don't answer that," said Severus.
Draco laughed.
"So yeah," he said. "I do know it."
"And that means you probably know legilimency too," said Severus, dismissively.
"Y-yeah," said Draco. "That would explain why I knew about the Half Blood Prince's book and Spinner's End. Yep, that's it, alright."
"Hmm..." said Severus. "Yeah, I thought it must be it."
Draco smiled weakly, but Severus was still frowning at him.
"How did you know that I didn't just find out from Lily?" he dared ask.
"Well because Lily doesn't know about the Half Blood Prince's book," said Severus, "And because I know her better than anyone else on the planet. She may be mad at me and all, but she'd never tell my secrets to another soul."
"And you don't want people to know you're from Spinner's End because...?"
"Because I just don't, alright?" snapped Severus. "Jeez, enough with the interrogations."
"Oh that's rich!" laughed Draco. "You might want to tell yourself that." Severus stared at him. "I mean, for weeks now, it's been nothing but interrogations for me! Now you know how I feel..."
"Right," said Severus, quietly. "Sorry."
"Yeah," said Draco. "And besides, you're talking to someone who's from a fucking muggle orphanage... not to mention that I basically had no option to hide this humiliating fact from people. Everyone knows because I'm basically Dumbledore's prodigal son..."
Severus nodded and looked away from him, which was good considering Draco was now marvelling at how easy these lies came to him—how little he had to work at making them sound convincing. He was getting good at this.
"I wonder..." said Severus, thoughtfully, "Why I didn't feel you interfering with my mind?"
"Huh?"
"You know, when you found out the name of the book...or my hometown..."
"Oh, right," said Draco. "W-well, Dumbledore's taught me how to, uh, perform legilimency in a way that doesn't make your target suspicious."
"Huh," said Severus.
"What?"
"Well... I just find it really hard to believe that Dumbledore, who's usually so correct and proper, was willing to teach you something that is thought to be a dark art..."
"Hey, you never know when it might come in handy," said Draco, quickly. "Besides, it's not that dark. It doesn't do anyone any harm..."
"Depending on how you use it," said Severus. "There are rumours that the Dark Lord himself is a master legilimens, and that he uses it to produce visions in the minds of his victims, designed to torture them into madness."
"Well yeah, but... the way I use it, or the way Dumbledore taught me... it's harmless, trust me," said Draco.
Severus nodded again.
"I must admit, I just didn't expect this from Dumbledore..."
"You don't know him like I do," said Draco, though even he wasn't sure of how true that statement really was.
"So," said Severus, slowly.
"Yeah?"
"Why did you feel the need to interfere with my mind?"
Draco paused. His next choice of words would have to be very careful and cautious... otherwise, Severus would jump to more conclusions, and on and on the rumours would go.
"This is gonna sound really weird," he began. "But I think I can really relate to you..."
"Enlighten me, in what way?" said Severus.
"Well..." said Draco, slowly. "You... you seem like you're on the edge of the good and the bad. I mean, I'm no idiot. I know what goes on in the Slytherin common room on a daily basis... what sorts of things are talked about and what sorts of words are used to describe certain groups of people..." Severus grew serious instantly. "But then I look at Lily and how she's exactly the opposite of all that... and... well, it doesn't take much to put two and two together... she was obviously a huge influence on you up until now... I... I feel like you maybe struggle with choosing—"
"I don't," said Severus at once, silencing Draco. "I've chosen long ago."
"Yeah," said Draco. "Well, keep telling yourself that, but I know what I see."
"So what then, you struggle with choosing too?" he shot at him.
"Something like that," said Draco, smirking.
"Does... does Dumbledore know?" said Severus, more seriously.
"There is so much Dumbledore doesn't know," said Draco, who finally felt like he was himself again.
Severus smiled.
They spent the rest of the free period actually working for once, and Draco felt very pleased with their conversation. It was safe to assume that now, Severus trusted him... fully. Before, he was probably just as curious about the new kid as Draco was about this teenage version of the Severus he'd previously known. But now, it was like they had this joke or this secret between the two of them that no one else understood... and Draco knew perfectly well that this would come in handy later on.
After the bell, Draco said goodbye to Severus and went back to the common room to drop off his things. The Marauders were all up in the dormitory, sitting on their beds and talking when Draco came in.
"Hey there!" said Remus suddenly, looking very pleased for some reason. "How was your free period?"
"Fine," said Draco, dumping his bag on his bed and leaning against a wall. "How were the Runes?"
"Pretty boring today," said Remus, shrugging. "Professor Gorste said we'll get to the more interesting parts next month. Or at least, I hope we will."
"I think you will," said Peter.
Draco looked round at James and Sirius, who were both unusually quiet.
"What's going on?" he dared ask.
"Nothing," said all four boys at once.
"Uh huh..." said Draco. "Come on guys, you can trust me. What is it?"
For a split second, he'd actually thought they would come right out and say it. But then...
"Sirius and I have detention Wednesday night," said James.
"For what?" said Draco before he could stop himself.
"Oh it's just something stupid," said Sirius, who was stretched out on his bed. "We were trying to prove Professor Grubbly-Plank wrong during our lesson today and she didn't really seem to take it well."
"Personally, I think the class would be loads better if Hagrid was teaching it," said James.
And then Draco finally understood.
"So you both have detention Wednesday night then," he said.
"Yep," they said together.
"When does it start?" said Draco.
"Uh dunno," said Sirius. "McGonagall said she'll just let us know that day at dinner when to come to her office."
"McGonagall's office, right?" said Draco.
"Yeah," said James. "But I'm sure you guys will all probably be asleep by the time we come back from it, so just don't bother waiting up for us or anything."
"Yeah," said Sirius. "So what do you guys wanna do until dinner?"
"Quidditch anyone?" said James.
Remus laughed. "Not today."
Draco stared at him.
"What?" said Remus.
"You seem in a pretty cheerful mood," Draco observed. "Is that... normal for someone with the flu?"
"The flu?" said James and Sirius together.
"Yes!" squeaked Peter. "The flu! Remus has the flu!"
"Oh the flu!" said Sirius. Remus kicked him at once and turned back to Draco.
"I have my good days and my bad days," he explained. "But I'm pretty sure that I'll be cured in just a few days...from the flu..."
And the next day, Remus acted like it too. He was happier than he'd ever been—more cheerful and lively than ever before. He laughed at absolutely every one of Sirius' pathetic jokes, and he was willing to listen to James ramble on about Quidditch for hours. Draco was actually starting to wonder whether Madame Pomfrey prescribed Remus with some kind of powerful cheering potions that made him all...well...
"I just love Christmas!" he said to the boys when they came straight to the common room after dinner on Tuesday night. Everyone else was hanging out in the Entrance Hall, and so they had the common room all to themselves. Remus had been talking about Christmas for about an hour already and it didn't look like he was going to stop anytime soon.
"Just everything about it!" he went on, "The snow, the presents, the traditions... families getting together..."
"Yeah, it's brilliant," Sirius muttered, collapsing on his usual couch by the fireplace.
"And speaking of families," said Remus as the rest of the boys sat down. "I have to tell you guys something."
"What's up?" said Sirius.
"I'm gonna have to go home tomorrow..."
"What?" said James, alarmed. "What for?"
"My mum is sick," Remus explained. "McGonagall talked to Dumbledore and they've agreed to let me go home. I'll spend the night there and then I'll be back Thursday night, I expect."
"Damn," said Sirius. "That's no fun. Sorry, mate."
"But we all wish your mother a speedy recovery!" said Peter.
"Thanks," said Remus, who was trying hard now not to meet Draco's eyes... a little too hard, in Draco's opinion.
And that's when Draco realised it... tomorrow night was going to be a full moon... that's when it was probably gonna happen.
"Hey, so did you check it out?" James asked Sirius.
"Yeah I did!" said Sirius, sitting up suddenly. "It's just around the corner from the Ancient Runes classroom... you know, behind that statue of those three elves?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought," said James.
"What are you guys talking about?" said Remus.
"Oh we just discovered a new hidden passageway," said James. "Hey Draco, could you run up and get the map? It's under my pillow."
"Yeah," said Draco.
He crossed over to the other side of the common room and climbed up the spiral staircase to the dormitory on the left. The map was actually peeking out from James' trunk, rather than under his pillow, and his cloak was draped over the window ledge in the corner. Draco thought about trying it on again—there was something about wearing the cloak that made you feel invincible and somehow protected—but then decided against it and grabbed the map before heading out. Just as he opened the door however, he heard Sirius' voice and froze.
"I wasn't that obvious!" he was saying.
"You were completely obvious!" said Remus.
"Relax guys, it's all good," said James. "He doesn't suspect a thing."
"Yeah, for now..." said Remus.
"I think he actually believed it though," said Peter.
"You always think that, Wormtail," said Sirius.
"Everybody, calm down," said James, and the room fell silent at once. "We're in the clear. Everything is fine. We just have to make sure that you, Peter, stay with Draco the entire night. Don't let him out of your sight, okay?"
"I've also asked Lily to keep an eye on him too," said Remus.
"What did you do that for?!" cried Sirius.
"She's one of my best friends!" said Remus.
"Oh and you don't trust us?" said Sirius. "Wow, thanks a lot."
"Sirius, calm down," said James. "It's Remus' decision what we do, after all. If he wants Lily there too—"
"I do."
"—then she can be there too."
"Yeah, whatever," said Sirius. "Just make sure you watch him the entire time, Pete."
"I will," said Peter.
"Yeah, we're all counting on you, Pete," said James.
"This is a big responsibility for you," said Remus.
"Guys, I'll take care of it. It'll all be fine."
"We hope so," said Sirius.
The portrait hole suddenly slid open and in climbed a sea of students, all of whom seemed to be holding up something very long and very scarlet. Draco hurried down the stairs to join the boys as they watched most of James' team, as well as twenty older students parade around the common room, chanting "WE WILL WIN! WE WILL WIN! WE WILL WIN!"
"What the bloody hell is all of this?" James exclaimed, shouting over their voices so that he could be heard.
Frank emerged from the excited crowd and put an arm around James.
"You like it?"
"What is it?" said James.
"It's a flag in honour of our team!" said Frank. "We ordered it weeks ago—it just came in tonight."
Draco looked over at the large red flag draped over the thirty-something students and spotted a hint of a golden lion embedded on the front. The common room was now extensively noisy with excitement and chatter.
"That's brilliant!" said Sirius. "Is this in preparation for the match on the 24th?"
"Hell yes!" said Frank. "Ravenclaw won't know what hit 'em!"
"You should've saved this for when we're playing against Slytherin," said James.
"We plan to bring this out every match, my friend," said Frank.
From the corner of his eye, Draco caught sight of Remus suddenly dropping to the floor, but because the common room was so full of excitement, no one but him, Sirius and Peter seemed to notice. At once, they hurried over to his side to help him up. Draco was a little startled to see the look of pain on Remus' face. He was wincing terribly and holding his left hip as though hundreds of knives were being forced through it.
"Peter, get the cloak," Sirius said at once, and Peter left in a hurry.
Draco helped Sirius hoist Remus to his feet and together, they started towards the portrait hole. James caught sight of them and tried to help, but was pulled away by the excited crowd. His teammates were now shouting exciting Quidditch things at him while Draco and Sirius pulled the still-wincing Remus nearer to the portrait hole. Peter suddenly emerged from the top of the stairs. He dashed down and around the crowd and tossed James' invisibility cloak at Sirius, who caught it gracefully. Draco tossed the map back to him too and caught Remus' arm just as he was about to slip again.
"Stay with James!" Sirius called out to Peter, and together, he, Draco and Remus left the common room.
"What do you need the cloak for?" Draco asked Sirius as they both dragged Remus along the corridor.
"You never know which teacher will cross paths with us on the way to the hospital wing," said Sirius, who was now unfolding the cloak and throwing it over them. It barely covered the three of them, and Draco was sure that someone roaming around the corridors would get a heart attack from seeing three pairs of shoes walking at their own accord.
They were barely out of Gryffindor Tower when Remus suddenly dived out of the cloak and lunged himself at the nearest arch, over which he vomited. Draco watched with disgust. When it was over, Sirius helped Remus back under the cloak, and pulled out his wand to clean up after him. Then, they were on their way again.
"Just relax, Moony, we're almost there," Sirius kept repeating as they walked.
"But I don't understand," said Draco, turning the corner. "He looked so fine this morning! And yesterday too... is... is this normal?"
"Um, yeah," said Sirius, staring at Draco. "Come on, haven't you ever had the flu before?"
"Oh," said Draco. "Right, yeah... the flu..."
They finally reached the hospital wing, and Draco was actually surprised to find that Madame Pomfrey was not yet asleep, despite it being nearly midnight. She hurried over to them at once and helped Remus into the nearest bed. He was completely soaked with sweat now, and his face had never looked paler. Draco watched him miserably, wishing there was something—anything—he could do to make it somehow better. Transformation didn't look at all fun. He wondered when exactly it would happen... and how...
"Thank you, boys," said Madame Pomfrey, who now ushered Draco and Sirius out of the hospital wing.
"Will he be spending the night?" Draco asked Sirius once they'd gone.
"Yeah, for sure," said Sirius, whose hands were in his pockets now. Draco held on to James' invisibility cloak and looked around every corridor they passed for any lurking teachers. He too, didn't fancy getting another detention.
"You're probably wondering what the hell kind of flu this is," Sirius suddenly said.
Draco looked round at him. Was he... would he actually... surely he wouldn't tell him Remus' secret now... would he?
"Remus has always had a low tolerance for pain and sickness," Sirius said. "Whenever he gets sick, it's like... full-on, hardcore sick. It's been like that ever since he was a kid."
"I see," said Draco, trying hard to hide his disappointment.
"Anyways, I suppose it's good that he's going over to his mother's tomorrow... at least they can be sick together and we have nothing to worry about—"
"Are you gonna talk to Regulus?"
Sirius stopped to look at Draco.
"Um, no," he said, his eyebrow raised. "Why are you asking me this?"
"Don't you think it's about time you got over whatever grudge you're holding onto and just act like the bigger person?"
"You wanna tell me how this is any of your business though?"
Draco stared at Sirius. "Are you gonna answer every one of my questions with a question?"
Sirius sighed. "Look Draco, I like you and everything, but just stay out of it, okay?"
"No, I won't," said Draco. "And funnily enough, Regulus said the exact same thing to me when I talked to him about this."
"You talked to him about this?" said Sirius.
"Yeah, of course I did," said Draco. "You guys are like my family now and—"
"But we're not your family, are we?" said Sirius.
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Draco.
"It means that you should stop acting like you've known us all your life—you haven't," said Sirius, and without waiting for Draco to respond, he stormed away and into the nearest classroom that was open. Draco did not even hesitate to follow him inside. He shut the door behind him and watched Sirius pace around the classroom angrily.
"Well, aren't you gonna explain?" Draco shot at him.
Sirius wheeled around to look at him.
"It's none of your bloody business, alright?!" he shouted. "It's none of anybody's business!"
Draco pulled his wand out and cast the muffliato charm over the door. Sirius' expression changed instantly.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," said Draco. "I'll tell you later—and we're not finished here."
"What do you want from me?" said Sirius.
"I want you to explain to me just what is your problem with your own brother," said Draco.
"I can't," said Sirius. "You won't get it."
"Try me," said Draco.
Sirius sighed and resumed his pacing, while Draco took a seat at one of the empty desks. The moonlit classroom was actually quite spooky without the echo of students at desks and teachers rambling about useless information that they would never need to know beyond school.
"I'm not looking for pity, you know," said Sirius, suddenly, and Draco's eyes snapped back to him. "That's why I don't go around telling people what hell my life has been... even my close friends." Draco nodded, and Sirius looked around the empty classroom. "But you really don't know what it's been like growing up at my house, and be grateful for not ever having to know. Seriously... I'd much rather I had your upbringing instead." Draco raised an eyebrow. "It's... it's not just two brothers fighting for their parents' attention. I'm not that lame. I promise you, it is so—much—more—complicated than that."
"How so?" said Draco, beckoning Sirius to sit at the desk. Sirius hesitated before pulling up a chair. They were quiet for a long time. Sirius sat with his eyes on his lap and Draco watched him intently, not wanting to miss anything at all. He knew this was an important moment—he knew that tonight would determine whether Regulus and Sirius even stood a chance at all, because no matter what Regulus wanted, if Sirius was going to put his foot down, that would be it. Draco was at least sure of that much.
"You know there's a war going on now..." Sirius began in a very quiet voice. "And you know who perpetrated it..."
"I know a fair bit, yes," said Draco, calmly.
Sirius paused.
"The Dark Lord is heavily recruiting," he went on. "And as you can imagine, he prefers the pureblood supremacists as his main followers... the whole lot of them being Slytherins." He hesitated. "Well just think about it! Just use your logics—where is he gonna find Slytherin followers who are desperate enough to risk everything... and if they're not desperate, then they're fearful little cowards... obviously he'll be recruiting among the young and ambitious."
"So within Hogwarts," said Draco, nodding.
Sirius looked up at Draco.
"He's gonna get to Regulus," he whispered. "I know he is. Heck, my parents would love for him to."
Draco leaned forwards, trying to keep his face concerned.
"I get why you'd think that," he said, "But why would he want some silly teenage boys to become his most loyal followers?"
"Because they're easiest to manipulate and to scare," said Sirius, his voice suddenly dark. "A-and because these silly teenage boys have family histories with the Death Eaters... you know the Death Eaters, they're his—"
"—his followers, yeah I know," said Draco.
Sirius nodded.
"So you think Regulus is next," said Draco into the silent classroom.
"I know he's next," Sirius whispered. Draco looked up at him. "He's been preaching pureblood idiocy for years now, but it's always just been about playing up to our parents... making them adore ickle little Reggie."
"So what's changed now?" said Draco.
Sirius hesitated before speaking.
"He's starting to believe it all himself now."
"How do you know?" said Draco, suddenly.
"Because we did have a talk..." said Sirius, "...the other night."
"Wait, what?!"
Sirius sighed. "I've known him his whole life... obviously I tried to talk to him about our fight and about our mother and everything—I'm not an idiot."
"And?"
"And I could just tell...by the way that he was talking and acting and everything... 'but Sirius, I'm sure if you just tried to reason with them', 'Sirius, if you just gave it all a chance, I know you'd understand', 'Sirius, Sirius, Sirius'." He sighed again. "It's no use at this point—the kid's so far in, so brainwashed, that he'll never be coming out. It's only a matter of time."
"No it's not," said Draco at once. "Let me talk to him—I can reroute him."
"No you can't," said Sirius. "It's too late for that now."
"It's never too late," said Draco. "You could be so far in, literally on the verge of killing someone, and still turn away, believe me." Draco stopped himself before he could go any further, but Sirius was too distraught to have picked up on it. "Let me speak to him, Sirius. I have an influence on the kid."
"You've only known him for a month, Draco. I've known him his whole life—"
"—which is why I need to be the one to do it," Draco concluded. "If he thinks I don't know any of your history or anything that might have happened in the past, he'll listen to me a little more because I can't judge him or give a partial opinion."
Sirius considered this, but then he put his face in his hands and groaned.
"I just want to stop thinking altogether," he moaned. "I just... ugh, can we just go to bed?"
"Yeah, let's go," said Draco.
They stood up and made for the classroom door, Sirius unfolding the cloak, when Draco suddenly said, "Hey how about that butterbeer?"
Sirius turned to look at him.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, why not?" shrugged Draco.
"I j-just thought..."
"Look, it's been a long night," said Draco. "And besides, I wanna go see this... Hogsmeade place. And, we have James' cloak with us."
"Yeah, alright!" said Sirius, suddenly cheerful. "Here, hold this."
He handed Draco James' cloak and pulled out his wand. He paused for a second and then muttered "Expecto Patronum". To Draco's complete and utter shock, a silvery blue dog issued from the tip of Sirius' wand and turned to look at him happily.
"Tell James I've taken Draco to Hogsmeade and we'll be back later," Sirius told it. "Remus is with Pomfrey."
The dog nodded once and disappeared through the window. Sirius turned back to Draco and smirked.
"That was—"
"You can do the Patronus Charm?!"
Sirius paused. "Uh, yeah... you know about it?"
"Y-yeah," said Draco, hesitating. "Yeah, I must've read about it somewhere. Wait, so you know how to do it? How long have you been able to?"
"Just a few years," shrugged Sirius. "We all can produce it... well, Peter's charm is more of a... silver mist..." he frowned. "Yeah, he hasn't been able to produce any real shape yet but he's getting there slowly."
They left the classroom together, both under the cloak and tiptoeing their way along the dark corridor. Draco wanted to ask Sirius what memory he was using, but decided it was best not to just yet.
"Turn here," Sirius hissed into Draco's ear. "We're lucky I have that map all up here," he pointed to his brain. "Take a right here. No, no, just here. Yep."
They reached a tapestry and Sirius left the cloak's boundaries and pushed aside a small statue of a goblin to reveal a hidden passageway.
"In you go," he said to Draco, who followed him inside.
They climbed through the tunnel for what felt like ages, both of them keeping as silent as possible. Meanwhile, Draco thought a lot about their conversation back in that classroom, and how he would now have to seriously put aside all the other rubbish that he's been concerned with—Quidditch, Patronus Charm, Severus and Lily, keeping up in classes—and focus completely and solely on the most important thing of all... keeping Regulus away from the dark path for which he was headed.
They finally reached some kind of door at the end of the tunnel, and Sirius pushed it open. Draco climbed out after him, and then watched Sirius replace the portrait from which they'd just climbed out and pull the cloak over them again.
"This way," he said, leading their way through what looked like an old and abandoned shop. Draco stared around for a few seconds as they made their way around empty shelves, until he finally recognised it as the future Hog's Head.
"W-what kinds of shops are there here?" he asked Sirius as they went outside and started heading for the infamous Three Broomsticks, which was actually still open despite the late hour.
"Loads," said Sirius. "We'll give you a proper tour when we come back here during daylight with our class."
Draco nodded under the cloak.
They reached the Three Broomsticks and Sirius pulled the cloak off of them and stashed it under his arm. He then led the way through the bar to where a much younger, more slender-looking version of Madame Rosmerta was laughing with a group of men as she served them their drinks.
"Hey there Rose," said Sirius, taking a seat at the bar.
She turned to look at him and her smile faltered slightly.
"Just a little past your bedtime, isn't it, Sirius?" she said, her eyes lingering over Draco.
"Bedtime? Please," said Sirius. "I'm just doing my friend here a courtesy favour... he's new to the area and I thought I'd introduce him to your famous butterbeers."
"Oh how nice of you," she replied sarcastically. She then turned to Draco and held out her hand. "Madame Rosmerta."
"Draco Black," said Draco, taking it in his.
"Black?" she said, her eyebrows rising. "Oh, so this is the boy everyone's been talking about!"
"The one and only," said Sirius, grinning. "So, how about those butterbeers?"
"Oh hold on, hold on," she said, rolling her eyes as she zoomed away from them.
Sirius laughed.
"Neat bar," said Draco, looking around. The place hadn't changed in the slightest. He swore he'd been there just yesterday with Blaise, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle.
"Yeah, this is a popular hangout spot for Hogwarts students," said Sirius.
"She won't tell anyone she saw us here...?" said Draco, his eyes on Madame Rosmerta who was now preparing their drinks behind the bar.
"Nah, Rose and I go way back," said Sirius.
"You two...?" said Draco.
"Oh jeez, no!" said Sirius. "Come on, I know you guys think I'm a whore and everything, but I'm not that bad!"
Draco laughed.
"There you go," said Madame Rosmerta, who came back with their butterbeers and handed them to them. "Enjoy."
"We will," said Sirius.
She smiled once at Draco and left.
"Cheers," said Sirius before taking a large swig of his drink.
Draco did the same. Yep, it was a butterbeer alright. He went on drinking and drinking until he finally noticed Sirius watching him.
"Well?" he said.
"Oh," said Draco, choking on the last bit. "It's very good. Yeah, very nice."
Sirius smiled weakly, and then put his drink down.
"Listen, thanks for doing this," he said. "I know you didn't really want to... we could get in trouble and all that... but I really needed this."
"Yeah, I know," said Draco.
They watched the various witches and wizards at the bar for a few minutes before Draco turned to Sirius again.
"So James knows how to produce the Patronus Charm too?"
"Yep," said Sirius. "His is a stag."
"A-and Remus?"
Sirius hesitated. "His is a dog... like mine."
Draco nodded.
"So what was that spell you performed back there on the door?"
"Oh," said Draco, having forgotten about that already. "That was just a simple silencing charm."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, it's meant to create this sort of buzzing in the ears of anyone passing by, so they'll have no idea that someone's in that classroom..."
"What's it called?"
"Muffliato."
"Where do you know it from?"
Draco paused, remembering one night back at home when Severus had stayed for dinner. After Draco's parents had left the room to argue about whatever job the Dark Lord had assigned them next, Severus had tried cheering Draco up by teaching him a few spells of his own invention. Though, he would never ever admit that cheering Draco up was what he was actually trying to do. Draco snapped back to the present and Sirius was still watching him, eyebrows slightly raised.
"Dumbledore," he said, simply. That was his answer to everything nowadays.
"Huh," said Sirius. "How's it performed?"
He pulled out his wand and did a kind of circle with it, imitating what Draco had done back in the classroom. Draco watched him.
"No, no, like this," he said, lifting his wand and turning it the other way.
"Ah," said Sirius. "Wicked."
Draco raised his glass to him and continued drinking.
"Just out of curiosity," he said a while later, "When did you and James and everyone else meet and like... become friends and stuff?"
Sirius finished his drink and signaled Madame Rosmerta for another one. Only after she brought it and he flashed her a grin, he turned to Draco.
"James and I met on the Hogwarts Express in first year," he began. "We started talking about Quidditch and then it just kind of spiraled from there... Lily was in the compartment too. Even back then, I could tell he fancied her because he kept looking at her when he thought I wasn't looking. Huh, Snape was there too. I forgot about that."
"Snape?" said Draco. "Did you guys talk?"
"Just enough to find out what a nosey git that one is," said Sirius, dismissively. "He was all 'Lily, Slytherin is the best!' 'Lily, you'd better be in Slytherin!' 'Lily, you're mine forever!'"
"He did not!" said Draco.
"He did!" laughed Sirius. "I swear it, ask James!"
"Well what about Remus and Peter?"
Sirius thought for a minute. "We met Remus during dinner, just after the sorting. James and I thought he was a bit of a git because he was all 'school is the most important thing' and all that rubbish. But then he turned out to be like a sort of older brother to us... even though out of the four of us, I'm the oldest."
"You are?" said Draco, frowning.
"Yeah, I'm almost a full year ahead," said Sirius. "My birthday's actually in a month." He looked down at his watch, which read 1:40 in the morning, and said, "Huh, it's Wednesday the 30th, isn't it? So in a month exactly..."
Draco nodded.
"We met Wormtail that same night," Sirius went on. "After the feast, we found him crying in the bathroom. Someone had stepped on his glasses. Oh yeah, he had glasses back then. Anyways, Remus fixed the glasses and James and I took care of the bully. And then the three of us brought Peter to our dormitory and it's been just ours all this time. I mean, McGonagall did try to put someone else with us, lots of times over the years, but..."
"Why did you guys let me join then?"
Sirius smiled. "Cause we're family."
Draco laughed.
"So what did you and James do with the bully?"
"Oh we just hung him by his shirt on a tree," said Sirius, shrugging. "We used to do that a lot back then."
"So," said Draco, frowning down at his drink. "You reckon the whole... James crushing on Lily thing...began even on the first train ride to Hogwarts?"
"Yep," said Sirius. "Although, James will never admit it. But I'm not an idiot—I saw the look on his face when we entered the compartment and saw her sitting there."
Draco nodded.
"The poor kid was practically drooling," laughed Sirius, taking another sip of his drink.
"What about Snape?" said Draco.
"What about him?"
"Well, if he and Lily were so close back then... how did it... like when did it...?"
"I'd say, being sorted into two completely opposing houses did the trick," said Sirius. "He became all protective and obsessive...and possessive over her... I know because we used to sneak around in James' cloak a lot back then... that's practically what we did every night...and once we spied on Lily talking to Mary MacDonald and she was complaining about how she felt like Snape was trying to be her father and brother and boyfriend all at the same time."
"So she knew that he fancied her then...?"
"No," said Sirius, slowly. "No, I don't think Lily ever quite understood. Only a guy will be able to understand, you know?" Draco nodded. "Anyway, they sort of stopped talking as the years went by and then they had that big fight last year when he called her... well, you know... and then it's been silence ever since. Well, what am I telling you all this for? Remus has already told you..."
"Yeah," said Draco, sipping his drink again. "I'm just wondering how 'Snape and Lily' connects to 'James and Lily'."
"It's simple," said Sirius. "James and Lily do not exist. I mean, sure, James would like for them to. But they don't... which is a shame, in my opinion, because she's actually a nice girl. Stubborn as hell and crazy about school—like Remus—but overall nice... and super damn fine."
Draco laughed.
"Say, do you know what you're gonna do for our next prank yet?" said Sirius, suddenly. "Because I've got some ideas. I know James told me not to help you out but it's been ages since it was my turn to pick the prank and I'm just... itching to try out these few ideas I have."
"Hey," said Draco, at once, turning in his chair fully to face Sirius. "I'm all ears. Whaddaya got?"
They returned to the common room just before 3 AM, and were surprised to find that James and Peter were sitting by the fireplace waiting for them, both fully awake. At the sight of them climbing in through the portrait hole, James got to his feet.
"How's Remus?" he asked at once.
"He's fine," said Sirius. "What the hell are you guys still doing up? We dropped him off at the hospital wing hours ago!"
"I dunno," James mumbled. "It felt weird to just go to sleep."
"But you got my patronus, didn't you?" said Sirius.
"Yeah," said James, who was now heading upstairs for the dormitory. The boys all followed him. "So where've you guys been this whole time?"
"Three Broomsticks," said Sirius, who began to undress.
Peter was already in his pajamas so he collapsed into his bed and James sat on the window ledge instead.
"What'd you think of it?" he asked Draco.
"It was cool," said Draco. "We should come back there in the daylight though."
"We will," Sirius promised. He got into bed and sighed deeply.
"I suppose tomorrow will be rather dull with Remus gone," he said.
"Yeah, but we have our detention," James told him. "So we won't have time to get bored."
"Yeah, right," said Sirius.
"Did... were there any problems... getting Remus to the hospital wing?" James asked after a moment's silence, his eyes mostly on Sirius.
Sirius' face changed slightly.
"Yeah, he threw up a couple of times," he said, quietly.
"Damn," said James. "After your patronus, we sent a message to the hospital wing to check on him and Pomfrey said he threw up there too."
Draco got into bed and turned to face the ceiling, wondering why the hell they were willing to discuss all this in front of him.
"I hate the flu," Sirius muttered.
Draco wanted to laugh, but the image of Remus throwing up over the statue a few hours ago was now starting to haunt him. He could feel a lump in his throat again, and just turned around in his bed so that his back was facing the others. He drowned out their conversations and tried very hard not to think about what would be happening to Remus at precisely this time tomorrow.
Poor Moony...
