A/N: This note has absolutely nothing to do with the story. In their book, Good Omens, which I am currently rereading, Messrs. Prachett and Gaimen point out that Christian Scientists have determined that the world was created at 9:00 AM on Sunday, October 21st, 4004 BC. If this is true, they add, it means Earth is a LIBRA.

Also, I want to thank everyone for reading. And that includes reading the little dravels like this.

Chapter 14: Trouble Begins

Draco did not sleep that night after returning from the forest. From the way they looked on Saturday morning, neither did Fred nor George. They had discussed the situation on the way back to the castle, but it was a disturbing for all of them. For Draco, the worst part was the casual tone that Rabastan had when he talked about murdering people. It was especially bad because he was one of those people that Rabastan was talking about.

Questions filled Draco's mind. Why would Rodolphus Lestrange risk meeting with his brother when the danger was so great. If anyone found out, he would be sent back to Azkaban without even a by the way. Then there was his reaction when he discovered Draco and the twins had been watching him. Laughter? He thought it was funny that there were witnesses to the conversation? It didn't make sense. But Fred and George were right. They had to tell someone. They had to let them know that Voldemort was actively making plans.

The three trudged to breakfast as soon as they were able. No one said a word. They sat down together and Draco let out a sigh, rubbing his tired eyes. Would Kreacher know he was here? Or would he be serving himself for once?

"Well, look at that," George said. Draco opened his eyes to see a prepared breakfast in front of him. Nothing fancy. An omelet, probably ham and cheese, Draco's favorite. A small bowl of oatmeal and a large glass of orange juice. A glance showed that the twins had the same meal. Kreacher was keeping an eye on him and noticed that he had company. That was one more thing he needed to thank the house elf for.

"How did you manage this?" Fred asked. "This is the same smelly, useless house elf that Sirius Black gave you?"

"He's not smelly. Not anymore at least. And if cooking an omelet this good is useless, I hope he never learns anything."

Fred smiled. "Tell him we said thank you."

Draco looked up from his meal, the surprise apparent on his face. These two knew. They knew he always made it a point to thank Kreacher, to let the elf know he was appreciated. Hermione Granger might be smarter than they were, but they were obviously smarter than they let on.

"I will, Fred. He'll like that."

"Plans," George reminded them as he paused in his eating. "How do we get Dad here?"

"We could do something, and get caught."

Draco snorted. "Won't work. You'll get detention." He paused as George grinned. "Whot?"

"Not if it involves a teacher. Someone everybody hates." He glanced at Draco, who was frowning at the idea. "Almost everybody."

"Won't work," Fred answered. "But you're on the right track. It should be a teacher everyone likes."

"Flitwick?" George suggested. "Or Sprout."

"Depends on what we do?"

"Right, we have two possible targets, let's think what we can do that will make Dumbledore call Dad in for a meeting."

Fred nodded. "What did we do the last time?"

Draco almost choked on his juice. "This happened before? What did you do?"

Fred and George gave him identical grins. George told him it wasn't important. Then he pulled out a folded parchment. Almost reluctantly, he handed it to Draco.

"We'll want this back."

"You're giving it to me?"

"How else will you know where Dad is and when you can talk to him alone. And we'll be busy."

"Very busy," Fred added. "And by the time Dad comes, we won't have a chance to be alone. It has to be you."

"Fred, George, I'm not allowed to be by myself."

Fred smiled. "You're Draco Malfoy. You'll figure out a way." He looked up and waved. "Here's Hermione. Now that your escort is here, we can leave you in peace and get to work."

"After we're done eating," George said as he ate another bit of the omelet. "This is VERY good."

"You're not supposed to be alone."

Moaning Myrtle was smiling as she floated toward her friend. Draco Malfoy had come to visit.

"I'm not alone," Draco said with authority. "I have you as my escort."

Moaning Myrtle did something she had never done in the presence of anyone else. She laughed.

"Honest, Myrtle. It's important. I know I should've visited more often but . . . I got busy."

"And what are you busy at now?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

Myrtle nodded. "And help a friend? Yes."

Draco showed her the map. He had little choice in the matter. He had arranged to sneak out of Gryffindor at about the time that George had told him they would be springing their surprise. And the places he could hide were few and far between. At least he convinced Hermione that he would be with Justin. And that lie should stand up until they met at Hagrid's. He had already decided to lie to them and tell them he wanted some privacy for once. They would yell at him and he would grin. Then he would promise never to do it again. But that was still in the future. And he did not know how soon the word would get around about what the twins did. Whatever that was.

Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was the logical place to wait. It was near enough to the path anyone would take to get from the entranceway to the headmaster's office. All Draco had to do was wait until he saw Arthur Weasley enter the grounds. Also, no one ever came in the bathroom, because of Myrtle. And Myrtle was telling the truth. She would keep a secret. That is why he showed her the map. He knew he could trust her.

"Is that . . ." Myrtle asked. "I'm surprised they gave it to you."

"It's on loan," Draco told her, trying to decide whether or not to ask her how she knew. He shrugged his shoulders and decided it didn't matter. First he explained why he was there and what he was looking for. Myrtle smiled in appreciation and he tapped his wand against the parchment, pronouncing that he was, solemnly, up to no good. Lines appeared, and dots, and shortly he was looking at an outline of Hogwarts and it environs, with little labels telling which dot stood for which person. The first place he searched for was where he was. There were two dots, and the names of the two people there. Draco smiled as he understood that the map even showed where the ghosts were.

Following the path he knew, the next place he looked for was Dumbledore's office. Fred and George were there. With the Headmaster and Professor Sprout. And Professor McGonagall. And Argus Filch. And Madam Pomfrey. That last name shook Draco. It meant that someone was injured. And that made Draco's heart sink. The grand scheme had turned serious. He stared at the dots, trying to guess what had happened, but they all seemed stationary, as though waiting. He had almost convinced himself that it couldn't be serious (otherwise they would be in the infirmary) when he heard his name.

"Draco!" Myrtle's voice came with shrill insistence. She had to say his name a second time before he reacted. Then she pointed with a ghostly finger. A dot with the name of Arthur Weasley was already inside, and heading up the stairs to the second floor. No other dots were near him or between him and the girls bathroom. Draco groaned. The figure had already reached the point where the path turned away from where he was. He cursed out loud for not paying attention to what he was supposed to do.

Myrtle laughed, and blew him a kiss. She told him to follow once the way was clear. Then she flew through the wall. On the map, the dot labeled Myrtle Mulberry flew through wall after wall in a straight line toward Arthur Weasley. Both dots stopped. A quick scan showed the hallways were still empty except for a few dots which could be avoided. And Draco left the bathroom. It was time to keep to his part of the plan.

Draco glanced regularly at the map as he walked toward Arthur Weasley, who was now walking in his direction. Myrtle was following Mr. Weasley but at a distance. She was smart. She could make sure she wasn't seen with him while making sure he kept in the right direction.

A quick step behind a suit of armour and a wait of a minute permitted Draco to avoid his only close call. Two girls he recognized from Hufflepuff walked past without spotting him. Once they were gone, he checked the map again. Arthur Weasley was almost to the corner of the hallway, and no one else was around. He stepped out and continued to walk toward him, tapping the map to say he was done and putting it away. The man turned the corner, took a few steps, then waited for Draco to cover the remaining distance.

Draco swallowed hard. Arthur Weasley was not smiling.

"I assume, Master Malfoy, that this meeting is directly related to what my sons did."

"I, I," Draco stuttered. "I need you to promise not to tell anyone I told you."

"That you told me or what you told me."

Draco took a deep breath. "That I told you. If they know . . . people could die. In, including me."

"I promise."

"I mean it," Draco insisted.

"And so do I." This time, Arthur Weasley did smile. "Would you like me to make a wizards oath?" At Draco's frown, he elaborated. "I make a vow of magic that I won't reveal my source. Should I try to break that vow, I will likely die before I succeed."

Draco shook his head. "No. I mean, you might have to break your promise. To help me. Or somebody else."

Arthur nodded. And waited. Draco began to tell him of the overheard conversation in the forest. He did lie about certain things. He made it appear obvious that Rodolphus Lestrange knew that he was there, with Fred and George, listening. He did not say it, but implied as best he could that Professor Lestrange had told the twins about the meeting and that was why they had insisted on dragging him along.

As he related the conversation, Draco began to understand what Fred and George had already known. He intended to portray his godfather as making excuses, but that is what Rodolphus Lestrange was doing in fact. Finding logical reasons for not doing what, according to Rabastan, Voldemort wanted him to do.

And as he spoke, he watched Arthur Weasley. The way the man reacted told much. He had doubts about whether or not Rodolphus was an enemy. It was, as Arthur remarked at the end, as though the man had a plan of his own.

"Malfoy." Arthur handed him a Galleon coin. "You know what this is. If you are ever in trouble, or you need to talk to me again, use this. I will meet you at Saint Mungo's."

Draco grinned as he took the coin. He also felt a bond with the man, for showing such trust in him after such a short period of time. He put it carefully in one of the smaller pockets in his robes. "I'll even tell 'em I stole it off Sirius Black."

Arthur laughed. "I'm sure they'll believe you."

Arthur Weasley gave him a pat on the shoulder and continued on his way to the headmaster's office. The entire conversation had lasted less than fifteen minutes.

As the man disappeared around the corner, Myrtle floated through the wall. She pointed out that he needed an escort. Draco nodded and followed her as they headed toward Gryffindor. They reached the first staircase when he looked up. Hermione was halfway down the stairs staring down at him, with Justin next to her. Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas were standing behind them, grins growing on their faces.

Myrtle gave him a kiss on the cheek and wished him good luck before she floated away.

"Good morning."

Hermione didn't smile or yell or anything else that Draco expected. Instead, she shook her head and muttered, "typical". Justin laughed and pointed out that he did have an escort. Dean did him one better and mentioned that he would have lied, too, if he was sneaking out to meet another girl.

They proceeded to walk past without inviting him to join them. Draco hesitated. He knew they assumed he would join them but he had no idea where they were going. It was too early for dinner.

"The feast!"

Ron Weasley turned around. "What about the feast?"

"Just remembered it's Halloween is all. Don't know how I forgot."

It wasn't his intention, but the four of them started laughing.

The five walked along together toward Hagrid's hut. Ron and Dean decided it was time to visit the giant. They also admitted that they couldn't think of anything else to do until the feast began.

"Have you tried Homework?" Hermione suggested.

"Didn't think of that," Ron admitted.

"Won't think of it until at least Monday morning," Dean assured her.

"Did mine already," Draco bragged. "Friday, before dinner."

"Can I copy it?" Ron asked.

"Sure. But don't leave jelly stains on it this time."

They looked at Hermione for a reaction. She looked back at them. "I know you're not serious, Draco. If you were, you would have charged him." With that, she climbed the steps to the hut and knocked on the door. When Hagrid answered, she asked him politely if he minded that they brought company with them. The Giant grinned and asked if they wanted to crowd inside or sit around on the grass.

Hagrid went inside and grabbed a jug of what turned out to be pumpkin juice and a huge plate of his famous biscuits which he passed around. Ron Weasley said thank you as he took one and bit into it. He didn't say another word for quite some time.

"Now for the revelation," Justin said as he was handed a cup. "Draco, what did you and the twins do, and how did you escape?"

"Escape?" Draco tried to sound more surprised than he was. "Din't escape. Been talking with Myrtle the entire time."

"I believe him," Dean said.

"Honest. You can ask Myrtle." Draco paused. "What did Fred and George do?"

"You don't know?" This time it was Justin. The first time he said those words his tone indicated that he knew Draco was lying. The second time, he knew Draco was telling the truth. "You DON'T know!"

Dean clapped Justin's shoulder. "That means, mate, that you know more than any of us."

Hagrid sat on a convenient tree stump. "Ye better tell us what ye know. Now that ye've made us all curious."

Justin nodded. "I don't know much. The twins were seen near our house. And there was a loud explosion. When someone opened the door to the hallway, we could all hear Professor Sprout shouting their names and demanding they follow her. They were gone by the time I managed to get out of Hufflepuff. Even the first ones out didn't see much. But there is a nasty black stain on the walls down the way from our house."

They dwelled a bit trying to figure out what the twins had done but gave up when Ron Weasley admitted that he had no idea. The talk then turned to Quidditch. Hagrid consoled Hermione, as he did on every visit, for not making the team. And he told Draco how well he looked on a broom. Now he was talking to Ron, wanting to know why he was always at practice.

Ron's voiced had a sense of pride as he explained how Oliver Wood was showing him the ins and outs of being a good Keeper. And, because he was the only one who paid attention at the team meetings, he was also able to explain what Wood's strategies were for the upcoming match. "Hufflepuff won't know what hit them," he said proudly.

"Yes, we will," Justin said smugly.

Ron looked up, suddenly remembering that Justin was in Hufflepuff. His eyes grew wide. "Bloody Hell."

Justin laughed. "I'm joking. I won't say anything. I promise."

"It's not that," Ron said pointing back toward the castle. "That's my Dad just walked out of the school." He lowered his head. "Fred and George must have done something bad."

To make matters worse, for Ron, Arthur Weasley had noticed the group and recognized the tall red-haired youth. Because the road to the school entrance ran past Hagrid's hut, this was no surprise. As he neared the group, he nodded to the giant.

"Good Afternoon, Hagrid. Ronald. Everyone."

"Afternoon, Arthur," Hagrid replied. "Care for some biscuits."

Arthur smiled knowingly. "Thank you, no. I've only come up on business and I need to be getting back."

Hagrid tried to look serious. "We heard there was trouble with . . ."

"Fred and George? Yes. They were trying out a new potion they created but it was . . . unstable." He glanced at Justin. "They claimed they were going to visit a friend who agreed to test it, and were innocently passing Professor Sprout, when the potion unexpectedly exploded."

Justin looked up. Arthur Weasley was still looking at him. Then Arthur smiled and said, "As I expected. You might be a friend but you clearly did not agree. It's obvious you didn't even know about it. Assuming you were the one they were referring to."

"They could have meant Cedric Diggory," the Hufflepuff offered.

"Possibly. But only if his middle name is Justin." He straightened up and smiled. "Well, good day, everyone. I have to get back to the Ministry." He walked off without looking back.

Ron sighed. "Looks like Fred and George got away with it."

"What kind of potion would they make?" Justin asked.

Ron shrugged. "Could be anything. They told mum during the holiday they'd like to open a joke shop. They made this one potion, mixed it in some taffy and gave it to the cat. Its tongue swelled until it was bigger than the cat's whole body."

The rest of the time before the Halloween feast was spent listening to Ron describe the different things that the twins tried, their successes as well as some of their more spectacular failures. By the time they headed back to the castle, Draco had his first doubts that Hermione was the smartest person in their house.

Draco sat down at the Gryffindor table and looked around. Fred and George were not to be seen. He stopped Angelina Johnson as she passed by to find out that the two were confined to their dorm for the night.

It wasn't fair, thought Draco. They were only trying to help him. True, they helped him by almost blowing up Professor Sprout, but that did not mean that he couldn't do something to ease their punishment. Perhaps a few treats?

"Kreacher?" Draco called out, relieved when he heard the popping sound behind him.

"Does Master need anything?" The house elf asked happily.

"NO. He Does Not," Professor McGonagall shouted as she came walking briskly toward them. "Not unless he wishes to spend the rest of the night in Gryffindor. Do you understand me, Mister Malfoy?" She glared at Draco until he sent the elf back to the kitchens.

Draco was surprised. He had only thought of the idea less than a minute ago. "How'd you know?"

Professor McGonagall gave him her version of a smirk. "I've been teaching the Weasley twins for five years now. I've learned to read them like a book." She leaned forward. "As for you, Mister Malfoy, I would have a more difficult time reading a chocolate pudding."