Draco Malfoy Promises To Be A Good Boy This Year

Part Eight

Preparations

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I think it was a very nice thing that Thomas was so good at Muggle Chemistry. The thought of giving the Slytherins something to think about made me feel all warm and sunny. So much for being good…sorry, Gin.

That night, we finished up my lessons for the day and sent my made-up Divination predictions, a transfigured flower, and a little vile of the potion by Express Owl back to Hogwarts. Once that was done, we rinsed out the cauldron and began a new potion, although Thomas knew a lot more about it than I did. He went out into London and came back with vile chemicals of all kinds.

I looked at them all, my mouth open slightly. "Are we building a…a bomb?"

"You could call it that."

"I don't want to blow up Hogwarts…just the Slytherins."

"It will just be a small bomb."

This was purely amazing. A young boy's first bomb. It was a proud day for me.

I managed to get Harry and Ron into the action as well. Hermione said she didn't want to know what we were doing with my cauldron in Thomas's bedroom and that Ginny would have no part in it either. They were going to stay in the front room and do their homework and play with Crookshanks. If we wanted to blow up the Slytherin dorm, we could do it on our own time.

We gents all liked Hermione dearly, but thought she could be so bloody boring when she wanted to. So we set about making the Muggle concoction in Thomas's room without the girls. However, Ginny was back and forth between the bedroom and the front room, and Hermione eventually gave up trying to keep her out of there. Ginny, for all her sweetness, wanted to see the Slytherins take a dive as well. She was scared nearly to death of Millicent Bulstrode and she didn't trust Pansy Parkinson any farther that she could throw her, so Ginny didn't mind getting a bit involved.

The potion had to be brewed for many days for it to thicken. It was nearly Christmas by the time it was almost ready. As our little concoction bubbled merrily along, we tried to decide who was going to sneak into Hogwarts to plant the explosive. Hermione would have no part in it since she had "Head Girl hanging in the balance," but the rest of us all wanted to go. This presented a problem, as five of us could not fit underneath Harry's invisibility cloak. This required the use of a second cloak, which of course none of us had. We also had to figure out how to get into the Slytherin common room, and then how to deliver the explosives to the Slytherins and get out of there again without them knowing. It was sure to be quite a prank once we had all the bugs worked out.

Ginny and Ron began to work on the lack of invisibility cloaks right away. First off, we had a lovely row about it while debating who would be the ones to go when we thought we would just have Harry's.

"Ginny's too young. She shouldn't go anyway!"

"I'm not either, Ron!"

"Thomas should walk with Ron since they're both so tall. Why not let them go? It will be proportionally accurate."

"Forget it, Brainiac. I am going! I'm the Slytherin!"

"You and Ginny should be under the same cloak, then. You're the short ones."

"Shut up, Weasley."

"Well, don't count me out! It's my cloak!"

"Shut it, Potter."

"Please everyone, don't argue. I would go myself if I could."

"But you don't know Hogwarts, Thomas."

"And even so, we all want to go!"

"You're all a bunch of ninnies!" Hermione slammed her book down and glared as us. "Why don't you just find another cloak and you can all go! Bugger…" she muttered.

Thus another one of Hermione's great ideas was born. Ron and Ginny composed a note immediately that read, "PLEASE PASS ME AROUND" on the front, and inside said: "Dear Students: If anyone has an invisibility cloak which can be borrowed for an evening, please see the youngest weasels. A gift of three packets of Chocolate Frogs for the use of the cloak. Signed: R. & G. Weasel"

I rolled my eyes when I read the note. "This is your brilliant idea to get a cloak?"

They both shrugged. "You want to do better?" Ginny's eyes flashed.

I held up my hands. "Okay, okay…and they'll know it's you?"

"Sure. They know everyone calls us Weasels. Who else did it more than you, Draco Darling?" Ron gave me a dark look.

"Er…yes. Well…" I patted him on the arm. "…brilliant note, old man."

The very next day, they left the note on someone's desk and the note was quickly passed from person to person, class to class, but luckily out of the teachers' reach. Soon the note had traveled through the three good houses. No one bothered to give it to a Slytherin. The Slytherins also knew who the "Weasels" were and they wouldn't have given them a cloak anyway.

Meanwhile, Thomas and I set about thinking of a way to get the bomb into the Slytherin common room without the idiots realizing it. We weren't having too much luck. On a chilly Saturday afternoon, Thomas had the potion all ready to go, and it bubbled black and angry in the cauldron. Thomas's bedroom smelled awful, so we were glad to be almost ready to wash out the cauldron.

Hermione marched into the bedroom, carrying a huge green box, wrapped up with a red bow. Since it was almost Christmas, she was dressed in a warm red sweater with huge white snowflakes on it. I figured it was a Weasley sweater, since Ron and Harry and Ginny all had sweaters that were almost identical to it. I eyed her now with amusement. "What's with the box, Herms? An early present for me?" I batted my eyelashes at her.

She gave me a wry smile. "Hardly. It's for your…explosive."

I smirked. "A present for the potion? I'm sure it will be so thrilled."

"Draco! You're so infuriating! It's to put the potion in to deliver it to the Slytherins! Honesty!"

"That's an awfully interesting idea."

"Muggles do it in mystery movies all the time. Bombs are always being delivered in pretty boxes and such." She placed it on the floor.

I grinned at her. "Hermione, I think I'll kiss you."

"You're not serious!" She screamed and ran.

I took chase and tackled her and sat on her. "Merry Christmas, you boring old dame!" I ruffled up her rather bushy hair and went back to the bedroom.

"You're a freak, Malfoy!" She yelled after me, but her voice was full of laughter. The Christmas giddies were hitting fast.

We decided to make our move the very next evening. It would be Sunday and the Slytherins would be lounging around in their common room, unsuspecting and cheerful. We spent the rest of Saturday night pouring the potion into the box and putting magic spells on it so that it would explode as soon as someone opened the present.

Ginny was a bit worried as she stood over the potion, wisps of light radiating from her wand. "Draco, this won't kill them will it? We don't much want them to die, do we?"

"Of course not, little sprite. This potion, with a mixture of Muggle and magical ingredients will explode, throwing everything in the room about, and knocking the Slytherins into the walls. They will be quite blackened and their clothes will be singed and perhaps torn, but they'll live just fine. They won't really be hurt. They'll just have a lot to think about this Christmas as they try to clean the scorch marks off the walls of their dungeon."

"Delightful," Harry commented. He was up for it, at least.

"Basically, it works like a Muggle explosive, but the magic you all are putting in will prevent it from actually killing them." Thomas had a slight glint in his eyes, as if he might have wanted to kill them, but was too decent not to. He was horrified about what they had done to Ginny on the train.

"Well, whatever it does, it ought to be a jolly good show!" I cackled.

Ginny and Ron went back to school that evening, but came back later, toting a large invisibility cloak. "We've got one!!" Ginny yelled through the flat.

We came plummeting out of Thomas's bedroom and jumped around like idiots. At least we wouldn't have to argue anymore about who got to go along to see the explosion. "Whose is it?" Hermione asked sensibly.

"It belongs to a large second year Hufflepuff," Ron explained. "He's a pretty big boy…that's why it's so large. I guess it was a gift from his grandmother who is a witch."

"I'm glad it's big," I said. "That way we can all fit comfortably. Even Hermione, if she wants to come along."

We all looked at Ginny, who knew her cue. There was no one who convinced people to do things better. "Oh, 'Mioneeeeee!" she sang, dancing over to her. She seated herself right on Hermione's lap and wrapped her arms around her neck. "Come with us, pretty please? I so much want you to come and hold my hand, in case I get frightened. It might be scary, a big explosion like that!"

"She's really scary when she does that," Ron muttered. "Been giving me the creeps for fourteen years."

I held back my laugher. She was so frighteningly appealing, there was no way Hermione could say no to this.

"Please Hermione? Please?" Ginny pressed her cheek against Hermione's.

"Oh…well…let's just do it!" Hermione surrendered. She would be coming with us after all. This really was quite a feat.

We camped out that night at my place, rather than having everyone go back to Hogwarts. We wanted to sleep in, so that we could stay up late the next night, which was sure to be high excitement.

That night, Snape came to check on us, since the castle had been mysteriously Potter and Weasley free all day. He appeared in the closet and glared at the lot of us, especially Thomas. "Who are you, boy?"

We were all tongue-tied, but Thomas stepped bravely forward. "Sir, I am a wizard from a school in America. I'm on vacation here in London. I met Draco one day while walking in the park and I've been keeping him company." He had a very good impression of an American accent, I must say.

Snape glared. "Mm. Mr. Malfoy, see if you can't refrain from bringing everyone you find into my flat, if you please?" But it seemed he was going to let Thomas stay. Maybe he could see that there was absolutely nothing threatening about Thomas, so what did it really matter? As for the rest of us, he glowered. "And what are the rest of you doing here? It's nearly in the middle of the night."

Ginny hugged a pillow. Of course, this was another job for her. "We're having a slumber party, Professor! Do you want to be our chaperone?"

The corners of his mouth suggested something that might be a smile. "As much fun as that sounds like, I think I'll trust you to behave yourselves as if I were here. If I stop by later and see you all carrying on and such, you will have to suffer the consequences. Boys sleep in one room, and girls in the other. I will be back to check on you, that is a promise. You will all be in grave trouble if you disobey me. You too, Miss Weasley!"

"Oh, we'll be ever so good, Professor Snape!" Ginny cooed.

He patted her awkwardly on the head and headed back to the closet portkey. I wondered if we frightened him, the lot of us sitting there on the sofa and floor, looking at him. He turned once more. "Oh yes…Potter, get your feet off my coffee table…five points from Gryffindor." And with that, he was gone, leaving Harry seething and me laughing.

" 'We'll be ever so good'? Did you seriously say that, Ginny?" Ron was laughing his head off.

"What, too thick?"

"Maybe a bit. But it was still brilliant, no matter how ridiculous it is!"

When Snape came back at about two-o'clock before he went to bed, we were all passed out on the floor and the couch, the television flashing white and blue light in the darkness. He turned it off, pried a magic wand out of the sleeping Ginny's fist, and pulled a pillow off Ron's head to make sure he was still breathing. He then muttered something about 'damn kids' and left, stifling a yawn. Having regained consciousness for several moments to witness this, I slid Ginny across the floor like a large kitten and pulled a blanket over the both of us. I was out cold again in minutes.

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