26. …Lucius and Blaise are engaged in Questionable Activities
When they got to the potions classroom they found Hermione and Professor Snape
slumped in chairs across the room from each other, looking haggard. A potion bubbled
in the cauldron on the burner. "Have a nice night, did we?" Draco's voice sounded
purely evil and, distracted by the look of fury that crossed Hermione's face, Ron tripped
over the garbage can by the door. Righting it he saw that it contained mostly crumpled
papers and scraps of fur but also a long, silver stirring stick.
"Don't touch that!" Hermione and Snape yelled in unison. Ron stared mutely at the
garbage can and then backed away slowly.
"We've had a…" Snape said, elegantly raising a chipped teacup to his mouth, "small
setback. But the potion is now ready." He made a face at the taste of the tea. "Dear god,
this is awful!" Hermione grinned more evilly than anybody would have given her credit
for, and Draco tried his best to muffle a laughing spell that threatened to shake the very
foundations of Hogwarts.
Snape tried to glare at the four students, but the effect was mitigated by his robe, which
had begun to gape open again in the front. Hermione sighed in exasperation and went
over to the cauldron, ladling a portion into a glass and handing it to Draco. Snape
muttered an incantation and wove his wand about a few times, then ordered Draco to
drink. He did so, then sputtered and hacked in complaint.
"This stuff is terrible! What is in it?" Draco whined. Ron and Harry didn't even try to
stifle the unkind chortles that they were producing. Hermione gave him a Look, and
Draco mutely downed the rest of the salmon-colored brew.
"Very good," Snape pronounced. "Now all of you need to leave so that I can get some
sleep. Draco's carriage should be here within the hour."
Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny solemnly watched the ominous Malfoy carriage roll
away from Hogwarts.
"I hope this works," Hermione said firmly. "And by the way, we are never brewing any
potions again, especially the Polyjuice one."
Ron nodded in assent. "Amen. And…umm, Hermione?" Ron peered over Hermione's
collar. "There's something on your neck, I think." Hermione blushed furiously.
"It's nothing!" she screeched. "Leave me alone!"
Draco wandered the capacious halls of Malfoy Manor, searching in vain for a human
presence. "Hello?" he yelled, "anybody home?" A house elf had told him that Lucius was
gone "somewhere" and that his mother was supposedly in her suite, but he couldn't find
her.
Typical, he thought grimly. Usually I try to avoid my parents, but when I need to speak to
them, they're off "somewhere."
Suddenly, Narcissa Malfoy emerged from the library door as Draco passed it in his
search. She looked, he thought, like she had just spent the whole morning having her hair
and nails done.
"If you're looking for your father," Narcissa said, "He's gone to one of his little cabins to
hunt or whatever it is he does there."
Draco snorted. In other words, he had a feminine conquest that he didn't want to wave
under Narcissa's nose for some reason.
"Well…I had something I wanted to talk to him about," Draco said. Narcissa's
expression clearly said that the thought of Draco wanting to talk to his father had never
crossed her mind.
"I guess I'll just write him a letter," Draco answered himself hastily, and ran off to his
bedroom.
About forty minutes or so later, an owl winged into the bedroom in which Lucius and
Blaise were currently engaged in activities that involved several silk ropes and a
blindfold. Lucius sighed when he noticed the return address and tore it open reluctantly.
Father –
I have uncovered details of the incident in our home that I am sure you wish to know
about. Please return home at your earliest convenience.
Draco Malfoy
Lucius groaned and rolled off of Blaise, cursing. Shrugging into his robes, he grabbed his
cane and hat and was out the door.
"Umm…Lucius?" asked Blaise quietly from her prone and blindfolded position on the
bed. Her hands were tied to the bedposts. "Lucius?"
When no response was forthcoming, she began to yell. "LUCIUS!! WHERE ARE
YOU?!?! UNTIE ME NOW YOU BASTARD!"
"It's a hickey!" Harry yelled triumphantly. He and Ron had wrestled Hermione to the
floor. Ginny stood by, gaping.
Hermione smacked him on the face and stood up angrily.
"So! Who gave it to you, eh?" Ron poked her in the side.
Hermione proceeded to tell a very improbable story about Viktor Krum riding his broom
over from Bulgaria to visit her in the Potions classroom.
Severus Snape was not feeling very well. He had eaten an entire box of black licorice and
a handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, but after encountering a toejam flavored
bean, he spat it out angrily and tossed the rest of them out of the window. He felt only
mildly guilty about last night – after all, he was acting under the influence of powerful
magic – but he was having second thoughts about involving any student, be they
Slytherin or Gryffindor, in any plot against the Death Eaters.
For goodness sakes, he thought, the Gryffindors can't even be trusted to read over a spell
before putting it into use. And Draco is more interested in girls and clothes than anything
else.
Dumbledore was, of course, aware of the whole plan. Snape had censored it a wee bit,
because he didn't want Dumbledore to be kept up at night imagining Draco and Ron in a
passionate embrace. He also saw no reason why Dumbledore would care to hear about
his encounter with Miss Granger. Although maybe Dumbledore could perform memory
charms on both of them so that they couldn't remember last night…but then Dumbledore
would have to remember. No, that wasn't fair.
Yes, he decided, I have to get all of this off of my mind somehow. He summoned to him
a black leather bound book and a quill, and removed the various wards placed on it. He
began to write.
December 29
As usual, I am surrounded by idiots. I caught Professors Sprout and Flitwick in a rather
compromising position last Tuesday, and have recently became involved in a childish
plot orchestrated by Harry Potter and Co…
When they got to the potions classroom they found Hermione and Professor Snape
slumped in chairs across the room from each other, looking haggard. A potion bubbled
in the cauldron on the burner. "Have a nice night, did we?" Draco's voice sounded
purely evil and, distracted by the look of fury that crossed Hermione's face, Ron tripped
over the garbage can by the door. Righting it he saw that it contained mostly crumpled
papers and scraps of fur but also a long, silver stirring stick.
"Don't touch that!" Hermione and Snape yelled in unison. Ron stared mutely at the
garbage can and then backed away slowly.
"We've had a…" Snape said, elegantly raising a chipped teacup to his mouth, "small
setback. But the potion is now ready." He made a face at the taste of the tea. "Dear god,
this is awful!" Hermione grinned more evilly than anybody would have given her credit
for, and Draco tried his best to muffle a laughing spell that threatened to shake the very
foundations of Hogwarts.
Snape tried to glare at the four students, but the effect was mitigated by his robe, which
had begun to gape open again in the front. Hermione sighed in exasperation and went
over to the cauldron, ladling a portion into a glass and handing it to Draco. Snape
muttered an incantation and wove his wand about a few times, then ordered Draco to
drink. He did so, then sputtered and hacked in complaint.
"This stuff is terrible! What is in it?" Draco whined. Ron and Harry didn't even try to
stifle the unkind chortles that they were producing. Hermione gave him a Look, and
Draco mutely downed the rest of the salmon-colored brew.
"Very good," Snape pronounced. "Now all of you need to leave so that I can get some
sleep. Draco's carriage should be here within the hour."
Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny solemnly watched the ominous Malfoy carriage roll
away from Hogwarts.
"I hope this works," Hermione said firmly. "And by the way, we are never brewing any
potions again, especially the Polyjuice one."
Ron nodded in assent. "Amen. And…umm, Hermione?" Ron peered over Hermione's
collar. "There's something on your neck, I think." Hermione blushed furiously.
"It's nothing!" she screeched. "Leave me alone!"
Draco wandered the capacious halls of Malfoy Manor, searching in vain for a human
presence. "Hello?" he yelled, "anybody home?" A house elf had told him that Lucius was
gone "somewhere" and that his mother was supposedly in her suite, but he couldn't find
her.
Typical, he thought grimly. Usually I try to avoid my parents, but when I need to speak to
them, they're off "somewhere."
Suddenly, Narcissa Malfoy emerged from the library door as Draco passed it in his
search. She looked, he thought, like she had just spent the whole morning having her hair
and nails done.
"If you're looking for your father," Narcissa said, "He's gone to one of his little cabins to
hunt or whatever it is he does there."
Draco snorted. In other words, he had a feminine conquest that he didn't want to wave
under Narcissa's nose for some reason.
"Well…I had something I wanted to talk to him about," Draco said. Narcissa's
expression clearly said that the thought of Draco wanting to talk to his father had never
crossed her mind.
"I guess I'll just write him a letter," Draco answered himself hastily, and ran off to his
bedroom.
About forty minutes or so later, an owl winged into the bedroom in which Lucius and
Blaise were currently engaged in activities that involved several silk ropes and a
blindfold. Lucius sighed when he noticed the return address and tore it open reluctantly.
Father –
I have uncovered details of the incident in our home that I am sure you wish to know
about. Please return home at your earliest convenience.
Draco Malfoy
Lucius groaned and rolled off of Blaise, cursing. Shrugging into his robes, he grabbed his
cane and hat and was out the door.
"Umm…Lucius?" asked Blaise quietly from her prone and blindfolded position on the
bed. Her hands were tied to the bedposts. "Lucius?"
When no response was forthcoming, she began to yell. "LUCIUS!! WHERE ARE
YOU?!?! UNTIE ME NOW YOU BASTARD!"
"It's a hickey!" Harry yelled triumphantly. He and Ron had wrestled Hermione to the
floor. Ginny stood by, gaping.
Hermione smacked him on the face and stood up angrily.
"So! Who gave it to you, eh?" Ron poked her in the side.
Hermione proceeded to tell a very improbable story about Viktor Krum riding his broom
over from Bulgaria to visit her in the Potions classroom.
Severus Snape was not feeling very well. He had eaten an entire box of black licorice and
a handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, but after encountering a toejam flavored
bean, he spat it out angrily and tossed the rest of them out of the window. He felt only
mildly guilty about last night – after all, he was acting under the influence of powerful
magic – but he was having second thoughts about involving any student, be they
Slytherin or Gryffindor, in any plot against the Death Eaters.
For goodness sakes, he thought, the Gryffindors can't even be trusted to read over a spell
before putting it into use. And Draco is more interested in girls and clothes than anything
else.
Dumbledore was, of course, aware of the whole plan. Snape had censored it a wee bit,
because he didn't want Dumbledore to be kept up at night imagining Draco and Ron in a
passionate embrace. He also saw no reason why Dumbledore would care to hear about
his encounter with Miss Granger. Although maybe Dumbledore could perform memory
charms on both of them so that they couldn't remember last night…but then Dumbledore
would have to remember. No, that wasn't fair.
Yes, he decided, I have to get all of this off of my mind somehow. He summoned to him
a black leather bound book and a quill, and removed the various wards placed on it. He
began to write.
December 29
As usual, I am surrounded by idiots. I caught Professors Sprout and Flitwick in a rather
compromising position last Tuesday, and have recently became involved in a childish
plot orchestrated by Harry Potter and Co…