Draco didn't dare make a noise as the conversation continued. "How do you really know he's got the ability?" Lupin asked.
"I've suspected it since he shook my hand last week. I could somehow sense it. He has no idea of course. D'you know, Sirius, I think I could even sense that he's never made a transformation before?" Potter asked.
"Au contraire, Jim. I believe he did make a transformation once. Though, admittedly, it was not voluntary..." Sirius clarified.
"Sirius, how do you know all this stuff?" Pettigrew asked in a high pitched voice. Draco had to concede that he was amazed at Sirius Black's correct intuition. Not only did he sense that Draco had once spent a few moments of his life in an animal form, but he somehow knew that Draco had not done it on his own. It was in his fourth year, and the false "Professor Moody" had done it to him. He had been transfigured into a ferret.
Suddenly, Draco found himself nearly bursting with questions. The main one was, when Moody changed him into a ferret, had he consciously changed him into a ferret, or had Draco changed himselfinto a ferret? After all, with the way Moody treated him, he would have been better served if he'd been transfigured into a rubber ball, not a ferret of all things!
"Well, Peter, remember how much easier it was for him to change than it was for us?" Potter reminded him.
"Heh, hard for you, was it? It was nearly impossible for me," Pettigrew groused.
After that statement, there was a few moments of silence. Draco considered tip-toeing out, but then Sirius said, "You know, Remus, you shouldn't have told him about the other night. What he didn't know won't hurt him."
"Oh? And let Colton get away with it? What will he do? Use me again to try and kill Malfoy? I will not be used that way. Even if it means that the truth comes out!" Lupin declared.
"I still can't believe that he knows anything at all. I think only Dumbledore knows. And Madame Pomfrey, naturally, but she'd never say anything," Potter said.
"Hmph! Someone like Colton would make it his business to know something like that," Lupin protested.
"Look, Remus, I know you hate the man..." Potter started.
"Yeah, him and a lot of other people!" Pettigrew chimed in. Draco would have given three cheers to that statement if he could.
"Regardless, he works as a teacher in this school!" Potter sputtered.
"Yes, thank you very much for that assessment, Mr. Prefect. I'm sure Dumbledore can always count on you to put Hogwart's in a positive light," Pettigrew drawled.
"Dumbledore's not the problem, it's Colton!" Lupin growled.
"If he employs someone like Colton, then he is part of the problem!" Pettigrew countered.
"Now you're starting to sound like Snape did in second year," Black snickered.
"Look, as much as I hate that bastard, he happened to be right in this case!" Pettigrew stated.
Lupin moped, "What's the use? We can't do anything about it."
"Hell, I say, let Snape handle him," Pettigrew snorted.
"He couldn't handle him before. He never got Colton fired, even with all his efforts. As diligently as he prepared the case against him, Dumbledore would not let him go. And why would he? Colton's a wizard, he's knowledgable in Potions, and he's willing to teach the Art to others. Sorry, as horrible as that man is, we're stuck with him," Potter sighed.
Black spoke up, "Yes, except for one thing. Snape now has help..."
"You mean Malfoy... Oh, God! Could it be that Colton knows that Malfoy is here to destroy him?" Lupin gasped.
"Hell, let Snape and Malfoy handle him!" Pettigrew declared. "Preferrably by Tuesday; I haven't gotten started on Potions homework yet..."
"You have such simple needs, Peter," Potter commented.
Pettigrew started walking toward the main door, and Draco could hear his footsteps. He silently edged further down into the darkness. "I'd kiss their feet if they managed to do it, you know," he continued.
"Don't let either of them hear you say that," Potter joked.
If they only knew, Draco thought as he slid down the hallway ahead of them. "Well, one thing's for sure. I want to make a deal among us. From now on, we're not going to fret over the Slytherin. Remember, it takes a hell of a lot to knock down a snake..." Black told his friends. Draco kept those words in his mind as he broke into a run all the way back to Slytherin House.
Draco burst into the common room and found Severus still agonizing over his Arithmancy, Lestrange and Rachel playing a game of exploding snap, Avery finishing his History of Magic report, and Evan looking glumly into the fire. A couple of first years jumped at him when he opened the portal so abruptly. Severus looked up, and sniffed, "What was your hurry?"
Draco looked down at the book Severus had on the desk. "Look I never took Arithmancy, but if you want I could help you, maybe..." he offered.
"You know what? I wish I had never taken this course..." Severus told Draco miserably.
"You should take Care of Magical Creatures, Sev. Well, unless you're caring for Hippogriffs...or blast-ended Skrewts..." Draco trailed off.
"Blast-ended whats?" Lestrange asked.
"Blast-ended Skrewts. It turned out that they were a cross between a fire-crab and a manticore..." Draco answered. He nearly laughed aloud at Lestrange's and Rachel's expressions of disgust.
Severus frowned. "Since I am not quitting Arithmancy to get my hand blown off by some beast, I'll continue with my impossible homework. Alone."
"No, Severus. I really want to help you with your homework..." Draco said very pointedly.
"Oh..." Severus said slowly. "We'll go in here; it'll be more quiet." He led Draco to the dormitory. As soon as Severus closed the door behind him, he asked, "What is it?"
"Colton is trying to kill me, and I think I may know why," Draco began. Draco then proceeded to tell Severus about the parts of conversation that he heard about Colton possibly using Remus Lupin in some way to try and kill Draco. Then he told Severus that he knew about the attempt to have Colton removed during second year. In fact the only things he left out were about the Animagus business. Once Draco knew for certain what was true or not true concerning his ability to transform into an animal, he would tell Severus all about it.
"But why would he try to kill you? I still don't get it," Severus sighed.
"Colton thinks that I came from the future to deal with him in some way. He sees that you and I have become friends, and he's scared of this for some odd reason. Are we really a threat to him, Sev? What is it that you know about him that you won't tell me? He must assume you've already told me this deep dark secret, and that's why he's behaving like this." Draco paced the floor between the large bedposts of Lestrange's bed with a look of determination on his face. "I notice I haven't seen him in a while."
"Well, when you see him again, pay attention to his aura! I swear, if I could tell you more, I would," Severus told him.
"Does Dumbledore know?" Draco asked suddenly. Severus nodded. "Are you keeping the secret for him, is that it?" Again, Severus nodded. "Shit..." Draco muttered. "What about Lupin? What do you know about him?"
"Aside from the fact that he tends to fall ill quite often, not very much. He's more quiet than his two best friends. They are very protective of him, if you haven't noticed. But I have no clue how Lupin is supposed to be used to kill you. That makes no sense to me," Severus said.
Just then, the bell rang for dinner. Draco and Severus came out of seclusion and joined everyone else in going to the Great Hall. "So, Malfoy, did you and Sev have some good action in the dorm earlier? I made sure that you two would have your privacy..." Lestrange said loudly as they climbed the last staircase.
"Oh, yes. In fact, we used your bed..." Draco quipped.
And Severus added, "Unfortunately, Malfoy's ass was a bit too tight for me, so he gave me a blow job instead. Only problem was, he's not all that good at sucking dick. Not nearly as good as your sister, Lestrange."
Lestrange started turning purple with rage. "Lestrange, don't! We'll lose points," Evan hissed as Lestrange stalked Severus. Lestrange snarled a bit, but did nothing else, mainly because they had entered the Great Hall. Severus and Draco sat at the end of the table, Avery gave them a lecherous grin, and then joined Lestrange and Rosier toward the other end.
"Um, Sev? His sister? Did you?" Draco asked.
"Well, I didn't suck my own dick..." Severus answered.
"Oh. And just who is Rodolphus's sister?" Draco asked.
"Why, Rachel, of course."
"Really? She's his sister? That's weird. I always thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend," Draco said.
Severus' brows rose in surprise. "You mean you didn't know they were twins? I can't believe I forgot to mention it! Well, they are. I don't know where you got boyfriend and girlfriend from..."
"Just a vibe I got," Draco explained.
"Speaking of vibes, here comes Colton..." Severus reported. Draco looked up as Colton took his seat next to Professor McGonagall. "Now, look at him, carefully," Severus instructed.
Draco watched Colton, who seemed not to be paying any attention to the students beneath him. He looked at the man's aura. It seemed oddly constrained, and there was a red gash right above his head. "What is that?" Draco asked aloud.
"Look at Dumbledore now," Severus said. Draco did so, and saw him looking right at him. Upon examination of the aura, he found it to be widespread around Dumbledore, and no red gash, to be sure.
"He looks fine, but Colton... Did something happen to him?" Draco asked.
"Who knows, and who cares? Just consider the red scar on his aura. What could it mean?" Severus hinted.
"Have no clue..." Draco admitted.
"Mr. Filch?" Severus suddenly said, "what's that you've got there?"
Draco turned away from Dumbledore. Filch was standing before them with a book in his hands. "A book I found on the floor in the Potions dungeon when I was cleaning up in there the other night. I know it didn't belong to Colton's personal library, and Lupin told me it wasn't his, so I'm assuming it's your book. You should take better care of old library books like this. Madame Pince would have a fit if she knew how poorly you've treated it so far." After his speech, he thrust the book into Draco's hands before he could open his mouth to protest that he'd never seen that book in his life. He opted to keep his mouth shut once he read the title: Potions for Various Mind Maladies.
Draco looked at Filch with his eyes focused to look at his aura, as he'd been doing with the others, mainly to see if his aura would give any clue as to what Filch was playing at, giving him a library book that was clearly from the Restricted Section. Just as Hogwart's janitor turned and walked away, Draco saw the red gash above his head as well!
Severus nearly pounced on the book. "I'll bet this book has a forgetfulness potion reversal in it!" he said with excitement. But then he looked up at Draco, and saw the expression of astonishment on his face, and knew that his friend has finally put it together.
"Oh my God! He's a Squib! Colton is a Squib!" Draco gasped.
Note: While I have revised a lot of this story to consider the new info in Book 5, I still decided to leave James a Prefect. I just think it makes more sense since he does become Head Boy. Cheers!