It was Tuesday morning, and Draco was exhausted from his late night detention with Professor Dumbledore. He winced as he looked at his hands, which were quite raw from all that scrubbing. But it was all worthwhile; Draco had accomplished a great deal on Monday. It was just unfortunate that it had incurred Professor Dumbledore's wrath.
Of course, that was all on account of the fact that Draco had stolen one of the house-elves from the kitchen in the wee hours of Monday morning, for the express purpose of poisoning Professor Colton's tea. In order to accomplish that, Draco had broken the house-elf's Hearth-binding spell, and had put a new one on Slytherin's Hearth in the common room. Dumbledore wasn't amused, even when Draco gave the lame excuse that Slytherin really needed it's own house-elf...
Severus wasn't amused either, especially when it became very apparent during Draco's first lesson with Professor Foxworth that he really didn't know very much about Defense Against the Dark Arts. So, at the end of class, Draco was told that he's better get some major help fast before he has to take his O.W.L.s. Severus was the logical tutor; he was quite adept at the subject. But Severus was in a rather churlish mood with Draco because of the house-elf incident.
Of course, by Monday evening, everyone had heard that Professor Colton had suddenly taken quite ill. He very well might have to have a substitute teacher for Tuesday's classes. This news seemed to lift everyone's mood, even Sev's. That night, they spent a bit of time going over the potion ingredients list once again for the Veritaserum. Now, Draco had it committed to memory, and as the class stood in the hallway waiting for the substitute to arrive, Draco drew a deep breath. He watched Professor McGonagall come down the hallway to the dungeon door.
"I am indeed sorry to inform you that Professor Colton is still too ill to teach his classes today. Instead, I shall be supervising you this morning. I expect the same behavior that you would use in his class; this is not a free period. Now, follow me," she ordered them. There were quite a few snickers, even from McGonagall's own Gryffindors, and when the classroom filled, the seating arrangement was completely changed. Friends sitting with friends in large groups; naturally, the Gryffindor Four made a round group of cauldrons, and Severus and Draco paired up immediately. For a few seconds, there was quite a buzz of talking in the room, which was certainly not the usual behavior accepted in Colton's class.
McGonagall announced that they would be working on their expectorant potions today. Draco shrugged; that potion was an easy one, and the room would reek of boiled echinacea, so it would cover up any smell made by brewing the Veritaserum. Severus went to the sinks, but Draco walked slowly up to McGonagall. He wasn't going to brew anything at all; he was going to distract the substitiute. And he had just the way to do it...
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure Mr. Snape would appreciate your aid by the cauldrons," Professor McGonagall said crisply when he appeared before her at the desk.
Draco turned to look at Severus; he was slipping over to Colton's private storage closet. Draco wasn't sure if McGonagall was aware that the closet was off-limits to students, so he leaned in and whispered so she would have to lean down to hear him. "I need to know everything you can tell me about Animagi..."
"Mr. Malfoy! Surely you learned about Animagi in your third year, like everyone else." She seemed rather certain of this, as she would never make an error like that!
"But you see, that's just the thing. I am not at all certain that I learned everything. I found out that I'm not at all prepared for the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. And now, I'm wondering whether I've learned all I could about Animagi." Professor McGonagall looked like she'e been accused of something very dire. "Do you know if a person can be an Animagi just by looking at them?"
"Of course not! That is why they are required to register themselves with the Ministry of Magic when they find out that the have the Talent. I assure you, Mr. Malfoy, the Talent is extremely rare!" Draco listened to her, all the while thinking if only you knew about Potter and Black and Pettigrew...
"I guess I meant to ask it this way. I know that you are an Animagi. Can you tell if someone is an Animagi by looking at him?" he asked.
"No, unless there is personal contact with a person. Then, there is supposedly a chance. I have heard of it, but I myself have never been able to sense anything from another person, even those I knew to be Animagi like myself. I certainly hope that you aren't thinking of attempting to transform," she said as sharply as a person could say something sharply while whispering. "It is extremely dangerous to do something like that!"
"One last question. Can someone change another person into his or her Animagi form by accident?"
Professor McGonagall glared at him. "My goodness! I should think not! No one ever changed me into a cat before I changed myself into one. Just because you may have been a victim of an Tranfiguration curse does not mean..." she sputtered, but then trailed off. With less certainty, she added, "I have never heard of such a thing."
Draco turned around and saw Severus. What the hell was he doing trying to get Lily Evans to come over to his cauldron? "Er, I had better get back to Sev, before he gets mad. You know how he can get sometimes..." And then he winked at McGonagall; her blue eyes looked ready to shoot angry bolts of lightning. Draco sauntered back to Severus, who was looking at Lily, who was looking like she might just wilt away if he came one step closer to her.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Draco hissed over the steaming cauldron. "Thinking with your balls again?"
Severus glared murderously at Draco. "I'm not going to become a monk just because you're one!" he snapped back.
"Eat shit, Snape," Draco snapped back.
In angry silence, Severus brewed the Veritaserum, while Draco quickly brewed the expectorant potion. McGonagall wasn't totally stupid though, as she noticed Draco and Severus working on separate cauldrons. She had a suspecting look on her face as Draco handed in Severus' and his vials to her at the end of class.
At lunch, Avery and Evan were cracking jokes about Colton's condition, and Lestrange was sitting alone, stewing in his own juices. Draco watched the Gryffindor table carefully, taking special note of Potter, Black and Pettigrew. How did they know about him? And how was he going to get the truth out of them? Well, he thought to himself, first things first. He had the tiny vial of Veritaserum in his pocket, and he was determined to use it as soon as he got his damned Invisibility Cloak. What the hell was taking so long?
After dinner that evening, Draco had Quidditch practice, which really helped to take his mind off things. Severus came out to watch, hiding among the bleachers, so that no one else but Draco knew he was there. Draco hoped that maybe this meant that Severus might get back on a broom one of these days. Otherwise, he didn't understand why Severus would want to watch anyone playing Quidditch at all.
The next morning, Draco got a note that a parcel was waiting in the post office in Hogsmeade. Draco was certain that it was the Invisibility Cloak, but was irate over the fact that he had to wait until Saturday to pick it up. He hadn't told Severus about it yet. He decided he'd wait until he had it, and went out to explore with it on first before he told Severus anything.
Drucilla was being pretty nice to him, thankfully, because her two friends weren't. Especially Lily. She probably figured that anyone associated with Snape had to be vermin. Aunt Andi was as nice as a person in her awkward situation could be. Drucilla, however, didn't seem to notice her friends' lack of enthusiasm. She and Draco made plans to meet in The Three Broomsticks for butterbeers on Saturday afternoon. Now Draco felt even more eager for Saturday to come around.
On Saturday, the weather was rather nasty. But this didn't deter anyone from leaving the school and walking down to the village of Hogsmeade. Severus had been grouchy about being rushed to the post office, only to have to wait outside in the mist while Draco rushed in to get his package. By the time he came out, Severus had a face on him that might stop a clock.
"Let's eat, Sev. I'll bet you're hungry again," Draco reasoned. He led Severus to the Three Broomsticks. As they opened the doors and saw all the other students from Hogwarts, Draco smiled. Lestrange wasn't around. But Perry Albright was nearby with another fourth-year girl from Hufflepuff. He waved hello to him, and then saw the Gryffindor Four entering the already crowded pub. Severus made even more of a scowl as they sat down at the counter.
Two butterbeers later, Severus was a bit more mellow, but only a bit. Draco kept himself restricted to one. "Say," Severus drawled. "There's Foxworth..." Draco turned around on his stool, and to his dismay, he saw Foxworth at the other end of the counter, engrossed in conversation with James Potter. "What does Potter want with him?" Severus growled. He didn't like the idea of Potter talking more than two words in a row to his favorite teacher, Draco could tell.
"I'll find out. Watch the package..." he ordered Severus, who looked like he was about ready to spit fire. Draco shook his head; Severus had more mood swings than a pregnant woman sometimes... He approached Foxworth's vicinity, and Potter shot him a warning look.
"I thought I'd schedule those extra classes now, Professor Foxworth," Draco cut in, to Potter's obvious dismay.
"I was speaking to Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy," Foxworth growled.
"And I'm sure it's quite important, sir. But you had been so eager to share a drink with me earlier in the week..." Draco said, sitting next to Foxworth, offering him a butterbeer. "Let's share that drink now, eh?" He poured butterbeer into Foxworth's glass, then took a drink from the bottle of what was left over. Foxworth sighed, and drank up himself.
"Professor Foxworth..." Potter said in an urgent voice.
"Beat it Potter, before I give you a nasty headache again..." Draco snarled. Potter glared at Draco through his thick glasses, but he retreated. "Now then," Draco said, watching Professor Foxworth's eyes glaze over, "I think we should talk in a more private spot, don't you?" He led Foxworth through the throngs of students to the back door.
"What did you give me?" Foxworth asked Draco when they stepped out to the back of the Three Broomsticks, where the garbage cans resided.
"Veritaserum," Draco shrugged.
"How did you do it?" Foxworth asked.
"The butterbeer, of course. I poured you a glass, remember?" Draco answered.
"But you drank it too," Foxworth protested.
"The bottle was empty," Draco revealed. "Though, I suppose you could say that there was some on the rim of the bottle. That's probably why I'm even telling you this. But let's just say that I took a calculated risk.** I'm not the one who's got things to hide, now do I?" Draco smirked.
"You don't know what you're dealing with, Malfoy," Foxworth warned.
"But you're going to tell me, aren't you?" Draco stated. "Now then, I suppose I could start out by asking you about the werewolf. Why did you give me that Forgetfulness Potion?"
"Why indeed? The word of the werewolf was not supposed to get out. A panic would have resulted from it. People don't understand anything about werewolves."
"Especially me, it seems. Do you know I nearly died that night, apparently?"
"All the more reason to have you forget the trauma," Foxworth said.
"You know, if you didn't have three drops of Veritaserum in your system right now, I's swear to God that you were bullshitting me a bit more." Draco paced around, and tried to think. He hadn't expected to have this opportunity to interrogate Foxworth, and therefore, he didn't have the questions he wanted to ask all thought out. It was obvious that he wasn't asking the right ones.
Then, he decided to try a different tactic. "What were you talking about with Potter? And don't tell me the fucking weather," Draco warned Foxworth.
Foxworth replied calmly, "We were talking about the Order of the Phoenix."
** Thanks to Atheis for that one!