"The Order of the Phoenix..." Draco repeated, as if trying the words out on his tongue. It sounded important, and secret. "And Potter is part of this Order?"
"Yes," Foxworth answered.
Draco opened his mouth, just about to ask what the Order of the Phoenix was all about, when suddenly, the most bizarre thing happened. Draco found himself getting attacked by a young stag, which somehow appeared out of nowhere. "Aah!" Draco cried, trying to sheild his eyes from getting poked out by the angry stag's antlers. "Hey! Stop it! Knock it off!"
The stag didn't back off until Draco retreated from the back of The Three Broomsticks. He had to leave Professor Foxworth behind, which killed him, but if he didn't, that darn stag was going to kill him even faster. As soon as Draco left the scene, he saw the stag's very quick retreat. If that wasn't Potter in his Animagus form, Draco thought, then I'm a Hufflepuff...
And then it hit him; Drucilla was supposed to meet him! He probably missed her, and she probably thought he forgot, or ducked out on her! "Damn it!" Draco growled, and came back into The Three Broomsticks. Severus was still there, with an exaggerated bored look on his face, still guarding Draco's package. He didn't know whether he wanted to kick Severus or not.
"Drucilla came by," Severus reported in a very insufferable tone, "and I had to tell her that you wandered off somewhere with Professor Foxworth. So, she left with Lily and Andi. What are you looking so mad about? It's not like she thought you went off with some other girl at least," Severus growled.
"Let's get out of here. We have to go back to Hogwart's; there's some major shit going down here, and I unwittingly have stumbled right into the middle of it," Draco told Severus. Severus frowned, finished his butterbeer, and handed Draco his package silently. Draco took the package, and he culd sense that Severus hadn't tried to open the package, but was trying to guess what was in there. It occurred to Draco suddenly that Severus, despite being a Slytherin, seemed to be rather more trustworthy than most of them. No wonder Dumbledore grabbed Snape up; he could be trusted, as long as he was on your side, even if he did bitch about it.
"Thanks for keeping that for me, by the way," Draco said on the way out of the doors. Severus grunted, still apparently miffed at being left alone in the pub.
After they walked out of Hogsmeade, and they were very nearly alone on the path back to the school, Severus growled in a low voice, "Now, you're going to tell me what the hell is going on, Malfoy, and you're going to tell me right now, or you're going to wish you were never born."
"God, I don't know where to begin...Have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?" Draco asked.
"The Order of the Phoenix?" another voice asked behind them. To both boys' amazement, they found Lestrange right behind them. "I've heard of them. Aren't they some sort of club?"
To be polite, Draco answered, "It certainly sounds like it is. How did you hear of it?"
"I think they are supposed to be some group that are against...the Dark Lord," Lestrange added softly, not answering Draco's question directly. "Why, they are supposed to be a top secret sort of thing. I bet the Dark Lord would consider information about them very highly prized."
"And you know this because..." Draco prompted.
Lestrange gaped at Draco. "Malfoy! Surely you'd think the Dark Lord would want such knowledge of who his enemies are! Wouldn't you?" Draco made a face. Considering how he'd been scurrying all over the place since last week trying to find out why someone would try to murder him, he could understand Lestrange's point. But, Lestrange sounded just a bit too sure about it, just like he knew a lot more than he was admitting to. Draco knew Lestrange's background, and his fate. "You know something about the Order, don't you?" Lestrange asked softly.
"I...I don't know anything of any value," Draco sputtered, "except you could bet any amount of money that Dumbledore's the head of it."
Lestrange looked annoyed. "Of course Dumbledore is the head of it. That's something any damned fool could figure out. But the Dark Lord would want more information than that, Malfoy. Imagine your position if you were the one to give it to him..."
Draco took a breath, and then frowned. "Sorry to disappoint you, Lestrange, but I don't know anything else..." he lied.
Severus added as Lestrange's face grew red, "So, back off, Lestrange. Remember what I told you before about the finger-twisting curse..."
Lestrange snorted. "You don't scare me, Snape! I know a few curses of my own, you know!" Lestrange boasted.
"Really? You want a piece of me, Lestrange?" Severus asked as he started pulling out his wand.
Lestrange backpedalled immediately. "I don't want to fight with you, Sev. It's all his fault. We've been fighting ever since he came here!" he complained.
"Well that's because you've been acting like an asshole since he came here!" Severus argued.
They were now on school grounds. "Sev, take this back to the dorm for me. I have a feeling that I'm not going to be getting down there for a while." Draco handed Severus the package back. As they apporached the Great Hall, Draco decided to try and get Severus and Lestrange away before Dumbledore came down to find him. He was sure that the Veritaserum had worn off for Foxworth, and he was also sure that Potter had taken him back to Dumbledore and told the headmaster everything about what Draco had done. He didn't want Severus involved and he defintely didn't want Lestrange around when Dumbledore found him.
So when they departed, going down to the Slytherin Common Room, Draco instead made his way upstairs to Dumbledore's office. It came as no surprise to Draco to find James Potter standing at the stone gargoyle statue, but it appeared that Potter was surprised to see Draco there.
"Oh don't let your eyes pop out of your skull, Potter. You didn't think I was going to avoid this, did you? Besides," he added, lowering his voice, "it's good to see that your antlers have been put away, after you nearly poked my eyes out with them."
"Antlers? What are you talking about?" James asked.
"Oh please just cut the bullshit, alright? You're an animagus, and so are your little friends. I overheard you and Black and the others last Sunday in the owlrey. And you know, somehow, that I'm one as well. So, unless we want to go to Professor McGonagall and tell her all about it, you are going to teach me how to transform into my animal form." Draco said all of this in a very cool, soft voice. Though James appeared outraged, Draco knew that he wanted McGonagall to find out about his ability about as much as he wanted to kiss Draco's ass. Unfortunately, he'd have to choose one or another...
After a few seconds, James said very softly, "Sirius is the one you'd have to go to. He's the most adept of all of us. He's the one who was able to sense that you were an animagus in the first place. But he said that you did change already once..." James trailed off.
"During my fourth year, one of my teachers transfigured me," Draco told him.
James appeared horrified. "What school was this?" he gasped.
Draco smirked; he remembered that McGonagall had reacted the exact same way. "It was this very school," he revealed dramatically. James appeared to have to digest this information, so Draco gave him a few seconds. In those few seconds, Dumbledore appeared.
"Mr. Malfoy. Just the person I wanted to see, and here you are. Mr. Potter, was there anything else that you needed to add?"
"Er, no, Professor. That was it," he answered sullenly. Professor Dumbledore nodded, and James slouched off into the corridor. Without a word, Draco was led upstairs again into Dumbledore's inner sanctum.
Only once the door was shut, Dumbledore felt free to vent his outrage. "Mr. Malfoy, I don't think in the entire history of this school have we ever had one student that could cause so much trouble in less than two weeks! You have been wandering all over the school, causing fights, poisoning teachers! I want you to explain yourself, right now!"
"Listen, this all started with Professor Colton's stunt! He locked me in his office with a werewolf!"
"You can't prove that he actually locked you in the room with a werewolf, Mr. Malfoy. I agree, that he put you and Mr. Lupin at risk without good reason, but he is a professor in this school, and as such, I am the one who must deal with him, not you." Dumbledore countered.
"Do you really think that I poisoned Professor Colton because I wanted to punish him? Hell, no! I poisoned him because I wanted to get access to his private stores and brew Veritaserum to give to Professor Foxworth, who fed me forgetfulness potion last week. I wanted to know what he was trying to get me to forget. I figured that I'd be able to get him to confess the truth."
"And instead, you found yourself with knowledge that could be more of a detriment to you than anything Professor Foxworth had been trying to keep from you." Dumbledore sighed and sat into his seat behind his desk. He looked very worried and disappointed. "Yes, I know that you heard about the Order of the Phoenix. I know that you know nothing more about it, but others here might think that you do, and that could be deadly to you."
You're not kidding, Draco thought, Lestrange is already thinking of how to best serve me up to the Dark Lord. "So what are you going to do? Expel me? I'd probably be better off!" Draco declared, then turned around to walk out.
Dumbledore said from behind, "You wouldn't last one week outside these walls, Mr. Malfoy. With the apparent lack of Defense Against the Dark Arts training you have, you wouldn't be able to fight off any magical attack very well," the headmaster warned.
"Fortunately, I have Severus to help me with that. He's very good," Draco told Dumbledore over his shoulder.
"I pray for your sake that Severus can help you quickly. You must concentrate fully on that, Mr. Malfoy. You life depends upon it."