It wasn't supposed to be this stupid, Harry thought, as his mind began to whirl. He turned towards Ron, who was already standing up, and Harry caught sight of Draco Malfoy (for god's own reason beside the Gryffindor table - probably running a note to Snape... who had disappeared, come to think of it. Were they in on this... somehow?).

"Malfoy, come along," Harry Potter said, attempting to sound authoritative.

"What? WHY?! We're supposed to..." Draco Malfoy trailed off, starting to look suspicious.

"Because now you know we're not, and you're not going to tell anyone, so if we get in trouble, we'll blame it on you."

"What?! HOW?!" Draco Malfoy said, starting to bizarrely resemble an owl.

"We'll tell anyone who asks that you knew and didn't say anything, and that we trusted you to go to a Prefect."

"... and if I do tell someone?" Draco Malfoy asked suspiciously.

"They won't believe you, after that stunt you pulled with that duel." Harry smiled, though the stretching took an effort and he wasn't sure how wolfish it looked.

Ron, meanwhile, had recovered from his doggish "follow the pingpong" between Malfoy and Potter, and said, "We don't need a slimy Slytherin!"

Harry smiled, looking at Ron, and whispered (loud enough for Malfoy to hear), "Sure we do... as bait."

Draco Malfoy's face turned almost purple at that comment, and he said, "What in blazes do you plan on doing?"

"Rescuing Hermione." Harry said with a smile that took entirely too much satisfaction out of Draco Malfoy's astonishment. "Now come along, before you get in more trouble."

Draco Malfoy, as twitchy as he looked, asked skeptically, "You won't get me in trouble if I come with you?"

"No more than we're in ourselves, at least." Harry Potter answered honestly, trying to project confidence. He'd rather have three people doing something stupid rather than two. There was strength in numbers at any rate.

They followed the Hufflepuffs out the main entrance (the Gryffindors still getting assembled, and the Ravenclaws long gone), and slipped into a passageway as quickly as they could.

Harry Potter (the best at layouts among them) maneuvered them quickly towards the girls' bathroom, the whole time cursing himself for a ornery cussed fool. He calmed himself, again and again, with the thought, "If you're going to do something, run the table." Besides, Hermione Granger was his, she just didn't know it yet. If only he'd actually been prioritizing properly, he'd have already cultivated a friendship with her. He'd meant to, certainly. She was too useful to let die for no reason whatsoever.

[a/n: Reviews? This Harry is well aware of how stupid he's being. What he's not aware of? Asking other people for help. He's blackmailing Malfoy into doing this - if you're going to get in trouble anyway, why not have some fun being completely irresponsible first?

Spoiler:

Malfoy is not joining the party. This is a one time thing that Harry figured out, and flimflammed his way through convincing Draco Malfoy of.

Plus, Ron still hates Draco Malfoy.

Not that Harry cares about Ron, but...]