Draco Malfoy had taken to avoiding his common room. Few people had actually noticed that he was helping out the Puffs, but he didn't want to give Pansy the ability to innocently ask, "Whose dog did you fuck?" Nott would try to create clever verbal traps (Greg and Vince would straight up ask him).

Draco had found a lovely little room on the third floor. It was mostly lovely because it was a perfect place to spy on five different rooms (he was certain he saw signs of an adult's occupancy, whether Filch or Snape or McGonagall.) Draco used it primarily for study, the spying was just an added benefit. After all, you could study anywhere. Spying meant being in the right place at the right time.

All of which did not explain why the Weasley Twins had appeared.

They'd even knocked.

Draco looked at them coldly, though a part of him was very nervous. Who could trust the Weasleys to keep to a contract?

"Greetings, Heir Malfoy," The lefttwin said.

"Of the Noble House of Malfoy," the righttwin said.

Then they both bowed. This did absolutely nothing to reassure Draco Malfoy about what was going on.

"We happened to find..."

"One of these cards..."

The bastard twins flourished two, of course.

"and we suddenly discovered -"

"We have quite a few sickles."

Draco Malfoy smiled, trying to infuse his mouth with warmth that felt very, very hollow. "Of course."

Both of them clapped him on his back (the combined impact of the two Gryffindor Beaters sending him through the doorway.

"Don't worry!"

"It'll be fun!"

Draco had no idea what to think, but chthonic horrors kept trying to climb into his mind.

The Weasley twins were long gone before Draco moved again.

He was doomed.

They were going to humiliate him.

His father would die of embarrassment.

He would die of embarrassment.

His house would disown him.

It hadn't even happened yet, and he was already falling apart.

Curt had been expecting many things as he came back from Herbology, but one that he wasn't expecting was to get clotheslined by Draco Malfoy, who - after seemingly accidentally choking him, dragged him off to the nearest cover. Curt hoped people didn't somehow manage to conclude he was gay. then, for one brief shining instance, he recognized that he wasn't the Gryffindor Golden Boy, Boy Saviour and all that tosh. Not anymore. Hopefully not ever again. Harry didn't mind fighting, he didn't mind helping. He just didn't like that stupid weight of unmade expectation. He'd been... enormously surprised (and that wasn't the half of it) to figure out that Snape was just as riled about folks calling Potter the Boy Saviour of the Wizarding World. Apparently, Snape hadn't really been upset with Potter, as a person. He'd been attempting to puncture other people's myths about who Harry Potter was.

Harry refocused on Malfoy,. who was trembling. He looked like he'd been terribly shook - had someone died? Harry put his hand on Malfoy's shoulder. It felt awkward, but Harry knew it was what Ron would have done. That was one of Snape's lessons, of course. Find a model that behaves the way you wish to be. "What's wrong?"

"The Twins." Malfoy muttered.

"The Weasley Twins?" Curt said, sounding confused. "What's wrong with them? Someone washed their GetTuckedTimers down the toilet?"

"Nothing's wrong with them. Something's wrong with me."

"What's that?" harry asked as his arm curled around Malfoy.

"I can't figure out what they're going to do," Malfoy whinged, "But it's going to be embarrassing."

Curt frowned, "maybe maybe not."

Draco looked up with such hopeful, woeful puppy dog eyes, that Curt doubled over in laughter. As he regained control of himself, Curt said simply, "You're their key to the Slytherin Common room. To all the Slytherin dorms. Do you think they'd jeopardize that for some humiliation?"

Draco looked at Curt, considering. and then Draco Malfoy's face lit up with a warm smile. "By Jolly, I think you're right!"

They walked together back to the Great Hall for lunch, talking about nothing and everything at once.

[a/n: The twins have other things on their mind than poking Draco Malfoy. Really, they do. Otherwise, he'd have already been tweaked for his friendship with a Hufflepuff!

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