A/N: Dear readers, thanks for helping us reach 350 views! We'd especially like to thank DarkLunar1312 for your in-depth opinions on the chapters so far! We hope you continue to enjoy them. Also, this story will soon be available in Korean, thanks to the wonderful wevertaRK1D! Message them for details. And finally, this chapter introduces one of many OC's we think you'll be very interested in. Enjoy!
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CHAPTER 3: THE SNAKE UNDER THE LION
"You know, if you keep pacing like this, you are going to create holes in my office floors," said Dumbledore, courteously.
"No offense, but I really don't care right now," said Draco, the speed of his pacing the same.
"I care," Dumbledore pointed out. "My office floors didn't do anything to upset you—they shouldn't be treated this way."
Draco stopped his pacing and turned to look at the old man leaning against his chair, smiling at him serenely.
"Please tell me you're joking," he said.
"Now, now, Draco, you shan't take the simple things in life for granted," said Dumbledore. "You never know just when you'll really need them."
Draco scoffed at the old man and resumed his pacing. His heart was still beating very rapidly. Only ten minutes ago, he'd been eavesdropping on Sirius' conversation with his brother about involving their parents in the mystery of Draco's ancestry. As soon as they'd gone off to dinner, Draco had stormed shakily into Dumbledore's office and had told him every last detail of that conversation. He'd been pacing ever since.
"There is no need for you to be panicking like so," said Dumbledore, his smile finally vanishing from his pale face. "Nothing has happened."
"That's hilarious," said Draco, his pacing still continuing around the circular office.
The various portraits of headmasters and headmistresses were glaring down at him from the walls. He could hear some of them muttering, "Such disrespect!" but ignored them.
"Regulus and Sirius are good boys, Draco," said Dumbledore, still calmly. "It is only natural that they should want their parents to investigate the mysterious new relative."
"It was a bloody stupid idea when you suggested it, and it's a bloody stupid idea now!" Draco blurted out, pausing to look at Dumbledore, who looked slightly befuddled by this accusation.
Draco closed his eyes and took a breath to restrain himself before speaking again.
"Professor," he said, as calmly as he possibly could. "I really think we're in trouble here."
"How so?"
"Well…I…oh, just imagine how ridiculous I'll look when one of their parents shows up randomly at the school to meet me and realises that I'm just some stranger kid and—"
"But you're not," said Dumbledore. Draco stared at him. "From what you've told me, you are a relative…distant, yes, but still relative."
"That's in a completely different lifetime," Draco muttered, his eyes now on the portrait of a snoozing wizard he recognised instantly. His parents had told him about him so many times—Phineas Nigellus Black, the only Hogwarts headmaster to have been in Slytherin house. Dumbledore followed Draco's gaze before speaking.
"I think you and I both agree that many things…uh, changed upon your arrival here, yes?"
Draco gave him a questioning look.
"What I mean to say is, certain things that were meant to happen have now faltered from their paths," Dumbledore explained. "I trust you understand this."
"I guess," said Draco, shrugging slightly. "But what does this have to do with the fact that I'll most likely be murdered in a few days' time, when the Blacks realise I'm lying to them?"
"But you're not," said Dumbledore, leaning forwards in his chair suddenly and crossing his hands on the desk. "As far as anyone else is concerned, you were dropped off at a muggle orphanage when you were just an infant, with a note stating your name and birthday. You are unaware of the rest of the details—please, have a seat, Draco. It's far too difficult to talk to you normally when you're pacing uncontrollably."
Draco sighed and took the seat across from Dumbledore, his eyes lingering over the portrait of Phineas Nigellus again, desperately hoping that he actually was asleep and not listening to all these lies that Draco and Dumbledore were cooking up.
"I wonder," said Dumbledore, casually reaching for a lemon drop from a basket on his desk, "How you find your housemates?"
"How do you mean?" said Draco.
"Well, I imagine they are not exactly what you are used to."
"They—oh, you mean because I'm in Gryffindor this time…" Dumbledore nodded. "Yeah, well…it's sort of weird to be talking to the young version of one of my teachers and—"
"Uh, which one is that?" said Dumbledore, looking highly interested.
"Um, Lupin," said Draco, slowly.
Dumbledore chuckled.
"I'd have thought it was him," he said, smiling to himself. "Does he want to go into teaching?"
"How should I know?—I only met him bloody 24 hours ago!" Draco demanded.
Dumbledore nodded in understanding and leaned back in his chair again, surveying Draco from behind those half-moon spectacles of his. Draco sighed in frustration and put his head in his hands.
"You worry for nothing, dear boy," he heard Dumbledore say.
Draco looked up.
"Look, no offense, professor, but I really don't think you understand the seriousness of the situation! If the Blacks realise that I'm lying and decide to kill me—or worse—then I won't be able to warn Potter and the others that their best friend who is trotting after them like a bloody house-elf is going to later end up betraying one of them, and surrendering himself to the Dark Lord, and—"
"Stop, Draco," Dumbledore interrupted.
Draco blinked.
"Why?"
"Because I have told you before, it is not a good idea for you to tell me all that you know," said Dumbledore, simply. "And please don't insult the house-elves; they haven't done anything to you either…that I know of, that is, though I will be thoroughly surprised if you can convince me otherwise."
"Ah," said Draco, looking around the circular office. "But it's okay for them to know, right?" he indicated the portraits on the walls but Dumbledore only smiled in response. "W-well, you wanted to know the stuff about Lupin…"
"Yes, but I would rather you not reveal the more important things to me just yet," said Dumbledore. "Now, it is getting late and you are well past your curfew." Dumbledore got to his feet, ignoring Draco's obvious eye roll, and moved around the desk to shake his hand. He then led him to the office door and opened it for him. "You have yourself a good night, Draco—I'll be in touch."
"Right," said Draco, moving past him to exit the office.
"Draco, hold on," said Dumbledore suddenly, and Draco spun around quickly. "I'm not sure what my future self might have told you, but my current self senses that you are agitated by your being here, is that correct?"
Draco stared at him.
"I don't know why you came back, though I'm sure I will soon," Dumbledore continued, "But I just want you to know that if being here is not something that you want, there are ways we can try to resolve it."
"H-how do you mean, professor?"
"Well, time travel is a tricky thing but there are definitely many remedies out there to time travel gone wrong… and I would have no problem studying them over the next couple of weeks in order to find a way to get you back to your timeline."
Draco's mouth fell slightly open as he gaped at the professor.
"The only question is, are you staying or are you going?"
He walked along the darkened corridors with his hands in his pockets and his head bowed, thinking. He'd never been in Dumbledore's office before and he'd certainly never imagined that when he would eventually come there, it would be to pace and yell at him for his stupid plans. This was definitely strange. But Dumbledore had it right the night Draco had come to tell him he had gone back in time: It was Draco now, not Dumbledore, who exercised the control (though only because he knew more than Dumbledore could ever hope to know without him). But it was stupid of Dumbledore to insist that he tell him nothing. What then was the whole point of Draco coming back in the first place?
He had no idea how he'd managed to make it back to Gryffindor Tower without getting in trouble with a teacher for being out after hours. He absentmindedly gave the password to the Fat Lady and climbed his way in through the portrait hole to the empty common room. He dragged his feet across the carpeted floor to the spiral staircase when he heard something fall. His wand was out in no time and he whirled around to see what had made the noise. Sirius was standing by the fireplace, looking at Draco with disbelief, while the others remained sitting on the couches nearby, all of them staring at him too.
"Oh, h-hi," said Draco, lowering his wand slowly. "What are you all doing here?"
"Waiting for you, of course!" said Sirius, in a slightly accusatory voice.
Draco stepped forwards, pocketing his wand again.
"Me?" he said, glancing over at Potter, Lupin and Wormtail before looking back at Sirius. "What for?"
"You weren't at dinner," said Potter, leaning forwards on the couch. "We thought—"
"We thought you got lost in the castle!" Lupin blurted out quickly, giving Potter a sharp look.
"So where were you?" said Sirius, who only sat down once Draco did.
"Dumbledore's office," said Draco, before he could stop himself. His heart skipped a beat. The others watched him pointedly. "Um, he called me in to verify something with my courses."
"That's McGonagall's job," said Potter, his eyes narrowed at Draco.
"Hey look, I don't know, okay?" he said, jumping to his feet and shrugging slightly. "Bed." He didn't wait for them to say anything, but ran ahead to the staircase and hurried his way up to the dormitory. He did not shut the door however. He left it open just a crack and sunk to the floor very quietly so that he was in earshot of what was happening down in the common room.
"Something is up with him," said a voice Draco strongly suspected belonged to James Potter. "He totally just lied to us about where he'd been."
"Not necessarily," said Lupin. A chair scraped somewhere. "He might've been where he said he was, but for different reasons perhaps."
"True," said Sirius. There was a pause. "W-what do you guys think of him?"
"What do you mean?" said Potter.
"I mean, what do you guys think of him?" repeated Sirius.
There was a moment of silence.
"He's smart, that's for sure," said someone very quietly, though Draco did not need to strain his ears to guess that it was Lupin.
"He's sketchy but in a good sort of way," said Potter.
"What do you think of him, Sirius?" said Wormtail.
Draco sneered.
"I dunno," said Sirius, and Draco heard a couch move. There was more silence. "He's quite a laugh—it's just…"
"What is it, Padfoot?" said Potter.
Draco held his breath so he wouldn't miss a word.
"It's hard for me to believe that there is actually someone else in my family who is decent," said Sirius, finally. "Andy and I have always been the only ones with sane minds."
"What about Regulus?" said Lupin.
There was another pause.
"Change of subject," said Sirius.
"Okay," said Lupin. "How about the fact that this kid is now sharing our dormitory?"
"What's wrong with that?" said Wormtail.
"Everything!" said Lupin.
Draco gasped. Lupin had been the most welcoming out of all the boys and now he was protesting Draco's interference in their dormitory?!
"Relax Moony, he won't know a thing about your wolfiness, okay?" said Potter, lazily.
Draco breathed.
"I can't relax, James," said Lupin, very seriously. "If the wrong person finds out, it won't end well."
"But Draco doesn't seem like the wrong person," said Wormtail. "He seems nice."
"You can't go trusting everyone now, Wormtail," said Potter. There was another short silence. "Look, let's just take it one day at a time, alright? Who knows, we might end up trusting him enough to actually let him in on your little—"
"No, James," said Lupin, in an extremely serious tone Draco had never heard before.
"I won't say anything without your permission," said Potter, quietly.
The boys stood up from the couches and there were many footsteps. Draco clicked the door shut and launched at his bed, covering himself in the blankets so they wouldn't see that he hadn't changed out of uniform. They entered the dormitory quietly and made for their beds. After they'd changed, they whispered goodnight and went to sleep right away, which was shocking to Draco considering how loudly his heart was thumping now.
The next morning, he awoke to a pillow hitting him hard on the head.
"Getup!" yelled Potter, who was scrambling about the dormitory to get dressed. "We overslept—breakfast will be over soon."
Draco jumped out of bed and joined the boys in hurriedly getting dressed.
"W-where is Lupin?" he wondered as they finally pulled on their cloaks and scrambled out the door with their bags over their shoulders.
Potter gave him a strange look.
"What?" asked Draco.
"You call him Lupin?" said Potter. Draco reddened slightly. "He's an early riser, haven't I told you?"
"Well, why didn't he wake us up then?" said Draco, mentally kicking himself for the name slip.
"He did," said Potter. They were out of the portrait hole now and running along the corridor towards the stairs. "We fell asleep again."
They arrived in the Great Hall completely out of breath. Potter was right, most of the students were already leaving now. The Gryffindor table had several open spots, but Potter went straight for the seats around Remus, who was sitting with that Lily girl.
"Hey there," said Potter, taking a seat before they could answer him.
"Morning," said Remus, who looked very tired.
Draco followed the others and sat down as well.
"It's about time you lot arrived," Remus added.
"Yeah, thanks for the wakeup call," Potter muttered, sarcastically.
"Hey, I woke you guys up!" said Remus. "It's not my fault you went right back to sleep."
"Well you still could've tried waking us up again," said Potter.
"Well maybe next time, you could try getting up earlier yourself," said the girl called Lily, who looked absolutely appalled at Potter's suggestion.
Potter rolled his eyes at her.
"Stay out of this, Evans, will you?" he said.
Lily Evans scoffed. Remus looked as though he were about to say something but before he could, Lily got to her feet, grabbed her bag and stormed out of the Great Hall.
"Nice going, Jamesy," said Sirius. "You know, I think you're wearing her down a bit—I really do."
Potter threw an apple at him, which Sirius caught gracefully, gave him a mock bow, and bit into.
For the next little while, they ate quietly like hungry wolves. Remus just drank his tea and flipped through that morning's edition of the Daily Prophet. Wormtail was the first to finish and he and Remus both went ahead to the first lesson of the day—Transfiguration. Draco finished next but decided to wait until Sirius was done. But Sirius was purposefully eating slowly so that he could try and cheer Potter up, who looked to be in a terrible mood now.
"Don't worry so much about it, mate," he kept saying.
"You don't get it, Padfoot," said Potter, quietly. "I'm running out of time."
"Time for what?" Draco wondered.
"Nothing," said Potter and Sirius together.
Draco growled into his empty cereal bowl. He hated being left out of the loop, but he supposed they would feel the exact same way if they knew he was from the future and he refused to tell them things. He could just imagine Potter's reaction if he found out that he would later father a son who would become the Boy Who Lived, or Sirius' reaction if he found out that he would later be put in Azkaban for a crime he never committed, and then escape only to be killed.
"…and then we'll go from there, alright?" Sirius whispered.
Potter nodded into his plate, and then shoved it aside.
"Come on, let's get going then."
He and Sirius got to their feet and made for the Great Hall exit. Sirius looked back several times to check that Draco was following them closely behind. When they arrived at their first lesson of the day—Transfiguration—Sirius pulled Draco with him to a pair of desks on the far right-hand side and motioned for him to sit down. Draco sat, looking puzzled. Up ahead, Remus was sitting with that Lily girl and just behind them, Potter was with Wormtail. Draco suppressed a groan. It was quite sickening, seeing the two of them together when he knew what was to happen later on.
"You alright, Draco?" Sirius said in a hushed tone.
Draco forced his eyes away from Wormtail and nodded.
"What's got you pissed?" said Sirius.
"I'm fine," Draco snapped.
Sirius raised an eyebrow at him, but before he could speak, Professor McGonagall appeared at the front of the classroom and opened a large textbook in her hands.
"Welcome to NEWT level Transfiguration," she said, her eyes on the pages in front of her. "Your being here means you have scored at least an Exceeds Expectations in Transfiguration on your OWLs. Congratulations."
Potter turned around to wink at Sirius.
"Now, I understand it has been a while since you've had the need to even think about Transfiguration," said McGonagall. "So, open up your books to page 3. We'll refresh."
As a whole, it had been a fairly enjoyable class, considering Draco knew every last detail of what they covered in those two hours. But he spent most of the lesson either watching Potter and Wormtail, waking Sirius up whenever McGonagall was passing by, or looking back at Snape who sat at the very back and whose eyes were always on that Lily girl. Draco sighed. He just had to go back in time to the middle of all this annoying, teenage drama.
After the lesson, Draco decided to tag along Remus since Potter was having a hushed conversation with Sirius and obviously did not want Draco listening in (though neither of them actually told him to go away). It still irritated him very much so he moved away from them. Remus was walking with Lily and discussing McGonagall's lesson in-depth. Wormtail was pacing to keep up with them, several books clattered in his small hands. Draco scowled at him but said nothing. He looked around as they walked. Snape had just been behind them but he'd disappeared off to somewhere. If only he, Draco, had some kind of a tool that could help him see where all of them were at all times. . . It was pretty exhausting having to keep track of all of them.
They arrived at Defense against the Dark Arts where Potter insisted that Draco sit with him, while Sirius grabbed Lupin and sat him down next to him. Draco strongly suspected that this had been done purposely to keep Remus away from Lily (who ended up sitting next to a Gryffindor girl). He said this much to Potter once they sat down, but Potter simply shook his head.
"We just figured we'd all take turns sitting with you in every class," he said, innocently.
Draco's eyes remained firmly fixed on him even after the professor—whom Draco did not recognise at all—came into the classroom. The man looked to be in his thirties, and somehow reminded Draco a great deal of grown-up Snape. Though, he did not look at the students with distaste and revulsion. Instead, he walked over to the desk, set his briefcase on it, and turned to face the students with his hands behind his dark cloak.
"Welcome to defense against the dark arts at the NEWT level," he said. "My name is Ajax Claybrook and I will be taking over for Madame Bernabei while she recovers from her accident at St. Mungo's."
Draco looked round at Potter who shrugged at him.
"This class is no joke. In fact, it is probably the most useful class that this school can offer you young witches and wizards, so I expect the utmost attention and commitment from all of you." He took a step forwards and scanned the room with his blazing green eyes. "I hope you all had a good summer, but now it is time to get in focus again. Let us get started." He moved to the front of the classroom again and flipped through the pages of a book on his desk.
"What happened to Madame Bernabei?" Draco wrote on the inside of his notebook before subtly passing it along to Potter.
She got a terrible rash at the end of last year after an outing with Professors Slughorn and Sprout.
Draco smirked at the sheet. So Quirrell died, Lockhart lost his memory, Lupin resigned, Moody wasn't really Moody, and Umbridge got sacked. It seemed that the curse on the defense teaching post was no surprise to the students in this timeline either.
"Why don't you all write your names down on this sheet?" said Claybrook, passing a blank page to Lily. "Pass that along."
Draco jumped in his seat. Potter had pinched him. He gave him a questioning look but Potter indicated the notebook on his desk. Draco squinted at it.
Why were you really at Dumbledore's last night? You can tell me, I won't say anything to the others.
Draco rolled his eyes and wrote just underneath,
I already told you!
But Potter looked disappointed with this answer. He really was a very nosey bloke, wasn't he? Draco hesitated before adding,
Dumbledore said he wants to give me private lessons to better my understanding of some things that will be taught this year.
Potter frowned before taking his quill and writing,
But don't you already know like a ton, since Dumbledore practically raised you?
I know a lot but apparently, not enough to keep me at the Outstanding level in every subject, Draco lied. He silently kicked himself. The further he went into this, the more he'd have to explain to Dumbledore later on. Crap.
Alright, then why didn't you tell us this before?
Draco quickly put the notebook away as Claybrook came around their end of the classroom and stopped to look at the students.
"The Dark Arts are most definitely the second best counter to a Dark Wizard—the first being the Dark Arts themselves," he said. "However, seeing as how only Durmstrang Institute allows for said teaching, you will have to make do with Defense against the Dark Arts instead."
As soon as Claybrook had walked to the back of the class, Draco pulled out the notebook again and scribbled on it before passing it back to Potter.
I didn't tell you guys about it because I thought you wouldn't believe me, given that I have technically been raised by Albus Dumbledore.
Potter wrote, Well do you have any reasons to lie to us?
No, Draco wrote, in as clear a handwriting as he could possibly muster.
Potter smirked at him.
I like you, mate. Sirius is right, you're quite a laugh.
"Thanks," Draco whispered, and he quickly put away the notebook because Claybrook had moved to the front of the classroom again.
Well, at least he'd gained the alpha dog's approval now, thought Draco. Even though, gaining the approval of a Potter was not exactly something he'd ever write on a bucket list. In fact, this whole thing was just too weird and he found that today, he felt more irritated with Potter than he had yesterday. Perhaps, he was now getting over the aftershock of the time travel.
"But professor," said Remus, raising his hand in the air but not waiting for permission to speak. "Using dark arts to deal with dark wizards is like trying to fight fire with fire! It's a paradox!"
"What is your name?" said Claybrook.
"Remus Lupin, sir," said Remus.
"Well Mr. Lupin, it is a proven fact that the dark arts are the best counter for dealing with dark wizards, and defense against the dark arts merely serves as a poor substitute. If you are unsure, ask your History of Magic teacher how ministry aurors used to deal with dark wizards in the past. I'm sure you'll be very surprised. Now, let's continue with—"
"But sir!" cried Remus, neglecting to raise his hand this time. "That was a long time ago—it was at a time when the wizarding community was still trying to define right from wrong and setting down its laws. Things have changed a lot since then!"
Claybrook paused to look at Remus. For a split second, Draco thought he was going to attack him. But instead, he smirked (and the female population of the classroom sighed collectively).
"Mr. Lupin, was it?" said Claybrook.
"Yes sir," said Remus, as fearlessly as one possibly could.
"Take five points for Gryffindor," said Claybrook, "I admire a young wizard who isn't afraid of speaking his mind. Now then…"
Potter nudged Draco again and he gave him a questioning look. Potter tilted his head at the students behind them, so Draco wheeled around in his seat and gasped. Each and every girl in that classroom was gazing up at Claybrook as if he were some sort of god. Claybrook seemed completely immune to it and continued to slowly pace the classroom as he discussed the dark arts. Draco's eyes fell upon Snape at the back of the class, whose head was now in his hands. Oh how Draco so wished that he could walk up to him and just talk to him—nothing more. Just talk. But he knew that was impossible to do with Potter, Remus, Wormtail and Sirius always on his shoulders. They really didn't seem to like Snape at all, and from what Draco had gathered so far, the feeling was definitely mutual.
"It's mental!" exclaimed Potter two hours later when the boys left the classroom and headed to Gryffindor Tower to drop off their bags before lunch. "Did you see how all those girls were gaping at him?"
"I don't get it," said Sirius, shaking his head.
"But did you two actually listen to his lesson at all?" said Remus, who looked quite angry.
"No," said Potter and Sirius together.
Remus looked to Draco for support and he nodded in response.
"He talks about the dark arts as though they are something to be encouraged and taken pride in!" he exclaimed.
Again, Draco nodded. He had indeed noticed that. But funnily enough, Snape used to do the exact same thing. Draco had quite enjoyed that. Though, now realising what teaching such things to young witches and wizards led to, he decided that it was not so enjoyable after all. He glared at Wormtail again, but he didn't notice.
"I heard some teacher say that Claybrook used to be a Durmstrang student," Wormtail offered, as the boys climbed up the stone steps at the front of the school.
"It makes so much sense!" cried Remus, who was still fuming with anger. "I'm completely appalled by this teacher—how could Dumbledore hire someone like this?"
"I'm sure he was just desperate, considering everyone knows what becomes of those who take on this particular teaching post," said Sirius, dully. "Come on, guys—I'm starving."
After a hurried lunch, the boys went outside for a bit of air before attending Flitwick's Charms lesson, which was rather enjoyable. He had them practicing the summoning charm that day, which Draco was thankfully fluent at. He and Remus enjoyed a lot of praise from their classmates that day when they were the only ones who could fluently perform. Potter and Sirius also managed it, but not as quickly as Draco and Remus had. Wormtail's wand had flown out of his hands before he could even say the incantation, which made several students laugh.
After Charms, the boys said goodbye to Potter and Wormtail—who went back to the common room for their free period—and headed over to History of Magic with good old Professor Binns. Draco was pleased to sit with Sirius again, though he couldn't help but glance over at Snape a couple of times, who looked just as pained now as he had that morning. That Lily girl was completely immune to the fact that Snape had been watching her literally all day. She was too busy listening to Remus complaining about Claybrook to notice.
"So, what did you think of Claybrook?" said Sirius, after watching Remus for several minutes and shaking his head.
"Dunno," said Draco, shrugging. "I know it was just the one lesson but he seemed a bit off."
"Right?" said Sirius, whose eyes brightened at the suggestion that Draco thought the same thing he did. "Quite frankly, I'm a bit worried about the competition we'll have with the girls now."
"What happened to Ellen what's-her-face?" said Draco, with a cocky sort of smile.
Sirius grinned at him and then turned his notebook to a blank page so that he could pretend copying whatever Binns now began rambling about. All throughout the lesson, Draco and Sirius passed a notebook back and forth, discussing everything they thought about Claybrook. But at about half past 4, Binns put down his book and looked up at the class unexpectedly. They all stared at him.
"Professor Dumbledore has brought to my attention that I need to quiz some of you, given that this is a NEWT level course and all," he said, in the same dull, monotonous voice he always used. "As much as I hate doing this, and would rather stick to my own teaching methods, thanks, I'm afraid I must oblige." The students blinked at him. "So, let's have a little quiz and see how much you know, before we can continue on." He moved forwards and cleared his throat. "Who here can tell me in what year the Soap Blizzard, which was followed by a burst of the wizarding economic bubble, took place?"
As predicted, Lily Evans' and Remus' arms flew into the air at once, and they looked sideways at each other and giggled. Sirius shook his head.
"Yes, you?" said Binns, pointing at Lily.
"1378," she said, proudly and confidently.
Binns nodded.
"A-and the Gargoyle Strike?"
"1911," said Remus, before Lily could put her hand up.
She giggled. Draco looked round at Snape who looked extremely haunted now, and perhaps on the verge of tears too. Draco sighed. Well, if he had the option to get in on this—given he already knew about this stuff—then, why not have a go?
"What about the International Warlock Convention?"
Draco's hand shot up into the air, startling Sirius in the process.
"Yeah, you there with the blond hair?" said Binns.
"It's Draco Black, sir."
"Yes, yes."
"Um, it took place in 1289," said Draco.
"Very good," said Binns.
Lily and Remus both turned around in their seats and smiled at him.
"Now who can tell me how Emeric the Evil died?"
"I can, professor!" cried Lily, her hand in the air again.
"Go ahead," said Binns, dully.
"He is said to have been slaughtered in a ferocious duel against Egbert the Egregious."
"Good. And what was Uric the Oddball most famous for?"
"He always wore a jellyfish as a hat," Draco blurted out. Lily looked round at him in shock. "And he was said to sleep in a room with fifty pet Augureys."
"Good, good. Take five points to Gryffindor, Mr. Blake."
"It's Black, sir," said Draco.
"Yes, yes," said Binns.
"Professor!" cried Lily, who shot her hand up into the air again. "I can tell you which Hogwarts House Uric the Oddball belonged to, sir—it was Ravenclaw, sir."
"Um yes, very good girly. You can take 5 points as well."
Lily grinned and turned to look at Draco again, who did not meet her eyes but continued to stare up at the professor. This was war.
"And just before we continue with the lesson, a quick summary from one of you, about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct?"
"I'll do it," Draco declared, before Lily's arm could even move. She scoffed somewhat loudly and folded her arms across her chest. Grinning slightly, Draco scanned his memory for the bit of information he'd gathered on the topic, back in his third year when he'd had his suspicions about Professor Lupin.
"It's basically a set of rules that outline the responsibilities that werewolves have, one of which is preventing any possible attacks by locking themselves up securely every month at the full moon. But, and it's very unsurprising to many, this conduct has ultimately failed, seeing as no one showed up to sign it since no one was prepared to walk into the ministry and admit to being a werewolf, which has always been a great stigma among wizarding society…"
Draco's voice trailed faintly as he glanced at Remus, who suddenly looked very small in his chair (or was rather trying to make himself look small by sinking into it slightly).
"Very good, Mr. Blake," said Binns. "Another five points for Gryffindor. Alright, I think that'll do for Dumbledore's satisfaction. Let us continue with our lesson…"
The lesson droned on, causing several students to doze off to sleep on their desk. Binns of course failed to notice this and spoke as if only to himself. Lily and Remus both copied down his every word, meanwhile Draco and Sirius resumed their little chat.
Who is Regulus?
Draco passed the sheet and watched Sirius frown at it. He gave him a pointed look before writing,
My brother. Why do you ask?
I heard you talking about him before. He's in Slytherin, right?
Yes.
Draco hesitated.
How did that happen? Him being in Slytherin and you being in Gryffindor?
This time, Sirius hesitated. He looked very uncomfortable with this subject of conversation, but nevertheless picked up his quill and scribbled,
Everyone in my family…well, I guess in OUR family, has been in Slytherin. Every single person.
Draco's eyes widened when he read this.
Whoa, I didn't know that, he wrote, quite truthfully.
Yeah, so I suppose you and I are the oddballs of the Black family, aren't we?
Draco chuckled and nodded his head at Sirius, who smiled weakly. Draco's heart rate returned to normal. Hopefully, he'd broken the ice just enough to loosen up the suspicions that Sirius might've had about him, so that when whoever turned up soon to analyse Draco, perhaps Sirius would come to his defense. This time—and just this once—asking the question directly seemed like a suitable solution. Who would've known?
When it was finally time for dinner, Draco filled his plate to the fullest as he realised just how hungry he was. He let the boys do the talking tonight and just listened to them as he ate silently. Potter was complaining about the homework that he had to do that night and Sirius was trying to convince Remus to let him copy his History of Magic notes. Wormtail meanwhile was eating quietly, with a book propped open against his juice goblet.
Draco nodded whenever Potter said something and laughed whenever Sirius joked about something. He said "mhm" or "right" whenever Remus pointed out something and rolled his eyes with the rest whenever Wormtail asked something. But when the boys were paying no attention to him, his eyes fell on the haunted-looking boy sitting over at the Slytherin table. He wasn't talking to anyone else, even though the students around him seemed to be in the middle of a lively conversation. Snape simply sat by himself, staring intently at his plate with his hands holding his head for support. He'd been like that all day, the poor kid. Of course, it all made sense. This was why he later became very mean and arrogant. This was why he ended up joining the dark side in the first place. With a life like his, who wouldn't resort to a life of crime?
Draco was just about to stand up and walk over to Snape—he couldn't stand the sight of him looking so pained like this—when his eyes met a pair of black ones that seemed to be glaring at him from the Slytherin table. The boy looked very much like Sirius, and his arms were folded on the table as he watched him. Regulus Black. Draco looked away quickly and took a few more bites of his steak, praying desperately that he didn't look suspicious in any way. His future currently relied on what Regulus and Sirius would report back to their parents. And yet, that thought was not disturbing to Draco at all. In fact, he had no bad feelings about this and instead was sure that Dumbledore was right in saying it was all going to work out perfectly. He would never admit this to Dumbledore, of course. He was not stupid.
After dinner, the boys led Draco over to the top stairs in the Entrance Hall, where they sat down and looked down at the students gathering there. Many students from many different houses moved into the Entrance Hall and began talking loudly to each other. Potter took a golden snitch from out of his robes and began twirling it in his palm. Wormtail watched him excitedly and Sirius struck up a conversation with a pretty girl in Hufflepuff. Remus got his copy of Hogwarts: A History out of his bag and propped it open against his raised knees. Draco was left to stare at the students talking to each other. So this was what they did every day after dinner—a hangout session in the Entrance Hall. Wicked. This was definitely not something that persisted later when Draco would attend Hogwarts in his own timeline.
The doors to the Great Hall opened and out came several Slytherin students, among them being Snape and Regulus. They walked past the chattering students in the Entrance Hall without a glance at them and headed straight for the dungeons. Draco suppressed the sudden urge to follow them and yell that he was one of their own. It would be too disastrous if he did that now. He would just have to wait to talk to Snape on his own time—away from the Gryffindor lot.
"Draco, did you hear me?" said Potter, nudging his shoulder again.
"Huh?" said Draco, turning his head away from where Snape and the other Slytherins had disappeared into the dungeons.
"I said, let's go upstairs," said Potter, jumping to his feet.
Despite the fact that he was now growing very irritated with the way Potter bossed them all around, Draco followed. He was too tired to argue tonight anyway.
The boys themselves looked very worn-out as they settled by the fireplace and got their books out. Draco looked at his homework and sighed. He knew he could do it in a matter of seconds, because all of the information was crazily repetitive for him. But did he want to come off as a know-it-all to his new "friends" or whatever they were? He sighed and pulled his quill out, deliberately writing his notes as slowly as possible. It was so irritating to have to do this, but he only kept it up until Remus closed his books and announced that he was done and off to bed. Draco "finished" shortly after him and followed. It wasn't long before Potter, Sirius and Wormtail turned up in the dormitory, and by then, Remus was already asleep.
Draco tried hard to fall asleep. He really did. He was tired from the day's exhaustive events. But still, after he heard Wormtail's faint snores ensue and saw Sirius toss in his bed and Potter sigh faintly, he realised that he could not sleep. There was still one more thing he had to do before the day could end. Checking that the boys were very asleep, he slowly crept out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown and then his cloak. He grabbed his wand from his bedside, lit it faintly, and tiptoed his way out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the common room into the dark and empty corridor.
"Draco," said Dumbledore, whose face glowed under the candlelight by the window once Draco turned up in his office a few minutes later. "What a pleasant surprise."
"S-sorry to just stop by like this, professor," said Draco, closing the door behind him. It was definitely well past midnight and he was surprised to find that Dumbledore was wide awake and still in his formal robes. He was standing next to the window and petting his pet bird—a blazing red phoenix—which was sitting on his shoulder.
"That's alright, Draco, you are more than welcome to stop by at any time," said Dumbledore, politely. "Won't you sit down?"
"Um," said Draco, looking sideways at Dumbledore's desk. "N-no that's alright. I'll only be a moment."
"Very well then," said Dumbledore, folding his arms in front of him and frowning at Draco. "What can I do for you?"
"Uh," said Draco, wondering how to say it. He looked up at the office walls and was surprised to find that all—each and every one—of the portraits were wide awake and eyeing him curiously so as not to miss any part of the conversation. Did they not know what time it was? "W-well…" Draco's eyes were still on the various portraits. "I um…thought a lot about what you said…about what you asked me."
"I see," said Dumbledore, taking a few steps forward. "And?"
Draco's eyes fell on his clear blue ones. There was something very familiar about his smile now—something that Draco hadn't seen in a long, long time. In fact, he wasn't sure that Dumbledore had ever smiled at him before, back in his real life. He probably smiled a lot at Potter, but never at him, which was a shame because it was one of those everything-is-going-to-be-alright smiles, and Draco found that he really needed one. He took a deep and nervous breath, closed his eyes, took another breath, and then opened them again.
"I'm staying," he said, in a surprisingly not-shaking tone.
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