Author's Note: A lot is gonna go down here tonight . . .
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Thanks
CHAPTER 9: CONFESSIONS
"What is going on here?" Professor McGonagall repeated after she'd reversed her freezing charm and the boys each scrambled back to their sides, Sirius standing with Draco, Remus and Wormtail, and Regulus back with his gang of Slytherin boys.
None of them knew what to say, so they just watched Professor McGonagall nervously as her eyes surveyed each face. The whole of the Entrance Hall was dead silent and everyone was waiting anxiously for something to happen.
"Tell me what this is about!" McGonagall demanded, her wand still clutched in her hand.
The boys exchanged looks but none of them spoke up. They knew that to tell the truth would not be wise, and to make up a lie on the spot (without having rehearsed it beforehand with each other) would be a death sentence, surely. So they stood there, waiting for the worst. McGonagall raised her eyebrows at their silence.
"If you don't want to tell me, perhaps you will want to tell the Headmaster?"
And then, the uproar ensued. The boys exploded into an immediate account of what had truly happened. And from what Draco could tell, each of them was trying to twist the story into their own version. The Slytherin boys were yelling about how Sirius marched up to the Entrance Hall and started punching his brother. The Gryffindor boys were shouting that Regulus had said some hurtful things and then Sirius started fighting with him. But Sirius and Regulus, on the other hand, were shouting at each other rather than at McGonagall.
"Siiiiiiiileeeeence!" she screeched after a few minutes of this.
The boys fell silent at once, but Sirius and Regulus continued to glare at each other.
"I should tell you this," began McGonagall, looking furious, "That never in my years at Hogwarts have I ever seen such despicable behaviour!"
"But—"
"There is absolutely no tolerance at this school for such violence!"
"We didn't—"
"I don't care who started it, Mr. Mulciber, I have seen enough for one night!"
Mulciber shrugged and crossed his arms. Professor McGonagall sighed heavily.
"Alright, although such actions are absolutely unacceptable, I don't think it is necessary to bother the headmaster with."
The boys sighed collectively, and McGonagall shot them dirty looks.
"Don't make the mistake of thinking you won't be punished," she told them, sternly. "Let's see…I walked in here and saw Gryffindor Black, Slytherin Black, new Gryffindor Black," she gave Draco a pointed look, "Lupin, Pettigrew, Mulciber, Snape, and Crouch tearing at each other like a hooligan band." Draco's eyes fell on the boy he hadn't recognised, who was standing beside Snape. Barty Crouch Junior.
McGonagall sighed again.
"Tomorrow after breakfast, you will report to my office to receive your punishment—all of you," her eyes lingered over the Slytherin boys for a split second longer than they did the Gryffindor boys, and then she turned promptly on her heel and marched out of the Entrance Hall. Students parted ways to let her through, and then they turned to look at the boys expectedly.
"Aren't you all supposed to be gossiping about the next stupid thing?" said Sirius, loudly. "Haven't seen enough, have you, you nosey gits?"
He didn't wait for any answers, but followed McGonagall in suit. Draco, Remus and Wormtail did not stick around for after-fight drinks either and followed after Sirius. They walked in silence, and soon heard the parade of students trailing after them.
It being a Sunday night, no one in Gryffindor stuck around the common room for much longer. Draco and the others were seated in their usual spot by the fireplace and watched as their fellow classmates awkwardly waved goodbye to them and retreated to their dormitories, leaving them alone in the empty common room. It was at that moment that Remus jumped to his feet.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he shot at Sirius.
Sirius looked up at him, stunned.
"W-what?"
"I mean, seriously, what the HELL is wrong with you?!" Remus moved away from the couch and began pacing the length of the common room. "Did we not have this conversation before, Sirius? Did I not tell you how I felt about disappointing Professor Mc—"
"Oh, just lay off, Remus!" cried Sirius, and he too, got to his feet and began pacing up and down the fireplace. "Look, I get it, okay? I don't need a lecture from you too!"
"Well that's too bad, Sirius, 'cause you're gonna get it anyway!" cried Remus.
They froze their pacing and turned to look at each other.
"FINE!" shouted Sirius. "FINE, YOU WANT TO YELL AT ME? GO AHEAD!"
"S-Sirius," said Wormtail in a quiet voice.
"SHUT UP, WORMTAIL!" Sirius shot at him.
"DON'T DO THAT!" cried Remus. "DON'T YOU TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT, THIS IS NOT HIS FAULT!"
"Oh, and I suppose it's all my fault then, right?" said Sirius.
"Did you doubt that even for a second?" said Remus.
Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again and crossed his arms. Remus sighed.
"I've told you, hundreds of times before, that I can't stand seeing the look on Professor McGonagall's face when I disappoint her!"
"You're right—you have already told me that hundreds of times!" said Sirius, irritably.
"And I'll keep telling it to you until it sticks to your brain!"
"Look, what do you want me to do? I didn't ask for her to punish you too! You know you could've just said that you had nothing to do with it. It's the truth, anyway. With your reputation, she'd believe it."
"No she wouldn't because thanks to you and James, I already have a reputation!"
"SO STOP TALKING TO US THEN AND WE WON'T GIVE YOU A REPUTATION!"
"Guys," said Wormtail again.
"And you know what's the best part?" laughed Sirius, ignoring him completely. "It's that you think everything is about you! Did it even cross your mind that this has nothing to do with you?! Or does that not matter because only your problems are big and the rest of ours' are not a factor?"
"I didn't say that, you know I never said that," said Remus, hotly.
"You didn't have to; your face shows it loud and clear," said Sirius.
"GUYS!" cried Wormtail.
"WHAT?!" they yelled back at him.
"Y-you should stop f-fighting!" he said.
"The kid's got a point," said Draco, speaking up for the first time since they'd gotten back to the common room. Both Remus and Sirius turned to look at him, startled, as though he'd just walked into the room. He stood up and put his hands in his pockets. "You guys are fighting for nothing. It's not gonna change anything no matter what you say now."
Remus nodded slowly, and when he spoke, his voice was significantly quieter than before.
"You're right."
The portrait hole suddenly slid open and in crawled Lily and Alice, along with a few other students whom Draco did not recognise.
"H-hey," said Remus, calling out to them.
Lily waved goodbye to the others and walked over to him.
"What's going on?" he asked her.
"McGonagall called an emergency prefects' meeting," she explained, glancing over his shoulder at Sirius, who was still cursing by the fireplace.
"I'm a prefect," said Remus, matter-of-factly.
"Um," said Lily, giving him an apologetic smile. "I don't know anything about it, Remus. I'm sorry."
"N-no, it's okay," he said, turning his head slightly in Sirius' direction to give him a disappointed look.
"Well goodnight," said Lily, and she left.
Before Remus could say anything, Wormtail got to his feet. "Let's just all go to sleep, okay? Moony? P-Padfoot?"
"If I lose my prefect's position because of you…" began Remus, his eyes glaring at Sirius.
"Then you'll never let me hear the end of it," said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Yeah. I know."
"Good," said Remus. "I'm glad we've gotten that sorted out."
"Ugh, just stop already!" said Draco.
All of the boys turned to look at him again.
"Seriously!" he added, starting for the spiral staircase. "It's late. Tomorrow is the start of another week. Let's just…put this on hold for Pete's sake!"
"W-well, not just for my sake," said Wormtail, and when Draco turned to look at him, he let out a small smile. Draco returned it. He didn't know why he did it, but there it was.
"Fine," said Remus, also starting for the staircase. "We'll put it on hold, but this isn't over!" He pointed his index finger to Sirius, who scowled at him from the other side of the common room.
"Yeah, but for now, let's just hope we don't get thrown out of school come tomorrow morning," said Draco.
"Wait!" said Sirius, who remained standing by the fire. The boys turned to look at him. He lowered his voice. "No matter what happens, James doesn't find out."
"W-what?" said Wormtail.
"You heard me," said Sirius, taking a few steps towards him and stopping just at the foot of the stairs. "We can't tell James what happened today. He…he needs to get better first. Look, if we tell him, he'll just start worrying, you know how he is."
Remus nodded.
"Okay, we don't tell James," he said.
They both looked at Wormtail, who bit his lip and nodded in agreement. Then, all three boys turned to Draco. He raised his eyebrows.
"I'm not gonna tell James anything," he said, innocently. Sirius breathed. "But if he asks me," Draco added, turning to the staircase and starting to climb, "I'm not gonna lie."
So all in all, not a very good start to the week, thought Draco as he lay in bed an hour later and stared up at the ceiling. Wormtail was already snoring softly from his bed and by the looks of it, Remus was also asleep. Sirius had not come up yet, and Draco doubted that he would anytime soon. It really had shocked him to see Sirius fighting with Regulus like so, but he'd been even more surprised to witness all the tension between Sirius and Remus. The Marauders were good friends alright, but they also sure knew how to kill each other with words.
When his watch chimed 2 o'clock and Sirius had failed to come to bed already, Draco pulled on his dressing robes and crept across the dormitory. Just as he had suspected, Sirius was sitting alone in the common room and staring into the fire. At the sight of Draco coming down the stairs, he jumped a little, but then nodded for him to take a seat. Draco did.
"What are you still doing up?" Sirius asked him.
"Thinking," replied Draco. "You?"
"Thinking," replied Sirius.
Draco nodded. "About what?"
"Wormtail," Sirius admitted. When Draco looked confused, he smiled. "I shouldn't have lashed out on the kid—Remus was right. I'll have to talk to him in the morning."
"He'll forgive you," said Draco. Sirius shrugged. "He will," Draco added. "I've seen the way he looks at you. The kid worships you." Sirius smiled sadly.
"Yeah, what a great example I am," he muttered. "So, I suppose right about now, you must be thinking 'What the hell kind of a twisted and demented family have I joined'?"
Draco grinned into the fireplace, and then grew serious again.
"Actually, I was thinking that whatever happened in the Entrance Hall tonight was something that's been building up for years now," he said.
Sirius' own grin faded as he nodded slowly, his own eyes still on the crackling fire.
"You got that right."
Draco hesitated. "H-has it ever gotten this bad before?"
Sirius shook his head slowly, and then shrugged and smiled again.
"You know, I could use a butterbeer right about now."
"Okay," said Draco, slowly. "How do you intend on getting one?"
Sirius raised his eyebrows at him. "Hasn't Dumbledore ever told you about Hogsmeade Village?"
"Yeah, but—oh, no!"
"Pardon?"
"Absolutely not!" Draco jumped to his feet. "Are you kidding? We're on the brink of getting expelled, you crazy git! You want to add 'sneaking out at 2 in the morning' to your record?"
"Relax!" said Sirius, dismissively. "We're not gonna get expelled. You for sure aren't—you've got Dumbledore to cover for you. And McGonagall loves us."
"Didn't look like it."
"She'd be bored out of her mind if we weren't here to make life fun for her all these years. Besides, no one will even know that we're gone. If you forget, James' cloak is just upstairs!"
"None of the bars at Hogsmeade are even open at this hour!" hissed Draco.
Sirius raised his eyebrows at him. "Actually, Madame Rosmerta closes at 3. She's the one in charge of The Three Broomsticks."
Draco hesitated. "O-okay but—look, let's just…slow it down a bit, okay Sirius?" Sirius sighed. "Another time."
"Fine, fine, another time," he mumbled.
Draco sighed of relief.
"If you were James, this conversation would go differently," Sirius added, quietly. "The risk of getting caught is what would've made it fun for him."
Draco sighed and sat back down.
"I imagine he'll be pretty miffed when we don't show up tomorrow after breakfast," he said.
Sirius nodded. "Not as miffed as he'd be if we actually were expelled."
At this, Draco turned to look at him, and without hesitation, blurted out, "What was in the letter?"
Sirius' eyes fell to the carpet.
"Nothing I haven't heard before," he said in barely more than a whisper.
"Well then why did you explode this time?" said Draco.
Sirius looked up at him.
"Because I've heard it too many bloody times now."
Draco nodded.
"You probably don't know how it feels," Sirius began, his eyes back on the flames, "To be so disconnected from your family and yet so near them all…to…to be the only one who doesn't have it all wrong…but yet be powerless to do anything about it."
"Actually, I can imagine," said Draco before he could stop himself. But luckily, Sirius did not pick up on it. He was too distraught at the moment and just continued staring at the fire.
"My cousin Andy is the only one in my family who is not like the rest of them," he continued. "But everyone else…"
"Do you still talk to her?" Draco wondered.
Sirius frowned.
"No, she's out there, living her own life," he answered.
"How old is she?"
"Uh…twenty-four, I reckon." He paused. "I think you'd like her—she's a laugh."
Draco nodded. "W-when did it all change for you and Regulus?"
"Years ago—look, I don't want to talk about this now. Let's just go to sleep."
He got to his feet and started for the staircase. Draco followed. Just before they reached the door to the dormitory however, Sirius turned to look at him.
"Can we…keep this between us?" he asked, his voice very low. "I don't want to keep having this conversation."
"Yeah, sure thing," said Draco.
Sirius nodded and then led the way into the dormitory. They quietly got into bed and spent the next couple of hours trying to get some kind of sleep, for the day they had awaiting them tomorrow.
Breakfast was a subdued affair for the Marauders and Draco. Nearly everyone in the Gryffindor table was staring at Sirius, who kept his head bent over his cereal bowl. He and Remus had not exchanged a single word on the way out of the common room. Sirius had talked to Wormtail before they'd left and it looked like the two were on good terms again, as Draco had predicted. But Remus was too invested in his copy of that morning's Prophet to talk to Sirius at the moment. So Draco resorted to eating quietly, and tried not to think about what Dumbledore would say to him at their next lesson, regarding the fight that Draco had supposedly been a part of—or so McGonagall thought.
About ten minutes before they'd finished, a young boy who looked to be in third year or so, walked up to their side of the table. Remus looked up from the Prophet and smiled at him.
"You got anything for me?"
The boy handed him a small white envelope and then blushed instantly. "This one's for him."
He held out another white envelope identical to the first one and looked up at Draco for a split second before running away. Draco stared.
"It's George," Remus told him, laughing. "He's just really shy. Here." He handed him the letter and then proceeded to open his own.
"What is it?" said Draco, tearing his envelope.
"Slughorn's dinner party invitations," said Remus in a mocking sort of way.
Draco unfolded his letter and read.
Monday, September 21, 1976
Dear Mr. Draco Black,
It is my greatest pleasure to invite you to the opening dinner party of the year for the Slug Club. Kindly report to my office on the third floor at 8 o'clock on the night of October the first.
Sincerely yours,
Professor Horace Slughorn
"What's it say?" Sirius asked.
"Dinner party at 8 on October the first," Remus muttered.
"Swell," said Draco, unenthusiastically, and he tossed his own invitation aside.
"It looks like it should be really fun!" said Wormtail, but Draco shook his head.
Soon, breakfast was over and students began to head out of the Great Hall with their bags and their talks about lessons. Draco glanced at the others nervously, and together, they got to their feet and began to walk towards McGonagall's office on the third floor. They had no idea what was awaiting them, and walked in silence, not needing to speak their thoughts for each was thinking the exact same thing. What if they were in fact expelled? What then?
Draco could not recall something like this ever happening in his own timeline, so he had nothing to compare it to. Truth be told, he had never seen McGonagall so furious—at least not with him. Back in his old life, his parents would've been able to get him out of this no problem. But here, he had no parents that could sweet-talk his way through life. He had Dumbledore, yes, but he also had no real caregivers, and this thought seriously haunted him as he and the others stopped in front of McGonagall's door and Remus knocked three times.
The door swung open at its own accord and the boys filed in. Standing at the center of the office were Snape, Regulus, Mulciber and Crouch. McGonagall was sitting behind her desk, looking as stern as ever.
"Glad you all could make it," she told them, shutting the door behind them with a wave of her wand.
"Professor," Remus began, but she interrupted him.
"There is nothing you can say now, Mr. Lupin, I have made up my mind."
He fell silent and nodded.
"As I was telling your Slytherin friends before you boys arrived," she began, "Your behaviour yesterday was totally and completely unacceptable." The boys nodded collectively. "Should it ever happen again, you will find yourselves out of Hogwarts before you can say 'But'." Wormtail looked up at McGonagall.
"So you mean we're not expelled then?" he said in a high voice.
McGonagall stood up.
"No, you are not expelled. But, you will be punished. And I know exactly how, so follow me."
She made her way around the desk and exited the office. The boys looked round at each other but followed her quickly. She brought them all the way up to the seventh floor and finally stopped before a classroom Draco had never been in before. They filed inside, and then looked around. Draco gasped.
The whole of the classroom had been enchanted to look like some sort of a large cathedral, not unlike what he had seen in the Room of Requirement all of his last year. All sorts of random objects—from winged catapults to Fanged Frisbees to bottles of various liquids to cloaks and jewels and thousands and thousands of dusty old books. The objects had been clambered on top of each other to form alleyways and roads bordered by teetering piles of broken and damaged furniture. Draco fought the urge to ask if they were in fact in the Room of Requirement, before he realised that it was located on the other end of the hall, and that underneath all the rubbish, this was just an ordinary classroom.
"Uh, Professor," said Mulciber.
McGonagall turned to look at the eight boys standing before her.
"Welcome to detention!" she said. "I understand that most of you have had detention at least once before, so you are probably aware of the rules…no fighting, no talking, no shouting. Well, such rules do not apply today."
"Sorry?" said Sirius.
"Today," said McGonagall, turning back to the piles of rubbish. "You will be working together to clear and organise this clutter." She turned back to the boys. "Talking will most definitely be allowed and is in fact encouraged, because your detention will not end until you boys have worked things out."
"And if we don't?" said Snape.
Professor McGonagall smiled at him curtly.
"Well then I guess it's the last man standing who will be let out," she said, simply.
The boys either gasped or raised their eyebrows at her, and she sighed.
"You boys obviously have some serious issues with each other that drove you to act like a band of hooligans, and I will not cover up for you again. Therefore, you will stay here and work as long as it takes for you to solve your ridiculous differences."
"Look," said Mulciber suddenly. "Professor, I appreciate what you're tryin' to do here, but I honestly don't see how we're just gonna walk out of here today all happy to braid each other's hair."
"Well, you better hope that's how you'll walk out of here today, Mr. Mulciber," she told him. "You have a good 7 hours ahead of you, so you'd better get to work."
"Now hold on a minute," said Crouch, suddenly. Everyone turned to him. "What about classes?"
"You eight have been excused from all classes for the day," McGonagall answered.
"A-and food?" said Wormtail, nervously.
"I held a prefect's meeting last night and I have a volunteer who'll be taking care of that for you in a few hours," she told him. "I'll be back at 4 o'clock this afternoon to check if you boys are ready to act your age."
Sirius folded his arms and sighed. McGonagall raised her eyebrows at him.
"Shall I notify Mr. Potter that he will not be receiving any visitors today?"
"No!" cried Remus, Sirius, Wormtail and Draco at the same time.
"Uh, no that's alright, Professor McGonagall, we'll see him afterwards," Remus added hastily.
McGonagall sighed and made for the door. Suddenly, she turned back around.
"Before I forget, I shall be needing your wands for the day."
There was an instant uproar from the boys, but McGonagall held her hands up to silence them.
"This is detention, and so I will be requiring your wands. Hand them over."
Remus was the first to give his, followed by Wormtail and then Regulus. The others stood there awkwardly.
"Wands, boys," said McGonagall.
Snape hesitated, and then handed his over. As soon as he did that, the rest of the Slytherin boys gave up theirs. Sirius rolled his eyes and passed his along too, and then Draco turned to McGonagall and she looked at him expectedly.
"I don't think Professor Dumbledore would want me to give up my wand, professor," he told her. "What if there's an emergency and I have to defend myself?"
Over her shoulder, Remus was urgently mouthing "What are you doing?!" and just to his left, Mulciber was looking rather amused.
"Wand, Mr. Black," said McGonagall, looking impatient. "I assure you that whilst you are here, nothing will happen to you."
"I'm not so sure," said Draco, glancing over at the Slytherin boys. But McGonagall looked like she was not to be tested that day, and so Draco sighed and handed his wand over to her. She turned to leave.
"Uh professor," said Remus, stopping her again. "I was a bit…uh, surprised that I didn't get called to the meeting last night."
"You are still on the Prefect's Staff, Mr. Lupin, if that's what you're asking," she told him with a small smile.
"Uh, am I?" Regulus wondered aloud.
McGonagall turned to him, hesitated, and then nodded and left.
"I'll take that as a yes," said Regulus, mostly to himself.
Sirius leaned against a shelf of books and sighed. "Not off the staff then, are you?" he asked Remus.
Remus shook his head.
"Told you," Sirius muttered, a hint of resentment in his voice—probably the aftershock from last night.
Crouch moved to sit on top of a desk and Mulciber tried the door. It wouldn't open. Groaning, he leaned against the wall and faced the others.
"Well this is just great," said Mulciber. "Just because you two animals can't bloody control yourselves, we're stuck here forever…without our wands. I can't even hex any of you now!" He glared at Sirius and then at Regulus, who in Draco's opinion, was looking just as upset as Sirius had last night.
"I mean, what are we supposed to do?" Mulciber added.
"Clean," said Remus, picking up a large book and placing it on top of an even larger book in a neat pile.
"With our hands?!" cried Mulciber, and he pretended to vomit.
"It won't kill you," Remus muttered without looking at him.
"This is bloody pointless if you ask me," said Crouch over from his desk.
"We didn't ask you," Sirius muttered.
"This room's been enchanted by McGonagall," said Regulus suddenly. "When we're done cleaning it, she'll just vanish all the objects and it'll be an empty classroom again."
"So what's the point of keeping us here?" said Crouch.
"So we can learn to get along," answered Snape. He then scoffed. "It's the perfect punishment—McGonagall is a genius."
"She is," agreed Remus, "And we'll just be a bunch of idiots if we don't start working soon, so let's get to it."
"Why?" said Crouch.
Draco stared at him. The kid sure liked to mouth off to others. Remus also looked at him.
"Because it's what we're supposed to be doing," he told him.
"Well I don't like doing what I'm supposed to," said Crouch, simply.
"Yeah, this is stupid!" Mulciber agreed, now folding his arms like Sirius. "I say we just wait until that prefect comes and then leave."
"Why not leave now?" said Crouch, and he actually made to get off the desk until Snape added, "Because she's locked the door, you idiot, now sit down."
Draco was actually surprised to find that Crouch did not insult him back, but instead did what he was told.
Mulciber tried the door again but it was no use. He groaned and leaned against it, a pained expression on his face.
Wormtail cleared his throat.
"Something you wanted to say, fatty?" said Mulciber.
"Hey, shut up, you!" cried Sirius.
Draco's heart skipped a beat because at the same time that Remus shot at Sirius "Oh so now you stand up for your friend!", Crouch shouted "Don't tell Mulciber to shut up, you twit!"
Ignoring Remus completely, Sirius took a step towards crouch, but Draco shouted "ENOUGH!" and Sirius, glancing sideways at him, sighed and moved back a step again. Remus gave him a cold look and then returned to Wormtail.
"What were you gonna say, Pete?" he asked, kindly.
Wormtail looked nervously at the boys and then at the floor.
"I was…just gonna…say that…maybe we should w-work out some kind of…cleaning plan…"
"Why?" said Crouch. "It's not like we're actually gonna clean."
"That's exactly what we're gonna do," Snape contradicted, and he picked up a broken old grandfather clock and tossed it at Crouch, who caught it instantly.
"I have a better idea!" said Mulciber, brightly. "How about you boys clean," he looked from Draco to Remus to Sirius to Wormtail, "And we'll just sit here and watch?"
"Oh, brilliant!" said Sirius, sarcastically. "But you know what'll be even better? If I come over there and kick your pathetic arse!"
"Oh I'm sooo scared now!" laughed Mulciber.
Remus rolled his eyes and proceeded to pile books on top of each other. Wormtail moved to help him.
"He's right though," said Snape, suddenly, and Draco stared at him incredulously, wondering how he could ever defend that git of a friend of his. Snape moved a few steps towards Sirius and folded his arms. "If you two," he turned to look at Regulus, "hadn't been so bloody stupid, none of this would've happened and we'd all be in Potions or wherever right now."
"Whatever you say, Snivellus," Sirius muttered.
Before Snape could retaliate, Regulus spoke up.
"Look Sev, no one asked you to step in!"
"He's got a point," said Draco. Everyone turned to look at him. "Well it's true! No one asked any of us to step in. We chose to do it, but neither Regulus nor Sirius told us to come in and help them kill each other."
"If we hadn't stepped in, one of them would've killed the other," Remus pointed out, and the boys muttered their agreement.
"So don't step in next time," Sirius said, simply, and with these his last words for the morning, he turned his back on them and began untying some rope that was knotted around a rusty-looking sword.
Remus, Wormtail and Draco moved to the pile of objects and each picked something up. Regulus joined on the other side. From the corner of his eye, Draco saw Snape hit Mulciber across the head.
"OW!" he cried.
"Get to work," Snape ordered.
Crouch jumped off the desk and joined Mulciber just on the other side of Regulus. Snape soon followed.
For the first little while, they worked in total silence, each boy either untying ropes or scraping off dust or piling books or polishing silverware. Draco was surprised that everyone was actually doing something. He'd expected a little more resistance, at least from the Slytherins. But then, the silence broke.
"What d'you reckon these are used for?" Mulciber asked Snape, holding out a small, wooden instrument for him to examine.
"Incense," said Snape and Remus at the same time.
They glanced at each other and then quickly got back to work.
"Incense," repeated Mulciber, looking mortified. "Like…like when brothers and sisters make out?"
Everyone froze.
"How thick are you?" Sirius shot at him.
Mulciber's grin faded. He clearly did not like receiving hate from Sirius.
"Thick enough to beat your boney arse," he answered, boldly.
"Incense, not incest," Draco intervened before Sirius could retaliate. The boys looked up at him. "It's a common muggle object—it's meant to produce sweet smells."
"Who are you again?" said Crouch.
"You know exactly who he is, you miserable sod," said Sirius.
"Oh that's rich, coming from the aggressively violent lunatic who landed us all in this pathetic detention," said Mulciber.
"Stop it, Mul," said Regulus.
"No, no, there is no need to defend me now," Sirius told him. Regulus looked up at him, confused. "It won't make me forget."
There was silence.
"You guys ever read Hamlet?" said Mulciber, conversationally.
The boys looked up at him.
"Uh…what?" said Crouch.
"Hamlet," repeated Mulciber. "A shag buddy of mine said she had a muggle friend who had to read it in school—it's by this Shake person or whoever…supposed to be a really dramatic play and all."
"Huh," said Crouch. "And this relates to our conversation because…?"
"Well there's these two brothers in the play," Mulciber began. "Actually, they're not in the play. They're mentioned—one of them is dead in the beginning and the other supposedly killed him but you don't find this out for sure until much later in the play—"
"What's your point, Mulciber?" said Snape.
"Well I was just thinking that those brothers remind me a lot of our Black friends here," said Mulciber, smirking at Regulus who ignored him and continued scraping the dust off a particularly large book.
"Yeah, because we need some Shake person to tell us that we have issues," Sirius muttered.
Beside him, Remus smirked.
"It's Shakespeare, by the way," Draco finally said. Again, all the boys looked up at him. "William Shakespeare. He's a famous muggle writer who died ages ago—supposed to have been a literary legend."
"How do you know all this?" Snape asked him.
Draco thought. Should he tell the actual truth about how Aunty Bellatrix had been a part of a muggle raid and had brought their possessions back home for him to look through, or just stick with another lie?
"I…they made us read it at the orphanage," he ended up saying.
"Hold on!" said Mulciber, tossing the incense-producing object aside and walking towards Draco. "You mean to say that you come from a muggle orphanage?!"
"Where've you been for the last month?" said Snape.
"But—you're a Black!" cried Mulciber, practically shouting in Draco's face.
"Yep, that's right, he's a Black," said Sirius, who was busy folding a sweater that was draped over a basket atop a bookshelf. "He's a Black and we're all just so thrilled for him to have joined this one big happy family! Another normal person that'll be heavily corrupted by a group of pureblood maniacs who think that to be Black is to be practically royal."
"It is," Crouch pointed out, and he patted Regulus on the back. Regulus looked down at the floor.
Mulciber turned back to Draco again.
"So how come you grew up in a muggle orphanage then, and you were raised by Dumbledore and everything?"
"L-leave him alone!" Wormtail called, but Mulciber continued to watch Draco with fascination.
Remembering all those times that he reminded him of how stupidly like his father he was, Draco scowled at him.
"I don't recall signing a contract that said I had to report that to you," he snapped.
Mulciber's stupid grin faded, and behind him, Crouch howled with laughter.
"The new kid's got attitude!"
"Stop it Junior," said Regulus. "You're making a fool of yourself."
"Man, I don't care!" said Crouch, who was still laughing hard. "This is stupid, you know? I'm not gonna sit here and play along with that hag's game."
"Don't insult McGonagall!" cried Remus, who stepped away from his work station and glared at Crouch. "You're forgetting that I'm still a prefect, and when we're done with this detention, I could make you pay for your insults!"
"What are you gonna do, deduct house points?" said Crouch, lazily.
"Man, shut up!" Draco blurted out before he could stop himself.
Everyone stared at him.
"Again, who are you?" said Crouch, nastily.
"I'll be your worst nightmare if you don't just shut up already," Draco threatened.
Sirius let out a bark-like laugh.
"Thank you, Draco," said Remus.
Draco nodded and returned to his work.
"What is McGonagall doing, sticking us here to kill each other?" Snape muttered. "I can't believe I'm stuck with you idiots all day."
Sirius turned to him.
"Well, believe it, Snivelly!"
At this, Snape tossed a wool scarf at the junk pile and approached him. "Call me that one more time!"
Remus and Draco instantly forced themselves between the two, Remus facing Sirius and Draco facing Snape.
"Walk away," Remus told Sirius. "It's not worth it. Just walk away."
"Come on," Draco told Snape. "Let's take a walk."
He pulled him away, though it took much force. Snape finally ended up following him and they walked through some of the alleyways until they reached a point where the others boys' conversations were slightly muffled.
"Damn, that's too much tension for a Monday morning," Draco commented.
"Yeah," said Snape, awkwardly.
They stood there in the middle of the alleyway and Draco placed his hands in his pockets again and glanced at the piles of objects around him.
"Wish we could get outta here," Snape said in a low voice.
"Yeah well, the day's only just started," said Draco. "We've still got a lot ahead of us…" he bit his lip. "So just try not to kill anyone until we get outta here, okay?"
Snape smiled, and then caught himself in the act and quickly grew serious.
"Yeah okay."
He turned to leave.
"Wait!" cried Draco. "I….um…well, just wanted to say thank you for making the others help…you know, with the cleaning and stuff."
"Yeah," said Snape. "I get to be their mummy for the day. How gorgeous."
He left, but before Draco could follow, Regulus appeared from the end of the alleyway.
"Hey," he said, quietly.
"Hey," said Draco, stunned.
Regulus' eyes fell to the floor again. He did that a lot. It was something that Draco had noticed over the last couple of days…and strangely, it bothered him a great deal. It was like…the kid was not even trying to stand up to his bullies. It was just easier to give in to everything that was expected of him, and not ask any questions. Cowardly was what it was, if he was being really honest.
"I…feel like I owe you an apology," Regulus began.
Draco frowned.
"When McGonagall announced your name back at the Sorting Ceremony, I was shocked 'cause I didn't think that we had anymore relatives. And then when you were sorted into Gryffindor, well…shock just pretty much hit its peak. And Sirius and I were ignoring each other at the time but he told me to meet him one night so that he could ask me to write to our family and tell them about you…and I admit…it was nice, you know? Talking to him again, even if it was just about you…But he was curious, and so was I, so I wrote to them and my mother responded very quickly and said that they'd be sending someone to interrogate you. And…well, it's like I said, I never knew that it would be Bellatrix. She's one of my least favourite cousins—she actually frightens me a lot." Draco laughed. "Anyway… I guess I just wanted to say that…I'm sorry I doubted you."
"It's fine," said Draco almost instantly.
Regulus glanced up at him.
"Really?"
"Yeah, "said Draco, smiling softly. "It's hard to let in strangers, especially when you're supposed to have known them your whole life."
"Yeah," laughed Regulus. "Very true."
They stood their awkwardly for several more minutes.
"S-so," said Regulus.
"Why do you hate your brother so much?" Draco blurted out, and Regulus, looking startled, glanced backwards to make sure no one was coming. "I mean, seriously—that's messed up, man."
"I don't hate him," he said, very quietly. And when Draco raised his eyebrows, he added, "I don't particularly like him but…" he sighed. "I didn't—necessarily—mean all those things I said yesterday."
"Well then why did you say them?"
"Cause I was mad!" Regulus moved to sit next to a bookshelf and Draco followed. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. Draco waited. "Things were always so difficult for our family…Sirius was always different from everyone else, even at a young age. Our parents never said anything about it but they could tell—we all could. It…it wasn't until after his sorting that things really changed." He lifted his head and looked at Draco. "He became like a sort of outcast in our family. First, it was just Christmases and summers that they acted all weird…but then as the years passed, it was everyday…to the point where they hardly ever talk to him anymore."
"I don't imagine he fancies talking to them either," Draco pointed out.
Regulus did not smile at this.
"It drove a wedge between us," he whispered. "I didn't want it to but it did. It…I can't explain it. But in our family, there's no 'us' against 'them'. It's more like…every man for himself. I dunno, I suppose that makes me a terrible person, huh?"
"No," said Draco, shaking his head. "It just means that you have it harder than the rest of us, that's all."
Regulus stared at him incredulously, but then he nodded and smiled softly.
"So," he said, after a moment's silence. "I heard that you're also in the Slug Club now."
"Uh yeah I guess I am," said Draco. "You're in it too?"
Regulus nodded.
"At least it won't be so terrible if we're there together," Draco suggested. Regulus smiled at this, and again, nodded. "Is Snape in it too?"
"No."
"But from what I've gathered, he's like…the best Potions student in sixth year."
"Yeah but he likes to keep to himself and I think Slughorn senses this. That's why he's never asked him."
"I see," said Draco. His eyes then fell on the shiny green and silver Prefect's badge that was strapped on the front of Regulus' robes. Regulus followed his gaze to the badge and then smiled shyly.
"Congrats, I guess," Draco said.
"Thanks," said Regulus.
"Your parents must be very proud."
"Y-yeah, they threw a party just before the end of the summer to celebrate. So, you really grew up in a muggle orphanage then?"
Draco started. "Uh…yeah."
He wondered whether Sirius had been present at this party, and if so, how the Black family guests had reacted to his not making prefect.
"Huh. What's that like, coming from a muggle atmosphere?" Regulus asked.
Draco paused.
"It's um…pretty different from life at Hogwarts."
"Hmm…well, my parents are probably gonna want you to come home sometime and learn the proper way of being a Black."
"The 'proper' way?"
"Yeah, you know, like what you're supposed to say to people when you're outside…how to talk…how to treat your inferiors…"
"Inferiors?" Draco repeated. "Regulus, what the hell are you talking about?"
Regulus stared at him. "It's just…the way it is…you know, being a Black."
He wasn't sure why it was surprising him to hear any of this at all. His mother must've gotten it from somewhere…but he supposed it must've just been Sirius…hanging out with him so much lately must've blinded Draco from the fact that the Black family was no different from the Malfoys—perhaps, even worse.
"You shouldn't say things like that, Regulus," Draco finally said, lowering his voice a great deal. "There will come a time when you'll really think otherwise."
"Hey, calm down, Draco, it's really not that big a deal!" said Regulus, smiling again. "It's just the way it works. You're new to it so you don't know yet. Don't worry, you'll meet them and you'll understand." He stood up. "You'll get it soon enough."
Draco also got to his feet and shook his head, but Regulus was already headed back down the alleyway, leaving Draco there to ponder over all the brainwashing that this kid had undergone at this point.
When he got back to the other boys, he found that most of them had stopped working. Crouch was sitting atop a desk again, Regulus was leaning against a bookshelf, Sirius was sitting cross-legged on the floor and bouncing a small ball against the wall, and Mulciber was staring at the ceiling. Only Remus, Wormtail and Snape were left working. Draco joined on Snape's other side and began helping him fold the clothes that were sprawled all over the shelves. They worked in silence until Mulciber finally said, "I'm starving."
"Yeah, when's lunch?" said Crouch.
"We got here twenty minutes ago," Remus pointed out. "I don't think lunch will be for another while."
"I believe I was talking to my Slytherin mates," Crouch snapped without looking at him.
Having had enough, Draco threw down the piece of clothing he'd been working on and turned to look at Crouch. Snape tried to grab his arm so he wouldn't say anything, but he moved away from him and approached Crouch. Noticing this, Crouch raised an eyebrow at him.
"Something you wanted to say?"
"Yeah, do you have to be such an arrogant little prat all the time?" shot Draco. "In case you haven't noticed, you're one of the younger ones in this room, and here you go mouthing off to us!"
Crouch looked startled by these words because his mouth fell open a little and he looked lost at what to say. Draco eyed him for several moments, before cryptically adding, "You probably have some serious issues at home, don't you? That's why you feel the need to lash out on everybody all the time."
"You filthy little—"
"Junior!" cried Snape, moving away from his pile of junk and grabbing the boy by the arm. "A walk?"
Crouch tried to object but Snape pulled him away, and together, they disappeared down one of the alleyways. Draco stared after them until he felt a tapping on his shoulder and jumped. Remus was standing just behind him with a small smile on his face.
"Want to take a break?"
"Yeah okay," said Draco, and he followed him to where Sirius was sitting. Wormtail joined them shortly after.
It wasn't long before Snape and Crouch returned, and when they did, Crouch looked like he didn't fancy talking to anyone. He seated himself in the corner and opened a random book from a random shelf, burying himself in it. Remus and Wormtail only watched him for a few minutes before returning to their own practice of sitting and doing nothing. After several moments of this, Mulciber sighed heavily.
"I'm so bored!" he whined.
"Yeah, the day's gonna be long," Snape agreed, also taking a seat on the floor.
There was silence.
"Has Dumbledore mentioned when the opening match for the Quidditch season will be?" Regulus wondered out loud.
"It's supposed to be October 24," answered Remus.
"Who's playing?" said Mulciber.
"Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," said Remus.
"How do you know all of this? You aren't on your house's team, are you?" said Mulciber.
"I'm a prefect," said Remus, quietly. "It is the duty of a prefect to know little things like these."
"So? Regulus is a prefect and he doesn't know shit about what goes on in this school!" laughed Mulciber.
The boys smiled slightly at this and Regulus blushed slightly.
"So what is up with you always knowing everything?" Mulciber asked Remus again.
Remus looked at him and shrugged.
"I like serving the school."
"Kissing arse is what it's called," Mulciber corrected.
Remus said nothing.
"What about you?" said Sirius.
Mulciber turned to look at him.
"What about me?"
"Well, you're clearly not a part of any teams…you're not a prefect and you're not on Quidditch, as far as I know…so what do you do here, besides study? Oh, and attack innocent students, of course…"
A smile crossed Mulciber's face and Draco felt himself shudder. He really did hate him.
"Things," Mulciber answered Sirius. "I do things, okay?"
"Yeah, we all know very well what kinds of things," Sirius muttered.
Remus gave him a pointed look and Sirius sighed and leaned against the wall.
"Well it's not like you care about anything other than Quidditch," Snape said, suddenly. "And making my life miserable of course."
Sirius looked up at him and smirked.
"Yeah, you know what? You're absolutely right. I get up every morning and think, 'Gosh, how can I torture old Snivelly today'?"
"Okay Sirius," said Remus, giving him another warning look.
Sirius shrugged and leaned back against the wall again.
"What about you?" said Mulciber, and it took Draco a bit longer than it should've to realise that he was talking to him.
"What about me?"
"What's your deal?" said Mulciber. "What do you come here to do? I mean, it's a bit strange, don't you think? You come to this school in sixth year…no one's heard of you before…you're a Black and you're sorted into Gryffindor instead of your proper house…I mean, you've got to have a good story, so let's hear it then."
The boys all sat up and laid their eyes on Draco, who sat there, not knowing what the hell to say that would satisfy all sets of ears. They were all so different that there was no right answer to this question. No matter what he said over the next few seconds, someone was bound to be displeased. So the question was…how to get out of this?
"I…" he said, looking round at all the boys watching him expectedly. "I'm just here tryin' to understand why you all have more drama between the seven of you than Dumbledore's had in his whole life."
Apparently, this was the perfect answer he could possibly give, because every single one of the boys in that classroom looked pleased. Some even grinned at each other, as though their bickering was something to be proud of. Draco smirked.
"Okay so we fight a lot," said Crouch, speaking up for the first time since his 'walk' with Snape, during which Draco was sure he'd been smacked. "Big deal. It's not like it'd be any other way."
"Why wouldn't it be any other way?" Remus wondered.
"Maybe cause we belong to two completely different houses?" said Mulciber.
"Two houses that have had it for each other for centuries," Regulus added, quietly.
"You know what," said Wormtail, who startled Draco slightly because he'd forgotten that he was sitting just next to him. The boys turned to look at him. "My theory is that it's not the two houses that have had it for each other all these years…but the people in those houses."
There was a pause.
"You're right!" gasped Mulciber. "You're absolutely right! My bed hangings, for example, can't stand Lupin's bedside table!"
"Man, don't be such a dick!" said Snape as Mulciber burst into howling laughter. "It's clear he didn't understand you!"
Wormtail reddened instantly.
"That really was unnecessary," Remus pointed out.
"He's right though!" said Crouch.
"It's just how it sounded when he said it," Regulus quickly added, a little smile on his own lips.
"Oftentimes, you can read between the lines to grasp the real meaning of a sentence," said Remus with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Mulciber let out a cold laugh.
"Do you have to be such a killjoy all the time?"
"Enough, Mul," said Snape, but even as Draco glanced up at him, he looked too tired to argue any further.
"You don't always have to defend him," Crouch told Remus.
"He's my friend," said Remus, coldly.
"Yeah, but if you always defend him, he'll never learn how to fend for himself."
"He shouldn't have to!" cried Remus. "He shouldn't have to learn to defend himself against you idiots—you should just stop making it your priority to bring down everyone around you!"
"Oh great, he sounds just like McGonagall," snorted Mulciber to his Slytherin friends. A sick smile crossed his face then and he cocked an eyebrow at Remus. "How long you two been shagging anyway?"
Remus flew to his feet at the same time that Draco and Sirius did, and together, they held him back as he struggled to get past them and tear at Mulciber, who was still grinning stupidly from his corner.
"Hard to control yourself in a fit of anger, isn't it?" Sirius hissed in his ear as he pushed him away and away until Remus was on the other side of the alleyway.
Letting out an almost animalistic growl, Remus wrenched himself free and glared at Sirius, who was looking slightly anxious now.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Okay, Moony? Let's just…go sit down."
Remus turned to Draco, who sidestepped himself because he had no idea what the hell had gotten into the kid. And then, Remus' eyes fell on Mulciber, who had stopped laughing.
"Fuck—you" he hissed, and without another word, he left.
Draco glanced at Sirius with a question on his face. Sirius put his hands in his pockets and stared after Remus.
"Well?" Draco prodded. "What was that about?"
Sirius started. "He…h-he gets like that sometimes…" he sighed. "It's fine, it'll pass. Just let him be."
He turned and sat back down and resumed hitting the opposite wall with a small yellow ball. Wormtail was looking very anxious over in his corner, while the Slytherin boys were now discussing Remus thoroughly. Feeling agitated, Draco went after him.
It took a while to find Remus through all the twisting alleyways of rubbish. When he finally found him, he froze. What was he supposed to say to him exactly? He wasn't supposed to know anything about his condition, so how could he be sympathetic without giving it away?
"Oh," said Remus, finally noticing him. He was sitting on a window ledge and looking out at the Quidditch Pitch which could be visible from here. "H-hi."
"Hi," said Draco, approaching him. He too, took a seat on the ledge and faced him. "You alright?"
"Yeah," said Remus, nodding. "Yeah, I didn't really mean to lose it back there…just got…"
"Yeah," nodded Draco. "I got…too."
Remus smiled at him sadly, and then leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes.
"Tired?" said Draco, watching him anxiously.
"A bit," he nodded. "Tired of all this bickering and nonsense, that's for sure."
"Too much tension for a Monday morning," Draco repeated his words from before.
Remus opened his eyes to look at him, and then a split second later shook his head. "It's too much tension for a lifetime."
Draco hesitated, and then nodded. They sat in silence for a long time, both of them looking out the window at the distant mountains or the sparkling lake. The Quidditch pitch was currently deserted.
"I wonder how James is doing right now," sighed Remus.
"He's probably fuming with anger that we haven't stopped by yet today," Draco predicted.
Remus let out a small laugh. "He'll understand once we tell him everything."
Draco frowned. "Wait, I thought Sirius said—"
"Sirius always says not to tell James, and then he ends up caving and telling him himself. It's always been like that."
"Huh," said Draco. "And do you think that James will understand?"
"Yeah," said Remus, dismissively. "He will—Sirius and Regulus has always been one of those things…kind of like James and Snape."
"Then why were you so upset last night?"
"Because Sirius could have acted better."
Draco bit his lip before asking the next question, knowing perfectly well that Remus might not take it well. "How has McGonagall helped you so much?"
Remus' eyes widened just a fraction, and then he grew serious and looked at Draco.
"You never read Hamlet by William Shakespeare, did you?"
This, Draco sure hadn't expected. He tried to object but only a nervous laugh came out.
"W-what are you talking about? Of course I did," he finally croaked.
Remus smiled softly and turned back to the window. "If you'd read it, you would have corrected Mulciber when he said that neither of the brothers actually appear in the play." He paused to look at Draco. "One of them is the villain in the play, so he's definitely present throughout. Mulciber didn't read it—he just listened to this friend of his ramble about it so that he could shag her. I know because I've read it. And so has Lily."
"I've read it too," Draco whispered, though he knew that Remus didn't believe him.
But, knowing though his look was, Remus only smiled again and then stood from the ledge.
"Come on, let's go back before they all kill each other."
With his hands in his pockets and his head slightly bent, Draco followed. He didn't know how he could've missed it, but he was sure Remus knew something (or was at least starting to get suspicious). Of course Draco hadn't read that stupid book. He would never read any muggle material. It had just been lying there in the pile of junk that Bellatrix had brought back from the raid, and he'd picked it up for literally seven seconds and then tossed it back into the pile. And now, it was clear, Mulciber also hadn't read it…which was very characteristic of him, considering he obviously loathed anything and everything to do with muggles.
But Remus…he was growing suspicious of Draco, just as Draco was openly suspicious of him—and starting to wonder why he hadn't revealed his condition to him yet…it had been three weeks already. Draco glanced up at the boy walking in front of him, and was just about to add that he'd read that Hamlet book a while ago and must've just forgotten it, when they turned the corner and a voice Draco had come to know too well was saying, "I'm sorry, boys, but those are my instructions and I intend to follow them."
Draco's eyes widened and he froze. Lily Evans was standing by the closed door with a tray of food levitated just to her left. She looked up at him and Remus and smiled warmly. Then, when Draco did not return the smile, hers faded. Snape had been right…
This was going to be a looooong day.
"Took you guys long enough," Sirius told Draco and Remus, but they didn't hear him.
"What are you doing here?" Draco shot at Lily as he and Remus moved back into the center of the cluttered room, where all the boys were now on their feet.
Behind Lily, Mulciber was slowly moving towards the door.
"I've brought lunch," Lily responded.
Draco's eyes fell on the scarlet and gold prefect's badge on the front of her robes and he sighed. So this was who had volunteered. He should've known.
Remus moved forwards and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for being here." He let her go. "I swear I would've exploded without normal human contact soon."
She gave him a small smile and then looked round at the boys.
"I have a free period after lunch, which means that for the next three hours, I'll be here," she announced.
"Welcome to the party then," said Sirius.
"Or you could just go," said Crouch, suggestively. Lily's eyes fell on him. "It's not like we want you here."
"You could let us go!" Regulus exclaimed suddenly.
Lily opened her mouth to object, but was interrupted by Mulciber cursing loudly. The boys looked round at him. He had tried opening the door but had failed again, and was now leaning against it again, with an even more pained expression than before.
"I swear—my father will hear about this."
Draco's heart stopped. It was an ordinary sentence—there was nothing special about it. But hearing it being said from the side…without actually saying it himself…Had he really sounded like such a pretentious snob every time he'd said that?
"Well," said Lily, waving her wand so that the tray of food moved to the center of the room and landed softly on the floor. "I suppose it's time for a lunch break."
The boys hesitated, but then took turns moving towards the tray and grabbing a plate full of mashed potatoes and turkey, and a cup of pumpkin juice. They took their seats on the floor in various corners and Lily pocketed her wand and joined beside where Remus and Wormtail were sitting. Draco offered Sirius his orange, but Sirius shook his head. He hadn't taken any food, and Draco doubted he even would.
"So what has Professor McGonagall said for you to do?" Lily asked.
The Slytherin boys glanced at each other and then at Snape, as though awaiting his permission to speak to Lily. Snape however did not respond. He, like Sirius, had not touched the tray of food and was now looking even more pained than he had in all the time that Draco had so far known him as a teenager.
"She's asked us to clear up this mess and make it a bit more organised," Remus answered.
Lily looked around and then dug her fork into her turkey. "It looks like you've gotten so much done already."
Sirius laughed.
"What you boys been doing here this entire time? You could've cleared at least half of this mess ages ago!"
"Fighting," said Snape, but Lily ignored him.
Draco found that she was also avoiding his eyes too. She probably didn't want to be reminded of how hypocritical she was. It probably tortured her, knowing that she was less than perfect—perfect obviously being her lifetime ambition.
"Well why didn't you use your wands to—?"
"McGonagall took 'em all," answered Regulus.
"She didn't think we should be assisted by magic today," Snape added.
Again, Lily ignored him. This time, her eyes actually did fall on Draco, and then she quickly looked away from his angry scowl.
"So have you boys had a chance to talk then?" Lily asked Regulus and Sirius.
They looked at her with incredulous expressions. "Oh come on," she added after a minute. "That's why McGonagall has you all locked up in here. You know that, right? It's not like she actually wants you to clean. She wants you to work things out."
"Yeah, we got that," snapped Mulciber.
Beside him, Crouch was staring at Lily as though she was an alien that had infested their protected chamber.
"Well?" Lily said, her eyes still on Sirius.
He stared at her. "I have no interest in talking to him."
"But you boys are brothers!" she cried, looking round at Regulus, who was staring at a spot on the floor.
"It doesn't matter," said Regulus.
"Of course it matters!" gasped Lily. "It matters more than you'll ever know! Do you know have idea what I would give for my sister to talk to me again?"
"You have a sister?" said Regulus, who was obviously desperate to change the topic.
Lily nodded. "She's a muggle."
"Ah," said Mulciber, snapping his fingers. "Typical muggle-born situation. One is a witch, the other is not, so they fight and never speak to each other again, am I right?"
He let out a cold laugh and then grew serious at the warning look on Snape's furious face and returned to his food. Lily cleared her throat.
"You guys really should work things out—it's for your own good, you know. There will come a day when you'll regret having fought so much."
"Look Evans, I appreciate what you're saying, but just save it," said Sirius, lazily. "It's not gonna change anything."
"Watch your tone, Black," Snape shot at him.
Sirius turned his head to look at him.
"Make me, Snivellus."
"See? It's things like this!" cried Lily, waving her arms in front of her. "Look at how you boys talk to each other! I'm sure that if you just tried being nicer…that includes you, Mulciber."
Mulciber's eyes widened and he turned to Snape. "The mudblood is talking to—"
"OKAY, THAT'S IT. COME HERE YOU LITTLE TWIT!"
Sirius threw himself at the boy and Draco, Remus and Wormtail immediately leapt up to their feet and went after him. It took several minutes of shouting before they finally managed to pull him away, with Regulus' help. When Sirius noticed that Regulus was one of the boys pushing him away from the laughing Mulciber, he quickly wrenched himself free from his grip.
"Stay away from me," he hissed at Regulus, who stared at him for a few seconds before nodding.
"Fine then. Have it your way."
Lily, who had clasped her hands to her mouth, was now standing just next to Snape. Noticing this, she quickly moved away from him and sat back in her corner. Sirius cursed under his breath and returned to his spot.
"Talk about anger management issues," said Mulciber.
Crouch let out a low whistle, which everyone ignored.
"You're not cool."
There was a moment of silence.
"None of you are cool."
Draco looked up at Wormtail. He was standing just by the door and looking very flustered. It had probably taken him all the courage he could muster to say those few words. He looked a mixture of nervous, anxious and furious all at once.
"Sit down, Pete," said Sirius, sighing.
"N-no!" cried Wormtail.
The boys looked up at him.
"I…I will not sit down, Sirius! I'm… I'm tired of this! You guys are always f-fighting!"
"Look kid, keep out of it, will you?" said Mulciber, lazily. He then turned to Remus expectedly. "Well? Aren't you gonna defend him?"
"Shut up, Mul," said Snape.
"Ouch," said Mulciber, his eyes still on Remus who was looking extremely agitated. "What's the matter, Lupin? Gonna have another fit? Or are we trying to control ourselves this time?"
"You heard the man, shut up!" cried Draco.
Mulciber's grin faded slightly, and then he shrugged and resumed his eating. Beside him, Crouch was smirking into his own plate. The two gits obviously thought they were too cool for this detention, and it took every bit of willpower Draco had to keep himself from tearing at them. They really did deserve to be punched—Sirius had the idea right.
"Okay," said Snape finally. "We should come up with something to tell McGonagall when she comes at 4 o'clock."
"Like what?" said Remus.
"Like how we're all best pals now," said Snape. "Feed her whatever it takes to make her let us get the hell outta here. If I'm ever stuck in this room with you lot again, it'll be too soon."
"That's not going to happen," came Lily's voice.
Snape started. Her talking directly to him must've been like Christmas morning because his whole face brightened up before he frowned slightly.
"What's not going to happen?"
Lily put her plate down and folded her arms across her chest.
"You boys are not going to lie to McGonagall…not if I have anything to say about it."
"What do you have to say about it? You're not even a part of this!" cried Mulciber.
"Easy, Mulciber, or Sev will hit you across the head again," said Crouch, mockingly.
But Mulciber ignored him. He was now glaring at Lily with quite a dangerous expression.
"I'm a witness here," she said, simply. "You boys can lie to her, but it doesn't mean that I'll lie for you."
"Sure it does," said Regulus. Lily stared at him. "Look, we'll just…we'll say that all this time together made us realise that the separation of houses makes us natural enemies but we shouldn't give in to this stereotype and blah, blah, blah."
"Yeah, we'll say that our two Black friends here worked things out," said Mulciber, counting off on his fingers, "That Sev and Evans are besties again, that Lupin and new Black like to take walks…Pettigrew is not a factor…"
The Slytherin boys—apart from Snape—started laughing at this. Draco glanced up at Wormtail, who was growing redder by the minute and looked to be on the verge of tears now.
"That's really not called for," Remus told Mulciber, but he ignored him and continued on laughing.
"Look!" cried Wormtail, interrupting their echoing laughs. "Just because I'm not a part of the same group that you are…just because I've never attacked anyone or even aced a test in school…it d-doesn't mean that I don't matter!" Everyone was now watching him, and the boys had stopped laughing completely. Mulciber was looking very fascinated to hear this speech. "I…I've always been the outcast…the little brother…I've always been the one that everyone picks on and jokes about and teases. And over the years, I've grown used to it. But…I do matter. I am a factor. You can t-try as hard as you want, but people like me…loners, as you would call them…we don't forget. We don't f-forgive! And…if you're not happy with us being at Hogwarts then…you should just…LEAVE!"
And with that, he ran down the alleyway. Draco, Remus and Sirius jumped to their feet to follow him, but Draco stopped the other two and gave them a reassuring nod before continuing after Wormtail himself. He knew he had to do this, and it would be easier to do alone.
Wormtail hadn't gone far, so it was fairly easy to find him. He was sitting on the floor with his back to Draco, next to a pile of what looked like muggle car tires draped in velvety curtains, atop which sat an old music box. Draco hesitated before taking a seat next to him. Wormtail, who had obviously been in the middle of crying, jumped at the sight of him and quickly wiped his face on his sleeve.
"It's okay," Draco told him, slightly irritably. "I'm not gonna tell anyone."
Wormtail looked up at him with sparkling eyes and then buried his face in his hands again.
"There you are!" cried Lily, running behind them.
They both spun on the spot and she quickly joined them on the floor and put her arm around Wormtail. Draco stared at her with fury.
"What are you doing here?" he muttered.
"Helping," she told him, her eyes on Wormtail. "Look Peter, it's okay. You were absolutely right about everything you said in there and…I really think it made a difference on the boys!"
Draco stared at her incredulously, and when she gave him a warning look, he quickly added, "Oh…uh, y-yeah. Definitely. Huge difference."
Wormtail looked up at the pair of them.
"I wasn't trying to make a d-difference," he said, in a small voice. "I just wanted them to leave me alone already."
"That's fair," said Lily, nodding. "You should have a voice. You shouldn't let them bully you like this."
"But," said Wormtail, in an even smaller voice. "What they said was true…I'm not a factor."
Draco scoffed.
"Man, don't listen to them—Mulciber's a dick." He ignored Lily's look of disapproval at his use of language, and then added, more softly, "Hey." Wormtail made a noise to show that he was listening. "Do you have any idea how proud James would be if he saw you there today? For the first time since I've known you…you acted like a true Gryffindor." Wormtail looked up at him. "It took a lot of guts to say those things, especially to group of boys like that. You really surprised me there today, Pete. I'm sure James would say the same if he was here."
Wormtail smiled at him and nodded, again wiping his face on his sleeve. Beside him, Lily was watching Draco with a sort of awed expression on her face…almost like she couldn't believe her ears.
"You're right," sniffed Wormtail, finally getting to his feet.
Draco and Lily followed.
"You're right," he repeated. He then looked at Draco. "Thank you."
Draco gave him a small smile and then Wormtail sighed deeply and headed back down the alleyway. Draco made to follow, but was stopped by Lily tugging at his arm. He turned to face her.
"Can we talk?" she said.
Draco hesitated, and then nodded. He slipped his hands into his pockets and stared at the ground.
"That was really noble what you did just there," she told him. "Where did it all come from?"
"I like the kid," Draco said, shrugging slightly. "It's not fair to him that he's downgraded by society so much."
At this, Lily nodded. And then, she took a step forwards. "Look, I think I owe you an explanation." Draco looked up at her. "I volunteered to supervise today because...because I wanted a chance to talk to you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. We got off to such a terrible start and I really don't like having problems with anyone and it's been bothering me and I just don't want to make any more trouble and—"
"Why d'you ignore Snape again?" Draco shot at her.
She hesitated. "W-what?"
"You heard me," said Draco.
Lily bit her bottom lip anxiously. "Look, I get that you and him are starting to be friends and all…I've seen you two talking here and there and that's wonderful! I'm always for inter-house friendships. But…" she paused. "What goes on between Severus Snape and myself is really none of your business and so I would greatly appreciate it if you would just stay out of it!"
"Whatever," said Draco.
He turned on his heel and followed Wormtail's suit. Lily was just behind him. When they got back to the group of boys, Sirius was saying something to Wormtail and Crouch and Mulciber were laughing about something. Snape uncrossed his arms as Lily came back and watched her move to sit beside Remus, who was finishing up his lunch.
"How long has it been?" Regulus asked the room at large. "I couldn't find any working clocks in this junk."
"I think it's about 1 o'clock now," said Lily.
Remus heaved a great sigh and then got to his feet and began cleaning again. Wormtail rushed to help him at once, and shortly after, Draco and Sirius were working too. It wasn't long before the Slytherins got back to work as well, and Lily pulled her wand out and caused all the food plates to vanish. Pocketing it again, she leaned against the wall and folded her arms, watching the boys.
"Hold on," said Mulciber, now dropping a wooden log onto a broken grandfather clock and causing it to clutter noisily. "You've got a wand!"
"Uh yes, I do," said Lily, pointedly.
"I would think it'd be pretty obvious, given that she levitated our lunch here," Crouch sniggered, but Mulciber ignored him and took a few steps towards Lily.
"Well give it here!"
"Excuse me?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Okay fine, don't give it here," said Mulciber, folding his own arms. "Make the door unlock."
"And why should I do that?"
"Because we want to get the hell out of here, that's why!" cried Mulciber, angrily.
"Right," said Lily, nodding. "Well, as tempting as that does sound, I think I'll pass."
"Give it—"
"Back off, Mulciber," Snape ordered from his corner.
"No way!" cried Mulciber. "Look, this is servants' work. We shouldn't be sitting here, doing all this pointless rubbish!"
"Could you just listen to him? For once?" said Draco, giving Mulciber a cold look.
Mulciber returned the look and then scoffed and got back to work. Draco did the same. It was a while before he realised that Sirius, who was working just beside him, was watching him.
"What's up?" he muttered.
"Nothing," said Sirius, most unconvincingly.
"Spit it out!" said Draco.
On the other end of the room, the Slytherins were talking amongst themselves, immune to their conversation.
"Just wondering when you and Snape became such great pals," said Sirius, shrugging.
"We're not," said Draco.
He could feel Remus' eyes on him too, but didn't dare meet them. Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.
"You've been defending him all day," he pointed out.
"Only 'cause he seems to have some kind of authority over those brainless gits over there!" Draco invented wildly.
Sirius let out a bark-like laugh and nodded. Glad to have gotten out of that little pickle, Draco got back to work.
"So Black!" Crouch called again, and Draco groaned before turning to face him. "You never did tell us how you came to be here."
"What's there to tell?" said Draco, simply. "I was raised in a muggle orphanage where I received private tutoring from Dumbledore until he said I could come study here."
"But why so late?" Regulus wondered.
"It does seem a bit strange," Snape added.
"Fascinating though," Remus said.
Draco smiled at him before answering, "I suppose Dumbledore didn't want me in touch with my…family"—he looked at Regulus and then at Sirius—"before I was ready."
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Mulciber. "How the hell did Dumbledore have the right to make that decision for you?"
"He raised me—he had every right to," Draco contradicted.
"Well no, technically he didn't," said Snape.
"Yes he did," said Lily, suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her, especially Snape. She blushed slightly. "Draco here was sort of like an adoptive son for Dumbledore, wasn't he? So I suppose it was Dumbledore's call to make."
"Seems selfish to me," said Mulciber. "Seems like he just wanted one Black to himself so that he could corrupt him with his crazy ideals and his muggle-loving attitude."
Lily scoffed and folded her arms, but said nothing. Draco shrugged.
"Suppose it's no use talking about it now, is it?" he said, and then he turned back to work.
At long last, time became a factor again—the afternoon sun began to peak through the windows, illuminating some of the piles of old and broken junk. For the most part, the boys worked quietly while Lily either watched them or sat reading. They all knew that this detention was completely pointless, but it was also a way to help pass the time until they could finally leave, and so they continued working.
Finally, after what felt like ages later, Lily shut up her book again and looked up at the boys.
"So are you two planning on patching things up anytime soon?" she asked Sirius and Regulus.
They stopped working and turned to look at her.
"Are you?" Draco asked her.
She stared at him.
"I don't know what you mean."
"I'm talking about you and Snape," he clarified, more loudly so that everyone—particularly Snape—heard.
Lily sighed. "I thought I told you that that wasn't any of your—"
"—business, yeah, I know," said Draco, rolling his eyes at her. "I just don't get why you're so keen on getting these two to work things out when you refuse to do it yourself—seems hypocritical, don't you think?"
Lily's face instantly turned the same colour as her hair. She glared at him, and Draco found it hard to suppress a smirk. He didn't know why but he found it so satisfying to play with her like this. Perhaps it was because she reminded him so much of Potter and so, in a way, he felt like he was back to his own timeline, torturing his greatest school nemesis.
"It's just a thought," he added, turning his back on her again.
"Well we're not here to talk about Severus and I," said Lily, her voice breaking slightly. "We're here because of Sirius and Regulus Black."
"Keep telling yourself that, but you know that it's beside the point," said Draco.
"What do you mean?" snapped Lily.
He turned to look at her again. "I mean, Professor McGonagall knows very well that not all of us were involved in that fight. She shut us all up here not just because of these two. She shut us here so we could work things out and stop all this Gryffindor/Slytherin bickering that's been happening, from what I've gathered, for ages now. You are just as involved here as the rest of us, so stop acting like you're not."
"Don't you go pointing fingers at me now!" cried Lily.
Remus put a hand on her shoulder but she ignored him. "No, it's not fair for you to do that, okay? You don't even know me!"
"Oh, but I do," said Draco. She stared at him. "I know you very well. Why, you're Lily Evans—Gryffindor Prefect, miss goody-goody, always hammering students about doing the right thing, always at the top of every class, and always, always kissing up to your favourite teachers. Have I missed anything?"
Lily glared at him.
"You—don't—know—anything—about—me."
At that moment, the door to the detention room clicked open. Professor McGonagall was standing with her wand stretched out and a confused expression on her face.
"How is everything going over here?" she asked, her eyes moving from the Slytherins on the left to the Gryffindors on the right to Draco and Lily at the center.
"Fine, professor!" said Lily, changing her expression alarmingly quick to that of bright happiness. "I've monitored their progress over the last few hours and I really think they won't be having any more problems."
"Is that right?" said McGonagall, her eyebrows raised.
None of the boys said anything. She looked from Sirius to Regulus.
"And you two?"
"And them," said Lily before they could answer. "I think the boys have clearly learned their lesson."
Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes at them and then sighed and pulled out their wands from her cloak pocket. Each of the boys hurried to take their rightful wand.
"Never again," she warned them, and they nodded vigorously. She hesitated, and then moved so they could step out the door. "Very well then, you may return to your common rooms."
Relieved, the boys began to file out. The Gryffindors stayed behind and waited as Wormtail tied his shoelaces. Professor McGonagall turned to Lily.
"Thank you so much for helping out today, Miss Evans."
"Oh it was really no problem," said Lily, talking very quickly.
She gave Draco a dirty look and followed the other boys out the door. Just before leaving too, Draco turned in time to see McGonagall wave her wand and make all the useless and broken objects in the room disappear, making it an ordinary but empty classroom once again. He sighed. Everything that had happened that day—all that had been said and all that had been done—had just vanished along with those many worthless objects. Come tomorrow, nothing will have changed. He was sure of it.
Thanks for your time and until the next weekend . . .
