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CHAPTER 16: LOYALTY

On the morning of the match, Draco awoke to the sound of panicked shuffling about the dormitory. Once he sat up and rubbed his eyes open he finally realized what the noise was all about. James was jumping around the room, releasing a golden snitch and then snatching it just as it began to get away.

"Morning," he said without looking at Draco.

"What are you...?"

"That's his pre-game ritual," Sirius explained, letting out a long yawn.

Peter's and Remus' beds were empty.

"Where's...?"

"They're already downstairs," said Sirius, tiredly.

James flipped over on the chair in the back of the room, caught the snitch and then collapsed back on his bed.

"Where'd you get that?" Draco asked him.

"Nicked it," said James, simply. He sighed. "I can't wait to get in the air."

Draco groaned. He'd been flying with Sirius every night for over a week now, but some part of him was still nervous that he'd perform poorly today and that James would hate him for it for the rest of time.

"What day is it?" Draco asked softly.

"Saturday," said Remus, who'd appeared at the door. "So try not to get yourself killed out there today because you have a lesson with Headmaster Dumbledore tonight."

"Oh shit," said James. "Yeah, you'd best be careful."

"You care?" Draco asked him, cocking an eyebrow.

"Sure I do," said James. "If you die today, Dumbledore will cancel Quidditch. And we can't have that."

"Noooo," said Draco, getting up from bed. "That would be horrific!"

Peter, who'd joined Remus at the door, let out a laugh.

The boys dressed silently and went downstairs. Most of the Gryffindors were still asleep, by the looks of it. And now that Draco saw what kind of light was coming in from the windows, he understood why. It couldn't be later than 6am.

Naturally, the boys were the first to arrive for breakfast, but it wasn't long before more life showed up at the Great Hall. James decided to skip his morning observation of the Prophet and went straight for the food. Sirius did the same. Draco watched the pair of them with fascination, wondering exactly how they would go about killing him if he messed up during today's match.

As they ate, Sirius bullied Peter into spreading jam on his toast for him, while Remus scolded the boys for their obsession.

"...just remember that it's only a game," he kept repeating. "It's only a game."

James and Sirius nodded absentmindedly, their eyes on their food as they continued to eat. Draco smirked.

After breakfast, everyone began to head out towards the Quidditch pitch. James, who was already in his Quidditch robes, led the way into the change rooms.

"Good luck!" Remus and Peter shouted after him, Draco and Sirius.

Once in the change rooms, Draco felt a wave of nervous energy overwhelm him. The team dressed silently and then took their seats and waited. James was locked up in the captain's office, probably pacing.

After several more silent moments, Sirius stood up, crossed the room and knocked on the office door four times. It opened a split second later to reveal James with a clipboard and pen in hand. Sirius took his spot again and James stood before the team, all of them watching their feet.

"Today is the beginning of the rest of the year," he announced. "You see that crowd outside? They won't remember who wins next week's game. They won't care who comes in second during the semi-finals. They'll care about today's game, and they'll care about the final in June." James took a step forward and Draco lifted his head to look at him, only to find that he wasn't the only one to do so.

"And you can bet your scarlet and gold arses that we will be at that final," James concluded.

"YEAH!" cried Sirius, and Frank then led the team in a chant.

The crowd outside suddenly grew louder, indicating that the Ravenclaws must've stepped out onto the field. James grew serious again and the team quieted down.

"Come on guys," he said. "Let's go make Godric proud."

They clapped their hands and got to their feet. James lined them up in order of position, moving himself and Sirius up to the front, and collectively they mounted their brooms.

Draco waited patiently for James' cue. Beside him, that third year Jarine Atrenus was shaking slightly.

"You okay?" Draco asked him.

Atrenus nodded without looking at him.

"This your first match then?" Draco concluded.

Again, the boy nodded.

"Hey," said Draco. The boy looked up at him. "When you're up there, just keep your eyes on the quaffles. Forget everything else."

"Yeah and if you get lost, that's why there's three of us," said Davey Gudgeon, the seventh year chaser.

Draco nodded vaguely and then looked at Atrenus again.

"You're small," he pointed out. "Use it to your advantage. They won't expect you to know anything. But I saw your trial. You can fly." Atrenus met his eyes. "Surprise them."

"Okay," the boy answered.

The doors to the change room suddenly opened, exploding Draco's eardrumbs with noise and loud cheer, and the Gryffindor team flew out to greet its fans. Draco was completely taken aback by the sight of the large red banner draping most of the crowd, with the golden lion on the front sparkling in the sun.

The cool morning air and clear blue sky was perfect for flying today. Draco made several loops around the goal posts, to the tune of the Gryffindors' cheers, and then positioned himself center-field. He watched the tiny dot that was James making its way across the field to where the Ravenclaw captain was standing. They shook their hands, and then they were up in the air too.

Draco stared out ahead, listening to the crowd's deafening cheers, watching the red banner move smoothly atop the students' heads...all his life, he'd played to the tune of a completely different cheer, sung by completely different people in completely different colours. Yet why was this so easy to get used to?

The sound of the whistle blowing snapped Draco back into the game, and before he knew it, he was speeding through the air with a quaffle under his arm.

Draco had no idea what had gotten into him, but the second the whistle blew, he went ballistic. He flew right and left and up and down and diagonally and slantways and any other way you could possibly think of. He looped around players, twisted and turned, and then, in a rush of adrenaline, threw the quaffle in the air and kicked it with his broom in a perfect Finbourgh Flick, landing the quaffle straight through one of the Ravenclaws' goal hoops.

The crowd down below boomed with loud cheers and somewhere in the distance, Draco heard Sirius yell, "YEAH BLACK!"

Pleased with himself, he sped through the pitch in search of another quaffle. Gudgeon had one but before Draco could reach him, some brunette Ravenclaw chaser snatched it from behind him in a Speelman Steal and sped the other way. Draco chased after her.

Aware of her shadow, she began to make loops and twists and turns, in an attempt to confuse him. But every move that she made, Draco mirrored. Once they'd finally reached the goal hoop that Sirius was defending, the girl threw the quaffle and he caught it at once. Laughing, he tossed it to Draco and Draco winked at the girl before speeding in the opposite direction. He flew away from a chaser, dodged a bludger, and zig-zagged around another two chasers until he reached the goal hoops and threw the quaffle in. Again, the crowd exploded with cheers and someone announced that Gryffindor was leading 20 to 0.

For the rest of the game, Draco repeated the same moves, occasionally throwing in a Dionysus Dive to really impress the crowd (as well as his fellow teammates). He occasionally flew by his own goal hoops to high-five Sirius, who was Double-Eight-Looping like his life depended on it. Draco was so consumed with the game that at one point, Sirius flew near him and shouted "Hey, if you don't stop with all these foreign moves, you'd better be prepared to answer where the hell you learned them from 'cause that's the first question they'll ask once we hit the ground!"

Draco looked at him worriedly, but Sirius only nodded and flew back to his hoops. Having lost track of where he was and which team he was playing for, Draco toned it down a bit and resorted to simply reverse passing for the rest of the game. This of course had its consequences as the Ravenclaws began to score too. At one point it got so tense, with Gryffindor leading only by ten, that Draco decided to forget everything and throw his game back on. And in no time at all, Gryffindor was leading by 50.

Flying by Atrenus, Draco shouted, "YOU OKAY?"

"YEAH!" Atrenus shouted back.

Draco grabbed a quaffle from a passing Ravenclaw and tossed it to Atrenus, who caught it by a lucky chance.

"HERE, FOLLOW ME!" Draco shouted.

Atrenus nodded and began to fly after Draco. Draco started off calm and then began to zigzag. Once he'd spotted a couple of Ravenclaws flying just behind Atrenus, he shouted "KEEP GOING!" and sped in the other direction to tick them off. The two players had of course not seen it coming and so they flew in opposite directions, giving Atrenus a clear shot into the hoops. And a beautiful shot, it was. Wheeling back around, Atrenus beamed at Draco and Draco smiled back.

Then, finally, he heard the blow of the whistle and looked up to see James hovering over the goal hoops with his hand stretched out in the air, clutching the golden snitch.

The crowd began to scream at the top of their lungs, "GRYFFINDOR WIN, WIN! GRYFFINDOR WIN, WIN! GRYFFINDOR WIN, WIN!"

Draco followed the players down to the ground and everyone ran to high-five James. He then shook hands with the Ravenclaw captain again and let Sirius, Frank and Gudgeon pick him up into the air. Draco laughed as he watched them parade around the pitch. His smile instantly faltered though once he saw Dumbledore, McGonagall, and several other teachers walking towards them.

The stadium grew silent.

"What's goin' on?" Frank whispered behind Draco, dropping James to his feet.

Draco looked nervously at James and then at Sirius.

"Mr. Black," said Claybrook, once the teachers had all stopped walking.

"Yeah?" said Draco, slowly, his broom lowering so that it touched the ground and he could lean on it for support, in case his legs gave away.

"We were all very impressed with your flying today," Claybrook said. "I'm sure we'd be fascinated to hear where you learned to fly like that."

"Um," said Draco, looking around at his teammates and at the Ravenclaws behind them. "I just...I mean I..."

"Surely you can understand our surprise when you began performing tricks and tactics that no one's ever even heard of," McGonagall said.

What the hell was she doing?! Didn't she understand that he'd just won a game for her bloody team?

"I..." said Draco, looking at Dumbledore, apologetically but desperately.

Dumbledore gave him a long look, and then cleared his throat.

"But who said anything about these moves not being invented yet, Ajax?" he finally said.

Claybrook turned to look at him.

"These moves are fairly popular in the Netherlands."

Claybrook raised an eyebrow.

"The Netherlands, Albus?" said McGonagall.

"Certainly," said Dumbledore, who now moved to stand beside Draco and addressed the group at large. "When Mr. Black here was younger, I enrolled him in an overseas Quidditch tournament for youth."

Draco swallowed.

"It was my way of slowly introducing him to the wizarding community," Dumbledore went on, now placing a hand on Draco's shoulder and squeezing gently. "I myself am impressed that he even remembered anything from the tournament, since it was so long ago."

"Well," said McGonagall, her eyes round with shock but a smile on her face. "It was certainly a marvelous performance, Mr. Black."

Draco smiled weakly.

"Now," said Dumbledore, pleasantly. "Why don't we let the team go and get changed?" Draco turned slowly to look at him and Dumbledore met his eyes. "I'm sure they'll be wanting to celebrate their victory."


"I don't understand why you won't go with the yellow one...you've been with the yellow one since the very beginning but now suddenly you're an orange kind of man?"

Sirius frowned at James, then held up the orange bean in his hand. "I hate the yellow. I loathe the yellow. The yellow is dead to me. My loyalties now lie with the orange."

"A bit harsh, don't you think?" said James.

"Lucky for me, I don't forge longlasting partnerships," shrugged Sirius.

"Oh for crying out loud!" hissed Remus, moving to stand between the two. "Will you both just pick a bloody box so we can go already?!"

James and Sirius started.

"We've only gone through half the boxes on this shelf," said Sirius, innocently.

"And you won't even get to the other half," said Remus. "Not if I have to say anything about it."

"Oh come on, Moony," said James. "We just have to figure out which box has more orange or yellow beans, that's all."

The boys turned to Draco for approval, but he only leaned against the sugar-coated apples rack and sighed deeply. They had been in the shop for a good forty minutes and had not even taken five steps inside.

"I'm hungry," said Peter. "We're gonna have to go back to the school soon. Can't we just go get food?"

"He's right," Draco whined. "Just pick a box, guys!"

James and Sirius looked at each other, grinned, and then selected two boxes and proceeded to the back of the shop to pay for them.

Once the boys finally left Honeydukes Cellar, James and Sirius were already arguing and tossing yellow and orange beans into each other's Bertie Botts boxes.

"Okay so just one more stop then," said Remus, who was leading the boys across the street to the Three Broomsticks.

"Draco's already been here though," said Peter.

They went in and found a large booth table at the back. Sirius took care of their orders while James stole all the orange beans from his box before he could get to them. Once Madame Rosmerta had left their table, Sirius sat back with his hands behind his head and smiled.

"What are you so happy about?" Draco asked him.

"What's there not to be happy about?" he said. "We had an amazing win yesterday and we're in Hogsmeade today. I'd say it's been a pretty good weekend."

"Indeed," said James. His eyes landed on Draco. "So...youth tournament in the Netherlands, huh?"

"Yep," said Draco, taking a sip of butterbeer.

"Why didn't you tell us about it?" James asked.

Draco shrugged. "I haven't thought about it for years...and plus it never came up, really."

The boys nodded.

"It must be wicked cool to play abroad," Sirius finally said.

"Is that something you'd wanna do?" Draco asked him.

"Oh yeah," James answered, sitting back against his chair. "Sirius has dreamt of playing professional Quidditch since our first day at Hogwarts."

Sirius smiled in response, but Draco's eyes landed on Peter. Perhaps it was best not to tell his friends that the most Quidditch Sirius would get to play would be behind the walls in Azkaban, with dementors.

"...I just think you need to start letting it go," Remus was now telling James.

"Drop it, Moony," James was saying. He looked annoyed.

"James, if she wants to talk to you, she will," Remus said. "Don't force her."

James only shook his head. Draco smiled at him sadly. He was in pain. He could tell. Everyday that Lily walked the castle's corridors and talked to some other boy, James was in pain.

"You don't wanna be a stalker like Snivellus," Sirius added.

"Indeed," said Draco, now smirking.

Sirius gave him a nervous smile. "What?"

The boys all looked up at him, but Draco only continued smiling.

"Whaaaat?" said Sirius, looking excited now.

Draco leaned forwards.

"I've thought of our next prank," he announced. "And it involves breaking into the girls' bathroom on the third floor."

James' eyebrows shot up.


The Marauders were suddenly very excited about having lunch. Draco had chosen the perfect time to tell them what his genius prank idea was. He himself was impressed with how he'd come up with it. It was harmless, entertaining, and oh so cool.

"Oy!" Sirius said, snapping his fingers in front of Draco's face to get his attention.

"What?" he said.

"I said, we're sharing the next pie. You may not be playing in the next game, but I still need to stay in shape."

"Wait, so you really don't want to join in full time?" James asked Draco. "Cause if you do, I'd gladly kick Cresswell out."

"Nah," said Draco. "I don't have time for Quidditch."

James closed his eyes as though he was in pain and Sirius flinched slightly, but Remus continued to stare out the window. Draco sighed. If he was going to have any chance at finding out what this was about, he'd have to do a lot of snooping. After all, it couldn't be the moodswings again. The next full moon was a good two weekends away.

"Hey Moony," said Draco. Remus' head snapped up instantly. "You doing okay? You know, after your flu and all..."

"Fine," said Remus.

Draco smiled. "You're as good as new."

"Yep," said Remus, ignoring the hidden meaning behind Draco's words. "So how do you like Hogsmeade?"

The boys all looked up at Draco.

"It's nice," he answered. "You know, as nice as a village near school can be..."

"At least now you know your way around," said James.

"Yeah and in daylight too," Sirius added, grinning.

Draco grinned back. It was true. He had learned his way around Hogsmeade. He now knew all the various secret passageways that he could use to get there. Who would've thought that the four founders, who were the most powerful wizards of their age, would build a school with so many flaws and holes?

"What was your favourite shop?" Peter asked.

"Uh," said Draco, "Probably Zonko's."

"Yeeeaaaah!" howled Sirius, high-fiving him and then James.

Draco laughed at his friend, but then his eyes wandered to the two people sitting three booths behind them. Alice and Frank. They were holding hands again, and again their facial expressions were serious.

James' eyes followed Draco's, and then they looked at each other.

"You wanna talk about it?" he said to him in a low voice so that the others wouldn't hear.

Draco shook his head. James had been increasingly nice to him since the breakup, and he strongly suspected that the kid felt guilty for how jealous he'd acted about Lily. But it was true. Draco didn't want to talk about it.

Admittedly, he'd never expected to have a relationship in this timeline, or even better, to get dumped. Actually just thinking about it made him feel numb to the point where he excused himself from the table and went out of the bar to get some air. The boys were just finishing up their food but he'd insisted they stay behind.

Though it was a relatively cool day, Draco could see many Hogwarts students running from shop to shop in a hurry to get all their things done. He leaned against the wall of the Three Broomsticks and put his hands in his pockets to stop from shivering. The air inside really was stuffy. Or maybe he was just feeling rundown from yesterday's match. He couldn't help it though. Whenever James was involved, he got so competitive. Though, it was a different kind of competitive, not like what he'd had with his son. Looking back on all that now, he felt almost silly for how he'd acted all those years. At the end of the day, what does it matter who won which match and who got more house points? People were now dying on a daily basis. Death eater attacks were becoming more frequent and their numbers were growing by the minute too. It really didn't matter what went on at Hogwarts, because at the end of the day, it was just another school.

"Draco?" said a voice near him.

His eyes flew open and he bit back a groan. Lily was standing before him with a smile on her face and shopping bags in both her hands. A Gryffindor scarf was wrapped around her neck.

"Hi!" she said as Draco eyed her. "What are you doing out here?"

"Standing," he said. "What are you doing out here?"

She lifted her bags. "Shopping. So what do you think of Hogsmeade?"

"It's splendid."

"Did the boys take you out on a tour?"

"Yep."

"Did you buy anything?"

"Nope."

"Well are you gonna?"

"Nope."

Suddenly, Lily's smile faltered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Draco asked.

"Well because you're being all..'one-worded' again," she said.

"I'm being what?"

"And I thought we were past this."

Draco moved away from the wall. "Look Lily, just because we had a...moment...in the Forbidden Forest the other night doesn't mean we're suddenly gonna be best pals. Nothing's changed, except maybe that we have an understanding now...about Remus."

"But why can't we?"

"Why can't we what?"

"Be best pals," said Lily, her eyes sad.

Draco opened his mouth but nothing came out. Indeed, what was the answer to that question?

"Why does it have to be this way?" Lily asked, watching him. "I mean, why can't we just...hang out?"

"Because we can't," he breathed.

Before she could answer however, the door to the Three Broomsticks opened and Remus came out, looking flustered.

"Those damn gits—Oh, hi Lily," he said. His eyes lingered over Draco and then back to Lily. "Uh, have you come here to get some lunch? Do you want to join us?"

"Actually, I already ate," Lily told him. Her eyes shifted slightly in Draco's direction so he looked away from her. "But thanks for the offer."

"That's too bad, let's go, Remus," said Draco, pulling his friend back into the pub. Remus waved goodbye to Lily and let Draco drag him in. Once the door was closed, he freed his hand from Draco's grip.

"What are you playing at?" he asked. "Did she say something to you?"

"No," Draco answered simply. He then moved back to the table where the boys were already getting up from their seats and zipping their coats.

"Where are you guys going?" he asked them.

"Frank wants to talk to us," James told him. Draco glanced at the table where Alice and Frank were sitting before, but they were both gone now.

"All of us?" Remus asked.

"Nah, just me and Jamesy," said Sirius. "But we'll find you guys later, okay?"

The two left the shop together, their heads bent.

"Those two are up to something," Remus said, his eyes narrowed as he stared after them.

"So what should we do?" Peter asked.

"We could go back to the castle, I suppose," said Remus.

"Actually," said Draco once they'd reached the pub door. "You guys go. I have to...I mean I want to go back to a couple of...uh, I'll just see you guys later, okay?"

"You sure?" said Remus, who was bundling up.

"Yeah," said Draco. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay, bye!" Peter called after him once he and Remus started back down the path to the castle.

Draco waved them off and then turned around and walked quickly to Honeydukes Cellar. He couldn't buy anything there before because then the boys would've started asking him questions. He looked around the shop to be sure that no one who knew him directly was there. Then, he moved to one of the shelves in the corner and picked out a purple-wrapped package of cauldron cakes with a small purple card attached to the wrapping.

Draco pulled out a pen he'd nicked from the Gryffindor common room the previous night and scribbled on the card. And then, he stopped. Was he right in doing this?

xxxxxxxxxx

"Take it," said Dumbledore, urging the small sack of gold into Draco's hands.

"I...I can't," he said.

"Yes, you can," said Dumbledore. "You need this and I am giving it to you."

"It doesn't feel right though," Draco mumbled. "I mean what'll everybody say? It's favouritism, professor."

"With all due respect, Draco, that's a rather dim statement coming from you," said Dumbledore. Draco tore his eyes away from the money pouch in his hands to the old man smiling at him from behind the desk. "Take it."

Draco nodded and pocketed the money pouch without another word. He felt so incredibly guilty, especially after how he'd played that morning and how Dumbledore had had to cover up for him in front of all the teachers. But for some bizarre reason, Dumbledore hadn't said a word about it since Draco had arrived in his office. Really, what was he thinking?

"Spend it wisely?" he told him now.

Again, Draco nodded.

"So I'm all clear to go to the village tomorrow then?" he asked, quietly.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "I don't see why not. Now, about these nightmares you've been having..."

Draco cringed. He still didn't know whether telling Dumbledore had been the right decision. But he did know that not doing anything was also not an option. The nightmares were getting worse and all the more difficult to control. He could feel it.

Dumbledore pulled out another package, this time wrapped in white and even smaller than the money pouch. He handed it to Draco who unwrapped it curiously. Inside were what looked like several miniature bottles filled with purple liquids. Draco looked up, confused.

"These will give you dreamless sleep," Dumbledore explained. "But I advise you only consume one a week."

"So the other six nights I'll still have the nightmares?"

The words were out before he could stop himself. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm sorry, professor," Draco mumbled. "I didn't mean to sound ungrateful."

"That's quite alright, Draco," said Dumbledore. "It's perfectly understandable. And after all, you've had a long day too." He paused. "240 to 80...I'm impressed."

Draco smiled.

"Now," said Dumbledore, leaning forward and placing both arms on the desk. "Let's talk Legilimency."

xxxxxxxxxx

After Honeydukes, Draco decided to pay a visit to Zonko's, this time without the chaotic excitement of the Marauders. But when he got there, he was in for a surprise. Severus and Regulus were standing in some corner with their backs to him, discussing something that they were holding in their hands. And what really set Draco on edge was that they didn't look like they wanted to be spotted there. Draco had just started to make his way over to them when his path was blocked by a tall figure with a round belly.

"Ah, Draco my boy, how are you doing?" said Slughorn, beaming down at him.

Panicked, Draco looked over his shoulder at Severus and Regulus, but thankfully they hadn't heard him. He breathed.

"You know, that was some impressive flying you did yesterday," Slughorn was now saying. "Well, of course I'm not surprised, coming from you. The Blacks have a long history of excelling at Quidditch."

"They do?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"I would know," said Slughorn, proudly. "I've taught all the Blacks. Each and every one."

"That's nice," Draco said, still distracted by what was going on at the back of the shop.

Severus' head was bent as he examined whatever was in his hand and Regulus kept shifting uncomfortably on his feet...kind of like he was nervous about something.

"...and then, mind you, I told him that that's why you need to have Caritone Beans when you're doing an experiment like that!" laughed Slughorn.

Draco looked up at him again and smiled. "You're absolutely right, professor. Would you excuse me though? I have to go talk to my, uh, cousin."

At these words, Regulus spun on his feet. Slughorn looked back and smiled again.

"Talk away then, boys!" he said, loudly so that the whole shop heard him. "I will see you all in class."

Draco waved him off and then hurried quickly to Severus and Regulus, both of whom had their hands behind their backs now.

"Oh hey," said Severus. He looked around the shop. "Where are your Gryffindor pals?"

"Somewhere," said Draco. "What are you guys doing?"

"Just browsing," said Severus. Regulus nodded.

"Right," said Draco. "What's behind your back?"

"It's just junk we thought we were gonna buy," said Severus. "Hey why don't you go put it back on the shelf, Regulus?"

"Um, because I didn't ask him to, Severus," said Draco.

Regulus remained rooted to the spot. Draco looked at him with vicious eyes.

"What's behind your back?" he repeated, this time more quietly but with a serious tone.

Regulus bit his lip nervously and looked at Severus, who only nodded. Then, Regulus pulled out the objects and gave them to Draco to examine. Draco stared at his palm for a good couple of minutes before looking up at the pair of them.

"What is this?" he asked, holding up the little vile with the crimson-coloured liquid in one hand, and the vile with the periwinkle blue liquid in the other hand.

"Shhh!" cried Severus.

They looked around the barely crowded shop and then moved further into the corner.

"Are you guys taking some kind of inducements?" Draco hissed.

"What?!" cried Severus. "No, of course not!"

"Well then what the hell is this?!" Draco shot at him.

Regulus grabbed both the bottles from Draco's hands and hid them quickly. Severus looked over Draco's shoulder to make sure they weren't being watched.

"Look Draco, you have to trust me," Severus began. "When you threatened Wilkes like that, obviously he wasn't gonna let it drop. Did you really expect him to?"

"He was furious that you'd had the nerve," Regulus added. "So he called a meeting that same night..."

"And assigned Regulus a new job," Severus said, through gritted teeth.

Draco looked from one to the other, and then he understood. His eyes landed on Regulus.

"Were you actually gonna do it?" he whispered. "Were you really gonna go through with it?"

"He had no choice, Draco," Severus explained. "Wilkes is watching his every movement. If he doesn't do as he is told, he could have some serious problems in Slytherin house...and, might I add, at home too."

Regulus flinched.

"Why are there two?" Draco asked, who couldn't believe his ears. The nerve of this Wilkes bloke! If he got his hands on him...

"Well he wasn't actually gonna give you Bloodroot, Draco. Are you mad?" said Severus now.

Regulus looked away from Draco, ashamed.

"I pulled him aside later that night and we came up with this plan," Severus went on. "We were gonna give you an Alihotsy Draught instead. It would just make you really hyper for a few hours. I figured it'd be our best bet to make Wilkes think that the Bloodroot was outdated or something, so that instead of poisoning you, it just gave you hysteria."

"I'm really sorry, Draco," Regulus whispered, finally looking up at him. "I swear, I never thought he'd want me to poison my own cousin."

"Yeah, neither did I," Draco mumbled. "So why were you guys in here then?"

"Figured it was the safest place to meet since Wilkes and the guys never come in here," Severus said. "We were just trying to figure out how to make the potions the same colour so that Wilkes wouldn't know there were two—"

"—but also so that we wouldn't accidentally give you the Bloodroot," Regulus added quickly.

"Look Draco," said Severus, his voice even lower now. "We'd never actually poison you. You know that."

"Do I?" said Draco, who still couldn't believe his ears.

The boys frowned.

"Of course!" Regulus hissed. "I would never! That's...that's why I begged Sev to help me!"

"Draco," Severus said, urging him to look at him. He did. "You know you can trust me."

"How do I know that if you're willing to throw me under the bus just to impress your precious Wilkes?"

"Because you know Legilimency," Severus whispered even more quietly.

"You do?!" hissed Regulus, but the boys ignored him.

"You know you can look inside my brain and find out if I'm lying or not," Severus went on.

"True," said Draco. "I know Legilimency. But according to your records, so do you. And there is nothing stopping you from bringing false images to the surface."

But Severus shook his head. "I'm not at that level yet...to be able to bring forth false images."

"Yet, huh?" said Draco. "So you're not at the dangerous level yet. Just headed there. Nice, Sev."

"I—"

"I wonder what Lily would say about your little plan," Draco shot at him.

Severus frowned.

"What's Lily got to do with this?"

There was a pause.

"N-nothing," said Draco. "I just...I can't believe the nerve of this Wilkes."

"I told you it wasn't a good idea to threaten him like that," Regulus hissed in a desperate voice.

Draco sighed.

"Okay so what are you gonna do?" he asked him. "I mean, he's obviously expecting you to go through with this so if I'm still alive in...when did he want you to do this?"

Regulus swallowed.

"Tonight," Severus answered.

"Ah," said Draco in an attempted casual voice. "So what are gonna do about it then?"

"Nothing," Regulus admitted. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Draco eyed him for several moments, feeling quite disturbed by the desperate look on Regulus' face now.

"Nothing," he lied. "We can just forget about this whole thing."

Regulus breathed. "Thank you."

"Yeah," said Draco.

There was another pause.

"Come on, let's just get rid of them now and go back to the castle or something," said Severus.

Draco nodded. Regulus handed the two bottles to Severus and he disposed of them quickly. Then, the three exited the shop and headed down the path out of the village like nothing had happened. Little did the boys know that a war was now raging inside Draco. As they made their way back to the castle, he thought...how to convince Dumbledore to let him murder a student?


Merci beaucoup.