In the Skin of a Slytherin

Chapter Six – Plans

Draco was unbelievably gratified that his Slytherins had to act as the prestigious ones that they were at that moment in time; Saturday mornings in the Great Hall were usually trying but a Saturday before a Quidditch match was exceptionally loud. Being brought up within the thick walls of the almost deserted Manor had given Draco sensitive hearing and he was unused to loud noise especially the barbaric cacophony that was the Gryffindors and this morning also the Hufflepuffs. It was the morning of the first Quidditch match of the season; Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuffs were prancing around, squealing like the pigs they were and wasn't that a sight to behold; dancing pigs, maybe they'd even be wearing tutus. Draco had truly lost his mind. The Ravenclaws' table was littered in books and parchment on strategy; making any last minute plans. Not that they hadn't already a game plan, they had had one since the second week back to Hogwarts. Draco would know; he had spent countless nights, conspicuously sneaking around the pitch as the other three House teams had their practises. And then there was the Gryffindors; the lions were their usual ruckuses with little etiquette. Focusing mainly onto his snakes once again he prided himself in their usual behaviour. The Quidditch games may make those more animalistic behave out of the ordinary but his Slytherins would not show any such signs. Well not many nor obvious ones at least; the slightly more heated than usual conversations, the slightly faster pace at which the first years ate their breakfasts and the slightly friendlier atmosphere were minuscule changes. They could be ignored; the other three Houses were otherwise occupied anyway.

Glancing down the table Draco decided that it would be time for the Slytherins to make their way to the pitch; he felt the need to make this game more entertaining than it otherwise would be. Not that he could see it being a dull game; it was an unusually difficult game to predict the outcome. For although Ravenclaw had a much superior strategy Hufflepuff had an unusually strong team this year. Of course neither was a huge threat to Draco and his Slytherins but they were more than a match for each other. After wiping the corners of his mouth with a serviette, a signal to the other Slytherins that he was about to leave, he stood and waited for the rest to follow suit before heading out of the Great Hall and leading the group towards the grounds.

Draco had spent the past four days in practical solitude. Without Blaise he had come to realise how much of a role the other played within his life. Of course he still had Crabbe and Goyle two steps behind his every move but one could just not have a civilised conversation with them, it was lucky if they strung two sentences together, what they actually learnt at school he had no clue. Draco had therefore spent many hours just thinking and observing. He was able to catch up with all school work and was also able to spend time flying. There had been much drama and commotion within the house on Thursday when there had been a confrontation between the third and fourth years. The potion had been simmering for some time, Draco had just been waiting for it to boil and explode. That had happened on Thursday, in the grounds no less. Luckily for the whole House it had been him who had ceased the argument rather than Snape. After over an hour's worth of lecturing on decorum and the necessity for the House to act as a unity while in front of others he had put them back into their rightful positions and asked both years to write an essay on such subjects, together. He had given them a weekend to write one foot, between two year groups and after just giving them all the material they required he thought that very fair if not generous.

He had finally decided this morning what he was going to do with the Blaise situation. So before breakfast he had set about putting his plan into action. Writing a message to Blaise was the first task. After doing such he had gone to the owlery so that the message would be delivered at breakfast. Then he waited. And watched the Quidditch match; he wished to see the play of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws during a match. Which is exactly what he did, for three and a half hours he watched along with the rest of the school as both Quidditch teams competed. It was Ravenclaw who took the lead to begin with, but after the Hufflepuffs had warmed into play they caught up and the score board was very close at all times. Finally, after a long awaited snitch trail it was Hufflepuff who won.

Dinner that night consisted of a suspiciously empty Hufflepuff table, a subdued Ravenclaw one; they all seemed to have been engulfed into their books for comfort and then a Gryffindor table that was as talkative as usual and a Slytherin table that was no different to any other day. Unexpected hope welled within him when Draco saw an owl swoop in. The bird landed in front of him. Taking the note he pocketed it while looking at the barn owl expectantly, waiting for it to leave. He believed the letter was a reply from Blaise and would open it later. It was several minutes before the owl gave an angry hoot and lifted into the air, obviously disgruntled about not being rewarded for its delivery. He sneered at it and went back to his dinner. Beef. It was a bit too chewy for his standards but could find little fault with the delicious taste. Conversation flowed around him as usual and as usual he listened intently, making sure he was up to date with all the news within his House. Of course he never outwardly showed that he took note nor cared about what the others had to say or the tone in which they said it. When in fact it was quite the opposite. Usually there was very little of interest to him but this evening he was quite intrigued by the Seventh Years discussion.

"My Father's been away a lot this year." That was Nott, Draco would be able to identify his nasal voice anywhere. "On business." The emphasis on business was unable to be ignored. The Slytherins were usually very careful about what they said, especially with the topic of the war but Nott was the abnormality. He thought it brought him prestige to flounce information about his loyal Father to the rest of the House. But this caused people to be even more guarded with what they told him, he was even less trustworthy than the rest of the House due to his over large mouth. If there was one person within the House Draco was sure was a Death Eater in the making it was Theodore Nott. But the thing that most unsettled Draco about Nott was that he was a copy of Draco himself before the end of fifth year; Draco had been just the same with idolising his Father and wishing to go around with an interesting snake design on his left arm. It was what Draco would have become had he not had an epiphany of sorts over the summer leading to his sixth year. It was this that made Draco wonder whether the reason behind Nott's big mouth was to be the leader of the pack. He wanted Draco's position and was using Draco's own old personality to gain that position. Of course that would never work; Draco was a natural born leader, Nott was a sheep; he even have to copy Draco's own style. Draco took it as potential threat all the same. One could not be too cautious.

"Well of course he has Nott, what else do you expect?" Pansy responded with an eye roll. Nott looked like he had been kicked in the teeth. Draco hid a smirk and looked down at his dinner. No, it was very unlikely that Nott would throw Draco off his seat and become leader of Slytherin. "Planning has been going on for so long it's got to start soon." An evil glint shone in Pansy's eyes when Draco glanced at her. Now that was interesting, not that he would put it past the Pug but he was quite astonished as he couldn't imagine the little 'princess' wishing to fight with the possibility of her losing a nail. That was some information that should be stored away. "Potter looks about half dead anyway, he'll probably kill himself before there's a war anyway." Ah! There's her logic behind it. Draco was becoming slightly worried about this conversation being held in the Great Hall but looking around it seemed that no one else had heard. Thankfully Pansy's last sentence had derailed the conversation from topic to another.

"Yeah, he looks like a living ghost! Or may be more a skeleton with hair! I mean how can he be so skinny? I've been dieting for as long as I can remember and I have never gotten that skinny!" Greengrass' edition to the conversation was eye-roll worthy; she sounded put out that Potter had beaten her with his size, or the lack there of. Then again for the past six years Draco had been competing with the Golden Boy for about everything. Of course the Chosen One always won.

"Yeah" Pansy agreed whole heartedly. "And have you seen the bags under his eyes? It looks like he hasn't slept in millennia!" She sounded so shocked at this; Potter probably hadn't slept in his whole life as he spends all his time breaking rules. But this was interesting news; Draco himself hadn't seen Potter or at least noticed him for several weeks he realised with a start. Potter-watching had been one of his favourite pastimes. But Draco had been too busy with his own life in recent months to watch someone else's, especially as he was unable to antagonise Potter and his friends due to the forfeit of his badge. The rest of that evening's conversation in the Great Hall was uninteresting.

It was late in the evening before Draco remembered the letter that was still in his pocket. He had been in his room sat at the desk doing his charms homework when his mind had recalled the delivery at dinner that evening. Taking it out he noticed that the envelope was blank; he raised an eyebrow. Placing the unopened letter on the desk Draco went through several strong revealing charms. Finally satisfied that the letter held no unwished for spells, he neatly opened the letter with his pocket knife and pulled out the parchment within. Disappointment swept through his body as he read the letter and its writer.

Dear Draco,

I hope this letter finds you soon. I am sorry that it was not delivered to you at breakfast along with the rest of the morning post, therefore most probably drawing unwanted attention. I am also sorry that I have not been in contact for the past few weeks but then you must have other things in your life to be getting on with. I am writing to inform you that I wish to have my first visit after our agreement this week and if possible tomorrow: Sunday. If not, the sooner the better. I'm sorry for the short notice. If you could leave your reply on the ledge in the alcove at the end of the potions corridor that would be much appreciated. Thank you.

James

Draco had hoped it was from Blaise but instead it was from the snake-aspirant Gryffindor. And to top it all off he wanted to come to the Slytherin common room the next day. Great! And what was even better was the fact that he had to tell Blaise about their guest. Deciding that it was already quite late and he would be unable to finish his charms work while his mind was concentrating more on other things Draco stood and walked out of his room and went into the common room. His eyes spotted the brunette after quickly scanning the room. Blaise was sat with most of the rest of the Seventh Years on a black, leather sofa in the far corner. Draco strolled over to the corner purposefully and determined, not showing an ounce of his discomfort and forcing himself not to cowardly turn back around and run to his room. As he came to a standstill all who sat around the sofa looked up at him. Blaise occupied most of the settee with Daphne Greengrass on his left and Nott on his right. Blaise seemed to have easily begun a routine fitted more around the others in his year and they had welcomed him without hesitation. Blaise's expression was a reflection of Draco's own; blank. Taking in an unnoticeably larger breath Draco dragged all his courage to the forefront and spoke.

"Zabini, I need a word if you please?" Politeness was the key Draco had decided. Blaise nodded and smiled slightly in invitation. In his peripheral vision Draco saw the others become more interested, their gazes had flicked from him to Blaise and back again, watching the reactions and now all eyes were on him once again. Pointedly sweeping his gaze around the group Draco answered in a slightly strained voice, "In private, please." In response one of Blaise's eyebrows rose but he soon nodded his agreement. Draco noticed the glare that was shot towards him from Greengrass as Blaise rose and she moved slightly allowing him easier passage. In answer to her Draco raised both his eyebrows and looked down at her, she blushed slightly and dipped her head. With a small, satisfied nod at her for the remembrance of her position Draco turned his focus back towards Blaise and motioned for the other to follow.

Draco led Blaise, just as he had several days previously, further into the depths of the Slytherin lair. As soon as he felt they were at a safe distance from the rest of the room's occupants Draco ceased his walking and erected several silencing charms. He spun around to face Blaise and handed over the letter when the other asked in curiosity "Draco?" It was said with an underlying hint of hesitancy and Draco also noted that Blaise's body radiated off a sense of caution, the air of cool confidence had dissipated as they had left the other Seventh Years. He silently waited for Blaise to read the letter.

"It's alright for him to come tomorrow isn't it?" Was Blaise's first sentence as he brought his head up from reading the letter. The tension had eased from his body as Blaise had read the letter and he had dropped efficiently into a business mode.

Draco tilted his head down in agreement a long with his reply, "Yes, we have nothing planned tomorrow evening but it may be best if we inform our little lion that he does not have total control over the agreement and we should have more notice in future. Is there anything else you wish to add?"

"Do we need to do any preparations at all? What are we going to tell the rest of the House, even the smallest snakes were curious last time; we need a legitimate reason for the guest to be entering the den especially if there are going to be repeat performances." That was one thing that Draco had been having problems with. The rest of the House had been suspicious the last time they had encountered James and were likely to be less forthcoming with any secrets if he was around. This would lead to the Gryffindor needing to stay much longer in the dungeons. The snakes would automatically assume he was a spy of some sort. But what to tell them to make him seem more trustworthy?

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"We need to make him come across as friendly, non-threatening. Anything to do with the war is out for obvious reasons but then saying he is from another House is also quite risky. A relative maybe? But then that brings up many questions and is quite farfetched. The best way to have a plausible excuse is to keep it simple; use the truth but twist it slightly. But what of the truth to use and what to twist?" Blaise seemed to be musing aloud, this usually annoyed Draco as Blaise had the exceptionally extraordinary gift of stating the obvious but as he was at just as lost a cause it was good to get the main points in the open. They had one night to create the most plausible, effective story to tell their snakes. It was going to be one long night.

Early the next morning found one Draco Malfoy detouring to breakfast via the potions corridor. After quickly slipping into the alcove at the end of the corridor he was soon on his route to the Great Hall once again. There were very few people in the Great Hall; this was to be expected as it was Sunday. Once seated in his usual place Draco's hand immediately went to the warm croissants. He had had more unhealthy food stuffs in the past month than he could ever remember eating before. He and Blaise had stayed up conjuring an adequate explanation for the rest of the House until the early hours of the morning, he had then been awake after three very insufficient hours of sleep to put the plan into action. Hence the need for the croissants. He could almost feel the fat as the buttery, viscous substance slowly slid down his throat. And he welcomed it whole heartedly.

Phase One of the plan was now complete, on to Phase Two. This was more difficult but it was necessary and an actor he could be. Lying smoothly was an inbred trait of the Malfoys and this was an opportune moment to test his ability. The secret about being able to lie well is to believe in the lie yourself. That was why keeping the explanation as close to the truth as possible was crucial. Another necessity for being able to deceive others is to have the story vividly implanted in your memory. The full story, all aspects having been covered within your own head before saying it to others. Draco had made sure of that also him and Blaise having gone through everything they thought possible to be questioned. He still had several hours before Phase Two went into action. Undecided as to whether that was good or bad Draco stood and left the Great Hall heading for the Quidditch pitch; flying always managed to clear his mind.

It was just before lunch started that Draco found himself in front of the entire House of Snakes. It was expected as it had been he had sent word out that there was to be a full House meeting at this time but he was still anxious. He didn't have stage fright, quite the opposite in fact; he lived to be the centre of attention, but he was nervous about whether the House would take Blaise and his lie as truth. It was unlikely they would take it at face value but he truly hoped they would. Locking his emotions away Draco called for attention. As soon as he had the room fell into utter silence.... the beauties of power.

"Good Morning Everyone, I am very sorry for the disruption of your Sunday, you will be held here no longer than necessary." And already the lies were rolling effortlessly off of his tongue; as if he, a Malfoy, was sorry for anything. "As many of you are most probably aware we had a guest come visit us on our last games evening." Going straight to the point made him appear less nervous about said point therefore seeming more like said point was the truth. "I believe many of you were curious about whom this intruder was and that is why I have called this meeting. We also have the pleasure of meeting him again, tonight no less." Had this have been a more disorderly group Draco knew chatter would have broken out among everyone as he had said the last sentence, but fortunately the Slytherins were well acquainted with true manners. "His name is James; this was the name he insisted on us using and was not forthcoming with his surname but maybe this evening if you ask him he will inform you." This had been unsatisfactory for both Draco and Blaise, all Slytherins liked to know surnames and would be more suspicious if only one name was given but they had agreed that making up a surname would, yes, please the other snakes but did not help them any with their quest to find who he was. A name given by James himself could help them find who it was.

"He is talented in the field of potions and has applied for tutoring by Professor Snape." That was another reason he had been awake early in the potions corridor, to let Severus know of the plan. Amazingly Severus had agreed very early on with hardly any persuasion needed from Draco on the condition that James was informed and told to actually report to Snape and have tutoring potion sessions. Draco had a suspicion that Snape already knew the reason for James' appearance and wants, himself, the knowledge of who in Slytherin is loyal to the Dark Lord. A long with who is not. "He had his interview on the day of our games evening. Professor Snape has decided to tutor him and has informed me that on the evening of his sessions we should expect to see James in the Slytherin common room." They had tried to stay as close to the truth as possible but, that, they found was nigh on impossible and had therefore conjured up this story. It had been Draco's idea after thinking about what Severus had said to him after the fight with Weasley. Severus had wanted to help and also seemed to, unbelievably, like the mysterious Gryffindor. Severus had not been best pleased to see Draco at half past six that morning but Draco knew that it would have been wore had he gone during the middle of the day at which time Severus spends his weekends lost in the preparations and study of his potions. It was quite a regular occurrence for all students at Hogwarts to see a bad tempered Snape anyhow.

Draco could see many of his snakes storing this information away and picking through it with a fine comb trying to decipher any loopholes. Now to wait for the questions. Looking over towards Blaise he asked a silent and invisible question, only Blaise who was following his thought track would understand and nodded in reply. Good, it seemed as if he had conveyed it flawlessly and believably. Not that there was any doubt that he wouldn't but ego stroking is still an action that Draco loves.

Draco's attention snapped back to the crowd in front of him as a sixth year asked a question. "Why is he coming in the Slytherin common room if he isn't a Slytherin?" It was the honey blonde haired girl named Melina Morgan. Quite the logical question, one that he and Blaise had thought of last night.

"Professor Snape gave him permission to come here after the interview thinking that if James was to be here regularly then he should at least be acquainted with some of the students. Professor Snape of course did not want him to pick up bad traits from the other three Houses so therefore sent him here to spend time with the most acceptable House. Now unless there are any more questions people wish to be answered it may be advisable for us to start to head for the Great Hall." Give the mention that they would be allowed to go and a lot of them would hopefully forget all lingering questions they wished to ask. As he had hoped the House became more interested in the prospect of going to lunch than finding answers to questions about a practical stranger. That suited Draco just fine; he didn't want them to have all of their answers just yet.

Lunch was a quiet affair apart from the few who wished to have more of their curiosity quenched. Unfortunately, the Hufflepuffs were still riding high after their win and therefore even happier than usual, how that could be possible Draco had no clue but it was. Ravenclaws were still sulking and little to no conversation flowed on the book cluttered table. The Gryffindors were the Gryffindors no explanation needed. Draco was pleased that phase Two was now also complete. Phase Three; inform James. That wasn't particularly difficult and James should be grateful as Draco and Blaise had just given him a full cover story. Phase Three was arranged to be put into action after dinner so Draco had some free time beforehand. But that free time did not last long as Blaise slid a note over to him. Well at least he could sort out that whole mess.

End of Chapter Six

Author's Notes: I'm very, very, very sorry for such a late update. James will have another appearance in the next chapter. please review. I would like to give a hearty thanks to people to have already reviewed. Thank you. x Happy New Year.