Кассандра Клэр - Draco Sinister

Ron agreed amicably enough, and they traded places just as the bedroom door opened and Harry and Draco, looking very vexed indeed, stalked in.

"Heś there!" said Harry, throwing up his hands in disgust. "Why is he there? Shouldn´t he be teaching class?"

"Bastard," said Ron. "Whatś he doing hanging around his own office?"

Harry was biting his knuckle thoughtfully. "We need to lure him out of there," he said. "But how? If one of us does it, he´ll just think we´re trying to sneak in there to get the sword. And," he added, "he´ll be right."

Draco stopped pacing. "I´m getting an idea," he said. "Oh, now I´m getting another one."

Ron, turning to look at him curiously, jogged the side of the cauldron, splashing some of the liquid in it onto the floor.

"And now I´m just annoyed," said Draco. "Weasley, keep your oafish hands away from that potion. Thatś my soul you´re messing about with, you know. Itś my life essence, itś my being, itś-"

"A fabulous new cleaning product!" announced Ron, looking down.

Where the potion had fallen, it had eaten a hole right through the rug, and partway into the stone beneath. "I´ve never seen anything like it. Itś completely toxic."

They all stared curiously.

"I refuse to consider this as a reflection on my personality," said Draco, looked at the charred rug.

"And thatś your prerogative," said Harry. "Now, what was your idea?"

Draco gave him a look of great amusement. "You´ll find out, Potter," he said, heading for the door. "Just hang on, I´ll be right back."

Fleur had a room to herself at school; at the moment, it was full of impossibly tiny, impossibly delicate, brightly colored butterflies that she had conjured up to amuse herself. As soon as Draco walked in, fifteen blue butterflies settled in his hair, and several pink ones on his shoulders.

"Oh," said Fleur, looking at him mistily. "How adorable."

With an effort, Draco restrained himself from screaming Get these sodding butterflies off me! "I need you to do me a favor," he said instead, looking earnestly at Fleur, who sat with her legs stretched out in front of her on her bed, tapping each of her toenails with her long silvery wand and turning them various shades of pink. "I need you to lure Professor Lupin out of his office. Just for a few minutes," he added, seeing her dubious look. "Come on, I thought you fancied him."

"I did," said Fleur, turning her left big toenail mauve. "But I have since reconsidered. 'E is very 'andsome, but just a bit too stodgy."

Draco bit his lip in frustration. "Fleur, the man's a werewolf. How stodgy can he be?"

'''E is boring," said Fleur, firmly. "'E is boring and stuffy and English.

Not like you," she added quickly. "You are English boy with French instincts," she grinned. "And veela blood. You are not boring. But Lupin, he fills me with ennui."

"That's just his teaching persona," Draco said, hoping he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. "Stodgy by day, perhaps, but at night it's booze, whores and flying fur."

Fleur wrinkled up her petite nose in a frown. "I do not believe you," she said.

"Come on, Fleur. Do it for me," he said, wincing inwardly. Lord only knew what she'd want in exchange. "Please?"

She gave him a very considering look, then stood up, tossing back her long, silvery hair. "All right," she said, a little sulkily. "I do it for you. But you — " she lightly struck his shoulder with her hand, letting it rest there perhaps a moment longer than she needed to, "You owe me, Draco Malfoy."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" said Harry, sounding very doubtful.

Draco shifted uncomfortably under the invisibility cloak. Large as it was, it was a deal of trouble to keep all four of them covered as they waited in the hallway. "Why wouldn't it be?" he said.

"Well," said Harry, "either it doesn't work, in which case we're in trouble, or it does work, in which case…"

"In which case Lupin gets some action," said Draco. "We're doing him a favor, really. It's fine."

"It is NOT fine," said Ron, his disembodied voice sounding cranky.

"Why not?"

"Because he's really, really old and it's nasty," said Ron, firmly.

"Heś not that old," said Ginny.

The cloak rustled as Harry, Ron and Draco tried to turn to look at Ginny, before realizing this was impossible. Harry was fairly sure, however, from the tone of her voice, that she was smiling.

"Heś not," she insisted.

"Ginny," said Ron warningly.

"Heś kind of attractive, actually," she said.

"Can we go back to talking about Dementors in the front yard?" said Ron. "Because this is freaking me out."

At that moment, Fleur came around the corner. She had put on a formfitting silver robe, and gave a wink in their general direction as she paused at Lupinś door and knocked. They saw her open the door and thrust her head in. Whatever she said was inaudible, but in a short time, Lupin came to the door, looking both distracted and faintly surprised. "Why can´t we talk about your homework in my office?" he said, stepping outside and shutting the door behind him.

"It is just so much more pleasant to walk as we talk," said Fleur, laying her hand on his arm.

"If you say so," said Lupin, sounding extremely dubious.

"Ás anyone ever told you that you are a very good teacher?" asked Fleur, using her grip on Lupinś arm to steer him down the corridor.

"Oh, yes, I get told that all the time," he said, as he unknowingly passed Ron, Draco, Harry and Ginny in the hall.

"Ás anyone ever told you that you are also very attractive?"

"Well, Dumbledore told me that once, but it was after the New Year's staff party and he was a bit squiffy on butterbeer…"

Lupin's voice faded, and they were gone.

Although he couldn´t see their faces, all around him Harry could feel the other three shaking with laughter. Even Ron was laughing. It was like being caught in a mini-earthquake. "Shh," he hissed, trying to keep from laughing himself. "Shh, wait until we get into the office…"

Once inside the office, Harry tore the invisibility cloak off them, allowing Draco, who was now nearly crying with laughter, to collapse onto the desk. "I almost love Fleur," he said finally, regaining his composure. "Ás anyone told you that you are also very attractive?´"

Ginny was shaking her head. "The poor man, he really doesn´t deserve that kind of abuse."

"Itś for a good cause, Ginny," said Ron, grinning. Whatever minor pangs of jealousy he might have been feeling over Fleur seemed to have vanished. "Hey, Malfoy," he added. "What´re you doing?"

"Getting our ingredients," said Draco, who was now crouching on the floor next to Lupinś bookcase. "Itś here…got it." He pulled out a small blue vial, unstoppered the cap, sniffed it, and made a face.

"Wolfsbane," he said, and handed it up to Harry, who squinted at it and passed it on to Ginny. "Mugwort we´ve got upstairs…And here it is…the Orb of Thessala."

"Thatś a snow globe, Malfoy," said Harry. "Nice try."

The nymph in the globe winked at Draco as he put her down.

"Sorry," he said, and continued rummaging. "Right," he said, after a few moments. "Got it."

And he handed something up to Harry — something that looked like a black glass tennis ball.

"You´re sure?" said Harry, looking at Draco hard.

"If itś not an Orb of Thessala, I´m the one that gets blown up," said Draco. "So yes, I´m sure."

"Blown up?" echoed Ginny, looking very pale as Harry handed her the Orb.

Draco waved a hand airily. "That hardly ever happens," he said.

"Just finish the spell right and we´ll all be fine."

Ginny looked up at Ron, who was looking equally nervous. "I don´t know…"