Apology For the Devil

Chapter Four--Badgers and Beginnings

The easiest way to be cheated is to believe yourself to be more cunning than others.

[Pierre Charron]

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
[Emo Philips]

###

It was on the third day of classes that Lucius got the odd looks. He noticed them when he walked into the Great Hall; the gazes, the snickers and the whispers. Oddly enough, the Slytherins appeared to be the only ones behaving this way. Acting as if nothing was wrong, Lucius silently began to panic.

What had he done? Why was everyone staring? He swiftly and silently deliberated, reviewing his actions of the past few days. He came up with nothing that could possibly be so damning that everyone would know about it. But he had made a mistake; he was sure of that much. If not, why would everyone behave like this? Slytherin protected its own, to be sure, but that didn't protect them from themselves. Growing more and more unnerved by the second, he turned to his toast and began looking very involved in the process of eating it.

The cluster of first-year Slytherin girls walked into the hall then, and as they approached the table, one of them pointed at him and whispered to the others. Giggling should be made illegal, he thought. As he fought to keep his face from flushing, he watched the girls sit at the opposite end of the table. Finally, screwing up his nerve, he looked over at Cassidy.

'Tell me,' he said.

'Tell you what?' Cassidy responded, but from the half-pitying, half amused look on his face, Lucius knew that he knew perfectly well.

'What did I do wrong?' He silently willed Cassidy to be kind and tell him, rather than bursting into laughter at Lucius' ignorance. He suddenly regretted asking.

But Cassidy didn't mock him; instead he gave Lucius a look that said 'Okay, you deserve this much,' and pointed down at the badge on Lucius' robes.

Lucius was aghast. How had he not noticed this when he put the robes on? The traditional Slytherin insignia had been replaced by a garish shield of yellow, a comically demented version of the Hufflepuff badger featured prominently in the middle, its tongue lolling out of its mouth to the side. Where the house name would have been on a regular badge, his read 'Slytherin?'

Unable to keep the flush from his face now, Lucius could almost feel it getting redder. He opened his mouth to protest, to say something, but nothing he could think of would help. The whole table was watching him now, some not bothering to stifle their mocking laughter. Fighting back tears, Lucius turned and left the Great Hall, running once he was out of sight.

Racing through the corridors, crying out Slytherin's password as he went, he leapt through the doorway into the comparative safety of the empty Slytherin common room. He went through the doors to his dormitory, and pulled out another set of robes.

Getting angrier and more frustrated by the minute, Lucius realized that the rest of his robes had been doctored in a similar fashion. Someone has been going through my things, he thought furiously. Every robe set he pulled out had the same grotesque badger badge on it. Finally, out of desperation more than anything else, Lucius surreptitiously snuck over to Cassidy's bed--Cassidy was the closest match in size--and took a cloak and shirt out of the other boy's pile. He prayed that Cassidy wouldn't mind, but knew he could always deal with Cassidy later. For now, this was all that was important. He grabbed his books, took a deep cleansing breath, and set off for class.

###

Lucius found Lance later that day, sitting by a fireplace in the common room, blessedly alone. Determined to get some answers about this morning's debacle, Lucius approached him.

'Excuse me,' he said politely, and at that moment, it occurred to him how very small he was. This boy was six years older than he was, and had much more experience at Hogwarts, not to mention how much larger he was physically. Lance turned and coolly met Lucius' gaze.

'Yes?' he responded, no indication of his emotions visible on his face.

'I was wondering,' Lucius continued formally, retreating behind the defendable walls of courtesy, 'if we could talk.'

'Certainly,' Lance said evenly, but he made no move to either get up or to invite Lucius to sit. Lucius felt very sure that an invitation was necessary; this was a couch generally used by older students. Lucius almost let a sigh of exasperation slip.

'I thought--' he began, before evening his tone and calming himself. 'Might we go someplace rather less public?' He waited for an answer, and when he determined none was forthcoming, he hazarded a suggestion. 'Perhaps my dormitory?'

Lance gave a curt nod, stood, and led Lucius towards the first-year dorm. Lucius closed the door behind them with a faint click. Lance said nothing, clearly waiting for Lucius to begin. Lucius took a breath, and did so.

'The first day we got here, they told us that there were some rules that everyone had to follow, and that one of them was that we weren't supposed to go into others' dormitories uninvited.' Lance remained silent, but this time Lucius did too, clearly refusing to continue without some vindication that this was so.

'If this is about my presence here,' Lance responded with a slight edge, 'I would remind you that you just extended to me an invitation.'

'No,' Lucius said, getting flustered, 'I mean...it's not you, or now, it's...' he calmed himself again. 'Someone came into my dormitory last night. They doctored my robes.' Even the memory was sufficient to bring a flush to his cheeks. 'It had to have been an older student because no one in my year could do magic that advanced.'

'Couldn't they?'

'No. It's way beyond what we've learned. We've been here less than a week.'

'Ah,' Lance paused slightly. 'And of course no one in your dorm has any supplementary knowledge of magic from a time before Hogwarts.'

For an instant, Lucius thought that Lance knew about his father's training sessions. He dismissed the idea as ridiculous; he'd carefully avoided doing anything out of the ordinary for his first week. But he hadn't considered the possibility that he wasn't the only one.

'I...I don't think so...'

'I see.' Lance paused, clearly calling attention to the fact that Lucius hadn't considered all of the possibilities. 'Well, what do you propose to do about it?'

'I don't know, I mean, isn't there anything that can be done? People can't just go around going into each others' dormitories.'

'Do you know who it was? Can you prove anything?'

'Well, no, but--'

'Exactly. You have no case. First rule of Slytherin: don't get caught.' Every minute that Lance talked, Lucius grew more frustrated.

'But there has to be some way to--'

'There is.'

'There is?'

'There is.' Lance smiled his half-smile, and let the suspense build. 'I know who did it.'

Lucius' heart leapt. There was a way to get revenge after all. 'Then why didn't you say anything? This means that we--'

'Whoever suggested that I would tell you who it was?'

'Well why wouldn't you?'

'Because, my little Charge, there are people in this world that I care more about than you. That's something you need to learn.'

Lucius felt his blood boil as his heart sank once more. 'But you were supposed to help me!'

'I was under the impression that you didn't need help,' Lance said pointedly. Silence hung thick for a moment, as Lucius understood what was necessary.

'I...I'm sorry that I said that,' Lucius amended lamely, inwardly cringing at the weakness in his words.

Lance's lip curled into a sneer. He spoke coldly, plainly enjoying himself. 'An apology without reparation is no apology at all.'

Lucius thought about that one for a moment, and then nodded. 'I'm sorry, and I will accept and appreciate any help you'll be willing to give in the future.' Lance nodded. Sufficient.

'Well then,' Lance said thoughtfully, 'I suppose I should help you out.' Lucius, still nursing his wounded ego, nodded.

'I'd like that. Who was in my dorm last night?'

The left side of Lance's mouth moved into the lopsided smile he'd worn when Lucius had met him. 'I was.'

Lucius' mouth dropped open in surprise.

'But you were the one who told me that it was against the rules to--'

'I assure you,' Lance smoothly interjected, 'that I disobeyed no guidelines for decent conduct. One of your classmates invited me in.' He shrugged. 'Second lesson: don't make enemies with Slytherins older than you. You're not full serpent yet. We older snakes will win every time.'

###

It was the next day, in History of Magic, that Lucius realized the ramifications of Lance's scheme.

He'd been trying to listen to Professor Binns, who was easily the most boring lecturer that Lucius had ever heard. After about ten minutes he gave up, and went to musing about his conversation with his Sponsor.

Lance had said that another first-year Slytherin had let him in the dormitory...which meant that Lucius had an enemy within his own dorm

He quickly concluded that it probably wasn't Goyle. Goyle wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he seemed to have chosen Lucius as someone to protect. He wouldn't jeopardize that this early on, he speculated. Unless, of course, Goyle was either much thicker or much more intelligent than Lucius gave him credit for. He doubted the latter.

That left three boys: Brice Carden, Cassidy Keefe, and Nigel Sheridon.

Which left Lucius with a challenge.

###

That night, as the boys were getting ready for bed, Lucius started a casual conversation with Cassidy.

'I hope you don't mind that I borrowed a robe from you today. Mine were...yeah.' Lucius hated the fact that his face flushed just at the memory.

'Oh, no problem,' Cassidy answered with a grin. 'What was that, anyway?'

'Some git got in here and changed them,' Lucius growled. 'I thought it might've been one of you lot at first,' he forced a laugh, 'but I don't think any of us are advanced enough to pull off that sort of magic.' He shrugged. 'My Sponsor says he'll sort it out.'

Lucius grinned, and tried to gauge the reactions of the others in the room as he continued.

'Whoever planned this is going to pay. Especially since we aren't supposed to go into each other's dorms. My Sponsor thinks someone in this dorm let the guy in--'

Aha. Nigel Sheridon. He was paling slightly, and leaning against his bedpost in what was trying to be a casual pose. Instead, it highlighted the fact that he was very nervous. Lucius had found his man.

It surprised Lucius, because Sheridon was the one he had considered a bookish swot. Clearly, he was more interested in house politics than Lucius had given him credit for.

'I didn't think any of you would do that, but he thinks he should check it out to be sure.'

'How does he plan to do that?' Sheridon asked with a mild quaver in his voice.

'I dunno,' Lucius shrugged again. 'For all I know they have recording spells on every room. It's not my concern. Why do you ask?'

Sheridon was silent. Brice Carden was the next to figure it out.

'Nigel,' Brice began slowly, 'did you...'

'Did I what?' Sheridon blustered. 'Yes. Fine. I let someone in. And I don't see a problem. No harm done, the person I let in gets what he wants, and I get what I want. It isn't a big deal.' He turned spitefully to Lucius. 'This is Slytherin, Malfoy. You'd better get used to people not being who you think they are.'

Lucius resented the last comment, but was more concerned with the intimidating and nasty tone his roommate had adopted. The raw emotion pouring off of Sheridon seemed to seep into the stone.

'Calm down,' Brice said. 'Merlin! The dramatics aren't necessary.'

Sheridon sulked. Lucius' lip curled nastily.

'Lucius,' Brice continued, 'this isn't a big deal, right?' His tone dared Lucius to say otherwise, and his hand was on his wand. Lucius didn't much care for that.

'Of course not,' he said stonily. 'No harm, no foul. We don't need to get upset about it.'

Lucius' face showed a menacing stare as he turned to Nigel. 'But you need to watch who you're stepping on. Sometimes they fight back.'

'Right then,' interrupted Brice, pretending not to notice the metaphorical daggers flying between the two boys. 'So we can all go to bed, right?'

'Yeah,' Goyle grunted his assent. As it was his only contribution to the discussion so far, they agreed with him, and turned off the lights.

But that didn't stop Lucius from making plans. Plotting was almost better in the dark. Sheridon would get what was coming to him. That was a fact.

###

Lucius had encountered a dilemma. His father had asked him to continue studying the Dark Arts, which was all well and good except for the fact that he really had nowhere to do that without being seen. And it wasn't exactly something he could ask Lance about, given his father's desire to keep things secret.

One night, on the pretext of having left a book in the library, he slipped away from his friends and went in search of a practice room.

After he'd run into his sixth dead end of the night, he gave up and went back to his dorm.

He repeated his searching for several days, his excuses for slipping away becoming thinner and thinner. Finally, he found a room on the second floor (he'd moved beyond the dungeons on his third day), and while it was dusty from disuse, Lucius thought it would serve perfectly. Disuse was probably a good sign, come to think of it. He stepped inside.

The room was small, with about thirty desks squeezed into rows. Dust-covered windows let in little light. Six portrait frames lined the far wall, all of them vacant. But all that could be fixed, if he was willing to make the effort.

He started back for the door, whispered 'I'll come back,' and left for his common room.

For the next two weeks, fixing up his practice room was a labour of love.

The first day, he ran into the problem of not knowing many cleaning spells. He'd always had house elves to do the cleaning for him: he didn't know how to remove a spot from a shirt, much less how to remove twenty years dust from an entire room. He couldn't even find spells in a book somewhere--he didn't own one, and there was no way he would be seen getting a book on cleaning out of the library.

Still, he reasoned, there are some things I can do. And I can always go learn charms later. He began by getting rid of the picture frames. The last thing he needed was to be discovered by a wandering portrait. He used an Unsticking charm on the first one, and it fell to the floor with such a clatter that he felt sure he would be discovered. No one came, but he made sure to silence the others before removing them with an added Levitation charm. He stacked the frames facedown in a corner.

Next, he pushed the desks to the edge of the room and stacked them in piles of two. Shrinking charms are definitely the first thing I'm learning, he vowed.

So he did. He swiped a textbook from a table in the common room. If the owner won't take care of his things, then he won't mind if I borrow it, he rationalized. He took it back to his deserted room and spent the better part of an afternoon learning them. He smiled when he realized that his room was already a spot for him to practice, even if he was learning something as innocuous as shrinking charms.

Once he felt confident, Lucius shrunk the desks and piled them neatly in a box that he left in a corner.

As to the cleaning, Lucius decided to be...innovative.

He cast a Whirlwind charm that removed the dust from the walls and the floor, just as he'd wanted it to.

Unfortunately, it rose and swirled without going anywhere, and all Lucius got for his trouble was a dusty set of robes and a cough.

After awhile, he had the simple idea of animating objects to clean for him. If he could make a banana ice-skate across a table, he could certainly charm dust rags to wipe down the tables for him. He stole a shirt from Sheridon with vindictive glee and tore it up to make the rags he needed.

Finally, it was done. When it was clean, the room looked a lot like the History of Magic classroom. A wall of windows let in sunlight and gave a partial view of the lake.

It was perfect.

For the rest of the year, Lucius would disappear regularly to his hidden room to practice the secret spells his father wanted him to learn. After awhile, he stopped giving excuses. Let the others make up their own reasons, he thought.

They did, and there were no questions asked.

###

Lucius knew he should have been taking notes in his Potions lecture, but today he felt much more inclined to draw.

Although, he realized, his activity could only be considered 'drawing' in the loosest sense of the word. Lucius tilted his head to look at his latest oeuvre. What had started out as a willow tree now resembled...he squinted. A whale. Definitely a whale. Or a thunderstorm. One or the other.

With a start, he realized that he'd been called upon, and he was almost certain that 'whale or thunderstorm' was not the correct answer. And in front of his head of house, the one who handpicked students based on potential. That was a problem.

'I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?'

Professor Slughorn sighed. 'I asked if you could tell us the properties of medlar leaves.'

Lucius furrowed his brow. He knew they were used in the Forgetfulness Potion, but that was about it. Maybe they acted as some sort of a binding agent?

He was saved by Cato Lee, the Ravenclaw who'd sat with him on the train. He interrupted Lucius' stammering answer to ask a question of his own.

'Excuse me, professor, but I was wondering about that. The book said that it works as a thickening agent in the sticking solution, but it appears to be used to thin the Forgetfulness potion. It seems like a contradiction.'

'An excellent question, Mr. Lee. The contradiction is resolved by the direction in which one stirs the potion. Anticlockwise stirring often has the effect of reversing ingredients' properties. Now who can tell me why this presents a problem for potions with multiple ingredients?'

As Slughorn continued to teach, Lucius caught Cato's eyes.

Thank you, he mouthed, and received a smile in return before Cato turned back to listen to the professor. Apparently, it wasn't just a rescue attempt--the kid was genuinely interested. Ravenclaws.

###

Lucius was walking to his practice room, intent on reviewing what he'd been doing for the last four months before going home to his father. He opened the door and was shocked to find that the room--his room--was not empty.

Instead it was occupied by four boys; Gryffindors, judging by their house crests, and probably first- or second-years. A short, limber boy sat in the middle of the group, with papers and books spread around him. On one side of him sat Austin Grady, a pureblood that Lucius had met once at a dinner party his parents had held. On the other side of the short boy was a tall, bulky boy who was scratching his head as he turned the page of his book. Standing over his shoulder was a boy with long black hair and an angular face. He seemed to be trying to explain something to the bulky boy.

'What are you doing here?' he asked them abruptly.

'We're trying to study,' said the shortest boy. Lucius saw his eyes flick over the Slytherin crest and tie. 'Until we were interrupted by a slimy Slytherin, that is.'

'Watch it, Archie,' Austin cautioned, but the one called Archie ignored him.

'What are you doing here?' he asked Lucius nastily. 'Aren't you supposed to be in a dungeon somewhere?'

'I didn't think there were limits on who could be in different parts of the castle,' Lucius said. 'Guess that means you'd better get back outside. They wouldn't let animals this close to the nice tapestries.'

That, of course, infuriated them more.

'Tarantallegra!' the black-haired boy said, and Lucius felt his legs give way as the developed a mind of their own. Swiftly, he performed the counter-curse.

'Archie,' Austin said, 'it isn't worth it. C'mon.'

'Shut it, Austin,' Archie snapped. 'There's four of us and one of him.' He grinned. 'We can show the slimy Slytherins not to come messing with us.'

'I'm not messing with you,' Lucius said with a sneer, 'but if you want to fight, let's go. I can take you.' Heavy boasting there. Two of them, probably. Four? No way.

Lucius brandished his wand with a fiendish smirk.

'Well?' he asked.

'Come on,' Archie said, motioning the three others forward. He advanced on Lucius with his wand drawn.

'I'm not getting involved, Archie,' Austin said firmly. 'We're going to lose points for fighting.'

Archie paused in reflection, and Lucius rolled his eyes. If it had taken Archie this much time and a bloody reminder to realize that he might lose points, then he was thicker than Lucius had thought.

'Are you frightened?' Lucius mocked.

'I am not!' Archie said, growing red. The bulky boy moved protectively to Archie's left shoulder, and the black-haired boy stood next to him.

Down to three, Lucius thought. I can manage three...I think.

The one who had hexed him before raised his wand, but Lucius was in no mood to be hexed again.

'Serpensortia!'

'What the--' the bulky boy said, taking a step backwards. The small python that Lucius had conjured was moving menacingly towards him. Lucius was just glad that the snake wasn't poisonous--that would have been hard to explain to the faculty.

'That's dark magic, that is!' cried the black-haired boy.

It is? Lucius thought. That's ridiculous. Father wouldn't teach me Dark Arts.

But if they thought it was dark, he wasn't going to stop them. Just like he'd conveniently not told them that the python was non-poisonous.

Of course, while he was gloating to himself, one of them got off another spell.

This time it was a leg-locker. Instead of dancing out of control, his legs snapped together and froze. Lucius swayed, struggling to keep his balance, and within a few seconds he crashed to the ground, landing painfully on his elbows.

'Archie, let's go,' Austin pleaded from the sidelines.

The snake apparently knew something was happening, and came over from where it had been terrorizing the Gryffindors. Its tongue licked at Lucius, who tried his hardest not to cry out.

Lucius' wand had fallen when he had, but it was now a good foot away from his hand. He rolled over to try to reach it--and found it under Austin's foot.

Austin picked it up and twirled it a few times. He looked at his friends, at Lucius, and finally at the still-open door.

'Hey, Malfoy,' he said without malice. 'Go catch.'

Lucius' wand went flying towards the corridor, landing without damage on the floor outside. Austin swiftly removed the leg-locker curse and pushed Lucius toward the door. As Lucius was leaving, enraged, Austin leaned over and whispered to him.

'Don't antagonize them, Malfoy. It's not worth it for any of us.'

Lucius looked up at him angrily. 'I wasn't the one antagonizing. All I did was walk into a room.' He stubbornly bent to get his wand. When he stood up, Austin's hand was on his shoulder pushing downwards and his other hand was pointing down the corridor.

'If you don't go now, I'll start helping them, Lucius. Get lost.'

Lucius, ears burning, gave one last glare before storming off.

###

The first Quidditch match of the year was between Slytherin and Hufflepuff. The Slytherin first-years all sat in a section close to the front of the stands, and were all planning to be vocal supporters of their team. Lucius didn't really know any of the players, but was having a great time nonetheless.

First off, there was the announcer of the match, a seventh-year Gryffindor. Lucius had to admit he was pretty good at it. He spoke like an auctioneer, pausing only for breath every now and again.

'It is yet forty-nil to Hufflepuff, that's forty-nil, so Slytherin's got some catching up to do. Matthews to Holt--intercepted by Murray, and Slytherin's got the Quaffle! Pass to Hurley, who's flying towards the goal, he's getting close... Fitzpatrick saves it! Hurley's got it again, he shoots, and he scores! Forty to ten, Slytherin!'

'Go Slytherin!' Lucius shouted with the rest. Assorted noisemakers and flashing lights went off in celebration.

That was the other great part about watching Quidditch: the company. The first-year Slytherins were all seated in a section together, and the interaction was great fun.

Well, most of it.

'Lucius! Melted any more cauldrons lately?' It was Meta, shouting to him over the section of Slytherin first-years.

Lucius flushed. It hadn't been his fault; though he wasn't entirely sure what had gone on. He'd had problems making the potion turn out right, and while a nagging voice told him that he should probably have paid attention in the theory and basic skills lessons, he was sure that it was wrong. Potions couldn't be hard enough to warrant that much preparation. It was just...throwing things into a cauldron in the right order. Simple.

'I have not! And it wasn't my fault anyhow.' Wow, Malfoy, he thought, great response.

'Could you to be any louder?' Meredith shouted over at them. 'Some of us are trying to listen to the commentary!'

'Oh, lighten up Meredith!' Cassidy called. But they quieted. Meredith had that effect on people.

Lucius turned to watch the match. He'd thought about trying out for the team next year, but had decided after his first flying lesson that there was no way he wanted to fly competitively. Professor Vogel had corrected his grip first thing. The way she'd wanted him to hold the broom was uncomfortable, and just felt wrong. As soon as he was out of sight, he'd completely ignored the advice. His grip had always worked just fine for him. But if he joined the Quidditch team, he'd probably have to learn how to fly the way other people wanted him to. It wouldn't be fun anymore.

It was much more fun to watch.

He turned back to the game just in time to see one of the Gryffindor beaters crying for a foul to the referee, Madam Vogel.

Fouls. Everyone got so upset about fouls.

When it came to Quidditch, it was no surprise that the Slytherins were of a different mind than the rest of the school. A foul wasn't something to avoid doing, in Lucius' mind. It was something to avoid doing if the cost exceeded the reward. If you could take out one of their players at the cost of giving them a penalty shot, it was probably worth it. Merely stopping a goal from being scored was not a good use of a foul, since the player would only get a penalty shot, and likely score anyway

Unless, of course, you could do it without getting caught. If you didn't get caught, fouls were always worth it.

Especially playing against the Hufflepuffs. They were just asking for it. Fair play, indeed.

'Hang on! It looks like seekers Williams and Barnaby have both spotted the snitch! And there they go, off to the races. Williams leading Barnaby, falls behind, these two are really neck and neck. Williams reaches out-- Barnaby shoves her aside, nearly off her broom--Barnaby catches the snitch! But certainly that must've been a foul...'

And sure enough, the whistle blew and it was counted a non-catch based on the foul beforehand. Lucius was mildly disgusted since it looked like Barnaby would have had the snitch anyway.

'Idiot,' he muttered, and Cassidy looked at him with amusement.

'Come on, Lucius, it's a game.'

A game. Well, perhaps, but all games were worth winning. Winning without foolish fouls that lost you opportunities.

'Here,' Goyle said, passing him another glass of the pumpkin juice the boys had nicked from the kitchens and carried out picnic style. Lucius took it with a wry smile.

'Thanks, Goyle.'

'One-hundred to eighty, and Hufflepuff leads after that penalty shot. Holt to Taylor, Taylor--ouch, hit by a Bludger from the Slytherin beater. Nice job there, Jones... But wait--the seekers are at it again, this time it's Barnaby far in the lead. Williams is fighting to--SLYTHERIN HAS THE SNITCH! Slytherin wins, as they've caught the snitch for the second time this match! Three hundred-ten to one-hundred. Imagine the party in the Slytherin commons tonight!'

And a party there was.

###

Lucius and Goyle were sitting on the first-year couch, watching the party around them, when a large, sixth-year girl came up to the pair and clapped her hand heavily on Lucius' shoulder.

'Malfoy!' she slurred. 'I know you! You're the kid who--damn.' She dropped her wand, but recovered quickly. 'Lance says you're the one he's gonna...' she paused, frowned, and looked into her cup. She took another gulp. 'Here, have some,' she said, offering the cup to Lucius.

Goyle looked at Lucius, clearly asking him how they were going to deal with this. Lucius shook his head slightly--it wasn't going to be solved with fists or wands.

'Go on, try it,' she said, and forced the cup into his hands.

Lucius looked at the contents of the cup, and saw that whatever was in there, it wasn't Firewhisky and it wasn't anything he was familiar with. And only a fool drinks something without knowing what it is.

'I don't think--'

'Go on!' she said, and her face clouded with anger.

'I really shouldn't,' Lucius said desperately, but the girl drew her wand.

'You should be having a good time too. Drink it!'

'Jasper!' Lucius had never been so glad to see Lance before. He strode over to them and glared at the girl. 'What are you doing to my Charge?'

'I was...nothing, Poole. I wasn't doing... nothing.' She looked abashed, and had grabbed the cup back from Lucius.

'Good,' Lance said. 'I'd suggest that nothing continues to happen. Over there, preferably.' He pointed to the sixth-year table and the girl scurried off.

'You okay?' Lance asked brusquely.

'Yes,' Lucius responded. 'Thanks.'

Lance started slightly at the unexpected thanks, but made no acknowledgement.

'Good. Be careful, then.'

'Okay.'

Lance walked back towards the drink table, leaving Lucius alone with Goyle. As he watched Lance depart, Lucius wondered what sort of a hold Lance had over the girl that he could dismiss her like that.

And then the Quidditch team began to pose for photos, and Lucius stopped thinking about it.

###

'Lucius!'

Lucius was staying up late, revising for the Defense Against the Dark Arts final exam. Cassidy apparently thought that the exam was much less important than...well, than whatever he'd gotten up to this time. Cassidy had the annoying habit of getting perfectly good marks without ever revising. Maddening.

'I'm busy,' Lucius moaned, and returned to the section that was trying to define 'The Dark Arts.' It made no sense whatsoever.

'Oh, c'mon, Lucius. You've been looking at that book for hours. I've got something to show you.'

Lucius looked at his book, then at his friend, and back at his book. He finally decided that, logically, he wouldn't be able to get any more work done until his curiosity was satisfied. He chose to ignore the voice in the back of his brain that was accusing him of making convenient excuses.

'Okay,' said Lucius, standing up, 'show me.'

'Great. Follow me.' When Lucius saw that they were going to leave the common room, he stopped abruptly.

'It's after hours!' Lucius said incredulously. 'We're going to get in trouble.'

Cassidy responded by rolling his eyes, grabbing Lucius' arm, and forcing him bodily out the door.

'And this can't wait until tomorrow?' Lucius whispered frantically. 'I just--this is a bad idea. This is a really bad--'

'It's an even worse if you keep muttering to yourself. Be quiet!'

Lucius became silent as the grave.

Cassidy led them through dungeon corridors until they entered a wide stone hallway with walls covered with still-life paintings, though one of them featured a man in a toga pulling at some painted grapes.

They stopped, and Cassidy presented the corridor as if it was a treasure he'd unearthed.

Lucius raised a skeptical eyebrow. They'd risked getting detention for a hallway? But Cassidy walked to a painting of a fruit bowl, and before Lucius could see what he'd done, an open door stood where the portrait once had.

'Wicked,' Lucius breathed, despite himself. Cassidy motioned him inside and closed the door behind them.

'The kitchens!' Cassidy said grandly, now that it was relatively safe to talk.

Lucius was impressed, first off, and he was also ravenous. The two loaded up on food that was brought to them by overexcited house-elves. They started the trek back to the common room.

They were halfway back when they heard footsteps around the corner. Lucius could see, with uncanny clarity, exactly what was going to happen when they were found. It was not going to be pleasant.

Looking around in a panic, he suddenly realized where they were in the labyrinth of hallways. And they weren't far from...

He frantically tapped Cassidy on the shoulder and led him around another corner. Before they'd gone more than two steps, Lucius thought to cast silencing spells around their shoes. No more footsteps. He navigated skillfully until he saw the door he'd been looking for. He opened it, pushed Cassidy inside, and shut the door after following him in. It was a practice room he'd discovered the week before, after losing his first spot to the Gryffindors.

In his haste to get to the room, he'd forgotten that their pursuer might easily trace them to it. A locked door wouldn't stand up to much. Now considering it as a possibility, he fought to think of a way out of being caught if the door opened. He wished he had a larger spell vocabulary, or at least a larger useful spell vocabulary. He soon gave up on magic, and resorted to trickery.

Grabbing Cassidy by the hand, Lucius moved them to the corner next to the door. If his estimation was correct, they'd be safely behind the door when it opened.

Of course, if his estimation was wrong, they'd each end up with a mouthful of solid wood and whopping headaches to go with their inevitable detentions.

But I'm right, he thought confidently. I think...

Cassidy, catching up to the idea, grinned and gave Lucius a thumbs-up.

The doorknob turned. The door opened a crack...then a bit more...and finally all the way. Lucius cheered silently--no door-to-the-face, and no detention. He heard footsteps enter the room, circle it, and then leave. The door shut again.

Now all they had to do was wait for Ogg--I think it's Ogg--to get far enough away that they could make a dash for the commons without being found by either him, a wandering professor or prefect, or Peeves.

Simple, really, he thought sarcastically. How did I get into this?

Fortunately, the dash back proved to be uneventful. A half-hour later, they arrived in the common room with some slightly mishandled sweets.

Lucius found that he still couldn't focus on Defense Against the Dark Arts.

And he didn't really care.