Time Goes By

Chapter 3

Draco yawned as he reached the Great Hall.

"Oy, Draco, can I talk to you?" Ron asked as he ran up.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I've figured it out!"

"Figured what out, Ron?"

"Oh, sorry. I was up all night thinking, and do you remember how much fun it was yesterday when we hid that fat kid's toad?" asked Ron.

"Um... it was rather a good laugh, I guess,"

"Well, I was thinking, what if we made a job of it?" asked Ron excitedly.

"What? Stealing Trevor and giving him back?" Draco asked, confused.

"No! That's petty compared to the pranks we could be pulling!" Ron said.

"You want to go around pulling pranks on people?"

"Well, not me, I'd be in the background working everything to our advantage; you, Harry, and my brothers would pull off the actual pranks," he explained.

"Count me in! Just one thing, though; I'd rather not do the actual pranking."

Ron looked at him thoughtfully. "Would you at least be the look out?"

"Sure, I could pose as a distraction when we need one, too."

"Great! Now, no offence or anything, but I'd prefer not to be publicly involved in this, so it's best if we don't talk in public."

"Of course. I'll tell the others about the 'missions,'" Draco said and walked into the Great Hall.

* * *

"Hey, Harry, you awake yet?" either Fred or George asked.

"Yeah, I'm up," he said.

"Good, because we're not waiting any longer," the other one said.

The three of them walked down to the Great Hall. When they arrived, they saw Draco talking to some of his housemates; he looked up at them, smiled, and waved. Harry, Fred, and George all waved back; Ron, on the other hand, seemed to be ignoring their existence.

"What's his problem?" Fred asked (by now, Harry had established which one was which.)

"I don't know, but I think we should leave him be..." said George.

"If you say so," Harry said.

* * *

When they finished eating, they noticed Draco beckoning them out into the hallway.

They walked out into the hall, and Draco said, "Okay, I talked to Ron, and here's what's going to happen: Ron will do the outlining, I'll make sure everything runs smoothly and be a lookout and distraction when need be, and you three will do the actual 'missions.'"

"What are you talking about, Draco?" asked Harry.

"Well, since we had so much fun with 'Operation Toad,'" Draco moved in and whispered conspiratorially, "Ron and I decided to continue with the 'missions.'"

"Oh," Harry said.

"Well, I'll talk to you all in Potions; we've got classes," Draco said and walked off.

"This year is going to be fun; I can smell it," Fred said with a grin.

"No, brother, that's your own arse you're smelling," George replied.

"No, I mean besides that - hey, wait a minute, was that an insult?"

The two argued all the way to charms.

* * *

"For once, we're not going to be late on account of the fact that we seem to keep getting lost," Harry said as they approached the Potions classroom later that day.

"Nope, it's right on the way to the dormitories," said Fred.

"Hey guys," Draco said as he approached.

"Hey," the three of them said in unison.

"So, are you looking forward to the class with your Head of House?" asked Draco.

"Well, he seems like sort of a softy in my opinion," said Fred.

"Hey, Harry, you okay?" asked Draco.

"Harry's all weird because Snape knew his parents," George explained.

"Really? Well, it doesn't surprise me; they were in the same year. Professor Lupin probably knew them as well," Draco said.

"How would you know?" Harry asked.

Draco looked at the three of them, "Promise you won't tell?"

"Yeah, sure, you can trust us; we're your friends," George said.

"Well, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but Professor Snape--I call him Sev--is my godfather," Draco said.

"Wow," said Fred and George.

"Yeah, anyways, we should probably go to class," Draco said.

* * *

When they entered the classroom, everyone else was already there, awaiting Professor Snape's arrival. Just as the four of them sat down, Professor Snape descended into the classroom and said, "There is to be no time wasting tomfoolery in this class; this class is dedicated to the refined art of potion making. There will be no wand waving or foolish spell casting; therefore, many of you will not see this class as true magic at all, but I can assure you, Potions is one of the most advanced - and one of the most important - forms of magic that you will learn here at Hogwarts. Now, I will assign to each of you a partner--"

Draco was assigned to Pansy Parkinson, Fred with Ernie Macmillan, George with Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Harry with Neville Longbottom.

Fred and George were laughing at something; Harry could only guess what, and Draco was giving him a sympathetic look.

"Hi," Neville said to him quietly.

He smiled and returned the greeting.

Minutes later, the potion that they were supposed to be making erupted all over Harry; he felt himself getting a sunburn-like rash that would be excruciatingly painful. When he could feel anything again, that is.

"What happened here?" Snape demanded.

"Neville did something, and the potion exploded," Draco explained.

Snape sighed. "Weasley, Weasley, get Potter to the hospital wing; he can make up his potion after dinner. Draco, help Longbottom," he said.

* * *

When Harry awoke some hours later in the hospital wing, he felt something cool and lotion-like all over his face, hands, neck, and arms.

"Well, it's about time you woke up," said Madam Pomfrey. "Here, use this cream, every morning and evening until the rash goes away. Dinner just started, and after dinner you have a make-up session with Professor Snape. Now, is there anything else?"

"No, ma'am," Harry said.

"Good. You are excused," she said.

* * *

When Harry got to the Great Hall, he saw Fred and George eating at the Slytherin table and Draco with the Hufflepuffs. He looked at Draco and smiled at him to communicate that he was okay. Then he went and sat down next to Fred and George.

"Hey, Harry, how are you?" one of the Weasley brothers - George? - said.

"I'm fine, though I'm not looking forward to getting to bed late tonight."

The other brother snorted pumpkin juice out of his nose.

The first brother looked at him. "You're an idiot, Fred."

Fred smiled. "Thank you."

Harry smiled. "You're both weird," he said.

* * *

Harry approached the Potions classroom nervously. "Hello, Professor? It's me, Harry Potter."

"Please have a seat, Mr. Potter, so we can begin," Snape said from behind his desk.

Harry sat down at the workstation that had been prepared for him. He was a little bit afraid; he didn't want to touch that goo again.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Potter?"

"No, sir, I just...just don't wanna touch that stuff again."

Professor Snape looked quizzically at Harry. "What then, Mr. Potter, do you suggest you do with this time to make up this class?"

"Um... I really don't know, sir," said Harry.

Just at that moment, there was a knock on the door. Snape sighed and said, "Enter."

Snape sighed again when he saw who was on the other side of the door, "What exactly do you want now, Lupin?" he demanded.

Professor Lupin looked at Harry and then said, "I have a small favor to ask of you, Severus--that is, if you don't mind."

Professor Snape looked at Professor Lupin, then at Harry, then at Lupin again, and said, "Mr. Potter, you stay here and figure out what you'd like to be doing. Lupin, follow me." and walked out of the room.

Harry looked around the classroom nervously. So that was Professor Lupin, huh? He seemed nice enough; Harry wondered how well he'd known his parents, and why Snape hated him so much. It just didn't make sense to Harry.

"Well?"

Harry jumped up in surprise. "Well, what, sir?" he asked.

"Well, have you decided what use you can make here?" Snape demanded coldly.

Harry hadn't; truth was, he'd been thinking about Snape and Lupin and his parents.

"Sir, can I ask you a question?"

Snape sighed, "If you must."

"Umm... what was my mother like?"

Snape looked at him in shock. "Lily... was...the sweetest, kindest, most generous woman I've ever met; there truly was none greater." His eyes were tearing up again.

"Did Professor Lupin know my parents?" Harry asked.

Snape's eyes grew cold again. "Yes, Harry, Remus knew James and Lils."

"Why don't you like Professor Lupin?"

Professor Snape looked at Harry in shock. "Who told you that I don't like professor Lupin?"

"Well, you're not very nice to him."

Snape sighed. "Harry, something happened a long time ago, something that I don't think you'd understand. It's not that I don't l - err, like Professor Lupin, it's that I don't like myself very much... there were - circumstances that need to be taken into account; I wish I had when I was seventeen."

"Should I go?" Harry asked.

Snape sighed, "I think that that would be wise, Harry."