Serpents to Lions

Chapter 18

This was one of the rare times that Blaise was thankful for his upbringing. Most of the rubbish he had been taught drove him to the edge of sanity. But the skills required to put on a proper mask to hide one's emotions and thoughts, was one of the lessons he used most. While it was a more common skill in Slytherin, that didn't mean all were good at it. Luckily, Pansy and Draco were also accomplished at concealing their intentions.

They knew Draco was going to be gone most of the previous day but were not expecting for him to not return that night. They were sitting down to supper the next evening, at the end of the Slytherin table closest to the door to watch for him, and were getting very nervous that they still had not seen their friend. Given what they were all now fighting for, they were the most concerned that someone had found out and were going to... question Draco about it.

Pansy was seriously considering going to the headmaster about where Draco was when she saw him walk through the doors. Only Blaise's hand on her leg kept her in her seat rather than running to Draco.

Draco saw his friends sitting at the end of the table and had to fight to not let his remorse show through. There had been no way to let them know he was safe and well and he could tell they had been worried.

"Blaise, Pansy, apologies for the lateness, things took longer than expected but are now under control." Draco made sure to look them in the eye to ensure they understood that that was all he could say at the moment.

He was grateful they were sitting so close together, he could easily nudge both with his foot and not attract attention. Using the code they had developed back in second year, he indicated the time and room he wanted to meet them in after supper.

"So did I miss anything exciting here?" Draco asked as he dug into his supper.

"No, nothing really happens around here worth paying attention to." Blaise was careful to sound like the torture of students was normal and acceptable. It was also him telling Draco that there was nothing out of the ordinary said about his absence.

"Well, while I'm glad you're back, I have spells to practise." Pansy got up and turned up her nose before gracefully stalking out of the hall. Draco snickered, Ron certainly had his work cut out for him, but he knew she was just hiding the emotions that she kept pent up.

Blaise started talking about some random minor happenings over the last couple days to occupy Draco while he ate. Draco laughed at Blaise's portrayals of fellow students and their teachers. It was nice to have a reason that he could openly smile.

Blaise could see a change in Draco. It was small, given his impeccable mask, but something had changed for him since the previous morning. He couldn't wait to figure out what it was that had Draco so happy.

After they had both finished supper, they took their leave together. It wasn't unusual to see the two boys together so they strode through the castle to where they were to meet Pansy so they could have a much deeper conversation.

Draco pulled open the door and gestured for Blaise to enter first while he ensured no one had followed. Well, no one he was worried about that is. He did catch Ginevra's eye as she poked out from her hiding place just behind them and gave her a small nod that everything was alright. She nodded back before retreating and going about her other business.

As he walked into the unused classroom, he put up many of the same wards that Snape had been using with him before turning his wand on his friends.

"Blaise, what is our inside joke about?"

Blaise raised a brow before answering, "Cornish pixies."

Draco nodded and turned to Pansy, "Who was Mr. Flopsy?"

Her mouth dropped open in shock momentarily, she hadn't thought about him in a long time. "He was the rabbit I had as a child. What is with these questions?"

"He needed to make sure we are who we appear to be." Blaise explained. "I'm assuming you and our counterparts are going to be using these regularly?"

"Yes, things are too precarious for us to assume who we are talking to. I will let them know those questions I just asked you and what your answers should be so in case we are all together we can verify each other. Also, Harry's is about his hippogriff tattoo and Ron's pygmy puff one. Ron's is that his patronus is a Jack Russell Terrier. And Hermione's favourite fictional character is Aragorn. Got that?"

Blaise and Pansy were both looking at him in shock.

"...What? Are you two okay?"

"You just called them all by their first names, mate. Since when do you do that?"

Draco sighed, he was going to have to watch himself. "A lot happened the last couple of days, suffice it to say that I consider them friends now. Surprisingly, they, in turn, consider me a friend. It helps to not think about it too hard. But on to the more important things for you two."

Pansy interrupted him. "You aren't going to tell us what happened this weekend?"

"No," Draco said bluntly, "information is power and we can't give more power to the wrong side. I don't think you two would willingly give out the information I have, but you also can't take back something that's out there. It's safer for as few people as possible to know what we're doing." Draco hung his head. He hated not being able to tell his best friends anything, but it was too easy to make a person divulge information unwittingly or by force.

"We understand, Draco, tell us what you can and we'll work with it." As much as Blaise wanted all the details, he knew Draco was right. It was too easy to make people reveal information that should have stayed secret.

Draco nodded, marshalling his thoughts. There was much he would love to tell Blaise and Pansy but he had to sort through the necessities.

"Alright, first off, I did get the Golden Trio to agree to you two helping. It took surprisingly little convincing, so please don't make me regret this. Ginevra also agreed to accept your help but has a caveat for you, Pansy."

Pansy nodded in understanding, not surprised in the least that the fiery redhead had a caveat for her. "What does she want?"

"She just wants to meet with you and have a little chat. She made me promise to stay out of it but I can stay close if you would like. Are you free tomorrow at half six? There's a classroom Ginevra and I have been meeting in that is safe."

"Alright, I can do that." Pansy agreed.

"Should I be insulted that she doesn't feel the need to meet with me?" Blaise was amused at the fact that Pansy was obviously considered more of a threat than he was.

Draco chuckled. "Not at all, they are all surprisingly observant, much more than we ever gave them credit for. They see the girls you chase Blaise, it's fairly obvious that you aren't opposed to muggle borns and half bloods. Pansy, however, has been almost as nasty to them as I was so it'll take more convincing for them to believe she wants to help."

"How did you convince them you were one of the good guys now?" Pansy asked, her arms crossed.

Draco had to be careful especially in this. "There may have been prisoners at The Manor a few weeks ago that I was brought to identify. While others claimed them to be the Trio, I could not confidently identify them. They escaped with the aid of an elf that used to work for my family."

Blaise and Pansy's jaws dropped at this, they both understood what he refused to say. Draco had defied the Death Eaters by refusing to confirm that it had been Potter and his gang in his home.

Draco smirked at the understanding and shock on his friends' faces. "Alright, let's get planning...."