What if He had a Choice?

58

Draco looked at Tom the second that he walked into the common room. Descending the stairs into the main area, he noted with a pleased smile that Draco was fingering his choker. He must have been anxious. The boy jumped upwards and almost glided to him with wide eyes. His fingers, he realized, were trembling slightly still. "Did you manage to speak with Professor?" He asked gently, nails catching on the serpantine figure. He hummed, pulling the boy in by his waist, and dragging him to sit down next to him. A gesture which had the other slytherins turning away, gaze averted, as if shy almost. Tom wanted to laugh at them, but restrained himself and instead focused on Draco, the main person he was concerned about.

"I did not speak to Lupin, but..." Tom put a finger against Draco's lips at the predicted outrage, he could see it brewing in those eyes, but cut it off quickly before it could do something dangerous to him, or anyone else rather. "I did take the liberty of speaking with Professor Snape, your...godfather. Severus," Draco's eyes widened. He had not expected that. Of course, I knew that he would not expect it, sort of the whole point after all. I may not like Severus, nor approve of him, or even trust him, but Draco does, and at the end of the day, my speaking to him will trump any sort of card I may have against Lupin-which is next to none. I know nothing about the man, and neither do many others it seems. He is obviously piss poor, and I don't know what hell Dumbledore had dragged him out of to even allow him to teach in the first place...although it could have been McGonagall, I am uncertain...but I do know that Severus clearly dislikes him, and that is enough for me. He knows him, perhaps not intimately, not well, but he knows of him at the very least, and does not approve of him, or his teachings. This is an aid to me, of course, and I intend to weild this dagger with fine purpose. Not to mention, as before, Draco likes Severus. Trusts him, cares for him, believes in him. My going to him will show some sort of agreement, that his safety is trumping my own comfort. Which I shall of course use against him later. "I did not get a straight answer out of him as to whether he will speak with Professor Lupin..." Draco bounced up and down, every bit the giddy thirteen year old that he was.

"It is fine, Uncle Severus knows what to do. It trust he will handle it. While my boggart definitely should not be seen, there are others with, although not the exact same fears, similar enough fears that they really should not be showcased. Plus it is simply ridiculous to expect Slytherin to willingly reveal their greatest fears to the Gryffindors, much less the entire school."

"I have to ask," Tom interjected slightly, just barely waiting for Draco to finish his excited sentence before coming in once more with something of his own. He leaned back against the couch, hooking his ankle over his knee, Draco shifted in his arms, forcibly pulling himself away, which had Tom stopping his own question before he had even asked it, reaady to reprimand the boy. He felt bad moments later as a cloud of blonde fell against his legs. A smile broke out on his face, and his fingers entwined in the other's hair. A cursory glance around saw that girl he was often with, Pansy something if Tom recalled properly, was visibly jealous and almost shaking with rage. She will need to be watched over. Tom made a note of it, but did not dwell on it much, instead going forwards to ask his question. "If you had to take the class with another house, which would it be."

"Good question, butif I truly had to choose...Hmm...What do you think Blaise?" The Italian boy was obviously caught off guard at being involved, and stared at Draco before slowly answering his own opinion. Tom was interested in Blaise for no other reason than that he seemed clever. While many would think all Slytherins are clever, that would be incorrect, though MOST tended to lean towards the cunning side, not everyone had the cleverness to pull off those cunning schemes, much less think of good ones. This Zabini, Tom could tell, was different. He was smart, understanding, and had an empathy that was most rare in Slytherin. If he could sway him to his side that would be most advantagous. Though he was not sure that he would have to. After all, he already had Draco's allegience, and it was obvious that Draco had Zabini's. Which meant, in an almost round about way, Tom had his as well.

It was like with Lucius. Draco trusted him, mostly because of Lucius deferring to him, but he did not trust him more than Lucius (though Tom was pleased to admit his painstaking efforts were finally showing fruit) but Draco's loyalty to him was beginning to supercede even the ingrained loyalty to Lucius. Something which Tom was quite pleased about. It was similar with Zabini. He trusted Draco, and therefore held a mediocre amount of trust to him, but not a lot, and it was up to Tom to cultivate it.

"I think Ravenclaw. They would most likely either be focusing on their own fears, the academic nature of the class, or even if they were not, they are not the type to use the knowledge they gain against people. Which is advantageous."

"I would have thought the hufflepuffs?" Crabbee said. Tom did not quite understand the whole use of Crabbe, but he was yet another, along with that Goyle, that trusted Draco. In fact, the whole of Slytherin was loyal to Draco, it was a sight to see. From what he had gathered about Draco's dealings in the past, Crabbe and Goyle were his protection. His shields, human shields, if one would. Given how delicate a nature Draco had, it was not surprising that this was needed.

"No," Draco waved his hand idly from where he lay on Tom's lap. "They are gossips. One wouldn't think so, but they truly are." Tom wondered if he could convince the Professor, should nothing else work with Snape, to at the least allow the Slytherins to do class with the gryffindors. He had a good reputation with that teacher, although it was still only one lesson, and Tom did not want to have to incur favors too quickly.