Draco and Harry themselves, taking Harrys fathers invisibility cloak just in case, had already crept off downstairs to raid Lupins office. Ginny had wanted to ask what they were going to do if Lupin turned out to be in his office, then changed her mind. That, she figured, was their lookout. Potion-making, however, was her lookout.
She had always been good at it at school, and this one was surprisingly simple.
The difficult part would come later, since the Epicyclical process was a moderately complex combination of a Potion, a Charm, and a Transfiguration spell. At the moment, the potion, which was the first step, was missing several key ingredients, although had some of Dracos blood in it, and the Charm would eventually be made with his hair. (He had given her a lock of it for the purpose, so fine and silvery that it hardly looked like human hair at all.)
'Thats not magenta,' said Ron, looking up with another huge yawn. 'Thats fuchsia. And quite horrible-looking it is.'
'Ron, you have to crush the beetles, not just swat at them,' scolded Ginny.
'I can?t be arsed,' said Ron glumly. 'I can?t help feeling like this is all for Malfoys benefit. And I still hate his guts, whatever Harry says.'
Ginny sighed. 'Its for Hermiones benefit, Ron,' she said. 'Why don?t you give me a turn with the beetle- smashing and you can stir the potion? You look done in, anyway.'
Ron agreed amicably enough, and they traded places just as the bedroom door opened and Harry and Draco, looking very vexed indeed, stalked in.
'Hes there!' said Harry, throwing up his hands in disgust. 'Why is he there? Shouldn?t he be teaching class?'
'Bastard,' said Ron. 'Whats 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. Thats my soul you?re messing about with, you know. Its my life essence, its my being, its-'
'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. Its 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 thats 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.
