The Young Snake

After introducing them to the animals we head to lunch together. As we walk into the great hall I immediately see Draco sitting at the Slytherin table. Seemingly feeling my gaze he turns and gives me an odd look confused why I'm staring at him.

Theo taps my arm as we stop near the entrance, "You want me to tell him to meet us after lunch?"

I nod, "Please do."

Theo smiles, "No problem," with that he heads towards the Slytherin table.

"We'll be in our usual spot," I say before he gets too far.

Seeing him give me a thumbs up Daphne, Luna, and I head towards our usual spot at the Gryffindor table. Hermione ended up not coming to see the animals and I don't see her here so I assume she is still at the Library or doing homework.

Sitting across from Neville who is eating alone he smiles, "Where were you guys?"

"We were looking at the twins' shop then we went to see the animals."

Daphne nods, "I think Oliver is rather cute."

I smirk at her words, "Don't tell him that, he might be offended."

Luna nods, "That's what makes him cute," Daphne nods enthusiastically in agreement.

I roll my eyes as I look behind me at Draco standing up with Theo heading towards us. With a sigh I turn back around and put a turkey leg on my plate and one of the mini-sandwiches. Taking off a few small pieces from the turkey leg and feed Enki and Gilg who are still hiding in Sin.

Neville gives me an odd look, "Why is Theo bringing Draco over?"

I shrug, "I'm thinking of bringing Draco into the mafia."

Neville's face scrunches as if I said something incredibly vile, "Why?"

"He is apparently good at alchemy and I want to use him."

"Everyone knows he is good at alchemy, but tons of people are, why not just pay someone?"

Giving Neville a small smirk I point at him with my turkey leg, "Because, it takes care of two birds with one stone. It makes my life at school simpler and fulfills my need for a young alchemist."

Putting down my food I turn around in my seat to see Draco not far away giving me a questioning look. Giving my thanks to Theo he sits on the other side of Daphne.

"What do you want?" Draco asks obviously a bit nervous.

"I hear you are good at Alchemy, is that true?"

Draco eyes Daphne and Theo who aren't paying attention to him, "I dabble."

I nod as I lean against the table, "Well the twins have a shop opening in their new store, I want you to take the spot. You only have to give me a ten percent share of profits."

Draco seems baffled at the situation before gathering himself, "Can I have Crabbe run the shop for me?"

"Of course, as long as he doesn't harass people."

Draco again seems baffled, "What's the catch?"

Moving over a bit I show the confused Neville, "You have to apologize to Neville and Hermione."

With a sigh he nods, "Okay, father told me to anyway."

Swallowing his pride he calmly looks at the awkward Neville, "I'm sorry for picking on you, your situation is difficult and not one I could imagine myself in so it was easy to use you as a target… and you are kind of a wimp so…"

Neville's face dyes red in embarrassment, "I-it's fine," putting his head down Draco nods.

His eyes flick back to me obviously hiding his embarrassment, "Is that good enough?"

"Yeah, other than the unnecessary last sentence that was far better than expected." Looking over I see both Theo and Daphne frozen in awe.

Draco nods again, "I will apologize to Granger whenever she shows her face."

As if on cue I see Hermione step into the great hall while reading a book. Draco sighs as I smile and gesture to her.

With the same calm face, he walks over to Hermione across the great hall. Both Theo and Daphne look at me with odd gazes, questions in their eyes.

"Why does he listen to you? He didn't even listen to you after you beat him up last year?" Theo asks in a quiet yell.

I smile, "Secret," I point towards Draco and Hermione talking with Hermione obviously angry, "Let's enjoy the show."

Not wanting to miss it Theo turns toward the drama. Draco seems to remain calm as Hermione gets angrier and angrier. After another short back and forth Draco seems to pause for a few seconds before nodding and closing his eyes.

*SLAP*

The hall seems to quiet as I stare with wide eyes, that's not what I expected. Quickly I turn back towards the teacher's table to see if any teachers saw that, lucky the table is empty and I let out a sigh of relief.

Turning back I see Draco quickly walking towards me with a calm yet annoyed face and a very red cheek. His silverish gold hair and pale skin really don't help as they seemingly exacerbate the redness.

Stopping in front of me he lets out a breath, "Is that good enough?"

"Again you exceed my expectations, the shop is yours."

He nods, "Mind if I speak to you…" he looks at those around especially all those staring at him, "Alone."

I shrug, "You earned it, sure."

Taking the turkey leg with me I stand up and follow him out the great hall giving a smile to Hermione as I pass. Making our way into the nearly empty courtyard I feed Sin the last of the turkey leg while following Draco towards the large stone just outside the side gates.

After he stops I close my eyes to make sure no souls are nearby before I question, "How much has your father told you?"

Draco turns to me with a serious gaze, "I want to be a part of your new world order."

My brows raise, "He told you that much huh?"

He remains silent but I can tell he knows almost everything, "Did he tell you how I am able to do it?"

Draco's brows furrow telling me he doesn't, "It's good you don't know, I would have had to punish your father if you did."

Draco's eyes show a bit of fear as his eyes look down, "I-I wish to know as well."

I roll my eyes, "That's not going to happen until you earn my trust, just know Voldemort is a dead man if he steps back into the isles."

I pause for a moment as I think of something, "Whatever happened to Goyle?"

Draco looks up at me seemingly contemplating how he would like to answer, "His family was caught trafficking muggles and using them for dark magic, they fled to Sweden a few months ago."

I stroke my chin pondering if I heard Sis talking about that, "I guess your father did a good job of making a trail leading to them."

Draco's eyes widen, "Y-you did that?"

With a small smile, I lean against the stone, "Who do you think destroyed their operation at the docks?"

Looking back down he seems to fall into deep thought, "Does that change your goal?" I ask sounding a bit condescending.

"No. I trust my father's decision."

"Ughh," I let out a groan as I roll my neck, "Come on, at least make up your own mind in this situation."

Looking back up at me he nods, "This is my decision."

Pushing off the rock I begin to walk away, "Well whatever, make sure to tell the twins about your shop, you'll need to prepare a lot of stock."

I pause at the gate and turn to look at him, he is leaning against the rock with his head in his hand. I am curious what he is thinking about but I feel it would violate privacy to check so I just walk back to finish lunch.