Breakfast at the Gryffindor table was almost always lively, with friends gathering in little groups to talk while they ate.
“Morning, Hermione.” Leo spotted Hermione sitting by herself almost immediately.
She looked distinctly unhappy, so he walked over to greet her.
“Hmph.” Leo blinked at the unfriendly response, then looked toward Harry and Ron.
“What’s wrong with her?
What did you two do this time?” “You think this was us?” Ron pointed at himself in disbelief.
“Right, never mind.
Breakfast first…” Leo had not been sitting there long when Malfoy entered the Great Hall.
The moment Draco saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts, he looked as though he could hardly believe his eyes.
“Look at his stupid face.” Ron snickered.
“What a coward.” “Hey, Ron.” Leo suddenly thought of something and leaned toward him with a wicked grin.
“Want to squeeze some money out of Malfoy?” Ron’s eyes lit up immediately.
“Oh?
You’ve got an idea?” Whether it meant making money or screwing over Malfoy, Ron was interested.
“Of course.” Leo leaned close and whispered into his ear.
“Here’s what you do…” Ron stared at him.
“Er…” “Well, well.
What have we here?” “Why, it’s our darling little Ronniekins.
What could he possibly be plotting?” Fred and George had appeared from nowhere and hooked an arm around Ron from either side.
“Get off!
I’m about to do something important.” Ron irritably shoved his two hopeless brothers away.
“Oh, how tragic.” George grinned.
“Our little brother’s all grown up.
He has important secrets he won’t even share with us anymore.” “Merlin, my heart is breaking!” Fred added, blinking dramatically.
“Heh.” Leo promptly threw an arm around both twins’ shoulders.
“You two are Ron’s brothers, right?
Want to make a bet?” “A bet?” “What are we betting on?” The twins were immediately interested.
“I bet Ron can walk over there and come back with an entire month’s worth of Malfoy’s pocket money.” Leo raised an eyebrow at them.
“What do you say?” “What are the stakes?” George asked.
“Full disclosure, we’re very poor.” “Not just poor,” Fred corrected proudly.
“Spectacularly poor.” “I heard Charlie works at a dragon reserve in Romania,” Leo said.
“If I win, get him to arrange a dragon for me.” The twins stared at him.
“…Do you hear yourself?
Charlie is our beloved brother, flesh and blood!” “Absolutely impossible.
How about we give you little Ronnie instead?
He can work as your house-elf.” “I already have a house-elf.” Leo shrugged, then lowered his voice temptingly.
“Are you sure you’re not interested?
I’m willing to put up a thousand Galleons.
Your joke-shop business could probably use the investment.” Fred clutched his chest.
“By Merlin’s most enormous underpants, what a wicked temptation!” “You really should’ve been Sorted into Slytherin!” George accused.
The twins were very clearly tempted, but after a painful struggle with themselves, they still refused.
“What a shame,” Leo said.
“No, wait.
I’ve got a better idea.” Fred raised one finger.
“Everyone knows the house always wins.
So instead of betting against you…
why don’t we run the betting ourselves?” George’s eyes gleamed.
“Brilliant!” Fred and George immediately started pulling people into the scheme.
Before long, students from all four houses had joined in, many of them already familiar customers of the twins.
Bets poured in, and almost everyone wagered that Ron had no chance whatsoever of getting money out of Malfoy.
“Good luck, Ron!” “If you lose, we’ll have to sell you to Leo as a house-elf to pay off the debt.” Fred and George slapped him encouragingly on the shoulders.
“Shut up.” Ron shoved both of them away in disgust and marched toward the Slytherin table.
Several Slytherins immediately turned hostile looks on him.
Ron was nervous at first, but the moment he imagined the pile of Galleons waiting for him if Leo’s plan worked, courage surged through him.
He glared right back.
Malfoy visibly tensed as Ron stopped beside him.
“What do you want?” “You pulled a pretty nasty trick on Harry and me last night,” Ron said with a sneer.
“So?” Malfoy glanced dismissively at him.
“That only proves the two of you are idiots.” “Maybe.
But a duel is different.
Pure-blood families care a great deal about honor, don’t they?” “Your family are blood traitors—” Malfoy abruptly stopped.
A horrible realization seemed to dawn on him.
Ron leaned closer and spoke rapidly under his breath.
“But you cheated your way out of a duel.
I understand that you were afraid of Harry, of course, but imagine what Mr.
Lucius Malfoy would think if he found out his son was too frightened to show up for a challenge he issued himself.
Wouldn’t he think you’d disgraced the Malfoy name?” Ron smiled.
“You wouldn’t want your father to hear about that, would you?” “You…
you…” Malfoy stared at Ron in complete shock.
He had clearly never imagined that Ron Weasley of all people would come at him like this.
“What…
what do you want?” Ron held up his fingers to indicate a number.
Malfoy recoiled.
“How much?!
Impossible!
One thousand Galleons at most—that’s all the pocket money I have!” “Deal.” Ron snatched Malfoy’s money pouch before he could reconsider, turned around, and strode triumphantly back toward the Gryffindor table.
“WOOOOOO!” Fred and George erupted into cheers.
Running the betting pool had earned them a ridiculous amount of money.
Leo would be taking the largest share, but what remained was still more than enough to leave the twins delighted.
“We agreed on thirty-seventy.
Here’s your cut.” Ron counted out thirty percent of the Galleons from Malfoy’s purse for himself, then handed the rest to Leo.
“That was amazing!” Harry said excitedly.
He had made a little money from the betting pool himself, and the fact that Malfoy had been thoroughly fleeced only made the victory sweeter.
Unfortunately, Harry’s good mood lasted only a few moments before someone he very much disliked appeared beside them.
“Leo…
William.” Snape swept toward their table in his black robes, looking as though an enormous bat had decided to stalk through the Great Hall.
“Come with me.” Harry immediately became suspicious.
“Where are you taking Leo?” “That is none of your concern, Harry Potter.” Snape’s gaze settled on Harry’s eyes, and his brow tightened almost imperceptibly.
“Or does our illustrious Boy Who Lived believe his miserable Potions professor now requires his permission before going about his own business?” “All right, all right.
Let’s just go.” Leo cut Snape off before he could gather momentum.
“What happened?” “It concerns the dark wizard you so thoughtfully left alive.” Snape turned and led Leo toward the dungeons.
“I managed to extract something rather interesting from his mind.” “Brain matter?” Leo asked.
“You find that interesting?
Professor Snape, I’m starting to think you might be a bit of a pervert.” Snape’s eye twitched.
“I meant the reason he came to Hogwarts, you idiot!”