Remus gave a slight nod, the gesture positively regal-looking on Lucius.
"But what made you think my third year was the 'right time,' then?" Harry pressed. "It wasn't until the Tournament that we knew for sure Voldemort would be back... oh, I get it." He shuddered slightly. "The Chamber."
"Precisely. Lucius Malfoy's mad bid to return Voldemort to life. For all I knew, his next attempt might well succeed. When, during the summer, the other Governors were insane enough to reinstate him with full honours, I decided I must start looking forward to the day when it might be possible to discredit him among the ranks of the Death Eaters. I hired Remus and gave him strict instructions to acquire as much contact as possible with Lucius."
"I'd intended to become great friends with Draco Malfoy," Remus confessed, taking up the thread of the story. "I had hoped to be invited to dine at Malfoy Manor, something like that, study the man in his own element. But that plan proved unworkable. And why was that, Severus? Can you guess? Could it be because you poisoned the boy's mind against me well before our first class together?"
"I..." Snape abruptly closed his mouth.
"Ah well." Kind as ever, Remus let him off the hook. "It's also true that I had recognised Harry on the train, and after that I had a difficult time tolerating the young Slytherin so intent on making James' son miserable. Observing Draco at close range, however, did help me learn quite a few Malfoy mannerisms. The boy really is quite like his father."
"No, he isn't," Harry quietly disagreed.
Remus pursed his lips at that, but said nothing further on the topic, instead detailing, "The only flaw in the headmaster's long-range plan was the fact that Polyjuice in of itself was so limited. Until a formulation was made that could help my acting bridge the gulf between Lucius and myself, there was little hope of putting our plan into action. We knew my impersonation would have to be flawless to pass muster... But then you improved the Polyjuice Potion, Severus..."
Snape's nostrils flared, which told Harry all too clearly that that had been no accident. Dumbledore had demanded a better version of the potion, and Snape had laboured to produce one.
"All this rather begs the question!" the Potions Master erupted. "It's a bit of a daft plan to discredit Lucius Malfoy by having him help Voldemort's victims at a time when Lucius could quite reasonably claim to have been at a meeting of the Board of Governors! Voldemort has heard of Polyjuice, Lupin!"
"He's also heard of Apparation," Remus mildly returned. "Lucius can get to France and back in the blink of an eye, and all my 'appearances' were carefully timed. And too, if Polyjuice began to be suspected, it was just as likely for the Death Eaters to wonder if the real Lucius was in France while a Malfoy-trained decoy sat in on meetings at Hogwarts. Besides, Severus, the plan at present hasn't been so much to convince the Death Eaters of Lucius' disloyalty as it is to simply sow discord and dissention in their ranks. Rumours of a blond aristocratic man issuing warnings... the Death Eaters arriving at targeted houses only to discover them abandoned. You've told Albus of the infighting. We hoped to capitalise on it, perhaps leaving an impression that Lucius had plans of his own, ones that might not coincide with his lord and master's."
Harry sat up a little bit straighter, and said in an over-loud voice, "Wow, Remus. It sounds to me like you've been doing a job that's both important and dangerous. And you've been dedicating yourself to this job for how many years? Since the first war, is that right?"
"Idiot child," Snape muttered.
"Well, you said he wasn't doing anything to help, and he was, learning acting and all that," Harry declared. "I bet he wasn't even very keen on it. He did it for the Order. He even knew back then that he was learning it so that he could eventually impersonate some Death Eater or other, so he knew how dangerous it was all going to get, and he still plunged ahead. Now that's brave."
"Quiet, Harry. I've no need of Severus' approbation after all this time," Remus said with a smile that looked all wrong on Malfoy's face.
"Just as well," Snape growled. "I don't hand out certificates of merit for fool Gryffindor stunts. To my mind this whole enterprise qualifies as one. And how dangerous has it been, really? I don't expect you've been in the Dark Lord's own presence trying to ferret out his secrets, have you?"
A strand of Lucius' hair fluttered as Remus shook his head. "No, Severus. Indeed I have not. You remain the bravest man I know."
"But you would do it if you could, I bet," Harry pressed. "Right? If there was a way. I mean, if Lucius somehow disappeared and we knew he wouldn't ever surface, then you'd take his place and spy for the Order just as Severus did--"
"You'd be asking him to kill people," Snape harshly pointed out. "I rather doubt Lupin has the stomach for it."
"As Lucius Malfoy is not likely to hand us such an opening," the headmaster broke in, "I suggest we not discuss the ifs of the situation."
"Good idea," Harry announced, taking a deep breath to steel himself. What he had to say... well, his father wasn't too likely to appreciate it. But he had to say it anyway. "Um, Severus. Dad, I mean. You owe Remus an apology for thinking him weak and spineless and all the rest. He's not. I'd think you'd have to admit that, now."
Remus shook his head. "I've no wish to come between you, Harry. Let's not make an issue of it, any of it."
"Hey, he makes me apologise when I've been insufferably rude," Harry protested.
"He is the parent," Remus replied, still shaking his head. "It's not your place to raise him, Harry."
"Yes," Dumbledore echoed, though his tone was decidedly more... Slytherin than Remus' had been. And wasn't that strange, considering that Remus was speaking through Lucius Malfoy's vocal cords? "Severus is a grown man, Harry, an adult. Now, if he is not mature enough to admit to his own errors, that is his affair. It is entirely inappropriate for you to rebuke your father as though he's still in nappies, no matter that his conduct does rather suggest him to be little more than a toddler at heart--"
"Enough!" Snape roared. He glared at Harry, clearly blaming him for starting this, but the boy just stared back, challenging him to be the adult this time.
The Potions Master curled a disgusted lip. "You and I will have to have yet another talk about respect, I see."
"I do respect you," Harry declared. "It's just... I'd respect you more if you could look past your anger to see the man he really is. How many times did you tell me to stop judging Draco by his past mistakes? Well, same goes for you. Remus isn't the boy who sat there and did nothing while James was being an idiot! He's grown past that!"
Snape looked like he'd just love to throttle Harry, and then Remus, and then probably the headmaster for good measure. All he did though, was cast one derisive glance at the werewolf and gruffly admit, "I'm... satisfied you weren't killed pursuing this insane plot, Lupin. And that's as much apology as you're ever likely to get."
"Oh, very nice," Harry said in a scornful tone, but he decided to shut up when Snape's glare became almost volcanic.
"Now, if we've quite finished dealing with Lupin's bizarre appearance," Snape growled, appearing to be speaking to no one in particular, "I suggest we discuss the matter for which we needed him in the first place!"