The Letter
It was the third Saturday in September, which meant one thing: their first Hogsmeade weekend. All the Gryffindor students that were above their second year and had been given parental consent had gone, except for one. In the sixth year boys' dorm room, Harry Potter lay in bed, eyes closed as he nursed a headache.
The persistent pain had began occurring at the beginning of the summer, and since it wasn't his scar that was hurting, Harry had ignored it; but not today. Today it felt as if a hammer was furiously pounding on the front of his head, and after a failed attempt to eat breakfast in the Great Hall, he told the others that he was going back to bed. He knew that the headaches were related to stress, and didn't think to seek out Madam Pomfrey.
The more that he thought about what Dumbledore had told him the previous summer and the more recurrent his dream of Sirius' death, was the worse that the headache would get. After a particularly ghastly dream the night before, he'd woken up feeling as if his head were ripping at the seams. He knew that he should talk or at least write about his problems to alleviate the stress, but for the first time since he'd arrived at Hogwarts, Harry suddenly felt alone. Suddenly, a soft voice filled the air and Harry realized that he was no longer alone.
"Beau?" The voice whispered.
Harry immediately knew whom the voice belonged to as besides Hermione, she was the only other girl that had ever come into their room. Ignoring the pain, Harry sat up in his bed and pulled open his curtains. "He's not here."
Alexandria turned around and frowned. "He told me that he wouldn't go to Hogsmeade."
It was a most peculiar thing when a boy became smitten, and despite the fact that his headache had sent him to bed, the sight of her made some of the pain go away.
"Sorry," Harry said. "But he left with the others about an hour ago."
She didn't reply immediately, instead she closed her eyes. For another minute or so, her face remained placid, before it broke out into a smile.
"He wants to know if you'd like anything." Alexandria's eyes opened, causing Harry to jump.
"Beg pardon?" He asked. How could she have known what Beau had asked?
"We're telepathic." Alexandria explained.
"You're what?" Harry sat up in the bed, still somewhat confused.
"Telepathic." Alexandria repeated.
"Oh," said Harry, "I didn't know that such a thing really existed."
Alexandria shrugged as if it were nothing. "It's really rare, but the three of us have the ability."
Harry nodded while digesting the information. "So there are others like you?"
Alexandria nodded. "There are, but not many. Right now there are less than twenty in all of Europe."
"Oh."
Alexandria shrugged once again. "So would you like anything?"
Harry shook his head. "No thanks."
He'd already given Hermione money to buy him all the things that he'd needed. Though things weren't perfect between her and Ron, she'd begun to warm up to the two of them the morning after he'd lent her Hedwig.
Alexandria was silent for a moment, and though her eyes weren't closed as they were before, he could still tell that she was speaking with her brother. She continued to stare dejectedly for another five minutes, and Harry leaned his pounding head against the bed post. He closed his eyes trying to ease some of the pain, but found that it only worsened as an image of Sirius appeared in his mind.
"What's wrong?" Alexandria's soft voice caused Harry's eyes to open.
"What?"
"You look pained." She whispered.
"Oh." Harry said suddenly understanding. "Headache."
"Is that why you didn't go to Hogsmeade?" She asked.
Harry nodded. He watched as she walked over to his canopy bed and sat down beside him. Slowly, her hand came closer to his face until her fingers were pressed softly upon it and Harry closed his eyes. Her touch made him warm all over and he knew that it was in no way related to his headache.
Harry hadn't told anyone but secretly, he liked Alexandria, possibly even more than he had liked Cho Chang in his fourth and fifth years. Her whispers brought him out of his trance and he realized that she was saying an incantation. As soon as she had said her final word, the pain ceased, and Harry gave a grateful sigh.
"Better?" She smiled.
Harry nodded until what had just occurred registered. "That was..."
"Dark Magic." She finished.
Harry nodded. As far as he knew, the only wizarding school in Europe to actually teach the Dark Arts was Durmstrang, and she'd attended Beauxbatons. "Where'd you learn that?"
He expected something along the lines of 'From a book', but instead he got a completely different answer; one that he wasn't quite prepared for.
"My father is a Death Eater; he taught us." The way that she said it made Harry know that she was very serious.
"I'm sorry, but did you just say that your father is a Death Eater, as in present tense?" Harry sputtered.
Alexandria nodded. "He's in Azkaban serving a life sentence."
"But you should be in Slytherin! All of their children are in that house!"
Once again, Alexandria shrugged. "That was where the Hat was going to place me, but I argued with him until he changed his mind."
Harry remembered that the Hat had spent ten minutes on both Alexandria and her brother; it had never occurred to him that had been going on. It was no wonder that Jaida had been placed in Slytherin; clearly she hadn't even bothered to put up a fight. The fact still remained however, that he liked the daughter of a Death Eater; he could only imagine what would happen if they were to start dating and she took him to Azkaban to meet him.
"But your brother ad I are friends." Harry said confused. "The other Slytherins would no sooner hex me than be my friend."
"We're not like the others." Alexandria said firmly. "Our father has nothing to do with the way that we think."
"And Jaida?"
Alexandria shrugged. "Jaida has her moments, which is why the Hat didn't listen to her. But she speaks to you whenever she comes over, so she's the same as well."
Harry was silent for a moment, and then he thought of another question. "So do the others know?" By 'others' he meant the other offsprings of the various Death Eaters.
Alexandria shook her head. "My mother didn't allow us to interact with the other Death Eaters, or their children, which is why we lived in Paris."
"And yet you've told me." Harry whispered.
Alexandria nodded but said nothing in response. Harry knew then that she had to have really trusted him in order to have told him this, given his past with Death Eaters and their leader.
"I won't tell anyone." Harry said after a while.
Alexandria nodded. "I know."
They were silent for a while, but theirs was compatible, and so neither of them minded it very much. It was Alex who broke it a few minutes later.
"Would you like to play Wizard Chess with me?" She reached beside her and produced a chess set.
"You play?" Harry asked surprised.
"Surprised?" She guessed.
Harry nodded.
She smiled knowingly. "So are you up for a game?"
"Sure."
And so they played. Harry had taken for granted the fact that she was a girl, but as with everything else about Alexandria, he learned to not take her for granted. She sat with her back straight and stared intensively at the board. Even when they spoke, she still bore a pensive look on her face. The more that he watched her, was the more that he found he liked about her, and the more that he could see herself with her. He was thinking about this when she smiled triumphantly and looked up from the board.
"Checkmate."
Harry broke out of his trance and looked down at the board. "What? How did this happen?"
Alexandria smiled. "Never underestimate me."
Harry nodded smiling as well as he packed up the set. "I won't."
He placed the board towards the end of the bed and leaned comfortably against the head board with his left hand slung lazily across it. A few seconds later, he felt something fury rest against his arm, and quickly opened his eyes. When he looked down, he found a rather comfortable looking Alexandria as she rested her head against his shoulder. To Harry, it seemed almost natural to have her there in his arms and smiled as he looked down at her. He'd thought that he'd like Cho, but he'd never felt this relaxed around her, nor this content.
"Harry..." Alexandria whispered as she looked up at him. This only brought their faces closer and Harry, realizing that they could kiss if they wanted to, swallowed before answering.
"Alexandria?"
Before Alexandria could reply however, the door to the room swung open and Hermione stood in the doorway with Harry's things in hand.
"Harry, are you awake?" She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the two of them.
Harry made no effort to pull himself away from Alexandria as he was much to comfortable, but she sat up.
"Oh I'm sorry," Hermione said backing away. "I thought that you'd be sleeping."
The two watched as Hermione bolted out of the room, closing the door as she went. As much as Harry knew that he should go after her, as he watched Alexandria pack up her chess set, he wished that she hadn't come and disturbed them.
*
Around the same time that Hermione closed the door to Harry's dorm room, Ginny Weasley and a small group of girls entered the Three Broomsticks, laughing as they did so. They found seats towards the back and Ginny went to the front to order and pay for their drinks, along with another. They were waiting in line when Susan giggled.
"Ginny, look who's here."
Ginny turned slightly to look at whom Susan was speaking of. Sitting at a table by himself in a corner of the pub, was Beau Megghross. He didn't look the least bit upset that he was sitting by himself, but rather quite content as he read a magazine, occasionally sipping on his Butterbeer. Despite the fact that she was quite pleased to see him, Ginny pretended to be unmoved as she replied.
"So? You're acting as if you've never seen a boy sitting by himself before."
Susan looked at her as if she were crazy. "Are you feeling alright, Ginny? Do you not see who's sitting there?"
Ginny shrugged as they arrived at the counter. "Six Butterbeers, please." While they waited, she turned to Susan. "He's only Beau Megghross."
"Only?" Susan gasped as she took up three from the counter, leaving Ginny to carry the others. "You're acting as if he's just an average boy."
"He is!" Ginny whispered.
"He's a Sex God!" Susan protested, handing out the Butterbeers as she did so.
"Who is?" One of their friends spoke up.
"Beau Megghross." Susan said sitting down. Hearing his name sent the girls into a fit of giggles, and Ginny rolled her eyes before taking a sip of her Butterbeer.
"Come on girls, he's just a boy." She said.
"Just a boy?" One of them asked dreamily.
"He's a man, that's what he is."
"A very sexy man!"
Ginny sighed as it was obvious that they weren't going to agree with her and allowed her eyes to rest on him. He did look rather sexy as he reached for his Butterbeer.
"Since he's just a boy," Susan spoke up. "I dare you to go over and talk to him."
Ginny looked up suddenly at her friend. "What?"
"Come on, Ginny," Susan chimed. "He is just a boy. How hard could it be?"
Ginny thought back to their conversation in the library and the time that he'd asked her to dance; it wasn't hard to speak to Beau at all.
"Fine."
"What?" Susan asked shocked. She hadn't really expected Ginny to do anything,
Ginny stood and stared down at the shocked girls. "I'm going over to him."
"Why not?" She asked.
"Suppose he embarrasses you by pretending that he doesn't see you?" The girl pleaded. "I mean, he is the sexiest boy in school after all."
"Next to Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter." Susan giggled along with the rest of the girls.
Ginny rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the umpteenth time and took up her Butterbeer. "He'll do no such thing. Goodbye girls."
"Bonne chance!" Susan called, causing even more giggles to erupt from them.
Ginny seriously wondered why she was hanging out with them, even though she knew the reason. Luna, whom she'd much rather prefer to speak with, was out on her second date with Ron. She didn't have much time to think about that though, as she was standing before Beau's table. She knew that the girls were watching her, and she most certainly wasn't going to turn back now.
"Hello, Beau." She smiled down at the gorgeous sixth year.
Beau looked up surprised to hear his name, but smiled when he saw Ginny. "Hello Ginevra."
He'd said her name again. Ginny felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter; she really did like it when he called her by her proper name.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" She asked.
Beau shook his head and as she'd done in the library, used his leg to extend the chair before him to her. "Not a problem."
As she sat down, she suddenly felt the need to explain her appearance at his table. "I saw you sitting alone, so I decided to come over."
"I'm glad." Beau said, rather earnestly.
"You are?" Ginny looked up from her Butterbeer quite surprised.
Beau nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Ginny was about to say 'Because it's me, that's why.' but decided not to. She didn't want to sound like an immature prat. Instead, she simply shrugged and took a sip of her Butterbeer. When she noticed that Beau had closed his magazine, she chose to strike up a conversation.
"Are you over here trying to evade your fans?" She smiled amusingly, her chocolate eyes dancing as she did so.
Beau smiled back, the same look on his face, though his looked a bit more mature to her (as if anyone's amusing smile could be seen as mature). "That and the fact that everyone that I know is off on a date."
"And why aren't you on one?" Before she could help herself, Ginny spoke what had immediately come to mind. Feeling the need to explain sudden outburst, she added, "I mean, you do have the attention of every girl in this school."
"Does that mean that I've gotten your attention as well?" Beau teased, reaching for his Butterbeer as he did so.
Ginny blushed in response, but as she'd chosen to wear her hair in a bun that day, she couldn't hide her burning cheeks. Beau smiled knowingly as he placed the bottle back down on the table.
He knew that he shouldn't be sitting in the middle of the very public Three Broomsticks flirting with Ron Weasley's little sister, but at that moment, he chose to ignore the fact that should Ron walk in and catch them, he'd be a dead man. Some things were just worth the risk, especially if they including seeing Ginevra smile.
"You need to stop." Ginny said after the colour had left her cheek.
"Stop what?" Beau asked innocently, absentmindedly twirling the cap of his Butterbeer as he did so.
"Making me blush." Ginny said firmly.
Beau looked up. "And where would be the fun in that?"
Ginny shrugged. "Find another way to amuse yourself."
"What? Like admiring your beauty?" Beau knew what he was doing, but he wasn't one to do what others said. He liked to do things as he saw fit.
Hearing this caused Ginny to blush again and he could see that she was trying her hardest this time not to. "I'm warning you, Beau. Quit or I'll leave."
Beau suddenly got an idea, and after finishing the rest of his Butterbeer, he stood. "Come on."
Ginny looked up at him. "What? Where are we going?"
"You said that if I didn't quit that you would leave." Beau explained while helping her out of her chair. "Well I don't plan on quitting, so if you leave, we might as well leave together."
Ginny stood and he could tell from her mannerisms that she wasn't amused by his antics. He didn't care though; the look on her face was just too cute for words.
As they left, Ginny waved at the girls who'd been watching the two intently to see Beau's reaction to her sitting at his table, and smiled at their looks of awe.
"Where are we going, Beau?" She asked as they exited the pub. She noticed that Beau was still holding her hand, but chose to not comment on this.
"I'm new to Hogsmeade, remember? You're my guide for the rest of the afternoon."
They were now on the main street and it was obvious by the way that he was standing, that Beau was in fact serious by his statement and that he was waiting on her to tell him where to go. Sighing, Ginny looked up and down the street hoping to find somewhere to take him.
Now that she thought about it, there wasn't much in Hogsmeade that she hadn't already done twice. The novelty of going to the village had worn off somewhere at the end of her fourth year and now that she was here with Beau, nothing seemed quite appealing. Her eyes roamed down the street and somewhere in the distance, she managed to spot the haunting building that was known as the Shrieking Shack. Smiling, she turned to face Beau.
"Are you in the mood to chat with spirits?"
Beau looked down at her frowning, confusion written all over his face. "You're not going to take me to a Seer, are you?"
Giggling, Ginny shook her head. "No, silly. I meant are you in the mood to visit the Shrieking Shack."
"What's the Shrieking Shack?"
Despite the fact that her brother and his friends liked to keep her in the dark where certain things were concerned, she knew the truth about the Shrieking Shack's supposed ghost and why it was built. Of course, she pretended as if she didn't know, finding that it was much easier to gain information if everyone forgot that she wasn't there. Knowing that Beau didn't know the truth, and wanting to find out if anything could really scare him, Ginny replied.
"Only the most haunted building in all of Great Britain."
Beau raised an eyebrow and looked off in the distance towards the antiquated-looking building. "You mean ghosts like the ones at Hogwarts live there?"
"No," Ginny shook her head. "I mean its home to unknown terrors."
Beau looked at her incredulously, clearly not about to believe such a thing. "Let's go."
Ginny smiled and together, they set off towards the building.
On their way, they spotted Ron and Luna coming out of Madam Puttifoot's. Thankfully, Beau had enough sense to let go of her hand before her older brother could see, and so when he finally spotted them, he simply waved in their direction before walking off with his date. Ginny sighed in relief, and Beau, reading her thoughts, laughed softly.
"Hate being the youngest, huh?"
Ginny looked up at him. "Are you kidding me? As bad enough as it is to be the youngest of seven, I had to come along and be the only girl."
"Wow," Beau said exhaling deeply. "And I thought that being the only boy around my sisters was bad."
Ginny giggled slightly due mostly to way that he'd expressed himself. "You got off lucky. I have seven fathers instead of one."
Beau nodded as they drew even nearer to the building. "I'm guessing that they make it hell for you to have a boy friend, huh?"
Ginny rolled her eyes and didn't bother to respond. She didn't even want to begin to think about all the times when she'd really liked someone, only to have Ron or one of the others break them apart with their need to protect her. What she really wanted to know was what they were trying to protect her from. One didn't grow up with six older brothers and not know how to take care of themselves. Add that to the fact that she was smarter than the average witch her age and she knew that should the need ever arise, she'd know how to take care of herself.
"So this is the Shrieking Shack?" Beau remarked. Ginny looked up and found that they had in fact arrived at the haunted house.
"This is it." She watched him out of the corner of her eye to see what his reaction to the place was.
Beau surveyed the place reminding her greatly of Professor Snape whenever he was forced to answer a rather stupid question. "I'd give it a seven out of ten for being almost dilapidated enough to pass for a haunted house."
Ginny raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Only a seven?" What was Beau playing at?
"Well I was going to give it a six, so I think that a seven is generous enough." Beau's gaze lazily went over the exterior of the house and he nodded once more as if to confirm his point.
"Despite the fact that the paint has all but peeled off and the windows are broken from some obviously mischievous children, the house itself is still in good condition. If a good decorator and painter were hired and a few extermination spells were done to rid the place of its rodents, this place could be easily fixed up."
Ginny stared incredulously at Beau. There he was, standing before what was seemingly the most haunted house in all of Great Britain, and he was talking about it as if they were hosts of some Muggle television programme that she had learned about in Muggle Studies (the ones where they take over your house for a week, and with their team of decorators, electronics, painters, plumbers and carpenters, get your house back in tip top condition)!
Even though she hadn't really expected him to be scared out of his wits, she had at least expected him to agree that the house could very well pass for haunted and to ponder for even a few minutes as to what creature could possibly be lurking in the shadows. Not wanting to let him win, Ginny smiled deviously as a plan circulated in her mind.
"Really now? Well let's see what you make of the interior of the house, my darling home evaluator."
Beau turned to her, brows coming together, as he tried his hardest to figure out whether or not she was joking. "Are you being serious?"
"Quite." Ginny smiled and instead of extending her hand to him, walked around him and opened the gate, daring him to follow. She knew from her summer spent at Grimmauld Place that Remus Lupin was staying at Head Quarters, where once a month he'd take his Wolfsbane potion, crawl up into a ball as a harmless wolf, and stay there for the duration of the full moon. There was no way that he'd come out of nowhere and attack them, unless Dumbledore had given another werewolf permission to take up residence, and they hadn't been informed. This Ginny seriously doubted, as he knew that they all knew about the Womping Willow and where it led to, and though he had never openly given them permission to break school rules, they were done all the same, and should any involve sneaking into Hogsmeade via the famous Hogwarts tree, the Trio should have been notified so that they would seek other methods of saving the world.
Not surprisingly, Beau followed, and Ginny led the way up the littered path, unto the porch, and with a loud moan of the stubborn front door, the two teenagers entered the house.
A cloud of dust met them and after a brief coughing fit, the two whispered "Lumos", and the tip of their wands lit the way into the front parlour. For a few minutes, the two stared around in awe at their surroundings and Ginny chuckled softly knowing that Draco Malfoy would never be caught in a place such as this. She had over heard the Trio discussing the night when Harry had finally met his godfather, but never had she actually been inside the house, and even though she knew that it wasn't haunted, the house still gave her the creeps.
Years of abandonment and abuse by the villagers, as well as students, left the house an interior decorators worst nightmare. Spiders freely raised their young in what looked to be a ceiling filled with various webs, rats made burrows in the corners of the room, termites ate freely away at the wood, stray animals left behind their waste and caused a foul odour to attack their nostrils, the paint had all but peeled off of the walls, and the dirt that took residence made it very hard for them to breathe. It was obvious without them even trying, that the lights and plumbing had long since stopped working. Ginny didn't even want to climb the stairs that were covered by a moth-eaten carpet, for fear that she would fall through the rotting wood and meet her untimely death.
Losing all nerve to fall through with her plan (hide when Beau wasn't looking and scare him by jumping out of the shadows), Ginny was glad that Beau had reached for her hand, as with the noises that the shutters made, as they banged against the walls due to the wind, she was more than afraid. She wanted desperately to go back outside into the security of the village, but she was trying to show Beau up, and so she remained bravely by his side. Trying to be funny, she found her voice and attempted a joke.
"I'm guessing that you'd give the inside a rather generous eight, right?"
Beau glanced at his surroundings, then down at Ginny. "In here deserves the ten."
Ginny's pupils widened in surprise. She hadn't expected that kind of answer from Beau.
He continued. "What kind of creature would ever want to live here?"
"A werewolf," was on the tip of her tongue, but she caught herself just in time. Instead, she shrugged and clung to Beau's arms as she gazed at her surroundings. She honestly didn't know how Remus and the others had managed to stay in such a place. She imagined that in their day the place was much nicer, as it was built specifically for her ex-professor, but she knew that three years ago when he'd returned to Hogwarts that the place wasn't too far off from the condition that it was currently in.
Beau opened up his mouth to say something, but at the same time, a loud bang sounded up the stairs, which was followed by a wail and the sound of something heavy pounding down the stairs. Without waiting to see what it was, the two turned on their heels, and ran out of the house, Beau in the lead as he dragged Ginny along. They said nothing to each other as the villagers shook their heads at the foolish teens, and never let go of each other's hands as they struggled to catch their breaths. Once they were able to breathe again, the two looked up at the house. There, on the porch, looking as if it owned the place was a rather fat black cat with yellow eyes. Seeing it glare at them, the two knew that this was the creature that had run them out of its home.
Not knowing what else to do, Ginny burst into laughter and allowed herself to fall against Beau's chest. He held her tightly as he too laughed. Being in his arms was strangely comforting to Ginny, but as she'd promised herself that she wasn't going to fall for him like the rest of the girls at her school had, she slowly pulled away and avoided looking in his eyes.
From behind them, the cat hissed its disapproval and still chuckling, they held hands and slowly walked away. Finally, once they were far enough away from the building to further annoy the cat, Ginny allowed herself to look up at Beau.
"Scary enough for you?"
Rather surprisingly, Beau answered truthfully. "Yes."
*
Harry was half asleep when the door to the room opened slightly. Thinking that it was either Seamus or Dean returning from the common room, he rolled over and pulled his sheets up over his head. A few seconds later however, the curtains that surrounded his bed were pulled aside and Harry felt the far end of his bed sink slightly as something or someone came in.
"Dobby," he whispered groggily. "Now isn't the appropriate time for a visit."
Harry expected to hear the house elf mutter apologies before leaving, but surprisingly, he got none. Instead, whatever it was that sat on the edge of his bed began to tickle his feet. Alarmed, he sat up suddenly and rubbed his eyes as he did so. Though he wasn't wearing his glasses, he knew that there was no one there.
"H-Hello?" He whispered, suddenly becoming fearful. Despite the fact that he couldn't see anything, something was definitely holding unto his feet, he didn't need spectacles to tell him that.
Suddenly, a female's voice arose from the end of the bed and whatever it was giggled. Slowly, an image began to emerge and soon Alexandria appeared. Harry did a double take when he saw her and she had to cover her face to stop giggling.
"I'm sorry," She whispered. "I didn't mean to frighten you."
"But nothing was there!" Harry said quite shocked.
Alexandria nodded. "I know. I wore my invisibility cloak."
"Oh." Harry said suddenly understanding. It hadn't occurred to him that he might not have been the only one at Hogwarts with an invisibility cloak. What he didn't understand however, was why Alexandria was sneaking into his room at ten o'clock at night.
"What are you...?" Before he could finish asking his question, Ron's voice on the other side of his curtains startled the two.
"Harry!" He whispered. "Are you okay, mate?"
Harry looked towards where Ron's bed lay, but before he could answer, Alexandria turned his face towards him.
"Shh!" She giggled.
Harry swallowed knowing very well what was going to happen. She was going to kiss him.
"Harry?" Ron called. Had he chosen that moment to open the curtains, he would have caught Harry and Alexandria mid-kiss.
As soon as Alexandria's lips pressed against his, Harry closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. He'd wanted to do this before Hermione had interrupted them, and now that she was there, he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. Apparently, Alexandria was thinking the same thing, because her hands were soon around his neck as they went further with the kiss. He was quite breathless when she pulled away, and with a wink, she threw on her invisibility cloak and disappeared once again.
At the same time, Ron appeared as he pulled open the other side and found a rather dazed Harry.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Ron asked, a concerned look on his face. He was too distracted to even notice that the door to their room had opened and closed itself. When Harry didn't respond however, he reached over and shook his friend.
"Harry!"
Harry turned to face him, suddenly realizing that he was there. "What?"
"Were you having another nightmare?" Ron asked. "I heard you mumbling in your sleep."
Harry shook his head. "It wasn't a nightmare."
Ron looked at him confused. "It wasn't?"
"No," Harry shook his head as he fell back against his pillows. "It was a beautiful dream."
Ron reached over and felt Harry's forehead, concern written all over his face. "I think that we should get you to Madam Pomfrey."
Harry shook his head as he yawned. "No thanks, Ron.'Night."
Ron watched as Harry closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, before closing the curtains and returning to his own bed. Clearly, something was very wrong.
*
Around the same time that Harry's head hit his pillows, a large eagle owl tapped on the window of Draco Malfoy's private room. Draco, who'd been about to go to sleep himself, lazily dragged himself out of bed and over to the window. As soon as he opened it, the eagle dropped the letter that it had been carrying in its beak and turned to leave. Draco watched until it disappeared, before closing the windows once again and picking up the envelope.
Not surprisingly, the envelope bore the Malfoy seal and Draco guessed that it was from his mother. No longer able to sleep, he took the letter over to his desk and sat down before it. As he opened it, he found that it was written not in his mother's curls. Swallowing, Draco turned on the nearby lamp to properly read the letter.
September 21st, 1996
Draco,
There comes a time in everyone's life when they must make a choice. Often times, it is this choice that will define the rest of their life. Now is the time for you to make your choice. There is a War brewing, son, and you will now have to choose which side you shall stand on. Do you want to stand behind the truth and all that is sacred and pure? Or would you rather wallow in someone's pathetic shadow and fall as he and his midget army shall? I trust that you will make the right choice and follow along the path that has been laid down by our ancestors for many generations. I did not raise a fool, Draco, do not prove me wrong.
Father
Draco re-read the letter and sighed before reaching for his wand and whispering the words that would cause the paper to burn before him. He watched as they paper became ashes, before turning out the light and walking over to his bed. Silently, he went into his bed, crossed his arms, and stared up at the ceiling.
He knew that his father would contact him; he just hadn't expected it to be so soon. He had thought that he would be too young for the Dark Lord to want his services, but apparently he wasn't; his father's letter had made that much clear.
He honestly didn't know what to do as Lucius had never before given him a choice in any matter; he'd always been told what to do. It was his father who had spooned the idea that only purebloods deserved to live from the moment of his birth and as with everything else that he did at Hogwarts, it had been on his father's instructions. Now that he was allowed to actually think for himself, he didn't quite know what to do.
He'd never been keen on Death Eater activities and had often stayed away from them whenever they came to visit the Manor, only showing up to escort their children off to his quarters where he was told by Lucius to entertain them.
Did he actually want to take on the Dark Mark and be forced to see the likes of them for the rest of his life? It was bad enough having to be seen with the likes of Crabbe and Goyle at school, and they were just their offspring! But then again, it would be nice to see Harry Potter, the most famous wizard in their school, be proven wrong. He absolutely hated the air of arrogance that surrounded Harry and the way that people bent over backwards for him, just because he was The Boy Who Lived. As far as he knew, Harry hadn't done anything to defend himself against Voldemort and yet he was a celebrity for it! And Dumbledore! Dumbledore favoured Harry and his rat-pack friends over most everyone in the school, and that included him. Why should he join his league, when it seemed as if he wasn't even wanted? Why not go against him in the hopes that he would fall?
But suppose he doesn't fall? Then what?
Draco sighed as the thought ran through his mind. And then there was also the possibility that Voldemort's ideas of the truth and the way weren't the truth and most certainly weren't the way. His father had once told him that Voldemort was a Mudblood as well, which meant that he was being a hypocrite for even forming his league of Death Eaters. The whole reason for the War was because he wanted to rid the magical world of those who weren't worthy, when the first person that he should look to rid the world of was himself. He was after all, the most famous Mudblood of them all, even if his other Death Eaters didn't know it. It didn't seem to be the wisest choice to take on the side of a man who was so two-faced in his thoughts and deeds.
Do you dare go against your father? Voldemort's wrath will be nothing compared to his when he finds out and escapes Azkaban, which you know that he shall.
The more that he thought about what his choice should be, was the more confused he became and the more that his head hurt him. He wished that he had someone to talk to. There was no way that he could talk to Crabbe or Goyle about this; they were too stupid to even comprehend the comic section in The Daily Prophet. Besides, they'd be shocked to know that he was even considering his options. Knowing them, they'd have already picked out the perfect spot on their ashy skin on which to place the Mark. They always did what they were told, having no common sense to do otherwise.
It suddenly occurred to Draco that he had no one to call a friend or even a confidant. Feeling his worse, he sighed deeply and willed himself to sleep seeking no other resolution to his problem.
The inevitable would come; until then, all Draco could really do was wait.
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