C H A P T E R 1
Abby Hifinny's parents circled around her slowly. Abby could hear every breath they made.
"You understand young Abby, that we are doing this to save all our lives. You must go to Hogwarts, you must kill Harry Potter."
"Must kill Harry Potter . . . must kill Harry Potter . . . kill Harry Potter . . . kill . . . Potter" the words echoed and re-echoed in her head. The same words following each other around and around in her head in an unending circle.
"must kill . . . must kill . . ."
"What's that?" the inquisitive face of Victor turned to face her.
"Huh? Oh . . . uh . . . nothing" Abby had not realized that she had muttered what had been consuming her mind for the past month out loud in the cabin in Hogwart's Express.
"Well, are you going to have something from the trolley or not? In the mood for chocolate frogs?" Victor offered.
"Um, yeah" Abby made a move towards her small purse of wizarding money which lay next to her.
"Don't worry about that. My treat!" Victor waved his hand dismissively and stepped outside the compartment to where the trolley stood.
"Whew," Abby slowly breathed out and leaned back against her seat. She put her hand up to her forehead and found that she was perspiring slightly. She quickly wiped her forehead with her hand and then grimaced slightly as she saw the sheen of moisture that covered her hand. To think, Abby Hifinny loosing her cool! What had she been brought up on? What a disgrace to her parents' lessons!
Those lessons . . . Abby's brow creased ever so slightly as she remembered as from a great distance . . . a wooden cane held high in the air, clutched by a pale hand . . . the fire burning in the hearth, burning so hot, so hot!
"What's with you Abby?" Victor asked as he stepped inside the compartment with his arms laden with an assortment of student "delicacies."
"You've been so . . . I don't know . . . so distant over the holidays and now you don't even respond to Malfoy when he was practically all over you just right now!" He deposited his armload of goodies on the seat beside her and sat down across from her. "I had to push him away from you! I don't think you even noticed!" Victor's dark, glittering eyes looked earnestly into her face, peering anxiously into that perpetual cool mask of hers to find something, anything as to what was going on behind it. He sighed and leaned back. As usual, he had failed to find out anything. His face grew dark.
"That creep, Malfoy. He acts as if he owns the whole damn train! And more besides!" Victor looked meaningfully at Abby.
"Be careful of who you call a creep. You how important it is to make powerful connections," the infuriatingly cool response from Abby only served to deepen Victor's scowl. His silky black hair, which he kept long, fell over his eyes. He folded his arms in a rare attitude of defiance.
"Simply because he is a 'Malfoy', doesn't mean that he can do anything he wishes. Especially another pureblood family equal in status such as yours!" he stated quietly but emphasizing every syllable through a clenched jaw. His eyes glittered menacingly. Abby surveyed him with cool eyes but was more than a little surprised to see the tension in his body such as the barely suppressed tension of a tightly wound coil.
Abby elegantly raised an arched eyebrow.
"I've never seen you in this mood before, Vic. It becomes you, you know. Especially considering the family background you have," Abby commented. Victor's scowl only deepened. He moved to pick up a chocolate frog beside her and slowly started to open it.
"It's not as if I asked to be born into the Grant household," Victor murmured quietly. Abby gave a small smile. Yes, she thought, Vic was ever so gentle, unlike the rest. She pulled back her hair from her face and let it fall back behind her shoulders, preparing to satisfy Victors' inquisitive nature.
"For your information, I did notice Malfoy. I was trying to see how far he would go. I can turn his interest into something useful, you know," Well, it was at least partly true, Abby silently added.
"I'm sure he would have gone very far!" He retorted back sharply. "As if he'd never seen a girl before. . ." Victor spoke under his breath but Abby lost the rest of his sentence.
"Believe me, Vic. I wouldn't have let him have his way. You know me. I would have turned the tables on him so quickly he wouldn't know where he'd be standing by the time I'd finish with him!" Abby said serenely, never doubting herself.
"Yeah, maybe," Victor looked at her doubtfully. "Well I don't think I've succeeded in making any kind of connection with him except in a negative way. I think it's in dire straits," Victor informed her. Abby chuckled from deep in her throat, sounding more like a purr.
"You did an impressive job of towering over him with the height you've gained over the summer." She smiled again (the only small smile that she allowed herself) at the memory of the scene that had transpired barely half an hour before.
Victor glowering down at Draco from his height of five feet eleven inches had been a very funny scene since Malfoy was shorter by at least a head. It had been a rare moment where Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's cronies, had miraculously disengaged from Malfoy's side to gorge on the goodies from the trolley. Draco's face had gone beet red, absolutely dumbfounded that a person would dare roughly handle the Malfoy heir.
"Don't you dare touch her again," Victor had said tightly.
"Are you threatening me?" Malfoy replied slowly, "Have you forgotten who you're speaking to?" Malfoy growled, eyeing Victor menacingly. As poisonous as his glare was, Malfoy was impressively disadvantaged by the towering height of Victor.
"There's nothing wrong with my memory," Victor stepped closer to Malfoy and was practically breathing down on him. "It is you who should be careful," Victor had said threateningly.
"It is you who should remember his place among the true purebloods. Hmmmm. Indeed, I think the servant's job of a bodyguard would truly suit a Grant such as you," he said mockingly. He sneered at him and walked out of the compartment smugly, knowing he had made a score against him. Victor was shaking like a leaf with his fists clenched tight against his sides. This time he was the one who was red in the face. Abby had to guide him to a seat for him to cool down. She did not remember anything after that for she had lapsed back into a trance-like state thinking about her 'mission.'
"Malfoy's going to pay for what he said. Just because he's a Malfoy . . . " Victor went on going red again in the cheeks.
"Don't do anything foolish Vic. Making a connection and alliance with a Malfoy is a chance of a lifetime," Abby replied firmly.
"I wonder if you would say the same thing if he had said that about your family," Victor replied indignantly. Abby sighed.
"In these times we must make alliances instead of feuds. Especially since Dumbledore is said to be gathering friends about him," Abby said lowering her voice. "The Dark Lord is establishing his own power base and he will be the one victorious but there is always that thorn of Dumbledore."
"You speak as if you're already a Death Eater," Victor whispered, taken aback by the total seriousness with which she spoke. Abby gazed at Victor showing nothing, her gray eyes looked as if it had been chipped from a glacier. She turned her head without saying anything to face the pile of chocolates and sweets next to her. Victors' own chocolate frog box lay half opened on his lap.
All of a sudden there was shouting coming from the main passage outside the compartment of the train. Abby looked up sharply and the both of them got up at the same time. The shouting did not end and the passage outside the compartment grew noisier with the sounds of other students moving out in the passage. Abby was already standing outside her compartment, with Victor looking over her head and the heads of other students.
"Of course, only another Malfoy/Potter encounter would make this much noise!" Victor bent down to tell her, a smile tugging at his lips, amused. Abby wanted to see what exactly was going on. All these people were in her line of vision and bumping into her. This was far from disrespect; it was indecent! Abby kept a check on her anger knowing that these insignificant people around were simply more absorbed in another confrontation between Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter than in making sure to not to step on any nobles' toes. So was she, and with as much dignity she could muster she pushed through the crowd to the front with many a "Watch it!" "Stop pushing" "There's not enough room!" She met each exclamation with cool indifference though she was bubbling hot inside. Finally, she saw the back of the perfectly combed platinum blonde hair that was characteristic of the heir to the Malfoy throne.
"Give him back, Malfoy," said a short boy. Abby thought. The messy mop of black hair characterized him as the one and only Harry Potter, Abby concentrated on the face she had looked intently upon so many times before. His bangs covered the scar that she knew slashed across his forehead. Behind round glasses, piercing green eyes looked out angrily at Draco. Those eyes could bore holes into someone once incited, though most of the time they sparkled with laughter and mischief. Right now they were doing a good job of piercing into Draco though the recipient acted unfazed, apparently more interested in what he held in his hands.
"Pathetic isn't he? What is he good for anyway? Oh right! He croaks!" Crabbe and Goyle who had resumed their customary station besides Draco snorted derisively. Abby stretched her neck and tried to find what it was that he was referring to, but from her vantage point, she had a good view of his back.
"I'm asking one last time, Malfoy, give him back," Harry said angrily.
"Oh, and if I don't? What if I keep him, you know, like on a loan, and make a few, let's say, improvements to this disgusting specimen. I think Longbottom would like that," Draco said nastily. Abby had scooted to the side against the wall of the passage and finally saw what the point of interest was. Draco, had been right, the toad that was clutched in his pale hand was truly pathetic. While speaking, Draco had taken out his wand and was pointing it ominously at the miserable creature. The thing croaked unhappily.
"You say so much as a half a syllable to him, you'll pay," Harry said, also taking out his wand and holding it ready. Draco narrowed his eyes.
"All right, I'll finish with this pathetic thing, and then I'll see to you," Draco gestured towards the hapless toad. What sounded like a very definite squeak came from behind Harry's shoulder. Abby looked at the source of the sound noticing the boy that stood shaking next to Harry for the first time. He was rather chubby and a look of pure fear was on his face. Was this the Longbottom that Draco referred to? Abby wondered.
"What's this? What's this? I would like to know what in the world all this commotion is for!" The chubby lady who pushed the trolley of goodies was pushing her way through the crowd from behind Harry and moved to stand looking at both Harry and Draco. She looked at one smug and slightly exasperated face to the other glowering one and looked suspiciously at their wands. "Well, what is all this about?" she said gruffly her hands on her hips. Harry opened his mouth but Draco answered first.
"I just found Longbottom's toad in my compartment, Miss, and I was just about to return it." Draco drawled.
"Well, get on with it, return him. There's no need for wands, anybody would have thought you too were dueling," she said hurriedly. Abby could see she was worried and out of her depth here. She did not have any real authority over the children and she was not here to keep control of these masses of students. She just wanted to see no mishap in the train and in Abby's opinion, did not want to get messed up with any Malfoy.
"Here, Longbottom. Be careful you don't let go of him near a pond. He just might drown," Draco sneered at him as he returned the unhappy toad to its shaking master. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle moved away chuckling and the rest of the students dispersed to their compartments, some secretly disappointed at the interrupted fun. The lady in charge of the trolley, Abby had never bothered to find out her name, walked away with a worried look on her face though it was being replaced by an expression of relief.
Abby had not moved as she continued to study Harry. He was turned towards the frightened Longbottom, his hand on his shoulder comforting him. Two anxious faces gathered around the two. Abby recognized them immediately as Harry's friends. One was the girl with Muggle parents, and an insufferable know-it-all. The other tall boy looking down on the rest of the company had the red hair and freckles characteristic of all the Weasley family. Abby remained concentrating on Harry, lost in her thoughts, and did not notice footsteps approaching her. The power of her gaze made Harry look up and finally notice her. The other three stopped talking and followed Harry's gaze to place her. Abby felt a hand on her shoulder. Abby started and turned to find Victor looking down at her curiously.
"Let's go Abby. It's about time we put our robes on. We'll be at Hogwarts in a little while." Victor said quietly. Yes, Abby thought, it would be an interesting fifth year at Hogwarts. She walked down the passage with Victor looking curiously at her, not looking back at the foursome who also shared Victor's curiosity.
"Must kill Harry Potter . . . must kill . . ." unbeknownst to Abby a fine cover of perspiration covered her forehead.