The Shades of Gray

Chapter 1Another One

"All right, you little piece of vermin," said a large, red necked, beefy man to a messy haired boy who wasn't paying attention. "That crackpot weirdo said that you're to come with us one more time before your ruddy birthday and then we're rid of you forever." He smiled as he said this, the smile marring his horrible features even more.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," the boy, Harry, said blandly. His mind wasn't on his uncle. It was on the funeral of the greatest man who ever lived, his friends who were willing to risk their lives for him, and the most evil wizard in the world. Lord Voldemort had been a threat to the wizarding world for too long and it was time he was stopped. Harry, himself, had his parents personally killed by him and would have died himself if his mother hadn't protected him. He escaped with a lightning scar on his forehead just above his glasses.

He knew he couldn't go back to Hogwarts next year but it was like his home. More of a home than Privet Drive had ever been. He looked one last time at the busy streets of London, and King's Cross. He glanced towards the barrier between platform nine and ten and said a silent goodbye to the Hogwarts Express. His other classmates were going home with their parents, no doubt whispering about the events they had witnessed. Harry knew he, himself, couldn't discuss these things until time has numbed the pain he felt since Dumbledore died. After the loss of his godfather last year, Dumbledore was the closest he had to a parent and now he was gone too.

He sometimes wished he had another relative around him. His best friends were enough of course but he had to admit, a sibling, someone else, would be nice. Someone he could teach quiditch to and talk about their parents and wonder what they were like. To help ease the pain of their loneliness. He knew it was an impossible and elaborate fantasy but he was about to get his wish in a left-handed way.

"Bye, Ron. Bye, Hermione." He waved to his friends glumly. Now that Dumbledore was gone, there was no point in much.

"See you soon, Harry." Hermione looked worried, as if he would do something stupid. He knew that look.

"I'll send Pig for you about the wedding. It's on your birthday so you can go then, right?" Ron waved back and left.

Harry wondered whether Mrs. Weasley arranged that on purpose and smiled. She and Fleur had become friends through Bill getting attacked by a werewolf. He stopped smiling and thought about the days ahead. He, Ron, and Hermione, had decided to leave right after the wedding. Hermione wanted to protest but Harry had never given her a chance. He was going to his parents house, Godric's Hollow, assuming that it was still there and then looking for Lord Voldemort's horcruxes.

A horcrux was an object that someone seals a piece of his soul within with an incantation and a murder. Lord Voldemort believed that he would be immortal once he made them. There were six in all, two of which had been destroyed. Harry had been repeating the other four in his head again and again. The locket…the cup…something of Ravenclaw or Gryffindor…the snake…the snake…

The piece still in Voldemort must be the last to attack. Harry was still brooding about being the Chosen One bearing what seems like the weight of the world on his shoulders when Aunt Petunia said, "Now, listen here, you boy. Dudders is at a friend's house. We don't want anything…funny going on when we pick him in half an hour, do you hear?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure, whatever. Like I care."

"Don't you speak to your aunt in that tone, you ungrateful little-" Uncle Vernon started to say.

"Ungrateful? For what?" Harry said coolly. "Locking me up in my spider-packed cupboard? Or remembering to feed me a couple times a week?" He pulled out his wand threateningly. If he wasn't going back to Hogwarts in the first place, he won't care about being expelled. He'd always wanted to see his uncle quivering under the Jelly Legs Jinx.

"You-don't you-put that-" Uncle Vernon sputtered a little as his piggy eyes squinted madly. Aunt Petunia gasped and looked around, praying that nobody could see them. Harry grinned and his pain was forgotten for the moment. He was going to have a lot of fun during this short stay.

"Draco, enter."

The nervous blond boy almost tripped over his robes. He was in a dusty old room with the unpleasant smell of rust. He looked fearfully at the chair in front of him, which was, thankfully, facing the peeling wall. There was no other furniture. A snake uncoiled near the chair and hissed warningly. The moldy wooden planks creaked as he stepped closer towards what surely was his doom. "Y-yes, master."

"I am most displeased with you." The voice was high, cold, menacing, and merciless. Draco shifted uncomfortably. A picture of his mother formed in his mind and he cringed.

"I-I am s-sorry, master." He squirmed some more. What else was he to say?

"I did not expect you to succeed, Draco. As you know, I do not accept failure, nor do I forgive easily. You may, however, have one more chance. Your father is still in Azkaban and you must complete his duties for him, am I correct?" It was less of a question, and more of a challenge that Draco dare not accept.

"Of course, master," he said unsteadily. "Thank you."

"You thank me," the voice said slowly as its owner's mouth curved into a leer, "but you do no ask what your task is."

"Well I-"

"At any rate, I shall tell you. You must find the sibling of Harry Potter. You shall go back to your school and tell them you were imperiused. Your mother shall assist you with that. Then, you are to keep an eye out for Harry Potter's sibling who, according to Bella, should be attending Hogwarts this year."

Draco was stunned. "He-he has a sibling?"

"It would seem so. Not many know of this. Dumbledore was planning to enroll her into Hogwarts this year. Now he is gone - some credit must go to you for your fairly cunning ploys last year that may have worked if not for your cowardice - and the plan, I believe, is still continued. Your job is to find her and bring her to me. I would ask you to kill her but that would be wishful thinking to the full. Dismissed."

Draco left without another word. He was relieved that he and his mother weren't doomed to die-yet, but is also burdened by the immense difficulty of the mission. His mother, fair as the rest of his family, was standing outside the building among it's many weeds. Unlike her sister, who was dark haired and steel-like, she was fragile and anxious, especially for her only son.

"Draco!" she cried, hugging her son close. "Oh dear Lord, are you all right? What did the Dark Lord say?" Draco told her of his daunting task. The truth is, he cannot kill and he did not appreciate being reminded by the Dark Lord of this fact. What Dumbledore had said the night he died was right. He was not a killer. He would have to drag the girl outside of the castle grounds and apparate to the Dark Lord. He could have used his Vanishing Cabinets but no doubt Potter had already blabbed about it and it would be gone by now.

His mother took a different point of view. Despite how worried she was on his first mission, she was almost happy for the prospect of another job. "This is great, Draco. Another chance! This time it would be much easier. Little girls are always weak. It doesn't make any sense though…The Dark Lord has his ways. I'm surprised that Hogwarts is even opening this year. They really should close the place down."

"Yeah, well you know how the staff are, mum. All daft, they are. I can't believe I have to go back again. They're all idiots, I tell you. You know that Weasley girl I told you about? I heard she's in love with Potter."

"Yes Draco, and are you happy with that?" Narcissa gave her son a sidelong glance. He was becoming a man, she knew, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She didn't want her only son possibly pining away for a dirty blood traitor.

Draco knew her very well. "Mother," he groaned. "You know me. I date Parkinson, remember?"

"Hmm," his mother said doubtfully.

"Really!" Draco insisted truthfully. "Besides, I don't care how any girl looks, so long as she's in Gryffindor."

"Oh!" his mother exclaimed. "So you think she's a looker, don't you?

"Mother!"

"Oh all right. Come now. Hold on to my arm. We've got an acting scene to go through and you need to pass your Apparition Test if you don't want to botch this one up. I don't care what the Dark Lord says but you are going to study hard, do you hear? I don't know how you are going to manage but you'll just have to. I want my son to keep his options open and the only way he can do that is if he has enough N. E. W. T. s."

"Honestly, mother," Draco scoffed. "It's all a big joke. No one needs N. E. W. T. s when the dark arts are around. That's what father always says."

"Yes, well your father is in Azkaban, isn't he?" Narcissa inquired.

With a dull pop the pair of them disappeared.