Part 2
Draco Malfoy paced around the front hall of his manor, his hands
clenched behind his back. His face was contorted into a concentrated scowl,
and his eyes were slightly glazed.
Lucius Malfoy strolled into the hall, his face dominated by a borad
smile. "Come, Draco, why all this pacing? There's really no need for it. The
Dark Lord will take care of that boy eventually. You know it's going to
happen. Why trouble yourself with thoughts of him?" he asked genially.
"Father, Voldemort-" even Lucius Malfoy flinched at the name-
"wants me to take care of Potter. He sent Wormtail last nite to tell me. If I
kill Harry Potter by the end of this year, then I'll be as honored as the
Lestranges. If I don't, I'll be in the same state as Avery," he said uneasily.
He let this sink in for a minute, then Lucius roared, "I'D LIKE TO SEE HIM
TRY TO KILL MY SON! Narcissa! Get in here right now! We need to
talk!"
*
Hermione Granger slowly ate her breakfast of bacon and eggs, A
Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5 propped open in front of her.
"Hermione, dear, why don't you call Harry or Ron and see how
they're doing? See if they've been made prefects as well?" Hermione's
mother tentatively asked. Nothing bothered Hermione more than being
interrupted while she was reading.
A surprisingly civil answer came from behind the book. "Sure, Mum.
Just let me get this one spell down, then I'll go call them. OK?"
"That's fine. I just think you three don't see enough of each other over
the summer. Honestly, when I was young…" her voice trailed off as she
started up the stairs.
Hermione finished the sentence for her mother. "When you were
young, Mum, you weren't a witch." She slowly and reluctantly got up and
walked to the telephone. She punched in some numbers and held it to her ear
expectantly.
Ron was sitting on the bench in front of his house, his chin propped
up in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees.
"Cheer up, Ron. An owl probably just dropped it. I'm sure your letter
will come soon," Fred tried once again to get a smile from Ron. Fred's,
George's and Ginny's letters all had come, but Ron's was no where to be
found.
"I don't know what books I need, and I don't know if I'm a prefect or
not! I want my letter!" As if he had finally been heard, an envelope made of
parchment fell into his lap, followed by a phoenix, which then fluttered to
his knee, clearly exhausted.
"Fawkes? What are you doing here?" Ron asked incredulously.
"I suggest you read the letter that looks like it came from Hogwarts. I
told you it would come soon," Fred replied smugly.
Ron ripped open the letter and unfolded the piece of parchment. He
quickly scanned the page and a smile appeared on his lips, then it grew until
he jumped up (forcing Fawkes, with an indignant squawk, to flutter to the
chicken coop) and bellowed, "I'M A PREFECT!"
Mrs. Weasley came bustling out of the house at Ron's words. "What
was that, dear? There's a call for you from Hermione. Remember, don't yell.
She can hear you," Mrs. Weasley reminded him. Ron grimaced at her before
excaliming, "Mum, I'm a prefect!" "That's wonderful, dear. I-I never had
any doubt, no, none at all," she chattered, clearly lying. "Love the support,
Mum," Ron said, reaching for the phone.
Meanwhile, Voldemort was pacing back and forth in the cemetery
where he had murdered Cedric Diggory and attempted to kill Harry. "This
boy is proving to be more of a nuisance than I thought, Wormtail. He is like
a fly…a fly I am dearly longing to crush, but I haven't used the correct
flyswatter. It is right there…so close I can brush my fingers against it, yet
still out of reach," Voldemort mused.
"I-I have an idea, Master," Wormtail tentatively volunteered.
Voldemort whirled around and took two steps toward Wormtail. "What
would that be, Wormtail?" Voldemort asked, his red eyes shining evilly.
Wormtail gulped. "Well, he-he's very loyal to his friends. If we
kidnapped one of them, then we could either hold them hostage as bait or put
them under the Imperius Curse," Wormtail explained.
Voldemort rubbed his chin. "Hmmm…I think you should go get your
head examined, Wormtail. Something is definitely wrong when an
intelligent idea comes from that brain of yours," Voldemort proclaimed.
"Yes…I think I'll take the girl. Too many others might come if I took Arthur
Weasley's son. His brothers or sister, for instance, and that's not what we
want. And I believe I'll put her under the Imperius Curse and send her back
to Hogwarts. She will be our link to Hogwarts, and when things start
happening, no one will suspect her. She's one of those disgusting people
who knows the answer to every question and is always on the top of the
class…much like I used to be. Yes, Wormtail, something is wrong. This idea
is the one. Harry Potter is mine…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot of this story. The characters
and all that belong to J.K. Rowling.