Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter but the awesome J.K Rowling
Chapter 2
Nothing
"Kyne! Lucius!"
Oh dear Merlin, him.
"Fudge," grandfather nodded, emotionless while Lucius had one of his smiles on again, the condescending one. Yes, Lucius had all sorts of smiles, just like how Uncle Sev had all sorts of scowls.
"Ah, Fudge," Lucius said, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic, "How are you?"
"I'm very well, thank you very much!" Fudge bellowed heartily, his round belly jiggling, "Almeda! Narcissa! Always a pleasure!"
"Likewise," my grandmother said, her tone saying otherwise while Narcissa gave a polite nod.
"And Young Mr Malfoy! Miss Whyte! The two of you still stuck at the hip eh? I heard from Lucius that the two of you are dating! Congratulations! I knew it would happen sooner or later! Good job, Mr Malfoy!" Fudge laughed, slapping Draco's back in approval. Unbeknownst to him, my Grandmother's eye twitched so ever slightly, finding his manners crude and appalling. She never was one for informalities, and this was considered as one of them. Narcissa on the other hand, was delighted, giggling politely along with Fudge.
"Mr Fudge," Draco and I greeted accordingly, though there had been a grimace on Draco's face. That pat on the back must be painful. Out of the corners of my eyes, I can see the Trio eying us suspiciously, filled with apprehensiveness.
"Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk – Obalonsk, this is Mr- well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't answer a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind."
And this, my dear friends, was our own Minster of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Diplomatic bloke, he is.
"And let's see who else," Fudge continued, "You know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"
I was bursting out in hysterical laughter on the inside, recalling that time when Lucius had a muggle fight with the said Weasley in the Flourish and Blotts' bookshop just the other day. It had been entertaining.
"Good lord Arthur," Lucius said softly, "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"
Huh, like father like son, who knew that they would come up with the same insult? Draco who had been beside me actually puffed his chest up, proud of this little fact.
"-here as my guest," Fudge had continued rambled on, not noticing the strong tension nor heard a word Lucius said. Both Lucius and my grandparents' lips curled downwards upon seeing Granger, the three of them heard plenty about her.
Granger might not know this but she had been a huge topic within us Pureblood society. Her perfect score every year had constantly disgraced us Pureblood children. Along with her stuck up know-it-all attitude, can one see why us Slytherins hate her?
With Fudge being present, neither Lucius nor my grandparents said anything about her inferiority out of political reasons, and settled with staring down at her with great distain. Being the Gryffondor she was, she didn't back down, holding her ground and glared back.
Impressive.
My grandfather did not even acknowledged Arthur's existence before walking off, continuing down the line to our seats with my grandmother by her side. Getting the hint, Lucius sneered at Arthur Weasley, trailing after my grandfather.
Draco shot Harry and the rest a similar contemptuous look before leading me away, his grip around my waist and dragged me along, ending the whole interaction short. I settled down next to Draco, Narcissa beside him. My grandparents was sitting at the other end, Lucius next to them, conversing quietly about Merlin knows what. Actually, the three of them had been doing that more and more recently.
Maybe they're plotting to take over the world?
... ...
... ...
Ah, shit.
"Har har, you are so funny Lexi," Draco bite out sarcastically as he snatched my Omnioculars away, scowling deeply at me who was still howling with laughter. I had been replaying the scene where Draco attempted to jump off the stadium box. He had not cover his ears when the veelas came out, and was affected by them. Narcissa had held onto him with a disapproving scowl, trying to stop him from committing suicide.
We returned to the tent once the Quidditch match ended, with the adults retreating back to the drawing room and left us alone. So being the teenagers we were, Draco snuck me into his room, placing an silencing charm before we started to discuss and debate about the highlights of the match,and Draco's brilliant act.
"It's not just funny, it's hilarious!" I rasped as I hugged my stomach, still trying to catch my breath, "Plus, I didn't get the chance to laugh earlier, Draco, I need to get it out now or I'll explode!"
"You're an idiot," Draco chided lightly when he suddenly grabbed my lips carefully, his brows furrowed further. I had been biting onto my lips earlier in order to stop myself from disgracing the Whyte's name, causing it to bleed. "I really hate it when you do that, you got to stop this horrid habit."
Draco stared at it for a few more seconds before he leaned in and kissed it gently, his tongue traced over the marks, putting a new meaning to licking one's wounds. Just as Draco deepened the kiss, there was a knock at the door, the both of us bolted away from each other in a second.
"Draco, it's me,"
I scurried over to my hiding place in the room before Draco answered the door, with me completely out of sight.
"Yes, mother?" Draco asked, trying to pretend nonchalance. I heard Narcissa coming in, her footsteps getting louder and lou-
"Hi Alexi, how are you?"
Crap.
I opened up the wardrobe door and crawled out, meeting Narcissa's bemused smiling face.
"Hi Narcissa, I'm fine thank you, and you?" I replied with as much dignity as I can, face tainted pink.
"Really? The wardrobe? It's so predictable, I actually expect more from the both of you. Next thing you know, I'll find the both of you making out in the broom c-"
"Mother!"
Right, so my face wasn't tainted pink. It's blood red. Can someone decapitate me now?
"Anyway, that's not important now," Narcissa dismissed, suddenly solemn, "We need the both of you in the parlor right now. It's an emergency. Do the two of you have your wands?"
The both of us nodded, patting our respective pocket we had kept our wand in.
"Good, and wear a shirt Draco, Almeda will have a fit if she sees you half naked." Narcissa said, throwing a shirt in his direction before pushing us out the door.
"Mother, what happened?" Draco asked, putting on the shirt.
"Your father will be telling you soon, let's just get down."
It was when I'd passed by my bedroom door did I realized that I was still in my nightgown. Even though it reached my ankle, with long sleeves and high collar, grandmother found it highly inappropriate to wear nightgowns in front of any guests.
"Narcissa, I haven't changed yet, I-"
"It's not important now Alexi, there's no time to waste, Almeda will understand." Narcissa cut me off quickly. As contradicting as she was being, the seriousness in her voice surprised us. When we reached the parlor, my Grandparents and Lucius were waiting there, all stern looking.
"Draco, I want Alexi and you to head to the woods right now and stay there." Lucius started, "No matter what happens, stay close and do not let each other out of sight. Wait until we come and get the both of you, understand?"
"Why? What's goin-"
"Stop asking questions and just do what you'd been told! How ill-mannered." My grandmother snapped, sneering.
"Draco, just take Alexi and go," Narcissa whispered, "Come on, go."
Draco clenched his jaw tightly before taking my hand, the both of us headed towards the woods as instructed.
"Draco, I don't have a good feeling about it..." I muttered after our tent was no longer visible. The both of us were walking through the commoner's campsite, passing by quite a few drunks who were still celebrating the victory of Ireland.
"Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," He pulled me closer, his other hand on his wand in precaution. "Mother should have let you change, I don't like how the others are looking at you."
"Yes Draco, because this nightgown from the twelfth century I'm wearing is just soooooo sexy." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Your sarcasm is not appreciated right now, Lexi. Did you not see the way they're staring at you?" He shot back, his arm now wrapped around my shoulder, glaring at anyone who so much looked in our direction.
"They're staring because no one in this age and time still wear clothes like this, Draco. They must have thought I'd travelled from the past or something."
"Are you kidding me? Your nightgo-" A loud piercing scream suddenly tore through the campsite, along with the sound of people running and explosions. Somewhere faraway, a fire had broke out.
"Merlin, an attack..." I breathed, shocked. Had my grandparents and Lucius known about the attack? Had they planned this?
"Lexi! We have to go! Come on!" Draco yelled, trying to scream over the loud noise as he grabbed my hands, tugging it urgently. The both of us began to pick up our pace, fleeing.
There were many strong burst of green lights, the very distinctive green light I knew so well. My breath quickened, heart racing. Were they... aiming to kill?
Draco buried my head against his chest once we reached somewhere deep in the woods, trying to drown out the loud laughter, jeering, shouting, and even screaming. The both of us tensed when we felt a new presence near us, our wands at ready in an instant, moving towards the source cautiously.
"-tripped over a tree root," A familiar angry voice grounded out, scuffing sounds of someone getting up can be heard. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, relaxing slightly.
"Well, with feet that size, hard not to," Draco drawled out, calming down significantly when he realized who was it.
The three shadowed figured turned sharply, all glaring.
"Go bleeping bleep yourself and jump off the bleeping astronomy tower Malfoy!" Weasley snarled. You're welcome for the censorship for the benefits of your innocent mind.
"Language, Weasley," Draco smirked, "Even Lexi's mouth is cleaner than yours."
"Hey! What was that supposed to mean?" I protested, but it fell on deaf ears.
"Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't want to be spotted, would you?" Draco continued, nodded at Granger. At the same moment, there was another explosion from the campsite, a stray spell momentarily lit the trees around us.
"What do you mean?" Harmione asked defiantly, though her voice shaky.
"Granger, they're after Muggles," Draco said with false bravado. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Oooh, so go and answer Granger's question, don't bother about Lexi, nobody cares about her," I said scathingly.
"Hermione's a Witch!" Harry retorted.
"Not in their eyes, Potter," Draco scoffed, "If you think they can't spot a mudblood, stay where you are."
I flinched involuntary at the said M-word, the chaotic commotion around not helping much.
"Do I even exist?" I asked, but was ignored again.
"You watch your mouth!" Weasley roared, ready to attack when Granger grabbed hold of him, "Come on Ron, ignore him, let's go find the oth-"
"I lost my wand!" Harry's sudden exclamation caught everyone's attention. It wasn't long before all of us staring at him wide eyes. "You're kidding!" Weasley and Granger said at the same time. They instantly raised their already lighted wands to try and look for it.
"Maybe it's in the tent?"
"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?"
"Can you believe it? He actually lost his wand! What kind of wizard is he?" Draco chuckled, but it died down when he noticed the frown on my face. "Lexi, where are you go- what are you- Oh come on Lex!"
I heard Draco groaned in frustration when I'd walked towards the Trio, my lighted wand in my hands, joining their search. Even though I hate them, losing a wand during such dangerous time can be fatal, and the Tri-, well, just Harry himself really, had kind of grown onto me. I wouldn't want him dead.
The fact that he's my baby cousin might have helped a bit too.
"There's nothing here, and it's too dangerous to search for it right now. We should hide first and look for it when everything dies down. Don't worry, I know a tracing spell, I'll tell Granger about it later, she can help you get your wand back afterwards."
Harry shared a few looks with Weasley and Granger, all three of them having a silent conversation with their eyes before they nodded their head in some sort of agreement.
How... creepy.
"Lexi, are you sure you want be around them? Remember what father had said? He'll come and find us. What do you think your grandparents would do if they found you with them." Draco whispered harshly, only loud enough to be audible to me. The Trio had chose to walk behind us, following the path Draco and I were leading.
"I know about that," I replied, speaking just as softly, "We'll head off as soon as we lead them to somewhere safe. Harry lost his wand, Draco, compared to them, they're in more danger than we'll ever be. They need it."
"Lex-"
"Just let me do this, Draco! Alright?"
"Fine," Draco spat, running a hand through his hair, messing it up. "Bloody Potter," He fastened his pace, walking ahead of us, sulking again.
"What's up with Malfoy?" Harry asked as he stepped next to me.
"Nothing, he's just being childish," I muttered, "And don't lose your wand again if you ever find it. I'm not going to help you anymore."
"Why are you helping us in the first place anyway?" Weasley asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed.
"Sirius asked me to take care of Harry, so I must at least try and make an effort. It'll give me a better excuse then if Harry did die, I want to look good in front of Sirius, he lets me play with Snuffles."
"What beautiful lukewarm sentiment," Harry deadpanned, "I'm touched, what have I done to deserve someone like you?"
I snickered, but was cut short with a sneeze, the coldness of the night finally got to me.
"Here," Harry took off his coat and draped it over my shoulders, "Whatever antique you're wearing is too thin, you'll catch a cold."
"Don't expect me to thank you, Harry, wearing such cheap fabric is beneath me, but… I'm willing to compromise, so you should thank me."
"Oh yes, Lexi. Thanks so much for gracing me with the honour of gifting you my coat that's keeping you from freezing to death. I'm so grateful."
"Of course you do," I smirked, Harry rolling his eyes half heartedly, lips twitching.
"The two of you are nutters, you know that?" Weasley blurted, staring at us in disbelief. Harry and I exchanged a look before the both of us started to chuckle, finding it sort of true.
"Maybe it's the Potter genes." I shrugged, grinning.
"Nutters."
Draco stomped on his feet angrily, having heard every single exchange between Alexi and Harry, and it just pissed him off.
"You should start getting used to it, you know. The both of them are each other's only link to their late parents, it's inevitable that their relationship will get stronger."
"Who asked for your opinions, you filthy mudblood!" Draco hissed, startled to see the brown hair girl was right beside him out of the blue. He had not noticed her. He had been preoccupied with his thoughts, coming up with all sorts of creative ways to murder the Boy-Who-Unfortunately-Lived.
"Are you sure you want to keep calling me that?" Granger asked firmly, even though hurt was evident in her eyes, "Whyte seems to hate that word very much, even more so than us. She even flinched when you said it earlier."
Draco winced inwardly when he heard what Granger had said, berating himself for neglecting Alexi again out of spiting the Trio. He was caught in the moment and he forgot about her... No wonder it took forever for Alexi to confess her relationship with Harry to him.
"Anyway, what I want to tell you is to stop being so possessive. Harry deserves her too, he'd been through too much."
Draco snorted, disgusted. Harry Potter, it's always him. No matter what he done, Harry would always get the spotlight without even trying. Everyone sees him as the perfect boy, the chosen one.
What about him?
Alexi's attention was supposed to be solely on him, but it turned out that the Boy-Who-Lived had to snatch that away from him too.
"Don't make me laugh, he'd been through much? He makes mine and Alexi's life seemed like a breeze through Hogsmeade. He deserves nothing."
"Alright, let's just assume that is the case," Granger said, "What about Whyte? You said she'd been through worse, then doesn't she deserves to have something more?"
"She. Already. Has. Me." Draco gritted, his annoyance for the infuriating muggleborn rising.
"Something more, Malfoy," Granger emphasised, deadpanned, "Honestly, it's as if you're suffering from first child syndrome."
Draco arched an eyebrow, the term Granger used was foreign to him. The Wizardry World had never spent much on muggle medical research, or anything muggle related, so whatever Granger had said earlier, meant nothing.
"I meant you're jealous."
Right on the Galleons.
Draco growled once more, giving Granger the most vindictive Malfoy glare. This time round, no matter how stubborn and hard-headed she was, the glare sent her cringing.
Thankfully, they reached a clearing fairly soon, far away from danger. When Draco thought that everything was over, a sudden rustling sound among the bushes had his guards up, his wand shot right up and pointing at the direction of the sound.
"Who's there?" Draco hissed, "Come out now!" The uneven footsteps behind the tree came to a sudden stop, and dead silence ensued. Draco took a few steps back, subtly standing in front of Alexi, shielding her from any potential danger.
Potter, being the stupidly bold one, actually stepped forward and peered around, trying to make out who or what that was beyond.
When he didn't even have a wand...
What an idiot.
"Har-" Alexi was about to stop Harry when a voice broke the silence. It was not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.
"MORSMORDRE!"
Something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness all of them had struggled to penetrate; the bright light flew over the treetops and into the sky.
"What the-" Ron jumped, staring up at the thing that had appeared; a colossal skull that comprised of what looked like emerald stars, a serpent protruding its mouth like a tongue.
"The Dark Mark," Harry heard his cousin uttered out fearfully from beside, his eyes never leaving the odd green manifestation, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke. It rose higher and higher, etched against the black into the sky like a new constellation.
"Lexi, what's th-" The wood all around them abruptly exploded with blaring ear-piercing screams, the fear that was present within the air seemed to increase by tenfold, the commotion gotten worse.
"Run," Was the only word Malfoy and Alexi had muttered out before the both of them started to sprint in the opposite direction, grabbing all of them by the wrist roughly and dragged them along, desperately trying to get away.
"W-what, what's the matter?" Harry asked as he ran along, shocked to see the two Slytherin so shaken up, their faces white and filled with terror.
"It's the Dark Mark," Harry turned towards Hermione's direction, seeing her just as pale, "It's You-Know-Who's sign."
"Voldemort's-"
"Don't say his name!" The two Slytherin shouted out fearfully at the same time, both of them looked just as frightened as they sounded. The five of them had barely made across the clearing when a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards. The lot of them appeared out of thin air, surrounding them.
"DUNK!" Harry yelled without pausing to think, not failing to notice the wands that were pointing at them. Malfoy and Alexi were already halfway down the ground, pulling all of them along.
"STUPEFY," The twenty different voices roared, and then came a blinding series of flashes. All five children felt the hair on their heads rippled as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing.
"PROTEGO!" Harry heard Malfoy and Alexi yelled out from the ground, and raised his head a fraction of an inch out of curiosity. It's a no wonder why the two Slytherin had retaliated. There had been numerous of red lights were flying right towards them, and eventually, one will definitely hit them. The attacks all started to bounce off with the magical shields Draco and Alexi managed to put up, rebounding into the darkness-
"Stop!" A voice shouted, "STOP! That's my son!"
Malfoy and Alexi had stopped casting defensive spells once the red flashes had stopped, the both of them slowly standing back up. Harry followed, seeing Mr Weasley striding towards them, looking scared stiff.
"R-Ron, Harry," He trembled out, "Hermione, are the three of you alright?"
"Oh, sure, what are we? Chopped liver?" Alexi bite out, her eyes rolling.
"Out of the way, Arthur," a cold, curt voice broke out. It was Mr Couch, He and the other Ministry wizards closing in on them, his face taut with rage.
"Which one of you did it?" He snapped, sharp eyes darting between them, "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"
Harry did not fail to see how every wizard seemed to glance towards Malfoy and Alexi for a split second. The two had already steeled over their emotions, back to their obnoxious, insufferable self.
"We didn't do that!" Ron exclaimed, gesturing up at the skull, "We didn't do anything! What did you want to attack us for?"
"Do not lie, sir!" Mr Crouch barked, his wand now pointed direction at Ron, his eyes popping. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime! It must be one of you!"
"Barty," whispered a witch, "They're kids, Barty. They'd never have been able to, except maybe for the Malfoy and Why-"
"May I know what are you trying to imply?" Malfoy interrupted coldly, eyes flashing, "Do you have any evidence, at all? Wait till my father hears about this!"
The witch recoiled away, not expecting the Malfoy heir himself had heard her accusation. Well, she had not been too quiet after all. Even Harry himself had heard her.
"Where did the Dark Mark come from, kids?" Mr Weasley asked quickly, nervously.
"O-Over there," Hermione stammered, pointing at the place where they heard the voice, "It wasn't Malfoy or Whyte, there's someone else behind the trees... it shouted words – an incantation –"
At Hermione's words, all wizards began to point their wand at the direction she had pointed, squinting through the dark trees. They all seemed to believe her, all except for Bart Couch.
"We're too late," The earlier witch said, shaking her head, "They must have disapparated by now."
"They must have disapparated by now." The ordinary-looking witch sighed, the same witch who almost got Draco and I into trouble. She had backed away once Lucius was mentioned, knowing full well what he's capable of to anyone in the Ministry.
"Draco," I whispered discreetly, the rest of the wizards busy with trying to find the culprit, Amos Diggory even went into the woods.
"Mmm?"
"Do you think we can sneak away? If my Grandparents ever see me with-"
"What's going on?" A cold voice drawled out after four loud popping sounds were heard, rendered me speechless.
"Mr and Mrs Whyte! Mr and Mrs Malfoy!" Barty Couch exclaimed, astounded, "What are the four of you doing here?"
"Draco and Alexi got separated from us, and thankfully for Mr Munch over there, he'd send us his patronus telling us they're here." Narcissa explained, "We're here to take them back."
"They're one of the suspects, you can't just-"
"One," My grandmother cut in, her words slow and deliberate, "Of the suspects?"
"They were found in company with the three others, including Harry Potter himself!"
What the heck?
Note to self, put Barty Couch top on my hit list.
"Is that true, Alexi?" My grandmother drawled, taking long slow steps towards me, "Are you, in the company of Harry Potter?"
"N-No, grandmother," I stuttered, my voice barely a whisper. "I, Draco and I, we, we were hiding in the woods when they, they just app-" My head bowed, covered in cold sweat.
Shit shit shit shit shit!
Narcissa had already steered Draco away, no matter how unwillingly he seemed. She knew it's better if he wasn't gotten involved with my grandmother's interrogation.
"SPEAK PROPERLY! I TAUGHT YOU BETTER!" A loud slapping sound echoed through the woods, my face swung to the right. Loud gasps can be heard from all around, humiliation added to the pain I'd suffered.
"LEXI!"
I gasped, utterly horrified by what Harry had yelled out, his voice filled with concern. Concern that was going to get me killed.
"Lex-i?" My Grandmother questioned, her eyes flickered over to the aforementioned boy before returning his attention back to me, "How... informal. Alexi dear, you never told me... you are friends with the famous Harry Potter himself. And whose coat is... this?" She now openly surveyed the Trio, eyes narrowed when she noticed Harry was the only one without one.
"How... interesting."
"G-Grandmother! I-It's not what you thi-!"
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK BACK TO ME CHILD!" She screamed, about to give me another slap when my grandfather intervened, grabbing onto her wrist that's halfway making its target. Harry had almost made his way towards me too, and for once, thank Merlin for Granger who'd held him back, not making it worse than it already was.
"Not here, Almeda. We're in public." My grandfather said emotionlessly, both him and Lucius not even fazed by the scene. "Mr Couch, I think Amos had found the culprit." He continued, nodding at an unconscious house elf on the ground.
"So are we free to leave now that they're proved innocent? We seem to have something... important to take care of." My grandfather asked as his gaze turned to me, a look that had me trembling in fear.
"But- Er, S-Sure," Crouch complied, shrinking under his death glare as well. He'd held great power within the ministry; being one of the high ranked unspeakables.
"Alexi, take your Grandmother's arm, we're apparating back home."
"Y-Yes sir," I dare not to look over at the Trio's direction when I walked towards my grandmother, but can't help but met Draco's eyes for one last look before I disapparated away. What I'd seen burned into my mind. He looked just as helpless as I am, clearly struggling with Narcissa's grasp on both of his shoulder. Narcissa's nails dug into his skin, her face had contoured into a face of hurt, watching me sorrowfully and apologetically.
There's nothing they can do...
Edited.
