Chapter II. The Secrets That You Keep.

Dear Astoria,

The holidays here at Hogwarts are quite hopeless without friends around or being home with the family. I'd give anything to be rid of this dormitory room, the common room and certainly the one they call Draco Malfoy. If only you knew what a git he was being, you wouldn't be able to stand him. Well, guess what? I'm stuck here with the miserable, selfish bastard for the next three weeks. I honestly don't know what his problem is and why he's been acting so mysterious. Maybe I shouldn't care as much, but when skeptical things keep occurring, one could only wonder. Hope all is well.

Yours, Ariana

Ariana put down her feathered quill and of course, checked the letter she would be sending to her best friend, Astoria, for errors and grammar. When it came to writing and grammar, one would say she was a Nazi and every T had to be crossed and every sentence ended with it's rightful punctuation marking. The professors at Hogwarts adored the extra work she would put in for essays, with grammar checking, spell checking, the whole nine yards which made less work for them. As she finalized her work, she sealed the parchment of paper up into a scroll and called her owl, Hesperia, over to the writing desk Ariana was sitting at. Hesperia was a beautiful owl, with brown and tan feathers, and would do anything for her master. Her talons were just large enough to carry a letter or two to any destination that was needed for the receiving of any parchment. Stroking the front feathers with her finger, Ariana let a smile appear on her face as she began tying the message to the bird's ankle. "Be careful out there Hessie." She replied with the nickname for her owl. "The weather is still pretty temperamental. Have a safe trip." With one last touch of the bird's feathers, Hesperia took off out the stained glass window of Ariana's dormitory room and into snowy blizzard air. She hoped that the letter reached her friend in time. Astoria Greengrass was the only person she truly confided in. She knew everything about Ariana, secrets, crushes, even about her family, in which she never spoke to anyone about. Though they were distant from each other, Astoria was always there for her through anything.

The day was dragging on like no end and the snow outside was coming down more than the previous days it had been snowing. The winter storm wasn't ending, it was only the beginning. After lounging around the Common room for half of the day, Ariana decided to tidy herself up and get ready for the remainder of the evening. Once again, she was alone in the Slytherin house, at least she thought she was, and she made her way from the common room to the spiral stairs toward the dormitory rooms. While passing by, she recognized a voice coming from one of the rooms. Maybe she wasn't alone after, she guessed, slowing down by the door. Her slender shoulders were in a mid shrug when she heard something quite peculiar.

"It will be done, my Lord. I just need time to plan." The familiar voice explained, slight shakiness within it's depth. Ariana furrowed her eyes and listened as she tried to match the voice to a face in her head. Yet, another voice came into play. A cold and dark voice, that sent chills up and down one's spine. It sounded of death and destruction. War and hate. This voice was not to be tempered with for only the worse would come of it.

"Planning, Draco, does not always succeed. Sometimes, there are exceptions to plans, rules to be broken. In this case, your life depends on this order I've given you. Fail, and you will be eliminated in the most cruel inhumane way. Succeed, you will live a full life and resume your destiny as a Death Eater and loyal follower of me. The choice is yours. Do not be foolish." The voice threatened, which belonged to none other than the Dark Lord himself, Voldemort. The coldness of his voice rang through the room and sliced the silence with a knife. Though coming from a bright, bluish orb of light, it's sound sent fear through Draco's heart and soul that he literally shook for a moment or two before regaining his composure.

"I will not fail you, my Lord. My deed will be more than satisfying to you, for serving you is my destiny" Draco replied with a bow of his head. There was nothing more than him wanting that cold, death-ridden air to be evaporated from his room at that moment. Nothing feared him more than this order he was given, but it was this particular order or his life. There was no choosing. No breaks or loop-holes. This was his future here and now. The problem was, how was he going to do it?

When the orb evaporated from Draco's sight, he couldn't help but start pacing. His forehead wet with perspiration , hands shaky from this unwelcome visit, the more he paced, the more his thoughts raced through his head, like a hurricane, destroying every good thought he once had earlier in the day. Ariana on the other hand, had discovered who had been conversing on the other side of the wooden door as Draco and her curiosity started raging within her thoughts. Her hand laid quietly on the door as if her ear had been pressed to it to eavesdrop more clearly. She tried to listen for more, but it had seemed the conversation had been finished and she now took a step away from the door. She was in shock at the fact that Malfoy was indeed talking with the Dark Lord and this special order was something that he was depending on. If she thought correctly, this was a secret that Draco was keeping to himself or in fact must keep to himself. While stepping away from the door, she managed to trip on a water goblet and caused it to tip and fall, rolling down the spiral staircase. Her face flew up towards the door and within seconds, it flew open on it's hinges. A pale and stressed looking Draco stood in the doorway and looked down at her for a few moments in silence before clearing his throat and furrowing his brow.

"Why don't you watch where the hell you're walking, Rookwood. While your at it, get the fuck away from my door. Head girl or not, Prefect or not, you're not worthy enough to be near here." His words hurled through her ears as angered built inside of her.

Keeping her composure though, she furrowed her brow slightly and began walking away.

"Go to Hell, Malfoy. Deep down, she knew he was hiding something about this order, what? She had no clue. It was going to take some time to find out and a lot of help from her three friends.

Draco watched her go down the corridor toward her bedroom and waited for her to close the door. His brow rose back up and he sighed, feeling a heavy burden on his chest.

Right before he closed his own door, he murmured, "I don't know how I'm going to do this."