Most of the other Order members filed out, but Weasley lingered a little longer. "I don't like you guys staying in here to talk with them." Ron said 'them' with such venom it might have been a curse word. He was glaring daggers at my family. All I wanted to do was stand up and punch the look of hated off his face. He didn't understand what my family has been through over the years. No one here understood what it was like.
"Mr. Weasley, I did not ask you to stay behind, because I do not believe that would be a wise decision considering the circumstances. I assume that your friends will fill you in, but that is completely up to them. So, I ask that you please leave because we need to continue this meeting."
The look on Weasley's face was priceless. He was fuming from the ears now. But he turned and stomped out of the kitchen, muttering to himself. Dumbledore stood up and put a silencing charm on the door to the kitchen, as well as a few other simple spells to ensure that no one would listen in on their conversation.
"Alright. Now. To begin, I hope that we can keep this meeting a secret. I do realize, Harry and Hermione, that you share things with Mr. Weasley. If you share this with him, you must impress upon him the importance of keeping this a secret. We do not want to put anyone in this room into severe danger."
Dumbledore looked over his half-moon spectacles at the pair sitting in front of him. Potter and Granger looked at each other for a brief minute.
"What is it that we are keeping a secret, Professor?"
"Ah, yes. Now we must get to the important part of this evening. You see, young Mr. Malfoy was given a task from Lord Voldemort a few nights ago. It is not a very pleasant task, and it is one that Mr. Malfoy is expected to fail at. Lord Voldemort most likely believes that he will be killing young Draco in the near future." I winced at Dumbledore's statement. It was hard to hear my future so bluntly laid out in front of me. The pair of Gryffindors had looks of shock upon their face.
"Why in Merlin's name would Voldemort want to kill Malfoy?" Granger sounded thoroughly confused by the situation.
"I am afraid that is my fault. I should have known better. I tried to foil his plan of getting the prophecy at the Ministry. It succeeded, but backfired when he discovered that was my intention. If Bellatrix wasn't so insane, it might have gone a little more smoothly. Although he never said anything to me about it directly, this task they ask of Draco makes it explicitly clear that his intention is payback for my unfaithfulness."
Potter chimed in after that, "So what exactly is Malfoy l being forced to do?"
I looked down at my knotted hands in my lap. "He told me I was to rid the magical world of the one and only person that Voldemort sees as a threat to him." I looked up directly at Professor Dumbledore. "He told me I have to kill Professor Dumbledore by the end of this school year, or he would kill me."
The entire room stayed silent for a long while. Everyone in the room was letting Potter and Granger process this turn of events.
Finally Potter spoke, "So what do we have to do with this? Hire is Malfoy going to get out of this situation?"
"Severus and I have devised a plan that should help everyone out in the long run. You have to understand that the events of this plan are inevitable anyway. So it will do no good to reject it. I will let Severus explain it to you."
"Please do not interrupt me until I have finished fully explaining the plan. I understand that this plan will cause many emotions, especially for you Potter, but it is important for you all to understand the gravity of the situation. If this plan succeeds, which there is no reason that it should not, the Death Eaters should be placated. This summer, Albus came across a ring believed to belong to one of Voldemort's ancestors. The ring was, in fact, cursed and the curse was passed to Dumbledore when he put it on his finger. This is the cause of his blackened hand. The curse will, ultimately, lead to Albus's death." Snape went silent for a minute to allow his words to sink in. Potter had a look of complete horror on his face and Granger looked near tears.
"Our plan is very complex and will require all of your efforts to make sure that it is administered successfully. First, you three need to be trained Occlumens. It is very important that Voldemort cannot get into your mind to see what the Order is planning; especially for you Harry. I will be training each if you once a day until you can successfully block me out of your mind.
"Draco will be playing his part so the Death Eaters are not aware that he is a spy. Throughout the school year, Draco will be 'fixing' a broken cabinet. The Death Eaters have been led to believe that they will be invading the castle through this cabinet. The critical part of the plan will be at the end of your school year, but we will discuss these details later. There is no need to worry over it right now. It is very important that the three of you act as you normally would so that no one catches on to this plan; not even any other Order members. It is also important that the three of you forge a friendship of sorts, because you will need to help each other over the year. Many of the things that Dumbledore and I will be asking of you will be easier to deal with and complete as a team. This is all the information that I have for you right now. We will begin your training as soon as we get back to Hogwarts. Are there any questions that the three of you have right now?"
I had nothing to say, or rather I had everything to say, but there was too much to process. Granger and Potter looked about the same.
Dumbledore stood from his chair and said, "Very well. Our meeting has come to an end for the evening. I would encourage the three of you to meet here at Grimauld Place at least once before school starts to talk with each other. I realize that the three of you never got along, but it is important that you get along now. If you discover any questions you might have, feel free to come and see me when you return to Hogwarts." With that, Dumbledore walked out of the room.
Weasley burst into the room and started yelling, "What was that all about? We couldn't hear a single thing out there with our Extendable Ears. I don't like that you guys are having secret meetings with these people. They shouldn't even be here!"
"Honestly, Ronald! Get over yourself!" Granger huffed and then ran out of the room. Weasley looked embarrassed and then followed her out.
After Granger was out of the room, I realized that I was still staring at the empty doorway she had retreated through.
