Chapter Four: Death

"Died?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. "How?"

"They're not sure, but I doubt they'll launch a real investigation. It's not like there's anyone around to miss her."

"She probably found out what happened to her parents, and the grief killed her," Daphne said mockingly.

Everyone chuckled. It was the most horrible sound. It took every ounce of my self-control to keep my face blank. Malfoy squeezed my hand again, but he wasn't helping. I wanted to scream at him just as much as everyone else, if not more.

Lord Greengrass stood and raised a glass. "Here's to the last of the 'Golden Trio' finally meeting her end. Long live the Emperor!"

My heart stopped. Somehow I managed to lift my glass into the air and drink with everyone else, all the while dying inside. The last of the Golden Trio...

Ron...

Malfoy tried to squeeze my hand again. I pulled it away, struggling to control my heavy breathing.

"Dear, are you all right?"

I glanced up at Lady Greengrass. "Yes, I'm fine, I just—I guess I'm still shaken from yesterday. Excuse me."

I stood. Malfoy stood with me and took my arm.

"Let's go for a walk, shall we? Maybe the fresh air will help."

Feeling numb, I nodded. We were almost to the front door when I heard someone following us.

"Astoria, may I have a quick word?" Lord Greengrass said.

After a moment of hesitation, I nodded. "I'll meet you outside," I said weakly to Malfoy. He kissed me again before walking out the large front doors.

Lord Greengrass took a few steps closer to me. I resisted the urge to step back.

"Well? What have you found out?" he said in a low voice

I quickly racked my brain for an answer, some way to talk myself out of this.

"Nothing new," I said.

Lord Greengrass let out a sound that resembled a growl. "Well, you better find something soon. The Emperor is not a patient man."

I tried to hide the bolt of fear that ran through my system. "I understand."

He nodded. Taking that as a cue that the conversation was over, I exited the house, forcing myself to walk instead of run. Malfoy was waiting just outside the doors. As soon as they closed behind me, I let out a deep breath.

"You've got some explaining to do."

"I know. I should have done more to keep your parents away, Darling, I'm sorry."

My blood was boiling. "You know very well that's not—"

He shot me a warning look. "Why don't we go for a walk in the gardens? That usually helps clear your head, doesn't it?"

He extended his arm to me. I clenched my teeth and took it. With every step we took, I grew more and more anxious, and more and more angry. If I didn't get some answers soon, I was going to explode.

After we'd been walking for about five minutes, he suddenly pushed me against a nearby tree. But I didn't hit the bark—I staggered into a sparsely furnished, dimly lit room. In front of me, the wall seemed to turn to liquid and Malfoy walked through it.

"All right, Granger—let it out."

"What in Merlin's name have you gotten me into?" I screamed. "The only reason I'm here is because of your note, and you've done nothing to convince me it wasn't a sham! And if Harry is alive, why would you even want to help him? And how did you get the keys to my cell, and get the Polyjuice past the guards? Oh, and while we're on the subject, why didn't the potion wear off, why do I sound like her, and where is your real fiancé?"

He raised a hand. "Let's start with that last one, shall we? The real Astoria Greengrass is currently being buried at sea by the wardens of Azkaban."

"What?"

"It's quite simple, really. If you'd merely escaped from Azkaban, then everyone who was at the prison that day would be a suspect in the investigation. But if you were found dead, there would be a celebration."

I choked on my words. "You killed her, and put her in my place."

"It wasn't in cold blood, I assure you. Her father tasked her with investigating me for the Emperor—you see, when I told you my father was dead, I left out the important detail that he was killed by the Emperor because he was suspected of treason. My mother's in Azkaban now, which is our excuse for being there yesterday. I thought I could handle Astoria, but she dug a little too deep. I had to eliminate the liability."

"You murdered her!"

He took a few steps forward. "If I hadn't killed her, she would have exposed me, and the fact that Potter's been alive all this time, a secret my family has gone to great lengths to keep. And don't forget you would still be in that hell," he hissed. "If you disapprove of my methods, maybe I should have left you there."

I clenched my teeth. "Maybe you should have."

He scowled and turned away from me. "I knew this was a mistake. You don't have what it takes to beat him."

"If you mean I'm not a murdering scoundrel like yourself, you're right."

"This is war!" he exclaimed, whirling around. "There will be casualties, and better them than us! I promise you, Granger, if they find us out they will have no mercy, so we need to be merciless in return."

"What is in this for you? The Draco Malfoy I knew never did anything that wasn't out of self-interest."

"Then you never knew me very well. Everything I did was out of fear."

"And you're not afraid of 'The Emperor' now?"

"More than ever, but I'm determined to make this right. He's destroying both the wizarding world and the muggle world. Believe it or not, I do have a conscious."

"Right, and that's why you murdered Astoria."

"It was her or me. What about that don't you understand?"

I took a deep breath and let it out. "Fine. But if we're going to work together, from this point forward we explore other options before homicide."

"Fine," he muttered resentfully. "Next question."

"How old am I?"

"Astoria's 23. Hermione's 25."

I blinked. "25?"

"Turning 26 next month."

I found a nearby chair and sat in it, putting my head between my knees. "Seven years," I muttered.

Malfoy pulled up another chair and sat next to me. "A lot has changed since the Battle at Hogwarts. The world is a much different place."

I'd learned so much just in the past hour. Something horrible had happened to my parents. Ron was dead, and probably his entire family as well. Voldemort was now trying to take control of the muggle world. The world had become such a place that my death was a celebration to most of those left in it.

I collected myself, sat up, and looked him squarely in the eye.

"Tell me everything."


A/N: The plot is starting to move forward! Hope you're still enjoying :) Looking forward to reading your comments!