Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling, and those corporate entities which have paid her good money for the rights they hold. This is a work of fanfiction, written for personal enjoyment, as a tribute to the fantastic universe that Ms. Rowling has created, and for no monetary gain whatsoever.

A/N: This is the plot bunny that ambushed me in a dream after I read one of the reviews on the original "Letter to No One." Amazing what inspiration the muses can come up with!

A/N UPDATE (Jan 2006): This story is being re-edited to clean up minor plotline glitches, punctuation and grammar errors prior to the posting of a new chapter. "Metamorphosis" does not take OOTP and HBP into account, although the author reserves the right to borrow various bits of background and minor characters to use for cosmetic purposes.


Metamorphosis: Chapter Six
by RowanRhys

Monday, 23 December 2004

Dawn found the Malfoy heir sitting on the windowsill, breathing on the window glass to melt the fragile frost crystals that had formed overnight. He shivered as a gust of wind forced its way in through the open casement, but Aldona hadn't returned from her hunt and he needed her to carry a message.

The parchment envelope in his hands was bulky, holding more than a mere letter. I'm holding my future in my hands, he thought. His thin cold fingers rubbed across the wax seal as he thought about the letter he'd written in the earliest hours of the morning after tearing himself from the grip of a nightmare that featured not only his usual demons, but also the worst his imagination could provide about the ultimate fate of Hermoine Granger and her mother.

If she isn't back in ten minutes, I won't send it. He closed his eyes and envisioned the pages of closely written script that were tucked into the parcel.

Dear Headmaster Dumbledore,

After the way I've spoken and behaved over the last five and a half years, I won't be surprised if you don't believe me, but my father has kidnapped Hermione Granger and her mother and they are currently locked up in the lowest levels of Malfoy Manor. I expect that my father intends to use them as bait to lure Harry Potter into a position to be captured to be turned over to the Dark Lord.

Mrs. Granger has an illness that will kill her if she does not receive the right medicine, but Father doesn't care about that. He sees her as a disposable tool for him to use to keep Hermione Granger in line until Potter arrives. Don't let Potter come after them. It's a trap.

I'm going to try to get Mrs. Granger out of here today, if I can. I don't know if I will be successful, but I feel that I have to try. The Dark Lord will kill her if the illness doesn't and he is supposed to be here on Christmas Night. If I can rescue Hermione, I'll try, but I expect that they've got her locked up behind alarm wards. Perhaps I can do something to help her rescue herself.

I'm sorry that it took so long for me to trust you. I've given you no reason in the past to trust me. So, I've enclosed something that will hopefully prove to you that I'm telling you the truth. I've been such a coward and allowed others to make my choices for me until now, but now I am making a choice of my own. I rather suspect that I won't be returning to Hogwarts after the New Year. I expect that if my father doesn't kill me for spoiling his dark plans, Lord Voldemort will.

Please keep my owl, Aldona, at the school. If you send her back, my father will probably kill her, too.

Draco Malfoy
23 December 1996

He'd pulled out the bundle of letters that he'd written to himself as a journal over the last five years, the ones recording his feelings and fears and pains as he was forced to live the life of his father's choosing. After casting a final Veritas spell on them, he'd tucked them, and the new letter into the envelope and addressed it to the Headmaster. After sealing it with his personal seal, he had thrown the quill into the fire, not wanting to risk someone enchanting it to copy out the words that it had written, betraying him.

Now, in the rosy dawn, mere moments before the deadline he'd set, he caught a glimpse of movement in the sky. Aldona was winging back to him, soaring gracefully against the clouds that threatened a very seasonal snow. The moment she landed on the windowsill, he tied the bundle to her leg and whispered the destination into her tufted ear. "Stay there, where you'll be safe." He felt his stomach clench as she swooped back into the air, heading north with steadily beating wings. The Snitch had been released and the game wouldn't be over until he or his opponent caught it.

TBC