AN: I'm terribly sorry! I got busy with the end of the semester at college, then I had writer's block and, when I finally decided to simply force myself to write, I had to go away for Christmas with my family. This chapter is really small, but it ended exactly where I needed the story to go, so the next chapter should be longer and, hopefully, better.


The Letters

Harry smiled as his friends sat down around a table in the kitchens. They were talking and congratulating themselves, as they had found a secret passage behind the one-eyed statue. He looked around and saw House-Elves nodding at them while they said what they wanted to eat. Dean sent him a wink as he added their new discovery on their map.

"I want some pumpkin pie, bring it immediately, stupid Elf!", Harry heard Draco shouting. He sighed. The boy had been nice to everybody in their study group, but he still had to improve a lot.

"Excuse me?", Hermione said, her voice low. The others gulped. "He's not your slave."

"Oh, come on, Gran... I mean, Hermione. I treat you and your friends well, but you can't expect me to treat a House-Elf as if it were anything other than... well, a House-Elf.", Draco scoffed.

"I can and I do, Malfoy.", she told him. Harry shook his head, not looking forward to what was about to happen. Neville patted his arm slightly, clearly waiting for his best friend to do something.

"Draco, Hermione, take a deep breath.", he finally said. The Slytherin rolled his eyes at him, while the girl raised her eyebrows. Harry gulped at that. "Listen, I understand why the two of you think the way you do, but...", he paused, unsure of what to say. Neville gave him a nod, trying to encourage Harry. He smiled at that and nodded back. "Our most important rule is to respect everybody. So, Draco, just because you think that House-Elves don't deserve to be treated well, it doesn't mean that's the right thing to do. They help us and make our lives easier, the least we can do is to be polite with them."

"Seriously?", Draco asked him, shaking his head.

"We've respected you ever since you've joined our group and, let's face it, mate, it's not like you had earned it back then.", Harry told the Slytherin. "You will resp-ect all living creatures if you want to be respected, Draco. There's nothing honourable about being respectful only to people you believe to be your equals or superiors."

"That's the kind of thing a Gryffindor would say.", the boy muttered, but he sighed. "Fine, fine. If being nice to House-Elves means I'm not too much like my father, I guess I can do it."

"You're nothing like your father, Draco.", Blaise quietly told him, making his friend blush. Harry cleared his throat, not wanting their day to get awkward and uncomfortable.

"Well, let's enjoy the food. We need energy before we explore that passageway!", he shouted. "Thank you, Juby.", he added when the House-Elf brought him a piece of cake.


"Bloody hell! This is the Honeydukes!", exclaimed Ron as they finally reached the end of the passageway. Dean slapped him on the back of his head while the others glared at him. Harry shook his head and resisted the urge to chuckle as he saw his friend's cheeks and ears as red as his hair. They heard footsteps and quickly went back to the passageway.

"How about we go back to the castle?", Harry quietly suggested. "We can't exactly go out there while wearing our Hogwarts robes."

"Especially now that Ron made so much noise.", Ernie said as they started walking back to Hogwarts. Harry patted the ginger boy on the back.

"Don't worry, mate. It's not like we could've left the shop anyway.", he told him. Ron tried to smile, but all Harry saw was a grimace. Hermione shuddered in front of him and the boy quickly touched her arm. "Are you cold?", Harry asked. Hermione frowned and shook her head.

"No, it's not that.", she quietly responded, before sighing and looking down. "You'll think I'm being stupid, but...", he took her hand.

"Hermione, if there's one person who I'll never consider stupid... That person is definitely you.", Harry said. In a second, she was hugging him. When they finally let each other go, he saw tears in Hermione's eyes.

"You always know what to say, don't you?", she chuckled. "Fine, I was just... I was uncomfortable with the idea of being in Hogsmeade.", Hermione finally told him. Harry was confused by her words. They had gone to the village before and his friend hadn't seemed uncomfortable at all. Sensing that the boy didn't know what she was talking about, Hermione sighed. "I'm not completely comfortable with the idea of breaking so many rules.", she whispered.

"I'm afraid you've made the wrong friends, then.", Harry laughed, but he put his hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do anything that you don't want to. Nobody will judge for that.", he firmly told her. I won't let them, he added in his mind. Hermione smiled and they walked together.


Harry wasn't sure what to do for Christmas. He wanted, of course, to see his mother, but he knew that their house felt too empty without his father and his godfather. His Uncle Remus had assured him he'd be there everyday and the boy was grateful, but he was still upset. To make matters worse, Matthew had announced that he'd be staying at Hogwarts.

"Matt, you git!", Harry growled. "You know Mum misses us!", he glared at his younger brother. The boy looked down, clearly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Harry.", he quietly said. "I just really want to stay here. All of the First-Years in Ravenclaw will.", Matthew sent him a pleading look. Harry sighed.

"I understand that and I don't blame you for staying. I'm just not happy with it.", he told his brother, before walking away. He was still upset by Matthew's decision when someone pulled his arm. Harry turned around, startled. "Blimey, Draco! You scared me!"

"Sorry, Harry. We need to talk.", the Slytherin whispered and, before Harry could say anything, he was already dragging him somewhere. "Come on, this is serious.", Draco hissed when he realised that the black-haired boy wasn't keeping up with him.

"Sorry.", Harry said, not feeling all that sorry about it, but genuinely curious about his friend's strange behaviour. Once Draco finally arrived where he clearly wanted to go, an empty classroom, he turned to Harry.

"I have received two letters this week.", Draco told him. Harry slowly nodded as he sat down and waited for the boy in front of him to continue what he had to say. "One from my father and one from my mother.", he paused and took a deep breath. "Harry."

"Yes?", he answered, slightly afraid of what could've been in those two letters that had disturbed the Slytherin so badly. Draco sighed.

"The fact that your father is an illegal Animagus isn't the reason why they're after him. It's just an excuse.", he whispered. Harry, who had had a similar conversation with Neville a few months earlier, simply nodded.

"Yes, I figured that out.", he automatically replied, before realising what was happening. "Hold on. How do you know that?", Harry asked. He could feel the anger quickly taking control of himself and he tried to push it away.

"After you've stopped the Dark Lord from getting the Philosopher's Stone, a few things happened.", Draco whispered. "My father and his friends realised that he was still alive and that he could come back. So they've begun looking for ways to help him and they've found a ritual.", Harry whimpered at that. Draco nodded at that, looking as frightened as Harry felt. "My father sent me a letter, explaining to me that they've been preparing themselves for this ritual. His orders are clear. I must watch you. They'll need you for the ritual, but they know they can't risk it while you're under Dumbledore's watch."

"They need me? Why?", Harry asked, shuddering. He had already faced Voldemort twice and he wasn't sure he'd be able to survive a third one. He didn't want to find out. But Draco simply shook his head.

"I don't know. All I know is that they're planning something for next year. This is no ordinary plan, Harry. My father told me this might take more than a year to happen.", he told the Gryffindor boy. "And I have to watch you. Make sure what your skills are. They're scared you'll find a way of ruining their plans. My father and his friends are being very careful about this."

"Draco, this is insane.", Harry quietly said. He couldn't believe former Death Eaters were meeting as they spoke, planning a ritual. A ritual that Harry himself would be part of, though he couldn't imagine how or why.

"It gets worse.", the other boy replied. "My mother wrote to me as soon as she found out about this. She told me to warn you and...", Draco stopped talking and looked embarrassed. "Harry. The reason they're going after your father is to lower your protection. Your father and your godfather are very powerful Aurors and they need to keep him away from you. The reason your father won't be with your family on Christmas is my father.", he finished with a whisper.

Harry sat in silence for some minutes. He knew he'd never be able to help his father. He could, of course, take Draco's letters to the Ministry. That should be proof enough against Lucius Malfoy, but the Ministry wouldn't do anything about it. It was run by corrupted people, that much was clear to Harry. He finally stood up.

"Draco. Do you understand what you've done?", he asked the Slytherin boy. Draco raised an eyebrow and snorted.

"I'm not Hermione, but I'm not bloody stupid either. I know exactly what I've done.", he replied. "And I don't regret it.", Harry nodded.

"Then come with me. You and your mother are in danger. And there's only one person that can help us.", he said. They left the classroom without another word and ran to the Headmaster's office.