Draco sat on the stoop of the cabin, playing the flute Ramon had given him. The sun was going down on a rather stressful day for him. It was now his fifth week staying in the camp with Jay and Glasses and he had yet to hear from Snape or Whitewolf. He had, on the other hand, received several newspaper articles describing Deatheater attacks and raids with massively high death counts, but no names. His new friends were doing their best to help keep his mind off of home and he was having a lot of fun with them, but it was getting harder and harder. He had started playing the flute one evening when he was bored and he'd found the more he played it, the more he liked it. It seemed to help him relax and stop worrying about everything.
He'd been sitting there for a while when he noticed two figures approaching.
"Hey, someone's coming," Draco called into the cabin. Glasses stuck his head out the screen door.
"Hey, it's Raven and Mr. Young!" he shouted. Draco could hear Jay leap to his feet and run to the door. The three of them watched the two wizards approach.
"Who are they?" Draco asked.
"Mr. Young used to be our potions teacher when we were in the 10th grade. He's the black guy. The other guy is Raven, he's Jay's studio teacher."
"Least I hope he still is," Jay added. Draco looked at the two teachers. Mr. Young was a fairly young-looking man. He had a conservative haircut and khaki shorts and a polo shirt that looked like they might have been iron. Raven was older, with jet-black hair and heavy eyelids. His clothes were mostly covered by a colorful poncho with an eagle woven in the front.
"Hey," said Glasses once they close enough to hear.
"Hello, Randy, Blue Jay," Mr. Young replied seriously. Draco chortled at Jay's real name and Jay kicked him in the shoulder.
"This here is our friend, Draco," he told them.
"Nice to meet you, Draco," Mr. Young greeted formally and he stuck out his hand. Draco rose to shake his hand. Raven stood back and nodded his recognition.
"We just came by to remind you all that you have hopping duty in the dining hall this week." Jay groaned loudly and Raven gave him a stern look.
"Yes sir," Jay said, correcting himself. Draco was not at all happy at the news.
"Well, have a good night, gentlemen," Mr. Young said. Glasses and Jay turned to go back inside.
"Not so fast, Blue Jay," Raven said. He had a strange voice. It was calming, kindly, but commanding at the same time. "I think it best you and I go for a walk before sunset. There are some things we need to discuss." Jay seemed suddenly interested in a line of ants crawling through the dust.
"Yes sir," he said, and he headed down the steps. Draco watched them walk together down the dirt path for a moment before he went back inside. He sat down at the table where Jay and Glasses had been playing wizard's chess. Several of the remaining pieces were tapping their feet impatiently and some of them had even laid down and gone to sleep.
"You wanna take Jay-Jay's side?" Glasses asked.
"Sure, Randy," Draco kidded. Glasses picked up a well-beaten knight.
"I will throw this at you!"
It was well after dark when Jay returned from his walk with Raven. He looked so miserable that Draco didn't even feel like joking him about his real name.
"So, what happened?" Glasses asked and Jay sat down.
"Well, suffice it to say, I'm not my teacher's favorite person right now."
"Did he find out about you blowing off Dutton the last night?" Glasses asked eagerly.
"Yep," Jay replied, "He asked me if I wanted out of the coven."
"What?!" Glasses shrieked, "What did you say?"
"I told him 'no' of course. Then he said, if he can't trust me to make the right decisions in the simplest cases, how can he trust me with something really difficult? He told me that if I had been a senior this year, he would not have recommended me for graduation."
"Man! But, he is letting you try another year, right? He didn't throw you out, did he?"
"Yeah, I'm still in."
"Whew!" Glasses breathed in relief, "I don't know what I'd do without you, man!"
"Good, cause the way it's looking, I might have to move in with you!"
The next night was scheduled to be another big bon fire. This time however, it was a dance and meant to be for upperclassmen only. It was also going to be held in "the grand ballroom" which was really an enormous cavern in the cave system under the camp. Draco was looking forward to spending the evening in the nice, cool cave dancing with a pretty girl. Jay and Glasses were amazed at how easily Draco had secured a date for the evening, seeing that he didn't really know anyone. After the fourth girl approached him, Jay just shook his head, laughing, and said, "It is an advantage, to have a sexy accent. The girls are crazy over it!" In the end, all three had dates and they well looking forward to having a good time. The only obstacle, a million dirty dishes with their names on them. The hopper duty kept them nearly an hour and a half past the end of dinner so by the time they were done, they had to run home to get changed.
"How'd we get stuck with hopper duty tonight?" Jay gasped as they raced up the foot path.
"And of course, we had to have macaroni and rubber for dinner. That stuff would not come off! I had to scour it three times."
"At Hogwarts, I never had to do anything like that!" Draco whined, "That's what house elves are for!"
Once inside, they rushed around trying to get cleaned up and dressed. Jay and Glasses each had on slacks and collared shirts. Glasses had even managed to find a tie to wear. Draco opened his backpack to find a navy blue, satin dress robe with silver embroidery around the sleeves. He tried it on and found it to his liking, once he used a de-wrinkling charm a couple times.
"What is that?" Glasses exclaimed, "You're wearing a dress to the party?"
"It's a robe, thank you, and for your information, it's what wizards and supposed to wear!" With that, he headed down the ladder.
"You can say it in French if you want, but it's still a dress," Glasses called after him. Jay came out of the bathroom and frowned at Draco.
"Dude, there are very specific times in a man's life that wearing a getup like that is appropriate. As I understand it, there will be no one graduating, getting confirmed, or singing in a choir tonight."
"This is all I have to wear," Draco countered. Jay sighed.
"You're lucky I like you, man."
The bon fire went very well. The cave was cool and comfortable and well-decorated for the event. Many of the girls went around oohing and aahing at the different formations which were illuminated by colored lights. Draco was not the only one wearing a robe and though he did get a few strange looks; his date didn't seem to mind at all. The three of them were returning home after walking the girls to their campsite. They were a little tired, but in high spirits. Suddenly, Mariana stood before them in the middle of the path. Draco was suddenly excited, "Has Whitewolf returned?" he asked. She smiled at him.
"Not yet, but he is on the way. The elders will being arriving tomorrow morning. The first party arrived tonight and your teacher was with them."
"Snape's here? Can I talk to him?"
"Not tonight. He is resting. But there is someone else who is very anxious to see you." Draco was puzzled.
"Who is it?" He asked. She offered him her hand, which he took, and instantly they were whizzing through the trees. A moment later, Mariana had him at the meadow at Morning Star. In the near corner, was a pavilion where a slight figure sat waiting.
"Mother!" Draco cried joyfully. His mother made sort of a happy squeaking sound as she run up to him and embraced him.
"Oh, you're safe!" she exclaimed, "I've been so worried! Look at you, you're all brown!" Draco laughed sheepishly, "Yeah, I've been spending loads of time outside." She took his shoulder smiling and sat down with him. They talked for a long time about what had been happening. Draco felt a pang in his chest as his mother informed him that his Aunt had been killed.
"She was never really the same," she told him sadly, "Not since she took the dark mark, and even more so once she escaped from Azkaban. I've often thought that it was the dark mark that drove her mad." Draco felt a great deal of sorrow well up inside him. He and his mother sat there together for a long time.