Disclaimer: No ownage
A/N - Been a long time, eh? And I suppose everyone thought we were gone for good. Nope. I still have notebooks FULL of juicy drama and cunning plot. I will know try to maintain a consistent posting of new chapters if you keep reviewing and reading. Trade, let's? Oh and also, it's only going to get BETTER and more MAGICAL after this.
"Shhh Ron," Hermione said, putting her hand down on his chest to restrain any sudden movement.
"Hermione!?" Ron's eyes were huge in disbelief. Surely he was still sleeping? Harry, Hermione? Here? Now? How?
Ron slowly sat up. Hermione threw her arms around him. "We've missed you so much Ron!" she gasped.
"How?" Ron sputtered. "How are you here?"
"The twins," someone said from behind Harry. Ron recognized his sister's voice at once.
Ron craned his neck to see around Hermione's bushy hair. "Ginny?" he squeaked.
"And Luna," Gunny nodded, stepping into view.
"Ron," Harry began, without so much as a hello, "what's been happening? We heard some vague ramblings from the twins, but not much else. You found witches?" Harry sat down next to his two best friends. They heard two pops out in the hallway and a moment later, the twins ambled on in. Their eyes roved around the room, studying every sleeping body, before breaking into giddy smiles.
"I got Blythe!" Fred announced quietly.
"Abby," George replied. Then they rushed forth into the room.
Ginny looked around as well. She inhaled sharply when she spotted Draco. "Malfoy's here?" she hissed.
Ron nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, we've both seemed to acquire the same friends..." he murmered.
Harry crept over to Blythe, his eyes narrowing, ignoring Fred who busily messing with her hair. "Ron..." Harry growled, "this one's wearing Malfoy's necklace."
"What of it, Potter?" Draco snapped from the couch, his eyes now open. Harry glared at the other boy for a long minute before turning back to Blythe.
"She has a bruise line all the way around her neck," Harry told Hermione. He looked questioningly at Ron.
"There!" George said, stepping away from Abby triumphantly. The poor girl now had bleach white hair.
"George!" Hermione scolded immediately. "There are muggles in the room!"
"We could go into Blythe's room," Abby said wearily from her pillow. Ginny jumped and Harry nearly topped sideways.
Draco rolled off the couch and shook Blythe's shoulder. "Oh fuck off, Draco," Blythe croaked, not opening her eyes. Ron heard Ginny ask George whether or not Blythe had just told Draco to 'fuck off'.
"Done!" Fred said. Blythe's hair was now really poofy and neon orange.
Blythe opened an eye. "Fred?" she asked.
"Blythe. Your room. Now," Abby ordered, leading the small crowd of people from the room. Draco pulled Blythe to her feet and they followed. On the floor of Blythe's room, they arranged themselves in a tight circle: George, Fred, Blythe, Draco, Abby, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Luna connecting back to George.
"Okay, everyone," Ron announced, taking a deep breath, "this is Blythe," he gestured to the frazzled-looking girl at Draco's side, "and this is Abby," he finished, flourishing his hand at the calm girl next to him. "Witches, apparently. Abby, Blythe - these are my friends Hermione, Harry, Luna, and my sister Ginny."
Abby and Blythe smiled and mumbled greetings nervously. Blythe shot Ron a dirty look. "Alright, we need to discuss some things," Hermione spoke up, "but-"
"Why is Malfoy here?" Harry sneered.
"Why wouldn't he be?" Blythe asked. Everyone stared at Blythe except Abby, who was studying Hermione curiously. Draco smirked and made to get up. Blythe grabbed his arm and pulled him back down violently. The Weasleys looked horrified while Harry and Hermione looked grim.
"Blythe," Hermione said politely, "there are things we need to talk about without him around."
"I don't want to be here anyways," Draco snarled.
Ron suddenly said, "Let him stay for now. Let's talk about what happened last night."
"Fine," Harry growled, glowering at Ron.
"Er, Blythe?" Ron prompted.
Blythe sighed and rubbbed her eyes. "Well," she began, "Draco and I were walking down the street at.. midnight-ish? I dunno. This Lucius fellow just came out of nowhere all angry-like and glaring at Draco and leering at me. Draco told me to keep going, but Lucius blocked my way and told Draco to introduce us, but Draco told me to go again so I did. On my way back I didn't see them. I told Ron and them when I got back and Ron started shouting about Lucius being dangerous and Draco betraying us and my necklace and some more about Draco being evil, so I left. I went to find Draco and the only place I could think to go was to his house. They were in front of his house and Lucius was spewing about torture or something.. I wasn't really close enough to hear. But then waved his stick thing at Draco and he fell to his knees and his face went all blank and I could feel the cold so I jumped on Lucius' back and tried to choke him and Draco tried to punch him. But the bad guy got me and put the stick on my throat and asked Draco why he shouldn't kill me. Draco told him I was just a muggle, then Lucius said something to me as he waved the stick. Then he turned to talk to Draco so I grabbed the stick and threw it to Draco and he froze his dad by.. er.. magic, I guess. So then Draco grabbed me and and asked me how I got out of the spell but I never got in it so I couldn't tell. Then Ron and Abby came running down the street and Draco ordered Ron to get their brooms. But then Lucius started unfreezing and the stick wouldn't work so Lucius grabbed Abby, but Ron flew into him and picked Abby up on the weird flying broom thing. So Lucius grabbed me and tried to choke me with my necklace. Abby jumped off the broom onto him like a big ol' warrior woman and we flew off real fast. Draco, ah... he dropped the stick into the bay so his dad couldn't track us, then we, er.. we, um, we went back home and... yeah, that's about it."
"You're an expert rambler," Fred beamed.
"Hey! I was telling the story!" Blythe protested.
"Yeah, the extended edition..." Ron mumbled. Hermione smacked his shoulder and Fred put an arm around Blythe in mock-comfort.
"This doesn't sound good," Ginny said, glancing at Harry. Everyone looked at Harry expectantly. He seemed to have absorbed Blythe's story and was now deep in thought.
"Harry," Hermione said softly, a scared tone in her voice, "maybe you should fill the girls in with the 'bigger picture' of this whole situation. We should be all on the same page if we're going to figure this all out."
Harry still seemed lost in thought. After a few moments, he appeared to register Hermione's suggestion. "Yes," was all he answered. He looked over at Blythe and Abby. The two girls exchanged looks.
"We'll be right back," Blythe said, dragging Abby out of the room purposefully.
Everyone rounded on Draco. "What are you hiding?" Harry hissed.
"I don't know what you're hinting at," Draco replied dryly, inspecting his fingernails.
"Your father told you to give Blythe that necklace. Why?" Ron demanded fiercely.
"And you father told you to give that bracelet to Abby?" Draco shot back.
Ron flushed. "What bracelet?" Hermione asked.
"Dun-dun-duuuhhh," Draco sang morbidly as if it were a scary moment in an old horror movie.
"The necklace protected her from the hex. Why would Lucius want her to have that?" Harry asked, ignoring the bracelet comment.
Draco sobered. "It wasn't the necklace that did that," he said bluntly.
"What then?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," Draco answered irritably.
"Why was Lucius here in the first place?" Ginny asked. Everyone glared at Draco,
"The only reason I could think of," Ron spoke up, "was that the Dark Lord wanted to get to me and use me to get to Harry. Dumbledore must be getting senile to take me out of Hogwarts."
"Because everything is always about Potter. My father wouldn't be here for any reason related to his son, of course..." Draco drawled with a smirk. "Did you ever think that this might all be a trap. My father and I set this all up so that Harry would leave the safety of Hogwarts to come to this God-awful muggle town where we could ambush not only him, but half the Weasley family and all his little friends. Really, if you think I'm plotting with my father, I'm surprised you hadn't thought of that. You're all pathetic."
Everyone stared at him, gaping.
"This is all because of you!" Ron raged, getting to his feet. "You started that fight, knowing Dumbledore would send us off! It was all planned, wasn't it? WASN'T IT?"
Draco got to his feet. "Now you're thinking!" he goaded. "I was beginning to think you had straw for brains!"
Ron's face turned almost purple, clenching his fists. "Oh you..." he seemed to be unable to find a harsh enough word to fit Draco.
"That's right! Blame it all on the Slytherin! I'm the reason for all of your problems! In fact, I personally ordered Voldemort to go after Potter in the first place, WHEN I WAS AN INFANT!!" Draco yelled. "You Gryffindors! You're so bloody bold you don't even stop to think for a second! Just charge right in, pointing fingers! Condemn me! Fine! I don't give a rat's arse anymore! What are you going to do to me! You're all such bloody prats that you wouldn't do anything! Well here I am! The cause of evil, at your disposal! Come on! Curse me! Hex me!"
Ron lept on Draco in an instant, putting his hands around his neck. Just as quickly everyone else, besides Luna and Hermione, had jumped into the fight. It was one against five. Harry punched Draco squarely against his left jaw and Ginny pulled him away from Ron. Draco shrugged her off of him to get back at Harry, but the twins knocked him down. Hermione took out her wand and-
"What the fuck is wrong with you guys?" Blythe's voice came from the doorway. They all looked over to see a very pissed looking girl with shocking blue hair. She marched forward and pushed the twins away from Draco, emitting a large variety of foul words. Harry's eyes anrrows and he reached over to Blythe, grabbed her necklace, and pulled. Blythe squeaked as the metal dug into the bruising on the back of her neck. When the necklace didn't pull off, he drew her into an embrace and tried to undo the latch. Blythe pushed him back as hard as she could and stumbled backwards, necklace in hand. Fred grabbed Blythe just as she lunged at Harry. Harry was examing the pendant closely.
"Harry," Hermione said with reproached, "you could have just asked for it."
"I can see why his Dark Lord guy hates this prat..." Blythe mumbled. Harry looked over at her and scowled. Draco got to his feet and stormed out of the room. "What the hell is your problem?" Blythe snapped. Fred let her go. "Why do you all bully him so much?"
"You don't know him at all, Blythe. Ask anyone at our school- he's the biggest bully there," Ron said.
"And here?" she asked.
"He's plotting against us, I'm sure of it," Ron answered.
"Why did he protect me from his father, then?" Blythe inquired.
"Winning your trust, obviously," Ginny said.
"Looks like he succeeded," Hermione affirmed.
How convenient!" Blythe said. "So whenever anyone sides against you,
they're naive, eh? Oh you are soooo righteous!"
"You have no idea!" Harry cried.
"About what? The depths of your arrogance?" Blythe snapped.
"Look here, you stupid little muggle girl! Before a few months ago,
you hadn't the faintest idea of all the knowledge we've carried our
whole lives! How can you even assume to know more about this situation
that we do? We've gone to school with Malfoy for years. We've been
tormented by him and his friends. His father is a servant to the
monster who killed Harry's parents and many others! How can you, only
knowing him for a few months, act like you know all the depths of his
character?" Ginny ranted.
Blythe was silent for a minute, lips pursed. "No," she began, "I don't
know all the depths of his character. But..." she trailed off
thoughtfully. "None of you have ever known Draco as a friend. By what
I gather, none of you care to and you certainly don't think twice
about condemning him on the basis of him having a wretched father.
Listen, I don't know who my father is, but if I were to find out he
was some freaky serial killer, I wouldn't want anyone to label me as
such. And can any of you say that you'd be any different from Malfoy
if you were nurtured by his father? I can't imagine Lucius being very
supportive or caring at all, can you? Tell me if I'm wrong, but Harry
here seems to be famous for all the adversity he's had to overcome.
Ever since he was brought into your world he's had his best friends at
his side, as well as all the professors and even the legendary
headmaster. Am I wrong? Have I been misinformed? Harry, were there any
moments that you couldn't go on alone or that you were scared or
discouraged?"
Harry was silent. "Yes? Well I'm guessing you had adequate support to
get through. But let's imagine for a second that Draco, like any other
kid, would feel doubts about himself or scared about what was
happening around him. Who would he turn to? His callous father? The
other Slytherins? You?" Blythe looked intently at Harry. "If only
everyone had the luxuries you've had, Harry. I'm surprised you can't
understand where he might be coming from."
"Might," Ginny murmered.
Blythe rolled her eyes. Everyone was silent.
"It might be a trap, like Draco said," Ron mumbled, breaking the
silence. "You all should get out of here as soon as you can."
"Just in case..." Fred added.
Harry slowly nodded agreement.
"Listen Ron," Hermione said, "George and Fred are going to check in at
least every few days, hopefully more, until we get whatever's going on
here resolved. I don't think we'll be relaxed until you're home
again."
"And even then," Ginny chimed in.
"Goodbye Blythe," Harry said, looking melancholy.
"Goodbye," she replied politely.
Abby bid farewell to them as well. "See you soon, boys," she told the
twins, grinning.
"I'll miss you," Ron said, looking down at his feet.
Hermione looked close to tears as she threw her arms around him and
hugged him fiercely. Harry joined in on the hug. Moments later,
everyone filed out of the room except for Abby, Harry, and Blythe.
"May I speak with you alone for a second, Blythe?" Harry asked.
Blythe nodded. Abby looked confused and edged out of the room. "About what you said regarding Malfoy... I do understand the
perspective you were trying to make clear to us. However, I do not
have the luxury of being sympathetic when there is a chance he is as
bad as we think. Based on past events, I have no reason to believe
he's an angel in diguise," Harry explained. "I will think about what
you said and will you in return keep on eye on him? If you are able to
discover which team he's playing for, that would help."
Blythe thought for a moment and then replied, "Sure, I'll see what I
can figure out."
"But please, don't rule out what we've been saying," Harry warned.
"You could be putting yourself in serious danger, even if you don't
believe so."
"Yes, I understand," she said.
Harry looked a little relieved. "Oh," he began again, "I almost
forgot..." He handed her necklace back to her.
"Thanks," she mumbled. Harry smiled and left the room. Blythe replaced her necklace around her neck and walked out of her room.
"What was that about?" Abby asked, in the hallway.
"Warning me about Draco some more. Told me to keep an eye on him.
Essentially, spy," Blythe informed her.
"Oooh, a top secret mission," Abby sang.
"Feh," was all Blythe responded with. "Have you seen Draco?"
"No..." Abby answered with a sly grin.
"No? Did he go home?" Blythe asked, frowning.
"Dunno... He just... disappeared."