Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series or anything Harry Potter related!
I peered through the crack in the door, and could see Malfoy. He had stopped pacing around the tower. Now he was simply standing at the balcony and staring into the moonlit grounds. He looked like he was immersed in thought, judging by the strained expression on his face.
I pushed on the door slightly so that I would be able to see him better, but the door creaked loudly, making me jump. Malfoy whipped around, his wand pointed towards the door.
"Who's there?" he demanded, in a distressed tone. I reluctantly stepped out of the shadows slowly and into full view. I held up my hands to show that I wasn't armed.
"It's just me, Malfoy," I said calmly. As I stepped closer to him I was greeted by the pungent stench of firewhisky. What was Malfoy doing alone in the Astronomy Tower drinking? I glanced at where he was standing before and saw a half empty bottle of alcohol sitting on the ground.
"What are you doing here, Alexander?" he snapped, still not lowering his wand. I could see that his hand was shaking A beam of moonlight was shining over him. I could tell that his eyes looked slightly red and puffy – like he had been crying for hours.
"I come here to think sometimes. I didn't know anyone was up here," I lied, feeling a little bit nervous due to his menacing tone.
"Get out of here," he hissed. I started to back away slowly, but before I could help myself I spoke.
"I saw you – in the girls' bathroom the other day," I burst out, though I regretted it almost immediately. Even in the dim light of the Astronomy Tower I could tell that the little bit of colour that he had drained from his cheeks.
"Wh-what?" he stuttered.
"Peeves dumped a water balloon on my head so I was going to go into Moaning Myrtles bathroom to get cleaned up, but you were in there," I explained.
"Who have you told?" he sneered, now sounding more panic-stricken than angry.
"Nobody," I promised.
"Oh," he replied in surprise.
"And I wasn't planning on telling anyone," I informed him.
"Why not?" he asked in curious shock. For a second he seemed to forget that we were enemies.
"I don't know. I guess it's not really my place to tell anyone. I don't understand though – why were you so upset?" I asked.
"That's none of your business," he snapped, finally remembering to whom he was talking.
"Malfoy, if I'm going to be keeping a secret like this for you, I think I deserve at lease something in return," I urged.
"You wouldn't understand. It's too complicated. You wouldn't even want to listen," he said wearily. He lowered his wand and slid to the floor, leaning against the wall. I don't know if it was a result of the firewhisky or what, but I took this as a good sign and lowered my hands, which I was still holding up to show that I didn't have my wand. I took a few more steps so I was a little bit closer to him and sat down myself against the opposite wall. I couldn't help but feel a little bit bad for the dejected form of my enemy sitting across from me.
"Try me. I understand complicated better than you think," I suggested.
"But you're one of them! I can't tell you!" he said quietly, looking down at his hands which were clasped in his lap.
"One of them? What do you mean?" I asked, trying to keep my voice as casual as I possibly could so as not to deter him from talking to me.
"One of them. One of Dumbledore's supporters," he sighed.
"This is about Dumbledore?" I asked in confusion.
"It's about Dumbledore, and you, and me and even Potter," he said with a bitter, humourless laugh.
"Me and Harry too?" I said, even more confused than before.
"Yeah, and my father and mother. The list goes on," said Malfoy, with a quiet sniff. I wondered if he had started crying again.
"You can tell me what the problem is..." I encouraged.
"How could I tell you? You would whip out your wand and kill me right now. And if I tell you, I'll be dead," he whispered, more to himself than to me.
"Draco, you can tell me," I encouraged, taking advantage of his drunken state. He didn't seem to be listening to me. Instead he was just muttering to himself.
"If I tell you, then they'll be dead too. I can't do that to them. But I don't know what to do. There's nothing I can do to fix it. I'm going to die, and there's nobody that can help me," he mumbled.
"Draco Malfoy! What are you talking about? Is someone trying to hurt you?" I asked, louder this time. I finally managed to catch his attention, and he looked up at me through shining eyes.
"Him. He'll do it. If I try to run away, he'll kill them and I'll be responsible. I can't do anything. I have to fix it to finish my mission, but if I don't then he'll kill them, and me," he said.
"Voldemort gave you a mission? And if you don't fix something then you are going to die. Have I gotten it mostly correct?" I asked. Malfoy flinched slightly at the use of the Dark Lord's name, but he nodded. When I came up here I hadn't really expect to find anything out. This far surpassed my expectations.
"What does he want you to do?" I asked as gently as I could, given the information I had just received.
"Kill him. Dumbledore," said Malfoy in a tiny voice.
"You have to kill Dumbledore?" I cried. It was almost laughable to think that Malfoy could pull something like that off. To my surprise, he let out another resentful laugh.
"Ridiculous, right?" he said.
"Of course that's ridiculous! Not even Voldemort himself could pull that off!" I said.
"But I have to," he whispered.
"Because Voldemort will kill someone. Who will he kill if you don't do this?" I asked.
"My mother... and me," he admitted, hiccoughing loudly from his alcohol intake.
"Ok, so let me get this straight: You have to fix something in order to kill Dumbledore or else Voldemort will kill you and your mother," I repeated. He nodded again.
"I can help you. The Order can help you. We'll protect you and your mother," I promised.
"You can't help me. Nobody can. If I don't do this, he's going to hunt me down and kill me," said Malfoy, letting out a pitiful sob. I stood up and walked closer to him, sitting just a foot away from him.
"Malfoy, look at me. Look at Harry. The Order has managed to help us, and keep us safe. We're both way higher on Voldemort's list of people to kill than you and the Order has still managed to keep us safe!" I encouraged, seeing his determination start to wear away.
"Why would they even want to help me and my mother? We're Death Eaters!" he said, in misery.
"So long as you're against Voldemort, the Order will help you," I promised.
"You know, I never wanted this life. I wanted to just live like a normal person. I've always just wanted to go to school and make friends and become an Unspeakable. My father forced my mother and I into this life," he explained.
"Draco, please. Let us help you! It's the only way you'll ever be able to live a normal life," I began.
"He won't kill me if I finish this task," said Malfoy.
"Do you really believe that? Voldemort doesn't care about anyone but himself and his power. All he wants to do is get Dumbledore out of the picture, because Dumbledore is a powerful, brilliant wizard. As soon as you're done this task you will still be killed. If you take the Order's help you get the chance at life, and the opportunity to do the right thing," I pleaded.
"I don't want to live like this anymore. How will the Order protect us?" he asked hesitantly.
"I'm not exactly sure yet. I think that your mother will have to go into hiding, but you'll most certainly remain in school. It's the safest place as long as Dumbledore is around," I explained.
"But they won't believe me," he said.
"They'll have ways to check, I'm sure," I shrugged.
"Why do you believe me?" he asked.
"I don't know. I just have a feeling that you're telling me the truth," I said.
"I am telling you the truth," said Malfoy sincerely, making me more confident that I was making the right decision.
"Listen, I'm not an Order member yet, because I'm too young. I think you need to talk to some that is. Let's go and talk to Dumbledore," I suggested.
"I don't know..." he said reluctantly.
"If you're serious about this, then you have to talk to Dumbledore. Come on!" I said, standing up myself and extending my hand out to pull him up. He started at my hand for a moment, as if deciding whether to take it or not. After a few seconds of silence, he grasped my hand and allowed me to pull him to his feet. He was a little bit unsteady at first as he was still quite drunk, but he followed me out of the Astronomy Tower, and down the abandoned hallway.
Holy shit. Holy shit. Wow. This is...wow, was all I could think as we walked in silence. I pulled out the map and made sure that the coast was clear, and found that the path to Dumbledore's office was completely clear. Eventually, with Malfoy stumbling along at my side, we reached the stone gargoyle.
"Coconut cluster," I said, causing the stone figure to come to life and step aside. I pulled Malfoy up the stairs since he seemed to be having a little bit of trouble. We approached the great wooden doors. I knocked loudly, fearing that the Headmaster was already asleep.
"Come in," said Dumbledore.
WHAT? :O Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the exciting new development to the story!
I have a few things to say about this! Firstly, I love Draco's character and really wanted to give him a bigger part in this story, and this was the way that I decided. Second, under no circumstance will there ever be any Ava/Draco ship stuff. No seriously, not gonna happen. Just in case you were worried/getting your hopes up... Third, I know that there are a lot of Draco stories out there, but this story isn't about Draco. He's not going to become the main focus of this story or anything like that.
I would really appreciate any feedback that you could give me, soo please review and let me know! THANKS!