Chapter Six: Halloween

There are several dialogue quotes taken from JK Rowling's Chamber of Secrets in this book. This is to convey the same story she wrote, but from another character's POV. The quotes taken directly from the book have three quotation marks (instead of two) around them to signify she wrote them and that I am citing them. Because I am transforming pieces of her work into something new this falls under the Fair Use Act. Additionally, JK Rowling has stated that she is okay with noncommercial fan fiction. All direct quotes, the Harry Potter storyline, and the characters all belong to JK Rowling.

September flew by with the last few nights of warm summery air. As October finally arrived, the green plumage on every tree started to change to colors of gold and auburn. Draco waited anxiously for any sign that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened, and found that the anticipation was making him quite queasy. It was not as if a giant basilisk was the only thing on his mind, and how was he supposed to focus on school and quidditch when the possible demise of fellow classmates was looming in his mind? Perhaps the whole thing was a joke. Perhaps Lucius would sneer with disgust when he realized Draco had fallen for it.

"I hate October," mumbled Pansy, snapping Draco out of his thoughts.

Draco looked up from the porridge he had been prodding at with a spoon. "Because?" He asked.

"It's just another excuse to make life seem scarier than it already is," she said. "And if I don't appreciate the spooky decorations and countless tricks played in the corridors, I'm no fun,"

"You could try focusing on your studies," Daphne interjected, not bothering to look up from her book.

"You're just pissed she's scoring higher than you in Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Blaise.

"No, I couldn't be happier that Pansy is doing so well," Daphne argued but she held her book up higher, to hide the pink flush in her cheeks.

"The thing I'm most concerned about is what you and Professor Lockhart do together after each class," Blaise smirked.

"Wha- No- You never question Draco about his private mentorship with Professor Snape." Pansy wined.

"Well, to be fair," said Blaise, with a classic grin. "Draco doesn't blush profusely at the mention of Snape's name... And Snape has never won any award for his charming good looks. Do you learn a lot from your mentorship?"

Draco looked up to see hundreds of birds swooping into the Great Hall to deliver the post. Draco untied the package and post from Niklaus, then stroked him on the back as he half listened to Pansy and Blaise.

"Yes! Of course!" Pansy exclaimed. "He keeps me up to date on everything that he is doing, and even..." Pansy looked around, and lowered her voice considerably. "He tells me about classified upcoming projects he is working on."

"So let me get this straight," Daphne interjected, finally putting down her book. "He is teaching you about himself, and not about the source material? You're like his personal assistant?"

"Well," said Pansy, not picking up on her friends' disgust. "Don't mention this to anyone because he told me this in confidence to prevent a riot of jealousy, but he said that if I keep going above and beyond the way I have, he may hire me full time when I graduate."

"You're twelve," said Daphne, matter of factly.

"Yes, almost thirteen," answered Pansy, "Quite impressive isn't it? I have to run though, I am supposed to meet him before first class." She picked up her bag and ran out, completely unaware of the skeptical looks from her friends.

"Should we be concerned?" Draco asked, as he passed the typical box of sweets he had received from his mom around to share with his fellow Slytherins.

"We'll keep an eye on it..." said Blaise. "That's for sure."

Finally, Blaise's barn owl arrived with a single letter addressed to him with fancy calligraphy. Blaise untied it and set it down, not bothering to look at it.

"What's that?" asked Draco.

"It's nothing. Daily Prophet?" Blaise asked, holding out his hand.

"An inheritance to match mine, and you still can't buy your own?" Draco asked jokingly shaking his head, as he handed it over.

"If I didn't read it, who would?" Blaise laughed, happy that the topic of the conversation of the letter had been quickly dropped.

By the time Halloween finally arrived, Pansy was spending most of her time completing housekeeping and administrative tasks for Lockhart, with the hopes of a possible career on the horizon. Perhaps her friends would have been less concerned if this "mentorship" was not interfering with her ability to complete her homework.

Unfortunately, any topic of conversation against Lockhart, or her success in Defense Against the Dark Arts, was a huge sore spot with Pansy. However, when Pansy walked into the common room a minute before curfew, the night before Halloween, Daphne was completely fed up about never seeing her friend.

"You said you would study with us tonight," Daphne moaned, looking up from the pile of books surrounding her, Blaise, and Draco.

"Well I'm here now aren't I?" Pansy snapped. "I just spent three hours cleaning Lockhart's classroom after the murtlaps got loose."

"Come to the Halloween feast with us Pans," said Blaise, carefully trying to sound supportive. "You deserve a little break,"

"I don't know," said Pansy. "I am really behind on grading."

"You're doing his grading?" Asked Daphne, hiding a grimace.

"Well he gave me a cheat sheet to grade the tests against, so he did the hard part," said Pansy.

Blaise and Daphne both shot Draco a threatening look. "I... I think you should come to the Halloween feast too. We all think it would be fun," said Draco.

Pansy didn't answer for a moment. She picked up a book, and turned to the chapter she needed to read. "Alright," she said.

"Can I borrow this? I left mine in the dorm," Pansy asked, as she grabbed Blaise's copy of Standard Book of Spells Grade Two.

"Yeah, just let me-" said Blaise, but it was too late. Daphne had flipped through the book, and in the process, a fancy piece of parchment that had the same calligraphy as before on it, fluttered to the ground.

"Is this... a wedding invite?" Pansy asked, picking it up.

"Uh... yeah it is," said Blaise, snatching it back. "I was going to tell you guys..."

"Whose wedding are we going to?" Asked Draco.

"My mum's," said Blaise.

No one said anything for a moment. "I'm sorry," said Daphne.

"Don't be," said Blaise with a smile, but it looked forced. "It's the man who was comforting her at my step dad's funeral... Naevius Veridian... they really hit it off. I am happy that she is happy... It just doesn't look good for us... her moving on so fast all the time... Your families received invites as well of course."

"How long did you know?" asked Pansy.

"Uh... the morning I pocketed the letter, remember?" Asked Blaise. "I kind of just figured that's what it was considering how fancy the envelope was-"

"She didn't tell you beforehand. She told you through a wedding invitation," said Daphne. It wasn't a question. It was more of a statement of understanding.

"Seriously, it's no big deal. I just want her to be happy. I don't need to know everything she is doing right away," answered Blaise.

"Parents," said Draco, giving a meaningful look.

"Parents," Blaise agreed.

The next evening, the four Slytherins made their way down to the Great Hall, with Pansy fretting the whole way there that Lockhart may see her there, and think that she wasn't working hard.

The feast was magnificent, and the group of Slytherins put aside their work and stress, and gorged themselves on caramel apples, treacle, and sweets of all sorts. Even the teachers seemed to have forgotten the enormous pile of work they had to get through by the end of the term.

Professor Lockhart drifted around, talking to anyone who would listen, or rather swoon over him. Despite how much Pansy had worried, it seemed that her whereabouts could not be farther from his mind.

"You know I'm kind of disappointed," Blaise said, helping himself to another helping of pudding.

"How so?" Asked Daphne.

"This time last year we evaded a troll, and snuck up to the third floor corridor to attempt a peak at the sorcerer's stone. This is kind of uneventful in comparison" said Blaise, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's dumb," Daphne bickered. "You shouldn't hope for chaos."

"I don't know Daffodil-," Draco interjected.

"Don't call me that. I have told you I don't like it," snapped Daphne.

"A little chaos might be fun," Draco said with a grin and a wink.

Just then Dumbledore stood up and announced to the students, "What a joyous feat this has been! You may all now make your way to your dorms at your leisure."

All at once, the full and sleepy students grabbed their belongings and made their way to the door.

As the four Slytherins attempted to push their way to the front of the crowd, Pansy continued to frown. "This is why I hate Halloween," Pansy moaned. "You two completely jinxed how good everything was going here with what you were saying earlier, and now something bad is going to happen."

"Oh come on Pans, that's not how it works," said Daphne in a soothing voice.

But it seemed as if Pansy was wrong, because right at that moment, the four Slytherins turned the corner to see a message written in blood on the wall, and what appeared to be a dead cat. What was even more peculiar was that none other than Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing right in front of the scene. Draco, Pansy, Daphne, and Blaise stopped so abruptly, several of the students following closely behind smacked into them, groaning about what the big deal was.

"'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.'"

This was it. This was one of those "odd" events that Draco was supposed to rile up his classmates with, and let the blame fall on Dumbledore. Clearly his father hadn't been lying or pranking him with any of this.

Draco felt his heart pounding in his chest with fear and anxiety. But there was something else there too. A sense of pride and purpose. An opportunity to prove to his father that he was not weak, and that he was a worthy son. If he could only push past the weak voice in his head telling him that this was wrong, he could really be somebody.

So Draco took a look at the dead cat and the blood, and shouted loudly, "'Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!'"

Daphne, Blaise, and Pansy immediately turned to him with looks of what could have been shock, disgust, admiration, or humor, possibly a mixture of all four. But they all immediately knew something was up. Draco's face flushed hot red, and his mind went blank.