The morning classes seemed to drag on forever as Draco was imperceptibly calm, listening close to all the teachers lecture on and on, while Hermione kept throwing him worried glances and constantly fidgeted in her seat. Ginny and Zacharias had also noticed that something was not quite right, but they kept their mouths shut and chose to imitate Draco's approach.

When it was finally lunch time, Hermione was all in favor of skipping it to find out what had so shocked Draco in the morning as soon as possible. However, she knew that mealtimes were non-negotiable with Zacharias, and so quietly followed the rest of her friends to the Great Hall. She kept close to Draco, and although their fingers were always interlaced and he constantly rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, she could feel that his hand was a few degrees colder today and that they were slightly sweaty, worrying her further.

Hermione couldn't eat much during lunch, preferring to watch Draco and his avid appetite, although he kept telling her that everything was fine, and he had only overreacted in the morning. When she had glared at him, he dropped it, and appealed to Ginny with a piteous look for help. Ginny was the more sensible one in this situation, knowing that Draco wasn't as silly or paranoid as Harry when it came to protecting his loved ones, as Hermione had grown used to, but that he knew exactly the level of danger he was facing and how to react. It was she who finally persuaded Hermione to eat more than just a few bites of tripe.

But Draco, too, knew that Hermione was seriously worried, so as soon as lunch was over, they didn't even bother walking back to Montecino Tower, but agreed to Disapparate to the front of Lady Montecino's portrait, receiving a slight scolding. "Honestly, children." she said disapprovingly, "You can't just Apparate every time you want to go somewhere in the castle. You need to exercise and not look like you're abusing your privileges!"

"It's an emergency, though." said Zacharias earnestly. "But we promise to do it less in the future." The other students nodded fervently.

"There we go." Lady Montecino smiled, and let them inside without requiring the password.

Once they were inside and the portrait had swung back, Zacharias chuckled, and said, "Well, in the future, we could always just Apparate into the common room, instead, and not go through that trouble again."

Ginny shook her head. "You're so naïve, Zacharias Smith. If we leave, don't pass her when we come back, and then leave again, she'll catch on anyways."

"Or we could just always use Apparition and that problem will be solved." he grinned.

Now Ginny rolled her eyes. "Right. Because she definitely wouldn't notice that we never walk in and out of the common room anymore. Use your brain, or what's left of it."

"Alright, enough chitchat." Hermione said gravely. "Draco, spit it out."

Draco put his hand into his pocket as he walked over to the couch. When they had all sat down, he slowly smoothed out the crinkled parchment that had been abused in his pocket all morning, and set it down on the glass coffee table without looking at it. "Before I explain," he said, "you two have to know something about my family that Hermione already knows."

Ginny and Zacharias nodded, and he went on. "After the war, as you all know, my family was cleared of all charges not only because my mother helped Harry Potter live on, but because we donated half of the Malfoy Fortune to helping rebuild Hogwarts, compensating for Muggles' losses, and funding for chasing down elusive Death Eaters that are still at large. Although we still have money, my parents feel insecure about how, after having accounted for taking care of the Manor and the Townhouse, we have to be very careful with how much we spend just in case."

Ginny snorted. "Right. So that's why you spent so much money on our dresses. Now I feel terribly guilty, thanks a lot."

"You have yet another house besides Malfoy Manor?" Zacharias cried.

"My pleasure." Draco smiled at Ginny's trying to lighten his mood while ignoring Zacharias's open envy. "But in any case, my mother and father have resorted to trying to earn money instead of living off the interest the Malfoy Fortune has generated for centuries, like our ancestors had done. My mother now works as a seamstress for Madam Malkin, and my father is getting rewards for hunting down Death Eaters that are in hiding." Draco stated these facts with a proud look on his face, as if daring anyone to look down on his mother's profession, or taunt his father for turning his back on his former comrades, but he had forgotten that he wasn't with his judgmental and rather derisive Slytherin friends, whom had mostly cut off their relationships with him after learning of his family's disgraceful new status, but that he was with two genuine friends who were by now fiercely loyal to him, and his girlfriend, who was devoted to him beyond words.

"So…" Ginny asked slowly, "I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with you being frightened at breakfast again?"

"I wasn't frightened." Draco snapped, offended that Ginny thought he was so easily scared. "I was shocked."

"Whatever." she rolled her eyes. "Just get on with it, or Hermione's going to have a fit."

Draco glanced at Hermione, who really looked like she was on the verge of bursting.

He carried on quickly. "This letter," he pointed at the rumpled-looking parchment on the glass coffee table, "was from my parents. My father revealed that he has been tracking two of the most cunning Death Eaters that have managed to stay anonymous since the First Wizarding War. Although my father was indeed in the Dark Lord's Inner Circle, the Dark Lord didn't trust even his most faithful enough to let them know all the names of his followers, especially on those that could be used as long-time spies."

Hermione frowned. "He must've learned from his first downfall then, right? After apprehended Death Eaters gave up the names of other Death Eaters in exchange for their freedom after the First Wizarding War, Voldemort-" here, Zacharias, cowardly as he was, flinched, "-must have learned to keep some secret supporters in case he fell and rose again."

"Right, and not right, at the same time." said Draco, to the trio's confusion. "Let me explain. What House are all Death Eaters, if they're not foreign and assuming they're human, from?"

Ginny, Hermione, and Zacharias immediately responded, "Slytherin."

Draco smiled dryly. "Exactly. That's what most people believe, since the Dark Lord himself was from that House. This, however, is a lie."

The trio sat in stunned silence for a moment, before Hermione spoke. "You're right… there was Pettigrew…"

"Wasn't he forced to, though?" asked Ginny. "That was what Harry told me."

Draco snorted. "Wormtail? He was a bloody coward, true enough, but he clung to the Dark Lord like a child to its mother. He was terrified of him, but worshipped him."

"Who's this Pettigrew? And why do you call him Wormtail?" asked Zacharias, annoyed that the other three all knew something that he didn't.

"He was a Gryffindor Death Eater." Hermione explained quickly. "We can discuss how he got his nickname later."

"Anyways," Draco continued, silencing Zacharias's protestations with an icy glare. "as I was saying, not all Death Eaters that graduated Hogwarts were from Slytherin House. The most loyal and prominent were from Slytherin, true, but the most useful, according to the Dark Lord, were the followers from other Houses. There were not many, however, and most of them managed to remain anonymous to all but the Dark Lord. These supporters were the ones that could mingle with the rest of the Wizarding community that opposed him, and could gain him valuable information if they were accepted by important society. My father is now tracking down these people. In truth, they were just as wicked as the Death Eaters that went out on Muggle killing sprees, for they betrayed their friends, neighbors, and relatives."

"So…" Ginny came to a conclusion. "did your father finally catch someone?" Ginny, although still not fond of Lucius Malfoy since what he did to her in her first year, recognized his abilities.

Draco smirked. "He's already caught several, even before school started, which is why I bought you your dresses. I'm not worried about money like my parents are. They're mostly worried about me, but they don't know the plans I have for the future… Anyways, in this letter, my father tells me that Brevis and Trevor's parents are former Death Eater spies."

Ginny, Hermione, and Zacharias let out a collective gasp. "You're kidding." Ginny breathed, as Hermione blinked rapidly and Zacharias seemed to stop breathing.

"Actually, I'm not." Draco smirked. "You can read it for yourself if you don't trust me. But, now you know why I reacted the way I did in the morning. It was just shocking. However, there's a catch."

Hermione, Ginny, and Zacharias listened intently. "The Birch family has always been in good society. They've produced excellent Quidditch players for generations, and Brevis is proof of that. They also have connections everywhere, such as with Professor Slughorn. Therefore, they hear things quickly, and not the slightest rumor gets by them. So, Mr. and Mrs. Birch heard things at Trevor's trial that made them know that they were about to be apprehended, so they fled before the authorities could question Trevor with Veritaserum. While authorities are now tracking his parents down, Trevor is returning to school by dinner today, just in time for the Ravenclaw Quidditch tryouts."

Deafening silence. It was finally Ginny who found her voice first, and even she couldn't speak coherently. "How could he… he used an Unforgiveable Curse… so soon to return?"

Draco nodded. "Under the influence of Veritaserum, he revealed that he was forced to execute all of his actions by his parents. They were apparently the most loyal of that particular group of the Dark Lord's followers, as well as very cunning, being in generations of Ravenclaws, and with their Quidditch relations, friendly countenance, and social connections, no one ever suspected them, which makes sense. The only part of this that scared me was when it concerned you, Hermione."

Hermione looked at the slight fear in Draco's eyes when he said this. "Me?" she asked softly.

"Yes , you." His face looked so old just then, prematurely aged. "Remember how Trevor was trying to hit on you? Well, that was the master plan of his parents. According to my father, he plotted to use Jimmy to frighten you a few more times after the first incident at the Owlery, and then on one of the occasions, he would come rescue you from Jimmy's advances, and you'd fall for him. Supposedly, Trevor would win you over by the winter holidays, invite you to his home to visit his family for Christmas, and once you were there, hold you hostage. If there's one friend Harry would sacrifice his Auror training and even life for, it'd be you, and once Harry arrived, they would've killed him on the spot, for the Dark Lord."

Ginny covered her mouth with her hands, bewildered by such a simple yet effective plan. That was just like Harry. Damn, Ravenclaws are smart. she thought. They know to go for Hermione, and not me. I'm just a harder to impress.

Hermione just sat there, frozen. A blank buzz filled her head for once, and she could say nothing. Ginny tried to break the ice by murmuring humorlessly, "Well, I was right in the end. Jimmy was under Trevor's Imperius Curse from the beginning."

Zacharias added in his penny's worth. "So, he just gets off free? No punishment at all? He's of age, for Merlin's sake! I'm sure at least some time in Azkaban wouldn't be unreasonable…"

"Oh, he'll be punished." Draco said dryly.

"Will he lose his Captaincy at least?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Not a chance. Brevis has seen to that, and don't underestimate him, even though he was indeed a fool last Saturday. He still has much influence in the community because of his position with the Tutshill Tornadoes."

"Well, what is his punishment then?" asked Hermione, finally regaining her senses.

Draco looked at Ginny and Zacharias amusedly. "He's going to be made a Prefect."

Hermione braced herself for their reactions, and no sooner, Ginny had let out a shriek, and Zacharias had slid off his armchair, limp as a rag doll. "How in the name of Merlin's pants is that a punishment?!" Ginny yelped.

"You guys, being Head Boy and Head Girl, will have to keep an eye on him, as well as meet him regularly for Prefect meetings." Draco shrugged. "Don't worry, though. Father says that he'll also receive detention once a week throughout the rest of the year."

"I think Zach's really in shock." said Hermione quietly, nudging the boy's unmoving leg with her foot.

"Give him some time. He always comes around." Draco reassured her while rubbing her shoulder.

"What about Peakes then?" interjected Ginny. "Won't he get in trouble for hurting Lady Montecino with an illegal hex? And do you know why he's in St. Mungo's?"

"That, I don't know. But who cares?" Draco asked nonchalantly, just glad that Hermione wasn't terrified. "My father says he'll catch Mr. and Mrs. Birch in no time, since he's researched everything about them and knows exactly who might help them and where their safe-houses are. Besides destroying Trevor in Quidditch, that's all I'll care about."

Hermione suddenly asked, "But why did you glance around so suspiciously when you read the letter this morning? None of this accounts for that."

"Oh, it's because all of this is top-secret." Draco yawned, leaning his head onto Hermione's. "The only thing we're supposed to find out at dinner when Trevor comes back tonight is that he's still guilty, but has been cleared of all charges for yet-unspecified reasons, which will be revealed in the Daily Prophet tomorrow. So I'll thank you to keep your mouth shut about this." He looked pointedly at Zacharias, who smiled sheepishly.