Announcement: First of all, I'm sorry this is late. Pardon for making you wait longer! On the plus side, post of Friday this week will not change. You can count on that. I only waited because I was going to post on Saturday since it was a super special day...but I was sick all day. Probably food poisoning. (O no...I hope it wasn't Voldemort!) Also I figured out how to do the horizontal lines between sections! It's so great and less confusing! Should I do that for the other chapters to reduce confusion?

But was was yesterday (or June 5), some of you might be wondering...yesterday was...DRACO MALFOY'S BIRTHDAY!

So I'm posting today instead of Friday in celebration of (the Feast of Corpus Christi-Body of Christ first as well as) Draco Malfoy's birthday. Double celebration today! Triple actually, since this is also the half way mark of this book :3

The Plan is in Motion

Harry brought his new sister to the Gryffindors hoping that she might help him make friends with them. Ron immediately greeted them as he saw them. "Who's that?" he asked. "Bella," Harry said. "She's my sister now." "Brilliant," Ron said, "I also have a sister."

"Bella, this is Ron," Harry said, tugging his hiding sister from behind him. She waved shyly and stared at the floor.

Ron's eyes widened. "Wait-it's that the Malfoy girl?"

"She was," Harry said, "but then we found out she's a half blood."

"Gordon bennett," Ron gasped. "Whatever will she do now?"

Harry, who realized he hadn't asked her yet, looked down at her expectantly. She, suddenly realizing the spot light was on her, fiddled with the end of her scarf.

"M-mrs. Bane," she said softly.

"What?"

"Mrs. Bane, she said," a Gryffindor first year with frizzy brown hair put in. "I'm Hermione. Who are you all?"

"I'm Harry and this is Ron," Harry said. "She's Bella."

"Harry Potter?" Hermione said. "O, I read all about you, of course. You're in several books…" and off she went, Ron getting confused and Harry overwhelmed with the number of books he was in. Bella, nodding along, seemed to have read all the books Hermione was mentioning.

Hermione was intrigued to hear this former Malfoy was a half blood like her. Ron just said he was always glad Bella wasn't a git like Draco. Bella, recovering quickly as always, was glad she could have pretty much anyone she wanted for a friend now, just like Draco said. (The only concern was getting the others back.)

McGonagall shooed them from clogging up the corridor, so they went somewhere else. They were now having a rather nice time in the Gryffindor common room. Yes, the Gryffindor common room. Harry so very liked the idea of a sister of his own to protect (and also she was naturally super nice) that he figured who would object to letting them in? She promised not to tell anyone anyway, saying she was going to call Lily if anyone bothered her about it. She was quite happy there, with Neville, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and away from Draco.

When it was late and Bella and Harry realized they didn't have much more time before Snape began looking for them, they were just walking down the corridor to their common room. Planning on spending every day in the Gryffindor common room with the others, and immersed in her happy fantasies, Bella wasn't very aware of her surroundings and knocked into someone.

"Watch it," Draco snapped. He elbowed her in the chest.

"Oi!" Caly called as Bella fell. Her books spilled everywhere. Pansy and the others laughed, Draco harder than the rest. Harry launched himself at Draco. Sighing, Caly helped Bella pick up her books.

"He's mean again, isn't he?" she muttered.

"I hope he's sad about hurting me," Bella pouted. "He hit me earlier."

"I heard about it," said Caly grimly. Straightening, she turned to Draco grabbing his elbow away from Harry's face. "It's not nice!" she growled. "Say you're sorry!"

"No," Draco grumbled. She tried to kick him. He threw off Harry and stepped aside just in time. "OI!" he shouted. He leapt at her, and pummeled her again. She hit him back. Harry ran in, struggling to untangle them. Bella screamed.

"AHH!" an older boy shrieked. Griff ran in just in time to pull Caly away from a particularly hard fist of Draco's. He hauled her up and nearly over his shoulder.

"Come at me!" Draco sniped up at Caly. "I'll win this time!"

"I don't think so," Griff said nervously. "It's my sister you're hitting."

Bella's face had lit up. She ran up to him, throwing wide her arms hopefully.

"What do you think you're doing?" Draco sneered. "If he's sensible, he wouldn't hold you again, half blood."

"I um," Griff muttered nervously. "I c-can't. Sorry, Bella," he said apologetically. Bella burst into tears. Harry immediately abandoned his stance to punch Draco and hugged Bella instead. Wriggling and snapping, Caly wrangled her way out of her brother's grip. She threw her arms around Bella too.

"He's just an old git," she whispered. "scared mum and dad would think bad of him. Don't be friends with him."

"Good idea," Harry put in.

"Ok-k," Bella sniffed.

Draco let out a short squeal of terror. They stared at him. He looked half scared, eyes darting around for an escape. He muttered something nobody caught. There was Lily, standing and only looking almost longingly at Griff. Draco began to edge away. Her eyes found him.

"You know," Lily said to him. He stiffened, and went paler.

"I'm not cute!" he managed. Harry stifled a laugh.

"Aww," she said. "Don't make this harder." He looked confused. "If you're so sad, I was—I had a Christmas present for you—was going to be not to hug you for a day, um. This is hard."

All fear fell away from Draco's face.

"A-and since I think you're really sad over Bella not being…you know," Lily continued sadly. Half the purebloods booed. Draco turned to glare. Caly clung to Bella tighter. "I think I'll not hug you for a," Lily continued, sighed heavily. "week."

Draco's face lit up so brightly, he seemed to light up the whole corridor. "A whole—a whole entire—an ENTIRE WEEK?" he shouted. "I'VE BEEN SPARED!" And with that he joyfully ran off, shouting to everybody he met that he was spared. The rest of his crowd wandered away. Griff, laughing softly, took his sister by the arm and led her away.

Harry pouted a bit. "Man he deserves to be hugged," he muttered. "That meanie."

Lily moaned softly. "There goes one of the cutest first years. I was kind of hoping he would hug me in thanks…but I guess not." She shrugged lightly, face sad. "Well, he's happy at least. Happy first years are the best."

"Hug me, then," Bella offered. Lily's face lit up.

"Yes!" she squealed, then swept her off the floor in a hug. "I think you're probably cuter than Draco," she mumbled into Bella's tiny shoulder. "You're so itty bitty! Only at Draco's shoulders!"

"Yea, I'm pretty tiny," Bella said, wriggling a bit to get her arms free.

Harry, as always, was right at her feet, wanting to be hugged next. He turned his cutest eyes up to her. They never failed him. She hugged him next. He couldn't say how deeply it touched him to have at least a couple people in Slytherin like him.

The next day, they had double potions as their last lesson. Harry didn't want to do lessons with the Gryffindors. They were always jumping into things without thinking. So annoying. At least Bella thought everything through. He and Bella made their way to the last lesson, trying to avoid getting jostled and elbowed and bumped by the other Slytherins. Harry and Bella, being small, were easier to pick on, but they had a better time hiding and slipping through crowds. Bella only had to make sure to stick to Harry or Draco would do something to her.

"You're late," Professor Snape snapped at Harry as he trailed in the potions classroom behind Bella.

"Draco's on time," Harry protested, glancing behind him as Draco walked in. Snape had moved on and was now rebuking some Gryffindor.

Bella patted his arm. "He does that all the time, just suck it up. You'll get your chance. Dadda always said that."

"Thanks," Harry muttered.

She was just about to sit next to him when Draco snatched up her hand and dragged her to his desk. "You're helping me instead of Potter this time," Draco hissed in her ear.

"Oi!" Harry said, standing.

"Potter, sit down," Snape snapped.

With nothing else to do, Harry sat.

"Now," Snape glowered at the class. "Today, we are making potions that will inflict your enemy with a different hair color. Is there a way to make each color in the potion as you brew it, or do you require dye for such an endeavor?"

Bella instantly knew, but Draco set a heavy book on Bella's hands on her lap and casually leaned his weight on it. Bella snarled at him. He smirked at her. Snape called on Mae.

"You would need dye, and the rest of the potion is exactly the same no matter what color you want to make," she said.

"Correct. Of course," Snape said. He almost seemed proud. "We will need Nightshade for this class. Where would you look if I told you to find me Mystic Nightshade?" Snape said down at Harry.

Bella looked ready to burst with the answer. Hermione and Mafalda raised their hands.

"The greenhouse?" Harry squeaked, remembering the last Herbology lesson.

"O really," Snape drawled. "In the wild? How very funny."

The other Slytherins snickered. Bella snatched her hand out, and reached across to hold his hand. She found it a tight fist. "

No, you find it in dense forests, silly," Snape continued, annoyed. "And only at night. Write that down."

They all copied it down, except Bella, who already knew the facts by heart.

"Now make that potion on page 33," Snape ordered.

And so they did, Neville messing his up, and Mae operating like this was her home element, which, being Snape's niece, it was. Bella utterly refused to help Draco. So he copied her. Noticing this, she made a move that would make his wrong, and smirked to see him copy it. Swiftly, she knocked his book onto the floor. While he leaned to retrieve it, she poured the frog spawn in and mixed it slowly instead of pouring it in without mixing it. Well, Draco's potion was going to chunk up, and he wouldn't have any idea why. Surprisingly, even without Bella's help, Harry's was perfect.

When the lesson was almost over, Snape walked between the students to critically inspect their work and hand out the dye. He scrutinized Bella's. "Perfect as always," he said proudly, gifting her a pretty dark green. He looked at Draco's. "Why is that chunky?"

"I-I just did what she did!" Draco spluttered. "It should be perfect!"

"Well, it's not," Snape said dryly. "You have to mix it directly after you put in the frog spawn."

"I thought I did…" Draco muttered, blanching slowly as he realized that in fact he didn't.

Snape skipped over Draco, not giving him any dye. Draco sulked, glowering down at Bella when she stuck her tongue out. Snape came to Harry's, peered in, and frowned. "Who did you steal from?"

"I didn't cheat!" Harry said quickly.

"Fine…" and with that, he reached for an orange vial in his bag, but at the last second went for and placed on Harry's desk a hot pink one. The other Slytherins around him stifled their laughs.

"You don't want me to get you with this, do you?" Harry snapped. Grins still faint on their faces, the others, silenced, ducked to their work. Of course they didn't want pink hair. (Though admit it, Crabbe or maybe Goyle would look pretty dashing in it, don't you think?)

Snape looked down at Mae's potion and softly said, "Look at this. It's perfect." Then he announced to the whole class, "My niece here knows how to follow instructions exactly. I hope you know how to do so as well, or else you will all become quickly behind as she flies on ahead." He gave her a pretty green dye. She squealed in excitement.

When the lesson was over, most of the Slytherins and a few Gryffindors were able to make their potions to Snape's standards. Ron and Neville caught up with Bella and Harry.

"That bloke is a total nit," Ron said. "Blimey, I knew I had it right! Why didn't he see that? At least I mixed the frog spawn in right after like it was supposed to!"

"I wish you could sit next to me, Bella," Neville whimpered. "I'm hopeless at everything. I can barely manage to do anything!"

"You can do lots of things!" Bella insisted. "Your potions aren't that bad, Snape just doesn't see that."

"You're not a nit like that Malfoy is," Neville said in slight awe, with the other boys nodding along.

"He's never nice," she murmured. "He was never nice as a kid, well, he was only when other people were around. Other than that, he would make me clean up his toys or give him my books." She sniffled. "He didn't take good care of the poor books…"

"How come your parents never noticed?" Harry said. "Surely they must have known!"

"They didn't," Bella said bitterly. "I could never tell them. Draco made sure I couldn't. He threatened to tell them I read at night, or have snuck candy…" she paused, realizing just how much she trusted them if she would tell him these things that had been kept among her and Draco in fear.

"I'll make sure he's sorry," Harry said.

"Yea," Neville agreed.

"I'll ask Fred and George for ideas," Ron supplied.

Just then, Draco walked by, chatting to Mae, who looked like she wanted to get away.

"My potion was perfect this time, of course," Draco said. "or it would have been if little Midget had helped me. She tricked me! Anyway, she's pay-"

"NO, you'll pay!" Harry roared.

"Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said, coming around the corner. Draco ducked behind Crabbe. Harry pointed him out. "Thank you," she said. "He needs to serve a little chat with Dumbeldore about missing that broom lesson, and then he'll have to serve a make up lesson."

"I'm already good with a broom," Draco whimpered behind Crabbe.

"Doesn't matter," McGonagall said. "It needs to go on your record. Now come."

After the chat and lesson, Draco was in his room, glad Potter wasn't there but worried that that boy might have a plan up his sleeve. He wasn't sure if he had seen Potter sneak some of his turning-hair-pink potion into a phial. Draco shuddered. He couldn't stand the thought of that kind of humiliation, especially someone of his status in the dark world (as the uppity half bloods call it.) Oh well, he'll think up a fitting revenge, just in case. The talk with Dumbledore was annoying; Draco was already good at riding, so why did he have to attend, anyway? Couldn't they make a special permit for him or something? The broom lesson was horrible; did the teacher shout at the kids all the time during the official lesson with everybody else? The shame of not having gone to the broom lesson was still eating away at him, but at least he had made up for it, and the agony lessoned-

An owl suddenly flew in and landed on his trunk. He recognized that carefully preened and haughty owl. Stomach riling just a bit more than it had been seconds ago, Draco reached out for what was on the owl's leg. He shoed the other Slytherins away before getting a good look at the paper. He got a note. Hands shaking, he slowly tore it open.

I am putting the plot in motion. The dragon you chose will go down in history if you chose right. ~ Your father

Draco felt a thrill like he had been struck by lightning. He wasn't sure what it was at first-glory? Joy? Smugness? Or fear? His stomach didn't feel right, like it had been picked up and dropped haphazardly. Carefully, he set the note down on the bed. Yes, there was definitely fear.

To distract himself, he got ready for bed. But when he had deep thoughts, nothing really worked. He couldn't stop thinking. He wouldn't be able to sleep. It was hard to remember there were other people around him.

He tossed and turned late into the night. He couldn't sleep—he had to walk. He didn't know what else to do when he had too many thoughts in his head. And these thoughts were important ones.

He threw on his cloak and wandered. He went through many dark and lonely corridors, passing no one. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going, but at any rate, he hadn't run into Filch. Before long, he was out on the grounds. He didn't notice the biting wind and the searing cold. His thoughts didn't stop. He didn't know if they could.

Father is going to put the plan in motion.

He knows what he's doing. It's got to be brilliant, but I can't help being worried.

He had been training me for this sort of thing since I was seven. I've been ready since I was ten. I did alright, I'm sure.

It must be something to do with the Dark Lord, I bet.

Nothing else could be as important...

He had me pick the dragon for it, whatever it is.

I wonder what he's doing.

Imagine the power, the glory. I could go down in history; the boy who, at eleven, chose a dragon that changed the world. What if this thing works?

What if I didn't do well enough. What if the one I picked won't work for what he's doing.

It won't hurt people, will it?

I don't know if I want it to work. What if it's dangerous. What if he gets hurt. What if Mum gets hurt. What if somebody dies…

I don't want to know what he'll do to me if I fail. This was my first quest. I can't fail!

But what if it does fail, and it's all my fault…

"I don't know if I can handle this," he whispered out loud. "O can I? Maybe I can. I'll be fine. We'll see."