Chapter VII:

Dumbledore arrived with such a look of fury that he frightened me. I had never seen him look even remotely annoyed before. Here was the man who had killed Grindlewald. He stopped in front of me and looked very much like he wanted to take me by the shoulders and shake me, but he didn't.

"You have no business meddling in the affairs of the professors of this school. We now know that Professor Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort, but if he hadn't been, then this night you would have been the cause of an innocent man's death. Professor Snape is a professional, you are an amateur who has no business in casting spells at another person! Furthermore, now we don't know where Voldemort is. We could have captured him and prevented him from being free. Finally, although this is minor in comparison, we will now have to find a replacement Defense Professor in the middle of the school year. Oh, and one last thing, Professor Snape and yourself will have to testify to the Ministry tomorrow morning on what you saw tonight. I will have to vouch for the both of you. I will stay with the body while Professor Snape escorts you out of this part of the castle, then he will return here. We have much to discuss and to do."

We walked together and Professor Snape offered me his hand at the last possible moment. It was cold, very much like how I felt like right now. He let go and turned back. I continued forward, though not to the Slytherin dorms. It was probably a little past 10 pm. I felt tainted and disgusting. Everything that Dumbledore had said was true. I had been the cause of someone's death, added to that the fact that Professor Quirrell probably was an innocent victim who had just been possessed. That would be an awful fate and now there would be no redemption for him. He was dead. I had known him. He wasn't just a character in a story anymore. He had been my teacher and I had contributed to his death.

My feet carried me to the astronomy tower. What was I doing here? What had I already done? Was this world already doomed because of my arrogance and the knowledge that I shouldn't have? I looked out into the night, but couldn't see much. I didn't particularly feel like going to bed, so I decided to do a bit of stargazing. Maybe I would go for a walk later.

000

Dawn came. Professor Snape got up at 5 am. The Ministry meeting would be at 6:30. He finished getting ready at 5:30 and then realized that they had forgotten to tell Esmira when the meeting would be. He hurried to the Slytherin dorms and knocked on her door. A very sleepy, disgruntled Milicent Bulstrode answered.

"Can you wake up Esmira for me?" He asked.

"Can't." Milicent said, "Don't know where she is. Never came in last night. Maybe she's in the Potions Classroom like last time she didn't come in." Severus was already moving before she finished that last sentence. Esmira was causing him more headaches than any other student had ever done. Even more than that blasted Harry Potter. Why couldn't she just be more…more….or less…less… frustrating, that was it. He reached the Potions Classroom, but she wasn't there. He quickened his pace and practically burst into the Headmaster's office.

"I can't find Esmira."

Dumbledore immediately went to the model of the castle and spoke "Esmira Thorncrow." A light went on right outside the front gates. "She must be thinking that we are going to walk until we are no longer on the grounds of the castle and can apparate." Dumbledore said, "Why don't you go get her, since we'll be using the floo network from my office." Severus nodded, relieved, and left the office. He slowed his pace, feeling much less urgency than before. A light rain was falling and it was quite foggy. Snape strained to see as he exited the main gates. Where was Esmira? Ah, there she was.

000

The trip to the Ministry was uneventful but at the same time nerve wracking. Dumbledore told me what would and wouldn't be appropriate to say about last night and I was very tense whenever I was called upon to speak. Minister Fudge looked at Snape and I rather dubiously and I got the feeling that he wasn't entirely convinced. Dumbledore suggested bringing the body as evidence to show the head on the back of Quirrell's head. At this mention I felt faint and had to lean on a rail for support. One of the people at the Ministry noticed and took pity on me since I "was only a child, why don't we send her back to school?" Dumbledore escorted me back and I made my way to the common room. It was lunchtime and a surprising amount of students were in the common room though nobody except Milicent seemed to notice my arrival. Everyone was talking about how Harry and Ron had nearly killed the troll. That made me feel even worse. They were right on track to being the heroes of this story still and I didn't know anymore how I fit in.

Draco suddenly sat down beside me, I hadn't noticed him approaching. "Where were you last night? We had the rest of the feast here in the common room." I just looked at him until he remembered. "Oh, right. You don't eat." Instead of answering, I sighed and got up, feeling his eyes follow me as I went to my room. That worried me, Draco could be scarily observant and by the process of elimination, he'd know that I wasn't in the common room last night at the feast, and I wasn't involved with the troll, so once news reached the students about Professor Quirrell he'd probably guess I was involved. I didn't know how he would react.

The next morning the Slytherin prefect knocked on the door and told me to go to the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore had bad news and good news, "The Ministry hasacknowledged the return of Voldemort." I smiled, relieved.

"There's more. Since you have again been brought to the attention of the Ministry, they have also decided that your adoption is invalid since we didn't tell them about your….status as a vampire and since having the school adopt you was so highly irregular it should never have been approved in the first place."

I gasped and looked at him, fearful.

"Since you come from a well-respected Slytherin family, your adoption will be broadcasted to them first, today. Professor Quirrell's death will be announced at dinnertime, but Voldemort's return will not be announced until next week, to put some distance between the news and Professor Quirrell's demise. I grew cold on the inside, this was exactly what I didn't want to have happen. I couldn't bear the thought of living with any Slytherin family. "I'm sorry, Esmira." Dumbledore said. "I'll take care of informing the Slytherin community right after I leave here, you don't need to tell any other students if you don't want to. You'd better get to class." I rushed out of the room, there was one person I had to tell immediately.

"Draco" I hissed at the end of class. He was usually at the front of the pack of students leaving. He looked a bit annoyed to linger behind, but he came over to me.

"What?" I glanced around to make certain no one was listening, but I still wanted to whisper.

"I'm being put up for adoption."

"WHA-"

I covered his mouth with my hand. "Shhh! Dumbledore has already told the Slytherin families by now. Please. I don't want to be adopted by a family I don't know." In my head I thought "Better the evil I know than the evil I don't." "Could you write to your Father?"

Draco nodded, "I can't guarantee anything, but he'll at least consider it if I write to him."

"Can you do it now?" I didn't want Lucius to send a rejection before receiving Draco's letter and I wanted Draco to write the letter before he heard of Quirrell's death.

"Yes."

000

I waited, wondering and wishing I knew already. I didn't have to wait long. The next day Dumbledore called me into his office. Lucius Malfoy and Draco were with him. Inside I was elated, but I didn't let anything show on my face. "Ah, Esmira." Dumbledore said, with a slightly strained smile. "Mr. Malfoy has expressed an interest in adopting you. I believe the Ministry is working out the paperwork now." Lucius turned to face me, "So, this is Esmira whom I have been hearing so much about from Draco." Luckily vampires can't blush because I suddenly thought Oh dear, does the poor boy like me? I merely nodded in response, not wanting to use the cliché line "I hope you've only been hearing good things" because I didn't know how Lucius would answer that question. I felt he was too imperious to answer that with a polite "Of course" if it weren't true.

After a brief pause of silence I realized he was waiting for me to speak and I said, "Thank you Mr. Malfoy, for adopting me." He smiled and I suddenly wondered what his thoughts were. Certainly he hadn't decided to adopt me just because Draco showed an interest in me?

A/N: Again, I don't think this was really the right place to end this chapter, but break was over far too quickly and I've started another semester of school.