The Necklace

Draco finally got Crabbe and Goyle to scurry off. He pretended as if he hadn't eaten all day. While they were plotting their little tricks he never removed his hand from his coat pocket. He continued to gently massage one of the velvet covered boxes between his fingers. He was trying to decipher his mother's words. Why was it so critical that he opened them in secret? They were probably a pair of new cuff links he was eyeing earlier that week. Or maybe it was a secret weapon to help defend himself from the Dementors. No matter what it was he could no longer concentrate on tormenting the three perfect Gryffindor's. Once he could tell they were fully out of sight he closed his compartment door and locked it. He pulled the blinds and sat on the floor. He pulled out the two small boxes and placed them on the bench. He stared at one for a minute and then the other. After taking a deep exhale he decided to open the box on the left first.

Draco slowly peaked into the box to see a simple small paperweight. It was an emerald green rock that was slightly larger than a Galleon. He slid the emerald into his palm and examined it more closely. Why was this such a secret? He kept looking for a symbol but nothing was appearing. He lazily opened up the second box and stared confused. It was the emerald and pearl necklace from yesterday. He knew now that his mother was up to something. He was looking for a marking on the rock to explain what it was. He knew they were meant to be together but it was unclear how they worked together. As he slowly rubbed his thumb over the rock he heard a loud bang. Draco accidentally dropped the rock and fell on his back. Goyle broke the lock and he forced his way into the compartment.

"Oi, Draco. Why are you on the ground?" Goyle's face was dumbfounded. Draco could feel the red heat from his cheeks as his anger began to boil. Then it hit him. He had his back against the window wall now. He looked up at Goyle and his face turned from red to white. He followed Goyle's eyes and landed on the emerald rock. He scrambled to his feet but it was too late. Goyle grabbed the rock and began examining it. "Where did you get this? And who has the other piece?" Draco looked at him puzzled. How did he know more about this than he did? He attempted to straighten his face so Goyle did not notice. "It's just a paperweight; my mother gave it to me." Draco attempted to grab it from him again. Goyle simply stuck out his free hand to stop Draco from coming closer. "It is so much more than a paperweight, Draco. This is a KnowItAll. My dad has one but I've never seen one like this." Goyle began rubbing the rock for what seemed like forever until the rock began shifting.

"Alright, I got it open. Do you have a small piece of the rock anywhere?" Draco could feel his hand being drawn towards the necklace. He needed to change the subject so Goyle didn't know what he had. "I've got nothing; all I have is this rock." He could now tell that Goyle was beginning to lose interest. He tossed the rock back to Draco. "Go find Crabbe. I'm ready to annoy Potter." Goyle quickly skipped away down the train humming some tune. Once out of ear shot, Draco quickly tried to locked the door and closed the blinds again. He fumbled the necklace out of his pocket and carefully placed it into the rock. It began to glow an intense bright green and a tune was slowly getting louder and louder. Draco concealed the rock to buffer the sounds but it was no use. He frantically looked out into the hallway but no one else seemed to hear the tune. When he thought it couldn't get any worse the rock began to sing.

"I am now your KnowItAll
Together we will have a ball
Think of who you want to spy
Don't be scared; let's give it a try!"

Draco stared dumbfounded. All he had to do was think of who he wanted to spy on. Who did he want to spy on? Why did his mother give him this, especially if she knew this was a KnowItAll? His thoughts were cut off-

"I don't have all day you know. Think of someone. Come on, let's go!"

Hermione Granger. She was the first person that came to mind. He almost immediately regretted this.

"Hermione Granger! You shall be able to spy on Hermione Granger! Now hand her my necklace so we can start having fun!" The rock was no longer glowing. It returned to its smooth original self so the necklace no longer fit inside. He wasn't sure what to believe. He didn't even know that this sort of item was possible. He could hear his two hunchmen returning so he quickly closed the necklace back into one of the boxes and kept the rock in his pocket.

"Sorry, Draco. I couldn't find the lunch trolley but I found the snack trolley! Want some chocolate frog?" Crabbe was covered in chocolate. He had clearly eaten three already and was about to finish his fourth. "Come on, boys. It's time to piss of Potter and Weasley." Draco smirked as they walked toward the last compartment of the train, Crabbe and Goyle following after him.


Draco marched towards Harry's compartment cracking jokes with his two escorts. They rounded the corner of the final door and invited themselves inside. Right as Draco was about to insult Ron he noticed a frail, sick looking old man sleeping against the window. Then his eyes slowly shifted to the brunette sitting across from him. Her big brown eyes stared back and he felt like he was sitting under water. There was no way to escape his feelings and he did not understand why he felt this attraction towards her. He stumbled through the next set of words hoping to get back on track of bullying the boys. Harry looked quite amused at Draco's lack of thinking straight. Crabbe and Goyle were unsure of Draco's actions and assumed he was nervous of having a teacher in the compartment. They nudged Draco causing him to regain composure. He played along and left the compartment hating himself for acting so foolish. No girl makes a Malfoy act like this. Especially someone who is not as pureblood! he thought to himself.

They were about six compartments down when the trained started to slow down. The three of them looked at each other confused. "I bet a wheel broke. This train is too old anyways," Crabbe commented. Goyle began saying something but Draco was too distracted by what he saw outside. "You don't think those black things are-" Draco was quickly cut off by a sudden jolt of the train. "Everyone get into a compartment and lock the doors!" Draco shoved his two friends into the nearest door and locked the door. He could hear random screams coming from outside but he agreed with the others he would not open the door. The lights went out and Draco could feel the cold creeping in through the windows and cracks. He told himself not to break down, not in front of all these people. Save it for when you are alone. Save every emotion for when you are alone. His father's words continued to play through his head. He took deep breaths trying to control the quivering in his voice. He closed his eyes and remembered what his mother told him about Dementors. They feed on positive emotions: happiness, joy, love. If one comes near you at Hogwarts you grab those memories and you never forget them. Do not ever forget about love. Draco started working up a sweat focusing on his love for his mother. He ran through every moment at Diagon Alley to keep hold of that feeling. It was very silent and he began to shiver. Then it hit him. He felt the little black box add weight to his pocket. His mother knew something was going to happen and that Draco would worry about his new interest. He opened his eyes and saw everyone covering their faces with their arms. Through the moonlight he could barely make out where his friends were lying. There was a loud howling when one was not enveloped in their own emotions. He broke the latch open and slowly crawled over and around people to reach the last compartment. He saw so many people in the hallway covering their faces, some crying and others seemed unconscious. The lights flickered and Draco snapped back to his objective. He saw a large white glowing cloud push something away from the students and out the back of the train. He clambered towards the final compartment to see Ron still covering his face and the frail old man with his wand still out. He grabbed Hermione's arm and she turned towards him. Her face was as white as a ghost and looked as if she was about to get sick. Her eyes widened when she realized who was grabbing her.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked her as she stared in disbelief. "Are you okay? Hermione, just answer me. Are you hurt at all? Are you okay!?" Draco began to shake her arm and she finally started to blink. She slowly nodded her head and he let out a sigh of relief. Then he remembered about the necklace. How was he supposed to give it to her? He fumbled in his pocket for the little box and she seemed to let out a slight nervous giggle. He looked back into her eyes as he handed her the box.

"What is this?" she asked as she opened the box. "This is...I can't...Are you sure?" She was not expecting a gift right now especially from a certain individual. "Hermione, please just take it. It suits you better than anyone else I know. It's simple and beautiful. Will you wear it?" The words just poured out of his mouth before he could think. He was panting heavily from all the commotion that just occurred within the last two minutes. With a slight nod and blushing cheeks she began to take it out of the case.

A noise came from the boy on the ground and she looked up at Draco quickly. She broke their eye contact and shoved the box into her own pocket. Before Draco could say anything she was gone. She was concerned over her friend's health and was no longer interested in what Draco had to say. He slipped away quietly feeling defeated. He returned to the compartment to find Crabbe and Goyle talking with the others. They seemed very relieved to see Draco and he hushed them back towards their private compartment. They stood outside the door and began discussing what had happened. Draco was mid sentence when he noticed a Gryffindor wearing a small pearl and emerald necklace walk by and brush his shoulder. She looked back at him but hurried off to find the snack trolley. "I need chocolate frogs! Does anyone have chocolate?"

A/N: As always reviews are appreciated!

-Rae