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The Letter

It had been fairly normal, as normal as it could get anyway, so far. Draco had been left at Hogwarts over the holiday to do some spying on "that Potter boy and his friends" because Father had "business" to attend. Right, like Draco was that dense. It wasn't as if he was Goyle or Crabbe. He had only been living with the damn man for all seventeen years of his life. Business in Lucius's world meant fun DeathEater events, filled with lots of blood and gore, fun for the whole family. Except that only initiated members of the family could come. Unluckily (or perhaps luckily) for Draco, his initiation was not until he was out of Hogwarts, which didn't leave him much time anyway, seeing as he was in his 7th year with half the year gone already.

Draco groaned, thinking of where he would be at this time next year. "Death and killings galore," he sneered. He had been to one of the "fun events" before when he was five; it involved lots of Dark Arts, stupid muggles, and occasionally, a stupid mudblood. He did not intend on soiling his robes or precious skin with their impurity. He definitely did not wish to soil his ears with their pitiful screams of pain and terror. Sure, they were quite pleasant to listen to; it was just that Draco particularly despised the five hours it took his mother to properly cleanse her "poor baby's violated ears." At the mention of another cleansing, his delicate ears twitched.

 "Wait a minute," he murmured. "My ears did not twitch because of the mention of cleansing." Then, as if his ears heard him speak to himself, a disturbing noise came from the mudblood Granger's adjoining room, and they twitched again. "Shut up!" he growled to Granger. "Some of us are trying to rest." Why was she the Headgirl? Besides her extraordinary scores on all school related items and amazing magical ability, she was nothing. He had made his father proud in becoming the Headboy, but the idea of a mudblood being his counterpart angered his father. Just the thought of the bookworm-ish mudblood tickled him to wonderful idea of homicide.

He was about to go stomping into her room and demand that she stop the inferior noise when Serpentius, his eagle owl, pecked on his window with a oddly shaped large package. He eagerly opened it, expecting some sweets from dear sweet Mother, but alas, he found only a Dark Arts book in the shape of a bleeding muggle head from his father. "Stupid Father," he grumbled loudly, opening the book. A letter fell out, and he picked it up with surprise. His father had never enclosed letters with his "presents" before.

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Marie, Marie Katalina Dijorz, and I am writing this letter in the vain hope that someone, somewhere, will come across this parchment. It is of great importance that whomever the parchment has chosen to reveal itself to takes great heed to my word.

But first, I think, I shall start at the beginning...not the beginning that came with my acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...but the beginning that came with the appearance of a certain young man into my life in my 5th year.

*FLASHBACK*

Hey you. Watch where you're going," a 15-year old boy sneered coldly.

"Fuck off, Daniels," I growled back at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

"To whom do you think you are talking, you bastard. Don't end your sentences with a preposition."

"Get lost before I do something to hurt you, bitch."

"I've heard of you. The lady's man, the casanova. You don't fool me. Not for one second. You're all talk and no walk." I smiled coquettishly.

"Why you--"

"Shut it." I pushed him against the wall in the dark corridor. "Don't move, and I won't have to hurt you...too badly, anyway." I licked my lips, eyes flashing angrily at him.

*END FLASHBACK*

His name was Brett. I loved him; yes, I did love him with my whole being. I handed him my heart and soul the moment I saw him, no questions asked. He was the bane of my existence. When I cried, I cried for him. When I laughed, I laughed for him. When I did anything, I did it for him. I didn't just love him; I  needed him.

But you know what? I hated him. I hated him with every drop of blood in my body. I hated him like no other. Every feature on his face, every quality that he held, every movement that he made, every breath he took pushed me to the brink of untouchable insanity. He drove me mad, and I hated him for it.

But somewhere between crossroads of my love and hate for him, I made a fatal mistake, and everything changed.

I fell in love with the damned boy.

He was the reason that I came to despise my life. He was the reason I was so hungry for blood, so hungry for vengeance to the world that did me wrong.

The letter burst into black flames of venom, its wiry coils striking him angrily. Draco collapsed to the floor in a true Malfoy style: head first.

--------

The loud noise from Malfoy's room sounded strangely like bones cracking. "He must be listening to sounds of muggles being tortured again," she said, rolling her eyes. She gently put down her copy of Hogwarts: A History, a gift from Madam Pince, and angrily rushed to his room. "You great blundering prat!" she snapped. "Stop listening to that—" she stopped as she saw his crumbled body with ashes scattered all around him. She rushed to his side immediately. "Um…Malfoy? Maaalfoy?" She poked him incessantly. "Oh bloody hell…"  Dumbledore was away at the Ministry, Pomfrey was at a convention for Medi-Witches (Muggle Medicine: Its Effects on the Famed Hairy Man who Made Pots), Snape was away on "business," McGonagall was with Dumbledore, the rest of the teachers were away on winter vacation…

She remembered what Dumbledore had told her before all the teachers had left, "Now, Ms. Granger, since you and Mr. Malfoy are the only students staying here for the Christmas holiday, we trust you will be able to push aside your differences and live peacefully for a few days. We were a bit worried at first, but seeing as you two are both 7th years and our Headstudents, we're going to leave you here alone for two weeks. We shall return on the January 2nd. Happy Christmas!" With that, he and the rest of the teachers port-keyed to their respectable destinations.

"Oh no…" she groaned. "I am in so much trouble. What am I going to do? What if he dies? Oh no oh no oh no…I wonder if this will have an effect on my grades…" she mumbled to herself. She put her head in her hands, thinking about the worst that could happen when a menacing black owl landed on Malfoy's bed. It stared at her with its blood red eyes for a while before landing on the ashes next to Malfoy. It sat angrily on the ashes, and lo and behold, a new piece of parchment appeared. She picked up the letter, staring at it curiously. "I wonder how that happened…"

 "To Whom It May Concern," she read the seemingly otherwise blank paper. She gasped as the phrase disappeared into the parchment, and six new words appeared.

To Mr. Draco Malfoy and Ms. Hermione Granger:

I suppose that you, whoever you may be, are the person(s) that my parchment has chosen to reveal itself to. Take care of Calanthius, who shall serve as your " messenger" for the next few weeks. By now, I assume that you have read my first parchment. I warn you, take heed to my words. You must listen to me, and act upon them quickly before time runs out.

Marie Katalina Dijorz

 "What the—" was all she was able to exclaim before the letter exploded with a copious amount of powder into her face. She collapsed next to Malfoy as sleep overtook her.

A/N: Please review! I'll love you forever…