Thanks to all the people who have reviewed so far, I love you! =D
Andy man507252 Yeah, I see your point (I've never been really good with introductions) Thanks for pointing it out! : )
Pippin1177 I don't want to say yet, I hope it will keep you reading!
Punkedupgt Your story is NOT retarded, don't ever think that, you hear me? :) Very original work, I must say.
Apothaca Your story is cool man! ;) It has an unexpected ending and twists and whooo! Keep up the good work!
Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic. Obviously, they all belong to J.K. Rowling, from whose imagination these characters came.
.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-. chapter six: a decision .-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.
That night, when he received the letter, Draco Malfoy knew what he had to do. Although he didn't like the idea of it, Draco knew that it would be all for the best. His mother had sent him a letter, scathingly telling him that he had one last chance to apologise to herself and to his father, one last chance to be a part of the Dark Lord's inner circle of Death Eaters. How DARE she? No, the horrid things she said in her letter had the opposite effect on Draco than she had intended. If she thought she could scare him into returning to her, she was wrong.
Before breakfast, the next morning, he determinedly walked to the Headmaster's Office. He stood before the statues for a couple of minutes before he could remember the password, and after they sneered at him for forgetting, they allowed him to pass. As he ascended the stairs to Dumbledore's Office, he ran over in his head different ways of explaining himself.
Once he reached the wooden door, he knocked gently, and Dumbledore's gentle voice called, "Come in."
He opened the door and Dumbledore looked up, not at all surprised to see the pointed-faced, pale Slytherin enter his office. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
While munching on some toast, Ron was busy trying to finish off an essay for Transfiguration. Harry stared. "Why didn't you do it last night, Ron?"
"I was busy last night," Ron snapped, his writing getting larger and messier the longer he wrote. "Percy sent a letter and it was awfully long -- I don't understand why that git had to send it to me anyway, it didn't really have anything important in it. How long have I got?"
"Twenty minutes," Harry replied, thinking about how long it had taken Percy to apologise to the Weasleys for his awful actions when Harry was in his fifth year.
Hermione arrived and sat down beside Harry. She saw Ron, and asked, "Ron, what ARE you doing?"
"He didn't get to finish his Transfiguration essay," Harry said, while Ron grunted.
Harry saw Hermione open her mouth to reprimand Ron, but then he saw her hastily shut her mouth. Bewildered, Harry continued eating his toast which had gone a little cold wondering, what was wrong with everybody? Malfoy going all quiet, Ron suddenly too busy to complete his homework, Hermione not scolding them for once, and Snape missing. It was so strange.
"Anyway Hermione," Harry finally said, finding the silence rather awkward. He glanced over at the Slytherint table and noticed that Malfoy wasn't there. "Malfoy hasn't hurt you or anything, has he?"
"No, no, everything's been fine with him and me," Hermione replied. "We don't really speak to each other, unless we have to, for Head duties."
"But if he does do anything, you will let me and Ron know, right?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ron added. "Then it gives us an excuse to smash him to a pulp."
Hermione gave Ron a stern look as he glanced up to look at her. His ears turned slightly pink as he looked down at his essay again.
Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "Ron, you nearly done? We got to get going, otherwise we'll be late."
"Blimey!" Ron glanced at his watch. "I need a couple more lines to finish this off."
"Well hurry up," Hermione urged. "I don't want to be late."
Rolling his eyes, Harry opened his mouth to tell the two of them to be quiet, but he was distracted when he saw Draco Malfoy enter the Great Hall, looking less pale than he usually did. Their eyes met, and for a moment, Harry didn't see the obnoxious Slytherin he had known ever since his first year at Hogwarts. He saw a scrawny teenager that he didn't know.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Care of Magical Creatures was the last lesson for the day, and by this time, Harry and Ron were already tired. They hoped Hagrid hadn't brought some wild beasts for them to tame, for they were just too exhausted for something like that.
Usually, the three Gryffindors were the first to get to class, but today they saw that a certain Slytherin was already there, staring at something in a big crate in front of Hagrid's hut.
"What the..." Ron muttered.
Hagrid came out at that moment, and after giving Malfoy a perplexed look, he turned and beamed at them. "You're g'nna have fun ter-day!"
He began to say something, and Harry and Ron listened intently to him, knowing that Hagrid's idea of "fun" was different from theirs. Hermione, however, was interested in Malfoy, who, after staring inside the crate for several more minutes, turned away and looked at Hagrid. His face was expressionless. She wondered what he could be thinking about.
As though he could feel eyes suddenly watching him, Malfoy glanced in her direction, and she turned away as quickly as she could, hoping he hadn't noticed her watching.
"Kneazles? They shouldn't be too bad, huh, Hermione?" Ron asked, giving her a nudge.
"Yeah..." Hermione replied, though her thoughts were still on Draco.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Hermione was still curious to find out who had sent Draco that letter the other night. When she had returned to Hogwarts, she had heard several things about him that she wasn't sure she believed -- would Draco Malfoy behave like that? Did Malfoy really hate his father?
She went into the common room she shared with him, and noticed that a piece of parchment lay near Draco's bedroom door. She stooped down and picked it up, and when she saw that it was a letter addressed to Draco, she quickly held the parchment away from her eyes. She didn't want to peep or pry into his affairs, and yet ... yet she was so curious about him. Was it the same letter that had caused him to react the way he did? She wanted to know.
He'll never know, she told herself. So she brought it close to her face and read the letter.
She had only reached halfway through, when she heard the door swing open suddenly. Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway, staring at the parchment she held in her hand. "What's that?" he asked, although he walked past her without waiting for an answer, and shut himself up in his room.
Glad he hadn't realised what she was doing, Hermione went into the bathroom they shared together. She placed the parchment near the sink, hoping Malfoy would think that he had accidentally left it there, before she returned to her own room, where she prepared to do her homework. It HAD been wrong of her to read that letter. Hermione scolded herself mentally. How would you like it if someone read a personal letter addressed to you, she told herself.
She sat at her table and tried to start her homework, but her mind kept wandering, and in the end, she gave up trying to do any work. There were so many things she wanted to know about what had happened to Snape, what had triggered off that drastic change in Draco Malfoy, what her feelings were toward Ron, and what Lord Voldemort had planned this time.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I'm not very happy with this chapter, even though I've spent more time on this one than the rest, but I promise the next chapter will be better!
Andy man507252 Yeah, I see your point (I've never been really good with introductions) Thanks for pointing it out! : )
Pippin1177 I don't want to say yet, I hope it will keep you reading!
Punkedupgt Your story is NOT retarded, don't ever think that, you hear me? :) Very original work, I must say.
Apothaca Your story is cool man! ;) It has an unexpected ending and twists and whooo! Keep up the good work!
Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic. Obviously, they all belong to J.K. Rowling, from whose imagination these characters came.
.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-. chapter six: a decision .-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.
That night, when he received the letter, Draco Malfoy knew what he had to do. Although he didn't like the idea of it, Draco knew that it would be all for the best. His mother had sent him a letter, scathingly telling him that he had one last chance to apologise to herself and to his father, one last chance to be a part of the Dark Lord's inner circle of Death Eaters. How DARE she? No, the horrid things she said in her letter had the opposite effect on Draco than she had intended. If she thought she could scare him into returning to her, she was wrong.
Before breakfast, the next morning, he determinedly walked to the Headmaster's Office. He stood before the statues for a couple of minutes before he could remember the password, and after they sneered at him for forgetting, they allowed him to pass. As he ascended the stairs to Dumbledore's Office, he ran over in his head different ways of explaining himself.
Once he reached the wooden door, he knocked gently, and Dumbledore's gentle voice called, "Come in."
He opened the door and Dumbledore looked up, not at all surprised to see the pointed-faced, pale Slytherin enter his office. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
While munching on some toast, Ron was busy trying to finish off an essay for Transfiguration. Harry stared. "Why didn't you do it last night, Ron?"
"I was busy last night," Ron snapped, his writing getting larger and messier the longer he wrote. "Percy sent a letter and it was awfully long -- I don't understand why that git had to send it to me anyway, it didn't really have anything important in it. How long have I got?"
"Twenty minutes," Harry replied, thinking about how long it had taken Percy to apologise to the Weasleys for his awful actions when Harry was in his fifth year.
Hermione arrived and sat down beside Harry. She saw Ron, and asked, "Ron, what ARE you doing?"
"He didn't get to finish his Transfiguration essay," Harry said, while Ron grunted.
Harry saw Hermione open her mouth to reprimand Ron, but then he saw her hastily shut her mouth. Bewildered, Harry continued eating his toast which had gone a little cold wondering, what was wrong with everybody? Malfoy going all quiet, Ron suddenly too busy to complete his homework, Hermione not scolding them for once, and Snape missing. It was so strange.
"Anyway Hermione," Harry finally said, finding the silence rather awkward. He glanced over at the Slytherint table and noticed that Malfoy wasn't there. "Malfoy hasn't hurt you or anything, has he?"
"No, no, everything's been fine with him and me," Hermione replied. "We don't really speak to each other, unless we have to, for Head duties."
"But if he does do anything, you will let me and Ron know, right?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ron added. "Then it gives us an excuse to smash him to a pulp."
Hermione gave Ron a stern look as he glanced up to look at her. His ears turned slightly pink as he looked down at his essay again.
Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "Ron, you nearly done? We got to get going, otherwise we'll be late."
"Blimey!" Ron glanced at his watch. "I need a couple more lines to finish this off."
"Well hurry up," Hermione urged. "I don't want to be late."
Rolling his eyes, Harry opened his mouth to tell the two of them to be quiet, but he was distracted when he saw Draco Malfoy enter the Great Hall, looking less pale than he usually did. Their eyes met, and for a moment, Harry didn't see the obnoxious Slytherin he had known ever since his first year at Hogwarts. He saw a scrawny teenager that he didn't know.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Care of Magical Creatures was the last lesson for the day, and by this time, Harry and Ron were already tired. They hoped Hagrid hadn't brought some wild beasts for them to tame, for they were just too exhausted for something like that.
Usually, the three Gryffindors were the first to get to class, but today they saw that a certain Slytherin was already there, staring at something in a big crate in front of Hagrid's hut.
"What the..." Ron muttered.
Hagrid came out at that moment, and after giving Malfoy a perplexed look, he turned and beamed at them. "You're g'nna have fun ter-day!"
He began to say something, and Harry and Ron listened intently to him, knowing that Hagrid's idea of "fun" was different from theirs. Hermione, however, was interested in Malfoy, who, after staring inside the crate for several more minutes, turned away and looked at Hagrid. His face was expressionless. She wondered what he could be thinking about.
As though he could feel eyes suddenly watching him, Malfoy glanced in her direction, and she turned away as quickly as she could, hoping he hadn't noticed her watching.
"Kneazles? They shouldn't be too bad, huh, Hermione?" Ron asked, giving her a nudge.
"Yeah..." Hermione replied, though her thoughts were still on Draco.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Hermione was still curious to find out who had sent Draco that letter the other night. When she had returned to Hogwarts, she had heard several things about him that she wasn't sure she believed -- would Draco Malfoy behave like that? Did Malfoy really hate his father?
She went into the common room she shared with him, and noticed that a piece of parchment lay near Draco's bedroom door. She stooped down and picked it up, and when she saw that it was a letter addressed to Draco, she quickly held the parchment away from her eyes. She didn't want to peep or pry into his affairs, and yet ... yet she was so curious about him. Was it the same letter that had caused him to react the way he did? She wanted to know.
He'll never know, she told herself. So she brought it close to her face and read the letter.
She had only reached halfway through, when she heard the door swing open suddenly. Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway, staring at the parchment she held in her hand. "What's that?" he asked, although he walked past her without waiting for an answer, and shut himself up in his room.
Glad he hadn't realised what she was doing, Hermione went into the bathroom they shared together. She placed the parchment near the sink, hoping Malfoy would think that he had accidentally left it there, before she returned to her own room, where she prepared to do her homework. It HAD been wrong of her to read that letter. Hermione scolded herself mentally. How would you like it if someone read a personal letter addressed to you, she told herself.
She sat at her table and tried to start her homework, but her mind kept wandering, and in the end, she gave up trying to do any work. There were so many things she wanted to know about what had happened to Snape, what had triggered off that drastic change in Draco Malfoy, what her feelings were toward Ron, and what Lord Voldemort had planned this time.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I'm not very happy with this chapter, even though I've spent more time on this one than the rest, but I promise the next chapter will be better!