I also post a question to you: I've come up with a better title for this fic. It hit me during music class one day, but because I've already posted seven chapters under "A Foretold Love" I'm hesitant as to whether I should change it. The new title is "Between the Lines." I asked my betas their opinions, but they have the same thoughts as myself. "Between the Lines" is a better title, but "A Foretold Love" is the original. So what do you think?
***Thanks to my betas for reading over this chapter.
SEVEN.inaugurations
Draco Malfoy sat in his dormitory, his candle the only one still burning. Crabbe's snores were rumbling through the room, and Goyle was muttering in his sleep. The other occupants were silent.
The candlelight danced across Draco's face, turning his gray eyes to silver. A piece of paper was clenched in his hand, his gaze almost magically drawn to the writing.
The time has come.
His eyes narrowed into a glare at the paper, and he suddenly threw it on the candle flame. That note was the start of all this pressure, anxiety and confusion! The edges of the parchment blackened and crumbled quickly, and ashes fluttered down onto his bedside table. Then Draco blew out the flame wearily and lay down on top of his covers.
But although the paper was destroyed, the emotional turmoil still remained. Draco did not find sleep for many hours.
.
In her own dormitory across the common room, Blaise Zabini was awake, but she lay in darkness. She prayed that her words had gotten through to the Malfoy boy, hoped that he'd decide to think for himself rather than following along like a sick puppy. She had surrendered to it; she knew Draco was strong enough to fight back.
"You can't hide behind your father forever, Draco Malfoy! He won't protect you once you become a Death Eater! You'll have to face You-Know-Who yourself! He will give you instructions directly and if you fail, you will be punished directly. Lucius won't take the heat for you."
His next words hit her hard, left her speechless, made her stop and think. His gray eyes bore directly into hers, hard and cold. And he said, "My father has never protected me."
Blaise sighed. Draco Malfoy had it rough.
.
"What is it today? Monday?" Ron asked on a yawn.
"Yeah. Potions first," Harry replied and Ron groaned loudly.
"At least it's not with the Slytherins today," he said. "Look, the post is here."
Harry looked up to see a flock of owls streaming into the Great Hall. He looked around for Hedwig, saw she wasn't there, and went back to his breakfast. A gray barn owl stopped near Hermione, who took the Daily Prophet from its talons and gave it a knut in return.
"Hey! Listen to this!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing to the front page. "It seems that Hogwarts is going to have a public paper of its own!"
"How fascinating," Ron muttered sarcastically. "Let's go waste our time writing a newspaper."
Harry had a similar outlook. "Why? What's the point?"
Hermione read the article out loud. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: a bit of a secluded place. Not many visitors, not much communication. It is a common complaint of parents that their children rarely send home letters. Even less frequently do the letters contain anything significant, an issue heightened when the supposedly fabled Chamber of Secrets was opened. My parents were horrified to discover that the crisis had been going on before the true events of the school went public, cheerful letters home full of blatant lies, covering the undeniable happenings.'
"There was a long time ago when Hogwarts School produced papers that were owled to any who wished to read about the school doings. Some of you may have received the Hogwarts Hog yourself. Many more of you probably recall why the paper's production was cancelled.
"'When You-Know-Who reached his full power, information needed to be rationed,' says Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic. 'The Daily Prophet was released weekly and censored any strategic information. The Hogwarts Hog was cancelled altogether since we believed that Hogwarts School would be one of You-Know-Who's favoured targets. We didn't want You-Know-Who to gain any strategic advantages through news stories we had printed ourselves.'
"Even when You-Know-Who lost his power and disappeared, the Hogwarts Hog didn't resume production. This is mainly because of the mystery surrounding his disappearance. The Ministry wished to keep certain security measures in place until his exact location and status could be determined, since the notion of this powerful wizard being killed by an infant seemed highly unbelievable and almost unrealistic. As You-Know-Who was never found, the Hogwarts Hog was never resumed.
"'It's a new beginning. I believe that as the Hogwarts Hog begins production again, people will feel more secure. Yes, You-Know-Who has returned, but there is no reason to adopt any fear. Harry Potter has defeated him before; surely he can do it again. And do you honestly think that You-Know-Who would try to attack Hogwarts with Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter there?' says Cornelius Fudge. 'Besides, parents have a right to know what's going on at the school.'"
Hermione looked up at Harry's stricken face and grinned. "He doesn't mean it," she assured him, glaring at Ron as he laughed into his cup.
"Some, however, have their doubts, particularly those with children attending Hogwarts. One woman who will remain anonymous argues that if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is willingly given Hogwarts information, he won't think twice about breaking in. She said she is afraid for her children.
"When this point was brought up to Mr. Fudge, the Minister dismissed it easily, firmly restating there was 'nothing to worry about.'
"Hogwarts Hog production has yet to begin but Fudge hopes the first issue will be released within the next two weeks, at which time an opening celebration will take place at Hogwarts School."
Hermione closed the paper and looked at Harry and Ron across the table. Harry had his head in his hands. "That was the last thing I needed," he muttered.
"Not quite!" Ron said, clapping Harry on the back. "We have potions next!"
.
It wasn't unheard of but was uncommon nonetheless for post to be delivered at any meal other than breakfast. There were owls that got lost on their way to the school and delivered their packages at another meal, or letters from parents that had been forgotten to be delivered that morning. The lone owls that did happen to arrive at lunch or dinner attracted more attention than they otherwise would if they'd arrived at breakfast, and the recipient was more often to be interrogated about the letter's contents, for if it couldn't wait for the following morning's post then it must surely be interesting. The midnight owl that soared through the Great Hall during the midday meal, though, would have stood out no matter when it arrived or where it went.
All the students looked up as it flew twice around the room, then landed on the Slytherin table near Draco Malfoy's plate. Many of the students lost interest then; it didn't concern them anymore, and it was only a Slytherin. But it was just that very thing that piqued Hermione interest even more. She'd seen that owl deliver Draco a note a short while ago, a few days before Hogsmeade, and she recalled what Sirius had said.
"I learned a lot about Death Eaters from being an Auror. No one was allowed to join unless they were sixteen or older. Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater; I've no doubt that Draco Malfoy will be doing his Death Eater initiation."
Contact from Voldemort? Hermione thought as she watched Draco open the letter. Instructions from his father on what he has to do?
"What are you looking at?"
Hermione jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun her head around to see Ron frowning at her.
"What's so interesting about the Slytherin table?"
"I was just wondering why--" She stopped short. Why did she care if Draco Malfoy was going to do his Death Eater initiation? Why did she care if he'd received a letter from his father or Voldemort? How was that her problem? "I was just wondering why more people don't have black owls like that. They're very pretty."
"It's probably expensive if Malfoy's got one," Ron said, and he rolled his eyes in disdain.
Hermione shrugged and looked over her shoulder to see Draco crumple the paper and shoo the owl away.
.
Draco sat alone on the Astronomy Tower after lunch. He was supposed to be in Care of Magical Creatures, but he had much more important things to worry about. He reached into his pocket and removed the crumpled paper.
The beginning is upon us! His father wrote. I will be by on Wednesday evening at 7:00 on the North Tower. We have much to discuss.
Draco snorted. He pulled out his wand and watched as a blue spark jumped from the tip to the paper, alighting the parchment. It seemed the only thing he could do was burn the letters, but it didn't change anything.
The beginning is upon us!
He snorted again. The beginning of what? He wondered. Because for him, it was the beginning of the end.
.
"Two weeks?" he thundered. "Two weeks!?"
Wormtail cowered at his master's feet. "I'm sure it won't take quite that long, Lord," he whimpered.
"It had better not," Voldemort snarled, spinning on his heel to glower at Peter Pettigrew. His red eyes narrowed, and Wormtail flinched under the piercing glare. He turned away, striding to his favourite window. "It had better not."
Wormtail sat up and glared at Voldemort's back. It wasn't his fault it would take two weeks for the first Hog issue to be finished! Peter clenched his fists and waved them in the air at Voldemort's back in a childish manner, as though that could somehow harm the powerful dark wizard before him.
"Did Lucius send the letter?" Voldemort demanded next.
Wormtail took on a sickening sweet tone. "Yes, Master. The owl should have arrived at the school by now."
"Good," Voldemort said, and he made his way to the door to leave the room. "And don't let me catch you waving your fists at me again."