Chapter 4

Catching Up (Draco)

Malfoy.

A surname very commonly associated with the Dark Lord; therefore those of that named were feared. At least that's how Draco saw it.

Draco Malfoy, Slytherin king, no...Slytherin god, a member of one of the most prestigious wizarding families there ever was and the sole heir to Malfoy Manor and all it's riches. Draco was proud of who he was; he'd had everything he wanted from the day he was born and life only seemed to be getting better.

During Draco's sixth year at Hogwarts he had been marked, he was now a Death Eater, the youngest ever. Although Draco was slightly dismayed at the fact that he had not been permitted to participate in the "Great Battle" the Dark Lord had said it was "for good reason". Draco desperately wanted to know what that reason was.

In order to have Draco marked early his father, Lucius, had done some "fancy stepping" and finally persuaded the Dark Lord that Draco could be used to spy on Dumbledore, his Order of the Phoenix and, most of all, Harry Potter. That was right before Lucius had landed himself in Azkaban....again.

His father's first imprisonment had taken place after Draco's fifth year when Potter had named various Death Eaters. His father escaped Azkaban, only to be caught doing something foolish a mere six months later. Draco had picked up the Daily Prophet that morning to see his father staring blankly off the page, the famous Malfoy smirk stretched across his lips. Draco had just laughed as he tossed the paper aside: his father was a fool.

Directly following Lucius' re-imprisonment Draco's mother, Narcissa, had a mental breakdown and was driven deeply into depression. When Draco had returned from school following his sixth year he found the house to be dusty and lifeless, as if nothing had moved inside the house for centuries.

He went up to his moth's dressing room and found her lying on the chaise staring blankly at the ceiling. Her face was gaunt and her body shaking. Draco was scared; he sent an owl to St. Mungo's and a Healer arrived within hours. Over the next two weeks his mother looked remarkably better. Draco hadn't understood why she'd been distraught in the first place, his father had never shown any compassion and was quite brutal. Draco never did find out why; he could only guess. But he did discover that his mother had given clothes to all the house elves, apparently she hadn't wanted company.

Draco had seriously considered not attending Hogwarts for his seventh year and staying home to tend to his mother instead. But something changed his mind and he decided to hire someone to "live-in" and watch over his mother instead.

When his mother had regained her composure she had brought up the subject of Draco's marriage, and the Malfoy tradition to marry promptly after leaving school. No doubt both Lucius and Narcissa had discussed this matter when Draco had been away at school and Lucius hadn't been in Azkaban. (Draco scoffed at this thought; it was funny that they were trying to arrange their son's marriage when they couldn't hold together their own.)

It had clearly been important to his parents that he marry a Pureblood, and Draco, to be honest, agreed....to an extent.

There were very few pure wizard bloodlines left and being part of one was wealth in its own. Yet his parents had said that if Draco couldn't find a suitable pureblood wife his marriage would be arranged, just like his parents had been. Draco knew he didn't want that, he knew what his parents were like. But marriage, right now, wasn't important.

Draco stirred from his daydream as an owl soared through the window of the lounge and landed on the arm of the sofa with a soft hoot. The owl carried a letter in its beak, undoubtedly from Hogwarts. The letter was a bit thicker and when Draco took it he noticed it was heavier too.

That could only mean one thing...he'd been made Head Boy. He opened the envelope and took out his badge which he set down next to his firewhiskey on the coffee table. He read over his supply list and letter before pushing them aside.

Who got the position of Head Girl? Although the letter didn't say it Draco already knew. It was obviously Granger; he hated to admit it but she was the smartest witch in their year, even if she wasn't a pureblood.

What had the letter said? Head Boy and Girl share a common room and a bathroom.

Oh that was bloody brilliant! Spend an entire damn year with the mudblood constantly watching over him.

But, she was friends with Potty and Weasel. That may make his task for the Dark Lord ((if you weren't reading carefully you might have missed it)) easier to complete.

Draco couldn't believe his luck.....and his misfortune.