Disclaimer: Don't own any characters or Hogwarts.
A/N: Just a reminder, everyone doesn't know that Hale and company is Harry, Draco and Dudley. Bold letterings are flashbacks.
Chapter 5: Early Morning Meetings
"Ginny, wake up," Hermione whispered.
She shook Ginny. Ginny brought a hand to her mouth and yawned because she was still sleepy.
"Go away Hermione, it's Sunday."
Hermione continued to shake Ginny. Ginny sat up and looked at the wall clock. When she saw it was only three o'clock in the morning she glared at Hermione.
"Do you know what time it is?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, it's three. Get up and get dressed. The Headmaster called for a meeting," Hermione explained.
"The Order?"
Hermione nodded and helped Ginny get out of her bed. Ginny rushed to the bathroom. Hermione went to her drawer to get her something to wear. Hermione walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door. Ginny peeked out and Hermione handed her, her clothes. Ginny took them, mouthed thank you and closed the door.
Five minutes later Ginny got out of the bathroom and dragged Hermione out of the dorm.
"What time does the meeting start?" Ginny asked.
"I'm not sure, but it has to finish before everyone else wakes up. I just received the owl about thirty minutes ago."
"Thirty minutes? They only give us ten to get ready. We have to hurry," Ginny said.
She started running down the stairs only to meet up with Ron in the common room. Together the three walked as quickly as they could towards Dumbledore's office. When they reached the gargoyle guarding the staircase to Dumbledore's office Hermione said the password, Turkish delights.
When they entered the office the other members of the Order greeted them. Ginny saw Bill among them. She went over to him and Bill gave her a hug. Severus Snape was glaring at the three. Ron went to Sirius Black and shook his hand and Sirius gave Hermione a hug.
"Now that they're here, can we start?" Asked Professor Snape.
"In a moment Severus," Dumbledore replied, "There is three other people."
"Three others?" Severus asked.
Everyone else in the room started whispering. They looked around to see who was missing. Everyone was there and accounted for.
"Hurry up," said a voice outside the room.
"Can you wait, I'm still buttoning my shirt," replied a second voice.
"Guys don't fight now. Finish up when we get in the room, we're already late," said a third voice.
"Like Dumbledore would care if we are late. It's their fault anyway, they had to wait until the last minute to inform us," said the second voice.
The door opened and Ginny was surprised to see Harry, Draco and Dudley enter the room. She wasn't the only one surprised, everyone else wondered who the three people were. Bill went over to the three and gave them a hug.
"Let me look at you," Bill told Draco. Bill stepped back to look at him.
"Now that you boys joined us, let's start the meeting," Dumbledore said. Bill ushered the boys to the seats that he saved them. When Draco sat down he saw Ginny seated across from him and she was wearing the locket he gave back to her.
"First order of business, I would like to introduce Halley Rooke and Darwin Dominis. I would like to welcome back Lukas Rooke."
Everyone started whispering again, with the exception of Dumbledore and Bill, everyone did not know why Draco was being welcomed back. Dumbledore raised a hand to silence everyone.
"Mr. Rooke has worked with us before. Some of you joined the Order after he left the country, and some do not recognize him. Enough said. The reason I have called this meeting is to discuss the activities of the Death Eaters. Voldemort has been getting desperate. As all of you know, his powers and support has been diminishing. Voldemort had a partner, Claudius de Chagny. Chagny organized the Death Eaters branch in France. Like Voldemort, he branded his followers with the Dark Mark. Chagny died two years ago and the Death Eaters in France dispersed and lived peacefully. Recently one of Chagny's followers went to Voldemort and was accepted into the inner circle. The other followers are following his example. An advantage we have is Chagny always wore masks so nobody knows how each other looked like. They would place 'protection' charms whenever they would meet to keep unwanted visitors out. Mr. Weasley (Dumbledore gestured towards Bill) suggested that this is the opportunity to get a spy inside the circle." Dumbledore stopped talking and waited for everyone to comprehend what he just said.
Bill looked over to Draco.
He leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Are you alright?"
"He's talking about me, isn't he?" Draco whispered back so no one else would hear.
Bill sat back in his chair and nodded. Draco just slammed his head on the table. Everyone looked over to him. Bill patted him on the back.
"Mr. Rooke? Are you all right?" Dumbledore asked.
Draco sat up and muttered that he was okay.
"Albus, who do you suggest get in the circle, you don't expect Voldemort to accept Severus," Professor McGonagall said.
"I was not talking about Severus, Minerva," He stopped for suspense, "I'm sorry I have not talked to you about this Lukas, but Bill said that you were the prefect for this."
"Wait a minute. How can he pass as a Death Eater, he doesn't even have a Dark Mark," Ron commented, "And we barely know him."
Draco didn't say anything at this. Everyone else kept quiet, they didn't know whether to trust someone they didn't know.
"Headmaster," Draco said.
"Yes?"
"Do you want me to go back there?"
Ginny stared at Draco; did he say go back?
"Lukas…if all of Chagny's followers go to Voldemort, the forces will be too much to stop. We need someone to get in the inner circle to report Voldemort's plans."
Draco nodded, "I don't really have a choice, do I?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "I am sorry. I told you did not have to do this again, but we need your help."
"We don't need a spy to win this," Ron commented.
"You're wrong Weasley," Draco replied. Ginny stared at Draco.
"Why don't we need a spy? Did you know that most of the actions of the Order is based on the information the spies gather? You act so confident, have you ever been out in the field with the Death Eaters? What have you contributed to the Order?" Draco asked Ron.
Ron stood up, "You shouldn't be talking you…you American."
Draco guffawed, "Of all the time that I've spent overseas, you are the only person in my life to ever call me an American. Did I get you angry? Did you realize that the only reason you're here is because you tagged along to Harry Potter? Without him you would be nobody."
Ron jumped over the table and punched Draco on the face. Draco lost his balance and fell back. Bill got up and helped Draco up. He turned to Ron.
"That was uncalled for," Bill told him.
"What?" Ron asked incredulously, "Why are you siding with him?"
"I'm not siding with anyone, you should have controlled your anger."
"I can't believe you, I'm your brother."
"Just because he's your brother doesn't mean he'll side with you in every situation," Draco commented, wiping the blood off his lip.
"You stay out of this!"
"I don't like this guy's attitude," Sirius commented, "This kind of thing will bring us down."
Almost everybody in the room nodded in agreement. They immediately disliked the boy. Harry stood up.
"Wait a second. Give my brother a chance. If Dumbledore trusts him, why don't you? My brother has helped this Order and I don't care if you didn't know about it."
"Hale, I'm touched even though you didn't make any sense," Draco commented. Harry glared at him.
'What did Draco think he was doing?' Harry asked himself.
"I have been in this Order even before you were born," Arabella Figg said, "And I have not known a Lukas Rooke until today."
"Dumbledore is not perfect. He has made mistakes in judging people," Sirius added, "Look at Malfoy. Ron, Ginny, Hermione, you kids probably didn't know this, but Malfoy was a spy for us and look what he did. He went behind our backs and killed my godson."
Draco clenched his fist. Bill wanted to say something to Sirius, but stopped himself. They worked hard to keep a secret for two years; he was not going to ruin it. Harry for the first time wanted to yell at these people in front of him. Even though he was not friends with Draco, he couldn't stand there while they were talking badly about him.
"You don't have any proof that Draco killed Harry," Harry said.
Draco was surprised at Harry's outburst. This was the first time Harry has ever defended him. Bill looked at Harry with amusement.
"Where were you when Harry was killed? From what I hear, you were an ocean away," Sirius replied.
Harry didn't like what he was about to do.
"What about you Black? You were hiding," Harry said. He looked around the table at the people.
"Black you have no right talking about Draco as if he's some criminal. You should know what it's like to be convicted of something you didn't do," Harry continued.
"Don't compare me to the likes of him," Sirius snarled. Harry smirked at him. This caused everyone to glare at him. Dumbledore stood up.
"This is enough," Dumbledore said, "Mr. Rooke was correct. Most of the actions of the Order are based on the information my spies gather. Some of you in this room doubt my judge of character because of the incidents two years ago. I will tell you now, that I do not regret any decisions that I made in the past. I ask all of you to trust my decision today. I will send Mr. Rooke to the Death Eater meeting next week. If all goes well, Voldemort will accept him in the inner circle. Are there any questions?"
Professor Snape stood up, "Albus, I have a question. As you said before, Chagny branded his followers with the Dark Mark. Does Mr. Rooke have the mark?"
Draco stood up and raised his left sleeve. Ginny stared in shock. On Draco's arm was the faded Dark Mark. Everyone else in the room started whispering. Bill got up and whispered in Draco's ear and he nodded.
"Professor, does this answer your question?" Draco asked.
Severus couldn't do anything but stare at him.
"How did you get that?" Remus Lupin asked, "Who gave it to you?"
Draco looked over to Dumbledore for advice. Dumbledore simply nodded once. Draco caught Ginny's eyes and started talking.
"I got it when I was fifteen. Voldemort gave me the mark during my initiation ceremony."
"Who was your sponsor?" Professor Snape asked. He did not remember any initiation ceremony for a Lukas Rooke. He said he was fifteen when he received his mark and today he should be around seventeen. That means he received his mark two years ago. The only person he remember receiving the mark two years ago at such a young age was Draco Malfoy.
Draco finally looked away from Ginny to look at Professor Snape.
"My father."
"What's a sponsor?" Ginny inquired.
"Ms. Weasley, a sponsor is a person that will guide the new recruit, inform him of all the rules and such. The sponsor is also responsible for all the actions of the new recruit. Based on what I said, you should know that a sponsor is also a Death Eater. I think I remember you now Mr. Rooke."
Professor Snape wanted to talk to the boy. The only father/son partnership he could remember two years back were the Malfoys.
"You father was a Death Eater?" Ginny asked.
Draco nodded.
"Is Hale…" Ginny started.
"No," Draco interrupted, "He would never join Voldemort. He's too much a goody-goody. Listen, I'm not asking you all to trust me. Whether or not you like it, I will go back to Voldemort and get the information we need. Why are you complaining anyway? It's not you going into the snake pit.
Draco finally sat down and closed his eyes.
"Say it! Kill her!"
Draco opened his eyes and saw Ginny.
Ginny didn't know what to think about Draco. She would have never thought that he was a Death Eater. He didn't seem the type. When she hears the word Death Eaters she thinks of the Malfoys, Crabbes and all Slytherin families.
Sirius Black was glaring at Draco. Sirius didn't trust any spy. All spies are traitors to him. He lost his trust on Dumbledore's decisions ever since Harry died. Harry was the only person he was living for and now he was dead. Once a death eater, always a death eater.
"That is all for today. You are all dismissed," Dumbledore said.
Everybody stood up and Dumbledore was the first to leave. Sirius walked to Draco.
"Don't make the same mistake Malfoy did, or mark my words. I will hunt you down and kill you," Sirius hissed.
Draco crossed his arms and smirked, "Go ahead try Black, I dare you, let's see if you can do better than Potter. He said the same thing to me except the beginning part was… don't betray me."
Harry grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him away from Sirius. Harry did remember saying those words to Draco when they went to Hogwarts the summer two years ago. Harry still didn't trust him and the tension between the two of them was thick.
"That's enough," Harry told him, "Leave the man alone, you make it seem as if you killed me. Don't open up any more wounds."
Everyone was leaving, glaring at Draco. Remus Lupin was practically dragging Sirius out the door. Harry told him he'll see him later and left him.
Ginny was about to walk towards Draco but stop when she saw Professor Snape standing in front of her.
"You should go Ms. Weasley," He told her.
Ginny nodded and left. She didn't want to argue with Snape. Ever since she joined the Order she learned to respect the man. She left the room giving Draco one last look.
Professor Snape closed the door and put a silencing spell around the room. He turned to face Draco. He could barely believe that the boy standing before him was Draco Malfoy. He was never close to the boy but he had a feeling as if he was his father. Most of the Slytherins had no father figures because their fathers were Death Eaters. Draco spent time with Professor Snape because he would get in trouble with McGonagall. Through that time Professor Snape saw that there was something about Draco that he couldn't put his finger on. The boy was complicated to figure out. There were times when Draco talked about joining Voldemort and other times when he would curse the man.
"Mr. Malfoy," Snape greeted him.
"Sir," Draco nodded, "You figured it out."
"How could I not? You were the only student to get initiated two years ago. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what Professor?" Draco asked, knowing what he was talking about.
"You're not stupid Draco. You know what I'm talking about," Snape replied.
"Dumbledore told me not to tell anyone."
Draco walked passed Snape to get to the door.
"Mr. Malfoy wait," Snape said.
Draco turned around to face him. Snape walked towards him and gave him a hug. Draco stiffened when he did this.
"It's good to have you back," Snape said and he turned to leave the room.
*_*_*_*_
Draco was walking down the hallway towards the tower.
"You killed him, how could you!"
Draco stopped walking. He was hearing voices again. This hasn't happened ever since he moved to America. He once wondered what these voices were and someone told him it was his conscience. Draco just laughed at the person; he didn't have a conscience.
"Lukas wait," a voice said.
Draco turned around and saw Ginny walking towards him.
"What do you want Ginny? Now that you've found out I'm a Death Eater, I'm sure you wouldn't want to 'help' me now," Draco told her.
Ginny kept walking until she was facing him.
"Sirius, he… you were right. You are risking your life going back to the Death Eaters. Those people, they just don't trust easily. After Malfoy…" Ginny started.
"Don't talk about him please," Draco asked her. He didn't want to hear talk about him anymore. He was getting tired of hearing the same thing over again from different people.
"I'm sorry," Ginny said.
"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything to me. You didn't even say anything in that room."
"I want to show you something," Ginny told him.
"What is it?"
"Follow me."
Ginny started walking but stopped after realizing Draco was not following her. She turned around to face him. He was just standing like a statue watching at her. She walked towards him, grabbed his hand and started pulling him.
"I promise you'll like it," Ginny told him.
Draco was tired and just wanted to go back to bed. He didn't know why this girl keeps bothering him. He followed her not saying anything. Five minutes later he noticed they were in a hallway he didn't recognize. There were paintings of various sceneries. They were mostly of fields and other castles. Ginny stopped in front of a picture of Hogwarts. Draco wanted to admit that the picture was amazing. Hogwarts looked smaller in the picture and the Forbidden Forest was much larger than it was today.
"Open," Ginny told the portrait. The portrait opened and leads into a staircase.
"Original password," Draco commented. Ginny ignored his comment and started walking down the stairs. She was still holding Draco's hand so he was forced to follow her.
There were torches on the walls. It smelled musty as if there has been nobody down there for ages. They continued to walk until they reached the end where there was a door. Ginny took out her wand and pointed it towards the doorknob. She whispered something unrecognizable to Draco and the door started to open. When it was fully opened Ginny walked out pulling Draco with her.
Draco took in his surroundings. They were outside the castle and it seemed that they were in the middle of the forest. He turned around and couldn't find a door. There was nothing but trees and bushes around them. He looked at Ginny and she looked as if she knew where they were going.
Ginny looked around for the bush that led into the spring. It has been a year since she went there. The spring was her own private sanctuary, a place where she would go if she wanted to think or be alone. She has never shown anyone the spring, and she was wondering why she wanted to show it to Draco. She turned to look at him and saw him staring at her.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" He asked.
"No, just wait," She said. She finally let go of his hand and walked towards a hedge in front of them. Draco could see that there was a small space in the middle. Ginny was in front of the space and started to push the leaves to make it bigger.
"Ouch," Ginny said as she pulled her hand away. There was a gash on her palm and it was bleeding. She looked towards the hedge and saw that there were thorns. Ginny was puzzled because she never noticed the thorns before.
Draco ran towards Ginny when he heard her in pain. As he got closer to her he saw her looking at her palm. When he was finally at her side he saw that she was bleeding. He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and took her hand. He pressed the handkerchief onto the wound.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, it's just a cut. Um… can you get through there?" Ginny asked gesturing towards the space she was trying to make.
"No, do you want me to make it bigger?"
Ginny nodded and Draco took out his wand. Draco enjoyed the feeling of power when he held his wand. Two years without magic made him forget the feeling he had when he performed a spell. He felt powerful and privileged to have magic, and it was exhilarating. He raised his wand toward the hedge and said a cutting spell. The leaves and bushes fell to the ground. The passageway was big enough to let two people through at the same time. Ginny went through first and Draco followed. Draco ducked when he went through the passageway. He stood up straight and stopped all movement to stare at the sight before him.
"Wow," Draco managed to say.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Ginny asked.
Draco saw a lake and in the middle of the lake was what looked like a willow tree. The trunk was twisted with three other ones and there was a rainbow orb in the middle. There were other smaller trees like the one in the middle of the lake. There were also small-crystallized spires sticking out about six inches from the ground. The most breath taking sight was the lake itself. It was so clear they could see the bottom and it was glowing. The full moon was reflecting off the lake. Draco saw something that seemed like fireflies but they were different. They were all of different colors and Draco could see some of them swimming inside the water.
Ginny watched Draco look around the spring. He looked like a kid in front of a candy store. The moon shining on his face made him look different. Ginny couldn't help but stare at him. Draco turned around and smiled at her. Ginny would have melted on the spot, if she were not confused at the moment.
"What do you call this place?" Draco asked as he walked closer to Ginny.
"The spring."
"It is beautiful. How did you find it?"
"A friend in my first year told me about this place."
"Really, where is this friend?" Draco inquired.
"He's dead," Ginny whispered.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"It's okay, he wasn't really a friend. I don't even know why I call him a friend. He was just…just using me for his own gains and left me to die," Ginny said sadly.
Draco didn't know what to say at this. That 'friend' seemed to have hurt Ginny. Draco just stared at the lake and didn't say nor do anything to comfort her.
"What was his name?" Draco asked.
"Tom."
Memories of the chamber came to back Ginny. She was lying on the floor, waiting, waiting for someone to come. Tom was standing in front of her telling her that she was a fool, a stupid little girl that played as his pawn. She nearly lost hope of getting rescued until Harry came and saved her. Harry, her hero and crush.
Draco watched Ginny. She had a glazed look that seemed as if she was thinking about something and then her face scrunched up.
"I hate you Tom," Ginny said so softly that Draco barely heard her.
Draco put a hand on her shoulder and Ginny looked up at him. Their eye's interlocked and Draco couldn't look away.
"Drake, let's pretend," a girl said.
"Pretend what?"
"Pretend you're my boyfriend," the girl answered.
"Why?"
"Just because," the girl told him, "Please, I'm bored."
"Fine, but what do I have to do?"
"I watched my sister and Jon and they hold hands all the time and…"the girl blushed, "they kiss too."
At that the girl gave Draco a kiss on the lips and quickly pulled away. She was red as a tomato. She turned and ran away from him before he could say or do anything.
Draco finally turned away from her, closed his eyes for five seconds and opened them.
"Lukas, are you all right?" Ginny asked.
"I'm fine," Draco said, his voice was hoarse, "Um…you said I'd like it here, well it's relaxing."
"Yes, I know. I come here all the time to think or when I want to get away from everything."
They were silent after that. Draco scratched his left arm because the mark was bothering him. Ginny saw what he did and remembered the Dark Mark.
"Did it hurt when you got it?" Ginny asked staring at his arm.
"What? The mark?" Draco asked. Ginny nodded.
"No, I've been in worst pain. Why do you ask?"
"Out of curiosity," Ginny answered and she added, "Why did you join them?"
Draco stared at her straight in the eyes, "I hated Voldemort."
Ginny was confused at his answer. If he hated Voldemort then why did he become a 'servant' to the monster?
"I was a spy for Dumbledore," Draco continued. He chuckled, "I don't think I was a good one. My cover was blown two months after I was initiated."
"I heard you had to kill to become one of them. Have you ever killed anyone?" Ginny asked.
Draco was still staring at her in the eyes, "Yes. I have."
Ginny stared at him in shock. All Death Eaters are the same. They are all murderers.
Draco saw fear flash in her eyes. She turned and started to walk away from him.
"Why are you leaving Ginny? The truth scares you?"
"Why?" Ginny asked, "How could you do that? How can you kill? Don't tell me you were forced, because I won't believe that."
"What would you do if I told you I killed because I hated the person? Would you stay away from me and forget your plan about helping me?"
"Are you just lying to get me to leave you alone?" Ginny asked seriously.
"Why would I lie about something like this? You asked me if I have killed, I've only killed one person and the memory still haunts me."
"It should," Ginny told him.
"Why are you so mad? You were the one that wanted to know and I simply answered your question. Why do you immediately label me as a bad guy? You don't even know the whole story."
"What else is there to know?"
Draco guffawed and walked around Ginny once.
"And the light side wonders why they never seem to win. You always jump to conclusions. Do you want to know the whole story?" Draco yelled, "I killed a girl I loved. She saw me perform the spell on a dog. 'Father' needed insurance to make sure she wouldn't tell anyone. There, it's all out, what do you think of me now?"
Draco felt like falling apart at the spot. He has tried to bury that memory but he never succeeded.
Ginny couldn't believe what she just heard. She searched his face to look for something that would say he was just joking.
'But why would he joke about something like this?' She thought.
She saw that he was in pain.
"Lukas," Ginny said, immediately feeling sorry for doing this to him.
"Do you know how it feels to see one of the people you love most die in front of you?" Draco asked.
Ginny didn't answer.
"The muggle movies are somewhat correct. Time slows down and everything around you stops. Losing a love one, that is the greatest pain one can experience."
"I'm sorry," Ginny said and she hugged him.
She realized that she said sorry to him many times already during the day. She also realized that she didn't want to add to his troubles, she never knew that he has been through this much. When she met him on the train she thought that he was just some normal transfer student. She was laughed inside. No person with magic in his or her blood is normal.
She pulled away from Draco and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry. I was just shocked," Ginny told him.
Draco took a step away from her. He immediately wanted to get away from her and this spring.
"How do we get out of here?" He asked.
"Follow me," Ginny said.
She walked out of the passageway they went through to get to the spring. Draco followed her out. She walked towards a tree, which would have looked exactly like every other one if it weren't for the "H" carved at the bottom of the trunk. Ginny took out her wand again and pointed it towards the "H" and said a spell. The tree transfigured into a door and Ginny turned the doorknob to open it. She went through and waited for Draco to get into the staircase before she closed the door. They walked up the stairs until they were in front of the portrait of Hogwarts again. Ginny led Draco to the tower.
Draco was contemplating about what happened at the spring. He couldn't believe that he just told her that he killed. He just met her and already she knew things that not even Crabbe and Goyle knew about him. He didn't know why, whenever they talked they always seemed to get into an argument or fight. It's like he is talking to Harry, they never seem to have a peaceful conversation where nobody gets punched or angry.
When they finally reached the common room Draco started to walk towards the boys' dorm but Ginny stopped him.
"Lukas…"
"Ginny, can this wait? I'm really tired and we need to go to sleep."
"Okay," Ginny said reluctantly.
Draco walked up the stairs without glancing back at Ginny. When his head touched the pillow on his bed he instantly fell asleep.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Ron assembled the house Quidditch team in the common room on Thursday.
"We have to stop taking more people for the tryouts, we already have more than twenty," Ron said, "And who took Neville's name? Was that supposed to be a joke? The guy can't stay on his broom for ten seconds."
Colin stood up, "Neville wanted to try-out so he came to me. I had to take his name Ron, it wouldn't be fair to him."
"I wouldn't be fair to waste our time," Ron replied.
Ron was in a bad mood. He got into another fight with Draco. Ever since the Order meeting, Ron did his best to make Draco feel as if he was not welcome. He was also annoyed at the fact that Snape favored Draco. In their first potion class Ron was late because he got into an argument with Draco. The two boys walked in at the same time. Snape let Draco go to his seat without any punishment and Ron got detention. Everyone in the room was surprised when Snape let a Gryffindor go unpunished.
Ron read through the paper that listed all names of those who wished to try out. He stopped when he saw Draco's name.
"Rooke wants to try-out?" Ron asked.
"Both of them want to try," Pavarti said, referring to Harry.
"What kind of broom are they going to use?" Ron asked.
"They don't have brooms," Ginny answered, "They're going to borrow the school brooms."
Ron laughed at this, "And they expect to get chosen. Those brooms are older than us."
Ginny glared at Ron, "It's not the broom that makes a rider good. Bill told me a Shooting Star can go as fast as a Firebolt if the rider is skilled."
"Sure, whatever. I don't like this Lukas person."
"Ron, if he's good we'll take him. We need the best."
"I don't think that he'll get the spot, I'm sure…" Ron started; he read through the names again, "…Seamus could do better than him. Anyway, tell everyone that try-outs are tomorrow immediately after the last class."
Ginny looked around the common room for Draco. He was sitting in front of the window facing away from everyone. Ever since Sunday Draco seemed to avoid her and she could never get him to talk to her. She watched him until Ron stood up and announced that they could leave.
*_*_*_*_*
Draco and Harry were standing in front of the Quidditch field. It was Friday, the day of the tryout. Harry and Draco were holding Shooting Stars while everyone else ether had a nimbus 2000 or a Firebolt. Everyone laughed when Draco and Harry walked in the pitch with their brooms.
It was a sunny day outside, but it was windy. The house team along with Hermione was sitting on the bleachers where they could see everyone. Ron was relieved to find out that five people didn't show up, Neville was among the five. The try-outs could go quicker without those people.
Ron stood up and magnified his voice, "Okay, thank you for showing up. We will have a series of events to figure out who will get the spot. The first is focuses on agility. The seeker is one of the most important players in the game, and the enemy will try to get them out. What you have to do is dodge bludgers; there are a total of three. After five people are eliminated, we will release five practice snitches. If you are able to get one, you will qualify for the next round. With that said everyone mount your broom and when I blow the whistle push off the ground."
Draco thought about what Ron said. This round will get rid of ten people; Weasley must be in some hurry to get this over with.
Ron took out a whistle and blew into it. Draco and Harry pushed off the ground and they were the first to get up in the air. Draco looked down, smiled and did some flips. He love flying, he had a sense of freedom when he is up in the air. He used to have fun just flying, but that changed when Harry became a seeker in his first year. His father told him he had to be better than Potter; he was forced to play in the Quidditch team. It wasn't any fun because Harry always beat him and his father was breathing down his neck.
Harry was also as excited as Draco. He hasn't been on a broom in two years and he wanted to find out if he still knew how to fly. He was about to dive down until…
"Hale move!" Draco yelled. Draco flew towards Harry and kicked his broom. Harry barely missed a bludger.
"Doesn't it feel great…" Draco dodges another bludger, "…to be back up here again?"
Harry and Draco dodge bludgers and watched some people fall off their brooms. Draco thought that Ron had a personal vendetta against him, because he noticed that most of the bludgers came his way.
Ron was helping the Creevy brothers hit the bludgers back toward the people that were trying out. Whenever a bludger came his way, he would try to hit it towards Draco hoping he would get hit and fall off his broom. Colin noticed what Ron was doing so he flew towards him.
"Ron, there are other people beside Lukas you know," Colin said.
Ron scowled, "Release the snitches!"
Ginny opened a box and five snitches hovered in front of her before flying off in separate directions.
Draco and Harry were flying next to each other. Draco tapped Harry on the shoulder and pointed at the empty box. Harry nodded and flew off. Draco saw something glittering beside the goal posts and he immediately flew in that direction. As he got closer he saw the snitch flapping madly. He extended his right hand and closed it around the snitch. He flew down towards the bleacher and got off his broom when he was in front of the Quidditch team.
Ginny was smiling at Draco. He passed to the next round.
Harry walked towards Draco and patted him on the back.
"Took you long enough," Harry joked.
"Looks like you got one, no surprise in that," Draco replied. He gave the snitch to Ginny and avoided looking at her face. When Ginny took the snitch from him she told him congratulations.
"Thank you," Draco muttered and went to Harry's side.
Ron landed on the bleachers and was scowling because Draco made it into the next round. Ginny was smirking at him because she knew how much Ron didn't want Draco to get the spot.
"Okay, the five people that are going to the next round go back to the pitch," Ron ordered.
Harry tapped Draco on the shoulder.
"Remember the tower?" Harry asked. Draco nodded.
"Race you," Harry challenged him.
"Okay, ready…" Draco started running, "GO!"
Harry also started running, "Hey, that's not fair!"
Draco was having fun for the first time in many years. He had a great time on a broom without worrying about his father or everyone in his house.
Harry caught up with Draco and when they reached the stands they both jumped off at the same time. They were holding their brooms while they were falling down and before they impacted with the ground they brought their brooms down, sat on it and flew to the center of the pitch.
"Show offs," Seamus muttered.
"Seamus, are you all right?" Ginny asked, "You're over Lavender, right?
"I'm fine, I'm over Lavendar but I'm still hurting," Seamus said clutching his heart.
"Sure you are," Ginny said sarcastically, "There are other girls beside her that would love to go out with you."
"You said the same thing when you broke up with me," Seamus said and he smiled, "Don't worry I'm over you too. We're still friends, right?"
"Hey, Pavarti is free maybe she likes me," Seamus said as he mounted his broom and flew to the pitch. Ron followed after Seamus to give the instructions.
"Okay, the next task focuses on speed. The seeker will have to be faster than the opponent to get the snitch. You see that table at the end of the pitch. On the tables are five bottles and every bottle has each of your names on it. Behind me there is bowl that holds ping-pong balls, muggle sport. Beginning at the table with the bottles, you fly to the bowl, get one ball and fly back to the bottles. You put your ball inside the bottle. You have to do this five times and you can only take out one ball at a time otherwise you are immediately disqualified. First two to put five balls in their bottles advances. Are there any questions?"
Nobody said anything.
"Okay, go to the table and get ready. When I blow my whistle you may start."
Ron flew up to get out of the way. Harry flew to the table followed by Draco. He saw a bottle labeled with his name. He noticed that the hole on top of the bottle was just big enough to put the ball inside. He turned around to face the bowl and Ron blew the whistle. Seamus was ahead of everyone but he past the bowl and crashed into the wall. Harry extended his arm, turned around when he was about an inch away from the bowl and put his hand inside. He flew back towards and table. He stopped in front of his bottle, put the ball inside and went back to the bowl. Harry noticed that he was ahead and Draco was right behind him.
Harry was the first to finish and Draco was the second.
Ginny flew down to the pitch and stood in front of Draco.
"Congratulations," she told him.
Draco still refused to look at her but he said thank you. Ginny went to Harry and hugged him. Harry was beaming. Ron cleared his voice.
"For the final round, we will have a mock game. The Ravenclaw team agreed to help us," Ron said as the Ravenclaw team walked in the pitch.
"Lukas, you can go with them," Ron told him.
Draco walked to the Ravenclaws. Terry Boot stood in front of him.
"Hey, congratulations in making it this far," Terry said holding out his hand.
Draco took his hand and shook it, "Thank you, so… let's go."
Terry nodded and signaled for the rest of the team to mount their brooms. Terry flew up, met Ron and shook his hand.
"LET'S START!" Ron boomed.
Everybody got into his or her positions. Ron flew to the goal post and signaled for Hermione to release all the balls. The bludgers and the Quaffle shot up while the snitch hovered before disappearing. Ginny caught the Quaffle and speed of towards the Ravenclaw goal. Lisa Turpin was in her way so she passed the quaffle to Pavarti. Pavarti caught the Quaffle, flew towards the goal post and threw it inside scoring a point. She cheered and gave Ginny a high five.
Draco leisurely flew above the pitch watching everything. He flew towards Harry.
"This is soo boooring," Draco complained. Harry ignored him and continued to scan the pitch for the snitch.
"Why don't we give them something to stare at. Feint?" Harry asked. Draco smiled and dipped down towards the ground with Harry following behind him.
Ron stared at Harry and Draco. A Quaffle flew pass him.
"Ron, keep focused," Colin yelled. He turned to look at what Ron was staring at. Draco and Harry were flying towards the ground at an alarming speed.
Ginny was wondering why Ron and Colin stopped playing. She saw the reason when Draco and Harry flew past her.
"They're going to crash!" Lavender yelled.
Draco was laughing, he was having so much fun. His hair was being blown back because of the wind. He looked over to Harry and saw that he had a grin on his face. He looked ahead of him as saw the ground getting closer.
"Just a little more…" Draco said. He quickly jerked his broom to the side and avoided impact. Harry did the same thing as Draco.
"Wahoo!" Harry yelled. He loved the adrenaline rush that came to him whenever he flew.
Both of them were laughing hard. Draco rolled over on his broom while Harry performed a flip.
Terry stared wide-eyed, "Wow, we're going to have a tough competition this year."
Draco dodged a bludger that came his way, "Where are the beaters?"
Ginny watched Draco fly around the field. He looked so happy. For the first time in the week, Ginny saw a smile on his face.
Harry saw the snitch near the bleachers and shot towards it. Draco also saw the snitch and trailed behind Harry. Harry looked behind him and saw Draco on his tail.
"Go faster," Harry pleaded with the broom. Unfortunately the broom was already at its max.
Draco caught up with Harry and they were now side to side. When they were a foot away from the snitch before it flew off. Draco and Harry trailed behind the snitch.
Everyone on the field stopped to watch the two fly. They were flying so fast that they seemed like two blurs. Nobody believed that the boys were both flying on Shooting Stars.
Draco extended his arm towards the snitch and Harry did the same thing.
"Come on… go faster," Draco said. Draco and Harry were getting closer to the snitch.
Draco prepared his self to jump of his broom. Harry saw what he was doing and was about to stop him but he was too late.
Draco jumped of his broom and tried to reach to the snitch. He felt the wings but he was short one inch. Draco missed the snitch and was falling. He saw that his broom was drifting down towards the ground. He prepared his self for the impact. He finally impacted with ground he didn't think that it was too bad. At least he didn't break any bones. He looked up and saw Harry holding the snitch.
Ginny quickly flew to Draco. She was worried if he was hurt. When he sat up she was glad that he seemed okay. She landed on the ground, ran to him and hugged him.
"Oww!"
Ginny let go of Draco, "I'm so sorry. Lukas, are you okay?"
"I'm fine but sore."
Everyone rushed to Draco. Harry kneeled in front of him.
"You all right?" Harry asked.
"I'm fine, just help me up," Draco replied. Harry nodded and helped Draco up.
"Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?" Terry asked.
"No, I said I'm fine. My motorcycle accident hurt more than this," Draco commented.
"What's a moto cycle?" Ron asked.
Draco ignored him and with Harry's help walked out of the pitch.
*_*_*_*_*
Draco was lying on his bed in the boy's dorm.
"Congratulations Potter," Draco said.
Harry glared at him, "Don't call me that."
"Why? No one's here to hear."
"Are you sure you don't need to go the Hospital Wing?" Harry asked.
"No, I can't, Pomfrey will probably hold me all day tomorrow. Beside, I have to leave tomorrow remember?"
Harry nodded. Draco informed him that the Death Eater meeting was on Saturday. Everything was set and planned. All Draco had to do now was show up. They heard a knock on the door. Harry went to the door and unlocked it. Ginny stepped inside the room.
"Hey Ginny, came to see Lukas?" Harry asked. Ginny nodded.
"Okay, I'll leave you two alone," Harry said and he left the room closing the door behind him.
Ginny walked to Draco's bed and sat next to him.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked.
"Ugh, yes I'm fine. I don't know how many times everyone asked me that question. It wasn't even that high up."
"It was a fifty foot fall," Ginny told him.
"That's not too high up, beside I have strong bones. Drank a lot of milk when I was little."
Ginny just shook her head at him. She took one of his hands.
"I was worried about you," She said.
Draco looked up at her and their eyes met. He saw that she was worried about him and she wasn't just saying that. Draco saw his reflection in her eyes. He saw the person that he barely knew, Lukas. Draco was somewhat glad that everyone thought of him as Lukas Rooke. He has done so many things people. Ginny would have never talked to him if she knew that he was the person she hated most.
Draco ran his fingers down her cheek. He pulled his hand away and turned from her.
"Lukas, about last week…" Ginny started, but the door opened.
"Yeah, I know," Dean said.
Draco made a sound of frustration. Seamus and Dean always walked into the room in the most inconvenient time.
"Hey Ginny what are you doing here?" Seamus asked.
"Nothing, I just wanted to see Lukas," Ginny answered and she walked passed Seamus out of the room.
Seamus stared suspiciously at Draco. He dismissed what happened and turned back to Dean to continue talking to him.
Draco fell back onto his bed. He looked up at the ceiling.
"This was an interesting day," Draco thought before falling asleep.
A/N: Well, that it for chapter 5. I based Ginny's spring on the spring in FFX, the place where Tidus kisses Yuna. FFX is a video game.
Thank yous:
Blazefury
Jaime
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mandy
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August
Next chapter: The dreaded Death Eater meeting. Draco has an encounter with his father, Lucius.