Okay, change of plans. I am now leaving for the shore tonight and I won't be back until next Thursday. I think this the longest chapter I've written so far. I'll have my laptop while I'm away, but I can't get the internet so I'll have a few chapters typed and I'll just have to upload them when I get back.
llit06: I still don't know yet. I would like to make it b/a but I don't know if it will fit in the story line.
gabrieldarke: Yes, that is the direction I am going in.
Special thanx to Nikki101 and cilou for reviewing.
And of course to the oh-so-persuasive Saxifrage. You will be happy to know that I finished my project. And look. I got the chapter up a day early.
My Beta reader is playing catch up this week. This chapter is not beta read yet, but hopefully by the time I get back it will be (no pressure Ang).
Okay, story time!!!
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Chapter 22 – Thoughts
Buffy walked through the Hogwarts halls, on her way to meet with Professor Dumbledore. She knew that back in the Scooby tower that there were four arguing teens. She was hoping Dawn would keep them all alive. To most, leaving any Gryffindor and Slytherin in the same room was asking for trouble, and leaving Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy in the same room was just down right dangerous. However, Buffy knew that they had to learn to work together, and fast. If they didn't there would be two wars going on at the same time and they didn't have time for that.
Buffy approached the gargoyle that lead to Dumbledore's office and gave the password. When she reached his door she knocked and entered when Professor Dumbledore told her to.
"Ah, Miss Summers. What brings you to my office this evening?" Dumbledore asked smiling.
"This." Buffy said simply handing him the letter Draco received. Buffy had kept Dumbledore informed about Draco's situation, so this was not quite surprising. Dumbledore quickly read over the letter, as he did this Buffy slide into a chair in front of his desk. He looked up when he was done reading.
"Professor, you know as well as I do that if Malfoy goes to Hogwarts in two days and finds and abandoned school there are going to be problems." Buffy said. "Did anyone remain back at Hogwarts when you came here?"
"Yes, the Game Keeper, Hagrid did. He lives in a hut on the school grounds. There was not enough room for that here and we needed someone to keep an eye on the up keeping of the school." Dumbledore replied.
"Okay, then I think what we need to do is have Draco write back and tell his father that you will be at Hogwarts in two days. Is there anyway you can get there?" Dumbledore said there was so Buffy continued. "I think the best way to go about this would be to have you there. That way, no one will be suspicious in Voldemort's circle."
"You seem to have things under control Miss Summers." Dumbledore said, giving her a small smile.
"I try." Buffy said nodding. Then, realizing she needed to go she said. "I should probably go find Spike and go do the only job in the world that would still leave me eligible for unemployment. That is if I wasn't working here."
"I understand." Said Dumbledore chuckling. "Good Night Miss Summers."
"Good Night Professor." Buffy said before exiting the office.
Back in the Scooby common room, Harry, Ron and Hermione were still staring at the portrait hole that Dawn had just exited. They sat in a confused silence for a few seconds. Ron was the first to speak.
"What exactly just happened?" He asked.
"Dawn just left very upset at us be cause we didn't want to work with Malfoy." Hermione said as if Ron were very stupid.
"Gee, thanks for clearing that up for me Hermione." Ron said sarcastically.
"Well you asked!" She retorted.
"Could you two not go at it right now?!" Harry asked angrily. "I've had enough yelling for one night!"
"Sorry." They both murmured.
"We need to get back to the common room and find Dawn." Harry said, nicer. Then Hermione voiced what all three of them were thinking, but none of them wanted to believe.
"What if she went off after Malfoy?"
"She couldn't have." Harry said.
"Why not?" Ron asked
"Because she can't get into the Slytherin common room. Even if she did, the other Slytherins would eat her alive." Harry replied. "Right now we just need to get back to the common room and sort this out."
"Harry's right." Hermione agreed. With that they headed out of the tower and up the marble staircase toward the Gryffindor common room and dormitories.
After giving the password to the fat lady they entered the common room and Dawn was nowhere to be found. People were starting to head to bed at this point, so Harry and Ron went to sit in the comfortable chairs by the fire while Hermione went to the girls dorms to see if Dawn was there. When she came back alone she also settled herself in to a chair near the fire.
"Why do you suppose Dawn is on Malfoy's side?" Ron asked.
"What I want to know is why Dawn and Malfoy came in together. I mean, they weren't exactly friendly every other time we saw them together." Harry commented.
"But that's just it Harry. What about the times we didn't see them together?" Hermione asked.
"No, this is just too horrible to think about. How could Dawn possibly be nice to Malfoy, let alone be friends with him?" Harry asked. To him, it was like his sister was dating his worst enemy.
"But then again, maybe Buffy had told Dawn to go and get Malfoy and bring him to thing meeting." Hermione said. Harry caste her a very doubtful look while Ron spoke.
"I think you have too many 'maybes', Hermione."
"Well, I'm just trying to keep all of the possibilities open. We don't want to jump to conclusions now do we?" She asked, glaring at Ron.
"But that's exactly what we are doing." Harry said exasperatedly as he stood up and started pacing around the now empty common room.
"I think should wait for Dawn and ask her. In the meantime, we can get our homework started." Hermione suggested enthusiastically.
"Hermione, I have enough trouble concentrating on my homework as it is. There is no way I'll be able to get anything done tonight." Ron complained.
"Well, my point, if you would let me finish Ron, is that we should stop guessing what Dawn has been up to and just ask her when she gets back." Hermione said. So they sat. The hours ticked by and when Dawn did not come back into the tower, the trio fell asleep in the chairs they were sitting in.
Dawn and Draco had now migrated to the couch. "So, what do you want to know?" Draco asked Dawn.
"Well, how about I tell you what I've worked out so far, and then you can fill in the blacks?" Draco nodded. "Okay, you grew up in a huge house, were unbelievably spoiled, and you worshipped the ground your father walked, until recently anyway, now you want to be a good guy."
"That's pretty much my life's story." Draco said.
"I also know one more thing." Dawn started. "I know, that for some reason, you love to pick on Harry more then anyone else. We can start there. Why?"
Draco took a deep breath. "It all started when we first met on Diagon Ally. We were both getting fitted for our school robes. I had no idea who he was. He had already told me some things about his life and was about to tell me his name when his robes were done being fitted.
"When I got home, my father had told me that Harry Potter would be starting at Hogwarts with me this year. I had thought about the conversation Potter and I had had at the robe shop. I put two and two together and I figured that I had been talking to Harry Potter. My father proceeded to tell me that I should become friends with Potter, because when the Dark Lord rose again, it would make things very easy for him.
"I tried to be friends with him. I found him in a compartment on the train. He was sitting with Weasley and Granger. I thought the best way to get him on my side would be to show him that he was hanging out with trash. So I insulted the people he was sitting with hoping he would see things my way. Needless to say he did not. Father wasn't pleased. I was very lucky I didn't have to see him until Christmas Holiday."
"Why? What would he have done to you?" Dawn asked.
"I donno. Probably something violent. He always said punishment like that would make things easier for me when I became a Death Eater." Draco said bitterly. Dawn, not sure of what to say, so she sat quietly and waited for him to continue. "So anyway, after that I was always being compared to the accomplishments of Potter and company, and punished when they did better then me, which was often." Dawn could sense that it was time to change the subject.
"So why the sudden interest in the white hats?" She asked, and off of Draco's confused look she added. "The good guys."
"Right. Well my whole life my father was telling me that what Voldemort was doing was the right thing and everyone else was wrong. But at the end of my fourth year Voldemort came back. I was ordered not to tell anyone. I wasn't yet a Death Eater so I was not kept in the loop of everything that was going on over my fifth year. However, when I went home for the summer, I got to see what Death Eaters had to do."
Flashback
"Where were you Father?" Draco asked as his father entered the house.
"Taking care of a problem for our Lord."
"What was the Problem?"
"David Clearwater." Was the simple response.
End Flashback
"And that wasn't the only time he killed someone. I could never understand how he could go to sleep at night after what he did." Draco said disgusted. "And he was always going on about our Lord. I never had a choice as to whether or not I would be a Death Eater. I honestly wanted no parts of it. At the time I didn't think I had a choice. There were so many nights when I couldn't fall asleep because I thought I would have to be my father."
"Why would you have to get the mark over Christmas anyway?" Dawn asked curiously.
"Because that's the first that Voldemort will be available and that I'll be home. My sixteenth Birthday just passed this summer. Apparently Voldemort wants any of his followers' children to join when they are still in school so he can have spies inside Hogwarts, but he doesn't want them to be too young either. My father has already told me that the Dark Lord is very excited that he will soon have a spy at Hogwarts."
"That Great!" Dawn said suddenly.
"What? That I was going to be the next spy?!" Draco asked incredulously.
"No. That Voldemort's eager to have a spy at Hogwarts. That means he doesn't already have one!" Draco gave a small smile as he understood what Dawn meant, though he could not understand why no other Slytherins were Voldemort spys, but he would have to figure that out later.
"Well, that's my story. Up until I met you any way, but you already know what happens there." There was a small pause before he spoke again. "Well, now it's your turn. Your life must have been exciting, growing up with a Vampire Slayer and everything."
"Exciting is not exactly the word I would use to describe it. Most of my life I've been in Buffy's shadow, especially once mom learned she was a Slayer." Dawn then took Draco through her life. She started with the most recent world-threatening problem, which was when Willow tried to destroy the world. She also told him about her mom dying and her Father leaving and about all the times she had been kidnapped. Eventually she made her way back to her being the key. She had saved this for last because Draco already knew a little bit about it.
When she was done they took turns telling more detailed and specific stories about each other's lives. They also spent some time talking about the current Voldemort situation. Eventually, they fell asleep, unable to talk anymore.
