Author's Note: Okay, so I haven't updated in, what, 5 months. You can blame the International Baccalaureate Program for that. And I still don't own any of the characters you recognize. Please Comment. :-)

Chapter 4

It had been at least two hours since McGonagall had spoken to Draco and Hermione. Since then they had both taken turns patrolling the train corridor. Draco's shift had just ended and he returned to the cabin moodily.

'Out with you, Granger.' He fell back onto the chair and watched Hermione stomp out muttering angrily under her breath. He smirked to himself thinking how flustered she would be if he were to mention that he had noticed that little hip swinging problem of hers...

Draco sighed and leaned back against the wall of the cabin. His eyelids fluttered and soon he was overcome by sleep.

'He is not ready.' About 30 minutes later, Draco's eyes snapped open. He heard voices coming from the hallway. He listened closer and realized it couldn't be a student talking. The voice was deep and the accent was not that of a common school boy. But, that's impossible he thought. Teachers never ride the Express. He stood up and opened the door to see. When he did he was surprised to discover that the hallway was no longer there. Instead he found himself inside a corridor at Hogwarts. Thoroughly confused, Draco blinked around for a moment and wearily followed the sound of the voices. As he got closer, he realized that they were arguing. There were two or more people talking…a man and a woman at least. Draco rounded a corner and saw the steps to Dumbledore's office. The voices became clearer.

'He is seventeen years old! You cannot expect him to comprehend a situation as dynamic as this!' A stream of jumbled arguing erupted from the office again. Draco now stood at the base of the Hippogriff's feet. Without uttering a password, the stairs began to spiral upward. He heard a woman's clear reply as he edged ever closer to the voices.

'Have more faith in the boy. Albus deemed him worthy to be a Head, and if we can't trust Albus, who can we trust?' But…I'm Head Boy…Draco leaned in toward the door.

'Such power should not be put into the hands of a hormonal, slightly post pubescent boy! And that goes without mentioning his family ties!' the man paused and sighed. 'He cannot grasp the magnitude of what is going on here! He is not like us; he has his faults and weaknesses. Just look at how he's been handling that poor girl.'

Hermione?

'Wait,' came the severe voice of a woman. 'There is someone else here.' Draco turned to stone, his body rigid and his breaths slow. He waited in silence. After several moments, he began to relax, and as he did, he felt a powerful pair of hands grab him by the shoulders. He gave a shout as he was pulled backwards through the door. His vision blurred and for a minute, he was oblivious to his surroundings.

'See! Even spying and listening to conversations he has no business listening to!' said the same man's voice. Draco looked up to see that the voice came from a pale bearded man dressed in rich clothes of green and black.

'Oh come now, Salazar. He had every right. The conversation was about him after all.' Draco looked round to see a kind looking woman in pale yellow and grey satin robes smiling at him.

'Draco,' another man said looking up to where Draco was being held. The man had a handsome but stern face and wore robes of crimson. 'You are here because we called you here. I daresay you've heard why.' He said with the slightest hint of a smile.

'Er, yeah—something about me and power?'

Gryffindor nodded silently and stood from the chair he had been in.

'Draco, you are the Chosen.'

'Sorry, come again?'

Gryffindor sighed. 'You have been chosen by powers greater than ours to receive certain powers. These powers are to be used to help the wizarding world.' Draco looked rather ridiculous hanging in midair with such a bewildered expression. You've got to be shitting me Draco thought. Me being some kind of super-wizard?

'This is not a joke, Draco,' he said, reading Draco's mind. 'I want you to forget sides, good and evil, and your past. You have had a dark upbringing but you can create a brighter future for yourself and so many others. Misuse of your powers could lead to very serious consequences, so you must do what you know is right and only that.

'Some of the other founders,' he said with a fleeting glance at Salazar, 'are having a hard time accepting you as the Chosen because of your apparent irresponsibility at school.' Draco flushed to think that the Four Founders had seen watching him at school. What they probably knew…

'Your powers will be a very important factor in the war that is now upon us.'

'But, how—' Draco started.

'You will understand soon. You must always remember to control yourself and your power; you will learn eventually.' Draco blinked at his unfathomable words. 'Are you ready to accept your gift?'

Draco looked at the Legendary Four. Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, and Godric Gryffindor looked back at him. He sighed, 'I guess so.'

At that moment, Draco felt a fire spark in his stomach. It then spread to every extremity of his body. The hands that had held him in the air slammed him into the floor as the Founders disappeared. Draco saw colours swirling in front of his eyes. He felt the fire reach his throat and he opened his mouth. Silvery-white fire poured out—the fire exploded from his eyes, nose, ears, and from the tips of his fingers. He wanted to scream but he couldn't. Then, everything was black.

Draco opened his throbbing eyes. He saw a gleam of white amidst the black nothingness. He approached it carefully. Then he realized:

'Mother.' He choked. He ran toward her and as he did she moved farther and farther away. 'Mother! Please, no!'

Draco sat up straight in a cold sweat and looked around wildly. He staggered back as he saw Hermione kneeling beside him holding a cold compress.

'You alright, Malfoy? You were sweating pretty heavily.' Draco screamed and shoved her into a seat. He put his face to hers and screamed, 'What did you hear? What the hell did you hear?'

'Hermione shook in fear and said, 'Y-Your mother. You called for her.' Draco stared into spaced for a moment. He then looked at her with cold grey eyes and snarled. 'Don't tell anyone.' Hermione sobbed and ran out. Draco let his body go limp and he fell back onto the seat.

'Merlin help me…' he whispered. 'That was some dream.' As he said that, he felt a strong throb from his wand arm. He pulled back his robes and saw his entire arm glowing silver-white.

'Bloody,' he muttered. 'Okay, I believe it,' he said looking up. But what did 'it' mean? The dream, the fire, his arm? He was sure he'd be finding out soon enough.

Hermione sighed heavily as she walked back toward the Heads' Cabin. Those stupid third years and their dungbombs. She'd gone 15 minutes over her shift clearing that mess up. Well at least now it's Malfoy's turn to deal with it. She sniffed at the thought of him. Stupid ferret, she thought as she reached for the handle of the door. She slid the glass aside and gasped. Malfoy was thrashing about on the seat, his hair and clothes in disarray. She ran toward him anxiously and stood over him, hesitating about what to do. She pulled out her wand and said, 'Accio compress.' Within seconds a compress flew into her hand. She then did a simple cooling spell on the compress and leaned over him.

'Mother!' He shouted. Hermione hopped away at his outburst. 'Mother! Please, no!' Hermione re-approached him with the compress. Suddenly he jumped upright and she jerked back. He looked horrified, eyes wide and hair matted down against his head. He looked around, twisting his head violently, his eyes glazed over. She asked if he was alright. He turned and recognized her. A moment later, he screamed in fury. Hermione's breath stopped short and she tried to edge away. He slammed her into a seat, put his face close to hers and screamed, 'What the hell did you hear?' Hermione was shaking with fear and it was apparent in her voice as she answered.

'I-I just—your mother. You called for her.' Malfoy looked away for a moment, and then pierced her eyes with his. Hermione gasped to see his eyes had darkened from their usual deep blue to a steely grey-silver.

'Don't tell anyone,' he snarled and let go of her. Hermione sobbed and ran out of the compartment. She collapsed on the floor outside. What had made him so angry? She wondered. And his mother? Malfoy had always been protective of his mother, and now that she was gone, he must have become more so. She couldn't go to Ron and Harry, they'd ask questions, and she obviously couldn't go back inside yet, so she sat outside the cubicle miserably for more than ten minutes. Hermione then stood up unsteadily and went back in to the compartment. Malfoy was sitting by the window staring out into the fading daylight. Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out her robes.

'You might want to get your school robes on. We'll be there soon,' she said with all the bravery she could muster. Malfoy didn't look up. She left the room and hurried towards a bathroom. Whatever he had dreamt about, it had been serious. Serious enough that he didn't bother to provide his usual snide comeback. Hermione's strides slowed as she thought more about it. To humble Draco Malfoy to silence was honestly nothing short of a miracle.

Hermione got to the bathroom and squeezed past a couple of giggling second years into a stall. She changed quickly, slipping out of her capris, shirt, and jacket and into her uniform. She then left the bathroom and headed down to Harry and Ron's compartment.

'Hey Hermione!' Harry said when he saw her approach. Arielle, who had been talking to Ron, looked up and smiled. Ron was barely able to look away from Arielle and muttered a feeble, hi. They had all already changed into their robes. 'What brings you to this end of the train?' Harry asked.

'Oh, I just wanted to see you guys. It's so weird not sitting with at least one of you.'

'Yeah, you're sitting with Malfoy instead,' Ron growled. 'How's the dirty snake been treating you?'

'Oh, fine, everything's fine,' Hermione replied a little too quickly. 'He's just been his usual stupid self.'

'Really, guys, is he that bad?' Arielle asked frowning. 'He honestly seemed like such a sweetheart when I met him.'

'I promise you, Arielle, he's not,' Hermione said firmly.

'Yeah, he's been out for us since first year. And he's always making cracks about our family and friends,' Harry added. 'He's just plain evil and nothing can change him.' Hermione looked down for a moment, wondering again about what was making him docile now.

'Oh wow,' Arielle said gazing out of the window. The other 3 looked to see what was so awe-inspiring and saw the majestic castle rising from behind the trees, illuminated against the night sky.

'Yeah,' Harry sighed dreamily, 'It's good to be back.'