Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Harry Potter. The characters belong to the great J.K.Rowling. I only own 3 cats and 2 dogs, and only 2 cats and 1 dog are really mine. Noises from the basement? Pay no attention to those…
A/N: This is sort of a short chapter, but it needed to be written. I'd like to skip to the most fun part to write, but that'd ruin the story. ;-)
The Game, Chapter One
Owls and Legilimens
By: MadameMing
Draco Malfoy was in the Great Hall, eating breakfast, when the owls arrived. This was proving to be very hard, as there was a large black owl that was trying to do the same. It took him a moment to realize that the owl was holding a small blue envelope, addressed to him. Hmm, he thought, that's odd. He wasn't expecting anything from home, and his mother never sent anything without fair warning.
He didn't realize that he was staring off until someone near him yelled "Oi, Malfoy! Get rid of that owl before it eats my breakfast too!"
Draco looked around for the source of the comment. It didn't take him long to realize that it was Blaise Zabini. "Well, move it!" Blaise said. Draco glared at him, and grabbed the letter from the owl. The owl looked extremely peeved, and flew off.
He opened the letter carefully, but all that fell out was a single sheet of parchment. The letter was written in a spidery sort of scrawl, one that was almost impossible to read. It took him nearly five minutes to decipher it. It read:
Dear Mr. Malfoy,
I'm going to be straightforward. I know your secrets. All of them.
I know your biggest secret.
I know that you aren't a pureblood.
It won't cost much for me to keep your secret. Just play my game.
The rules are:
You do something for me, and in return, I do something for you. Or, you give me something, and I'll give you something.
You cannot talk about the game. At all.
Those are the only rules, but I take them very, very, seriously.
Send an owl to me by tomorrow morning. We'll talk then.
-A
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That was all it said. Draco looked up from reading it, furious. No one, no one knew that! There was no possible way for anyone to. He looked around the hall, wondering who's idea of a joke this was. Potter, he thought. That's it. Potter and his little friends are probably over there laughing at me right now, I bet they are…His rant was cut into by a voice in his head.
I assure you, Mr. Malfoy, this is no joke. I am serious. Draco jumped in his seat.
What-who-huh? Who are you? How did you get into my head?
I am an accomplished Legilimens. Getting into your head was as easy as opening a door.
Well, why are you in my head?
I wanted to see your reaction to my letter.
You wrote the letter?
Clever, aren't you? Yes, I wrote the letter. Why else would I be in your head?
Well…
Not the point. So, are you going to accept my offer?
How do I know that you can be trusted? I don't even know your name!
I am a woman of my word, Mr. Malfoy. I never go back on a promise. Now, are you going to accept my offer, or not?
Fine! I'll do it.
Good. You can expect an owl with your first assignment tomorrow morning. And if you want to keep your thoughts to yourself, learn Occlumency. I'd rather you do. I don't need to see any more of your mental pictures of the professors in their underwear. Good day.
And she was gone, leaving Draco to wonder for the rest of the day what his assignment was.
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A/N: FYI: "she" isn't a random character of my own creation. She's an established character. (Hope that clears some things up.)