Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.
Chapter 20
They weren't exactly sure why the sisters needed to see them, yet they found themselves walking to their portrait one Friday afternoon after dinner.
"Prudence," Harry whispered and the portrait swung open to reveal the rest of the hallway. They walked up to the door and knocked.
"Well hello there," said Phoebe brightly when she opened the door. "Come on in."
They made their way to the living room and found Piper and Paige sitting and looking serious.
"We have to talk to you guys about something important," Piper began.
"Is something wrong?" asked Hermione.
"Technically, no. It's about Draco," said Piper slowly.
Ron wore a look of disgust as soon as he heard the name. "Why do we need to talk about the ferret?" he said, brow furrowed.
"Ferret?" Paige asked.
"In our fourth year, Malfoy got himself turned into a ferret. It's a long story," Hermione explained.
Paige couldn't help herself. She started laughing, rather loudly too. That is until Piper shot her a warning glare.
"What about him?" asked Harry trying to get the conversation back on track.
"He's supposed to be spying on us and gathering useful information for Voldemort," Piper began. The yelling that followed would have been funny if it wasn't so loud.
"What?!"
"How could he?!"
"That bloody wanker! I'll kill him!"
The latter being Ron.
Piper whistled to get them to settle down. "Look, I know you guys don't exactly like him, but he needs to trust us. We need to show him that we're the good guys. Otherwise he'll turn on us. He hasn't told the other side anything."
"Yet," spat Ron.
Harry was looking at Piper trying to understand. "I'm sorry, Piper. I'm going to have to agree with Ron on this one. Malfoy's bad news."
"I know how you feel," Paige chimed in. "I don't like him either. But I have a feeling that he only acts that way as a defense."
Phoebe nodded. "Maybe if you guys were a little nicer to him, he would back off."
"You don't get it," said Harry, trying to make them see. "That's not how Malfoy works. If we're nice to him, he'll think we're just trying to get something from him. And if we ignore him, he'll just keep going and going until we snap."
"Why exactly do you hate him so much? Because he's in Slytherin?" Piper asked.
"Yes. Well, no. That's not the only reason," Harry began trying to find an excuse.
"His father's a death eater!" Ron yelled, his temper flaring and Harry nodded vigorously in agreement.
"But he isn't," said Piper calmly.
"He's going to be...probably," said Ron stupidly, anger dying down.
"Not it we can help it," said Phoebe.
"He calls me 'mudblood'," Hermione whispered.
Ron and Harry looked at her sympathetically but Piper, Phoebe and Paige looked lost.
"What does that mean?" asked Paige.
"It means 'dirty blood.' It's a really foul name for someone who's muggle born, like me. You wouldn't usually hear it in a civilized conversation," Hermione explained softly.
Paige put an arm around Hermione's shoulders and shot a look at Piper.
"What if he stopped calling you that? Then what?" asked Piper.
Hermione looked up. "He wouldn't."
"But what if?" asked Phoebe.
"I-I don't know," said Hermione, truly at a loss.
"Look, we're not asking you to be best friends. We're just saying if you see him walking down the hall, don't start anything. And if he says something, no matter how horrible, just walk away and tell us. Remember, we want him to trust us."
Harry thought hard about it before answering. "Fine. We'll try."
"We will?" asked Ron incredulously.
Hermione shot him a look. "Yes, Ron, we will." She looked at Piper. "Do you really think he'll stop calling me that?"
"Once I have a talk with him...definitely," Piper smiled.
The trio got up to leave and the sisters followed them to the door.
"Remember what we said. Just try," said Piper.
A look of doubt crossed Harry's face.
Phoebe reached out to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. As soon as she touched him...
Harry was climbing faster and faster with Draco right on his tail. They were chasing what looked like a golden walnut with wings.
Harry reached out his hand about to grab it but Draco lunged forward on his broom and pushed him out of the way. Now Draco was in the lead.
Harry heard a whooshing sound behind him and turned to see a bludger heading full speed in his direction. He looked wildly around but no beaters could be seen anywhere near.
He ducked the bludger just in time.
It streaked past him and was headed straight for the back of Draco's head.
"Malfoy, look out!" Harry yelled.
But it was too late.
The bludger hit Draco square in the back of the head with a dull crunch.
Harry saw the blood pour down Draco's neck as he fell off of his broom.
Harry got underneath him and caught him as best he could with his broom. Then he raced him to the ground.
Screams were heard as everyone realized what had happened.
Draco was dead.
He looked up past the crowd and saw a figure clad in all black walking away from the field.
Phoebe gasped as she opened her eyes. She found herself looking into worried, green eyes.
She slowly removed her hand from Harry shoulder.
"Phoebe, what did you see?" Piper asked.
"Draco...he's gonna die."
Three sisters and three very confused students walked back to the living room were they had just been moments ago.
"Piper, what do you mean by 'what did she see?' She had her eyes closed," asked Harry very confused.
"I have premonitions. I can see the future, and sometimes the past," Phoebe explained.
"You're a Seer?" Hermione asked in awe.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Well?" Paige asked.
"Oh, right. Harry and Draco were flying on their broom chasing after this golden walnut thingy with wings when this black ball came flying out of nowhere and hit Draco in the back of the head. There was blood everywhere. The Harry caught him and brought him to the ground. Everyone was screaming. But then he looked up and saw someone walking away. Someone in black."
"Wait, who looked up?" asked Piper.
"Harry did. Well, actually I did. I was Harry. It was weird. I had the premonition from his point of view."
"But that's never happened before," said Paige.
"I know. Maybe my powers are growing. But you know what this means right?" asked Phoebe.
"Not exactly," said Piper.
"Someone's trying to kill Draco. It wasn't an accident. Someone's after him and we have to warn him," said Phoebe.
"And what exactly are we gonna tell him? That he's gonna get his head smashed in by some flying ball while he was racing to catch a golden walnut with wings?" asked Paige.
"Looks like it," said Piper. "When is this gonna happen?"
"Tomorrow," said Harry quickly.
"How do you know?" asked Phoebe.
"Because tomorrow's the first quidditch game of the season! Gryffindor versus Slytherin!" said Harry. "It's first thing tomorrow morning. When are we going to tell him?"
"Do we have to tell him?" whined Ron.
"Ron!" said Piper warningly. And she sounded so much like Mrs. Weasley that Ron apologized right away.
"We'll have to tell him first thing, at breakfast," said Harry.
"We'd better warn Dumbledore too," said Paige.
"Good idea," said Phoebe. She got up and walked to the fireplace. She took a pinch of powder, threw it in the flames and said Dumbledore's name. In seconds, Dumbledore's head was floating merrily in the flames.
"Good evening, Phoebe. Ah, I see you have some company," he said looking at the trio. "How may I be of service, Professor?"
"I had a premonition. Someone's going to try and kill Draco at tomorrow's quaddwatch game," she said seriously.
Dumbledore chuckled. "I believe the word you were searching for was 'quidditch.' But, yes. I feared someone might try and harm young Mr. Malfoy. After all, he has not been to cooperative with his father's demands."
"How did he -" Piper began in a whisper, but Harry cut her off.
"He knows everything," he whispered back but Dumbledore seemed to have heard him anyway.
"I do try and keep up," he answered. "Which reminds me, congratulations to you three on your fine potions grade. But back to the matter at hand. I believe it best if we warn Mr. Malfoy, but continue on with the game as planned. Otherwise, we may not be able to catch the culprit. If anything seems to go awry, Piper can freeze the stadium and we'll go from there."
"I've never frozen that many people at once before," said Piper doubtfully.
"Don't worry. Your powers are enhanced here." With that and a small pop, Dumbledore was gone.
"I hate to sound to motherly, but I think you three should go to bed," said Piper. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
They nodded and got up. This time they really did leave...with no premonitions to interrupt.
... ... ...
Saturday dawned chilly and sunny on the castle.
Draco woke in a tangle of green sheets.
He sat up and saw the rest of the room was deserted. Great oafs must have gotten a head start on breakfast.
He glanced at the small wooden clock on his table and saw that it was eight thirty. An hour and a half until quidditch.
He let that thought carry him to the bathroom where he took a quick shower and dressed. When he walked back through the room to leave, he noticed a red piece of parchment on his bed. Howler? he thought briefly.
But he saw that it wasn't an envelope. It was just a red piece of parchment turned over. Whatever it was, it wasn't there before.
He carefully flipped it over and immediately recognized the fancy scrawl belonging to Dumbledore.
Mr. Malfoy,
I do hope the parchment caught your attention. Please come to my office immediately to discuss an important matter.
A. Dumbledore
Great. What does the bloody muggle-lover want now? he thought annoyed.
He made his way through the halls cursing the headmaster all the way. How was he supposed to play quidditch on an empty stomach? This better be important.
He was so busy thinking that he didn't notice the person walking right in front of him. He felt his shoulder bump something. "Watch where you're going!" he hissed.
"Sorry," he heard a familiar voice say.
It was so familiar in fact, that his head snapped up at the sound.
"Potter?" he asked not daring to believe that the Gryffindor Golden Boy had just apologized to him.
Harry simply nodded his head once in return, said "Malfoy," and kept walking.
What the bloody hell was that all about? This was the thought that carried him to the hallway with the Headmaster's entrance.
He looked up and saw someone standing at the end of the hall. When he got closer, he saw who it was.
"Piper? What are you doing here?" he asked confused.
"Well, firstly, you don't know the password. And secondly, we need to talk. Fruitcake."
Draco couldn't help but smirk at the password. How fitting for the old loon.
But then resentment got the better of him. "I suppose he'll be changing that now," he said bitterly.
"Why do you say that?"
"Do you really think he'll want me to know his password?"
"Why certainly, Mr. Malfoy," came Dumbledore's voice.
Piper opened the door to his office and they walked in to find Dumbledore seated behind his desk. Two comfy looking armchairs sat in front waiting to be occupied.
Draco sat, feeling unnerved by the headmasters stare.
"Mr. Malfoy, it has come to my attention that you are in some kind of danger," Dumbledore began.
"What kind of danger?" he asked suspiciously.
Dumbledore looked at Piper for the explanation. "The serious kind. Someone is trying to kill you. They're gonna try at today's game."
"How do you know?" Draco asked not really believing them.
"Phoebe saw it."
Draco snorted. "What, she had a vision of the future?" he said as if it were laughable.
When neither of them spoke, he looked at one then at the other.
"You can not be serious. Phoebe is a Seer?"
"Apparently," said Piper. "If that's what you call it. Hermione said the same thing last night."
"The mudblood knows?" Draco practically yelled, completely ignoring the fact the he was in the headmaster's office.
"Watch your mouth," Piper said warningly. Draco almost looked hurt. "Hermione is a great girl and she is just as much a witch as you are a wizard. She has never done anything to you to deserve your hatred. For your information, she was trying to help. So were Harry and Ron. Well, maybe not Ron so much but hey, you can't win them all. Don't call her that anymore."
Draco looked beside himself with anger. "You can't tell me what to do?" he said in a deadly whisper.
"I know," said Piper. "I'm not telling you to do anything. I'm asking you. You're a big boy, you can make you're own choices. Now either you choose to listen to us, or you can have your head broken open today by a, um...bloodger?" she looked questioningly over at the Headmaster.
"Bludger. I am afraid Piper is right. Someone today will attempt to take control of a bludger and aim it at you. We are warning you so you will be prepared. The game must continue as planned so that we may catch whoever is behind it all. Then, hopefully, we will get some answers. Understand?"
Draco nodded. "So you mean, Potter, the Weasel, and mu-Granger know?"
"Excuse me? The Weasel?" Piper asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine...Weasley," Draco ground out.
"Yes, they know. And they are ready to help if anything goes wrong," Dumbledore assured.
"So basically, I am...bait?" Draco asked.
"Exactly," said Piper smiling cheerfully. "Don't worry we've done this many, many times...and almost no one's died."
