Chap 16
Draco was very jittery in Divination the next morning. He knew something was wrong but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. All he knew was that talking back to himself in another voice was not normal.
It must be all of the stress I've been under lately, he thought to himself. That stupid mudblood is driving me crazy! At the thought of Hermione, Draco turned to look at the Gryffindor mob. Hermione hadn't attended this class since the day she had a go at Proff Trelawney. Thinking about it brought a smile to his face. Draco believed in divination and knew that it was a very powerful magic; his own grandmother had been most proficient in the art, but he didn't believe old batty had any idea what she was doing. Most of the time she just para-phrased from the book and predicted someone's death, most notably Potter's. Today she was harping on about 'the power of dreams.'
"The power of dreams is highly under-rated in Wizard society" Trelawney yelled over all of the sarcastic 'ooohh's and aaahhh's' coming from the Slytherin side of the classroom and the loud snores coming from the other side.
"A witch or wizard can learn much about the past through their dreams…" she said in a spooky voice.
Draco's mind switched off. What a load of hippogriff dung! Needing something to occupy his mind other than thoughts of Granger or losing his mind, he took out the copy of The Daily Prophet that he had borrowed off Pansy. Staring up at him was a wizard with a shock of silver white hair. Just as he was about to read the article beneath, Proff Trelawney's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Open you mind to what is around you in your dreams; many important facts may be hidden in plain view."
What a load of codswhollop, he though again. Hidden in plain view? That's the most stupid thing she's ever said, and that's saying a lot! Draco looked back down at the paper and turned the page. Scanning through it he found nothing interesting. Typical.
As Draco entered the Great Hall for lunch, he felt dozens of pairs of eyes following him. This was not unusual for Draco, however he usually had an idea of why people were staring at him. Today, he didn't have a clue. Sitting down between Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dee, he grabbed a sandwich and started eating. Looking up, he noticed everyone at his table staring at him also.
"What?" he asked around a mouthful of ham and cheese.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise, then back at him. A pale 5th year girl pushed something towards him. It was The Daily Prophet that he had already scanned and found nothing interesting in.
He glared at the girl. "Yes…?" he asked quietly.
She looked around her in a bid for help. None was offered.
"It's…it's about your father…" she stuttered.
Draco felt like turning her into a toad.
"I have looked at this paper from cover to cover and there is no mention of my father anywhere in it" he hissed at her. She paled even more.
Looking down at the paper in front of him he felt a wave of dizziness come over him. He fought it with all of his might then suddenly, it was gone. He looked down at the paper again and saw the same Wizard he had seen in class this morning. This time, however, he also saw the heading above the Wizard:
"Is this Lucius Malfoy's kidnapper??"
As Draco continued to look at the heading, it changed to:
"This is Lucius Malfoy's kidnapper!!"
for the briefest hint of a second and then back to the original heading. Beneath the wizard was an article that Draco didn't remember seeing the last time he looked at the paper. It was blurry at first but the more he stared at it and the more he tried to read it, the clearer it became.
"Dear readers, it is I, Rita Skeeter bringing YOU the news you WANT to read!!
I have spent the last number of weeks gathering information from a number of sources close to the matter and I can reveal to you, in a Daily Prophet exclusive, that the wizard referred to only as 'Frost', is indeed responsible for the disappearance of Lucius Malofy!
My sources reveal that Lucius Malfoy and Frost have a history of bad blood between them that dates back to the time they were in school together. The reason for this bad blood? A mystery witch! According to my sources, she was an extremely talented young witch, quite a know-it-all actually! The mystery witch caught the attention of Frost from the minute he laid eyes on her. My sources tell me that they were the perfect couple…until Lucius Malfoy noticed her also. He was determined to steal her away from Frost and have her for himself! However, the mystery witch amazingly wasn't interested and although Malfoy tried all manners of luring her away from Frost, nothing he did would work. Now, for a man like Lucius Malfoy, even as a young adult, rejection is not something to take sitting down! My sources reveal that things turned nasty and Malfoy began to torment the mystery witch! The ongoing torment was continuous up until the night of the Hogwarts Christmas ball when tragedy stuck…
Part ii of this riveting tale will be revealed in tomorrows Daily Prophet.
(According to my sources) (No actual evidence)
(Not a reference to Muggle borns)
Draco read and re-read the article. Sources? HA! He thought. Rita Skeeter is going all out on this one. She must think my father is never coming back for her to write such things about him!
Draco looked up from the paper and found most of the hall staring at him or trying to cover up the fact that they had been staring at him. They too, knew that Rita Skeeter wouldn't be so bold in her writings if she thought there was even the slightest chance of Lucius Malfoy returning. Draco saw Hermione across the hall. She was looking at him but she had pity in her eyes unlike the sick humour in everyone else's'. Pity? From a mudblood!? Draco glared back at her for a few seconds then stood up and stormed out of the hall.
Hermione put the copy of the Daily Prophet in her hands down and looked around the hall. Draco was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a stir went up among the students, Draco had arrived in the hall and was proceeding to sit down and eat his breakfast.
He looks tired, she thought. No wonder with what's going on though. She continued to watch as she saw a skinny Slytherin girl push something towards him. Draco said something to the girl then glared at her.
He's quite cute when he's trying to look scary, she thought airily. No Hermione, she scolded herself. After last nights antics! I'm never going to talk to him again, she told herself as she continued to watch him.
He was reading the Daily Prophet. His face closed down until it resembled a marble statue. He looked up at the faces surrounding him, and then he met Hermione's eyes. He glared at her for a few seconds, and then stormed out of the Great Hall.
"Hermione, are you ok?" asked Ron. "I mean, you look totally out of it." He hurried in at the look she gave him.
"I'm fine Ron, I'm just thinking. Some of us do that sometimes you know." She said sarcastically.
Harry looked between the two of them and raised an eyebrow. Ron just shrugged and continued to eat his breakfast.